Tourism and Hospitality

The Province of Rieti (Italy) hosts well-preserved historical villages rich in natural and cultural resources, as well as attractive food traditions. Consequently, being close to the Metropolitan City of Rome, many urban residents may consider it an ideal place for out-of-town trips integrating a mix of nature, taste, and culture. Based on these premises, the research answers the following questions: what are the most attractive destinations for out-of-town trips in the Province of Rieti? What territorial factors may negatively affect local tourism attractiveness? To answer these questions, a multidimensional quantitative analysis is developed at the municipal scale through the design and implementation of a composite index based on two dimensions (tourism attractiveness and territorial development). The results of the quantitative analysis suggest how the small municipalities located in the Province of Rieti are characterized by a heterogeneous mix of tourism attractiveness and territorial development, and most of them may be ideal destinations for out-of-town trips. However, supra-local development strategies (such as the Reatini Mountains strategy) are needed to narrow the territorial and socioeconomic distances from the poles of services and to elaborate a culturally sustainable local tourism offer that may foster entrepreneurship, increase welfare, and trigger rural development in the localities. Full article

The current research attempts to understand how gender relationship, livelihood, social structure, and identity evolve within tourism development. Data were collected on the sites from participant observations, in-depth interviews, and focus groups over the course of 12 research field trips from 1995 to 2019. This research provides evidence that family-based, small tourism business appears to survive well in volatile times. When family members establish their own network as equal decision makers, they tend to work together in tourism and help each other, leading to gender equality and interdependence in the relationship. They were also found to have expanded into other income streams and contributed to the career advancement of other members in the family or even the wider community. Gender gaps appear to be reduced, with ethnic woman often conducting better business than their male counterparts. Additionally, ethnic women have the opportunity to explore the potentials of their own capacity. They come into contact with the outside world and gain better social capital, along with expanding choices, and social recognition. They work hard as the hostess with dedication, warm heartedness, and local knowledge, winning respect and trust from the tourists. When ethnic women make an income directly from tourism, no matter how small it is, they have made a great step away from the previous patriarchal dominance. Tourism provides more choices for life with gender equality. Full article

Academic journals rely crucially upon the willingness of academics to review papers and for them to provide high-quality review reports. The purpose of this Editorial is to assist reviewers for Tourism and Hospitality in providing review reports that will be helpful to the journal editors in making decisions about whether to accept, reject or require revisions to papers that are submitted to the journal. It provides reviewers with a ‘peep behind the curtain’ of what can sometimes seem a rather opaque paper review process, with the aim of clarifying the purpose and format of the review process, and thereby to gain a greater appreciation of what it required of them. Several tips for writing high-quality review reports are also presented. Full article

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework provides a set of 17 goals aiming to enhance global well-being by reducing poverty, enhancing health outcomes, responding to gender equality, and mobilizing social justice and peace efforts. Tourism has been centered as playing a key role in marshaling the SDGs, mainly due to its economic impact as a leading global sector. With the onset of the pandemic, it is incumbent upon scholars to take the pulse and consider the broader backdrop inhibiting SDG progress, with the intention of considering how tourism may be a vehicle for progressing the goals. As such, our analysis may serve to be useful for national and local governments, policy advisors, tourism establishments, and enterprises, as well as visitors and host communities. Specifically, we need to attend to some of the challenges inhibiting progress, scrutinize the use of language, which may lead to misinterpretation, and attend to the lack of clarity for building policies supporting decision making. Thus, the aim of this commentary is to examine some of the critiques and challenges inhibiting the realization of the goals, including a lack of awareness, and understanding of the SDGs, including what each goal entails, the division of power, the role of governance, stakeholders, and financial support required for policy and decision making, along with addressing the misconceptions surrounding the implementation of sustainable approaches. Understanding some of the critiques and challenges of the SDGs may improve our understanding of the potential role the tourism sector may play in progressing the goals. Full article

This study examined the wine tourists’ perceptions of the country’s image and the motivations and expectations of experiences in Georgia as a wine tourism destination. A survey of tourists in the most important wine region—Kakheti—resulted in 227 usable questionnaires. Using factor analyses, four dimensions were assigned to the country’s hedonic and aesthetic related image. Based on the experience economy of Pine and Gilmore, two motivational and three experiential factors were identified. Implications for the country’s branding strategy and managing the wine tourist’s experience in Georgia are discussed. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyday reality and negatively impacted the global hospitality and tourism sectors. Even though food is an essential component of the tourist experience and the sustainable development of a region, research on the impact of COVID-19 on tourists’ food-related behaviour remains scant. By implementing a quantitative approach, data obtained from 847 tourists visiting Greece before or during the pandemic were analysed in order to compare these two periods. Findings indicate that during the pandemic, tourists had a more positive attitude towards food than before the pandemic and were more motivated to consume local food. As a result, they spent more money on food and were keener to taste local food and visit Greek restaurants and taverns. Despite the restrictions, the level of food satisfaction remained the same. It seems that this is a case whereby the risk perceptions created by COVID-19 were eliminated. The demand for quality food experiences was mainly interpreted as a search for culture and consideration of health concerns. Specific trends have been revealed in tourists’ food-related behaviours, which bear implications for a smooth transition to new and challenging circumstances. Researchers and food tourism stakeholders must set new goals, develop alternative forms of products and services based on sustainability, and, in general, adopt a new perspective to face future challenges. Full article

Neuroticism, i.e., the disposition to experiencing feelings of emotional distress, including anxiety, depression, and anger, is often considered a relatively stable and fundamental personality characteristic (trait neuroticism). However, the level of neuroticism can also vary within individuals (state neuroticism), depending on external factors such as life events and work stress. The aim of the current study was to examine to what extent having a holiday can reduce state neuroticism. A survey was conducted among n = 213 young adults who were on holiday in Fiji (mean ± SD age of 24.5 ± 4.3, 46.9% women). In addition to demographics, they completed the neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire—revised Short Scale (EPQ-RSS). Compared to at home, a significant reduction (p < 0.001) in neuroticism was reported when they were on holiday (mean ± SD of 4.5 ± 3.0 versus 2.1 ± 2.3, respectively). The effect was seen in both men and women. Women had significantly higher neuroticism ratings than men, both at home (mean ± SD of 5.4 ± 2.9 versus 3.6 ± 2.9, respectively, p < 0.001) and on holiday (mean ± SD of 2.5 ± 2.4 versus 1.6 ± 2.0, respectively, p < 0.001). No significant differences were seen between individuals with a job at home or students. The correlation between neuroticism at home and the difference rating in neuroticism (‘at home’—‘in Fiji’ assessment) was highly significant (r = 0.68, p < 0.001). In conclusion, having a holiday was associated with significantly reduced levels of neuroticism. Those with the highest levels of neuroticism at home benefited the most from having a holiday. Full article

There has been a growing interest in examining the implementation of insight-era technologies (e.g., AI, social media) and big data for sustainable tourism development. However, actionable guidelines to promote a holistic adaptation and the effective functioning of destination marketing/management organizations (DMOs) in the increasingly data-infused world are still needed. This perspective paper posits a research-based framework that DMOs can use to become more responsive and efficient in their marketing and planning efforts in the current AI-infused world. Four propositions are presented to support DMOs’ transition to the insight-era: (a) DMOs’ organizational adaptations and workforce development and training, (b) active engagement with destinations’ stakeholders and data sharing, (c) leverage user-generated data and emergent technologies for destination marketing, and (d) DMOs’ data-driven decision making. Full article

Natural areas are often of particular importance for residents as venues for recreation and domestic tourism. However, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, overtourism was a major challenge for many nature-based tourism destinations worldwide, and led to a perceived restriction of tourism opportunities for residents. Iceland, one of the countries most associated with the concept of overtourism, witnessed a rapid reduction in international tourist arrivals after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, domestic tourism was unrestricted and, in fact, actively encouraged. Iceland in the summer of 2020 thus presents an interesting case for studying the experience of domestic tourists at previously overcrowded nature destinations. The study took place in Landmannalaugar, a nature destination known for crowding prior to the pandemic, and is based on 33 semi-structured interviews. Its results reveal that Icelandic residents perceived the break from overtourism as a benefit of the pandemic, and considered it a unique opportunity to reclaim nature destinations from which they had been displaced due to overcrowding by international tourists. Furthermore, they welcomed the chance to engage with fellow domestic tourists. The findings stress the importance of addressing the needs and wants of residents and supporting the development of domestic tourism. Full article

Climate change, unsustainable water use by the tourism sector, and short-term-based decisions by policymakers create additional stress on limited water resources in arid and semi-arid tourism destinations. Non-conventional water resources are playing an important role in making additional water available for these destinations, and the use of desalination plants has gradually increased. However, they can create additional externalities on the environment that can compromise the sustainability of the tourist destination. The decisions of key stakeholders and cooperation among them hold vital importance for the sustainability of tourism and the availability of water resources. Mykonos Island (Greece) is a globally recognized tourist destination in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The island has suffered significant water-scarcity problems in recent years, in particular during the peak tourist season, and desalination plants are being built to reduce stress on the water supply. The first objective of this work was to analyze the perceptions of hospitality stakeholders regarding water shortages and climate change in Mykonos. A second objective was to assess whether the same hospitality stakeholders feel that desalination plants are the solution to water scarcity in island-tourism destinations such as Mykonos. The results show that (i) hospitality stakeholders have significant awareness regarding water-scarcity problems and the impacts of climate change on tourism activity, (ii) they do not view desalination plants as the only solution to water scarcity, and (iii) they perceive a significant lack of coordination among actors who participate in the decision-making process. These results provide clues regarding the importance of awareness, coordination, and cooperation of each actor involved in the decision-making process and can be of interest to policymakers and public authorities in tourism destinations facing water-scarcity problems. Full article

Using the ARIMA time-series analysis technique, this study measured the impact China’s anti-corruption campaign had on Macau’s casino gaming industry and forecasted future gaming revenue. This study also analyzed current trends and proposed future strategies for the Macau tourism and gaming industry. The results suggest China’s anti-corruption campaign did not significantly affect Macau’s non-VIP gaming revenue. Instead, the campaign has triggered positive changes for Macau’s tourism and gaming industry by transforming it from an unbalanced development model relying solely on VIP business to a diversified healthy development, which would potentially bring positive impact to Macau’s overall economy in the future. The findings of this study echo the revisions of gaming laws proposed by the Macau Special Administrative Region Government in September 2021 and provide new insights into the impact of the anti-corruption policy with focus on the outlook of Macau’s tourism and gaming industry. Full article

Solo travel continues to be an under-researched area in the field of tourism, hospitality, and events. After the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become necessary to review the knowledge acquired so far. In addition, the 2030 Agenda calls for more studies to understand the relationship between gender and tourism. Because of these facts, and with the aim of analyzing the progress and gaps in academic publications on solo travel in recent years, a bibliometric and content analysis review of the existing scientific literature on solo travel published in Scopus, ProQuest, and the Web of Science in the last 5 years was carried out, focusing the analysis on the gender perspective applied to these investigations. The results showed that research focused on solo travel should increase; this research should segment solo travelers, and comparisons should be realized between those segments and with other tourists who travel accompanied. To do so, a consensual definition of solo travelers is necessary. In addition, research should be extended to other regions and expand the field of analysis beyond motivations, experiences, or constraints. Research focused on solo female travelers should continue because while women cannot travel under the same conditions as men effective gender equality cannot be achieved. Full article

In recent decades, there has been a dynamic growth of Chinese outbound tourism to the Central and Eastern European region, and Hungary has been one of the most visited countries. This increase in demand is linked, in part, to the important Chinese diaspora in Hungary whose members play the role of hosts in VFR travel. This paper aims to explore the social relations—guanxi—within the Chinese diaspora living in Budapest and its influence on VFR travels back and forth China. Results of the survey with 202 Chinese immigrants reveal the strong nexus between migration and VFR travel. The Chinese hosts who have been living in the country for two decades behave differently in their guanxi compared to those who have settled in Budapest recently. The article provides several practical contributions to local destination management organizations and tourism service providers to successfully reach Chinese hosts, such as providing commissions, coupons, and getting discounts. Full article

The purpose of this research was to explore the realization of the pro-environmental initiative in the Faroe Islands in which tourists were involved as volunteers. The research was aimed at understanding how this influences tourists’ perceptions of a destination. We were interested in filling the research gap regarding the importance of tourists’ direct involvement in pro-environmental initiatives in terms of how this experience stimulates their perceptions of a destination image. The quantitative research method was adopted, whereby surveys were conducted among volunteering tourists and regular tourists visiting the Faroe Islands archipelago. The latter group was divided into two subsamples of arriving and departing tourists to understand how their perception changed after the visit. This study challenges the assumptions of the destination image theory, according to which only “accidental” information can affect the organic image of a destination within the mind of a tourist. The study reveals that tourists who tangibly experience a green marketing initiative have a positive opinion about the destination in terms of environmental protection. The organic image itself can be changed through purposeful action on the part of destination managers. We show the importance of the direct involvement of tourists in a volunteering project that is considered valuable in promoting the destination’s environmental image. Full article

There is a growing interest in research related to Airbnb, and one theme that has stood out is the analysis of the consumer experience. This study aimed to analyse the feelings expressed in the online evaluation of users on the Airbnb platform in Fortaleza, capital of Ceará, Brazil. The methodology was developed through quali-quantitative research, a documentary research procedure, and data collection regarding the accommodation offers available on the platform. A total of 2353 reviews in 2019 and 2020 related to 506 accommodation offers were analysed through manual coding with the aid of NVivo software. The results evidenced the positivity of the evaluations, and that positive comments presented fewer characters while negative evaluations presented more details. It was identified that there were differences in the percentages of positive and negative evaluations when differentiated by other factors such as gender of the user (women evaluated more positively and intensely), type of host (superhost evaluations were more positive), type of offer (for entire places, the positive polarity was lower than the private room and shared room types), and location (the positive polarity was higher in residential neighbourhoods than in tourist neighbourhoods). Methodologically, this study contributes by illustrating how a set of evaluations can be analysed and interpreted in studies on the accommodation service. Full article

Tourists’ sense of place or destination attachment could play an important role in destination branding. Yet, sense of place literature focuses on residents as the concept originates from a long-term residence in one place. This study explores the role of destination attachment based on tourist experience for branding based on a case study in Malaysian Borneo. A qualitative content analysis using QCAmap of 34 blogs extracted 116 blogposts with narratives containing emotional sentiments from international tourists. Findings uncovered six important attributes: namely nature, adventure, environment, culture, conservation, and education associated with destination attachment. Findings show that these attributes are interconnected as the main attribute, nature, produces other attributes. A tourists’ sense of place model for destination attachment is proposed to understand how tourists develop attachment to a place. Full article

Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel is a significant component of travel across the globe. Whilst COVID-19 impacted all travel in all countries, its impact on VFR in certain cultures was particularly pronounced. Aside from reconnecting socially with friends and relatives, in some cultures, certain ceremonies and rituals were compromised, meaning a complex choice for residents between focusing on global health information (e.g., avoiding contact, especially with elderly who are at risk) and disobeying significant cultural rituals that signify respect and importance. Whilst most VFR travel research has focused on western countries, this research examined the impact of COVID-19 travel restrictions and health warnings on VFR travel in the country of Turkey. The significance of COVID-19 to VFR travel in Turkey is explained, and implications for the future are put forward. Full article

The COVID-19 global pandemic has had a profound impact on the taken-for-granted familial connections bound up in VFR travel. This paper examines the emotional impacts on diasporic migrants who could not travel to their homeland for extended periods of time. It considers pre-pandemic VFR patterns and assesses new meanings attributed to post-pandemic renewed travel. The lived experiences, patterns and emotions of seventy mainly UK-based participants were examined in this study. The research approach used both Maslow’s hierarchy of needs analysis and Urry’s tourist-gaze as conceptual frames for assessing these emotional experiences. The research showed that for many diasporas, the need to travel home is central to a sense of personal and place-identity as well as emotional security. The impacts of the pandemic in terms of wellbeing and emotional health were keenly felt by study respondents. Furthermore, contrary to much prior VFR research, this pandemic related study showed that in this instance, it is the “people” of VFR rather than just the “place” (of home) that are most valued. The removal of the right to VFR travel reinforced the centrality of family connections, especially in times of crisis. A mindful, VFR gaze emerges, rooted deeply in Maslow’s basic human needs pillars of safety, love and belonging. This was shown to be a highly tuned post-COVID-19 gaze, where familiar touchstones of home helped to restore depleted emotions through performances and practices of connectivity. The unique global pandemic experience of a world full of migrant mobile diaspora brought to an abrupt halt, emphasizes the need for tourism research to focus on the emotions embedded in the inherent human-place connections of VFR travel. The longitudinal-temporal legacy of COVID-19 on this form of tourism requires future research attention for both the tourism industry and tourists themselves. Full article

This paper accords productivity growth and enhanced resident well-being more prominent roles in the study of tourism destination performance than they are offered in current research. Not only is productivity analysis essential to addressing the challenges associated with enhancing residents’ material well-being, but it displays substantial promise as a guide for an important research agenda in tourism embracing wider quality-of-life and sustainability issues. A framework is proposed to provide the basis for a research and policy agenda linking productivity, well-being outcomes, and destination sustainable development. Full article