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For several decades, the southern African region, with its diverse natural and cultural attractions, has been an uninterrupted prime destination for sustainable tourism. However, a devastating Covid-19 pandemic presented severe challenges to the global tourism industry, crippling several businesses. The effect was more pronounced especially in the global south, including southern Africa which is confronted by a multitude of challenges. Meanwhile, this crisis presented opportunities for the adoption of sustainable tourism practices in the post-Covid era. This paper provides insights into sustainable tourism practices in the post-Covid era, drawing lessons on how the southern African region survived the crisis. The paper discusses the concept of sustainable tourism and its importance in the post-Covid era. Furthermore, it explores the impact of the pandemic on the tourism industry in southern Africa and the need for sustainable tourism practices. Sustainable tourism practices that have been adopted in the region, such as community-based tourism, eco-tourism, and responsible tourism are discussed. This paper highlights the lessons that can be learned from sustainable tourism practices in southern Africa in the post-Covid era. These lessons can be applied globally to promote sustainable tourism and ensure the resilience of the tourism industry in the face of future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at tourism and hospitality pandemic literature and asks two research questions. The first identifies the main topics analyzed, while the second investigates future research avenues. Manual coding of 230 studies using a grounded theory approach identified 11 topics. An empirical research framework was proposed and organized around four blocks: companies, tourists, destinations, and the whole tourism system. Current literature focuses mainly on the business aspect and analyzes the strategies implemented by companies to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. Intention to travel is the main focus for the tourist block, while impact studies attracted the majority of studies at the destination level. The main tourism topic that is analyzed is post-coronavirus tourism. The conclusions of this paper identify possible research avenues for each topic (analytic research agenda) and also consider the framework as a whole (holistic value). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travelers nowadays increasingly seek destinations and activities through which they can immerse themselves in the local culture as a contrary to mass tourism and inauthentic tourist attractions. This has led to the reconsideration of tourism types and other activity involving travelling, such as voluntourism or volunteering away from home, which has earlier been predominantly seen as volunteering rather than tourism. Digitalization has brought opportunities for new actors to provide such services. Apart from the non-commercial activity, volunteering travellers are often willing to pay to enter the authentic scene and act together with and in benefit of the locals. Previous research has already established that Finland has the potential to provide a variety of experiences desired by voluntourists, and spontaneously emerging, uncoordinated voluntourism activity exists in the country. This activity, however, differs from voluntourism in other parts of the world and attracts different tourists. To be able to systematically design voluntourism activity as commercial tourism products, the influence of multiple factors defining visitor’s choice needs to be taken into consideration and understood. This paper aims at identifying the major factors and producing a model of conceptualizing commercial voluntourism services. The paper uses qualitative research data which consists of 70 global actors’ websites in total. Content analysis and quantifying is used. The most typical elements of commercial concepts are identified, and the model for designing a concept is created. The found elements are as follows: destination, significance and amount of voluntary work, traveller’s motives, duration of trip, need of qualification. The model shows that these elements work as dichotomy indicators. The element could be considered as “either – or” type of choice, but some activity could also be situated in between the extremes. For example, the duration of a trip can vary from one day to one year, but some trips’ duration can be less than the maximum and more than the minimum. The model promotes further voluntourism development in the Nordic countries such as Finland but could potentially be used even more broadly. The results reveal the importance of understanding the customer insight, and further steps should include testing of products designed according to the suggested model and studying customer reviews from destinations in the Nordic countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism has an enormous economic and employment potential, which, at least until 2019, encouraged many countries to develop their tourism offer and attract more tourists. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and nowadays, Europe, the most important tourism destination in the world, faces a new war and refugee crisis. Tourism is an activity that propels the economy and job creation internationally; nevertheless, the activity is vulnerable to macro environment events. Both aspects are crucial issues for tourism entrepreneurs. Therefore, it is relevant to understand the emerging trends that entrepreneurs may face. Based on a systematic literature review, this paper aims to identify the major macro-environmental factors that impact tourism activity by answering the following research question: What contextual factors should entrepreneurs expect to impact their businesses? A systematic literature review was conducted in three steps: 1) selection of the relevant sources (on WoS and Scopus-indexed journals) using appropriate selection criteria that fitted the research questions; 2) assessment of the selected articles according to exclusion criteria to reach a final sample of articles; 3) full analysis of the base of final articles to identify emerging trends associated to relevant contextual factors. Results suggest that political-legal, technological, sociocultural, and sustainability-related factors have been the most relevant ones. This study has relevant contributions to practice since it highlights what entrepreneurs should expect from the macro environment. It also contributes to tourism literature by opening new lines of research and synthesising the trends impacting tourism activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism and hospitality sectors were among the most negatively impacted industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many studies have reflected on the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism and hospitality industry; however, more needs to be written about the effect on the customers. Therefore, this paper aims to report if COVID-19 has affected the use of hospitality establishments and service customers during and after the lockdown in South Africa. This was a cross-sectional quantitative study. Google Forms were used for data collection using snowball and convenience sampling techniques. Seven hospitality establishment categories (Bed and breakfast, guesthouses, hotels, Airbnb, sit-down restaurants, fast food outlets, and wine farms) and two hospitality services (Catering services and delivery services) participated in the study. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26 and presented using descriptive statistics. Demographic data was introduced to give an overview of all the respondents. Most respondents were female (64%) and Africans (69%). Most respondents were employees (49%), earning salaries ranging between R5000 and R50 000. Most customers indicated that they continued to use these establishments and services during the lockdown and were willing to continue doing so post-lockdown. In terms of salaries versus the categories of establishments, customers who earned less visited establishments the most. However, it was observed that customers who visited restaurants were from all salary ranges (brackets). This indicates that customers always continue visiting hospitality establishments and utilising hospitality services. This affirms the importance of the hospitality industry in the social and economic space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As in any other part of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on tourism in the south-eastern island of Cyprus. Indeed, in a turbulent environment with many challenges that Cyprus' tourism had to face, such as loss of competitiveness, monoculture of tourism, unplanned development, human resources management issues, etc., the pandemic was considered the most significant, that not only led to the halt of tourism activity - and hence, the partial collapse of the industry - for many months, but also brought into the surface several chronic structural problems of the island's hospitality business, in terms of management. This paper seeks to examine how the tourism sector and more specifically, hotel enterprises in Cyprus handled the crisis and its consequences. To collect the data, exploratory research was utilised through the form of document scanning as well as face-to-face in-depth interviews with representatives of fivestar hotels in Cyprus. Findings revealed that the greatest challenge that hotels in Cyprus needed to face during the pandemic era, was the high degree of uncertainty. All respondents stressed the role of the government and its support and emphasized the cooperation between the public and private sectors on the island. The results of the study would be useful for hotel managers to reduce the immediate impact of the crisis and support the long-term recovery of their operations and expansion, of Cyprus tourism, in a sustainable manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate concerning e-Commerce adoption is an evolving one that in the context of the current COVID-19 Pandemic has come centre stage. Although the shift towards e-Commerce platforms has been an increasing trend in recent years, Curtin (2020) states the current pandemic has accelerated consumers' shifts toward e-Commerce by five years. As store closures and new enforcements became a reality, it forced many companies to pivot their online strategies overnight (Shadler et al, 2020). Since its inception in the late 90's, e-Commerce adoption and research has championed the rise and the significant benefits of e-Commerce. Industries as diverse as financial, retail, manufacturing, and hospitality (Josanov, 2011; Kremez et al, 2019; Helper and MacDuffie, 2000; Hua, 2016) have embraced e-Commerce. By contrast, research into the use and level of adoption by Agri-food businesses indicates that this sector has not kept pace with this digital revolution. This is surprising given the importance of this sector worldwide. Indeed, it is one of the most important indigenous industries in Ireland in terms of employment, economic output, and export performance. However, there is scarce research found in the case for Irish Agri-food e-Commerce development, with limited industry reports available. Previous research elsewhere called for government support to encourage the move to online territory (Sparkes and Thomas, 2001; Sturiale and Scuderi, 2016), and the onset of COVID-19 furthered this. Numerous support agencies expanded on their current offerings in relation to digital support, although little is known around Agri-food businesses adoption of these. For this reason, this paper intends to add to the limited studies surrounding this important indigenous industry in Ireland within the widely dynamic topic of e-Commerce platforms. The focus of this paper is directed toward the adoption and integration of these online platforms during COVID-19, the benefits and challenges faced, the role of support agencies and further support suggested by SMEs through survey data. This study has both an academic and industry focus and hence aims to improve our understanding of online activity and digital support within this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality of life is a person's perception of life in the context they belong in. It compresses multiple dimensions that need to be assessed. The EUROHIS-QOL-8 scale is an instrument that measures the subjective well-being of individuals and the impact of different health issues. It is a brief tool to measure the quality of life that includes eight items. The higher the results shown in this scale, the better the quality of life of individuals. The EUROHIS-QOL-8 has been proven to have good internal consistency and an excellent index for measuring the quality of life. It has been validated and reliable in many different contexts of application. This paper uses EUROHIS-QOL-8 to evaluate thermalists' perception of quality of life before and after attending a thermal spa. It intends to identify if there are differences between the state of quality of life before and after using thermal spa services. For this purpose, a self-administrated questionnaire was applied to the Termas de Chaves' users during the 2021 thermal season, i.e., between 09 August and 20 December. A convenience method of non)probability sampling allowed to obtain a sample of 213 thermal users. The data were analysed through statistical techniques of exploratory descriptive and inferential analysis. The results showed statistically significant differences in customers' perception of quality of life before and after 14 days of treatment. In addition, the study of five sociodemographic variables showed that the categories: female, up to 35 years old, single, without academic qualifications, and housekeeper were the most benefited from the thermal treatments. Regarding the analysis of pathologies, the participants guided by their family doctor to attend the Chaves thermalsprings for respiratory problemsshowed the most significant improvement. The paper's results dissemination becomes an added value for verifying the benefits of thermal spas on the individuals' quality of life. It also allows for better development of thermal spa products to improve the quality of life perceived by individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reward systems are important tools that management can use to motivate employees; the main objective of organizations in awarding rewards is to attract and retain efficient, productive, and motivated employees. However, there is no evidence available regarding managers' perceptions of employee rewards in five-star hotels in Cape Town. Therefore, this study aims to explore the perceptions of five-star hotel managers about the reward systems offered to employees. Further, this paper attempts to explore the influence and impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the employee reward systems offered at five-star hotels. A total of 14 interviews were conducted with managers working in four selected five-star hotels. The study used semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data. The data were analysed using Creswell’s six steps. The study's findings indicate that managers offered distinct types of rewards to their employees, including extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Managers revealed that extrinsic rewards, specifically money, are the most preferred rewards. The study revealed that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic led to hotels adjusting their employee reward systems to offer less extrinsic rewards and more intrinsic rewards. This paper concludes by recommending strategies to hotel management for enhancing the type of rewards offered to employees and offering utilisation of effective intrinsic rewards. This is to ensure that employees increase their value towards intrinsic rewards as much as they value extrinsic rewards Implications for future research are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism and marginalization are broadly considered different trajectories in the Alpine region's development. On the one hand, tourism is one of the main economic drivers in the Alps. However, many areas still depend on a mass tourism economy that producesrelevant ecological, sociocultural and economic impacts. At the same time, marginalization identifies those contexts excluded by mass tourism development affected by shrinkage, abandonment and economic decline. Within this framework, the paper points out that these processes often overlap and coexist, producing complex and layered spatial geographies. The Media-Alta Valtellina Region, located in the Lombard Italian Alps, is provided as a case study to investigate the relationship between mass tourism and marginalization through two sets of indicators. Tourism indicators measure the impact of mass tourism development, while territorial capital indicators assess marginalization processes and the potential expressed by environmental, productive, demographic, infrastructural, settlement, and cultural resources. As a result, besides popular mass tourism poles and non-touristic marginalized areas, several mature tourism destinations emerge where marginalization effects and mass tourism issues overlap. Furthermore, territorial capital broadly appears as the intrinsic potential that must be activated and valorized to build new development trajectories. In conclusion, according to the different potentials expressed by territorial capital, the paper provides preliminary suggestions and guidelines for achieving the territorial rebalance between the multiple processes investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This historical review explores a descriptive-informative overview of cuisine as a component of gastro-tourism and travel. The paper reports on contemporary culinary innovation offerings in a South African context, analysing the links – or absence thereof – between academia and the gastro-tourism industry, to illustrate the ambiguity between research and practice in culinary innovation and its effects on the gastro-tourism industry. The qualitative methodology employed was informed by the historically oriented systematic literature review process. This was guided by a structured approach to determine relevant source material that would be useful for the historical literature review purpose. Evidence searches for literature from various sources such as scholarly journals and professional magazines, grey literature and personal reviews within the industry were undertaken. The examples in this paper highlight the potential unstructured innovation taking place within the South African food service environment without supported evidence from academic research. Role-players in both research and the gastro-tourism fields could apply properly researched food heritage and gastro-nationalism interventions to draw tourists and allow them to experience innovative use of local indigenous produce and food heritage innovations. Examples include Wild Peach (Landolphia kirkii) or Sand Apricot Vine (Umkuzi in Zulu) fruit leather disk covering a cheese and fruit plate, or swirls of fruit leather used to decorate a carrot and Marula Bundt cake, made from bright Umnumbela or Transvaal Milk-plum purée, and Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) pulp in the carrot cake batter. The research highlights the limited available data, to establish a viable link between academia and the gastro-tourism industry. Despite this limitation, the paper foregrounds the efforts being made towards culinary innovation within the South African culinary industry. Simultaneously it also illustrates the originality of this research and the importance of improved collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing economic sectors in the world contributing to economic growth and development in many regions and providing income through job creation. Spain, of course, is not an exception. Moreover, mankind has a need to travel in order to explore and discover and to live new experiences that, all together, give a new meaning to life. However, the recent Covid-19 outbreak has plunged both national and, specially, international travel. Countries and regions have taken steps towards the reopening of the sector starting in July 2020 but there is no doubt that we are merged in a global tourism crisis. Policy measures to aid and give relief to this situation are put into place by governments and international and regional institutions. Measures are diverse and have worked with more or less success to improve the situation; all of them are aimed to restart tourism supporting travel and, along with promotion campaigns, to boost both national and international demand. In this paper we analyse the situation of the tourism sector in Spain and, specifically, in the Galician region before March 2020 and we compare results and figures with the situation during the pandemic lockdown. In this sense, we analyse the situation of demand, offer and employment before the pandemic and compare it to the situation lived during the Covid-19 outbreak. This paper describes the situation in Spain and Galicia; it provides a descriptive analysis of data and preliminary insights through in-depth semi-structured interviews with different experts belonging to the tourism sector; it is part of a broader project we are working on. The paper is structured as follows. After an introduction, we describe the situation of the sector before the pandemic lockdown in Galicia. Next, section three makes reference to the methodology. Section four presents some of the consequences of the Covid-19 disruption and, lastly, section five highlights the mayor conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aviation is among those industries that were most heavily impacted and disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The impacts were most severe in passenger traffic where the amount of seats offered dropped by 50% during 2020 causing airline revenue loss of 371bn USD. Air-traffic cuts exceeded 90% in some areas. Covid-19 pandemic had many indirect impacts on air travel services, including how staff training is carried out. Although the pandemic has had massive negative influences in different areas of life, it has opened doors to new innovations and developments as well. A giant leap forward has taken place in online education, which this study focuses on from the specific viewpoint of air travel service providers. Attempts to contain the spread of Covid-19 lead to school closures and by the beginning of April 2020 the pandemic had impacted over 90% of the world's total enrolled learners. Similarly 188 country-wide school closures took place globally. This led to boost in online education - possibly the greatest growth of all time was seen. In aviation sector the impacts are evident as well, mostly reflected by the ways how staff training is delivered at airports. Organizations in air traffic chain had to adapt to the changed operational landscape, new health and safety risks and learn to comply with new regulations. Staff skills and competences were in the middle of this. This case study examines these developments in international air transport context during 2020 and 2021. We will look at various examples in aviation industry organizations related to staff training, focusing specifically on how training practices have changed due to Covid-19. From the basis of these findings and experiences, the paper attempts to draw a future scenario of digital transformation of training in the industry. Case studies are based on courses developed and provided by Airport College (AC) which is a private online training academy serving the global aviation sector with digitally enhanced training solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing demand for natural areas and outdoor activities in the last decade, even more noticeable in the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic situation, has led to the intensification and diversification of nature-based tourism supply in many regions, including the provision of adventure recreation activities, such as canyoning. However, and despite the increasing interest of companies, destinations, and academia in this specific type of activity, there is limited information on resources, practice conditions, and assessments based on specific, objective criteria. This information is critical for a more competitive development and positioning of regions for this activity, and to meet tourists' increasingly demanding expectations. Therefore, this paper aims at building upon the identified research gap, by characterizing and evaluating the existing conditions for canyoning activity in the North Region of Portugal, This evaluation of twenty-seven canyoning spots. was done based on an assessment matrix, comprised of specific criteria, grounded on the literature review and semi-structured interviews with companies' owners/managers and experts. The study concludes that the activity is evolving in the region and there is still potential for development, due to morphological, favourable conditions. Moreover, the region offers different spots, often inserted in protected areas, with unique landscapes and natural diversity, which is attractive for tourism. The presentation of an assessment matrix (that allows the characterization and evaluation of canyoning spots on a systematic approach in different geographic contexts) makes this study a contribution to the literature on nature-based, adventure tourism and recreation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a bewildering number of sustainable tourism labels to choose from. This working paper reviews the different offerings and develops a dynamic framework to increase understanding of the certification and labelling process from a circular economy perspective. The framework can be used as a basis for improving practice i.e., for tour operators and tourism agencies to communicate to tourists more effectively, for tourist destinations including tourism providers to make more effective decisions on how to progress with 2030 targets, and for tourism students to increase awareness of sustainable tourism certification and labelling and more effectively promote sustainable tourism to those working in the tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoubtedly, deciding to enter the business world is a challenging decision that is influenced by several factors. Some of them are cultural since they deal with widespread beliefs about entrepreneurial activity in a community at a certain time. Other factors are related to the entrepreneur’s personal characteristics. As young people in Greece are interested in starting their own businesses they interact with their peers around the world, mainly in Europe, for exchanging ideas, information and good practices, despite the cultural differences between the North and the South of Europe. This paper will address the issue of shaping an entrepreneur in Greece and the role of factors such as entrepreneurship education, personal characteristics, and social norms in his/her entrepreneurial intention. A sample of 143 students in the tourism department of a Greek University answered an online questionnaire at the end of the semester. Findings show that Personal Attitude (PA), Social Norms (SN) and Self-efficacy (SE) had a significant impact on the Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) of tourism students. The characteristics of those starting up businesses in the tourism sector will also be reviewed, and the consequences for policy makers will be examined to encourage new start-ups and increase the survival chances of the existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wellness Tourism is one of the most promising niche markets within the tourism field worldwide, assuming a recognized role in the global tourist scenario. In socio-demographic terms, it is related to some of the major contemporary international trends and is intrinsically related to population ageing and the increase in life expectancy. That has a set of consequences to tourist phenomena, based on the demand for unique and true experiences and products, that include health services, mainly in tourist destinations with more accessible costs, with infrastructure and natural conditions conducive to well-being. This paper analyses the contribution of Health and Wellness Tourism in the improvement of Happiness levels of the ones who experience these kinds of services. In this research, the analysis is focused on the demand side, considering health and wellness users and tourists in Portugal, providing a sociodemographic characterization, observing their travel behaviour, assessing their satisfaction with the health and wellness experience, and the levels of happiness obtained. The results demonstrate the potential of health and wellness tourism on the contribution to the happiness of users, according to their different profiles. It also evidences the impact of the frequency of use of this type of service on the improvement of happiness levels. Theoretical and practical implications for the development of health and wellness tourism from a marketing perspective are provided, complemented with a set of proposals for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper concerns the issue of impact the state border function on cross-border tourist relations in the divided cities on the Polish-German border (i.e. Zgorzelec (Pl)-Goerlitz (G), Gubin (Pl)-Guben (G); Słubice (Pl)-Frankfurt (Oder)(G)). Divided cities have always been a kind of laboratory of cross-border relations, due to their history and functional proximity. The main purpose of the study is to identify stages in the cross-border tourism relation process, taking exogenus (political factors) and endogenous (cross-border cooperation) factors into account and investigate whether these stages refer to theoretical concepts applied in the study (Martinez (1994) and the concept of the bordering- debordering- rebordering process). The analysis concerns the period 1945-2021. The research methods used in the study are analysis of the literature on the subject and direct observations carried out at border crossings in the divided cities during the period 1-4 June 2021. Conclusions: The most important external factor shaping cross-border tourist relations is the political factor and the permeability of the border as its consequence. On this basis, it is possible to distinguish periods for the formation of cross-border tourist relations that relate to Martinez's (1994) types of borderland interaction. However, the conditions for intensification of tourism relations between the parties emerge in the intedependent borderlands and integrated borderlands types of regions, when there is an opportunity to create cross-border tourism relations and cross-border tourism destinations. In the process-oriented terms, all elements of the bordering- debordering-rebordering concept and their reference and consequences to cross-border tourism relations can be described. Using the example of divided cities, it is shown that this is a continuous process, variable over time and highly sensitive to the political factor. Practical implications for local and regional authorities and DMO (Destination Management Organisations) have been formulated regarding the creation of cross-border tourist attractions using the state border as a distinguishing element (e.g. the rich and sometimes difficult German-Polish history, the culture of a Lusatian minority, border smuggling phenomena). The research conducted is regarded as a preliminary stage for further in-depth quantitative research, operationalisation of the model and its empirical confirmation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing awareness towards literary tourism has given it a gradual popularity, strengthening its role in the tourist offer in Portugal. Aware of this fact, we discuss, in this paper, the main initiatives of literary festivals in the country in the city of Penafiel. Experiences, images, and texts are increasingly important to achieve tourist realities. And it is through literary festivals that they are enhanced. Although event tourism has an increasingly interdisciplinary approach, the analysis of the literary experience is still scarce. The main goal of this article is to understand the experience provided by the literary festival ESCRITARIA which took place in 2022, holding its 15th edition. Therefore, a thorough literature review was done, as well as an exploratory and quantitative investigation. In addition, a data collection was carried out with a questionnaire designed to be answered online by the national and international participants in Escritaria. To understand Escritaria as a literary event proposal, one surveyed a sample of national and foreign participants in the festival; since it took place during the event, it allowed one to gauge the importance of literary events as an enhancing offer of the tourist activity. Starting from the sociodemographic profile of the participants, this study aims to understand the forms of participation, involvement and satisfaction. The results of the analysis highlight the growing importance of this type of events and this one, in particular, a festival that has been building loyalty and expanding its audience, an audience of national and international scope. This festival not only increases the number of tourists/visitors, but also enhances the destination promotion and marketing activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor activities, and in particular hiking activities, are amongst most significant tourism offer in many destinations, becoming even more relevant as COVID-19 pandemic hits Europe. Tourists are increasingly keen to travel to natural, rural and undertourism destinations, with a particular interest on Protected Areas (PAs). In order to provide extraordinary outdoor experiences, as hiking, a diversity of trails with certain infrastructure and general conditions, is critical. Yet, little research has focused on evaluating the existing conditions on a systematic approach, and based on specific assessment instruments. This paper aims at building upon this research gap, by proposing the assessment of the trails and the potential for hiking activities, in Northern Portugal, a tourism destination increasingly known for its natural and green landscape, especially vacacioned for outdoor activities. Given their well preserved landscapes, and natural and cultural resources, protected areas lend themselves as preferred settings for outdoor activities. Therefore, a comparison of existing conditions, inside and outside PAs will be performed. The assessment matrix employed in this study is original and innovative, constructed based on the analysis of related literature, but mostly with contributions from various professionals of outdoor tourism activities. The results of the assessment process are discussed and opportunities for improvement are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the moderating role of negative emotions triggered during the COVID-19 crisis on intentions to visit and willingness to recommend a destination in order to extend theoretical knowledge on emotions in the tourism field and to offer practical recommendations for tourism marketing managers. It is argued that the negative basic emotions automatically triggered by the crisis will moderate the effect of emotions elicited by cognitive evaluations about a destination. Specifically, we empirically found that anger moderates the effect of admiration on both intentions to visit and intentions to engage in positive word-of-mouth. By analyzing the different appraisal tendency and type of emotions, we provide specific recommendations for marketing strategies and market segmentation. The paper opts for an experimental method conducted in a developing country assessing basic emotions using facial recognition. It is further recommended that managers take into account individual emotional states of their target audiences in order to specify the type of message in tourism marketing campaigns. Future research should empirically investigate the moderating role of consumer predispositions or personality characteristics in order to provide more specific patterns of the effects of emotions in tourists' behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism sector has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, making it one of the most affected economic areas worldwide. Simultaneously, the pandemic created contexts for the expansion and consolidation of trends already experienced in the recent past, namely the increasing adaptation of tourism to the digital society. One prominent example is the use of techniques known as "Big Data", which carry out a massive mining of data from different sources, in order to define "profiles" of tourist consumption. This paper aims to map the social and ethical controversies associated with the use of Big Data by addressing the "technological optimism" that tends to surround the use of these techniques in the tourism sector. Through a review of literature about Big Data in tourism, we conclude that the rhetoric surrounding the use of Big Data techniques is both utopian and dystopian. On the one hand, according to literature in disciplinary areas related to the development of technology, Big Data is considered an indispensable tool for improving competitiveness in the tourism sector and for helping to understand the tourist more effectively. On the other hand, however, social sciences tend to frame Big Data as an astute representation of Big Brother, challenging the protection of personal privacy in tourism consumption and highlighting the lack of awareness and legal regulations, as well as the possibility of decontextualisation and false correlations that may jeopardize the touristic experience. For this reason, it has become urgent to develop a critical reflection on the ethical challenges posed by the uses of Big Data in tourism and consider routes of an anticipatory governance of these technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collaborative economy is currently experiencing a re-comeback in an innovated form given the development of digital platforms. This model of the economy was further supported by the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, when as a result of the introduced lock-downs, traditional forms of the economy have so far been dampened by states, especially in tourism (accommodation and gastronomic services). From the states' point of view, the collaborative economy is an area of interest in terms of legal regulation, including tax policy settings, and in the context of its expansion, its non-taxation may represent a tax revenue gap (especially for local governments in the context of local taxes). In the paper, the authors analyse the existing legal regulation of taxation in the field of tourism, focusing on the provision of accommodation services in the Slovak Republic, in connection with its possible application to the model of the collaborative economy. The authors aim to answer the research question of whether the existing tax legislation in the Slovak Republic is applicable to economic activities in the field of accommodation services carried out under the collaborative economy model. For this purpose, using the method of legal analysis, analysis of secondary data from available databases (Eurostat), partial comparisons with other EU countries and using induction, deduction and scientific synthesis, the authors conclude in terms of a formulated scientific question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic affected the operational risk of organizations, requiring its management through Internal Control Systems (ICS). The tourism sector in Portugal, one of the largest and most competitive, was also one of the most affected by the pandemic, which emerged in March 2020. The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the perception of tourism managers about the relationship between the existence of internal control and risk mitigation in their companies. We present a quantitative study carried out by questionnaire, sent to 830 managers from tourism companies in the region of Porto, Portugal. Most participants consider crucial the implementation of ICS and a competitive advantage in the current pandemic context. They also consider that the implementation of ICS is not accessible to all companies, but its absence does not necessarily make them more fragile. The study also concludes that besides internal control, the role of the Portuguese Government was crucial to overcome the difficulties caused by the pandemic and to ensure companies' recovery. Financial support from the government allows companies to invest in procedures to overcome the pandemic situation, such as strengthening cleanliness measures, focusing on new technologies and creating products and/or services more attractive to consumers. This study contributes to the perception of tourism managers about internal control, highlight the need to implement risk analysis routines to manage risks that may threaten the company activities and highlight the governmentÂ's role in business recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a worldwide crisis, which has had an impact on all economic sectors, having transformed social and consumption patterns. This crisis has been particularly difficult for the tourism industry, with uncertainty and the emergence of new consumer profiles and demands prompting swift reactions from policymakers and stakeholders. Focussing on two sub-sectors of the Portuguese tourism industry - hospitality and events - this paper aims to identify the most relevant concerns and Crisis Management Strategies adopted in each of these sectors in the early stages of the pandemic, putting forward a multi-layered analysis, juxtaposing the different challenges faced by managers and how they were approached. Based on previous studies and on 14 semi-structured interviews with hotel and event managers, the authors adopted an exploratory qualitative approach as to record and categorize the interviewees' perceptions, having established the transversal importance of resilience, flexibility, and technology for each sector's recovery. Moreover, taking into account the singularity of each setting, the authors were also able to identify more specific sectorial categories, which have had an effect on both the decision-making and future outlooks for both the hospitality and events industries. Overall, despite being hopeful, hotel and event managers anticipate different recovery challenges, with the first highlighting the importance of soft skills, and the latter emphasizing the need to regain the public's confidence, at the same time they will have to rethink their offer as to better address current needs and concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic marine and costal tourism has increased in importance over the last number of years due to the impacts of international travel, environmental concerns, associated health benefits and COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Consequently, this paper conceptualizes domestic marine and coastal tourism within an economic framework. Two logit models examine the factors that influence participation in the coastal day trips and overnight stays markets, respectively. Two truncated travel cost models are employed to explore trip duration, one analyzing the number of day trips taken and the other examining the number of nights spent in marine and coastal areas. Although a range of variables predict participation, no one variable had a significant and consistent affect in every model. A division in access to domestic marine and coastal tourism is also observed based on variation in household income. The results also indicate a vibrant day trip market and large consumer surpluses. The decision to use logit participation models and travel cost models applied to day trips and overnight stays is a direct result of the audiences this paper aims to inform. Firstly, by presenting the decision making process for domestic marine and coastal tourism in this depth, evidence based decision makers can gather a better understanding of how domestic tourist decided to participate in marine and coastal tourism, who the larger beneficiary are of the different types of marine and coastal tourism and how policy focused solely on overnight stays can adversely affect particular segment of society, often those less well off financially. Secondly, the academic literature has presented a dearth of information comparing day trip participation to overnight stays in marine and coastal tourism, as such, this paper provides a valuable source of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world will face the challenges of sustainable development in the terms of social, environmental and economic sustainability in all sectors (e.g. Bruntland, 1987). In these days of Covid19 tourism will be in focus because of the restrictions in mobility and traveling. Already before Covid the responsible tourism was arising and the negative consequences of global tourism got attention. This paper presents the results of the web survey consisting of political, economic, social, technological and ecological factors affecting the future of tourism in European context. We received altogether 46 replies to the survey. We have used methods from futures studies (see Bell, 1997; Masini, 1993). According to the results, sustainability concerning tourism is not only environmental issues, but also health and safety dimensions. Virtual reality offers opportunities in the time of uncertainties. It will also create new challenges and threats. In the worst case scenario people travel and cause overtourism and damages to the nature and to the culture. In the best case scenario tourists find a sustainable way of living, staying longer and respecting people living there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces research about the benefits of co-creation for tourism developers. Taking sustainable development into account, the current situation in the tourism industry and the increasingly rapidly changing work life require flexibility and renewal of education. The competence of tourism professionals is not necessarily being developed and updated at the pace required by the industry. In many cases, tourism employees cannot combine their work schedule with studying. The opposite needs to be done - education needs to be brought closer to work life. In 2019 this was the background for launching a collaborative development of a new education model for responsible tourism as an empirical study. COVID-19 pandemic has increased the value of flexible learning even more. "The steps towards responsible tourism" project is a collaboration between five universities in Finland, co-funded by the European Social Fund. The five partnering organizations formed its formal network with more than 20 tourism-related experts. In the progress of the development work also several less committed actors were involved in the co-creation process. The research question of this study is: What is the value of co-creation for the actors participating in the production of the new digital education model? For this purpose, a case study was conducted. The data collection methods were participative observation by the participating experts, narratives of participants, and project documentation. The research aims at solutions for better support of the cocreation processes. The findings showed three different role perspectives: tourism industry representatives, service providers, and experts participating in the project. Transformative learning was evident in each of the roles. The phenomenon of swarming was also observed, which suggests openness for several views, self-directed periods and a social interaction period between the participants. It appeared that creativity in performance can be enhanced by facilitators encouraging the development of shared vision and understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to theoretically address the theme of conference tourism, to identify the main challenges that this sector faces. It is part of a more comprehensive work that includes studying the impact of COVID-19 on academic conferences and scientific events and the future of face-to-face events. Therefore, in this paper, we present a literature review to support the theoretical basis of the ongoing research work. In the current context, remote communication technologies have replaced physical participation in events. However, it is expected that in the future, as mobility restrictions end and the pandemic is controlled, physical presence at events will also increase. Not only for the character of socialization and personal interaction that is irreplaceable, but also for the opportunities to discover new tourist destinations and to develop leisure activities that physical participation allows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ending poverty in all of its forms by 2030 is the top priority goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG). It is well known that the tourism industry can play a vital role in eradicating poverty. While the decline of global poverty is obvious, progress has slowed and even reversed because of COVID-19 and is expected to grow in the coming years. In recent years, tourism development in Uzbekistan has seen unprecedented growth. Modern Uzbekistan history can be divided into two, both with very different political and economical approaches under the presidency of former president Islam Karimov and current leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Since 2016, Uzbekistan has begun an unprecedented political, economic and social transformation. The reforms the new president has started have been remarkable and are being seen as an opportunity to unlock the country's potential. In 'New Uzbekistan', poverty is a new term following the President's address to the parliament of Uzbekistan, in which he became the first Uzbek president in history to openly admit the existence of poverty in the country. In Uzbekistan, the population living below the poverty line accounts for about 12 to 15 percent, nearly 4 to 5 million people in the country are living for less than 10 to 13 thousand UZS a month. Considering the challenges the world is facing with climate change, uncertain epidemic situations, countries with conflict (e.g. extremists taking over the government in Afghanistan in 2021), and authoritarian regimes (e.g. Kazakh protests in early 2022), it looks challenging to eradicate poverty by 2030 in Central Asia, particularly in Uzbekistan. This research will initiate an exploration of both the present and potential future impacts of tourism on poverty alleviation in Uzbekistan. The overall aim of the research is to create a model for developing countries to reduce poverty by maximising the benefits of the tourism industry. The academic resources related to the topic of interest are sparse. Most studies seem to focus on tourism only and there is little or almost no evidence on the impacts of tourism on the poor in Uzbekistan. This paper has important implications for academics and proposes practical recommendations which will be beneficial to policymakers and tourism governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 travel restrictions have significantly affected airline markets. A behavioural analysis is presented of 1 million customers of a major airline company over 3 years, using clickstream data, combined with COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) data. The main results are that pre-pandemic, the variations in traffic volumes were seasonal and there was a consistent ratio of search (76%), buy (5%) and e-service (19%) activities across the year. The start of the pandemic caused a sharp drop in website traffic, which minimised at 1/3 of normal levels and then gradually increased so that post-covid volumes are now 20% higher, which reflects pent-up demand and consumer confidence. At the start of the pandemic, e-service increased sharply and then dropped to below pre-pandemic levels. The proportion of buyers decreased significantly at the start of the pandemic and then returned to just below pre-pandemic levels. The proportion of searchers remained high throughout the pandemic. Comparing post-pandemic with pre-pandemic, the proportion of searchers remains higher, buyers has dropped, and e-service remains the same. These results show the importance of distinguishing between different types of online activity, defined by three broad phases in the customer lifecycle: search, buy and e-service, which can only be achieved by using raw, clickstream data. Typically, web server analytics software employ aggregate data and it is much more difficult to uncover nuanced changes that are apparent at the granular level of individual clickstream data. The contribution of the research is to demonstrate a novel analytical methodology that exploits detailed clickstream data to characterize the dynamic changes in customer behaviour, which gives important insights into how online markets change in response to exogenous shocks by enabling key event analysis. Using the approaches outlined in this paper, airlines and e-commerce companies can anticipate, measure behavioural changes and be pro-active in their strategic responses to significant external events in the competitive environment that are likely to affect customer behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's business world, acquiring and retaining customers in the tourism industry is becoming increasingly challenging. High competition, constantly changing markets, and growing customer demands require constant adaptation to new trends and marketing innovations. It is crucial to cultivate customer loyalty, as it leads to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth promotion. Achieving this goal is an increasingly difficult task that requires innovative approaches to service marketing. Tourism includes very specific sub)sectors that are significantly different from the mainstream of the industry and serve not only well-being but also other needs. An example of a sub-sector that combines well-being and health is spa tourism. Existing studies suggest that factors influencing the loyalty of health spa visitors may vary depending on the region and cultural factors and may also change over time. Further research is therefore needed to precisely identify which factors are currently most important for promoting the loyalty of spa customers. This article presents a case study of increasing customer loyalty, with a special focus on the Czech Republic. The study identifies the current needs, preferences, and requirements of customers in the selected tourism industry. The article aims to complement a model of visitor loyalty for the needs of spa tourism and introduce marketing tools that currently influence customer loyalty in spa tourism. The complementation of the model is based on the generally accepted model of customer satisfaction in tourism. The proposed suggestions can inspire tourism businesses to fulfil the needs of health, active living, and well-being by effectively acquiring and retaining customers in a highly competitive environment. The study provides theoretical and managerial recommendations for increasing customer loyalty. The study is based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2022 among spa visitors throughout the Czech Republic. The motivation was to identify key factors that support customer loyalty. The results show that specific treatment effects and procedures, information and personal experience, a pleasant environment and ambience of the spa contribute more to loyalty than satisfaction with accommodation or the offer of complementary services. The paper also provides a set of practical recommendations for setting up marketing programs and improving marketing communication for owners and managers of spa tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism industry is well-known in the services sector. However, unstable jobs and insecure careers have impacts on career commitment, which are major concerns for the relevant stakeholders. The recent experience of the global pandemic COVID-19 has also exacerbated the jobs situation and reiterated the prevailing uncertainty in the tourism industry. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to carry out a systematic literature review (SLR) for exploring and analyzing the published scientific studies on the specific issue and highlight areas for further research. The systematic literature review based on PRISMA framework was follows, considering criteria of identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. Initially, 200 records were identified, ended with 32 included records for detailed review. Results indicates the use of unethical pro-organization behavior (UPoB), anti-social activities, working conditions, relationship between worker and supervisor, and some controllable and uncontrollable factors significantly impact turnover intentions of employees, requires mitigation through certain staff retention policies, particularly under uncertain and crises driven situations. The study provides further research directions for researchers, related to the theoretical and practical aspects. Limitations of the study are discussed in the concluding part of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the financial determinants of debt of Portuguese hotel companies using the main indicators suggested by the Trade-Off and the Pecking Order theories. The main objective of this study was to analyse the determinants that most contribute to the debt of Portuguese companies in the hotel industry. The study also aimed to understand the impact of crisis periods on the debt. Since data collected refers to the period between 2005 and 2020 it also analyses the impact of the 2008 financial crisis and, more recently, the global pandemic COVID-19. The results show that debt is negatively associated with profitability and age, and is positively associated with size, growth opportunities and tangibility. These results are in line with the Pecking Order theory, ranking the choice of financing methods. We can also conclude that the way hotels finance their assets will affect their level of debt. We also evidence that debt of Portuguese hotels companies increases in periods of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed a wide and strong development of the sharing economy in various industries. As a result of the wide spread of intelligent mobile devices and customers' increasing digital skills, the use of collaborative platforms in tourism, in particular for accommodation services, has become an important alternative for many tourists. In this paper we try to investigate relevant aspects of the profile, motivations and habits of the Romanian tourists who are using Airbnb for renting accommodation services. Survey-based research was conducted during the summer of 2021, a period when very few COVID-19-related restrictions were being enforced in Romania regarding people's mobility and travel. The questionnaire was designed to capture not only the demographic, economic and social profile of the consumers, but also and more importantly the main aspects related to the type of travel (leisure versus business), the motivations of getting involved in the collaborative use of platforms etc., from a demand-side perspective. We have grouped the motivations for using Airbnb taking into account the following main classes of factors: price; comfort; ease of use and functionality; authenticity and local connection. Other investigated issues pertained to analyze the place of Airbnb compared to classical accommodation units, considering factors such as trust and efficacy. We found that there is a certain amount of conformity among the population in making the decision to book accommodation, but there is also an innovative trend, expressing people's desire to try other forms of accommodation that offer authenticity and new experiences, characteristics that are less common in traditional accommodation forms. Indirectly, we can identify several trends in respondents' preferences for tourist accommodation and consumption habits. Trends may include greater availability of accommodation alternatives, including through collaborative platforms and, gradually, the transformation of these alternative experiences into tourism consumption habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study inquires about the COVID-19-generated momentum and how it resulted in transformative opportunities for the hard-hit tourism industry in Hawai'i. A single embedded case study has been selected to explore the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic-generated momentum for the risk-prevalent industry and identify sustainability-based management strategies within the tourism industry in Hawai'i's small island economy. Documentation and archival records analysis paired with direct observations performed during the 2022 Hawai'i Tourism Conference exposed the pivot taken by the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the four island counties, toward rebuilding, redefining, and resetting the tourism industry in accelerating the timeline for sustainable and regenerative tourism. Findings indicate that actors from the tourism industry in Hawai'i perceived the COVID-19 pandemic as a huliau, or a point of transformation, to reflect and reevaluate the tourism industry's responsibility and shift toward a recovery focused on sustainability. This research confirms that the pandemicdriven momentum accelerated opportunities for changing and transforming traditional business models and indicators of progress within the tourism industry in Hawai'i and it revealed that the Hawai'i Tourism Authority and the four island counties adopted new management and collaborative approaches and measures of success to rebuild, redefine, and reset the directions of tourism. Further research may explore additional Pacific Island countries to gain a deeper understanding of the problem within the region's context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to consider the socio-economic impacts of the Cape Town Carnival, given the significant impacts impinged on the event's exponential socio-economic potential in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the period 2020 and 2021, the event was suspended as the world grappled with mobility-restricting and other pandemic-related regulations, which grounded almost all social and economic activities. Through strategic planning and innovative efforts by the event's organisers to curtail the pandemic's impact, a reimagined format was conceptualised in 2022, while a postpandemic version returned in 2023, explorations of which form the focus for the current study. Relying on CTC pre-pandemic socio-economic impact studies, pandemic, and post-pandemic era empirical investigations of 800 spectators provided data for socioeconomic impact exploration. SPSS version 29 sotiware was utilised in the analysis and exploration of variable relationships in the collected data. The findings of the study suggest that spectators displayed positive perceptions of the socio-economic benefits of the CTC relating to job creation, tourism revenue generation, and community empowerment. The negative impact of the pandemic on the CTC's ability to deliver these benefits was acknowledged. The study highlights the importance of mitigating the negative effects that come with unprecedented events such as COVID-19 through the development of resilience strategies including adaptation, diversification of revenue streams, development of new partnerships, and investment in community engagement opportunities. The study recommends the need for a qualitative inquiry exploring stakeholder insights with key stakeholder groups to assimilate socio-economic objectives for the event for comparative purposes. Additionally, a deeper investigation into specific sectors, such as accommodation, catering, and local businesses is recommended for a more holistic view on the socio-economic impacts while a participant survey is suggested to determine the aspects of job creation and innovation, as envisioned by the objectives of the CTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has caused unparalleled public dread, which will most certainly impede tourist business recovery once the epidemic is gone. This research investigates the causes of the general public's epidemic travel anxiety, as well as how individuals impose self-protection, coping, and resilience with travel. The study blends theories such as protection motive theory, coping theory, and resilience theory to achieve the research goal. The primary data came from an online poll of 322 Southeast Asian travelers. According to the findings, the magnitude and vulnerability of the danger might induce "travel dread," which leads to protection motivation and precautionary travel behaviors during the pandemic. The findings also demonstrate that social distancing has memory consequences. In other words, individuals who willingly engaged in social separation during the pandemic are more likely to continue doing so in the post-COVID period since their long-term behavior has been influenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is a growing tendency for tourists to look for new experiences during their leisure or vacation trips. Increasingly, these experiences are echoed in pleasant places of relaxation. However, a classic tourist activity continues to be in high demand – hydrotherapy – which no longer offers only the usual and traditional treatments with water, but also other alternatives, bringing together a complex of proposals for all tastes and all budgets. Travel, stay, gastronomy, enjoy the landscapes and historical and cultural sites are today added to places where health and well-being complement tourists who seek it in a very rewarding way. However, choosing where to sleep, what to eat and what to visit is different from deciding which health and wellness treatments you can and should get and which ones will be beneficial and not harmful to your needs. The research question is, therefore, to understand if the health and wellness tourist influences his choices of health and wellbeing. By carrying out an empirical study, based on a questionnaire survey, some answers were obtained to the questions raised by the work and the conclusion shows that some results in terms of Health Literacy, differ slightly from previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research allows to know the symbolic value and the representations that tourists give to the traditional utilitarian and artistic handicraft work in pottery and ceramics, to identify the criteria of inclusion and exclusion at the time of purchase in Ráquira Boyacá, considered as the handicraft capital of Colombia. The objective of this research is to identify the potential of creative tourism based on utilitarian and artistic crafts as a strategy for economic revitalization and cultural dissemination in the municipality of Ráquira Boyacá. In addition, it is based on the main categories which identifies having a support or information on a participatory scenario involving artisans, tourists, merchants and the community. Likewise, the type of research handled in this project is qualitative where the analysis is interpretative and reflexive. In this way, ethnographic interviews are carried out to obtain decisive information from the artisans in relation to the techniques, know)how and traditional knowledge associated with their artisan work in which tourism contributes to the dissemination, valuation and conservation of artisan work, privileging the principles of sustainability, quality and responsibility of cultural and creative tourism. Therefore, as a result, relevant information from tourists who visit Ráquira was evidenced, with the purpose of knowing the symbolic value and the representations they give to artisan work. Equally important, concluding this research, there is a great potential to strengthen creative tourism products based on handicrafts in Ráquira. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted the travel industry. Additionally, the recent combination of a sociopolitical crisis, natural disasters and an economic crisis resulted in increased price sensitivity and consciousness in consumer spending. However, the travel industry continues to recover as more countries ease travel restrictions. As travel volumes gradually increase in many parts of the world, product development teams focusing on the User Experience (UX) of travel websites are critical for user satisfaction and business success. User-centric design is the process of building a product or service based on the wants, needs and challenges of the users. However, being truly user-centric requires an active means of listening to users through UX research methods. When implementing such methods, organisations typically transition through different stages of UX research maturity; namely, from the beginning stages where there is a lack of resources and ad-hoc implementation, to a mature state where user research informs business strategy. This case study focuses on practice-based insights of methods used to increase the UX research maturity of an online accommodation comparison platform in the travel industry. The study covers a period of two years, analysing the outcome of the methods introduced to increase the UX research maturity. The case study aimed to achieve the following to increase the maturity: creating awareness of UX Research and the user; exposing UX Research to the wider team; and extending research ownership to product teams. The methods used included: diary study; jobs-to-be-done framework; organisational structural changes; involving product team members in research activities; increasing the frequency of interviews with users; and enabling the product team to conduct small research activities. The results included an increase in the UX Research maturity of the organisation. The product development approach increased its user-centric focus. Non-UX roles within the product team grew closer to the user by doing small research activities. User-centricity was introduced as a company value in the organisation. The results of this study are specifically of value for practitioners and academia in the travel industry and have implications for Product, UX and Research practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the world economies. Among the most affected sectors is the service sector, with the tourism segment standing out. Museums, parks, theatres, and tourist monuments had a great challenge with the period of social detachment. Digital transformation was the way adopted by companies to connect with their audiences and, consequently, contribute to the different segments of the value chain such as accommodation, transport and leisure and recreation. Thus, the managers of tourist attractions bet on entrepreneurial actions supported by digital transformation to change the business model in the face of the new pandemic scenario. The literature is still scarce to explore these actions adopted by museums worldwide. Thus, the research aims to identify the actions related to digital transformation adopted by museums in Ouro Preto during the pandemic period and compare them with the actions adopted by other museums around the world. Ouro Preto is a historical city of Brazil, conferred by Unesco. These museums are one of the main attractions of the city, whose economy is anchored in this segment of the service sector. This research comprises a Systematic Literature Review, using the PRISMA method. The literature served as a basis for the preparation of the protocol for collecting information from museums in Ouro Preto, guiding the comparative study of the actions practiced by them and compared with actions in the world. The study identifies the digital presence of museums on social platforms and verifies the reaction of these organisations to the pandemic. The information was collected in 12 museums. The protocol was answered through secondary data published on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and digital platforms used by the museums. The results show differences between the strategies of Ouro Preto museums and other museums. It was observed that Ouro Preto museums adopted a more passive strategy when compared to the strategies adopted by other museums in the world. This result demonstrates the lack of an improvement agenda of adopting advanced technologies to increase the added value of museums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable tourism concept has been evolving continually and respectively with modern society's views on sustainability. The tourism industry constantly faces new challenges showing weak points and providing opportunities for further concept development. With the focus on Japan as a case study, this empirical research discusses the insights of key stakeholders about managing sustainable tourism development during the crisis. This research takes the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of a crisis, which provides an opportunity for the sustainable tourism concept for further evolution. The results indicated that public and private sector stakeholders have different visions of sustainable tourism development. Japan's current public sector approach to it implies resolving the issue of overtourism in main tourism destinations and providing comfortable living for local communities. However, it does not have any implications for making tourism more resilient to external crises. The proposals of stakeholders for response measures for future sustainable tourism development and related policies included the establishment of a crisis management system in the tourism sphere, focus on the development of domestic tourism, creation of proper guidelines for the tourism industry for actions in case of crisis, revision of traditional tourism techniques, the establishment of "new lifestyle"/adaptation to "with Corona" era, focusing on online business/tourism experience, focus on the development of small groups tours and individual tours, development of flexibility and adaptivity to changes in social conditions, incorporation of public health-related issues, non-contact content expansion, individual approach to different areas, and regional cooperation incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on micro-environmental factors (Casado-Aranda et al, 2021) related to changes in consumers' travel behaviours, arising from COVID-19. It seeks to understand if risk perception associated with COVID had an impact on travel intentions of residents in Portugal and if there are changes, regarding more sustainable choices, in 2021 summer holiday's intentions. Data was collected through an online questionnaire between December 2020 and March 2021 (overlapping the first 3 months of the vaccination process, corresponding to 5% of the full vaccination of the Portuguese (Our World in Data, 2021) and reflects short-term effects (Miao et al, 2021) on the travel behaviours of residents in Portugal (n=610). Almost half of the participants (48,5%) responded positively to the probability of going on holidays in 2021. From these, the majority (64,2%) intended to travel only to domestic destinations, mostly justified by the willingness to help the country (54,5% of those who considered likely to go on holidays) and not as much as a risk perception associated to the pandemic (only referred by 26,8%). As for holiday's consumption intentions, residents expressed concerns that may have a positive impact on the socio economical sustainability of the destinations. In fact, from those who considered likely to travel, 71,6% referred that they will prefer national products, 64,5% will value more than before certified touristic services and 57,4% intends to shop mostly in small traditional business. In terms of environmental sustainability, 59,5% will have an increased concern in reserving touristic services environmentally responsible. Results emphasize the need for reflection on the effective positioning of sustainability issues concerning the tourism sector's future. COVID-19 has created an opportunity for tourism to review and relaunch itself, based on more responsible and sustainable approaches (Brouder, 2020; Casado- Aranda et al, 2021; Jones and Confort, 2020). It's important to understand to what extent consumers are willing to assume more sustainable behaviours in their future travel options. These results ask for future research regarding the importance of understanding the difference between tourists' stated intentions and effective actions when it comes to sustainable travel behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to identify the efficiency of intellectual capital in companies in the hospitality sector and to analyse the impact that the Covid pandemic has on the efficiency of intellectual capital in Portuguese regions. This study applies the Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAICTM) method according to Pulic (1998). The economic and financial data come from the Iberian Balance sheet Analysis System (SABI). The study was conducted with a selection of active companies with turnover in the years 2019 and 2020, resulting in a sample of 4.383 hotels in Portugal in the pre-pandemic period (the year 2019) and in the pandemic period (the year 2020). This study identifies the value added that contributes to value creation in organizations and analyses this value between Portuguese tourism regions because of the impact of the Pandemic Crisis in the sector. The average results for the total sample show that tourism businesses had a significant decrease in VAICTM from 2019 to 2020. The results show that the Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, Açores, and Algarve regions have the largest decrease in the value of VAICTM in the year 2020. The Alentejo region was the region that felt the least the impact of the pandemic crisis. These results reveal that the more mature tourist areas lost the most intellectual added value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic works on online food delivery so far have focused on the economic and social aspects of OFD. The economic interest and evolution of this activity sector contrasts with a scarce and fragmented approach from the academic perspective. This work intends to account for the existing literature on online food delivery through a descriptive and bibliometric mapping analysis. A bibliometric analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel and VOSviewer, a platform for analysing bibliometric networks. The results show an increasing interest on the topic, that start booming in 2019. Sources that gather online food delivery articles usually belong to one of two kinds: 1) customer-related variables in tourism and hospitality and 2) business/management publications. Since it is an emerging research area, not many authors hold a distinguished position in terms of articles published, with leading authors holding no more than 4 articles. Analysing keyword co-occurrence we find differentiated thematic approaches: technological support and features of online food delivery, health issues related to food delivery, logistic chain of food delivery and a particular field of interest relating it to COVID-19. This work contributes to literature by outlining the different theoretical basis considered in OFD research, and providing practical implications for a variety of agents (suppliers, restaurants, retailers, etc.). Guidelines for future research are offered in this emerging and relevant field of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to explore the early considerations that COVID-19 induced mobility restrictions placed on studyabroad programmes at universities in South Africa. The study considers how, given the negative impacts that were felt with international travel being largely restricted, universities in the Western Cape province approached study-abroad programmes during the restrictions and post restriction considerations. Data for this pilot study were collected via a mixedmethod approach targeting international students and key resource persons through the international offices at four universities in the Western Cape. Twenty-three international students and two key resource persons responded to the pilot. Key indications highlight a European dominance in the demographic distribution of participants while illustrating a steady interest in the study-abroad programmes irrespective of the challenges induced by the pandemic. While the anxieties and uncertainties induced by the evolving nature of the pandemic were noted, emerging trends from the data highlighted areas of focus for future resilience strategies to shore up the sector from future crises, the scale and nature of COVID-19. As a pilot to a broader empirical study, it is hoped that the outcomes will contribute towards the development of conceptual tenets for the sustainable development of the study-abroad programme segment within the international higher education nexus while providing context for proposing mitigating actions and strategies which would help higher education institutions move from a crisis management situation to more long-term resilience planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 20 years, total global hotel sales - both B2B and B2C - oscillated. Total hotel sales experienced highs in the 1990s, collapsed on 9/11/2001 and recovered, and collapsed again with a global financial crisis in 2008 and recovered. For approximately the last 12 recovery years, the ascendancy of go-to-market technological sophistication and domination by USA based mega-hotel corporation mergers suggested an ebullient, but ultimately deceptive, permanent era. Then the global Covid-19 devastation struck in early 2020. Given these changes, the purpose of our study is to investigate changes in a specific segment of total hotel sales: B2B corporate group meeting sales (i.e. hotel B2B sales). Our research question is: "What is the next oscillating change in hotel B2B sales?" One approach in understanding cataclysmic changes in the fortunes of corporate hotel B2B sales may be addressed by the Hegelian dialectic: Thesis assailed by antithesis and stabilizing into synthesis. This resultant synthesis becomes the (new) thesis and the process repeats itself with a, hopefully, improving spiraling oscillation through successive cycles. The findings of our study can be summarized as: (1) Thesis (Stasis) - Pre-Covid-19, hotel B2B sales boomed and had become a highly evolved collaborating and partnering process which linked primary supply and demand including complementary services. Major hotel corporations facilitated these partnerships with relatively high-paid Strategic Account Sales Executives (SASE) and their teams who managed a select key 20% of buyer accounts. The remaining targeted 80% of potential customers were addressed by a less expensive and disaggregated salesforce who were augmented by digital technologies; (2) Antithesis (Disruption) - Covid-19 fears and subsequent governmental responses forced hotel occupancies below break-even 50% while virtual meeting technologies became accepted as an economical substitute for face-to-face engagements; and (3) Synthesis (Next Normal/Regeneration of a New Thesis) - We predict a shrinking quantity of hotel B2B sales that focus on content-purposed meetings. On the other hand, we predict an ascendancy of hotel B2B sales networking-purposed meetings that emphasize quality relationship-building experiences. The value/contribution of this study is that it provides a better understanding of changing hotel B2B sales, in view of the evolving body of knowledge, which is the foundation for continued rigorous research. The limitation of the study is that it focuses on USA based hotel corporations selected by the authors due to their global dominance. This study provides a potential guide for future empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many constraints to several industries, including tourism and hospitality. Despite its resilience, the socio-economic implications arising from this sanitary crisis have exposed the industry's vulnerabilities and prompted swift reactions from policymakers, stakeholders and managers. This exploratory study aims to determine which dimensions of the hospitality business were most affected by this pandemic and how they responded to this outbreak. Considering dimensions such as "Decision-making" "Health & Safety", "Operations", "Marketing & Sales", "Human Resources" and "Customer Relationship Management", this study is supported by semi-structured interviews with hotel managers, putting forward an analysis based on the perceptions and realities of different hotel categories and operational contexts. Aiming to complement previous and ongoing research concerning the coping mechanisms hotel managers have had to implement when confronted with this unprecedented crisis, it succeeds in identifying key strategic areas and concerns, that are relevant for understanding the current situation, as well as preparing future emergencies and crisis affecting the hospitality business, paving the way for future research within this scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]