Editor’s Choice Articles

Virtual reality technology has been widely applied in the tourism industry, but the literature examining the relationship between the virtual tourism experience and cultural dissemination behavior is limited. This present study examines how a virtual reality tourism experience could stimulate tourists’ cultural dissemination behavior intention. It does so by developing a moderated mediation model to explore how virtual reality tourism uses digital technology to improve tourists’ experiential value, enhances their pride, and then affects their cultural dissemination behavior intentions. Results derived from a sample of 359 respondents show that VR experiential value can stimulate tourists’ cultural dissemination behavior and that the link between VR experiential value and tourists’ cultural dissemination behavior is mediated by pride. Furthermore, the cultural value of individual collectivism moderates the relationship between VR experiential value and pride. This study extends the theoretical understanding of virtual reality tourism from the emotional perspective and also has practical implications for VR design and destination marketing. Full article

Virtual reality has become a more common phenomenon in both destination marketing and on-site experience. The recent challenges such as overtourism and the COVID-19 pandemic have created a pressing need to examine virtual tourism as an alternative to traditional travel. This conceptual article aims at clarifying virtual experience in tourism, discussing the main antecedents and outcomes of virtual experience, and proposing a conceptual model of virtual tourism experience. The review of the literature revealed that virtual experience in tourism is influenced by factors related to information, quality, technology acceptance, and affective involvement and has significant effects on tourists’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. This paper contributes to knowledge and practice by classifying the main groups of factors influencing virtual tourism experience, introducing the conceptual model, discussing opportunities for future research, and providing recommendations for tourism practitioners. Full article

The hospitality industry has been making a remarkable contribution to the growth of several countries’ economies. From a business perspective, the best management accounting (MA) techniques and practices are fundamental to the success of companies. However, studies in this specific area in the hotel industry are scattered in the scientific literature in different types of documents and different languages, and with an irregular distribution throughout the years (2000–2020). To fill this gap, a thorough analysis of the global performance of management accounting practices in hospitality is crucial. This study accessed the Web of Science database in three different languages and systematized the articles to be included in this research through the PRISMA guidelines, which allowed an empirical basis for the critical approach to this topic. The greatest relevance of the study is the fact that it presents a systematic review of the literature on hotel management accounting practices, for which these results were enriched with a critical approach. The innovative character of the study focuses on evidence of the increasing implementation of some hotel management accounting practices over the years, such as some operating ratios and the USALI. In practical terms, the results of this study explain the overall performance of management accounting practices in the lodging industry and which ones are most widely used. The importance of the practices to support the decision-making of hoteliers and the challenges that they need to face in their implementation are also shown. Full article

This article covers the topic of the tourist attractiveness of Tokyo in the opinion of 369 tourists from Poland. A definition of tourist attractiveness and its factors is provided. Basic information on Tokyo, including accommodation, eating facilities, and tourist traffic in the city is offered. The results of the research performed with the use of a survey questionnaire are demonstrated. The research shows that tourists’ most appreciated elements of Tokyo’s tourist attractiveness are transport accessibility, eating facilities, and cultural assets. The article’s hypotheses, that the most attractive seasons in Tokyo, tourism-wise, are spring and autumn, and that the most attractive monument in Tokyo is the oldest Buddhist temple, Sensō-ji, located in the Taitō district, were confirmed to be positive. The third hypothesis was also positively verified. The research shows that younger people positively assessed Tokyo as an attractive and friendly city more than older people. Full article

This study introduces and applies the uses and gratifications theory to travel and tourism, resulting in a classification of U & G motivations (extant items) for this field. Uses and gratifications motivations are important for understanding e-tourist satisfaction. However, a measurement model for examining them has not been developed in the field of travel and tourism. To address this gap, this study develops valid and reliable scales for uses and gratifications motivations for smartphone use by tourists. Multilevel linear modeling (MLM) was used to avoid biases caused by common traits and features within a tourist group and to measure group effects. The scales conceptualized motivations for smartphone use by travelers, i.e., the U & G motivations, as a four-dimensional construct: social interaction, information, entertainment, and convenience. All scales demonstrate the appropriate psychometric properties for evaluating U & G motivations. The scales developed here can serve as an effective tool for future empirical research to better understand the motivations for smartphone use by travelers and to identify the relationships among U & G motivations, attitude, and e-tourist satisfactions in travel and tourism. Full article

From the second half of the 20th century, numerous railways, especially in industrial and mining areas, were abandoned for economic reasons. The activism of the “railfans”, who are fond of trains, has made it possible to set up voluntary associations that have been the lifeblood of the beginning of projects for the recovery of the historic railway heritage and the promotion of it in a touristic sense. This topic is worthy of attention, and during recent years it has been the focus of several research papers. A systematic literature review was performed using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyzes) methodology. This tool is a minimal set of evidence-based elements aimed at helping authors to carry out a systematic literature review. This systematic literature review sought to consolidate knowledge on the subject. The research team formulated three research questions related to the dynamics of railway heritage recovery, the dynamics of railway tourism and the relationship between sustainability and railway tourism. The findings highlighted that the railway tourism process always originates from a project for the restoration of railway heritage, possibly maintaining authenticity. The voluntary associations, along with their “railfans”, are the main stakeholder, not only preserving the rail heritage but also developing railway tourism activities. The touristic railway could regenerate the local community, with positive benefits on the local economy. Many tourists could be attracted by railway tourism destinations in that they wish to live memorable experiences related to the nostalgia of the past. Full article

While the COVID-19 pandemic evolves and new variants emerge, destinations and cities look to tourism recovery, cautiously rebooting and re-opening borders. Since the start of the pandemic, dramatic lockdowns have been employed, resulting in dire economic and social consequences to the tourism and hospitality industry and creating the need for a more feasible and sustainable response in the post-pandemic era. Pandemic vigilance and resilience at the societal level have become key in pandemic preparedness. However, due to the complexity of managing COVID-19, no clear cross-disciplinary collaborative framework for tourism recovery has been developed. Cross-sector collaboration to collectively integrate resources, capabilities, and experiences should be prioritised to spearhead tourism recovery plans. With insight on public health, pandemic preparedness, and community access, we hypothesised that cross-industry collaboration between the tourism industry and the pharmacist profession is relevant to the measures adopted for recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine this hypothesis, this study aimed to explore perceptions from key stakeholders in the tourism and the pharmacist sectors on cross-industry collaboration towards COVID-19 management and the “know-how” in developing, adopting, and advancing such a partnership. This exploratory study adopts and advances the ‘Four Cs’ conceptual framework of communication, cooperation, coordination, and collaboration. In terms of our hypothesis, interview responses with tourism executives and CPs confirm the framework’s suitability and the importance of an interdisciplinary collaborative approach between CPs and the tourism sector to craft a sustainable pathway to recovery from COVID-19 and future pandemic measures as borders re-open and international mobility increases. A tourism recovery strategy from this pandemic can occur more judiciously through a collaborative partnership with an extensive network of pharmacists within communities and popular tourism sites, as CPs have valuable healthcare resources and the ability to track and communicate healthcare alerts to tourism destination recovery efforts. Full article

The luxury segment of the hospitality sector has been growing worldwide. Luxury hospitality is about providing a unique experience for guests, and this type of experience requires having employees who understand the luxury culture and are trained at the highest level. Luxury hotels compete for the best talents, but the current pool of candidates for customer-facing and managerial positions within these establishments is limited. The purpose of this study was to identify skill gaps in Canada’s luxury hotels. Primary data were collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty luxury hotel managers and analyzed with NVivo 12. Respondents agreed about the skills required for brands to succeed in the luxury market, but they lamented the lack of qualified talents and the difficulty of training and retaining qualified collaborators. The results of the study point to the need to address the luxury skill gap in the hospitality sector, particularly in Canada. Recommendations to address this problem are proposed. Full article

Co-creation in place branding is used as an umbrella term for the complex brand meaning emerging through stakeholders’ participation in place activities, their contribution, collaborations and interchange of ideas and resources. Co-creation is often an aspiration for places to create and promote their brands collectively. In this context, storytelling—an old technique used in corporate marketing to instigate brand stakeholders’ participation—serves as a method which facilitates place brand co-creation through shared place stories. With the rise of online interactions, the chances of place stakeholders’ participation in brand meaning creation increase, and place stories are effective in allowing diverse place meanings to emerge from various stakeholders. However, when storytelling emerges as a marketing tactic, mostly from a top-down campaign, the stories are not always accepted by all place stakeholders, and they create contrasting brand meanings. The paper aims to investigate the benefits and risks of participation in “Many Voices One Town” (2018), a top-down campaign from Luton, UK, which used storytelling to instigate place brand co-creation. The campaign was created by the Luton Council with an external advertising agency. The campaign attempted to tackle the town’s segregation issues and foster community cohesion through the promotion of seven selected Lutonians’ stories about their diverse and multicultural experiences of living in Luton. The study employs a qualitative methodology to analyse the MVOT case study. Interviews with the council and participants in the campaign and netnographic data from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were used to gain an insight into residents’ participation in a top-down approach and examine the outcomes of co-creation. Residents’ participation in such a campaign shows numerous benefits but also risks for the place brand. The findings show that participation can sometimes intensify disputes about the town if people’s needs are not properly addressed. The study highlights the importance of open communication between all parties involved in the process, bringing into focus the need for careful coordination of top-down initiatives in line with stakeholders’ needs. It also demonstrates the ‘power of the people’ in the sense that stakeholder engagement with the shared stories led to negative outcomes that were not predicted by the Council. Full article

Drawing on data gathered through semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document analysis at five-star hotels in UK and Germany, this paper examines the competing pressures driving waste generation and prevention at different stages in the food production and service cycle. Primary data indicated that senior managers recognised the potential savings that could be achieved by preventing food waste. Despite this, many wasteful practices were normalised within routine operations. This was partly attributed to the corporatised business model and brand strategy in which premium pricing and luxury experiential propositions potentially transformed food waste reduction strategies into sources of risk. Past research generally categorised food as being edible or inedible. In contrast, the terms usable/unusable are proposed and this paper discusses how corporatised practices and value propositions rendered usable foods unusable. It considers how this type of corporate system frames waste problems and thus solutions, leading to various consequences. The discussion also explores how those systems shaped the organisational culture and the agency of staff who engaged with the service cycle at and across multiple points. The findings of this paper are based on primary data collected from a small number of corporately governed luxury hotels. Consequently, the closing parts of this paper outline how the insights generated here could be applied to the study of alternative organisational arrangements and operational types. Full article

In recent years, the use of crowdsourcing has positively transformed the way geographic information is collected, stored and analyzed. Many countries have promoted and funded research into the potential of using crowdsourcing in various fields of governance. This paper focuses on developing a methodology for fast, low-cost and reliable coastal management for touristic purposes in Greece. In particular, a group of a professional surveyor have developed the methodology and trained two volunteers to collect a variety of data points of interest about a public coastal zone, such as the area size of free and unused public space, rocky areas, parking spaces (organized or not), land use types, build up and green areas, municipal lighting, pedestrian crossing points, beach umbrellas, path routes, street furniture, etc. A pilot case study was compiled for a part of the Athenian Riviera to check the methodology. Derived conclusions point out that the developed methodology may be successfully used for managing the 16,000 km length of the coastal zone of Greece for touristic purposes. Considerations for further improvements to the methodology are given. Full article

The UNWTO’s discourse has focused on managing the effects of COVID-19 on tourism mobility since the outbreak was taken over by the WHO, as tourism is prominent amongst the hardest hit sectors. Emanating from the UNWTO as one of the dominant stakeholders in tourism discourse construction, an interesting component is the new meaning attributed to ‘responsible tourism’, which coincides with severe sanitary measures in this moment. Through critical discourse analysis and the theoretical framework offered by Iris Marion Young on responsibility for justice, this article will first demonstrate how the reappropriation of the term is in line with the UNWTO’s neoliberal perspective on tourism. The result is the promotion of sanitary measures for the protection of tourism as a consumer industry, rather than for the protection of the individuals involved. It is also cementing the pedestal on which the UN agency places the tourist-consumer, namely through the International Code for the Protection of Tourists project. This paper closes with thoughts on how the emerging dominant discourse on responsible tourism is internalized by tourism stakeholders as the new normal, which would gain in being explored through the lens of Foucault’s work on the concept of biopolitics and the neoliberal subject. Full article

Fast technological developments have transformed the tourism and hospitality services and the labor market. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of the tourism and hospitality workforce. There is insufficient prior work about creating better work conditions and greater career opportunities for hospitality and tourism professionals in the swiftly changing labor market. To this end, this article analyzes the historical employee–employer relationships in the tourism and hospitality industry. It presents a new employee-sharing model framework for enhancing resilience and flexibility for hospitality and tourism enterprises and workers. Full article

A focus on continued year-on-year economic growth was beginning to be seen as unsustainable even before the COVID-19 crisis forced many tourism destinations to rethink their marketing and branding. This paper adopts a critical marketing stance to explore the relationship between place branding and two recent extreme conditions affecting the tourism industry: overtourism, as exemplified when the issue became headline news in popular media from the summer of 2017, as many examples were offered of places struggling to cope with their success; and the COVID-19 crisis that effectively brought global tourism to a standstill in 2020, as the industry attempts to rebuild from this current unprecedented crisis. This article is not designed to suggest normative place-branding strategies. Rather, through the presentation of an original model that conceptualizes the cyclical process of rebuilding from crises and coping with success, it aims to provide a warning that whatever place-branding strategies are implemented in a post-pandemic world, for whatever type of tourism, in whatever type of destination, a rein must be employed in order that the drive for recovery from undertourism through successful place branding does not lead to the return of overtourism. Full article

This paper argues that that much published tourism and hospitality research has had little influence on tourism or hospitality practice especially with regard to the problems of sustainability because of a failure to use systems thinking to guide research questions and approaches. This critical review and conceptual paper demonstrates how a systems thinking approach could be used to improve both the relevance of, and theoretical development in, tourism and hospitality research in the area of sustainability. This paper reviewed recent published research into tourism’s social impacts to demonstrate the power of taking a systems approach to map out the research problem area. It then critically reviewed the use of concepts from psychology in published research into guest engagement in sustainability programs in hospitality businesses to demonstrate the value of systems thinking for organising theoretical concepts. In both of the reviewed areas the overwhelming conclusion was that the majority of the research lacked both practical relevance and was based on inappropriate or deficient theoretical understanding. Full article

Tourism destinations located within rich and complex cultural contexts tend to offer a wide range of different experiences to visitors, spanning from standardized to more alternative ones. The quest for authenticity is central in the construction of tourism image and business, but easily raises questions related to appropriation, commercialization and trivialization. This study focuses on Jewish heritage tourism, a niche segment gradually turning into a mass tourism experience, through a qualitative research made in Krakow, Poland. Jewish-themed tourism in the area has gone through intense growth in spite of its dwindling Jewish population. As a consequence, the representation and consumption of the related heritage mostly occurs independently from the Jewish community itself and shows clear signs of commercial exploitation. The study results show that, in spite of the issues related to simplified narratives and staged practices, commodification, with its partial and functional reconstruction of the past, does not interfere with the religious or secular activities of the Jewish community, which is more pragmatically focused on present-day life. Full article

The Western 24 h society poses great psychological and physical demands on people, which may result in complaints such as stress or being overworked, and reduced immune fitness. Having a holiday may be a good way to reduce work-related stress and reduced mood and improve perceived immune fitness. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess the impact of having a holiday or work on perceived immune fitness and mood. A survey was held among N = 246 young adults who were on holiday in Fiji, and N = 87 subjects who were in Fiji for work. The sample comprised both students and individuals with a job at home. Past year immune status was assessed with the Immune Status Questionnaire (ISQ). Current perceived immune functioning and mood were rated from 0 (very poor) to 10 (excellent). Assessments were made for two occasions: (1) the current situation (in Fiji), and (2) at home (before traveling). Compared to being at home, both students and working individuals on holiday in Fiji reported significantly improved immune fitness and significantly improved mood. For example, both groups reported reduction of stress of about 60% while in Fiji. In students who came to Fiji for work or spending a holiday, improvements in perceived immune fitness were more pronounced than in working people coming on holiday in Fiji. In contrast, working people on holiday reported greater improvements in mood compared to students. The magnitude of improvements were significantly greater among women than men. In conclusion, the data suggest that both having a holiday or working in Fiji is associated with significant improvements of mood, which were themselves associated with improved immune fitness. The findings are of importance for the tourism industry as they demonstrate that, in addition to leisure (or being active) as a purpose for having a holiday, the observed mental health benefits and improved perceived immune fitness provide an additional motive to have a holiday. Full article

The relationships between destination image and tourist satisfaction and loyalty have been studied extensively through surveys. This study aims to measure these constructs through big data analytics by going one step further in a line of research undertaken 8 years ago. The data source is content generated by travelers and shared on social media regarding the 10 districts of the city of Barcelona (Catalonia): more than 750,000 online travel reviews (OTRs) hosted on the Airbnb platform. This study also explores a relationship demonstrated by numerous researchers through surveys: the impact of destination image on tourist loyalty through satisfaction. However, the results are not satisfactory due to the great weight of the lodging price variable that unbalances the relationship. For example, the first district in the ranking of cognitive image categories is also the first in the ranking of average scores and of positive feelings and moods. However, the last two districts in the ranking of cognitive categories are the first in the rankings of satisfaction, positive recommendations, and cheaper prices. Additionally, the findings show that the location of the accommodation significantly determines the theme of the OTR narrative. Moreover, the results confirm previous studies on the exaggerated positivity of peer-to-peer accommodation scores: only 0.92% of 15,625 rated properties had negative overall scores. Full article

Research on the relationship between automation services and tourism has been rapidly growing in recent years and has led to a new service landscape where the role of robots is gaining both practical and research attention. This paper builds on previous reviews and undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the research literature to discuss opportunities and challenges presented by the use of service robots in hospitality and tourism. Management and ethical issues are identified and it is noted that practical and ethical issues (roboethics) continue to lack attention. Going forward, new directions are urgently needed to inform future research and practice. Legal and ethical issues must be proactively addressed, and new research paradigms developed to explore the posthumanist and transhumanist transitions that await. In addition, closer attention to the potential of “co-creation” for addressing innovations in enhanced service experiences in hospitality and tourism is merited. Among others, responsibility, inclusiveness and collaborative human-robot design and implementation emerge as important principles to guide future research and practice in this area. Full article

Sustainable tourism development (STD) serves as a founding and guiding concept that can be applied to all forms of tourism, whereas community-based tourism (CBT) has been largely practiced as an alternative form of tourism development. Past research has suggested critical theoretical and practical omissions in both STD and CBT related to issues of community well-being, justice, ethics, and equity. With an objective of bridging these gaps, this research developed an integrated framework of sustainable community-based tourism (SCBT) based on a comprehensive literature review, which identified that there was a significant under-representation of key elements such as justice, ethics, and equity in the domain of governance both in the STD and CBT literatures. The qualitative research mixed emergent data with theory driven data and conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 diverse tourism stakeholders in the twin cities of Bryan–College Station (BCS) in Texas. Results revealed that tourism helped to promote cultural preservation and community pride and promoted the sense of mutual respect and understanding among visitors and stakeholders. However, some ethnic minorities felt they were not receiving full benefits of tourism. The study concluded that a more proactive, inclusive, ethic of care oriented tourism governance to help ensure sustainable tourism development is needed. Full article

Visiting sacred spaces is becoming a growing trend in tourism in the Central Asian region. Sacred sites are said to have the power to heal the body, enlighten the mind, and inspire the heart. This study explored the motivations for visiting sacred spaces among tourists from three Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. The study used a sequential mixed methods research design. In the first stage, a general list of motivations was produced, based on the analysis of 14 semi-structured interviews. The second stage quantitative survey was conducted with a sample of 211 tourists from Central Asia. Data collection took place during tours to sacred sites in the city of Turkestan in South Kazakhstan. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and regression analysis. The relationships between motivation factors and destination loyalty were tested. The results show that among the five motivational factors identified in this study, only three (Spiritual and Religious Motives, Cultural and Historical Motives, and Wellness and Healing) have a significant relationship with sacred site destination loyalty. The remaining two factors (Nature, Fun, and Social Contact) have not been proven to have a significant relationship with destination loyalty. The study adds value to the literature on traveling to religious sites, especially those in formerly atheist countries, and provides recommendations to practitioners and policymakers to enable them to develop a niche tourism area by segmenting tourists’ motivations and destination loyalty in their sacred places. It also contributes to the diversification of tourism products in those destinations that have historical religious heritage resources. Full article

Membership associations are vital to build social capital and networks among their members through the exchange of information and resources, roles especially valuable for emerging entrepreneurs. That is the case of associations catering to professionals in agritourism, an enterprise bringing farming and tourism together. However, whether the exchange of information and resources among members holds true within agritourism associations is yet to be known. Filling this knowledge gap is critical given the stated benefits agritourism delivers to society and farmers’ necessity to expand their business networks to increase entrepreneurial success. Therefore, this study evaluated the extent of social capital and networks within a prominent agritourism-focused association in North America. Data were collected from members using a web-based survey in 2016. Analyses included descriptive statistical tests and Social Network Analysis (SNA). Results showed high levels of social capital among members, especially related to its relational dimension (e.g., share professional advice), as well as strong bi-directional (to/from) trust, cooperation, and reciprocity among members. SNA indicated members were well connected and had a healthy information exchange, without the organization intervention. Study results are discussed to provide managerial intelligence towards strengthening social capital and networks within associations catering to agritourism and other niche-tourism professionals. Full article

This study reviews the published quantitative literature in agritourism from the supply, demand, and both supply- and demand-side perspectives to determine the implications for agritourism in developing countries. A total of 85 quantitative papers were reviewed. Most studies in the literature concern developed countries, and the motivations and attributes of the actors in this field have been investigated thoroughly, whereas few researchers have focused on quality tourism and identity in agritourism. This study suggests that policymakers in developing countries should promote females, insist on maintaining the quality of the workforce, ensure the availability of credit or subsidies to farmers, and guide and monitor the planning and development of agritourism. Furthermore, connecting different stakeholders and minimising the adverse effects in society through innovation in agritourism may lead to sustainable agritourism. Full article

The theory of the ‘experience economy’ contends that consumers no longer achieve satisfaction from consuming products but from the experiences they receive while doing so. Producers should therefore actively manage the four experience ‘realms’ of their product offerings—entertainment, education, aesthetics and escapism—to provide optimal experiences for their customers. In the case of tourist attractions, however, there is insufficient direct empirical evidence to substantiate this recommendation. This study therefore sets out to test the notion of the experience economy in the context of a tourist attraction—in this case, an underground visitor experience in Wales, UK—using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Alternative models are estimated based on three different mediating variables—arousal, memory and satisfaction—with revisit intention as the dependent variable. The analysis finds that none of the four experience realms are significant predictors of revisit intention in all three of the models, even though all three mediating variables are significant predictors of revisit intention. The results therefore suggest that optimal customer experiences do not necessarily need to be built equally upon all four experiences realms. Rather, a customised approach is required to optimise the customer experience for specific products consumed in particular contexts. Full article