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Scholars have increasingly researched on how the uprise of Technologies 4.0 will alter the way in which the tourism destinations, the hospitality and tourism sector will operate. Research points out to the fact that the massive digital transformation can lead to a human-centric experience design perspective which is against the principles of tourism sustainable development. In fact, one of today's challenges is predicting how destinations can use immersive digital experiences like metaverse to instill sustainable behaviours. Bearing that in mind, in this chapter, one first explores the concept of metaverse in general and after in the context of tourism destinations management organisations, showing that metaverse that seeks to turn imagination into reality using a panoply of technologies should be seen as the perfect mean for sustainable tourism.

The study proposes a conceptual framework to create an understanding of metaverse experiences envisioning sustainable practices.

Finally, one identifies research gaps and proposes an agenda with the potential of benefiting destination's management organisations. Furthermore, it was our intent to identify opportunities and challenges involving the use of metaverse with sustainable ends by tourism destination management organisations.

This study assumes that metaverse can be used by destination management organisations to educate potential ‘tourists’ by providing to them innovative educational environments where they can ‘live’ all sorts of non-human-centric sustainable experiences. With that intent, a model for the implementation of metaverse was created with its foundations on current experiments happening worldwide.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the unexplored part of the historical evolution of travel agencies in Spain, from the end of the 20th century to the 21st century. When examining promotion strategies, the study focuses on the change in marketing and public relations strategies based on the incorporation of information and communication technologies and, in particular, the use of the internet.

This study draws on a qualitative analysis of the different strategies used by traditional agencies and online agencies in Spain from the mid-19th century to the present. This analysis shows how traditional communication strategies survived at the beginning of the 21st century, together with other more innovative ones, while some disappeared, being eliminated by the new online travel agencies, which created a particular conception of marketing and communication. This paper is divided into the following parts: the introduction; the beginnings of travel agency promotion in the 20th century; the evolution of promotion in travel agencies since the late 20th century; communication innovation at the beginning of the 21st century; online travel agencies; and conclusions.

This study shows that although online agencies did not manage to position themselves with a large turnover, they generated advantages and sharpened their imagination to create a new, more economical advertising model, eliminating the costs of public relations and advertising campaigns. In addition, they allowed clients to have greater independence when making their reservations, while enabling them to monitor the tastes of potential and real clients and add blogs so that consumers could express their degree of satisfaction with the product or services provided by the agency.

The focus of attention is the travel agency sector in Spain and, more specifically, communication. Studies on travel agencies and their marketing have been very scarce and partial, impeding professionals in the tourism sector from having a broad vision to direct their promotional and public relations actions. The originality of this article lies in its making a comparison between two different visions of tourism marketing and, specifically, of travel agencies, that is, the traditional vision and the innovative one. It thus helps all professionals in the sector to value and improve their marketing and communication strategies.

The learning outcome of this study is to bring to the table of a wider intellectual audience, a unique model of community-based entrepreneurship, which is working wonders with its unique selling points (USPs) in promoting sustainability and conserving the ethos of villages and, at the same time, generating livelihoods through traditional farming techniques adopted by the rural population residing in the Himalayan region of India.The proposed case study can be used as a replicable model in other parts of rural India and other emerging economies to start and scale up a similar “integrated rural development model” through effective policy advocacy and public–private partnerships and to develop sustainable farmlands and livelihoods for rural India. It has a definite potential to be used as a pedagogical tool in postgraduate programmes offering courses in microfinance, financial inclusion, social and community entrepreneurship, sustainability, entrepreneurship, community development finance and rural immersions and public policy.

This case study is set in the backdrop of 2023 having been declared by the UN as the International Year of Millets and India being the homeland for millet cultivation. The objective of the case study is to bring to the table of a wider intellectual audience, a unique model of community-based entrepreneurship operating in the Himalayan region of rural India. The community-based entrepreneurship model works on the USP of promoting sustainability and conserving the ethos of villages and generating livelihoods through traditional farming techniques. This case study traces the journey of Roopesh Rai (protagonist and the founder of Bakrichhap), the community-based entrepreneur and his challenges in setting up the enterprise. The narrative is built in the light of a series of interviews with Rai, the main protagonist and the founder of Bakrichhap, as well as the people of Goat village by Komal, a post-doctoral fellow in the area of community-based enterprises (CBEs). Through this narrative, the case writers’ endeavour was to understand how CBEs such as Bakrichhap were providing a means of integrated rural development in the hilly region of Uttarakhand, India. Also, how such enterprises were thereby curbing distress migration, unemployment and a large-scale erosion of the cultural heritage and traditional and indigenous farming techniques of the land. In the first seven years of the operations of this uniquely curated CBE, Rai endeavoured to iron out many bottlenecks. This case study also highlights the gamut of challenges faced by community-based entrepreneurs like Rai in designing strategy for growth and expansion. What strategy should Bakrichhap follow for expansion to the other regions of the country? Should all the three existing verticals of the enterprise be scaled up parallelly or should each individual vertical be expanded one after the other in a phased manner? Stemming out from the main dilemma of strategic expansion were the related issues of funding (finance) and the formation of an effective team (HR).

This case study can be used in undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes offering courses in microfinance, financial inclusion, social and community entrepreneurship, sustainability, entrepreneurship, community development finance and rural immersions and public policy.

This comprehensive case study is written by using the triangulation of data collected through a series of personal interviews, website information, news articles, personal observation and field visits. The research design used is single case (holistic; Yin, 2003, 3rd edition). The timeline of this case study is 2021 to 2022 and place is Nag Tibba, Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state in North India.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The metaverse, which is now revolutionizing how brands strategize their business needs, necessitates understanding individual opinions. Sentiment analysis deciphers emotions and uncovers a deeper understanding of user opinions and trends within this digital realm. Further, sentiments signify the underlying factor that triggers one’s intent to use technology like the metaverse. Positive sentiments often correlate with positive user experiences, while negative sentiments may signify issues or frustrations. Brands may consider these sentiments and implement them on their metaverse platforms for a seamless user experience.

The current study adopts machine learning sentiment analysis techniques using Support Vector Machine, Doc2Vec, RNN, and CNN to explore the sentiment of individuals toward metaverse in a user-generated context. The topics were discovered using the topic modeling method, and sentiment analysis was performed subsequently.

The results revealed that the users had a positive notion about the experience and orientation of the metaverse while having a negative attitude towards the economy, data, and cyber security. The accuracy of each model has been analyzed, and it has been concluded that CNN provides better accuracy on an average of 89% compared to the other models.

Analyzing sentiment can reveal how the general public perceives the metaverse. Positive sentiment may suggest enthusiasm and readiness for adoption, while negative sentiment might indicate skepticism or concerns. Given the positive user notions about the metaverse’s experience and orientation, developers should continue to focus on creating innovative and immersive virtual environments. At the same time, users' concerns about data, cybersecurity and the economy are critical. The negative attitude toward the metaverse’s economy suggests a need for innovation in economic models within the metaverse. Also, developers and platform operators should prioritize robust data security measures. Implementing strong encryption and two-factor authentication and educating users about cybersecurity best practices can address these concerns and enhance user trust.

In terms of societal dynamics, the metaverse could revolutionize communication and relationships by altering traditional notions of proximity and the presence of its users. Further, virtual economies might emerge, with virtual assets having real-world value, presenting both opportunities and challenges for industries and regulators.

The current study contributes to research as it is the first of its kind to explore the sentiments of individuals toward the metaverse using deep learning techniques and evaluate the accuracy of these models.

This study aims to understand how female executive travellers should be characterized by inter-winning socio-economic segmentation and leisure travel motivation.

This study identifies push factors as a motivation for leisure travel among female executives in India. Quantitative research methodology was applied based on 892 online responses to a questionnaire. Principal component analysis was applied to identify the underlying dimensions of push motivational items.

The findings disclose five-factor dimensions of self-esteem; knowledge- and novelty-seeking; stimulus; escape; and self-recognition. Among the five identified dimensions, stimulus was the most important factor for motivating female executives to travel for leisure, followed by knowledge and novelty-seeking.

This study was conducted on 1,100 female executive travellers, meaning the results are only valid for this cultural context. All data was collected through a referral chain network survey among female executives via Google survey forms. While segmenting types of travellers amongst females, usage of push motivation framework as a variable remains pervasive in tourism research.

Although literature on female travel motivation is abundant, however, to the authors’ knowledge, empirical studies that focus on female executives leisure travel motivations are still rare. These findings are, therefore, valuable for illuminating tourism stakeholders to cater this potential segment more customisedly.

This study evaluates the impact of online menus and perceived convenience of online food ordering on consumer purchase intention and shows how a desire for food creates a relationship between an online menu and a customer's purchase intention. Suggestions for management are proposed to design an effective menu to improve business performance in the competitive market in Vietnam.

The paper follows a quantitative method. Quantitative research aims to analyze and critically evaluate the research question(s) to discover new factors.

Findings indicate a positive relationship between menu visual appeal (MV), menu informativeness (MI), desire for food (DF), the perceived convenience (PC) of ordering food online and intention to purchase (PI). The attractiveness of images and information is a significant factor affecting diners’ desire to eat, while the demand for food and the convenience of ordering food online are also factors affecting purchase intention.

The study confirms the importance of online menus to purchase intention. Economically, when supply and demand are reasonable, the market is stable and technology develops. In terms of social, hygiene, attractiveness and price factors, it is helpful to have an overview. Research is the premise for further studies with factors from menu to customer trust.

The study provides a solid foundation for further studies on restaurant menu elements as well as a new perspective on how restaurants improve their dishes.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the potential of data analytics to enhance project delivery. Yet many argue that its application in projects is still lagging behind other disciplines. This paper aims to provide a review of the current use of data analytics in project delivery encompassing both academic research and practice to accelerate current understanding and use this to formulate questions and goals for future research.

We propose to achieve the research aim through the creation of a systematic review of the status of data analytics in project delivery. Fusing the methodology of integrative literature review with a recently established practice to include both white and grey literature amounts to an approach tailored to the state of the domain. It serves to delineate a research agenda informed by current developments in both academic research and industrial practice.

The literature review reveals a dearth of work in both academic research and practice relating to data analytics in project delivery and characterises this situation as having “more gap than knowledge.” Some work does exist in the application of machine learning to predicting project delivery though this is restricted to disparate, single context studies that do not reach extendible findings on algorithm selection or key predictive characteristics. Grey literature addresses the potential benefits of data analytics in project delivery but in a manner reliant on “thought-experiments” and devoid of empirical examples.

Based on the review we articulate a research agenda to create knowledge fundamental to the effective use of data analytics in project delivery. This is structured around the functional framework devised by this investigation and highlights both organisational and data analytic challenges. Specifically, we express this structure in the form of an “onion-skin” model for conceptual structuring of data analytics in projects. We conclude with a discussion about if and how today’s project studies research community can respond to the totality of these challenges. This paper provides a blueprint for a bridge connecting data analytics and project management.

Heritage tourism is an increasingly popular form of tourism that allows individuals to connect with the past and immerse themselves in cultural and historical narratives. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore the intricate relationships among vicarious nostalgia (VNOS), memorable tourism experiences (MTEXs) and their collective influence on tourists’ behavioral intentions (BINTs). Additionally, this study examines the moderating effect of social return (SN) in the context of heritage tourism.

Data were gathered using a self-administered questionnaire from 259 tourists visiting heritage sites in Jaipur. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling.

The results confirmed that VNOS had a significant positive impact on BINT in the context of heritage tourism. The causal relationship between VNOS and BINT was fully mediated by MTEX. The results further verified that the presence of SN strengthens the association between MTEXs and BINT.

This research will guide the firms associated with heritage tourism to target specific cohorts interested in heritage tourism. Policymakers may find it easier to create unique offerings and packages that appeal to visitors interested in historical sites and produce memorable travel experiences. One key implication is to create “social media friendly spaces” at different locations of the sites. To increase tourism, managers may use the findings from this research to create plans for the ethical promotion and protection of cultural and natural heritage sites.

Overall, this research advances the understanding of the role of VNOS in heritage tourism by elucidating its cognitive and emotional aspects and their subsequent influence on the memorability of tourist experiences and BINT s. Additionally, by considering the moderating effect of SN, this study provides a comprehensive view of how these factors collectively shape tourists’ decisions and actions in the context of heritage destinations. This research has been conducted in the heritage city of Jaipur (North-Western India), which, surprisingly – despite its popularity as a heritage tourism site – has not been sufficiently explored in the scholarly research.

The close link between fashion and from a historical and sociological point of view is the focus of this chapter. Since the Industrial Revolution, these two industries have been part of the path toward modernity in Western Europe. The new industrial society created a different relationship with leisure time and bodies. On the other hand, fashion tourism accelerated and intensified this process toward unforeseen outcomes: new social relations and the loosening of traditional morality constraints. The swimming costume represents the point of encounter and overlapping between these two spheres: a significant element of novelty despite its ever-shrinking dimensions.