Fostering corporate sustainability in tourism management through social values within collective value co-creation processes

Collective value co-creation is not fully explored in management research. The phenomenon of social value co-creation has not been investigated in detail either, particularly regarding sustainable tourism management. In our work, we investigate the role of social values within the collective value co-creation process, as a key factor for building sustainable tourism management practices able to generate sustainable benefits to all stakeholders. The study setting is Sardex, a complementary currency community based in Sardinia (Italy). By adopting a qualitative methodology, and through face-to-face interviews, the entrepreneurs’ relationships were analysed using dialogue, trust, and reciprocity as core factors of value co-creation within the hospitality and tourism firms grouped in Sardex. Particularly, we explored whether, and to what extent, reciprocity was the salient factor in the process of value co-creation. Findings show that social values, and especially reciprocity, are the backbone of value co-creation: they foster corporate social orientation, which brings together corporate social responsibility and sustainability, and represent our contribution to enrichen theoretical and practical perspectives in this multidimensional field.     

THE MOBILITIES OF HOSPITALITY WORK: AN EXPLORATION OF ISSUES AND DEBATES

In this paper we highlight the contribution which an understanding of mobilities brings to an analysis of hospitality work. The complex mobilities of hospitality employees are playing an increasing role within global tourism and hospitality sectors. Our discussion explores notions of voluntary mobility as motivated by work and lifestyle factors. We challenge the commonplace conceptualisation of tourism and hospitality employment which has been predicated upon the nature of the work itself rather than on the diverse experience backgrounds; social and geographical origins; and motivating attributes of those who work in the sector. In taking this approach, we question conventional management discourses of hospitality labour processes and illustrate the value of adopting a mobilities framework within tourism and hospitality studies.     

Identifying ecological sustainability assessment factors for ecotourism and trophy hunting operations on private rangeland in Namibia

This paper reports on long-term research conducted in Lombok, Indonesia into the social and socio-economic outcomes of tourism development within a heterogeneous community of migrant settlers and native residents. It explores the outcomes of international development agency work in the area. It explains how while most of the case study's tourism attractions are part of the indigenous heritage of the wetu telu Sasak, they derive few economic benefits from that heritage. Local women in particular struggle to access the new development opportunities that tourism offers. Benefits tend to flow to incoming migrant groups and to men. The prevailing conditions of culture, education, ethnicity, gender, politics, history, location, mobility, socio-economy, tourism skills and knowledge constitute key barriers. Further constraints, often overlooked, result from an “institutional culture” within aid projects that promotes business ahead of social development.     

Indicators of Sustainable Tourism in New Zealand: A Local Government Perspective

The World Tourism Organisation (WTO) established a set of core indicators of sustainable tourism in 1995, which were promoted as a useful tool in the operationalisation of sustainable tourism development. Local authorities provide an established framework within which to operationalise the WTO's core indicators of sustainable tourism. This paper examines the extent to which sustainable tourism is reflected in the research practices and attitudes of local authorities within New Zealand. A nationwide survey investigated the importance of tourism, the current status of research and the perceived value of the WTO's core indicators of sustainable tourism within the New Zealand local authority framework (regional councils, territorial local authorities and regional tourism organisations). The importance of tourism within local authority areas was positively correlated with the number of different research activities undertaken.Two main types of research were identified: demand-related and supply-related research. Demand -related research is undertaken within the majority of local authority areas throughout New Zealand. However, supply-related research is under-represented. The WTO's core indicators were generically grouped into economic, planning, social and ecological indicator types. Regional councils showed a preference towards ecological indicators. Territorial local authorities and regional tourism organisations preferred economic and social indicators. The detailed implications are discussed.     

Residents’ attitudes toward prostitution in Macau

An increase in tourism in popular destinations often leads to a growing need for various services, including sex-related services, which can exacerbate or accelerate social problems in the host community. Although often addressed in tourism studies within broad-ranging social impact research, prostitution in tourism destinations deserves independent investigation due to its complex nature. This study was conducted to investigate the opinions of Macau residents on prostitution and related social issues. We collected data using a questionnaire, which revealed the following results. Respondents tended to regard prostitution as a permanent part of the Macau community and believed that the likelihood of the government being able to eliminate prostitution through legislation was extremely low. Their perceptions of prostitution could be placed within the dichotomy of deviance and normativeness. Regarding prostitution as a normative existence was positively related to the acceptance of sex tourism. A tolerance of negative tourism impacts was associated with residents’ perceived quality of life. We ultimately draw conclusions from these findings and consider their implications for government agencies.     

Urban tourism research: Recent progress and current paradoxes

Urban tourism has remained a consistent theme in the expansion of tourism research since the 1980s and several seminal papers (e.g. 1 and 2) have reviewed the state of research and its progress towards a greater recognition. This Progress in Tourism Management review article moves our understanding and knowledge of the research agendas within urban tourism by examining the paradoxes associated with such agendas thereby highlighting the need to adopt a less inward looking approach that interconnects with the wider domain of the social sciences, especially those of urban studies and the notion of world cities. We argue that understanding urban tourism will only progress by embracing these wider social science agendas so that tourism becomes integrated into these academic debates to progress the subject area.     

Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change

This paper reviews key themes that impact on the role and management of human resources in tourism (primarily relating to work and employment) and assesses whether the past 20 years provides evidence of significant change within the sector. The paper considers the status of work in tourism and reflects upon the impact that key environmental developments have had upon employment—the practice of human resource management in contemporary tourism; the impact of global and social forces on perceptions of work and careers; the impact of ICT on work and employment in tourism; changing interpretations of skills within tourism; and the increasingly diverse nature of the tourism workforce in developed countries. Conclusions are drawn which point to a “hung jury” in considering whether change in the tourism workplace, over the review timeframe, has been ephemeral or more fundamental.     

Tourism and degrowth: an emerging agenda for research and praxis

Abstract

This article outlines a conceptual framework and research agenda for exploring the relationship between tourism and degrowth. Rapid and uneven expansion of tourism as a response to the 2008 economic crisis has proceeded in parallel with the rise of social discontent concerning so-called “overtourism.” Despite decades of concerted global effort to achieve sustainable development, meanwhile, socioecological conflicts and inequality have rarely reversed, but in fact increased in many places. Degrowth, understood as both social theory and social movement, has emerged within the context of this global crisis. Yet thus far the vibrant degrowth discussion has yet to engage systematically with the tourism industry in particular, while by the same token tourism research has largely neglected explicit discussion of degrowth. We bring the two discussions together here to interrogate their complementarity. Identifying a growth imperative in the basic structure of the capitalist economy, we contend that mounting critique of overtourism can be understood as a structural response to the ravages of capitalist development more broadly. Debate concerning overtourism thus offers a valuable opportunity to re-politicize discussion of tourism development generally. We contribute to this discussion by exploring of the potential for degrowth to facilitate a truly sustainable tourism.     

Rethinking social impacts of tourism research: A new research agenda

Understanding the social impacts of tourism on communities is extremely important for government at all levels so that action can be taken to reduce the likelihood of a community backlash against tourists and tourism development. Given that the residents of many tourism destinations are a fundamental part of the tourism ‘product’, resident attitudes and behaviour have a sizable impact on the success or otherwise of a destination. Research on the social impacts of tourism on communities is substantial and ongoing and while advances have been made in the area, the research has not addressed some of the deep seated issues faced by tourist destinations. This paper provides a critique of the social impact of tourism literature, highlighting the inadequacies in the research that has been conducted to date, which then leads to the development of a new conceptual framework. The paper traces the key developments in social impact research and argues that the predominance of quantitative methods potentially limits our ability to gain a more in-depth understanding of the impacts and how they influence both the host community and tourists. The paper finds that the quantitative focus from previous social impact research has led to a narrow understanding of the issues surrounding social impacts and proposes a new research agenda based on ‘layers’ of social impact understanding through the use of ethnography or phenomenology. The paper concludes with recommendations to progress social impact research beyond simply describing the issues towards explanations of why they occur by suggesting that social impact research examine, in greater depth, the values and intrinsic characteristics of the host residents.     

Theoretical activity in sustainable tourism research

There is growing recognition in tourism and sustainable tourism research of the need for a fuller engagement in theoretical activity. The paper examines how different research strategies in recent articles on sustainable tourism have advanced theoretical understanding in this research field. The articles advance thinking through ideas and concepts connected with political ecology, mobilities, transition pathways, and behavioural and systems change. They are evaluated using a typology of research strategies associated with theoretical work, using a broad perspective on this work. The research strategy typology was developed for the paper, and it is explained and illustrated. While the papers on sustainable tourism use a range of strategies associated with theoretical activity, there is only limited engagement with “big” social theories.     

Review of tourism forecasting research with internet data

Internet techniques significantly influence the tourism industry and Internet data have been used widely used in tourism and hospitality research. However, reviews on the recent development of Internet data in tourism forecasting remain limited. This work reviews articles on tourism forecasting research with Internet data published in academic journals from 2012 to 2019. Then, the findings ae synthesized based on the following Internet data classifications: search engine, web traffic, social media, and multiple sources. Results show that among such classifications, search engine data are most widely incorporated into tourism forecasting. Time series and econometric forecasting models remain dominant, whereas artificial intelligence methods are still developing. For unstructured social media and multi-source data, methodological advancements in text mining, sentiment analysis, and social network analysis are required to transform data into time series for forecasting. Combined Internet data and forecasting models will help in improving forecasting accuracy further in future research.     

Volunteer tourism and the “voluntoured”: the case of Tijuana,Mexico

This paper explores resident attitudes to volunteer tourism in several small communities within Tijuana, Mexico. Social exchange theory has been used to argue that the degree of personal benefit from volunteer tourism would predict residents' perceptions of the impacts of volunteer tourism and support for volunteer tourism planning and for volunteer tourism activities. Survey research of a purposive sample targeted several neighborhoods within Tijuana that were extensively “voluntoured”. Results indicate mixed support for social exchange theory. Implications are discussed concerning the need for volunteer tourism organizations to include a variety of community stakeholders in the volunteer tourism development process.     

家庭旅游研究进展——基于2000-2019年英文文献的综述

家庭旅游是全球旅游业最重要的细分市场。近年来,我国家庭旅游市场的规模和发展潜力受到业界的广泛关注,但相对于我国家庭旅游市场的发展实践,国内学术界对这一细分市场的研究明显不足。文章对2000-2019年发表在英文期刊的136篇家庭旅游文献进行了系统梳理,研究发现国际学术界日益关注家庭旅游,文献数量不断增长,但研究地域主要集中在北美和欧洲等发达国家和地区。研究方法以定量研究为主,研究主题、数据获取方法呈现出多元化的趋势,研究对象聚焦儿童参与的核心家庭旅游活动。研究主要以家庭消费的计量模型、家庭角色和家庭资源/权力理论、体验理论和家庭功能理论等为基础,可归纳为消费、决策、体验和功能等4个研究视角。基于英文研究的局限,并结合中国的文化、家庭、市场和社会特征,文章提出了中国家庭旅游研究应该重点关注的4个方向:(1)中国文化价值观及其影响;(2)中国家庭角色和结构特征;(3)家庭旅游市场的供给研究;(4)积极老龄化(active aging)和社会功能。     

Sustainable hospitality: a meaningful notion?

This paper explores the concept of sustainable hospitality. The relevance and status of this area of enquiry are assessed by discussing the current status of the concepts involved. These discussions are then linked to progress made in sustainable hospitality both in research and practical applications in the hospitality industry. At least six principal schools of thought within hospitality are noted: hospitality science, hospitality management, hospitality studies, the “three domain school”, the systems thinking school and the pragmatic tradition. This complexity and lack of clear definition are problems. The differences between sustainability and sustainable development, and between weak and strong sustainability add further complexities. This paper shows that progress in both sustainable hospitality and tourism has been limited by these problems. A series of technical, ethical and commercial problems are discussed. However, while sustainable hospitality as a research area is still in its infancy, it is concluded that it is very relevant within the wider context of sustainable tourism research, based on its impact and its specific position within the social–ecological–economic systems under investigation. Key areas of future work are suggested, notably to better understand the impacts of hospitality on the triple bottom line, and to explore systems approaches towards implementation.     

Successful action in the public sphere: the case of a sustainable tourism-led community protest against coal seam gas mining in Australia

As demand for resources grows, there is increased pressure on the places and communities in which sustainable tourism is situated. This research examined the experience of an academic and a sustainable tourism business operator who were engaged in a community protest against coal seam gas mining in Queensland, Australia. Our research used a co-constructed narrative method and a post-ecological democratic framework to understand the significance of the public-sphere action of the tourism business. Our findings reveal that sustainable tourism organisations can link with the local community to be effective in public-sphere protest because of their social relationships within communities. The tourism business engagement in the public sphere was characterised by an increase in the locus of control of the business in responding to environmental threats, reconceptualising “the environment” as a valued local place worth fighting for, and tactics that ensured the campaign was not subsumed and devalued within government administrative processes. We found that if the value basis for public-sphere action aligns with the business model, tourism businesses can engage in public-sphere action with no financial loss. Protest actions by sustainable tourism business operators can be part of a deeper sustainability movement through protest actions in the public sphere.     

Virtual reality tourism experiences: Addiction and isolation

This qualitative research note reports two neglected themes in research on virtual reality tourism experiences, i.e. its potentially addictive nature and temporary sense of isolation. Existing work on virtual reality tourism experiences has applied existing knowledge and theories and has solely tested how VR applications can positively mediate or moderate the tourist experience. This study adopted an inductive approach, analyzing contents of reviews and blogs, and consequently uncovered a temporary sense of isolation and the addictive nature of virtual reality as hidden themes within virtual reality tourism experiences. We stress the importance of further work on addiction and a sense of isolation in terms of their nature, role, and effects.     

Smartphone (dis)connectedness and vacation recovery

Given ubiquitous connectivity provided by modern smartphones and tablets, this research aims to determine whether the use of smartphones for social purposes (work and non-work related) during a vacation enhances or hinders the potential of tourism environment to promote a sense of recovery. In other words, which role does omnipresent connectivity play in facilitating tourists’ recovery? Drawing on Attention-Restoration Theory, Social Presence Theory, and survey data of working Chinese population, we show that frequency of work-related social presence acts as a negative moderator while quality of work and non-work social presence are positive moderators in the relationship between destination restorative qualities and vacation recovery. We discuss how these results problematize the current understanding of tourist experience as liminal and “encapsulating.”     

Chinese management practices in the New Zealand context: the social behaviour of individuals in business outside one's own cultural environment

Among the dilemmas facing tourism and hospitality development internationally is the requirement for a greater understanding of each other's culture, and how this background of difference affects business between various parties. Many texts and theorists have identified factors aligned to family values that affect the social behavior of individuals when conducting business between Eastern and Western managers. This paper and case study draws upon the relationship and experiences of a segment of Chinese businessmen within the New Zealand hotel, tourism and business sectors. The businessmen were two international “hoteliers” who currently own properties in New Zealand, and also a Chinese investment adviser, who has visited New Zealand representing foreign investors. The feedback to date indicates that research into Chinese management practices within the hospitality industry in New Zealand is very limited, with little access to past research in this field.     

社会交往、旅游情境对旅游需求的影响研究--基于春节“黄金周”的实证分析

以往关于消费者需求行为的研究多基于传统经济学框架的设定展开,认为影响消费者旅游需求的主要因素包含收入、目的地吸引力、交通等,普遍忽视了消费过程中的社会交往和具体情境。文章在理论分析的基础上,提出了若干命题,将消费者收入、社会交往和旅游情境等因素纳入旅游消费者需求的模型中,提出了若干研究命题。依据2014年春节“黄金周”旅游需求调研数据,采用排序选择模型验证了相关命题的正确性。计量结果表明,个人经济因素对我国消费者春节“黄金周”旅游需求影响较小,家庭结构、同伴等社会交往因素是影响其旅游需求的重要因素;我国消费者对于春节“黄金周”出游过程中遭遇的拥堵、旅游市场混乱等旅游情境问题具有一定的容忍度,但是,严重供需失衡导致的旅游情境问题依然对其旅游需求产生了显著的影响。     

Research priorities in park tourism

Park tourism is a large and important activity on which a substantial body of research work has been published. This paper reviews that work in the light of the issues now faced by parks and park tourism, and argues that there are significant research gaps that urgently need additional work. The paper outlines 10 such areas, including: visitor use monitoring; park tourism economic impact monitoring; park finance; professional competencies for tourism management; building public support; visitor satisfaction; licenses, permits, leases, and concessions for tourism; pricing policies; management capacity; and park tourism governance. The paper suggests that work in these areas is so important that the long term political and social relevance, effective management and sustainable future of many parks and protected areas depend on the results. It points to the park creation phase being over after about 150 years of growth, and the need to move more effectively into the long-term management phase. A number of key questions arise. The numerous parks must fulfill their conservation mandate and they must be financially secure. They almost certainly must forge links to tourism, yet not be dominated by tourism's demands, creating, therefore, a new and sustainable research-based relationship.