Research on the Frontier and Prospect of Service Robots in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry Based on International Core Journals: A Review.

This paper used the mixed research method of bibliometric and content analysis to study 284 studies on service robots in the tourism and hospitality industry collected from the Web of Science database. Results show that research in this field started late, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has promoted the rapid growth of the number of research papers. The International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management has so far published the most number of papers. Numerous scholars from universities in different regions of the world have made significant contributions to the research of service robots, and academic collaborations are relatively common, but there are only very few high-yield authors. Empirical research has been widely favored by researchers, wherein online questionnaire and experimental methods have been frequently used. Multidisciplinary theories have also been cited in related articles, especially on the applications of psychological theories. The research fronts cover four branches focusing on service robots, consumers, human employees, and service environment, with all four parts largely overlapping in content. Finally, the paper discusses prospects for the future research agenda of service robots in the tourism and hospitality industry.

Leveraging employee online reviews for improving hotel competitiveness in the great resignation.

The Great Resignation has brought significant challenges to the recovery of the hospitality industry from the depression caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). Prior studies have revealed that the leading cause of the Great Resignation is negative employee experience. However, few empirical studies have been conducted to obtain deep insights into the negative experiences of hospitality employees. Hotel managers still lack the knowledge to help them resolve the workforce problem and maintain competitiveness during the pandemic. This study proposes a novel framework, named HENEX, that uses data-mining technologies and employees' online reviews about hotels to identify the factors that lead to hospitality employees' negative experiences and changes in these factors caused by COVID-19. We demonstrate the effectiveness of HENEX through a case study that involves major hotels in Australia. The findings could help hotel managers develop strategies to resolve the workforce problem and maintain competitiveness during the Great Resignation period.

An Integrated Model of Destination Attractiveness and Tourists' Environmentally Responsible Behavior: The Mediating Effect of Place Attachment.

This study aimed to empirically explore the relationship between destination attractiveness and tourists' environmentally responsible behavior (TERB), as based on self-regulated attitude theory. In this paper, we have divided destination attractiveness into two aspects: the attractiveness of a facility's services, and that of the sightseeing experience, so as to build a structural equation model with mediation analysis. For our research, we selected Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan as the site of our case study, and we conducted a survey using a questionnaire. We then analyzed the path using a structural equation model. Our results show: (1) two elements of destination attractiveness have significantly positive effects on TERB; and (2) place attachment exerts a mediating effect among the attractiveness of the facility's services, that of the sightseeing experience, and TERB. Therefore, enhancing destination attractiveness and tourists' emotional attachments to locations could help to promote the implementation of TERB and the achievement of sustainable tourism development.

Lack of IT and digital marketing professionals in hospitality: is it education's fault?

Information technology (IT) and digital marketing are perceived as the driving forces for promoting the development of the hospitality industry in a competitive market. However, there is a global shortage of workers to fill related positions, which hinders the sustainable growth of this industry. Thus, a qualitative thematic approach was adopted in this study to analyze textual data from experts to explore the reasons behind this shortage. Through careful design and analysis, three parties were identified as key generators, including education, industry, and staff/students. Meanwhile, the specific causes made by each party were presented to provide a detailed analysis of the issue. The findings are aimed to help solve the education and human resource issues in the hospitality industry. Nevertheless, the findings could have been more detailed if a follow-up interview was conducted after the thematic analysis.

Seeing destinations through short-form videos: Implications for leveraging audience involvement to increase travel intention.

Short-form travel videos are popular, but the process of audience involvement while watching remains unclear. This study explores audience involvement along with expressions of travel intention and introduces the concepts of destination image and psychological distance to construct a structural model. A total of 487 questionnaires were used for structural equation model testing. Results show that audience involvement has a positive impact on the destination's cognitive and affective image, ultimately leading to travel intention. Meanwhile, the destination's cognitive and affective image play a partial mediating role between the influencing mechanisms. Moreover, psychological distance has a negative moderating effect between audience involvement and travel intention, and on audience involvement and cognitive image. However, it has no significant moderating effect on both audience involvement and affective image. The results provide a broader research perspective for the development of short-form travel videos and provide important implications for destination marketing.

A Study on the Mediating Role of Emotional Solidarity between Authenticity Perception Mechanism and Tourism Support Behavior Intentions within Rural Homestay Inn Tourism.

Rural homestay inns are an important part of rural tourism, and tourists' support behavior intentions are important factors affecting whether rural homestay inns can be developed sustainably. The local authentic life experiences and realization of actual communication between the host and tourists are the main influencing factors for tourists to revisit, recommend, or provide support. Although previous studies have confirmed the influence of authenticity perception on tourists' support behavior intentions from different perspectives, they have not analyzed the influence mechanism between them from the perspective of micro interpersonal emotional attitude. To further understand the impact mechanism between the two, this study introduces the variable of emotional solidarity; constructs a relationship model of authenticity perception, emotional solidarity, and tourists' support behavior intentions by adopting the theory of reasoned action; and verifies the established hypotheses through empirical analysis. The results show that both existential authenticity and objective authenticity positively influence tourism support behavior intentions, and the effect of objective authenticity on tourism support behavior intentions is greater than that of the presence of authenticity. Empathic understanding, feeling welcome, and emotional intimacy all play mediating roles between intrapersonal authenticity perception and tourism support behavior intentions. Findings also show empathic understanding and feeling welcome play mediating roles in objective authenticity perception and between the perception of objective authenticity and tourism support behavior intentions. Suggestions are also proposed for the development of homestay inn enterprises.

Will Macau's Restaurants Survive or Thrive after Entering the O2O Food Delivery Platform in the COVID-19 Pandemic?

COVID-19 presents a formidable challenge to global tourism. One of the emergency measures adopted by the Macau restaurant industry has been to increase its revenue by joining an online-to-offline (O2O) platform. Nevertheless, are there any risks that follow these opportunities? This article aims to explore whether any risks follow these opportunities, which could extend the literature. Study 1 explores the key factors that customers focus on by analyzing the content of customer reviews published on the Aomi platform through Python. Results show that brand credibility, freshness, and taste remained prominent in the customers' dining experience. Packaging, delivery quality, and hygiene emerged as new factors due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the popularity of the O2O platform. Customers and staff continued to participate in service interactions through these online channels. Meanwhile, Study 2 contributes to the present understanding of O2O services in restaurants by interviewing catering professionals, and the results highlight how restaurateurs adopt their strategies on O2O platforms.

How Fear of COVID-19 Affects Service Experience and Recommendation Intention in Theme Parks: An Approach of Integrating Protection Motivation Theory and Experience Economy Theory.

The unprecedented public panic caused by COVID-19 will affect the recovery of tourism, especially the theme parks, which are generally crowded due to high visitor volume. The purpose of this study is to discuss the effect of the COVID-19 on the theme park industry. This study aims to predict recommendation intentions of theme park visitors by exploring the complicated mechanism derived from the fear of COVID-19. This study uses a quantitative research method, and SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 22.0 were used for data analysis. An online survey was conducted with 420 Chinese respondents who visited Shanghai Disneyland after its reopening. The study explored the relationship between Fear of COVID-19, perceived risk, participation, service experience, and revisit intention. Results indicated the perceived risk of theme park visitors will not directly ruin their recommendation intention. Visitors' fear of COVID-19 enhanced their perceived risk, reduced their desire for active participation and impaired their service experience, which consequently affected their recommendation intention. We provide theoretical and managerial implications.

Coupling Coordination and Spatiotemporal Dynamic Evolution Between Medical Services and Tourism Development in China.

This work constructs an evaluation index system and quantitatively explores the coupling coordination relationship between the tourism development system and the medical services system in China. Results show that the degree of coupling coordination between the tourism development system and the medical services system showed a good upward trend in China during the period 2012-2019. However, the relationship was barely balanced, with tourism development lagging. The overall layout shows a spatial pattern of "high in the north and low in the south, high in the east and low in the west." The degree of coupling coordination tends to be randomly distributed from clustered distribution, and the cold-hot spots show a spatial development pattern of "cold in the northwest and hot in the southeast" as time passes. The power of government to regulate has always been an important mechanism affecting the degree of coupling coordination. The study aims to provide reference for the rationalization of medical tourism layout and sustainable development.

Perception, Reaction, and Future Development of the Influence of COVID-19 on the Hospitality and Tourism Industry in China.

The present study examined the perception, reaction (i.e., possible measures), and future development from the perspectives of hotel and tourism practitioners and experts to investigate the influence of coronavirus disease 2019 (i.e., COVID-19) on the hospitality and tourism industry in China. After conducting 58 in-depth interviews among hotel and tourism practitioners and experts, feasible and practical measures were proposed to reduce such influence and predict the future development of China's hospitality and tourism industry. Findings indicate that the influence of COVID-19 on the industry is perceived mainly through the pandemic's economic and social effects. Possible measures that can be adopted for the recovery of China's hospitality and tourism industry include the following aspects: government financial support, employee relationship management and electronic (e)-training, business marketing management, and industry co-operation network. A Perception-Reaction-Predication (PRP) crisis model is also proposed.

Dimensions of the health benefits of wellness tourism: A review.

The benefits of wellness tourism have been recently noted by researchers and industry representatives. This study examined the health dimensions of these benefits posited by a large array of interdisciplinary studies from 2002 up to the present. Open coding was used to conduct an inductive evaluation to classify these health benefits. Results showed four main dimensions, namely, physical fitness, psychological fitness, quality of life (QOL), and environmental health; however, these dimensions need further investigation. Physiological health benefits can also be demonstrated through future experiments, which can further focus on empirical research on the psychological benefits and its overall effect on the QOL. This study contributes to the current literature by providing novel theoretical foundations and subsequently aids practitioners to understand customers better and convey their marketing messages to tourists more effectively.

Research on the Influence Mechanism of Intention to Proximity Travel under the COVID-19.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought increasing attention to proximity travel. This mode of travel is a convenient travel setup for both tourists and neighboring destinations. With the help of the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB), this study investigates the influence of tourists' perception of epidemic risk on their intentions for proximity travel during the normalization of epidemic prevention and control. This study takes Shenzhen, China as the research area, and carried out the investigation in the context of normalization of the epidemic in China. A total of 489 pieces of valid sample data were collected through questionnaire surveys. Statistical analysis software, such as SPSS26.0 and AMOS23.0, were used to analyze the collected data information quantitatively, including descriptive statistical analysis, reliability and validity test, CFA and SEM. The results showed that attitude, subjective norms, positive anticipated emotions, and perceptual behavior control have significant positive effects on travel desire. Travel desire has a significant positive impact on travel intention, whereas negative anticipated emotions have no significant effect on travel desire. Meanwhile, the epidemic risk perception has a significant positive effect on attitudinal travel desire and travel intention. Under the background of the COVID-19, the stronger that the epidemic risk is perceived by tourists, the more the desire and intention to proximity travel are enhanced.

Service Quality in Tourism Public Health: Trust, Satisfaction, and Loyalty.

The spread of COVID-19 and large-scale travel restrictions has caused serious damage to the global tourism industry. Tourists pay additional attention to public health services and their health during travel, but studies on tourism public health service quality (TPHSQ) are limited. Therefore, this study aims to define TPHSQ and revise and validate its scale. The result of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicates that TPHSQ includes two dimensions "overall environmental image" and "public health facilities and management." And based on 456 valid samples, the relationship among TPHSQ, tourists' trust, satisfaction, and loyalty was validated using the multiple linear regression models. Results revealed the importance of the TPHSQ in improving tourists' satisfaction and recovering their trust and loyalty. These results provided several implications for research, practice, and society that can benefit diverse stakeholders, which could accelerate the recovery of the tourism industry.

Betting Decision Under Break-Streak Pattern: Evidence from Casino Gaming.

Cognitive bias is prevalent among gamblers, especially those with gambling problems. Grounded in the heuristics theories, this study contributes to the literature by examining a cognitive bias triggered by the break streak pattern in the casino setting. We postulate that gamblers tend to bet on the latest outcome when there is a break-streak pattern. Moreover, three determinants of the betting decision under break-streak pattern, including the streak length of the alternative outcome, the frequency of the latest outcome, and gender, were identified and examined in this study. A non-participatory observational study was conducted among the Cussec gamblers in a casino in Macao. An analysis of 1229 bets confirms our postulation, particularly when the streak of the alternative outcome is long, the latest outcome is frequent, and the gamblers are females. The findings provide meaningful implications for casino management and public policymakers regarding the minimization of gambling harm.

An examination of factors driving chinese gamblers' fallacy bias.

Gambling is a leisure activity, which is enjoyed by many people around the world. Among these people, Chinese are known for their high propensity to gamble and are highly sought after by many casinos. In this exploratory study, the effect of two types of fallacy bias-positive recency and negative recency-on the betting behavior of Chinese gamblers is investigated. Although the influence of fallacy bias on a betting decision is well documented, little is known about the interaction of the factors that dictate fallacy bias. Drawing from an analysis of 2,645 betting decisions, the results show that Chinese gamblers primarily endorse positive recency, especially when the latest outcome is more frequent. This is contrary to most findings on Western subjects in which negative recency is more common. Current findings have meaningful implications to casino gaming entertainment businesses and public policymakers.

The impact of infectious diseases on hotel occupancy rate based on independent component analysis.

The recent global outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1), or the more commonly known as swine flu, has negatively affected the tourism and hospitality industries in many countries. This article reports a study that applied independent component analysis, a novel statistical technique, to separate the dominant factors which determine the levels of hotel occupancy rates in Hong Kong. Empirical findings would provide useful insights on how the dynamic lodging demand reacts to epidemics based on the severity and duration of the events.

How do Mainland Chinese travelers choose restaurants in Hong Kong?: An exploratory study of individual visit scheme travelers and packaged travelers.

The introduction of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), which allows Mainland Chinese travelers (hereafter called Chinese travelers) to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis, has been beneficial to the fast recovery of the local economy in Hong Kong from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The IVS travelers, together with the packaged travelers who visited Hong Kong by joining packaged tours, are presently forming the largest segment of inbound travelers to Hong Kong. Despite the significant economic contributions of Chinese travelers to Hong Kong in general, and to the foodservice sector in particular, there has been an absence of prior studies on IVS travelers' behavior of selecting restaurants in the existing hospitality and tourism literature. This paper reports on an exploratory study that investigated the perceived importance of attributes that pertain to the selection of restaurants from the perspective of IVS and packaged travelers from Mainland China. Empirical findings of a questionnaire survey with 230 Chinese travelers, including 127 IVS travelers and 103 packaged travelers, showed that the respondents in general viewed the included attributes as relatively important. In addition, only two attributes exhibited significant differences between IVS and packaged travelers. Findings of this research would be useful for hospitality and tourism practitioners to better prepare for receiving the growing number of Chinese travelers.

The impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on hotels: a case study of Hong Kong.

Hotel business in Hong Kong has been badly affected by the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) since March 2003. Medical reports suggest that a direct contact with the secretion or respiratory droplets from a patient through a short distance is very likely to be the possible way of transmitting the disease. World Health Organization (WHO), hence, has advised international travellers to avoid visiting several regions that have the most number of SARS cases, including Hong Kong. Since then, the number of hotel guests has largely dropped to a level that Hong Kong has never experienced before. As a totally new experience to the hotel industry in Hong Kong and elsewhere, hoteliers basically do not have enough knowledge to respond to epidemic crisis. In view of the lack of published articles in the hospitality literature that examine the issue, this paper investigates the impact of the SARS outbreak on the hotel industry in Hong Kong. In addition, this paper addresses the issue of SARS crisis management in risk identification, assessment and alleviation. The paper is expected to benefit the entire hotel industry from better understanding and planning to face the mysterious illness.