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Tourism services are particularly vulnerable to crises because of their hedonic and transitory nature. Notably, external crises have destination-wide negative impacts, which require a collective response usually led by governments for a more effective recovery. Despite the consensus on governments’ role and legitimacy in mitigating crises recovery, there is a dearth of research identifying these tools facilitating intervention and their effectiveness. Thus, the paper aims to explore various government crises mitigation strategies for the tourism industry. This research is based on a mixed-method approach. First, it explores government responses to crises through semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders. Then, we conduct a survey to target industry experts and measure the effectiveness of government responses and their impact on various key performance indicators during crises. From an academic point of view, the research contributes to an understanding of the efficiency of different government recovery intervention methods, which are overlooked in crisis management theory. Based on managerial contributions, the study provides an effective design of the public tools for more crisis-immune businesses, where governments should prioritise managing external crises by establishing processes, standards, support services, information and communication.

ABSTRACTRevenue management (RM) is vital for a hotel’s success. Qualified revenue managers are required to maximize the hotels’ profit. Hospitality schools’ RM courses are critical for preparing students for these roles. Even though hospitality schools and associations provide RM classes, lack of qualified candidates is considered a significant challenge. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to revisit this issue and identify the gap between the competencies needed for RM professionals and the RM courses offered by universities. A descriptive analysis was conducted comparing the competencies described in job descriptions with the competencies described in the course catalog descriptions for hospitality RM courses (undergraduate level). Interpersonal communication, communications, marketing, and strategic management are frequently mentioned in the job descriptions but are not mentioned in the course descriptions. Risk management emerged as a new competency from the interviews but was not in the job descriptions or course descriptions.

This study investigates whether and how Istanbul, Turkey is marketed and promoted as a culinary destination. Based on a critical literature review, a research framework was developed, and official brochures and websites for Istanbul, Turkey, were content-analyzed. The research findings suggest that although Istanbul has rich culinary resources and offers many domestic and international cuisines, the city is not well marketed and promoted as a culinary destination. This is one of the first studies discussing how far a leading urban destination in a developing country is not successfully marketed and promoted as a culinary destination. Based on the research findings, this study offers specific theoretical and practical implications on how Istanbul and similar destinations can better utilize their unique culinary resources.

The structure of hospitality distribution has experienced profound changes within the last few decades. With the evolution and spread of internet, a substantial number of consumers started to use electronic channels for hotel bookings. This has resulted in disintermediation of traditional offline travel agencies. Yet, it has also initiated a new type of middleman to emerge and grow. Much powerful than its former version, online travel agencies (OTAs) bring about some benefits but also challenges particularly for small and medium sized independent hotels (SMHEs). This paper focuses on the difficulties SMHEs face during this transformation. The characteristics of SMHEs, the evolution of channels and the role of OTAs were discussed based on a qualitative study. 22 SMHE managers were interviewed about their perceptions of OTAs and challenges with reintermediation. Based on the data the challenges were grouped under; complexity, dependency, unfair competition and commodification. Solutions to complications of reintermediation for SMHEs and directions for future research are suggested.

Determining the employees’ turnover intention in pre-opening hotel businesses is important for the hospitality industry who have to bear the costs of employment and in-service training. This study aims to examine the relation between of the employees who are recruited by opening hotel businesses and their turnover intentions. A questionnaire was utilized on 151 employees who worked at six 5-Star pre-opening hotels in Istanbul. Respondents were selected based on convenience sampling method. According to the results of the study, turnover intentionsof the employees in opening hotel businesses are low. It was also found that there is difference on turnover intention based on gender variable.

Although there are various studies that explore tourist behavior in certain settings such as travel and accommodation, the impact of local food on tourist experience is often neglected. Eating is a physical need as well as a cultural and social activity. When tourists eat at a destination they not only satisfy their hunger but also experience the local culture and interact with their hosts. Tourists’ demand for local food occur however in different levels of intensity. Some tourists travel solely for gastronomy in the region, some see local food as a by-product of their cultural experiences, and some others rather familiar food when they travel. Therefore there are differences in how tourists’ approach local food consumption. This study aims to analyze the factors effecting local food demand in tourism in order to identify which tourists are interested in local food as an attraction. A questionnaire has been conducted on 105 tourists in order to reveal differences in motivational, demographic and psychological factors based on their local food experiences at various locations in the Old City district of Istanbul. Based on the analysis of data (one way and two way anova) significant differences were found between various demographic and tripographic factors on tourists’ perceptions of local food. The findings of the study can be used on product design and marketing communications of restaurants and destinations with significant tourist flow in order to target the right audience.

Customer experience is acknowledged as a dominant objective for organizational strategy, affecting sustainable differentiation from competition. However concerning planning, application and measurement of experiences literature has failed to create a universal continuum. This study based on a qualitative inquiry with 22 upscale hotel managers, uses the value chain concept in order to determine the activities affecting customers’ experiential value for services. Interviews with managers were content analyzed and compared with relevant literature before experiential value creating activities were grouped under human resources, technology, procurement & strategic alliances, and physical design.

Customer experience is emerging as a relatively new concept and is regarded as an important determinant for the success of hospitality organizations. However, factors affecting customer experiences and the influence of experiences on consumer behaviour are still unclear. Through a quantitative field research, this paper attempts to determine and exhibit the impacts of customer experiences on customer loyalty and recommendation behaviours in hospitality organizations. To reach this objective, a sample of 350 adult respondents staying in five-star hotels in Istanbul were requested to rate the items related to physical environment and social interactions that are found to be relevant to hotel stay experiences. The results indicate that there is a strong relationship between desired customer behaviours and perceived dimensions of customer experiences.