Editorial for the Special Issue “Impacts and Sustainability of Tourism, Hospitality, and Events”

1. Introduction

This editorial introduces the Special Issue, “Impacts and Sustainability of Tourism, Hospitality, and Events,” with summaries of each of the included articles. The themes that emerged from the research include a focus on travel related to sports, travel related to beverage preferences, and using questionnaires as a form of research. Case studies from North America, Europe, and Asia are included. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on BEACH industries—(B)ooking, (E)ntertainment and live events, (A)irlines, (C)ruises and casinos, and (H)otels and resorts [1]—but it provided researchers with a window of opportunity to seize the moment and reflect on ways to improve quality and value in these areas. Currently, quality and value are commonly driven by pursuing more sustainable operations and lifestyles. It is an understatement to say that not every industry took full advantage of the pandemic as a means to reset and come back stronger; many simply returned to business as usual. However, the insights that our colleagues have collected in this Special Issue help to advance the conversation concerning the triple bottom line. They enact inventive ways to ask probing questions related to the tourism industry at what could be a pivotal time. To introduce this Special Issue, we thank our contributors and offer the following summaries as a preview of their work.

2. Profiling Tequila’s Tourists

The researchers in the first article (Contribution 1) conducted a segmentation study to profile tourists visiting a World Heritage Site in Tequila, Mexico, known for producing the beverage that shares the town’s name. The profiles are intended to help create targeted marketing campaigns. This article is the first of several studies in this Special Issue related to what has become an unintended, emergent subtheme relating to tourism and alcohol. Another commonality with subsequent studies in the Special Issue is using a questionnaire, which was used here to construct the profiles. Curious readers might compare this study to the others to evaluate the nuances between their survey and analysis methods or to compare the preference profiles of the tourists preferring different beverages or how their interests affect their travel choices. How important are beverage preferences to travel decisions? Do tequila drinkers have different travel behaviors than beer or wine drinkers? Do marketers or others in the travel value chain have to cater to different experience preferences for tourists with different beverage preferences? When tourists visit a region specifically for its culturally significant beverage history, their level of involvement might distinguish them from tourists with low involvement, who are more interested in other aspects of the region, and they ought to be treated differently to match their loci of value.

3. Preserving Ichan Kala

Similar to the previous article, this article also relates to a World Heritage Site, but in Uzbekistan. When maintaining a cultural heritage site over 100 years old, what are visitors willing to pay, and how does cultural affinity impact their decision? The researchers (Contribution 2) found that the survey participants might be comfortable with a USD 30 admission fee. However, the question remains whether collecting tickets at that price from the expected 200,000 annual visitors is enough to compensate for the upkeep costs versus threats from vandalism, termites, or erosion or sufficiently supply funding for improvements in water and sewage facilities or transport options to this isolated area. Readers unfamiliar with valuation might supplement this article with Conservation Strategy Fund’s video series (ca. 2015) [2] regarding various valuation methods.

4. Motivating the Beijing Olympics

The next article (Contribution 3) continues the methodological theme of the previous article by utilizing a survey and further focusing on valuation, but here, the topic is related to mega-sport events. Mega-sport events are large productions that require local buy-ins for hospitable impressions to travelers and for their help as volunteers to fulfill the required functional logistics of the event, but the researchers found that public sentiment and perceived value differ regionally within the studied host country. Hopefully, a host country would do its homework when choosing its location to make the best use of these sentiment surveys, as the researchers raise the point that their perceptions guide their behaviors. The research conjures questions of justice concerning the distribution of societal benefits and the harmful effects of these events. How can planners use these sentiments or direct the outcomes of these events to capitalize on the cultural pride, environmental awareness, and economic gains produced from the event without saddling others with social neglect, environmental destruction, or financial loss? The researchers used a triple bottom-line approach in their investigation.

5. Leveraging Romanian Ski Slopes

The researchers in the next article (Contribution 4) found volatility regarding the economic impact of 242 ski slopes in Romania. They analyzed the slopes in terms of various characteristics. However, their findings suggest that caution should be taken and called for further study before deciding on the direction of further economic development to these sites since the physical features of the slopes were not a substantial enough determinant of their counties’ economic successes.

6. Wine Region Immersion

How can wine regions attract wine tourists who crave an immersive experience in light of the pandemic? The authors (Contribution 5) used the concept of “co-creation” in at least three ways to make their point. Co-creation refers to pairing wine with food for a more encompassing experience. It means that the interaction between tourists and the players throughout the winescape value chain contributes to a positive experience, as is the case when the traveler is involved in making a wine that they will potentially consume (or at least of the same variety). Additionally, co-creation refers to using education and entertainment to foster memorability. Interviews revealed significant relationships between culture, history, and connection to environmental features in the wine region as key draws of regional interests. Sustainability is incorporated via experiential value creation.

7. China’s Tourismization

The next authors (Contribution 6) created an index for measuring tourismization and described how it tracks observations of phenomena during a 10-year pre-pandemic timespan. They also offer suggestions for managing tourismization for greater sustainability.

8. Craft Beer Netnography

The authors (Contribution 7) echoed the observations from the previous study concerning immersive experiences but focused on beer. This time, they added escapism, esthetics, and entrepreneurship dimensions of analysis and netnography of online reviews as a method of inquiry.

9. Analyzing Tourist’s Sentiments

Analyzing social media and e-word of mouth offers insights into tourists’ sentiments about their travel destinations. The researchers (Contribution 8) used the example of impressions from Chinese visitors of Spain to find more detail about where the perceptions of quality arise related to features in Madrid and Barcelona, such as architecture.

• List of Contributions

• Coelho, A.; Castillo Girón, V.M. Profiling Tourist Segmentation of Heritage Destinations in Emerging Markets: The Case of Tequila Visitors.
• Baymuminova, N.; Shermukhammedova, G.; Choi, J.-G. Estimating the Economic Value of Ichan Kala Using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM).
• Xu, Z.; Wu, C.; Li, X. Residents’ Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions towards Mega-Sports Events: A Case Study of Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
• Herman, G.V.; Grama, V.; Buhaș, S.; Garai, L.D.; Caciora, T.; Grecu, A.; Gruia, A.K.; Hudea, O.S.; Peptenatu, D. The Analysis of the Ski Slopes and the Degree of Economic Dependence Induced by Winter Sports Tourism. The Case of Romania.
• Carvalho, M.; Kastenholz, E.; Carneiro, M.J. Pairing Co-Creation with Food and Wine Experiences—A Holistic Perspective of Tourist Experiences in Dão, a Portuguese Wine Region.
• He, Y.; Zhang, H. Comprehensive Evaluation of the Provincial Sustainable Tourismization Level in China and Its Temporal and Spatial Differences.
• Chirakranont, R.; Sunanta, S. Applications of Experience Economy in Craft Beer Tourism: A Case Study in Thailand’s Context.
• Borrajo-Millán, F.; Alonso-Almeida, M.-d.-M.; Escat-Cortes, M.; Yi, L. Sentiment Analysis to Measure Quality and Build Sustainability in Tourism Destinations.