The International PhD student journey

Realising the growing diversity of post graduate researchers in the UK, this article aims at shedding light on the complexities of the research journey for international students by analysing and interpreting the cultural assumptions embedded in the PhD process. This study uses the researcher as the phenomenon under investigation which is the essence of auto-ethnographical research. Auto ethnography is a reflexive genre of writing that could help us understand a larger cultural pattern. It is used in this study to reflect on some of the researcher’s challenges throughout her PhD process focusing on the supervisory role in providing academic and non academic support. It was apparent that, cultural assumptions shape students’ expectations and pose challenges on the student-supervisor relationship. Except for supervisors’ initiatives, nothing was done by universities in order to prepare supervisors to cope with these culture-related challenges

Am I lovin’ it? Tourists and the McDonald’s experience abroad

Global organisations such as McDonald’s play a part in the tourist experience not only by offering food and drink, but also by providing other informal benefits such as clean toilets, air conditioning and increasingly wifi. While their contribution to the tourist experience may go beyond the notion of “convenience”, an investigation into their influence on the tourist gaze and the impact on the perception, the otherness and the staged authenticity of the tourism product proves interesting. The purpose of this study is to assess tourist experience of McDonald’s and the ways in which they interact with and relate to its products and services whilst traveling abroad. This study used comments from internet sites located by searching for McDonald’s, tourism, abroad and visiting abroad. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo were used for the purpose of this search. Comments were sorted into main themes included convenience, detractors, authenticity, American culture and otherness. These main themes were further categorised into sub- themes and the relationships of comments between and within categories were identified and discussed. Further research is required to quantify the results of this study and broaden the scope of the study to include other global brands

A personal narrative of a Muslim woman’s journey in the hospitality industry

This is a work-in-progress paper that offers an autobiographical exploration of the journey of a Muslim woman in the UK hospitality industry. As the researcher is the primary source of data, autoethnography is used as the method of data collection. Autoethnography is a first person account of an individual’s experience, which is used to shed light on larger cultural patterns. Primary finding from this account implied the need for mangers to extend more effort to integrate Muslim migrant workers in the UK hospitality industry. Further research is needed to explore Muslim migrants’ experiences in the UK hospitality industry and the current managerial practices to integrate them

The Role of the Global Fast Food Chains in Tourism: A Qualitative Internet-Based Study

This article discusses the use of Internet data in a qualitative study into the role of global fast food chains in the worldwide tourist experience. This topic is of practical and theoretical interest in the study of tourism. Data was collected by accessing discussion materials in the public domain concerning tourists and global companies such as McDonald’s and Starbucks. Analysis was conducted using a grounded theory approach. A series of interviews was conducted on the subject of travel and fast food, then analysed accordingly. Results are presented and various methodological issues are discussed. The practicalities of accessing participants worldwide, obtaining feedback with minimal intrusion, differentiating between different categories of respondent, differentiating open discussion from advertising and other potentially biased material, and verifying the information gathered from the internet is organised . The philosophical questions arising from the study, such as the classification and web identities of tourists, their motivation and the minimisation of bias is discussed. In addition, the ethical implications of a web-based study of this kind are identified and discussed

The practice of relationship marketing in hotels

In relationship marketing most research has focused on the desired outcome without paying much attention to its essential constituents. In acknowledgment, this research explored the key dimensions necessary for the implementation of a relationship marketing strategy. A number of key dimensions of relationship marketing were identified in this research, amongst which are market segmentation, organisational memory, organisational culture, role model, relationship management, service customisation, trust and commitment. This research employed a qualitative case study approach in order to explore the activities involved in the implementation of relationship marketing in hotel groups and to gain a better understanding of the approaches taken by hotels to build, develop and maintain long term customer relationships. The issues underpinning this research were investigated in a mid-market hotel company located in the United Kingdom with softer and harder brand hotel groups. Multiple research methods included participant and non-participant observations, in-depth qualitative interviews with hotel managers and the company's marketing director and qualitative interviews with a number of the company's customers to ensure reliability of the data collected. The data gathered from the research methods was analysed using ethnographic techniques. Key findings from this research indicated that a relationship marketing strategy depends on an organisational culture that is relationship orientated, an organisational memory that involves a database system and staff memory, service customisation, managers as role models, trust and commitment. However, customer loyalty and relationship marketing are not necessarily linked as a transactional approach to marketing can also achieve high brand loyalty, if products are differentiated. Customers can have an emotional tie with a hotel brand without the implementation of an interactive approach. Furthermore, in the case of a softer brand hotel group, customers tend to develop a stronger relationship with the individual hotels than with the brand as opposed to in a harder brand hotel group where customers develop a stronger relationship with the brand than with the individual hotel units. To conclude, this research suggests that a transactional approach to marketing can be equally effective in achieving high brand loyalty and that relationship marketing should only be directed to current and potential profitable customers

Emotional Intelligence and hotel employees in Vietnam

Recent research recognises the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the Hospitality Industry. Hospitality employees are required to regulate their emotions effectively during face-to-face interactions with customers, which form a crucial part of the experience. Hospitality research in EI has only explored issues such as its role in managerial positions and its relationship with work-related factors such as social skills, stress management, counterproductive work behaviours and work effectiveness. Furthermore, most studies have taken a quantitative approach to examine the relationship between EI and such factors. Taking a qualitative approach, this study explores employees’ understanding and application of EI in interactions with both domestic and international customers as well as co-workers in Vietnamese hotels. The research has three stages of data collection; focus groups with hotel employees, semi structured interviews with hotel employees and use of the Critical Incident Technique. This paper reports on the focus group interviews, examining employee understanding of EI during interactions with customers and co-workers. Initial findings suggest that hotel employees are aware of EI and its application in interactions with customers and colleagues. The majority emphasised that learning from real-life situations is more effective for improving emotional control than training programmes developed by hotels or universities

The female tourist experience in Egypt as an Islamic destination.

In Islamic destinations female tourists face the added challenge of negotiating their way through male constructed local norms. This paper fills the gap in gender and tourism research with a focus on female tourists’ experiences in Egypt as an Islamic destination, outlining the diverse ways in which gender shapes and influences their experiences. A qualitative approach was taken to explore women's coping strategies with the male sexualised gaze that they encountered during their holiday in Egypt, and sheds light on measures taken towards safeguarding themselves. Their experiences were highly influenced and often involuntarily altered by unwanted male attention and sexual harassment, as the women felt the need to fit into local female norms of behaviour in order to safeguard themselves

‘Home and away: Why do consumers shy away from reporting negative experiences in the peer to peer realms?’

Consumers of the collaborative platforms such as Airbnb assess their overall experiences not only from their perceptions of its quality, but also from the perceptions of home that they bring with them. This study investigates how customers use their construct of ‘home’ in perceiving their experience in peer-to-peer rented accommodation, as opposed to traditional hotels, that could lead to bias in their reviews. The literature has paid considerable attention to people’s perceptions of destinations, but almost none to their perceptions of ‘home’ and its complexities whilst visiting a destination. This paper examines relationships between the concepts of ‘home’ or ‘here’ represented in peer to peer accommodation and the construct of ‘away’ or ‘there’ represented in traditional hotels. The literature dealing with concepts of ‘here’, ‘there’, closest to the notions of home and away, is reviewed in an attempt to understand whether the notion of home shapes the experience and affects the reporting behaviour of consumers using peer to peer accommodation. This paper uses mixed methods to determine the existence of bias in reporting behaviour then explores its underlying motivations. Key findings indicate that there is a consistent review gap between institutional actors and peer to peer actors. Also, consumers of peer-to-peer accommodation prefer not to engage in negative reporting if a bond with the host is developed. Moreover, their perception of home shapes their relationship with the host and leads to reporting bias. This paper provides clear theoretical insights to advance our knowledge about the underlying motives behind reporting behaviour of negative experiences. Furthermore, it offers practical implications for both institutional and peer-to-peer contexts

An Exploratory Study on the Antecedents of Occupational Commitment among Hospitality Educators in Hong Kong

In recent years, the growth in hospitality management programmes and the demand for hospitality educators in Hong Kong has increased dramatically. The hospitality industry, educational institutions and hospitality students also have high expectations of hospitality educators. Due to an increased need to recruit and retain qualified hospitality educators, this research seeks to understand the occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong. Occupational commitment is an important indicator of a number of factors. It is found that occupational commitment is closely related to work-related stress, job satisfaction and occupational retention (Jamal, 1990; Borg et al., 1991; Jepson and Forrest, 2006; Klassen and Chiu, 2010). However, there is lack of research investigating the occupational commitment or its antecedents of hospitality educators. Therefore the study aims to gain an insight into the occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong. This research identifies the key antecedents affecting occupational commitment and investigates which of these antecedents influence the occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong. It also explores the reasons why hospitality educators are committed to hospitality education profession in Hong Kong. The research presented in this paper is one element of wider study. For this part, a qualitative research method and purposive sampling is adopted. Four focus groups comprised of twenty hospitality educators currently working in Hong Kong have been conducted. The results found that the flexibility of hospitality education work, non-shift work pattern, the self-actualization needs in education, career opportunities and occupational image are the key antecedents of occupational commitment of hospitality educators in Hong Kong

What helps or hinders the Emotional Intelligence practice? A study of Vietnamese hotel workers

Purpose – Drawing from emotional labour (EL) and emotion regulation (ER) theories, the paper identifies what helps and what hinders the Emotional Intelligence (EI) practice of Vietnamese hotel workers. Researching EI qualitatively from a novel context highlights the influence of culture on EI. Methodology – The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) was adopted as the qualitative methodological approach using a self-administered form and semi-structured interviews to collect empirical data from a sample of 34 Vietnamese hotel workers in 19 different hotels. Findings – The findings show that following Joseph and Newman’s (2010) cascading model of EI would help hotel workers in their practice. The research also found different factors hindering the EI practice from the individual and organisational levels. Vietnamese culture was believed to guide deep-acting and meditation. Language barrier and manager support emerged as significant factors that could help or hinder their EI practice. Implications – The research proposes a conceptual framework addressing the factors that could help or hinder the EI practice and provides implications for HR practices and management. Caution could be taken when applying the research implications due to the small sample as a nature of qualitative research. Originality – This is the first attempt to appraise the EI practice adopting the CIT as a qualitative methodological approach in an under-research context, and add evidence to the theoretical links between EI, EL, and ER