Roles of the Hotel Training Professionals—Perspectives of Industry Practitioners

Becoming a learning organization, better educated and more career-minded employees and the adoption of technologies such as social media are current trends in the training and development world, especially in the hospitality industry. It is important to understand how the roles of training professionals are changing and how this change affects the recruitment process from the perspective of human resources professionals. In-depth interviews and survey were adopted in this study to explore the perspectives of industry practitioners. Seven roles of training professionals are identified and the retention of training professionals in the hotel industry is advocated.     

Language representation of restaurants: Implications for developing online recommender systems

As a marketing tool recommender systems have the potential to provide relevant and highly personalized information to consumers. However, developing effective recommender systems requires a substantive understanding of consumers’ preferences as well as meaningful ways to represent hospitality and travel products. This paper argues that language holds the key to understanding consumer preferences and therefore developing effective online recommender systems. Specifically, it explores the nature of the language used by consumers to describe their dining experiences in contrast to the language used by restaurant websites. The findings indicate that consumers use substantially different vocabularies from restaurant websites to describe dining experiences. This study provides implications for developing online recommender systems for restaurants as well as general hospitality and travel products.     

An examination of the recruitment selection factors for a front desk agent

ABSTRACT

The author examined the selection factors within the three traditional steps of recruitment of reviewing the cover letter, the résumé, and the face-to-face interview for a front desk agent position. Differences between hospitality recruiters and hiring managers indicate each group has selection factors according to their personal guidelines. The findings suggest hospitality experience and background, length of time at a position, and positive attitudes (personality) are most important in each of the three stages. Even though experience was the most frequent selection factor, the final decision of a “gut feeling or intuition” chose the applicant.     

Investigating challenge and hindrance appraisals of enterprise social media use among hospitality employees: A technostress perspective

The enterprise social media (ESM) serves as a crucial means to enhance coordination within the organization. However, the impact of ESM is not always beneficial. This study examines the double-edged sword effect of ESM through investigating the impact of ESM technostressors on hospitality employees' post-adoption behaviors. Adopting a mixed-methods design, this study firstly identified five dimensions of ESM technostressors, and then empirically examined how and why ESM technostressors influence hospitality employees' routine use and innovative use behaviors of ESM. The effect of management support as the boundary condition is also investigated. Findings suggest that the persistence, work connectivity, and visibility of ESM promote hospitality employees' routine use and innovative use by facilitating challenge technostress appraisal, while role conflict and emotion interruption of ESM negatively influence hospitality employees’ routine use through enhancing hindrance technostress appraisal. Furthermore, management support can help mitigate the negative impacts of ESM technostressors.     

Bibliometrics of social media research: A co-citation and co-word analysis

This study combined two bibliometric analysis methods to provide a systematic and holistic review of social media-related academic literature. A total of 406 publications related to social media between 2007 and 2016 were identified from 16 business and hospitality/tourism journals. Co-citation analysis identified Word-of-Mouth as the major theoretical foundation of social media research in business, while the hospitality/tourism field presented a diverse theoretical foundation. The study then employed co-word analysis to identify the evolution of research themes over time in both fields. The comparison of social media research between the two fields highlighted four similarities, including the growth of research over time, the term “social media” gaining popularity, the new trend of social networking sites, and managerial applications as research focus. Finally, the study called for a future research agenda on social media research in the hospitality/tourism field.     

MOOCs in tourism and hospitality: a review

ABSTRACT

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have grown significantly and globally in less than ten years. However, practices and research in tourism and hospitality MOOCs remain nascent. This study proposes the MOOC Components Framework with six groups of course components: scaffolding, lectures, networking, collaboration, assessment, and affirmation. Drawing on this framework and a case study method, the study analyses 18 tourism and hospitality MOOCs from higher education institutions. The results highlight that: tourism and hospitality MOOC offerings lack diversity; the forum is the preferred communication tool; social media are comparatively underused; the discontinuity of MOOC instructors needs attention; and finally, littless multilingual support is available.     

A theoretical framework of electronic word-of-mouth against the backdrop of social networking websites

This study proposed and tested a theoretical framework that explains electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) against the backdrop of social networking websites (SNWs), which have gained substantial popularity among travelers. In particular, a United States (US) nationwide online survey was conducted and nine hypotheses were tested. The findings suggest that willingness to share knowledge and switching costs are positively related to eWOM communication. In addition, customer value (utilitarian) has positive relationships with willingness to share knowledge, perceived security, and switching cost, while customer value (hedonic) has positive relationships with willingness to share knowledge and switching costs. Last but not least, the findings indicate that perceived security does negatively impact eWOM. In light of the major findings, the article sets forth strategic implications for travel-related social networking websites.     

Video interviewing: A potential selection tool for hospitality managers – A study to understand applicant perspective

Video interviews are increasing in popularity and are considered an efficient and effective selection tool. As companies start implementing this selection tool, it is important to understand interviewee perceptions of video interviewing and its impact on the overall effectiveness of the selection process. This study explores the pros and cons of video interviewing from the perspectives of 151 hospitality management students from the Southern United States that are currently seeking career placement upon graduation. Participants were asked to go through an online video interview, following which they completed a survey questionnaire. Qualitative findings indicated that some factors that lead to favorableness of video interviewing were comfort, convenience, and saving on resources (money and time), while some factors that resulted in unfavorableness were its impersonal nature, lack of feedback, and technological glitches. Quantitative findings indicated that the overall favorability of video interviewing was low but fairness was high. Based on the findings, recommendations were provided to improve the effectiveness and acceptance of this selection tool.     

Perceptions of determinants of job selection in the hospitality and tourism industry: The case of Korean university students

ABSTRACT

This study explores the key factors influencing potential employees in the hospitality and tourism industry and examines whether causal relationships between behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence students' job selection. The study suggests that the career decision-making process is related to job selection. A total of 307 responses were analyzed. The results explain individual students' attitudes toward a behavior and perceived behavioral control in the context of their job selection. Attitudes toward a behavior and job selection had significant effects on career decisions. On the other hand, opinions of significant others had no significant effect. Perceived behaviors required to decide on jobs had a significant effect on job selection intentions. Students with internship experience were likely to form positive attitudes toward the hospitality and tourism industry, suggesting internships to be a useful source of a stronger relationship between the industry and job aptitudes of students in hospitality and tourism programs. The results have important implications.     

Asynchronous video interviews in the hospitality industry: Considerations for virtual employee selection

Hospitality organizations utilize a variety of selection tools to hire the best candidates. Traditionally, hospitality recruiters have relied on face-to-face interviews for choosing the most qualified candidates to represent the firm. While real-time Internet-based interviewing platforms are increasingly utilized among hospitality organizations, a cutting edge technology-based interviewing phenomenon has emerged: the use of asynchronous video interviews (AVIs). In order to conduct this modality of interviews, employers send text-based questions electronically and the candidate records his or her responses using a webcam via various proprietary software platforms. Following the promise of reduced costs and increased efficiencies, many organizations have adopted this modality of interviews; however, little research has been conducted regarding their effectiveness among both providers and users. Additionally, the appropriateness and alignment of AVI in the hospitality industry for the use of selecting service representatives should be investigated. In light of this, the present research examines the literature on interviewing modalities, predictive validity of selection tools, and electronic Human Resources and presents several propositions as well as an agenda for future research. Furthermore, the present research presents a conceptual model for AVI using the literature on electronic Human Resources as a backdrop.     

Building nightclub brand personality via guest selection

This paper identifies that guest selection at exclusive nightclubs is a brand building process, and that the guests’ primary value to the clubs therefore is the image they bestow on the brand. The paper contributes to theory by providing empirical support for several mechanisms that have previously been stipulated in literature. It validates that companies build brand personality by controlling typical user imagery, and that for self-expressive product categories, negative user stereotypes are particularly powerful. It supports the theory of symbolic brand avoidance, as well as the notion that social rejection encourages people to elevate their perceptions of their rejecters and strengthens their predilection to affiliate with them. For practitioners, the paper shows managers in the hospitality industry that it is possible to build brands by controlling who is allowed to become a brand-user, and under which conditions this applies.     

Enhancing hospitality business performance: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and networking ties in a dynamic environment

Utilizing a sample of 192 hospitality firms, this study investigates the moderating role of a dynamic environment, coupled with business and social networking ties and technology resources, on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational performance in hospitality firms. This research is novel in that we adopt business network ties and social network ties as two moderating variables along with technology resources between entrepreneurial orientation and business performance, providing evidence on a topic which has received little attention to date. The results posit that in an uncertain, dynamic environment a higher level of risk and entrepreneurial orientation benefit business performance especially when coupled with strong business and social networks.     

Exploring Perceptions of US State Tourism Organizations' Web Advertising Effectiveness

This article adopts, modifies and tests the Interactive Advertising Model as a potential tool for evaluating website advertising effectiveness in US state tourism organizations. The adopted model is referred to in the study as the Modified Interactive Tourism Advertising Model (MITAM). The model is tested using data gathered from an independent evaluation by 31 Korean natives on five state US tourism organization websites. The data are analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The study found that the proposed MITAM model should be considered as a tool for improving the advertising effectiveness of travel websites. The article concludes with a discussion on the study findings along with recommendations on how state tourism organizations can improve their website advertising effectiveness.     

How do hospitality entrepreneurs use their social networks to access resources? Evidence from the lifecycle of small hospitality enterprises

This study investigates entrepreneurs’ use of social networks to access resources during the conception, start-up, and consolidation stages of small enterprises in the hospitality industry in Sergipe State, Brazil. This study analyzes four cases of small hotel ventures, employing cross-case analyses to identify the patterns, similarities, and differences between the cases. The study findings highlight that, in the start-up stage, entrepreneurs access fewer resources, utilizing only family and friends, primarily as moral support. In the consolidation stage, entrepreneurs rely more on their weak links, accessing them with greater frequency. Mobilizing social networks is a dynamic process, and how entrepreneurs use these networks changes throughout the business-creation process. This is one of the first studies on how entrepreneurs use their social networks, especially in a developing economy.     

Do consumers care about CSR in their online reviews? An empirical analysis

This research investigates how consumers assess hotels’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices when writing online reviews. The study explores the CSR discourse in online reviews over a 10-year period, highlighting how CSR’s social and environmental dimensions relate to the main hospitality topics (experience, amenities, location, transactions, value). Based on a longitudinal automated text analysis covering 480,000 reviews across six European cities, the findings reveal that hotel customers have gradually begun paying more attention to CSR factors, particularly to social and environmental ones. However, the aggregate results suggest that the overall CSR consumer discourse is still very limited, although it does have important implications in terms of consumer emotions and hospitality dimensions.     

An overview of Internet-based surveys in hospitality and tourism journals

Survey research has reached an era when the Internet is commonly used as a research tool in different fields of study. Yet, the use of this method in tourism and hospitality research has not been fully explored. This study provides a state-of-the-art assessment of journal publications in the past ten years to reveal how the Internet has been incorporated into tourism and hospitality research. Various aspects of online research in tourism and hospitality are identified via reviewing relevant articles retrieved from the EBSCOhost.     

Avoiding the hospitality workforce bubble: Strategies to attract and retain generation Z talent in the hospitality workforce

Survival of the hospitality and tourism industry is highly dependent on a stable workforce to service the tourists and customers. In a shrinking workforce market faced with traditionally high staff turnover and increased departure of older workers, the key focus of this paper serves to provide practical recruitment strategies to attract the next Generation of hospitality talent – Generation Z. This opinion piece provides 10 key talent management strategies on how to appeal to Generation Z and entice them to join the hospitality sector. It presents practical solutions adopted by the industry and innovative recruitment strategies to address the war on talent in hospitality.     

Relationships of Perceived Justice to Service Recovery,Service Failure Attributions,Recovery Satisfaction,and Loyalty in the Context of Airline Travelers

In recent years, hospitality and tourism researchers have presented their findings of many studies on website performance and evaluations. Although these prior studies have achieved a certain degree of success for assisting industrial practitioners to develop and maintain their websites, it remains largely unknown how consumers find a specific travel or hotel website. This paper reports a study that investigated the perceived importance of different channels for finding travel or hotel websites from an international travelers' perspective. Empirical results from 153 travel or hotel website users indicated that the Google search engine was the only channel that was perceived as important, and 47.4% of the respondents viewed up to three screens in the list of search results when using search engines. The paper should be of interest to industrial practitioners and academic researchers to understand better the behavior of users of travel and hotel websites during their website search procedure.     

General self-efficacy's effect on career choice goals via vocational interests and person–job fit: A mediation model

This study investigates a new mediation model, in which individuals’ career choice goals are proposed to be influenced by the interplays of three influences including general self-efficacy, vocational interests, and person–job fit perceptions. Soon-to-be graduates of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) who just finalized their placement in the industry responded to self-completed questionnaires. They were 302 senior undergraduates from two institutes of higher education in tourism and hospitality on China's Hainan Island. The four indirect causal paths within this mediation model include: (a) general self-efficacy → person–job fit → choice goals, (b) general self-efficacy → vocational interests → choice goals, (c) general self-efficacy → vocational interests → person–job fit, and (d) vocational interests → person–job fit → choice goals. The results of structural equation modeling indicate that these four paths are all statistically significant and all the hypotheses regarding these paths therefore gain empirical support. The study's findings as well as their implications are discussed within the context of self-efficacy theory, career development theory, and human resource development practices in the hospitality and tourism domain.