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The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive list of indicators to be used in the tourism sector, in support of the development of sustainable strategic plans. Specific objectives include making a comprehensive assessment and categorization of those indicators and facilitating an easier to use system that guarantees the use of those benchmarks as a base for objectives definition and performance standards monitorization.

This research adopted a descriptive design using secondary data. The data was analysed using content analysis and a posteriori categorization system, resulting in 87 indicators divided into positive and negative within six categories.

The results showed that there are six key factors that may have a significant impact on tourism development suggesting they could be used for setting objectives and performance indicators when developing a strategic plan, and therefore, ensuring the sustainability of a destination and its stakeholders.

The framework adopted in this study offers a practical tool to be used by destination and organizations planners to improve sustainable tourism performance in relation to economic, socio-cultural, psychological, political/administrative, tourism/commercial and environmental/physical measurement standards. This guidance may help decision-makers to design, manage and control sustainable strategic plans in a more effective way.

This paper links the academic debate on the impacts of tourism with the designing and implementation of sustainable tourism policies and strategies.

The main purpose of this paper is to summarize the trends and suggestions for the hospitality sector, identified by a number of authors and publications.

A content analysis was performed using publications available on reliable websites on the internet as the source for data collection.

In general, technology will have an enormous emphasis on how the hotel industry is changing. The new generation of millennial travellers and growing competition brought on by the ever-evolving sharing economy has led to the industry upping its game to cater to a rapidly changing customer base that looks for meaningful local experiences and personalized services.

Gathering this information and making recommendations to cope with those trends can lead managers to have a more proactive approach on their strategic and operational decisions, thus enhancing their competitiveness on the hospitality market.

The purpose of this paper is to present a scale for service quality evaluation in the hospitality sector. This scale has two aims: to assess the dimensions and attributes consumers use when evaluating the quality of the service provided by hotels, and to determine what influence service quality perceptions have on consumer behaviour, namely on customer intentions to return and to recommend the hotel.

The methodology used to develop the scale was divided into three stages: first, two well‐known models (SERVQUAL with direct formulation and SERPERF) were tested in 32 hotels, through 532 questionnaires. As these models were not conclusive, a second phase took place: 109 in‐depth interviews were conducted to assess the relevant factors or attributes for consumers during a hotel stay, both for the holiday and business segments. Based on the results of the interviews, a questionnaire was designed to evaluate service quality provided by four and five star hotels. On this third phase, a sample of 257 respondents/hotel customers was achieved.

The main results point to the existence of five dimensions: room (tangibles and service); feelings; restaurant service; tangibles (location, exterior and restaurant) and reception, explaining 56, 1 per cent of the consumers' service quality evaluation. Another finding points out the existence of a stronger relationship between service quality perceptions and the intention to recommend the hotel (74, 8 per cent) than the intention to return to the hotel (55, 9 per cent).

Based on the knowledge of the relative importance of the attributes consumers use when evaluating the service provided by four and five stars hotels, the relevant influence emotions have on consumers' service quality evaluation and the influence service quality perceptions have on behavioural intentions, several recommendations to managers are made, both in terms of managing the hotel, as well as tourist destinations.

The purpose of this paper is to review the question: What have we learned about how tourist destinations may become more competitive and the tools to achieve this aim?

The paper considers the contribution made by each theme issue article to an overall understanding of tourism destinations' competitiveness and how this can be achieved and improved by using a series of strategic and operational tools.

The paper presents examples of key tools for improving destinations' competitiveness, how they were applied in industry contexts and recommendations for future use.

The paper summarizes the strategies and actions undertaken by organizations and destinations to improve competitiveness and comments on the practical implications.

The paper takes further the ideas put forward in the editorial and provides a concise analysis of how companies and destinations may improve their competitiveness by taken a sustainable and holistic approach to tourism development.

A SWOT analysis is used to perform a content analysis on the proceedings of The Portuguese Hotels Association Conferences (1993‐1999). The analysis undertaken aimed to identify the main trends and key issues in the Portuguese tourism and hospitality sectors. From the analysis it is identified that there is an absence of a clear and enduring strategy on issues like differentiation and positioning of its products and services, marketing research and product portfolio management. The analysis of the sector’s main strengths against the key trends indicates that tourism and hospitality depend too much on the environmental changes. Some of the main constraints that lead to the incapacity to capitalise on the key trends are the excess of governmental control, difficulties in reaching new markets, and over‐dependence on EU funds for investments.

This study was designed to assess the theoretical and managerial implications of relational norms in two distinct business contexts within the same service industry. The relationship between commercial banks and client‐companies was studied using matched pairs of account managers and company representatives in Canada and Mexico. This research indicates that: relational as well as short‐term economic variables are important for successful commercial banking; front‐line personnel may not accurately assess the client’s reality; contextual differences are important with regard to both the theory and practice of management in banking.

The purpose of the present study was to determine, across three distinct national contexts, to what extent the creation of customer‐perceived value, as determined by the measure of the firm’s external effectiveness, was deemed important and implemented within a professional business‐to‐business service industry (commercial banking). External effectiveness is a measure of business performance reflecting the client’s judgement of satisfaction, service quality, future purchase intentions and willingness to recommend the service firm to others. It was postulated that strong relationships would contribute to external effectiveness and that, in order to be effective, a service firm needs to be client‐oriented and develop managerial processes and an organizational culture compatible with the creation of client‐perceived value, the driver of longer‐term profitability. In all three countries, the higher the business client rated the strength of the relationship with their bank, the higher was their assessment of external effectiveness. However, the banks’ service management processes supporting the work of the account manager and the dominant organizational culture were not congruent with the bankers’ perception that their organizations were client‐oriented. Important differences were found in the banking relationships and managerial processes in Mexico as compared to Canada and the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to examine, through a qualitative lens, how community elder abuse and the ageing process are represented in the older adults’ narratives reporting abuse perpetrated by family members.

A qualitative study of a convenience sample of 22 interviews from 24 older adults (two couples) aged 60 years or older who had experienced one or more types of abuse and had sought help about the victimisation experience. A general inductive approach of thematic content analysis was employed.

The four main emergent themes related to the passage of time or the perception of becoming old within the process of abuse were: abuse grown old, abuse after entering later life, vulnerability to abuse and responses to abuse. Ageing was found to be associated with an increase vulnerability to abuse and an important element in shaping how older adults experience, report and cope with victimization. The social and contextual issues of being older also influenced the decision of ending (or not) the abuse and the victims’ repertoire of responses.

Despite the little suitability of chronological age to define and delimit elder abuse, understanding the phenomenon demands the recognition of ageing (both as a process and as a product) in order to more accurately identify aetiology processes and develop interventions.

Psychological elder abuse (PEA) assessment is described with different thresholds. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the prevalence of PEA and the phenomenon’s characterisation varied using two different thresholds.

Participants from the cross-sectional population-based study, Aging and Violence (n=1,123), answered three questions regarding PEA. The less strict measure considered PEA as a positive response to any of the three evaluated behaviours. The stricter measure comprised the occurrence, for more than ten times, of one or more behaviours. A multinomial regression compared cases from the two measures with non-victims.

Results show different prevalence rates and identified perpetrators. The two most prevalent behaviours (ignoring/refusing to speak and verbal aggression) occurred more frequently (>10 times). Prevalence nearly tripled for “threatening” from the stricter measure (>10 times) to the less strict (one to ten times). More similarities, rather than differences, were found between cases of the two measures. The cohabiting variable differentiated the PEA cases from the two measures; victims reporting abuse >10 times were more likely to be living with a spouse or with a spouse and children.

Development of a valid and reliable measure for PEA that includes different ranges is needed.

The study exemplifies how operational definitions can impact empirical evidence and the need for researchers to analyse the effect of the definitional criteria on their outcomes, since dichotomization between victim and non-victim affects the phenomenon characterisation.