Search Results (9)

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of entrepreneurship education on the social entrepreneurial intentions of undergraduate tourism students at a Greek university. Using a qualitative diary-based research tool, the study examined how different educational practices shape students’ learning experiences, emotional involvement, and intentions to become social entrepreneurs. In total, 64 participants voluntarily decided to participate in the diary research, and they recorded their views on a weekly basis regarding their experience of and feelings on a variety of educational activities. The findings indicate that experiential and team-based methods greatly improved students’ knowledge of and enthusiasm for social entrepreneurship. Interactive videos of real-life examples boosted their sensitivity and critical thinking, while team activities such as the creation of business canvases and idea development and presentation enhanced their collaboration and practical application of concepts. Emotional engagement through team collaboration and the creation of business canvases on their personal entrepreneurial ideas were identified as major factors in boosting social entrepreneurial intention. This study emphasizes the significant impact of entrepreneurship education on promoting social entrepreneurial mindsets among tourism students, offering practical implications for designing impactful educational strategies in higher education and integrating experiential learning methods into entrepreneurship curricula. Full article

This research aims to examine hospitality and tourism students’ acceptance and usage of Microsoft Copilot for educational purposes in Egyptian public universities. It also investigates the mediating role of behavioral intention (BI) in the connection between hospitality and tourism students’ acceptance and actual use of Microsoft Copilot. This study adopted the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) framework to achieve the research aim. A quantitative approach was used via online surveys distributed and gathered from 760 hospitality and tourism students from nine public universities in Egypt and analyzed using PLS-SEM to test the hypothesized relationships. The major findings showed that PE, EE, SI, and FC affected BI to use Microsoft Copilot and highlighted a substantial direct influence of SI, FC, and BI alone on the actual use of Microsoft Copilot. Therefore, BI partially mediates the relationship between SI and FC and real-world classroom utilization of Microsoft Copilot. This clarifies that BI has a slight role in the relationship between SI and FC and the actual use of Microsoft Copilot, while the relationship between PE, EE, and the actual use of Microsoft Copilot occurs entirely through BI. However, there was full mediation between the use of Microsoft Copilot in the classroom and BI between PE and EE. The results have several implications for Egyptian higher education institutions and academics of hospitality and tourism and are also relevant to other institutions in a comparable setting. Full article

Learning engagement among university students is a critical predictor of academic success. This study, drawing on responses from 333 questionnaires completed by Chinese tourism students, employs the fsQCA method to construct a configurational impact model of learning engagement, exploring the paths and mechanisms of its influence. The study finds that learning engagement among tourism students is shaped by the combined influence of internal and external factors, with internal factors—such as professional cognition, professional evaluations, professional emotions, and academic self-efficacy—playing a foundational and central role. External factors, such as the university environment, provide additional influence, though their impact varies depending on the type of learning engagement. A high level of learning engagement is associated with two distinct configurational paths, identified as the endogenous model and the endogenous–exogenous promotion model. Having positive professional evaluations and a strong professional identity is found to have a significant positive impact on students’ academic engagement. Conversely, a low level of learning engagement follows three distinct configurational paths, collectively termed the endogenous suppression model, in which a lack of professional emotions and low academic self-efficacy are key inhibitors of academic engagement. Theoretical and practical implications based on the research findings are also discussed. Full article

Despite years of research, scholars still have a limited understanding of the factors that lead individuals to start their own businesses. Drawing upon the crisis decision theory (CDT), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the entrepreneurial event model (EEM), and previous research on entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), this study investigates the impact of a set of predictors (i.e., perceived crisis severity, entrepreneurial disposition, support from family/friends, university affiliation, gender, year of study, work experience, presence of a role model, and completion of an entrepreneurship class) on the outcome variable (i.e., EIs) of Generation Z in a highly tourism-dependent transitional economy. Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression were employed to analyze the data collected in May/June 2020 via a self-administered questionnaire from 300 tourism and hospitality students enrolled at five public universities in Croatia. The results indicate that entrepreneurial disposition, work experience, and gender are directly related to EI. The perceived crisis severity does not affect EI. These findings contribute to filling gaps in the existing research on entrepreneurship during major crises, on EIs of Gen Z, on the role of perceived crisis severity in EIs, and on the state of EIs in mono-industrial (i.e., dominated by one industry) crony capitalist ex-communist economies. Full article

Education can be the first step towards sustainable tourism. This article discusses the use of age simulation suits to educate university students majoring in nautical tourism. The research goal was to verify whether using such suits in the process can sensitize students to problems that may be faced by the elderly in marinas. The goal of the research has been achieved through a pilot study carried out on a group of students. In the experiment, two Sakamoto suits were used that simulate a number of ailments characteristic of old age. The participants found the classes using the suits to be helpful in both their private lives and future careers, when they will face problems resulting from an aging society. After the experiment, the participants declared a greater understanding of the elderly and were able to identify more problems that senior tourists might encounter while visiting marinas. Therefore, in the future, they may make decisions to implement solutions that accommodate the needs of senior tourists in marinas. This is the first step toward fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals and creating accessible, sustainable tourism. Full article

The present study investigated Macao university students’ attitudes towards English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Macao maintains a diverse multilingual society, with speakers from several cultures converging into one city for work and travel. Traditionally, the common languages of communication have been Chinese and Portuguese, due to Macao’s historical connection with both mainland China and Portugal. However, with the development of tourism and economy, English has become a lingua franca in the city. Despite this, it is unclear what attitudes are held about ELF and whether these attitudes may differ according to academic interest, academic background, and experience with intercultural communication. To address this need, 303 university students completed a survey measuring attitudes towards ELF on five dimensions. Afterwards, nine participants were interviewed to expand on their survey responses. The descriptive results indicated that in general Macao university students’ attitudes towards ELF were positive in many aspects, but also included conservative attitudes. Results from t-tests showed that English minors, local Macao students, and students who have overseas intercultural communication experience held more positive attitudes towards ELF than English majors, mainland Chinese students, and those without overseas experience, respectively. Implications for English teaching in Macao are discussed. Full article

Sustainability challenges in tourism are widely discussed. There is a huge need for education in the field of destination development. Students require appropriate problem-solving skills. This article examines the master’s course in destination development at Uppsala University, Campus Gotland, with the aim of increasing students’ skills in solving sustainability problems. The course took place in the spring semester of 2020 with the main goal of improving students’ skills in formulating and solving sustainable challenges in groups. This was achieved by activating the heterogeneity of the group, seeking relevant information and facts, and organising and carrying out the task with a design-thinking methodology. Students were provided with real problems or challenges by tourist companies, authorities and other interest groups on the island of Gotland. The purpose of this study is to describe the group of students as well as joint learning processes and knowledge needed in the work towards sustainable solutions. The major implication of the study is that the course gave the students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of both the barriers and benefits of working with heterogeneous groups. Furthermore, the study revealed a number of factors that all organisations would need to take into account in order to improve the effectiveness of their work towards sustainable solutions. Full article

This article explores how a remote Aboriginal-owned and -run art centre, Ikuntji Artists in Haasts Bluff, has developed grassroots-level cultural tourism. While not many remote Indigenous art centres engage with the tourism industry, Aboriginal tourism engagement has only recently been identified by the Northern Territory Government as a major business development area. Steered by the member artists and the board, the art centre has been able to create a range of workshops and activities that can be offered to small-scale tour operators. Over the past five years, an arts festival and various workshops for university field students and other small tour operators have been hosted. Member artists, staff and the board as well as the community see cultural tourism as an opportunity to share their culture by way of teaching visitors about the Luritja language, culture and country. Thus, this article argues that art centres can engage meaningfully in cultural tourism and support remote Indigenous communities in the sustainable development of cultural tourism. Full article

With the advancement of information technology and policies encouraging interactivities in teaching and learning, the use of students’ response system (SRS), commonly known as clickers, has experienced substantial growth in recent years. The reported effectiveness of SRS has varied. Based on the framework of technological-pedagogical-content knowledge (TPACK), the current study attempted to explore the disparity in efficiency of adopting SRS. A concurrent mixed method design was adopted to delineate factors conducive to efficient adoption of SRS through closed-ended survey responses and qualitative data. Participants were purposefully sampled from diverse academic disciplines and backgrounds. Seventeen teachers from various disciplines (i.e., tourism management, business, health sciences, applied sciences, engineering, and social sciences) at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University formed a teacher focus group for the current study. In the facilitated focus group, issues relating to efficient use of clickers, participants explored questions on teachers’ knowledge on various technologies, knowledge relating to their subject matters, methods and processes of teaching, as well as how to integrate all knowledge into their teaching. The TPACK model was adopted to guide the discussions. Emergent themes from the discussions were extracted using NVivo 10 for Windows, and were categorized according to the framework of TPACK. The survey, implemented on an online survey platform, solicited participants on teachers’ knowledge and technology acceptance. The close-ended survey comprised 30 items based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and 20 items based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Participating teachers concurred with the suggestion that use of clickers is instrumental in engaging students in learning and assessing formative students’ progress. Converging with the survey results, several major themes contributing to the successful implementation of clickers, namely technology, technological-pedagogical, technological-content, technological-pedagogical-content knowledge, were identified from the teacher focus groups. The most and second most frequently cited themes were technological-pedagogical-content Knowledge and the technological knowledge respectively. Findings from the current study triangulated with previous findings on TPACK and use of clickers, particularly, the influence of technological-pedagogical-content Knowledge and technological knowledge on successful integration of innovations in class. Furthermore, the current study highlighted the impact of technological-pedagogical and technological-content knowledge for further research to unfold technology adoption with these featured TPACK configurations, as well as rendering support to frontline academics related to integration of technology and pedagogy. Full article