Search results

The purpose of this paper is to identify the best hostel practices and trends, and to evaluate and discuss how they are keeping up with the present demand created by the Millennials market.

Methodological approach is based on two complementary qualitative methods: ethnographic participant observation and netnography. Portuguese hostels are the target of this study, as they are considered some of the best in the world. First, a fieldwork was conducted in three top-rated hostels in Lisbon, aiming to immerse in hostel’s environment. Then, 300 online reviews were analysed to identify what customers value the most in those services. Data interpretation was done through a content analysis crossing supply-demand perspectives.

Results indicate that, while staying in a hostel, the Millennials want to: meet people, engage in activities and events, have local experiences, feel comfortable/at home, get good value for money and enjoy the convenience. In return, hostels play an important role in hospitality industry by pleasing the Millennials, by offering: central location, an interactive atmosphere, functional facilities, well-planned design and decoration, a set of activities and events and personal treatment.

This paper is one of the few to describe Millennials’ travel behaviour towards hostels’ services.

This paper aims to analyse residents’ perceptions of tourism growth in Porto prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, aiming to determine the most appropriate strategies to mitigate negative tourism impacts. Studies on resident perceptions of tourism impacts are still scarce, particularly the ones addressing the topic in the context of Portuguese urban tourism areas.

Data was collected through an online survey, focusing on three categories of impacts: (i) economic, (ii) sociocultural (iii) and spatial-environmental, and the respective mitigation strategies, analysed from the perspective of Porto’s residents. Descriptive and bivariate statistics – T-test and Eta correlation – were used to analyse the collected data.

Respondents who live in the city centre experience specific tourism impacts more negatively, when compared to those living outside the inner-city area. Furthermore, no strong correlation is found between the said impacts and the respective mitigation strategies. However, creating awareness among tourists about acceptable behaviour in shared spaces is the strategy that stands out, as it has a medium correlation with all three impact categories. Most impact-strategy associations are weak, meaning that the defined strategies are not the most case-appropriate, which is something that policymakers should address.

To the best of the author’s/authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to adopt this approach in tackling the negative impacts of rapid tourism growth in Porto.

This paper aims to unveil the factors that contribute to a positive hostel experience by electing key features and describing their nature from a customer perspective.

The study uses an exploratory, empirical approach, applying netnography to collect information about guests’ experiences from the five selected top-rated hostels in Europe and Latin America. A content analysis of 500 positive reviews was conducted exploring the critical features of service experience in hostel sector. Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro were selected for this study as they are among the destinations that have received top-rated hostel awards.

The findings reveal that a hostel experience carries a more symbolic than utilitarian meaning, especially in relation to its social dimension. Results indicate that a hostel stay is positively enhanced by ten key features, namely, staff, supplementary services (e.g. social activities), facilities, location, atmosphere, guests’ interactions, cleanliness, design and decoration, value for money and safety. Staff, supplementary services and facilities were the most mentioned hostel features, which emphasizes their potential to create a favourable environment for social interactions.

Findings are restricted to a limited sample size and geographical area. The main limitation of the study lies, though, in the lack of studies concerning the specific context of hostels within a service experience approach.

Some hostels renounce low-quality stigma to establish themselves as a “cool” type of tourist accommodation. Offering a stay based on good value for money and social atmosphere, these establishments are shaping the industry’s future by both redefining the contemporary hostel’s image and attending to modern travellers’ specific needs. Given the increasing importance of hostels to tourism, this study provides information to scholars and industry practitioners who are interested in understanding how service experience can be enhanced in the hospitality industry.

This paper is a preliminary in-depth examination of factors that positively influence a hostel stay from a customer experience perspective. Thus, it provides insights into service experience management for the tourist accommodation sector.

Ecogamification can make a positive impact on Tourism. With this in mind, the present study aims to examine specific stakeholders – those positioned at the upstream side of gamification process – and their perspectives concerning not only the benefits, but also the challenges of (eco)gamification.

The study follows a qualitative-exploratory approach and bases its results on the analysis of 10 in-depth interviews conducted with buyers and providers from the emerging Portuguese tourism and tech markets.

Results shed light on key benefits of ecogamification, including its potential to promote “green” behaviour, transmit complex information through entertainment, reward users for good practices, improve engagement and help avoiding overtourism. Simultaneously, there are important challenges to overcome, including the lack of investment, resistance to new technologies, low eco-consciousness of tourists and distraction from issues that matter. Further, findings show that ecogamification takes on different and specific roles for buyers and providers.

The research limitations are mainly related to the sample size.

An effective ecogamification process depends on the integration of the supply and demand sides and, at the same time, on the responsibility of different stakeholders (providers, buyers, players) across the value chain, through a broad logic of B2B2C.

This study contributes towards a better understanding of ecogamification in tourism, through the eyes of buyers and providers and also provides insights regarding the role of these specific stakeholders and the relationship between them.

生态游戏化对旅游业有积极影响。本论文探究特定利益相关方--游戏化过程的上游一方—对（生态）游戏化的既得利益以及挑战。

本论文采用定性-探索型调研方法, 进行了10次深度访问, 对葡萄牙新兴旅游科技市场的购买方和采购商进行对话。

研究结果对生态游戏化的关键利益做了梳理, 包括其对潜在“绿色”行为的倡导, 通过娱乐方式传输复杂信息；奖励用户良好行为, 促进用户参与度, 以及帮助避免过度旅游现象。同时, 研究明确了重要挑战需要克服, 包括资金投入的缺失, 新技术的抵抗, 游客的生态意识低下, 以及生态的衍生问题等。此外, 研究结果表明生态游戏化对买房和卖方的不同特定角色。

研究理论限制主要集中在样本数量较小。

有效生态游戏化过程取决于供求双方的整合, 同时, 责任于不同利益相关者（供方、买方、游戏人）在整个价值链上, 通过B2B2C逻辑达成。

本论文深化了对旅游业中生态游戏化的理解, 通过买方和供方的视角, 同时针对这些特定利益相关者的角色以及其之间的关系, 提出独到见解。

关键词 游戏化、生态游戏化、可持续性、SDGs、旅游业