To What Extent Does the Food Tourism ‘Label’ Enhance Local Food Supply Chains?:Experiences from Southeast Wales

Local food emphasises destination distinctiveness as food production is a locally embedded activity. Proponents of food tourism contend that it increases local food consumption as tourists and tourism and hospitality businesses are attracted to local food supply chains, where they can buy direct from the producer, thus reducing overheads, contributing to local economies and benefitting local communities. Yet the extent to which the food tourism rhetoric enhances the local food supply chain is questionable as evidence suggests that the food tourism ‘label’ creates a silo, which impairs connections with local food supply chains. Seven semi-structured interviews were undertaken in Southeast Wales to explore the food tourism rhetoric, particularly the connection with local food supply chains. Three themes emerged: demand versus supply; information provision; complexity and connectivity in food tourism and local food supply chains. Ultimately, this paper challenges traditional viewpoints around food tourism being a panacea for local food producers.</jats:p

Social tourism & older people: the IMSERSO initiative

Extant demand-perspective social tourism studies have generally focused on children, families and the disabled whilst older people remain an under-researched group in relation to the personal and social benefits of social tourism initiatives. This study discusses the lack of research on social tourism and older people and takes a demand-side perspective to examine one of the world’s most developed and large-scale social tourism schemes for older people, the Spanish Government’s IMSERSO programme. A qualitative approach explores the nature of older people’s engagement with the scheme and its impact on their wellbeing, through individual in-depth interviews with twenty-seven IMSERSO participants in Benidorm, Spain – a popular IMSERSO destination. The thematic analysis is structured around five themes: social connectivity, the impact of caring responsibilities, a new beginning, escape and practical support. The findings for these IMSERSO participants suggest that, as factors such as caring obligations and hardship experienced in early life are reduced in later life, they have the capacity for increased holiday-taking and social activity and consequently for participation in the IMSERSO scheme. The scheme is found to have a positive impact on their wellbeing by providing opportunities for meeting and interacting with new people, acting as a distraction from ill-health and thus reducing stress, depression and anxiety. However, the article raises questions over the ability of those without strong social networks, including no partner, and those with ongoing caring responsibilities (those who, it could be argued, are most in need of a holiday) to participate in the scheme

Smart Systems and Collaborative Innovation Networks for Productivity Improvement in SMEs

The adoption of Smart Manufacturing Systems in manufacturing companies is often seen as a strategy towards achieving improvements in productivity. However, there is little evidence to indicate that UK manufacturing SMEs are prepared for the implementation of such systems. Through the employment of a triangulation research approach involving the detailed examination of 36 UK manufacturing SMEs from three manufacturing sectors, this study investigates the level of awareness and understanding within SMEs of Smart Manufacturing Systems. The development of a profiling tool is shown and is subsequently used to audit company awareness and understanding of the key technologies, collaborative networks and systems of SMS. Further information obtained from semi-structured interviews and observations of manufacturing operations provide further contextual information. The findings indicate that whilst the priority technologies and systems differ between manufacturing sectors, the key issues around the need for developing appropriate collaborative networks and knowledge management systems are common to all sectors

Smart Systems Implementation in UK Food Manufacturing Companies:A Sustainability Perspective

The UK food industry faces significant challenges to remain sustainable. With major challenges, such as Brexit, on the horizon, companies can no longer rely on a low labour cost workforce to maintain low production costs and achieve economic sustainability. Smart Systems (SS) is being seen as an approach towards achieving significant improvements in both economic and environmental sustainability. However, there is little evidence to indicate whether UK food companies are prepared for the implementation of such systems. The purpose of this research is to explore the applicability of Smart Systems in UK food manufacturing companies, and to identify the key priority areas and improvement levers for the implementation of such systems. A triangulated primary research approach is adopted that includes a questionnaire, follow-up interviews, and visits to 32 food manufacturing companies in the UK. The questionnaire and interviews are guided by a unique measuring instrument that the authors developed that focusses upon SS technologies and systems. This paper makes an original contribution in that it is one of the few academic studies to explore the implementation of SS in the industry, and provides a new perspective on the key drivers and inhibitors of its implementation. The findings suggest that the current turbulence in the industry could be bringing food companies closer to the adoption of such systems; hence, it is a good time to define and develop the optimum SS implementation strategy

The application of group consensus theory to aid organisational learning and sustainable innovation in manufacturing SMEs

This paper investigates the exploring of situated knowledge within manufacturing organisations, with employees from a four-tier supply chain utilising a form of Group Consensus Theory (GCT). The implementation of GCT through focus groups as well as individual interviews with participants and observation of group dynamics allowed the authors to characterise the dynamics of learning and application of innovation projects and, identifies the types of innovation strategies in relation to organisational dynamics and knowledge. The aim of the work is to identify the underpinning issues relating to organisational dynamics and organisational learning in relation to innovation. Direct feedback from the SMEs will inform the analysis of how and in what way manufacturers can meet the challenge of increasing the attitudes towards improving innovative activities in companies. This paper extends the theoretical development around organisational learning towards understanding how companies within supply chains learn and innovate. This work therefore focuses upon inter-company learning and innovation which is largely under-developed from a research viewpoint. The method developed is practical, and may be used by organisations for themselves to aid the development of group as well as individual reflection, to stimulate the consideration of change. The results suggest that a clear connection exists between how companies are managed and led and, the resulting organisational learning capabilities of the collaborative team

Using the Perceptual Experience Laboratory (PEL) to simulate tourism environments for hedonic wellbeing

Measuring the relationship between stress, mood and tourism in natural settings is problematic in terms of the ability to undertake detailed, systematic and accurate monitoring. This paper presents the results of a preliminary investigation into the use of an immersive simulated tourism environment to measure tourisms’ potential to alleviate physiological and psychological stress and enhance mood. The objectives of the study were to record and analyse participants’ heart-rate data before, during and after three experiences (workplace setting, TV-watching setting and simulated tourism setting) and to undertake completion of mood questionnaires before and after each of these three experiences, allowing comparative pre- and post-mood analysis. Qualitative data was also gathered from the participants about these three experiences, in particular the simulated tourism environment. The preliminary results demonstrate that PEL effectively creates a simulated tourism environment which can be used for measuring stress and mood as signifiers of hedonic wellbeing