The purpose of this study was to assess the satisfaction level of 240 employees of a single hotel property. The questionnaire, administered by the Corporate Director of Training, determined if a significant difference exists between overall satisfaction and individual departmental satisfaction regarding 11 dimensions: customer satisfaction, employee involvement/teamwork, work environment, training/development/evaluation, communication, compensation/benefits, supervision, resources, planning/goal setting, general, and departmental interaction. Percentages and t tests were used to analyze the data. Results of the study will help management recommend courses of action needed to address identified problem areas.

The aim of this essay is to study population change in tourism intensive mountain municipalities. Then to investigate whether center displacement takes place from the municipality center to the area with growing tourism. Areas of growing tourism have in this study been delimited to ski resorts. To answer the study’s purpose and questions, both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used. Population statistics have been used to explain population change in Swedish mountain municipalities. Population statistics showed that there are four mountain municipalities that have a shrinking population in the municipality and in the municipality center, while there is a ski resort with population growth in the municipality. These mountain municipalities are Dorotea, Malung-Sälen, Storuman and Härjedalen. Interviews with officials from these municipalities have been used as a complement to analyze the findings from the population statistics. The result of the interviews shows that the ski resorts have characteristics of being so-called ‘center’ with reference to the center-periphery model. At the same time, it also appears that the informants do not think that it is possible to talk about any tourism-driven center displacement. At least not with regard to public service. The municipality house will be remain located where it is today. Based on the given results, this essay conclude that ski resorts should be regarded as commercial centers and that the municipality center is the public center. From this aspect this study also conclude that there is possible to talk about a patriell center displacement from the municipality center to the ski resorts. Which, based on this study, is explained as commercial. The study also conclude that the commercial supply is dependent on the tourist visitors and those who work on the ski resorts, where the result shows that much of those who live in the ski resorts work in the touristindustry. In this way, the commercial center displacement also becomes tourism-driven.

Ski areas attract and cater to tourists and are often powerful symbols of cultural identity and place-based meaning. Within contexts of mountain tourism development, ski areas also communicate messages to orient visitors and residents to special features and qualities of the natural environment. This research specifically focuses on how Vermont ski areas and their neighboring rural communities use language, symbolism and imagery, within the context of website communications, to shape cultural meanings of nature and place. A sample of small, medium, and large ski areas, representing a range of development sizes, locations, and recreational offerings, were paired with their adjacent rural communities. A qualitative content analysis and a textual analysis of photographic images and written texts from ski area and town websites examined presentations of “nature” and place. Website presentations were compared across ski areas of different sizes, and between towns and ski areas. Findings show that portrayals of “nature” differ by the size of the ski area, but are similar across rural towns – though towns tended to produce a discourse about “nature” divergent from that of ski areas. In addition, both ski resort and town websites used images and texts of “Vermont” symbolically in constructing their place identity, though they did this in different ways. This study contributes a better understanding of the ways that ski areas and rural communities work both independently and collaboratively to create and sustain meaningful physical places and cultural myths. Aligning public communications electronically to present a more unified place identity to visitors and residents alike has potential planning and management implications for tourism development, especially in rural regions in Vermont and elsewhere.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

This dissertation examines the development of tourism in Muskoka in the Canadian Shield region from 1860 to 1945. Three key themes are examined: the tourists, the resorts and projected image of the area. When taken together, they provide insight into the origin and evolution of the meanings attached to tourist destinations in the Canadian Shield. The Muskoka Lakes region provides the venue in which continuity and change in each of these elements of the tourism landscape are explored. This dissertation uses previously underutilized primary source materials ranging from hotel ledgers, financial reports, personal correspondence, period brochures, guidebooks, and contemporary newspaper articles to reconstruct the Muskoka tourist experience over an extended period of time. The volume of literature pertaining to American tourism history significantly outweighs similar work conducted on Canadian destinations. This dissertation, therefore, begins with an overview of key works related to the historical development of tourism in the United States followed by a survey of corresponding Canadian literature. The lack of an analytical structure in many tourist historical works is identified as a methodological gap in the literature. A framework is developed to guide data acquisition. Utilizing this framework, the tourists, resorts and images that were projected of Muskoka are examined through five stages of development, from the opening of the region to tourists to the immediate postwar era. The findings from this analysis are used to build an understanding of the changes and continuities in the meanings, or essence, of the Canadian Shield tourist experience. While significant changes are observed in the nature of the tourists, the form and function of tourist lodgings, and the content of projected images, the meaning of the Canadian Shield tourist experience exhibits substantial continuity. From the beginning of tourist development, two opposing perspectives emerge: those of the insider and the outsider. Insiders were thought to be more unpretentious, cognizant of tradition, with a greater sense of belonging in the landscape than the outsiders who were perceived to be pretentious, conscious of societal norms, and a threat to the established traditions of the resort region. The meanings of the destination are informed by the dialogue and tensions between these two perspectives on what a Canadian Shield vacation experience should entail. These meanings, which reflect perceptions of a lifestyle that has been and is continuously under threat from outside forces, persists throughout the stages of tourism development in Muskoka and can be observed in the contemporary period.

A substantial literature has evolved focusing on the synergies generated by the strategic alliances (SAs). In this dissertation, the author chooses Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide as the focal firm, and analyze the cases of SAs formed by its brands, including St.Regis, Westin, W Hotel and Element from year 2008 to 2010. First of all, this dissertation will discuss the development and the general condition of the hotel industry in the United States of America. And then present Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide by analyzing its position in its brands. Also, this dissertation introduces the partner firms and then infers the reasons of the SAs and the synergies created by them. At last, gives the readers suggestions from those cases. According to the overall analysis, there are 5 kinds synergies generated by SAs are shown as follow. (1) synergies generated by brand alliance (2) synergies generated by CSR (3) synergies generated by social relation network (4) synergies generated by market (5) synergies generated by complementary abilities The managers can employ the 5 categories of synergies constructed by this literature when deciding partners, scopes and types of SAs. The categories and the practical cases presented will provide more directions and aspects for reference.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Landscape Architecture

The introduction of environmental and social issues into the boardroom is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The threat of climate change adds urgency to the challenge, with the costs of inaction on climate change estimated at between 5 to 20% of global GDP, leading to a global recession. In terms of managing environmental and social concerns, the tourism industry, and the hotel and resort industry, has lagged behind other industries such as utilities, chemicals and banking and investment. Globally an estimated 5% of all CO2 emissions can be attributed to tourism. Energy use in hotels is disproportionately high, thanks to energy intensive facilities such as spas, laundries and swimming pools. The global hotel and resort industry can thus make significant contribution to reduce human impact on the global climate. This research develops a tool which helps the hotel and resort industry identify and manage non-financial risks such as environmental and social issues, and improve sustainable development of individual businesses and the sector as a whole. The research focuses on Guangdong Province, China, the richest province in China in terms of hotel stock, hotel revenues and hotel employees. China herself will be the world’s biggest tourism market by 2020 and given its future growth forecasts is an important venue to study sustainable development. Recognising the difficulty in precisely measuring aspects of social science such as non-financial risk and attitudes towards non-financial risk, the conceptual framework for the study uses the idea of a working non-financial risk management approach towards the production of a set of working propositions useful for business. The study first identifies stakeholders; develops a non-financial risk management methodology to identify, measure, examine and prioritise risks, and then presents the conclusions as working propositions for corporations to use. Recommendations for industry are developed and presented. To achieve the development of the non-financial risk management tool, the research draws a fresh link between risk management, corporate environmental management, sustainability and non-financial risk management. Second, through three research studies, a detailed investigation into the use and practice of sustainability and non-financial risk management is undertaken across 15 hotels in Guangdong Province. The first study is a comprehensive set of detailed in-depth interviews with 79 industry-specific stakeholders. The interviews are coded and the results used to develop the second study, a questionnaire survey of 351 hotel guests and 70 industry-specific stakeholders. A third study executes in-depth case-studies and non-financial risk benchmarking across 15 hotel and resort facilities. The results of all three studies are triangulated for better accuracy and understanding. The study presents a number of working propositions for corporations to adopt as starting points for their own non-financial risk management strategies. It is found that there is generally low awareness and application of non-financial risk management in the hotel and resort industry in Guangdong. The industry-specific stakeholders and guests have very different priorities in terms of non-financial risk management, while resource conservation does emerge as the leading issue amongst industry-specific stakeholders and hotel guests. Cost savings are found to be the main driver for implementing non-financial risk management, while cost of implementation is the main barrier. Through a factor analysis, it becomes clear that two distinct factors are at play in the guest domain: guests’ own well-being and self-need; and wider social or environmental concerns. The study recommends a multi-stakeholder partnership as a value-added framework for public policy, and recommends further research into stakeholder theory in China’s hotel and resort industry. / published_or_final_version / Kadoorie Institute / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Whistler Blackcomb Resort experiences the highest skier visits of any resort in North America and consequently demand at the ski school is high. Due to various factors, the daily number of lesson participants is highly variable and the best number of instructors to staff each day is correspondingly difficult to estimate. The consequences of scheduling incorrectly could lead to either overstaffing or understaffing. Overstaffing results in unnecessary costs; understaffing results in lost sales and customer dissatisfaction. A scheduling tool that can assist the Ski School in staffing decisions, therefore, is developed to minimize excess costs. Daily demand predictions are made using a forecasting model and a staffing policy is applied to it to obtain a recommended staffing level. The demand forecasting model is a regression model that takes into account pre-bookings, day of the week, holidays, and yesterday's demand. The staffing rules are determined through a Newsvendor-type model derived from a marginal cost analysis of the trade-off between overstaffing and understaffing applied to the daily demand forecasts. The project is intended to formalize a systematic approach to staffing for certain lesson types (pods) one day in advance. It will assist the Whistler Blackcomb Ski and Snowboard School, as a decision support tool, in the development of daily instructor schedules that rninimize any unnecessary costs.

This dissertation examines the development of tourism in Muskoka in the Canadian Shield region from 1860 to 1945. Three key themes are examined: the tourists, the resorts and projected image of the area. When taken together, they provide insight into the origin and evolution of the meanings attached to tourist destinations in the Canadian Shield. The Muskoka Lakes region provides the venue in which continuity and change in each of these elements of the tourism landscape are explored. This dissertation uses previously underutilized primary source materials ranging from hotel ledgers, financial reports, personal correspondence, period brochures, guidebooks, and contemporary newspaper articles to reconstruct the Muskoka tourist experience over an extended period of time. The volume of literature pertaining to American tourism history significantly outweighs similar work conducted on Canadian destinations. This dissertation, therefore, begins with an overview of key works related to the historical development of tourism in the United States followed by a survey of corresponding Canadian literature. The lack of an analytical structure in many tourist historical works is identified as a methodological gap in the literature. A framework is developed to guide data acquisition. Utilizing this framework, the tourists, resorts and images that were projected of Muskoka are examined through five stages of development, from the opening of the region to tourists to the immediate postwar era. The findings from this analysis are used to build an understanding of the changes and continuities in the meanings, or essence, of the Canadian Shield tourist experience. While significant changes are observed in the nature of the tourists, the form and function of tourist lodgings, and the content of projected images, the meaning of the Canadian Shield tourist experience exhibits substantial continuity. From the beginning of tourist development, two opposing perspectives emerge: those of the insider and the outsider. Insiders were thought to be more unpretentious, cognizant of tradition, with a greater sense of belonging in the landscape than the outsiders who were perceived to be pretentious, conscious of societal norms, and a threat to the established traditions of the resort region. The meanings of the destination are informed by the dialogue and tensions between these two perspectives on what a Canadian Shield vacation experience should entail. These meanings, which reflect perceptions of a lifestyle that has been and is continuously under threat from outside forces, persists throughout the stages of tourism development in Muskoka and can be observed in the contemporary period.