The use of distribution channels by the accommodation sector in the Algarve

Neste trabalho estudamos o problema da dependência do setor do alojamento turístico face aos seus canais de distribuição, uma vez que é um problema relevante para vários países europeus. Uma das razões é o rápido crescimento da influência das principais OTA (Online Travel Agencies) no setor de alojamento turístico. Estas agências tendem a pressionar os fornecedores de alojamento a aceitar os seus termos e condições através da sua posição oligopólica no mercado. Após tomar medidas preventivas a Comissão Europeia e as entidades reguladoras a nível nacional sentem necessidade de continuar a monitorizar a situação do mercado de distribuição de alojamento turístico. De dois em dois anos a HOTREC (Confederação Europeia das Associações de Hotelaria, Restauração, Cafetaria e Similares), efectua um estudo que tem como objectivo a identificação da quota de mercado dos diferentes canais de distribuição no setor hoteleiro europeu. Dado que os resultados deste estudo não incluem Portugal, decidimos realizar um estudo semelhante no Algarve, a região portuguesa que registou maior número de dormidas no setor, com o objectivo de avaliar a relação entre os fornecedores de alojamento no Algarve e os canais de distribuição que utilizam. Com base na replicação do estudo da HOTREC sobre a distribuição de hotéis Europeu (Schegg, 2018) no Algarve (com algumas adaptações), os principais objetivos deste estudo são (1) determinar a quota de mercado dos canais de distribuição utilizados pelo setor de alojamento no Algarve; (2) identificar o canal de distribuição dominante; (3) avaliar a quota de mercado das principais agências de viagens online; (4) identificar a provável pressão exercida pela OTA sobre os fornecedores de alojamento, e por fim, (5) avaliar a quota de mercado dos principais canais de distribuição nos diferentes segmentos de alojamento. A investigação empírica analiza dados fornecidos por 50 estabelecimentos de alojamento do Algarve, durante os meses de janeiro a março 2019. Os dados permitiram definir as quotas de mercado de cada canal de distribuição e identificadar os três principais canais utilizados pelo setor de alojamento no Algarve: canais directos (com quota de mercado de 35,2%), operadores turísticos/agentes de viagens (quota de mercado de 29,1%) e OTA (16,6%). Os resultados do estudo demonstram, ainda, que os fornecedores de alojamento no Algarve se apresentam bastante dependentes de operadores turísticos, embora tentem diversificar a sua carteira de distribuição de modo a diminuir a pressão excessiva dos intermediários. Assim o nosso estudo permitiu demonstrar que, comparativamente com o estudo da HOTREC, não existe nenhum canal de distribuição particularmente dominante no Algarve. A análise da quota de mercado das agências de viagens online revela que os líderes de mercado são a Booking.com (38,5% de reservas) e a Expedia (14,2%), que também lideram no mercado europeu. Contudo, e contrariamente à maioria dos países europeus, as agências de viagens online não são o canal de distribuição dominante no Algarve. Consequentemente,a maioria dos participantes do inquérito (67,4%) respondeu que não se sente pressionada pelas principais agências de viagens online. Além disso, a maioria dos participantes afirma não ter qualquer tipo de conflito com as agências de viagens online (54,7%) e outros 40,4% dos participantes consideram que existe um método justo e efetivo para resolver desentendimentos com agências de viagens online caso venham a ocorrer. A análise por segmentos demonstra que os operadores turísticos dominam entre os hotéis que estão abertos todo o ano. A sua quota de mercado é mais elevada entre hotéis de 3 e 4 estrelas. Além disso, os números demonstram que a quota de mercado dos operadores turísticos aumenta de acordo com o tamanho de hotel. Por sua vez, a quota de reserva de operadores turísticos é maior para cadeias de hotéis do que hotéis independentes. A relação entre as OTA e os fornecedores de alojamento turístico é inversamente proporcional às destes com os operadores turísticos, ou seja, os segmentos com menor utilização dos operadores turísticos dependem mais das OTA e vice-versa. Por exemplo, hotéis com negócios sazonais, hotéis de tamanho pequeno e médio, hotéis de duas estrelas e alojamentos sem classificação por estrela (hosteis e apartamentos turísticos), ou hotéis independentes (sem cadeia) têm maior dependência das OTA do que operadores turísticos. O presente estudo também inclui um teste de hipóteses para identificar a dependência da quota de mercado dos três maiores canais de distribuição (canais diretos, operadores turísticos e OTA ) de fatores como o tamanho do estabelecimento, tipo de gestão, e localização. Os resultados demonstram que existe uma diferença estatística relevante na quota de mercado de operadores turísticos em grupos com diferentes tamanhos. Por exemplo, entre hotéis pequenos, a quota de mercado média dos operadores turísticos é de 12,0%, entre hotéis de tamanho médio 26,6% e entre hotéis grandes 32,5%. A relação de dependência entrequota de mercado dos canais diretos e OTA e o tamanho do estabelecimento não foi confirmada. Existe, também, dependência entre a quota das reservas dos operadores turísticos e o tipo de gestão hoteleira. Por exemplo, os hotéis independentes têm apenas 21,9% da quota de mercado dos operadores turísticos, enquanto que para as cadeias hoteleiras este indicador é, em média, 30,7%. A relação de dependência da quota de mercado dos canais diretos e das OTA e o tipo de gestão do estabelecimento não foi confirmada. A análise da localização geográfica confirma que a quota de mercado das OTA entre os hotéis localizados junto à costa marítima é, em média, 27,4% enquanto que os estabelecimentos situados noutros locais apresenta uma quota das reservas através das agências de viagens mais baixa – 16,9%. A relação de dependência da quota de mercado dos canais diretos e dos operadores turísticos e a localização do estabelecimento não foi confirmada. Concluímos que os estabelecimentos de alojamento no Algarve têm um diversificado portfólio de canais de distribuição. Estes resultados são encorajadores, porque isso significa que os fornecedores de alojamento no Algarve podem evitar a sobrepressão dos canais de distribuição. Isto pode também indicar que os hotéis têm um grau relativamente alto de liberdade para estabelecer e conduzir negociações com canais de distribuição, evitando conflitos e discriminação de preços. Podemos ainda afirmar que para além do conhecimento que adquirimos sobre as relações de (in)dependência dos alojamentos turísticos do Algarve face aos seus canais de distribuição, até aqui inexistente este estudo contribui significativamente para a reflexão sobre a abordagem metodológica, nomeadamente apresenta procedimentos úteis sobre como melhorar o desenhodo questionário e o processo de recolha de dados, para a realização futura de estudos semelhantes a nível nacional.This work addresses the problem of the dependence of the tourism accommodation sector on its distribution channels. As some channels tend to dominate the market, they abuse their oligopoly position to force accommodation suppliers to accept their terms and conditions. This is why we aim to evaluate the situation related to the relationships between accommodation providers in the Algarve and the distribution channels they use. Aiming to reproduce the European Hotel Distribution Study (Schegg, 2018) in the Algarve (with some adaptations) the main goals of this study are (1) to determine the market share of distribution channels used by the accommodation sector in the Algarve; (2) to identify the dominant distribution channel; (3) to assess the market share of major online travel agencies; (4) to uncover the probable pressure of online travel agencies on the accommodation suppliers; (5) to evaluate the market share of major distribution channels within different accommodation segments. The empirical investigation analyzes data provided by 50 accommodation establishments of the Algarve, during the months of January-March 2019, through which we defined the market share of each distribution channel. As a result, three main distribution channels used by the Algarve accommodation sector were identified: direct channels, tour operators/travel agents and online travel agencies. The analysis of the market share of leading online travel agencies revealed as market leaders, Booking.com and Expedia, which are also the market leaders across Europe. The results allowed to characterize the distribution channels’ market share within different accommodation segments, classified by seasonality, stars, size, location, main customer segment, and type of management. The research indicates that accommodation suppliers in the Algarve are still significantly dependent on tour operators. However, they try to diversify their distribution portfolio to avoid overpressure from intermediaries. This study concludes by presenting a portfolio of distribution channels used by the accommodation suppliers in the Algarve and the definition of main factors influencing channels’ market share

Identification of a strong contamination source for graphene in vacuum systems

To minimize parasitic doping effects caused by uncontrolled material adsorption, graphene is often investigated under vacuum. Here we report an entirely unexpected phenomenon occurring in vacuum systems, namely strong n-doping of graphene due to chemical species generated by common ion high-vacuum gauges. The effect --reversible upon exposing graphene to air-- is significant, as doping rates can largely exceed 10^{12} cm^{-2}/hour, depending on pressure and the relative position of the gauge and the graphene device. It is important to be aware of the phenomenon, as its basic manifestation can be mistakenly interpreted as vacuum-induced desorption of p-dopants.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

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Formation during glycine-nitrate combustion and magnetic properties of YFe1–xNixO3 nanoparticles

The synthesis of FeO3 and YFe1–xNixO3 (x = 0.1; 0.15; 0.2; 0.3; 0.5) nanocrystals was performed under the conditions of a self-propagating wave of glycine-nitrate combustion and their characterization and determination of the effect of Ni2+ doping of yttrium ferrite on the magnetic properties of nanopowders. The technology for the synthesis of yttrium orthoferrite nanoparticles (with and without doping with Ni2+ ions) by the glycine-nitrate combustion method at a ratio of G/N = 1 and 1.5 without adding a gelling agent to the reaction mixture and using ethylene glycol/glycerol is described. For the characterization of nanopowders based on YFeO3, the following were determined: phase composition and crystal structure (X-ray diffraction (XRD) method); size and structure of nanocrystal particles (transmission electron microscopy (TEM)); elemental composition of the samples (local X-ray spectral microanalysis (LXSMA)); magnetic characteristics (field dependences of specific magnetization). Thermal annealing of the synthesized samples at 800°C for 60 min led to the formation of the о-YFeO3 main phase. Undoped samples of yttrium orthoferrite were characterized by a particle diameter in the range of 5-185 nm, depending on the gelling agent used. YFe1-xNixO3 particles had a predominantly round shape with a size of 24 to 31 nm; the non-monotonic dependence of the average particle diameter on the dopant content was revealed: as the amount of dopant added increased, the average crystallite size tended to decrease. Nanopowders of undoped yttrium orthoferrite exhibit antiferromagnetic behaviour of magnetic susceptibility with temperature. The change in the magnetic properties of the nickel-doped YFeO3 nanocrystalline powders was due to the incorporation of Ni2+ into the Fe3+position, which led to the formation of a material with more pronounced soft magnetic properties at a substitution degree of 0.1. Samples with high degrees of substitution (x = 0.15 and 0.3) were also characterized by paramagnetic behaviour at temperatures above 100 K

Thermal Conductivity of Carbon Nanotubes and their Polymer Nanocomposites: A Review

Thermally conductive polymer composites offer new possibilities for replacing metal parts in several applications, including power electronics, electric motors and generators, heat exchangers, etc., thanks to the polymer advantages such as light weight, corrosion resistance and ease of processing. Current interest to improve the thermal conductivity of polymers is focused on the selective addition of nanofillers with high thermal conductivity. Unusually high thermal conductivity makes carbon nanotube (CNT) the best promising candidate material for thermally conductive composites. However, the thermal conductivities of polymer/CNT nanocomposites are relatively low compared with expectations from the intrinsic thermal conductivity of CNTs. The challenge primarily comes from the large interfacial thermal resistance between the CNT and the surrounding polymer matrix, which hinders the transfer of phonon dominating heat conduction in polymer and CNT. This article reviews the status of worldwide research in the thermal conductivity of CNTs and their polymer nanocomposites. The dependence of thermal conductivity of nanotubes on the atomic structure, the tube size, the morphology, the defect and the purification is reviewed. The roles of particle/polymer and particle/particle interfaces on the thermal conductivity of polymer/CNT nanocomposites are discussed in detail, as well as the relationship between the thermal conductivity and the micro- and nano-structure of the composite

Functionalization of carbon nanotube scanning probes for advanced studies of ferroic thin films

Ferroic materials at the nanoscale reveal new properties and functionalities as such they are recognized as extremely promising materials from both fundamental and application point of view. One of the major tool used to advance studies of ferroic thin films is the atomic force probe microscopy (AFM). In the present work, we study the synthesis, fabrication, processing, and characterization of carbon nanotube (CNT) scanning probes with a further application to ferroic thin film. Our main results include both experimental and theoretical studies of ultra-high resolution magnetic force microscopy imaging of spin nanostructures of soft magnetic materials with ferromagnetically-coated CNT probes, transport measurements of dielectric-coated-CNT AFM probes, and piezoresponse force microscopy studies of switching dynamics in ferroelectric thin films. Notably, we performed the non-perturbative imaging of spin nanostructures with a resolution higher than that of X-ray microscopy, and at ambient conditions

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In modern conditions a basis of activity of the person becomes the principle of ecological rationality including development and practical use of systems, technologies and the ways providing reception of ecologically safe production of animal industries. Heavy metals concern to number of the most dangerous objects of an environment The sizes of their distribution and intensity of migration in an environment have got dangerous character for normal functioning and health of people. In this connection there is a real necessity of development of strategy of regulation of a level of heavy metals for system about “ground - an atmosphere - water - a plant - an animal - the person”, basing on the interconnected and mutually conditioned processes of their circulation. Cadmium concerns to group of heavy metals. Its increased contents in an organism of the person reduces ability to resist to illnesses. It has mutagen and cancerogenic properties, negatively influences on a heredity. It also promotes development of diseases of kidneys, and also a gastritis and an anemia