Enlightening tourism -- V. 12, n. 3 (2022): Special Issue

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10272/21196

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5

The role of Human Resource Management in service quality improvement of hotel businesses
(Universidad de Huelva, 2022) Greasidou, Maria; Valachis, Ioannis
In order a hotel business to achieve a long-term quality performance, it should train, empower and actively involve the employees in the service process. Therefore, the involvement of Human Resourse Management (HRM) department is imperative. The purpose of this study is to explore the level that HRM basic approaches are applied by hotels, particularly those fundamental requirements that might enhance quality service provision. Furthermore, the paper is examining the individual and unique characteristics of the hotel units, such as size, categorization etc., in an effort to reveal possible diversions and correlations according to the HRM implemented philosophy. According to the research findings, the examined hotels adopt a range of agreed HR policies and practices that are more likely to create organizations aiming to compete on the basis of high-quality services. Moreover, the hotels that apply greater HRM principles are those of great capacity. This can be explained due to the large number of hotel employees; their number, along with the fact that hospitality is a labour-intensive industry, necessitates HRM practices to play an important role in service quality provision. One more interesting finding arising from this research is that the category of the hotel does not play an important role at the degree that a hotel applies HRM best practices.
Greeks' intentions to visit a green hotel are influenced by Perceived Control and Past Experience
(Universidad de Huelva, 2022) Delistavrou, Antonia; Tilikidou, Irene
This research study addressed the ability of an extended with Past Experience model of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to reveal the Greek travelers’ intentions to choose a green hotel over a conventional one. Perceived Behavioral Control provided a stronger impact on intentions, followed by Subjective Norms and Past Experience, while Attitudes offered rather weak evidence of influence. The additional factor of Past Experience was found to be also correlated with Perceived Behavioral Control. Therefore, it can be implied that green hotels’ communication strategies should firstly underline the travelers’ own control to choose a green hotel, emphasizing that there are no time, money, or opportunity obstacles to restrict them. Secondly, visitors as well as distinguished persons, who have previously experienced a visit to a green hotel, should be promoted and valorized in an effort to increase social pressure. Thirdly, staying at a green hotel should be presented as a positive, environmentally beneficial while healthy, desirable, and enjoyable experience.
The impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on locals; the case of the hospitality sector in Crete
(Universidad de Huelva, 2022) Apostolakis, Alexandros; Daniil, Corina; Kourgiantakis, Markos
The current paper focuses upon the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on locals’ opinions regarding the hospitality sector in Crete. The main research aim driving the current study is to evaluate respondents’ (locals’) willingness to pay a premium for CSR activities in the hospitality sector. The paper utilizes primary data collected through a survey questionnaire in the region of Crete. In total, researchers collected 400 survey questionnaires over a course of three months during the pandemic period. The paper utilized a logistic regression framework. According to the results, respondents that were highly familiar with CSR were also very positive in supporting CSR actions. Whereas gender does not seem to exert a particularly strong influence on individual willingness to pay a CSR premium, yet once the analysis distinguishes between different premium levels, females were found more likely to contribute at lower amounts, as compared to their male counterparts. The results indicate that businesses should adopt and adapt their CSR practices to new business discourses.
Exploring professionals' perceptions of tourism seasonality and sports events: a qualitative study of Kissavos marathon race
(Universidad de Huelva, 2022) Gkarane, Sofia; Vassiliadis, Chris; Gianni, Maria
Local tourism professionals entail those who strongly face the personal and financial difficulties of tourism seasonality. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the local tourism professionals' perceptions of a small-scale sports event, which is held in the off-season. Through the study of Kissavos Mountain Race - a small-scale running event that is held annually in the region of Agia Larissa - the contribution of such an event to seasonality mitigation is investigated. Accordingly, this study aims to describe how the local professionals of this mountainous village understand and interpret the relations between sustainable small-scale sports events and seasonality aspects. An exploratory study was designed to address the local professionals’ opinions regarding the effectiveness of the running event in mitigating seasonality as well as their willingness to support similar actions. Through a literature review on seasonality tourism, sustainability, and minor events, a semi-structured interview guide was created and twenty-five local tourism professionals were interviewed. Subsequently, data that reflect their perceptions of events and seasonality were collected. Based on the analysis of the replies, the respondents believe that the sports event impacts seasonality mitigation but only in conjunction with other actions. Most of them also converge on a strategy that would not only include the needs of visitors but also the authorities’ ongoing support of their businesses. On this basis, it is recommended that local and regional tourism managers use a variety of combination tools to smooth out seasonality. From a practical viewpoint, this study draws attention to the perspectives of local professionals and allows tourism policymakers to understand the market’s characteristics and needs. As it would be interesting to apply this investigation in different seasons for different areas, this study ultimately contributes to the tourism field by examining the contribution of a small-scale event to seasonality mitigation via a local stakeholder approach.
The concept of dark tourism, visitors' motivation and the entailed dissonance in sites representation
(Universidad de Huelva, 2022) Mavragani, Eleni; Mandrinou, Evangelia
The purpose of this research is to explore the concept of dark tourism, focusing on the conceptual approach of dark tourism, the different terms stated for its nature, the review of its historical background as well as its main categories. Emphasis is placed on the identification of the tourists’ general beliefs regarding the concept of dark tourism, their emotions related to visits to specific dark tourism monuments and the internal motives that serve as driving forces for visits to dark tourism spots of interest. The study investigates whether the contemporary representation of dark tourism monuments in Greece accurately reflects the historical background and the horrific events that took place in the past. The research aims to investigate whether there is a statistically significant correlation between the variables of dissonance in the representation of the sites, the motives and emotions of the tourists, and whether there is a statistical difference in the dissonance, emotions and motives based on the demographic results. The type of the research implemented is the primary quantitative research and the outcomes reveal that the overall picture of emotions is at an average level, with dark tourism eliciting both positive and negative emotions from the tourism audience.

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