Drive tourism has proven to be a popular sub-sector of the tourism industry, given its ability to offer tourists a substantial amount of flexibility and sense of freedom in determining what destinations to explore. Few studies have examined the future of the drive tourism with consideration to changing technologies and growing awareness to the impact of carbon emissions and Green House Gasses. Research has recently begun to examine the ecological consequences of park transportation systems. Some of these problems can be seen within the United States National Park System (NPS), as various park units are experiencing problems related to infrastructure and preservation of sites. As transportation plays an integral role within the NPS, the impacts of drive tourism must be considered. The study is founded on the premise that electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging stations will reduce GHG emissions, thereby increasing sustainability, supporting sustainable tourism and sustainable drive tourism within the NPS. In an effort to promote sustainable transportation efforts throughout the NPS this study investigates the facilitators that enable an EV infrastructure in some parks and inhibitors for other parks that have yet to develop an EV infrastructure. A qualitative methodology was adopted for this study. Data were analyzed using NVivo with findings being presented in case study format. The study, which offers a conceptual model and offers new definitions for electric vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure within nature based tourism context, finds key facilitators to include: collaborative efforts through public/private partnerships, strong leadership within the NPS, and availability of funding; major inhibitors being: geography of park unit, lack cultural openness within NPS park unit, and regulatory policies. Current research has given little attention to the future sustainability of drive tourism, allowing this study to add to the academic body of knowledge. Additionally, the suggestions offered in the study are relevantly timed to what is happening within the industry.

Focusing on positive service encounters, this study examined the relationships among employee behaviors, customers' positive emotions, and subsequent customer behaviors. A comprehensive framework of positive service encounters and ten hypotheses were developed based on an in-depth literature review and an application of the theory of cognitive appraisal and the theory of positive emotions. The dissertation employed a survey design with measurements from previous research and collected data with Amazon Mechanical Turk. The target sample (N=299) was individuals that had a positive interaction with an employee at hotels over the last six months. The Structural Equation Modeling results suggested that employees' mutual understanding affects customer gratitude and employees' unsolicited behaviors and competence influence customer delight. Subsequently, customer gratitude has a positive relationship with customers' repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth. In addition, customer delight has a positive relationship with customer' repurchase intentions and positive word-of-mouth. However, the results of the study did not support that customer delight can be triggered by employees' authenticity and customer gratitude can be evoked by employees' customized service. In addition, the relationship between customer gratitude and customers' providing feedback was not established. This study provides valuable implications for the industry regarding generating favorable customer behaviors in positive service encounters. This research also offers a theoretical explanation of systematic relationships among five dimensions of employee behaviors, two customers' discrete emotions, and three customer behavioral intentions in positive service encounters.

Team cohesion has been clearly established in the literature as an essential component of effective work teams, yet little research has been conducted in regard to what factors lead to cohesion within a restaurant management team. What is currently known about the antecedents of cohesion indicates that it emerges from individual team member attitudes and perceptions as a collective property of the team. This, in turn, suggests cohesion is influenced by the dispositional traits of team members. The core evaluations construct, which represents a model of dispositional traits existing within each individual at the most basic level, offers implications for the emergence of cohesion in both of its forms, task cohesion and social cohesion. To help bridge the gap in prior research, this study was conducted to investigate the influence of core evaluations on team cohesion within restaurant management teams. This study first adopted and modified Judge et al.'s (1997) theoretical model of core evaluations, advancing a model in which two types of core evaluations, self and external, were both second-order latent constructs each reflected by four first-order evaluative traits. The proposed trait structure was then tested. Finally, drawing on approach/avoidance theory and social exchange theory, this study hypothesized a multilevel model in which the dispositional traits of core self-evaluation (CSE) and core external-evaluation (CEE) at the individual front-line manager level have positive effects on task and social cohesion within restaurant management teams. To accomplish the objectives of this study, a survey research design was employed. The survey instrument was comprised of four sections: core self-evaluation, core external-evaluation, team cohesion, and demographic profile. Data were collected from managers employed by four restaurant franchise groups, resulting in a useable sample of 317 individual responses composing 76 teams ranging in size from 2-6 members. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the factor structure of CSE and CEE, as well as the overall measurement model. The task and social cohesion items were then aggregated to the team level and multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) was conducted to test the relationships between latent constructs. The results of this study supported the second-order factor structure of core evaluations. CSE was shown to be reflected by self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, emotional stability, and locus of control. CEE was shown to be reflected by belief in a benevolent world, belief in a just world, and belief in people. Due to sample size, a reduced-parameter model was developed in which CSE and CEE were treated as sub-dimensions and measured by mean scores. MSEM results from this model showed that CSE had significant positive effect on team task cohesion whereas CEE had a significant positive effect on team social cohesion. These results offer numerous theoretical and practical implications for the study of core evaluations, team cohesion, and micro-macro phenomena, which are discussed in the final chapter. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

The purposes of this dissertation are threefold: to define and operationalize different types of authenticity, to test the interactive network of different types of authenticity, and to test the relationships between authenticity and tourist outcome variables including transformation, place attachment, and loyalty. In psychology, authenticity is typically conceptualized to be subject-based in nature, referring to a person's state of being true to oneself across contexts and against external influences. This type of authenticity has been termed "dispositional authenticity" and operationalized in this study in dimensions of authentic living, accepting external influence, and self-alienation. In tourism, authenticity is usually considered to be object-based in nature, place authenticity, referring to the strength of the traditional/original cues in destinations. The level of tradition or originality is either expert-defined or laymen-perceived, constituting two distinct types of authenticity. This dissertation focused on the latter for its relevance to tourists. This type of authenticity was named "subjective object-based authenticity" and was operationalized in dimensions of the built and non-built environment. In sociology and tourism, a fourth type of authenticity emerged with a hybrid nature. This type of authenticity is subject-based in nature, referring to one's feeling true to their own thoughts and feelings; however, the sense of trueness is not context-stable but temporary and subject to one's exposure to the traditional/original cues they perceive at a destination. This type of authenticity was termed "imaginary authenticity" and measured in newly developed dimensions of a sense of nostalgia and a sense of ideal life. Twelve hypotheses were created to postulate the relationships among dispositional, place, and imaginary authenticity and three tourist outcome variables: place attachment, transformation, and loyalty. This dissertation chose the positivist paradigm and quantitative methodology for the purpose of theory-testing. The study design was a web-based survey collecting data from Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Respondents answered the survey based on their travel experience to one of the three destinations that they had visited: Mexico, Italy, and China. A total of 588 surveys were collected, 566 cases remained after data cleaning. The measurement model and structural model were assessed using Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Partial Least Squares- Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) using Smart-PLS. The results supported the main claims regarding the role of dispositional authenticity, and the influence of the authenticity network on subsequent tourist outcomes. A multigroup analysis was also conducted to detect destination-based deviations on the hypotheses. Theoretical and managerial implications as well as limitations and future suggestions were also discussed.

Prior to this study, no analysis had focused on the 31% failure rate recorded among theme parks opened in North American between the years 1955 and 2009. This study's purpose was to identify the causes of closures among the 23 failed theme parks and inform the industry of what can be learned from these business failures. Business failure analysis typically stresses the impact of financial ratios and the accuracy of certain negative numbers to predict impending failure, but such studies avoid examining the underlying causes that lead to poor financial performance in the first place. To focus on this question, this study adopted an events approach to discover the actual event causes that preceded failure and business closure. This study tabulated the frequency of event occurrences among two samples: failed/closed theme parks and a comparable sample of surviving theme parks. Event occurrences were more common among the failed/closed sample than among the surviving theme parks sample. A detailed analysis revealed that six of the 21 events measured were more common among the failed/closed theme park sample: declaring bankruptcy; excessive debt or general unprofitability; low customer satisfaction, defined as not offering enough to do in the park and/or inadequate capacity; development pressures; limited space for expansion; and a location in a regional geographic market. Theme parks failed more frequently due to involuntary event causes than due to voluntary closures. And, in contrast to previous studies, the occurrences of internal environmental events associated with business failure were not significantly different from the occurrences of external environmental events associated with failure. These findings identified events that have preceded failure or closure in theme parks and can provide insights to operators and industry decision makers on how best to prevent or better manage such business closures in the future.

The increasing demand for spa and hot spring resorts, particularly within the luxury markets, provides an opportunity for new types of accommodations. This study focused on Ryokan which is described as traditional Japanese hotels with hot springs. Despite the recent trend of expanding Japanese Ryokans in the global market, most extant research had only focused on perceptions of customers who have experienced Ryokans. Therefore, this study explored what attributes of Japanese Ryokans are important to potential customers and to what extent these attributes could enhance perceived values toward Japanese Ryokans. A total of 983 usable responses were collected through an online self-administrative survey on Qualtrics. The results of this study identified four major dimensions of Japanese Ryokan's attributes (i.e., hotel attributes, hot springs and spas, Japanese servicescape, and Japanese culture) and two major dimensions of perceived value (i.e., functional & hedonic value and symbolic & financial value). Overall, Japanese servicescape, Japanese culture, and hot springs and spas had a significant positive effect on both value dimensions, while hotel attributes positively related to functional & hedonic value. In addition, the two dimensions of perceived value significantly mediated the relationship between Ryokan attribute dimensions and purchase intention. This study contributes to the theoretical foundation in the lodging literature by identifying dimensions of Japanese Ryokan attributes which reflect the unique characteristics of Japanese Ryokans within the luxury hot spring hotel/ resort context. Furthermore, the results of this study revealed potential consumers' value perceptions toward luxury Japanese Ryokans and their effects on purchase intention. Overall, this study provided useful guidelines for Japanese Ryokans to create value-based marketing strategies.

Considered a disrupter in the lodging industry, sharing economy accommodations have become an emergent field in hospitality literature. While this literature predominantly addresses peer-to-peer accommodations such as Airbnb, it has not considered timeshares, one of the sharing economy pioneers. However, consumer behavior literature has integrated timeshares into the sharing economy due to the shared resource of accommodations between consumers. This study examined the determinants of Satisfaction (Amenities, Community Belonging, Economic Benefits, Trust, and Vacation Counselor/Host) for consumers of two different types of sharing economy lodging products, timeshares and peer-to-peer accommodations, and their electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) behavior. Considered a critical travel information source, eWOM has been attributed to affecting purchase decisions in hospitality literature. Current research has revealed a gap in peer-to-peer accommodation studies related to eWOM. This study extended eWOM research by exploring the role of Satisfaction as a mediator between the determinants and eWOM. In addition, accommodation type (timeshare vs. peer-to-peer accommodation) was investigated as a moderator to the relationship between the determinants and Satisfaction, and to the relationship between Satisfaction and eWOM. The study employed the two-step approach of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM). The results indicated that Amenities, Community Belonging, Economic Benefits, Trust, and Vacation Counselor/Host had a positive impact on sharing economy lodging Satisfaction. Amenities, Economic Benefits, and Trust demonstrated an indirect effect on eWOM behavior through sharing economy lodging satisfaction. The model also revealed that Community Belonging had a direct effect on eWOM. Multiple group SEM revealed that accommodation type moderated the effect of Community Belonging's impact on sharing economy lodging Satisfaction, as well as the effect of sharing economy lodging Satisfaction on eWOM behavior. Satisfaction did not mediate any relationships for peer-to-peer accommodations. This study extends eWOM literature and provides competitive advantage insights between two sharing economy accommodation types.

Some of the most vulnerable areas across the world have started experiencing the consequences of climate change, with action to deal with it long overdue. Florida, one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, holds one of the most 'unenviable' positions in terms of its vulnerability to climate change with the effects already visible, particularly on its coastal areas. Climate is one of the major factors in affecting travel motivations and destination choice, and as such the implications of climate change for tourist behavior and demand patterns are significant. Beside the physical impacts of climate change, society's perception of climate change, and the response to it at various decision-making levels, have become critical issues. This dissertation presents the perspective of tourists who have previously visited Florida, in a hypothetical scenario of changed climatic conditions. It is proposed that existing social representations about climate change, and therefore individuals' attitudes, views and beliefs concerning this phenomenon, need to be taken into account when examining tourists' stated intentions regarding their prospective visitation intentions and potential changes in future tourism demand. Using social representation theory as a theory of reference, this dissertation presents an analysis of visitors' responses to climate change impacts and adaptation measures, in consideration of their attitudes towards climate change. The main purpose of the study was to understand whether, with the implementation of adaptation strategies directed to limit negative impacts of climate change, the likelihood of tourists to return to Florida would improve in comparison with a future in which no action is taken at the state level to address climate change. In this scenario, the filter of social representations in shaping tourists' perspectives was used as a system of explanation of different tourist responses. This study contributes to the tourism and climate change body of knowledge by advancing a further step toward understanding potential responses of tourists in a scenario in which a destination's most appealing climatic and natural resources are impacted by climate change. The existence of a relationship between tourist's visitation intentions and the social representations they hold with respect to climate change offers a different way to look at tourists' stated responses. In fact, this study shows that predicting shifts in tourism demand based on stated visitation intentions requires caution. The findings of this study can encourage future researchers to pursue a more critical way of exploring the meaning behind tourists' stated responses, which could lead to expanding our current understanding of how climate change will transform tourism demand across different destinations.

The purpose of this dissertation is to create a holistic diversity management measurement scale and to analyze the impact of diversity management on employees' attitudes and behavior in the hospitality and tourism industry. Effective diversity management can have a multitude of positive outcomes in the hospitality and tourism industry. However, there is little research conducted regarding the direct and indirect impacts of diversity management on the attitudes and behavior of hospitality and tourism industry employees. This dissertation used a mixed-method approach to create a measurement scale to evaluate diversity management practices for the hospitality and tourism field. The first study of this dissertation included a scale development process using a qualitative and then a quantitative phase. Literature review and semi-structured interviews were conducted for developing the items for the diversity management scale. These items were then refined to finalize the diversity management measurement scale through a quantitative phase using exploratory factor analyses. The impact of diversity management on hospitality and tourism industry employees' job performance, service innovation behavior, and engagement were analyzed through a quantitative study using this measurement instrument. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized research model. The present research is the first of its kind in the hospitality and tourism field. The measurement scale developed in this study will expand the boundaries of diversity management research in the hospitality and tourism industry. This current research further establishes a link between diversity management and positive employee-related outcomes in the hospitality and tourism industry. The assessment of these relationships should extend the literature and open new models of academic research with additional organizational outcomes. Leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry can gain vital insight regarding the importance of effective diversity management through the study results.

International Labor Organization estimated that 40.3 million people were victims of human trafficking in 2016. The high rate of human trafficking has drawn policymakers' attention to this issue and made them enforce anti-trafficking laws and regulations. However, their legal measures have not been based on solid empirical evidence due to the lack of academic research on human trafficking. The scant research available on human trafficking has been mainly descriptive or an investigation of sex trafficking cases to provide help to survivors. Thus, there is a need for research to explore human trafficking as a human rights issue through various perspectives such as sociology and psychology and within various contexts such as hospitality and tourism. To respond to the above-mentioned need, the current research aims to examine the antecedents of hotel employees' likelihood to help the victims of human trafficking. The U.S. lodging industry is the selected setting of the current study since it is recognized as one of the top venues of human trafficking. A conceptual framework was developed and a survey-based quantitative study was conducted to test it. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Findings showed that employees' sympathy, feelings of compassion towards the victims, is the key factor to their likelihood to help. Also, employees' familiarity with human trafficking and perceived susceptibility of the lodging industry to human trafficking play an important role in their decision-making process to help. The present study provides important theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, the study addresses the research gap by focusing on the psychological and sociological aspects of human trafficking and integrating egoism and altruism schools of thought. Practically, the study provides insights for the lodging industry practitioners on the increase of employees' prosocial tendency towards victims of trafficking.