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The aim of the research is to reveal information with regard to being a digital nomad as a family. Within this brief, the aim is to provide information regarding the reasons for choosing the digital nomad lifestyle of families, the female and male thoughts regarding the experience, destination selection factors and the difficulties and conveniences of digital nomadism for family aspects.

The data were obtained through a semi-structured interview questionnaire with a British digital nomad family, individually from the wife and husband, using a qualitative research design in the scope of the phenomenological research.

It was determined that having a better lifestyle, being willing to spend more time with family and traveling with them were the reasons for becoming a digital nomad. The opinions of the woman and man are in parallel. While the main features of being a digital nomad are freedom and flexibility, having time to spend with family is also important. Factors for choosing a destination as a nomad were access to nature, quality of life, cost of living, quality of the food, climate, proximity to other families who are nomads and interest in nonschool education. As a family, they meet their needs and wants, such as going to a local shop or staying in a rented house, but prefer to use restaurants and other facilities if their stay is short. Although having children motivates digital nomadism, it has been determined that families prefer to stay in a fixed place as nomads since it is not appropriate for children over a certain age to travel frequently.

The study provides detailed information regarding a family experience with digital nomadism through a case study.

The qualitative approach was applied the discover the optimum answers to the research objectives, which are (1) to understand the cultural and hedonistic characteristics of the (Lanna) Songkran festival; and (2) to examine the dilemma between cultural rituals and hedonistic activity for tourism.

This study used a case study of the Songkran festival in Chiang Mai to examine the dilemma between cultural rituals and hedonism for tourism, which brings lost or misperceived cultural values and identities. The semi-structured interview (SSI) with senior locals and participant observation during the festival was conducted in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to obtain the in-depth phenomena of the existing celebration pattern at the festival.

The study findings show three crucial phenomena that explain characteristics of unsynchronized cultural rituals and hedonistic activities for tourism: (1) the parallel phenomenon between cultural values and celebration practice, (2) the movement of local culture and(3) the hedonistic characteristics of the festival.

The study extends the knowledge on the interplay phenomena between cultural festivals and tourism; also, the involved stakeholders, such as local communities, public sectors and private sectors, can use the study findings in creating policies for using cultural festivals to promote a destination and urban economic development that will minimise cultural values distort while increase tourism economic values.

This study was conducted qualitatively, including SSIs and participant observation at the Songkran festival in Chiang Mai. The study findings were analysed, based on the empirical data, into significant themes representing the characteristics of dilemma phenomena within the festival.

The aim of this article is to examine in depth the digital nomad lifestyle and its effects in the context of tourism and to create a perspective for the future by taking into account the findings of the articles in the thematic issue.

The theme question is examined through a review of the main findings and outcomes of this issue.

The digital nomad lifestyle stands out as an alternative form of tourism to traditional tourism models. Digital nomads are interested in cultural heritage and are effective in destination marketing just as social media influencers are. Gastronomic preferences and security perceptions of digital nomads play an important role in destination selection. Although digital nomads start out with a desire for independence and freedom, they want to come together with their peers in order to meet their social needs.

This article will serve as a significant resource for understanding the digital nomad lifestyle and for predicting future tourism trends.

The purpose of this research is to analyse the accessibility of Spanish beaches for blind people and their guide dogs as an inclusive tourist destination for national and international tourists.

This empirical research used a quantitative and qualitative methodology from public and private organizations, which intends to give voice to blind people to improve their quality of life.

This study presents a new and surprising contribution to the issue of accessibility of beaches for blind people and future studies related to this topic. Findings revealed that Spain has only nine adapted beaches for blind people, and most Spanish tourist destinations exclude blind people and its guide dogs from enjoying the beach and the sun and their facilities. In Spain there are in total 3,547 beaches; 10.3% of these are adapted beaches for people with reduced mobility, whereas only 0.25% are adapted beaches for blind people. Indeed, results also suggest that more efforts are required in response to the needs of blind people in tourism and transport activities by researchers, academics and government bodies.

The contribution of this paper is especially important for the management of the accessibility of Spanish beaches for blind people and their guide dogs by public and private organizations.

这项实证研究采用了来自公共和私人组织的定量和定性方法, 旨在让盲人发声以改善他们的生活质量。

本研究的目的是分析作为国内和国际游客包容性旅游目的地的西班牙海滩对盲人及其导盲犬的可达性。

这项研究对盲人的海滩可达性和与该主题相关的未来研究提出了新的和令人惊讶的贡献。 调查结果显示, 西班牙只有9个适合盲人的海滩, 大多数西班牙旅游目的地都将盲人及其导盲犬排除在享受海滩和阳光及其设施外。 西班牙共有 3,547 个海滩, 其中 10.3% 是适合行动不便人士使用的海滩, 而只有 0.25% 是适合盲人使用的海滩。 事实上, 结果还表明, 研究人员、学术界、政府机构、私营企业以及一个更加公平、团结和慷慨的社会需要做出更多努力来满足盲人在旅游和交通活动中的需求。

本文的贡献对于公共和私人组织管理盲人及其导盲犬在西班牙海滩的可达性尤为重要。

El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la accesibilidad de las playas españolas para personas ciegas y sus perros guía como destino turístico inclusivo para turistas nacionales e internacionales.

Esta investigación utilizó una metodología cuantitativa y cualitativa apoyada con datos de organizaciones públicas y privadas, con la finalidad de dar voz a las personas ciegas para mejorar su calidad de vida.

Este estudio presenta una nueva y sorprendente contribución sobre la accesibilidad de las playas para personas ciegas y futuros estudios relacionados con este tema. Los resultados revelaron que España tiene solo 9 playas adaptadas para invidentes, la mayoría de los destinos turísticos españoles están excluyendo a las personas invidentes y sus perros guía para disfrutar de la playa y el sol, y de sus instalaciones. En España hay un total de 3.547 playas, el 10,3% son playas adaptadas para personas con movilidad reducida, mientras que solo el 0,25% son playas adaptadas para invidentes. De hecho, los resultados también sugieren que se requieren más esfuerzos en respuesta a las necesidades de las personas ciegas en las actividades de turismo y transporte por parte de investigadores, académicos, organismos gubernamentales, empresas privadas y una sociedad más justa, solidaria y generosa.

La contribución de este trabajo es especialmente importante para la gestión de la accesibilidad de las playas españolas para personas ciegas y sus perros guía por parte de organismos públicos y privados.

This paper reviews the literature on disability inclusion (DI) in supply and demand chains of hospitality and tourism (H&T) organisations. The purpose of this study is to assess disability support and interventions within H&T organisations. Through the assessment, we identified gaps to recommend H&T scholars’ and practitioners’ knowledge of DI from new perspectives.

An integrative review was conducted to examine the published evidence on DI in H&T organisations. This study used high-ranking H&T journals from the Scopus and Web of Science databases between 2001 and 2023. In total, 101 empirical papers met the criteria for the review analysis.

DI focuses heavily on customer disabilities, with scant research on DI in H&T employment. The review emphasises the critical need for empirical research into the varied disability employment ecosystem within H&T organisations, focusing on social integration for inclusive workplaces.

This study contributes to the H&T literature, which previously overlooked the disability context in diversity. The research offers strategies for creating inclusive environments in the H&T industry for disabled consumers and producers.

Discussions on tourism development address the urgent need to reduce the negative impacts of tourism on tourist destinations. Despite decades of trying to find potential ways to foster sustainability, however, current tourism development is still mainly driven by political interests and growth agendas. In spite of concepts intending to improve sustainable tourism development, negative dynamics, such as over-tourism and the exploitation of nature and local communities, dominate the current reality of tourism. This article focuses on the concept of degrowth as a potential solution for rethinking tourism policy and practices to ensure greater sustainability. Its aim is to explore the gap between these policies and the academic theories on instigating sustainable change, and the actual reality of the tourism industry, which is primarily driven by economic motivations such as growth.

To explore this dichotomy, this paper investigates the values of tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs. Small businesses are the most dominant group in the industry in terms of numbers. I contend that researching their viewpoint on current developmental trends could lead to valuable insights into how to tackle this gap between theory and reality. This paper also explores how the degrowth paradigm may promote sustainability in tourism, as well as the potential role that tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs could play in this development. The discussion is illustrated by a case study based on interviews with tourism entrepreneurs in Iceland.

The findings indicate that various tourism stakeholders have different approaches to growth, with many tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs tending to embrace degrowth practices by acting according to their value base, albeit sometimes unconsciously. This focus on aspects other than growth could potentially encourage tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs to contribute to sustainable development.

The examples discussed in this paper are locally limited and cannot be generalized due to the small size of the interviewed sample group. The scalability of individual entrepreneurs’ impact is limited due to their small size.

The actions and values applied by these tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs demonstrate how degrowth can be manifest on a small scale: growth is only embraced up to a certain limit, so it oes not exceed social and environmental capacities; from that point on, community well-being plays the key role. This study demonstrates the untapped knowledge tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs could provide to rethinking the tourism industry.

This study demonstrates the importance of shedding more light on ethical issues and values beyond growth in both academic and political discussions. Addressing tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs as smaller-scale actors of tourism degrowth could be a meaningful starting point for holistically rethinking tourism and give them a voice.

This research emphasizes untapped knowledge by acknowledging entrepreneurs and their potential for rethinking tourism development, concluding with recommendations for practice and policy.

After completion of the case study, the participants would be able to understand the challenges in building a sustainable homestay tourism business; develop a positioning statement for La Pinekonez which builds a unique competitive advantage; and outline elements of the business strategy to profitably sustain and grow a sustainable tourism homestay in terms of service offering, pricing, marketing and operations.

La Pinekonez Homestay, located in the beautiful region of Himachal Pradesh, India, is the subject of this case study, which explores both its successes and its difficulties. In August 2022, Arvind, the dedicated sole proprietor of La Pinekonez, grappled with multifaceted challenges, the first being the foray of established hotel chains into the homestay business. As the protagonist, was is in dilemma of preserving La Pinekonez’s unique identity amidst corporate competitors, particularly with regards to differentiating from the expanding hotel chains. The clash between customer expectations for hotel-like amenities and the homestay’s commitment to sustainable tourism presented a crucial challenge. Negative reviews questioning the authenticity of La Pinekonez’s green initiatives heightened the complexity. Adding to Arvind’s predicament were the seasonal fluctuations in tourist inflow and his aspiration to embrace immersive tourism trends. This case study facilitates exploration of strategic positioning, sustainability management and marketing strategies in the dynamic and competitive hospitality industry. It also offers insights into the complexities of balancing differentiation, customer satisfaction and sustainability while navigating the evolving landscape of tourism trends.

This case study is suitable for students of tourism and hospitality management at postgraduate level. The case study can be discussed once the basic concepts of hospitality management and service dimensions are covered.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 12: Tourism and hospitality.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the tourism economy affects local food availability, access, utilization and stability in dessert-prone agricultural heritage sites. Specifically, the study aims to explore the relationship between the tourism industry and local agricultural practices and how this connection influences food security in the Siwa Oasis, located in the Western Desert of Egypt.

The study employs a qualitative exploratory research design using in-depth interviews and focus groups to investigate the impact of the tourism economy on food security and identify potential benefits and limitations for food security in the region.

The research reveals that the tourism economy in Siwa Oasis has only a marginal contribution to food security. The study highlights a lack of a strong connection between the tourism industry and local agricultural practices within the heritage site. As a result, the potential benefits and synergies that could be achieved between tourism and agriculture have not been fully realized, leading to a limited impact on food stability.

This study primarily relies on qualitative data from Siwa Oasis, Egypt, which may limit the generalizability of findings beyond this specific context. Additionally, while the study provides valuable insights into the complex relationship between tourism and food security, it does not quantitatively measure the magnitude of tourism's impact. Future research could incorporate quantitative methods for a more comprehensive understanding of this relationship in diverse desert-prone regions. Finally, the study highlights the need for more integrated approaches to enhance food security through tourism, but the specific strategies and policy recommendations require further investigation and adaptation to local contexts.

This study underscores the need for tourism development strategies that prioritize food security in desert-prone areas like Siwa Oasis. Policymakers and stakeholders should promote sustainable tourism practices that enhance local agriculture, create diversified income sources and foster equitable benefits for communities. Moreover, recognizing the seasonal nature of tourism, interventions to address food shortages during off-peak periods are crucial. Efforts should also focus on skill development and gender-inclusive opportunities within the tourism sector to ensure broader community participation. Additionally, collaborations between tourism and agriculture should be encouraged to optimize food availability and stability while preserving cultural food traditions.

This study adds original insights by examining the specific impact of the tourism economy on food security in dessert-prone agricultural heritage sites. The study's originality lies in its exploration of the untapped potential for synergy between the tourism and agricultural sectors and the implications for local food security. This research contributes to understanding how tourism can improve food security in specific contexts and provides valuable insights into sustainable development in heritage sites.

Religious tourism is one of the oldest and fastest-growing segments. This study analyzes religious tourism through the pilgrimage of Muslims to the holy city of Mecca and has the following objectives: (1) establish the motivational dimensions of religious tourism; (2) identify the motivational dimensions that predict the satisfaction of religious tourism and (3) determine the motivational dimensions that predict return, recommend and say positive things about religious tourism applied to the pilgrimage to a sacred city.

The sample consisted of Muslim pilgrims who had visited Mecca. The sample was collected in Bahrain, a country located on the Persian Gulf, where most of its population is Muslim. A total of 380 valid questionnaires were obtained online. For the data analysis, factorial analysis and the multiple regression method enter were performed.

The results show that religious motivations are more important when visiting a sacred city than secular ones. Three motivational dimensions were found: religious, social and cultural and shopping. The three dimensions found have a significant relationship with satisfaction and loyalty. Likewise, it was found that the religious motivational dimension is the factor that most predicts satisfaction and loyalty in the behavior of religious visits to a sacred city.

The main limitation of the present study was the temporality in which the sample was taken because the demand may vary at another time of the year and therefore vary its results.

The authors of the study recommend that holy cities increase the religious motivations of these travelers by periodically researching their needs and organizing services to suit their desired spiritual experience. Also, to improve the social and cultural part, travel agencies and tourist companies to Mecca should promote social and cultural motivation among travelers in an appropriate way by providing service packages that involve visits to cultural and social sites such as museums and cultural centers.

This research will serve as a management guide for public institutions and private companies to develop more efficient planning in religious destinations and sacred cities.

This study is the first to analyze the construct of motivations in the pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, to then establish what the main motivations are that predict satisfaction and loyalty in a religious city. Thus, its results provide important information for tourist destination managers and tourism service providers.