Tourism in a New Role: The Relation between Destination Development and Social Well-Being

Tourism, making up an ever growing share of Hungarian GDP has become a key factor in the branches of national economy. Tourism Destination Management organisations (TDMs) guide and coordinate the life of tourism as bodies operating on local and regional levels. These organisations were so far investigated from the vocational aspect of tourism, or their competitiveness was analysed from the management side. The research into these organisations from the point of view of innovation is a new element: how large and what kind of performance was delivered by these groups in the wake of the subsidies of the past EU budgetary cycle. Innovation research analyses – according to the Quadruple helix model – the fourth helix, as a media-based civic community, highlighting the importance of civic society and its role in the efficiency of innovation systems. TDM organisations shall be considered as media-based civic groups shaping communities and the extent and dimension of their role in implementing social innovation be analysed. The research conducted in 2016 investigates this correlation system hypothesising that TDM organisations are key workshops of social innovation and thus one of the pillars of social well-being. The aim of this paper is to prove, or deny: TDM organisations are the birthplaces of – social – innovation and the cooperation system of TDM organisations supports the development of social well-being. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Developing Touristic Destination – Innovation Performance Issues

Tourism is one of the most developing branches of service sectors. The paper deals with a key area of a Central-Eastern-European country (Hungary) from the European perspective, i.e. tourism. Tourism provides a remarkable ratio of GDP, thus its importance is inevitable. Tourism destination management (TDM in further text) organisations are local building stones of this important branch. These organisations received remarkable development funds in the previous budget period. The aim was to turn tourism into a competitive and innovative branch. Quadruple helix model – approach to innovation systems provides the opportunity to include the fourth helix – the media-based civic society – into the innovation performance, thus its performance influences the efficacy of the given innovation system. The paper assumes that these TDM organisations, as media-based civil organisations, appear as enterprises that are responsible for touristic innovation performance. The research objective is to prove, or deny that these institutions are important workshops of innovation. A survey research was conducted. In the meantime, feedback was collected about the structure, comprehensiveness and the logical structure of the questionnaire. Cooperation characteristics, the correlations between the innovation performances, the factors generating innovation and the reason for innovation are presented. The results of the study can be used by the state-governed tourism management, the vocational organisations and the Hungarian Tourism Ltd. in the process of establishing the framework of calls, and operational models in order to make international comparisons (with other countries)

Tourism in a New Role: The Relation between Destination Development and Social Well-Being

Tourism, making up an ever growing share of Hungarian GDP has become a key factor in the branches of national economy. Tourism Destination Management organisations (TDMs) guide and coordinate the life of tourism as bodies operating on local and regional levels. These organisations were so far investigated from the vocational aspect of tourism, or their competitiveness was analysed from the management side. The research into these organisations from the point of view of innovation is a new element: how large and what kind of performance was delivered by these groups in the wake of the subsidies of the past EU budgetary cycle. Innovation research analyses – according to the Quadruple helix model – the fourth helix, as a media-based civic community, highlighting the importance of civic society and its role in the efficiency of innovation systems. TDM organisations shall be considered as media-based civic groups shaping communities and the extent and dimension of their role in implementing social innovation be analysed. The research conducted in 2016 investigates this correlation system hypothesising that TDM organisations are key workshops of social innovation and thus one of the pillars of social well-being. The aim of this paper is to prove, or deny: TDM organisations are the birthplaces of – social – innovation and the cooperation system of TDM organisations supports the development of social well-being. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Innovation in the Service Sector: A Possible Recipe for Success for the Spa Towns of Central Europe

To achieve a competitive advantage, innovation, which provides the possibility to meet the customers’ needs a new and higher level, is inevitable for companies. Resources providing the basis of economic development are not widely available and cannot be easily replaced; therefore, expansion of trends focusing on innovation is unavoidable. In the past decade, service sector offered the most knowledge-intensive jobs in the most developed countries of the world. The utilization of research and development results becomes more and more intense that is accompanied by the need that the decision-makers and the actors of the service sector shall have adequate information at disposal. Water is the gold of modern age, and thermal water has been the basis of thermal culture (and business) since ancient times. The Central European region is abundant in thermal water; therefore, the exploitation of such resource is a logical step. In the past decades, developments based on thermal water were carried out in the region. Nowadays, however, it is clear that innovation takes the central role of successful operation in this sector, too. This paper examines the innovation-centred services of spa towns by highlighting on the theoretical background and the necessity for the successful business operation. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Settlement-Territorial Identity

Belonging to groups is an integral part of our lives. We can interpret this to our narrower environment (family, friends, workplace), or in the extended space, to our cities and regions. These bonds only exist as long as the members consider the relationship valuable and important. Binding to a group is called identity. A research was carried out in 2017 in which we interviewed the decision makers of Central European cities about territorial identity. In this study we intend to interpret identity primarily on a territorial basis. Furthermore, we examine the elements of settlement identity, find good practices according to settlement affiliation and present the research results. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Measuring Work and Environmental Culture as Part of the Internal CSR

Corporate social responsibility is an approach that supports sustainable business operations. Among the elements of the CSR concept (leadership, employees, environment, society, product and service) inward activities are examined in the present study based on the aspects of employee safety and working environment. Examining environmental and occupational safety culture helps the leadership to uncover the areas to be developed in strategy planning. Employee satisfaction, safety and the adequate working conditions are important to have motivated and committed workforce. Currently in the labor market the employees\u27 decision is affected not only by the wage and career opportunities, but also by the working environment and the operational view of the company. We developed an evaluation criteria system for assessing work and environmental culture. In this paper, the results of the measurements are presented that were conducted among the employees of a big corporation. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Water Industry Sector

Corporate social responsibility is an important means of achieving sustainability. More and more companies recognize the fact that responsible operation has a number of results that supports sustainability and thereby the long-term competitiveness. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 deals with the issue of Clean Water and Sanitation and to ensure sustainable water management. Previous research on the subject have revealed that most of the company executives are not aware of the elements of the CSR concept. This research examines the social responsibility of the Hungarian water industry. We wanted to know whether the water companies- who deal with water in the industrial and service sectors- operate in a responsible way, as the water is one of the Earth\u27s most precious natural resources. The results of the research show the organizational factors that most contributes to responsible operation as well as the formed clusters based on the CSR intensity of the Hungarian water companies. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

The Opportunities of Small and Medium-Sized Cities in the Globalizing World

Most researchers prefer to analyse the competitiveness and innovativeness of metropolitan areas. In this study we have the intention to characterize the small- and medium-sized cities in the Central and Eastern European region, as well as to explore their possible development path. We believe that one of the ways for developing these cities is to strengthen the innovation capabilities that means on one hand increasing the innovation performance of the operators, on the other hand, the new ways of interactions between other organizations to tackle social problems. The theoretical starting point is the interpretation and presentation of the micropolitan regions, as well as understanding the concept of technological and social innovation. As the result of the research, the innovation measurements carried out in some of the settlements will be represented. These experiences can help the small and medium-sized cities to be able to keep up with the global competition, cancel migration and the erosion of the intellectual potential. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

The Interpretations of Social Innovation and the Helix Models through a System of University Relations

According to the triple helix model, the dynamic of the innovation system development of a region or sector is determined by the closeness and intensity of state - company - university collaborations. The fourth spiral assumes the importance of the civil society. The appearance and acceptance of the third and fourth spiral model means the birth of the concept of social innovation and the beginning of its research. The fifth helix, that is the ecological approach, strengthens further the possibility of the interpretation of social innovation as the knowledge-based development, the social, political and civil dimensions can be expanded by the issue of sustainability. In 2015 a research was carried out focusing on the tender and corporate relationships of a major university. It was intended to determine these relationships on the basis of social innovation capabilities and the areas of the helix-s theory were also sought in these interactions. In conclusion, the universities are not only determinative in case of the triple helix model, but they also have an outstanding role in the development of social innovation. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Green hopes: Spatial and Settlement Development Operative Programs in the Programming Period 2014-2020

The problem of sustainability has become one of the most crucial issues on the highest European levels. The European Parliament has voiced its support of action plans and their elements regarding sustainable consumption and production. One practical manifestation is the fact that in the programming period 2014-2020 sustainable development appears as a requirement of the European Union (EU in further text) subsidy systems. The access to subsidies is not limited to a branch-wise differentiation, but is also available on a regional, local basis. This was what smart specialisation prepared. The financial and structural frame is provided by the Spatial and Settlement Operative Program (TOP in further text) which provides local communities calls on a regional selection. The further aim, the reduction of administrative burdens and a more simplified call process, could so far not be achieved, as there was rather an increase in the administrative burdens of local governments. Local governments can often only fulfil this complicated criteria-system by involving external experts. The research was aimed at a project about a TOP-based “green town establishment” on the example of European small town. In the followings, the substantiation of the needs-measurement and utilisation plan and the related primary and secondary research will be presented. The aim of the research was the analysis of the substantiation of the project and the measurement of its cohesion with other – urban – strategic documents. This work is licensed under a&nbsp;Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p