United States

Introduction

Seniors that shape today’s marketplace are healthier, have higher education, longer life expectancy, and more purchasing power than ever before. By adopting the Biopsychosocial (BPS) model from healthcare research, the current study attempts to provide a clearer insight for understanding senior residents’ subjective wellbeing and Eudemonia. More specifically, this study aims to (1) examine the impacts of biological, psychological, and social factors on sense of community (SoC) and wellbeing; (2) to test the impact of SoC on residents’ wellbeing; and (3) to investigate the mediation effect of SoC.

Methods

The population of interest was defined as residents in senior living facilities. The target sample was defined as people who are 55 years old and above and who have lived in senior living facilities for more than one month. A convenience sampling method was used. Participants were employed from Amazon Mechanical Turk. A total of 160 surveys were collected and 122 surveys were retained for data analysis. Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling was employed for data analysis.

Results

The results showed that senior residents’ social support and lifelong learning significantly influenced their SoC, and that the SoC had a significant impact on senior residents’ subjective wellbeing. Additionally, SoC fully mediated the relationship between social support and SWB and partially mediated the relationship between lifelong learning and SWB.

Discussion

This study expanded the BPS approach in senior living studies by examining the antecedents and consequences of senior residents’ SoC. It also found predictors of senior residents’ subjective wellbeing and eudaimonia, enriching the studies related to seniors’ quality of life and successful aging. The study revealed SoC as a critical factor that connects senior residents’ personal experiences and their wellbeing, especially bridging seniors’ social-related factors (i.e., social support and lifelong learning) and their subjective wellbeing.

TOUR 2021

Understanding senior residents’ wellbeing: A biopsychosocial approach

biopsychosocial model

subjective wellbeing

senior living

sense of community

Dear Delegates, 

On behalf of the organizing committee at UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management and Elsevier, I have the greatest pleasure to welcome you to the **6th World Research Summit for Tourism and Hospitality: Resilience, Adaptability, and Innovation.** 

Though we cannot host you this year owing to Covid-19 at our beautiful resort-like campus in Orlando, Florida, we believe this virtual and live-streamed conference will provide an interactive, dynamic, and shared international platform for global academics and practitioners to discuss how to enhance research applications and knowledge management through resilience, adaptability, digital intelligence, innovation, and smart knowledge in bringing our industry and research back to normal. This summit particularly offers unique opportunities to unfold and embrace various repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic with various stakeholders, including academic researchers, industry professionals, and government officials, through dialogues on how to better utilize research outputs for the benefits of the industry, in a resilient, intelligent and innovative way. 

I hope you will agree that we have put together a wonderful program including keynote speeches, panel discussions, concurrent presentations, poster sessions, and best paper recognition and award ceremony. We hope you will take advantage of these activities and engage yourself with great learning and sharing opportunities during the two days of the Summit. Thank you for joining us and we look forward to our discussions! 

Sincerely, 
Dr. Youcheng Wang 
Dean and Preeminent Chair Professor

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This conference provides an interactive, dynamic, and shared international platform for global academics and practitioners to discuss how to enhance research applications and knowledge management through resilience, adaptability, digital intelligence, innovation, and smart knowledge in bringing our industry and research back to normal. This summit particularly offers unique opportunities to unfold and embrace various repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic with various stakeholders, including academic researchers, industry professionals, and government officials, through dialogues on how to better utilize research outputs for the benefits of the industry, in a resilient, intelligent and innovative way.

poster

The purpose of this study is to clarify the role of human resource training programs in tourism implemented in collaboration with universities and governmental organizations, such as the local federation. In Japan, approximately 70% of hospitality companies are small and mid-size enterprises without large labor budgets. Therefore, OJT and Off-JT implemented by each company is limited, making human resource training programs provided in collaboration with local governments and local tourism educations essential. In this study, we evaluated the Ishikawa Tourism Creation School organized by the Ishikawa Prefecture Tourism Federation as a case study. The program, supervised by the Japan Advanced Institution of Science and Technology, JAIST, started in 2016. The goal is to revitalize the local region and grow the tourism business by developing human resources involved in the tourism industry. The main participants in this program are hospitality industry workers and small business owners, with a wide range of age groups and various professions. Their objective was to network with other participants to improve their abilities, generate new business opportunities and enhance their knowledge of tourism, which will help them to create new ideas. The qualitative data was gathered from semi-structured interviews of participants of the program which proved that the knowledge gained in the program helped them with their routine work and encouraged innovation. Apparently, the program played a role as an additional education to human resources development training within the enterprise and education provided by educational institutions, such as universities. The program is a good example of cross-boundary learning, meaning the program has the function of community of practice. Furthermore, it has proved to have a positive influence on the career development of people working in the hospitality industry.

A study on human resource development programs in tourism: Case of Ishikawa, Japan

This study contributes to analyze the mechanisms through which high performance work systems (HPWS) might affect job satisfaction in the hospitality sector. We build on the mutual gains perspective of the human resources management (HRM) literature to hypothesize that HPWS are conducive for higher levels of job satisfaction in hotel workers. Besides, and based on the job demands-resources model, we argue that HPWS are beneficial in hospitality firms, as they provide workers with resources to adapt to their job demands, alleviating the stress derived from the intense workloads, which are typical in hotels. Thus, we believe that HPWS contribute to reduce workers' burnout, which may in part improve their job satisfaction. Analysis from surveyed hotel employees (N = 202) revealed the positive effects of HPWS on job satisfaction, as well as their role in reducing burnout. Through partial least square structural equation modelling we corroborate the direct positive effect on job satisfaction and the indirect effect through the reduction of burnout. Under the abilities-motivation-opportunities (AMO) framework we identified the effects of the different HRM "bundles of practices" on job satisfaction and burnout. Concretely, the "abilities" bundle are conducive for higher job satisfaction, whereas both the "motivations" and the "opportunities" bundles of practices reduce burnout. This study offers the first evidence of burnout as a mediating mechanism in the so-called black box of HPWS, with application to the tourism and hospitality context. It also contributes to the field with important theoretical contributions, as well as managerial recommendations.

High performance work systems for employees’ job satisfaction: The mediational role of employees’ burnout

All cultures deserve to have their history told in their unique way. Street art culture has its root in graffiti since 30,000 BC. Nowadays, creativity assumes one of the central roles on the city agenda.

Street art is studied by scientists from all over the world, and while their research can sometimes be obscure, the only thing they all agree with is street art – international practice. Experts shared their assessment that the penetration of street art in only one historical district can give the tourism industry additional financial profit. Street art can provide up to one additional day for a tourist group to be present in the city, by creating sightseeing tours. There are rules governing street art, criteria by which the legalization of the image on the facade of the building is evaluated.

Graffiti became street art and influenced being the most provocative art act in history. Nowadays people pay thousands of dollars in auctions for a Banksy print when just several decades ago graffiti artists were thrown into jail for having the same concept. For this purpose, the focus is on the evolution of street art is as the evolution of power relations between society and space. The focus of this article is to evaluate street art through the Broken Windows Theory from the angle of historical timeline and analyse opportunities for tourism, most of all for local tourism, which is the priority one according to pandemic time. A brief discussion of the way of why street art is one of the most important art performances is provided, followed by some observations on how street art effect society according to broken windows theory and gentrification tools.

Commercial street art: Opportunities for tourism

Subtitle: Diversity of “Pinoy Sinigang”

Food acceptability is largely determined by palatability factors. Knowledge of food acceptability is an important consideration on concerns on health, food marketing and sales, and in development of food products.

This study primarily determined level of sourness and acceptability of selected indigenous souring agents available in the Philippines, in terms of its palatability factors – aroma, appearance, taste and texture. The study focused on 25 souring agents used in preparing and cooking “Sinigang”.



The study used the experimental research design to innovate the “Sinigang” recipe using the indigenous souring agents. Descriptive method was also used to determine the level of acceptability of the souring agents in terms of palatability factors. A questionnaire was formulated and used as a major tool in data gathering. The data gathered were analyzed using weighted mean, frequency count, percentage, ranking technique, variance analysis and correlation analytics.



The study concludes that the twenty-five (25) indigenous souring agents for “Sinigang” can be alternatively used as souring agents. The souring agents differ in sourness, acceptability, visual appeal, olfactory evaluation, taste and specific flavors. Ratings on the sourness and acceptability differ significantly.



Some of the researcher’s recommendations are to introduce the twenty-five (25) selected indigenous souring agents available in the Philippines for a healthier, more organic and natural diet. Studies on the preservation of these souring agents can aid in extending their availability when not in season. Launching and marketing culinary tours will promote food tourism and culture of the food-loving Filipinos.

Level of sourness, acceptability, palatability of selected indigenous souring agents

The purpose of this study is to explore the Generation Y (Gen Y) segment’s understanding of green hotels in Singapore. The study concentrates on the preferences of green hotel attributes and evaluates guests’ willingness to pay a premium to stay in green hotels. The hotel industry’s main purpose is to deliver comfortable services/supplies (e.g. hot water, food, drinks, linens, and swimming pool). In the process, there is excessive consumption of water, energy, non-recyclable, goods, and natural resources, thus directly or indirectly harming the environment (Han et al., 2011). Among all generational segments, Gen Y comprises more than 25 percent of the world’s population (Bilgihan et al., 2013). Millennial individuals born between 1979 and 1994 are classified as Generation Y, aged between 24 and 39 (Talbott, 2012). Gen Y is the segment with strong views about environmental issues (Jang, Kim & Bonn, 2011). Many companies are focusing on Gen Y individuals and converting them to potential consumers due to their significant purchasing power (Parment, 2013). They use social media and are well-versed with the internet by uploading content frequently (Bolton, et al., 2013).

The study employed a qualitative approach by using purposeful sampling to select ten participants for semi-structured interviews. This study shows that Gen Y’s willingness to stay in a hotel is highly related to location and price. It delves more in-depth to provide recommendations to hotels on improving their green initiatives and marketing strategies. The result of this study also shows that guests were accepting of paying slightly more for green attributes.

Gen Y’s preferences and willingness to pay towards green attributes hotels

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are responsible for more than seventy-five percent of the hotel ownership structure in the USA. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all REITs markets were severely affected. Mandatory lockdowns and mobility restrictions affected several businesses, especially in the service sectors. Unsurprisingly, the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on hotel REITs were devastating due to the unpredictability of revenues and cash flows, directly impacting managerial decisions on how to adapt REITs' capital structure quickly. Understand the risks associated with the capital structure decision and how these determinants are affected by crises, catastrophes, and unprecedented extreme situations that can abruptly affect the revenue and cash flow generation is crucial not only to REIT managers but especially for regulators, lawmakers, and all real estate sector stakeholders impacted by unexpected market volatility. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the moderating effects of COVID-19 on hotel REITs' capital structure determinants. This paper used quarterly hotel REIT financial data of the 18 most representative U.S. H-REITs from January 2015 through December 2020, which does not include other financial crises or extreme lockdown situations other than the COVID-19 pandemic. Collecting a panel data of 472 observations, this study found robust empirical evidence that confirms COVID-19 moderates the relationships between hotel REITs' capital structure and its determinants. Adapting constructs from the Pecking Order Theory (POT) and Trade-off Theory (TOT), this study found that hotel REITs profitability and size significantly impacted their capital structure only during the pandemic; hotel REITs growth potential is a significant determinant before and during the pandemic, and hotel REITs tangibility of assets and interest coverage did not impact their capital structure nor before, nor during the crisis. The results, theoretical contributions, and managerial implications were deeply explored in the final section.

The moderating effects of covid-19 on hotel real estate investment trusts' capital structure determinants

Introduction: Saudi Arabia began welcoming international tourists in 2018. Before that, Saudi Arabia was known only for religious tourism. However, there is little to no research conducted in Saudi Arabia regarding tourism, international tourists, or tourists’ overall satisfaction.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the social and economic impact on domestic and international tourists after visiting the Western Region of Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This research employed an online quantitative questionnaire to measure the dependent and independent variables of the research. The dependent variables including tourists’ satisfaction, revisit intention, and eWOM. The independent variables include social media exposure, expectations, and understanding of the local culture, quality of tourism service, rapport, and economic expenditures. The chosen sample included domestic travelers who are visiting from other regions of Saudi Arabia and international travelers who are visiting from other countries.

Results: Results indicate that tourists who experienced high-quality services and products are more satisfied with their decision to visit the western region. Moreover, domestic and international tourists who had researched the culture of Saudi Arabia and are generally interested in knowing more about its culture, are more satisfied with their visit to the Western region. Survey results also indicate that tourists who had positive social interaction with locals and employees are more satisfied with their decision to visit the Western region. Additionally, tourists who had lower expectations of the Western region are more satisfied with their decision to visit the region than tourists who had higher expectations. Lastly, tourists who spent less are more satisfied.

Implications: Results of the research can aid hoteliers and event managers to assess their current level of services presented to customers and work alongside businesses to improve them and exceed visitors’ expectations.

The evolution of tourism in Saudi Arabia: a study on the Western region

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented in scope. Health-protective behavior and protection against health-risks becomes increasingly important for domestic and international travelers. This paper proposes to tourism planners and stakeholders a comprehensive model to apply to tourism and hospitality research in health-related situations. We combine an extended Health Belief Model (HBM) with animosity research to explain domestic and international travel intentions of experienced travelers. Risk avoidance, self-efficacy in applying protective behavior, perceived severity of COVID-19 and animosity towards China are included in the model.

Design/Methodology/Approach

An online questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 256 international tourists in April 2020.SmartPLS was employed to explore the validity, fit of the proposed research model, andhypothesized paths.

Findings

Findings show that risk avoidance influences willingness to travel domestically and internationally. Animosity increases risk avoidance. Self-efficacy, perceived severity and animosity only partially explain willingness to travel.

Originality/value

Animosity towards Chinese travelers and Chinese travel destinations has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study proposes a model designed to provide a broader conceptualization of travel behavior during a pandemic to explain the possible consequences on both domestic and international travel.

Limitations/Implications

The sample is predominantly young, female and university educated. Thus, results may not be generalizable to the general public. Practitioners benefit from the findings. Actions to protect travelers have to be implemented and marketed in order to attract tourism. Easy to implement measures are especially important for domestic travelers.

The future of travel: The COVID-19 effects in travel intention based on psychometric variables

Introduction

The rapid growth ofinternational tourist arrivals in recent years has intensified individuals’ social capital.Social capital, comprising bonding, bridging and linking, is defined as an individual’s resources in social networks and ties (Elgar et al., 2011). Bonding- and bridging social capital are found to be critical to destination strategic planning (Souland et al., 2018). Differences are found in travel motivation and behaviours among generations (Nielsen, 2014). Furthermore, individuals’ social relationships with family members and friends are strengthened during and after the trip (Mura & Tavakoli, 2014). The present study aims to examine the social capital- travel motivation relationship.

Methods

This study adopted snowballing sampling approach which invited students and colleagues in a college to participate in an online questionnaire survey. They were also asked to invite a family member or friend to respond to the survey. 355 valid responses (260 females and 95 males) were used for statistical analysis.

Results

Table 1 shows that bonding social capital has significant and positive relationship with travel motives; the relationship of bridging and linking social capital to travel motivation are significantly and negatively related.

Table 1. Results for path coefficients 


Parameter Estimate t-values 
Travel motives<-Bonding social capital 0.674 4.286*** 
Travel motives<-Bridging social capital -.291 -2.504* 
Travel motives<-Linking social capital -.330 -4.648*** 

Note:*p<.05; ***p<.001

Discussion

The strong positive bonding social capital-travel motivation relationship reflects that individuals would like to go travel with their family members and good friends, thereby heightening his/her motivation to travel. Conversely, one’s association with dissimilar groups (e.g. casual acquaintances, work colleagues) and one’s lack of trust in government simultaneously inhibit his/her travel motives. The results imply that employers and government have responsibilities to reinforce ones’ social capital, to which tourism/travel marketers may design and offer relevant products/services accordingly.

The impact of social capital on travel motivation

The risk of disruption to Travel and Leisure firms has been given so far little attention in the academic literature and the scarce related evidence is mostly drawn from conventional market-based frameworks comprising stock returns. In this paper, we consider the shape and dynamics of default probabilities of US Travel and Leisure firms to make inferences regarding their interconnectedness and determinants. However, instead of focusing on one single maturity of the credit default swap (CDS), such as the 5-year, we consider the joint dependency of the various factors of the CDS curves to capture potential heterogeneity in the interconnectedness of default risk across the level, slope, and curvature of the CDS curves, respectively reflecting the long-, medium- and short-term factors. The data is daily from January 1, 2017 to March 19, 2021, which allows us to study the full sample and covid-19 outbreak periods, and the employed methods involve the generalized variance decomposition through which the interconnectedness of default risk across various horizons is uncovered in a dynamic fashion. The results show that the long-term default risk (level factor) exhibits a higher level of connectedness than the short-term and middle-term default risks (slope and curvature, respectively). The credit risk spillover across all horizons increases during covid-19 outbreak period, indicating credit deterioration and vulnerability of the system to a possible clustered default during the pandemic. Further analysis involving the determinants of default connectedness indicates that the government stringency index increases the future credit risk spillover in the short- and medium-term, whereas the US stock market volatility increases the future credit risk spillover in the medium- and long-term. Those findings matter to investors and policymakers seeking to refine their means to monitor systemic vulnerability in the US Travel and Leisure industry.

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