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Purpose. The aim of the article is to show the development of trends at tourist organisations operating in the Białystok Province (Voivodship) during the period from 1946 to 1952/53, i.e. in the period of consolidating and stabilising Communist government in Poland. Method. The applied research method is mainly based on the analysis of archival source materials. Findings. The main problem of tourist organisations operating during the period from 1946 to 1952/53 in the Białystok Region was the lack of professional and properly trained staff. Despite these shortcomings, the following could be observed: a) the rapid self-organisation of the Polish Tourist Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Krajoznawcze -- PTK) in 1946, and b) an increase in the quality of the proposed solutions in the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno Krajoznawcze -- PTTK) in 1952. Research and conclusions limitations. A significant limitation of the research was the rather fragmentary nature of the surviving archival material as a basis for investigation into the subject. Practical implications. The conclusions of the study allow to suggest that emphasis should be given to the knowledge and organisational skills of tourist organisation members as necessary components of their further and proper development. Originality. The text is fully original, and both the descriptive and inference-generalising parts have never been presented before. Type of paper. Article presenting the results of archival survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Northern Limpopo Province of South Africa is characterized by a number of natural, environmental and cultural heritage sites, which could be developed into sustainable tourism sites. These sites could assist formerly disadvantaged communities improve on their livelihood options. This study covers the cultural heritage site of the tombs of the Masingo dynasty of the Vhavenda. The site is located in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study used the model applied at the Baganda cultural heritage site at the Kasubi tombs in Uganda, where some Baganda kings (kabakas) are buried in what is known as the Muzibu-Azaala Mpanga. Historical critical analysis was applied to data collected through a qualitative literature study, key informant interviews, and site visits. The study found that, while Ugandans supported Kasubi being used for tourism purposes, the custodians of the Swongozwi site were not willing to make the site available for tourism development, or any other economic activities. Developing cultural heritage sites of indigenous African peoples should be informed by their attitudes to the protection of culture and identity, though it means that opportunities for poverty alleviation are missed. The result corroborated other studies conducted earlier amongst the Vhavenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the declaration of the end of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS) outbreak in December 2015 in South Korea that the epidemic lasted for 2 months, the depressed domestic economy and tourism sector did not immediately restore. Thus, it is important to explore how much of an impact the disease had and how long the damage lasted. Using quantitative time-series models, the present study explored the influence of MERS on inbound tourism in South Korea and estimates the concrete impact of MERS on the market in 2015. Monthly international tourist arrival data were provided by the Korea Tourism Organization from January 2009 to December 2015. The results showed that the contagious disease was statistically and negatively significant for inbound tourists visiting South Korea. During the time of MERS, from June 2015 to September 2015, the total effect was estimated to be −1,968,765 tourists with a loss of 3.1 billion USD in receipts. This study can not only better estimate the impact on tourism number of inbound tourist arrivals, but also supports policy-makers in their attempts to establish proper policies to assure tourists of their safety in such crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media are widely used in tourism due to modern trends and changes pertaining to tourism demands. They offer many benefits to national tourism organizations, such as developing a direct relationship with tourists, access to tourists' feedback and the possibility of adapting the voice of communication according to the needs of individual tourists. Considering the necessity for their use, this paper presents a research on the degree of use and quality of promotional activities on Facebook by the National Tourism Organization of Serbia. In order to provide a more detailed analysis, Facebook based promotional activities of NTOs of Serbia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria were compared. The analysis covered all posts on Facebook by these tourism organizations during the period of one year. The results on the success of promotional activities presented through the engagement rate can be used to further enhance promotional activities of the National Tourism Organization of Serbia on Facebook, as well as other social media. The analysis showed that the promotional activities of the selected NTOs on Facebook are similar to one another with no major differences, even though certain improvements can be advised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few decades, National tourism organizations (NTOs) emerged into the critical institutions for the countries branding and identification worldwide. The increased relevance of the NTOs in the development of tourism of specific countries also increased their focus to Web 2.0. technologies and their social media prominence. The primary objective of this study purpose is to investigate the utilization of the social media profiles of the NTOs of European countries. In order to get comprehensive and systematized results, authors brought up three research questions: (i) what is the activity of NTOs according to social media utilization, (ii) what is the level of coherence among countries according to time of establishment and language of Twitter accounts of NTOs in European countries and (iii) is there relationship among Twitter activity of NTOs and country tourism activity? The study investigates the usage of social media by reviewing the official profiles of NTOs in the main social media channels, and subsequently extracted data from their Twitter accounts in order to establish the possible correlations among the NTOs’ Twitter activities and countries’ characteristics. Statistic software the Statistica is used as a tool to examine output data analytics. Distinctive knowledge emerged from the investigation, noteworthy both for scholars and adaptable for business. Research established that European countries NTOs have recognized the importance of social media and that most of NTOs actively use the combination of various social media in order to achieve their strategic goals. Relationships among activity on social media and tourism results have been confirmed. We provide examples of the best practices which can serve as a helpful strategy development models for the NTOs’ practitioners. Finally, we outline the possible directions for further research in the area of social media utilization of NTOs.

Copyright of Revista Espacios is the property of Talleres de Impresos Oma 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 considerable increase in tourism activities over the years equates to notable economic and social benefits. Patent as one of the most emergent sectors of the global economy, the degree and prospect of tourism growth, however, raises concerns on its negative environmental and social impacts. Conserving these environments is of utmost importance as damage to environmental quality can eventually destroy the tourism industry. The launch of eco-labels to environmentally vulnerable tourism organizations and destinations is presently being implemented in many countries in an effort to protect the natural and socio-cultural resources of a destination. A number of eco-labels exist within the tourism industry in South Africa. These eco-labels are anticipated to have a profound effect on the contribution towards sustainable tourism within the country as these are considered to be highly compatible with sustainable tourism initiatives. This study provides an overview of eco-labels in South Africa and examines the benefits and barriers associated with eco-label certification. A quantitative research approach was used, and the data was collected utilizing an online questionnaire. A census sampling approach was used to target 104 tourism businesses in South Africa that have eco-label certification. The key eco-labels targeted in the study were the Blue Flag, Fair Trade in Tourism, Heritage Environmental Management Company, and GreenLine -certified by Heritage. The study revealed that tourism businesses in South Africa do experience several benefits through eco-label certification. However, businesses also encounter many barriers with eco-label certification in terms of high costs associated with being certified, the lack of general public awareness regarding eco-labels and the absence of government support. Consequently, cost reduction, promotion of public awareness as well as government support are the main areas of improvement suggested by tourism establishments with regards to eco-labels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary leadership requires flexibility and adaptability because of the constant changes in the business environment. The purpose of this study is to discuss best practice example in leadership soft skills for managing human resources in Four Season Hotels, and the opportunities for their implementation in Bulgarian tourism organizations. First, the new leadership approaches and a new understanding of the leadership were outlined. Second, pointed out was the essence of the soft skills concept and its close relation to organizational leadership. The characteristics of human resource management in tourism organizations were described. Four Seasons Hotels good practice example was discussed, reffering the leadership soft skills application in successful tourism companies. Best practice implementation in Bulgarian tourism companies was suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Federal District (CFD) is a core of cultural, educational, and business tourism in the country. The regions of the CFD have a high cultural, educational, tourist, and recreational potential. The historical and cultural experiences of some regions of the northeastern part of the CFD determine the high rates of tourism development and contribute to the active growth of the hotel property market as well as shopping and entertainment infrastructure. Experts predict further changes in this business that will bring profit and financial success only if novel contemporary routes and developments are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turizm Akademik Dergisi is the property of Turizm Akademik Dergisi 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.)

This study analyzes how the national tourism organizations (NTOs) of Spain and Italy managed their crisis communication to deal with Covid-19. The study examines the messages published by the Twitter accounts of the NTOs from the beginning or the detection of the first patient until one month after the official declaration of the pandemic by the World Health Organization. The results reveal two different ways of managing crisis communications in the face of Covid-19, both in the treatment of the topics and in the timing of publication, at the same time generating different reactions and engagement among users. The Agenzia Nazionale Italiana del Turismo was faster and more active in the first moments of the health crisis compared with the Oficina de Turismo de España. This study can contribute to the development of communication strategies on social media by NTOs during different periods of such crises as well as communication actions to enhance the touristic image of their destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hotel & Tourism Management is the property of Faculty of Hotel Management & Tourism in Vrnjacka Banja 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.)

Volunteer tourism organisations are largely unaccountable for the claims they make about generating benefits from the projects that they sell. The few evaluations of how volunteer tourism projects fail or succeed tend to underestimate the importance of contextual factors affecting the mechanisms introduced to achieve a desired sustainability outcome. Realistic evaluation is a recently developed methodology to critically develop testable context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) propositions that explain what works, for whom, under which circumstances. Our study makes a theoretical contribution by uniquely integrating realistic evaluation with collaboration theory to study the volunteer tourism supply chain, in order to demonstrate how to develop an evaluative framework to map out the components of CMO configurations. Our study also makes a methodological contribution by unpacking the black box of the mechanisms to deliver sustainable change through the supply chain of the volunteer tourism industry, which can be subsequently used to systematically monitor and evaluate context-specific circumstances that affect how different volunteering supply chains affect the sustainability of the projects' outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous tourism in Australia continues to decline in spite of the global marketing efforts of the country's national tourism organization. One suggestion is that social desirability bias in previous visitor demand studies has been masking the underlying causes for this low market appeal. A netnographic approach was adopted in this exploratory study that utilized 4684 online reviews from international visitors to elicit qualitative insights into visitor's satisfaction and dissatisfaction with their Indigenous tourism experiences in Australia, with the aim of uncovering the underlying factors which may account for declining visitor demand. The netnographic approach provided a wealth of insights into the aspects of the experience that visitors viewed both favourably and unfavourably. In fact, it is demonstrated that international visitors are overwhelmingly positive about their experiences, a finding not typically supported in the existing research. As such, this study has highlighted that there is a dissonance between those who actually participate in an Indigenous experience and non-visitors; a number of potential reasons for this are discussed, as are the marketing implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few decades, National tourism organizations (NTOs) emerged into the critical institutions for the countries branding and identification worldwide. The increased relevance of the NTOs in the development of tourism of specific countries also increased their focus to Web 2.0. technologies and their social media prominence. The primary objective of this study purpose is to investigate the utilization of the social media profiles of the NTOs of European countries. In order to get comprehensive and systematized results, authors brought up three research questions: (i) what is the activity of NTOs according to social media utilization, (ii) what is the level of coherence among countries according to time of establishment and language of Twitter accounts of NTOs in European countries and (iii) is there relationship among Twitter activity of NTOs and country tourism activity? The study investigates the usage of social media by reviewing the official profiles of NTOs in the main social media channels, and subsequently extracted data from their Twitter accounts in order to establish the possible correlations among the NTOs' Twitter activities and countries' characteristics. Statistic software the Statistica is used as a tool to examine output data analytics. Distinctive knowledge emerged from the investigation, noteworthy both for scholars and adaptable for business. Research established that European countries NTOs have recognized the importance of social media and that most of NTOs actively use the combination of various social media in order to achieve their strategic goals. Relationships among activity on social media and tourism results have been confirmed. We provide examples of the best practices which can serve as a helpful strategy development models for the NTOs' practitioners. Finally, we outline the possible directions for further research in the area of social media utilization of NTOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two main parts of the article that present the Bulgarian and Egyptian non-governmental organisations in the field of tourism. The legislative framework and conditions for registration of such organisations as well as their role in the overall management of tourism in both countries differ. Special attention is paid to non-governmental organisations, which are created in Bulgaria and Egypt on a trade, product and territorial basis, and their roles in development tourism sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to the fact that it was noticed that the messuages have a tourist value, new opportunities for their revival through tourism development have been revealed. The research subject of this paper is the messuages tourism in the area of AP Vojvodina. The objective of the research is to examine the possibilities (conditions) for the development of messuages tourism in AP Vojvodina and the situation in this area, as well as the positive effects of development. In the preparation of this paper the following methods were applied: analysis, historical method, comparative method and synthesis method. Also, the results of the survey of rural tourist households (RTHs) and tourist organizations (TOs) in the area of Vojvodina from 2011, which were relevant for the topic, were also used. Based on the results of the research, it was concluded that the agricultural tourism in the area of AP Vojvodina has very favorable development opportunities that are mostly seized in Baĉka, and especially in the South-Baĉka district. Key areas whose development could significantly contribute to the process of development of messuages tourism in the territory of AP Vojvodina are state financial support and categorization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine the individual and interactive influence of organizational, technical and environmental factors on the diffusion of e-business in Montenegrin tourism organizations. In accordance with this goal a decision tree method is used in this paper. The results showed that organizational factors have the highest individual impact on e-business diffusion and that there is a strong interactive influence of organizational, information technology integration and external support factors. The obtained results provide important information for management and decision-making in conditions when diffusion of information technology innovation needs to be accelerated in such a way that instead of influencing only one group of factors, it affects several factors simultaneously which, in interaction with one another, lead to a greater degree of e-business diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Focuses on new product Skipassfree in Livigno, Italy. • Performs a ten-year longitudinal analysis of the Skipassfree product. • Skipassfree increases hotel room overnights by 108% and number of skiers by 248%. • Develops a new product balanced scorecard with a new destination perspective. • Learning & growth is the most salient perspective. Abstract New product development (NPD) is a counter-seasonal strategy able to reduce demand fluctuations, especially during the seasonal tails. No previous study has analysed this field through the lens of balanced scorecard (BSC). This explorative paper contributes to this gap and considers two research questions: i) How is a destination NPD process operationalized using the four BSC perspectives? ii) What is the relevance and content of each perspective in this particular field? The study deploys a longitudinal analysis of the Skipassfree product, launched by Livigno (Italy) in 2007. Over a decade, this product generated a significant uplift both in terms of hotel guests (+108%) and ski company clients (+248%). The proposed framework is built around 22 codes and incorporates a fifth BSC perspective (the destination context). "Learning and growth" is the most significant perspective with "alignment" being a key attribute, which suggests the relevance of innovation and stakeholders' involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exchange rates can be considered as one of the important determinants in tourism demand analysis especially at the national level, although sensitivity of demand to exchange rate changes may also vary by destination. Th e main goal of this paper is to compare the impact of changes in nominal exchange rates on the number of visitors from Eurozone countries in two specifi c destinations: Croatia, representing a Southern Europe/Mediterranean, predominantly 'sun and sea' destination and the Czech Republic, as a Central and Eastern European country and a typical cultural destination. A generalized linear model was used for data analysis and hypothesis testing. Th is paper identifi es relationship between seasonally cleaned changes in the number of incoming tourists from Eurozone and average changes in monthly nominal exchange rate lagged between one and twelve months. Th e results show that there are signifi cant diff erences in sensitivity of international tourism demand from Eurozone to changes in exchange rate between Czech Republic and Croatia and that delays in reaction to such changes are as expected diff erent as well. Th e fi ndings could improve short term forecasting of tourism demand as well as marketing targeting of destination management organization (DMO) activities. Th e results of this study can be practically used by National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) for marketing activities, because it is possible to reveal the tourists' behaviour from the source markets point of view. Th ese fi ndings, based on secondary data, could be used as a support tool for destination marketing, partially instead of primary data collection within the source markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the national tourism organizations (NTOs) of the top 10 most-visited countries by international tourists strategically employ Facebook to promote and market their destinations. Based on big data retrieved from the NTOs’ Facebook pages, and leveraging advanced metrics for capturing user engagement, the study sheds light on the factors contributing to superior level of social activity. The findings indicate that the way Facebook is tactically employed varies significantly across the NTOs. The panel data regression analyses suggest that engagement is positively affected by posting visual content (namely photos), and posting during the weekends, and negatively affected by evening posting. Post frequency displays no statistically significant effect on social engagement. The study also shows that most of the NTOs (except for Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK) deploy Facebook with a top-down approach, and spontaneous user-generated content (UGC) is allowed to a very little extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based tourism (CBT) is widely considered as a highlighted tourism type of sustainable development, especially emphasizing the community empowerment on tourism development. However, in order to develop CBT, different stakeholders need to take part in tourism development implementation processes, not just the host community. Moreover, not all stakeholders have the same level of interest in CBT development and may be less active or not active at all. Applying the stakeholder theory, the paper identifies four key tourism stakeholder groups in implementing CBT development in Don Duong district, Lam Dong province including host communities, visitors, local public administrations and entrepreneurs. Conducting qualitative and quantitative research methods, the paper also anlyses stakeholder's participation and shows some limited issues of e h stakeholder’s participation. As a result, the paper suggests some practical solutions for encouraging stakeholder participation for CBT development in Don Duong district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism expenditure in Caribbean countries represents the single largest inflow of foreign exchange and is associated with a significant amount of international capital flows. Yet, the relationship between tourism and financial development (FD) has received scant attention in the academic literature. This article focuses on whether tourism promotes FD in Caribbean economies. We do so by using newly constructed data on tourism flows to the region during the period 1980-2013. We find that tourist expenditure, on average, has a positive and significant impact on various measures of FD. At our most conservative estimates, we find that by increasing tourism expenditures per capita by about $1200 (USD), depth in the financial system improves by about 10-15%, while efficiency increases by about 34%. Our results are robust to instrumental variables, system generalized method of moments, and limited information maximum likelihood estimation techniques as well as to a variety of measures of FD. Such findings may have important policy implications related to facilitating growth and development through an increase in efficiency in the system of FD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loyalty in tourism is one of the main concerns for tourist organizations and researchers alike. Recently, technology in general and CRM and social networks in particular have been identified as important enablers for loyalty in tourism. This paper presents POST-VIA 360, a platform devoted to support the whole life-cycle of tourism loyalty after the first visit. The system is designed to collect data from the initial visit by means of pervasive approaches. Once data is analysed, POST-VIA 360 produces accurate after visit data and, once returned, is able to offer relevant recommendations based on positioning and bio-inspired recommender systems. To validate the system, a case study comparing recommendations from the POST-VIA 360 and a group of experts was conducted. Results show that the accuracy of system’s recommendations is remarkable compared to previous efforts in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a case study on the assessment of motivation in an organization of a group tour. It is an application motivational mixed in two models: the Vroom and Lawler Porter. The authors consider that their implementations in the operational processes are particularly useful in the effective use of motivational vectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the behaviour of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) within the heritage tourism supply chain (HTSC), in two emerging heritage regions. SMEs are conceptualised as implementers, working within the constraints of government level tourism structures and the heritage tourism supply chain. The research employs a case study approach, focusing on two emerging regions in Northern Ireland. In-depth interviews were carried out with small business owners and community associations operating within the regions. The research identifies SME dissatisfaction with the supply chain and the processes in place for the delivery of the tourism product. To overcome the perceived inadequacies of the heritage tourism supply chain SMEs engage in entrepreneurial behaviour by attempting to deliver specific products and services to meet the need of tourists. The challenge for tourism organisations is how they can integrate the entrepreneurial, innovative activities of SMEs into the heritage tourism system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the perceived and projected online destination images (DI) manifested in tourist-generated content (TGC) and national tourism organisation (NTO) generated content. Through visual content analysis and mise en scène analysis of photographic data as well as content analysis and perceptual mapping analysis of textual data, the differences between perceived and projected online DI of Eastern Taiwan were explored. TGC and NTO contents were both found to have similarly represented Eastern Taiwan as a destination abounds with “natural environment”, “infrastructure”, “specific activities”, and “tourist attractions”. However, several important DI dimensions were under-represented in the NTO content, for example, “food and beverages”, “transportation”, “information” and “accommodation”. The findings further reveal that the TGC textual content tended to outperform NTO textual content in reflecting affective DI; and photographic content, in general, was more effective in conveying affective attributes. The findings provide useful insights for practice and future research in DI management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The special issue aims at exploring, with an economic perspective, the interconnections between cultural participation, in all its expressions, and tourism organization and patterns with the purpose of understanding economic effects, emerging trends and policy implications. The expanding notion of the cultural consumption of tourists makes the definition of cultural tourism increasingly elusive. Empirical investigations of the relationships between cultural participation and cultural heritage and tourism offer interesting hints in many directions. This introduction briefly overviews the premise of this special issue, the literature and the several perspectives taken by the included articles. Aside from their cultural topics-general, intangible or temporary-these essays all tackle some important economic dimensions of tourism. We encourage cultural economists to invest more in these fascinating areas as more than just intellectual tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting tourism traffic accurately plays an important role in making policies for tourist administration. It helps to distribute the resources reasonably and avoid the tourism congestions. To improve the tourism prediction accuracy, this study considered the noise interference and proposed a forecast model of CLSI-EMD-BP using web search data. This model firstly applied CLSI to combine the web search data into a search index, then it denoised the series with EMD. EMD extracted the high frequency noise from the original series. The low frequency series of search index would be used to predict the low frequency tourism series. Taking Jiuzhaigou as an example, this study trained the model and predicted the next 22 weeks tourism arrivals. The conclusion demonstrated that the forecast error of CLSI-EMD-BP model is lower remarkably than the baselines of time series model, the web search data model and the BP network model. This revealed that nosing processing is necessary as well as CLSI-EMD-BP forecast model can improve the prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the selected aspects of activities taken within the framework of branding by European national tourism organizations (NTO) is the main purpose of the article. The branding activities of 39 national organizations that function on the territory of Europe were the subject of the analysis. In particular, theoretical deliberations concerning understanding of branding in the national and foreign literature of the subject were presented in the study. The main criteria were characterized based on which national tourism organizations were selected for the research. The selected aspects of the practical use of branding by the NTO examined (including the scope of activities taken within the framework of branding, perception and identification of branding by the organizations examined with various issues, the use of branded products in promotional campaigns) were all presented. In the study, a research hypothesis was accepted, namely that branding plays an essential role in the activities of the present-day national tourism organizations, and its rank and scope of use is constantly increasing. Because of this, it is becoming one of the key activities undertaken by the organizations of this type.

Purpose The main purpose of this paper is to critically review the contributions made by this theme issue to the literature by examining key trends in worldwide tourism and approaches for scanning its business environment.Design/methodology/approach A critical content analysis of the articles selected for the theme issue was undertaken.Findings From the various contributions made to the theme issue, it is possible to identify some major challenges that the tourism industry will face, these resulting from new tourist profiles, a growing middle-class, political tensions and terrorism, technological evolution and the decline in customers’ loyalty.Research limitations/implications Collectively, the articles in this theme issue provide rich insights on key trends impacting the worldwide tourism industry, as well as suggestions on how to explore the opportunities arising from the highly competitive tourism markets. The complexity of the information generated today call for innovative approaches on scanning the tourism business environment, to overcome the financial and operational constraints that those processes normally imply.Originality/value The articles selected for this theme issue present state-of-the-art research and experts’ viewpoints on tourism trends. These allow a deeper understanding of the challenges tourism organisations and destinations face today and the best-suited answers to explore the opportunities they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The main aim of this paper is to introduce the articles of this theme issue and explain the pertinence of the strategic question.Design/methodology/approach A brief context for the strategic question is provided, as well as the issue alignment and a content analysis of the articles selected.Findings The profile of current and future tourists is changing. Travel consumers now want and expect accurate information to guide their choices, and these are increasingly based on quality, experimentation, willingness to undertake active holidays and to travel to sites with diverse and unique tourism products.Practical implications Collectively, the articles in this theme issue provide rich insights on key trends impacting the worldwide tourism industry, as well as suggestions on how to explore the opportunities arising from the highly competitive tourism markets. Proposals on scanning the tourism business environment are also presented and their importance discussed and illustrated.Originality/value From various angles of analysis, the final articles for this issue explore the trends and issues affecting the tourism industry, as well as approaches to scan the tourism business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose In this paper, the barometer of tourism (BoT), as a new approach to environmental scanning, is presented and discussed. A unique research methodology developed by IPDT, with the aim of analyzing prospectively the tourism and hospitality sectors from the perspective of senior professionals and public and private decision makers, is illustrated in detail.Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on official tourism information and on-going research by IPDT, in particular, the “Barometer of Tourism”, which results are used to correlate with official statistics, thus demonstrating the Barometer’s value as a scanning tool.Findings BoT is a simple and low budget tool that can successfully predict the behaviour of tourism demand for Portugal in the short and medium term. After 50 editions, BoT established itself as a recognized and unique trends’ identification tool for the Portuguese hospitality and tourism organizations.Practical implications Results provide rich insights on analyzing prospectively the tourism and hospitality sectors from the perspective of senior professionals and public and private decision makers.Originality/value This paper seeks to illustrate that BoT can successfully predict the behaviour of tourism demand for Portugal, being a simple, low-budget and recognized tool for trends identification in hospitality, travel and tourism organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analytical literature review focuses on critical tourism studies and its intersections with racial analyses. The tourism industry has long relied on desires to experience a sense of Otherness to generate economic growth, which makes race a valuable heuristic site to consider ways culture and economy are intertwined in the global marketplace. Two theories of race-Omi and Winant's () racial formation and Goldberg's () racial neoliberalism-are offered as avenues through that scholars might better investigate intersections of race and tourism. Race is commodified in tourism through orienting the concept around loci of value, and different types of tourism feature more racial prominence than others. Critical tourism scholars may benefit from an increased racial awareness in their work towards providing a counternarrative to strictly business-based tourism research. Meanwhile, race scholars might benefit from an increased understanding of ways racial difference operates within tourism, as it is a major site of negotiations of Otherness. Although racial themes are more prevalent in some types of tourism than others, the two theories provided together force us to consider ways that tourism studies might further racialize its critical inquiries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]