‘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.     

The ‘Wining and dining’ project — I. ‘The wine adviser’, a deductive database

This section of the paper describes The Wine Adviser, a deductive database on wine, that was developed in the framework of the WINING AND DINING Project in applied artificial intelligence. The Wine Adviser provides information on wines of interest to final customers and restaurant management.     

Tourism planning : The case for ‘market failure’

Tourism planning has been looked upon as a means of maximizing benefits from tourism development; however, there has been limited research on the accomplishments of tourism plans. This paper provides a longrun analysis of tourism planning in Pacific island destinations, using Hawaii, French Polynesia and the Cook Islands as case examples. A major conclusion of the study is that government tourism plans have little probability of influencing market forces to achieve economic success in destination areas. In view of this, future government planning efforts should be redirected to focus on issues such as the negative social and environmental impacts which are not ameliorated by market forces, leaving the private sector to assume the planning and financial risks of developing specific tourist areas. In order to achieve this, government tourism organizations may have to be restructured from economic development and/or marketing organizations to incorporate broad social responsibilities.     

The ‘Wining and dining’ project — II. ‘Fidel-Gastro’ an expert system for gastronomy and terminal food-processing

Expert systems are being applied to the performance of tasks in a variety of domains. Some existing systems or prototypes interest hospitality management or related areas.To illustrate both applications that are already available, and perspective applications, a set of expert systems is introduced, developed under the direction of the author, in the domain of recreational activities and of alimentation. Three systems are then discussed, developed by different authors, and are applied to the domains of real estate, room rental and hospitality management.     

The failure of ‘control’ in the hospitality industry

This paper explores the relationship between the literature on the issue of control and the realities of the hospitality industry. Management control is related to the unsanctioned entrepreneurial activities of operatives (illustrated by the ‘taxi scam’), the failure of computer systems used to control operatives, and the failure of the hospitality industry to exploit the potential of the new technology. The paper suggests that management's (and a significant part of the literature in this area) failure within hospitality is linked to the perception of the role of the hospitality manager as one of policing the industry.     

Creating national parks — ‘a grand, good thing?’

Peter Donnelly of McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, discusses some unintended consequences of creating national and countryside parks. The poor representation of the general public in decision making and determination of appropriate use of parks, coupled with the distinction between publicly-owned and privately-owned land, means that untrammelled countryside recreation becomes the prerogative of the wealthy.     

The ‘demographic timebomb’ and how some hospitality employers are responding to the challenge

The phrase ‘demographic timebomb’ has taken on the aura of a shibbholeth and that everyone knows they ought to be fearful about. But is it really understood and what needs to be done? This article seeks to answer these questions and to shed some light on the employment strategies being developed by some British hospitality employers to counteract the demographic changes of the 1990s. As a result, some of the myth that the hospitality industry is lagging behind other industries can be dispelled but other findings support popular testimony that the industry faces special problems.     

Conceptual modelling ‘outline’ for a new fast-food facility

This paper is an attempt to illustrate the use of models as a means of designing a new catering operation in the fast-food sector. The complex nature of any catering business is such that careful definition of its components and their interactions and the inter-relationships requires some form of systematic approach. The central core of this approach is the formulation of a model composed of seven major elements which although designed specifically for a fast-food situation will, with modification, suit most catering operations.     

‘Quest for quality’ was the theme of the 7th annual Caribbean tourism conference held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 14–17 June, 1983. David Edgell of the US travel and tourism administration reports.

The growth of inbound international tourism to the USA has been great in recent years yet recognition of its economic and other importance has not always grown at the same rate. David Edgell, Director of the Office of Policy and Planning of the US Travel and Tourism Administration, here argues the need for more coordinated policies towards tourism at the local and national level, for concomitant improved funding and for increasing efforts at all levels to attract the international traveller to the USA. This viewpoint is the substance of a speech made to the National Association of Regional Council's in Kansas City, Missouri, in May 1983. Since that date some moves have been made at the national level to increase federal funding for tourism.     

Residents’ perceptions of community tourism impacts

This study investigated residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on communities. Data were collected via a statewide survey, using social exchange theory; results suggest residents recognize many positive and negative consequences. Those who feel tourism is important for economic development, benefit from it, and are knowledgeable about the greater positive impacts, but do not differ from others with respect to perceptions of tourism’s negative consequences. It is becoming clear that broad-based education and awareness campaigns may be a step toward increased understanding of the industry and, ultimately, greater support of the benefits to a community.     

Clearing the path to sustainable mass tourism: A response to Peeters

Peeters’ well-considered rejoinder emphasises the utility of a systems approach for framing the planning and management of sustainable tourism that takes into account global as well as local impacts. All five factors that are alleged to facilitate sustainable tourism are necessarily dynamic and speculative, and hence contestable, and more attention needs to be paid to the synergistic effects of all five interacting together. A reform-based path to sustainable mass tourism convergence, proceeding along organic, incremental and induced paths, is therefore still regarded as a valid macro-perspective on the evolution of contemporary tourism.     

Dark tourism on Netflix: From place to person-dependent

Dark tourism has recently garnered significant interest as a niche market on an academic level, witnessed by the increasing number of papers on the subject. Despite various attempts having been made to categorize different types of dark site, most of these have been place-dependent, therefore overshadowing the role of the cultural intermediary at a dark site. This conceptual research attempts to offer a different categorization of dark attractions based on the Netflix documentary series Dark Tourist. The aim is to show that, given the role played by the cultural intermediary in dark storytelling, some dark attractions are basically person-dependent and award little importance to the place, which opens up new marketing options within the dark attraction spectrum. Six fundamental roles of dark intermediaries are identified, ranging from typical tour guides to the villains themselves; that is, from light to darker person-dependent attractions.     

Web users’ behavioural patterns of tourism information search: From online to offline

This paper presents a conceptual framework of Web users’ engagement in tourism information search for a comprehensive understanding of their integrated online and offline search behaviour. The information search experiences are characterised as a process constituting some common elements: prior knowledge and searching experiences, online searching strategies, processing and recording information, barriers to online searching, reasons for ending an online search, summarising information, exchanging information and searching for more information through other sources. Such behaviour goes beyond the scope of information searching and captures the other activities, including information processing, utilising and disseminating. The grounded theory research method is employed as an inductive investigative process in which the authors construct the framework by systematically collecting and analysing data. The aim of this research method is to build a theory. The data sets consist of both semi-structured in-depth interviews with subjects and their field observations based on online searching. A theoretical model incorporating 10 propositions is proposed for future testing.     

Local reactions to mass tourism and community tourism development in Macau

By 2014, it became apparent that a popular debate was emerging in many destinations about the “annoyances” felt by local residents in the face of an upsurge in inbound tourism. This study investigates residents’ attitudes toward mass tourism and tourism development in Macau. It comprises an examination of three emotional solidarity factors of residents’ perceptions of the contribution of tourism to the community and the community's experiences of so-called “annoyances” from tourists that may ultimately influence residents’ attitudes toward community tourism development. The results of this study reveal that three emotional solidarity factors play different roles in influencing residents’ attitudes about community tourism and community tourism development. The theoretical contributions, as well as implications, are discussed and future research opportunities are proposed.     

Customer relationship management in small–medium enterprises: The case of Turkish tourism industry

In this study, the factors influencing the implementation of customer relationship management (CRM) at small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Cappadocia were analyzed. The findings of the research indicate that communication-distribution infrastructure, business dynamics, customer relations and innovation-quality factors affect CRM. Business dynamics plays an especially critical role in customer relations. It was also determined that the most important barriers to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector are inadequate supporting budgets, lack of senior management commitment to CRM and poor communication.     

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.     

Re-materialising the religious tourism experience: A post-human perspective

Using ethnographic research into Christian Orthodox religious tourists' performances in Tinos, Greece, this paper traces the complex pathways of human and material entanglement in creating religious experiences. While religions stage material performances by ascribing sign and use value to objects, affect through doing allows for different modes of understanding and performance, in which the material nature plays an essential role. This paper contributes in recognising the importance of materials' thingness in the religious experience, allowing for alternative performances and expressions of belief. Understanding the way materials can enable or even overshadow the sense of religiousness is important for the successful management of the spatial distribution of objects in religious sites.