Introduction to the special issue: Consumer experience management and customer journeys in tourism,hospitality and events

This special edition focuses on “Consumer Experience Management and Customer Journeys in Tourism, Hospitality and Events”. This introduction considers current topics concerning researchers and practitioners about consumer journeys and experience management and introduces the six papers in the special issue. We would like to thank the authors and reviewers for this special issue.     

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.     

Leisure and Active Lifestyles: Research Reflections

Leisure researchers have been studying active living for many years. The research, however, has focused more on individual factors than social and environmental determinants that enable physical activity and health. The focus of the introduction to this special issue on “leisure and active lifestyles” is to highlight leisure literature that can be directly tied to active living. These dimensions include outdoor recreation, community recreation areas and facilities, time usage, barriers and constraints, and social interdependence. We provide an overview of the significance of the papers in this special issue and offer some reflections regarding future research related to active living, physical activity, health, and leisure. We underline the value of the holistic approach evident in leisure research and call for broader methods and more collaborative transdisciplinary research.     

Labour,leisure and liminality: disciplinary work at play

Academics rank high among those groups of people who derive their sense of personal identity and meaning from their particular form of employment. Yet, part of what being a university academic means – and part of the satisfaction that academics obtain from their jobs – lies in being paid to engage in ‘absorbing play.’ This essay explores some ways in which concepts of work and play, labour and leisure, are at issue in the organisation, imagination and experience of professorial employment in general, and how, in particular, such concepts informed and were negotiated in the interdisciplinary space of the 2006‐7 Humanities Institute seminar at the University of Texas at Austin out of which the papers collected in this special issue emerged.     

Issues of tourism and socioeconomic development

Tourism development in Asia and Pacific can be studied from four perspectives: the political economy of underdevelopment; the way poor people respond to the opportunities provided by tourism; the effects of tourism on the communal and ethnic conflicts which may exist in the host society; and the effects of the moral and religious attitudes towards tourism. An introduction to these themes are related to the several articles in this special issue.     

Benchmarking the Benchmarks

Abstract

Concepts and processes of benchmarking are briefly discussed. Studies in this special issue are reviewed, and the future collaborations in the hospitality and tourism sector are suggested to perform better by benchmarking the best practices.     

基于人力资本投资的酒店业劳动力迁移研究——珠海、澳门酒店业实证分析

劳动力成本上涨成为中国劳动密集型企业普遍关注的问题,它也是推动第三产业转型的重要原因.酒店作为典型的劳动密集型企业,员工流动问题一直备受关注,但是从人力资本角度的研究很少.本文运用人力资本投资理论对珠海向澳门的劳动力迁移现象进行了实证分析,发现基础工资差距是导致酒店业劳动者个体迁移的主要原因,而两地员工福利水平的差距及地理临近性进一步增加了酒店业个体劳动者迁移的愿望.文章最后建议,珠海酒店企业可以采取增加员工收入、完善员工福利保障及创新盈利模式的措施来解决员工高流动性的问题.     

旅游合同解除初探

合同解除是合同法领域的一个重要问题,旅游合同作为一种新型合同,存在许多特性,这些特性导致在合同解除方面旅游合同有着不同于其他类型合同的特殊之处。本文着重讨论旅游合同解除的各种情形,包括一般情形和特殊情形,且以后者为主,以及旅游合同解除的法律后果问题。     

Editorial: heritage trails and tourism

ABSTRACT

This special issue presents a review of leading research on cultural and heritage trails and routes. The papers build on the seminal work by Timothy and Boyd (2015) in their book, Tourism and trails: Cultural, ecological and management issues [Bristol: Channel View Publications], where invited contributors focused on the following: the need for further theory and conceptual thinking in research on linear resource settings, operationalising trail and route development models that were put forward by Timothy and Boyd, towards better understanding of trail and route impacts and the role that communities can play in the development and management of trails and routes     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Toward “Digital Leisure Studies”

This introduction as well as this entire special issue begin with the idea that for leisure scholars to stay relevant in our current society, the topic of digital leisure spaces and cultures should become a central rather than periphery focus. We suggest three courses of action for leisure scholars engaging in digital leisure scholarship: 1) We should emphasize what people do with the majority of their leisure time, 2) we should study it in a way that is timely and accessible, and 3) we should do so with a focus on social and environmental justice. This article introduces the special edition by providing a review of the key theorists currently working on digital leisure studies and an introduction of key concepts. We conclude with a Wikipedia page on digital leisure studies and an invitation to you, our reader, to help us write, think, and theorize the future of digital leisure studies.     

Tourism and physical environment research

This article serves as an introduction to this special issue of Annals. It begins with an introduction to philosophical views of the land and sets the stage for the ensuing seven papers. An overview of these papers is then presented. They are arranged to flow from perceptions and views to specific case examples. Finally, papers dealing with planning and management implications are summarized. The article then proceeds to a review of the development of awareness of environmental concerns and the ensuing strategies which have been utilized for development. It concludes with an admonishment to both scientists and publications to begin a more systemic approach in their work and presentations dealing with tourism and the environment. Interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches are clearly needed to provide the necessary linkages.     

Experiential Reciprocity: The Role of Direct Experience in Value Perceptions

This research proposes experiential reciprocity as the process underlying the relationship between direct experience of a national park and perceived value of the park system and its role in preserving the environment. Cross-sectional data of people's experience and perceptions of the United States National Park Service and their values and beliefs related to the park system indicate that a direct experience of a park increases the intrinsic value of the park, even for those who are already environmentally conscious. Consistent with the norm of reciprocity, direct experience of a park also increases willingness to finance the park directly. Given the role of direct experience of the park in fostering an intrinsic appreciation for its role in preserving the environment, waving access fees is offered as a way to promote experiential reciprocity.     

Revisiting Family Leisure Research and Critical Reflections on the Future of Family-Centered Scholarship

ABSTRACT

In this special issue of Leisure Sciences, we examine the progress made and challenges ahead in research on leisure and families—20 years revisited. We consider what advancements have been made in family leisure research and potential new directions that family-centered scholars can look towards. We also consider the dominance of particular theoretical perspectives and methodological designs, and the limitations and consequences of such perspectives, to understand the complexities, diversity, and richness of the lived family experience. Emphasis is placed on the need for scholarship that explores diverse constructions of family and to provide a call to action for family-centered scholars to engage with broader global social issues.     

Leisure,Stress, and Coping: An Evolving Area of Inquiry

Stress and coping are prevalent and ubiquitous in our everyday lives. The degree and manner in which we experience stress, and ways in which we cope with stress, strongly influence our daily choices and their outcomes, including those related to leisure. Research on leisure, stress, and coping is important within a broad spectrum of leisure research since it can be potentially integrated with leisure research on constraints and negotiations, lifespan development, diversity, and lifestyle. Such integration works to bridge the gap in the leisure research community that is often characterized as isolated entities. One important tangible benefit of such integration is that stress and coping have the potential to be a common language for many researchers with diverse interests, and it thus leads to opportunities for enhanced communication and understanding, as well as for possible collaborations. We hope that this special issue, presenting a diverse collection of papers focused on leisure, stress, and coping, may instill such ambitious, but important, desire. The role of this issue is threefold: (1) to better identify relationships among leisure, stress, and coping, (2) to introduce new theoretical and methodological approaches for such research, and (3) to encourage increased attention to and collaborations related to leisure, stress, and coping research.     

Word-of-mouth,buying, and sacrifice intentions for eco-cruises: Exploring the function of norm activation and value-attitude-behavior

Our theoretical framework was designed to explain passengers' decision-making process for environmentally responsible cruise products. Specifically, the goals of this study were to investigate passengers' decision formation by employing the Norm Activation Model (NAM), to extend it by integrating the value-attitude-behavior cognitive hierarchy, emotional process, and normative procedure, and to test the moderating impact of non-green alternatives' attractiveness in a cruise context. The measurement quality was found to be adequate. The prediction power of the proposed framework was superior to the original NAM. Findings from the structural model revealed that the hypothesized associations relating study variables within our proposed theoretical framework were generally supported; personal norm acted as significant mediators; and the role of personal norm and social norm in building intentions was salient. Additionally, the hypothesized moderating impact of alternatives' attractiveness in determining intentions was supported.     

The geography of tourism: An introduction

The geography of tourism is limited by a dearth of published research in geographic journals, the relatively few individuals who actively participate in the sub-discipline, and the lack of prestige the subject matter specialty has in geography. Despite these imperfections geographers make important contributions to the study of tourism because of their unique point-of-view. This characteristic perspective is seen in the context of a conceptual frame-of-reference which consists of a matrix based on two trichotomies. An analysis and interpretation of this framework and its application to the nine substantive articles included in the special issue constitute a majority of the article.     

Workplace ostracism and knowledge hiding in service organizations

As a pervasive workplace phenomenon in service organizations, knowledge hiding can cause serious economic losses to companies. This study seeks to identify a new interpersonal antecedent of knowledge hiding, specifically workplace ostracism. We further focus on the moderating roles of negative reciprocity beliefs and moral disengagement in the relationship between workplace ostracism and knowledge hiding in service organizations. Using a time-lagged research design, we collected data from 253 samples in 17 Chinese hotels. As predicted, we found that workplace ostracism was positively related to hospitality employees’ evasive hiding and playing dumb, but not related to rationalized hiding. In addition, we supported a hypothesized three-way interaction involving workplace ostracism, negative reciprocity beliefs, and moral disengagement on evasive hiding and playing dumb, but not on rationalized hiding. In particular, workplace ostracism was most positively related to evasive hiding and playing dumb when both negative reciprocity beliefs and moral disengagement were high. However, workplace ostracism was not related to evasive hiding and playing dumb when service workers have low levels in either or both.     

Authenticity and the authentication of heritage: dialogical perceptiveness

ABSTRACT

The dialogue on authenticity continues to evolve across different temporalities and disciplines. This editorial for the special issue summarizes contemporary progress made by scholars of heritage tourism and shares innovative corridors for deep deliberations. A broad spectrum of provocative ideas are touched upon, ranging from host–guest authentication and intangible heritage to knowledge transfer processes, authenticating heritage in fairytale settings, authenticity and anxiety in the smell of death and life, understanding the boundaries of authenticity, nostalgia, sustainability, marketing, destination competitiveness, and examining affective connotations of authenticity. Discursive insights are offered on how different authenticities are legitimized and critically deconstructed and re-constructed again in the authentication process, to underline the existence of power and authority interventions. Inspiring/innovative pathways, for future research, are also recommended.     

The effect of Facebook users’ arousal and valence on intention to go to the festival: Applying an extension of the technology acceptance model

The rapid development of social media has challenged event managers to rethink how this trend will shape traditional marketing practices. Given the rise of these technologies, the current breed of special event “fan” has started to take advantage of and venture into this social space for possible benefits. For event managers, the fundamental issue becomes how to uncover the process through which special event consumers come to accept social media marketing. This paper reviews social media marketing literature, the characteristics of event marketing, and highlights the emotional aspect of social media applications. An extended TAM (technology acceptance model) is adopted to explain the mechanism by which social media marketing influences attitudes toward Facebook event pages. The authors find that users’ emotions exhibited on the Facebook event page do have a significant impact on the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment of such social media marketing. However, only the last construct significantly influences users’ attitudes and intentions toward an event. Implications and insights were provided to event practitioners and were discussed accordingly.