Title: Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change
Author: Tom Baum
Publication details: Tourism Management. 28(6): 1383 - 1399
Date of publication: 2007
Tom Baum’s article is a timely examination of employment and employment practices in the sector. In a wide-ranging review, he considers the impact of some important developments over the past twenty years. Among the issues explored are the take-up and impact of human resource management (HRM) techniques on the sector, perceptions of careers and employment in travel and tourism, and matters concerning the changing composition of the workforce. He paints a mixed picture of progress and development. In the case of HRM, he notes the increasing professionalized approaches of larger organisations (and trends of shifting responsibility for staffing issues to line managers) which contrasts sharply with how smaller organisations manage their staff. Equally, his commentary on the management of an increasingly diverse workforce is illuminating. As he points out, significant attention has been paid to the issue of gender equality (the evidence suggests there is some way to go) and, to an extent, disability, and age but questions of sexual orientation do not seem to feature (unlike in marketing). Baum’s comprehensive and very readable assessment of the causes of trends is recommended for anyone with an interest in employment in the sector.
Click here for the Tourism Management website
Title: Cabin crew training to control disruptive airline passenger behaviour: A cause for tourism concern?
Authors: Steven Rhoden, Rita Ralston and Elizabeth M Ineson
Publication details: Tourism Management
Date of publication: 2007
This article reports the findings of a research project that examined cabin crew training relating to disruptive airline passenger behaviour (DAPB). It contrasts with the bulk of existing literature which seems to deal with contributory causes (e.g. alcohol, seating arrangements, mistreatment by employees), the result of DAPB (paradoxically, it is often rewarded by upgraded seats or providing alcohol to encourage sleep!), or the regulations governing the reporting of DAPB. Through detailed analysis of a small sample of cases, the results of this research suggest that training courses are too short to be effective, that they do not simulate reality sufficiently well and do not pay enough attention to the different ways in which people learn (courses designed to match so-called ‘learning styles’ are said to result in greater learning). The article advocates longer and more regular training courses but - more importantly – it also suggests that experiential learning (i.e. learning on the job) can add significant value; knowledge and skills are developed most effectively in the context of the problem and help build the confidence of those dealing with DAPB.
Click here for the Tourism Management website
Title: The final call: In search of the true cost of our holidays
Author: Leo Hickman
Publication details: Transworld, London
Date of publication: 2007
Leo Hickman’s book is unlikely ever to be top of ITT’s most popular readings. This should not prevent members from dipping in to what is a well organised and very accessible read. Unlike most of the other publications on this site, the book is not research-based in an academic sense. It is more of a scholarly investigative travelogue. Sandwiched between a short introduction and conclusion, the author provides thirteen themed international case studies ranging from sex tourism in Thailand to the impact of tourism on bio-diversity in Cancun. It asks some difficult questions about the environmental, social and economic costs arising from the growth of travel and tourism and how it is being managed (or not managed). The answers provided will probably not be welcomed by many colleagues in the sector. Though there are instances where the author notes good practice, ultimately Hickman provides a critical and somewhat pessimistic assessment. Those that want to challenge his position might consider responding via: www.leohickman.co.uk.
Title: Corporate social responsibility: What are top hotel companies reporting?
Authors: Judy L Holcomb, Randall S.Upchurch and fevzi Okumus
Publication details: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 19(6): 461 – 475
Date of publication: 2007
This piece of research used ‘contents analysis’ (a technique that searches for and counts key words) to examine the web sites, annual reports and CSR reports of the top ten companies listed in Hotels. The article provides a valuable of matrix that summarises the results. The matrix is divided into five main themes: ‘community’ (e.g. charitable donations), ‘environment’ (e.g. energy management), ‘marketplace’ (e.g. ethical advertising), ‘vision and values’ (e.g. codes of conduct), and ‘workforce’ (e.g. diversity/equal opportunity). Each category has between six and ten indicators. The results show variety of practice (or availability of information) ranging from Hilton claim that ‘we practice corporate citizenship wherever we do business’), Marriot and Accor who appear to have activities in each of the categories to others where CSR is barely registered. The paper concludes by discussing some of the management implications of the findings.
Click here for IJCHM website.
Title: Understanding the relationships of quality, value, equity, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions among golf travelers
Authors: Joe Hutchinson, Fujun Lai, Youcheng Wang
Publication details: Tourism Management
Date of publication: 2008
This article presents a model to help investigate relationships between golf travelers’ perceptions of quality, value, equity and satisfaction, and their behavioural intentions (for example, whether customers intend to return, to refer others or to seek other destinations). The findings – based on a survey of more than 300 participants – suggest that service quality is influential to senses of equity but is not significant for senses of value or satisfaction. Moreover, equity is a major influence on satisfaction and value. On the basis of this project, it seems that service quality does not have a major influence on behavioural intentions, unlike value and satisfaction. The article concludes by considering the managerial implications of the research. These include taking measures to emphasise value and a sense of being treated fairly and good quality service.
Click here for the Tourism Management website
Title: Perceived quality and image: When all is not ‘rosy’
Author: Pamela Miles Homer
Publication details: Journal of Business Research. 61 (1)
Date of publication: 2008
This article examines the connection between quality and image in the minds of consumers. Although not undertaken in the context of travel or tourism or in the UK, it nevertheless offers potentially important insights to those with responsibility for marketing (and branding in particular). The research design and methods adopted are sophisticated and do not, as a consequence, make for easy reading for those without a good knowledge of statistical methods. Some of the findings, however, are clear. Perceptions of image and quality have an impact on brand preferences. More interestingly, poor image is generally more damaging than poor quality. Inevitably, the picture is more complex than that and interested members are recommended to go directly to the source.
Click here for the JBR website.
Title: Tourists’ intention to visit a country: the impact of cultural distance
Authors: Siew Imm Ng and Julie Ann Lee and Geoffrey N Soutar
Publication details: Tourism Management (journal)
Date of publication: 2007
Understanding why consumers choose to visit certain countries and not others is an issue of central concern for various private and public sector policy-makers in travel and tourism. Unlike many previous studies that have tended to concentrate on the complex interplay of various economic variables, this study examines the impact of culture – more specifically ‘cultural distance’ (ie how different the destination’s culture is from the tourist’s) – on intentions to visit. Although the findings vary slightly depending upon how cultural distance is defined (and, therefore, measured), a central finding of the research is that the greater the perceived cultural similarity, the more likely it is that tourists will want to visit. For many, this may not be surprising as previous research has shown that cultural familiarity is often perceived as less threatening and, as a consequence, more appealing. The implications of this for marketing are clear: stressing similarities rather than differences is likely to yield increased demand.
Click here for the Tourism Management website
Title: The effects of inventory control and denied boarding on customer satisfaction: The case of capacity-based airline revenue management
Authors: Jörg Lindenmeier and Dieter K. Tscheulin
Publication details: Tourism Management. 29 (1): 32 -43.
Date of publication: 2008
This is a technical paper that requires an advanced knowledge of statistical methods if the intricacies of the methodology are to be followed. The research addresses the challenging issue of seat inventory control (the allocation of seats to different fare classes) and denied boarding on customer satisfaction. The findings suggest that although there was greater sensitivity to price differentials among ‘lower class’ seats, customer satisfaction did not vary significantly across booking classes when faced with denied boarding. Interestingly, even favourable differences (for example in individual pricing) did not have a particularly significant impact on satisfaction levels. The article goes on to consider the managerial implications of the research.
Click here for the Tourism Management website.
Title: Tourism and discretionary income allocation. Heterogeneity among households
Authors: Sara Dolnicar, Geoffrey I. Crouch, Timothy Devinney, Twan Huybers, Jordan J. Louviere and harmen Oppewal
Publication details: Tourism Management. 29 (1): 44-52.
Date of publication: 2008
The central question addressed by this article is as follows: ‘What determines tourism spending and how can people be influenced to spend more of their budget on tourism related activities?’ (p1). Unlike previous research, which has tended to focus attention on those who have already decided to spend a proportion of their income on a holiday so the research has examined why they spend on particular kinds and not others, this paper looks at the question in relation to other possible uses of their money (for example a new car, kitchen, paying off a debt etc). The study finds a high degree of heterogeneity which is worth looking at in detail but also identifies a market segment that is more susceptible to spending on holidays than others. It is characterised as being single with fewer financial investments than average and possess a particular set of motivations for travel. The research was undertaken in Australia but may well be worth replicating in the UK.
Click here for the Tourism Management website
Title: Airline relationship quality: An examination of Taiwanese passengers
Authors: Jao-Hong Cheng, Fang-Yuan Chen and Yu-Hern Chang
Publications details: Tourism Management (journal)
Date of publication: 2007
Although set within a particular cultural setting, this paper is potentially valuable to British audiences in two ways. First, it provides an interesting account of key debates relating to customer relationship management applied to the airline industry. Using structural equation modelling, it argues that in order to develop customer relationships that are long-term, mutually beneficial and trusting, airline managers must emphasise ‘customer orientation’ (which is broken down into several dimensions of employees’ attitudes to customers) and ‘domain expertise’ (arising from qualified and well trained staff). Information technology (email updates and other devices for keeping in contact with customers) are shown to be least important.
The article also makes a valuable contribution by providing a research design that might be replicated with non-Taiwanese passengers. Commercial consultancy reports often the lack of methodological rigour contained in this study. Managers might reflect on that and challenge those selling the research services to ‘raise the (research quality) bar’.
Click here for the Tourism Management website.
Title: Reassessing employer expectations of graduates in UK travel services
Authors: Bridget Major and Nigel Evans
Publication details: International Journal of Tourism Research 10 (5): 409- 422
Date: 2008
This paper reports the findings of a study that sought to identify the views of a variety of organizations in the travel sector on degree programmes and related recruitment issues. Before presenting their results, the authors provide valuable contextual material. This includes a description of recent developments in higher education, a review of previous research and a discussion of some important concepts that are required to interpret the results. The findings and analysis of almost 5000 responses from a cross-section of travel and tourism organizations are then presented.
The paper makes for fascinating reading and shows how naïve it is to accept simple accounts of a complicated terrain. The authors offer evidence of a positive disposition towards graduates among significant numbers of employers but confirm that the positive experiences of employing graduates is far from universal. The analytical skills of ‘good’ graduates is recognized by most employers but is often trumped by experience. There are many other interesting observations. This paper deserves to be debated widely and the implications of its findings considered carefully.
Click here for the International Journal of Tourism Research website.
Title: Testing take-up of academic concepts in an influential commercial tourism publication
Authors: Ralf Buckley
Publication details: Tourism Management
Date of publication: 2007
The influential tourism publication referred to in the title of this article is Lonely Planet. The researcher set out to test the extent to which academic research informed this commercial publication. More specifically, it considered whether the manner in which Lonely Planet dealt with concepts such as adventure tourism, cultural tourism, responsible tourism, ecotourism matched current academic thinking. By implication, the question was whether tourists were being exposed to such thinking. Perhaps surprisingly to some, the author finds that academic concepts do inform the publications. The language and level of detail may not be the same as in academic outlets but there is broad congruence. The area of greatest difference is one of emphasis. Lonely Planet tends to concentrate on the potential social implications of tourism rather than environmental concerns. Thus, concepts such as responsible tourism and community ecotourism tend to be emphasised.
Click here for the Tourism Management website
Title: Surprise and sense making: undergraduate placement experiences in SMEs
Authors: Andreas Walmsley, Rhodri Thomas and Stephanie Jameson
Publication details: Education and Training (journal) 48(5): 360-372
Date of publication: 2006
As its title suggests, this article examines the experience of tourism students on placement in small and medium-sized enterprises. The word ‘surprise’ is used in this publication to denote the potential clash of expectations with experience. The research findings suggest that although students encounter various novel situations, they are less surprised by most incidents at work than previous studies would lead us to believe. This is probably explained by the fact that most students nowadays have work experience prior to embarking on their studies and many work as they study. Although the implications of this research relate mainly to universities (who it is recommended should re-evaluate the value of placements as currently organised), employers might also reflect upon whether they could create effective learning situations that build on the evident experience and knowledge that at least some students seem to have already.
Click here for the Education + Training website
Title: Mapping environmental change in tourism: a study of the incentive travel industry
Authors: Zheng Xiang and Sandro Formica
Publication details: Tourism Management (journal) 28(5): 1193 - 2202
Date of publication: 2007
This study examines perceptions of the business environment held by managers in the incentive travel sector. It uses cognitive mapping, a technique that provides a graphic representation of how individuals use thoughts about individuals, groups or organisations to make sense of the world around them. Cognitive mapping has been used in the past to understand and inform management decision-making, amongst other things. In addition to providing a list of emerging destinations (largely from an American perspective), the study highlights the primary importance attached to trends in socio-economic and political developments rather than – surprisingly – ecological matters (which are seen as less threatening). The paper argues that cognitive mapping offers a means of enhancing decision-making for senior executives by deliberately drawing out and examining the significance of different variables influencing their world.
Click here for the Tourism Management website
Title: Handbook of Low Cost Airlines: Strategies, Business Processes and Market Environment
Authors: S Gros and A Schroder (Eds)
Publication details: Eric Schmidt Verlag (publishers), Berlin
Date: 2007
This book will be of interest to those who want to understand more about the business practices adopted by low cost airlines. The book is divided into three broadly coherent parts (broadly because there are one or two sections that are slightly incongruous). The first part deals with business processes and strategies and uses case study material for illustration. Much of the case material is from Germany. This may be of mixed appeal for British readers because some may not be familiar with the context. For many, however, it will be more appealing precisely because it draws from unfamiliar terrain. The second part deals with consumers and the wider impacts of airlines. These two themes are not obviously related but contain interesting material. The final part examines the perspectives of competitors and potential partners in other sectors. This includes an assessment of the value of the business model for other forms of travel and transport such as car rental, trains, bus, and cruises. This book may well appeal more to senior practitioners than to academics.
Title: Transport infrastructure and tourism development
Authors: Jameel Khadaroo and Boopen Seetanah
Publication details: Annals of Tourism Research (journal). 34 (4): 1021 - 1032
Date of publication: 2007
This research highlights the importance of transport infrastructure for a destination’s development. Drawing on research undertaken in Mauritius, it shows that tourist numbers are related closely to investment in transport infrastructure, particularly for markets originating from Europe, America and Asia (Americans and Europeans are also very sensitive to investment levels in non-transport infrastructure). The modelling also takes into account the predictable importance of other factors such as income levels of tourists, relative prices, and distance as part of a fuller equation explaining the development of tourism in particular destination.
Click here for Annals of Tourism Research website.
