ABSTRACT
This study marks an early attempt to evaluate staycation incentive programs initiated by local authorities. It aims to gauge the effectiveness of staycation programs in cultivating learning opportunities and restorative benefits with an emphasis on temporal positive psychological outcomes amid this continuing pandemic. Relying on a survey-based research design, we conducted a survey with 409 local tourists in Macau, where a recent staycation initiative has attained prominent success. We then undertook the structural equation modeling test using AMOS. Results show how short local excursions could still fortify one's psychological capital with respect to ephemeral improvement in hope, confidence, optimism, and resilience in the face of extenuating circumstances. By synthesizing a path leading from COVID-related distress to fortification of a more prepared mental state for the new normal through the staycation's experiential benefits, this study thus puts forth a mechanism that explains why tourists/residents engage in staycation programs, as well as illuminating the psychological values associated with such activities. By answering these questions, this research improvises a three-stage process that identifies pre-trip, during-trip, and post-trip mental encounters that improve participants' psychological capabilities, even if only temporarily. The present inquiry sheds light on a new form of sustainability: mental (or psychological) sustainability. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
PurposeThis study aims to unlock a ritual chain mechanism that promotes socio-mental (or socio-psychological) resilience. This study draws on interaction ritual chains theory and the concept of transformative service to answer the question of how people could be inspired toward an elevated level of group solidarity, emotional energy, morality and, thus, socio-mental resilience. Design/methodology/approachThis study took a qualitative approach resting upon online reviews and observations from an augmented food festival about hot pot delicacies dedicated to medical workers fighting hard amid the early coronavirus outbreak. FindingsThe results of this study point to four primary ritual outcomes (e.g. emotional energy, group solidarity, symbols of relationships and standards of morality) along with a two-tier micro-macro socio-mental resilience sustainability paradigm. Research limitations/implicationsEmpirical findings from this study could help operators to justify their transformative initiatives as means for customers to replenish their depleted physical and mental resources. Originality/valueThis inquiry presents new nuances to interaction ritual chains. This study also extends the transformative role of hospitality services to accentuate a linkage among individuals, communities and the society.
ABSTRACT
The casino industry may have been stigmatized by its notorious image due to the negative consequences that gambling brings. Yet, they are at the forefront in combating the pandemic, taking a proactive stand to expedite corporate social responsibility (CSR) through a constellation of means in a timely manner. Moreover, the majority of research focuses on the long-term strategic CSR, leaving ad-hoc CSR initiatives that are responsive without previous planning underexplored. Proactive and prompt CSR efforts exerted by casino conglomerates hence offer researchers a case in better understanding this rarely researched area pertaining to just-in-time CSR amid a mega turbulence. Based on data collected from casino websites, social media, and other public media, we have organized their initiatives into themes germane to safeguarding their personnel and guests, giving encouragement to the society, contributing to financial charities as well as daily necessities and protective supplies, promoting safety and better quality of life during the pandemic, and more. These endeavors do make a real difference in saving lives as well as uniting the community to build up resilience to mitigate the aftermath of the crisis. These expedited CSR efforts render a new phenomenon that we refer as just-in-time CSR. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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This study draws on life history theory to rationalize how tourism enterprises make decisions and evolve during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a case study approach, the current work improvises the house of trade-off paradox as a visual metaphoric framework that integrates three major dyadic trade-off pairs along with four organizational resource configuration aspects. This inquiry further synthesizes the wheel of selection strategy to pinpoint a mechanism in which tourism agencies mutate to adapt to a new normal based on acute environmental shocks. We further provide practical implications for operators with valuable insights germane to post-pandemic recovery.
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Purpose: This study aims to move beyond the current understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to propose the concept of just-in-time (JIT) CSR as a metaphor that reflects hospitality operators’ endeavors to expedite socially responsible measures to both internal and external organizational stakeholders during times when functional and emotional supports are urgently needed. Design/methodology/approach: This research used a qualitative approach in two studies. Study 1 engaged a media analysis to better grasp the knowledge of the research problem at hand. Study 2 involved interviews from stakeholders to assess their emotions and perceptions of meanings of major contents discerned from the first study. Findings: This research highlights a process in which operators’ CSR practices (e.g. for business practices, for organizational strategy and for stakeholder well-being) during the COVID-19 crisis are imbued with connotative meanings (e.g. place-as-safety, place-as-partnership and place-as-warmth) that ultimately give shape to three core outcomes (e.g. individual rejoinder, brand resonance and societal resilience). Research limitations/implications: While JIT CSR is not an antidote for all devastations caused by COVID-19, it is posited as a needed mechanism that operators could use to ameliorate the situation and to go beyond their own stake to bring a broader array of societal benefits to humanity. Originality/value: This research underscores how hospitality operators expedite crisis responses to the pandemic, and how their societal objectives transform the image of a place from a commercial venue into a place imbued with meaning associated with safety, partnership and warmth. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Purpose: This paper aims to analyze how a real-time COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Macao’s hospitality industry, and illustrates why lessons from COVID-19 are an opportunity for further development for the city. Design/methodology/approach: This case study highlights local government and hospitality industry responses to a real-time crisis. Academic studies, media news and reports have been collected to illustrate why the Macao’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic could be taken as a city case study example. Previous crisis experience provided guidance to Macao’s success in this pandemic. Findings: Macao has succeeded in managing the adverse effects of COVID-19, illustrating the coexistence of challenges and opportunities from experiencing the epidemic. With no COVID-19 cases in the city, cross-border tourism with China resumed in September. Macao is undeniably over reliant on the gambling industry to provide tax income and employment, creating an unbalanced industrial structure. However, the Chinese and Macao Governments, the hospitality industry and other stakeholders, have presented high levels of engagement, unity and rational courses of action during the pandemic. This paper examines Macao’s two orientations – intra and post-coronavirus – which are shown to be instrumental in the city’s future tourism development. Practical implications: As the paper is Macao-specific, some generalization may not be applicable. The lessons and strategies proposed in the paper may only be theoretically and temporarily workable in this real-time situation. However, as COVID-19 will remain for some time globally, the efficacy of the findings justifies further ongoing analysis and application beyond Macao. Originality/value: The case offers a first-hand analysis on the governance of Macao to negate the impacts of COVID-19, enabling a comprehensive review on the practices and policies that were effective during the virus outbreak. There is reference for researchers and practitioners in the public policy domain, and particularly in the area of crisis management and destination resilience. The result is worthy of future exploration on how the mechanism of centralized government facilitates risk management, and the rebuilding of a tourism economy in a crisis context, comparing this to other national systems. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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This study explores airline corporations’ crisis communication by underscoring how they capitalized on public relation campaigns to fortify favourable corporate image by conveying positive message frames during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employed corpus linguistics to assess the evolution of corporate communication with respect to pre/early-crisis and during-crisis stages, based on a large volume of corpus data retrieved from press releases from major aviation enterprises. Message frames changed from business-as-usual with emphasis on business success and optimistic future prospects in the pre/early-crisis phase to corporate image fortification with emphasis on organizational resilience, social responsibility, and empathy. This study introduces a framework of process response, which highlights a mechanism in which resource endowments of organizational capabilities shape the extent to which organizations react to major disturbances through the aforementioned impression management frames. Discussions along with means to reframe business models are presented to identify what airline corporations could do when facing severe adversity. This study contributes to the literature by statistically comparing lexical items from a large corpus of textual contents in different crisis stages to illustrate changes in management’s crisis response tactics and focus through an evolution of framing mechanism. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.