MOOCs in tourism and hospitality: a review

ABSTRACT

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have grown significantly and globally in less than ten years. However, practices and research in tourism and hospitality MOOCs remain nascent. This study proposes the MOOC Components Framework with six groups of course components: scaffolding, lectures, networking, collaboration, assessment, and affirmation. Drawing on this framework and a case study method, the study analyses 18 tourism and hospitality MOOCs from higher education institutions. The results highlight that: tourism and hospitality MOOC offerings lack diversity; the forum is the preferred communication tool; social media are comparatively underused; the discontinuity of MOOC instructors needs attention; and finally, littless multilingual support is available.     

INDUSTRY RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Emotional intelligence, a type of social and personal intelligence, is important in managing interpersonal relationships and interactions, especially in the business sphere. Businesses that involve frequent customer contact and interaction, such as those in the field of tourism, can benefit from the application of multiple intelligences. This study examines how, and to what extent, emotional intelligence can benefit the travel and tourism industry. Seven tour operators were interviewed to assess their attitudes, opinions and observations about emotional intelligence and its application to the relationship between tourists and residents of a community. Results showed that all tour operators, to a certain degree, utilized emotional intelligence to offer more personalized travel solutions for tourists. It was found that understanding the cultural values and social etiquette particular to each travel destination was essential for healthy tourist-resident relations.     

Tourists and community development: corporate social responsibility or tourist social responsibility?

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities are usually determined, in large part, by head office and by shareholder interests. This article explores the unique case of tourism CSR which has a distinctive relationship with local communities. CSR programmes of hotels and resorts in the Global South are increasingly creating opportunities for tourists to engage directly with communities, yet the relationship between tourists and CSR – and how this impacts on community development outcomes – has so far been overlooked. Based on two separate research projects undertaken in Zambia and Fiji which examined hotel CSR from community perspectives, we show how these programmes were largely motivated, driven and financed by tourists. This suggests that, in the accommodation subsector of tourism, CSR is not only being shaped by head office, but that tourists can play a key role, leading us to coin the term TSR (tourist social responsibility). For community development initiatives in particular, this gives rise to both challenges and opportunities.     

Buen Vivir: Degrowing extractivism and growing wellbeing through tourism

Abstract

Buen Vivir (BV) is a holistic vision for social and environmental wellbeing, which includes alternative economic activities to the neoliberal growth economy. This article looks at how tourism initiatives under a BV approach can lead to degrowth by drawing on a case study of how BV is put into practice through tourism in the Cotacachi County in Ecuador. We argue that by degrowing socially and environmentally damaging extractive sectors and growing alternative economic activities like community-based tourism, a BV approach could increase social and environmental wellbeing. We refer to LaTouche’s notion of degrowth as a matrix of multiple alternatives that will reopen the space for human creativity. This complements the notion of BV as a plural approach, and in turn works to decolonise the parameters of how we might understand degrowth. In the case of Cotacachi, the vision for tourism is based on the needs of the community, rather than to satisfy a Eurocentric ideal of development supported by a policy of extractivism. BV is key to how this community conceptualises the potentialities of tourism because it considers the wellbeing of the people and the environment. In this case, degrowth is a consequence of BV, rather than the objective.     

Active Learning

ABSTRACT

Active learning means students learn by doing something. It can help students become lifelong learners; however, it's not easy to implement. The following guidelines provide some considerations and ideas for implementing active learning in your classroom.     

Building social capital in a divided city: the potential of events

Abstract

It is widely held that social capital can help build sustainable communities, yet researchers agree that further research is needed to fully understand the social dimensions of sustainable development. In event settings, understanding how social capital is formed remains limited. This paper addresses this issue by examining the extent to which the UK City of Culture 2013 (CoC13) succeeded in building social capital in post-conflict Derry/Londonderry. The authors adopted a case study approach and mixed qualitative methods in the form of in-depth interviews and focus groups. The findings suggest that CoC13 helped to generate both bonding and bridging social capital, however, while intra community bonds were strengthened, exclusivity was also fostered. More positive were the examples of bridging capital cultivated across communities, particularly between young attendees, and between event organisers, with cooperation building trust and goodwill between volunteers. Some of the cross community relationships developed have been sustained. However, the lack of legacy planning has meant that the long-term social goals have not been met. In summary, the study suggests that in a post conflict society, events can help build social capital. However, in the absence of legacy planning, the benefits gained may soon evaporate.     

Exploring factors influencing individual participation in community‐based tourism: The case of Kampung relau homestay program,Malaysia

This paper presents the early findings from a qualitative investigation conducted to examine how participation is practiced in a community‐based tourism program which offers homestay experience to tourists in Kedah, Malaysia. The first objective of the study was to determine where on the spectrum of participation (Pretty 1995) does the homestay program fall. The second objective was to explore the variables that may influence the extent of community participation in this program. Findings from the present study indicate that participation in community‐based tourism is influenced by community members’ motivations to participate. An important implication from this finding is that community‐based tourism projects must include awareness programs among its members so as to educate them about the project and to motivate them to participate.     

Leisure and Active Lifestyles: Research Reflections

Leisure researchers have been studying active living for many years. The research, however, has focused more on individual factors than social and environmental determinants that enable physical activity and health. The focus of the introduction to this special issue on “leisure and active lifestyles” is to highlight leisure literature that can be directly tied to active living. These dimensions include outdoor recreation, community recreation areas and facilities, time usage, barriers and constraints, and social interdependence. We provide an overview of the significance of the papers in this special issue and offer some reflections regarding future research related to active living, physical activity, health, and leisure. We underline the value of the holistic approach evident in leisure research and call for broader methods and more collaborative transdisciplinary research.     

Volunteer tourists’ perceptions of their impacts on marginalized communities

Abstract

Using a phenomenological approach, this study examines the experiences of volunteer tourists in host communities using social representations theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteer tourists on perceived impacts on favela (slum) communities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This study was developed to address a need for further research that critically looks at the social impacts of volunteer tourism in marginalized communities. It addresses the following question: How does volunteer tourism influence a marginalized community from the perspective of the volunteers? Notably, the majority of the volunteers in this study had difficulty describing how volunteer tourism has benefited the community beyond their own individual contributions, and it was difficult for them to see broader implications of volunteer tourism in general. Recommendations of management actions that will help to maintain and enhance the benefits and alleviate the negative consequences and obstacles that were perceived by volunteer tourists are given.     

Political challenges in community-based ecotourism

This paper applies the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) to explore the development of ecotourism in a Taiwanese community after a major earthquake. The study employs interviews with different NGO groups and residents, participant-observation and documentary analysis. Through a political economy lens, the study examines the social and political influences on, and the social and political consequences of, ecotourism development. Results reveal insights into political elements of the community asset base, calling for its inclusion in the existing model. The paper illustrates the challenges of ecotourism development and recognises the importance of attention to differing values if it is to be considered as a sustainable livelihood option in vulnerable communities. In particular we critique the positions of both existing power structures and NGOs, often envisioned as “experts” in the tourism governance process. In this case the imposition of various political values led to failures in inclusivity, particularly in terms of goal setting, empowerment, leadership, organisational fragmentation and benefit sharing, all of which are important principles of sustainability. Greater attention to the political nature of community-based tourism through the revised SLA model could reduce the many documented cases of hosts being merely objects of development, rather than active subjects.     

Factors Related to Physically Active Leisure among College Students

The purpose of this study was to provide additional information about the complex relation of social cognitive constructs, gender, and active leisure among university students. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the hypothesized relations in a sample of 874 undergraduate students. Peer and family support had a moderate direct effect on self-efficacy while self-efficacy had a large direct effect on active leisure. A moderation effect was demonstrated. Peer support was more influential on male respondents' beliefs that they could be active and males reported higher active leisure participation when compared to females. The results of this study provide valuable insight into the mechanisms of influence on active leisure among this university population.     

Applying the community capitals framework to the craft heritage trails of western North Carolina

ABSTRACT

HandMade in America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of craft heritage, identified tourism as an economic development strategy for their service area, the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains. In 1996, HandMade released a guidebook, The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina, which was designed to draw visitors to rural mountain communities where they could discover artists among the surroundings where they draw inspiration. The book was updated in two subsequent additions, and a spin-off book Farms, Gardens, and Countryside Trails was released in 2002. This study utilizes the Community Capitals Framework (CCF) to illustrate how HandMade’s tourism strategy of trail development positively impacted multiple forms of community capital in rural communities. The CCF is a holistic system encompassing several forms of capital: natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built. The results demonstrate the ripple effect of impacts of HandMade’s heritage trail development efforts.     

Resources at the Grassroots of Recreation: Organizational Capacity and Quality of Experience in a Community Sport Organization

Grassroots recreation organizations are volunteer-run informal organizations that deliver sport and recreation at the local level. Using a qualitative case study approach, this study examined how the quality of experience in one community sport organization was affected by organizational capacity, or the ability of the organization to mobilize financial, human, and structural capital to fulfill its mission. While the volunteers mobilized social capital, the league experienced significant shortages of human capital including the professional competencies to meet increasingly complex administrative demands. This finding raises concerns about potential disenfranchisement of volunteers.     

Preferred Leisure Type,Value Orientations,and Psychological Well-Being Among East Asian Youth

ABSTRACT

This study investigated preferred leisure type and its associations with value orientations and psychological well-being (PWB) among adolescents in South Korea, China, and Japan (N = 6,157). Chi-square analyses were performed to examine differences in preferred leisure type (i.e., active vs. passive) across countries. Overall, adolescents preferred passive to active leisure. A series of logistic regressions showed that students who value religion (Japanese and Korean), community (Chinese), and same-sex friends (Chinese) were more likely to prefer active leisure. Furthermore, active leisure pursuit was associated with high PWB among adolescents in all three countries. Though some of the findings support previous studies suggesting cultural differences in leisure, values, and PWB, similar patterns were observed in the associations between variables among Korean, Chinese, and Japanese adolescents.     

Prague’s community gardening in liquid times: challenges in the creation of spaces for social connection

ABSTRACT

Building on the concept of liquid leisure, this paper examines the current potential of community gardening in Prague to create collaborative place-bound communities. By looking closely at the fluctuation of members of selected gardens and the reasons for withdrawal from this activity, we try to see if changes in the member base have any consequences for the functioning of the gardens and the social groups created around them. The results are based on an analysis of interviews held with representatives of community gardens in Prague. Our results document that community projects such as community gardens can be sustained as gardeners come and go and can still fulfil important social, educational and environmental needs of gardens’ immediate neighbourhoods. Moreover, the perception of community around the garden is negotiated and re-negotiated by individual gardeners. The community can play a different role throughout different stages of people’s lives and other changing contexts. Experiences of nuclear families, tribal groupings, collaborative and interest communities often intersect in the space of community gardens. Gardening as a leisure activity, as well as community creation and belonging can, thus, be approached from very different perspectives in the context of liquid modernity.     

Collective tourism social entrepreneurship: A means for community mobilization and social transformation

Communities depicted by lack of opportunities for development often look to tourism initiatives as a means to combine economic growth and community building. Such activity highlights a nexus between tourism, social entrepreneurship and community development. This nexus has been investigated somewhat in tourism literature, but lacks empirical backing, as well as theoretical refinement. We argue that a collective perspective on social entrepreneurship in the tourism context is needed, and introduce a concept and framework for ‘Collective Tourism Social Entrepreneurship’. We investigate how these principles are utilized by local communities to combat depopulation and deterioration in two Danish destinations, and find that the proposed process can create (social) value even if the expected result is never reached.     

Travelers’ social identification and membership behaviors in online travel community

Given the growing use of the Internet, not only for the purchasing of holidays but also for exchange of information and sharing experiences, the issue of how social identification is created in an online community assumes potential importance. This study investigates travel members’ social identification through their online community experience and its positive behavioral outcomes (i.e., membership behaviors). Data are derived from 352 respondents belonging to MSN groups and are analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results of this study show that members’ active participation fortifies their sense of belonging to the online travel community, which makes members support the community by showing several positive member behaviors such as knowledge sharing, community promotion, and behavioral changes. Travel member’s interaction levels are further revealed to strengthen the magnitudes of the proposed relationships.     

A taxonomy of creative tourists in creative tourism

This study aims to characterize creative tourists and their perceptions of creative experiences at tourism sites. Creative tourists are active co-creators of their experiences; hence, they should be treated as a heterogeneous group of co-producers who have subjective opinions and feelings toward their creative experiences. The existing literature suggests that a creative experience is constructed by ‘inner reflections’, which include not only ‘consciousness/awareness’, ‘needs/motivations’ and ‘creativity’, but also ‘outer interactions’ which refer to ‘environment’, ‘people’ and ‘activity’ (Tan, Kung, & Luh, 2013). However, how a particular mix of factors interact and define an individual's perceptions of a creative experience may vary among different types of creative tourists. Q methodology was used to reveal the tourists' inherent subjectivity of creative experiences with regard to the constructions of personal meaning. Five distinct groups of creative tourists were identified: novelty-seekers, knowledge and skills learners, those who are aware of their travel partners' growth, those who are aware of green issues, and the relax and leisure type. Each consists of a different composition of factors which can provide new insights into how different creative tourists construct their personal creative experiences at these sites.     

Narratives,identity and community in esports

ABSTRACT

The commercial and social ascendance of esports has become a source of considerable organisational, industrial, experiential and identity-based concern for those inside and outside the digital gaming field. Indeed, one major concern for self-identifying ‘gamers’ around the world is the extent to which the logics of professionalisation, spectacularisation and rationalisation that pervade contemporary esports will unsettle existing identities within the gaming community. In this study, we draw upon the theories of Paul Ricoeur to provide a narratological analysis of the stories gamers tell themselves about themselves on the social media platform Reddit—and in so doing explicate the politics of inclusion and exclusion imbedded in these stories. We investigate how story-narrative is utilised to mark boundaries in rhythm with, or in opposition to, the commercial, cultural and identity politics which gamers perceive are infiltrating the online gaming field. Based on our analysis, it becomes clear that Reddit users actively use the medium to promote a dominant politics of gender- and investment-based inclusion/exclusion. We conclude with a discussion on the complexities of digital community identity and the challenges seemingly democratic media technologies such as Reddit present for those seeking to promote egalitarian and inclusive spaces of digital play.     

Recreation,cultivation and environmental concerns: exploring the materiality and leisure experience of contemporary allotment gardening

ABSTRACT

Allotment gardening has been identified as eco-leisure and associated with an ideological commitment to nature. Drawing on ten semi-structured interviews and observations of the materiality of allotments, this study explores the enactment of allotment gardening as leisure. Findings demonstrate tensions and complexities in this leisure experience. Firstly, it shows that allotment gardening entails both the experience of freedom and enjoyment and a contrasting sense of duty. Secondly, the study suggests that the freely exercised activity of the individual plotter is negotiated within a dependency on the social structures of the allotment community. Thirdly, the study indicates that ecological orientations amongst plotters are expressed through gardening practices rather than articulated as ideologies. Finally, it demonstrates the potential of a material and consumption perspective in explorations of how both environmental concerns and/or materialism is practised through everyday leisure. Overall, the study contributes to multi-faceted understandings of motivations for allotment gardening and dynamics in the garden as a project of self-fulfilment and care for nature.