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Globally, guesthouses provide an important source of accommodation to visitors and tourists. Surprisingly, research into this sector is rather sparse. The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensions of experience value, determine guests’ perceptions of experience value, analyse the influences of various profile variables on experience value, and investigate the relationship between experience value, satisfaction, and customer behavioural intentions regarding guesthouses in Ghana.

A quantitative research design was followed. A total of 541 useable questionnaires were received from 650 guests conveniently selected from 51 guesthouses in Ghana. The guesthouses were selected by means of stratified random sampling.

The results of the study reveal that atmospherics, enjoyment, entertainment, escape, efficiency, excellence and economic value measure guests’ perceptions of experience value. Atmospherics and economic value attracted the highest positive rating while escape had the most negative rating. In addition, the study showed that there is a strong positive relationship between experience value, satisfaction and behavioural intention.

The first limitation relates to the sample. Only the major city from each of four regions was selected for the study. These regions include Accra, Koforidua, Cape Coast and Kumasi. Future research should investigate perceived value provided by guesthouses in the remaining six regions of the country in the quest to generalise the findings. Lastly, the study derived the experience value dimensions from the literature and verified these. While this is not regarded as a limitation, future research could investigate further dimensions of experience value such as novelty, nostalgia and social interaction.

Guesthouse managers could use the outcome of this study as a form of differentiation. Second, managers should take note of the positive relationships between experience value, satisfaction and respondents’ intentions to return to the guesthouse and tell others about their experiences (behavioural intentions). This can strengthen the organisation’s competitive position within the accommodation industry. Finally, the research resulted in a fairly simple instrument guesthouse managers can use to assess their guests’ perceptions of value provided by the guesthouse. It is recommended that guesthouse managers measure guests’ perceptions of value on a regular basis.

Theoretical implications and recommendations following the empirical findings and recommendations are provided. First, defining the concept of value is complex. While the underlying foundation of value as benefits relative to sacrifices (Zeithaml, 1988) remains relevant, affective forms of value should also be considered. This suggests that organisations that focus only on providing benefits may be at a competitive disadvantage. Second, experience value is multidimensional. Seven dimensions, namely atmospherics, enjoyment, entertainment, escape, efficiency, excellence and economic value were shown to contribute to the guesthouse experience. These included emotional factors in addition to the conventional functional factors.

This research is to identify how user-generated contents (UGC) affect a pre-trip decision on the booking of a guesthouse among international travelers. Online surveys are conducted among social network users who have booked an ecolodge in the past year. A snowball sampling is used, which posts a questionnaire link in social networks including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram in addition to travel blogs. This study indicates a positive relationship between UGC and lodging selection. UGC is considered as a significant predictor of booking an environmentally friendly guesthouse. Among the UGCs, travelers' review is the most important one influencing guesthouse selection. Future studies may focus on other IT potentials such as “Gamification” or other types of content such as “Podcasts” or “live videos” to engage independent travelers.

Digitalization accelerates the need of tourism and hospitality ecosystems to reframe business models in line with a data-driven orientation that can foster value creation and innovation. Since the question of data-driven business models (DDBMs) in hospitality remains underexplored, this paper aims at (1) revealing the key dimensions of the data-driven redefinition of business models in smart hospitality ecosystems and (2) conceptualizing the key drivers underlying the emergence of innovation in these ecosystems.

The empirical research is based on semi-structured interviews collected from a sample of hospitality managers, employed in three different accommodation services, i.e. hotels, bed and breakfast (B&Bs) and guesthouses, to explore data-driven strategies and practices employed on site.

The findings allow to devise a conceptual framework that classifies the enabling dimensions of DDBMs in smart hospitality ecosystems. Here, the centrality of strategy conducive to the development of data-driven innovation is stressed.

The study thus developed a conceptual framework that will serve as a tool to examine the impact of digitalization in other service industries. This study will also be useful for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) managers, who seek to understand the possibilities data-driven management strategies offer in view of stimulating innovation in the managers' companies.

The paper reinterprets value creation practices in business models through the lens of data-driven approaches. In this way, this paper offers a new (conceptual and empirical) perspective to investigate how the hospitality sector at large can use the massive amounts of data available to foster innovation in the sector.

The blessing of the sharing economy is that the benefits of development would largely remain locally; this is also a curse because the costs of development too would do the same. While the sharing economy is touted as a creative disruptor, not much is known about their impacts. This chapter examines the role of shared economy actors in the hospitality industry, particularly guesthouses, in tourism recovery. It presents a micro-case study of guest sentiments on guesthouses in the Maldives. Based on an analysis of 17,576 comments, a total of eight factors emerged including: perceived value for money, local culture, hospitality, services, activities, rooms, food and beverage, and island environment. These reviews are useful to understand the factors appealing to visitors to the guesthouses and could become key inputs to the island's tourism recovery strategy.

Examines the development of the hotel grading scheme for the island of Jersey. A brief history of Jersey hotel grading leads to the need for a new scheme and why an independent route was taken rather than joining the mainland Tourist Board′s Crown scheme. An outline of the development and form of the new scheme is provided along with an explanation of its operation. The idiosyncrasies of operating an island hotel scheme are examined, indicating the need for an individual approach to the solving of hotel registration and grading difficulties.

This study aims to examine the interrelationships between the dimensions of perceived value, including functional, emotional and social values. The mediating role of emotional value between functional and social values and satisfaction have been hypothesized and tested. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of social value for the effect of emotional value on satisfaction.

Data for this study were collected from guests staying at two traditional guesthouses in Kashan, Iran. The authors applied partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze 316 questionnaires completed by participants and for hypotheses testing.

The authors found positive and direct effects of all dimensions of perceived value on satisfaction. Moreover, the results indicated positive and significant indirect effects for functional and social values on satisfaction through emotional value. The findings demonstrated positive and strong effects of functional and social values on emotional value. The results do not support a moderating role for social value on the relationship between emotional value and satisfaction. In addition, the findings showed a strong and positive effect for satisfaction on revisit intentions.

This study makes a unique theoretical contribution to the perceived value literature by investigating the interrelationships between dimensions of perceived value. Moreover, this study explores several practical implications of these findings.

One of the outcomes of European collaboration in the development of social firms has been the establishment of a network of businesses in the tourism sector called Access Tourism. These businesses range from hotels and guesthouses to travel agencies and package tour operators, all operating in a highly competitive market and aiming to provide the public with the highest standards of service. However, as well as employing disabled people, these businesses also have a social mission ‐ to make tourism accessible for people with special needs. One member of the network is Lyndhurst Guesthouse in the Lake District and a party of service users from Surrey decided to give it a try. Sally Reynolds describes the project and the team give their verdict.

This chapter studies the link between urban planning and health. Access to safe drinking water is already a very serious issue for large urban populations in fast-growing economies such as India. Water availability is further being impacted by climate change, leading to the drastically increased spread of water-related diseases.

Leh Town, which is located in an ecologically vulnerable semi-arid region of the Himalayas in Ladakh, has been considered for this study because it is undergoing large-scale transformation due to rapid growth in its tourism industry. In 2012–2013 our interdisciplinary group comprising researchers from Germany and India conducted field surveys, including geographic information system-based (GIS) mapping of point sources of water pollution, questionnaire surveys of 200 households and 70 hotels and guesthouses and semi-structured interviews. We also reviewed secondary medical data.

We found that diarrhoeal incidence has increased in the local population in Leh in the past decade, which may be linked to water pollution: Further, we found that rapidly increasing water consumption coupled with a lack of adequate water and sanitation infrastructure is causing serious water pollution.

Further, data is needed for causal connections between water pollution and health impacts to be conclusively drawn.

This study discusses the use of GIS to support a call for the need for more integrated urban planning and decision-making that holistically addresses water and health challenges in Leh and advocates the development of a decentralized or hybrid sanitation system to support water resources conservation as a central dimension of an integrated health management approach.

GIS is also a very useful platform for supporting participatory urban planning in Leh.

With such an integrated urban planning approach, Leh would be a lighthouse example for other towns in the region.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the need for an evolving business model that accounts for social, as well as business-related risks/rewards considerations, that is, for owner-managers with lifestyle as opposed to growth-oriented objectives.

The methodological approach undertaken involved in-depth interviews with the firm’s owner-managers, supplemental interviews with members of staff, observation, plus examining documents from secondary sources. Data gathering involved a period of three years to account for an evolving business model over time.

The findings from an instrumental case study demonstrate the need to adapt a firm’s business model in the light of changing circumstances. Additionally, in the context of owner-managers with lifestyle as opposed to growth-oriented objectives, to account for social in addition to business-related considerations in planning activities.

The originality of the study is to incorporate a longitudinal case study in to the entrepreneurial marketing literature. Specifically, this offers implications for business support organisations that advise prospective owner-managers; that is, in respect of the need for effective planning in formulating an evolving and enduring business model. Implications also highlight in a business sense, that turnaround of a poorly performing firm may be possible, for example, to overcome initial inadequate marketing planning. However, for owner-managers with lifestyle as opposed to growth-oriented objectives, a combination of both business and social factors need consideration to maintain a work/life balance. A venture that relies on personal and business relationships may not be viable if the partners cannot work together, no matter if the venture is performing well.

The purpose of this paper is to provide longitudinal case history data from an investigation into the practices of an enterprising individual associated with two firms in the UK tourism industry. The first business had to be closed down despite the partners employing turnaround strategies to recover from a lack of planning, since an effective work/life balance was not achieved; the second has proved to be more successful due to entrepreneurial learning in overcoming earlier errors.

The methodology involved multiple in‐depth interviews with the key business owner and his partners in the two respective businesses together with supplementary interviews with staff and viewing documentation for triangulation purposes.

The findings based on a longitudinal case history suggest that some enterprising individuals may learn from certain past mistakes but could still need others to support particular business practices for them to succeed. The results also suggest that, even if a badly performing business can be turned around, owner/managers must be aware of the potential social costs that can be incurred in implementing strategies. As such, it demonstrates the need to learn from experiences and plan for social as well as work‐related issues to maintain a work/life balance, particularly in a “lifestyle” business.

The implications of the findings suggest that advisors (including university teaching) involved with assisting entrepreneurs make them aware of the need for effective planning. In particular, that the widely reported hard work and long hours involved in running a business can take a toll on personal lives and the work/life balance of enterprising individuals must be managed.

The main aspect of originality of the paper comes from the study of social costs of running an entrepreneurial venture, but the longitudinal nature of the study provides a further aspect of originality in this field of research.