Historical Turning Points in Tourism: The Establishment of the Hotel Board in South Africa

The concept of “turning points” is increasingly applied to understand the evolution of tourism. Using archival research, it is demonstrated that a significant turning point for the evolution of tourism in South Africa occurred in 1964–1965 with the establishment of the Hotel Board and the beginnings of its operations. From 1928 government legislation produced a hotel industry in which most “hotels” were oriented more to liquor selling than the supply of accommodation services. This trajectory of the hotel industry continued into the 1960s. Arguably, the initiation of the Hotel Board was a turning point in the growth and modernization of the hotel sector and for the tourism industry in South Africa. Undertaken at a period of expansion in the domestic and international tourism industry as well as of rising government awareness as to the potential economic (and political) benefits from expanded tourism promotion the activities of the Hotel Board addressed the long standing shortcomings surrounding the quality and standards of provision of accommodation services in South African hotels. It represented a transition in the character of the tourist hotel in South Africa from one that was formerly dominated by liquor to an institution that—going forward—would be mainly concentrated on the provision of hospitality services.

Analysis of the hotel industry potential of Lviv region. Prospects for the rural hotels development

The hotel industry is one of the most important components of tourism. Its capacity depends on the ability to generate revenue from the full range of tourism services, and, consequently, the success of tourism development at both national and regional levels. Therefore, in this study we would like to assess (1) the hotel sector positioning in the Lviv region by share in the tourist accommodation establishments among the regions of Ukraine; (2) state indicators of Ukraian hotel industry in comparison with similar indicators of the EU member states; (3) the Lviv region position in terms of share in the Ukraine hotel sector among other regions; (4) prospects for the rural hotels development. In the research process we used the systematic review method of scientific publications, Ukrainian legislation, as well as information and analytical materials of international organizations in the tourism field. The hotel sector positioning of Lviv region among other Ukraine regions it is determined on the basis of the studied regions share in the total volume of the country as a whole. The analysis showed that hotels and similar accommodation are the main part of the tourist accommodation establishments potential in the Lviv region. During the study period (2017–2019) the hotel business of Lviv region has a consistently high position among other regions (2nd place). Ranking 2nd in Europe in terms of area, Ukraine ranks 10th in the number of hotels and similar accommodation, and 22nd in the number of beds – among the EU countries, which indicates the insufficient level of the national hotel sector development. The number of hotels in Ukraine is growing slowly. The main reasons for this are: the unstable economic and political situation, the high cost of loans to finance the construction of new hotels, long-term return on investment in hotel real estate and others. The experience of foreign countries with a high level of the hotel sector development shows that state intervention is used to achieve such results. Therefore, in order to develop the hotel sector in Ukraine, it is necessary to develop a program to support it. In particular, in our opinion, fiscal incentives should be introduced (for example, a reduction in the VAT rate for the hotel sector). To increase the tourist flow can be applied the practice of VAT refunds for tourists, reducing VAT rates on passenger transport.

Factors Influencing Organizational Performance in Hotel Sector of Nepal

The present study is designed to identify the factors influencing organizational performance based on native research work carried out through field study. Adopting descriptive cum analytical research design, this study is based on primary data obtained from the hotels located inside the Kathmandu valley of Nepal through the use of a five-point Likert-type questionnaire. With the help of the random sampling technique, 130 employees working in 23 hotels in the position of executive, managerial and officer’s level are taken as sample respondents. Four different variables affecting hotels' performance i.e., qualification, training and experience, administrative efficiency and location are taken as the independent variables and organizational performance as the dependent variable. Descriptive and inferential statistics have been used in this study. All the variables obtained Cronbach alpha value greater than .65, which shows the consistency on items taken for the study. The correlation analysis showed a strong positive correlation between organization performance and performance factors in the Nepalese hotel sector. Moreover, the regression analysis indicated that qualification of the employee, administrative efficiency of hotel management and training and experience provided to the employee are found strong predictors of organizational performance but the location factor was not found the determinant of organization performance in the Nepalese hotel sector. This study can further expand by adopting other variables affecting organizational performance in the hospitality sectors of Nepal.

Climate change adaptation in a coastal hotel sector: The case of Sihanoukville, Cambodia

<p>Tourism is one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economic sectors with key contributions to gross domestic product (direct and total contribution), employment (direct and total contribution), visitor exports, and investment (UNWTO, 2018b; WTTC, 2018b). Cambodia is a post-conflict country, which has seen very rapid tourism development over the last decade, while also being identified as being very vulnerable to climate change impacts by several key international agencies. Along with the rapid growth of the country’s tourism, UNWTO (2014) argues that Cambodia’s coastal tourism is at the forefront of climate change impacts. Two tools widely used to respond to climate change are adaptation and mitigation (Parry, 2007). The overall effect of mitigation is ‘global’ while the positive effect of adaptation is ‘local to regional’ (Füssel & Klein, 2006). Therefore, adaptation is most needed for tourism in developing nations (Scott, de Freitas, & Matzarakis, 2009), especially for a rapidly developing coastal destination like Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Taking this into account, the thesis takes the form of a climate change-focused case study of the coastal hotel sector in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville. The central concern of the thesis is to determine whether Sihanoukville’s hotel sector adapts to climate change and critically examine the barriers and enabling factors that influence adaptation. Adopting a postpositivist approach, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with 50 hotel respondents and field observations in Sihanoukville. Mixed method (qualitative & quantitative) and single-case study were used. Prior to exploring the adaptation, the vulnerability of Sihanoukville’s coastal tourism and its hotels were assessed through the perceptions on environmental and socio-economic factors, supported by the existing scientific evidence. The purpose is to identify the vulnerability, which is prerequisite before determining adaptation actions. The assessment is guided by key studies such as Moreno and Becken (2009), Smit and Wandel (2006), UNWTO (2014) and MOE, GEF and UNEP (2015) which explain that identifying key vulnerabilities is prerequisite knowledge before further identifying the adaptation responses for tourism. Adopted from WMO, UNEP, and WTO (2008) and Simpson, Gössling, Scott, Hall, and Gladin (2008), an adaptation framework that includes technical, managerial, policy, research and education was used to determine the hotels’ adaptation. Within the context of hotels’ adaptation, the study investigates the perceived criticality levels of barriers and enabling factors to adaptation because little research has been done to address the issue. The most critical (significant) barriers and enabling factors have been identified by measuring mean scores on a six-point rating scale with 0 being ‘uninfluential’ barrier and 5 being ‘very major’ barrier, and 0 being ‘uninfluential’ enabling factor and 5 being ‘very important’ enabling factor. In order to explore the underlying dimensions of hotel attributes (star rating, ownership etc.) and participants’ backgrounds (level of education, experience etc.) with regard to the barriers and enabling factors to adaptation, descriptive statistics and independent sample tests was used to determine whether there is statistical evidence that the associated sub-groups of respondent means are significantly different. Although Cambodia and Sihanoukville have been identified as very vulnerable by several key reports, the participants perceived that Sihanoukville’s coastal tourism and its hotel sector are moderately and slightly vulnerable respectively, mainly owing to ‘risk perception’ or ‘perception gap’ that leads to a subjective judgement on the actual climate change impacts. These respondents were surrounded by uncertainty of climate change information. While some studies identified the hotel sector as possessing the lowest adaptive capacity that is relative to their fixed structures (buildings) (e.g. WMO et al., 2008), this study found that the hotel attributes led to considerable variation in the adaptations. Of all the five types of adaptation, the technical adaptation was most significantly employed in the hotel sector. In the context of the hotels’ adaptation, the greatest barriers and enabling factors to climate change adaptation were also identified. Measured by mean scores, the findings further showed the most critical barriers to be ‘limited resources’, limited knowledge/perception of climate change, and ‘lack of political will’, and the most critical enabling factors to be ‘sufficient resources’, ‘sufficient information’ and ‘good leadership and management structures’. Subsequently, the study critically examines the extent to which hotel attributes and participants’ backgrounds influenced the barriers and enabling factors to adaptation. It was found that the barriers and enabling factors vary due to hotel attributes as well as participants’ backgrounds. Finally, the study proposes a conceptual framework of coastal hotel sector adaptation to climate change in the context of developing countries.</p>

Climate change adaptation in a coastal hotel sector: The case of Sihanoukville, Cambodia

<p>Tourism is one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economic sectors with key contributions to gross domestic product (direct and total contribution), employment (direct and total contribution), visitor exports, and investment (UNWTO, 2018b; WTTC, 2018b). Cambodia is a post-conflict country, which has seen very rapid tourism development over the last decade, while also being identified as being very vulnerable to climate change impacts by several key international agencies. Along with the rapid growth of the country’s tourism, UNWTO (2014) argues that Cambodia’s coastal tourism is at the forefront of climate change impacts. Two tools widely used to respond to climate change are adaptation and mitigation (Parry, 2007). The overall effect of mitigation is ‘global’ while the positive effect of adaptation is ‘local to regional’ (Füssel & Klein, 2006). Therefore, adaptation is most needed for tourism in developing nations (Scott, de Freitas, & Matzarakis, 2009), especially for a rapidly developing coastal destination like Sihanoukville, Cambodia. Taking this into account, the thesis takes the form of a climate change-focused case study of the coastal hotel sector in Cambodia’s Sihanoukville. The central concern of the thesis is to determine whether Sihanoukville’s hotel sector adapts to climate change and critically examine the barriers and enabling factors that influence adaptation. Adopting a postpositivist approach, the study conducted semi-structured interviews with 50 hotel respondents and field observations in Sihanoukville. Mixed method (qualitative & quantitative) and single-case study were used. Prior to exploring the adaptation, the vulnerability of Sihanoukville’s coastal tourism and its hotels were assessed through the perceptions on environmental and socio-economic factors, supported by the existing scientific evidence. The purpose is to identify the vulnerability, which is prerequisite before determining adaptation actions. The assessment is guided by key studies such as Moreno and Becken (2009), Smit and Wandel (2006), UNWTO (2014) and MOE, GEF and UNEP (2015) which explain that identifying key vulnerabilities is prerequisite knowledge before further identifying the adaptation responses for tourism. Adopted from WMO, UNEP, and WTO (2008) and Simpson, Gössling, Scott, Hall, and Gladin (2008), an adaptation framework that includes technical, managerial, policy, research and education was used to determine the hotels’ adaptation. Within the context of hotels’ adaptation, the study investigates the perceived criticality levels of barriers and enabling factors to adaptation because little research has been done to address the issue. The most critical (significant) barriers and enabling factors have been identified by measuring mean scores on a six-point rating scale with 0 being ‘uninfluential’ barrier and 5 being ‘very major’ barrier, and 0 being ‘uninfluential’ enabling factor and 5 being ‘very important’ enabling factor. In order to explore the underlying dimensions of hotel attributes (star rating, ownership etc.) and participants’ backgrounds (level of education, experience etc.) with regard to the barriers and enabling factors to adaptation, descriptive statistics and independent sample tests was used to determine whether there is statistical evidence that the associated sub-groups of respondent means are significantly different. Although Cambodia and Sihanoukville have been identified as very vulnerable by several key reports, the participants perceived that Sihanoukville’s coastal tourism and its hotel sector are moderately and slightly vulnerable respectively, mainly owing to ‘risk perception’ or ‘perception gap’ that leads to a subjective judgement on the actual climate change impacts. These respondents were surrounded by uncertainty of climate change information. While some studies identified the hotel sector as possessing the lowest adaptive capacity that is relative to their fixed structures (buildings) (e.g. WMO et al., 2008), this study found that the hotel attributes led to considerable variation in the adaptations. Of all the five types of adaptation, the technical adaptation was most significantly employed in the hotel sector. In the context of the hotels’ adaptation, the greatest barriers and enabling factors to climate change adaptation were also identified. Measured by mean scores, the findings further showed the most critical barriers to be ‘limited resources’, limited knowledge/perception of climate change, and ‘lack of political will’, and the most critical enabling factors to be ‘sufficient resources’, ‘sufficient information’ and ‘good leadership and management structures’. Subsequently, the study critically examines the extent to which hotel attributes and participants’ backgrounds influenced the barriers and enabling factors to adaptation. It was found that the barriers and enabling factors vary due to hotel attributes as well as participants’ backgrounds. Finally, the study proposes a conceptual framework of coastal hotel sector adaptation to climate change in the context of developing countries.</p>

AUSTRALIAN HOTEL ORGANISATIONS AND THEIR PRE AND MID COVID-19 ORGANISATIONAL RESILIENCE

This study focuses on the Australian hotel organisation and their organisational resilience (O.R.) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its objectives are to leverage the “Hotel Resilience model” developed by MeliánAlzola et al. (2020) and the Benchmark Resilience Tool to gain indications of the level of O.R of the Australian hotel sector, to determine the relationship between the hotel O.R. indicators and the financial outcomes and to document O.R. related tactics and strategies implemented in the Australian hotel industry during the Global pandemic. By adopting a qualitative research approach using experts’ interviews with 10 hotels general or operations managers, the study found that there was no formal awareness of or adoption of formal O.R. frameworks within the participating hotels nor was there any indication of an appetite for the implementation of any O.R. frameworks, also as a result of lack of data, the study was unable to determine a link between O.R. indicators and financial outcomes.