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。     

Tourism stakeholders’ perceptions of national park management in Norway

Local tourism firms represent an important stakeholder interest in national parks. The present study examines these stakeholders’ perceptions of management processes and their assessments of the resulting management plans and operations. This research is based on qualitative interviews with representatives of tourism businesses in two different national park settings in Norway – Rondane National Park and Jotunheimen National Park. The findings illustrate that despite their general support for the national park status, the local tourism stakeholders interviewed had experienced only minor involvement in the management planning process, and had had very little influence in the final management decisions. They believed that opportunities for business operations were lacking due to excessive management restrictions, and that managers lacked competence with regard to business management and tourism development issues. In addition, they thought that management authorities should more explicitly include sustainable tourism development in their visions and goals. Based on the findings, it is assumed that there is potential for local tourism operators to take greater responsibility in planning processes and management operations. It is concluded that measures should be taken to foster durable social links and trustworthy planning partnerships between responsible managers and local tourism stakeholders in the two national parks.     

Successful managerial behaviour for farm-based tourism: A functional approach

Despite the overall growth of rural tourism, not all have benefited equally. This study reports research designed to improve managerial performance in the rural tourism sector in Korea. Six areas are identified as being important: product/service development, business planning and evaluation, promotions, human resource management, networking, and cost reduction. It was found managers in farm-based tourism have primarily concentrated on product/service development, human resource management, and cost reduction. Of these areas, only product/service development and promotions have exhibited a statistically significant effect on real profits and on positive subjective evaluations of financial results. Based on these results, this study suggests that continuous investment in product/service development and promotions should have positive effects on operations and result in increased competitiveness and viability in the Korean farm tourism sector.     

Conflict and agreement in stakeholder attitudes: residents’ and hotel managers’ views of tourism impacts and forest-related tourism development

This paper probes differences in attitudes toward tourism impacts between two leading stakeholder groups in tourism, local residents and the managers of tourism facilities. It uses case study surveys of residents and managers in Belek, Antalya, Turkey. Differences in attitudes across seven main areas are investigated, including the positive and negative economic outcomes of tourism; positive and negative sociocultural impacts; negative environmental impacts; views on further tourism development, and benefits and problems related to forested land close to destinations. The results reveal that some attitudes are held in common – especially positive attitudes including tourism's benefits in creating jobs and income. Differences were mostly observed not in the direction but in the strength of opinion. The most significant differences were found in managers' beliefs that tourism's environmental and social impacts were few, while residents were extremely negative about those impacts. Differences of attitudes on the future use of forestland headed the list of all differences between managers and residents. Divergent loyalties were revealed. Managers supported their business and employers; local people supported their local area. The need for further research, including the role of perhaps distant “moral stakeholders”, and for more comprehensive understanding, and more sustainable outcomes, are highlighted.     

旅游信息服务视阈下的智慧旅游慨念探讨

智慧旅游的丰富实践使研究者不断思考“什么是智慧旅游”的问题,而对这个基本问题虽有很多解答但仍然需要进行探索。文章试图通过对国内外有关智慧旅游的概念进行了梳理,建立起以旅游信息服务为基础的智慧旅游的基本概念,即把智慧旅游定义为旅游者个体在旅游活动过程中所接受的泛在化的旅游信息服务。该定义旨在强调智慧旅游以旅游者个体为核心、以信息服务为载体的支撑体系,以泛在化作为核心内涵,以旅游者行为方式、旅游业营销方式、管理方式和服务方式的根本性变化为主要外延,并据此对国内外智慧旅游概念进行了全面评价。文章的价值在于将智慧旅游的概念与旅游信息化（特别是旅游信息服务）有机结合,既承上启下又能开启智慧旅游发展的新思路。     

Dimensions of Chinese culture values in relation to service provision in hospitality and tourism industry

Factor and reliability analyses were employed in this exploratory attempt to investigate and refine the structure and dimensions of Chinese cultural values (CCVs) in relation to service provision. Based on the results of factor analysis, CCVs could best be conceptualized as a five-component construct that influences the attitude or behavior of employees in providing service. These five factors were identified as follows: Integration 1 (attitude towards work); Integration 2 (attitude towards people); moral discipline; status and relationships; and moderation. The identification of these dimensions has two major implications to human resource development and service management practice in the hospitality and tourism industry. First, Chinese cultural values play a critical role in determining specific interventions, challenges and barriers in service organizational management. Second, given the profound influence of Chinese cultural values on service provision, international tourism and hotel managers, particularly in human resource development, should realize the importance of ensuring that Western management practices are adopted critically in Chinese organizations. Given the limited amount of research on this topic, the findings generated from this study are very important in guiding future research and providing insights into an area that deserves more academic attention.     

Understanding primary stakeholders' multiple roles in hallmark event tourism management

This paper contributes insights into stakeholder theory in hallmark event tourism and the implications for engaging primary stakeholders in further tourism management settings. The tangible and symbolic tourism benefits instilled in destinations by hallmark events are well-documented; with destination managers increasingly adopting event portfolio approaches to nurture and develop existing and new hallmark events. Nevertheless, limited understanding exists of how stakeholders engage with hallmark events over time; their lived experiences in event tourism; and consequent management implications. This paper uncovers multiple and shifting roles of primary stakeholders in a long-established hallmark event tourism context (Edinburgh's Festival Fringe). It presents a typology identifying five primary stakeholder roles. Phenomenological interviews with twenty-one primary stakeholders revealed that most fulfilled multiple roles. Existing concurrently and historically, these differed throughout stakeholders' lived experiences and engagement. In its findings, this paper extends knowledge of stakeholders' roles in event tourism and implications in further tourism management settings.     

Conceptualizing visitor satisfaction management in heritage settings: an exploratory blueprinting analysis of Leeds Castle, Kent

Historic buildings are central to the cultural identity of European nations, many are also important tourist attractions, but their internal configurations are idiosyncratic, with steep narrow stairways, many passageways and tiny windows. These conditions present contemporary heritage managers with a range of problems relating to conservation, as well as presentation and visitor management. This paper examines the relationship between service design concepts and the management of visitors' experiences and satisfaction within a heritage setting, applying a modified service blueprinting approach, based on visit diaries and interviews with management, in an exploratory study of Leeds Castle, one of Britain's oldest historic houses. The limitations of the research method are considered, and the paper discusses the need for further research into the management of visitor experiences in the heritage sector of tourism.     

Micro-mobility patterns and service blueprints as foundations for visitor management planning

This paper proposes the use of micro-mobility patterns and service blueprints in visitor management planning. It argues that such planning approaches can improve management outcomes as well as visitor experiences whilst adding efficiency to the relevant management processes. The paper is based on the findings of visitor research on visitor flows and perceptions of visitor management in a nature-based tourism attraction in Wellington, New Zealand. These findings are used to adapt a service blueprint for the overall attraction to separately reflect visitor experiences of international visitors and New Zealanders. The paper posits that it is thus possible to identify and subsequently address the visitor management requirements of different visitor groups. Implications are discussed at three levels; first, for the case study attraction; second, for tourism attractions more broadly; third, conceptual implications for visitor management research are considered. Specific findings include the differences in micro-mobilities found across different market sectors, the need to improve signposting to offer distance and time guidance, the importance of topography, the potential to spread usage pressures across sites and the future potential to use mobile GPS units to obtain more detailed information.     

Predictors of Service Effort

ABSTRACT

Improving service quality will continue to be a vital goal for hospitality and tourism organizations in the new millennium. As service worker performance directly impacts customer's evaluation of quality, further investigation of methods of improving performance are necessary. Service effort is a construct that has received little attention in the literature, but may be a significant factor in linking employee attitudes and customer perceptions of service quality. This exploratory study tested three popular managerial constructs to determine the extent to which they predict service effort. Using data from 331 service workers from two cruise line operations organizations, motivation, organizational commitment and job satisfaction were regressed against service effort. Results indicate that organizational commitment was the greatest predictor of service effort, followed by motivation. One dimension of job satisfaction (satisfaction with company), failed to yield a significant relationship with service effort, while satisfaction with supervisor yielded a slightly negative coefficient. Implications for hospitality and tourism managers and organizations are discussed.     

旅游公共服务:内涵、特征与分类框架

为适应旅游发展的新形势,加强和完善旅游公共服务已经成为各级旅游管理部门一项紧迫而重要的任务。本文基于公共产品等相关理论,从旅游公共服务的服务对象、特性以及相关概念之间的区别等方面对旅游公共服务的内涵范畴、特征进行界定和探讨。根据旅游公共服务的属性特征、内容构成、存在形态、受益影响范围以及需求差异,笔者对旅游公共服务进行全面、系统的划分与归类,为行政管理部门提供具有理论基础的决策依据,以满足公众日益增长的旅游公共服务需求。     

Perceptions of management difficulty factors by expatriate hotel professionals in China

Successful overseas hotel operations depend on technically competent and culturally adaptable expatriate managers. This study reveals that expatriate hotel professionals from many different countries are now working in China. It examines and analyses the perceptions of six management difficulty factors by the expatriate hotel professionals. Staff attitude and lack of competence of the local managers are identified as the most difficult management factors, followed by language barriers, cultural differences and lack of local management support. Government policy change is perceived as the least difficult factor. The empirical findings of this study can be used by the Chinese tourism authority to improve the business environment for foreign investment and management; and by multinational hotel corporations to strengthen training programs in preparing expatriate managers for management assignments in China.     

Essential customer service factors and the segmentation of older visitors within wellness tourism based on hot springs hotels

Tourism-related industries have emphasized the wellness tourism market when numerous countries now face an aging population. Many studies have indicated that strong customer service increases competitive advantage. However, customer service-related research from the perspectives of customers and operators is rare. This study adopted a two-phase approach to incorporate the perspectives of older adults and operators in wellness tourism into the service factors. We extracted service factors from face-to-face interviews with senior managers and experienced consultants of the hot springs hotel industry conducted in Phase 1. During Phase 2, we interviewed older adults at hot springs, and performed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to examine the reliability and validity of customer service factors. The results highlighted the following seven customer service factors: “health promotion treatments,” “mental learning,” “experience of unique tourism resources,” “complementary therapies,” “relaxation,” “healthy diet,” and “social activities.” According to these service factors, the older adults interviewed were divided into a holistic group, physiocare group, and leisure and recreation group using cluster analysis. Finally, we propose socio-demographic variables for describing the specific characteristics of the three clusters identified.     

Stakeholders,industry knowledge and adaptive management in the Australian whale-watching industry

Whale watching has become an economically valuable tourism sector. The whale-watching industry is complex, involves multiple stakeholders and can involve multilevel governance. This paper uses the concept of adaptive management to underpin an investigation of industry knowledge and information exchange between two key stakeholder groups in whale watching in Australia – whale-watching operators and environmental resource managers. Twenty commercial operators and nine environmental resource managers were interviewed using both quantitative and open-ended questions. Findings showed key differences between stakeholders involved, and inconsistent perspectives across the industry. Resource managers found biological issues, species health and numbers and interpretation important; operators sought clear and consistent knowledge on compliance, legislation and rules. Only half of the operators had direct access to research and researchers. Managers found the industry to be relatively unprofessionally qualified, especially small and non-specialised operators. Whale-watching operators did not specify that any information (about new knowledge, regulations or policy) was obtained from environmental resource managers through information exchanges. There was inconsistent contact between stakeholders, limiting information exchange and the knowledge-building potential of the industry. Improved dialogue between these groups may not only address existing uncertainties, but also lead to more sustainable outcomes across the industry.     

Meeting revenue management challenges: Knowledge,skills and abilities

Hospitality industry increasingly recognizes importance of integrating revenue management into their operations and significance of their staff to do so. Yet revenue managers face major challenges from both internal and external sources. Hence revenue staff dealing with several sophisticated problems should possess various knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) to enable them effectively overcome these obstacles. However which specific capabilities are required to what extent are not clear. Therefore this study aims to match the challenges that are faced by hotel revenue managers with KSAs required in managing inventory and prices. A two step qualitative method is adopted; first 14 revenue managers were interviewed and secondly a focus group with eight participants was conducted in order to identify challenges and competencies required in improving revenue management effectiveness. Thus this study offers a typology of challenges faced by revenue managers and it also identifies KSAs that are required by revenue management staff.     

Skills and Competencies Needed for the Hong Kong Hotel Industry

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry is one of the main sources of income to Hong Kong. If qualified employees provide better service, Hong Kong can potentially attract even more visitors. The training of new recruits and existing staff is therefore vital, but views on the value and the type of training vary amongst the stakeholders. This study of the views of hotel human resources managers revealed that they considered that people who were interested in developing their career in the hospitality industry must be prepared to start at the bottom. The hotel human resources managers strongly believe that employees must have a positive service-mind and commitment to the industry with a certain degree of working experience. Employers perceived these were important components to success for every member of staff, rather than having a good educational background. Such qualifications will raise the status of the hotel industry in general and enhance the status of the service providers as professionals.     

Service-leadership competencies for hospitality and tourism management

Competency models have become useful tools for management development in hospitality and tourism organizations. At the same time, these models provide limited focus on leadership behaviors that facilitate employee service performance and customer satisfaction. The present study seeks to address this issue by developing a “service-leadership” competency model for use in the hospitality and tourism context. The following study reports on the results of interviews with 110 industry managers, which yielded a model of some 100 behaviors in 20 competency areas. These competencies cluster into 3 high order categories, namely business savvy, people savvy and self savvy. The results of the study are discussed in the context of extant research.     

旅游公共服务的理论认知与实践判断——兼与李爽商榷

在中国旅游市场呈现出大众化、散客化、常态化的新趋势下,旅游公共服务体系成为影响游客满意度和目的地竞争力的关键因素。由于旅游业在中国长期被作为高度市场化的经济产业看待,人们对旅游公共服务体系建设的依据和重要性缺乏认识,因而在理论研究和实践探索中均出现不少问题。文章检视了已有研究对于旅游公共服务理论认知的相关论点,着力分析了李爽等的旅游公共服务论所存在的核心概念认知矛盾、理论理解和实践判断偏差问题。在此基础上提出了笔者对于旅游公共服务的理论认知,从5个W和1个H的角度阐述了旅游公共服务的内涵、外延、属性、服务的对象与供给主体、供给机制与时空条件。文章认为,旅游公共服务的主体内容体现为旅游基础设施、目的地推广、旅游权益保障三大方面;其本质是公益性服务,服务供给机制和方式的多元化并不等同于责任提供主体的多元化;旅游者的共同需求和目的地公共利益的性质及其客观存在,决定了旅游并非纯粹市场化领域,政府提供旅游公共服务是正当的,也是应该的。当下中国旅游公共服务的主要问题不是过多,而是欠缺与低效并存。旅游行政部门虽然承担着最大、最多的公共服务职能,但对这一职能的性质、内容和功效的认识并不到位,与旅游者的期望和需求还有较大距离。     

Sustainable service design and revenue management for electric tour bus systems: seoul city tour bus service and the eco-mileage program

Sustainable tourism has true sustainability when it is designed economically and in an environmentally friendly fashion. A variety of methods has been explored to achieve sustainable tourism, and the use of new technologies is a significant trend for sustainable tourism. In the City Tour Bus service, an environmentally friendly tour service can be achieved by using electric buses. Moreover, the social energy saving program helps to reduce the economic burden of building eco-friendly services by providing economic incentives as rewards for environmental contributions. Two mathematical models are newly developed to quantitatively design and operate a sustainable City Tour Bus service. Mathematical model I is developed with two objective functions of minimizing total investment cost and CO₂ emissions. It derives from Pareto solutions with different number of electric buses and battery capacities. Based on the solutions of mathematical model I and the economic incentive from the social energy saving program, mathematical model II investigates the optimal unit service price. Proposed quantitative approaches are applied to the Seoul City Tour Bus service with Seoul Eco-Mileage Program. These new approaches are expected to build and manage sustainable tourism system in scientific way. Moreover, they will provide quantitative bridge between sustainable transportation system and social programs beyond tourism industry.     

Practicing What We Preach in Tourism Education and Research

Abstract

As teachers of both strategic and operational management in tourism/hospitality programs, we constantly stress the importance of research as a means of providing critical information for destination planning and development. At the same time, in our capacity as managers of academic programs, it is not uncommon for many of us to overlook the use of research in the management of these programs. While we normally undertake market assessments before establishing new programs, and regularly gather operational data on teaching performance, this paper argues that based on the existing literature, tourism education program managers generally fail to take sufficient advantage of several strategic research approaches that are heavily used in other management contexts.

Having recognized their own shortcoming in this regard, the present authors have attempted to rectify it by formally integrating a selected number of widely used research approaches into the overall management of their programs. The results, we believe, demonstrate just how valuable the use of formal program research can be in setting innovative directions for program design and development, for enhancing student satisfaction with specific courses, and for evaluating the overall efficiency and effectiveness of well established programs.

Part I of the present discussion examines the use and usefulness of one major research technique for tourism education program design and management. The technique in question is Strategic Visioning.