Redefining Asian tourism

Research examining Asian tourism destinations and markets has burgeoned, paralleling the region's economic and middle-class growth. However, despite this burgeoning, extant studies tend to replicate theories and models from western tourism literature, with few attempts to interpret tourism from and in Asia through an indigenous lens. This editorial provides an overview of the current state of play in relation to past Asian tourism special issues, book publications and research articles as well as papers included in this special issue. Through the broad themes of deconstructing the universality of tourism knowledge, legitimising other ways of knowing, and convergence of knowledge, we borrow the lenses of research articles included in this special issue to critically examine colonised knowledge, offer alternative ways of conceptualising Asian tourism, and reflect on our journey of composing this special issue. Suggestions are provided for future researchers to take on this path of decolonising tourism knowledge.     

Sexual behavior in women's tourist experiences: Motivations,behaviors, and meanings

The research literature has traditionally focused on commercial sex tourism between tourists and locals but virtually ignored sexual behavior among tourists themselves. This exploratory study aspires to fill this gap by creating a taxonomy of non-commercial sex for women who engage in various forms of tourism. The analysis of in-depth interviews with Israeli self-defined heterosexual women reveals that different forms of tourism involve various types of sexual behavior as follows: (1) ‘Practicing Sex’ referring to sex on rest and relaxation vacations; (2) ‘Must Have Sex’ relating to sex on city break vacations; (3) ‘Sexual Adventure’ describing casual sex on backpacking trips; (4) ‘Controlled Sexual Desire’ referring to work related trips and vacations with children. The study findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to the research area of sex in tourism.     

Film tourism – Evolution,progress and prospects

Film tourism has emerged as a major growth sector for research in tourism and it is widely recognised as a driver of tourism development for many destinations. To date, there has been a relatively substantial literature on the subject, little of which has sought to synthesise and engage with the wider social science paradigm of culture, film and media research. The aim of this Progress Review is to critically evaluate film tourism as a subject of cross-disciplinary academic study, highlighting the major research themes, issues and contributing conceptual frameworks, critiquing existing and developing perspectives and addressing critical gaps in knowledge. This review is particularly timely as the literature on film tourism has not been synthesised from a cross-disciplinary perspective. Accordingly, this paper seeks to provide a road map of the exponential growth in social science literature associated with the cognate areas that study, or contribute to, film tourism.     

Women as vectors of social entrepreneurship

Drawing on the literature examining women in the tourism sector and social entrepreneurship, this article critically explores a theoretical framework for analyzing the role of women owner-managers of small tourism firms (STFs) as social entrepreneurs. Through a qualitative analysis of owner-managers of STFs, the article provides evidence of how women integrate social transformational and commercial goals in their business strategies, while serving defined communities around the tourism sector. By critically examining the operationalization of these goals and community needs, the development impacts of women-owned STFs and opportunities for women social entrepreneurship in the tourism sector are identified and discussed.     

An agile marketing capability maturity framework

This work proposes a four-stage maturity framework for the development of an agile marketing capability (AMC) in the context of MICE tourism. Through an inductive study based on 16 semi-structured interviews with CEOs and managers, we provide a snapshot of organizations at varying levels of maturity in the management and development of AMC based on the degree of “sophistication” undertaken in approximately four dimensions (customer-oriented responsiveness, high flexibility, human collaboration, quick and continuous improvement). Recommendations to further enrich the debate toward this novel line of inquiry are presented. This study also has important implications for managers, offering a useful tool to assess and improve their marketing efforts to develop AMC and achieve greater abilities to adapt to dynamic and fast-changing environments.     

The impact of women's empowerment on sustainable tourism development: Mediating role of tourism involvement

Women's empowerment has been prioritised in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) recently, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030; albeit, women are still underrepresented in tourism industry. However, if robust women's empowerment is consolidated into planning and implementation processes, tourism can act as a vehicle for encouraging gender parity. This study examines the direct impact of women's empowerment (psychologically, politically, and socially) on sustainable tourism development (STD) and the indirect impact through tourism involvement. A total of 1000 women involved in the tourism industry in KSA filled out self-administrated questionnaires, analyzed using SPSS™ and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with AMOS. The results suggest that tourism involvement partially mediates the relationship between psychological and political empowerment and STD. Nonetheless, it fully mediates the relationship between social empowerment and STD. Several implications of the results for both policy-makers, tourism planners and tourism scholars are discussed.     

Women in tourism: Shifting gender ideology in the DR

The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which the employment of women in the tourism industry has challenged or reinforced the traditional machismo–marianismo gender ideology in the Dominican Republic. Semi-structured individual, coupled, and group interviews were conducted in 12 coastal communities to investigate residents’ perceptions about gender ideology as it intersects with the employment of women in tourism. The findings reveal tourism employment as a source of opportunity, with women gaining economic and social independence, but also conflict as women and men negotiate new gender roles and identities. Emphasizing issues such as the double workload, negotiating domestic tasks with partners, and tension resulting from employment, this study illuminates the pressing practical needs of Dominican women.     

女性高管会提升旅游企业绩效吗?——来自旅游上市公司的经验研究

旅游业是女性就业较为集中的行业。近年来,我国旅游企业中女性高管不断增加,文章以2003-2016年期间我国旅游上市公司作为样本,基于高阶理论构建研究假设,并利用非平衡面板数据建立计量经济学模型,实证研究我国旅游上市公司中女性高管对企业绩效的影响。研究发现,旅游上市企业中女性高管对企业绩效具有显著促进作用;然而,对酒店行业的进一步分析表明,女性高管对酒店企业绩效的正向作用,会因为行业高度竞争压力的存在而受到抑制。研究结果丰富了现阶段女性研究相关文献,也为旅游企业管理决策提供了理论依据和经验支持。     

The missing link of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in tourism: A qualitative research on Amsterdam Pride

This research aims at exploring and interpreting critically the impacts of tourism on Amsterdam Pride festival in the context of gender equality (SDG 5) and responsible consumption (SDG 12) based on the perceptions and meaning-makings of tourists/visitors attending the Amsterdam Pride. Drawing on 40 in-depth interviews with LGBTQ+ participants supported by participant observation during the event to ensure data triangulation for reflexive inquiry, an inductive thematic content analysis was conducted. The findings highlight that Pride from past to present has been undergoing a major transformation from political and grassroots movements towards a more commercial and an entertainment activity as a new field of agency whose ‘fun’ is also political. This research also contributes to the understanding of gender equality (SDG 5) through considering sexual and gender identity minorities that are not highlighted in SDGs.     

Antecedents,mediation effects and outcomes of hotel eco-innovation practice

Eco-innovation is essential if we are to improve the environmental impacts of tourism firms. Building on the natural-resource-based view (NRBV) of the firm, we hypothesize that eco-innovation is the mediating factor between four firm-level antecedents (opportunity-recognizing and opportunity-capitalizing capabilities, top managers’ attitudes and stakeholder pressures) and three outcomes (cost and differentiation, with respect to a firm’s competitive advantage, and its resulting organizational performance). Partial least squares structural equation modelling is applied to the data from a survey with hotel managers in China, and confirms all of the hypotheses, except two, namely: i) that cost competitive advantage is positively related to hotel performance, and ii) that eco-innovation fully mediates the relationships between opportunity-recognizing capability and both dimensions of competitive advantage. Our contribution to the NRBV theory with a novel, integrated model to predict the mediating role that eco-innovation plays between firm-level resources and capabilities, and competitive advantages.     

A phenomenological explication of guanxi in rural tourism management: A case study of a village in China

Drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology in tourism studies as well as Heidegger's concept of being-in-the-world, this paper reveals how tourism can and should be done in a Chinese rural village. This research contributes a contextual interpretation of guanxi in Chinese rural tourism development through an empirical study of a traditional agricultural village in China that has been transformed through tourism development. The paper argues that for the Chinese indigenous residents who are the primary actors engaged in tourism, guanxi is, neither a Confucian political ideal nor an instrumental tool, but the specific manner in which they dwell in their place. It demonstrates how the tourist destination, landscape and managerial regulation have been modified and adapted in a guanxi way. The paper suggests that an emic understanding of guanxi and the roles it plays in tourism participants' daily life is warranted and can provide a more holistic picture of tourism development in rural China.     

When rich pictorial information backfires: The interactive effects of pictures and psychological distance on evaluations of tourism products

Using data from five studies (i.e., a pilot study and four experiments), we examine the interactive effects of pictures and psychological proximity on consumers' evaluation of tourism products. The extant literature has suggested that providing rich pictorial information or construing a psychologically proximal tourism product can independently increase consumers’ generation of mental images and render a positive attitudinal judgment. However, our findings on the effectiveness of these two strategies in combination are mixed. Specifically, we find that if the tourism product is a psychologically distal one, consumers evaluate it more favorably when rich pictorial information is provided than when the information is not available. If the product is a psychologically proximal one, the reverse is true. Our findings, therefore, suggest an important situation that might be intriguing to both tourism product managers and advertisers --when rich pictorial information backfires.     

Segmenting foodies for a foodie destination

ABSTRACT

The consumption of food is an integral part of a tourism experience. As foodie travellers seek out unique food experiences, it is valuable for tourism destination managers to understand their preferences and behaviours. Using a 61-item foodie activity scale, 2948 surveys were analyzed to determine clusters of foodies. The findings suggest that researchers or destination managers should avoid a “one size fits all” approach in the development of foodie destinations. Giving attention to the travel preferences and types of experiences that foodie segments prefer may allow communities reap the benefits of serving as a destination for foodie travellers.     

Beyond the glass ceiling: Gendering tourism management

This article considers how Acker’s (1990, 2012) framework of gendering processes can be a tool for the analysis of women managers’ careers in tourism organisations. Twenty-four women top-level managers in hotels and travel businesses were interviewed. The analysis of gendering processes in the organisations where these women work revealed that hidden discrimination is more pervasive than overt discrimination. Three main gender subtexts underlie these gendering processes: the notion of the ‘ideal’ unencumbered worker and assumptions of women’s greater family-orientation; the expectation that women are less competent than men; and male homosocial ties and exclusionary practices. It is concluded that Acker’s framework can be a good tool for de-legitimising subtle and normalised forms of discrimination in tourism organisations.     

Tradeshow Managers

ABSTRACT

Technology adoption in the tourism industry has been widely reported. Tradeshows, which play a vital part in the tourism economy, have not been investigated to the same extent. This study focuses on tradeshow managers' use of technology, particularly the Internet. Using Rogers' Innovation-Diffusion Theory model, the present research queried the managers of the Tradeshow 200 (the 200 largest tradeshows in the United States) to assess their feelings about technology innovations. Tradeshow managers were also asked about Time Poverty Issues as identified by Forsythe and Bailey. Technology usage has become infused into the jobs of show managers. At the same time, correlations between technology adoption and feelings of time poverty were discovered.     

A Highlight of Tourism and Hospitality Education Issues in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This paper was written to explore the opinions of the hospitality human resource managers in Taiwan about current tourism and hospitality education provisions. Major issues regarding tourism and hospitality education in Taiwan were identified. Based on the research findings, a number of conclusions were drawn and specific suggestions for the future of the tourism and hospitality education in Taiwan were proposed.     

Discovering highly profitable travel patterns by high-utility pattern mining

Travel diaries have been widely used by tourism researchers to gain insights into the travel behaviors of travelers because of their rich information. However, their potentials have not been fully utilized due to the unawareness of the utility information hidden within. Existing works have mainly focused on identifying popular travel patterns in the travel diaries, while overlooking their potential profitable benefits. To fill this gap, we introduce the concept of “utility” into the analysis of travel diaries and present high-utility pattern mining technique for the effective discovery of highly valuable travel patterns. We demonstrate the benefit of this approach through a case study using a large-scale travel diary data set constructed from venue check-in data. The findings are useful for tourism managers to develop valuable travel packages. The presented approach is general and can be applied to various tourism contexts to explore highly profitable travel and purchasing patterns.     

Culture as determinant of the attractiveness of a tourism region

Ritchie, J.R. Brent and Michel Zins, “An Empirical Evaluation of the Role of Culture and its Components as Determinants of the Attractiveness of a Tourism Region,” Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. V, No. 2, April/June 1978, pp. 252–267. This study examines how explicit manifestations of culture are related to the attractiveness of a tourism region. A mail questionnaire was employed to obtain the opinions of managers and functionaries from various sectors of tourism and from different areas of cultural develppment. Survey results were subsequently reviewed by respondents within the framework of discussion workshops. These orkshops provided qualitative enrichment of the quantitative findings and formulated detailed recommendations for tourist development programs.     

Existentially understanding tourism in locale: A dwelling perspective

This study draws heavily on Heidegger's post turn thinking of dwelling to provide a philosophically informed approach to comprehend host perceptions of tourism. The philosophical premise of dwelling, including (to) poetically dwell and the fourfold, existentially conceptualizes the host community and destination site as a oneness where host perceptions are formed and tourism-created consequences occur. A hermeneutic-phenomenological investigation of a village-based tourism initiative in China demonstrates that guanxi as the manner of dwelling fundamentally frames how a local destination community perceives tourism; in turn, the ongoing tourism development has profoundly influenced the hosts' existential condition (i.e., the fourfold), leading them to unpoetically dwell.     

Land,Settler identity,and tourism memories

This paper draws on theoretical insights associated with settler colonial studies and a collective memory work methodology to illuminate the multiple and contested meanings of land conveyed in tourism memory narratives of Settler Canadians. As part of a multi-day nature-based tourism experience in June 2019, 16 Settler co-participants wrote, and collectively analyzed, memory texts associated with travel experiences that they felt expressed genuinely Canadian and Indigenous qualities. Thematic analysis of memory narratives and co-participant discussions show how land meanings—specifically, land as organizer, educator, connector, and sustainer—relate to the dynamics of Settler identity. The paper thus builds upon emerging scholarship on tourism and settler colonialism and contributes pathways for decolonizing Settler-Indigenous relations in tourism and tourism research.