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This study examines the relationship between perceived impacts of COVID-19, risk perceptions, emotions, and travel intentions within selected higher education institutions of the Macau Special Admi...

The inevitable disruptions caused by COVID-19 in the hospitality and tourism education sector have made online learning a necessity rather than an option. This study employs the user experience questionnaire (UEQ) to examine students' online learning experiences specifically in the context of COVID-19. Data collection involved a Qualtrics online survey with a convenience sample of 216 tourism and hospitality students in Macau. Overall, results point to a generally positive appraisal of online attributes, but satisfaction is marginal. Initial principal component factor analysis generated three orthogonal factors of online learning attributes: “Perspicuity and dependability”; “Stimulation and attractiveness”; and “Usability and innovation”. Further regression analysis reveals that “Stimulation and attractiveness” is the strongest predictor of the students’ satisfaction regarding online learning during the COVID-19 disruptions. This novel finding points to the need for hospitality and tourism education institutions to develop an attractive and motivating visual environment for online course delivery since a stimulating online learning atmosphere is crucial in the context of the pedagogical disruptions caused by COVID-19. Nonetheless, these findings are specific to Chinese students and reflect their learning satisfaction which may differ in other contexts.

Robots and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are becoming more prominent in the tourism industry. Nowadays, consumers are faced with multiple options involving both human and robot interactions. A series of experimental studies were implemented. Four experiments demonstrated that consumers had a more positive attitude toward robot-staffed (vs. human-staffed) hotels when COVID-19 was salient. The results were different from previous studies, which were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the moderating role of perceived threat in consumers’ preference for robot-staffed hotels was significant, the respondents’ preference was attributed to the global health crisis. This research provides a number of theoretical and managerial implications by improving the understanding of technology acceptance during a health crisis.

Even given the continuing interest of both academia and industry to understand what accounts for the length of stay (LOS) of tourists, explanatory variables have mostly been limited to socio-demographic and trip characteristics overlooking the influence of the holiday experience despite it being a major reason why tourism is embarked on. Departing from previous studies, this study proposed and tested an experience-led length of stay hypothesis employing a zero truncated negative binomial regression model. It was revealed that tourism experience significantly explains the variations in tourists’ LOS with self development, recreational engagements, hospitality, weather and sanitation identified as specific determinants. The findings also provide support for age, nationality, travel party size, budget, number of international trips, and risk taking behaviour as significant determinants of LOS. With these observations in mind, the study offers practical insights for sustaining tourists’ length of stay as well as propositions for future research on the tourism experience-led length of stay hypothesis. Management implications Provision of positive memorable experiences in the domains of self development, recreation, hospitality, weather and aesthetics is one way to ensure that tourists stay longer. Specifically, need exits for destination management organisations and service providers to step up efforts in maintaining sanitation at the destination, especially at attraction sites and tourism-related premises. They can do this by ensuring regular cleaning, providing well-designated trash cans and disposing of sewage properly. In addition, a diverse of novel activities should be made available to tourists to sustain their interest and prolong their stay. Activity engagements that allow for skill acquisition such as volunteerism, cultural immersion (i.e. food bazaars) and co-creation of services are recommended.