Tour. Hosp., Volume 5, Issue 2 (June 2024) – 6 articles

The literature has mainly focused on the significant business opportunities that companies obtain from their participation in trade fairs while less interest has been given to their impacts on the host regions. However, trade fairs are events with complex socio-spatial dimensions and an important scope of urban governance that need further analysis. The purpose of this article is to investigate the attitudes, opinions and representations of the exhibitors and visitors of the trade fairs in Thessaloniki, regarding the trade fair itself and its efficiency, the city of Thessaloniki as a destination, as well as the relationship between trade fairs and the city. The method of collecting qualitative material and information involved in-depth interviews with a semi-structured interview guide, while quota sampling was used. In total, 103 interviews were conducted at the trade fairs of Zootechnia and Detrop. Results show that the effect of trade fair activity on the city of Thessaloniki is strong and multi-layered. Also, the relationship between trade fair activity and the city is interactive and two-way, as one feeds and is powered by the other. Moreover, the need for coordination and cooperation between local agencies in an urban governance framework was highlighted. Full article

As part of its 2050 net zero emission commitment, Canada has a mandate to transition to electric vehicles (EVs) to decarbonize transportation. While the EV charging infrastructure is expanding in urban areas, the infrastructure for inter-city and nature-based tourism has not been assessed. This study combined four metrics of feasibility and convenience into an EV readiness index to evaluate 94 road trip itineraries associated with Canada’s iconic national parks. Index scores ranged from not possible (0) to equal to the travel experience of internal combustion vehicle (20). With the summer range, the average one-day route score was 19.2, as 82% of one-day itineraries could be completed without requiring additional charging. Multi-day routes scored lower (14.0), with 24% being highly inconvenient or impossible due to gaps between charging stations. With a reduced winter EV range, average index scores for one- and multi-day trips declined as charging needs increased (18.4 and 13.2, respectively). Across the 94 travel routes, EVs were estimated to produce only 17% of the carbon dioxide emissions of internal combustion vehicles (this was much lower in some provinces). The findings also highlight key regional differences in tourism EV readiness and where infrastructure is needed to provide equitable access to Canada’s national parks for tourists seeking to decarbonize their holiday travel. Full article

Restaurants were significantly shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced them to intensify their use of social media to communicate with customers. Our objective was to identify which digital marketing strategies generated higher customer engagement during the pandemic, according to variations in the intensity of sanitary restrictions. We manually extracted 639 Facebook posts by 16 restaurants in two Canadian cities (one in a metropolitan area, one in a peripheral region), and coded them according to type of verbal move, format (image, text), and emoji use. The engagement rate was two times higher for restaurants in the metropolitan area, which also used three times more emojis per post on average. The engagement rate was also five times higher for nationally branded restaurants than for independent restaurants. When the pandemic hit, restaurants started to use more text and more directive verbal moves to convey crucial and precise information to customers, notably about sanitary restrictions. Emojis and expressive verbal moves also helped increase customer engagement. While being direct was more efficient in times of crisis, directive verbal moves continued to be used after most sanitary restrictions were lifted. Being direct, thus, appears to be a good digital marketing strategy in the “new normal”. Full article

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global tourism market has become one of the most affected sectors of the economy. In this research, the literature on the economic effects created by COVID-19 on a global level is first studied and the measures and restrictions that governments are obliged to take in order to suppress and prevent the spread of the coronavirus are analyzed. Next, there is an attempt to empirically estimate a system of equations regarding the two channels of influence of COVID-19 on tourism, making use of cross-sectional data, and specifically for a sample of 38 countries that launched vaccination up until the end of 2020. The explained results confirm that tourism is directly affected by the spread of COVID-19, due to the effort of travelers to avoid illness, but also due to the measures taken by governments to limit it. Tourism is also indirectly affected, due to the negative impact on income. Using 3SLS, an equation was developed to calculate the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 on tourism. Notably, the dependent variable (tourism expenditure) exhibited a positive correlation with the independent variable (GDP) and a negative correlation with the total COVID-19 cases. Consequently, it was determined that a unit increase in the COVID-19 variable led to a reduction in international tourism expenditure by USD 859,237. Finally, there is a concern, and further investigation is needed, regarding the effect of vaccination against COVID-19 on tourism, which, while it is expected to be negative, is not confirmed by the results. Full article

The use of new technologies in tourism is bringing about a genuine revolution in the sector, where automated services, such as chatbots, are increasingly being used to perform some of the tasks involved in service delivery. However, the emergence of new technologies in a sector as globalized as tourism can mean that not all users are able to perceive the benefits of these innovations. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine whether the digital literacy (DL) of a tourist may lead to different evaluations of the quality of the electronic service they received, both overall and as per the different dimensions of quality. This study compares a more innovative and interactive service-provision technology (a chatbot) with a more traditional one (email). To this end, an experiment was conducted in which 124 participants from Spain (higher DL) and the Czech Republic (lower DL) were asked to interact with these two technologies in a simulated hotel customer-service scenario. The results show that individuals with higher DL rated the quality of service received via chatbot higher than individuals with lower DL. The latter prefer email because they perceived it to provide greater security, empathy, reliability, and information quality. However, participants with higher DL preferred the chatbot due to its greater competence in completing the task. Finally, the participants rated the responsiveness of the chatbot higher than that of email. These results can help the introduction of chatbot-based customer service in the tourism sector. Full article

Gastronomy represents one of the main defining national cultural elements and is essential for shaping territorial identities and for tourism development, attracting both domestic and international tourists. The landscape in the center of Bucharest has gradually changed under the influence of entrepreneurial initiatives within the hospitality industry, showing at present a rather cosmopolitan urban environment. Despite the significant number of international catering units, better adapted to global tastes, Romanian-themed restaurants represent a landmark of the capital city. In this context, our study focuses on the Romanian authentic local gastronomy offered by the themed traditional restaurants in the center of Bucharest as a stimulating factor for different types of consumers. Aiming to answer several research questions, this research has a complex multi-fold methodological approach, appealing to triangulation which gathered, as main analytic methods, mapping, semantic analyses, and text visualisation, and the interview method (originally and appropriately applied for this case study to experienced employees). The main results show a complex gastronomic landscape that gathers various types of restaurants but outlines those with a Romanian ethnic theme in the center of Bucharest. The study of Romanian restaurants’ menus reveals elements of authenticity (e.g., traditional dishes and their regional denominations, local rural ingredients, old recipes, and cuisine techniques) as factors of attractiveness for consumers and as competitive advantages in their market. Moreover, interviews with staff representatives outline restaurants’ atmosphere, originality, and price–quality ratio of their food as the main attractive elements for both autochtonous customers and tourists and which offer an advantage in the market. The present study may interest multiple stakeholders, focusing on the development and evolution of the hospitality industry in Romania. Full article