Artist residencies as specialist accommodation: Cultural entrepreneurship during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose - Artist residencies comprise a unique accommodation type and a form of cultural entrepreneurship which remains overlooked from a hospitality perspective. This exploratory study examines the phenomenon of artist residencies as specialist accommodation, as well as their operators’ motives as cultural entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Creation theory is used to explore how artist residency operators create entrepreneurial opportunities. Design/methodology/approach - Asynchronous email interviews were conducted with 20 artist residency operators from 18 countries. Purposive sampling was used to select interviewees and thematic analysis to analyze the primary data. Findings - The results showed that with few exceptions, artist residencies address all criteria of specialist accommodation, and that social interactions among artists and operators are fundamental in running an artist residency. From a cultural entrepreneurship perspective, most of the operators declared that their priorities were to promote artistic creativity and cultural knowledge exchange, confirming the main elements of creation theory. Practical implications - Managerial implications are discussed to enhance artist residency resilience and strengthen their financial viability, as well as to support them to overcome the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value - This study extends the hospitality literature by adding the artist residencies to the existing types of specialist accommodation. It also examines creation theory and concludes that artistic creativity and cultural networks are prominent in artist residency entrepreneurial activities

Values of souvenirs as commodities

Although souvenirs have received increased research interest in tourism studies, sociological research in this field still remains limited. This exploratory study aspires to overcome past research negligence on the values identified in social theory for commodities, such as Marx’s use and exchange values and Baudrillard’s sign-value, as well as introducing an additional one, the spiritual-value. By using a sample of twenty respondents in Veria, a small city in Northern Greece, this study attempts to interpret souvenirs as commodities with certain values and to identify the functions that tourists expect to perceive when purchasing them. Despite its limitations, this study provided a theoretical understanding of the sociological aspects of souvenirs’ consumption in relation to the four values

Medical volunteers as accidental tourists: Humanitarianism and the European refugee crisis

This article sheds light on the scarcely mentioned term ‘accidental tourists’ which refers to individuals who travel overseas for other purposes than leisure seeking, and actually engage in recreational and tourist activities after their arrival at the destination. In this regard, this exploratory study examines the experiences of medical volunteers as accidental tourists who provided primary healthcare assistance to refugees hosted in the VIAL refugee camp in Chios Island, Greece, during the European refugee crisis. Primary data were collected with the use of in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. The interview questions focused on medical volunteers’ tourist and recreational activities undertaken in Chios Island, as well as on their perceptions of the political aspects of humanitarian aid. The findings of this study indicate that medical professionals as accidental tourists placed emphasis on the stressful working environment, and tourism was merely a welcome side-effect. Additionally, the concept of accidental tourism is further elaborated regarding the theoretical implications of this study. Practical implications as well as policy recommendations for refugees’ individual autonomy are also discussed

Negotiated exchanges in the online hospitality market: hoteliers and hotel managers' perceptions of Booking.com

Social exchange theory and online business-to-business (B2B) relational exchanges have been scarcely examined in the hospitality sector. Taking into consideration this research gap and the expansion of online travel agencies, this exploratory study aims at examining hoteliers and hotel managers’ perceptions of their negotiated exchanges with Booking.com. Twenty two in-depth interviews were conducted with hoteliers and hotel managers from two Regions of Northern Greece. The results revealed that the informants considered their negotiated exchanges with Booking.com to be characterized by assurance rather than trust and admitted being dependent on it in financial and advertising terms. Additionally, hotel reputation was considered among the most important intangible outcomes of this partnership. Based on these findings relevant managerial implications are provided to improve social exchanges between Booking.com and accommodation providers

Altruism in tourism: social exchange theory vs altruistic surplus phenomenon in host volunteering

Taking into consideration the scarcity of research on volunteering and altruistic behavior of host communities, this exploratory study examines altruism in tourism from the viewpoint of members of voluntary tourism associations. A literature review reveals two general types of altruism, i.e. reciprocal and true, as well as two theoretical constructs, namely Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Altruistic Surplus Phenomenon (ASP). By taking a sample of 21 members from two voluntary tourism associations located in the municipality of Veria, Northern Greece, this study confirms that reciprocal altruism is one of several motives for participating in voluntary tourism associations. Additionally, it is shown that ASP is more adequate than SET to interpret the study groups’ social behavior

Heritage destination love

Purpose – Although love has received considerable attention in marketing literature, there is limited past research on love in a tourism context. This research attempts to overcome past research negligence by proposing the concept of heritage destination love. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach was undertaken, face-to-face in-depth interviews with 35 respondents respondents in London to discuss about the concept of heritage destination love antecedents and its consequences, tourists’ behavior and tourists’ feeling, passion and love about the destinations as playing a magnificent role in tourism development. Findings – The outcome reveals that heritage destination love has three elements - passion, emotional attachment, and identification. Originality/value – Despite its limitations, the current research offers a theoretical insights of the psychological theory of the love triangle in relation to heritage destination love

Permissions Snapshots: Assessing Users' Adaptation to the Android Runtime Permission Model

The Android operating system changed its security and privacy-related permission model recently, offering its users the ability to control resources that applications are allowed to access on their devices. This major change to the traditional coarse-grained permission system was anticipated for a long time by privacy-aware users. This paper presents the first study that analyzes Android users' adaptation to the fine-grained runtime permission model, regarding their security and privacy controls. We gathered anonymous data from 50 participants who downloaded our application and answered questions related to the new permission model. The results indicate that the majority of users prefer the new model. We also collected data that demonstrate users' security controls at the given time. Our analysis shows that individuals make consistent choices regarding the resources they allow to various applications to access