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Effective communication plays a part in the success and the sustainability of the tourism and hospitality management, including community-based tourism (CBT). In Brunei Darussalam, communication barriers have affected the growth of the CBT industry on both local and national levels. By analyzing responses from 16 local CBT operators, this investigation focuses aspects of communication and its channels in securing sustainability and empowerment of CBT industry. This study found that the CBT ventures in Brunei include (1) horizontal/lateral communication between CBT operators and surrounding communities and (2) top-down communication and bottom-up accessibility between the authority, the community leaders, and the CBT owners. This paper further discusses how bureaucracy can impede the success of CBT operations, and how a collaborative approach between stakeholders has inspired the formulation of a new Interactional Model of Leadership and Empowerment among CBT stakeholders, which can be used to measure the efficacy of communication among stakeholders in the CBT industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

External evaluations of curriculum and assessment design have received increasing attention in higher education. However, cross-border evaluations of programs have not yet caught up with the more significant push toward the internationalisation of global partnerships. Addressing this knowledge gap, the motivation of this study is to explore how the Australian tourism and hospitality curriculum and assessment framework is perceived in Taiwan. However, few institutions in Taiwan have embarked on this due to two main factors – lack of nationwide compliance and the perceived high-power distance that exists between academic staff of various ranks (e.g. professor vs. assistant professor). These outcomes contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the contextual differences that need to be addressed before adopting cross-national forms of external referencing involving curriculum and assessments. Insights from three focus groups and seven in-depth interviews with Taiwanese academics offer some strategies to introduce effective external evaluation outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The third International Conference on Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (ICRTH) took place in Bogor, Indonesia, in August 2023. The conference aimed to raise awareness of tourism as a driver of development and the preservation of culture and natural heritage. It brought together academics, government officials, practitioners, and the public to discuss responsible tourism practices. The conference also emphasized the importance of collaboration and convergence of indicators towards responsible tourism. The event left a positive legacy by engaging with the local community and promoting responsible tourism in Bogor. The conference concluded with the announcement that ICRTH 2024 will be held in Kuching, Malaysia. [Extracted from the article]

The Melbourne Cup is Australia’s pinnacle horse racing event, attracting more than 80,000 physical attendees each year (pre-COVID-19), as well as numerous others watching via live broadcasts around the country and overseas. In recent times, however, there have been growing calls to boycott the event, following concerns over the treatment of horses. New hashtag movements lobbying against horse racing have also emerged, aided by the affordances of social media. However, very little attention has been paid to these digital movements in the animal-based leisure and recreation literature. In this study, we investigate one such growing movement, namely, #Nuptothecup. We explore how horse racing is framed by digital activists, revealing their moral, socio-cultural, and political objections. Our findings suggest a societal shift towards a strong animal ethics sentiment combined with a more generalised disdain towards the racing industry and its wider societal ramifications. We argue that if #Nuptothecup and related activisms continue to gain momentum, the Cup may eventually lose its social licence to operate. Further, we consider potential opportunities for managers to reinvent horse racing’s image and practices, if it is to secure its survival as an Australian recreational institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MICE tourism legacies have become more important as these business events explore ways to give back to their respective host destinations. The purpose of this viewpoint is to unpack how such MICE tourism legacies can be operationalized, as applied to the context of an international conference. Drawing from extant literature surrounding MICE tourism legacies, the International Conference on Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (ICRTH) is an example of how such legacies can shift from a narrow focus to broader stakeholder benefits, nudge passive engagement toward more active forms of participation, mobilities from urban to rural environments, enhancing education outcomes for better empowerment opportunities, and revenge travel proclivities to a more responsible MICE tourism stance. Collectively, these exemplars inform other conferences as to how such MICE tourism legacies can manifest elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Getting to and from campus matters, especially for students who have relocated from regional and remote (RR) areas who must wrangle, often for the first time, rigid mass public transportation (MPT). Little is known about MPTs' influence on RR students' retention intentions or how MPT interacts with other known geographic proximity barriers. Interviews with ten equity practitioners from three Australian universities revealed four interconnected themes. First, MPT access and accessibility can limit university participation. Second, MPT provides a time benefit, enabling study while commuting. Third, relocation anxieties interact with MPT as accommodation further from campus requires greater MPT usage. Fourth, parents are concerned about MPT access and accessibility which adds to other "mixed messages" that they give their children, affecting participation. Efforts that address MPT access and accessibility may improve RR higher education retention and educational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Olympic bidding process prior to 2024 was altered in 2019 to provide greater transparency and reduce unnecessary work related to the preparation for each bid, of which there can only be one host. This paper analyses the process of the 2032 Olympics through the notion of a preferred candidate in Brisbane, Australia. Through a document analysis of five official documents and submissions in the lead up to the IOC announcement of the preferred bid in February 2021, this paper elucidates how the Olympic Movement is shaped and refined to offer a more nuanced perspective of how such a preferred bid could be advantageous in terms of more inclusive legacy outcomes to the IOC, as well as the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of China Tourism Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

He then expanded on the idea of regenerative tourism, where tourism innovations are promoted by embedding tourism practices within local communities and ecological processes that elevate human and non-human wellbeing (Bellato & Cheer, [1]). The 2nd International Conference on Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (ICRTH) was held at UCSI Hotel Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from 1 to 3 September 2022. The second roundtable session consisted of both international and local experts on eco-tourism where they highlighted the new possibilities and demands of eco-tourism in Asia. [Extracted from the article]

Blockchain technologies are predicted to substantially transform the tourism industry. At present, cryptocurrencies are the most advanced application of public blockchains that promise benefits such as a universal means of payment and minimal fees through the removal of intermediaries. In the tourism industry, though many tourism vendors have been accepting cryptocurrencies and the potential of using cryptocurrencies in travel-related consumption has been intensively documented, existing knowledge about travellers' intention to use cryptocurrencies for payment purposes is limited. Traditional models do not account for the idiosyncrasies of cryptocurrencies and are therefore less appropriate to foster the understanding of travellers' adoption of travel-related payments. To fill this knowledge gap, an exploratory study was conducted with 161 travellers from the Asia-Pacific region who have previously consumed travel-related services with cryptocurrencies. Their previous usage experiences are analysed and reported. Through harnessing the correspondence analysis, several technological contingency factors were identified, as well as positive and negative perceptual antecedents. Additionally, their levels of satisfaction and intention to re-use the technology in future trips were investigated. Based on these findings, several propositions are suggested for guiding future research on travellers' cryptocurrency adoption in the travel and tourism contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of China Tourism Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

COVID-19 has flipped traditional face-to-face exchanges. This quickly prompted involuntary changes that required appropriate pedagogical strategies suited to online courses. This study explored the experiences, interactions, and social presence (SP) of participants involved in the 2020 spring term postgraduate program in a Taiwanese university. Through the interviews with instructors and students, SP was analyzed in terms of affective association, community cohesion, instructor involvement, and interaction intensity. Results showed that SP was perceived favorably by students while teachers have attempted to enhance the learning environment by augmenting the SP indicators. This study advances the understanding that despite having low perceptions on community cohesiveness and interaction intensity, there is some emerging evidence to suggest that SP has been observed by learners even under the pressures and limitations imposed by COVID-19 on HEIs. Theoretical and practical contributions are provided to assist universities navigating their way out of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finally, all participants stated their intentions to revisit Iran as a medical tourism destination post COVID-19, with the vast majority keen to undergo medical tourism once the COVID-19 pandemic is controlled. While the tourism industry has faced numerous crises in the past, few studies have explored if medical tourism can be a strategy for post-crisis destination recovery. The unfolding COVID-19 crisis has severely impacted the tourism industry through a combination of business and health regulations (Ayittey et al., [2]). [Extracted from the article]

Liminal spaces of medical tourism remain under-investigated. To address this gap, liminal spaces of Azerbaijani, Armenian and Iraqi medical tourists to Tabriz, Iran are explored. Using a mixed-method approach employing direct observations, interviews and 150 questionnaires of medical tourists, data were collected and analyzed using AMOS (Analysis of a Moment Structures) software. Among the range of factors tested, appropriate infrastructure and medical tourist monitoring had the highest influence on shaping medical tourists' liminal spaces. Theoretical and managerial outcomes of this research contribute toward a nuanced understanding for destinations catering to existing and future medical tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While social media receive considerable scholarly attention, studies reveal mixed outcomes in relation to its influence on tourists' destination choices. There is nonetheless a persistent perception that social media has a fundamental influence on destination choice. However, those studies that do find a social media influence are in contexts where tourists are predisposed to be influenced (the contexts were selected due to social media presence or influence). These studies also have limitations in terms of social media types, tourists and destinations. This research responds to the challenges and explores social media influence across diverse destination choice contexts. Through face-to-face interviews conducted with 39 Australian tourist decision-makers, the findings reveal that social media influence is only apparent when specific context-conditions are co-present. Instead, most destination choice contexts are likely to result in low levels of social media influence. The findings advance theory by identifying three contextual dimensions for social media influence: level of social media engagement; destination novelty or familiarity; and complexity of the planning decision. This research importantly demonstrates the need to illuminate context when conceptualising social media influence on tourists' destination choices. Practically, destinations should utilise social media to demonstrate ease of visit planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Leisure/Loisir: Journal of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The 6 SP th sp Annual Conference of the Travel & Tourism Research Association Asia Pacific Chapter (TTRA APac) was held at RMIT University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from 1 to 3 December 2018. This was also highlighted in the concurrent sessions, with papers dedicated to topics such as responsible tourism, tourism accounting for the Global South and the contemporary workforce of the Asia-Pacific, among others. [Extracted from the article]

Rainbow looms, America's 2014 Toy of the Year, are associated with colourful rubber bands that can be weaved into intricate objects using a plastic loom. These sets are sold without any accompanying instructions, requiring users to develop personal skills through family, friends and online. This paper explores the participatory practices of rainbow looms within digital leisure, and how it facilitates spaces for innovative thinking and practice. The research showed that the enabling factors for innovation through rainbow looms were associated with a largely positive play culture, which developed intrinsic rewards such as self-confidence and value creation. These findings illuminate the intricate relations that digital media is not merely another avenue for leisure, but can trigger spirits of youth innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines tourism academic policy impacts of higher education subscribing to arbitrary citation impact measures of quality and the consequence towards tourism scholars engaging within intra-Asian mobilities. The research objective is prompted by the lack of insights exploring whether the default academic policies have shaped Asian identities (in a personal and professional capacity), and if such antecedents facilitate or inhibit the pursuit of tourism scholarship. With Asia as a region postulated as a corridor that will likely sustain high growth, it is probable that there is a corresponding increase in terms of tourism scholars interacting with Asia. For this reason, this research seeks to uncover the implicit nature of ethnic academic identities amidst the contemporary higher education frameworks that seek to scrutinise quality outcomes. To achieve the research objectives, intra-Asian tourism academics were shortlisted from a range of Asian countries delivering tourism programmes in English. Each academic was contacted via email in their respective institution, where the research aims were stated, and a personal invitation presented to be part of the sample. As a result, this process derived a total of 22 completed online surveys. The findings showed that very few scholars immediately identified with their ethnic background or nationality. Rather, there was a greater emphasis on career or research expertise. This research further highlights the tensions that exist between one's ethnic background and the professional expectations and pressures of tourism scholars within a neo-liberal framework of higher education policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of social capital to organizational performance, there is scant insight within service contexts. Accordingly, this research explores social capital in two Asia-Pacific service enterprise cases - a Thai coffee franchise and a Coffee Roasters Guild in Australia. In the Thai case, social capital in the service experience emerged from norms common in Thai society and manifested via social enterprise initiatives. Findings from Australia indicate social capital helps form a strong organizational identity leading to better economic and social outcomes and an enhanced service experience, benefiting numerous stakeholders. The study demonstrates varying patterns of social capital in Asia-Pacific service enterprises, contributing to theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature has portrayed tourism as a conduit for learning and transformation, with a view that such mobilities elucidate tourism cosmopolitanism. While such propositions are insofar useful in characterising global dispositions, very little has been done to investigate how the virtual space has helped to develop or curtail effects of tourism cosmopolitanism. The virtual space has transformed tourism engagement and consumption patterns, though few studies have paid attention to deviant online behaviour and its corresponding effects on cosmopolitanism. Drawing from outcomes of trolling instances within forums, this paper argues that deviant online behaviour is of consequence as an antecedent in determining one’s disposition to destinations, challenging the decision type and raising serious concerns to self-image and virtual representations. These attacks on any individual necessitate a cautious approach for scholars and practitioners when engaging with the electronic realm as a different, yet instrumental facet in characterising tourism cosmopolitanism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies investigating the influence of social media on destination choice are in an exploratory stage. Essentially, social media disseminates word of mouth electronically, unlike traditional word of mouth. However, within tourism, evidence has suggested that both terms may be used interchangeably. In this article, five points of difference suggest that electronic word of mouth is to be treated as a unique entity. The distinctive characteristics of electronic word of mouth are little known source-receiver relationships, channel variety and presentation of contents, opportunities for information solicitation, message retention capabilities, and content provider motivations for disclosure. Three considerations for destination management organizations are creating opportunities for past visitors to narrate memorable tourism experiences, involving industry partners to build relevant destination images and greater engagement with social media. This conceptual article advances the understanding of electronic word of mouth in presenting distinctive credibility profiles toward a proposed influence on destination image and choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PetruzziCamilleri, Mark AnthonyMark AnthonyCamilleriFalk, Martin ThomasMartin ThomasFalkDawson, MaryMaryDawsonErtas, MehmetMehmetErtasPromsivapallop, PornpisanuPornpisanuPromsivapallopPereira, ElisabethElisabethPereiraMehraliyev, FuadFuadMehraliyevHall, MichaelMichaelHallVolgger, MichaelMichaelVolggerZemla, MichalMichalZemlaChiossi, María José AlonsopérezMaría José AlonsopérezChiossiDevesa, MariaMariaDevesaMedina-Viruel, Miguel JesúsMiguel JesúsMedina-ViruelJohann, MariaMariaJohannJoppe, MarionMarionJoppeMody, MakarandMakarandModyRasoolimanesh, S. MostafaS. [Extracted from the article]

The article list the reviewers of the reports published in the periodical during 2016 including David Airey, Perran Akan, and Maria Alvarez.