Internet Room Diagramming Solutions (RDS) has been regarded as not only one of the most innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) marketing media for raising the profiles of hotel and convention centre properties, but also as a practical tool to try out and to communicate planners’ ideas on meeting and event designs. However, there is little research specific to RDS in the hospitality management and the event management research fields. In the first phase of this research, a three-round modified Delphi technique was employed with an expert panel to generate, validate and prioritise a comprehensive set of dimensions and criteria for measuring the productivity and effectiveness of a leading RDS in the marketplace, and a hierarchical structure of these dimensions and criteria is presented. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used in the third round to generate relative priorities and to give weightings of these dimensions and criteria. In the phase two of this research, an AHP survey was conducted with the venue operators in the U.S. chain hotel systems for revalidation of the priorities and weightings of the dimensions/criteria which had been previously identified by the Delphi Panel experts. The client base of the leading RDS provider, MeetingMatrix, was used to conduct this survey. Forty-eight effective responses from the survey results have successfully revalidated some of the relative priorities in comparison with the Delphi results. Consistency exists in the priorities of criteria in Impact on Business Partner Relationships, Impact on Customer Satisfaction and Organisational Context. The criteria identified in this research could be adopted in order to conduct further research concerning performance measurements such as the ICT Balanced Scorecard for strategic management. The research methodology and approaches used could also be applied to performance measurements for general innovative ICT applications such as social media.

Despite a ubiquitous interest, the concept of collaboration remains elusive. Regardless, the pervasiveness of discourse pertaining to it continues to infiltrate policy as public sector reform advocates for behaviour and practice driven by an ethos of “joining-up”. The interdependency of the transport-tourism relationship provides an opportunity to consider collaboration in a context where the benefits of integration can be substantial. Within island domains the reliance of tourism economies on efficient transport systems is intensified. Consequently this research presents an analysis of the scope, role and nature of collaboration between industries whose sustainability is to a large extent symbiotic and critical to local prosperity. A review of the literature demonstrates a lack of focus on research pertaining to a stakeholder perspective of the transport-tourism relationship. Within the island environment, studies on this scenario of cross-industry engagement further diminish although the argument expressing the significance of transport in tourism is vociferous. Gaps were also identified in the conceptualisation of collaboration inhibiting a universal definition and thus a comprehensive understanding. The primary research adopted a qualitative approach. Data was collected through a series of semi-structured interviews from stakeholders across transport and tourism who fulfilled pre-considered criteria. The key findings identify constraints to collaboration in the form of structural disparity while divergent industry objectives further impede practical integration. Despite this, the role of “islandness” neutralises barriers to engagement. The propensity to cultivate social capital within these boundaried geographies provides an environment naturally conducive to the creation of collaborative capacity. Consensual development of shared goals between collaborating parties manifested as intrinsic for the purpose of buy-in and commitment throughout the collaborative process. Similarly, an absence of leadership in practice resulted in highlighting the fundamental role it delivers within collaboration. The empirical findings provide both practical and theoretical contribution. Further they present policy-makers with evidence-informed suggestions to address impediments which prevent the practice of collaboration.

This study sought to investigate whether there was a relationship among environmental performance, economic results and social media presence that contributed to the competitive advantage of Florida Green Lodging Program eco-certified hotels. While eco-certifications were not specifically cultivated for marketing on social media websites, the two-dimensional logos were developed as a meaningful marketing tool that can also be used in an online environment to convey a firm’s commitment to environmental standards. Therefore, gaining an understanding of what connects the added marketing benefit of an eco-certification and the utility usage of an environmentally conscious hotel holds the possibility to garner positive economic results for firms that commit to specific eco-certification standards. Built on a literature foundation of sustainable tourism, social media and theories that unite both subject matters, the study adopted a mixed-methods, sequential explanatory research design with an emphasis on the quantitative findings. The investigation was organized in two phases. The initial phase analyzed data from the FGLP to determine if relationships existed. The second phase provided supportive qualitative data to better comprehend the statistical findings discovered in the first phase. The study utilized both primary data collected from web-based surveys and dialogue paired with secondary data garnered from government forms and social media websites. The pragmatic underpinning of the study permitted the collection, analysis and interpretation of the statistical results combined with supportive qualitative findings structured by six hypotheses that addressed the study’s aim and objectives. The findings revealed 15 statistically significant relationships. Only four relationships contributed a positive economic result and 11 provided negative economic consequences to the eco-certified hotel. The statistical results were paired with qualitative concerns about the program’s commitment to marketing and communication efforts. In addition, the study revealed a management factor may be limiting the relationship among environmental performance, economic results and social media presence, which could be addressed if a more holistic and cross-functional management approach was implemented at an eco-certified property. This work contributes to the growing research between sustainability and marketing, and the use of social media within the hospitality industry, which extended the theoretical foundation of the resource-based theory for future research. The study made an original contribution of knowledge with its use of the resource-based theory to determine the statistical relationships of the physical and fiscal operations of eco-certified hotels in relation to their social media presence. It also extended the definition of marketing ‘resources’ to include seven social media web sites. Future research could continue the investigation among environmental performance, economic results and social media presence to include larger samples, different regions, non-certified hotels and even a contextual review of social media participation. Such findings hold the potential to understand if complementary relationships exist and if hotels could employ the findings to increase its return on investment in both environmental and marketing initiatives.

As the tourism industry faces economic, social, political and other challenges, there is a need to develop adaptation strategies to reinforce business sustainability of organisations. Ski resort destinations have been chosen to determine and analyse factors as actual and potential barriers to maintain a sustainable business practice. The academic debate revealed a number of gaps, critical issues for the ski industry to be addressed. Concurrently, a lack of an empirical data requires research in order to develop a set of sustainability determinants for generic ski resort use. In line with that, the mixed methodological approach aims to investigate comprehensively factors of business sustainability and sustainability determinants and incorporates two research methods: the qualitative and the quantitative research techniques. The qualitative methodological stance allows arranging a qualitative research and, therefore, conducting interviews among the chosen Scottish and Swiss ski resorts for the purpose of a comparative analysis. The quantitative methodological stance assists to use a series of the Delphi Survey rounds and permits to engage the experts from the industry, selected carefully based on the objective criteria. The findings became a basis for novel concept “internal business sustainability” in relation to ski resorts. The collected data allowed providing recommendations for government, ski resorts generally, ski resorts in Switzerland, ski resorts in Scotland, VisitScotland and Graubünden Tourism. The Delphi study contributed significantly to the field of knowledge and a new framework was developed for a future selection of a model of sustainability indicators for generic ski resort use. The developed framework consists of a set of sustainability determinants in the form of the adaptation strategies with regard to the changing environment, changing in government policies about sustainability, changing in economic climate, changing in socio-cultural environment and changing in technology. All of the elements of the new framework were examined, evaluated and filtered during three consecutive rounds of the Delphi and reached consensus, which show their validity.

This interdisciplinary thesis breaks new ground in the fields of food and media studies, in the specific areas of culinary capital and food TV. On food studies, this thesis theorises that the state plays the role of meta-tastemaker, legitimising some foods as a source of social distinction in order to support national ideologies and beliefs. The social prestige that citizens accumulate thanks to these foods is what this thesis defines as national culinary capital. On media studies, this thesis analyses how national culinary capital is represented on television, and how the media and the nation negotiate it. Only by merging the two disciplines has this thesis been able to catch the sense of the complex power relationships between the nation and the media. Through the analysis of two national TV food travelogues, the Italian Ti Ci Porto Io and the British Jamie's Great Britain, this work draws on Bourdieu's concepts of statist and cultural capital, and on Naccarato and LeBesco's theorisation of culinary capital. Cultural studies views of national culture and television, and theories on nation-building contribute to the theoretical framework. Methodologically, this study applies political economy and Bourdieu's field analysis to Italian and British TV and food TV, and to the broadcasters and production companies of the shows. In addition, moving image and semiotic analysis of the travelogues clarify how the two shows represent national culinary capital. An interview with the Italian producer, and a failed interview with the British one shed further light on the national ideologies represented by the shows and linked to food. The results show how, in the two countries, national culinary capital supports different ideologies with similar aims. Moreover, while in Italy the state exerts its power over the media in a stronger way, in Britain the media prove to be powerful enough to shape an independent form of national culinary capital, embodied by the media invention of the celebrity chef.

Sustainable tourism and rural development are much examined research areas. Within these, the importance of community-centric approaches is becoming more and more recognised; however, specific research upon which community-centric development strategies could be built seems to be lacking. This thesis addresses this research gap with the aim to explore the nature of co-operative tourism and its potential towards sustainable rural tourism development in India from a stakeholder perspective. A literature review demonstrated the benefits of co-operatives as a sustainable business model, particularly for poor communities of developing countries; however, a clear gap emerged with regard to investigating tourism and co-operatives in the same context. This research contributes to filling this gap in knowledge and outlines the clear theoretical benefits of adopting a co-operative business model as a community-centric approach to tourism in the context of rural India, while also pointing out considerable challenges in its practical implementation, such as possible limitations to the ability for self-help. Fifty qualitative semi-structured interviews were carried out with stakeholders of a co-operative tourism project in two states of India: Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Twenty-six of these were conducted with farmers who are members of the tourism co-operatives presented in this study, ten with members of the wider community in which the project took place and fourteen with tourism professional and academics local to the areas. Focus was put on in-depth exploration of participants’ experiences, implying qualitative methods and a phenomenological research approach. The findings revealed a clear theoretical advantage of a co-operative approach to tourism development, which has potential to address and alleviate many of the challenges associated with tourism and host communities, and which is intensified in poor peripheral areas. However, there are significant practical challenges, which need to be addressed in order for this comparative advantage to translate into practice. These challenges are manifested in a sense of dormancy in the participants, a lack of skills and significant language difficulties. A limit to the principle of self-help, which is inherent to co-operative activities, was identified as creating effective marketing links and hence, requiring ongoing external support. This research study makes an interdisciplinary contribution to the literature on sustainable tourism, rural development and co-operative studies. In addition, it provides a starting point for further empirical research on the co-operative business model as an approach, which has not yet been sufficiently conceptualised for tourism. Furthermore, it contributes to the wider debate on sustainable rural development through tourism. Future research could usefully investigate how the challenges identified in this study, such as limitations to the principle of self-help, lack of initiative in participants and creating marketing linkages could be addressed.

No description available.

Nesta pesquisa o objetivo é discutir o tema da ética da hospitalidade que ainda desafia a humanidade, nesse início de século XXI, com os fluxos migratórios desordenados e a mobilidade global provocada por conflitos étnico-raciais e econômicos. No texto é feita uma análise conceitual, acerca da hospitalidade condicional e da hospitalidade incondicional com referência histórico-bibliográfica, com base nos estudos feitos por Kant, Levinas e Derrida. Kant formalizou o direito cosmopolita em que as condições da hospitalidade universal estão restritas ao direito de visita e que beneficia somente os cidadãos do Estado; Levinas defende a ética da alteridade em que o acolhimento é irrestrito e o eu que acolhe tem responsabilidade infinita sobre o outro e que transcende a presença de um terceiro; e a proposta de Derrida para o conceito de hospitalidade sob o prisma da desconstrução, traduzida na abertura política e jurídica, para que se avance numa nova responsabilidade quanto ao tema. Neste exercício de compreensão do alcance conceitual de hospitalidade, propõem-se uma análise de forma interrogante e não conclusiva sobre a incondicionalidade na ética de Levinas, numa perspectiva contemporânea que nos coloca frente a paradoxos que perpassam o tema da hospitalidade. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-08-22T16:27:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Sandra Patricia Eder Comandulli.pdf: 1052260 bytes, checksum: 4b166b6c25dbd175cba892f10be1a2ec (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-22T16:27:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Sandra Patricia Eder Comandulli.pdf: 1052260 bytes, checksum: 4b166b6c25dbd175cba892f10be1a2ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES. / In this research the aim is to discuss the issue of ethics of hospitality that still defies humanity, in the beginning of XXI century, with disorderly migration and global mobility caused by ethnic-racial and economic conflicts. The text is making a conceptual analysis about the conditional and unconditional hospitality with historical references, based on studies made by Kant, Levinas and Derrida. Kant formalized cosmopolitan rights where the conditions of the universal hospitality are restricted to the rights of access and that only benefit the citizens of the state; Levinas defends the ethics of alterity in which the welcoming is unrestricted and the one hosting has infinite responsibility for the other and that transcends the presence of a third party; and the proposal of Derrida to the concept of hospitality is from the perspective of deconstruction of it, translated into policy and legal opening to move forward on a new responsibility on the subject. In this exercise of understanding the conceptual reach of hospitality, is proposed an analysis of in questioner form and not conclusive about the unconditionality in ethics of Levinas, a contemporary perspective that puts us face to face with paradoxes that permeate the theme of hospitality.

Nesta pesquisa o objetivo é discutir o tema da ética da hospitalidade que ainda desafia a humanidade, nesse início de século XXI, com os fluxos migratórios desordenados e a mobilidade global provocada por conflitos étnico-raciais e econômicos. No texto é feita uma análise conceitual, acerca da hospitalidade condicional e da hospitalidade incondicional com referência histórico-bibliográfica, com base nos estudos feitos por Kant, Levinas e Derrida. Kant formalizou o direito cosmopolita em que as condições da hospitalidade universal estão restritas ao direito de visita e que beneficia somente os cidadãos do Estado; Levinas defende a ética da alteridade em que o acolhimento é irrestrito e o eu que acolhe tem responsabilidade infinita sobre o outro e que transcende a presença de um terceiro; e a proposta de Derrida para o conceito de hospitalidade sob o prisma da desconstrução, traduzida na abertura política e jurídica, para que se avance numa nova responsabilidade quanto ao tema. Neste exercício de compreensão do alcance conceitual de hospitalidade, propõem-se uma análise de forma interrogante e não conclusiva sobre a incondicionalidade na ética de Levinas, numa perspectiva contemporânea que nos coloca frente a paradoxos que perpassam o tema da hospitalidade. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES. / In this research the aim is to discuss the issue of ethics of hospitality that still defies humanity, in the beginning of XXI century, with disorderly migration and global mobility caused by ethnic-racial and economic conflicts. The text is making a conceptual analysis about the conditional and unconditional hospitality with historical references, based on studies made by Kant, Levinas and Derrida. Kant formalized cosmopolitan rights where the conditions of the universal hospitality are restricted to the rights of access and that only benefit the citizens of the state; Levinas defends the ethics of alterity in which the welcoming is unrestricted and the one hosting has infinite responsibility for the other and that transcends the presence of a third party; and the proposal of Derrida to the concept of hospitality is from the perspective of deconstruction of it, translated into policy and legal opening to move forward on a new responsibility on the subject. In this exercise of understanding the conceptual reach of hospitality, is proposed an analysis of in questioner form and not conclusive about the unconditionality in ethics of Levinas, a contemporary perspective that puts us face to face with paradoxes that permeate the theme of hospitality.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the needs of the physically handicapped traveler are being met by the hotels in the City of Miami Beach, Florida. A sample was drawn from the hotel population. Mail questionnaires and personal interviews were used as the methods for collecting the data from the sample. The data was compiled and a hotel mean was computed. A mean was also calculated from the standards recommended by the American National Standards Institute to the American Hotel and Motel Association. The statistical test, The Significance of Difference Between Two Means, was used to test the hypothesis. A significance of difference was found and the hypothesis: The hotels in the City of Miami Beach, Florida, are not meeting the needs of the physically handicapped traveler, was accepted.