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Despite luxury brands’ efforts to incorporate sustainable development into their branding and product design, studies have shown inconclusive evidence about consumers’ reaction towards such efforts. This study investigates how consumption values (i.e. the need for exclusivity, conformity, and hedonism) affect consumers’ acceptance of luxury brands’ sustainable efforts. It adopts a cross-cultural framework by analysing two countries, namely China and the UK, which differ substantially in some of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, namely power distance, individualism, and indulgence. Using the structural equation modelling in analysing 677 survey responses from actual luxury goods’ consumers in the two countries, we suggest that hedonic needs drive consumers’ purchase intentions in China and the UK. We find that the need for exclusivity in sustainable luxury items is negatively related to consumers’ purchase intentions in China, while the need for conformity is positively related. In contrast, these effects are reversed in the UK. Our study implies the need to align the marketing of sustainable luxury with consumption values of consumers to reflect the cultural differences. In theorizing sustainable luxury research, this study provides a deeper understanding of value perceptions pertaining to luxury product consumption and sustainability. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1057/s41262-020-00228-0.

This paper presents two vignettes that might interest tourism scholars in their future research endeavours. Firstly, a journey in multidisciplinary research is described to expound on the successful collaboration between scholars of different background premised on being open to ideas from non-tourism perspectives and learning how to hybridize an explanation or method is helpful to the scientific goals. Secondly, we review sequential exploratory mixed methods and scale development as a contribution to the tourism discipline. Utilizing the qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis in a sequence of phases, the project aimed to develop the scale to measure travel suppliers’ readiness to provide transformational tourism Services. The significance of this work rests on sharing insights to working in a multidisciplinary team and propose a conceptual framework to crafting and validating findings using scaling and sequential phases combined with qualitative methods all with the aid of existing data reading software.

A primary function of a hallmark event is to provide the host community with an opportunity to secure high prominence in the tourism marketplace. There is no lack of research on the impacts of hallmark events on the host cities. However, the impact on the well-being of non-host community is underexplored. Extant tourism literature has suggested examining events and festivals as a fertile area to explore the transformative linkages to well-being and happiness. This transformative mode brings about life altering impacts on these experiences, allowing spectators far and wide to find new meaning and develop a set of expectations. The 2016 Olympic Games were a historic moment for Singaporeans, as the country came to a standstill when Joseph Schooling won the nation’s first ever Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres butterfly swimming event. Using social media analysis through netnography method, this chapter identifies the transformation the 2016 Olympic Games had on the spectators in Singapore. This study advances the knowledge boundary of hallmark events by connecting reverberations on a society and individual well-being beyond the immediate vicinity of the host destination.

Today, customer satisfaction alone is not enough anymore in the tourism and hospitality industry in order to win the loyalty of guests. Instead, the industry need to achieve service excellence by delighting their guests with a set of drivers of excellence. Despite the relevance of the topic to the Asian tourism industry, the extant literature is scarce and fragmented. The 12 chapters in this book derive from a call for papers as well as from a study tour of Singapore and Malaysia. Papers went through a double-blind peer review procedure. They comprise both conceptual and—in most cases—empirical papers, drawing on recent research in the Asian tourism and hospitality industry. This edited book sets out to examine what and how companies in the tourism and hospitality industry do to deliver a high level of service excellence. They span aspects including the design of services, managing customer-oriented operations, leveraging digital technology and managing resources.

This paper reviews the potential benefits of Lean Six Sigma for service providers in the tourism and hospitality industry. The fact that Lean Six Sigma was designed and mainly used by the manufacturing industry makes it seem unattractive for service providers. The goal is to provide scientific information on the advantages and difficulties associated with implementing Lean Six Sigma in a tourism and hospitality operation, with a focus on Asia. In order to gather information for this paper, a literature review and field research were conducted in several South East Asian touristic attractions. The discussion entails the extent to which two selected attractions can employ Lean Six Sigma, and what benefits could result from using them. Overall, Lean Six Sigma has high potential in the tourism and hospitality industry, but has yet to be more frequently used by businesses operating in this sector.

This book investigates resource-constrained environments in the tropics and subtropics where people's lives and businesses are affected, and adaptations occur periodically. Constrained environments are unique territories characterised by challenging circumstances, limited land and natural resources. They can be places with a small municipal boundary or cities in which parts around them may be consumed by ocean, bay or mountains. Those places face hard physical boundaries like coastlines and mountains, which in addition to policy decisions that may limit height or density, can also serve to limit capacity for expansion. Successful communities and businesses tend to survive in a changing environment given their strong intuitive and forward-looking adaptations. This book delves into the role of urban planning and design in the promotion of business and adaptations of people and communities. Additionally, the focus takes into account impact analysis and the effects of an expanding populations, including growing migrant flows, and business needs on the built environment of land-constrained territories.

Whilst the Asian region is experiencing a growth in tourist arrivals, it becomes increasingly important for businesses in its tourism and hospitality industry to find ways to sustain the growth momentum into the future. This edited book posits that going beyond just customer satisfaction to achieve customer delight may be the solution. For long-term competitiveness, with a better understanding of customer needs, businesses can develop their operational capabilities and competencies in meeting these needs, not only to satisfy, but also to delight their customers. Some key takeaways from the broad array of practices and challenges discussed in the 12 chapters in this book include the influence of cultures on how and what businesses in the Asian tourism and hospitality industry do in their quest for service excellence, as well as how adding a personal touch can make a key difference on the whole customer experience.

Bhutan and Maldives have limited tourist arrivals primarily targeting quality tourists. This policy of targeting quality tourism is driven by geophysical and cultural realities undergirded by domestic frameworks. This chapter examines the literature related to constrained environments in tourist destinations that play a big role in determining the outcome of policy approaches and its implementation. Addressing the gap in tourism literature, the research locates the constraints in the two countries and how those limitations have steered the creation and implementation of policy approaches. Based on field observations and extensive library research, the two destinations are profiled as case studies combined with a synthesis of the literature.

Entrepreneurs in tourism constantly find business a challenge, especially when competing with well-established players in the industry who have huge capital and large market shares. More often than not, these entrepreneurs must constantly innovate and come up with new ideas on travel booking and new ways to enhance travel experiences. Focusing on entrepreneurs in Asia, very few countries proactively fund aspiring entrepreneurs who often struggle like their American counterparts with credit card debts and huge loans. This chapter reviews Asian entrepreneurs in tourism, with a focus on accessibility to state support and funds, identifying research areas for future studies. Using systematic literature review and country-specific profiling of India, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, the study examines the extent governments support entrepreneurs and the sustainability of their business. This research is intended to trigger insights for both industry practitioners and policymakers and to form an awareness to create a sustainable environment for budding entrepreneurs in tourism.

News frames influence destination reputation. Research primarily focuses on social media impact relative to destination reputation. Newspaper reporting is a major source of information which remains a study area underexplored when assessing news media framing. This study fills the gap by analyzing how newspapers from tourist generating countries such as China, USA, and Australia portrayed reputable destinations like New Zealand's and Singapore's efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The ProQuest library database was used to collect 192 newspaper articles. The software Qualtrics Text iQ and Leximancer were used to track sentiments, identify themes and concepts correlating with literature on tourism crisis management. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic yields a negatively lower sentiment value for New Zealand, than Singapore's higher sentiment value. The contribution lies in the relationship concept emphasizing shifts in destination reputation corollary to crisis management, and to account for reputation fluctuations in media framework theory.

Approximately US$3.5 billion is spent annually as a result of adverse drug events (ADEs) [1], responsible for approximately a third of rehospitalizations and resulting in more than 700,000 annual emergency department visits by Medicare patients [2]. A substantial opportunity exists to reduce these iatrogenic events by taking a comprehensive and, when warranted, pharmacogenetics-guided approach to medication management based on the use of sophisticated clinical decision support (CDS) tools.

This paper aims to investigate the changes in the virtual perception on the built heritage at the traditional core settlement of Kumbakonam Town at Tamilnadu and to analyze their implications. Specifically, the major objectives of the study are (1) to identify the architectural elements that manifest the built heritage of Kumbakonam Town and (2) to assess the contributions of these elements to the changes in the visual perception of the town. To achieve these objectives, this study adopts an empirical model that analyzes the architectural elements of the buildings in the study area. Direct observations and documentations of 373 buildings are collected to analyze those elements that contribute to the changes in the visual perception on the built heritage of Kumbakonam Town. An ordinary regression model is used to examine the characteristics of the built heritage across the chariot processional route of the town. Several architectural elements, including pilasters, horizontal cornices, arched windows, and ornamental parapets, improve the image of the town. These empirical findings support the policy framework that enhances the visual perception of Kumbakonam Town.

In recent decades, food has emerged as an important lifestyle trend in tourism. This paper explores the role of celebrity chefs in enhancing culinary experiences in Singapore. More specifically, our work identifies thematic determinants of how world-renowned chefs and their signature restaurants in Singapore contribute to the country’s culinary scene. This study analyses 12 restaurant websites showcasing celebrity chefs. A range of themes such as the type of restaurant, cuisine, location, menu, length of time in business and promotional activities were examined to deduce the role and impact of celebrity chefs as an integral part of Singapore’s desire to be a food capital of Southeast Asia. Celebrity status works in tandem with a mix of local and global cuisines, physical location and ambiance to carve out a niche for particular eating establishments in the landscape of worldwide culinary tourism, leading to the conclusion that celebrity chefs play a significant role in tourism promotion.

Within the realms of tourism, there are a select group of inquisitive people eager to experience the mystery and mystique inspired by sites located off the beaten path and thus not frequented by domestic and international visitors. These sites attract curiosity and often demand a degree of bravery in or order to enter their liminal domains.Given these places are either hidden or closed to public view, this paper plumbs the experiences of non-mainstream organised university tours anddelves into detail of one particular failed tourist attraction, the Tang Dynasty, to expound on the idea that non-public domains are significant spaces of experiential learning. Tang Dynasty was a tourist attraction in the 1990s in Singapore.Despite ceasing operation in 1999, this failed attraction continues to attract visitors into spaces that I have deemed the ‘non-public domain.‘ In this context, I shall explore how a non-public domain site Inspires learning for defiant sojourners.

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