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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 February 2020

Uglješa Stankov, Viachaslau Filimonau, Ulrike Gretzel and Miroslav D. Vujičić

The purpose of this paper is to introduce e-mindfulness as a tourism trend. Mindfulness meditation is becoming increasingly mainstream, which is reflected in a rapidly growing…

3512

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce e-mindfulness as a tourism trend. Mindfulness meditation is becoming increasingly mainstream, which is reflected in a rapidly growing number of related technology applications. Such technology-assisted mindfulness is typically referred to as e-mindfulness. The e-mindfulness trend creates opportunities for the tourism industry but also implies changed consumer perspectives on tourist experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a general review of academic literature, news reports and online resources regarding the offerings of related technologies.

Findings

Implications of e-mindfulness for consumers, tourism service providers and designers of future tourism experiences are outlined.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to conceptualize e-mindfulness as a tourism trend.

Details

Journal of Tourism Futures, vol. 6 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-5911

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2019

Ulrike Gretzel, Jamie Murphy, Juho Pesonen and Casey Blanton

This paper aims to provide a perspective on food waste by tourists and tourist households, now and in the future.

2056

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a perspective on food waste by tourists and tourist households, now and in the future.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a perspective article that summarizes contemporary thinking about food waste and conceptualizes food waste specifically for tourist household settings.

Findings

In tourism, food is more than nourishment and extends to visitor experiences and attractions. Yet food waste arising from tourism activity is a major environmental and societal issue. Festive moods and holiday spirits – synonymous with over-sized portions, bountiful buffets and entertainment excess – exacerbate food waste. Cultural norms that portray food waste as a sign of good hospitality further aggravate the problem. This paper argues that efforts to reduce food waste in tourism require new conceptualizations of tourist households, and where food waste occurs in relation to tourism, and of who should be responsible for preventing and managing food waste.

Research limitations/implications

The tourism industry faces ever-growing economical, societal and legislative reasons to address food waste, which are dynamic and difficult to predict.

Practical implications

Savvy meal providers will migrate towards reducing their food waste or turning it into assets. However, a focus on preventing food waste only in traditional food service and accommodation establishments ignores the reality of growing tourist households and will stifle sustainability efforts unless theoretically unpacked and practically addressed.

Social implications

A third of food produced globally is lost or wasted. Stark facts, proclamations and regulations underscore food waste as a burgeoning global problem with major environmental, social and economic costs.

Originality/value

Food waste, in general, and by tourists, is a burgeoning environmental, social and economic challenge. This is one of the first articles to focus on this topic and introduces the concept of tourist households.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 75 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 April 2020

André Luiz Vieira Soares, Luiz Mendes-Filho and Ulrike Gretzel

The purpose of this paper is to apply institutional theory to demonstrate if and how mimetic, coercive and normative pressures shape technology adoption in hotels and lead to…

1646

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to apply institutional theory to demonstrate if and how mimetic, coercive and normative pressures shape technology adoption in hotels and lead to institutional isomorphism.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a qualitative approach involving interviews with managers representing 20 different hotels. A theory-driven thematic analysis was carried out with institutional theory concepts serving as guidance. The data analysis involved three phases, namely, pre-analysis, exploration and finalizing of results. Nvivo software was used to assist with the coding.

Findings

The results show signs of isomorphism on a large scale across several items related to technology adoption practices and uses of technological tools. For instance, hoteliers adopt similar standards, feel the need to mimic competition and all strive to be well-evaluated on sites such as TripAdvisor to achieve legitimacy in the marketplace. In contrast, coercive pressures from trade associations or other governing bodies seem to have little influence on technology adoption decisions. Instead, consumers are seen as powerful agents driving technology adoption in the industry. Regarding normative pressures, certification from third parties is perceived as a more important source of legitimization than recognition from government institutions or trade associations.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the still limited literature on institutional theory in tourism and provides an alternative perspective to understanding technology adoption from a rational technology acceptance model point-of-view.

旅館中的技術æ¡用:將製度理論應用於旅遊業

目的

該研究應用制度理論來證明模仿壓力, å¼·制壓力和規範壓力是否以及如何影響酒店的技術æ¡用並導致制度同構.

設計/方法/方法

該研究æ¡用定性方法, 涉及與代表20家不同酒店的經理進行的訪談。以製度理論為指導, 進行了理論é©動的主題分析。數æ分析涉及三個é段:預分析, 探索和確定結果。 Nvivoè»件用於協助編碼.

調查結果

結果表明, 在與技術æ¡用實踐和技術工具使用有關的若干項目中, 同構現像出現了大規模的跡象。例如, 酒店經ç者æ¡用類似的æ¨æº, 覺得有必要模仿競爭, 並且所有人都努力在TripAdvisor等網站上進行良好的評估, 以實現市å ´合法性。相反, 來自行業協會或其他理事機構的å¼·制壓力似乎對技術æ¡用決策幾乎沒有影響。相反, 消費者被視為推動行業技術æ¡用的å¼·大代理商。關於規範壓力, 與政府機構或行業協會的認可相比, 第三方的認證被認為是更重要的合法化來源。

原åµ性價值

這項研究為仍然有限的旅遊業體制理論文ç»做出了è²¢ç», 並提供了從理性技術接受模型的角度理解技術æ¡用的替代視角。

关键词: 關éµ字制度理論, 技術æ¡用, 合法性, 技術, 酒店, 制度同構

Adopción de tecnología en hoteles: aplicación de la teoría institucional al turismo

Propósito

la investigación aplica la teoría institucional para demostrar si las presiones miméticas, coercitivas y normativas influyen en la adopción de tecnología en los hoteles y cómo conducen al isomorfismo institucional.

Diseño/metodología/enfoque

el estudio utiliza un enfoque cualitativo que involucra entrevistas con gerentes que representan a 20 hoteles diferentes. Se llevó a cabo un análisis temático basado en la teoría con conceptos de teoría institucional que sirven de guía. El análisis de datos incluyó tres fases: preanálisis, exploración y finalización de resultados. El software Nvivo se utilizó para ayudar con la codificación.

Resultados

los resultados muestran signos de isomorfismo a gran escala en varios elementos relacionados con las prácticas de adopción de tecnología y el uso de herramientas tecnológicas. Por ejemplo, los hoteleros adoptan estándares similares, sienten la necesidad de imitar la competencia y todos se esfuerzan por ser bien evaluados en sitios como TripAdvisor para lograr legitimidad en el mercado. En contraste, las presiones coercitivas de las asociaciones comerciales u otros órganos de gobierno parecen tener poca influencia en las decisiones de adopción de tecnología. En cambio, los consumidores son vistos como agentes poderosos que impulsan la adopción de tecnología en la industria. Con respecto a las presiones normativas, la certificación de terceros se percibe como fuentes más importantes de legitimación que el reconocimiento de instituciones gubernamentales o asociaciones comerciales.

Originalidad/valor

este estudio contribuye a la literatura aún limitada sobre teoría institucional en turismo y proporciona una perspectiva alternativa para comprender la adopción de tecnología desde un punto de vista racional del modelo de aceptación de tecnología.

Palabras clave

Teoría institucional, Adopción de tecnología, Legitimidad, Tecnología, Hoteles, Isomorfismo institucional

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 76 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 October 2019

Ulrike Gretzel, Zohreh Zarezadeh, Yuxuan Li and Zheng Xiang

The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of travel information search literature over the past 75 years to outline research needs for the upcoming decades.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolution of travel information search literature over the past 75 years to outline research needs for the upcoming decades.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts a literature review based on the descriptive textual analysis of article abstracts from a sample of representative tourism journals on the subject of travel information search.

Findings

The analysis shows that the literature reflects the mounting complexity in the tourism information landscape and the increasing diversity in available channels. It also reveals lack of theoretical advancement in terms of reconceptualizing travel information search to better accommodate current and future technological advances.

Originality/value

This paper offers a systematic review of literature on travel information search and identifies areas of interest and directions for future research.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 75 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2019

Ulrike Gretzel and Maria Collier de Mendonça

Smart tourism is a destination management approach that requires the buy-in of a myriad of stakeholders. Its many audiences and complexity demand the creation of meaningful brands…

1963

Abstract

Purpose

Smart tourism is a destination management approach that requires the buy-in of a myriad of stakeholders. Its many audiences and complexity demand the creation of meaningful brands to effectively position and communicate smart tourism initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to explore how smart tourism branding strategies have been implemented to communicate relevant values, benefits and attributes to industry stakeholders through institutional websites.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a semiotic analysis of two smart tourism-related sites (destinosinteligentes.es and smarttourismcapital.eu), the research interprets the brand-related visual and verbal signs.

Findings

The findings highlight how brand elements embedded in websites communicate a brand identity and facilitate particular interpretations of smart tourism. Both brands use similar signs to promote a techtopian vision of smart destinations but employ different strategies to motivate stakeholder buy-in.

Research limitations/implications

Smart tourism is currently largely embedded in overall smart city initiatives and finding tourism-specific examples online is difficult. However, the two selected websites reflect the brands of multiple destinations and permit a detailed analysis of meaning making. Future research can focus on how brand-related signs are perceived by different stakeholders.

Practical implications

Identifying the strategies and shortcomings of current smart tourism brands informs future smart tourism branding efforts and effective communication with smart tourism stakeholders.

Originality/value

Semiotics is a relevant but underutilized method to understand how smart tourism initiatives conceptualize “smartness.”

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2018

Jing Ge and Ulrike Gretzel

This paper aims to develop a taxonomy of value co-creation types occurring in firm-customer interactions on social media.

1845

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop a taxonomy of value co-creation types occurring in firm-customer interactions on social media.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 570 destination marketing organization (DMO)-initiated posts on Weibo and 3,137 responses were collected to develop a taxonomy by conducting qualitative empirical-to-conceptual analysis. To apply the taxonomy through conceptual-to-empirical analysis, 100 DMO-initiated posts and 823 responses were collected.

Findings

The communication-focused value co-creation taxonomy shows a variety of co-creators, verbal and non-verbal communicative co-creation actions facilitated by social media, and different co-created value types.

Research limitations/implications

This study used a single social media platform and selected three DMOs’ Weibo accounts. Future research should focus on other types of firms and different social media platforms.

Practical implications

This study used a single social media platform and selected three DMOs’ Weibo accounts. Future research should focus on other types of firms and different social media platforms.

Originality/value

This study enriches the tourism literature and the general marketing literature by examining value co-creation from a communication perspective and provides a comprehensive classification of value co-creation opportunities on social media.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 January 2018

Chris Gibbs, Daniel Guttentag, Ulrike Gretzel, Lan Yao and Jym Morton

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of dynamic pricing by Airbnb hosts.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of dynamic pricing by Airbnb hosts.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses attribute and sales information from 39,837 Airbnb listings and hotel data from 1,025 hotels across five markets to test different hypotheses which explore the extent to which Airbnb hosts use dynamic pricing and how their pricing strategies compare to those of hotels.

Findings

Airbnb is a unique and complex platform in terms of dynamic pricing where hosts make limited use of dynamic pricing strategies, especially as compared to hotels. Notwithstanding their limited use, hosts who own listings in high-demand leisure markets, manage entire places, manage more listings and have more experience vary prices the most.

Practical implications

This study identified a great need for Airbnb to encourage dynamic pricing among its hosts, but also warned of the potential perils of dynamic pricing in the sharing economy context. The findings also demonstrated challenges for hotel managers interested in actionable information related to Airbnb as a competitor.

Originality/value

This is the first Airbnb study to use a comprehensive set of data over a continuous period in multiple markets to look at a number of listing and host factors and determine their relation with dynamic pricing strategies.

Details

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

Keywords

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2019

Khaldoon Nusair, Irfan Butt and S.R. Nikhashemi

While the importance of social media will continue to grow, the purpose of this study is to provide a retrospective systematic literature review of the social media research…

3630

Abstract

Purpose

While the importance of social media will continue to grow, the purpose of this study is to provide a retrospective systematic literature review of the social media research published in major hospitality and tourism journals over a specific time period.

Design/methodology/approach

The study conducted a bibliometric analysis to review the literature of 439 social media articles published in 51 hospitality and tourism journals over a 15-year time span (2002-2016).

Findings

Ulrike Gretzel authored the highest fractional citations. The results indicated that social media-related research was mostly published in top-tier journals. The International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management was amongst the four leading journals in terms of the percentage of published social media articles. While inter-country social media research collaborations were relatively modest, interestingly, inter-country collaborations have been steadily increasing in the past five years. Another finding indicated that social media research in hospitality and tourism journals has been predominantly quantitative. The results revealed six new areas within the consumer behaviour research theme, namely, eWOM, service recovery, customer satisfaction, brand/destination image and service quality. Finally, it is important to note that four new trends in social media research appeared between 2011 and 2016, namely, big data, netnography, Travel 2.0 and Web 2.0.

Research limitations/implications

While this study made significant contributions to the social media literature, some limitations do exist. For example, the current research excluded publications from major conferences, books, book chapters and dissertations. Additionally, it is not within the scope of this paper to take into account issues related to self-citations.

Practical implications

The results obtained from analysis contribute to a comprehensive understanding of social media research progress in hospitality and tourism. For example, evaluating the performance of individual scholars helps educational institutions to compete in the global university ranking system. Additionally, to compete for funding opportunities on the topic of social media, institutions can use citation counts to demonstrate their competitiveness. Furthermore, due to the expected future growth in the number of social media platforms, practitioners need to understand motivating factors and tourists’ needs in different countries, target market segments, age groups and cultures to create highly engaging communities around their brands.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the sample of this study synthesized the largest selection of social media articles published in hospitality and tourism journals. This is the first study to apply the fractional score at the author level, the adjusted appearance score at the university level and the average citation score at the journal and inter-country levels in the analysis. In addition, prevalent research orientations and research trends in social media made significant contributions to existing literature.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 July 2020

Morakot Ditta-Apichai, Uraiporn Kattiyapornpong and Ulrike Gretzel

This paper aims to bridge micro-entrepreneurship, sharing economy and community-based tourism (CBT) literature by analyzing the specific ways in which technological platforms…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to bridge micro-entrepreneurship, sharing economy and community-based tourism (CBT) literature by analyzing the specific ways in which technological platforms mitigate risks and create opportunities that benefit local communities.

Design/methodology/approach

Six online platforms (two local and four international) used by tourism micro-entrepreneurs in Thailand were systematically analyzed to compare and contrast nuances in their business models, as well as their features to highlight benefits to CBT. Thematic analysis was used in the data analysis.

Findings

Three different types of business models based on tourism offers, membership policy and contributions to the destination community were identified. The variety of tourism offers includes tailor-made tours and private tour guides, local food experiences, skilled workshops and other local/community-based activities. Importantly, Thai platforms work closely with the Thai Government to promote tourism micro-entrepreneurship.

Originality/value

This paper adds to tourism micro-entrepreneurship, sharing economy and CBT literature by dissecting the business models of online platforms and their roles as mediators of CBT, discussing the platforms’ contributions to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

研究设计/方法/途径

研究样本包括六个在线平台(两个本地、四个国际)服务于泰国微创业主们。本论文采用系统分析法来比较个中平台之间的细小差别和有利于社区型旅游产业的特点。分析方法为主题分析法。

研究结果

研究发现了三种不同商业模式, 基于旅游产品、会员制、对目的地社区的贡献等三方面。旅游产品包括定制化旅游路线和私人旅游导游、当地美食体验、工坊、以及其他的当地/社区型活动。最主要的是, 泰国网络平台与泰国政府紧密合作, 以促进旅游微创业。

研究原创性/价值

本论文解析了在线平台的商业模式和其对社区型旅游产业的作用, 讨论了平台对可持续发展目标的贡献, 因此, 本论文对于旅游微创业、共享经济、和社区型旅游产业的文献做出贡献。

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