Ulrike Gretzel, Jamie Murphy, Juho Pesonen and Casey Blanton
This paper aims to provide a perspective on food waste by tourists and tourist households, now and in the future.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a perspective on food waste by tourists and tourist households, now and in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a perspective article that summarizes contemporary thinking about food waste and conceptualizes food waste specifically for tourist household settings.
Findings
In tourism, food is more than nourishment and extends to visitor experiences and attractions. Yet food waste arising from tourism activity is a major environmental and societal issue. Festive moods and holiday spirits – synonymous with over-sized portions, bountiful buffets and entertainment excess – exacerbate food waste. Cultural norms that portray food waste as a sign of good hospitality further aggravate the problem. This paper argues that efforts to reduce food waste in tourism require new conceptualizations of tourist households, and where food waste occurs in relation to tourism, and of who should be responsible for preventing and managing food waste.
Research limitations/implications
The tourism industry faces ever-growing economical, societal and legislative reasons to address food waste, which are dynamic and difficult to predict.
Practical implications
Savvy meal providers will migrate towards reducing their food waste or turning it into assets. However, a focus on preventing food waste only in traditional food service and accommodation establishments ignores the reality of growing tourist households and will stifle sustainability efforts unless theoretically unpacked and practically addressed.
Social implications
A third of food produced globally is lost or wasted. Stark facts, proclamations and regulations underscore food waste as a burgeoning global problem with major environmental, social and economic costs.
Originality/value
Food waste, in general, and by tourists, is a burgeoning environmental, social and economic challenge. This is one of the first articles to focus on this topic and introduces the concept of tourist households.
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Jere Jokelainen, Brian Garrod, Erose Sthapit and Juho Pesonen
This study aims to examine the role of experiential familiarity in determining the competitiveness of hotel chains. It does so by comparing the attribute-performance perceptions…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of experiential familiarity in determining the competitiveness of hotel chains. It does so by comparing the attribute-performance perceptions of guests who had and had not previously stayed at a property belonging to a specific hotel chain. It also examines how far such perceptions shape word-of-mouth and future purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 1,016 Finnish leisure tourists in 2021 using an online questionnaire, providing a representative sample of Finnish domestic leisure tourists.
Findings
The results indicate that the competitiveness of different hotel chains depends on a small number of key attributes. Differentiation between hotel chains can be seen from the results. Previous guests rate hotel chain attributes more highly than non-previous guests. Behavioral intentions do not differ between previous and non-previous guests, but how many times a person has stayed in the hotel chain significantly influences behavioral intentions. The results provide strategic levers that hotel chains can use to enhance their competitiveness.
Practical implications
Hotels should invest in attributes that have the biggest positive impact on customer behavior. These will be different for different hotel chains. By understanding these differences, it is possible to communicate relevant attributes to customers through marketing and develop hotel features that will drive revisit intention and word-of-mouth marketing.
Originality/value
This study found that while certain hotel attributes had a significant shaping effect on guests’ performance ratings, there were no decisive differences between those with or without experiential familiarity with the hotel chain.
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Juho Pesonen, Raija Komppula, Christopher Kronenberg and Mike Peters
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences and relationships of push and pull motivations in two different rural tourism destinations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences and relationships of push and pull motivations in two different rural tourism destinations.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from tourists visiting rural tourism companies in Finland and in Tyrol (Austria). The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and correlation coefficients.
Findings
The results indicate significant differences of push and pull motivations in the two regions. In addition, tourists motivated by different variables obviously search for different destination attributes. For example, tourists motivated by the search of a once‐in‐a‐lifetime experience expect different destination attributes than those respondents searching for a sense of comfort or an opportunity to relax.
Research limitations/implications
The low sample size in both Tyrol and Finland reduces the generalizability of the results.
Practical implications
The findings can be used by rural tourism companies and practitioners to understand how push and pull motivations affect tourist behaviour. Based on this information, marketing initiatives can be customized for various target segments in this particular market.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to examine the inter‐relationship between push and pull motivations in rural tourism and one of the most detailed studies on rural tourist motivations. Additionally, the comparison of the two countries underlines the assumption, that cultural or macro‐economic variables strongly influence push and pull motivations of consumers.
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Information and communication technologies (ICT) have had a profound impact on tourism marketing. For several decades one of the cornerstones of marketing has been market…
Abstract
Purpose
Information and communication technologies (ICT) have had a profound impact on tourism marketing. For several decades one of the cornerstones of marketing has been market segmentation. The purpose of this paper is to examine how ICTs have affected market segmentation literature in tourism by the means of literature review.
Design/methodology/approach
All segmentation articles published in Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management and Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing since the year 2000 are reviewed by examining how ICTs have affected them. Content analysis is used to categorize the connection between ICTs and segmentation to seven categories.
Findings
Only three papers focusing on both ICT and segmentation were found among the 188 segmentation‐related studies reviewed. Altogether 58 market segmentation studies found were affected by ICTs but in most cases the effects are very limited.
Research limitations/implications
Only three tourism journals were reviewed making it possible that some studies connected to the topic are not examined in this review.
Practical implications
This study provides practitioners with a review of central findings regarding ICT use in market segmentation process published in recent academic literature.
Originality/value
This is the first study to review how ICTs have affected market segmentation in tourism. It provides a review of central papers discussing the topic and directions for future research. Overall, this research highlights the lack of research on the topic, as well as its importance for the future of tourism marketing.
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Michael James Ormshaw, Sami Petteri Kokko, Jari Villberg and Lasse Kannas
The purpose of this paper is to utilise the collective opinion of a group of Finnish experts to identify the most important learning outcomes of secondary-level school-based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to utilise the collective opinion of a group of Finnish experts to identify the most important learning outcomes of secondary-level school-based health education, in the specific domains of physical activity and nutrition.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a Delphi survey technique to collect the opinions of a group (panel) of Finnish experts. A list of learning outcomes was compiled via an extensive literature review of documents from all levels of health education (physical activity and nutrition) policy development and implementation. A general inductive analysis method was conducted, resulting in education themes which were then compiled into health literacy-constructed learning outcomes to present to the panel in the two Delphi rounds.
Findings
The study question is answered in the form of a ranked list of the 24 most important learning outcomes of physical activity and nutrition education in Finnish schools. The analysis of variance pair-wise comparisons with Bonferroni indicated that six items were statistically possibly more important than the 18 others. The three most important items being: first, understand the importance of a varied and balanced diet; second, the ability to analyse their own lifestyle; third, understand the link between physical activity and health. The study also identified topics/themes which could be either under-represented or over-represented in the current literature and teaching.
Originality/value
This study is the only one of its type, and researches an as yet unknown area of health education. The value of this study lies in its role in the further development of school health education, in terms of identifying the “most important” contemporary issues to teach in the classroom, and may also be used as a topic prioritisation and curriculum planning tool.