Hospitality entrepreneurs managing quality of life and business growth

The hospitality industry is dominated by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).They are often led by entrepreneurs who face the challenge of simultaneously managing business decisions and their own wellbeing. The competitiveness of tourism destinations often depends on these entrepreneurs and therefore understanding their motivations and work patterns is critical. Research on individual wellbeing increasingly builds on the concept of quality of life (QoL). Hospitality and tourism literature so far predominantly focused on investigating QoL for tourists and residents, rather than for entrepreneurs’ QoL, even though being key stakeholders in the hospitality industry. Therefore, this study explores the factors influencing hospitality entrepreneurs’ quality of life (“HE-QoL”) and how these relate to business growth. Results of a 380 hospitality entrepreneurs’ survey identify six distinct factors of HE-QoL. Two groups of HE-QoL are identified with significant differences in fitness level activity, entrepreneurial competencies and business growth. Findings lead to recommendations to reduce stress to improve HE-QoL, and to develop entrepreneurial competencies, which help to cope with entrepreneurial challenges. Tourism destinations and politics can support hospitality entrepreneurs in these actions by creating conditions that foster social exchange in regional communities and trust in political and economic stability

Smart marketing of an alpine destination – a conceptual framework

Facing strong competitiveness and increasing stagnation in alpine tourism, innovative marketing strategies are becoming more important than ever. This abstract presents the case of an alpine destination striving for a successful turn-over through collaborative marketing campaigns. These marketing activities are not only built on top of an innovative technological platform, but are paired with building knowledge of the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) and the service providers as well as a change process in order to enhance cooperation between the different actors. The conceptual framework derived from the case study approach offers new insights for the implementation of collaborative online marketing activities in an alpine destination. On this basis, key success factors and preconditions for the effective management of the collaborative marketing approach are discussed from theoretical and practical perspectives

drivers and emerging innovations in knowledge based destinations towards a research agenda

Abstract Research on innovation in tourism is fragmented and confined to traditional paradigms. This critical review paper, which cross-fertilises and discusses the relevant literature in tourism and other theoretical domains, proposes an integrative theoretical framework of innovation in destinations. The paper identifies four emerging innovations – experience co-creation, smart destinations, e-participative governance and social innovation – as evolutionary, knowledge-driven phenomena that are generated by the interaction among four destination actors and facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social capital. The discussion and conclusion present some theoretical advances as follows: local contexts matter in destination innovation when assuming a repository role of spatial and cross-sectorial knowledge; social capital and ICT infrastructures facilitate innovativeness and stakeholder engagement; and emerging innovations are pervasive and the holistic results of the collective knowledge of four destination actors and are facilitated by ICT and social capital. The paper offers avenues for future research and challenges that should be explored by academics, policy makers and destination managers

The Role of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in Commercialization of Summer Tourism Products. New Challenges for Mountain Destinations in an Integrated and Global e-Market Place

Having started to develop in the 19th century, mountain tourism has a very strong capital attraction for international tourist flow and represents approximately 15–20% of annual global tourism income (UNEP, 2007). Despite a huge variety of activity offers in numerous mountain destinations since the mid-1960s, summer tourism, unlike winter tourism, is stagnating (France Montagne, 2014; Nydegger, 2014). However, studies concerned with summer tourism development in mountain regions are rare. The paper presents the result of comparative study conducted between 2013, 2014 and in 2015 in 183 local and regional Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) operating in selected European and North American mountain areas in order to understand their role in the stimulation of summer tourism through various product commercialisation strategies

Research for TRAN Committee – European Tourism Labelling

This study focusses on the current situation in the European Union regarding quality and sustainability labelling in tourism. There is concern that the existing volume and variety of labels has become a barrier to consumer choice, which in consequence may lead to lost opportunities to increase the competitiveness of the European tourism industry. The study analyses the possibility of the introduction of an EU standard(s) for tourism services through the initiation of a harmonised EU certification system and the potential for the establishment of a single European tourism label

Best Environmental Management Practice in the Tourism Sector

The tourism sector has a large potential to reduce its environmental impacts and many measures are already effectively implemented by companies of this sector. This document describes what are the best practices employed by frontrunners in all aspects under their direct control or on which they have a considerable influence. They cover cross-cutting issues, destination management, tour operators and travel agents, water and energy consumption and waste production in accommodation, restaurant and hotel kitchens, and campsites management. The document also contains sector-specific environmental performance indicators and benchmarks of excellence. These can be used by all the actors involved in the tourism sector to monitor their environmental performance and to benchmark it against the performance of frontrunners in each given specific area. Overall, this document aims at supporting all actors in the tourism sector who intend to improve their environmental performance and seek for reliable and proven information on how best to do it.JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumptio

Customer agility and firm performance in the tourism industry

The growing importance of agility in any business process is universally accepted and extensively investigated in different disciplines. However, lacking empirical pieces of evidence for the suggested theoretical framework of agility hinders its application in the practices. Thus, this study attempts to address this issue by empirically testing a framework of customer agility’s antecedents and consequences using the tourism industry context. The framework is tested on data collected from 231 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism industry in Vietnam and analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings suggest that not all attributes of customer agility exert positive impacts on the firm’s performance and human factors are posited as the most important antecedents for organizational agility. A number of practical implications are also suggested from the research findings