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Examines the practice of overbooking at hotel and tour operator levels. By accepting more reservations than their available capacity, hotels hedge against the problem of cancellations. Hotels located in popular tourist resorts, allocate their capacity to multiple tour‐operators who through the vacation packages they offer, fill the hotels’ capacity. Shows that for this type of hotel, an overbooking policy applied at the hotel level and derived using the capacity of the hotel as a whole, gives better cost savings than when formulating an overbooking policy for each tour‐operator separately. The result of the analysis provides significant managerial implications since a hotel dealing with multiple tour‐operators, in devising its overbooking policy needs only to consider the occupancy of the hotel as a whole and not the performance of each tour‐operator. This simplicity is further reflected in the reduction of information required to be recorded.

Tour operators have played an important role in the marketing and distribution of tourism products to customers. As one of the major tourist‐generating countries, the significance of the tour operator industry has been felt strongly in Germany. When one considers that about 30 to 40 per cent of German holidaymakers travelling abroad buy their holidays directly from tour operators or via travel agencies, the importance of these travel establishments in Germany becomes obvious. The dominance of tour operators in the marketing of tourism destinations world‐wide in Germany suggests their great importance to the tourism industries of destination countries in terms of the steady and balanced development of tourism. Consideration of the main functions of tour operators in the tourism industry, and understanding the working environment in which they operate and their experience in the industry, may provide very useful benefits to other tour operators and the tourism industry as a whole, as they all operate in a similar environment and work with each other frequently. Therefore, this survey among eight tour operators and ten German travel agencies aims to examine and identify the basic managerial and organisational structure of German tour operators and travel agencies in Turkey.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key motivators triggering tour operators to practise responsible tourism in Kinabalu Park.

Inductive and phenomenological research data were collected via in-depth interviews with 25 tour operators guiding tours in Kinabalu Park, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The paper uses push and pull motivation theory to explain motivation in practising responsible tourism. The findings show that push factors are more significant to tour operators as compared to pull factors. The key motivation of tour operators to practise responsible tourism is organisational benefits and own initiative (intrinsic) and response demand and market trends (extrinsic). However, the findings show that although tour operators have a positive attitude towards responsible tourism, it does not show in their tour operations of Kinabalu Park. This is because the challenges like lack stakeholders participation and low responsible tourism awareness were negatively affecting to what tour operators would like to do and what actually gets done.

Identified motives, practices, issues and challenges are valuable information and to enhance the practices of responsible tourism in Kinabalu Park, Sabah.

The paper provides in-depth insight of the motivation to practise responsible tourism from tour operators’ perspectives in Kinabalu Park. The finding is benefiting the implementation of responsible tourism in Kinabalu Park.

This study explores the role of international tour operators as the agents assuming the governance and the upgrading of the tourism global value chains (TGVCs), with a special focus on their influence on the development of technological capabilities (TCs) in the hotel industry.

The data used in this article originates from a survey carried out in 2016 on Spanish small and medium-sized hotel companies. An ordinal regression analysis is employed to test the hypotheses proposed in this research.

This study finds that tour operators exert a positive effect on the technological upgrading process in the hotel industry by stimulating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to invest in TCs. The causal mechanisms through which these effects take place differ across the various stages of the relationship between hotel companies and tour operators.

The results have implications both for hotel management in terms of how hotels take advantage of technological upgrading to become more competitive, and for public administrations in terms of what measures can boost the development of hotel TCs in order to increase their added value.

To date, very few studies have analysed the tourism sector based on the influence on the development of TCs of SME hotels by combining GVC concepts and the resource-based view. It is also the first time that the causal mechanisms are shown to explain such influences.

An intending holidaymaker may arrange his holiday by booking his transport ticket with the airline of his choice, arrange his hotel room by direct contact with the hotel at his destination, and engage a taxi on arrival at the destination airport to take him to his hotel. He may also make these individual arrangements through a travel agent.

Ghost tours are an important part of tourism in many towns and cities around the world. Described as light dark tourism, they are a mix of the macabre and entertainment. Ghost tours are usually small business enterprises. In order for their venture to be sustainable, ghost tour operators must engage in effective entrepreneurial marketing (EM) practices. This study aims to evaluate the extent to which ghost tour operators use EM within their business.

A qualitative bricolage approach is used as a way to explore the use of EM practices within ghost tourism; that is, a niche tourism product. Data were collected using 21 in-depth interviews, participant observation and analysis of venture websites. This study used a two-stage data analysis procedure.

Findings reveal that ghost tour operators practice several dimensions of EM that are often simultaneously present and interwoven through the practices ghost tour operators use, as identified by thematic analysis.

This study adds an EM lens to the light dark tourism literature.

The paper sets out to analyses the approach of Southern Italian regions in the way they are developing different types of tourist products.

In an attempt to measure tour operator preferences that impact the offer features, the tour operators' profiles have been traced, through a cluster analysis, in order to develop the market of new tourist products in Southern Italy.

The findings prove that the attitude of foreign tourists in choosing Southern Italian destinations is influenced not only by seaside location and cultural products but also by alternative features, such as natural resources and enogastronomic traditions, which represent the differentiating and value‐creating elements of the basic product. Moreover, the accommodation chosen confirms international tour operator loyalty.

The cluster definition helps in identifying collective strategies to promote macro destinations, connecting similar places linked by tourist need satisfaction. Future research should consider the different typologies of tour operators and try to compare different areas of Europe with Italy.

New forms of tourism require specific and differentiated strategies supported by forms of international market penetration. The marketing thrusts should focus on the place vocation and a local hospitality system, developing and marketing local tourist products.

This paper analyses the role of tourist operators in developing and marketing new destinations and typologies of tourism.

Advances in information communication technologies (ICTs) have changed the tourism distribution channels model, as traditional players continue to disappear or change their business model, while new players and channels emerge because of technological developments. Therefore, this study aims to propose a tourism distribution channels model for European island destinations.

Using an exploratory approach, interviews with 34 tourism stakeholders were conducted at ITB Berlin and WTM London in March 2014 and March/November 2016, and analyzed using thematic analysis.

The findings revealed that a number of changes have taken place within the distribution channels market over the past six years. The disappearance of incoming travel agents has increased, while new forms of online communication and distribution have appeared. In particular, social media, online review sites and mobile channels play an increasingly important role for hoteliers.

ICTs change the online landscape for tourist distribution in island destinations, and practitioners should make use of new online channels and be aware of disappearing tourism players to remain competitive.

First, this paper provides indications for the increased disintermediation in regard to incoming travel agents within the Cretan hospitality and tourism industry. Second, it investigates the issue of tourism distribution channels using a broad range of key tourism and hospitality players to provide a tourism distribution channels model for future reference. Finally, this study offers implications for the development of distribution strategies for tourism businesses and hoteliers in Crete.

The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of an exploratory research paper undertaken in Auckland, New Zealand which focused on the Approved Destination Status (ADS) inbound tour operators’ understanding of the Chinese market and their strategies for developing Auckland as a sustainable destination.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten managers out of the 25 registered ADS inbound tour operators. The qualitative responses were coded and analysed using pattern identification and categorisation of emergent themes.

The findings profile New Zealand ADS inbound operators, summarise their knowledge of the Chinese market in terms of visitor expectations and characteristics, present the operator’s perceptions of Qualmark quality accreditation scheme and ADS Code of Conduct, and demonstrate the quality management initiatives they have developed in addition to addressing the issues within the Chinese market operation.

The study provides implications for destination marketers and tour operators in terms of the sustainable operation of the growing Chinese market.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory case study of mass mainstream tour operators in the Canadian market and evaluate their awareness level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The research aims to address the structure and ownership of mass Canadian tour operators, how it may influence the adoption of CSR practices, key issues and concerns and awareness level and participation of CSR practices. Although the Canadian outbound leisure mass market is relatively small compared with that of the UK, Canadian travelers are a significant source of tourism to Mexico and the Caribbean islands such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Canadian mass tour operators were contacted through interviews and questionnaires to assess the structure and ownership of mass Canadian tour operators, how it may influence the adoption of CSR practices, key issues and concerns and awareness level and participation of CSR practices. Existing responsible tourism practices in the destinations they operate were also gauged.

CSR is gaining momentum worldwide as companies begin to realize that their stakeholders are demanding accountability that goes beyond shareholders' interests. Subsequently, reporting levels are increasingly being regulated and corporate strategic initiatives focusing on improving their social and environmental responsibility are on the rise. In the case of tour operators, however, initiatives of this nature are preliminary and there is little implementation of CSR practices.

The study examines Canadian mass tourism package tour operators and further research is needed to assess all tour operators (inbound and outbound) to determine whether the level of participation in responsible travel is higher or whether size is an implicating factor. As issues such as climate change and responsible tourism have only started to influence consumer demand in the past few years, the study's findings may be changing. Therefore a further follow‐up study would be beneficial in order to determine any barriers to action.

To date, little research has been done on the tourism industry, and that mainly on hotels. There is a need to understand the structure and contribution of tour operators to the industry and their level of CSR practices and movement towards more responsible tourism.