The English public house as a 21st century socially responsible community institution

The changing nature of the British public house (pub) attracts much attention in the academic and popular literature. This paper reports on an ethnographic study of the pubs located in a single suburban village. The concepts of community, hospitality, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and third place are utilised to develop a theoretical perspective from which to explore publican and customer views of the pub's role in the twenty-first century. The relationship between community and CSR is not always clear but the notion of the pub as a place to meet friends and acquaintances was expressed strongly by the customers of establishments that retain aspects of the ‘traditional pub’. The hospitality of publicans was seen as a key element of the pub's philanthropic responsibility despite a tendency for organisational reporting to focus more on charitable activities in financial terms.     

Trends and tensions in UK public house management

The management role in UK managed public houses has increased in relative importance over the years since 1970. Using material derived from both secondary sources and fieldwork in a major leisure retail company, the role of house manager is examined through the inter-related notions of landlord, manager and employee. There is a particular focus on shifts towards the employment of younger managers and the relationship between this and branding strategies. The implications of this relationship is examined through the notion of the ‘locus of interpretation’, and stress is placed on the need to view managing as a relationship.     

A discussion of qualitative data analysis in hospitality research with examples from an ethnography of English public houses

This paper argues that qualitative Hospitality research is infrequently reported in Hospitality journals and that when such research does appear, the processes of data analysis seldom receive rigorous attention. Different analytic practices are discussed using a real-life example of qualitative research—an ethnography of English pubs—showing some techniques in action and highlighting issues and challenges that often face qualitative researchers. Data reduction, deconstruction (data management) and reconstruction (interpretation and conceptualization) are discussed and techniques such as reflective note-taking, line-by-line analysis, domain and taxonomic charting, visual/diagrammatic constructions and metaphor are considered. It is argued that greater reporting of and discussion of data analysis would enhance the qualitative literature in hospitality research.     

The role of public space in constructing experience capital: A longitudinal analysis in the hotel context

Public space plays a primary role in shaping customers' hospitality experiences. Yet how public space conditions customers' experiential outcomes in accumulating capital for hospitality organizations remains underexplored. Inspired by the theory of psychological ownership, this research presents an in-depth analysis of the impacts of customers' public space experiences on their experiential outcomes using a longitudinal hotel industry dataset merging information from customer surveys, property performance, and surrounding accessibility insights. Findings revealed the positive effects of customers’ public space experiences on their overall service experiences, the perceived value of the experience, revisit intentions, and recommendation intentions. Moreover, hotel class, other customers, and surrounding accessibility were empirically verified as moderators conditioning the positive impact of public space. These findings offer valuable implications for theory and practice that are worthy of further exploration.     

Tourist preferences for rural house stays: Evidence from discrete choice modelling in Spain

Although the appeal of rural houses for tourists lies mainly in the natural surroundings and their intrinsic rural characteristics, there are other factors which are also important such as their size, type of building, quality of equipment, services and activities offered. To evaluate the tourists' preferences for these potential or effective attributes, a stated preference experiment was conducted in the Northwest area of the Region of Murcia and the data are analysed using discrete choice modelling methodology. Consistent specifications for multinomial logit and mixed logit models that consider variations in tastes within tourists' preferences are found. The results could be of use to promoters and owners of rural houses when planning marketing and promotional campaigns or when taking effective investment decisions.     

Investigating public relations as a destination promotion strategy: the role of multiple dimensions of publicity

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the relationships between tourism-related public relations, publicity, and tourism demand. Publicity was split into three aspects: attention, prominence, and valence based on multidimensionality of media salience. These relationships were tested in the context of United States tourists to South Korea using a system of equations. Empirical findings indicated that public relations and the three aspects of publicity had a significant effect on tourism demand. Public relations was also found to have a significant effect on the prominence and valence dimensions of publicity. However, public relations did not influence the attention dimension. Theoretical and practical implications along with suggestions for future research are presented.     

Sustainable development in tourism municipalities: The role of public goods

It is usually argued that, since many of the inputs used in the production function of private firms in tourism municipalities are depletable, unsustainability looms over the horizons of tourism jurisdictions. However, this reasoning forgets that public goods are an important part of tourism products. Since public goods are nonrival (and hence nondepletable), a way out of the apparent unsustainability might exist. By considering well-established growth models, this paper argues that a correct supply of public goods may contribute to achieve sustainable development throughout time in tourism municipalities.     

Place change and tourism development conflict: Evaluating public interest

As a set of economic activities, tourism trades on the character of special places. Conflict can emerge where local residents perceive that tourism development proposals challenge the special qualities of place, and where place meaning and attachments are compromised. A key function of government in mediating conflict is to protect public interests, yet explicit consideration of public interest in tourism development conflict is unusual. This paper argues for a reinvigoration of public interest in the mediation of tourism development conflicts. It explores the concept of public interest and how governments interpret and give meaning to it in development debates. In a case study of a cruise ship terminal proposal on the Gold Coast, Australia, the state adopted a neoliberal interpretation of public interest wherein increased global competitiveness of the destination was the overriding common good pursued. Local and diverse interests were marginalised in the debate. The paper concludes that in order to reinvigorate public interest, a public interest evaluation framework for tourism development is needed.     

The why,how, and what of public policy implications of tourism and hospitality research

We synthesized policy implications of tourism and hospitality research by reviewing 12,269 articles published in 10 leading journals from 2012 to 2021. The most common rationale for policies (i.e., the why) is market failure, while the most typical role of policies (i.e., the how) is to create incentives. In addition, policies are typically hybrid and include suggestions for formal and informal institutional setups (i.e., the what). Because our review revealed that only 114 articles (i.e., 0.93%) included the why, how, and what of actual policies, we offer a theory-based research agenda on policy-making focused on making tourism and hospitality more inclusive and focusing on evolutionary dynamics, providing an understanding of the impact of crises and contemporary solutions, focusing on resilience and institutional complexity, and addressing the actors and time dimension. Our results, combined with those of our suggested research directions, will benefit organizations and society and simultaneously enhance the perceived societal value-added, contributions, and stature of tourism and hospitality research.     

The role of social capital in encouraging residents' pro-environmental behaviors in community-based ecotourism

This study integrated the theoretical perspective of social capital into community-based ecotourism (CBET). Two destinations were selected to test the conceptual model to see whether social capital improves cooperation between community residents and the coordination of CBET development, and whether its role is persuasive and encourages residents' pro-environmental behaviors. The sample consisted of 420 residents living in two typical ecotourism destinations in China. Findings from a two-stage structural equation model analysis show that economic benefits have a direct impact on residents' pro-environmental behaviors; and the cognitive, rather than structural social capital has a partially mediating effects on this relationship. These findings indicate that a high level of social capital, particularly the cognitive variant, is instrumental in encouraging residents' pro-environmental behaviors.     

The immediate and subsequent effects of public health interventions for COVID-19 on the leisure and recreation industry

Public health interventions to combat COVID-19 can be viewed as an exogenous shock to the economy, especially for industries—such as leisure, recreation, and tourism—that rely heavily on human mobility. This study investigates whether and how exactly the economic impact of government public health policies varies over time. Focusing on the leisure and recreation industry, we use data for 131 countries/regions from February to May 2020 and employ generalized difference-in-differences models to investigate the short- and longer-term effects of public health policies. We find that stricter policies lead, on average, to an immediate 9.2–percentage-point drop in leisure and recreation participation. Even so, that industry recovers in about seven weeks after a COVID-19 outbreak in countries/regions that undertake active interventions. After thirteen weeks, leisure and recreation involvement recovers to 70% of pre-pandemic levels in a place that actively intervened but stagnates at about 40% in one that did not.     

Road and transport infrastructure development and community support for tourism: The role of perceived benefits,and community satisfaction

This study investigates the impact of road and transportation infrastructure on community support for tourism in the context of the China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar mega project. Utilizing social exchange theory, the authors examined a positive relationship between perceived impact of road and transport infrastructure development and local community support for tourism through perceived environmental impact, perceived tourism benefits, and perceived community satisfaction. The data was collected through an online survey from 350 people living along the CPEC route in Pakistan. Results revealed that perceived impact of CPEC road and transport infrastructure is positively related to community support for tourism, and perceived tourism benefits and community satisfaction play a mediating role in this relationship. Findings of this study not only contribute to the tourism literature, but also provide significant implications for officials to develop policies for promoting tourism development.     

The Opportunities and Limitations of the Internet in Providing a Quality Tourist Experience

ABSTRACT

It is more than a decade since hyped stories about the impact of Internet Technology in the tourism industry have caused much of a stir in the minds of academics, practitioners and public policy makers, among others. Most of the discourses figured throughout around the theme painted pictures of a myriad shades and hues of the days to come. Internet-based marketing and e-commerce are two major, interrelated areas of development impacting the sector. The former reduces information asymmetry between tourists and ultimate service providers in destinations. The latter was predicted to eliminate intermediaries who are either information brokers or those guaranteeing services at the destination. This is true all the more in an environment where tourism is a global industry (with some part of the value chain in the country of origin of the tourist and the remaining in the countries that are destinations) and extremely dependent on information and communication industries. Today, the consumer has more information to make decisions and to access sellers globally, with almost real-time market information providing him with new quality service and experience. With this fundamental power shift of producers to consumers, the way in which marketers think needs to adapt (Corfu, Laranja & Costa, 2003). This paper is focused on the case-study “Solares de Portugal” and basically aims to find out: (1) the importance given by the manor house owners to specific features of travel-related websites' design and their global evaluation of the “Solares de Portugal” website; (2) the perceptions of Internet users on the before mentioned features' website effectiveness as well as their global evaluation of the “Solares de Portugal” website; (3) the correspondence between the two perspectives. The study has provided conclusive evidence about the relevance of efficient website services, as well as other practically employable findings. Thus, it seems reasonable to conclude that society is becoming more familiar with technology, in particular with the PCs and the Internet. This means that the travel industry has now the opportunity to deploy the Web in a more accurate, agile and innovative way. The tourist experience begins with its planning and anticipation stage (Liebman Parrinello, 1993) in the context of which the Internet may provide new quality experiences. From the perspective of the demand side, this may lead to new opportunities of improving the quality of operations and services through the Internet. However, further research will be necessary to dig deeper into those business implications.     

It makes me feel vulnerable! The impact of public self-disclosure on online complaint behavior

Genuine reviews are essential for financial performance and for customer trust. In the case of a negative experience, withholding negative reviews may lead to biased online information. This paper aims to investigate two factors that may prompt customers to withhold their complaints (i.e., identity disclosure and locus of control). The study adopts a sequential exploratory mixed-method approach. An exploratory interview phase compares public vs anonymous online environments, and explores the reasons why dissatisfied customers might decide not to complain. An experiment then shows that vulnerability is a key mechanism preventing negative reviews. This effect is exaggerated when customers perceive that they do not have control over the events happening in their lives (i.e., external locus of control). Our work uncovers an important determinant of online complaint behavior, vulnerability. It also offers practical suggestions, such as improving confidentiality, to increase a customer's willingness to complain following a negative experience.     

Managing tourism products and destinations embedding public good components: A hedonic approach

Decision making by tourism firms' managers and public policymakers is complex for many reasons. One of them is that many tourism products embed a combination of multiple public (external to the decisions of individual firms, related to location and essentially non-rival) and private attributes. Since tourists get satisfaction from each of the components of the product variety bought, managers face the daunting task of putting together, promoting and pricing a bundle of heterogeneous components. This paper draws on hedonic pricing literature to obtain insights (beyond making correct pricing decisions) for tourism firms' managers and public policymakers when dealing with products and destinations embedding public good components. An application to coastal hotels in tourism destinations of Catalonia is presented.     

Planning and developing tourism within a public sector quagmire: Lessons from and for small countries

This paper examined public sector tourism in Northern Ireland, a small country on the periphery of Western Europe which is notorious for being over-governed. The authors found that its complex web of public sector tourism bodies created confusion and duplication within the industry. There was a lack of coordination and clear policy guidelines and many of the organisations were suffering from ‘partnership overload’. To make matters worse for Northern Ireland its National Tourism Organisation, faced with a reduced remit and shrinking budget, was not capable of making decisions and providing the strategic leadership that is required to drive the tourism agenda forward. Northern Ireland, and indeed any small country involved in tourism, could learn valuable lessons from Northern Ireland’s Celtic neighbours, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, countries which have taken action to remove some of their layers of administration and bureaucracy and make public sector tourism more streamlined and manageable.     

Innovation in food service technology and its strategic role

Innovation in food service technology offers differentiation and cost leadership in strategic terms. The majority of food service businesses do not have research and development laboratories. At present, the innovations in equipment design and layout, packaging and service techniques are of a defensive or reactive nature. Examples of defensive innovation include faster and better preparation methods, improved temperature control, even heating, energy and labour savings, less waste, better sanitation, faster service and flexibility. In contrast, developments in offensive or pro-active innovation, which can radically change current practices, are rare. Novel food service processes can evolve as a result of adoption of technological breakthroughs in “high tech” fields of the economy. This justifies investments in offensive research and highlights the importance of technical competencies for a food service professional.     

Applying public participation GIS (PPGIS) to inform and manage visitor conflict along multi-use trails

Managing visitor conflict is an important task in protected areas. This study used public participation GIS (PPGIS) mapping and a visitor survey to research conflicts between mountain bikers and horse riders, and other groups frequenting trails for tourism and recreation in national parks in northern Sydney (Australia). The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of the PPGIS for determining conflict locations, and to integrate stated reasons and conflict resolution measures in a model. The survey showed that 42% of mountain bikers and 69% of horse riders had experienced conflicts, with each other, motorbike riders, walkers/hikers and dog walkers. PPGIS effectively mapped concurrent usage intensity to predict potential conflict locations over a reasonably large study area thereby identifying trails of the greatest concern. PPGIS also offered high-quality GIS visualisation options, and the novelty of the PPGIS increased participant engagement. We evaluated PPGIS compared to questionnaire-based surveying, direct visitor observations, GPS tracking, traffic counters and cameras. Because visitor conflict occurs within a spatial context, conflict management will require greater spatial knowledge of visitor activity, which can be obtained through the innovative PPGIS mapping. A conflict model is presented that integrates this study's empirical findings on conflict reasons and resolutions with existing conflict theory.     

Tourism communities and social ties: the role of online and offline tourist social networks in building social capital and sustainable practice

Mobile connectivity enables the adoption of new ways to connect with social networks which are changing how we might, and could, seek support. In the tourism domain we increasingly blend online and offline presence to engage with social networks in the spatial location, at a distance and across time. This paper explores the forms of community that exist in physical tourism contexts, contexts not previously analysed through a community lens, and explores how mobile technology is creating connections within and beyond existing social networks. It examines how sustainable tourism can be enhanced by mobile connectivity through new space–time practices and using ephemeral interpersonal relationships to harness niche groups to create bottom-up social systems interested in sharing experiences, ideas and resources. Special attention is given to the concept of gelling socialities which proposes a less ridged network structure, and to the need to understand the increasingly liquid social dynamics of mobile social interactions. The paper adds to the theories surrounding community, social ties and tourism's value to society. It draws on data from in-depth interviews undertaken while designing and testing a collaborative travel app. It contributes to growing research into the new technologies increasingly available for sustainable tourism marketing and implementation.     

The role of equity,trust and information on user fee acceptance in protected areas and other public lands: a structural model

Although inequity has been considered as a major concern of user fees on public lands, there is a lack of sufficient empirical research on understanding how perceptions of inequity influence fee acceptance. The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to examine the role of three equity constructs on fee acceptance, and (2) to test whether perceptions of inequity mediate the relationship between trust, information and fee acceptance. This study is based on a telephone survey conducted with residents of Oregon and Washington, United States. The sampling was conducted using a random-digit dial process, yielding 366 completed interviews. The results of structural equation modeling showed that, among the three-dimensional equity constructs, i.e. compensatory equity, democratic equity and equity belief, only equity belief influenced fee acceptance. Further, equity belief partially mediated the effects of information and trust on fee acceptance. Providing more information about fees to the public such as why fees are collected, and where the fee dollars went, and gaining trust with the public through more accountability, transparency and public participation can help to reduce the perception of inequity, and consequently help to build support towards the recreation user fee programme.