Editorial: research notes

Abstract

Although wilderness trips are typically co‐led, there is a deficit of research literature exploring the dynamics of co‐leadership in the field. This study was conducted to determine the skills and traits outdoor adventure trip leaders perceived to be important for their co‐leaders to possess on an extended outdoor trip. Utilizing Q‐methodology, a 36‐item instrument developed from the leadership literature was administered to 17 outdoor leaders. Three factors representing three distinct leadership beliefs were determined and are characterized by the titles: People‐Empowering Leaders, Wilderness‐Power Leaders, and Universal Leaders. Five trends in leader/co‐leader preferences are discussed. This study offers implications to practice in outdoor recreation for organizations and outdoor trip leaders.     

Leading on land and sea: Competencies and context

The purpose of this study was to identify the competencies hospitality unit leaders perceived to be most critical for career development, and to determine whether perceptions of the importance of various skills and attributes/abilities varied when leaders worked in different organizational contexts. Leaders from two hospitality segments, land-based hotels and ocean-based cruise ships, participated in the study. Findings indicated notable differences between the two samples on a number of items.     

Perceived environmental uncertainty in tourism: A new approach using the Rasch model

One of the core steps in all strategic management processes, but especially in tourism firms, is the consideration of the organisational environment. A methodology for scanning that environment is presented from the perspective of perceived environmental uncertainty, according to its dynamism and complexity. To that end, the Rasch model [Rasch, G. (1980). Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (First publication in 1960, Chicago, IL. MESA Press)] is applied, and both dimensions are considered latent variables defined by a set of items. The concepts are assessed using a sample of tourism firms located in the Canary Islands (Spain). The results confirm that dynamism and complexity are related to the perception of uncertainty, and a specific function is presented. The environmental uncertainty can then be explained and determined with regard only to the managers’ perceptions, without the need to include parameters. The methodology also enables managers and institutions to identify the most uncertain perceived items.     

Future Issues in Sales,Marketing, and Revenue Management in Greater China: What Keeps You Up at Night?

ABSTRACT

“Recognizing the current global economic crisis, what do you feel are the key impacts it will have on (sales, marketing, or revenue management) in the hospitality industry in the next 5 years within the Greater China region?” This was the question asked in a Delphi study with 37 hotel industry leaders in Greater China and a follow-up Thought Leaders Roundtable. The results identified the top five impacts in each of the disciplines and the Roundtable provided insights into how to address them. Additionally, how long these impacts will affect the region was determined.     

Tourist expenditures in Guangzhou, PR China

Tourism took on a new and crucial role in regional development and modernization in PR China with the introduction of the ‘Open Door Policy’ in late 1978. For the first time, the tourist expenditure patterns in the ‘Southern Gateway to China’, Guangzhou, are presented. Per capita tourist expenditure of Hong Kong and Macao Chinese is estimated to be much lower than that of a foreign tourist visiting the region, but the gross contribution is still significant to Guangzhou's tourist industry. Also previous per capita expenditure estimates of Hong Kong residents visiting PR China are suggested to have been overstated by 130% to 300%.     

Hotel controllers in the 21st century—a Hong Kong perspective on desired attributes

This empirical study carried out in Hong Kong set out to discover how aware are practicing on-property hotel controllers (OPHCs) and hospitality management graduates of desired attributes for the job of a hotel financial controller. It identified profiles of 21st century OPHCs ‘painted’ by practising OPHCs (practitioners) and graduates and matched these with profiles from recruitment specialists (recruiters) and studies reported in the literature on unit controllers in business generally and hotels specifically. The approach to the research, consisted of a quantitative analysis of secondary data that identified interviewees (practitioners, graduates and recruiters) and themes that were then investigated in primary data collection by qualitative methods (content analysis of discourse). The study found that graduates needed to better inform themselves of desired attributes (qualifications, skills and personality). However, practitioners and recruiters formed a consensus on profiles, both perceiving a distinction in profile between OPHCs in ‘international’ type hotels and ‘other’ types of hotel. Perceived attributes of OPHCs in ‘international’ hotels showed many similarities with their counterparts in business generally.     

Market structure and profitability in the international tourist hotel industry

This paper adopts Hsiao (1986) panel data techniques, with metropolitan-level panel data from Taiwan, to examine how the market structures of various related service markets and hotels’ locations affect hotels’ profitability. The empirical results indicate that: (1) market concentration in rooms could significantly improve international tourist hotels’ profitability, while concentration in the food and beverage markets have positive but insignificant effects, and (2) the locations of the international tourist hotels significantly affect their profitability.     

A travel demand model for Mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong

The purpose of the study was to determine what exogenous variables best explained the travel demand for Mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong. The 12 years (1984–1995) annual time series data of ‘number of Mainland Chinese tourist arrivals’, ‘China disposable income per capita’, ‘consumer price indices in Hong Kong and China’ and ‘exchange rates’ was used to develop a travel demand model. Seven exogenous variables were selected for the model through a literature review. An OLS multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the ‘best’ subset of seven exogenous variables to determine the demand model. The results showed that travel demand for Mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong could be explained by ‘disposable income per capita’ and ‘relaxation of visa requirements’.     

Identification of the reactions of hotel managers to new competition

This paper arises out of research carried out recently on the impact of a new hotel on the other hotel businesses which are operating in the same market. To ascertain the possible reactions of hotel managers to new competition and the relative importance of alternative price and non-price strategies a postal survey of 250 three-and four-star graded hotels across the U.K. was undertaken. It was found that a change in published tariff rates is regarded as being relatively unimportant whilst sales promotion is given the highest priority. Disaggregation of the sample by hotel size and occupancy rates does not reveal any significant changes in the relative importance of possible strategies. While the survey indicates that both non-price and price competitive strategies are seen by managers as essentially complementary, nevertheless, price competition in the form of secret discounting of published room rates to mass market intermediaries (tour operators and travel agents) and corporations is particularly important. While price discounting is the ‘private’ face of hotel competition much more research is needed on both the ‘public’ and ‘private’ nature of competition in the hotel industry and how these inter-link.     

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOJOURN: An Ethnographic Study of the International Student Experience

The findings from an ethnographic study of international postgraduate students’ adjustment journey through life in England illustrates the transformative potential of the international student sojourn. It is shown that removal from the familiar home environment gave students freedom from cultural and familial expectations and the opportunity for self-discovery, whilst exposure to a new culture offered them the chance to improve their cross-cultural communication skills. The durability of change was questioned by students who were apprehensive about re-entry to the origin culture and the receptivity of those left behind to the changes they had made. By pointing to the possible similarities between the experiences of international students and long-stay tourists, this paper calls for research into the outcome of long-stay tourism, in order to measure the extent of change in tourists’ self-concept and cross-cultural awareness.     

RESIDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES OF A WORLD HERITAGE SITE: The Pitons Management Area, St. Lucia

This study examined the factors that influence local community residents’ support for the Pitons Management Area (PMA) as a World Heritage Site and their support for Sustainable Tourism Development. Community Attachment, Environmental Attitudes and Involvement in PMA were hypothesized as independent variables. Results of a structural equation modeling analysis using 319 resident samples suggested that Community Attachment positively influences their support behaviors, and Environmental Attitudes indirectly influence the support behaviors through Perceptions about PMA. Level of Involvement in the PMA was not found to have any significant relationships. The notable lack of involvement of residents presented critical implications for the sustainability of the site.     

The service economy, de-industrialisation and the hospitality industry

This paper examines the popular view that the growth of services (and in particular, hospitality services) is both inevitable and desirable. It considers the terminological confusion surrounding the term ‘services’ and examines whether there is sufficient evidence to justify the continuing emergence of the ‘service’ as opposed to manufacturing-based economy. The view that the prosperity of the U.K. depends more on manufacturing than it does on services is considered, and conclusions are drawn for the hospitality industry.     

A strategic framework for terrorism prevention and mitigation in tourism destinations

Tourism destinations and tourists have always been ‘soft targets’ for terrorist activities. Although it is widely acknowledged that it is no longer a question of ‘if’ terrorists will strike but rather a question of ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘how prepared’ the destination is to deal with them, the crisis management frameworks proposed by the literature appear to offer little help to tourism authorities in the development and implementation of a strategy aiming at the prevention and mitigation of terrorist attacks. This paper first discusses the premise that Destination Management Organizations can and should play an active role in the co-ordination of tourism stakeholders in addressing the threat of terrorism. Then, based on the analysis of interviews with 16 experts on terrorism and tourism, it offers a framework for the development and implementation of a destination-specific anti-terrorism strategy.     

Food choice and school meals: primary schoolchildren's perceptions of the healthiness of foods and the nutritional implications of food choices

Since the 1980 Education Act, school caterers have been operating within a commercial context and therefore can only provide the foods that they know that children will eat. At the same time, nutritionists have been concerned that the greater degree of choice that children now have at lunchtime is resulting in the more frequent consumption of meals of poor nutritional quality. A knowledge of children's food preferences, the factors influencing them, and their perceptions of the healthiness of foods is needed if school caterers and those involved in nutrition education are to work together to help children choose a nutritionally balanced meal. This paper reports on children's perceptions of the healthiness or otherwise of foods commonly served at school lunches and the reasons for these perceptions. Children's knowledge of the sources of nutrients, their understanding of the relationship between food and health, and how their perceptions of healthiness relate to their preferences for the foods are also explored. The nutritional implications of food choices made by primary school children on the basis of preference rather than healthiness are examined. One hundred and twenty three children aged between nine and eleven from 14 different primary schools in SouthEast England took part. Using photographs of foods commonly served at school lunches, the children were asked to rank the foods in order of preference and then according to their perceptions of the healthiness of the foods and give their reasons in each case. The rankings were analysed numerically and the Wilcoxon's pairs signed rank test was used to determine the significance of the difference. The qualitative data on the reasons given for the rankings were analysed by assigning them to categories. The children were also asked which foods they would choose for the meal that they would be most likely to eat, and which ones for the meal that they thought would be the most healthy. The nutritional value of the two sets of meals were determined and compared. A student T- test was used to determine the significance of any difference between the two sets of meals.It was found that the children had a clear perception of the healthiness or otherwise of the foods. However, understanding of the relationship between foods or nutrients and health was only occasionally evident, as was the idea of moderation or balance. Some children perceived healthiness as the absence of fat while others saw it in terms of the presence of vitamins. It was also found that there was a strongly inverse relationship between children's perceptions of the healthiness of foods and their preferences for them. It was found that while the foods chosen for the ‘healthy’ meal were chosen least frequently for the ‘preferred’ meal, there was no significant difference between the percentage of energy provided by fat in the two sets of meals. However the ‘preferred’ meals did in fact provide a significantly higher percentage of the energy as starch, as well as containing greater amounts of some micronutrients. In other respects the ‘healthy’ meals were indeed ‘healthier’, in that they provided greater amounts per megajoule of some important nutrients.It was concluded that teaching about food in primary schools needs to focus on helping children of this age make balanced food choices. It was suggested that the ‘tilted plate’ model, adapted to use foods that children frequently eat and enjoy, could be the basis of such teaching. Such a model could also be used to help caterers plan menus and as the basis of co-operation between nutrition educators and caterers.     

From tertiary education to innovating at work: What is really important for hotel managers?

The goal of the present study was to examine the link between hotel managers’ post-secondary education and the extent to which they used knowledge acquired from such education to solve problems and innovate at work. One hundred and sixty-one hotel managers in Jamaica were surveyed. Stepwise regression analysis was performed. The study found that variety of academic specializations and recency of academic qualifications were more important to hotel managers’ use of knowledge from education to solve problems and innovate at work than years of post-secondary education and the relatedness of such education to their current jobs. Leaders in the lodging sector should take the findings into consideration when recruiting and developing hotel managers. One hundred and sixty-one hotel managers in Jamaica were surveyed and stepwise regression analysis performed. The study found that variety of academic specializations and recency of academic qualifications were more important to the hotel managers' use of knowledge from education to solve problems and innovate at work than their years of post-secondary education and the relatedness of such education to their current jobs. The study's findings could have implications for how hotel managers are selected and developed in the future.     

Transport infrastructure and tourism development

This paper investigates the significance of transport infrastructure as a factor in destination development, showing it to be part of the classical demand for international tourism functions. An application involving the island of Mauritius is presented, whereby total tourist arrivals are modeled. The findings show that tourists from Europe/America and Asia are particularly sensitive to the island’s transport infrastructure. Those from Europe/America are also sensitive to its nontransport infrastructure. Both types of infrastructure, as well as income of tourists, distance, and relative prices are important ingredients in their own respect in the tourism demand equation. Mauritius is an expanding destination, with the European and American markets being most promising.     

‘Scientific identity’ of scholarly journals in hospitality and tourism research: Review and evaluation

The objective of this study is to describe the ‘scientific identity’ of scholarly journals in hospitality and tourism research by reviewing and evaluating the approaches and the geographical affiliations of authors published in selected journals. The compiled results are analysed for patterns that appear to reveal the ‘scientific identity’ of each of the selected journals. In particular, scholars can note the particular features of individual journals while acknowledging the width and variety of research designs that are published in these scholarly journals.     

Information technology: changes in the travel trade

The travel trade, as a major service industry of the new ‘information age’, is an eager user of information technology. This article considers what happens when information technology is adopted by the travel industry. Certain impacts are identified including changes in working practices, recruitment policies, the level of employment, an increase in the rationalization and centralization of the communications and distribution networks and the emergence of electronic funds transfer.     

Religion and identity in India’s heritage tourism

The growing worth of heritage in the renegotiation and dissemination of identities has intensified conflicts over whose voice dominates heritage tourism representations. Therefore, this study compares the way India’s heritage is represented by the Indian government, by the domestic tourism trade media and by the popular tourism media. The findings reveal that India is consistently represented as an ethnically diverse nation in which Hinduism preceded and prevailed over all other ethnicities/religions; a portrayal that consolidates the state’s secular nationalist narrative. Furthermore, the trade and popular media emphasize nostalgic experiences of a sanitized colonial history while the government emphasizes accounts of resistance against colonial powers and of suffering due to Muslim atrocities.