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This study explores the role of international tour operators as the agents assuming the governance and the upgrading of the tourism global value chains (TGVCs), with a special focus on their influence on the development of technological capabilities (TCs) in the hotel industry.

The data used in this article originates from a survey carried out in 2016 on Spanish small and medium-sized hotel companies. An ordinal regression analysis is employed to test the hypotheses proposed in this research.

This study finds that tour operators exert a positive effect on the technological upgrading process in the hotel industry by stimulating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to invest in TCs. The causal mechanisms through which these effects take place differ across the various stages of the relationship between hotel companies and tour operators.

The results have implications both for hotel management in terms of how hotels take advantage of technological upgrading to become more competitive, and for public administrations in terms of what measures can boost the development of hotel TCs in order to increase their added value.

To date, very few studies have analysed the tourism sector based on the influence on the development of TCs of SME hotels by combining GVC concepts and the resource-based view. It is also the first time that the causal mechanisms are shown to explain such influences.

The literature on the factors generating loyalty towards tourism destinations has seldom focussed its attention on relationship marketing, which has left a gap in the understanding of destination loyalty. This paper aims to examine the influence of relationship quality on rural destination loyalty, approaching this through the variables of trust, attachment and satisfaction.

This study used a quantitative methodology based on an on line survey conducted in Spain. The sample consisted of 464 tourists who participate in rural tourism. The analysis of the proposed model was carried out based on the partial least squares method.

The results confirm that the model has a substantial to moderate explanatory capacity for overall satisfaction and loyalty, in which overall satisfaction acts as a mediator between the variables that make up relationship quality in reference to loyalty.

The main limitations of this research arise from the scarcity of works which aim to understand relationship quality in tourism destinations. To broaden results, it should be applied in other tourism destinations, products, services and experiences.

Destination managers should give relationships a special role in their tourism development programmes in rural tourism contexts.

Rural tourism destinations and companies are generally small-sized organisations that need managerial tools. These can benefit from developing sustainable relationships.

The significant role played by relationship quality regarding destination loyalty is studied in detail in this model.

La literatura sobre los factores que generan lealtad a los destinos turísticos poco ha centrado su atención en el marketing relacional, lo que ha dejado un vacío en la comprensión de la lealtad al destino. Este artículo examina la influencia de la calidad relacional en la lealtad a los destinos rurales, a través de las variables confianza, apego y satisfacción.

Este estudio usa una metodología cuantitativa basada en una encuesta on line realizada en España. La muestra estaba formada por 464 turistas que practican turismo rural. El análisis del modelo propuesto fue llevado a cabo con el método partial least squares.

Los resultados confirman que el modelo tiene una capacidad explicativa sustancial-moderada para la satisfacción global y la lealtad, en la que la satisfacción global actúa como mediadora entre las variables que conforman la calidad relacional y la lealtad.

La principal limitación de esta investigación surge de la escasez de trabajos cuyo objetivo se centra en la comprensión de la calidad relacional en los destinos turísticos. Para ampliar los resultados, habría de aplicarse en otros destinos, productos, servicios y experiencias turísticas.

Los gestores de destinos deberían otorgar un papel especial a las relaciones en sus programas de desarrollo turístico en el medio rural.

Los destinos y empresas de turismo rural son por lo general organizaciones de pequeñas dimensiones que necesitan herramientas para la gestión. Ellas pueden beneficiarse del desarrollo de relaciones sostenibles.

El papel significativo que juega la calidad relacional con respecto a la lealtad al destino, estudiado en detalle en este modelo.

Marketing relacional, Calidad relacional, Lealtad, Destinos rurales, Partial least squares (PLS)

Artículo de investigación

The purpose of this paper is to retrace the past development of the global tourism sector to identify past drivers of growth and try to understand which factors will shape the sector development in the long term. The paper also intends to initiate a discussion on critical areas the global sector needs to address if it wants to establish as a model for sustainable and inclusive growth.

This paper analyses the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological factors that influenced tourism growth.

The global tourism sector has experienced continuous expansion and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world. With increased recognition of tourism contribution to economic growth and development, more opportunities will arise for tourism to take centre stage in the political and economic agendas worldwide. Such opportunities can be successfully realised only once the global tourism sector eventually engages to mitigate negative impacts.

The paper is based on an extensive review of published literature; hence, it reflects the view major organisations dealing with tourism have on the future development of this sector. The factors included in this analysis have been prioritised based on the sector knowledge of the authors and may not be reflect other viewpoints.

Tourism could establish itself as a model that puts aspects such as the conservation, preservation and protection of the cultural and natural heritage at the heart of economic development. For global tourism to become a driver of socio-economic change, stronger guidance is needed to set priorities that would lead the sector to mitigate its negative impacts. The paper critically discusses some of those aspects that could become policy priorities for the next decades.

The main value of this piece of research is the extended, cross-disciplinary literature of the factors that conducted to the rapid and healthy growth of the tourism sector worldwide.

This paper aims to present the findings from a European study on the digital skills gaps in tourism and hospitality companies.

Mixed methods research was adopted. The sample includes 1,668 respondents (1,404 survey respondents and 264 interviewees) in 5 tourism sectors (accommodation establishments, tour operators and travel agents, food and beverage, visitor attractions and destination management organisations) in 8 European countries (UK, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands and Bulgaria).

The most important future digital skills include online marketing and communication skills, social media skills, MS Office skills, operating systems use skills and skills to monitor online reviews. The largest gaps between the current and the future skill levels were identified for artificial intelligence and robotics skills and augmented reality and virtual reality skills, but these skills, together with computer programming skills, were considered also as the least important digital skills. Three clusters were identified on the basis of their reported gaps between the current level and the future needs of digital skills. The country of registration, sector and size shape respondents’ answers regarding the current and future skills levels and the skills gap between them.

The paper discusses the digital skills gap of tourism and hospitality employees and identifies the most important digital skills they would need in the future.

Digitalization accelerates the need of tourism and hospitality ecosystems to reframe business models in line with a data-driven orientation that can foster value creation and innovation. Since the question of data-driven business models (DDBMs) in hospitality remains underexplored, this paper aims at (1) revealing the key dimensions of the data-driven redefinition of business models in smart hospitality ecosystems and (2) conceptualizing the key drivers underlying the emergence of innovation in these ecosystems.

The empirical research is based on semi-structured interviews collected from a sample of hospitality managers, employed in three different accommodation services, i.e. hotels, bed and breakfast (B&Bs) and guesthouses, to explore data-driven strategies and practices employed on site.

The findings allow to devise a conceptual framework that classifies the enabling dimensions of DDBMs in smart hospitality ecosystems. Here, the centrality of strategy conducive to the development of data-driven innovation is stressed.

The study thus developed a conceptual framework that will serve as a tool to examine the impact of digitalization in other service industries. This study will also be useful for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) managers, who seek to understand the possibilities data-driven management strategies offer in view of stimulating innovation in the managers' companies.

The paper reinterprets value creation practices in business models through the lens of data-driven approaches. In this way, this paper offers a new (conceptual and empirical) perspective to investigate how the hospitality sector at large can use the massive amounts of data available to foster innovation in the sector.

Stakeholders have divergent views concerning sustainability in the development of tourism in Ylläs. The danger of these differences is that it can result into a conflict that could jeopardize the fragile ecosystem and livelihood of the locals. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how the quest for authenticity is discursively related to the interpretations of sustainability in tourism, based on a mix of qualitative and quantitative research.

This was an empirical study, based on a mix of quantitative (surveys) and qualitative (interviews) research methods.

Despite the different interpretations, almost all stakeholders agree on “sustainability” in the development of tourism, since it is the authentic nature that attracts tourists. Accordingly, the search for authenticity could contribute to the sustainability of the tourist destination Ylläs in the long term. Caution is asked though for the enclave-like construction of tourist destinations, e.g. Ylläs, that currently differentiate from their surrounding peripheries.

Despite the different interpretations, almost all stakeholders agree on “sustainability” in the development of tourism, since it is the authentic nature that attracts tourists. Accordingly, the search for authenticity could contribute to the sustainability of the tourist destination Ylläs in the long term. It is suggested to continue research regarding authenticity in practice.

The conditions under which sustainability could become a consideration for tourism development in Ylläs are linked to sustaining tourism business, the most important source of income for Ylläs.

Can the quest for authenticity, insofar as it remains a significant motive in contemporary tourism, contribute to the sustainability of tourist sites? Destinations that actively and continuously discourage tourism on ecological grounds are the most attractive ones for MacCannell’s authenticity-seeking tourist. Considerations regarding sustainability and development in the context of ecological vulnerable and economic valuable regions clash. It is with regard to such areas that the paths of the sustainability and authenticity discourses cross (Cohen, 2002).

The purpose of this paper is to examine the accessible tourism market potential, alongside the implications of operating in the accessible tourism market and an assessment of major travel and leisure company involvement. The research focused on providing a market value forecast using historic data from 2005 and extrapolating this to 2025. An examination of the reasons for and against major travel and leisure company involvement in the accessible tourism market was accompanied by an analysis of managerial perceptions.

The exploration of travel patterns of disabled tourists, in particular spend per head per holiday, was used to measure the value of the demand side of accessible tourism. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with employees of major travel and leisure companies in managerial positions.

The study indicates that the accessible tourism market is a distinct sector, possessing the capacity for extensive future growth, and thus presents major travel providers with a potentially substantial and lucrative market, generating potential revenues of €88.6 billion by 2025.

Due to a lack of existing data an assumption had to be made on the evolution of travel spend per head per holiday. However, the formula used, using GDP/Capita growth, is a recognised way of forecasting this kind of data in the travel and leisure industry.

This is the first paper to provide an examination of the reasons for and against major travel and leisure company involvement in the accessible tourism market, as well providing a forecast of the market value up to 2025.

This paper aims to investigate the internal factors of resources and capabilities of five born globals (BGs) from Estonia. It explores quantitatively the internal factors between a medium BG and four small BGs.

The study used a survey questionnaire in collecting information from the CEOs of BGs. The questionnaire consisted of 105 questions relevant to export sales related to differences in internal factors.

The firms’ size and industrial sector play a role in export sales due to differences in internal factors. Small BGs expect financially based rewards, non-financial rewards, the job satisfaction of sales representatives with the export manager, and with work in general, and the representatives’ job satisfaction is higher in the small BGs than in the medium BG. The sales representatives’ job performance, their work performance, sales presentations, technical knowledge, adaptiveness, teamwork, planning, support, the organisational capabilities for business identification, relationship-building and innovation are all higher in medium BGs than in small BGs. Eleven sub-constructs of the model were shown to be important for small BGs.

The current study is focused on BGs from Estonia, i.e. small BGs and medium BGs. The study contributes to the internal factors of resources and capabilities of BGs as well as to the literature review on BGs. It also provides a logical conceptual model, indicating that the export manager’s job satisfaction is the central construct influenced by antecedent factors and is related directly to the export sales performance of the BG.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate travel agencies' social media usage and its perceived effectiveness by small- and micro-Italian travel agencies; the pre-pandemic period is compared to the forecasts for the post-Covid-19 period and different characteristics of firms and entrepreneurs are considered. Furthermore, the study analyses the expected benefits in terms of marketing objectives, such as improving brand image and/or personalizing the offer.

The research was developed through a questionnaire administered electronically to travel agents (282 respondents). The resulting data was analyzed by applying the McNemar test, a pairwise t-test and the multivariate analysis of variance.

The results show that social media are strategically significant for travel agents, even though their adoption is influenced by different agency aims; the perceived effectiveness results are diversified according to varying agency typologies.

The two main limitations of the study are its focus on the Italian context only and the missing consideration of the consumer's point of view. The latter prevents an exhaustive assessment of future trends regarding the use of social media in the client–agency relationship.

The study, which focuses on a little debated topic concerning the relationship between social media and SMEs, organically explores various dimensions related to the adoption of social media by small agencies, also considering the impact of the Covid-19 on the perception of travel agents. As a further element of originality, the research takes into consideration the main social platforms separately rather than the set of tools as a whole.

This paper aims to provide swift feedback to readers and investors on the early effect of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak on tourism industry.

Three leading consolidators of hotel accommodations, airline tickets and travel services in the tourism industry around the globe, namely, Booking Holdings Inc., Expedia Group and Trip.com Group Ltd. are chosen in this study. First, numerical description is performed on their shares prices and a set of control variables to compare their performances before and during the lockdown because of COVID-19 outbreak. Next, this paper estimates ordinary least squares models with and without exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic specification to establish the nature, significance and magnitude of the pandemic’s early effect on the shares performance of these online travel companies (OTCs).

This paper discovers a rapid decline in the performance of tourism industry amid the pandemic outbreak, from the perspective of three leading OTCs, which derive their profits from tourists by providing them online hotel reservation, air-ticketing and packaged-tour business services around the globe. These significant adverse direct and indirect effects testify that tourism-related businesses are extensively locked down by the pandemic outbreak.

Future studies are encouraged to examine each of the tourism sectors for individual effects.

This paper provides implications for investors to protect their wealth, and for policymakers to ensure sustainability of tourism industry in the pandemic outbreak and in the future.

From the perspective of corporate finance, this paper empirically quantifies the early effect of COVID-19 on tourism industry for a quick snapshot.