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1 – 10 of 118Anna Sandler, Amir Shani and Shahar Shilo
Home-based commercial hospitality (HBCH) is the focus of this study. This community-based tourism (CBT), which has received little research attention, is examined to reveal the…
Abstract
Purpose
Home-based commercial hospitality (HBCH) is the focus of this study. This community-based tourism (CBT), which has received little research attention, is examined to reveal the meaning of commercially hosting visitors in private homes for experiential meetings on a variety of topics such as food, art, culture, folklore and various workshops.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research method was adopted, using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with HBCH providers in the desert town of Arad, located in southern Israel.
Findings
The study reveals the impact of this unusual occupation on the host's quality of life, the factors that encourage and suppress involvement in this entrepreneurship, as well as the positive and negative consequences of HBCH on the local environment.
Practical implications
The findings could offer important guidelines to municipalities and local governments seeking to encourage CBT and sustainable micro-enterprises.
Originality/value
HBCH is a recent phenomenon and, as such, has been little researched. This study of one community raises issues that may be shared by HBCH enterprises. The findings could contribute to developing such initiatives elsewhere, avoiding the obstacles faced in this pioneering effort.
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Steve Millington and Nikos Ntounis
Drawing on evidence from ten towns (across England, Wales and Northern Ireland) participating in the High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) project, the purpose of this paper is to reveal…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on evidence from ten towns (across England, Wales and Northern Ireland) participating in the High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) project, the purpose of this paper is to reveal how local stakeholders involved in place management respond to high street decline through a strategy of repositioning.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper identifies the challenges faced by the towns considering repositioning, and highlights examples of good practice of relevance to the practitioners. First, it outlines the perspectives on repositioning from the academic research and theory, before drawing on evidence from across ten UK towns that participated in the HSUK2020 project, to reveal how repositioning involves more than just taking a snapshot profile of a place.
Findings
The research revealed major challenges faced by local stakeholders in clearly identifying and communicating their market position, in particular, the maintenance of up-to-date information on catchments was lacking at all the locations. Despite having local knowledge and some data, stakeholders still did not possess a clear (or shared) understanding of the identity or function of their towns. This evidence reflects the complexity of analysing and understanding repositioning and developing coherent strategies.
Practical implications
Knowledge exchange between stakeholders involved in place management can help inform the identification of new strategic objectives, appropriate interventions and project planning and delivery. Where resources are limited, particularly in smaller towns and settlements, the research demonstrates the significance of collecting and sharing data and analysis with other stakeholders, because this can generate positive outcomes for all.
Originality value
By offering empirical evidence based on the experience of local practitioners, this paper provides valuable insight into how town centre stakeholders collect, interpret and analyse data, revealing the challenges, opportunities and practicalities involved in developing and implementing repositioning strategies.
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Malin Lindberg, Åsa Wikberg Nilsson, Eugenia Segerstedt, Erik Hidman, Kristina L. Nilsson, Helena Karlberg and Johanna Balogh
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on co-creative approaches for place innovation in an Arctic town, based on the relocation of Kiruna’s city center in northern Sweden…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on co-creative approaches for place innovation in an Arctic town, based on the relocation of Kiruna’s city center in northern Sweden. Three cases of co-creative innovation processes in Kiruna are investigated and compared: an R&D project about local perceptions and visions of attractive urban environments; an R&D project about norm-creative design principles for inclusive and attractive urban design; and an R&D project about cross-industrial synergies for city center attractiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
The study’s research design encompasses a comparative and participatory approach. The comparative approach implies investigation and comparison of three cases of co-creative innovation processes in Kiruna. The participatory approach implies joint development of new knowledge by researchers and local actors. The data consists of participatory observations of workshops and qualitative interviews with local actors.
Findings
The study reveals that the studied processes have harnessed the city center relocation as an opportunity to make Kiruna more attractive to residents and visitors, by using the co-creative approaches of Living Lab, Now-Wow-How and Norm-creative design. These approaches have enabled experts and local actors to jointly identify excluding patterns and norms in the relocation process and to envision inclusive and attractive (re-)configurations and (re-)conceptualizations of the future Kiruna.
Research limitations/implications
The results add to the academic strand of inclusive urban transformation, by providing insights into co-creative approaches for re-imagining an Arctic town in times of industrial and social change. New insights are provided regarding how the geographical, industrial and cultural identity of an Arctic town can be harnessed to envision new configuration, content and communication that is attractive and accessible for a diversity of residents and visitors.
Practical implications
The results highlight the potential to harness Arctic and rural characteristics in the promotion of urban attractiveness and public well-being, especially when combined with co-creative identification and transformation of excluding norms and patterns.
Originality/value
The results provide new insights into how co-creative approaches may facilitate innovative and inclusive renewal of towns and cities in the Arctic and beyond.
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Martin Henning and Ramsin Yakob
The purpose of this study is to investigate how an increasingly intertwined international geography of ownership affects renewal activities and processes, including innovation, in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how an increasingly intertwined international geography of ownership affects renewal activities and processes, including innovation, in established local companies that have shifted into foreign ownership. The authors develop a framework for the relations between (foreign) ownership and local renewal activities and processes (including innovation). The authors focus on access to resources for renewal, the development of capabilities for innovation and change, and local mandates to pursue renewal. Based on case studies of eight formerly Swedish-owned mid-size manufacturing companies that have shifted into and remained under foreign ownership during most of the 2010s, the authors develop a framework concerned with the relations between (foreign) ownership and renewal activities and processes in local firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple intensive case studies of eight previously Swedish-owned mid-sized manufacturing companies to gain qualitative insights into the resource, capabilities and mandates for renewal under new ownership conditions. Empirical data collected primarily through semi-structured interviews and complemented with secondary material, including annual reports (2010–2018), databases, press releases and information on company websites. Empirical data were analyzed thematically to isolate key findings pertaining to renewal. At the core of the analysis process was the gradual creation of a framework that stipulates the relations between (foreign) ownership and firm renewal activities and processes.
Findings
The companies are endowed with liberal but conditional mandates to pursue strategic innovation in their original sites and draw on a stronger resource repertoire within their ownership spheres. In comparison to the established international business (IB) literature, the authors add considerations about how local aspects interact with international ones to form global distribution of renewal activities in our time. To economic geographers and innovation scholars, consideration of the local and its importance in renewal activities and processes is certainly not new, but we show how ownership is an important aspect that conditions some of the strategic interactions that companies have with their “outsides”.
Originality/value
Contributes to the burgeoning conversation between IB and economic geography disciplines. Emphasizes a deeper local aspect to the IB literature, partly how companies access resources and capabilities from the ownership sphere at points that suit their renewal efforts and partly the persistence of path-dependent aspects of local companies even as they get acquired by multinationals. Emphasizes ownership and mandate aspects to the literature in Economic geography, which tends to focus on regional/non-regional assets for renewal and innovation. Findings show that the non-regional assets are, in fact, two distinct categories as ownership becomes internationalized: assets within and outside the ownership sphere.
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Yanay Farja, Eli Gimmon and Zeevik Greenberg
This research explores the influence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on SMEs located at core and peripheral regions, by focusing on a single dimension of EO: proactiveness. We…
Abstract
This research explores the influence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on SMEs located at core and peripheral regions, by focusing on a single dimension of EO: proactiveness. We conducted a quantitative study of 626 Israeli SMEs. Business growth, as measured by the rate of change in number of employees, was found to be significantly higher in the core region. As expected, proactiveness was found to strongly affect SME growth as well as firm expansion to international markets. Our analysis shows that the difference in business growth between regions can be attributed also to a lower level of ownersʼ proactiveness in peripheral regions since it was found to mediate the effect of peripheral location on firm growth. Differences in proactiveness levels may be explained by the historical development of peripheral regions. Our results have useful implications for policies that aim to promote growth and development in peripheral regions.
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Alessandro Pagano, Francesco Petrucci and Roberta Bocconcelli
This paper aims to examine the emergence of passion-driven entrepreneurship within the context of small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs). SMSTs are seen as peripheral areas lacking…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the emergence of passion-driven entrepreneurship within the context of small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs). SMSTs are seen as peripheral areas lacking the resources to support autonomous economic development and renewal. The paper explores the relationship between entrepreneurship and the context of SMSTs through the concepts of entrepreneurial passion (EP) and domain passion (DP). Industrial marketing and purchasing approach is adopted as a theoretical foundation to conduct the analysis through the actors–activities–resource framework.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a multiple case-study methodology. Two passion-driven entrepreneurial ventures (PDEVs) have been traced from the conception of the initial idea until the new ventures establishment.
Findings
EP and DP emerge as key resources in transforming the initial idea into a real entrepreneurial venture in resource-scarce settings as SMSTs. Shared passion fosters the involvement of local actors and the propensity to overcome relevant hurdles in the entrepreneurial process.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship through the analysis of the role of PDEVs in SMSTs’ contexts. It highlights the role of “passion for place” as a new dimension of passion in entrepreneurial studies. From a managerial perspective, it emphasizes the role of passion as a key resource for networking and marketing. From a policy perspective, it calls for monitoring and support for training, funding and networking.
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Norberto Santos, Claudete Oliveira Moreira and Luís Silveira
Tourism in Coimbra today is influenced by the fact that the Univer(s)city was distinguished as a World Heritage Site in 2013. The number of visits has grown very significantly in…
Abstract
Purpose
Tourism in Coimbra today is influenced by the fact that the Univer(s)city was distinguished as a World Heritage Site in 2013. The number of visits has grown very significantly in recent years, but the diversification of the tourist offer is still weak and unable to take advantage of existing resources. This paper aims to present genealogy tourism as an alternative urban cultural tourism in Coimbra.
Design/methodology/approach
Methodology involved mapping the Jewish culture elements in the city of Coimbra, and a route was outlined and proposed.
Findings
Genealogy tourism resources are identified in the historic centre of the city. These alternative spaces need urban rehabilitation and (re)functionalisation, which allowed the authors to rethink tourism in Coimbra. They are the motivation to visit for all urban cultural tourists, especially Israelis/Jews, and provide contact with places where the experiences of ancestors combine with the history and memory of places, with recent discoveries and the elements of Jewish culture in the city.
Originality/value
It is concluded that the quantity, diversity, authenticity and singularity of the heritage resources that bear witness to the Jewish presence in Coimbra are sufficient assets to create a route, to enrich the tourist experience in the city and to include the destination in the Sephardic routes.
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This article explores the concept of ‘linguistic landscape’ (Landry & Bourhis, 1997) and applies it to the Tutong Town Centre, which was depicted briefly in the film Gema Dari…
Abstract
This article explores the concept of ‘linguistic landscape’ (Landry & Bourhis, 1997) and applies it to the Tutong Town Centre, which was depicted briefly in the film Gema Dari Menara (1968). Due to the cursory and grainy depiction on screen, a study of the present linguistic landscape of the town featured in the film is far more practical than a detailed comparison of the linguistic landscape of Tutong town then and now. In essence the film has provided a geographical scope for linguistic/ semiotic analysis presented in this paper. The study of signs ‘in a given geographical location’ (Ben Rafael et al, 2006: 14), using the distributive count approach, lends itself to a greater understanding of the ethnolinguistic vitality and sociolinguistic interactions of the language groups living in what can be described as a multilingual and multiracial small town. Such evidence of language use in the public sphere results from an interplay of various factors within the town’s societal context, that could be related to Scollon & Scollons’ (2003:2) idea of ‘the social meaning of material placement of sign and discourses'. This study challenges the notion of ethnic languages’ 'disappearance' from public sphere, and instead raises questions about their ‘initiation’ into public use. The study also concludes that the supposed multilinguality of the Tutong Town population is not represented in the linguistic landscape.
Yasu Coronado Martínez, Mara Rosas Baños and Hazael Cerón Monroy
This study aims to reveal the potential for ecotourism of a locality with high marginalisation index in the municipality of Tlalpujahua, a Magic Town in the State of Michoacán…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to reveal the potential for ecotourism of a locality with high marginalisation index in the municipality of Tlalpujahua, a Magic Town in the State of Michoacán, Mexico.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study was based on several methodologies. First, socioeconomic, environmental, sustainability, geographic and institutional variables were used in the evaluation of 62 localities of the municipality. Geographic information systems identified study areas and determined their potential for ecotourism. Second, participatory diagnosis was used to collect specific information about the locality regarding their organisational aspects, development strategies, current socioeconomic problems, land use and resources availability and interest in developing projects related to ecotourism. Finally, the authors adapted the FAS Model (factors, attractors and support systems) to include environmental and organisational variables contributing to a theoretical approach to ecotourism. To identify attractors, they applied a questionnaire to determine the profile of tourists visiting Magic Towns and their potential interest in ecotourism.
Findings
The authors conclude that ecotourism is a possible alternative to highly marginalised localities within Magic Town municipalities and would be able to expand the benefits engendered by the program. Ecotourism can therefore represent a new option for tourists visiting marginalised communities in Mexico.
Originality/value
A diverse methodology applied key elements to identify localities suitable for ecotourism, characteristics of marginalisation and endowment of natural heritage. The authors conclude that the benefits to localities included in the Magic Towns Program can be expanded to surrounding spaces through strategies such as ecotourism.
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