1,721,042 research outputs found
Functionality and usability features of ubiquitous mobile technologies : the acceptance of interactive travel apps
Full text linkPurpose: Customers are increasingly utilizing mobile applications (apps) to compare prices of travel and hospitality services and to purchase their itineraries, tours and stays. This study explores key factors influencing the individuals’ perceptions about the usefulness of travel apps and sheds light on the causal paths predicting the individuals’ dispositions to utilize them.Design/methodology/approach: Quantitative data was gathered from 1,320 subscribers of social media groups. They were analyzed through a composite-based partial least squares (PLS) approach.Findings: The results indicate that information quality, source credibility and the functionality of travel apps are significantly affecting the individuals’ perceptions about their usefulness as well as their intentions to use them. They also confirm that there are highly significant indirect effects within the proposed model.Practical implications: This study suggests that there is scope for the travel service providers to enhance the quality and functionality of their mobile apps, in order to improve their consumers’ perceptions about the utility of these ubiquitous service technologies.Theoretical implications: The study integrates information quality and source credibility factors with a functionality construct. It examines their effects on the technology acceptance model (TAM)’s perceived usefulness and behavioral intentions.Theoretical implications: The study integrates information quality and source credibility factors with a functionality construct. It examines their effects on the technology acceptance model (TAM)’s perceived usefulness and behavioral intentions.Originality: This contribution incorporates a functionality construct in an information technology adoption model to shed light on the individuals’ dispositions to avail themselves of online content and/or to adopt interactive innovations. In this case, it implies that certain functionality features of travel apps including their responsiveness and technical capabilities can trigger users to increase their engagement with these mobile technologies on a habitual basis.peer-reviewe
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The Impact of Hotel Attributes’ Satisfaction on Overall Guest Satisfaction
No full textIt is important to identify these new hotel attributes and measure guests’ level of satisfaction and the impact of these attributes on overall guest satisfaction. In addition, few studies investigated the hotel attributes’ satisfaction on overall guest satisfaction. Hence, the purpose of the study is to identify levels of guest satisfaction with hotel attribute, as well as to determine the impact of hotel attributes’ satisfaction on overall guest satisfaction and intention to return
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The Information Technology (IT) Skills of Hospitality School Graduates as Perceived by Hospitality Professionals
No full textHospitality schools aim to provide their graduates with the skills and tools that are necessary to succeed in a rapidly changing and developing industry environment (Swanger & Gursoy, 2010). Given that information technology (IT) applications have become an essential part of hotel operations, this paper investigates industry perspective on the IT skills of hospitality school graduates. 110 industry professionals have participated in the study.The findings of this study are useful to hospitality educators in making sure that the information technology skills needed by the industry from hospitality school graduates are covered in curriculum. A significant gap between the importance scores of different skills reported by industry professionals’ and their evaluation of recent graduates’ performance shows that there is a need to improve students’ IT skills. The results of the study indicate that hospitality schools student need better preparation in the areas of “using spreadsheet programs (i.e. Microsoft Excel)”, “using email systems (i.e. Outlook Express, Thunderbird)”, “using word processing programs (i.e. Microsoft Word)”, “Presenting data in an efficient manner”, “using point of Sale Systems (i.e. Micros), and “analyzing numerical data with computers (i.e. SPSS, Excel).
Australian and Indian Preservice Teachers’ Epistemological and Positional Framing of Capacity Building in a Global Environment of Teaching Based on an Authentic Practicum
No full textCapacity building in teaching in a globalised cross-cultural environments is an essential aspect to cope with the challenging needs of the 21st Century (Bybee, 2010). Real influence in building cultural and cross curricular competencies lies in developing global perspectives and this is possible only through authentic practicum models (Dunn et al, 2014, Doston, 2013). It is observed from different global practicums that globally minded teaching emerges from a passionate pedagogy, community cultural engagement, teamwork, and collaboration with mentors (Alfaro & Quezada, 2010). Success of building capacity to deal with globalised environment of teaching and learning happens through culturally proficient schools, culturally competent educators and culturally responsible teaching (Irvine, 2003). In a global practicum the preservice teachers’, epistemological and positional framing of the aspects of the practicum play a vital role in building capacity to teach in a global cross-curricular environment. The epistemological framing generally has context dependence and flexibility of the process (Hammer, et al, 2005) whereas, the positional framing situated with individual, group and cultural aspects within a program (Hand, et al, 2012). In a global practicum it is a new cultural and curricular perspective, hence preservice teachers’ capacity to deal it epistemological (flexibility) and positional (cross cultural) plays a key to success. This study was conducted among 39 preservice teachers from Australia and India participated in a three weeks paired practicum in three schools in Bangalore India using Peer Alliance for Productive professional Experienc
Review of further education teachers’ attitudes, intentions, and behaviors in response to the “Professionalization Agenda” UK
Full text linkThe FE “Professionalization Agenda” is a contentious concept. Putting it simply, it refers to the process of increasing the status, recognition, and qualifications of those who work in a sector or area
Chapter 2 New Guidelines for the Use of PLS Path Modeling in Hospitality, Travel, and Tourism Research
Full text linkLiving Closely Together but in Parallel - Multi-dimensional Challenges to the Integration of International Students in a Danish ‘Muscle’ Town.
Full text linkEsbjerg is located in the Wadden Sea region and is a regional centre with approximately 72,000 inhabitants. Commercially, the city has recently ranked first amongst major Danish cities in the creation of jobs. However, in Denmark, it is mainly other cities that attract younger students, and Esbjerg has some of the same structural problems due to outmigration as Danish rural areas in general. It is, therefore, important for Esbjerg to be able to attract international students so that businesses and institutions in the region can recruit skilled employees. In this book chapter, the authors aim to reanalyse data from 10 semi-structured interviews with international students at higher education institutions in Esbjerg conducted in 2016. The authors position their empirical findings within the literature on international student integration to investigate the obstacles to international student integration into study, business and leisure life in Esbjerg and potential solutions given Esbjerg’s peripheral location. The chapter, thus, aims to improve the understanding of cultural, work-related and everyday life challenges that are present in university town environments where international students study, mainly from the perspective of students
Chapter 7 HRM practices and employee retention: the moderating effect of work environment
Full text linkHospitality is considered one of the fastest growing industries globally, because of its significant contribution to the economy, in Malaysia specifically and across the world generally (ILO, 2010, cited in Bharwani & Butt, 2012). Similarly, the influence of tourism industry in Malaysia to GDP is at MYR 167.5 Billion, 13.7% in 2016. In 2017, it is expected to increase to 4.2%, and to rise by 5.4% per annum, from 2017 to 2027, to MYR 295.6 Billion (15.9% of total GDP) in 2027, directly impacting the increase in employment opportunities (World Travel
and Tourism council, 2017). This year, the Malaysian tourism industry accounts for 4.5% of national employment. In addition, it is expected to increase by 1.9% in 2017, and increase by 3.9% per annum to create 956,000 jobs in 2027. This
growth in the tourism industry directly affects the demands in lodging (hotels, hostels, guesthouses), subsequently increasing the supply of rooms by 81%. As a human-based industry, hospitality depends on humans as a part of
the product, in which, the humans cannot be separated from the service process (Ghazali, 2010). Primarily, the hospitality industry strongly depends on the human factor and direct contact with customers. According to Bharwani and
Butt (2012), employees have become very precious assets to hotel industry, playing a decisive role in enhancing the organizational image. In the competitive market environment of hospitality, retention of high performers is known as a key to
delivery of service quality. Nevertheless, employee retention is still a major issue for the hospitality industry. Aksu (2004), Kuean, Kaur, and Wong (2010), and Proudfoot Consulting (2008) found that turnover rates have considerable passive effects on hospitality performance. It is costly for hotels’ management to spend money and time on employees who leave a short time later after they go through the employment process
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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