United States

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic not only threatens public health and safety but also hits the hospitality industry, where nearly 70 percent of hospitality employees have been laid off or furloughed (Benshoff, 2020). The industry is recovering with the vaccine rollout nationwide, but now it is facing another critical challenge of staffing shortage (Klein, 2021; Sebastian, 2021). Indeed, for many employees and employers in hospitality, COVID-19 means that they are tackling significant challenges related to their well-being, including their financial, physical, workplace, and mental well-being (Karatepe et al., 2021; Sönmez et al., 2020).

Based on the literature related to employee well-being (Sirgy,2019; Liu-Lastres &amp; Wen, 2021) and the resilience theory (Rees et al., 2015), this study investigated how hospitality workers interpret employee well-being during the pandemic, how they cope with the challenges brought by the pandemic, and how these experiences affect their attitude towards their profession as well as their intentions to stay in/return to the industry. This study employed a qualitative approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with seventeen hospitality workers, including eight managers and nine front-line employees. In addition, constant comparison methods (Glaser &amp; Strauss, 2017) were used to guide the coding process and identify major themes.

The preliminary results confirmed the multi-dimensional nature of employee well-being. It is further noted that although the respondents appreciated the importance of self-actualization at work, they prioritized financial well-being and personal safety during pandemic times. Furthermore, the respondents’ intentions of staying in/returning to the hospitality industry are affected by their empathy towards their employers, positive working experiences, self-alignment with the value of the organization, and consideration for career development. This study’s findings provide insights into building a resilient workforce, which is helpful in planning and preparing for future complications associated with significant crises.

TOUR 2021

Building a resilient hospitality workforce: Empirical insights from hospitality workers

employee well-being; turnover intentions

workforce

Dear Delegates, 

On behalf of the organizing committee at UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management and Elsevier, I have the greatest pleasure to welcome you to the **6th World Research Summit for Tourism and Hospitality: Resilience, Adaptability, and Innovation.** 

Though we cannot host you this year owing to Covid-19 at our beautiful resort-like campus in Orlando, Florida, we believe this virtual and live-streamed conference will provide an interactive, dynamic, and shared international platform for global academics and practitioners to discuss how to enhance research applications and knowledge management through resilience, adaptability, digital intelligence, innovation, and smart knowledge in bringing our industry and research back to normal. This summit particularly offers unique opportunities to unfold and embrace various repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic with various stakeholders, including academic researchers, industry professionals, and government officials, through dialogues on how to better utilize research outputs for the benefits of the industry, in a resilient, intelligent and innovative way. 

I hope you will agree that we have put together a wonderful program including keynote speeches, panel discussions, concurrent presentations, poster sessions, and best paper recognition and award ceremony. We hope you will take advantage of these activities and engage yourself with great learning and sharing opportunities during the two days of the Summit. Thank you for joining us and we look forward to our discussions! 

Sincerely, 
Dr. Youcheng Wang 
Dean and Preeminent Chair Professor

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This conference provides an interactive, dynamic, and shared international platform for global academics and practitioners to discuss how to enhance research applications and knowledge management through resilience, adaptability, digital intelligence, innovation, and smart knowledge in bringing our industry and research back to normal. This summit particularly offers unique opportunities to unfold and embrace various repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic with various stakeholders, including academic researchers, industry professionals, and government officials, through dialogues on how to better utilize research outputs for the benefits of the industry, in a resilient, intelligent and innovative way.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic not only threatens public health and safety but also hits the hospitality industry, where nearly 70 percent of hospitality employees have been laid off or furloughed (Benshoff, 2020). The industry is recovering with the vaccine rollout nationwide, but now it is facing another critical challenge of staffing shortage (Klein, 2021; Sebastian, 2021). Indeed, for many employees and employers in hospitality, COVID-19 means that they are tackling significant challenges related to their well-being, including their financial, physical, workplace, and mental well-being (Karatepe et al., 2021; Sönmez et al., 2020).

Based on the literature related to employee well-being (Sirgy,2019; Liu-Lastres & Wen, 2021) and the resilience theory (Rees et al., 2015), this study investigated how hospitality workers interpret employee well-being during the pandemic, how they cope with the challenges brought by the pandemic, and how these experiences affect their attitude towards their profession as well as their intentions to stay in/return to the industry. This study employed a qualitative approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with seventeen hospitality workers, including eight managers and nine front-line employees. In addition, constant comparison methods (Glaser & Strauss, 2017) were used to guide the coding process and identify major themes.

The preliminary results confirmed the multi-dimensional nature of employee well-being. It is further noted that although the respondents appreciated the importance of self-actualization at work, they prioritized financial well-being and personal safety during pandemic times. Furthermore, the respondents’ intentions of staying in/returning to the hospitality industry are affected by their empathy towards their employers, positive working experiences, self-alignment with the value of the organization, and consideration for career development. This study’s findings provide insights into building a resilient workforce, which is helpful in planning and preparing for future complications associated with significant crises.

technical paper

We examine the impact of Twitter sentiments about individual firms on the volatility of US tourism stocks under different regimes of uncertainty. To this end, linear and nonlinear impulse response functions based on local projection methods are estimated. We find a significant positive impact of the volume of tweets on stock volatility in the short run. The increase in tourism stocks’ volatility in response to Twitter messages is higher during COVID19 pandemic i.e., a high uncertainty regime. It suggests that retail investors pay more attention to Twitter in times of heightened risk aversion. A novel analysis of asymmetry finds that positive tweets have a stronger impact on the volatility of stocks than negative tweets. This asymmetric pattern of response supports the idea that positive information on Twitter about particular tourism companies has a clear incentive effect on retail investors, encouraging them to invest in tourism firms and, hence, generating increased stock volatility.

Regime specific impact of Twitter sentiments on volatility of tourism firms

Purpose

Consumers’ interest in cooking through YouTube has increased recently. However, little empirical research has been conducted on consumers’ interest in learning cooking through YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study, therefore, examines consumers’ relationship between food related personality traits, motivation, and satisfaction as it is assumed that motivation of learning cooking through YouTube mediate the effect of satisfaction and moderate the food-related personality traits.



Methodology

Using the data from a sample of consumers in Dhaka City (Bangladesh) who used YouTube for learning cooking during the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors examined the objective of the research with the hypothesized model. The online survey was conducted in May 2021. Respondents rated their views using five-point Likert scale (1 = “strongly disagree” to 7 = “strongly agreed”). The Structural Equation Modeling Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) analysis were conducted with a sample of 202 responses to check the proposed hypothesis.



Findings

The results indicate that food-related personality traits indeed have a positive impact on respondent’s motivation and motivation mediate the relationship between food-related personality traits and satisfaction for using YouTube. In addition, the results supported the hypothesis that food related personality traits have a direct positive effect on satisfaction for learning cooking amid COVID-19.



Originality/Value

The research is novel as it explores consumers’ views about learning cooking through YouTube amid COVID-19 that has not been received much attention earlier. The findings indicate that the hypothesized model can explain consumers’ motivation of learning cooking through YouTube is well accommodated. Educators and communicators (e.g., marketers) may have the opportunities to satisfy the widespread interest of the consumers in cooking homemade foods through learning cooking from YouTube.




Paper Type:Research paper

Consumers’ motivation in learning cooking through YouTube amid covid-19: Bangladesh perspective



Lack of consumers' agricultural literacy and awareness of agritourism operations and underestimating the importance of agricultural heritage preservation against many current and future threats is one of the concerns highlighted in the statewide plan for Agritourism development in Florida. This study is centered on agritourism brand awareness and investigating the pro-conservation behavior of agritourism stakeholders in the State of Florida. Four groups of stakeholders were the participants, including Florida farmers who adopted agritourism (providers), students at the University of Florida as actual and potential visitors (consumers), and Florida extension agents who worked with adopters (developers or heritage holders). Furthermore, academic researchers in three fields of tourism, rural studies, and ecology (focused on the cultural ecosystem services studies) who had published at least one article related to agritourism in the leading peer-reviewed journals were invited to participate as knowledge holders.Pro-conservation behavior was operationalized using the willingness to pay (WTP) concept, which was framed in the contingent valuation technique and grounded in the Integrated Leisure Constraints Model (ILCM). The concept of consumers' pro-conservation behaviors toward agricultural heritage was discussed. The identified significant factors on stakeholders' pro-conservation behavior offer a practical tool for providers, developers, and policymakers in Florida.Brand awareness results showed that the Agritourism brand has all the preferred criteria of a memorable and relevant brand for all four stakeholders, followed by Farm Visit. One critical finding based on the qualitative analysis was that agritourism in Florida needs to be re-branded separately for each stakeholder group.This study has implications for developers and practitioners in the agritourism industry to promote visitor participation.The implications addressing the characteristics of stakeholders' preferences (e.g., brand name and agricultural settings) shed light on segmenting the target groups efficiently and advertising the agritourism services more effectively.

Branding and pro-conservation behavior toward agritourism in Florida, integrative leisure constraints model

Introduction:With the increased legalization in recreational cannabis, many adults choose to travel to areas where cannabis is legal. Considering the fast-changing cannabis legalization and as the ‘explosive’ growth of cannabis use, it is important to gain a better understanding of factors influencing resident perceptions of cannabis tourism as a special-interest sector and to explore whether/how such perceptions among user and non-user differ.

Methods:A quantitative survey focusing on cannabis tourism support, tourism image of the state, and positive and negative impacts of cannabis tourism was distributed to Oregon residents (n=729).

Results:Results indicate that residents perceived cannabis legalization and the related tourism activities positively. Significant differences in perceptions of positive, negative impacts, and support were found between cannabis users and non-users. The study also shows that Oregon cannabis users were more likely to support cannabis legalization and tourism than non-users when positive impact perception was relatively low. Nevertheless, non-users were found to be more likely to support cannabis tourism than users if more positive impact was perceived. Therefore, it can be concluded that perceived negative impact has more influence on support for cannabis tourism among nonusers than users.

Discussion: This study contributes to the limited body of knowledge on cannabis legalization and cannabis tourism literature. Results highlight the need for government agencies and destination management organizations to continue researching the impacts of cannabis from both positive and negative perspectives for their policy- and regulation-making process. Opportunities for new tourism development with niche markets are highlighted while pointing out the importance of shaping new policies in line with resident needs and support.

Oregon resident perceptions of cannabis tourism based on cannabis use

Distribution is a critical element of tourism marketing and management. While luxury travel is the fastest-growing segment of the tourism industry, almost all prior studies on tourism distribution channels (TDCs) have concentrated on the high-volume, low-price travel market. Therefore, this study seeks to fill this research gap by focusing on the characteristics of TDCs in the low-volume, high-end market from the perspective of outbound tour operators (OTOs).

Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted between December 2018 and September 2019. Respondents (n=23) were experienced specialists at the senior management level of luxury OTOs from various countries around the world. Interview questions are based on previous research and the lead author’s previous experience as a practitioner in the tourism industry.

Our analysis shows that luxury OTOs primarily approach travelers directly instead of through other intermediaries in order to be able to offer a seamless, safe, and extraordinary trip experience. Particularly word of mouth and referrals play an essential role. At destinations, most luxury OTOs attempt to shorten the TDC length by directly approaching service providers or DMCs to ensure arrangement flexibility, accuracy, and efficient communication with suppliers. The factors influencing luxury OTOs’ channel behaviors include accessibility, familiarity with the destination, communication convenience, and cost savings.

Because of the unique personalized needs of luxury travelers, luxury OTOs are disintermediating traditional travel agents, wholesalers, and inbound operators. Previous studies have analyzed the concept of disintermediation from the perspective of destination suppliers and the influence of the internet. In contrast, our findings indicate that disintermediation is a result of luxury OTOs’ response to the exclusive needs of upscale travelers. Consequently, luxury service providers should build direct and close relationships with OTOs and offer flexible and customized services to both OTOs and travelers.

Disintermediation in tourism distribution channels: The case of outbound tour operators in the luxury travel market

Introduction

The RevPAR at most hotels has fallen dramatically due to COVID-19. However, evidence shows that this decline has not been similar in every country and, particularly, for each category. From a resilience perspective, hotel managers should understand the aftermath and consequences of this pandemic, adjusting strategies accordingly. Also, investors and managers who run hotel facilities in different markets and countries, need actionable insights to promote the sustainability of their hotels.

A main concern is that much of the research is currently under construction or predominantly conceptual (Alonso et al., 2020). As key aftermath, the hospitality industry debates about the design of the new offer of services and amenities offer (McKinsey, 2021). Thus, this empirical investigation provides useful evidence of the impact of a pandemic or health crisis on their business, highlighting the resilience of service quality and amenities at coping with a crisis.

Methods

We examine the moderating role of hotel category on the effects of COVID-19 on hotels prices of four leading tourist countries, as Spain, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom:

Sample Min (€) Max (€) Mean (€) 
All -444.990 1755.930 29.622 
1* -54.34 52.710 9.433 
2* -47.45 1001.360 34.284 
3* -444.99 1755.930 27.151 
4* -364.10 1205.150 25.604 
5* -101.68 1114.670 90.455 




Our empirical approach is articulated on a regression analysis drawing on data from 2,111 hotels before and after the pandemic, showing significant differences in prices before and after COVID-19.

Results

Results give support to the moderating role of category as a quality strategy to withstand health-related crisis, together with a heterogenous effect of the country. Also, we provide a ranking of hotel resilience based on their category and country of operation.



Discussion

This paper contributes to the resilience hospitality management literature of coping with event-related crises, giving insights about role played by category for investors and hotel managers.

A matter of differentiation? The moderating role of hotel category on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on hotel prices: A cross-country investigation

People with disability were an alternative source of labour that could ease the manpower shortage. However, more than half were unemployed with companies accused of being unreceptive. The presented study explored the possibilities of inclusive hiring in Singapore hotels, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour framework. This study aimed to understand the perception of hotel professionals in Singapore towards working with people with disability, explore the underlying reasons for their receptivity, and identify possibilities of hiring in the hotel industry. While preceding research had addressed the perception towards inclusive hiring, there was no significant study devoted to the hotel industry in Singapore.

Data was collected through in-depth online interviews with hotel professionals. Thematic analysis was conducted on the information gathered to identify patterns and form meaningful qualitative findings. The main themes identified were the working opportunities, job performance, and job accommodation of people with disability. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was adapted into the local hotel context. The perception of hotel professionals towards the work ethics and work capabilities of Professionals with Disabilities (PWDs) was understood. The underlying reasons for the receptiveness of PWDs revolved around its impact on the external outlook and internal performances of the hotel. The financial implications and learning opportunities were also identified as key factors. The possibilities of hiring PWDs were identified to be largely dependent on several components: employment opportunities; type of job positions; sources of recruitment; external support; and the organisation culture and policies. The hotel professionals had provided interesting information about the career progression for PWDs.

The research would be able to contribute to several organisations involved in supporting PWDs, such as the local government, NPOs, both disability and public schools, as well as academia.

An exploratory study of hotel professionals in Singapore towards inclusive hiring using theory of planned behaviour framework

Tourists’ safety and security has been studied from a wide range of perspectives. Nevertheless, evidence on the actual safety and security threats encountered by tourists at natural parks have rarely gained attention in the mainstream safety and security literature. Moreover, the behaviours and strategies tourists adopt in their bid to overcome these threats have remained elusive in the tourism literature. For these reasons, the Protection Motivation Theory through a descriptive case study approach was adopted, involving 315 local and foreign visitors were selected through convenience sampling technique for the study. Findings revealed four main dimensions of adaptive behaviours by tourists in their encounter with threats at the park. These included; “personal physical measures”, “call for assistance”, “follow instructions” and “personal vigilance”. Personal vigilance which included “prayer” emerged as the predominant strategy adopted by tourists when they encountered threats at the park. These adaptive behaviours resulted from various threats, notable among them included: “slips and falls”, “insect bites”, “misbehaviour of other visitors”, as well as “physical stress and fatigue”. Again, the kind of behaviour adopted by tourists significantly related to their educational level and/or continent of origin. It is the intention of the study to use the results emanating toprompt management to modify and implement measures geared towards reducing potential hazards at the park. That apart, it is expected to improve tourists’ knowledge on the necessary precautionary measures to adopt before visiting national parks, especially in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic

Prayer as a cognitive adaptive behaviour to threat: the case of visitors at the Kakum National Park, Ghana

Purpose: As of June 2021, there were 172,242,495 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally and including 3,709,397 deaths. The coronavirus pandemic has greatly affected all travel and tourism activities globally and the industry experienced about 60% decline in 2020. Given this, many destinations have experienced drastic declines. In our study, we aim to explore how a gastronomy destination has responded to the Covid-19 pandemics. For this purpose, we selected Gaziantep city, Turkey which is one of the UNESCO gastronomy cities in the world.

Methodology:A phenomenological approach was followed for this study (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). The study utilized semi-structured interviews with 28 participants including stakeholders, government agencies, municipalities and local entrepreneurs in Gaziantep, Turkey. All interviews were audio-recorded, with participants’ consent and the interviews lasted approximately 35 – 45 minutes each in length. The empirical data was analyzed by using MAXQDA to create a thematic map (Merriam & Tisdell, 2015).

Results and Implications: The research findings suggest that the cultural tourism activities including gastronomy tourism in Gaziantep has been mostly ceased during the COVID 19 pandemic even if the advance and strict hygiene practices were followed. According to the participants, the public and private organizations did not have high expectations for a fast recovery of Gaziantep in 2021-2022. The pandemic has affected the gastro-tourism activities adversely. However, the food sector was not affected dramatically. The participants stated that because of the Covid-19 pandemic, (1) online food sales increased, which were limited before the pandemic, (2) locals started using door-to-door food services, and (3) the international demand for “Gaziantep baklava” increased.

References

Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications. Los Angeles.

Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2015). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. John Wiley & Sons.

How can a gastronomy destination respond to the Covid-19 pandemic? The case of Gaziantep, Turkey

In this study we examine what qualities of Experiential Media (EM) are utilized and how and to what extent EM are employed to promote travel, sports, and more broadly cultural tourism in content produced in the buildup to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 (21 November to 18 December 2022), to be hosted by Qatar, the first Arab nation to host the World Cup. Three YouTube platforms were considered for this study namely: Road To 2022, Al Jazeera Contrast, and Qatar Airways. Using the Oculus Quest 2, a VR head-mounted display (HMD), and the six-dimension model of EM framework we found that all of the nine EM contents utilized only three degrees of freedom (DoF) where the user can only look about than six (DoF) where user can also move about and that the majority of the content experiences lacked utilizing all of the qualities of EM, i.e., (1) Interactivity, (2) Immersion, (3) Multi-Sensory Presentation, (4) Algorithm and Data, (5) First-Person Perspective, and (6) a Natural User Interface. The study revealed three broad themes, namely FIFA stadium and travel, use of technology, and Qatar’s history and traditions, and sub-themes including design inspired by traditional Middle Eastern art; traditional sports and lifestyle of Qatar including themes such as camel racing, robot jockeys, pearl diving, luxury housing and cars; and luxury long-distance travel. We contend there is an opportunity for Qatar to more fully utilize EM potential and use immersive platforms to showcase a range of topics. Our research contributes to the literature on sports tourism, by adding theoretical discussion of the role EM play in the dynamic process of nation branding and destination marketing. Our research also provides practical and managerial implications for the tourism industry, sports tourism, and destination marketing.

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