“THE ROOM WAS QUITE SMALL BY AMERICAN STANDARDS” – ARE ONLINE HOTEL REVIEWS CULTURE-SPECIFIC?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Nielsen ◽  
Karen K. Zethsen
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Personal Service ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Physical Comfort ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
The Impact

Hotel bookings are increasingly made online, and many travellers rely on eWOM in the form of peer hotel reviews. These reviews potentially contain information of great relevance to the tourism industry and offer a unique and ever-expanding corpus of unsolicited data. If this data is investigated systematically, it may provide insights that would enable hotel managers to be proactive in their marketing. The present study focuses on the under-researched area of the potential impact of nationality on the reviews. Using a corpus of authentic American and German hotel reviews and the qualitative, phenomenologically-inspired method of Systematic Text Condensation, this study investigates the impact of national culture on review comments in order to establish whether nationality makes a difference for the themes and attitudes expressed. The data indicate that Americans are more likely to focus on old-world charm, romance, physical comfort, personal service/relations and problem-solving than Germans are. The overall results of this qualitative study allow us to conclude that there are indeed differences between the German and the American reviews to a degree that is worth pursuing in future mixed-methods research and that may have practice implications for hotel managers.

Leading Creative Problem Solving

2021 ◽  
pp. 110-132
Author(s):  
Crystal Yolande Herborn ◽  
Frances Scholtz
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
South African ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Creative Problem Solving ◽  
Mindfulness Intervention ◽  
Creative Problem ◽  
Ict Industry ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores the potential of mindfulness as a tool to assist us to think creatively when attempting to solve a problem. The study was conducted within an organisational setting and aimed to explore the impact of a mindfulness intervention on the creativity of leaders. A mixed methods research strategy was implemented, and an intrinsic case study employed in the study. The sample consisted of fourteen leaders of an organisation within the South African ICT industry. The data was collected using interviews, MAAS (mindfulness awareness attention scale) questionnaires, alternate uses tasks, and a creative problem-solving exercise. The findings highlighted that exposure to a brief mindfulness intervention seems to have positively impacted the dispositional mindfulness of leaders, as well as appear to have positively impacted their ability to creatively solve a problem. Participants highlighted the notion of pausing, reflecting, and resetting when dealing with daily challenges, which resulted in the PRR model being constructed.

scholarly journals Environmentally-friendly practices in hotels

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Mbasera ◽  
Engelina Du Plessis ◽  
Melville Saayman ◽  
Martinette Kruger
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Green Management ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Value Add ◽  
Hotel Managers ◽  
The Impact

Orientation: There has been a growing concern for a ‘green’ hotel in the view of customers as they experience an increased awareness of environmental damage and excessive consumption of goods, energy and water.Research purpose: To determine the environmentally-friendly practices in hotels in Zimbabwe and South Africa and establish the contribution that hotels are making towards mitigation of the negative environmental effects.Motivation for the study: Currently, the world is facing environmental issues, which include global climate change, ozone depletion, pollution, high consumption of resources and increasing amounts of solid waste. Hotels, as part of the tourism industry, exert a significant impact on the environment. While the extent and range of the impact that hotels exert on the environment suggest an urgent need to address this problem, the question that arises is whether hoteliers appreciate the need for environmentally-friendly initiatives in their establishments.Research design, approach and method: A qualitative research was carried out in eight hotels that employ the strategy of the case study in the aforementioned countries. Main findings: Currently, no policies for green management exist, although some hotels do engage in some environmentally-friendly practices. Some hotel managers do not implement green management initiatives to mitigate the environmental problems emanating from their hotel operations.Practical and/or managerial implications: This indicates that a gap exists between managers’ awareness of appropriate environmentally-friendly practices for hotels, implying a need for training and increased awareness of green management.Contribution and/or value-add: The results could guide managers in the implementation of environmentally-friendly practices in an effort to mitigate environmental problems facing the present generation.

National culture and the learning organization

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Muhammad Siddique
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
National Culture ◽  
Learning Organization ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Orientations ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the concept of learning organization (LO) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its objective is to provide initial insight into the potential impact of cultural context on how business managers perceive and interpret the LO theory and practice. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in two phases; the first phase involved a focus group review and discussion of the LO concept and major LO models. With insights gained from the focus group discussions, the second phase of the study developed a number of hypotheses on the potential impact of national cultural orientations on the LO concept, which were tested with managerial responses to a survey. Findings While UAE managers viewed and interpreted the LO concept in several different ways, most qualitative comments emphasized the following four aspects of an LO: workplace learning, organizational learning, learning climate and learning structure. Both sets of data revealed strong linkages between dimensions of national culture and the LO concept. Organizational culture partially mediated the relationship between national cultural orientations and aspects of an LO. Potential barriers to the implementation of the LO concept as perceived by respondents were largely related to national cultural value orientations and organizational cultures. The findings suggested that Western LO models and measurement instruments do not fully capture the socio-cultural reality of UAE-based organizations and the manner in which they view and interpret the LO concept and practices in their specific context. Research limitations Being a preliminary and largely reflective in nature, the present study has relied more heavily upon the qualitative data than the survey data. Practical implications The findings of this study document the value of culture-specific criteria to monitor the performance of companies in their LO journey rather than using a standardized LO assessment model. Originality/value The study represents an initial attempt at enhancing the understanding of the impact of national culture on the development and application of the LO concept and the challenges it faces in the UAE context.

scholarly journals Service tangibility on repeat visits in two-five star rated hotels in Nairobi County

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 333-340
Author(s):  
Nancy Kaseki Musembi ◽  
Louise Ngugi ◽  
Methuselah Bichage
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Quality Attributes ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Repeat Visits

This study evaluated the influence of service tangibility on repeat visits in two-five star rated Hotels in Nairobi County. The significance of service quality cannot be overemphasized it is generally accepted that the interplay of service quality, customer satisfaction, and repeat visitation represents an attractive, cost-effective approach to gain a competitive advantage for most companies though the hotel industry is a very important sector in Kenya as it has many contributions to the economy. The tourism industry in Kenya is currently facing slow progress and the hotels are losing a lot of revenue due to poor services. The main objective of the study was to determine the influence of service tangibility on repeat visits in two-five star-rated hotels in Nairobi County. The specific objectives were to examine Quality and Cleanliness, the influence of Good Menu, and the impact of Comfortable Beds on repeat visits in two-five star-rated hotels in Nairobi. Mixed methods research design was applied based on a cross-sectional survey. The target population comprised of customers in 2-5 star rated hotels in Nairobi County. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data and the researcher conducted a pre-test of the research instruments to establish their validity. The study showed that there is a positive effect of quality attributes on customer satisfaction and customers’ repeat visits to hotels. The study concluded that majorly, the individual service quality attributes and the level of customer satisfaction influence repeat visits in star-rated hotels in Nairobi County

The Impact of Visual Thinking Approach to Promote Elementary Students’ Problem Solving Skill in Mathemathics

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fendrik ◽  
Elvina Elvina
Keyword(s):  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Elementary Students ◽  
Visual Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Visual Thinking ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Student Skill ◽  
Mathematical Skill ◽  
The Impact

This study aims to examine the influence of visual thinking learning to problemsolving skill. Quasi experiments with the design of this non-equivalent controlgroup involved Grade V students in one of the Elementary Schools. The design ofthis study was quasi experimental nonequivalent control group, the researchbullet used the existing class. The results of research are: 1) improvement ofproblem soving skill. The learning did not differ significantly between studentswho received conventional learning. 2) there is no interaction between learning(visual thinking and traditional) with students' mathematical skill (upper, middleand lower) on the improvement of skill. 3) there is a difference in the skill oflanguage learning that is being constructed with visual learning of thought interms of student skill (top, middle and bottom).

ETHNIC CULTURE OF LAMUNKHINSKI EVENS AS A RESOURCE OF DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM INDUSTRY OF YAKUTIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (8(77)) ◽  
pp. 4-7
Author(s):  
Sardaana Anatolievna Alekseeva
Keyword(s):  
National Culture ◽  
Local Group ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Ethnic Tourism ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
The North ◽  
Original Culture ◽  
The Village ◽  
Hunting And Fishing

When getting acquainted with the ethnic traditions of the peoples of Yakutia, special attention should be paid to the national culture of the evens as a small indigenous people of the North. Cultural and ethnographic features of Yakutia are one of the most important resources for the development of tourism. The main purpose of the work is to consider the potential of ethnic tourism on the example of the village of Sebyan-Kuel in the Кobyai district of Yakutia. The following specific ethnographic methods are used: the method of included observation and indepth interview. The result was that in this remote mountains of the Verkhoyansk ridge preserved the original culture of the local group Lamynkhinsky Evens, which is a unique, non-commodity, and, consequently, an inexhaustible resource for the economy, social and cultural development of the nasleg. In our opinion, the area of Lamynkhinsky nasleg can become one of the most popular tourist destinations due to its uniqueness in ethnic and extreme, ecological, hunting and fishing types of tourism.

The Supply-Demand Research of Cultural and Tourism Industries Policies in China with the Impact of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-24
Author(s):  
Dr. Jianfei Yang
Keyword(s):  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Cultural Industries ◽  
Real Situation ◽  
The Real ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Post Period

COVID-19 has made a bad influence on economic and society including cultural and tourism industry in China，2020.The industry has received a huge loss in the first quarter of the year and the situation is getting worse in the near future. It is believed that there will be a long impact for the country even the world. In order to recover the industry, Chinese government has published series of policies to support the enterprises and clusters to reduce the bad influence of COVID-19. This paper mainly uses filed survey and documentary research to map the real situation of the industry. It tries to find the policy demand of the industries and then analyze the policies published by government to conquer COVID-19. Meanwhile it will focus on whether the supply meet the demand and give suggestions on how to promote the policy efficiency in the post period of COVID-19 in China. Keywords: Evaluation; Cultural Industries; Policy; Park; Pandemic

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