Managerial Hubris, Trade-Associations, and Regulatory Knowledge in Micro-Firms

To avoid breaking the law for regulatory non-compliance, it is essential that micro-firm owner-managers are aware of deficiencies in their knowledge, so that they can seek improvement and avoid over-confidence (i.e. hubris) in their knowledge levels. Using newly collected survey data from micro-firms in the English accommodation sector and multivariate techniques, the authors explore the possibility of hubris by making a novel distinction between the Perceived-Knowledge and Actual-Knowledge of regulation held by micro-firm owner-managers. Both Perceived-Knowledge (from self-assessment) and Actual-Knowledge (from a simple test) over four core areas of regulation are found to be different, generally poor and suggestive of hubris. The relationship between these knowledge levels is further explored by considering the role of trade association membership (since they support members) and attitude (since it effects learning). Attitude is found to be positively associated with both forms of knowledge, while trade association memberships are also found to be associated with enhanced Perceived-Knowledge, but not Actual-Knowledge. In light of the results, the authors suggest several priority areas for improving Actual-Knowledge and self-assessment skills, and areas for future research.</p

Developing Dementia-Friendly Tourism Destinations: An Exploratory Analysis

Dementia is emerging as a global issue. Increases in life expectancy create an older population structure with accompanying health needs but also high lifestyle expectations. For example existing generations have come to expect to be able to participate in leisure and tourism activities in later life, which can be constrained by the onset of dementia. Leading healthy lifestyles and engaging in tourism activities are viewed as fundamental to remaining active and contributing to slowing the progress of dementia. This study is the first to examine the challenges and implications of the growing scale of dementia and the business opportunities this may create for destinations wishing to achieve dementia-friendly status. The paper reports results from an initial scoping study with tourism businesses in a coastal resort in the United Kingdom with such ambitions to assess the nature of the issues that arose from a series of face-to-face interviews

Exploring Well-being as a Tourism Product Resource

This study employs a qualitative research approach where focus groups (n ¼ 11) with key stakeholders were used to understand how tourism investors view the concept of well-being in relation to tourism and the potential to use it as a tourism product resource. Findings validated by a wider group (n ¼ 50) exposed the barriers and enablers of implementing well-being in this way. The potential for businesses and policymakers to transform these barriers into enablers was also identified. In addition, study findings were mapped onto a robust model extracted from the public health sector and applied in a tourism context using a systems theory approach. This further highlighted the potential offered to the fields of public health and tourism in the concept of well-being, and demonstrated the well-being value of tourism. Data from this research will aid tourism business practice and development by embedding a well-being philosophy for tourism destinations' strategies

The touring reader: understanding the bibliophile's experience of literary tourism

This research explores the literary enthusiast’s experience of planning and undertaking literary inspired trips. The research reconceptualises the dominant figure of the literary pilgrim, inspired to visit sites associated with favourite authors, by using detailed results from 30 open-ended surveys distributed to delegates at a literary conference. The findings indicate that these keen readers prefer to plan their own trips and shun organised attractions and mainstream tourist information in favour of employing the texts themselves as source material. Respondents then feed back their experiences into the re-reading of the literary text. These findings are analysed using the concept of concretisation borrowed from literary theory. This concept, which has not been used in previous tourist studies, reflects the experience of these visitors who are using travel to solidify their reading of favourite books. This research therefore highlights the interdependence of texts and travels and emphasises the important role that imagination plays in the experience and recollection of tourist trips