Tea Tourism: Examining University Faculty Members’ Expectations

Tea tourism is emerging worldwide as a new type of sustainable cultural tourism; a market to which little academic attention has been paid. This study surveyed a total of 246 university faculty members in United States, China, and Taiwan with regard to their perceptions of tea tourism, including their levels of interest in various tea tourism activities and importance of tour components. The findings of this study revealed that demographic factors, cultural backgrounds, and self-reported expertise with regard to tea culture were significantly associated with respondents’ expectations towards tea tourism. Practical recommendations in tea tourism marketing were provided

Assessing the Utility of Restaurant Descriptors and Typologies for Advancing the Body of Knowledge in Restaurant Management

The study begins with a review of existing typologies in the restaurant management literature. Segment labels from three typologies are used as keywords to collect 251 empirical studies from nine relevant academic journals serving the restaurant management discipline. Content analysis of titles, abstracts, and methodology sections reveals inconsistent use of existing typologies and limited use of effective restaurant descriptors. Recommendations are offered to optimize the use of restaurant descriptors so that the content of empirical studies may be more effectively accessed, digested, and compared across, thereby enhancing the communication of advances in the restaurant management body of knowledge

What Pedagogical Methods Impact Students' Entrepreneurial Propensity?

There is a dearth of research that investigates the effectiveness of different pedagogical methods for teaching entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on three learning design choices: experiential learning, use of teamwork, and focus on quantitative methods. The paper examines pedagogical variables that could contribute to raising student scores on constructs of change, risk taking, goal setting, feedback, and achievement as measured by our customized entrepreneurial propensity survey. Results offer moderate evidence to confirm effects of experiential learning designs for goal-setting and weak evidence for feedback. Additional findings suggest the need for rethinking the role of teamwork in entrepreneurship courses

Predictors of Repeat Winery Visitation in North Carolina

Wine tourism is a relatively fledging industry with a range of important economic development issues. One issue is the identification of key drivers of repeat business, in this case, intention to pay a return visit to a winery or wine region. The purpose of this study is to identify specific factors that may influence wine tourists’ intentions to revisit a winery or wine region in North Carolina. Exhaustive CHAID decision tree analysis was used to identify statistically significant visitor characteristics influencing respondents’ intentions to revisit a winery or wine region in North Carolina. Customer service and the importance it has to the visitors was found to be the best predictor of their intention to revisit

Values-based Internships: Combining TEFI Values, Career Internships, and Community Engagement

This paper presents a conceptual framework for exploring the potential of values-based internships that are strategically designed to balance learning across all five TEFI values (professionalism, knowledge, mutual respect, ethics, and stewardship). The paper examines service learning concepts to identify ways in which internships may be improved to engage students more fully in learning goals related to stewardship and ethics by allowing students to take part in activities related to sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Pilot qualitative data collected from local internship partners are examined to explore both benefits and limitations of the values-based internship concept. The author provides subsequent recommendations and identification of areas for future research

Website quality for SME wineries: Measurement insights

PurposeThe study aims to offer a general review of website evaluation, with particular application to the winery tourism field. Automated website evaluation is explored as a complementary tool in the evaluation of small and medium enterprise (SME) winery websites.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a mixed-method investigation including a critical review of winery website evaluation literature and analysis of winery website scores generated through a free service of a commercial automated evaluation scoring system.FindingsNo standards currently exist for winery website evaluation metrics and current evaluation processes suffer from human rater bias. An automated evaluation scoring system used in the study was able to discriminate between a sample of known best practice websites and other independently formed samples representing average wineries in the USA and in North Carolina.Research limitations/implicationsWineries and other small business tourism firms can benefit by incorporating automated website evaluation and benchmarking into their internet strategies. Reported human rater limitations noted in manual evaluation may be minimized using automated rating technology. Automated evaluation system metrics tend to be updated more frequently and offer better alignment with trending consumer expectations for website design.Originality/valueThe current study used an automated website quality evaluation tool that serves to move winery website design efforts forward and supports the goals of reputation management for tourism businesses relying on internet marketing

Guided Student Reflection: A Critical Imperative for Experiential Learning

This paper presents the results of a pilot exploratory study examining the role of reflection exercises in capturing student learning outcomes from a controlled experiential learning activity in a capstone student consulting course. Qualitative reflection data were collected during a student consultant project conducted by ten hospitality students for bed and breakfast owners in Taiwan. Data were examined using manual content analysis techniques. Results show that the act of guided reflection supports higher order cognitive student learning in the discipline. Additional evidence was found of increased self-efficacy development and positive affective (emotional) impressions of students towards the industry and towards community engagement. The paper further demonstrates the utility of reflective practice for the purpose of capstone conclusion of an entire program of study in hospitality management

What pedagogical methods impact students’ entrepreneurial propensity?

There is a dearth of research that investigates the effectiveness of different pedagogical methods for teaching entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on three learning design choices: experiential learning, use of teamwork, and focus on quantitative methods. The paper examines pedagogical variables that could contribute to raising student scores on constructs of change, risk taking, goal setting, feedback, and achievement as measured by our customized entrepreneurial propensity survey. Results offer moderate evidence to confirm effects of experiential learning designs for goal-setting and weak evidence for feedback. Additional findings suggest the need for rethinking the role of teamwork in entrepreneurship courses

US and Chinese perceptions of simulated US courtesy

Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify similarities and differences in US and Chinese subjects’ emotional responses to and perceptions of courtesy of simulated English-language communication prompts.Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a web-based stimulus administered on US and Chinese students. Subject responses to eye contact and smile images and a set of verbal expressions were measured on ratings of emotion and courtesy.Findings Smiling with direct eye contact and warmed-up verbal expressions were found to elicit a higher level of emotional response and were perceived as viable server politeness cues. US and Chinese participants had similar responses to facial and verbal prompts.Originality/value This paper contributes to understanding about service employee cues, such as courtesy, that can influence service quality in a cross-cultural tourism setting

Cultural resource valuation in tourist destinations

Tourism affects the perceived value of cultural resources within a destination through a process of commoditization (e.g., Baron, 2010, Bunten, 2008, Greenwood, 1989, Macleod, 2006, Zhu, 2012). There are competing reports of both positive strengthening of cultural assets and devaluation or transformation of cultural assets due to tourism (Lehman, Wickham, & Fillis, 2014). This research note attempts to rationalize these seemingly contradictory outcomes, by examining how cultural management strategies relate to the form and function of cultural assets in the presence of tourism. The case of heritage languages will exemplify the commoditization process modeled in the paper, given that tourism influences how heritage languages are prioritized within a society