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Article
Publication date: 10 November 2020

Libo Yan and Man Tat Cheng

The aim of this study is to explore the host–guest relationship at a macro level, investigating the sociopsychological relationship between a destination and its markets.

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to explore the host–guest relationship at a macro level, investigating the sociopsychological relationship between a destination and its markets.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopted netnography to fulfill the research purpose. Data were collected from Sina Microblog, the predominant social media platform in China, focused on bloggers responses to a fatal conflict between a tour participant and the guide during a shopping tour.

Findings

Bloggers' attributional discussions help to understand the nature of the host–guest relations. Responses from Chinese and Hong Kong bloggers showcased criticism toward the other community and criticism of one's own community. These were reflected in three themes: concerns with the place of conflict or the identities of the perpetrators, hospitableness or discrimination and the Chinese and Hong Kong cultures.

Research limitations/implications

The major limitation is that the subject of this study (young bloggers) does not represent a complete cross section of the residents of China and Hong Kong. This study suggests a need for a broader theoretical perspective of the host–guest encounter. The study results have practical implications for destinations receiving Chinese group package tours.

Practical implications

The study results have practical implications for destinations receiving Chinese group package tours.

Originality/value

On-site interaction has been the focus of previous studies of the host–guest relationship, and off-site interactions were seldom explored. This study bridges the gap and extends the discourse on the host–guest relationship to a wider temporal (by taking a post event view) and spatial (by assessing the issue off-site) scale.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 4 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 September 2022

Maximiliano E. Korstanje and Hugues Seraphin

An increasing number of studies claim on the decline of hospitality in the West. These works focus on the lack of tolerance or expressions against foreigners as the clear sign…

Abstract

Purpose

An increasing number of studies claim on the decline of hospitality in the West. These works focus on the lack of tolerance or expressions against foreigners as the clear sign that something is changing. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic mainly marked a type of intolerance with the foreign tourists. This book chapter brings reflection on the plot of HBO Saga Westworld to understand the ways forms of hospitality in a post-modern world.

Design/Methodology/Approach

The present book chapter is based on the technique of content analysis or film ethnography which dissects elements of films and movies. In so doing, film ethnography occupies a central position in the constellations of qualitative methods.

Findings

The present piece is a critique on what specialists dubbed as robot tourism. Westworld shows not only the cautions policymakers should have on robot tourism but also how the depersonalisation process works. Basically, Westworld speaks us of a dystopian amusing park where rich guests travel to torture and victimise humanoids (hosts) who are unable to retaliate. Westworld brings reflection on the decline or the end of hospitality, at least as we know it.

Originality/Value

Just after 9/11 some critical voices alerted Western hospitality was in decline. This chapter goes on in the same direction. Westworld brings the problems of free choice, the liberty as well as hospitality into the foreground.

Details

Tourism Through Troubled Times
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-311-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2019

Andrés Artal-Tur, Noelia Sánchez-Casado and María Isabel Osorio-Caballero

Cultural tourism comprises several heterogeneous activities. According to tourists’ interest in culture and their level of involvement with the local population during the trip…

Abstract

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.

Details

Experiencing Persian Heritage
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-813-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2018

Xiaoqing Chen

This paper aims to analyse the conceptual bases of the related terms of “host” and “guest” in Chinese and reveal essential, though overlooked, cultural differences that relate to…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse the conceptual bases of the related terms of “host” and “guest” in Chinese and reveal essential, though overlooked, cultural differences that relate to “hospitality” in Western and Chinese cultural contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

A presupposition of this conceptual investigation is that culture manifests itself linguistically. The analytic approach used here is textual analysis. Confucian classical texts are the main source of evidence for examining the conceptual commitments of the Chinese characters 主 and 客 and their corresponding practical expressions.

Findings

Cross-cultural comparison reveals asymmetries between the term “hospitality” and its Chinese translations, etymologically and culturally. This study demonstrates how the Chinese 主–客 paradigm is both hierarchal in nature and centred on the role and interests of the host. It further compares this paradigm with its Western counterpart along five different dimensions.

Research limitations/implications

The specific Chinese norms for the host–guest paradigm synthesized here could prompt both academicians and operators to question the cultural attachments associated with hospitality by participants and the cultural differences in hospitality transactions and management. The cultural sensitivity modelled here is intended to facilitate harmony between a hospitality setting and the culture in which it is embedded.

Originality/value

This conceptual paper is the first in the Anglophone literature to explore the Chinese cultural roots of the concepts “host” and “guest”. The linguistic perspective used in this study allows the concept of “hospitality” to be studied cross-culturally and in an interdisciplinary way, addressing a blind spot in the extant hospitality literature.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 October 2021

Chung Shing Chan, Birgit Pikkemaat, Dora Agapito and Qinrou Zhou

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…

Abstract

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Research limitations/implications

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.

Practical implications

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.

Social implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2018

Timm Teubner

The purpose of this paper is to explore Airbnb’s inherent network structure emerging from transactions between hosts and guests and provide comprehensive background information on…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore Airbnb’s inherent network structure emerging from transactions between hosts and guests and provide comprehensive background information on the underlying data basis.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on actual Airbnb data from 16 major US cities (Asheville, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle and Washington DC), available at InsideAirbnb.com, comprising a total of 135 thousand listings and 2.7 million transactions. The data are transformed into a graph and analyzed from a network perspective.

Findings

The web of host–guest connections on Airbnb represents a omniferous graph, that is, connecting virtually all users via relatively short distances. Hosts and guests differ markedly with regard to degree distribution. Overall, 98 per cent of all transactions represent first-time encounters.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides first insights into the very fabric of host–guest interactions on Airbnb from a macroscopic perspective. The platform’s network topology may be leveraged as a resource for trust-building between users. Moreover, platform operators may use network analyses to gain deeper insights into their user base. These may in turn be used to identify determinants of side-switching, deter users from platform circumvention or for churn prevention.

Originality/value

Platform ecosystems continue to expand and gain increasing economic, social and societal importance. For C2C platforms with two compartmentalized and decentral market sides (i.e. many individual providers and many individual consumers), the emerging transactional network structure has, thus, far experience almost no research attention. This analysis of Airbnb’s web of host–guest connections reveals a topology some archetypical social network properties (e.g. short distances). This structure and the knowledge about users’ positions therein yields viable cues for trust-building as well as a valuable resource for (platform) business analytics.

Details

Journal of Systems and Information Technology, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1328-7265

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 June 2021

Dominik Huber and Sven Gross

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.

Abstract

Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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

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.

Research limitations/implications

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

Practical implications

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

Originality/value

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.

当地居民对旅游体验的贡献:从德国加米施·帕滕基兴社区视角入手研究方法

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。

研究目的

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

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。

研究局限性

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。

实践意义

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。

研究价值

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。

La contribución de los residentes locales a las experiencias turísticas: Una perspectiva comunitaria desde Garmisch-Partenkirchen, alemaniaDiseño/metodología/enfoque

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.

Propósito

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.

Hallazgos

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.

Limitaciones/implicaciones de la investigación

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

Implicaciones prácticas

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.

Originalidad/valor

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.

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2007

Hazel Andrews, Les Roberts and Tom Selwyn

This paper aims to provoke discussion and reflection on the role of the erotic in the cultivation of spaces of hospitality, and to provide a theoretical consideration of the…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provoke discussion and reflection on the role of the erotic in the cultivation of spaces of hospitality, and to provide a theoretical consideration of the structural similarities of hospitality and eroticism.

Design/methodology/approach

With reference to classical studies as well as debates in the social science literature, the paper starts by examining some of the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings to hospitality and eroticism. It then develops this analysis by considering examples drawn from ethnographic studies of “traditional” hospitality settings as well as of commercial hospitality environments of charter tourism.

Findings

The main outcome of the discussion is to demonstrate the structural relations between hospitality and eroticism. By situating the analysis within a broad theoretical and ethnographic context, it is shown that the erotic has historically functioned as a socially‐binding and communicative mode of social intercourse that, while undermined by the demands of a market‐based culture of commercial hospitality, is also able to flourish within these same adverse conditions.

Research limitations/implications

This paper invites further research into the connections between hospitality and eroticism in settings similar to and different from those described in the paper. A fuller ethnographic study of the relationship between the two is needed, as well as an exploration of more theoretical perspectives on hospitality drawn from the social science literature.

Practical implications

By highlighting the socially binding role of eroticism in the structuring of host‐guest relations, the paper draws on and contributes to a broader politics of love and sensuality that will inform critical reflections on commercial and market‐driven hospitality practices.

Originality/value

This paper provides an original insight into the interrelationship between hospitality and eroticism. It further illuminates previous writings on both subjects but particularly that of eroticism and is supported by empirical data. It is of particular interest to those studying hospitality from a social science perspective.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 1 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2022

Pian Pu, Li Cheng, WHMS Samarathunga and Geoffrey Wall

Tour guides play a significant role in sustainable tourism development as leaders, mediators, resource managers and promoters of economic prosperity. This paper aims to show how…

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Abstract

Purpose

Tour guides play a significant role in sustainable tourism development as leaders, mediators, resource managers and promoters of economic prosperity. This paper aims to show how local Tibetan tour guides practice sustainable tourism in their encounters with Western tourists.

Design/methodology/approach

The data consists primarily of 15 in-depth interviews with native Tibetan guides,Content analysis of the data were undertaken.

Findings

It was found that the guides adopt sustainable tourism practices based on their local religious wisdom and experiences as they try to establish harmonious host–guest relationships. Western clients also encourage guides to adopt more proenvironmental behaviors. The “hosts” live by Buddhist concepts such as samsara that are in line with concepts such as altruism and benevolence. Most “guests” are well-behaved and try to build sincere mutual relationships with local people. Host and guest cocreate value for local sustainable tourism practice.

Practical implications

Tour guides can practice sustainable tourism in a leadership role or as mediators, resource managers or promoters of economic prosperity. They also maintain a sincere and kind relationship with their guests that goes beyond the instrumental host–guest relationship and might help to cocreate value for local sustainable tourism practices.

Originality/value

Tour guides’ sustainable practices have been examined in the past based on their roles as leader, mediator, resource manager and promoter of economic prosperity. But researchers have seldom examined circumstances in which the tourists and tour guides were from different cultures. This paper addresses this gap.

目的

导游作为领导者、中介者、资源管理者和经济繁荣的促进者, 在旅游可持续发展中发挥着重要的作用。本文展示了藏族导游在与西方游客的接触中如何实践可持续旅游。

设计/方法/方法

深度访谈15个对当地藏族导游, 对收集的数据进行内容分析。

研究发现

导游基于本土的宗教智慧和经验, 尝试与建立更加和谐的主客关系时, 从而实现可持续旅游实践。西方客户也鼓励导游采取更环保的行为。“主人” 的生活遵循佛教轮回等观念, 提倡“利他”、“仁爱”。大多数“客人” 都行为得体, 试图与当地人建立真诚的相互关系。主客共同为当地可持续旅游实践创造价值。

实践意义

导游可以作为领导角色或中介、资源管理者或经济繁荣的促进者实践可持续旅游。他们还与客人保持真诚和友好的关系, 这超越了工具性的主客关系, 可能有助于共同为当地可持续旅游实践创造价值。

原创性/价值

在过去的研究中, 导游的可持续实践基于他们作为领导者、中间人、资源管理者和经济繁荣的促进者。但研究人员对游客和导游来自不同文化的情境缺少关注, 我们的研究试图解答这一问题。

Propósito

Los guías turísticos desempeñan un papel importante en el desarrollo del turismo sostenible como líderes, mediadores, administradores de recursos y promotores de la prosperidad económica. Este documento muestra, cómo los guías turísticos tibetanos locales practican el turismo sostenible en sus encuentros con turistas occidentales.

Diseño/metodología/enfoque

Los datos consisten principalmente en 15 entrevistas en profundidad con guías tibetanos nativos. Los datos fueron analizados mediante el método de análisis de contenido.

Hallazgos

Se encontró que, los guías adoptan prácticas de turismo sostenible basadas en su sabiduría y experiencias religiosas locales, mientras intentan establecer relaciones armoniosas entre el anfitrión y el huésped. Los clientes occidentales, también alientan a los guías a adoptar comportamientos más proambientales. Los “anfitriones”, viven según conceptos budistas, como el samsara, que están en línea con conceptos como el altruismo y la benevolencia. La mayoría de los “visitantes” se comportan bien y tratan de construir relaciones mutuas sinceras con la gente local. El anfitrión y el huesped, co-crean valor para la práctica local de turismo sostenible.

Implicaciones prácticas

Los guías turísticos pueden practicar el turismo sostenible en un papel de liderazgo o como mediadores, administradores de recursos o promotores de la prosperidad económica. También mantienen una relación sincera y amable con sus huéspedes que va más allá de la relación instrumental anfitrión-huésped y podría ayudar a co-crear valor para las prácticas locales de turismo sostenible.

Originalidad/valor

Las prácticas sostenibles de nuestra guía han sido examinadas en el pasado en función de sus roles como líder, mediador, gestor de recursos y promotor de la prosperidad económica. Pero los investigadores, rara vez han examinado las circunstancias en las que los turistas y los guías turísticos eran de diferentes culturas. Abordamos esta brecha.

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2008

Richard N.S. Robinson and Charles Arcodia

This research paper aims to report on the findings of an innovative study to extract contemporaneous interpretations of Australian colonial domestic hospitality in Mrs. Lance

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Abstract

Purpose

This research paper aims to report on the findings of an innovative study to extract contemporaneous interpretations of Australian colonial domestic hospitality in Mrs. Lance Rawson's Cookery Book and Household Hints.

Design/methodology/approach

To dialogue with the text's original author, as free of time and space permutations as possible a hermeneutical approach is adopted. Hermeneutics has been successfully applied as an interpretative tool, to a range of tradition laden significant texts as it assists in the (constructive) deconstruction of texts so that the reader may use them as a portal into the past (its values and assumptions).

Findings

The findings of these textual analyses present a number of themes: the embedded notion of host/guest relations, especially as it transpires in “the bush”; the earliest impacts of indigenous and ethnic minorities on food production, its consumption and hence private hospitality; and evidence of a range of issues concerned with the management of a household. An Australian hospitality is also explored.

Research limitations/implications

Just as researchers have sought to identify an antipodean cuisine, this paper is a launch for understanding the origins of colonial hospitality, albeit from a private perspective.

Practical implications

The findings might assist the Australian hospitality industry in developing a regional service culture.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to emerging studies in hospitality, by deconstructing a colonial cookbook, via the medium of textual analysis, and underpinned by a hermeneutic interpretative paradigm.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 2 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

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