Innovations in tourism marketing: e-services and modern technologies

Nowadays, when a plethora of innovations found its way into the field of tourism marketing, the impact of the new technologies is likely to change the way international tourism will develop in the forthcoming decades (see Beeton, 2004; or Carl et al., 2007)

Innovations in tourism marketing: Operation Anthropoid in Prague

The aim of this article. Nowadays, when a plethora of innovations found its way into the field of tourism marketing, the impact of the new technologies is likely to change the way international tourism will develop in the forthcoming decades. A very cheap but effective way how to innovate the traditional tourism marketing approach in cultural tourism destinations might be through game-like appsmartphone and tablet apps based in a cultural destination that would involve local stories, myths and legends and blend them with popular culture, represented by literary works and films. This paper explores the potential of the geolocation game app based on the events of “Operation Anthropoid” that took place in Prague in 1942. Our results demonstrate that geolocation games constitute very successful examples of innovations in tourism marketing that profit from novel technologies. The results of the analysis. The paper clearly shows how innovations featuring modern ICT technologies might be employed in modern tourism marketing. It demonstrates how the in-depth focus groups can be used to assess residents and tourists’ preferences for a tourism smartphone and tablet app that would enhance access to intangible cultural heritage in Prague using the WWII story of bravery and heroism. Overall, we find that the tourism potential of Operation Anthropoid story in Prague remains largely unused. The majority of the visitors visiting the National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror (the crypt of the Cyril and Method Church where the final battle between the SOE parachutists and Gestapo took place) are from abroad. Our survey held in March 2015 with the visitors of the Memorial confirmed these findings and revealed most of the visitors come from United Kingdom, France, United States, Australia, and the Netherlands. The majority of these people stated that they learned about the story of Operation Anthropoid from the British 1975 war film “Operation Daybreak” or from the book “HHhH” by the French writer and historian Laurent Binet. Moreover, our results show that the potential smartphone and tablet app should contain an opening introductory video about the Operation Anthropoid, an interactive map, facts & details augmented reality photos, a quest with a possibility to collect points or play against other users, as well as the information on the Prague transportation and the possibility to buy tickets online. The app should be offered free of charge, as a so-called “light version” with a possibility to buy the full version, or should be offered for free download at App Store or Google Market with an option to send a donation to its creators. Conclusions and directions for further research. Our results might lead to the successful creation and implementation of the geolocation game which became very popular recently due to the breath-taking success of the “Pokemon Go” game worldwide. As for the pathways for further research, an analysis of attributes and other features of potential app might be also tested using a conjoint analysis approach or revealed preferences techniques. Some more research can be done on eliciting the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the potential app-like game

Innovations in tourism marketing: e-services and modern technologies

Nowadays, when a plethora of innovations found its way into the field of tourism marketing, the impact of the new technologies is likely to change the way international tourism will develop in the forthcoming decades (see Beeton, 2004; or Carl et al., 2007)

Market design for a high-renewables European electricity system

This paper presents a set of policy recommendations for the market design of a future European electricity system characterized by a dominant share of intermittent renewable energy supply (RES), in line with the stated targets of European governments. We discuss the market failures that need to be addressed to accommodate RES in liberalized electricity markets, review the evolution of the EU’s RES policy mechanisms, and summarize the key market impacts of RES to date. We then set out economic principles for wholesale market design and use these to develop our policy recommendations. Our analysis covers the value of interconnection and market integration, electricity storage, the design of RES support mechanisms, distributed generation and network tariffs, the pricing of electricity and flexibility as well as long-term contracting and risk management

Academic Publishing and «Predatory» Journals

Introduction. Publications in prestigious academic journals have a significant impact on the institutional rankings and help researchers to get grants. Problem Statement. Nevertheless, the issue of «where» to publish became more important than «what» to publish. The academic race for the higher number of publications led to debates about the phenomenon of the so-called «predatory» journals that publish scientific «rubbish» for money without proper peer review. Purpose. The purpose is to reveal the essence of «predatory» journals and to prove the necessity of indexation as an effective tool for assessing the quality of scientific publications. Materials and Methods. The ratings of scientific journals and publications in academic journals and «predatory» journals have been compared. Results. The Czech Republic is one of the countries that seem to be particularly obsessed with the issue of «predatory» journals making a storm in a teacup. According to some estimates, between 2009 and 2013, several Czech universities made around 2 million USD from their researchers their papers and monographs in «predatory» publishing outlets. The case of «predatory» journals was used by some less-productive institutes of the Czech Academy of Sciences to question the system of world's established academic metrics such as Scopus and Web of Science. Conclusions. All this is possible because currently there are many controversial lists and registries of «predatory» journals, which often contradict each other. However, it appears that indexation of academic journals in Scopus and Web of Science databases is more relevant for their academic worthiness than classifying them in accordance to a plethora of various amateurish lists and blogs.Вступ. Публікації в престижних наукових журналах мають суттєвий вплив на рейтинги вищих навчальних закладів та допомагають молодим науковцям отримувати ґранти. Постановка задачі. Академічна гонитва за великою кількістю публікацій призвела до дискусій про феномен так званих «хижих» журналів, які публікують наукове «сміття» за гроші без належного рецензування. Мета. Розкрити сутність «хижих» журналів та довести необхідність індексації як дієвого інструменту оцінки якості наукових публікацій. Матеріали й методи. Використано порівняння рейтингів журналів та наукових публікацій в академічних виданнях та «хижих» журналах. Результати. Чеська Республіка є однією з країн, яка особливо переймається питанням щодо «хижих» журналів. За деякими оцінками, за період 2009—2013 рр. декілька чеських університетів отримали близько 2 мільйонів доларів від публікацій своїх досліджень в газетах та монографіях «хижих» видавництв. Деякі «хижі» журнали використовувалися окремими менш продуктивними інститутами Чеської Академії наук, щоб ставити під сумнів систему світових наукових метрик, таких як Scopus та Web of Science. Висновки. Все це можливо, тому що на сьогодні існує значна кількість списків та реєстрів «хижих» журналів, які часто суперечать один одному. Проте з’ясовується, що індексація академічних журналів у базах даних Scopus та Web of Science більш актуальна для їхньої академічної доброчесності, ніж класифікація їх відповідно до безлічі різних аматорських списків та блогів.Введение. Публикации в престижных научных журналах оказывают значительное влияние на рейтинги высших учебных заведений и помогают молодым ученым получать гранты. Постановка задачи. Академическая гонка за большим количеством публикаций привела к дискуссиям о феномене так называемых «хищных» журналов, публикующих научный «мусор» за деньги без надлежащего рецензирования. Цель. Раскрыть сущность «хищных» журналов и доказать необходимость индексации как действенного инструмента оценки качества научных публикаций. Материалы и методы. Использовано сравнение рейтингов научных журналов и публикаций в академических изданиях и «хищных» журналах. Результаты. Чешская Республика является одной из стран, которая особенно одержима вопросом о «хищных» журналах. По некоторым оценкам, за период 2009—2013 гг. чешские университеты получили около 2 миллионов долларов от публикаций своих исследований в газетах и монографиях «хищных» издательств. Некоторые из «хищных» журналов использовались отдельными менее производительными институтами Чешской Академии наук, чтобы подвергнуть сомнению систему общемировых академических показателей мира, таких как Scopus и Web of Science. Выводы. Все это возможно, потому что в настоящее время существует множество списков и реестров «хищных» журналов, которые часто противоречат друг другу. Однако оказывается, что индексация академических журналов в базах данных Scopus и Web of Science более актуальна для их академической значимости, чем классификация в соответствии с множеством разнообразных любительских списков и блогов

Applicability of forecasted bankruptcy models to Russian industrial companies

The application of effective methods for forecasting of the bankruptcy of industrial companies is always an urgent task for businesses, especially at the present stage which is characterized by an extremely high uncertainty. The paper presents the main techniques of bankruptcy modelling used in the world's practice: logit, probit and MDA-models, as well as the special private methods developed on their basis. These tools constitute the methodological foundation of our research. To assess the practical applicability of these methods to the contemporary Russian market, two sectorial companies (bankrupt and nonbankrupt) are selected as the object of study. A feature of the research is the use of financial statements of companies developed according to Russian and international standards. In the course of the calculations, we apply external and internal restrictions related to the key rate, credit history characteristics, age and regional affiliation of companies. Based on the dynamic assessment, we draw conclusions about the practical applicability and inapplicability of certain forecast models for the Russian economy. We investigate the relationship between the assessment results and the type of source data used. Research veracity is confirmed using generally recognized models and methods, as well as the practical implementation of the results obtained. We can recommend to use these results for improving the existing models for predicting bankruptcy and developing new ones, as well as for owners and investors of companies who need to make strategic decisions. © 2020 South Ural State University. All rights reserved.The work was supported by Act 211 of the Government of the Russian Federation (contract no. 02.A03.21.0006) and GSEM UrFU Development Fund

Economic performance and convergence in the Eurozone

This paper is organized as follows: the first part briefly outlines the Optimal Currency Area (OCA) theory. The second part focuses on the methodology used in the analysis, while the results of the analysis itself are presented in the third section. The final part of the paper provides conclusions and discussions of the main results. The aims of the article. The aims of the article is to evaluate one of the conditions of the OCA theory – the convergence criterion. The results of the analysis. This paper deals with determining the factors that impact the convergence of the Czech economy to the economy of Eurozone. Moreover, it attempts to determine the level of economic convergence in the EU using the β-convergence and σ-convergence techniques. The existence of this convergence is one of the necessary conditions for the creation of Monetary Union as stems from the Optimal Currency Area theory. The paper employs the OCA theory as the key theoretical basis for empirical analysis and evaluates the cyclical and structural synchronization by the means of correlation coefficients of the GDP development, industrial production, inflation and interest rates. It should be noticed that the Czech economy is constantly not synchronized with the Eurozone in terms of demand shocks which might be seen as a potential problem. As far as the international comparison goes, the Czech Republic is convergent with the core of Eurozone countries, possibly even more than some EA member states. This fact demonstrates the undisputable level of heterogeneity in the Monetary Union. When it comes to the existence of economic convergence among the current EU member states during the time period of 1995-2012, the main findings can be summarized as follows: there was σ-convergence during the whole period concerned among the EU27, with some shorter sub-periods of divergence (as in the late 1990s and in 2009-2010). Moreover, there is quite a robust evidence of the existence of β-convergence in 1995-2012 since the relatively poor states grew on average faster than the rich ones. The pace of catching up increased after the EU Eastern Enlargement in 2004. In addition, in the 1990s we detected no convergence, while in the pre-crisis 2000s we found evidence for the convergence being the fastest and the most robust. Since the start of the world economic and financial crisis (from 2008 onwards), the convergence was not detected. Conclusions and directions of further researches. The results point out at the considerable level of convergence of the Czech economy (except the shock analysis), even though the values seem to be overvalued due to the recent economic and financial crisis. But now it appears that it is optimal to keep the Czech crown as the national currency for some time yet although the level of convergence probably improves over time

Information Technology and Digital Sufficiency for Building the Sustainable Circular Economy

Information technologies possess the significant potential to improve the efficiency of resources and optimize energy usage, as well as make a significant contribution to the sustainable circular economy (CE). The concept of digital sufficiency provides a framework for understanding how information technology can be part of significant achievements in the circular economy, especially when embraced by business companies. Moreover, the possibility of the implementation of closed-loop resources has become possible with the development of digital manufacturing technologies. However, the research of establishing the CE in SMEs, especially in fossil-energy-abundant countries, such as the Russian Federation, is quite limited. Our paper fills in this gap by studying the adoption of CE practices as well as the investments for promoting CE in Russian SMEs through such factors as the existence of R&D, bank loans, and access to grants at the national and international level. It achieves this based on the data sample of 314 managers of Russian SMEs. Our results demonstrate that the investment or existence of R&D in SMEs and knowledge of CE as well the governmental funding and access to wider markets all together tend to have a significant and positive effect on implementing and investing into CE in SMEs, while the administrative barriers yield a small but negative effect. These results might be helpful for the relevant stakeholders in order to identify factors catalyzing attention from both the SMEs engaged in CE transitions, as well as help the decision makers wishing to foster the transformation of the SMEs to a circular economy. We can conclude that supporting SMEs (both financially and via increasing their public awareness) to make their own transitions towards CE has a societal effect that can speed up a greener transition and significantly contribute to increasing energy efficiency. © 2023 by the authors

Future Development of Renewable Energy in Russia: A Case of Solar Power

Currently, there is a growing number of studies related to assessing the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy projects around the world. This topic is also very relevant for the Russian energy market that is otherwise dominated by oil and gas. The Russian Ministry of Energy forecasts that local power plants running on the renewable energy sources (RES) may not become economically efficient until 2025 or later. However, a research question arises: Is it possible to effectively implement RES projects in Russia without any state support? In order to answer this question, the authors need to assess the economic feasibility of seven scenarios for the construction of a solar power plant in the Orenburg region of Russia. The methodological basis of this work is the widely used in the energy sector classic method of investment analysis based on the calculation of discounted indicators: net present value (NPV), payback period (DPP) and internal rate of return (IRR) of the project. All our calculations are based on industry-specific initial capital investment estimates, energy storage equipment costs, and related annual operating costs. This led to the development of the scenarios on the basis of an analysis of the features of electricity and capacity generation in the Orenburg region, the existing options for joining the trading system of the energy market, energy storage applications, as well as the availability of the Russian government support and funding for the solar energy projects. Our results demonstrate that the economic feasibility of the development of renewable energy in Russia can become a reality. Out of the seven scenarios, three yielded the positive economic outcome (among them there were the two project scenarios without government support). These two projects featured the sale of electricity in retail markets and the installation of an additional energy storage system, despite an almost twofold increase in capital investments. The projects in question achieved the best economic results according to the three calculated criteria. In particular, the scenario that provided for the work on the retail market directly to the energy consumer receives an NPV of more than 1.5 times higher than other projects, an IRR of 10% and pays off at least 3 years faster. Achieving a positive economic result in the wholesale market was possible only in case of state support for the project. In addition, this scenario of the project numerically reached almost identical indicators, as in the case of selling energy on the retail market in the region where the power facility operates: NPV is almost 127 million rubles, IRR is within 13.9%, and DPP is 15 years. Other scenarios that do not provide for the use of energy storage systems or do not have state support for working in the wholesale market are not self-sustaining even during the 25-year life of energy equipment. These results might have practical significance and will be used in developing an approach to creating a profile of regions in terms of the advancements of renewable energy, as well as in developing strategies for the incentives of this sector in Russia. Copyright © 2022 Rausser, Chebotareva, Smutka, Strielkowski and Shiryaeva.Government Council on Grants, Russian Federatio

Revealing Renewable Energy Perspectives via the Analysis of the Wholesale Electricity Market

The wholesale electricity and capacity market constitute the backbone of the Russian power industry. It is in this market that large suppliers and buyers operate, and its entire turnover is consequently transmitted to the retail market. Our paper presents a theoretical overview of the main tools for forming the cost of electricity and capacity in the wholesale market in Russia (depending on the regional affiliation), the type of end users, and the degree of state participation. We consider the specifics of the formation of the cost of electricity and capacity in the price and non-price wholesale markets of Russia, which differ in territorial, climatic, and economic characteristics, as well as the established structure of generation. In the empirical part of the paper, we carry out a structural analysis of the volumes of trade in electricity and capacity in the price and non-price zones of the market. Furthermore, we explain the reasons for the current dynamics of prices in the wholesale market. Using the obtained results, we calculate the maximum annual effect of the solar power plant operation in various zones of the Russian wholesale market, as well as in the retail market. In addition, we estimate the economic incentive for the transition of the functioning of power facilities from the wholesale to the retail market. Our results can be of considerable practical importance and might be used for improving the strategy for the development of the electric power industry at the regional level both in Russia and in the other countries. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This work was supported by a grant from the President of the Russian Federation (MK-4549.2021.2)