The impact of wearable devices on employee wellness programs: A study of hotel industry workers

Hospitality workplaces are particularly challenging contexts in which to implement wellness initiatives. The present study implemented a technology-based wellness intervention to improve various aspects of employee wellness in contemporary hotel workplaces. The participants were given a wearable device (Fitbit, used here as an innovative tool) in order to monitor their activity levels and sleep patterns over a 14-day period. Additionally, the participants provided researchers with food diaries in separate electronic form. Information regarding job satisfaction, job engagement, organizational citizenship behaviors, and intention to leave was obtained before and after the observation period. The results demonstrate an increase in physical activity, an increase in healthy food consumption, and a reduction in overall caloric intake. Furthermore, positive changes in employee engagement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment were noted. Care should be exercised when implementing such interventions in order to ensure data privacy and positive employee relations.     

Corporate social responsibility and employee attitudes: evidence from a study of Polish hotel employees

This study, based on data collected from low-ranking employees working in Polish hotels, tests a research model that investigates whether there are links between corporate social responsibility (CSR), operationalized as “self-related” CSR experiences and “others-related” CSR experiences, and job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and between both attitudes and work engagement. Structural equation modelling was used to assess these relationships, using a 20 point questionnaire answered by 412 respondents. The results indicate that “others-related” CSR experiences are positively associated with satisfaction and commitment, while “self-related” CSR experiences with the latter variable. Likewise, organizational commitment, unlike job satisfaction, was linked to work engagement. However, contrary to our a priori assumptions and prior research, it turned out that job satisfaction was not a predictor of commitment. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications of the findings. The study's most important practical implication is that Polish hotel employees attach weight to responsible behaviour: the hotel industry should perceive CSR in terms of strategic significance. Companies that want a committed and engaged workforce – and, by extension, to enhance their competitiveness – should embrace CSR. The paper concludes by highlighting its limitations and suggesting future research avenues.     

Social learning and sustainable tourism development; local quality conventions in tourism: a Greek case study

This paper presents the trajectory of an innovative organisational scheme, the Local Quality Convention (LQC), concerning sustainable tourism development in the Lake Plastiras area, a less favoured area in Central Greece. It outlines the development issues of the area, the main actors, their views and practices and describes the creation, progress and emerging problems of the LQC scheme. Research reveals contradicting approaches to sustainable tourism development which, in turn, influenced the LQC's evolution. The findings are critically discussed in the light of the Social Learning (SL) approach to social change and sustainable development. According to SL it is only through interactive (participative), concerted action that stakeholders are able to co-construct an issue and its solutions. Given the dominance of “conventional” tourism in Greece as well as the top-down formation and implementation of policies, the importance of the long term facilitation of local stakeholders to achieve sustainable tourism development is demonstrated, along with other related lessons for planners and managers.     

Money illusion and inflation management in tourism: The hotel industry case

Using regression analysis, this study examines the relationship between inflation, room rates, capacity utilization, and profitability in the hotel industry. The results show that room rates and nominal profits have been strongly related to inflation while occupancy rates and real profits have been independent of inflation over the twenty year period examined. Findings suggest general absence of money illusion implying effective inflation management policies.     

Reward climate and its impact on service quality orientation and employee attitudes

This study examined the mediating role of service quality orientation (SQO) on reward climate and employee attitudes. Using a sample drawn from the hotel industry in Hong Kong, we found that reward climate was significantly associated with job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Employees that perceived a strong service reward climate tended to exhibit a more pronounced SQO and in turn higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. These findings underscore the importance of reward climate to the process of service provision. Implications for the establishment of a service reward climate are discussed as are suggestions for future research in this promising new area.     

Service quality and tipping: The moderating role of the quality of food

A substantial body of empirical research has analyzed the disparity between tip size and service evaluation but there has been surprisingly little emphasis on food quality. Since customers rate food quality relatively high along with service and atmosphere, the present study examined food quality as a moderator in the service–tipping relationship.     

The managerial implications of an analysis of tourist profiles and international hotel employee service attitude

Numerous studies indicate that customer satisfaction is closely related to hotel employees’ service attitude, and that distinct segments of a target tourist market require distinct customer service emphases. The enclosed study finds, for example, that Taiwanese tourists generally appreciate friendliness and enthusiasm, Japanese tourists admire courteousness and propriety, and American tourists value immediacy and efficiency. Marketers and personnel managers are therefore well advised to develop training strategies emphasizing empathy, gracious problem solving, and prompt individual attention for Taiwanese, Japanese, and American tourists, respectively. Importance–performance analysis (IPA) can be used to identify crucial aspects of appropriate service and recommend managerial strategies to support their implementation.     

The response of hotel performance to international tourism development and crisis events

This study uses panel regression tests to examine the response of hotel performance to international tourism development and crisis events in Taiwan. Hotel performance measures are revenue (revenue per available room and occupancy rate), profitability (return on assets and return on equity) and stock performance. The crises were the earthquake on September 21, 1999 (the 9/21 earthquake), the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the US (the 9/11 terrorist attacks) and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on April 22, 2003 (the SARS outbreak). This study makes four major contributions. First, test results confirm that international tourism development (ITD), proxied by the growth of total inbound tourist arrivals, has a more direct influence on hotel sales and profitability than it does on hotel stock performance. Second, this study identifies that the absence of a strong tie between ITD and hotel stock returns that was found in previous studies is due to the time-varying discount rate caused by investors’ changing expectations for the prospect of future cash flows from holding hotel stocks. Third, this study finds new evidence that while the poor performance of hotel stocks caused by the 9/21 earthquake and the 9/11 terrorist attacks was attributed to the loss of hotel sales revenue, the adverse effect of the SARS outbreak on hotel stock returns is attributed not only to decreased hotel sales revenue but also to the increased discount rate. Lastly, this study is the first to investigate whether the response of hotel stock returns to ITD depends on the state of economy and concludes that the response of hotel stock performance to ITD in business cycle contraction is statistically different from that in business cycle expansion. Further, although the influence of ITD on hotel stock performance is still irrelevant during expansion periods, ITD can significantly enhance hotel stock returns during contraction periods.     

Is the hotel classification system a good indicator of hotel quality?: An application in Spain

This paper analyses whether the hotel classification system is a good indicator of hotel quality, where quality is defined to be satisfying the expectations and needs of the client. We conducted our research in Spain, where a five-category system using stars is employed. To be exact, the hotel sector of one autonomous community (Cantabria, located in northern Spain) was studied, given that it is these autonomous regions that have exclusive authority to regulate and promote tourism. The results of the study confirm that even though significant quality differences are seen between the different categories, the ranking by quality does not correspond to that by categories. This supports the idea that quality is associated with the delivery of a service according to client expectations, more than it is with establishment category.     

Mass tourism and water efficiency in the hotel industry: A case study

Mass tourism, which has traditionally been associated with an unsustainable use of natural resources and intensive land use, is frequently identified as a major environmental stressor in coastal regions. Nonetheless, mass tourism resorts typically have a compact and vertical urban configuration and have been shown to make more efficient use of water resources than other low-density tourist destinations. This article investigates how the main variables identified by the literature as determinants of water consumption by hotels influences water efficiency in hotels in Lloret de Mar, a well-known mass tourism destination on the Costa Brava in Spain. The results of a generalized linear mixed model show that large, high-rise hotels that attract thousands of tourists annually also benefit from economies of scale in terms of water efficiency.     

The effects of service climate and internal service quality on frontline hotel employees’ service-oriented behaviors

When employees in a service profit chain receive quality internal services, they provide quality services to external customers, but extant research does not address what connects internal and external services. This study espouses service climate as an integral part of the service profit chain by exploring its role in linking internal service management and external service performance, and the boundary conditions in which it operates. Data collected from 538 employees of 81 department managers in 24 Chinese hotels were examined using hierarchical linear modeling. Results suggest that managers’ commitment to service quality affects service climate through empowering leadership, service climate links empowering leadership and employee service-oriented behaviors, and external departments’ internal service quality strengthens the positive effect of service climate on service-oriented behaviors. This study advances the literature by integrating service climate and internal service quality into the service profit chain, helping hospitality managers understand how to foster service-oriented behaviors.     

Managing emotional labor for service quality: A cross-level analysis among hotel employees

This study aims is to unify the concepts of emotional labor and service quality on the basis of job demands–resources theory, which is associated with engagement and burnout in working environments. This study draws upon a sample of data on 863 subordinate–supervisor dyads in 92 service teams at 46 international tourist hotels. The results of hierarchical linear modeling showed that emotional deep acting is positively related to work engagement and eventually leads to a high level of service quality. Conversely, emotional surface acting is positively related to work burnout and ultimately causes a low level of service quality. In addition, this study found cross-level interactions between perceived organizational support (POS) and abusive supervision on the relationships among emotional labor, engagement, burnout, and service quality. The positive effects of deep acting on work engagement and service quality were found to be significantly higher for the moderating effects of POS. However, the negative effects of surface acting on work burnout and service quality were found to be significantly higher for the moderating effects of abusive supervision. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of this study for the hospitality industry are also discussed.     

Exploring empowerment within the Gullah Geechee cultural heritage corridor: implications for heritage tourism development in the Lowcountry

While scholarship on the Gullah Geechee (GG) people has been extensive, little research has examined heritage tourism's potential to empower or disempower the GG. In an attempt to shed light on this, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (GGCHC) was chosen as a case-study site because of its 2006 designation by Congress to protect and promote the unique attributes of the GG's cultural heritage. Qualitative interviews were conducted to unearth how heritage tourism was psychologically, socially, politically and economically empowering or disempowering the GG. The interviews described heritage tourism as having both the potential to be a positive force for good, as well as destructive. Specific positive examples of empowerment discussed were increased pride in being GG, tourism providing opportunities for community members to come together around certain initiatives such as the Sweetgrass Basket Festival, tourism being a ‘carrot’ to clear heirs’ property issues, and the many economic opportunities associated with tourism in the Lowcountry. One example of disempowerment which transcended all four dimensions of empowerment was the claim that frauds were posing as GGs and attempting to benefit from the current renaissance surrounding the culture. Implications to the marketing and management of Lowcountry heritage tourism are discussed.     

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.     

Service quality and customer satisfaction: The moderating effects of hotel star rating

This research contributes to customer satisfaction knowledge with regard to accommodation in South Africa whose star grading differs. A multi-group analysis and an importance-performance map analysis by means of PLS-SEM allow us to differentiate between service quality performance scores and their influences on customer satisfaction across accommodation with a different star grading. The two most important predictors of satisfaction with one-star and two-star category accommodation are the accommodation infrastructure and the employee expertise. Both predictors were found to have relatively low levels of performance. Safety and security and room quality are two significant determinants of satisfaction with three-star establishments, although they under-perform with regard to safety and security. In respect of four-star and five-star accommodation, waiting time and customer interaction, both of which have above average performance scores, influence customer satisfaction. We provide specific guidelines for managerial interventions to improve service quality and guests’ satisfaction for each grading category.     

The segmentation of canary island tourism markets by expenditure: implications for tourism policy

The Canary Islands have an indisputable comparative and competitive edge within the European Union as regards their tourism products. The present study takes a segmented market approach to study the Canary Islands tourism market, featuring a range of tourism products, each of which satisfies to a greater or lesser extent the needs of one segment of demand. It has two objectives: firstly, to ascertain which segments of demand are currently acquired at destination and secondly, to identify within these segments the niches associated with the highest expenditure. This will enable us to draw up guideliness for a regional policy on product innovation that focuses on these niches and thus generates higher levels of local development.     

Applying the means-end chain theory and the laddering technique to the study of host attitudes to tourism

Scholars investigating local residents’ attitudes toward tourism have often used different types of measurement procedures based on positivistic paradigms, while very few researchers have based their studies on purely qualitative approaches. This paper introduces and discusses a qualitative method known as the means-end theory and its associated laddering technique, which can be used to investigate host attitudes to tourism. The laddering technique, based on the means-end approach is recommended to understand values, which influence attitudes, since from a social psychology discourse, values are considered as antecedents of attitudes and opinions. It is argued that through an understanding of the personal values of the respondents, it is possible to have a different perspective on their attitudes and opinions toward tourism. The authors are not claiming that such an approach is superior to other measurement procedures and research paradigms, but argue that the means-end theory and the laddering technique have considerable potential to shed light on issues surrounding this research area. Despite the limitations associated with such methods, it is argued that laddering based on means-end theory deserves further investigation and empirical testing by scholars investigating local residents’ attitudes to development.     

National culture as a driver of pro-environmental attitudes and behavioural intentions in tourism

Abstract

Voluntary changes in consumer behaviour hold significant potential to mitigate the growing environmental repercussions of tourism. Such behavioural changes can occur due to positive behavioural intentions that are in turn underpinned by pro-environmental consumer attitudes. To reinforce voluntary behavioural changes in tourism, it is paramount to understand the major drivers of pro-environmental consumer attitudes. Although national culture can influence pro-environmental attitudes of tourists, its role has been under-researched, especially in the context of emerging tourist markets. This study utilised the environment-orientated dimensions, or value orientations, of major cultural frameworks (Hofstede; Schwartz; Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner) to explore the effect of national culture on pro-environmental attitudes and behavioural intentions in a large-scale quantitative survey of Polish tourists. Correlation between the cultural background of tourists and their pro-environmental attitudes was established, thus highlighting the need for national culture to become an integral element of future scientific, policy-making, and managerial discourse on the key drivers of more sustainable consumer behaviour in tourism.     

Responsible tourism management: The missing link between business owners' attitudes and behaviour in the Cape Town tourism industry

The global threat of climate change, diminishing natural resources and significant socio-economic inequalities is forcing companies and individuals to evaluate the impact they are having on the natural, social and economic environments. This trend has led to an increased availability and demand for socially, environmentally and economically responsible products. The tourism industry relies heavily on the sustained beauty and hospitality of the places and communities it operates in and has come under pressure to manage its negative and positive impacts. Change in the industry has, however, been limited. This paper investigates the current attitudes and perceptions of tourism business owners in Cape Town towards responsible tourism management (RTM) practices. Cape Town as an internationally acclaimed top tourism destination needs to urgently address its low levels of responsible tourism evidence. Survey data of 244 tourism businesses were used to statistically test what factors are causing the low levels of RTM practices in the Cape Town tourism industry. Findings suggest that despite general positive attitudes towards RTM, businesses are not investing time and money into changing management practices. This is a common emerging market phenomenon where resource constraints negatively impact the relationship between what businesses would like to do and what actually gets done. Factors such as the perceived cost of RTM, a highly competitive environment and a perceived lack of government support are further negatively influencing this relationship. Recommendations are made as to how the costs of implementing RTM can be reduced and what channels should be implemented to facilitate change.     

Chinese and Australian tourists' attitudes to nature,animals and environmental issues: Implications for the design of nature-based tourism experiences

This study investigated the differences and similarities between Chinese and Australian visitors' attitudes toward nature, animals and environmental issues, in order to inform the design of visitor experiences and interpretive programs that address the needs and interests of Chinese visitors to Australia. Questionnaires were completed by a total of 267 Chinese and 258 Australian visitors to a nature-based island resort in Queensland, Australia. Results indicate that Chinese visitors had a greater sense of connection with, but more anthropocentric view of nature than Australian visitors; had less experience with, and a greater fear or dislike of animals; and were more aware of, interested in, and concerned about environmental issues. Recommendations are made for the design of interpretive experiences that are relevant and effective for Chinese visitors.