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Tourism and Hospitality

Tourism and Hospitality is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on all aspects of tourism and hospitality, published monthly online by MDPI.

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All Articles (579)

This paper examines how employees in Croatian hotels relate their direct supervisors’ leadership behaviors to job satisfaction. Survey data were collected from 153 hotel employees across departments and hotels of different sizes. Leadership was assessed through five styles (autocratic, laissez-faire, democratic, transformational, and transactional), while job satisfaction was measured across six dimensions. The hypothesized relationships were tested using competitive regression models in which all leadership styles were entered simultaneously, complemented by a moderation test and relative-importance analysis. The results show a differentiated pattern. Transformational leadership is positively related to staff development and management satisfaction and also shows a positive association with salary satisfaction. Transactional leadership is most strongly linked to salary satisfaction, while it relates negatively to staff development satisfaction when other styles are controlled. Democratic leadership is positively associated with management satisfaction, but its unique association with staff development satisfaction is contingent on hotel size: it is negative in small hotels and attenuates to non-significance in medium-sized and large hotels. Autocratic leadership is generally associated with lower satisfaction in key domains, whereas laissez-faire leadership does not show meaningful unique effects in the competitive models. These findings provide evidence from the Croatian hotel sector and suggest that leadership development and HR support systems should be aligned with the specific satisfaction domains hotels seek to improve.

20 March 2026

Conceptual model linking leadership styles and job satisfaction dimensions. Source: Authors’ elaboration.

We propose an Energy Index to assess how destinations influence visitor well-being by integrating objective environmental conditions, management practices, cultural–spiritual significance and reported emotional experience. Methodologically, the framework of the index builds on a composite-indicator approach that integrates heterogeneous data types–quantitative environmental variables (e.g., air quality, noise, geomineral resources), qualitative assessments of governance and tourism infrastructure, heritage and symbolism indicators, and survey-based/AI-assisted sentiment measures. Indicators are normalized and weighted to produce a composite score. Sensitivity checks are applied to assess the robustness of indicator selection. The model adopts a formative, partially compensable logic that preserves conceptual differentiation across components. Applied to Petrich (Bulgaria)—including locations such as Rupite and the Belasitsa area—the index demonstrates how geothermal assets, environmental quality, and cultural meaning can be translated into actionable metrics for destination management and branding. The approach offers a scalable tool for wellness destinations seeking evidence-based positioning and capacity management.

19 March 2026

Theoretical Foundations and Structure of the Energy Index Components. Source: Authors’ compilation.

Critical Resilience Factors for Post-Disaster Tourism Recovery: Evidence from Baños de Agua Santa via Fuzzy Multi Criteria Analysis

  • Giovanni Herrera-Enríquez,
  • Eddy Castillo-Montesdeoca and
  • Juan Gabriel Martínez-Navalón
  • + 1 author

Tourism destinations exposed to chronic natural hazards require robust analytical frameworks to understand and prioritize the factors that sustain post-disaster resilience. This study examines Baños de Agua Santa (Ecuador), a volcano-exposed destination whose long recovery trajectory illustrates the complexity of socio-ecological adaptation. Using a multidimensional FAHP model grounded in expert judgments, eight dimensions and fifty-six criteria were evaluated through fuzzy triangular numbers and the extended analysis method of Chang to capture uncertainty and ambiguity in decision-making. Results show a consistent and hierarchical structure of resilience, with experiential, economic-entrepreneurial, and socio-community dimensions emerging as the most influential drivers of post-disaster adaptability. Fifteen criteria—primarily perceptual, community-based, and endogenous—achieved “very high impact” status, including risk perception, basic education, individual resilience capacities, institutional coordination, and entrepreneurial environment. Conversely, limited healthcare infrastructure, low economic diversification, and national-level vulnerabilities were identified as critical weaknesses. The study concludes that post-disaster recovery in Baños is shaped by a bottom-up dynamic that emphasizes agency, learning and socio-ecological memory. It also proposes an evidence-based Action Matrix for adaptive governance to guide prioritized, time-phased interventions. The FAHP model proves effective for transparent, context-sensitive prioritization in highly uncertain tourism environments.

17 March 2026

Multidimensional resilience analysis model.

From Feed to Table: The Role of Food Influencers in Restaurant Choices

  • Nicolás Sumba-Nacipucha,
  • Jorge Cueva-Estrada and
  • Francisco Ganga-Contreras
  • + 1 author

This study examines why consumers intend to visit restaurants recommended by food influencers on social media. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and social influence mechanisms, we test an extended TPB model in which trust in the influencer is incorporated as an additional antecedent of intention and as a mediating mechanism linking influencer–follower identification to visit intention. To obtain information, a structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 474 Ecuadorian social media users who follow at least one gastronomic influencer. Hypotheses were assessed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and predictive assessment (PLSpredict). The results show that attitude toward recommendations and perceived control exert a significant effect on intention, while subjective norms have a more moderate influence. Trust is projected as an additional facilitator in the transition from evaluation to intention, indicating that parasocial affinity translates into intended behavior only when it is accompanied by perceived credibility. The study contributes to TPB and influencer marketing by clarifying how influencer-mediated digital recommendation contexts reshape the classic TPB mechanism and by specifying trust as the key bridge between identification and behavioral intention in a high-uncertainty gastronomic decision.

13 March 2026

Conceptual model. Source: Author’s own work based on (Abbas & Talat, 2023; Ajzen, 1991; Kelman, 1958; Wang & Emurian, 2005).

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Tour. Hosp. - ISSN 2673-5768