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This paper aims to present the host experience of student hosts in Hong Kong, a popular educational destination for international students from mainland China and other countries. This study examines the interconnection between the experience-based and sociocultural dimensions of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel, considering the overall host experience, the host–guest relationship and post-hosting changes in perception of both the VFR experience and destination.

This research adopts a qualitative approach to compare the experience-based and sociocultural dimensions of VFR travel considering international university students as VFR hosts in Hong Kong, taking a student sample from both mainland Chinese and overseas students. Based on a voluntary sampling approach, the research team had face-to-face interviews with the students that agreed to participate. The interviews were conducted voluntarily and anonymously and included those students who had hosted any friends or relatives in the past 12 months. A total of 26 interviews were successfully completed, including 10 mainland Chinese and 16 non-mainland Chinese students.

The results confirm that the VFR host experience is generally shaped by an integration of internal characteristics (sociocultural characteristics of both hosts and visitors) and external environment (urban infrastructure and tourism resources). The two groups distinctively express their host experience that shows some areas of cultural barriers and geographical proximity.

The limitations of this research mainly lie on its relatively small sample size because of constraints in accessing the contact information of international students across universities. These shortcomings should be improved by adopting a research design that uses other sampling approaches, such as snowball sampling, to include a wider scope of students from different local universities, or convenience sampling, to interview and compare responses of international students from various educational destinations. Alternative data sources may be considered, for example, through user-generated contents from online and social media platforms that contain sharing of students as hosts.

The geographical and cultural proximities influence VFR tourism development and social construction of values and the consequent hosting behaviour. The unique role of international students should be further explored, especially in the Asian context. The outcome of VFR travel must be evaluated and studied more from cultural and personal dimensions than economic gain, which should be relevant to host perspective such as improved quality of life, social ties and place attachment and psychological benefits. The changing risk perception caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may be examined through some forms of travel intention.

Firstly, the destination marketing organisations of the educational destination should address the difficulty faced by student hosts in terms of external attributes such as local culture, urban infrastructure, tourism resources and information accessibility. Secondly, to target the hosts, some specific VFR-related products and services may be developed for international students through local tertiary institutions such that the role of hosts as ambassadors can be facilitated and enhanced. Thirdly, the functional role of international students can be distinctive based on their unique network, activities and knowledge constructed upon learning during the period of education.

The studentification of many educational destination cities, the dynamism of the role of international students as VFR hosts and their cultural differences between places of origin have provided an opportunity for deepening the understanding of VFR tourism.

Based on text content analysis using big data, this study aims to explore differences in guest perceptions of peer-to-peer accommodations before and after COVID-19 to provide suggestions for the development of these properties in China postpandemic.

A guest perception dictionary was established by collecting Ctrip customer reviews of peer-to-peer accommodations. After data cleaning, thematic word analysis and semantic association network analysis were used to explore perceptions and thematic differences before and after COVID-19.

This research constructed a multidimensional framework of guest-perceived values for peer-to-peer accommodation in the context of COVID-19. The findings showed that the emphasis on functionality in peer-to-peer accommodation changed; perceived emotional values associated with peer-to-peer stays were more complex; perceived social values decreased, host–guest interactions were reduced and online communication became a stronger trend; tourist preferences for types of experiences changed, and people changed their destination selections; perceived conditional value was reflected in perceived risks, and the perceptions of environmental health, service and physical risks increased.

This research has constructed a multidimensional framework of tourist perceived value on the basis of peer-to-peer accommodation context and epidemic background and has thus shown the changes in tourist perceived value of peer-to-peer accommodation before and after COVID-19.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this research constitutes the first attempt to explore the perceptual differences for peer-to-peer accommodations before and after COVID-19 based on an extensive data set of online reviews from multiple provinces of China.

This study aims to distinguish between service arguments and communication arguments within a home-sharing review and to investigate their roles in consumer purchase decision-making.

Based on the setting of Airbnb, a 3 (service argument valence: positive, neutral, and negative) × 3 (communication argument valence: positive, neutral, and negative) online experiment was conducted. Data collected from 379 participants were used to test the hypotheses.

The three main determinants of purchase intention: perceived host service quality, perceived facility service quality, and perceived social value, are affected by both service arguments and communication arguments. Service arguments positively influence perceived host service quality and perceived facility service quality, while communication arguments contribute significantly to perceived host service quality and perceived social value. However, perceived facility service quality is affected by the combination of service arguments and communication arguments rather than by the service arguments only, because service argument trustworthiness, a factor influencing the effect of service arguments, varies across the combination of two types of arguments.

This research helps home-sharing platform managers to understand how to facilitate transaction success through displaying different review arguments needed by consumers. Additionally, the dual role of communication arguments emphasizes a necessity for hosts to encourage positive communication arguments and provide additional cues on the facility service quality.

The service arguments and communication arguments in home-sharing reviews are distinguished, and their distinct roles in consumers' purchase intention have been uncovered.

The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of how local residents in tourism destinations perceive their role in the creation of tourist experiences.

Qualitative research was conducted with 16 local residents in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a tourism hotspot in Germany. The study used thematic analysis combined with qualitative content analysis to identify various themes associated with host–guest-based tourist experience creation.

Findings demonstrate how diverse local residents contribute to tourist experiences. A model was developed that suggests a distinction between active and passive contribution to tourist experiences. Only little evidence was found that the concept of co-creation plays a role in host–guest relationships, which contradicts other literature.

The chosen qualitative research approach does not allow for generalisation of the research findings. The examination of perceptions raises epistemological questions.

This paper includes implications for improved internal marketing strategies and the involvement of local residents in tourism destination development.

This study contributes to knowledge by conceptualizing the role of local residents in tourist experience creation. The paper closes research gaps by using a qualitative study design in Germany to explore the underlying conditions that affect host–guest encounters to the discussion of tourist experience creation. Research findings may be adapted to other geographical or cultural settings with similar levels of tourism development.

本文对来自德国热门旅游景点加米施·帕滕基兴的16名当地居民进行了定性研究。本研究采用主题分析与定性内容分析相结合的方法, 探究与创造主客旅游体验相关的各个主题。

本研究旨在探索旅游地居民如何感知自身在旅游体验创造中的作用。

研究结果表明不同当地居民对旅游体验的贡献。本文通过建立模型, 表明旅游体验的主动贡献和被动贡献之间的显著区别。与其他文献相矛盾的是, 只有很少的证据表明共创的概念在主客关系中起到了一定作用。

本研究所选择的定性研究方法无法对研究结果进行概括总结。对知觉的考察提出了认识论的问题。

本文提出了对改进内部营销策略和当地居民参与旅游目的地发展的一些启示。

本研究的理论贡献在于概念化的提出本地居民在旅游体验创造中的作用。本研究采用定性研究方法探索影响主客接触的潜在条件, 从而探讨旅游体验的创造, 填补研究空白。本文研究结果同样适用于其他相似旅游发展水平的地理或文化环境。

Se llevó a cabo una investigación cualitativa con 16 residentes locales en Garmisch-Partenkirchen, un lugar turístico de Alemania. En el estudio se utilizó un análisis temático combinado con un análisis de contenido cualitativo para identificar diversos temas relacionados con la creación de experiencias turísticas por parte de los anfitriones.

El objetivo de este estudio exploratorio es aumentar la comprensión de cómo los residentes locales de los destinos turísticos perciben su papel en la creación de experiencias turísticas.

Los hallazgos demuestran cómo los diversos residentes locales contribuyen a las experiencias turísticas. Se elaboró un modelo que sugiere una distinción entre la contribución activa y pasiva a las experiencias turísticas. Se encontraron pocas pruebas de que el concepto de co-creación desempeñe un papel en las relaciones anfitrión-huésped, lo que contradice otras publicaciones.

El enfoque de investigación cualitativa elegido no permite generalizar los resultados de la investigación. El examen de las percepciones plantea cuestiones epistemológicas.

Este documento incluye las implicaciones para mejorar las estrategias de comercialización interna y la participación de los residentes locales en el desarrollo de los destinos turísticos.

Este estudio contribuye al conocimiento al conceptualizar el papel de los residentes locales en la creación de experiencias turísticas. El documento cubree ciertas lagunas de la investigación utilizando un diseño de estudio cualitativo para explorar las condiciones subyacentes que afectan a los encuentros entre huéspedes y anfitriones para el debate sobre la creación de experiencias turísticas. Las conclusiones de la investigación pueden adaptarse a otros entornos geográficos o culturales con niveles similares de desarrollo turístico.

In the past decade, scholars across social sciences shifted their attention towards creative and dynamic research methods. Despite the growing popularity of LEGO^® Serious Play^® method across social sciences, few studies applied the method in tourism and hospitality research. This method represents a powerful tool which uses a toy to solve problems, explore ideas and achieve objectives in business, research and community work. This paper aims to provide insights into qualitative multi-method approach incorporating LEGO^® Serious Play^® to gain a deeper understanding of hosts-guest experiences in volunteer tourism exchange programme.

The empirical material mentioned in the paper is based on an interpretive study investigating hosts-guest experiences on organic farms. The study used a multi-method approach, and the data were collected through unstructured interviews, observation, reflexive notes and LEGO^® Serious Play^® workshops with 32 participants in total.

The paper highlights the benefits and limitations of the qualitative multi-method study, specifically focusing on LEGO^® Serious Play^® as a novel approach for tourism and hospitality research.

This study contributes to making the current body of knowledge on qualitative multi-method methodologies and creative visual methodologies in the field of tourism and hospitality. As such, the paper provides an overview of the LEGO^® Serious Play^® method. Specifically, this exploratory paper brings attention to how and to what end existing LEGO^® Serious Play^® has been modified and adopted in this multi-method study. Furthermore, the paper highlights the future use to benefit the tourism and hospitality academics and industry professionals.

Cultural tourism comprises several heterogeneous activities. According to tourists’ interest in culture and their level of involvement with the local population during the trip, segments of cultural tourism can be identified. Regarding their characteristics and the place of the visit, this chapter explores how cultural tourism can contribute to a country like Iran. Based on the literature, the discussion begins by describing tourists’ profile while highlighting some features related to their traveling behavior. In line with past studies on host–guest relations and the current stage of development of the country as an international destination, potential impacts of opening the country to international cultural tourists are analyzed.

This paper aims to address three research questions (1) Who is the main stakeholder that shapes Airbnb experience, (2) Does Airbnb offers an authentic travel experience? and (3) What should be the future research trends in Airbnb?

This paper uses the systematic literature review (SLR) with a well-defined protocol, research strategy and methods to answer the research questions.

The review revealed that while Airbnb plays a significant role as the platform provider, the stakeholders influencing the experiences are multifaceted. Hosts, guests, local communities and even regulatory bodies all contribute to shaping the overall Airbnb Experience ecosystem. Hosts, in particular, have a crucial role in curating and delivering unique experiences, which significantly impacts the quality and authenticity of the offerings. On the question of whether Airbnb offers an authentic travel experience, the review uncovered mixed findings. For examples, some studies emphasized the potential for Airbnb to provide authentic and local experiences, allowing travelers to engage with the community and cultural aspects of a destination. However, other studies raised concerns about the commodification and standardization of experiences, leading to a potential loss of authenticity.

This paper is different from previous SLR where previous research systematically reviewed; motivations to use and choose Airbnb, institutionalization of Airbnb, stakeholders of Airbnb. This paper addresses authentic experience as a factor that influences activity participation.

Built upon brand attitude literature, particularly the cognitive dissonance theory and contrast theory, the authors' conceptual framework aims to explain how prior consumer satisfaction with each alliance partner affects consumer attributions (i.e. credit or blame) directed toward each partner for both highly satisfying and less‐than‐highly satisfying alliance experiences.

This paper extends the cognitive dissonance theory and contrast theory to the brand alliance context. Survey responses from 1,510 consumers, each having had purchase experiences with one of 18 brand alliances, were used to test hypotheses.

The authors identify which of the two theories provides greater explanatory power under varying conditions. Further, they find an intriguing host effect. That is, consumers tend to hold host partners more responsible for both highly satisfying and less‐than‐highly satisfying alliance encounters.

The authors' findings help firms better understand how consumers respond to alliance encounters. Practical insights include distinct advice for host versus guest partners in partner selection and resource commitments to alliance platforms.

This paper is among the first to investigate consumer reactions to actual alliance encounters, especially in market rather than experimental conditions. Further, whereas the literature has focused on positive consumer experiences with brand alliances, the authors' research includes both highly satisfying and less‐than‐highly satisfying alliance experiences and thus they uniquely report on the full range of alliance encounter outcomes.

Delivering services that create memorable luxury accommodation experiences rely on frontline staff to engage guests on a sensory level rather than merely a functional one. This engagement includes cognitive, emotional, relational and behavioural. Hospitality and tourism industries are people-orientated – people are needed to serve people in order to create desired experiences – and it is very difficult to create satisfaction or to revisit intention in every interaction that takes place. It is this intangible characteristic of the industries, provisions and tangible cues that play an important part in enhancing the overall luxury accommodation experience. Guests are very clear as to what they expect from luxury accommodation experiences: they feel that they are paying for a service that should be personalised, and that staff should realise what they want and need. The human interaction component and the co-creation that occurs between staff and guests is an essential dimension of the industry. The influence of these interactions on guest experiences and the delivery of services will be explored in this chapter.

The purpose of this paper is to explore an organization‐wide philosophy of hospitality in a hospital setting.

An exploratory case study method approach matched the research purpose. First, a hospitality centric philosophy (HCP) was defined from the literature review. Next, a triangulation of unstructured visits, structured visits and key informant interviews is used to further explore a HCP in one organization. After this, the hospitality centric programs (HCPr) supporting the HCP are defined, identified, described and classified.

A fairly distinct HCP viewed as a method for enhancing service excellence was in place and supported by top management. The hospital aimed to offer hospitality to patients on par with the hospitality experience offered to hotel guests. A department of hospitality services, a service excellence council, a director of service excellence, and an external hospitality advisory board were in place and met regularly. Further, many formalized HCPr had been created for the execution of the HCP.

The researchers believe that an effectively managed HCP can be modified by culture to enhance the service excellence of the patient/guest experience in hospitals and in the hospitality industry. For hospitals, further enhancements can be realized through developing and executing hospitality centric goals aligned with the performance metrics beyond traditional competition boundaries, such as a hospital seeking to deliver a service experience on par with a hotel. For more traditionally defined hospitality businesses, the extreme context of a hospital where the importance of hospitality is magnified due to treating and caring for sick guests offers a different frame of reference for learning. This new frame of reference can lead to more cutting edge ideas for refining and customizing the service design and delivery. For both hospitals and hospitality businesses, putting in place an HCP with the appropriate organizational support through HCPr allows for more precise information and thus improved service outcomes.

An HCP is defined and acknowledged as a distinct organization‐wide philosophy for enhancing service excellence that is applicable across industries. An HCP is demystified through investigating hospitality centric goals, identifying organizational support teams that solely consider HCP, and through further specifying examples of HCPr for activating the HCP. Finally, the study suggests hospitality centric service excellence (HCSE) as a higher distinction of service excellence outcome that is more likely to be achieved through a HCP.