ABSTRACT
Purpose: Crisis management has developed as an established field of scholarly research in tourism over the last three decades. More recently, the concept of resilience has emerged within this body of literature as a longer-term planning process. However, important knowledge gaps remain, especially with regards to the strategic responses of small tourism businesses in destinations prone to repeated crises. Design/methodology/approach: This chapter reviews the literature related to crisis management and resilience in tourism. Findings: Key knowledge gaps are outlined and discussed in the context of tourism research related to crisis management and resilience, with a specific emphasis on research related to small tourism businesses. Originality: Although crisis management and resilience are fields of research that continue to generate a considerable amount of scholarly enquiry in tourism, particularly with studies related to the impacts of terrorism on tourism destinations and, more recently, the short-and longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism, there is very little research related to the role of small tourism businesses in this context, in spite of their key role in the tourism system of destinations around the world. © 2022 Sofia Lachhab, Tina Segota, Alastair M. Morrison and J. Andres Coca-Stefaniak.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: This paper aims to examine critically the literature on transformational tourism and explore a research agenda for a post-COVID future. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic review of the transformational tourism literature is performed over a 42-year period from 1978 to 2020. Findings: Further research is required in terms of how transformative experiences should be calibrated and measured both in qualitative and quantitative terms, particularly from the perspective of how tourists are transformed by their experiences. Similarly, the nature and depth of these transformative processes remain poorly understood, particularly given the many different types of tourism associated with transformative experiences, which range from religious pilgrimages to backpacking and include several forms of ecotourism. Practical implications: Future research directions for transformational tourism are discussed with regard to how COVID-19 will transform the dynamics of tourism and travel, including the role of new smart technologies in the creation of enhanced transformational experiences, and the changing expectations and perceptions of transformative travel in the post-COVID era. In addition, the researchers call for future studies on transformational tourism to explore the role of host communities in the delivery of meaningful visitor experiences. Originality/value: Transformational tourism is an emerging body of research, which has attracted a growing level of interest among tourism scholars in recent years. However, to this date, a systematic review of published literature in this field has not been conducted yet in a holistic sense. This paper offers a framework for future research in this field.
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Purpose: This study aims to investigate the consumer acceptance of robots in hotels before and after COVID-19, with a specific emphasis on whether COVID-19 had a significant effect on the acceptance of robots by hotel guests and whether guests had higher levels of acceptance of hotel robots since the initial COVID-19 outbreak was brought under control in China. Design/methodology/approach: The sample for this research included Chinese hotel guests before and after COVID-19, with 247 responses obtained before its outbreak and a further 601 responses gathered after. Several hypotheses were developed and tested in a pseudo-experimental design. Findings: The results showed that COVID-19 increased hotel guest acceptance of robots. After COVID-19, the perceived importance of the usefulness, social influence, attitude and value of robots increased, while the perceived importance of the ease of use and anthropomorphism of robots decreased. As a contactless service, the usefulness of robots was more valued by customers. This led customers to lower their requirements for the ease of use of robots. In addition, people were more concerned about the social influences on robot use. Research limitations/implications: Hotel guest attitudes and behavioral intentions toward robots and the services they can provide are changing. However, whether this change is purely ephemeral and motivated by a pragmatic stance triggered by COVID-19 remains to be established. Practical implications: The hospitality industry is encouraged to create a new profile of guests in terms of their favorable or unfavorable disposition toward being served by robots. Hotels should consider the deployment of robots according to the demographic characteristics of customers (e.g. according to guest age levels). Originality/value: This research demonstrated that major crises affect customer attitudes and behaviors toward new technologies. COVID-19 resulted in guests paying more attention to the advantages of services offered by hotel robots as a means of reducing the probability of contagion. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
ABSTRACT
Although the significance of tourist risk perceptions is well documented, perspectives on risk associated with major pandemics such as COVID-19 remain poorly understood, especially from the viewpoint of destination crisis management. This research measured risk perceptions among Chinese residents related to travelling to Wuhan after the outbreak of COVID-19. Based on the concept and dimensions of tourist risk perceptions, a risk perception scale with 13 items on four dimensions (health, financial, social. performance) was developed and validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Risk perception differences among visitor groups were identified based on 1818 survey responses collected during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. The results show that occupations and place of residence had significant effects on all 13 items, while gender, age, educational attainment, and income independently affected some items. Similarly, respondent involvement in disease prevention and control, losses suffered during the pandemic, and previous experiences of visiting Wuhan were found to produce significant differences.
ABSTRACT
The moderation roles of empathy and perceived waiting time (PWT) on post-pandemic travel intentions have not as yet been investigated. This study of 684 Chinese resident respondents elicited how COVID-19 risk messages affected post-pandemic travel intentions. The results showed that people exposed to messages in the risk-amplifying frame had lower basic travel and destination travel intentions than those who were exposed to messages in the risk- attenuating frame. Empathy had a beneficial effect on basic travel intentions and had an inducing effect on destination travel intentions only in high-risk situations. High PWT tourists had more positive destination travel intentions in the risk-attenuating frame. The findings provide a theoretical basis for future research as well as practical implications for destination risk communications and market restoration during a public health crisis. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the influence of socially- responsible human resource management (SRHRM) on employee fears of external threats during the COVID-19 outbreak, based on social support and event system theories. COVID-19 caused sharp profit declines and bankruptcies of hotels, restaurants and travel agencies. In addition, employees faced threats to their health and job security. How to overcome employee anxieties and fears about the negative impacts of this crisis and promote psychological recovery is worthy of attention from researchers and practitioners. This research investigated the impacts of SRHRM on employee fears through organizational trust, with the COVID-19 pandemic playing a moderating role between SRHRM and employee fears. Design/methodology/approach: The hypotheses were tested through multiple linear regression analysis based on a survey of 408 employees in hospitality and tourism firms in China. Qualitative data were also gathered through interviews with selected managers. Findings: The results showed that SRHRM had a negative influence on employee fears of external threats by enhancing trust in their organizations. In addition, the strength of the COVID-19 pandemic positively moderated the effect of SRHRM on employee fears. When the pandemic strength was more robust, the negative effects of SRHRM on employee fears were more significant. Research limitations/implications: This research illustrated the contribution of SRHRM in overcoming employee fears of external threats in the context of COVID-19. It shed light on the organizational contribution of SRHRM to hospitality and tourism employee psychological recovery during the crisis. Originality/value: This research explored strategic HRM by examining the effects of SRHRM on employee fears in the midst of a severe crisis, specifically COVID-19. The moderation effect of event strength and mediation effect of organizational trust were tested. It is of great value for hospitality and tourism firms to foster employee psychological recovery during a crisis such as COVID-19. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.