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The authors investigate how COVID-19 has influenced the amount, type or topics of abuse that UK politicians receive when engaging with the public.

This work covers the first year of COVID-19 in the UK, from March 2020 to March 2021 and analyses Twitter abuse in replies to UK MPs. The authors collected and analysed 17.9 million reply tweets to the MPs. The authors present overall abuse levels during different key moments of the pandemic, analysing reactions to MPs by gender and the relationship between online abuse and topics such as Brexit, the government’s COVID-19 response and policies, and social issues.

The authors have found that abuse levels towards UK MPs were at an all-time high in December 2020. Women (particularly those from non-White backgrounds) receive unusual amounts of abuse, targeting their credibility and capacity to do their jobs. Similar to other large events like general elections and Brexit, COVID-19 has elevated abuse levels, at least temporarily.

Previous studies analysed abuse levels towards MPs in the run-up to the 2017 and 2019 UK General Elections and during the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The authors compare previous findings with those of the first year of COVID-19, as the pandemic persisted, and Brexit was forthcoming. This research not only contributes to the longitudinal comparison of abuse trends against UK politicians but also presents new findings, corroborates, further clarifies and raises questions about the previous findings.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-07-2022-0392

The technology acceptance model (TAM) is a widely used framework explaining why users accept new technologies. Still, its relevance is questioned because of evolving consumer behavior, demographics and technology. Contrary to a research paper or systematic literature review, the purpose of this critical reflection paper is to discuss TAM's relevance and limitations in hospitality and tourism research.

This paper uses a critical reflective approach, enabling a comprehensive review and synthesis of recent academic literature on TAM. The critical evaluation encompasses its historical trajectory, evolutionary growth, identified limitations and, more specifically, its relevance in the context of hospitality and tourism research.

TAM's limitations within the hospitality and tourism context revolve around its individual-centric perspective, limited scope, static nature, cultural applicability and reliance on self-reported measures.

To optimize TAM's efficacy, the authors propose several strategic recommendations. These include embedding TAM within the specific context of the industry, delving into TAM-driven artificial intelligence adoption, integrating industry-specific factors, acknowledging cultural nuances and using comprehensive research methods, such as mixed methods approach. It is imperative for researchers to critically assess TAM's suitability for their studies and be open to exploring alternative models or methods that can adeptly navigate the distinctive dynamics of the industry.

This critical reflection paper prompts a profound exploration of technology adoption within the dynamic hospitality and tourism sector, makes insightful inquiries into TAM's future potential and presents recommendations.

This study aims to investigate the unique cultural attributes of a particular association. The research focuses on a single case study involving a civil society organization whose activities are focused within the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Specifically, the association under examination is a religious voluntary organization engaged in social activities within the Israeli Defense Forces.

Data collection employed a qualitative approach using the case study method, with twenty in-depth ethnographic interviews conducted. The research questions guiding the study are: What are the hybrid structural characteristics of the religious association? How has this hybrid structure influenced the organizational culture?

The study identifies a hybrid structure comprising community, familial, and bureaucratic features. It reveals a blend of clan and bureaucratic cultural elements within the organization, demonstrating adaptability to the ideology of the Israeli Defense Forces.

The research uncovers an innovative hybrid structure that successfully navigates bureaucratic challenges and fosters a familial atmosphere contributing to communal benefits.

This case study from The Gambia is based on the research project ‘Transnational Relationship Establishment: Diaspora Tourism and Circular Migration’. It introduces the development and problems of migration in West Africa and specifically in The Gambia. Beyond migration policy, it looks at the structures and motives of migration in one of the poorest countries in Africa, which is characterised by extreme dependence on remittances from the diaspora. Furthermore, The Gambia has a very high share of tourism in gross domestic product (GDP), which leads to a high dependence on tourists and tour operators from Europe. Taken together, these aspects pose major challenges to the country’s tourism policy in terms of contested ‘wicked problems’. The purpose of this chapter is to use qualitative analysis to describe the significance and impact of diaspora tourism and transnational relationships and circular migration of Gambians on their homeland. One focus is on examining the development potential of forms of tourism associated with members of the diaspora and their home countries. Another focus is on how plurilocal familial, economic and sociocultural ties can be shaped and maintained and remigration processes initiated through the study of transnational relations.

Guided by the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to present a comprehensive framework examining leadership, Guanxi, work-family conflict and work engagement. It specifically explores how group-level transformational leadership influences individual-level Guanxi and work-family conflict and how these factors, in turn, impact work engagement.

The study surveyed 473 teachers in the Klang Valley, Malaysia, and used hierarchical linear modelling.

The results reveal that transformational leadership directly enhances non-work relationships, reduces work-family conflict and indirectly predicts increased work engagement. This indirect influence occurs through the mediation of Guanxi and the work-family conflict. Notably, while stronger Guanxi is associated with greater work engagement in the professional sphere, it does not necessarily mitigate the work-family conflict in the personal domain.

These findings provide valuable insights into maintaining and enhancing work engagement by implementing transformational leadership through more effective channels, such as Guanxi and work-family conflict management.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of wine involvement in moderating the effect of winery service quality on loyalty toward small family wineries.

This study used a structured questionnaire. The survey was distributed to wine tourists who visited small family wineries located in Crete, Greece and a total of 216 usable questionnaires were collected for the study. To analyze the data, the study used partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results reveal that wine involvement moderates the effects of winery service quality on wine tourists’ loyalty. Specifically, staff behavior affects the loyalty toward wine tourists with low involvement more significantly compared to the wine tourists with high wine involvement. On the other hand, the quality of wine tastings affects the loyalty of wine tourists with high wine involvement more significantly in contrast with the wine tourists with low wine involvement.

Findings suggest that winery operators need to take into consideration wine involvement among wine tourists when they develop a winery service strategy. Operators of small family wineries can provide more customized, diverse and quality wine tastings to wine tourists with high wine involvement while prioritizing winery staff’s behavior and hospitality to those wine tourists with low wine involvement.

This study contributes to extant wine tourism literature by adding the effects of wine involvement on wine tourists’ loyalty toward the winery, and particularly focusing on small, family wineries.

Evidence for the availability and utilisation of family-friendly work conditions (FFWCs) in Malaysia has not been comprehensively reviewed. Whether persistent inequities are due to poor employer provision of work conditions or low employee uptake remains unknown. This scoping review to assess the scope of available evidence for availability and utilisation of specific FFWCs among women in Malaysia, and synthesise reported findings.

This scoping review used Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and twenty-two articles were reviewed.

Flexible work hours, telecommuting/work from home, staggered work hours, childcare centres proximal to workplaces, and childcare subsidies were reported as most commonly available work conditions. Available leave varied across organisations and sectors in provision of payment and duration. Flexible work hours, leave, and childcare centres proximal to workplaces were the conditions most used by employees. However, the validity of observed availability and utilisation of work conditions in Malaysia is questionable, due to inconsistencies in the specificity and range of work conditions assessed and heterogeneity of samples.

National monitoring of the accessibility and uptake of FFWCs is required to guide investment decisions about family-friendly policy initiatives to effectively advance gender equity in the Malaysian labour force.

This scoping review provides the first comprehensive synthesis and summary of the availability and utilisation of FFWCs in Malaysia.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2024-0103

Digital detox practices seek to encourage tourists to disconnect from their devices and immerse themselves in the destination they are visiting. This may involve activities such as meditation, yoga or simply abstaining from social media and email. The impact of digital detox practices on tourist experiences can vary depending on the individual. While some tourists may find it difficult to disconnect from their devices, others may appreciate the opportunity to fully engage with their surroundings without distractions. Ultimately, digital detox practices have the potential to promote mindfulness and enhance the overall travel experience for those who are willing to try them.

In this section, digital detox defined and different forms are mentioned. The motivation factors of digital detox tourism activities carried out in this context and destinations and businesses for digital detox holidays will be examined. The chapter concluded by analysing the feedback obtained from consumers on TripAdvisor. This chapter provides a valuable contribution to the present digital detox tourism, which is in the market as a new touristic product by offering a comprehensive literature review. In addition, the chapter examines the review of comments made by tourists on TripAdvisor about digital detox tourism. The chapter further offers recommendations to tourism businesses on how to enhance their services in this domain. As a result, this section is expected to make a valuable contribution to both the academic literature and the tourism industry, specifically in the area of digital detox tourism.

By aligning the “Small is beautiful” and “Bleak house” theories, this study aims to examine how robotic working patterns affect employees’ working life and job satisfaction (JS) in Bangladeshi-owned ethnic minority businesses.

The study uses information from 40 face-to-face interviews of employees from 20 Bangladeshi restaurants in Greater London.

The findings suggest that workers are treated as “robots”, consistent with the “Bleak house” view of small businesses in this segment of the restaurant and hospitality industry. Owners expect employees to perform multiple tasks, to assume many responsibilities, to work long shifts, without any holiday allowances. Consistent with the “Small is beautiful model”, the findings underscore the lack of written employment contracts and the emergence of acute staff shortages.

The findings can inform owner-managers’ decisions to refine their HR strategies and improve the work conditions of employees in ethnic minority-owned restaurants. The “Small is beautiful” model highlights five key interventions for improving ethnic minority business work quality: recruit employees with first preferences for restaurant jobs, introduce flexible work arrangements, formalise work, improve market research and tackle acute staff shortages.

The study contributes novel insights into the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and job quality literature by offering new qualitative-based findings on the negative impact of robotic work patterns on work quality and JS in ethnic minority SMEs.