The Effectiveness of Post-Disaster Recovery Marketing Messages—The Case of the 2009 Australian Bushfires

An understanding of how best to communicate with the tourism market in the wake of a disastrous event is essential for destination marketing organizations seeking to manage the misperceptions and media-imposed attitudes held by potential visitors. To date, the literature remains silent in terms of the types of messages destination marketing organizations are best to employ when a disaster has hit and consequently marketers often take an “ad hoc” approach to their post-disaster communications that may or may not be effective in terms of encouraging visitation. In response to this knowledge gap, the research presented in this article adopted an experimental methodology to examine the effectiveness of nine disaster recovery message themes commonly used by destination marketing organizations. The messages were presented to respondents via a print advertisement promoting the Victorian region of Gippsland—a tourism region severely affected by the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires. The results revealed that a marketing message endorsed by a well-known and well-associated celebrity figure is likely to be most effective in encouraging tourists to return to or visit a disaster-affected destination 12 to 24 months following the event. The findings also revealed a significant relationship between past visitation and the time frame in which visitors will visit a disaster-affected region. Those who had visited the region four times or more were much more likely to return within 6 months of the event than less frequent visitors. A final important message revealed in this study was the fact that the tourism market is not averse to disaster recovery promotional activities, a concern often considered by destination marketers when planning their post-disaster recovery campaigns.     

The Flamenco Factor in Destination Marketing: Interdependencies of Creative Industries and Tourism —the Case of Seville

This study builds on the concepts developed by Florida in his work “The Rise of the Creative Class”. In doing so it seeks evidence for the claims made that the creative arts address deficiencies identified in the terminology of ‘cultural tourism’. The case relates to flamenco performances in Seville. The art complex of flamenco survived on the one hand as a symbol of Andalusian culture on the other hand it depends strongly on the international tourism market. Additionally flamenco is used in destination marketing to differentiate Seville from other Spanish cities.     

Investigation of Social Media Marketing: How Does the Hotel Industry in Hong Kong Perform in Marketing on Social Media Websites?

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which social media marketing is being utilized in the Hong Kong hotel industry. Marketing performance of 67 hotels in Hong Kong on 23 social media sites was evaluated according to 18 criteria adapted from past studies. The results indicate that hotels generally have a poor performance in using social media to learn about customers. Major problems regarding the hotels' social media marketing efforts are identified. Implications behind these problems and recommendations for improvement are made accordingly.     

Meeting Planners’ Competency,Motivation, and Benefits: The Case of Korea

The role of meeting planners is essential to the successful completion of a meeting. Their involvement includes coordinating every detail of a meeting, such as budgeting, solicitation of sponsorship, preparation of request for proposals, reservation of facilities or services, translation, and interpretation. Despite meeting planners’ significance, no real effort has been made to identify their competencies, motivations, and benefits. In this study, six competency, four motivation, and two benefit domains were identified. The most important competency domain was the “ability to understand social trends and good manners,” whereas the “ability to perform foreign languages” domain was a relatively low-importance competency. Regarding the benefits, the respondents showed appreciation for opportunities to globalize and gain social recognition by becoming a meeting planner. Compared with the female respondents, the male respondents believed that they had a higher level of evaluative knowledge regarding current competency and specialized expertise.     

Green Marketing: Hotel Customers’ Perspective

Green marketing should appeal to the needs and desires of environmentally concerned customers. The aim of this study was to investigate hotel customers’ perceptions of hotels’ green marketing strategies. A questionnaire containing 30 statements was used to gauge respondents’ perceptions of different hotel green marketing strategies. Using exploratory factor analysis to identify interpretable orthogonal factors, five factors were identified and interpreted: (1) Green Partnership; (2) Development of Green Products and Services; (3) Genuine Green Products and Services; (4) Higher Price for Green Products and Services; and (5) Credibility of Green Promotion. Independent t-tests and one-way analysis of variance were conducted to examine significant differences between hotel customers’ ratings of the importance of the identified factors according to demographic variables. This is one of the first research studies to examine green marketing in the hotel industry. The discussion of the findings includes some practical implications to help hotel marketers implement more effective green marketing strategies.     

Restaurants’ social enterprise business model: Three case studies

ABSTRACT

This research explores the application of the Social Enterprise business model within the context of the hospitality industry. In order to achieve this goal, a qualitative primary research was conducted through three case studies. The research suggests that hospitality social enterprises encounter many unique challenges as a result of social mission implications. The research provides a foundation for industry and academic recommendations. Most importantly, detailed recommendations such as strategic planning, strict budgeting, and mission/profit balance are derived for hospitality social enterprise managers to improve efficiency and counteract industry-specific challenges.     

Quality,Satisfaction and Customers’ Future Intention: The Case of Hotels’ Fitness Centers in Cyprus

In an era of fierce competition, financial hardship, and volatile customer expectations the hospitality industry is seeking out new revenue centers that can both enrich the customer experience, and contribute to financial success. Capturing the attention of the industry, fitness centers have become a fundamental component of the contemporary hospitality experience with numerous strategic, operational and tactical implications. Responding to the need for further empirical investigation, the study, by adopting a quantitative methodology, holistically investigates quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intention in fitness centers currently operating in upscale hospitality establishments in Cyprus. Findings suggest that satisfaction with the provision of fitness services in hotels is primarily associated with the dimensions of employee behavior and workout facilities. Moreover, workout facilities was the only quality dimension which was significantly associated with the respondents’ intention to renew their membership, whereas a strong relationship between satisfaction and future intention was substantiated.     

A Model of Patrons’ Impulsive Ordering Behaviors in Luxury Restaurants

Impulsive ordering behavior is an issue of great importance for revenue maximization in the luxury restaurant industry. This research aimed to develop and test a model of patrons' impulsive ordering behaviors in the luxury restaurant context. The existing literature supported that two theoretical antecedents stimulate patrons' impulsive ordering behaviors: (1) menu browsing time and (2) patron trust in the restaurant. Based on a literature review, it was hypothesized that 10 theoretical antecedents positively influence menu browsing time and trust. During the model development process, it was suggested that patrons' hedonism could play a moderating role in the relationship between atmosphere and menu browsing time. Consequently, 13 theoretical hypotheses were proposed, resulting in a structural model. The model was tested using empirical data collected from 379 luxury restaurant patrons. Based on the results of data analysis, all of the hypotheses were supported. The theoretical/empirical interpretations of these findings are discussed.     

The Determinants of Honeymoon Destination Choice—The Case of Taiwan

The purposes of this study were to identify the attributes that determine the attractiveness of a honeymoon destination and to determine the influential variables that affect the destination choice of honeymooners. The results indicated that “safety,” “excellent quality of accommodation,” and “reasonable travel cost” were the three most important attributes determining the attractiveness of a honeymoon destination. Significant differences in perceptions of destination attributes exist across groups of different sociodemographic and traveling characteristics of potential honeymooners. Two sociodemographic variables (i.e., age, monthly income), two traveling characteristics (i.e., length of trip, travel budget), and three destination attributes (i.e., “excellent quality of accommodation,” “nightlife entertainment,” “good place for shopping”) are the significant determinants for classifying Taiwanese potential honeymooners by their destination choices. The findings of this study provide useful information for destination marketers in their efforts to segment the target market precisely and develop promotion campaigns effectively.     

Bourdieu and African Americans’ Park Visitation: The Case of Cedar Hill State Park in Texas

This study used Pierre Bourdieu's theory of practice to understand African Americans’ underrepresentation at Cedar Hill State Park (CHSP) in Texas. Archival methods, site visits, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 13 local African Americans. Four salient themes related to African Americans’ under-representation were identified: (1) racial conflict within the field, (2) CHSP as a racialized space, (3) African American leisure habitus, and (4) lack of relevant attractions. These themes were closely related and together showed that perceived racial discrimination was a common factor which explained nonvisitation at CHSP.     

Which Journal Articles are Uncited? The Case of the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research and the Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing

Two main streams of research performance evaluation rely on quantitative measurement of research output and citation count. Although research output counting has achieved a certain degree of success, such an approach cannot assess the impact of a publication on knowledge development. A citation count, in contrast, measures the influence of a publication on subsequent research efforts. Citation count has thus become an important way to represent research performance. This study analyzes the uncited articles published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research and the Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing in the period 1996–2005. Findings would be of use to academic researchers in planning for the type of article to write.     

Towards a Conceptualization of Unethical Marketing Practices in Tourism: a Case‐Study of Australia's Inbound Chinese Travel Market

This paper has a twofold purpose: to identify the types and impacts of unethical practices in an international travel market and to offer a generic model to enhance our understanding of the causes and consequences of such practices. The Chinese outbound market is used as a case study. The choice of China is timely and appropriate, given that the country is forecast to be one of the world's major outbound markets by 2010 with over 100 million leaving mainland China (World Tourism Organization [WTO], 2006 World Tourism Organization. 2006, November 7. The Chinese outbound tourism market Retrieved March 19, 2007, from http://www.unwto.org/media/Releases/2006/november/chineseoutbound.htm [Google Scholar]). The research setting is the Chinese inbound tourism market to Australia where the Chinese market has grown substantially since Approved Destination Status (ADS) was granted in 1999. The implications of this research for European and North American tourism operators are significant, given the 2005 agreement between the European Commission and the Chinese authorities that allows group travel from China into Europe. Using the long‐interview technique with industry participants in Australia and China a conceptual framework of the environment in which unethical practices occur is provided. A model illustrating antecedents, impacts, and outcomes of unethical practices is offered. Key managerial findings include the unhealthy consolidation of channel power in the Chinese market and the influence of ethnic networks across borders. Several key issues requiring further research are highlighted.     

The management of labour recruitment: The hotel chains during the Spanish tourism boom, 1959–1973

This paper explores the labour management of hotel chains during the Spanish tourism boom, a period characterized by high labour shortages. Focusing on the behaviour of three prominent emerging hotel chains in the Balearic Islands, we adopt a micro-comparative approach to examine their payrolls. Our findings suggest that the economic and geographical characteristics of the areas where they operated were crucial to their decisions. Firms located in populated areas developed channels of seasonal labour that supplied migrant workers through chain migration and kinship links. Conversely, firms in areas of intense landscape transformation pursued recruitment at origin in specific towns on mainland Spain or in foreign countries. This strategy played a key role in the development of new international tourism destinations.     

Making Reservations Online: The Impact of Consumer-Written and System-Aggregated User-Generated Content (UGC) in Travel Booking Websites on Consumers’ Behavioral Intentions

This study examines how consumer-written and system-aggregated user-generated content (UGC) on travel booking websites jointly influence consumer behavior. The purpose of this research is to test the effects of different types of UGC on various consumer behavior outcomes. Experiment 1 found a significant interaction effect between UGC type (consumer-written versus system-aggregated) and valence (positive versus negative) on product evaluation, perceived information value, and satisfaction. Experiment 2 found a significant interaction between consumer-written and system-aggregated UGC valences. When consumer-written UGC was negative, consumers demonstrated more negative product evaluation and lower buying intention, regardless of system-aggregated UGC valence. When consumer-written and system-aggregated UGC valences matched, consumers indicated greater perceived information value, satisfaction, and future behavioral intention. Trustworthiness partially mediated the effect of the fit between consumer-written and system-aggregated UGC on consumer satisfaction.     

The determinants of hospitality employees’ pro-environmental behaviors: The moderating role of generational differences

Seeking to build a deeper understanding of the determinants of hospitality employees’ pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), this study explored linkages between employees’ autonomous and external motivations to perform PEBs, environmental concerns, self-efficacy, and employees’ reported PEBs. Hospitality employees (n = 432) indicated that autonomous motivation was associated with increases in employees’ environmental concern, self-efficacy, and PEBs. External motivation was significantly related to employees’ levels of environmental concern and PEBs. Employees’ environmental concern levels had positive effects on self-efficacy and PEBs. Self-efficacy was, in turn, positively associated with PEBs. The relationships between these variables were moderated by generational differences (e.g., Gen X and Gen Y) because generational characteristics might lead to formulating distinct generational perceptions in an organizational context. There were significant differences in the effects of autonomous motivation on environmental concern levels and PEBs between Gen X and Gen Y. In addition, the differences in effects of external motivation on environmental concern and PEBs were statistically significant between the two generations. Lastly, the impacts of environmental concern and self-efficacy on PEBs were significantly different between the two generations as well. Overall, our results suggest that the interplay of autonomous motivation, external motivation, environmental concern, and self-efficacy is important to the process of influencing hospitality employees’ PEBs.     

Doing More with Less: Women's Leisure During Their Partners’ Military Deployment

Women whose partners have been deployed on military missions during wartime typically experience increased stress as they adjust to maintaining work, family, and household roles. The purpose of this study was to explore leisure in the lives of women during their partners’ deployment. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 employed mothers whose partners had been deployed for at least a six-month period. Findings indicated that the loss of daily support from partners and concern for partners’ safety contributed to women shifting their focus from individual to family leisure as a means of coping and caring for their children.     

Application of Perception-Promotion Matrix Model—The Case of Kaohsiung City

While a substantial amount of destination image research has been performed, few researchers have explored image perception gaps between tourists and government promotions. This study examines the perception gap between blogs and destination marketing organizations (DMOs) promotions by introducing a four-quadrant diagnostic tool: the Perception-Promotion Matrix (PPM). This case study collected data from 168 domestic and 64 international blogs, and 70 Chinese and 36 English official Kaohsiung City promotional websites to investigate image gap. The findings revealed significant “Tourist Infrastructure” image perception gaps, both from domestic and international traveler perspectives. The PPM suggests Kaohsiung City DMOs successfully promote an image of culture by hosting events and festivals. However, analysis indicates failure on the part of these DMOs to promote an image of Kaohsiung as an Ocean capital. Recommendations resulting from this study are provided for Kaohsiung City DMO consideration.     

Negative Film Plot and Tourists´ Image and Intentions: The Case of City of God

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the effects of films with a negative plot on tourists’ cognitive and affective image about Brazil and behavioral intentions of visiting the country. The film selected is City of God, one of the most internationally acclaimed motion pictures produced in Brazil. The results suggest that films with a negative plot tend to negatively reinforce the viewers’ evaluations of the image attributes, although the influence on the general image tends to be subtle. Moreover, it was concluded that in the case of films with a negative plot, the imagery of landscapes is the element that is most likely to increase visiting intention.     

Restaurants’ healthy eating initiatives for children increase parents’ perceptions of CSR,empowerment, and visit intentions

In this study, we examine how healthy eating initiatives (i.e., providing healthful foods and nutrition information on children’s menus) affect parents’ intentions to visit restaurants. We test the mediating roles of perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) and empowerment and examine whether mediating effects are contingent on the level of parents’ concerns about children’s eating. The results of a scenario-based experimental design show that both initiatives increase parents’ visit intentions through increased CSR perceptions. The indirect effect of nutrition information on visit intentions through perceived CSR is pronounced only among parents with moderate to high concerns about children’s eating. The provision of healthful foods has an indirect effect on parents’ visit intentions through perceived CSR, regardless of concern level. Our findings suggest that providing healthful items and nutrition information on children’s menus increases parents’ perceptions of CSR and visit intentions.