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The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted employment, education, and the vocational education and training (VET) sector across the worldwide economy. This study examines the impact of the pandemic on VET enrollment figures and employment outcomes for graduates in the travel and tourism industry in Australia using data from the Student Outcome Surveys conducted from 2018 to 2021. We seek to determine if the pandemic had a negative impact on enrollment and post-VET employment outcomes in the tourism and hospitality sector. The findings suggest that employment outcomes after training, tourism and hospitality graduates experienced a transitory decline in job prospects particularly during 2020 but recovered substantially during 2021. In the case of hospitality graduates, the probability of employment in 2021 exceeded pre-pandemic levels. We conclude that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on VET enrollments and employment outcomes in the tourism and hospitality sector have been less devastating than public perception would suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing substantially on epistemologies developed in the context of vulnerable populations and responding to calls for greater epistemic justice in marketing research, an intersectional framework involving positionality, partiality, reflexivity, and situated knowledges is proposed to reflect on undertaking market research with Muslim minority populations in non-Muslim majority countries. This population is often highly vulnerable due to stigmatisation, Islamophobia and processes of othering that affect Muslim consumer behaviour, practices and identity. The framework is derived from reflexive experiences of market research undertaken by the authors on and with Islamic consumers both on an individual and collective basis and from relevant literature. The framework highlights the relational nature of the research experience and the situatedness and positionality of both the researcher and researched. In the case of research with Muslim populations we also draw out the significance of religious identity, ideology and religiosity; intersectionalities, including gender; and religious and cultural power as framed by cultural and institutional practices and which affect notions of class and attitudes to the other. We propose an approach that helps overcome Muslim/non-Muslim binaries that flatten the lived notions of the Muslim experience and consumption practices and instead provide for a richer and more representative account of Muslim identity. However, this approach also heightens researcher sensitivity to the situatedness of Muslims within social norms and the implications that this has for anonymity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding vulnerable consumers when conducting Transformative Service Research (TSR) is essential but these consumers and their contexts are often complex and difficult to research. Despite a movement towards TSR methodologies suitable for studying vulnerable participants and their contexts, a comprehensive framework that can guide service researchers is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to investigate appropriate methods, procedures, and protocols that permit researching a wide range of vulnerable groups and exposures to vulnerable situations in TSR. This is undertaken via a review of the literature and the authors' reflections of their experiences with researching vulnerability in various configurations (e.g., disasters, refugees, healthcare, disability, and older people). Through an iterative process of personal case reflections and group discussions blended with extant literature, patterns and insights regarding appropriate research protocols, techniques, processes, and sampling are identified. These insights contribute to the development of a comprehensive TSR framework in five research method areas including 1) consideration of the context, researcher, support persons and participants, 2) recruitment considerations relating to sampling, 3) recruitment considerations in terms of ethics and set-up, 4) data collection considerations relating to research protocol and set-up, and 5) data collection considerations. The framework can guide both academics and practitioners to enhance research outcomes for both participants and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using social capital theory and social identity theory, this study evaluates the relationship between relational capital and organizational resilience and the moderating role of human capital in this relationship. Based on a sample of 523 respondents from full-service restaurants in Karnataka, India, an inverted “U” shaped relationship between relational capital and organizational resilience was identified. Human capital has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between internal relational capital and organizational resilience. We identify implications for investments in relationship building activities and restaurant management. This is the first study that investigates the “U” shaped relationship between internal and external relational capital and organizational resilience of restaurants. We also show the moderating effect of human capital on the relationship between relational capital and organizational resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual (LGB) people can experience discrimination because of their minoritized status, which can be exacerbated when they come from a less privileged group or background compared to the rest of society. Travel can play a unique role in their lives by providing an opportunity to escape the constrictors of how one is defined and positioned in their home environment. The experiences enabled through travel can help build capacities that enhance well-being and the ability to cope with prejudice at home. This paper explores how LGB people with intersectional identities perceive the role of travel in contributing to their well-being and the activities they participate in while travelling. We frame intersectionality as one's sexual orientation and the differences arising from one's relative socioeconomic status. Through an online survey of 473 Australian LGB people, we identify five well-being segments, which differed on their socioeconomic status, travel activity choices, and sexual orientation. The results have implications for how travel is a well-being tool that supports different segments of LGB people through the provision of pleasure activities while also facilitating self-development, social contribution, and minimizing the impact of negative experiences on day-to-day life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study identifies the effect of leadership behaviors on the resilience of tourism firms and employees in Sri Lanka during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. The developed conceptual model links the resilient leadership behaviors of vision sharing, leadership of tasks, and management of change with employee resilience (cognitive, behavioral, and contextual) and organizational resilience (planned and adaptive). The findings highlight that resilient leadership behaviors in the early stages of the pandemic enhanced both employee and organizational resilience. The contextual and behavioral dimensions of employee resilience mediated the effect of resilient leadership behaviors on organizational resilience. The study offers suggestions for the development of organizational resilience and the specific support that may facilitate the recovery of the tourism sector from the COVID-19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using dynamic capabilities (DCs) and the disaster/crisis management cycle (DMC) as the theoretical lens, this study explores how different types of DCs build and sustain organizational resilience of tourism firms during COVID-19. Taking a processual view, the study advances theorization of the relationship between DCs and organizational resilience in tourism studies. A qualitative study of 30 owners and senior managers of tourism and hospitality firms in Bangladesh reveals that threats and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic activated 10 different types of DCs (replicating, integrating, reconfiguring, creating, developing, assimilating, renewing, adaptive, innovative, and regenerative) across the pre, response (short-term) and future recovery intentions (long-term) stages. DCs activated different resilience facets (networks and relationships, leadership and culture, and change ready), highlighting the criticality of achieving planned and adaptive resilience for tourism firms during COVID-19. Response and recovery implications for tourism firms during disruptive events are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism can enhance the wellbeing of the queer communities. Using identity-based motivation theory, this study proposes that queer identity and life-satisfaction influence travel motivation, psychological resilience, travel wellbeing, and tourist activity choice. This proposition is quantitatively tested on 473 queer Australians. Results suggest identity positively affects travel motivation but not psychological resilience. Travel motivation significantly influences psychological resilience, travel wellbeing, and tourist activity choice. Life-satisfaction positively influences travel motivation, psychological resilience, and travel wellbeing. These relationships highlight travel as an important means for building resilience and enhancing the wellbeing of queer people, having theoretical and managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]