WORlD HeRITaGe sITes as TOURIsM ResOURCes

29th EuroCHRIE Annual Conference|Dubrovnik, Croatia

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 19-22 OCTOBER 2011

1 ISBN: 978-0-615-54307-9

29th Annual EuroCHRIE Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia “Tourism & Hospitality, Drivers of Transition” October 19th-22nd, 2011 Conference Proceedings

ISBN: 978-0-615-54307-9

The American College of Management and Technology, Dubrovnik, Croatia Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA Edited by: Jennifer Matić and Clint J. Wallington Published by: Rochester Institute of Technology

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Organizing Committee: Don Hudspeth, Conference Chair Irena Ljubišič, Conference Coordinator Milena Kužnin Jennifer Matić Christina Petrović

International Scientific Committee: Jennifer Matić, The American College of Management and Technology, Dubrovnik, Croatia Clint J. Wallington, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

International Reviewers: Daniela-Tatiana Agheorghiesei Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania Ioannis Assiouras Technological Institute of Piraeus, Athens, Greece Vesa Heikkinen University of Haaga-Helia Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland Zsuzsanna Horvath Budapest Business School Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Budapest, Hungary

Keith Mandabach New Mexico State University School of Hotel Restaurant Management, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA Belinda Nwosu Wavecrest College of Hospitality, Lagos, Nigeria Holly Olsen Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA Jeanne-Pierre van der Rest Hotelschool the Hague, the Hague, Netherlands

Stanislav Ivanov International University College, Dobrich, Bulgaria

Chris Stone Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK

Sharim Ab Karim Universiti Putra Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Mirjana Sutic Zagreb University Economics Faculty, Zagreb, Croatia

Joanne Malone Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Ireland

Sally Tabari London School of Commerce, London, UK Vasiliki Vrana, Technological Education Institute of Serres, Serres, Greece

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Table of Contents Keynote Speakers 12 Workshops 13 Conference Papers 14 Working Papers 648 Extended Abstracts 776 Student Papers 801 Full Papers Evaluating the Critical Success Factors of Restaurants in Kuala Lumpur 15 M. Shahrim ab Karim, Mohiddin Othman, Nurhasmilialisa Abdul Halim, and Hamdin Salleh The Tourism Industry in Ghana: A Engine of Growth and Development of an Emerging Economy 29 Edward Addo The Need for an Internship Model for the Students of Mater in Tourism and Hotel Management in Romania: Some Conclusions and Directions Daniela-Tatiana Agheorghiesei and Adriana Prodan Perceived Value in Hospitality: Dimensionality and Scale Development (abstract only) Hesham Al-Sabbahy

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The Potential of Using “Slow Food” for Gaining Strategic Marketing Advantage in Small Hospitality Organizations 73 Julius Anders and Susan Horner Organizational Culture and HRM Practices: Their Influence on Training Success in the Restaurant Industry (abstract only) 86 José L. Ballesteros-Rodríguez, Petra de Saá-Pérez, and Carmen Domínguez-Falcón Market Segmentation: Does it Work? Alessandra Bartoli and Kate Varini

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World Heritage Sites as Tourism Resources: The Case of Safranbolu-Turkey Canan Bastemur and Gül Günes

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The Impact of Perceived Justice, Service Quality and Consumption Emotions on Customer Relationship (abstract only) 116 Wen Biyan and Christina Geng-qing Chi

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Students’ Perception on the Importance of Foreign Languages Nikolina Božinović, Zrinka Friganović-Sain, and Barbara Perić

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Selecting Franchise Partners: Franchisee Perspectives and Processes in Two Transitional Economies (abstract only) 131 Maureen Brookes, Levent Altinay, and Wieslaw Urban Communicative Language Teaching in Croatian English Classrooms Rebecca A. Charry Roje

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Arctic Tourism: Perspectives from the Industry Professionals Joseph S. Chen

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The Challenges of Kwam Emakana Community-Based Tourism Homestay Initiative in South Africa 152 Juliet Chipumuro and Lynette Louw The Hospitable Space An Opportunity for Transitional Countries Jenny Cockill, David Egan, and James Merron

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Spiritual Heritage of Romania — A Unique and Original Value Alexandra Crina Chiriac and Gabriela Berechet

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The Importance of Hotel Categorisation for Croatia, a Country in Transition Helena Cvikl and Nataša Artič

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Organizational Routines Versus Individual Agency and Personality Elsbeth A. deBoer and Tjeerd Zandberg

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Front Desk Foreign Language Proficiency in Dubrovnik 5-Star Hotels Mara Deković Kesovija and Mario Matković

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The Role of Mindfulness in Tourism 223 Chris Dutt English Proficiency of Non-Native Speakers as a Predictor of First Year (abstract only) Susan Fournier and Elizabeth M. Ineson

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Lifelong Education as Content of Educational Tourism Romana Franjic

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A Generational Perspective on Working in Travel Industry. Managing a Multigenerational Workforce (abstract only) 250 Shira Godfried, Xander Lub, and Frank Radstake The Role and Use of Feasibility Studies in the Hotel Development Process (abstract only) Demian Hodari and David Samson

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Satisfying the Appetite of Micro/Small Tourism Practitioners (abstract only) M. T. Holden, A. Foley, P. Lynch, and J. Hussey

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Hospitality and Tourism Distance Learning Strategies (abstract only) 253 David Horrigan, Kate Buchanan, and Martin Senior A Conceptualisation of Professionalism in Tourism (abstract only) 254 Jennifer Hussey, Mary T. Holden, and Patrick Lynch The Effects of Traditional and Electronic Word-of-Mouth (abstract only) 255 Koji Ishida and Lisa Slevitch Bridging the Gap in Revenue Management Education Stan H.G. Josephi and Frans W. Melissen

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Outcomes of Off-Site Corporate Training and Lessons for Hospitality and Tourism Education Programs 268 Elizabeth A. Kmiecinski, Barbra Cerio-Iocco, Richard M. Lagiewski, and Carol B. Whitlock Exploring Knowledge Demands in Revenue Management Larissa Koupriouchina and Jean-Pierre van der Rest

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The Practical Application of Budgeting and Management Control Systems in German Independent Hotels 302 Rosemarie Krebs and Jan-Martin Voigt The Impact of an International Educational Institution on Hospitality Milena Kužnin and Besim Agušaj

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An Exploration of The “Emotional Content” In Review Sites of Hotels (abstract only) Samad Laaroussi and Hilary Catherine Murphy

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The Role of Exporting Hospitality and Tourism Education Richard M. Lagiewski

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China Economic Transition: Old World Wines as Positive Mianzi Willy Legrand, Karl Brandmeir, and Christian Pinguelo

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Erasmus Exchange Motivation Factors: International Analysis Miha Lesjak and Emil Juvan

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Training For Culinary Creativity — The Role Of Formative Education From Chinese Culture Perspectives 376 Ming-Chu Lin, Tom Baum, and Kang-Lin Peng The Creative Classroom 387 Joanne Malone and John Gardner Investigating The Association Between Hospitality Curriculum Subjects and Career Success (abstract only) 404 Stelios Marneros and Anastasios Zopiatis Trends In The Food And Beverage Sector Of The Hospitality Industry Detta Melia

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Food In Tourism: A Vehicle For Intercultural Dialogue? Elise Mognard

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The Influence of Reference Groups (abstract only) 432 Hilary Catherine Murphy and Debora Gassmann The Employability of Leisure and Hospitality Graduates Kevin Nield

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Place Branding and Competitiveness of Capital Bratislava at Tourist Demand Market Ludmila Novacka

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Transitions in Hospitality Higher Education: The Case of Cyprus Yianna Orphanidou and Stefanos Nachmias

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Modern Management in Hotel Industry of Transitional Countries Nadia Pavia and Tamara Floričić

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Brand Commitment in the Hotel Industry: Are There Any Differences Between Franchised Hotels and Company-Owned Hotels of a Same Plural Form Chain? (abstract only) Rozenn Perrigot, Assâad El Akremi, and Oliver Herrbach

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Challenges of Sustainable Tourism Management at Local Level in Republic of Macedonia: The Case of the City of Bitola 486 Elena Petrovska, Risto Rechkoski, and Gordana Rechkoska Agro-Tourism on Sustainable Development - Case Study of the Prespa Region, Republic of Macedonia 497 Gordana Petrovska - Rechkoska, Risto B.Rechkoski, and Elena V. Petrovska The Impact of Wage Rate Growth on Tourism Competitiveness (abstract only) Kahlil Philander and Susan J. Roe

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Capturing The Guest Experience In Hotels 510 Ruth Pijls, Gerrit H. Schreiber, and Rienk S.F. van Marle Impact of Work Design on Job Attitudes and Behaviors (abstract only) 527 Steffen P. Raub and Sunny Chang Raising Standards: Insights From Industry Award Entrants Bill Rowson

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Room Rate Parity: A 2010 Study of US Booking Channels (abstract only) Neven Sipic

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Socio-Economic Environment for Tourism Entrepreneurs: A Case of Croatia Vlatka Skokic, Alison Morrison, and Paul Lynch

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The Social Entrepreneurship Phenomena in the Hospitality Industry: A Survey of CommunityBased Sustainable Operations in Developing Economies Philip Sloan, Willy Legrand, and Claudia Simons-Kaufmann

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Teaching Academic Skills as an Introduction to Epistemological Empowerment Wendy Smeets How Well Do First Year Hospitality Management Students Adjust to the First Year of University Life? Jane Spowart

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Development and Implementation of a New Marketing Strategy for Brand Estonia: “Introduce Estonia” 588 Heli Tooman and Heli Müristaja Resident’s Perceptions of Impacts that Can Result from the Development of Adventure Tourisn in Thathe Vondo 604 Norman N. Tshipala and Willem J.L. Coetzee Volunteer Tourism: What Changes Do We Make? Study on International Volunteer Tourists from Taiwan 614 Ya-Chiao Tu Perceived Cleanliness: How Do Hotel Guests Perceive Cleanliness in a Hotel? 627 Arjan van Rheede, Yolanda Wilcock, Jannika Spremberg, Katja Baldus, and Kevin Simmonds Hospitality In New Members of The European Union Raimundo Viejo Rubio, André Carrascal Incera, and Melchor Fernández Fernández

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Working Papers Can Hots Be a Driver for Curriculum Development Sarah De Ridder

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A Case Study of Human Resource Directors’ Perceptions of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Native Language Service for Employee in the Hospitality Industry Duncan R. Dickson, Joyce Nutta, and Alison Youngblood

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A Case Study Teaching Hotel Chateau Bethlehem Vera Duehring

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The Academic Habits of American and Balkan College Students Edward Ganster

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Education for Sustainable Development In Tourism Zsuzsanna Horváth

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Environmental Management Accounting In Hospitality Industry — Empirical Evidence from Croatia 690 Sandra Janković, Milena Peršić, and Tatiana Zanini-Gavranić Exhibitors’ Perceptions of Relationship Quality with Organizers Xin Jin, Karin Weber, and Thomas Bauer

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Role of Niche Tourism Development in Increasing and Expanding Nida Kaladytė and Tatjana Stepankevičienė

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Restaurant 2020, Preliminary Results from Delphi Study Risto Karmavuo, Jouni Ahonen, and Vesa A.Heikkinen

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Do Cruise Employees Appreciate Growth Mindset Supervisors? Exploring The Cruise Line Work Environment (abstract only) 728 Einar Marnburg, Svein Larsen, and Torvald Ogaard Management of Music in Finnish Hospitality Businesses Violeta Salonen and Mário Passos Ascenção

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International Master Programs: A Road Map To Success Ton Stekelenburg and José Sanchez Lozano

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From Here to Sustainability Towards a Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality Industry in 2035 Remco Timmermans and Elena Cavagnaro

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Case Study: Hospitality and Tourism Students’ Expectations Tiina Viin, Liis Juust, and Tatjana Koor

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Extended Abstracts Food Tourism in The Black Forest Destination Importance and Implementation Cornelia L. Beer, Michael C. Ottenbacher, and Robert J. Harrington

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Corporate Social Responsibility in Transitional Nations 779 Deborah Breiter and Michael Terry

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Towards a Model for Showcasing Innovative Business Practices Hervé Fournier and Elizabeth M. Ineson

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Crowdsourcing: Is This Concept Useful for Peer Learning Robert J. Harrington, Michael C. Ottenbacher, Kelly A. Way, and Michael Zelin

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Hospitality and Tourism Distance Education: Global Inventory Sheryl Kline, Susan Gregory, and John Boyless

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Ethical Employment Context and Employees’ Ethical Reasoning Keith Mandabach, Sean Valentine, and Lynn Godkin

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Key Information Sources Impacting Michelin Restaurant Choice Michael C. Ottenbacher, Robert J. Harrington, and Annika Kruse

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The Development of Hotel Chains Through Franchising Rozenn Perrigot

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Does Transformational Leadership Increase Employee Job Satisfaction Kathrin Rothfelder, Michael C. Ottenbacher, and Robert J. Harrington

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Student Papers Birchwood Achieves Financial Profit by Developing and Implementing an EMS in the Company 802 Gwendolyn Hagenaar, Tineke van der Heijden, Josje Slingerland, and Michelle Strik

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Keynote Speakers Pave Župan Rusković After graduating from the University of Economics in Zagreb, Croatia she started her career in 1968 in the main travel company in former Yugoslavia, Atlas Travel. She quickly advanced through the ranks and was appointed Managing Director in 1982. In 2000 she left the position of Managing Director for Atlas and became the Minister of Tourism for the Republic of Croatia, where she remained until 2003. During her career she was also the President of the Association of Croatian Travel Agencies, and chaired the American Society of Travel Agents. Ms. Župan Rusković was also one of the founding members of ACMT. She continues to remain active as a tourism industry consultant, and currently she obtains the position of President of Working Group for Destination management of the City of Dubrovnik. Ginny Clark Ginny Clark is Vice President of Community Affairs at Constellation Brands Inc. Ginny Clark is a businesswoman who has been instrumental in two recent high-profile endeavors (New York Wine and Culinary Center and Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center) and has been honored with the 2009 ATHENA Award. The ATHENA Award is given to a woman who has achieved a high level of professional excellence, given back to the community and helped other women along the way. Constellation Brands, Inc. is a leading international producer and marketer of beverage alcohol in the wine, spirits and imported beer categories, with significant market presence in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Based in Fairport, N.Y., the company has more than 250 brands, sales in about 150 countries and operates approximately 50 facilities worldwide. It is also the largest wine producer in the world. In 2008, Ginny finished her masters at RIT and used CMAC as her thesis for rebuilding an operational model that would expand programming & increase revenues. Ivica Vrančić For more than 15 years he is working in the field of Human esources and management Development. He has gained experience by obtaining the leading position in Human Resources at Coca-Cola Beverages Croatia, British American tobacco and DHL, and his career begun at Zagrebačka banka. From the year 2005, Ivica Vrančić is a consultant and lecturer in the mentioned fields and is sharing his knowledge with the management of middle and higher scale organizations at the most renowned companies in Croatia and in the region (Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Russia). Ivica spends the majority of his time coaching many members of Boards and senior managers on leadership, teamwork and people management. In addition, Ivica Vrančić is a lecturer at Cotrugli Business School at Executive MBA and MBA programs in the field of Leadership and Human Resources. He has a postgraduate degree in the field of Human Resources Management at Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in London, the most prestigious HR institution in Europe. Besides many educations within the companies he has worked for, Ivica is additionally educated at the Institute of Personnel and Development London, School of Business and Institute of Organization Copenhagen Business School, and Management Centre Europe Brussels, in the fields of training and development, team building, selection and choosing of employees, organizational culture, executive coaching, leadership. Ivica graduated psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb.

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Workshops at EuroCHRIE 2011

Preparing for Employability Dave Laughton -Sheffield Hallam University, Head of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (Employability) and Head of Teaching and Learning and Student Engagement at Sheffield Hallam University, UK Description: An analysis of what employability means and an investigation of how employability may be built in to the curriculum to enhance the career prospects of our students. Showcasing Innovative Tourism Companies Business Practices Herve Fournier - Business Valais - Antenne Valais Romand & Elizabeth M. Ineson -Manchester Metropolitan University Description: To discuss the perceived benefits of: • creating awareness of innovative products in the tourism industry and promoting sustainable development; • stimulating the development of innovative business,providing investors and financial institutions with investment opportunities; • and supporting the development of a cluster

Ethical Considerations in Research Sandra Watson -Edinburgh Napier University & Elizabeth M. Ineson - Manchester Metropolitan University Description: Ethical issues with respect to research conduct and publication will be considered, discussed, exemplified and illustrated using case studies. “Creators - Developers - Investors - Users”. Toward the Development of Tourism Informatics Jeffrey Lasky -Rochester Institute of Technology Description: This talk presents first ideas about the contours of a tourism informatics area of interest. It is hoped that a broad community dialogue will follow to examine opportunities for an increased presence of computing in hospitality and tourism degree programs. Example opportunities include using smart phones and tablets to enhance the tourism experience, applications of social media in tourism, and the application of data analytic methods to gain insights into service operations and consumer preferences.

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Conference Papers

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EVALUATING THE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF RESTAURANTS IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA M. Shahrim ab Karim Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

Mohiddin Othman Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

Nurhasmilialisa Abdul Halim Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

Hamdin Salleh Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT A study was carried out to track the critical success factors for restaurant business in Malaysia. Restaurant business is a highly volatile industry. It is a fast-changing industry. Everyone must eat, but it does not mean a guaranteed success for the restaurant. The aim of this research is to analyze critical success factors in the restaurant business in Kuala Lumpur. An in-depth interview was conducted with restaurants’ owner-manager. Eight restaurant’s owner-managers of independent restaurants that have been operating at least for five years and above were interviewed. The findings showed that internal factors and external factors, such as product, staff/employees, management, customer, environmental, and financial factors, were highly important for a successful restaurant operations. Augmenting a previous model, this study seeks to help future entrepreneurs and those who are in the restaurants business in Malaysia. Keywords: Restaurant Success, Restaurant Business, Interview, Observations INTRODUCTION Background Most businesses face challenges in their dynamic and complex operating environments. There are a few factors which contribute to the pressure of succeeding in any business (Collie et al, 1999). The restaurant business is a volatile industry which is heavily reliant on the latest, unpredictable swings of the public’s taste and expectations (Lee, 1987). It is imperative to identify and predict the challenges as well as opportunities that exist, and subsequently solve them with appropriate measures in order to be successful (Olsen, 1996). Similarly, the volatility of the restaurant and catering businesses highlights the importance of understanding the factors that contribute to their successes or failures (Collie et al, 1999). The foodservice industry is highly transient. In general, restaurants tend to be a small-scale enterprise

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and to change hands rapidly (Johns and Kivela, 2001). The foodservice business in Malaysia today is a complex and fast-changing industry, one that has expanded rapidly in the last half-century. It ranks as the number one business among all the nation’s industries. Most of the meals consumed are planned, prepared, and served outside the home in a variety of establishments. One of them is the “Restaurant”, a form of profit-generating, commercial enterprise in the foodservice industry. Restaurants play a significant role in our lifestyles, and eating out is a favorite social activity in Malaysia. Everyone needs to eat; enjoying good food, social company and in a pleasant ambience is one of life’s pleasures (Walker & Lundberg, 2005). Due to the necessity of eating, the food industry has a stable demand base by default, but it does not mean they are guaranteed success or the absence of volatility (Lee, 1987). Independent restaurants have a higher failure rate. According to a study of discontinued restaurants in Columbus Ohio, the failure rate measured over three years was 61.4% (Parsa et. al, 2005). The highest failure rate was recorded during the first year at about 26%, about 19% failure rate in the second year, and 16% in the third year. Regardless of the actual statistics, it seems obvious that many restaurateurs are not putting in time and effort to learn from the mistakes of others. Restaurateurs are always thinking hard about how to sustain and expand their own business (Steintrager, 2001). In this extremely competitive environment, it is impossible for restaurateurs to share information among themselves, and unlikely that they would gather and discuss solutions for the challenges they face in their separate outlets. As a result, restaurateurs do repeat the same mistakes and fail because of similar problems. Having said that, however, this study will focus only on the factors leading to a restaurant business’ success. Problem Statement In the past most researches focused on restaurant failures and the reasons why a restaurant fails. However, this study will focus more on the success factors in the Malaysian restaurant businesses, and will attempt to discover the key success factors that are applicable for restaurant businesses in Malaysia. Most published papers are studies conducted in foreign countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and others. Restaurant successes are very conditional and fortunes may change quickly, leaving devastating financial scars on some operators. Currently there are several new styles of restaurants, operations, and changes in the delivery of their products and services. Foods formerly considered exotic are now routinely accepted. New tastes are acquired when chefs and restaurant owners are challenged to produce interesting foods and flavor combinations. A restaurant can actually be fun to operate, with profit margins being potentially substantial. Overcoming continuous challenges is the key of a restaurant’s survival and success. Opening a restaurant itself is a distinct challenge, but also a thrill that gives one the opportunity for tremendous creative expression. Developing a menu, creating a new dish, designing its décor, and providing excellent service are all factors that a restaurant owner-manager must consider in catering to the expectations of diners, customers and guests. However, there are numerous hurdles to overcome before a restaurant may be opened to the public. The chances of success can be improved with careful planning and writing out a solid business plan.

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What, when, and where we eat is of vital interest to those in the foodservice industry. Restaurant operators who stay on top of emerging trends have a better chance of attracting and satisfying customers, thus boosting sales and beating the competition. As mentioned, predicting trends is not always an easy task. People and their preferences change frequently. So, what can restaurateurs do in order to maintain or expand their eateries? Recently, local restaurants are expanding their businesses and brands to foreign countries, but why they do so is unknown. It is observed that there are restaurants which are so successful that they expand their businesses nationwide. Yet others may not. It is interesting to find out why such a phenomenon occurs in Malaysia. What are the factors influencing the growth of a restaurant? The rapid expansion and competition at cutthroat levels seen in the restaurant industry has also resulted in many restaurant firms going out of business. What factors contribute to this, and which ones contribute most to a business downturn? The 2008 economic recession is still impacting the world today, so to what extent will this affect a restaurant operator? Will they consider it as the main problem causing restaurant failures? What actions will they take to overcome this? In order to rise above the crunch, the Malaysian government has proposed for a more competitive productive human resource industry – developing the service industry towards becoming a high income economy by 23rd October 2010 (Sin Chew Jit Poh, 03.09.2009). OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY Most previous studies focus on restaurant failure rates and the reasons why they failed. There are very limited papers published on restaurant success stories. Hence, this study was carried out to : 1. Examine the success factors of thriving restaurants in Malaysia. 2. Compare the relative critical success factors of restaurant viability in Malaysia 3. Investigate the challenges of operating a restaurant business in Malaysia. LITERATURE REVIEW Restaurant Success or Failure (Restaurant Viability) Definition Restaurant Success. Though it appears to be a pretty basic term, it is complex and has to take many things into consideration to fulfill the criteria of ‘success’. Very few successful business owners will describe success as simply running a profitable business. In fact, financial returns are often one of the last things mentioned. The business is typically a means to an end; a way to accommodate values that represent a wholesome, balanced life. According to the Longman Contemporary English dictionary, success means achieving what you want or intend. As a restaurateur, financial success is probably one of the most important things in the world. However, there is no universal term to define success. Additionally in most cases, survival of a restaurant operation itself may be considered a success (Wu and Young, 2003).

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Restaurant Failure. Failure is the opposite of the term ‘success’ or can be described as not achieving what one intends to. From the previous study, there is also no universal definition for restaurant failure - in fact, the way a business’s failure is defined can greatly alter measured failure rates. Studies which use a narrow definition, such as financial bankruptcy, will have the lowest failure rates while studies that use a boarder definition, such as change of ownership, have the highest failure rate. The definition of restaurant failure is chosen based on available data, with each definition having their inherent advantages and disadvantages (Parsa et al, 2005). Failure studies are difficult to analyze in terms of commonly perceived traits of failure due to the limited research done and the different geographic regions where restaurants were studied, each with their own economic characteristics (Parsa et. al., 2005). Conceptual Framework of Restaurant Success and Failure Most research has focused on restaurant failure, from which they produce elements or concepts to define success. The business theory discusses more about the rate of failure, reasons of failure and how to avoid them, as well as the exploitation of available opportunities (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000) According to Joyce,1983, the causes of failure is management incompetence, added to behavioral aspects of the owners or managers and other exogenous factors. Based on the study done by Daniel R. Lee, 1987, he proposed seven keys which contribute to a restaurant’s success : product quality, standardization, franchising, adaptability, marketing-driven approach, critical mass, and management. Financial, operational, marketing, planning, human resource and owner-manager characteristics are the requirements for success (Kaufman et al, 1995). Wu and Young (2003) found that liquidity, marketing, credit, inventories, and legal problems are the factors that affect the survivability of a business. An analysis of available literature suggests that a restaurant’s success depends on five constructs and as many as fifty different variables. Restaurant location, strategic vision, and effectiveness of managing front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house matters are some of the critical success factors for restaurants. Financial management, cost controlling, menu planning, maintaining good service levels, food quality and consistency, reducing labor turnover rate, and developing a loyal customer base are all essential to a restaurant’s success (Camillo, et al, 2008). A model identifying the internal and external key determinants of a business success was developed by Charan and Freeman about 26 years ago (Camillo, at al, 2008). Since then, other models have been proposed to be the suitable pathway leading to business success. In year 2005, a model summarizing the forces determining restaurant success or failure was develop, and called “The Impact of Various Factors on Restaurant Viability model or Parsa, Self, King, and Njite’s Restaurant Viability Model”. (Parsa et al,2005). METHODOLOGY Introduction

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The preceding chapter outlined the proposed area of research for this study in terms of the factors that influence restaurant viability. Also, relevant research in the factors of restaurant success and failure was presented. The purpose of this chapter is to present the research question and proposition that this study will explore and examine; discuss the observation technique which will be used to explore a restaurant’s ambience, the product and the services quality of the restaurants in Malaysia; and a discussion on conducting interviews to collect data. This chapter will present an overall design of research, the method of selection of a panel, conducting the interview, data collection, and analyze procedures. RESEARCH QUESTION The purpose of this study was to find out and compare the relevance of critical success factors for restaurant viability in Malaysia, to investigate predicted challenges and future trends in Malaysia restaurants. The following research questions were defined for the study and address its objective: What are the important factors influencing restaurant viability in Malaysia? What is the relative weight (or significance) of factors contributing to restaurant success in Malaysia? RESEARCH DESIGN Decisions on research design within this study reflect the factors outlined in the previous section, whilst ensuring that a holistic view is presented from the opinion and experience of the respondents (Palakshappa and Gordon, 2006). Therefore, observations and interviews were the qualitative methodology selected based on their abilities to increase the understanding of the outcomes. Qualitative methodology is intended to generate a deeper understanding of complicated behavior rather than to quantify, generalize or predict it (Robert and Kwortnik, 2003). Observation Observation is an important research and data collection method. Observations enable a researcher to describe existing situations using their facultative senses (Kawulich, 2005). Observations also enable detection of nonverbal expressions, which help the researcher have a better understanding of the context and situation whilst the study is being conducted. Looking and watching are the activities of this technique. The effectiveness of the observation depends upon: What, Why, How and When it is being done (Slack, 2001). For this study, a direct, non-participative, covert observation technique was used. Non-participative observation is the technique whereby the researcher stands aside and views the experience and the environment (Slack, 2001). This can be archived as direct or indirect observation. Since the facilities, the atmosphere and the physical outlets were being looked at, and the service provided experienced in the study, it is more appropriate to term this observation as ‘direct’. Notes were taken of what was observed, which was done

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without the knowledge of third parties, such as servers and customers in the restaurants. This is called Covert observation, which means observing without the knowledge of those being observed (Slack, 2001). There are some limitations when conducting observation. It is very difficult to conduct unobtrusive observation because the sense of being watched may influence people’s actions. Cognitive information such as attitudes, beliefs, motivation or perceptions cannot be observed. Interview Interviewing is a technique primarily used to gain an understanding of the underlying reasons for people’s attitude. Interview procedures come in a number of forms, but can most easily be distinguished by the degree of structure used in the interview process. For this study, in-depth interviews were conducted. An in-depth interview takes the general form of an informal conversation, but it constitutes a purposeful conversation between respondent, called an “informant”, and a researcher (Kwortnik, 2003). The objective of the in-depth interview is to gather rich and detailed data that reflect the informant’s experience, opinion, and perspective in depth. The most common type of depth interview is semi structured interview, which feature some pre-set question and leading questions to guide the conversations toward the study topic. RESEARCH PLAN / DATA COLLECTION PROCESS The most important and challenging part of the research process was the planning of the task, which includes determine the research questions and how best to have them answered. For the purpose of this research, both observation and depth interviews were used to obtain a larger sample size and to allow comparing and contrasting different types of restaurants, concepts, and business outcomes. Sample In contrast to quantitative research methods where large and random samples are needed to enable statistical analysis and to support the results, informant samples for interpretive research tend to be relatively small and non-random. According to Kwortnik (2003) a minimum sample size of twelve is suitable for qualitative research. Due to the limitations existing in the Malaysian culture and environment, only a sample of eight independent restaurant owners or managers (henceforth termed ‘owner-managers’) were taken for this study. The respondents come from diverse backgrounds. The basic requirements for a restaurant to be chosen are that the restaurant must not a franchise enterprise, and must have operated for five years and above (the study defines restaurant success with long-term survival being the key determinant). DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURE The method used to analyze observation data and in-depth interview data were based on the theoretical approach of qualitative data analysis. Unlike quantitative research which seeks explanations and predic-

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tions through theory testing, qualitative research seeks understanding and discovery through theory building. The structure of the plan is an alternating sequence of data coding (What does this interview statement or observation mean?), analytic abstraction and comparison (How do these meaning relate to form a category?), and theoretical sampling of new data (How does a new piece of data fit into the thematic scheme?). The Analysis Process Transcription. The interview recordings and observations were transcribed to produce neat, typed copies. The transcription must be accurate, word for word, from the audio recording. Data Coding. Reading the transcription for several times to familiarize oneself with the informant’s perspective of the discussion. Then, deconstruction of the text line by line was done, and sometimes word by word to mine the data for concepts that will form theoretical categories and relationships. The interpretation essentially involves the naming of the data using labels that represent the meaning of the text. When performing the data coding, the researcher had to think about the data, not only takes into account the informant’s perspective, but also the hidden meanings behind the text. When coding the data, personal beliefs or theoretical notions and assumptions must be avoided. Develop analytic categories through constant comparison. Coding of subsequent data led to comparisons of the new data with previously coded data. This constant comparison will facilitate the grouping of concepts into categories. Reexamine the interview. The transcription and interview recordings were reexamined and the labels used to describe same types of data combined. Category development involves concept grouping based on the similarity and differences suggested by each concept. Interpretation. Open coding involves breaking down the data, while interpretation involves building up and integrating the data into categories and mapping relationships to develop a model, theory or literature. DISCUSSION Observation Parking lot availability at the restaurants was not a big influence on their businesses. Although there were two restaurants which did not have sufficient parking lots for the customers, their businesses were still on track. Malaysians will find ways to come to a restaurant which they know to be good, as customers are willing to park far away from the premises. The remaining 6 restaurants had valet or paid parking. Although customers needed to spend on parking, it does not deter them from frequenting these outlets. The exterior decorations did not play a major part in attracting the customers to dine in. Simple furnishings sufficed. It didn’t matter if the exterior decorations matched or reflected the concept and theme of the

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restaurant. A menu standee or a promotional board was sufficient. What was important was the presence and enthusiasm of the host or hostess of the restaurant, who greeted and welcomed guests at the entrance, as this was an effective way of making customers feel respected. Majority of restaurants had an average seating capacity of 50 to 60 people. They did not require a huge space. Effort could be seen in their interior decoration to reflect their premises’ concepts and themes. For example, the Taiwanese restaurant used Taiwan scenery in their wall paintings. They all hoped to have provided a proper dine-in atmosphere for the customers. The air-circulation was good so that customers would not feel hot or uncomfortable. The background music was played to suit their concept. From observation, there is plenty of room for improvement regarding the level of service in Malaysian restaurants. As observed, the servers were not attentive or sensitive to the customer. Despite this, most restaurants were full house during peak hours. Besides that, the foreign workers at these establishments had a big communication barrier. This created a difficulty to communicate with customers. When the server is a foreigner, the customer could just point to what was desired on the menu, because asking was pointless. However, there were a few exemptions. Some of them worked harder, had a better command of English, and put in effort to communicate and talk with the customers. The attentiveness of servers could be greatly increased using technology. For example, when customers needed help, they could easily press buttons in restaurant C to call for service. The appearance of the menu did not play a big role as well. Whether it was a booklet without pictures, a clear folder type of menu, or even a simple laminated A4 list of food items, these did not have a big effect on the restaurant business. People still dined in a restaurant because they came for the food. Some patrons did not even look at the menu and easily ordered the popular food of the restaurant or their favorite dishes. The public in general had little regard for how the menu looked like. Food is the heart of a restaurant. People go to these restaurants for food. In most cases, the presentation of food was not a significant factor for these restaurant owner-managers and chefs to consider. Food with good taste and quality was more than enough. The waiting time however, is a significant issue in a restaurant’s business. Hence, most of these eateries did not let the customer wait too long for food to be served, with a majority of them having an average waiting time of 5 to 10 minutes. Interview Food quality was most important among all factors which contribute to a restaurant’s viability in Malaysia. Food served must be at the right temperature and have consistency in taste and quality. People will dine in restaurants with good quality of food, and it starts from the supplier’s raw materials and fresh ingredients. At the receiving point, the person in charge must practice good quality control and checks. Any defective food must be rejected back to the supplier. Besides that, raw ingredients stored in the restaurant for some days must be thrown away and not used. For example, some restaurants would use stale ‘tilapia’

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fish and prepare it with spicy sauce because they believe the sauce can camouflage the stale taste of the fish. From the interviews, these restaurant owner-managers were very particular about their food quality and were confident about the freshness of their items. They all believed that good food quality was the main selling point of their restaurants. The next most important factor is service quality. Service is an intangible good, and is subjective to how people experience it. So, providing good service for the customers is a plus point for the restaurants. Although the level of service in Malaysia leaves much to be desired, it is a need for the restaurants to survive and even more importantly to achieve greater success. People living in the fast-paced city life of KL want to be served when they dine-in at a restaurant. Service quality is very dependent on the server. If the restaurant employs good people, they will contribute value to the restaurant and take care of the customers just as the owner does. Service gives the customers an experience of foodservice, of which retail outlets and supermarkets lack. The ambience and setting seems important to reflect the restaurant’s concept. It provides a better dining environment for people. Good air circulation ensures customer satisfaction with the place where they eat. Atmosphere is an important factor which attracts customers. For example, if they want a comfortable place to eat, they will go for restaurants will dim lighting, good air-circulation and a very soft and gentle music. Location is important as well. When starting up a restaurant, considerations on location are imperative. Ideally, from the view of the restaurant owner-managers, a good spot will provide the restaurant with a steady customer base. Some sub-factors such as parking lot availability, the right clientele, the security level of the premises, and the development of the area in the future are issues to consider for location. However, finding the perfect location is much easier said than done. Also, what works for some concepts will not work for others. The hygiene of food and the workplace is another major factor contributing to the success or failure of a restaurant. With these clean conditions, food is also prepared in hygienic conditions. People will feel safe to eat their food and have a comfortable dining in experience. For example, if a restaurant is full of smoke which travels from the kitchen to the dining area, few customers would enjoy the eating experience at that place. Human resource management and training are important for restaurant viability. Human Resource is one of the biggest challenges facing the restaurant industry. The high staff turnover rate causes inconsistency in the service standards of the restaurants. Every time a new staff is employed, costs are incurred and they require time to acquire understanding of a customer’s needs. Different jobs in the restaurant are best suited to different personalities, so restaurateurs must be careful when choosing the right person for the right job during a recruitment process. Training makes perfection. Training provides staff members with a better understanding of the restaurant, how it operates and improves their skill. Practical or hands-on training is very important, and over time

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they become better. Training is a continuous improvement for them, and is indirectly beneficial for the customers. Whenever a situation changes, training is also necessary. The more information a staff member is given about the way the restaurant runs, the employers’ expectations, concepts, menu, and so on, the faster they can learn and become better. Customer behavior, expectations and word of mouth marketing are related. Understanding customer behavior and their expectations helps the restaurant staff to perform better. Understanding, meeting and sometimes going beyond customer expectations will allow a restaurant to be successful. For example, a patron who is a businessman is a very busy person. So he may behave in a rush, and want things moving at a fast pace. So, he expects a restaurant to provide good food within a very short time. If the restaurant can provide food within his acceptable waiting time, he will be happy. He may come back to the restaurant next time. There are chances that he will inform his colleagues about the restaurant which can provide quality food in a short time, or may even bring his business partners or clients to come to the restaurant. Word of mouth is essential for a restaurant. It is a low cost marketing strategy to promote an establishment and reputation. However, it is a tool that can either increase business or cause a restaurant to shut down. If a restaurant performs well, people will most likely spread positive words of mouth and recommendations to others, thereby also increasing business for the restaurants. Another factor that positions a restaurant on the peak of success is the food pricing and value for money. Customers wish to think that they are not paying just for the food, but also for added value. If a restaurant can provide good food with good service and atmosphere, customers will most likely return to the restaurant as they think it is worth their money. Besides, pricing is also important in attracting the customer. A reasonable price is one that balances between having a strong customer base (not too exorbitant) and making profits (not too cheap to the point of generating no income). Technology is also a key success factor for a restaurant. This is a new trend that is currently followed by restaurateurs. They use it to ensure the food quality and improve the level of service in a restaurant. Technology shortens the preparation time for a finished food item and ensures a consistent food quality. A lot more technological developments can be made in the restaurant business. For example, the process of taking orders has advanced from manual ordering system to having a POS system, and now a PDA system. People are moving forward into a paperless world, thus increasing efficiency and effectiveness of work. From the interviews, the restaurant owner-managers do not really put in effort to understand their competitors, or probably chose not to reveal what they know. They are confident in their restaurants in every aspect. They do not see other restaurants as their competitors, or do not regard competition as seriously as one might expect in this particular industry. Food concept is a key to success too. However, some restaurant owners do not have a very clear or welldefined concept of their restaurant goals, and the majority of them consider only the concepts relating to their food and decoration. Since the restaurant business is a fast chancing one, restaurateurs must always

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update themselves with knowledge and information of the latest happenings in the foodservice industry. Thus, if possible, it is recommended that they conduct market analysis to understand more about the current market situation. CHALLENGES The success factors mentioned previously can also be challenges. For example, it is a challenge for a restaurant to provide good food for the customers within a short waiting time. If they fail, their businesses may go downhill. Having said that, however, the biggest challenge for restaurant operations is not the economic crisis, nor H1N1, but in managing human resource. Staff turnover rates are the big challenges in this business. It is difficult to find good staff or team of workers with good attitude and willingness to contribute. The market value is also not attractive for people to work in this industry DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to identify the critical success factors that influence restaurants in Malaysia. To identify them, this study required assistance and support from restaurant owner-managers. The indepth interview technique was used to gather the opinions of the restaurateurs regarding the keys to their success and the challenges they face in this industry. The panel comprised owner-managers of eight independent restaurants in Malaysia. The list of restaurants was obtained from the Popular Food Guide Volumes 2 and 3, whereupon the criteria for selection are a non-franchise enterprise, and a minimum of five years existing in business. The informants were interviewed in two sections: aided and unaided. The informants suggested a total of 20 factors under six different headings of factors. Five of the factors were related with product, two with staff or human resource concerns, and two with financially reasons, three with customer-related factors, two with the dining environment and hygiene, and six with managerial factors. Food quality was ranked as the most important factor for all the restaurants’ successes, follow by service quality. Human resource management comes next, and is followed by word of mouth marketing by customers. Meeting these success factors will be of great challenge for a restaurant. However, the biggest challenges nowadays are staff-related problems. LIMITATION As with the general nature of any study, there are limitations associated with this study. One of the major

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limitations of this study is that the size of the respondent group was small, so it would be difficult to generalize the study’s results. Regional limitation is another weak point of this research. Most of the restaurants selected as samples were in the Klang Valley. It should have been done throughout Malaysia so that its results would better represent the title of the study. In addition, due to the nature of in-depth interviews, the possibility of bias is high, as respondent express what they think is right and leave out certain details that they do not wish for others to know. Time limit has prevented the researcher from testing their claims. Besides, the analyst coding the interviews with the respondents may have depended on subjective judgments to understand their meaning, thus errors or bias exists. Another limitation of this study was that the critical success factors were identified without measuring the performance of the restaurant. The ultimate test of strength for any restaurant system is how each individual unit performs and the ultimate measure of success is the returns on investment generated by each restaurant. Further studies may focus on linking financial analysis to this field of study, and not just base its selection criteria on restaurant survivability. RECOMMENDATIONS Lack of attention to potential influencing factors may lead to an unsuccessful restaurant operation. The following recommendations are made: Critical success factors identified from this study should be used as a guideline for restaurateurs when planning to build or expand their business in Malaysia. Each factor should be considered and its importance weighed carefully in their plans. The critical success factors identified as being most important from their ranking should be examined closely in their final analysis. The major factors identified should be given highest consideration and priority while making any decision for any restaurant operation. The study should be replicated in several cities across Malaysia so that the data can better represent the whole country. The larger the informant numbers, the better the accuracy and representation of the findings on the nation’s restaurants. Since most published papers were from other countries, testing the findings of this study should be done in order to see if their results can appropriately represent the scenario of the foodservice industry in Malaysia also. Studies should be frequently conducted. As this is a very fast-paced business, results should always be regularly updated with the changes in restaurant operations. Findings must be tested over time to increase the validity of these factors. Replication of this research should be conducted to investigate any change in the importance of the critical success factors mentioned as well as any changes in these factors themselves.

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CONCLUSION Restaurant success depends on various factors. However, internal factors have greater effect on restaurants viability compared to external factors. Food quality is the most important and most essential of all critical success factors identified. Service level, customer relations, location, and ambience are other critical success factors. Technology is slowly being implemented in the restaurant business for greater efficiency. Competition is not critical to restaurant success in Malaysia. However, these success factors itself are challenging to meet. For example, the level of attentiveness and staff service has a lot of room for improvements. In short, Malaysians can learn a lot about restaurant successes from this study. REFERENCES Berryman, J. (1983). Small Business failure and Survey of the literature, International Business Journal 1983, 1(4), p47 – 59 Camillo, A., Connolly, D.& Kim, W.G. (2008). Success and Failure in Northern California : Critical Success Factors for Independent restaurants, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 49(4), pp 364-380 Collie, T., Sparks, B. (1999). Perceptions of Key Success Factors and Key Success inhibitor in Australian Restaurant and Catering Business Operations, Australian Journal of Hospitality Management. Haswell, S., & Holmes. J. (1989) Estimating the small business failure rate : a reappraisal, Journal of Small Business Management, 27(3), pp 68-74 Johns N. & Kivela J. (2001). Perceptions of the first time restaurant customer, Food Service Technology, 1, pp 5-11 Kaufman, A., L. Zacharias & M. Karson (1995). Managers vs Owners: The Struggle for Corporate Control in American Democracy. Oxford University Press, New York. Kawulich, B (2005). Participant Observation as a Data Collection Method, Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 6(2), Art. 43, http://nbn-resolving.de/ern:nbn:de:0114-fqs0502430. Lee. D. (1987). Why Some Succeed Where Others Fail, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 28(3), pp 32 Olsen, M. (1996). Into the New Millennium: A Paper on the Global Hospitality Industry, Paris : International Hotel Association Palakshappa, N. & Gordon, M. (2006). Using a multi-method qualitative approach to examine collaborative relationships, Qualitative Market Research : An International Journal, 9(4), pp389-403 Parsa H.G., Self, J., Njite, D. and King, T. (2005). Why Restaurant Fail, Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Adminstration Quarterly, 46(3), pp304-322 Price, C. C. (1997) Trends Eating Out, Food Review, 20 (3):18 Robert J. & Kwortnik, JR., (2003) Clarifying “Fuzzy” Hospitality-management Problems with Depth Interviews and Qualitative Analysis, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 44(2), pp117-129 Shane, S. & Venkatramah, S. (2000). The purpose of Entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25, 217-226

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Slack, F. (2001). Observation: Perspective on Research Methodologies for Leisure Managers. Management Research News, 24(1), pp35-42 Steintrager M., (2001). October 15, Measure for measure, Restaurant business, pp 28-32 Walker, J. & Lundberg, D. (2005). The Restaurant,4th edition, Wiley Inc., pp1-2, 107-123 Watson, J. and Everett, J. (1993). Defining Small business Failure, International Small Business journal, 11(3), pp35-48 Wu, C. & Young, A. (2003). Factors resulting in successes and failures for small businesses in the small business institute program at Syracuse University. Economic Development Quarterly, 17(2), 205211

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THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN GHANA: AN ENGINE OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMERGING ECONOMY Edward Addo Grenfell Campus, Memorial University Corner Brook, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Ghana was the first sub-Sahara African country to gain independence from European/British colonial rule on March 6, 1957. Paradoxically, between 1966 and 1992 its political economy was characterized by coup d’états and military regimes interspersed with short-lived civilian governments. Consequently, the economy declined until the 1990s. In about a decade the country’s tourism industry has grown to become the 4th largest foreign exchange earner. The different factors contributing to the growth of the industry are discussed against the backdrop of the once topsy-turvy political climate, and democratic governance in recent years. The paper also notes that despite the impressive achievements, the tourism industry is still riddled with some challenges that need to be addressed in order for it to realize its full potential. Keywords: tourism; hospitality; development; emerging economy; Ghana; sub-Saharan Africa INTRODUCTION The prime aim of this paper is to underscore how European heritage, colonial legacies, tourism institutions and policies, private sector investments, and other factors have made Ghana’s tourism industry an active engine of growth and development in recent years. Ghana’s tourism industry exemplifies the diverse and multisectoral nature of the global tourism industry. The major sectors include accommodation/ lodging, food services, transportation, domestic and international events or festivities, sports, recreation, and entertainment. The industry also has direct and dynamic linkages with other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, trade, health, the media, manufacturing, financial services, and information, communication and technology (ICT) (Ghana Review Ltd., 2004; Buhalis, 1998). Some aspects of the growth and development of the tourism industry are discussed within the context of Ghana’s political economy since independence in 1957. Ghana has had four Republics since independence in 1957. Since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1992 the country has experienced political stability characterized by free elections and a parliamentary democracy. The constitution of the Fourth Republic divides power among the President/Executive, Parliament/Legislature, Council of State, and an independent Judiciary. The constitution also supports elec-

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tions based on universal adult suffrage. In 2002 Ghana was among the highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) in the world but was able to move to a lower middle income status in 2007 and the economy has been growing steadily since. The tourism industry is a major contributor to the steady economic growth. The factors that have accounted for the growth and development of the industry include: implementation of a 15-year National Tourism Development Plan (15-year NTDP) in 1996; private sector investments in hospitality facilities and medical/health tourism; the golden jubilee of independence in 2007; organization and hosting of numerous local, national and international events; local community initiatives in ecotourism and tourist attractions; strategic destination marketing, including e-marketing; and mushrooming of tourism institutions and programs. The information and data for the paper were gathered through an extensive literature review on Ghana’s political history and economy, participation in some international events as a keynote speaker and a thinktank panelist, and interviews with tourism officials, stakeholders, and 100 randomly sampled event attendees between 2007 and 2011in the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, Western, Volta, and Ashanti Regions (Figure 1). Additionally, quantitative and qualitative secondary data were collected from the Ministry of Tourism (MOT), the head office of Ghana Tourist Board (GTB), and Ghana Tourist Development Company (GTDC) Ltd. in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. The remaining sections of the paper are presented under four major headings: Contextual Framework – Geography, History and Political Economy of Ghana in Brief; Theoretical and Conceptual Considerations; Ghana’s Tourism Industry – Institutions, Diversity and Growth Areas; and Challenges Facing Ghana’s Tourism Industry. The concluding section summarizes the major research findings and offers some recommendations for sustainable tourism that would be a stronger engine of growth and development for Ghana’s emerging economy in sub-Saharan Africa. CONTEXTUAL FRAMEWORK: GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY OF GHANA IN BRIEF Ghana is located on the Atlantic coast of West Africa between latitudes 4.5o N and 11o N and shares borders with three former French colonies: la Cote d’Ivoire, to the west; Togo, to the east; and Burkina Faso, to the north (Figure 1). The Gulf of Guinea, part of the Atlantic Ocean, stretches about 540 km (338 miles) along the southern border. The distance from the coast to the northern border is about 672 km (420 miles). The land area of the country measures about 238,540 sq km (92,100 sq miles), almost the same size as Great Britain or the states of Illinois and Indiana in USA combined (Boateng, 1966; Briggs, 2002).

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Figure 1: Ghana: Location in Africa and Administrative Regions Ghana has ten administrative regions (Figure 1) which, more or less, reflect the major ethnic groups and tribal diversity of the country. The five major ethnic groups are Akan, Ewe, Guan, and Ga-Adangbe in the southern and central areas, and Mole-Dagbane in the northern area. The Asante, Fante, Akim, and Kwau are the major tribes of the Akan ethnic group (Buah, 1998; Library of Congress, 2010). The country’s population increased from 6.7 million in 1960 to 8.5 million in 1970, 12.3 million in 1984, 15 million in 1990, 17.2 million in 1994, and about 21.8 million in 1996. The 2010 population and housing census registered about 24.2 million Ghanaians. English is the official language used in government offices, largescale businesses, national media, and educational institutions. National culture is portrayed in activities and celebrative events such as festivals, visual and performing arts, gastronomy, funerals, folklore, religion, clothing, fashion shows, and diverse traditional, “highlife”, “hiplife”, and gospel music and dance (Boahen, 1975; Fosu, 2001; Addo, 2011). The history of modern Ghana is linked with the ancient empire of Ghana that developed simultaneously with the Songhai and Mali empires between the fourth and eleventh centuries in the region north of modern Ghana. Trans-Saharan trade in gold, spices, salt and other commodities flourished until the arrival of Europeans on the west coast of Africa. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit and settle on the Atlantic coast of Ghana (the Gold Coast) in 1471. The initial objectives of the visit and settlement were to trade in commodities such as gold, spices, guns, gun powder and textiles, and to solidify Portugal’s position in the process of European empire-building. The Portuguese visit and settlement were followed by those of the Dutch, Danes, Swedes, English, French and Germans involving trade in commodities and slaves (Buah, 1998).

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To facilitate the trans-Atlantic trade in commodities and slaves, and to protect and solidify European political and economic interests, three castles, namely St. George in Elmina (often called the Elmina Castle) built by the Portuguese in 1482, Carolusburg in Cape Coast (often called the Cape Coast Castle) built by the Swedes in 1653, and Christianborg in Accra (often called the Osu Castle) built by the Danes in 1659 (Figure 2), and about 80 forts were built along the entire Atlantic coast of Ghana to serve as trading posts, residences, and strategic defence (GTB, 2007a; Ramerini, 2009; Anquandah et al., 2007). Some of the forts are in ruins. Table 1 provides the names of the existing forts, their locations (towns listed from west to east on the Atlantic coast), the administrative regions of Ghana in which they are located, the years in which construction was completed and their European architects. The Netherlands built 37%; England, 20%; Denmark, 14%; Portugal, 9%; Sweden, 7%; France, 7%; and Brandenburg (Prussian portion of Germany), 6% of the forts and castles in Ghana (GTB, 2007a; Ramerini, 2009). Britain officially abolished the slave trade in 1807 but completely colonized Ghana between 1874 and 1957. Subsequent to the establishment of the Gold Coast colony in 1874, a political system of indirect rule which allowed traditional chieftaincy to play a major role in public administration of the colony was introduced and solidified (Boahen, 1975; Buah, 1998; Amenumey, 2008).

Figure 2: The Castles of Ghana; Pictures courtesy of GTB Name Ft. Appolonia Ft. St. Anthony Ft. Groot Friedrichsburg Ft. Metal Cross Ft. Batenstein Ft. Orange Ft. St. Sebastian St. Jago Ft. Victoria

Location: City/Town Beyin Axim Prince’s Town Dixcove Butri Sekondi Shama Elmina Cape Coast

Region Western Western Western Western Western Western Western Central Central

Year built 1756 1515 1683 1693 1650 1690 1640 1665 1702

Built by British Portuguese Dutch British Swedish Dutch Portuguese Portuguese British

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Ft. William Anomabo Central Ft. Amsterdam Kromantse Central Ft. Leydsaamheid Apam Central Ft. Good Hope Senya Bereku Central Ft. Ussher Accra Greater Accra Ft. James Accra Greater Accra Ft. Prinzenstein Keta Volta Table 1: The Forts of Ghana Source: National Atlas Development Centre (1995)

1630 1638 1698 1702 1649 1673 1784

Dutch British Dutch Dutch Dutch British Danish

The 1947-1966 period is very significant in Ghana’s political history. In 1947 the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), a political party, was formed. Many Ghanaians consider the so-called ”Big Six” (Figure 3), the original and leading members of UGCC, as the architects of Ghana’s independence, and for that matter, the founding fathers of modern Ghana (Boahen, 1975; Buah, 1998; Amenumey, 2008; Ellison, 2011). In 1949 Nkrumah deserted the UGCC to form and lead a new party, the Convention People’s Party (CPP). Political threats and imprisonment did not deter the CPP from exerting more pressure on the colonial government to grant independence to Ghana. Consequently, on March 6, 1957 the British colony of the Gold Coast became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence under the leadership of Nkrumah. Subsequently, the country’s name was changed to Ghana. On July 1, 1960 Ghana became a Republic and in 1964 Nkrumah declared the country a one-party state. On February 24, 1966 while on a trip to China to attend a non-aligned conference, Nkrumah was overthrown by a military coup d’état. In 1972 he died in Romania. Some Ghanaians believe that Nkrumah’s overthrow was orchestrated by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (Boahen, 1975; Buah, 1998; Agbodza, 2009; Library of Congress, 2010).

Figure 3: The “Big Six” – Architects of Ghana’s Independence Standing from left to right: Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey, Mr. Ako Adjei, Mr. Edward Akuffo-Addo, Dr. J. B. Danquah, Mr. William Ofori Atta. Source: Ellison (2011)

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At the dawn of independence, Ghana’s foreign debt was only £20 million compared with her foreign reserves of £200 million (Africa, 1974/75). Steel (1981), however, maintains that although Ghana’s economy was more advanced than those of many developing countries in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it remained primarily agricultural, with more than 50% of production and trade, and over 60% of employment in the primary sector. The manufacturing sector was in its embryonic stage. The economic development philosophy and strategy of the Nkrumah government were influenced by the works of Sir Arthur Lewis, a West Indian economist, and Sir Robert Jackson, an Australian industrialist. Rapid industrialization was perceived as the cornerstone of economic development. The development objectives were to diversify the economy through import-substitution industrialization, to increase productive employment particularly in urban areas, to increase exports and reduce imports in order to maintain a healthy balance of payments, to provide adequate physical and social infrastructure as a means of improving the standard of living of Ghanaians, and to generate a high growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP). The heavy investments in physical and social infrastructure rapidly depleted the national coffers and Ghana’s pride as the richest country in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa and Namibia, quickly dissipated during Nkrumah’s regime (Killick, 1978; Steel, 1981). Nkrumah’s era was followed by frequent military regimes led by Lt. General J.A. Ankrah (1966-1967), Lt. General A. A. Afrifa (1967-1969), General I. K. Acheampong (1972-1978), General F. W. A. Akuffo (1978-79), and Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings (1979 and 1981-1992) interspersed with short-lived civilian governments led by Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia (1969-1972), Edward Akuffo Addo (1970-1972), and Dr. Hilla Limann (1979-1981) (Hettne, 1990). The first era of Rawlings’ regime is considered the most brutal in Ghana’s military governance because six military officers, including three former Heads of State (Afrifa, Acheampong and Akuffo), were executed by firing squad. Additionally, three Supreme Court judges, including a female judge who was still breastfeeding her baby, and two civilians were abducted and killed. In spite of the bloodshed and austerity economic measures introduced to clean the economy of corruption and mismanagement of public resources, Ghana’s economy did not improve much as the prices of her major exports (cocoa, timber, and minerals- gold, diamond, manganese and bauxite) fell continuously, infrastructure deteriorated, and unemployment and inflation figures skyrocketed. The economic hardships led to growing dissatisfaction with both civilian and military governments in the 1970s and 1980s (World Bank, 1984; Ofori-Atta, 1988; Hettne, 1990). A major turning point in Ghana’s political economy occurred in the 1990s. In 1992 Ghana returned to a constitutional rule of the Fourth Republic under the presidency of J.J. Rawlings of the New Democratic Congress (NDC). President Rawlings was followed by Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for two consecutive terms, 2000-2008. In 2002 Ghana was among the highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) in the world but was able to move to the status of a lower middle income country in 2007 and the economy has been growing steadily since. The emerging economy has been cited by some international development and financial institutions as a success story in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, in recent years, the country has set some unparalleled records that augur well for the tourism industry. H.M. Queen Elizabeth II visited Ghana in 1999 (the second time in 38 years), and the country hosted three successive and sitting presidents of USA: Bill Clinton in 1998, George Bush in 2008, and Barack

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Obama in 2009. Ghana also hosted many mega events including the Confederation of African Football (CAF) 2008 tournament, and the international World Tourism Day in 2009, the first of its kind in subSaharan Africa. Equally important to note is that on December 15, 2010 Ghana commenced oil production in commercial quantity to augment revenues generated by cocoa and mineral exports, remittances from overseas, and the tourism industry. Furthermore, on June 21, 2011 Ghana’s former president, J.A. Kufuor, was one of the two winners of the World Food Prize for implementing sound socio-economic policies that reduced the country’s poverty rate from 51.7% in 1991 to 26.5% in 2008, and the hunger rate from 34% in 1990 to 9% in 2004. These achievements were in fulfillment of “the UN Millennium Development Goal 1 – to cut in half extreme hunger before 2015” (Ghanaweb.com, 2011a). The other prize winner was Luiz Imacio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil. Equally interesting and important to underscore are the assertions that Ghana, under the current leadership of President John E.A. Mills and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has become the fastest growing economy, offers the best returns on investments in Africa (Ghanaweb.com, 2011b), and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) is the third largest in Africa after the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) (Yeboah, 2011). THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL CONSIDERATIONS Academically, the three dominant theories often discussed in the literature on development studies are relevant to this paper. The theories are modernization, dependency, and state-mediator (Todaro, 1989; Hettne, 1990; Handelman, 2000). The political economies of pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial Ghana provide credence to the three dominant theories in development studies. Ghana was drawn into international tourism and trade with Europe as far back as 1471. In accordance with the tenets of the modernization theory, the economic development policies, plans, and strategies of the first four decades of post-colonial Ghana favored rapid industrialization and cocoa, timber, mineral, and non-traditional exports. The economy became highly dependent on world market conditions, and bilateral and multilateral development aid, although subsequently, Nkrumah diverted from the Western or Eurocentric approach to economic development (Addo, 2000). The socialist style of governance that evolved in the latter days of Nkrumah renders credence to some of the tenets of the dependency theory: decreasing Western influence and economic development strategies, self reliance, more and stronger south-south trade and international relations, and more control over the economic destiny of the nation by Ghanaians. In the context of Third World development, the state-mediator theory is also relevant to the political economy of Ghana. Local contextual factors such as frequent military coup d’états, corruption, and mismanagement of public sector resources, to varying degrees, accounted for the political instability and economic hardships of the 1970s and 1980s (Hettne, 1990; Addo, 2000). The last military coup d’états was in 1981 but mismanagement of public sector resources and corruption are still prevalent in the economy. Such malpractices cannot be attributed to Western exploitation or an asymmetric relationship between the center and periphery or satellite and metropolis as the dependency theorists postulate.

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In addition to the three dominant theories in development studies, Castro-Gomez’s traditional and critical theories in cultural tourism studies are relevant to tourism studies in Ghana and other developing countries that were once colonized (Castro-Gomez, 2001). Smith (2009) reiterates Castro-Gomez’s viewpoint that while the traditional theory naturalizes culture and focuses on concepts such as aesthetic and harmony, the critical theory emphasizes the socio-economic or conflictive aspects of culture. In this regard, culture has contested meanings. The critical theory, Smith explains, places culture in the context of political economy and focuses on concepts such as imperialism, post-colonialism, capitalism, and globalization. These viewpoints, as indicated in a subsequent section, are pertinent to cultural heritage tourism in Ghana. The concepts of “blackspots” (Rojek, 1993) and “cultural capital” (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1973; Bourdieu, 1984) in cultural tourism literature are also relevant to academic discourse on the development of Ghana’s tourism industry. Rojek (1993) identifies tourist sites or landscapes as blackspots if they have experiences of wars, deaths, disasters, violence or sufferings. It is in the same sense that Stone and Sharpley (2008) also discuss the cultural significance of such sites in dark tourism. The forts and castles of Ghana were places where slaves were kept, traded, and forced to emigrate to Europe and the New World to work on plantations and in industries. Some of the slaves died in chains and dungeons whilst awaiting ships for the forced emigration (Ramerini, 2007; Anquandah et al., 2007). In 1979 some of the forts and castles of Ghana were designated UNESCO world heritage sites. Addo (2007a), however, argues that the colonial edifices qualify as European blackspots and not just cultural heritage sites or monuments on the cultural landscape of Ghana’s tourism industry. As indicated in a subsequent section, many tourists from the Diaspora, especially USA, including President Barack Obama, have visited the forts and castles of Ghana and some of them have participated in mega and Diaspora-related festivals in the past two decades (Addo, 2007b; Addo, 2011). The concepts of “destination-based cultural capital” or “latent cultural capital” and “commoditization” or “commodification of heritage “(i.e., heritagization for commercial purposes) have received significant attention in postmodern literature on cultural tourism. Places and symbolic objects such as museums, castles, forts, churches, monasteries, old mills, statues, memorials and galleries are offered as tour products and attract visitors for various reasons. Some authors maintain that it is only with commodification that destination-based/latent capital reaches a wide audience; and local authorities and businesses are often involved in the commercialization of the products (Boissevain, 1996; Busby, 2002, 2003, 2004; Laviolette, 2003; Hale, 2006; Meethan, 2001; Smith, 2009). Smith and Robinson (2006: 3) also note that “the most distinguishing feature of mature capitalist systems over recent decades has been the re-creation of economies around the symbolic value of culture(s)”. The authors advocate a paradigm shift in the democratization of cultural tourism that underscores the importance of symbolic objects, tourist experiences, community values, and the essence of places. The forts and castles of Ghana are considered as cultural capital in this broader context of cultural tourism (Addo, 2011). The concepts of “tangible heritage” and “intangible heritage” are also important to academic discourse on the development of Ghana’s tourism industry. Tangible objects like the forts and castles dotted along the entire Atlantic coast have symbolic and intangible values to Ghanaians and people in the Diaspora. Addi-

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tionally, military services provided by the Gold Coast Armed Forces to the colonial government constitute part and parcel of the intangible heritage of Ghana (Addo and Odai, 2011). Furthermore, traditional institutions and festivities like durbars, music, dance, drumming, motifs in clothing, visual arts, performing arts, folklore, gastronomy, funerals, sports, entertainment, and naming ceremonies have intangible meanings and values that have been passed on from one generation to another since pre-European contacts and colonization (Fosu, 2001). “Celebrative events” such as festivals and anniversaries (Picard and Robinson, 2006) have been part of cultural tourism since the era of modern travel (Gee et al., 1997; Goeldner and Ritchie, 2006). Destinations compete to host international events such as the Olympics, World Fairs, and World Tourism Day partly because of their positive economic and socio-cultural impacts (Edwards et al., 2004). The economic benefits and impacts of celebrative events include job creation, income generation, and infrastructure development. The socio-cultural benefits include preservation of traditional norms, (re)affirmation of local identities, preservation of heritage, and enhancement of destination image (O’Toole and Mikolaitis, 2002; Wendroff, 2004; Getz, 2005; Smith and Robinson, 2006; Goldblatt, 2008). In sub-Saharan Africa, and for that matter Ghana, celebrative events usually include independence anniversaries and traditional festivals which are vehicles for reclaiming national and local identities. In the past two decades, “sustainable tourism development” and “destination marketing/management” have become popular concepts in tourism studies in both developed and developing economies (Hall and Lew, 1998; Lane, 2005; Robinson and Picard, 2006). These concepts are value-laden and have contested meanings. The Brundtland report, Our Common Future, defines sustainable development in terms of sound management of both cultural and natural resources in ways that fulfill present economic, social and aesthetic needs while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and the support systems for future generations (Farrell and Runyon, 1991). In consonance with this definition, sustainable tourism is defined as a development process that meets the needs of present tourists, host communities or regions, host governments, and businesses while enhancing opportunities for the future. Sustainable tourism, therefore, aims at protecting and enhancing the environment (i.e., ecotourism), meeting basic human needs, promoting intergenerational and current equity, and improving the quality of life of all people or stakeholders (Harrison and Husband 1996:1-15; Prosser, 1994). The goals of sustainable tourism include efforts to develop greater awareness and understanding of the significant contributions that tourism makes to the environment and the economy, promote equity in development initiatives, improve the quality of life of the host community, provide a high quality of experience for the visitor, and maintain the quality of the environment on which the other goals depend (Robinson and Picard, 2006). To be sustainable, destinations have to be managed and marketed for tourist consumption. Efficient destination marketing requires effective branding and property or product positioning. Effective branding and positioning are the ways to turn potential tourists into real tourists who are willing to spend money on destination facilities or products (Kotler et al., 2006). Marketing, therefore, is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with others. This could be done at the macro (international or national), meso

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(destination), and/or micro (project) levels of planning (Gunn and Var, 2002). The quality of the physical environment and how natural resources are utilized have become major concerns of destination managers and marketing staff on all three levels of planning, the different stages of a destination’s development cycle (i.e., exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and decline or rejuvenation) as Butler (1980) postulates, and the various reactions of destination residents (i.e., euphoria, apathy, irritation, and antagonism) as Doxey (1975) also explains. GHANA’S TOURISM INDUSTRY: INSTITUTIONS, DIVERSITY AND GROWTH AREAS

Institution Building, Public Policy and Planning The first indication of government interest in developing Ghana’s tourism industry was a feasibility study conducted in 1970 on the development of tourist attractions for a five-year development plan, 1972-1976 (Obuan Committee, 1972). Following the study, the Ghana Tourist Board (GTB) was established in 1973 to implement national tourism policies and to co-ordinate tourism activities. GTB was charged with the responsibility to regulate accommodation, catering, travel, transport, and charter operations through registration, inspection, licensing, classification, and enforcement of decisions. GTB was also charged with the responsibility to promote and market tourism both in Ghana and abroad, to conduct studies and research into trends in the tourism industry at home and abroad to aid decision and policy making, to promote the development of tourist facilities, and to carry out any function that might be conferred on it by legislative instruments (GTB, 1998). GTB’s mission in the early 1970s was to ensure sustainable tourism development through the creation of an enabling environment for the provision of quality tourism services to the traveling public. It has been striving to promote tourism to become one of the leading sectors of Ghana’s economy. The institution’s mission has not changed since 1973 and its vision has been “to see Ghana become the tourism capital of West Africa especially in culture, heritage, ecotourism as well as conference tourism in a high quality non-mass manner” (GTB, 1998). Financial and technical constraints on GTB necessitated more studies and evaluation of Ghana’s tourism potential by international development organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United States International Executive Services Corps (USIESC) in the mid 1970s. All the studies and evaluations indicated that Ghana had great potential for tourism development. Consequently, the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) was established in 1993 to formulate policies and plan for the development and promotion of domestic, regional, and international tourism. In 1995 MOT, with assistance from UNDP and the World Tourism Organization (WTO), now known as UNWTO, prepared and introduced a 15-year National Tourism Development Plan (15-year NTDP, 1996-2010) to stimulate growth and development of the tourism industry (GTB, 1995). An academic policy analysis (i.e., focusing on the policy determinants and contents) of the 15-year NTDP indicates that the tourism policy reflected the national economic development policy in the late 1990s. The plan was very comprehensive and underscored three interrelated scopes and levels of planning: integrated national tourism development planning (macro level); regional development planning, programmes

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and projects (meso level); and tourism development planning, programmes and projects at the district level of administration (micro level). The same topics and activities were discussed on all three levels of planning: the objectives of developing the tourism industry, how to assess tourism resources and tourist markets, and how to optimize the benefits of tourism while minimizing problems. The key objective of the policy was to develop tourism as a leading sector of the economy and make the country an internationally competitive tourist destination. The policy and plan also stressed the need to develop tourism as one of the major socio-economic sectors of the nation’s economy to generate substantial foreign exchange earnings, income, employment, and tax revenue, in order to raise the standard of living of Ghanaians, and to strengthen both urban and rural economies. The tourism policy drew the attention of government, developers, and other stakeholders to some basic tenets of sustainable tourism development: the socio-economic benefits of tourism must be distributed widely throughout the country and society; tourism must be developed in a manner that helps achieve conservation of cultural, historical and environmental heritage; tourism must be developed on a sustainable basis so that it does not generate any serious environmental or socio-economic problems; tourism must be carefully planned, developed and managed so that socio-economic benefits are optimized and negative impacts are minimized; and tourism development must be comprehensive based on attractions, facilities, services and marketing that are aimed at serving a broad but desirable range of international, regional, African and domestic tourists (GTB, 1995). The tourism policy further underscored the importance of sustainable tourism planning and management. It pointed out that sustainable management of attractions was a necessary condition to attract tourists. It also urged all stakeholders in the tourism industry to provide good quality tourism that was internationally competitive, compatible with the country’s social values and environmental setting, and capable of attracting tourists who showed respect for the country’s culture, history and environment; to integrate the tourism development policy, planning and programming into the overall national, regional and local development policy, planning and programming within the framework of Vision 2020; to integrate Ghana’s tourism development policy, planning, programming and standards at the regional, African and international levels with those of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), other African countries, UNWTO, and other relevant international organizations; and to develop tourism based on close cooperation and coordination among public sector agencies, and between the public and private sectors. The 15-year NTDP also provided detailed analyses of destination management and marketing strategies for Ghana’s tourist attractions which were organized into four categories: natural environmental heritage, defined as those features primarily related to the natural environment and ecology of the country (climate, water, wildlife, vegetation, and topography); historical heritage, defined as those features primarily related to the history of the country including both physical features and historical events; cultural heritage, defined as those features primarily related to the cultural patterns of the country, both traditional and contemporary; and other types of attractions or features, usually man-made that did not fit into any of the aforementioned categories. The plan drew the attention of all stakeholders to the fact that, in addition to attractions, the political and economic climate of the country could have diverse impacts on the tourism industry (GTB, 1995).

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The Ghana Tourist Development Company (GTDC) Ltd. which was established in 1972 under the companies’ code of 1963 is another institution that contributes to the growth and development of Ghana’s tourism industry. The company’s initial shareholders were the Bank of Ghana, GTB, State Insurance Corporation (SIC), and Societé General (SG)-Social Security Bank (SSB). In 2005 GTDC Ltd. bought back SG-SSB’s shares. Since its establishment, GTDC Ltd. has been a quasi-government organization with a board of directors made up of representatives of its three shareholders, and government appointees. Serving as the investment wing of MOT, and with the mission to become an effective and a leading edge investment catalyst, GTDC Ltd. provides investment opportunities in profitable and sustainable tourism ventures to foreign and domestic investors. Some of its investments are in car rentals, lodging/accommodation (Novotel, Accra), domestic tours and travel operations (reservations and ticketing by Akuaba Tourist Travel Agency Ltd.), duty free shop operations (Dufry & GTDC Ltd), and domestic events and festivities. Its business interests also include development and financing of tourist projects, provision of extension services, and management of attractions and sites such as the Odweanoma Observatory Post Site at Atibie in the Eastern Region; group tours to the “Big Tree” (believed to be the biggest tree in West Africa) located near Akim Oda in the Eastern Region; and Nkrumah‘s birthplace and first burial site at Nkruful in the Western Region (Officials of GTDC Ltd., Accra, personal communication, July 2011). Diversity and Growth Areas Ghana’s tourism industry thrives on diverse natural resources (climate, water, wildlife, vegetation, and topography), and historical and cultural resources which include the European and colonial legacies of forts and castles, unique political history, traditional festivities, and diasporic relations. Consequent to the implementation of the 15-year NTDP, Ghana moved from the seventeenth to the eighth position among the top 20 leading tourism revenue-earners in Africa in 1998 (WTO, 1999), and in the past decade, the industry has grown to become the fourth largest foreign exchange earner, ranking behind mineral exports, cocoa exports, and remittances from overseas. The sector’s contribution to GDP steadily increased from 3.6% in 1996 to 6.7% in 2008 (GTB, 2010). Data obtained from the statistics office of GTB (Tables 2, 3, and 4) indicate a steady growth of the tourism industry between 1987 and 2009. Table 3 highlights the scope of development in the lodging sector in recent years. GTB data further indicate that inbound international tourism is the lifeblood of Ghana’s tourism industry. In general, the purposes of travel include business (23%), conference/meetings (9%), study/training (8%), visiting friends and relatives/VFR (25%), medicals (1%), holiday (19%), transit (10%) and others (5%). The main sources of the international tourists are USA, United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, and the Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland). Non-African developing countries from where most of the international tourists originate are China, India, and Lebanon. African sources from where most of the international tourists come are the sub-Saharan countries of la Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and South Africa. As Table 2 indicates, international tourist arrivals earned the country US$248.8 million in 1996. The figure increased to US$1,615.2 million in 2009. In recent years, there were increases in domestic employment from 172,823 in 2005 to 263,157 in 2009. The growth rate in 2006 was 6% compared with approximately 13% average growth rate between 2007 and 2009 (Table 3).

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Receipts Year Arrivals Receipts (US$ ‘M) (US$ ‘M) 1987 103,440 36.5 1998 347,952 284.0 1988 113,784 55.3 1999 372,653 304.1 1989 125,162 72.1 2000 399,000 386.0 1990 145,780 80.8 2001 438,833 447.8 1991 172,464 117.7 2002 482,643 519.6 1992 213,316 166.9 2003 530,827 602.8 1993 256,680 205.6 2005 428,533 836.1 1994 271,310 227.6 2006 497,129 984.8 1995 286,000 233.2 2007 586,612 1,172.0 1996 304,860 248.8 2008 698,069 1,403.1 1997 325,438 265.6 2009 802,779 1,615.2 Table 2: International Tourist Arrivals and Receipts 1987-2009 Source: GTB (2010) Year

Arrivals

Indicators 2005 2006 Arrivals (International) 428,533 497,129 Growth rate (%) 16.0 Receipts (International), US$ million 836.1 986.8 Growth rate (%) 18.0 Employment (Domestic) 172,823 183,192 Growth rate (%) 6.0 No. of hotels 1,345 1,427 Growth rate (%) 6.1 No. of hotel rooms 18,752 22,835 Growth rate (%) 21.8 No. of hotel beds 23,924 27,839 Growth rate (%) 16.4% Table 3: Tourism Development Statistics 2005–2009 Source: GTB, 2010

2007 586,612 18.0

2008 698,069 19.0

2009 802,779 15.0

1,172 18.8 206,091 12.5 1,432 0.4 20,788 -9.0 26,063 -6.4%

1403.1 19.7 234,679 13.9 1,595 11.4 24,410 17.4 29,645 13.7%

1,615.2 15.1 263,157 12.1 1,775 11.3 26,047 6.7 31,664 6.8%

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2006 2007 2008 Category of Lodging Facility No. Rooms Beds No. Rooms Beds No. Rooms Beds 5-Star 1 104 104 1 104 150 1 104 150 4-Star 4 658 664 4 676 987 4 672 983 3-Star 30 1,264 1,866 20 905 1,151 26 1,373 1,827 2-Star 138 2,996 4,030 133 3,311 4,563 149 3,903 4,973 1-Star 169 3,028 3,891 154 2,742 3,510 188 3,355 3,988 Guest House 194 1,260 1,469 129 842 964 120 793 938 Supplementary* 24 229 489 28 213 462 53 337 724 Budget 867 13,296 15,326 963 11,796 14,276 1,054 13,873 16,062 Total 1,427 22,835 27,839 1,432 20,581 26,063 1,595 24,410 29,645 Yearly % Growth 6.10 21.77 16.36 0.35 -9.84 -6.38 11.38 18.56 13.75 Table 4: Development and Growth in Lodging Facilities 2006-2009 *Hostels, Home Lodges and Tourist Homes. Source: GTB, 2010

2009 No. Rooms 1 104 5 843 17 1,047 165 4,741 184 3,340 181 705 87 740 1,135 14,527 1,775 26,047 11.23

Beds 150 1,120 1,326 5,305 4,201 856 1,398 17,346 31,664

6.71

6.8

Table 5 indicates that the average tourist expenditure per trip increased from US$1,125 in 2002 to US$2,010 in 2008. The average expenditures on various tourism products were steady with those on accommodation, and food and beverage accounting for approximately 30% and 14% respectively. Table 6 also shows that room occupancy rates were over 60% for all hotel categories between 2002 and 2007. The highest occupancy rates were recorded by 5-star and 4-star lodging facilities which are typically used by international tourists. The highest room occupancy rates in 2007 were attributed to three Diaspora-related events (Panafest, Emancipation Day, and the Joseph Project) held at the Elmina and Cape Coast castles, and the golden jubilee of independence that brought many international tourists to Ghana (Addo, 2007b; Addo, 2011). Year Average expenditures (US$)

2002 2003 1,125 1,344

Tourism Products and Activities Local Transportation (taxi, local flights, car rentals, etc.) Shopping at Formal Markets (gift stores etc.) Shopping at Informal Markets (open and wayside areas) Food and Beverage Accommodation Entertainment and Recreation Other Expenditure Total Percentage (%) Table 5: Average Tourist Expenditures (2002-2008) Source: GTB, 2010

2004 1,711

2005 2006 2007 2008 1,950 1,985 1,998 2,010

8

7

8

10

7

7

9

9

9

10

12

9

10

11

10

10

11

12

10

11

12

17 33 8 15 100

14 31 9 20 100

13 30 9 19 100

12 27 9 18 100

15 32 9 18 100

14 30 9 19 100

13 28 9 18 100

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Hotel Category 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 5-Star 73.4 74.2 74.0 79.0 86.3 4-Star 80.6 76.1 78.5 81.3 81.6 3-Star 65.0 63.1 66.5 68.2 79.0 2-Star 64.0 62.4 64.5 78.0 88.0 Table 6: Room Occupancy Rates (%), 2002-2007 Source: GTB, 2010

2007 94.4 87.0 69.9 64.3

Panafest is a biennial festival celebrated to enhance the ideals of Pan-Africanism, African development, and diasporic relations. The event showcases a grand durbar of chiefs, rites of passage programs, slave march re-enactment, midnight candlelight vigil at the Cape Coast castle, musical concerts, Emancipation Day commemoration, and performing arts (Figure 4). International performing and visual artists from across Africa and the Diaspora are regular and important participants. Panafest 2007 marked the eighth edition of the festival and was highly significant because it coincided with Ghana’s 50th independence anniversary, and the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It also heralded the Joseph Project, another Diaspora-related event that was later launched and had Rita Marley (widow of Bob Marley, the Reggae music legend), Julius Garvey (son of Marcus Garvey, a prominent Pan-Africanist), and Michelle Jones Galvin (a great-great-grandniece of Harriet Tubman, a celebrated AfricanAmerican abolitionist) as special guests of honor.

Figure 4: Some Panafest Activities and Attractions Pictures courtesy of GTB and Panafest Secretariat/Foundation The golden jubilee of independence in 2007 provided additional impetus to the growth and development of Ghana’s tourism industry. It was a mega celebrative event organized by a special secretariat to attract thousands of international visitors to the country to celebrate the anniversary from January to December. The three objectives of the event underscored the importance of Ghana’s history, political economy, diasporic relations and heritage: “to celebrate and commemorate Ghana’s landmark achievement as the first country in Black Africa to attain independence from colonial rule; to reflect on the evolution, development, achievements and drawbacks of our country over the past fifty (50) years; and to look forward to the future, to our vision of excellence in all fields of endeavour in the next fifty (50) years towards our

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centenary birthday as a nation” (Ghana @ 50, 2007). The programs and activities of the mega cultural event underlined the nationalistic sentiments and patriotism of Ghanaians. The programs and activities of the golden jubilee were centered on twelve monthly themes that succinctly accentuated the political struggle for independence, socio-economic and political achievements made since 1957, and diasporic relations. The monthly themes were: January - Reflections; February – Towards Emancipation; March – Freedom March; April – Our Nation, Our People; May – Our Wealth and Our Prosperity; June – Heroes of Ghana Month; July – African Unity Month; August – Diaspora Month; September – Service to the Nation; October – Knowledge and Ghana’s Development; November – A Healthy People, A Healthy Nation; December – Final Curtain (Ghana @ 50, 2007). Some Diasporarelated activities at the Elmina and Cape Coast castles highlighted the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Interviews conducted and participant observations made on March 6, 2007 in the streets of Accra, at the Black Star/Independence Square, Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, W.E.B Du Bois Center, hotels and restaurants overwhelmingly indicated that Ghanaians felt it was worth celebrating the golden jubilee of independence in a grand style in spite of some prevailing socio-economic challenges, and political controversies. The official website for the golden jubilee maintained that Ghana’s attainment of independence and the subsequent ideological support it extended to other colonized countries on the continent culminated in the emancipation of many of these countries from colonial rule (Ghana @ 50, 2007). This sentiment has become part and parcel of the intangible cultural heritage of Ghanaians. The W.E.B. Du Bois Center and George Padmore Library are important historical and Diaspora-related cultural heritage sites or attractions in Ghana. The former was named after the African American born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA who passed away in Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95 years whilst visiting with President Nkrumah. Du Bois was the first African American/Black to receive a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) from Harvard University. He was a sociologist, writer, editor, civil rights activist, and founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was also a leading advocate of Pan Africanism. Whilst in Ghana he was the director of Encyclopedia Africana. George Padmore who was from Trinidad & Tobago also made invaluable contributions to Pan Africanism. The Du Bois Center and George Padmore library, are destination-based or latent cultural capital that attract many tourists, including those from the Diaspora, especially USA and the Caribbean. GTB records indicate that the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Du Bois Memorial Center attracted 46,547 and 2,615 visitors respectively in 2009. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) draws attention to the important roles that museums play in heritage tourism. ICOM defines a museum as “a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment” (ICOM, 2007). This definition has evolved since 1946. Ghana has been a member of ICOM since 1964 (ICOM Ghana, 2009). The Armed Forces Museum (AFM), Manhyia

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Palace Museum, and Prempeh II Jubilee Museum in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, and the National Museum in Accra, Greater Accra Region, are partners of ICOM Ghana and play invaluable roles in preserving Ghana’s tangible and intangible pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial heritage in conformity with ICOM’s definition of a museum. For example, the history of AFM is associated with the European-built forts and castles on the Atlantic coast of Ghana and its collections are predominantly artifacts of Ghana’s colonial Armed Forces. The collections include weapons captured during wars in Congo, India, Ethiopia and Cambodia, and photographs of officers and soldiers who distinguished themselves in the wars. The weapons are mostly Italian and Japanese hand guns, machine guns, pistols, short and long riffles, telescopic periscopes, mortars, swords, bayonets, radio receivers, anti-aircraft guns, bomb containers, bazookas, and infantry projectiles. The initial collections also include drums, colors, pennants and armored vehicles (Figure 5). In addition to the colonial collections, some post-independence military artifacts and information are preserved, and museum guides exquisitely narrate military engagements (intangible heritage) in India, Congo and Ethiopia (Addo and Odai, 2011).

Figure 5: Sections of the Armed Forces Museum (AFM) Source: Author’s photos taken during site visits in 2009 and 2010. Courtesy of AFM AFM was a regimental museum until 1959 when the Ghana Navy and Air Force were established. Consequently, some collections of the Navy and Air Force have been added to the initial collections to make AFM a tri-service museum. The post-colonial collections include artifacts, photographs and information on Commanders in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) since 1957. The collections and written information highlight the political instability, frequent military coup d’états, and economic hardships that Ghanaians faced in the 1970s and 1980s. Table 7 provides some data on visits to the three museums in Kumasi and revenues generated between 2006 and 2008. In total, 193,765 people visited the museums and generated 1047.98 million Ghana cedi (GH¢) between 2006 and 2008. The main reason for the relatively lower figures for AFM is that many Ghanaians still perceive AFM as a disparaging European legacy and an institution that thrives on the collections and atrocities of the colonial empire. Other reasons are that the Manhyia Palace Museum is located on the residential compound of the current Asantehene (Asante King), Otumfo Osei Tutu II, whilst the Prempeh II Jubilee Museum is gracefully operated in honor of a former and a very popular Asantehene. The National Museum in Accra attracted 12,734 visitors in 2009.

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Year Visitors Revenue (GH¢ M)*

2006 2007 2008 3-Year Total Armed Forces Museum (AFM) 7,678 13,085 9,797 30, 560 66.55 78.03 0.01 144.59

% share of totals

Visitors Revenue (GH¢ M)

Prempeh II Jubilee Museum 7,463 15,178 10,858 33,499 102.94 124.33 0.01 227.28

17.3 21.7

Visitors Revenue (GH¢ M)

Manhyia Palace Museum 38,730 48,350 42,626 129,706 289.42 386.64 0.05 676.11

66.9 64.5

15.8 13.8

Total Visitors 53,871 76,613 63,281 193,765 100 Total Revenue(GH¢ M) 458.91 589.00 0.07 1047.98 100 Table 7: Museum Visitation and Revenue Generation, 2006-2008 * The exchange rate of the Ghana cedi (GH¢) has fluctuated between GH¢ 1.0 - GH¢ 1.5 to US$1.00 since 2006. Figures and analysis are based on data obtained from GTB in 2010. It was an interesting and important research finding that the two regal museums in Kumasi provided more cultural value to the Asantes and other Ghanaians than AFM. Furthermore, as Table 7 indicates, the highest visitations and revenues of all the museums were recorded in 2007 when Ghana celebrated the golden jubilee of independence and the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The collections and roles of the three museums, in the context of heritage tourism, were historically and politically relevant to the two mega events in 2007 in Ghana. Interestingly, some collections of UN military artifacts and records on operations link AFM with the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) in Accra (Addo and Odai, 2011). KAIPTC was established in honor of the exemplary UN peacekeeping roles of the Ghana Armed Forces and was named after the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian. KAIPTC (Figure 6) also constitutes cultural capital that attracts domestic and international tourists and offers opportunities to learn more about post-colonial military services. Since its establishment in 1998, KAIPTC has diversified, expanded and internationalized Ghana’s post-colonial military services. It has also been championing African excellence in peacekeeping training and conflict resolution, and attracting hundreds of visitors, including heads of state and senior political and military officials, to the country. KAIPTC’s domestic and international guests and dignitaries consume products provided by tourism facilities. The five-star Labadi Beach Hotel and four-star La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra are the most frequently used hospitality facilities. Other facilities in Accra used by KAIPTC’s guests are His Majesty Hotel, Deon Hotel, Central Hotel, and Maxlots (KAIPTC Archives reviewed in 2009). Tourist attrac-

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tions and sites that KAIPTC’s international guests frequently visit are the forts and castle in the Central Region, Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum (Memorial Park) in Accra, the University of Ghana, Legon, and Kakum National Park in the Central Region which features the only canopy (tree top) walkway in Africa and the longest in the world. Restaurants frequently visited in Accra are Tante Marie Marquis, Buka, and Afrikiko (Addo and Odai, 2011).

Figure 6: Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC) Pictures courtesy of KAIPTC Within the context of cultural heritage and tourism, it is worth noting that chieftaincy and traditional festivities were cultural attributes of Ghanaians before the arrival and settlement of the Portuguese on the Atlantic coast in 1471. Traditional beliefs, practices, handicrafts, and motifs have been passed on from one generation to another for centuries (Boahen, 1975; Buah, 1998; Fosu, 2001). Additionally, festivals are celebrated in all ten regions of contemporary Ghana for various social, cultural, economic, and political reasons. Examples of the major festivals are Akwasidae and Adae Kese in the Ashanti Region, Homowo and Asafotu in the Greater Accra Region, Aboakyir and Akwambo in the Central Region, Odwira and Dipo in the Eastern Region, Damba and Buuguu in the Northern Region, Hogbestotso and Lekoyi in the Volta Region, Tenghana and Kpini-Kyiu in the Upper-East Region, Kobine in the Upper-West Region, Donkyi and Kwafie in the Brong-Ahafo Region, and Kundum and Bombei in the Western Region. Ghana boasts the first and best health/medical spa in West Africa, the Holy Trinity Medical Center (HTMC), Spa and Health Farm Division (SHFD), located at Sogakope (Sogakofe) in the Volta Region, about an hour and half drive east of Accra. The facility attracts both domestic and international visitors for seven categories of spa services: destination, day, medical, health, dental, wellness center, and rehabilitation and hospital. Among the health/medical services provided are scientific relaxation (healthy lifestyle), conferences with health promotion and disease prevention, stress management, addiction management, weight management, sleep disorder therapy, snoring therapy, convalescing home, alterna-

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tive therapies, cosmetic dentistry, dental treatment, health vacation, diet/nutrition, medical examinations/ tests, physiotherapy, counseling, beauty therapy, retreat, and honeymoon. Massages, infra-red sauna, hydrotherapy bath, body treatments, facial treatments, and hair treatments are provided to mostly female visitors. Honeymoon getaway services are offered under eight brand names and durations: Relaxing (2 Days), Blissful (3 Days), Tropical Escape (4 Days), Perfect Paradise (5 Days), Treasure of the Volta (6 Days), Escape into Nature (7 Days), Ultimate Love(8 Days), and Together Forever (14 Days). Each of the brands features three categories of products or services, namely classic, executive, and platinum with cost ranging between US$420 (Relaxing-classic) and US$3460 (Together Forever-premium) (Dr. Felix Anyah, Executive Director, and Dr. M. Onassis Fiadjoe, HTMC-SHFD, Sogakope, personal communication, August 2009, and July 2011). HTMC-SHFD’s executive health/medical retreat provides riverbank accommodation (standard and executive rooms), food services (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), distressing regimes (hippotherapy, infra-red sauna, climatotherapy, negative-ion therapy, animal-assisted therapy, apitherapy, recreational therapy, bio feedback stress monitor and therapy, and bio electronic transduction aided resonance therapy), distressing yatch cruise on the Volta River, dental cleansing/sealing/polishing, six kilometer early morning walk/ aerobics, and coaching in physical exercises or sporting activities (badminton, lawn tennis, table tennis, squash, baseball, horse riding, swimming, cycling, and snookers). Additional services provided include detoxification (including colon hydrotherapy), comprehensive medical laboratory investigation, specialist medical/dietician or physiotherapist consultations (clinical and psychological counseling), echocardiogram scan, Doppler scan, abdominal/pelvic ultrasound scan, stress/resting electro-cardio-gram (ECG), spirometry, electropenilegraph, addiction aversion therapy, multi behavior therapy, sleep disorder therapy, lipid profile, prostrate cancer screening, blood group and sickling electrophoresis, body mass index (BMI) estimates with dietician counseling, and blood pressure monitoring and counseling. The leadership and exemplary role that HTMC-SHFD plays in health/medical tourism in Ghana, and for that matter West Africa, is underscored by the many outstanding national and international awards won. HTMC-SHFD has been a winner of: National Honor – Contribution to Primary Health Care in Ghana (1998), awarded by the Ghana Employers Association; Certificate of Merit (1998), awarded by Ghana Cripples Aid Society; National Honor – Excellence in Private Sector Health Care (1999), awarded by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana; Leader in the Medical Sector in Ghana (2002-2004, 2008), awarded by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC); Club 100 Awards (2002-2006, 2008, 2009), Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Outstanding Merit – Africa Leadership Award (2004), awarded by West Africa Magazine; West African Nobles Award (2004), awarded by West Africa Magazine; Entrepreneurs Award (2004), awarded by the Association of Certified Entrepreneurs; and Captain of Industry, Health Sector (2005), awarded by the Ministry of Private Sector Development, President Special Initiative (PSI) and Presidential Development Initiative (PDI). Other awards that HTMC-SHFD has received are: Ghana Golden Jubilee Business and Financial Excellence Award (2007), awarded by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, PSI, PDI; Best Health/Medical Tourism Destination in West Africa, West African International Award of Merit (2007), awarded by West

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Africa Magazine; Nelson Mandela Golden Award for Leadership and Transparent Virtues (2008), awarded by the Pan African Transparent Leader Center (in Nigeria); Golden Star Award for Exemplary Leadership in Healthcare Delivery and Lifestyle in West Africa (2008), awarded by the West Africa Nobles Forum; Excellent Service for Security, Peace and Safety in Africa (2008, 2009), awarded by Security Watch (in Nigeria); Golden Award (2008), Ghana Business and Financial Service Excellence Award; 1st Ghana Private & Medical Award for Promotion of a Healthy Society Award (2008), awarded by the Private Medical and Dental Association; Most Patronized Medical Tourism Destination in West Africa, Corporate Excellence Award (2010), awarded by the New Ghanaian Magazine; and Platinum Award for the Best Spa (2010), awarded by the West African Institute of Tourism and Hospitality. In more recent years, nature-based tourism and ecotourism have received unparalleled attention from the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local communities and authorities, and international development organizations and agencies such as the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The aforementioned 15-year NTDP invited international organizations and encouraged the private sector to support and invest in cultural and nature-based tourism programs and projects, and ecotourism (GTB, 1995; GTB, 1998). Together with the private sector, NGOs, and international development institutions and agencies, MOT, GTB, and GTDC Ltd. have been gradually, but progressively, finding a middle ground for naturebased tourism, ecotourism, and cultural tourism in Ghana. National parks and community-based ecotourism projects have been providing domestic and international tourists the opportunity to experience the diversity in Ghana’s tourism industry. The Community-Based Ecotourism Project (CBEP) comprising the Nature Conservation Research Center (NCRC), GTB, SNV (Netherlands Development Organization), Peace Corps-Ghana, and local communities has been vigorously developing and marketing ecotourism in Ghana. CBEP is partly funded by USAID and aims to alleviate poverty in rural communities through the creation of sustainable income-generating tourism activities while conserving the delicate and sensitive ecological and cultural resources in their environment. The 15-year NTDP adopted the definition of ecotourism provided by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), formerly the World Wildlife Fund. WWF defines ecotourism as, “nature travel that advances conservation and sustainable development” (GTB, 1995). Within the context of the 15-year NTDP, participation of local communities located near protected areas was considered a critical success factor in ecotourism. Local communities were expected to receive benefits from tourism development; and developers, planners, the government and other stakeholders were reminded to be mindful of the fact that natural areas were fragile and must be preserved. Private tourism entrepreneurs were also advised to adopt responsible approaches and ensure that development and visitor did not degrade tourist attractions. It was also noted in the 15-year NTDP that developing ecotourism as a source of revenue for protected areas was especially important and tourism could provide the means to achieve adequate conservation, as well as bringing benefits to participating communities. Consequent to the implementation of the 15-Year NTDP, many local communities have embraced the concept of ecotourism in their tourism development programs and projects. The first fourteen projects in

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the three designated circuits are: Forest Circuit – Tano Sacred Grove, Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Wassa Domama Rock Shrine, Bunso Arboretum (protected forest reserve), and Bobiri Forest and Butterfly Sanctuary; Savanna Circuit – Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary, Paga Crocodile Pond and Nania Slave Camp, Widnaba (history and culture), Tongo Hill and Tengzug Shrines, and Sirigu Pottery and Art; Volta Circuit – Tafi-Atome Monkey Sanctuary, Xavi Bird Watching Sanctuary, Amedzofe (geology/topography), and Tagbo Falls (GTB, 2007c). Among the major national parks and natural resource reserves in the country are the Mole National Park, Gbele Resource Reserve, Bui National Park, Kyabobo National Park, Digya National Park, BoabengFiema Wildlife Sanctuary, Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve, Bomfobiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary, Bia National Park and Bia Resource Reserve, Nini-Suhien National Park and Ankasa Resource Reserve, Kakum National Park, Assin Attandanso Resource Reserve, Shai Hills Resource Reserve, Kalakpa Resource Reserve, Agumatsa Wildlife Sanctuary, and Coastal Wetlands. The parks and reserves are rich in flora and fauna species. Other nature-based tourist attractions are waterfalls (Wli, Kintampo, and Boti, for example), beaches, and water-related sports or activities. Boat cruises on the Volta Lake is becoming increasingly popular and Lake Bosomtwe, the only natural lake in the country, provides some opportunities for lakeshore resort development. Crocodile ponds, areas of scenic beauty (the Gambaga Escarpment and Tongo Hills in the Upper East Region, for example), botanical gardens (the Aburi Botanical Garden in the Eastern Region, for example) and zoos are also managed and marketed as part of nature-based tourism and ecotourism (GTB, 1995; GTB, 1998; GTB, 2007c). Figure 7 shows some of the natural and ecotourism attractions.

Figure 7: Some Natural and Ecotourism Attractions in Ghana Pictures courtesy of GTB

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Latest developments and initiatives in Ghana’s tourism industry are the “Chocofest”, Okwau Easter, and paragliding events. Chocofest is organized to boost the popularity of Ghana’s golden tree chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Ghanaians are encouraged to consume and offer made-in-Ghana chocolates as special gifts on Valentine’s Day. The Okwau Easter and paragliding events are held simultaneously in the Eastern Region. The main objective of the former is to bring people from the Kwau area together to celebrate the history of their settlements on the Kwau mountains/highlands, economic achievements, and socio-cultural uniqueness. The latter also takes place on the Kwau mountains/highlands in the third and final weeks of April. Both events attract domestic and international tourists. GTB in collaboration with MOT, GTDC Ltd., the chiefs and people of the Kwau area, industry suppliers, and other stakeholders have been successfully planning and managing both events. Another latest development in Ghana’s tourism industry is the mushrooming of tourism institutions and programs. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, and the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Cape Coast, Central Region, offer tourism programs for degrees. The University of Ghana (UG), Legon, in the Greater Accra Region, is about to offer degree programs in tourism. Some professors of the institution have expertise in tourism education and business. In addition to the three public tertiary institutions some private institutions and organizations (Center for Travel and Tourism Studies – CTTS, and Amadeus, for example), NGOs (SNV-Netherlands, and Green Earth Organization – GEO, for example), tourism facilities and companies (hotels and airlines, for example) provide tourism education and training to Ghanaians in areas like hospitality management, event planning/management, tourism marketing, tourism transportation systems, ecotourism, sustainable tourism development, and cultural heritage tourism. The stable political climate, democratic governance since 1992, and diversification and steady growth of the economy have given Ghana unique opportunities to host many international events in the past decade. The Accra International Conference Center (AICC) has been the site for most of the international events. Examples of the events it has hosted are: the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference, the Joint Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) meeting in 2001; the International Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Conference, and the 5th International Copyright Conference in 2002; the International Cocoa Research Conference, the 26th Conference of the African Parliamentary Union, and the 2nd Meeting of ECOWAS Ministers and Experts in Education in 2003; and the World Summit of the Information Society, and the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association Council meeting in 2005. In 2007 the number of events held at the AICC increased and included the African Commission Session, the 6th African Union (AU) Council of Ministers, the AU Summit, the ECOWAS Business Forum, the International Cocoa Conference, the 9th Summit of Heads of State and Governments of the AU, and the 6th African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) Forum. Before the UNWTO nominated Ghana to host the international World Tourism Day celebration in 2009, the AICC had been the site for the 12th Session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) conference in 2008. The climax of the events held at the AICC in 2009 prior to hosting the international World Tourism Day event was the US President Barack Obama’s address to the nation in July (K. Appiah, AICC, Accra, personal communication, July 2010).

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In September 2009 Ghana had the privilege to host the international World Tourism Day event, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. The event provided the country a unique opportunity to showcase the diversity in her cultural heritage and tourism industry. Cultural heritage was conspicuously displayed in fashion, gastronomy, music, dance, and European and colonial legacies. Visits were made to the Elmina and Cape Coast castles, some forts, Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, the Artists Alliance Gallery and other attractions in Accra, the oldest cocoa farm in the country in the Eastern Region, Kakum National Park in the Central Region, and other natural attractions in the country. The climax of the event was a gastronomic fair held at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra to underscore Ghana’s excellence in culinary heritage/tourism. Each of the ten regions of Ghana showcased local gourmets. Some selected hotels also provided special gourmets. In both cases, only local ingredients and recipes were used. After hosting the gastronomic fair, La Palm Royal Beach Hotel won the grand prize of an international culinary competition held in South Africa. This achievement further accentuated Ghana’s excellence in gastronomy and culinary tourism and placed the country on a higher pedestal of the global tourism industry. CHALLENGES FACING GHANA’S TOURISM INDUSTRY In spite of the impressive achievements of Ghana’s tourism industry, there are some challenges that need to be addressed in order to make the industry realize its full potential. The challenges, some of which are multisectoral, include inadequate and poor infrastructure, mainly roads, power (energy/electricity) and water supply; low skills of workers, especially in the hospitality sector; insufficient and low standard water transportation systems; ineffective management, and uneconomic and unsuccessful operations of Ghana Airways and Ghana International Airlines; influx of international airlines including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, Air Namibia, Ethiopia Airlines, Emirates, Kenya Airways, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Alitalia, South Africa Airlines, Air Mali, Royal Air Maroc, Tap Portugal, Air Nigeria, Arik Air Nigeria, and Aero Contractors (Nigeria); and limited intra and interregional air transportation systems. Ghana’s tourism industry is also characterized by high dependency on inbound international tourists; low-level awareness of precisely what the industry is about and its impacts on local communities and the national economy; limited access to credit for small and medium-scale tourism enterprises, and high interest rates on loans; poor drainage systems and garbage/rubbish pile-ups at some tourist destinations; and inadequate and ineffective institutional and policy guidelines for tourism education, training, and intra and inter-regional development strategies. Other challenges facing Ghana’s tourism industry are low participation in domestic tourism; conflicts between some tourism institutions (GTB and GTDC, for example) and local people/residents over land acquisition, tenure, and utilization; political, economic, legal and ethnocentric controversies surrounding tourist attractions and events such as the estimated US$70 million presidential palace in Accra (which is cultural and latent capital), Panafest, Emancipation Day, the Joseph Project, and the golden jubilee of independence; inadequate data collection, classification (indicating public sector contribution to the growth and development of the tourism industry in comparison with the private sector and/or NGOs, or

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a comparison between the contributions of ecotourism or nature-based tourism and cultural tourism, for example), and utilization by tourism institutions, businesses, and stakeholders; frequent changes of tourism ministers and deputy ministers; inadequate sanitary/toilet (washroom) facilities at some beaches and on some roads to and from tourist attractions, facilities or destinations; and relatively high rates or prices of hotel rooms, food and beverages, and hospitality services. These challenges significantly account for the high overhead cost of hospitality operations that is usually passed on to tourists or consumers. Finally, it is worth noting that the direct and indirect impacts, and multiplying effects of the 15-Year NTDP have not been assessed at the macro (national or regional), meso (destination - city, town, village, local community), and micro (project) levels of planning. Equally significant to point out is the fact that although the 15-Year NTDP expired in 2010, the government has not introduced a new strategic and comprehensive plan for the tourism industry. The author wonders if a new plan would be provided by 2012 when the next general elections would be held to either retain the current government or usher in a new government. Further research is needed to better examine and discuss these concerns and challenges. CONCLUSION Ghana was the first country to gain political independence from British/European colonial rule on March 6, 1957. However, the country experienced political instability and a declining economy when Nkrumah, the first president, was overthrown in 1966. The austerity economic measures taken by successive governments were not able to ameliorate the economy until the 1990s. Since the Fourth Republic in 1992 the country’s economy has steadily flourished. Ghana was able to move from the status of a highly indebted poor country (HIPC) in 2002 to a middle income status in 2007. As part of the economic success story, the tourism industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the past decade to become the fourth largest contributor to GDP after cocoa exports, mineral exports, and remittances from overseas. The factors accounting for the rapid growth of the tourism industry include: a stable political climate; democratic governance since 1992; implementation of a 15-Year National Tourism Development Plan in 1996; private sector investments in hospitality facilities, medical/health tourism, and tourist attractions; the golden jubilee of independence in 2007; organization and hosting of numerous local, national and international events; local community initiatives in ecotourism; strategic destination marketing, including e-marketing; and mushrooming of tourism institutions and programs. Irrefutably, the tourism industry has become an engine of growth and development of the emerging Ghanaian economy. As indicated in the preceding section, in spite of the impressive achievements, Ghana’s tourism industry faces some economic, political, socio-cultural and institutional challenges and controversies. In other words, all that glitters is not gold in Ghana’s tourism industry. If the identified challenges are effectively addressed, hopefully, the tourism industry would become more attractive globally and a stronger engine of growth and development for the emerging economy in sub-Sahara Africa.

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Wiley. Goldblatt, J. (2008). Special Events. The Roots and Wings of Celebration. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Gunn, C.A. and Var, T. (2002). Tourism Planning. Basics, Concepts, Cases. New York: Routledge. Hall, M. and Lew, A. (1998). Sustainable Tourism: A Geographical Perspective. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Hale, A. (2006). Selling Celtic Cornwall: Changing Markets and Meanings. In K. Meethan, A. Anderson, and S. Miles (Eds.) Tourism, Consumption and Representation: Narratives of Place and Self (pp. 272– 283). Wallingford: CABI Publishing. Handelman, H. (2000). The Challenge of Third World Development, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Harrison, L.C. and Husband, W. (1996). Practicing Responsible Tourism. Understanding Tourism Today to Prepare for Tomorrow. In L.C. Harrison, and W. Husband (Eds.) Practicing Responsible Tourism. International Case Studies in Tourism Planning, Policy, and Development (pp.1-15). New York: John Wiley. Hettne, B. (1990). Development Theory and the Three Worlds. New York: Wiley. ICOM Ghana. (2009). Mission, Objectives and Partners. http://www.ghana.icom.museum/20000_e.html. [Accessed the 10th March 2009, 14:40]. International Council of Museums (ICOM). (2009). Development of the Museum Definition according to ICOM Statutes (2007-1946). http://icom.museum/hist_def_eng.html [Accessed the 10th March 2009, 14:20]. Killick, T. (1978). Development Economics in Action. A Study of Economic Policies in Ghana. London: Heinneman. Kotler, P., Bowen, J.T. and Makens, J.C. (2006). Marketing for hospitality and Tourism. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Lane, B. (2005). Sustainable Rural Tourism Strategies: A Tool for Development and Conservation. International Journal of Environment and Tourism, 1 (1): 12-18. Laviolette, P. (2003). Landscaping death: resting places for Cornish identity. Journal of Material Culture, 8 (2), pp. 215-240. Library of Congress. USA. (2010). Country Studies: Ghana. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi [Accessed the 8th April 2010, 10:00] Meethan, K. (2001). Tourism in Global Society: Place, culture and consumption, Basingstoke. National Atlas Development Center. (1995). Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. ISBN: 9964973-13-6. Tourist Map of Ghana including a Plan of Accra, 1995 edition. Accra: Unimax Publishers Ltd. Obuan Committee. (1972). Report of the Feasibility Study Committee on the Development of Ghana’s Tourist Attractions for the 5-year Plan Period 1972-1976. Accra, Ghana: Government of Ghana. Ofori-Atta, W. (1988). Ghana: A Nation in Crisis. The J.B. Danquah Memorial Lectures. Series 18. Feb-

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ruary 1985. Accra: The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. O’Toole, W. and Mikolaitis, P. (2002). Corporate Event Project Management. New York: John Wiley. Picard, D. and Robinson, M. (2006). Remaking Worlds: Festivals, Tourism and Change. In D. Picard, and M. Robinson (Eds.) Festivals, Tourism and Social Change. Remaking Worlds (pp. 1-31). Clevedon: Channel View Publication. Prosser, R. (1994). Societal Change and the Growth in Alternative Tourism. In E. Cater, and G. Lowman (Eds.), Ecotourism: A Sustainable Option? (pp. 19-37). Baffins Lane, Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley. Ramerini, M. (2007). Dutch and Portuguese Colonial History. European Forts in Ghana. Available at: http://www.colonialvoyage.com. [Accessed the 10th December 2008, 14:15]. Robinson, M. and Picard, D. (2006). Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Development. A study carried out as a part of the programme ‘Culture, tourism, development’ of the Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue. Paris: UNESCO. Rojek, C. (1993). Ways of Escape: Modern Transformations in Leisure and Travel. London: Macmillan Smith, M. K. (2009). Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies. New York: Routledge. Smith, M.K. and Robinson, M. (2006). Politics, Power and Play: The Shifting Contexts of Cultural Tourism. In , M.K Smith, and M. Robinson (Eds.) Cultural Tourism in a Changing World. Politics, Participation and (Re)presentation (pp.1-17). Clevedon: Channel View Publications. Steel, W.F. (1981). Female and Small-scale Employment under Modernization in Ghana. The Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 17, No. 2, 271-284. Stone, P. & Sharpley, R. (2008). Consuming dark tourism: a thanatological perspective, Annals of Tourism Research, 35(2), 574-595. Todaro, M. (1989). Economic Development in the Third World. London: Longman Wendroff, A.L. (2004). Special Events. Proven Strategies for Nonprofit Fundraising. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. World Bank. (1984). Country Study: Ghana. Politics and Programs for Adjustment. Washington, DC: World Bank. WTO. (1999). Tourism Marketing Trends: Africa. 1989-1998. Madrid: WTO Commission for Africa. Yeboah, C.N. (2011). GSE is 3rd Biggest Exchange. In Daily Guide, a newspaper in Ghana, Friday, July 29, NO. 175/11, p. 8.

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THE NEED FOR AN INTERNSHIP MODEL FOR THE STUDENTS OF MASTER IN TOURISM AND HOTEL MANAGEMENT IN ROMANIA: SOME CONCLUSIONS AND DIRECTIONS Daniela-Tatiana Agheorghiesei (Corodeanu) Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iași, România E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Adriana Prodan Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza Iași, România, E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT Organizing of the internship for students of Master degree in Romania is an issue that worries any academic institution in recent years. In general, universities are unable to conclude a formal contract with firms and institutions to integrate their students and therefore, the latter are not open to cooperation. Our article presents a research-based questionnaire and semi-structured interviews among the 49 students in Master of Tourism Management and Hotel from “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi and 11 managers of tourist facilities that have collaborated in the internship during the second semester of 2010. The study highlights the positive and negative aspects that were noticed both by students and host managers during the internship. Keywords: Internship in Tourism Management and Hotels ORGANISING INTERNSHIP FOR ROMANIAN MASTER STUDENTS – BETWEEN EDUCATION LAW REQUIREMENTS AND EXIGENCES The new Education Law (1/2011) in Romania provides greater responsibilities for the institutions of higher education in supporting practical programs for students, being thus obliged to provide at least 30% of practice sites for students. Therefore, universities need to demonstrate they are able to initiate and maintain dialogue with employer, attracting them into a mutually beneficial network. Through these programs, the university must prove that its academic “product” – the future specialist – is of high quality; the employer can test “live” the knowledge and abilities of the student (capacities that can be exploited during the internship), who is educated and instructed by the university to meet organizational needs and challenges. This becomes a challenge especially since many studies mentioned by Adam Howard (2004: 3) show that employers are dissatisfied with the fact that most academic programs do not enable well enough the students to acquire the skills needed for a job. Once they are employees of certain organizations, students are not sufficiently prepared in terms of “communication skills, teamwork, flexibility, ability to cope with ambiguous situations and work in a diverse work environment, and also in terms of professional background and understanding the consequences of globalization and ethics training”. Business manage-

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ment education is accused for the lack of attention and lack of emphasis on training of students to acquire ampler abilities and skills: “the vision to identify problems, integration along the functional areas, personnel management, oral and written communication, external environment, international dimension of business, entrepreneurship and ethics”. Management education in the hospitality industry (still considered improperly “equipped” to cope with the changing environment) is called to fold the industry needs, to ascertain the future needs and to provide the “research and leadership” required for this path (Jayawardena, 2001). In this context of mistrust in the academic offer, the concept of “cooperative education” (or work-based education), although is over 100 years old, is rediscovered as a best learning model, which is worth to be followed, where students are “placed, and then prepared for the rigors of the workplace” (Haword, 2004:4). It is a skill development process in which all the participants (the students, industry and education providers) win both for short and long term (Great Britain: Parliament and House of Commons and Home Affairs Committee, 2011:27). ”DILEMMAS” OF INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS In an internship, the students become for a short period “new employees”, which enter in a process of developing their knowledge and skills in order to help them to cope with job requirements, to meet their duties and tasks in the organization (Jaszay&Dunk, 2003:2). They have the opportunity to learn at the “workplace” and to acquire “hands-on” experience (Bohlander&Snell, 2010:225). Internship objectives and advantages can be construed in multiple terms (StateUniversity.com, 2011):  internship introduces students in the work field effectively, enables them to interact with multiple actors (from individuals to systems and even organizations) and to be part of a network with more opportunities for mentoring, contributes to the increase of practitioner’s self-confidence, creates a new attitude and motivation for lifelong learning and strengthens practitioner’s competence in the area of observation, reflection, analysis and communication, stimulates creative thinking and determines the students to prove their skills of searching solutions to problems, customizes the learning process (learning is experiential, takes a new garment of importance and significance) in a new context wherein the theoretical concepts can be better understood and retained, requires the students to be flexible and adaptable to an environment that may be changing, to develop emotionally and cope with both failure and success. However, we talk of dilemmas: the internship program shapes as a formal and structured program of learning, following a determined plan (with measurable results), but it is also many times ”shadowing an employee already doing the job”, namely a “Shadowing Program” where the students simply notice and gather information without a real involvement. University curriculum requires the students to demonstrate through the practice report issued at the end of the program that they have been able to link theory with practice and thus demonstrate that they have learned how the organization works. However, the “ambiguity role” can often manifest and can be unclear to what extent students can be involved in practical work experience at operational level, or in their exposure towards the supervisor  responsibilities (Mullins, 2001: 295). Internship is a work experience in real-world and students must reflect their experiences as temporary employees when they return to academia (Green, 1997:9).

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Lack of experience of mentor-managers, (who may act as coordinators of practice) can make a note of lack of efficiency, if they have not experienced similar programs, training, design or even to have been the subject of a formal corporate training program (Jaszay& Dunk, 2003:4). At the same time, internship programs are actually a form of adult education programs and very often we are not fully aware of this particular aspect. Consequently, the practitioners` coordinator in the host organization should take into account how students learn as adults: they must be encouraged to share their knowledge and skills, and must explain why they are given certain information or work experience because they feel a strong need to be learning something and how it will help them solve everyday problems. Although coordinated, adult-students have formed an image of themselves as individuals who are selfcoordinated and have the desire to control what they do (Biech, 2009:3). Training programs in hospitality industry mean “mixing” of the two technologies - learning technology and industry technology (Jaszay& Dunk, 2003:5), in other words, the art of learning must be weaved with the professional mastery. Image and Internship in Tourism and Hospitality Industry Internship programs in tourism and hospitality industry are designed to change the ”cameleonic”, twisted and sometimes false image of the glamorous jobs. In spite of this, it be seems that the industry is also one that offers a career without a high state of the employee (Tribe&Lewis, 2003), with a low level of labor skills, low competences, low wages (especially for entry-level positions, acc. to Chen, Chu, Wo, 2000), with “uneducated employees, unmotivated”, informal (untrained), “unproductive” (Pizam, 1982, quoted by Tribe&Lewis, 2003: 69). Internship gives students the opportunity to align their perceptions to the realities of the industry. In addition, internship is the “Trojan horse” in a war of exploring the best jobs; the students enter into a network and are able to find a job, even if not in that organization, but in others of similar profile. It is the first step in their career (Kauffman, 2010: 5). Internship experience (cooperative education) is the best way to find a suitable job according to Goeldner& Ritchie (2009), and West and Jameson (1990) makes clear that the role of these practice programs should help students “to identify their career steps in the hospitality industry and in other relevant organizations” (Walmsley& Thomas, 2009:340). Furthermore, these programs afford less efficient students to get more confidence in university or to have a positive attitude to open their own business (idem, 2009:335-341). Managers in tourism and hospitality industry (who are really interested in the quality of this placement process for students) elaborate a “strategy of job placements”, which should start from students` expectations. Such strategy must respond to the three objectives of the student (Barrows&Powers, 2009:21-22): payment of salary, bonuses and promotion opportunities. Personal satisfaction includes the possibility of self-expression, possibility to have initiative and to show their creativity, desire of independence to apply what they have learned and know, possibility to get clear information on the placement conditions (such as the number of hours you must work), a.s.o. Professional goals represent achieving a competency and a reputation as a specialist. According to Chen, Chu and Wu`study (2000), testing the values of work could be a clear indicator on what makes a student to prefer a specific job or a certain environment of work, and referring to the tourism and hospitality industry a “good relationship with the supervisors and a comfortable environment of work” are defining aspects. An internship program involves binding to certain principles in the organization: the objectives and methods of evaluation must be clearly defined and communicated

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to students so that they have realistic expectations from internship. Students must be informed and trained on the requirements and working conditions in this industry. The tourism industry personnel must understand better how students need to be addressed, and how this program will have an impact on their career; right from the start to be set minimum standards on payment (if any), number of hours to be worked and the deployment of training. In the internship, particular attention should be paid to the integration of theoretical courses and practical experience, creating more opportunities for training in the management & supervision. Students must be made better aware of the program value, by presenting the host organization in detail, starting from its object of activity, organizational structure, operational mode, and up to its values and ​​ rules. Also, the host organizations must be made aware on the expectations of students (Kusluvan&Kusluvan, and Eren, 2003:148). A proper strategy for the education in hospitality management could be promotion of “liberal education” concept proposed by Morrison&O’Mahony (2003), namely “an integrated approach that has the potential to generate new ways of thinking and a wider range of worldviews”. However, in countries where there is no specific policy in organizing placement programs for students, with well-managed contracts, such approach is “suffering” and is a challenge for the organization and monitoring of any internship program because the employers are still reluctant to accept students in internship programs, considering it an extra burden, a waste of time or a risk to the “secret” of data confidentiality. In other words, they suggest that there is not a relationship of mutually beneficial cooperation, or a “win-win” relation (Somerick, 1993; Fiori&Pearce, 2009). In Romania, organizations do not have trained personnel available to coordinate the internship. In addition, these internship programs imply no payment for the student, for the practitioner or for the practice-coordinator of the host organization, which may be a factor of demotivation (at least for the coordinator). Although, according to law, the internship objectives are the same as in other countries, the internship for Romanian students is circumscribing rather for the shadowing program. In this context, Romania is one of the SE Europe countries that is still making efforts to achieve the networks between academia and business environment, searching for motivating solutions and effective organization of these programs. The Need for an Internship Guidance Model In these circumstances, we believe that in higher education institutions of Romania and possibly of other Eastern European countries, the need for guidance or for a model in the management of internship is felt ever more. Management of internship requires the involvement of three categories of actors: the university, the host organization, and last but not least, the students.  All these actors are charged with different engaging responsibilities, and, therefore, it is required a coordinated management of the internship program in which each of the parties to be heard and invited to determine the structure of the program and the indicators of evaluation for its efficacy. Each of them shares several “assets”, each part offering to the others knowledge and competence, but also “objective”, peculiarities and constraints to be taken into account (Figure 1). The University provides the students with its ability to train effective and competent specialists, with its “share capital” but protects its own “academic lens” in terms of how to provide, in terms of its aims, its values and ​​ norms, folding on the constraints that are to be faced (legal compliance, financial resources and insufficient dialogue).

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Host Organization may in turn provide knowledge and competence (in the management of internship and the coordination-training of students). It aims in turn its own goals (in addition to the desire for profit, it occurs also the desire of training and maintaining a good image in the community by engaging in activities of social responsibility and support of education, building network, strengthening of the share capital, preservation of oganizational culture) . The student is the one who “receives and provides” both knowledge and skills and abilities, values and ​​ norms, following their own goals and expectations (in addition to the experience of knowledge can be the career), while respecting the constraints imposed by others (by learning). The model will operate to the extent that each party will find a “win-win” relationship with the other actors, in other words, only if the “actor” would “preserve his freedom” (to be respected and supported) within this model. An importantrole devolves upon the university by its teachers who must prepare students for increasingly complex requirements of the workplace and train them towars adoption of an ethical behavior and towards avoidance of unethical practices (Yeung, Wong, Chan, 2002). Both in its realation with the organizations and with all other colaborators, universities “... should realize that they are responsible not only for teaching technical skills and knowledge but also for instilling ethics in their students” (Yeung, 2002). 

Figure 1: “Assets” Model for the actors involved in running an internship program 

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METHODOLOGY This study mainly aims to highlight how the students of Master in Tourism and Hotel Management, from “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iasi, Romania appreciate the internship program developed by the university, in order to bring subsequent improvements in the management of this program. Inexperience and difficult dialogue with the employers are two weaknesses that have left a question mark over the effectiveness of the program. Also, the research has tried to capture the managers` opinion that have assessed students’ skills and supervised them during the internship program in the tourist facilities hosting the internship. The opinion of managers has acted as a counterweight to the criticisms and appreciations expressed by students about implementation of the internship program, thus ensuring objectivity. Research results can be a good barometer to indicate the requirements of employers in terms of students` professional qualification and skills demanded on the labor market, and consequently to improve curriculum and internship management. Context of Research Process: Organization Details of Internship The study has been conducted in the context of deployment of the first formal internship organized by the university, through practice tutors. Internship period has represented the last semester of study (second year of study) for 10 weeks, and 5 hours per day. This period coincides with the period in which students have to complete their dissertation work and to attend several courses, taking exams, projects and evaluation papers. The steps for conducting the internship have involved contacting main representative tourist companies in the city (as the students do not receive financial support to travel to other cities for this purpose) or in the areas where students live, as far as it is received the necessary support from managers of these establishments. Although over 25 managers of hotels have been officially contacted for collaboration with the university, only 11 of them have been willing to accept students in internships and sign the contract of practice (they are direct acquaintances or professional collaborators), based on the professional network of the university’s practice-tutors. The practice-tutors appointed by the university have required the practicing-students (according to the curriculum) an internship evaluation report, to be achieved on the basis of the work performed. 60% of the students` grade is the internship evaluation report while 40% of the grade is given by the coordinator from the tourist-host unit. Requirements of the practice report aimed both assessing student competence in the recognition of theoretical concepts in organizational context (presentation of the organization and evaluation of the business nature, of the features and quality of the tourist product/service; presentation and explanation of organizational structure; profile of the unit in terms of the industry wherein it operates; characterization of staff; detailing the internal environment and the main influences from the external environment on the performance of the tourist unit; market positioning; marketing methods used to promote business based on description of customer needs, etc.); use of critical thinking and analytical skills (identifying 3-5

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key issues faced by the unit: description of problems, finding causes, influence factors, identification of parties/individuals involved and proposing solutions, research and analysis of information/data/situations directly related to the operational management of business, evaluating the impact of organizational culture; identifying 3-5 critical situations that occurred during the internship: description of the situation and explicit proposals to support avoidance in the future of these problems in the activity of the unit, recommendations on the business of the tourist unit) but also aspects related to the management applied by the practitioners in organizing their own business by offering the possibility of a reflection on their performance and behavior (presentation of own objectives in carrying out internship, linked to the curriculum and specialization, detailed presentation of method/strategies used to achieve each objective, assessment of the objectives proposed by the practitioner from making internship; benefits to the unit). Managers of the host organizations have signed practice contracts with the faculty, wherein it is specified their responsibilities assumed in coordinating students, and they are given from their tutor, just from the start, the structure of the internship report and the criteria of the student`s assessment sheet.  Research methods: the Survey applied to the students who have participated in internships and the semistructured interview with the tourist unit managers who have agreed to coordinate the students in their organizations. Participants in the study: 48 students of those 56 students enrolled in the master program and 11 tourist unit managers who supervised students during the internship program. The number of respondent-students is smaller than the number of students enrolled in the master program because part of the students have been allowed to validate the “Work & Travel” practice conducted in other countries while others have been abroad with scholarships when conducting the study. 34 respondents are female and 14 male. Questionnaire Structuring is focused on four parts, each part comprising several aspects of internship assessment: utility of internship (helps the student to integrate more quickly into the labor market; forms new abilities and skills to the students; brings the student in the life of a collective/an organization; forms new values and rules to the students; helps the student to be in the attention of employers for possible employment, verifies the volume and quality of knowledge acquired by students in college; verifies the work potential of students, tests the student behavior within an organization in terms of relationship with colleagues, superiors, etc.; offers learning opportunities to the students); organizing internship (should be formally organized and supervised by faculty, through tutors; students should be allowed to choose the place of internship; should be organized together with employers; should be organized by proper support of the students associations); the management implemented by the college in organizing the internship (the internship organized by the faculty is well drafted, makes easier achievement of the internship objectives, internship report requirements are properly defined, summarizes the knowledge gained by the student during internship, internship units are well-known in the field, the internship is beneficial to make the students vocational training complete); the management implemented by employers in support of internship (assigning a reasonable number of tasks, students are not overburdened, establishing appropriate working program, providing adequate and safe working conditions for students, enabling students to in-

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volve in achievement of the tasks, facilitating access on the organization data as a whole, assigning tasks according to the students` level of competence, offering students opportunities to learn, giving sufficient information and support in order the tasks be met, acting fairly, without discrimination to all practitioners, treating students with respect, being objective and fair in giving feedback to the students/tutors). The questions are divided into 35 items (out of which, 5 inquires are control items) on a Likert response scale (totally disagree, partially disagree, neutral, partially agree, strongly agree). Respondents had the possibility of an open response. Distribution of the questionnaire was done at the end of internship, being sent by e-mail to all the students who benefited by internship with the support of the faculty.  Interviews with the 11 managers were conducted during the internship and also at the end of the internship, along with the stage of monitoring the students at the headquarters of the tourist units. 2 managers were female and nine male. The interview guide included questions related to the performance in fulfilling the tasks assigned to them, student’s behavior in the organization according to the manager and coordinator’s expectations, student’s integration in community and relationship with other members, compliance with organizational values and ​​ norms, student’s compliance with the work program, positive aspects and negative aspects. Among the touring units where students have been placed, 28 are hotels and hotel complexes, 10 hostels, 7 restaurants and pizzerias, two travel agencies and the Association of Tourism Agencies in Iaşi. Data processing was performed using the statistical program Sphinx Plus 2. Data interpretation was based on the frequency analysis and test of independence (equi-distribution), chi- square (χ2). FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Usefulness of internship: 29 of the 48 students (60.4 % strongly agree that internship helps them understanding better the theory and that they are provided with new opportunities for learning; 28 of them (58.3%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 41.83, df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) say they can build new skills and competent; for 34 practitioners (70.8%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 57.33, df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) internship is a way to be introduced in the life of an organization; a percentage of 56.3% (the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 20.38, df = 2, 1-p => 99.99%) of the Romanian master students (27 respondents) strongly agree that the internship is a way to test their behavior in the organization while for 21 of them (43.8 %, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 13.50, df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) agree that internship is a potential of employment. With regard to integration into the labour market or facilitate subsequent employment, internship was not a way of encouraging the students: only 19 of them (39.6%) think that internship provides a faster integration into the labour market while 22 respondents (almost half of them – e.i. 48.5%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very

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significant - χ 2 = 14.50, df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) partially agree that this program will help them to get a job, or getting the attention of employers. Although, as we have seen, it was mentioned in a large percentage that the internship was a great opportunity to enter into the life of an organization, yet very few think that internship helped them to learn new values and ​​ rules (12 strongly agree while 22 partially agree). This could be explained by the relatively low involvement in activities that would have required contact and teamwork with employees of the organization, but also by the short period of training (5 hours per day for 10 weeks). Organizing internship: just over half - 25 of MA (52.1%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 12.88, df = 2, 1-p => 99.99%) are in total agreement that the internship must be formally organized and monitored by faculty together with employers (and not up to students); 33 respondents (68.8%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 58.50, df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) consider that students should find themselves internship places. Internship management by the faculty: only 14 respondents (29.2%) are very satisfied and feel that internship is well-organized and efficient; 17 Romanian students, i.e. 35.4% (the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 17.83, df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) partially agree that internship is well-organized. Furthermore only 9 respondents strongly agree that iinternship is well-drafted, so as to achieve its objectives, while 50% partially agree it (the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 38.46, df = 4, 1 - p => 99.99%). The same percentage (50%) partially agree with the adequacy of the internship report requirements. Instead, many of them (36 students, i.e. 75%) consider that the tourism facilities where they are placed for intership are indeed representative, and 33 respondents (68.8%) are in total agreement that intership is managed to be beneficial for professional training.  Internship management by employers: the results show that employers have complied with legal requirements and have demonstrated ethical behaviour, assigning a reasonable number of tasks, without overburdening students (26 practitioners strongly agree, i.e.54.2%); 32 students consider they impose an appropriate working program (66.7%); 36 respondents say they ensure proper and safer working conditions (75%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 38.63, df = 2, 1-p => 99.99%); 42 of them affirm that employers are fair and make no discrimination (87.5%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 100.17, df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) while 41 respondents state that employers show respect for practitioners (85.4%). Among other strengths we have to emphasize the fact that 33 students have enjoyed the opportunity of learning (i.e. 68.8%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ2 = 57 df = 3, 1-p => 99.99%) while 37 respondents have appreciated the objectivity of the feedback on internship performance (77.1%, the difference with the distribution of reference is very significant - χ 2 = 41.38, df = 2 , 1-p => 99.99%). Among the weaknesses it may be noted that only 19 students (i.e. a small percentage - 39.6%) strongly agree that they have been given tasks according to their skills, and only half of the students fully appreciate that the host organization offers students the opportunity to be involved (24 MA, 50%) while 21 of them and (a less percentage, i.e. 43.8%) say they have had access to the organization data. These latter aspects can be explained through the “cautious” attitude of the host organization managers in “bringing strangers” in the

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organization, because the internship is not an issue introduced in the management of the business. Therefore, no specific tasks are provided in the work program for practitioners and no specific internship tasks are assigned to the persons responsible for coordinating students during internship. Open Questions Feedback: students have understood that intenship organized formally by the faculty is an important step for all stakeholders, even if they are also weaknesses and barriers in the organization: “I think this stage organized for students is very beneficial. It’s the only way to see the practical side of all objects studied. It’s the only way we can actually be prepared for future jobs, and the only way we can develop the skills and abilities in particular areas of specialization. Although I consider that internship should be made during the last year of college, I have to admit that it is better than nothing”. “My internship” before employment has meant just a month to learn and help (when the manager called meat any hour on any shift - day or night). The advantage of the internship organized by the faculty is that once you enter into a compnay you have the opportunity to work by rotation on several positions, and therefore, to discover what attracts you most. My recommendation is: don`t give up this project because it is the only program that support students for inclusion in their future career! Improvements will come by themselves, it’s important that employers be open to receive us”.  Weaknesses: some students reported that they have been assigned “tasks not related to our field of training. It would be nice to get the companies announced on students` education and goals..”, while others say: “there were some communication problems with the employers about what exactly such internship involves. I consider that, for the next year or future interships, a written list of possible activities or specific goals aimed by the University is absolutely necessary”. “Ideally would be to arrange a meeting with all the employers, but obviously this is almost impossible because time is the number one obstacle”. “It would be preferable that during internship teaching lectures be fewer. This would enable students/graduates to devote more and better in performing internship”  Common Recommendations: students suggested “to have one more internship at the end of the master studies. Thus, students could get much more knowledge in the field” while others said “internship should start earlier in order to have enough time for the dissertation paper”… “in order the student to have time both for the seminar projects, courses and dissertation work”. What managers say:  8 managers cooperating with us have believed that students are well-trained, having a proper behaviour, being involved in activities assigned to them and have integrated well into the collective. Managers dilemmas refers to the provisions of the contract submitted by University, believing such requirements are too binding since “no one is paid” and the internship cooperation is made just for “the desire to help students voluntarily”. In addition, they say that initially they have been unable to give students assignments: “It’s our fault, we have not known exactly what tasks to give them; next year we will know better what to do”. 2 hotel managers and a travel agency manager have openly shown their dissatisfaction with the students, but their assessment has been made generally and not particularly: “Today students know nothing to do,

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for them everything is theory but less practice. This is the new generation”; “They are not responsable, you have to mind them all the time, telling them what to do”; “They cannot observe the work program and do not achieve their tasks, their thought is only to entertainment”. Despite these findings, only two students have got marks ranging between 9 and 10 from the internship coordinators of the host organization for internship assessment, while the others have got the highest grade. Yet, following the assessment of the evaluation reports made by tutors, this situation has not been validated, many students getting much lower final grades. Moreover, three incidents occurred during internship, which represented a real test for the relationship with the host-managers, namely: a student left the intership because she was assigned with “humiliating tasks for a master student” (i.e: peeling vegetables in the kitchen while the employees “were just sitting there chatting”, although such task was the responsibility of employees); inappropriate attire of a student (“dressed in green pants”) who was assigned to serve breakfast to guests; employment of a student as a receptionist in the hotel in which she performed her internship and quick surrender to this job because the manager imposed a hard working program, with no work contract and a small salary.  CONCLUSIONS Our first findings show that the internship program is considered as beneficial for students in terms of easier understanding of putting the theory in practice, their professional training, offering new learning opportunities, as well as in terms of entry into the life of an organization where behavior and work potential can be tested. Naturally, in the students` opinion, the university is responsible for providing such internship, for its arranging and monitoring. However, despite the existence of a rich regulatory environment in the field of internship (The Law of Education no. 1/2011, Law no. 288 of 2004 on the organization of university internships, Law no. 258 of 2007 on pupils and students practice; Order no. 3955/2009 on the general framework for organization of internship within the curriculum of licence and master university studies and the framework-convention on conducting internship within the curriculum of licence and master university studies; the regulations on organization and development of internship for students applied in universities and the principles of each university Chart), this moment organizing internship for students in Romania has as main barriers the lack of a real dialogue between HEIs and employers.  Under these circumstances, placement of students is made by the University tutors using their personal “acquaintances”, with shyness and inability to “impose” requirements on the activities that students should do within the host organization. This fact distorts the role of the internship, giving rise to dilemmas and unethical behavior: therea are internships “for the sake of façade” where the contracts are signed but unbinding and without legal coverage (they are not legally registered); in the absence of actual contracts, employers can be put in difficult situations and charged of illegal employment by the local labor inspectorates or, in case of unfortunate events (such as work accidents) they are not legally covered; the student can be “encouraged” to miss the internship because they usually are a burden for employers, making rather troubles than a good job. Lack of a formal internship coordinator (either from University or the host organization), having proper qualifications in this respect may negatively affect students. They are “handed” from one person to another, and this does not help them to achieve their goals, namely the internship report (which will be thus done on non realis-

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tic and unconsistent basis), because they have no access to the “organizational life” and information. If the manager of the host organization is not familiar with internship management, working with the university only based on “friendship” and “good relationships”, then, his feedback and internship assessment will be made ‘for the sake of façade” (all the students get a ten grade) without realizing the actual consequences of this fact. We can also mention that therea are managers who take advantage and exploit students, forcing them to perform tasks unrelated to their skills. Many of the issues highlighted by this research show that the efforts to strengthen internship are part of any educational institution geared towards excellence. However, joint efforts are necessary between education providers and employers. Experience of learning from other countries where the “sandwich” structure is used, giving students the opportunity to make an internship program for a long time (even up to one year) in an organization where they can deal this time even a managerial position and can remain as employee may be an example of good practice for both employers and educational institutions. However, without an adequate and incentive legal framework to “push” conclusion of internship contracts with employers, which can actually be supported by university with sufficient funds for the internship coordinators of the host organizations (for training of these coordinators or managers), then, all the efforts will fail. We need a database to include all the companies willing to have a working, monitoring and control relationship. In essence, nobody loses, everybody wins. The University has the advantage of moving the “Faculty`s classrooms” in the territory of the host organizations (indeed, only for a short period of time), and thus offering its students the opportunity to put into practice and assess their theoretical knowledge. In addition, the internship program is a great opportunity to open a dialogue with the relevant labor market to see employers’ requirements and therefore, to adjust curricula to such requirements. In turn, the host units take advantage from temporary labour force, testing employees without paying a penny and recruiting the best ones; they are also benefiting from free advertising, demonstrating they are actively involved in supporting local community through contribution to the training of its members and through collaboration with educational institutions. Nevertheless, “behind the scenes” that the students do not know, curricula must be respected (even if, in their opinion the internship report requirements are not fully adequate to their expectations or, they do not have enough time both for internship, courses and master’s thesis), so it is obviously needed an “a priori” training in order students understand and meet their responsibilities and be aware of the ethics of the work (both as students and practitioners). Students must be informed more closely with the “cards on the table” about how to work with the employers (whether employers are informed about the internship objectives and the structure of the internship report). In turn, internship tutors must be sufficiently clear and persuasive in their relation with the managers so that they contribute to the goals of internship, to “train” them in this respect and to keep a long term relationship of trust, based on the principles of the ethics of professional relationships. The study has as limitations the circumscription on the research of a single experience in organizing internship and its correlation with unequal experiences from the point of view of the tourism units where

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students have been in placement for internship (some students “hadn`t the luck” to make internship in luxury hotels, and then the “watch out lens” was different. Comparative studies with the experience of other universities in Romania and in other countries can be beneficial for shaping a real profile and identify common and divergent points. REFERENCES Barrows, C.W., Powers, T.F. (2009). Introduction to the hospitality industry. Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons. Biech, E. and American Society for Training and Development (2009). ASTD’s ultimate train-the-trainer : a complete guide to training success. Alexandria, Va. : ASTD Press. Bohlander, G.W. and Snell, S. (2010). Managing Human Resources. International Edition. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Chen, J.S., & Chu, K. H-L. (2000). Tourism students’perceptions of work values: a case of Taiwanese universities, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12 (6)> 360-365. Fiori, C.M.&Pearce, A. R. (2009). Improving the Internship Experience: Creating a Win-Win for Students, Industry and Faculty. ASCE Conf. Proc. doi:10.1061/41020(339)142. Http://ascelibrary.org/ proceedings/resource/2/ascecp/339/41020/142_1?isAuthorized=no. [Accessed the 28th of April 2011, 8:57]. Goeldner, C.R., Ritchie, J.R. B. (2009). Tourism : principles, practices, philosophies. Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley. Great Britain: Parliament and House of Commons and Home Affairs Committee (2011). Student Visas: Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence. Seventh Report of Session 201011. Volume 1. London: TSO. Green, M.E. (1997). Internship success: real-world, step-by-step advice on getting the most out of internships. Lincolnwood: VGM Career Horizons. Howard, A. (2004). Cooperative Education and Internship in Context. In P. L. Linn, A. Howard, and Eric Miller (Eds.), Handbook for research in cooperative education and internships (pp. 3-10). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Jayawardena, C. (2001). Challenges in international hospitality management education. International Journal of Contemporaru Hospitality Management, 13 (6): 310-315. Jaszay, C. and Dunk, P. (2003). Training design for the hospitality industry. Clifton Park, NY : Delmar Learning. Kauffman, R.B. (2010). Career development in recreation, parks, and tourism : a positioning approach. Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics. Kusluvan, S., Kusluvan, Z, Eren, D. (2003). Undergraduate Tourism Students Satisfaction with Student Work Experience and its Impact on their Future Career Intentions: A Case Study. In S. Kusluvan (Ed.), Managing employee attitudes and behaviors in the tourism and hospitality industry (pp. 135152). New York: Nova Science Publishers.

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Morrison, A.&O’Mahony, G.B. (2003). The liberation of hospitality management education. International Journal of Contemporaru Hospitality Management, 15 (1): 38-44. Mullins, L.J. (2001). Hospitality management and organisational behavior.Harlow : Longman. Somerick, N. M. (1993). Managing a Communication Internship Program1, Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 56 (3): 10. StateUniversity.com (2011). Internships in Higher Education - Goals, Structure, Process, Standards. http:// education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2132/Internships-in-Higher-Education.html. [Accessed the 10th of April 2011, 8:57]. Tribe, J. and Lewis, A. (2003). A. Attitudes of the Young to Careers in Hospitality and Tourism: Review and Recommendations. In S. Kusluvan (Eds.), Managing employee attitudes and behaviors in the tourism and hospitality industry (pp. 67-76), New York: Nova Science Publishers. Walmsley, A. and Thomas, R. (2009). Understanting and Influencing the Entrepreneurial Intentions of Tourism Students. In S. Page, and J. Ateljevic (Eds.), Tourism and entrepreneurship : international perspectives (pp. 333-344). Oxford [etc.] : Butterworth-Heinemann. Wood, R. C. (2003). The Status of Tourism Employement. In S. Kusluvan (Ed.), Managing employee attitudes and behaviors in the tourism and hospitality industry (pp. 53-66). New York: Nova Science Publishers. Yeung, S. (2004). Hospitality ethics curriculum: an industry perspective. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 16 (4) : 253-262. Yeung, S. Y.-C.&Wong, S. C.-K.&Chan, B. M.-L. (2002). Ethical beliefs of hospitality and tourim students towards their school life. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 14 (4): 183-192.

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Perceived Value in Hospitality: Dimensionality and Scale Development Hesham Al-Sabbahy University of Surrey E-mail: [email protected] Abstract The concept of perceived value emerged and gained some attention in consumer behaviour research. However, little attention has been given to identifying and assessing the dimensions of this construct especially in service setting. The purpose of this paper is to test the dimensionality of perceived value of hotel customers and to develop a scale to measure this construct. Building on findings of previous research and using qualitative interviews followed by a quantitative survey, a new perceived value scale was developed. The new scale proved to be a valid and reliable measure of perceived value of hotel customers. The two dimensions of perceived value; acquisition value and transaction value; were found to be pertinent for hotel customers. It is suggested that future research should use the new scale to measure perceived value and to incorporate perceived value in the overall service evaluation model. Keywords: Perceived Value; Acquisition Value; Transaction Value; Scale Development

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THE POTENTIAL OF USING “SLOW FOOD” FOR GAINING STRATEGIC MARKETING ADVANTAGE IN SMALL HOSPITALITY ORGANIZATIONS Julius Anders César Ritz Colleges E-mail: [email protected]

Susan Horner César Ritz Colleges E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT

Slow Food is an internationally known non-profit member-supported association founded in 1989 by Carlo Petrini (Slowfood.com, 2010). The research presented in this paper shows how the Slow Food philosophy and logo could be used as a quality symbol in the marketing strategies of small entrepreneurial hospitality organizations and provided recommendations for these businesses. This required an initial literature review which looked at competitive advantage (Achilleas and Anastasios, 2008, Porter, 1980, 2004), and considered how small hospitality organizations gain marketing advantage (Morrison, 1994), (Morrison, Rimmington and Williams, 1999). Three in depth semi-structured interviews based on the literature were conducted in Germany. Analysis of these interviews shows that Slow Food does provide strategic opportunities due to the fact that the development of superior networks can form synergies and lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. Keywords: Slow Food, Hospitality Business, Competitive Advantage, Germany LITERATURE REVIEW Slow Food is an internationally known non-profit member-supported association founded in 1989 by Carlo Petrini, an Italian writer (Slowfood.com, 2010). The idea developed out of a first protest against the opening of a McDonald´s restaurant near the Spanish steps in Rome, as a group of Italians were afraid that the Italian food culture would disappear if global restaurant chains overwhelm the Italian restaurant market (Slowfood.com, 2010). In order to achieve their goals several programs within the Slow Food organizations were shaped, such as the “Ark of taste” which has the “aims to rediscover, catalogue, describe and publicize forgotten flavours” (Slowfood.com, 2010) or the foundation of an “University of Gastronomic Science” (Slowfood.com, 2010). The Slow Food philosophy addresses several issues affecting our globalized life like, “the critical consumers in the West, poor producers in the South, the contradiction between obesity and famine and the cost and consequences of globalization” (Andrews, 2008, p.6). The key motivation to tackle those concerns is to connect producers and consumers as only respect and fair relations within the production chain of a product, ensuring that the product is made according the Slow Food mission and serves the planet

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and its population in a thorough, fair and healthy way. Competitive strategy is used to “establish and sustain a profitable position against ... industry competition” (Porter, 2004, p.1) Success or failure of firms are determined through the firm’s ability to position itself ahead of the competition (Garwin,1984, Porter, 2004). Slow Food as a differentiation strategy which targets a niche market has the potential to be part of a superior business strategy. According to Enz (2009), the essential points in order to gain a sustainable competitive advantage are networking and high quality resources and superior capabilities. Those aspects are reflected in the Slow Food philosophy and hence, Slow Food might be a tool providing additional resources and capabilities and therefore increasing the core competencies of an organization. Slow Food might also offer the potential to provide access and tools to create valuable, rare, costly to imitate and non-substitutable products due to its brand image, networking abilities and high quality orientated philosophy. In the hospitality industry, competitive advantage is usually achieved by a “strong brand image, extensive loyalty programs, better locations, diversified property types, the aspect of economy of scale as well as diversified assets and cash flow” ( Enz, 2009 p. 120). This focus on service and added value is necessary in order to be able to compete successfully as “simply selling landscape, nature or comfortable beds is no longer sufficient” (Jönsson and Devonish, 2009, p. 492). But all this works primarily only for the big global players and not for small entrepreneurial or family hotels which have limited resources in terms of assets and sometimes even knowledge to compete on an international basis (Morrison, Rimmington and Williams, 1999). Furthermore, small businesses do not have the same influence on the industry structure as the big global players (Parnell, 2006). As a key point in order to gain competitive advantage is the ability to either adapt to industry structure or shape industry structure accordingly to the business needs (Bain, 1956 and Mason, 1939 in Parnell, 2006). Research by Cristina Jönsson and Dwayne Devonish (2009) showed that, in a highly competitive industry structure it is important to differentiate “through providing above average service and quality over the need to remain cost competitive”. This means, according to Jönsson and Devonish (2009, p. 492), that “hoteliers should focus on competition through innovation, supported by differentiation strategies, which is more important than price competition”. Product quality in the hospitality industry refers to the quality of “both goods and service” (Juran in Woods & King, 1996, p. 37). Slow Food might thus be seen as a synonym for quality and certain values and benefits attached to a Slow Food product. Therefore, Slow Food might have the potential to add additional value satisfaction in terms of superior benefits. Slow Food may also offer the potential to position an organization in the market through the help of the brand image Slow Food is representing. A brand image is what the consumer perceives the brand is about (Heding et al. 2009). Therefore, organizations which are members of Slow Food might use their label and co- brand their organization according to Slow Food, as this would change the brand image the individual organization represents in the consumers mind. The perceived attributes a consumer relates to a brand have the possibilities to add value to the actual product. As consumers look at different dimensions like the attributes, benefits and values related to a product before purchasing (Peter and Olson, 1993, pp. 90),

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a brand image which might strengthen the personality and value set of the consumer can be a purchase reason. This means a brand can provide symbolic benefits to a consumer (Heding, et al., 2009). Slow Food can be seen as a quality symbol especially when considering the philosophy and the perceived brand image and has conceptual links to the sustainability agenda. Sustainable tourism has been growing over the recent years and the population in the German market has an increased awareness of consuming healthily and high quality products. Therefore, we can say that “quality helps a firm gain competitive advantage by delivering goods to the marketplace that meet customer needs” (Forker et al. 1994) and therefore can sharpen the unique selling point of an entrepreneurial organization. It is important to determine what kind of image or value set the customer perceives when being in contact with Slow Food, as only if it is perceived as superior quality and sustainable can it be used as to differentiate (Font and Buckley, 2001). METHODOLOGY An inductive approach was used in the research using in depth semi-structured interviews with three participants who are involved or interested in the Slow Food movement including a customer of the hotel Landhaus Kemper, Germany (1), the Owner, General Manager of Landhaus Kemper a hotel using Slow Food in their marketing campaigns (2), and the Deputy Chair of Slow Food Germany (3). Interview questions were based around the literature as seen below: Questions

Justification

1. How are you related to To ensure the interview questions are Slow Food? answered by a knowledgeable person 2. How long are you inTo analyse the experience and expervolved with Slow Food? tise of the respondent 3. Out of which position To be able to understand the point of are you confronted with interest into marketing strategies using marketing strategies Slow Food. including Slow Food? 4. To what extent do your To monitor how important personal personal values and be- engagement is in relation to the credliefs match those of Slow ibility of the marketing activities Food? including Slow Food. 5. Have you been contacted with marketing To evaluate how often Slow Food is campaigns of hospitalused in marketing campaigns of hospiity organizations using tality organisations Slow Food? And can you provide examples?

Literature review and author thesis

Slowfood.com (2010) Enz (2009) engagement and dedication are necessary to successfully implement strategies and achieve a CSF. Heding et al, (2009) who said that a brand image can help to position a company in the market.

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6. Is the Slow Food market financially attractive out of your point of view? 7. Is Slow Food in your eyes a quality symbol representing sustainability? 8. What is the current development in the market? 9. What strategic opportunities does Slow Food provide and how are they used in your point of view.

To evaluate the overall attractiveness of Slow Food consumers as a market.

Slowfood.com (2010)

To evaluate the perception of Slow Food and the original intentions.

Font and Buckley (2008) Sustainability can be a CSF

To evaluate how strategically marketing in the Slow Food market segment is done.

Slowfood.com (2010)

To evaluate the understanding of the Enz (2009) identifying opporfull potential Slow Food offers. tunities to shape CSF

To determine whether Slow Food can Porter (2004) differentiation 10. Does Slow Food exclude be used as a differentiation strategy can exist in niche market but certain markets through for bigger market segments or only as well in the global market, its philosophy, values for niche markets, while evaluating depending on the attractiveness and beliefs? the overall attractiveness of the Slow of the differentiating attribute. Food attributes. 11. Does Slow Food mean To evaluate how strategic Slow Food more expensive prices? is used and to determine the attractive- Parnell (2006) Cost leadership Or is it possible to shape ness of the market segment in terms of and differentiation strategy are a CSF through differentheir willingness to pay price preminot mutually exclusive. tiation and cost leaderums. ship? 12. Does Slow Food provide superior resources and Enz (2009) Superior resources To evaluate the understanding and uspossibilities for superior and superior strategies (Porter) age of Slow Food to gain a CSF strategies in relation to can shape a CSF shaping a CSF? 13. What attributes do you relate to the Slow Food To evaluate the perception of Slow Heding et al (2009) a brand imlabel and what attriFood out of the consumer and industry age can be a CSF butes do you want to be perspective. related to the label?

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14. Is Slow Food still an innovation and trend, if yes what are the strategic risks related to the increasing awareness of Slow Food? 15. Does the Slow Food network offer possibilities to exchange knowledge and to increase the product awareness within the Slow Food community? 16. Does the threat exist that organizations may use Slow Food to attract a certain market but only out of financial motivation?

To identify if Slow Food is seen as a trend or a growing market and to Porter (2004) Differentiation evaluate whether the industry and strategies target only small Slow Food movement is aware of the market segments, otherwise the “negative” aspects that may arise due CSF gets lost. to the globalization of Slow Food. To identify whether an information flow within Slow Food exists and to Enz (2009) superior linkages understand whether the individual offer possibility to provide CSF Slow Food organizations see each other as a network or competition.

To understand whether Slow Food might lose its credibility as being related to high quality.

Garvin (1984) and Juran (1996) Quality is defined by the consumer.

To evaluate if the functionality, the Peter and Olson (1993) Func17. What defines high qual- values related to a product or the expetionality, value satisfaction ity in the eyes of Slow rience and expectations of the physical and physical condition define Food? condition define what quality means in quality. the eye of the Slow Food market. 18. Does Slow Food provide To evaluate to which extent the Slow Enz (2009) superior linkages superior linkages? Food possibilities are used. can shape CSF To find out how protective the Slow 19. Does Slow Food have the Food symbol is seen and to evaluate Enz (2009) High entry barriers ability to function as a how easy it is to use the symbol to help sustaining a CSF. quality label? enter the niche market. 20. Are you aware of other brands or labels associPorter (2004) Competition can To evaluate the uniqueness of Slow ated with similar values? imitate the CSF and therefore Food in comparison to other moveIf yes please list and reduce the competitive advanments with similar perceived values. describe your perception tage. of those.

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RESULTS The results for the three participants are shown for 1 (customer), 2 (owner and General Manager) and 3 (Chair of Slow Food, Germany) in the following charts:

1. How are you related to Slow Food? I´m in contact with Slow Food in my daily life as consumer. I´m a Slow Food member and owner of a Slow Food supporting hotel I´m a Slow Food member since many years, recently voted as deputy chair Slow Food Germany. 2. How long are you involved with Slow Food? At least 10 years Since 1998 member and supporter since 2008 Since about 2002/ 2003 in the UK and Germany

1 2 3

1 2 3

3. Out of which position are you confronted with marketing strategies including Slow Food? As a consumer who recognizes and knows the logo (snail) 1 Through the Slow Food newsletter 1/2 Through the radio coverings (Deutschland Radio Kultur) 1 As hotel manager and through my marketing campaigns 2 Through a marketing company creating marketing campaigns including Slow Food 2 As deputy chair of Slow Food Germany 3 As freelance academic of cultural food studies 3 4. To what extent do your personal values and beliefs match those of Slow Food? Quite well about 80%, Slow Food does not convince me a 100% Quite well, especially using the strength of the region Well as I believe good, clean and fair food is the key to change the food system

1 2/3 3

5. Have you been contacted with marketing campaigns of hospitality organizations using Slow Food? And can you provide examples? Yes at the actual properties of organizations using Slow Food 1 In brochures or flyers of organic retailers 1 Not outside the network I belong to, except in the Slow Food magazine 2 Not often directly, more indirectly through my role as deputy chair 3 Indirectly through my role as deputy chair, especially in cases of an insult of the intellectual property rights of the Slow Food logo and name 3 Slow Food board Germany often gets contacted by hotels, restaurants and retailers on how to use the logo for marketing, therefore it seems attractive. 3 78

6. Is the Slow Food market financially attractive out of your point of view? Yes financially highly attractive Not used to its potential Not the amount of food matters for the market, the value added is essential, therefore financially attractive 7. Is Slow Food in your eyes a quality symbol representing sustainability? Yes for sure Yes, as that is what I think people attribute to Slow Food

1/2/3 1 2

1/2/3 3

8. What is the current development in the market? Well established, and is now laying back 1 Ongoing growth and the restructuring of Slow Food through the new board of directors at Slow Food Germany 2 An increase demand of small retailers and restaurants, hotels wanting to use Slow Food 3 9. What strategic opportunities does Slow Food provide and how are they used in your point of view. The network Slow Food offers and close product relation are the key opportunities 1/2 To provide high quality as CSF due to relation to producers 2 Generating synergies within the Slow Food network. 2 Could be used better 1 Aged and younger generations are not targeted by Slow Food, therefore Slow Food is missing out market potential. 1 Slow Food does not actively instigate businesses to use Slow Food for positioning 3 Slow Food facilitates to spread the idea of good, clean and fair food and this offers opportunities for businesses. 3 10. Does Slow Food exclude certain markets through its philosophy, values and beliefs? Yes they do! They exclude quality labels which are not entirely focussing on regionalism and therefore those consumers Those who do not care about the origin and quality of their food Slow Food does not actively exclude but only cooperates with those supporting the Slow Food values, those exclude themselves

1/2 1 2 3

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11. Does Slow Food mean more expensive prices? Or is it possible to shape a CSF through differentiation and cost leadership? No, not necessarily 1/2/3 Food prices are too low, because of price being the main purchase argument and not quality 1/3 Fresher produce and higher quality needs more labour, which needs to be paid fairly. Therefore the final product needs to be slightly more expensive 2/3 Price management and creativity in the value adding process are the key tasks to focus on 2 Product price is the least figure the most are the additional costs, which need to be managed. Therefore is it possible to offer a fair quality- value product. 3 12. Does Slow Food provide superior resources and possibilities for superior strategies in relation to shaping a CSF? Slow Food can help to create atmosphere and synergies as a superior resource 1 Yes superior resources through the product list of all slow Food supporting businesses 2 Yes Slow Food offers superior resources due to the superior attributes related to it 3 Slow Food offers to have the potential of doing the quality control for the consumer; this could create loyalty and therefore superior capabilities. 1 Relationships and network exchange knowledge and therefore increase the capabilities of an organization. 2 The level of engagement into the network determines whether the capabilities which are present within Slow Food get used. 3 13. What attributes do you relate to the Slow Food label and what attributes do you want to be related to the label? Regionalism, safeguarding culture, biodiversity, craft works, all this represents quality 1 Enjoyment, product knowledge 1/2 Good clean and fair food 2/3 Relate same attribute to Slow Food as I want 1/2/3 14. Is Slow Food still an innovation and trend, if yes what are the strategic risks related to the increasing awareness of Slow Food? Not anymore, too long around 1 Yes, it is still an innovative trend due to constant growth 1/ 3 High risks involved as the Slow Food organization is based on trust and honesty and not on liable rules and regulations 3 The misuse of the Slow Food snail could wash out the attributes related to Slow Food and therefore its ability to address a certain market. 1/2/3 An ethical baseline containing trust, fairness, honesty and enthusiasm for the Slow Food values needs to be established and maintained. 3

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15. Does the Slow Food network offer possibilities to exchange knowledge and to increase the product awareness within the Slow Food community? Great potential to exchange knowledge 1/2/3 Still lots of potential in terms of product awareness in order to not only serve a niche market. 1 Slow Food offers to exchange product awareness throughout and through the network 2/3 Slow Food provides possibility for businesses to get into the press, to generate publicity. 2 Slow Food has educational purpose, which can be achieved through exchange of knowledge. 3 16. Does the threat exist that organizations may use Slow Food to attract a certain market but only out of financial motivation? Is it not fair enough to do so? 1 Commitment of the management is essential, if they do not support the Slow Food values it will not work. 1/2 Slow Food consumer is educated about the topic and would discover if it is due to a financial attractiveness misused 2 Yes the threat exists! 1/2/3 The use of Slow Food in marketing businesses bring misunderstanding along, due to the fact that Slow Food does not accredit businesses as being Slow Food, they only allow those who support the idea of Slow Food to use the logo and name in exchange to a yearly fee, which depends on the business size. 3 17. What defines high quality in the eyes of Slow Food? A contradicting movement to fast food Regionalism Tradition Not focussing on the consumer but on the producer Good, clean and fair produce Sustainability, freshness of product, low carbon impact

1 1 1 2 2/3 3

18. Does Slow Food provide superior linkages? Yes it does! Not to its full potential, it’s under development Only for those who want to be involved and actively participate

1/2/3 2 3

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19. Does Slow Food have the ability to function as a quality label? Yes, but I´m not sure how this legally works 1/2 Yes there is, if that is the objective, currently Slow Food does not certify quality, because the commitment and trust matters at the moment 3 20. Are you aware of other brands or labels associated with similar values? If yes please list and describe your perception of those. Yes I am 1 No nothing you can compare 2/3 Other brands or labels like Demeter, Alnatura or Delinat have a more holistic approach. 1 Slow Food offers the most potential 2/3 There are labels representing regionalism and labels representing organic produce, but none other than Slow Food representing both. That is the uniqueness of Slow Food. 3 The interviews provided diverse answers in regards to the four mentioned research areas. Slow Food seems to be perceived as a “unique solution to change the Food System” (respondent 3). Further Slow Food represents sustainability due to the fact that the participants relate attributes like regionalism, low carbon emissions, safeguarding of culture and biodiversity and freshness to the snail (Font and Buckley, 2000), which is the Slow Food logo. Those attributes can be summarized according to respondents 2 and 3 as good, clean and fair. Slow Food has also got the possibility to function as a quality label (Enz, 2009). The opportunities Slow Food offers to shape CSF´s are networking possibilities and the fact that close relations to producers can ensure high quality and the exchange of knowledge, which is resulting in increasing capabilities. Further synergies can be achieved within a network that leads to superior resources, like being able to rely on more diversified and high quality products (Porter, 2004). According to respondent 3, and all this can only work if it is backed up with commitment and enthusiasm towards Slow Food. The Slow Food market segment clearly exists as the market gets actively targeted in marketing campaigns. The Slow Food market shows a regional character and therefore marketing campaigns are local or directed at the business. The interviews show that Slow Food has got something unique that differentiates the movement from other sustainability representing movements (Heding, Knudtzen and Bjerre, 2009). Participant 3 argues that Slow Food is the only movement which has a positive approach and rather supports high quality in its origin than is policing and restricting to maintain quality. According to all three participants, the Slow Food market seems highly financially attractive and shows constant growth, therefore Slow Food gets more and more interesting for retailers and restaurants. Connected to the growth are certain risks, which are linked to the growing temptation to use Slow Food in marketing solely due to the financial attractiveness of the market. Consequently, all three parties interviewed warn that the advantages Slow Food differentiates could wash out if not protected well (Enz, 2009), and that the current structure which bases the Slow Food movement on trust and honesty is risky and needs attention.

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CONCLUSIONS The research shows that Slow Food as a brand name is doing a good job in communicating their values and beliefs, as Slow Food is highly attractive and recognizable (Peter and Olsen, 1993). This leads to the result that Slow Food clearly offers the access to a financially attractive market, which only needs to be addressed appropriately. Slow Food can be used to differentiate and provide products or better product solutions to a well-defined constantly growing niche market. Further does Slow Food provide strategic opportunities due to the fact that superior linkages, resources of higher quality as well as the exchange of knowledge or capabilities can form synergies and lead to a sustainable competitive advantage (Enz, 2009). In terms of achieving competitive advantage, Slow Food provides opportunities on several levels of an organization. On the strategic level, Slow Food offers the access to a financial attractive and constantly growing niche market (Parnell, 2006). This appears to support the theory of Porter (2004) which says that differentiation is a key to strategic effectiveness and competitiveness. On the business level, Slow Food provides a network which supports the distribution of high quality produces as well as knowledge and local synergies in terms of offering solutions. These business level advantages ensure efficiency and communication tools in terms of marketing the right audience. On the operational level, those synergies help to align the business activities and offer the possibility to be able to deliver Slow Food quality to a price which is perceived as fair. In order to make full use of these possibilities in terms of marketing the communication of the Slow Food values is essential, as only those values define and differentiate the niche market. Further, the potential and the existing Slow Food consumers are knowledgeable about the topic and therefore have to be respected and need to feel and understand that the business, which is using Slow Food to differentiate and attract the attractive niche market, really means and commits to the Slow Food values. This can be achieved by building close relationships to the customers, most likely through networking and building up of a local network which helps spreading the marketing message towards those who are targeted, this represents an opportunity for small businesses (Morrison, Rimmington and Williams, 1999). Word of mouth communication of the Slow Food values seems to be the most effective method, as it at the same time communicates the differentiating aspects of Slow Food and therefore prevents a washing out of Slow Foods key characteristics. The educational aspects of marketing containing Slow Food are an effective way to at the same time sharpen the differentiating aspects of Slow Food for it to increases its credibility and attractiveness (Font and Buckley, 2001). Recommendations for the industry were made in relation to three perspectives, first of all how to make the most of the opportunities Slow Food offers, secondly how to protect the market and thirdly how to use Slow Food in marketing. These are: • Use Slow Food as a differentiating aspect: It is recommended for businesses which operate at the same or at least with a similar mind set of values and beliefs to connect to Slow Food and enter the network which provides contacts, resources and capabilities to address the market more effectively.

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• Show commitment to the Slow Food values and beliefs: In order to appreciate the full opportunities and possibilities, being committed is essential as this commitment is the base for the communication in the networks and towards the consumers. • Be personally involved in making Slow Food work for everybody: It is essential for businesses using Slow Food to fully understand their role in this non-profit movement. Synergies can only be formed if everybody within the Slow Food network and especially within the local networks is willing to give and take. • Communicate Slow Food values actively in your marketing activities: It is necessary to actively communicate the Slow Food values, as Slow Food as a movement relies on trust and therefore on word of mouth as well as the engagement in regional relations to consumers, producers and retailers. • Monitor use of Slow Food label critically to protect the brand: As Slow Food does not certify it is crucial for the entire market that everybody who is involved is willing to look at the use of the label critically. It is also necessary to identify misuse early and avoid damage of the reputation which would lead to a disappearance of the differentiating aspects and therefore the niche market. The research that was carried out in Germany was limited in terms of scope and depth but the results do provide some interesting insights into the topic. More research is required to consider the use of Slow Food in a wider range of German hotels and also to look at the application in a larger section of the hotel industry. For now, it looks as if the concept has potential in the wider hotel industry especially for small businesses but this is yet to be researched. It is hoped that this small piece of research provides a platform for future research and development both in Germany but and in the wider hospitality community worldwide. REFERENCES Andrews, G. (2008). The Slow Food Story. London: Pluto Press. Achilleas, K. and Anastasios, S. (2008). Marketing aspects of quality assurance systems. British Food Journal, 110 (8) : 829-839 Enz, C.A. (2009). Hospitality Strategic Management. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Whiley. Font, X. and Buckley, R.C. (2001). Tourism Ecolabelling. New York:CABI Publishing. Forker, L.B., Vickery, S.K. and Droge, C.L.M. (1996). The contribution of quality to business performance. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 16 (8): 44-62. Garvin, D.A. (1984), What does ‘product quality’ really mean? Sloan Management Review, Fall 1984. Heding, T., Knudtzen, C.F. and Bjerre, M. (2009). Brand Management. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Jönsson, C. & Devonish, D. (2009). An exploratory study of competitive strategies among hotels in a small developing Caribbean state, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 21 (4):491-500. Morrison, A. J., Rimmington, M. and Williams, C. (1999). Entrepreneurship in the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries. Oxford: Butterworth- Heinemann.

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Morrison, A.J. (1994). Marketing Strategic Alliances: The Small Hotel Firm. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 6 (3): 25-30. Parnell, J. A. (2006). Generic Strategies after two decades: A reconceptualization of competitive strategy. Management Decisions, 44 ( 8):1139- 1154. Peter, J.P. & Olson J.C., (1993). Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy, Richard D. Irwin, Inc: New York. Porter, M.E. (1980). Competitive Strategy, Free Press: New York, NY. Porter, M. (2004). Competitive Advantage. London: Free Press. Slow Food (2010). http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/ Woods R.H., King J.Z., (1996). Managing for Quality in the hospitality industry,. Educational Institute American Hotel and Motel Association.

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ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND HRM PRACTICES: THEIR INFLUENCE ON TRAINING SUCCESS IN THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY José L. Ballesteros-Rodríguez Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Gran Canaria, Spain E-mail: [email protected]

Petra de Saá-Pérez Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Gran Canaria, Spain E-mail: [email protected]

Carmen Domínguez-Falcón Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Gran Canaria, Spain E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT This research aims to analyse the influence of organizational culture and HRM practices on restaurants’ training success because training is especially important for modern restaurants that aim to achieve competitive advantage by means of the quality of service and the actions of their employees. To achieve this objective an empirical study was conducted on 137 restaurants of the Canary Islands. Results show that organizational culture does not influence training success unless HRM practices that promote this training process are implemented. Specifically, the study reveals the full mediating role of HRM practices between a continuous learning culture and training success. Keywords: Training Success, Training Context, HRM Practices, Continuous Learning Culture, Restaurants

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MARKET SEGMENTATION: DOES IT WORK? Kate Varini Oxford Brookes University Oxford, UK E-mail: [email protected]

Alessandra Bartoli Oxford Brookes University Oxford, UK E-mail: [email protected] Abstract

Hospitality firms are faced with an increasingly dynamic operating environment caused by the rapid adoption of the Internet and the deployment of revenue management concepts. This has disrupted consumer behaviour, threatening profit margins. Although market segmentation has been a recognised marketing practice for some time, understanding profitable customers still remains difficult for organisations. A poor knowledge of market segmentation principles, a tendency to get lost in the detail and the gap between the academic view and real world application are the causes exacerbated by reluctance to accept new ways of reaching target segments. This paper explores contemporary market segmentation needs such as benefit segmentation and usage occasions to assess the attributes that customer’s value, with a view to enhancing profitability. Keywords: Benefit Segmentation, Profit, Customer Relationship Management. Market segmentation (MS) was first introduced by Smith (1956) and then by Wind (1978); since then little progress has been made. Academic research seems not to work in parallel with real-world applications (Quinn and Dibb, 2010) as mostly focuses on segmentation variables and techniques, instead of implementation issues (Quinn and Dibb, 2010), especially in view of the rapidly evolving external environment. The underlying concepts of market segmentation have recently been criticised (Bailey et al., 2009) and a forced evolution of the process is expected (Amadeus, 2010). Contemporary firms are faced with customers who rapidly change attitudes and habits because of high competition and innovation in several fields (Bottcher et al., 2009). Also, the increasingly fragmented consumer behaviour is bringing from grouping customers into segments to the need to understand individualisms (Bailey et al., 2009). Particularly, the hospitality industry has been impacted by globalisation, an increase of transnational movement and of information-sharing (Sigala, 2005). The impact of information technology is currently considered the most powerful force affecting this industry and its consumer behaviour (Chathoth, 2007); especially those related to electronic distribution, disintermediation (with hotels enhancing direct bookings on the internet, to avoid commissions) and the complexity of the on-line consumer decision-making (O’Connor and Murphy, 2004). The journey customers make in order to book a hotel room has changed due to new technologies which have led to an era of ‘trialogue’ (Chaffey et al., 2010), where companies interact with customers, while these contemporaneously interact with other customers, through e-communities, social networks, web-blogs etc. Given this scenario, MS has been identified as an important topic by both the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing, and the British Association of Hospitality Accountants (BAHA, 2010). Data collected for segmentation purposes appear the most convenient to access, rather than the

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most meaningful (Greene and Greene, 2008). In the tourism sector, the economic crisis has determined a drop of consumer confidence, with particular decline of corporate travel and an increased price sensitivity (Wise, 2009); moreover, customers’ identities are becoming less defined, hence it is now difficult to adopt the same MS schemes of decades ago, assessing consumers by characteristics such as demographic or geo-demographic (Amadeus, 2010; Greene and Greene, 2008). The connection between MS and the current market place would thus appear to require further research, especially in relation to the link between new technologies and the firm’s ability to practice customer relationship management (CRM). This area of increasing importance (Dibb, 2001; Hirschowitz, 2001; Sigala, 2005) is currently under researched (Dibb and Simkin, 2008; Bailey et al., 2009). This paper seeks to assess possible approaches to MS in view of the current external context and consumer behaviour. An analysis of the existing literature will determine why businesses need MS; this is followed by a study of the processes firms go through in order to identify segments, together with an elaboration of the findings from data collected during an industry workshop. Finally, the paper deploys a critical discussion on how contemporary firms should develop their segmentation strategy, suggesting new priorities and directions which segmentation should follow. Practical implications for the businesses concerned and limitations of the study are also presented, alongside with directions for future research. In order to study and critically review the different variables and techniques used in market segmentation, a connection to the current external environment will be made; to assess all of the influencing factors, to develop a definition and to identify the reasons behind why this process is needed. Smith (1956) argues that, in a context where there is diversity in supply and consumer demand, firms need to adopt either product differentiation (to make demand converge upon your offer) or MS (accepting the divergent demand and market differences). Both strategies relate to a context of imperfect competition where there is a need to adapt demand to supply and the offer to the consumer needs and wants assuming a heterogeneous environment made up of several homogeneous sub-markets (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). A MS approach, in conjunction with product differentiation, should ensure a more secure market position and overall stability, because this maximises customer satisfaction (Smith, 1956). The factor universally recognised is that consumer behaviour is increasingly heterogeneous (Smith, 1956; Wind, 1978); improved buying power and general prosperity causes consumers to make more comparisons while making purchase decisions, raising the willingness to pay (WTP) for superior value. MS provides the balance between customer needs and firms’ resource. The primary advantages being a better understanding of customers and a better resources allocation, which lead to a competitive advantage over rival firms (Croft, 1994; McDonald and Dumbar, 1995; Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). As individual buyers are too diverse (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010) firms should concentrate on the most profitable segments, which they can serve best. This entails gaining knowledge of customer current and potential needs, besides their behaviour and loyalty towards the company. This brings a ‘fresh focus’ on the customer and improves the marketing information system and the internal communication function (Dibb and Simkin, 1997). The segmentation process also leads to a better market understanding e.g. external trends and the influencing factors (Dibb and Simkin, 1997) which enables the firms to make clearer decisions concerning pricing, advertising and distribution (Croft, 1994) and build relationships between departments such as sales and revenue management (RM) (Dibb and Simkin, 1997). Another benefit of MS is the identification of new

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opportunities concerning products and markets (McDonald and Dumbar, 1995), especially in the case of under-served customer groups; useful in mature or in markets in decline (Dibb and Simkin, 1997). To establish the limit point where segmentation can be used, production and implementation costs need to be considered (Smith, 1956), as the benefits stemming from the process must always exceed the costs (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). To choose between different approaches and variables, the strategic and operational needs of the managers need to be understood; in a hotel context these might be simple decisions like the type of in-room amenities or choices concerning the breakfast. MS is not only applied in the marketing division (Quinn, 2009). It is the first step in RM process, alongside with the product design (Talluri and Van Ryzin, 2005). Many scholars recognise the ability to segment as one of the key elements of a RM system, as provides an improved understanding of demand patterns (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie, 2004). Specific RM goals would be to identify buyers and the attributes sought together with WTP to establish linkages between segments and thus increase revenue (Talluri and Van Ryzin, 2005). On a simplistic level, leisure travellers might have a different WTP from business travellers. Also other variables such as time of booking and additional service components can affect customer price-value perception hence EasyJet groups its market into business routes/ take-off times, and leisure routes/take-off times (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie, 2004). MS is often used strategically to assess customer profitability by comparing the contribution margin of purchases made (Dibb and Simkin, 2008), on sales potential or profitability, working in parallel to the finance function, which should report costs and segment profits (Neil, 1998). Segmentation is also a component of CRM, which seeks to maximise profit by focusing budgets on the most valuable customers. Data mining is used to identify the characteristics of valuable customers e.g. those who are likely to remain loyal or will produce the largest profit (Rygielski, Wang and Yen, 2002). The matter of assessing the value customers generate is still being explored in the hotel sector, as the widely considered net-rate (Meissner, 2010) might not be the only parameter to use, other important factors include ancillary revenue streams and the weight of good reviews on travel websites and social networks. MS is a useful tool in determining advertising budgets (Yankelovich, 1964) and crucial factor for promotional and sales activities (Beritelli and Boksberger, 2005). It can be, in fact, used to make decisions regarding promotion, special deals and discounts and, more generally, pricing strategies (Rygielski et al., 2002). Through MS, the type of media and the timing of advertising can be chosen more sensibly (Yankelovich, 1964), addressing the message to one or more segments at the time. In this context, a segment is more profitable for the firm if it has low per consumer advertisement costs. The most profitable segments attract the strongest advertising intensity and the lowest prices (Galeotti and Gonzalez, 2008). Defining segments on the bases of perceived benefits and values desired requires segmenting customers according to their needs and profiles (Neil, 1998): companies will collect personal data about users of similar products, such as goals and preferences, together with purchase and usage information (Yankelovich and Meer, 2006). Segments need to be measurable (in size and potential), substantial (worth targeting), accessible and actionable (possible to adopt a specific marketing mix to serve effectively) (Kotler 1980). According to Zhang (2011), customers will tend to switch to one segment to another to benefit from certain advantages. To minimising this, firms put in place fences related to purchase patterns (time of purchase,

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method of payment etc.), product characteristics (time of usage, minimum usage requirements, service options etc.) and customer characteristics. Proper fences can actually allow customers to self-segment themselves according to their WTP (Kimes and Wirtz, 2003). Function

PURPOSE OF SEGMENTATION

MAXIMISING PROFIT

Marketing

To determine advertising/distribution Address ad-hoc campaigns, distribustrategies, make decisions on promo- tion, pricing strategies etc. to the right tions /discounts, determine pricing segments, making their action more strategies and offer more appropriate effective products Product Product to meet the real demand Focus on the needs & WTP Development wants Sales Help assessing segments profitability, Concentrate sales effort on the most comparing sales against the financial valuable segments, giving preference or contribution priority to them Finance Report costs & profits by market seg- Take decisions about which segment to ment focus on and which to perhaps cut off Revenue 1st step of the process, to better Operate rate differentiation, ad-hoc proManagement understand demand patterns, finding motions, availability guarantee & other linkages between segments’ features tools related to segments’ WTP and their WTP CRM Identify, reach & retain the most valu- Enhance loyalty and word of mouth, able customers identify customer lifetime value Table 1: The different purposes of MS in a firm’s departments When implementing MS, barriers aka blockers (Dibb and Simkin, 2008) can cause the entire segmentation process to fail (Dibb and Simkin, 1997). These mainly involve operations and structure, resources and skills, the marketing information system (MIS) and communication. Others can be a lack of clear goals and corporate objectives, programs which do not reflect strategies, insufficient financial resources and a lack of communication between marketing intelligence and decision making subjects. There are different approaches to formulating market segments (Wedel and Kamakura, 2000), and more than one criterion is needed to identify customers types and related needs. To find homogeneous customers groups a first distinction should be made between variables, according to whether they refer to the customer or the product/service (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). The second step is to differentiate between observable and unobservable traits. The observable (gender, age, etc.) are usually easy to collect and reliable, but as not particularly effective as best used for simple segmentation studies, or alongside other variables (Wedel and Kamakura, 2000). As Dibb and Simkin (2008) argue, the unobservable (benefit, lifestyle, etc.) would often be the most meaningful to use, but there are some difficulties about practical implementation, hence there is the tendency to adopt simpler variables. Wedel and Kamakura (2000) categorise segmentation methods into a-priori (segments determined before data collection) and post-hoc or cluster-based (on the base of the results of data analysis), such as benefit and lifestyle segmentation (Wind, 1978). Neverthe-

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less, there are hybrid forms, combining the a-priori and post-hoc methods. Demographic segmentation is, together with geographic segmentation, the oldest and easiest scheme used (Cahill, 1997). Disillusion with demographic segmentation began as early as 1960 has started as the crucial importance of personal attitudes, values and motivations became recognised as being more valuable (Yankelovich, 1964). For the last ten years academics have started to look for new variables to be used in the segmentation models: behavioural, activity-based (with motivation as a push factor for tourist behaviour) (Beritelli and Boksberger, 2005) and, more recently, innovative new profiling applications in certain areas of tourism, e.g. in the terror-related sector (Quinn and Dibb, 2010). Although many sophisticated options have emerged, due to the ease of data collection in the Internet era, the most common approaches to MS still involve geo-demographic and geographic variables: this is quite surprisingly, given the increased fragmentation of the consumer behaviour, alongside with the availability of new information technologies and the quantity of information obtainable (Quinn and Dibb, 2010). Dev and Olsen (2000) report that hotels capture a significant amount of customer data, but rarely elaborated this to create knowledge. The majority of the hotels still group their customers into two broad segments; business and leisure (Talluri and Van Ryzin, 2005, Dibb and Simkin, 2008). Other implementable types of MS are, in fact, the behavioural (which groups on the bases of occasions, benefits, user status, user rates etc.) and psychographic (which considers mainly personality and attitudes, customer status and lifestyle) (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). People who act in a similar way will have similar needs and will respond in the same way to a specific marketing mix; similarly, in the psychographic segmentation analogous values, attitudes, lifestyle and other psychological attributes will lead to similar behaviours between consumers (Cahill, 1997). New and more sophisticated forms of MS implemented by financial services or telecommunication firms still met with implementation difficulties related to the unobservable variables (Bailey et al., 2009). Banks and other multinationals perform some forms of analysis concerning their customers’ buying process and internal/ external influencing factors (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). Banks use behavioural and attitudinal segmentation (Yankelovich and Meer, 2006), as attitudes and behaviours relate to the buying process. Barclays Bank uses a hybrid segmentation model including also attitudinal profiles and propensity models, adopting also some non-product-related events like life-stages (getting married, moving house etc.). Propensity modelling systems can predict the probability of an individual acting in a certain way, e.g. his/her positive response to a marketing input and they are already quite used by large companies (Bailey et al. 2009). The financial service sector uses behavioural segmentation to create and deliver tailored offers and products (Dibb, 2001). Additionally, telecommunication companies have recently started to use events and triggers to understand not only what to sell, but also the best way to sell (Bailey et al., 2009). Having identified some MS schemes, it must now be observed that it seems restrictive to use a single variables type to reach a complete segmentation of the customers, whereas smaller and more defined groups should be obtained (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010). Neal (1998) suggests that a segmentation scheme based on multiple bases should be adopted, as customers’ responses to a firm’s actions can be based on several dimensions (attitudes, needs, usage occasions etc.). Nevertheless, implementation costs should always be considered, and a variables ranking should be elaborated, to identify the most effective. Criteria adopted besides ‘profitability’, should consider some longer-term and external variables as well, such as loyalty and competitor intensity (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). The practice of identifying and understanding the most profitable customers has become complex for businesses from all industries (Quinn and Dibb, 2010). Many hotels still

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elaborate customer evaluation systems based on short-term profitability, hence also the average daily rate (Mayock, 2010; Meissner, 2010), not considering some of the other mentioned significant factors. Segment attractiveness can be then measured through some normally used evaluation models such as the Segment Evaluation Matrix (Dibb and Simkin, 2008) and the Boston Consulting Group or GE/McKinsey approaches, which adopt either 2 or multiple criteria (McDonald and Dunbar, 1995). The bases to assess the segments attractiveness vary from business to business, and it is advisable to establish a weight of importance between the criteria (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010), assessing the valuable customers for the firm considered. Do certain segments contribute more to the ancillary revenue streams, regardless their rate? Are repeat customers more profitable than the so-called evangelists? Questions like these need to be asked when considering the segment attractiveness. Also, some segments that were lucrative may have become less attractive to the business (Talluri and Van Ryzin, 2005). Firms should also consider the potential of a segment’s growth of volume or profit, and not strictly the current situation (McDonald and Dunbar, 1995). Segments deemed less attractive, however, may still represent an important contribution to the investment required. One of the benefits of segmenting the market is gaining a better understanding of customer needs, boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). The increased price transparency (Sigala, 2005) and variety of consumer buying behaviour (Dibb, 2001), with customers becoming more price sensitive and less loyal, implicate a blurring of MS boundaries, as to different segments do not correspond anymore defined buying attitudes and preferences, and the same product/service potentially resulting appealing to different segments. (Yankelovich and Meer, 2006). Some differences have been found also between the traditional and the on-line consumer decision-making (O’Connor and Murphy, 2004), as the way of seeking information has considerably changed. Linkages between on-line information and behavioural intention have been found, supporting the crucial role of information satisfaction: consumers want on-line facts that are reliable, valuable, and satisfy their need of information. New technologies are affecting both the customer and the supply sides (Sigala, 2005; Bottcher et al., 2009). That is why a real philosophical orientation change in the MS area might be needed, and why studying consumer-, especially choice-, behaviour has started to be considered a significant pattern since the 1990s (Stewart, 1991), and it is becoming increasingly important today (Meissner, 2010). A self-selection has emerged in the consumer market (Stewart, 1991), as buyers have started to segment themselves on the base of their self-selected behaviour moving the segmentation process from the business to the consumer. Chaffey et al., (2010) observe how especially on the Internet customers self-select themselves expressing their preferences and interests, thus facilitating firms in targeting. It is worthy mentioning that market-oriented businesses tend to be more profitable, being their products defined from the customer’s perspective rather than their own interest (Bailey et al., 2009). Choice behaviour is even more important in view of the financial crisis, as this has determined an erosion of the boundaries of some market segments in the hospitality industry (Meissner, 2010); for instance, business customers who have become more price sensitive, or leisure travellers looking for shorter stays. There is today, moreover, an absolute personalisation of the hotel experience for the customer, who can choose and receive offers on the many components which form the service, not only the room (Amadeus, 2010). In contrast to relatively cheap or impulse items, products and services imply a bigger purchase, hence require even more attention to quality, thus an emotional investment which actually involves consumers’ values (Yankelovich and Meer, 2006): emo-

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tions have, in fact, started to be considered as a possible segmentation variable, going also in parallel with customer satisfaction and loyalty (Bigné and Andreu, 2004). Rather than allocating a customer to a specific segment, it will be preferable to gain a better understanding and to find how to deal with customers individually, with more interactive relationships, to know which proposals are likely to work best with the customers (Bailey, 2009). This might bring, though, to the point where there is a ‘segment of one’ (Dibb, 2001): consumer behaviour has in fact become extremely various and sophisticated, leading to a use of the one-to-one marketing, in a customer-driven perspective. Given this scenario, the use of more meaningful variables in MS would appear needed to understand demand patterns and the fragmented consumer behaviour. Some scholars have started considering the need of new segmentation techniques and practices to apply, in view of the described market place (Gonzalez and Bello, 2002; Bottcher et al., 2009). The results suggest to adopt more meaningful segmentation variables, besides the more convenient and widely used by all types of businesses. (Yankelovich and Meer (2006) are convinced that values and preferences must be used together with demographic traits, to better identify segments potentially receptive to particular offers; Greene and Greene (2008) suggest as well how new data dimensions could be added to the geodemographic segmentation, which has been widely used for the last 30 years, without significant changes: this system could be improved adding dimensions such as psychological variables, to be combined to the a-priori analysis. As socio-demographic traits do not appear to be extremely meaningful on their own, the combined use with lifestyle variables in segmentation might be needed (Gonzalez and Bello, 2002). These should be representative of specific behaviour patterns such as attitudes, interests and opinions seen as linked to an individual’s choice behaviour. Some linkages have been observed between lifestyle variables and tourism consumption, e.g. certain lifestyles connected with short stays, others highly demanding family-items during their stays etc. (Gonzalez and Bello, 2002). This would cause implementation issues such as challenging collection of the information required (especially in the hotel context where many guests are not repeat and on-line channels are commonly used in the booking phase). Although it has been recognised that knowledge of the consumer buying process enables better marketing programs and hence can influence buying decisions, it is surprising how little knowledge of their customers’ buying process firms have (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). In the buying decision process many influences take place: besides personal influences such as demographic elements and social factors like status, culture and also social networks (Greene and Greene, 2008), there are some psychological influences, comprehending motives, attitudes and personality (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010), which would help in defining the consumers’ current value drivers, although more difficult to collect. Segmentation variables such as usage occasions, and other behavioural traits, have started to be adopted by several businesses in relatively recent times (Stewart, 1991). If satisfied customers are likely to be more loyal and profitable (through repurchase or word of mouth), there must be a link between customers’ attitudes and behaviour and organisation performance (Yeung and Ennew, 2001): therefore, these customers’ features should be measured as well as business performance. According to Amadeus (2010), attitudes and behaviour are instead considered important to be investigated as buying triggers and emotional influences are crucial in the companies’ new search for complementary revenue flows (e.g. own branded items such as decoration, clothing and furniture) and a hopeful approach to MS would hence collect information helpful in describing and enhancing the relationship between the customer and the organisa-

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tion, e.g. data about their interaction or about the customer usage of products/services. Having a deep and complete customer understanding should strongly involve all the elements of a customer-driven organisation (Wills and William, 2004). Yankelovich and Meer (2006) believe that, with an appropriate data collection, companies will be able to recognise customer attitudes and values, centring on their actual behaviour, hence also consenting the firm to respond rapidly to external changes and demand. Some of the customer interactions’ outputs are satisfaction, loyalty, positive word of mouth and sales/profitability: that is why managing these relationships have become so important (Bitner et al., 2000). Nevertheless, academic research has started to link MS to relationship management only for the last ten years (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). Firms are now paying more attention to their customer relationship management, especially trying to create co-operative and beneficial interactions, as markets have become more competitive, technologies more complex and consumers more demanding. MS can be used in Customer Portfolio Management to group customers in order to offer them specific value propositions, adopting the respective relationship management strategy (Buttle, 2008). It has been observed how implementing RM, hence price discrimination, companies may not obtain a complete trust of the customers (McMahon-Beattie, Palmer and Yeoman, 2011): that is also a reason why RM techniques should be combined with CRM, which enhance trust and loyalty instead. CRM permits to collect customer data rapidly and to personalise the product, identifying also the most valuable customers over time, to attract and retain them (Rigby et al., 2002). Particularly, e-CRM is implemented when the Internet is used for relationship marketing, integrating hence customer databases with websites (Chaffey et al., 2010). To implement an efficient segmentation process, a clear and up-to-dated customer understanding is needed: CRM has thus become a key for the marketing department (Dibb, 2001) and the role of MS has recently been changing due to CRM practices (Bailey et al., 2009). CRM would enhance a strong relationship with the customer, particularly in a loyalty perspective, with the aim of better understand him/her and to create a tailored offer; it could be hence seen as a loop, where knowing the customer and building a long-lasting, strong relationship are interrelated (Dibb, 2001). Customer insight is about consumer profiles and behaviour and at the base of CRM (Hirschowitz, 2001). Customer insight is referred to as a strategic asset for a business (Wills and Williams, 2004; Wills and Webb, 2007), and, in a sense, could be seen as making the explicit information clear in the minds of all organisation’s members, as in fact marketing research is only one of the users involved in customer insight (Wills and Williams, 2004). This complete form of customer relationship management, with a strong use of customer insight, could lead to the creation of a customer insight management function (Wills and Williams, 2004) and the development of some applications such as content personalisation, knowing the customers’ preferences on the bases of their profiles and behaviour, and customer interaction management, which allows the business to treat its customers differently, according to the information they possess about them (Hirschowitz, 2001). These applications could be reasonably applied through the use of new technologies such as social networks and other types of interactive websites, especially in the phases of information collection and alternatives’ evaluation, Zhang (2011) continues asserting that social software can be combined with companies’ storefronts, in order to create virtual communication boards and communities where information can be shared and current and future customers can interact, with benefits for the organisation. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has for instance implementing such actions (Sigala, 2005). Real-time marketing, strictly connected, relates both to one-to-one marketing and relationship marketing, sensing and analysing data when the interaction is

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actually occurring (Oliver, Rust and Varki, 1998), improving customer satisfaction. This better understanding could lead to some improvements such as co-creation of products and services and a continuous stream of ideas directly from the customers: for instance, they might help businesses in designing an extremely personalised service, besides identifying the most profitable auxiliary revenue options (Amadeus, 2010). This will permit to focus most on the projects and services with the largest potential of generating revenue and satisfaction (Wills and Webb, 2007); a business traveller might be very interested in the bed’s comfort, whilst other customers in the ancillary services provided or also in the design and bedroom environment, in a totally customer-driven service model (Amadeus, 2010). It is a strategic marketing function to assess how customer insight should be gained and used through the various channels and technologies available (Hirschowitz, 2001). In services companies the high quantity of relationships determines the possibility of personalising the interactions between them and the customers, on account of the strong customer insight that can be obtained (Bailey et al., 2009). Personal, transaction and communication data need to be collected and stored to use CRM applications, for which database technology and workflow systems are crucial (Chaffey et al., 2010). These are indeed the variables that could be used for a more effective segmentation, integrating the two functions. A high interaction facilitates in fact the process, as every contact with the customer is an important real-time feedback (Amadeus, 2010). Ways of collecting data might be face-to-face, recording phone calls, the Internet communications and e-mails (Bitner et al., 2000). The chances and opportunities to develop customer insight are also wider today because of the e-channels, which bring more forms of marketing communication available (Hirschowitz, 2001), and the chance to collect enormous quantity of data, even if it could be argued that on-line interactions may be perceived as less personal. These types of information can be both qualitative (symbolic data about product types, complaints, etc.) and quantitative (Bottcher et al., 2009). Moreover, IT brings more efficiency in keeping records of customer preferences e.g. about rooms, food or complementary services (Chathoth, 2007), storing them for their next stay, hence enhancing loyalty (Amadeus, 2010). As Sigala (2005) suggests, IT capacities should be incorporated into CRM strategies and aligned with the organisation’s infrastructure (PMS, Internet, CRS etc.). Additionally, it has been suggested how customer could be involved in the process of capturing data about themselves, e.g. making them gather all their preferences, benefits sought and values related to the hospitality service in a specific social network, and this would work if they could be actually seen the superior value connected to the operation (Dibb, 2001), like ad-hoc deals and an extreme personalisation of the travel experience (Amadeus, 2010). For certain kinds of customers though, like hectic business travellers, the main method would be instead collecting data on their behaviour and needs observing them within the hotel, during the stay, capturing hence consumer characteristics through personal observation (Amadeus, 2010). Frequent updates and high personal information could also enhance real-time marketing: data about customers can, in fact, be gathered and analysed in real-time, being used even for that specific interaction, not only in the future, after being processed (Hirschowitz, 2001), and IT are indeed considered a potent vehicle for developing one-to-one experiences (Sigala, 2005). By real-time marketing, both the core product and the service are adapted in real time, instead of being a-priori customised: the customer intelligence must be in fact entrenched in the product (Oliver et al., 1998). As Chathoth (2007) asserts, firms should try to provide enchantment through the product itself, rather than the mere customer satisfaction deriving from the service interaction: the intangible could be in fact made tangible, surprising the customer about e.g. component of the hotel

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service such as the décor of the room, the amenities provided or the aroma preferred by the specific guest. Nevertheless, these forms of customer insight are not seen as a replacement of the MS tool, like some evidence recently mentioned as a possible turning (Bailey et al., 2009), but an original process could start from the traditional schemes already in use, through the use of methods like macro-micro and nested approaches, or buying proforma: The macro-micro approach, initially thought by Wind and Cardoza in the 1970s, aims to obtain macro segments that derive from the organisational structure of the business, to later develop more uniform micro segments, obtained through characteristics such as personal features or attitudes, more related to the company’s decision making. The nested approach could be seen as an evolution of the earlier, and again it aims to obtain homogenous segments starting to group on the bases of easily implementable variables, then continuing by using situational and personal traits (Dibb and Simkin, 1997). A buying proforma, instead, captures some customer insights to differentiate customers on the basis of their needs and buying behaviour, even leading to the creation of new segments. This particular approach analyses the customers’ buying decision process, their needs and profiles and the potentially influencing factors (Dibb and Simkin, 2008). Methodology To make approaches especially useful for practitioners, a combination of secondary and primary data has been used for the paper. On account of the increasing recognition of MS and related subjects such as RM and the CRM, The Hospitality Revenue Management Community (HRMC), a sub-group of the British Association of Hospitality Accountants (BAHA) launched in October 2010, has joined the forces with Oxford Brookes University to run a focus group session dedicated to pressing topics identified by industry. BAHA members initially selected the topics of most interest to them to be discussed at the workshop tables. Master degree students from Oxford Brookes submitted preliminary reports to the committee to assist the participants who signed up to take part in the event to decide which table to sit at. The session was held in March, 2011 in London, where both the students and the professionals shared their opinions and knowledge on a range of topics; CRM, Total revenue management, segmentation, price slashing and centralisation of the revenue management role. Focus groups are group interviews, hence a qualitative data collection method with the presence of a moderator (Easterby-Smith et al., 2006), in this case these were members of the advisory board governing HRMC, placed at each table of 6-8 participants (BAHA members and the specific report’s author). The moderator should guarantee an equal involvement of all the group members, avoiding potential inhibitions, and the focus on the main topic (Saunders et al., 2000). The focus groups are usually led by a topic guide, which give them a back-bone structure, but they have the positive feature of permitting the free development of new and unpredicted ideas stemming from the interaction of the participants (Easterby-Smith et al., 2006); moreover they allow to have a group interview combined with observation (of the members behaviour and reactions during the discussion), and the new key points emerged can sometimes be part of following surveys or other research projects (Saunders et al., 2000). At each table a student expert used the audio recordings to further develop the topic in a new report combining academic theory with practitioners opinions. Summary presentations were video recorded. After assuring participants that recordings were for research purposes only, participants in the focus group were given the option to opt out of the recording.

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Results Interesting findings emerged from the workshop, which are here summarised by topic of interest. Market segmentation: The focus group discussing MS mostly discussed interpretation and consistency of segmentation and approaches to estimating the value customers generate toward the firms profitability such as loyalty, lifetime cycle and/or expenditure. It was agreed that it would be useful in the industry to move from a traditional to a non-traditional MS, especially in view of new technologies, e.g. on-line travel agents, which might prevent a segmentation by purpose of travel, implicating a need to segment the market by rate, booking channel or other information available. Hospitality firms might need to find more creative way to segment their customers, conversely to other industries that are indeed segmenting by profit and value, e.g. food retailers. Interpretation is, however, different for everyone, depending on the type and the size of the company. In order to value the customer, technology has generally been mentioned as a needed tool, even though in many cases the processes might turn out to be too expensive, and only organisations like casinos would be able to implement. Total RM and centralisation of the function: the focus group exploring total RM and its centralisation showed a contrast between a sales and service culture. Participants argued that today all the departments should link in with revenue management, in view of a maximisation of return on ancillary products. It was agreed that there is a need for an assessment of which segments desire which products/services. The most profitable products need to be identified and strategies implement to increase sales volumes, considering whether to bundle/unbundle them. Summarising, the group agreed that is really important to define what is the product (and what is included/excluded) and who are is being targeted. Assessment of customer perception is needed regarding whether the product is perceived as a commodity or a service. Centralisation of the RM function, given the above-mentioned integration between RM, CRM, marketing, sales, and PR was considered a decision that should depend on the nature and the size of the company, even though all these function should always have a meaningful MS as the common denominator. Impact of CRM on RM: the group discussing the impact of CRM the revenue managers role agreed that CRM needs an evolution to a new platform (moving on from the bare guest history), certainly involving some kind of software. It has moreover been discussed about the maintenance of traditional segments, or the potential need of new sets of customers to focus on, given the evolution of CRM software and IT, which should definitely connected to PMS. Customer long-term value versus the value of influence was raised, questioning for instance the importance of repeat guests, compared to the so-called evangelists (bringing new clients through word of mouth), who are easier now to identify with CRM tools. Social media have then been set against these, arguing that they would be crucial in attracting external customers and encouraging people to come into the network, rather than building a relationship and getting information from the current ones (at the moment, a lot of the relationship building and contacts happen during the stay, not before and after). Their use is still not so wide spread as it could be though. Referral website emerged as another potential way of assessing the customer value, rewarding the customer who helps your business, and keeping records of it through new bookings. Again, the stress is on considering not only customers who return, but also who promote the firms product (the value of influence of the guest). Finally the skills that future revenue managers were discussed as to carry out all the required analysis, the management of social networks, real time communication with the guests etc. would require a range of skills and knowledge. Besides the need of higher skills, it has been

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suggested a likely need of a revenue manager with a more strategic vision and more creativity perhaps through centralisation of the function. Conlcusion This paper aimed to assess whether MS needs to be reconsidered in view of the disruptive forces which interest the current market place, exploring how hospitality firms should approach the function and considering the use of potentially more meaningful variables. The analysis of previous literature suggests a need for reassessing the way MS is implemented by hospitality and hotel firms, as new technologies have determined a change of consumer behaviour and also generated significant new opportunities for these businesses. Despite a lack of matching between normative segmentation and real world applications, it can be assumed that the use of more complex variables, alongside with the most common and easily observable, would help in developing a deeper customer understanding and, therefore, a better use of the segmentation tool. A suggested move from traditional to non-traditional forms of MS was identified by practitioners, seeking more creative models (which, though, should involve feasible investments). As already argued in the paper, the system could be improved adding dimensions such as value-based or psychological variables, to be combined to the a-priori analysis, as companies wanting to be more competitive should be able to track not only direct responses to marketing inputs and campaigns, but also indirect consequences such as a change of behaviour and preferences. Behavioural MS like activitybased could also lead to bundling some of the activities considered and improved the perceived value of the product (Borksberger and Bartenwerffer, 2003). Connections between e.g. lifestyle segmentation and consumer behaviour have been observed; nevertheless, lifestyle segmentation might bring some implementation problems, due to the sophisticated techniques involved, and psychographic segmentation has been recently questioned as well, as it appears not to go strictly in parallel with customer buying behaviour: it strongly focuses on consumer identity, but not enough on its relation to the product. Overall, psychographics seems to be excellent for advertising and promotional campaigns, but not for wider purposes (Yankelovich and Meer, 2006). A stronger connection could be thus gained through the use of benefit segmentation and usage occasions instead, to find what the different customers perceive as a value. Moreover, most of the firms recently studied by academic researchers (Dibb, 2001; Yankelovich and Meer, 2006; Bailey et al., 2009) have been proved to using forms of geographic and geo-demographic segmentation, together with attempts in behavioural variables, stating though, many difficulties of implementation and the high costs associated. However, deeper forms of customer analysis still seem needed to better understand the customer and today’s changing market place: even if psychographics have sometimes failed and other methods could turn out too costly or complex, some forms of customer insight would seem necessary. It has been here stated, particularly, the increased importance of CRM and e-CRM for services firms, and how this would enhance stronger relationships with the most valuable consumers. The superior customer understanding would allow companies to create tailored offers and enhance profitability and loyalty at the same time, together with the important value of influence which a customer can reach through a relationship building before, during and after the stay. Through customer insight firms could predict which customer will buy which product or special offer, besides the introduction of applications like content personalisation and customer interaction management, even reaching a product

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co-creation process. However, as previously observed, many organisations do have data warehouses and develop forms of customer insight, but still they are not effective as their methods are often disorganized. In order to make the process profitable for both parties, it is important to remind firms that a customer strategy (based on traditional segmentation process and marketing goals) has to be created and implement before using CRM; then, the organisation’s orientation must shift to a consumer driven vision, if it is not yet. Moreover, the data collected must be processed by quality systems, to obtain models with a good percentage of behaviour prediction. Firms must have the technical capability and expertise to capture and conduct analysis of customer data, this process might actually be facilitated by the wide spread of IT. Nevertheless, some evidence shows how CRM does not necessary require high investments in technology, but it can simply implicate a higher attention to consumer needs, especially in smaller companies (Rigby et al., 2002). The main concern for a business would hence be how to record and store data, rather than developing too sophisticated models (e.g. propensity modelling systems) which implicates large investments and perhaps outsourcing. It has also been argued that customer insight should not completely overcome market segmentation processes, but these two functions could be carried out in parallel, through the use of methods like macro-micro and nested approaches, or buying pro-forma. Therefore, pre-existing segmentation schemes could be view as starting points for further segmentation, which would, in any case, focus more on elements related to the purchase decision, rather than customer’s traits. By applying these methods, and considering the enormous aid of the new technologies, especially social networks and e-communication channels, the once unobservable variables, like benefits sought and purchase occasions, could be converted into observable. Clearly, ways of recording and storing the data need to be considered in the next future, especially for smaller organisations, which may not have considerable financial and technological resources. The suggestion would be to apply exhaustive forms of customer insight through personal interactions and e-channels, making the customers understand the importance of this information exchange. E-applications, such as in-room check-out systems, might be used to collect and store the data required: guest might be asked, for instance, to fill an on-line form with their feedback and future desires in order to continue with the on-line check-out procedure. Virtual communities and discussion boards could be introduced, as some companies have already started to do, to find out more about values and benefits sought by different groups of customers, which would determine perhaps the formation of new and more meaningful segments. This paper aimed to demonstrate the actual need of reviewing traditional MS approaches, considering the disruptive forces interesting the current external environment. Future research might investigate deeper about this issue, collecting some primary data on-site, from different types of hotel businesses, to assess whether they would be ready to implement a new segmentation scheme combined with CRM, which would implicate the collaboration of customers and a strong use of new-technologies. It could be further explored the vital role that social networks and on-line applications are increasingly playing in trends and demand patterns, to obtain perhaps more meaningful segments. More studies should soon follow, to develop new implementable forms of customer-driven segmentation schemes, to enhance the relationship between firms and customers and to deeply understand and benefit from the diverse demand they are facing.

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WORLD HERITAGE SITES AS TOURISM RESOURCES: THE CASE OF SAFRANBOLU-TURKEY Canan Bastemur Kastamonu University Kastamonu, Turkey E-mail: [email protected]

Gül Günes Atılım University Ankara, Turkey E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT

World Heritage sites represent the world’s most important cultural and natural places, recognized for their outstanding uni­versal value. Sites may be nominated as cultural, natural or mixed criteria. The World Heritage Tourism Program encourages sustainable tourism actions at World Heritage sites. City of Safranbolu was added to the list of in 1994. In this paper, with regard to the above mentioned issues, world heritage sites will be analyzed as tourism resources. Moving from the Safranbolu case, the importance of sustainable tourism management for world heritage sites will be explained, tourism development and current state of the Safranbolu cultural heritage site will be discussed and suggestions will be made. Keywords: World Heritage Site, Tourism Resource, Culture, Safranbolu, Sustainable Tourism. Introduction The World Heritage Convention, whose full title is “The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,” was adopted by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1972. The Convention today has 187 countries that are party to it. Through this instrument nations of the world have agreed to inventory, recognize and protect unique and irreplaceable properties of universal value. For the first time, the Convention provides a permanent framework -legal, administrative and financial --for international cooperation in safeguarding mankind’s cultural and natural heritage, and introduces the specific notion of a “world heritage” whose importance transcends all political and geographic boundaries. The World Heritage List includes 911 properties (704 cultural, 180 natural and 27 mixed) forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value (ICOMOS, 1999; UNESCO1, 2011). Tourism is one of the world’s largest industries. Over time, an ever increasing number of destinations have opened up and invested in tourism development, turning modern tourism into a key driver for socioeconomic progress through the creation of jobs and enterprises, infrastructure development and the export revenues earned. As an internationally traded service, inbound tourism has become one of the major trade categories. The overall export income generated by inbound tourism, including passengers transport, exceeded US$ 1 trillion in 2009, or close to US$ 3 billion a day.

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Tourism exports account for as much as 30% of the world’s exports of commercial services and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. Globally, as an export category, tourism ranks fourth after fuels, chemicals and automotive products. For many developing countries it is one of the main sources for foreign exchange income and the number one export category, creating much needed employment and opportunities for development. According to 2009 data; the contribution of tourism to economic activity worldwide is estimated at some 5%. Tourism’s contribution to employment tends to be slightly higher relatively and is estimated in the order of 6-7% of the overall number of jobs worldwide (direct and indirect) (UNWTO, 2010: 2). By 2020 international arrivals are expected to surpass 1.5 billion people (UNWTO, 2011). While no formal data have been collected, a site’s inscription on the World Heritage List often coincides with a boost in visitation rates. Even at current rates, tourism is an important issue at World Heritage Sites (WHS) (Pedersen, 2002). ‘The very reasons why a property is chosen for inscription on the WHL are also the reasons why millions of tourists flock to those sites year after year. So how do we merge our convictions with our concerns over the impact of tourism on World Heritage Sites?’ The clearest route to balancing these activities would appear to be in the effective inclusion of them within management plans and recognition of management practices that can be used to control and maximize the benefits. It is vital that the management of WHS should be integrated into tourism and land management plans at all levels – local, regional and national (Leask and Fyall, 2006). Turkey has signed the World Heritage Convention in 1983 and through the work carried out under the responsibility of the General Directorate for Cultural Heritage and Museums, 9 properties were inscribed on the World Heritage List. Archeological Site of Troy (1998), City of Safranbolu (1994), Great Mosque and Hospital of Divriği (1985), Hattusha: the Hittite Capital (1986), Historic Areas of Istanbul (1985), Nemrut Dag (1987), and Xanthos-Letoon (1988) have cultural values. On the other hand, Göreme National Park and Rock Sites of Cappadocia (1985) and Hierapolis-Pamukkale (1988) have mixed-both cultural and natural- values. Additionally, there are 27 properties submitted on the Tentative List (UNESCO2, 2011). City of Safranbolu was added to the list due to its well-preserved Ottoman era houses and architecture. Safranbolu is the one of the most outstanding example of the traditional Turkish Architecture and also unique itself in terms of conservation of the human settlement in their authentic environmental motif up till now. Cultural heritage sites of countries present very much emphasis for various ways e.g., tourism, publicity of country, economical gains supply. It is not only important having cultural heritage, but also to protect and revitalization of these sites (Seker et al., 2010). World Heritage Sites As Tourism Resources There are number of studies on WHS and tourism: According to ICOMOS –International Council on monuments and Sites-(1993); increased interest in, and awareness of, WHS has led inevitably to an overall increase in visitor numbers, although this is not evenly spread throughout the world. However, easier access, the growth of lowcost airlines (not only in Europe but also in Australia and Asia), more diverse use of discretionary time, increased consumer confidence in making travel bookings and the extensive

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publicity given to WHS have all contributed to this phenomenon. All WHS confronted by a growth in visitor numbers also face the same set of problems and issues, centred, inevitably, upon the dual need to balance conservation with generating revenue from visitors, either directly or indirectly. According to Pedersen (2006:11); tourism offers well-known advantages. Visitor fees, concessions and donations provide funds for restoration and protection efforts. Visitors may be recruited as friends of a site and can help generate international support. Tour operators and hotel chains can play a role in the management of a site by making financial contributions, aiding monitoring efforts, or instructing their clients in responsible tourism. Tourism can also promote cultural values by supporting local handicrafts or by offering alternative economic activities. On the downside, tourism spawns well-known problems. Managing rapid tourism growth is a time-consuming process demanding clear policies, ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, and constant monitoring. Tourism activities require environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and procedures for minimising impacts. At sites with limited budgets and staff, growing tourism can stretch scarce resources and take managers away from protection efforts. While tourism can contribute to protection and restoration efforts, the right balance between economic gain and undesirable impacts can be elusive. Managers know that a tourist attraction must be periodically renewed to remain competitive. In the case of World Heritage sites, they are also aware that they are under an international obligation to maintain or restore the site’s original values. This responsibility poses difficult questions regarding the degree of change that should be permitted to accommodate tourism growth. Another problem is ensuring that a portion of tourism revenue remains in the community as a means of fostering local protection, conservation and restoration efforts. According to Leask and Fyall (2006); tourism to WHS and other protected areas is increasing, bringing with it challenges to the sites from wear-and-tear and the impacts that large numbers of visitors can have on their ‘spirit of place’. In turn, this is forcing a search for methods of balancing conservation with the livelihood needs of local people and the right of tourists to enjoy such places. WHS and other protected areas can benefit from tourism in several ways, in that additional funds for conservation can be generated from tourism, and the profile of the site can be raised, both of which help to generate greater government support. Furthermore, where local people experience economic benefits from these sites, they are also more likely to become aware of the importance of conservation. Historically, funding for many WHS has often been inadequate, and most have received their funding from the national or international public sector. Now, increasing emphasis is being placed on the role of other groups in civil society in contributing to their management. One obvious way of encouraging the participation of other groups is to maximize non-damaging forms of using the sites for revenue generation which, for many places, means tourism. The ideal situation is a symbiotic relationship between tourism and WHS, in which tour operators use them to add value to their products and local service providers earn money from tourists, while the sites earn higher revenues and achieve a higher profile nationally, which can encourage government bodies to devote stronger protection measures to them. However, at the same time, tourism can add to the costs of managing protected areas, since sites have to

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invest in, manage and maintain tourism facilities in order to prevent damage to sensitive areas, while the presence of visitors can threaten the integrity of ecosystems, of fragile buildings or other cultural artefacts, or the ‘spirit of place’, which is often a hugely significant element of the site. Tourism has therefore to be managed with care: it is essential for site managers to assess and balance the costs and benefits of visitation, and it is equally important for local people and communities to benefit from tourism, as this will demonstrate the economic value of resources which have been protected under a World Heritage designation and, in some cases, alienated from other forms of exploitation which might have been of more immediate benefit to the resident population (Leask and Fyall, 2006). Managing Tourism at World Heritage Sites With studies predicting continued growth, tourism is an increasingly important factor in the planning and management at UNESCO World Heritage sites. Balancing heritage with tourism is one of the future issues for World Heritage Sites. Increasingly, it is believed that tourism will acquire greater significance in the process of inscription with an even greater need for those managing the process to maintain the balance between heritage conservation and the development of tourism opportunities. Most WHS now attract increasingly mature and experienced consumers of heritage tourism products whose requirements for facilities and interpretation have become steadily more sophisticated. Moreover, visitors accustomed to the highly professional levels of site interpretation often offered in the developed world are increasingly expecting similar standards to be available universally. This is sometimes difficult for WHS site managers in the developing world who may have restricted access to finance and expertise. In addition to these general issues, over the last decade two other factors have become significant in visitor management, namely crime and security and cultural sensitivity. The reasons behind this are not hard to seek. Uncertainty created by ongoing acts of global terrorism has meant that many visitors have become increasingly concerned about their personal security at major visitor attractions and site managers are concerned about possible threats to the site. Arguments over the ‘ownership’ of world heritage and the increasing diversity of the travelling public have meant that more attention is being paid to the cultural sensitivities surrounding WHS interpretation. The same factors, combined with an increasingly high media profile for WHS, have resulted in increased visitor numbers (Leask and Fyall, 2006). In a world where cultural tourism is becoming more popular and its participants better informed, issues of visitor pressure, security and safety are going to remain significant, but it is perfectly possible to deal with these at a local level and arrive at acceptable solutions. The issue of balancing conservation and visitor pressure will always be contentious for WHS managers but there is room for optimism that new vision and new technologies will result in continued improvements over the next decade, just as greater levels of awareness have raised their profile over the last (Leask and Fyall, 2006). The planning for tourism and management of visitors ought to be a central feature of future plans with suitable visitor management techniques proposed that maintain a suitable balance between guaranteeing accessibility and preserving authenticity (Leask and Fyall, 2006). Understanding the subject of carrying

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capacity is essential for planning and decision making. Understanding the limitations of the concept and knowledge of methodologies that have replaced it is essential not only for implementing practical management plans but also for evaluating suggested projects. These methodologies generate impact indicators and standards that are linked to site policy goals and management objectives. They are essential for determining when undesirable change is taking place at a site (Pedersen, 2002:56). According to Leask and Fyall (2006); There is a range of goals and means for maximizing the benefits of tourism to biodiversity and to economic and social development, and the benefits of biodiversity to tourism, while minimizing negative social and environmental impacts. These include: • Generating sufficient revenues to reduce threats to biodiversity from local communities encouraging all stakeholders, particularly the private sector, to support the active conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of its components; • Ensuring the effective participation of local communities in the development, operation and monitoring of tourism activities; • Channelling tourism revenues towards conservation, for example through management of protected areas, education, research programmes, or local community development; • Zoning and control of tourism developments and activities; • Diversification of economic activities to reduce dependency on tourism and, • Encouraging the role of protected areas as key locations for good practices in the management of sustainable tourism and biodiversity (Leask and Fyall, 2006). The Case of Safranbolu World Heritage Site The cultural heritage sites of countries are to be protected and will be kept for next generations. UNESCO helps the countries on this matter by taking the important sites into the list of world cultural heritage sites. Such an action draws public attention in the particular country as well as in the world’s community. Sustainability of the site and presenting the heritage in its original form can be provided by well documenting the interested area (Seker et al., 2010). Traditional Turkish Architecture was constructed according to their life style during the history. It is possible to examine traditional Turkish houses and they can be differentiated according to their room arrangements, multi layered, roof type and structural techniques. Safranbolu is the one of the most outstanding example of the traditional Turkish Architecture and also unique itself in terms of conservation of the human settlement in their authentic environmental motif up till now (Seker et al., 2010). There are nearly 2000 traditional Turkish wooden houses built in the 18th, 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries (Uysal et al., 2010). The historical buildings built with a spectacular architectural knowledge reflect and brings the existing custom and culture from past to present. Even though the history of the city is considerable old and has many different civilizations it reflects the economic richness of the Ottoman Empire. Currently the city became almost an open air museum and very popular destination for both natives and foreigners. Safranbolu was registered with No. 614 and date 1994 on the World Heritage List prepared by UNESCO World Heritage Committee due to its well-preserved

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Ottoman era houses and architecture. The criteria to be accepted to World Heritage List for Safranbolu are “cultural” (ii), (iv) and (v). Concordantly Safranbolu was registered as follows; (ii)

By virtue of its key role in the caravan trade over many centuries, Safranbolu enjoyed great prosperity and as a result it set a standard in public and as a result it set a standard in public and domestic architecture that exercised a great influence on urban development over large area of the Ottoman Empire.

(iv)

The caravan trade was for centuries the main commercial link between the Orient and Europe. As a result, towns of a characteristic type grew up along its route. With the coming of railways in the 19th century, these towns abruptly lost their raison d’&e, and most of them were adapted to other economic bases. Safranbolu was not affected in this way and as a result has preserved its original form and buildings to a remarkable extent.

(v)

The collapse of the caravan trade had a catastrophic effect on Safranbolu. Its proximity to the Karabük steelworks has given it a new socio-economic role, but it is still vulnerable to external pressures, and so continuous efforts must be made to preserve the traditional town scope (World Heritage Committee, 1994).

Description and Characteristics of the Area Safranbolu - the subject of this paper - is a district of the Karabük, and located in the inner part of the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey. Geographically Safranbolu is located in rugged terrain. The lowest point of the town is 300 meters, 1750 meters the highest point and the lowest point of the city center is 400 meters, the highest point is around 600 meters. Surface area of the town is 1013 km² and tha most of it are forest. According to the public census of 2010, its population is 60.358, of which 49.014 live in the centre of the district and 11.344 in villages (TUIK, 2011). Safranbolu is a typical Ottoman city that has survived to the present day. It also displays an interesting interaction between the topography and the historic settlement. The site of Safranbolu has been occupied by human settlements since prehistory, as evidenced by rock-cut tombs. The Turks conquered the town in the 11th century and in the 13th century it became an important caravan station on the main east-west trade route. Safranbolu has a remarkable wooden culture and has characteristics of Turkish structure art to date. Many Turkish wooden and Stone structure art examples can be traced in fountains, roads, walls, Turkish baths, mosques etc. in the old section of the city. The city of Safranbolu contains well-preserved items of many civilizations (Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman). It is a district which preserves all its values, monuments, sites, groups of buildings, and an historic shopping area. There is a great homogeneity between these elements. It is a typical Ottoman city that has survived to the present day. The city has deserved its real name for its cultural houses. It also displays an interesting interaction between the topography and the historic settlement (Seker et al., 2010). Safranbolu consists of four distinct districts - the market place area of the inner city, known as Cukur (The Hole), the area of Kirankoy, Baglar (The Vineyards), and an area of more recent settlement outside the historic area. Çukur is so named because it lies in the lower part of the town; its centre is the market

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place, which is surrounded by the houses and workshops of craftsmen, such as leather workers, blacksmiths, saddlers and shoemakers, and textile workers. The area is triangular in shape, defined by two rivers. Kıranköy was formerly a non-Muslim district, with a socio-architectural pattern similar to that in contemporary European towns, in fact the craftsmen and tradesmen living above their workshops, cellars used for winemaking and storage, etc. The pattern of settlement in Bağlar is one of single houses set within large gardens. The streets in Çukur and Kıranköy are narrow and curved, following contours. They are surfaced with stone paving, sloping inwards to evacuate surface water. The older houses are halftimbered, the spaces between the timbers being filled with various materials (clay, brick, etc.). There are no windows on the street frontage, so that the stone walls resemble extensions of garden walls; the main rooms are on the first floor. Many of the ceilings are lavishly carved and painted (UNESCO). The city has about 2000 traces that are being protected in the natural tissue as an expression of the historical and cultural wealth. Rock Graves, mounds, Caravanserai and Turkish Baths, The Old Mosques, Shopping Districts, Water Vaults, Fountains, Tombs and Historical Houses are some of the traces that have survived. Safranbolu has won its first fame with its buildings that have a traditional and special architecture. These houses are wonderful architecture samples that show Turkish society life of 18th and 19th centuries. These splendid houses which carry the effects of crowded family structure, economic wealth and local climate properties are defined as “five sided architecture” because of their roofs. Safranbolu houses are the buildings with 2-3 floors, 6-8 rooms, balconies, and lots of windows in every room. In these buildings; esthetical use of stone, unbelievable quality of woodwork, ornaments of wall and ceilings, pools inside the houses, stairs and door knockers (Seker et al., 2010). Surviving buildings from this early period include the Old Mosque, Old Bath, and Medresse of Süleyman Pasha, all built in 1322. The caravan trade reached its apogee in the 17th century, when the central market was extended to meet the requirements of travellers. Many buildings survive from this period, including the Cinci Inn with its 60 guestrooms (1640-48), Koprülü Mosque (1661) and Let Pasha Mosque (1796), as well as many stores, stables and baths. Changes in trading structures and the advent of the railways brought this long period of prosperity to an end in the early 20th century. The town underwent a period of economic deprivation until the building of the Karabük steelworks, which provided a great deal of employment in the region (Anonymous 2) That wealth improved by the result of live trade life provided that the best examples of Turkish architecture are mansions and houses we can see today. Safranbolu was accepted to UNESCO World Heritage list because of those values, some of them are mentioned above. Tourism Development in Safranbolu Although Safranbolu met tourism years ago, its main source of income was agriculture and industry before accepted to UNESCO. Iron and steel, saffron (the name of Safranbolu derive from it) and Çavuş grapes are source of income still besides tourism. Tourism has been priority source of income developed since Safranbolu replaced on World Heritage Sites List. Safranbolu predominantly was an Ottoman city, transfers to 18th and 19th century traditional Turkish life to the present day. A new style did not research because the city consists of Turkish culture and architec-

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ture and it had been preserved without much change until 1940. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism decided to protect for Safranbolu in 1976 and defined buildings preserved. Real estate commission decided to registry 2 protected area placed in Çarşı and Bağlar, 810 civil architecture examples placed in natural sites board and 165 monuments. Reconstruction plan for protect put into practice in 1991. At least in 1994 Safranbolu was accepted to World Heritage Sites List in UNESCO (UNESCO) Known as Caimacam House was bought then returned to Education Centre by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Nearly 20 houses were restored siding within the scope of rehabilitation project. 19 mosques, 1 Turkish bath, 3 tomb, 17 historical houses siding, 42 fountain (20 fountain restoration in preparation for the tender), clock tower, aqua duct and one street were renovated. By buying Asmazlar mansion was renovated as a hotel. Old government office and jail converted to culture centre and museum. There are illustrative boards both Turkish and English in these areas that converted and opened to tourism. There are hardly these boards some of the areas. Lots of booklets and leaflets give cultural and historical information about Safranbolu prepared by Safranbolu District Governorship and City Hall has delivered to the visitors. All of these publications has emphasized Safranbolu is on World Heritage Sites List. The History of City Museum that converted from government office promotes cultural, social, historical and economic values of Safranbolu. It gives chance to watch the stages of Safranbolu from the history to the present day. As in 2007 the number of museum visitors were 2999(UNESCO), in 2010 2135 of them foreign tourist totally are 33.132 (Anonymous 1). Architecture Values Week, Culture and Art Festival etc. are arranged different dates to develop tourism in Safranbolu. Also Safranbolu in History Symposium, Wooden Houses Symposium, OWCH Euroasia International Tourism Seminar, Safranbolu International Golden Saffron Documentary Festival, every year as part of tourism week activities, art and photograph galleries, local gifts, Ottoman miniature Sultan’s signature gallery, trekking to Tokatlı Canyon and Safranbolu Harvest Festival are arranged. University in Safranbolu opened wood culture survey and application center. This place provides relieve, restoration projects and to protect timberwork. As part of grant aid by Japanese Government to protect cultural heritage, this centre took machine and outfit fund worth 50 million Japanese yen and started to use actively. In 2010 the number of incoming tourists to Safranbolu was 160.740. 22.619 of them were foreign tourists. For first three months in 2011 the number Table 1: The number of incoming tourist (Anonymous 3)

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of incoming tourists is 32.948. When this number compared with the first three months of 2010, the increase of 6500 tourists were determined. (Anonymous 3). Foreign tourists came from Taiwan and South Chorea the most. The next were Japon, China and Germany. (Anonymous 3) 2011 was announced as Saffron year. Safranbolu tries to promote not only wooden houses but also saffron plant and the other alternative tourism activities in international tourism expo and promotion. Within the solution of natural problems, solid waste management plan was prepared, recycle bins have been replaced since the beginning of 2011. Moreover, collection studies will start to covert grease in this June. There is a SWOT analyze to determine the 2023 vision of Karabük city. Actions to be taken started over this analyze (Table 1) (Gürbüz, 2009). STRENGTH To replace in World Heritage City List because of the famous historical houses To be Canyon is suitable for tourism Area structure is suitable for paragliding

WEAKNESS The diversity of accommodation and service are not enough Inadequate advertisement Inadequate qualified employee

Natural beauties and values Antique cities and historical places

No air transportation The lack of organizations that extend accommodation date The lack of budget in City Halls Unnoticed areas have tourism potential yet and the lack of infrastructure Investors and entrepreneurship shall not encourage enough

Cave tourism Population density is low enough The presence of university and tourism departments Traditional food and festivals People interests of tourism activities The density of demands for weekends and excursions To replace in travel agencies OPPORTUNITIES Different recreation and touristic activities for four seasons Near big cities like İstanbul and Ankara

THREATS High number of overnight tourist, in this case the bad influence for accommodation and investments Bureaucratic difficulties in restoration studies because of being protected site High potential for alternative tourism species The high cost of restoration studies effects badly the expansion and increase of investments To increase interests to natural, historical and cul- Rival destination centres like Beypazarı (Ankara), tural tourism Kastamonu and their superiorities To give an importance tourism in Turkey Table 1: SWOT analyze (Gürbüz, 2009).

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Although the City of Safranbolu was added to the list due to its well-preserved Ottoman era houses and architecture, researches show that the holistic approach is vital to think about tourism in the area. Because there are villages have rural characteristics including local traditions, agriculture, living patterns, and natural beauties in environs of Safranbolu besides the architectural and cultural values of Safranbolu’s central part( Anonymous 4). Determining the expectations and inclinations of the local community who are the center of the target group and those participators that are to use these resources is an important subject also to explain tourism development in the area.. According to the study on “The Expectations of the Local Community and Visitors From Tourism in Rural Areas: Case of Safranbolu-Yorukkoyu Village” by Kiper and Arslan (2007); the questionnaires were applied to a total of randomly selected 194 people. One hundred and forty four of them were composed of visitors and 50 of them were from the local community. The research shows that Safranbolu-Yorukkoyu has a suitable potential for rural tourism with its historical, cultural and natural resources. These resources can contribute to the diversification and distribution of tourism to different seasons and the local people can have active roles during this process. However, it is likely to encounter the danger of becoming a centre of mass tourism due to overcrowding as a result of excessive daily trips and interest from visitors, combined with the absence of proper planning to address such high demand. Therefore, although tourism has been on the rise in Safranbolu, the need for sustainable development still remains a vital issue for the district. RESULTS AND SUGGESTIONS In Safranbolu historical environment, having spiritual values of the ancient times demonstrates and reflects cultural identity. What make Safranbolu distinctive both in Turkey and all over the World are the historical wooden houses reflecting the traditional Turkish architectural style. These houses are worthwhile with regard to both their urban locations and architectural styles. Historical Safranbolu houses, still surviving at the present time, are the works of the art of the Turkish urban culture formed for more than hundreds of years (Uysal et al., 2010:201). It is necessary that sustainability strategies should be determined in order to protect or regenerate and to transmit historical and cultural heritage to the next generation. It is essential that urban design approaches should be adopted and urban design strategies for historical environment should be determined. Urban design is the major tool and process to make a bridge between past and future (Celikyay et al., 2010). Besides, it is very important to document all these settlements in details and reconstruct them according to their original structures especially for the sustainability (Seker et al., 2010). Because Safranbolu has rural characteristics besides architectural and cultural values, linking biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism will be important for this World Heritage Site. Moreover, stakeholders and community participation and holistic approach should be essential to organize tourism in the area. Creating a participatory and holistic approach for tourism to promote the protection of important habitats by working with local communities and site managers will provide benefits for the growing tourism industry. Awareness-building, training programs for local residents and site staff including training local guides will be some supportive actions on tourism planning. According to Leask and Fyall (2006); a quiet sea change is taking place in the approach to the inscription and management of World Heritage Sites in

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the first decade of the 21st century. Theoretically ‘all the peoples of the world’ are stakeholders in World Heritage. In practice, until recently, a limited number of stakeholders – governments, conservation experts and local authorities – were involved in the process. Local people, local amenity and community groups, local businesses, tour companies and visitors were largely left out of the consultation and management processes. The urgency of the need for communities of all types – international, national, regional, local, business, learning, leisure, tourism, conservation – and individuals worldwide to participate in celebrating cultural diversity and in developing a sense of cultural identity as a springboard for the future has placed World Heritage Sites centre stage. Paradoxically, the shift in the emphasis of cultural significance from the tangible to the intangible heritage that is taking place is putting ‘people’ into the heart of the WHS debate. People are important not only in terms of their commitment to the inscription and management of a WHS, but also in terms of their contribution to the intangible aspects of a site in the first place. In every country around the world there is one over-riding guiding principle: the support of local people as well as world visitors is the key to a dynamic sustainable future for World Heritage Sites. Safranbolu is a small city in which full of traces of heritage. After being adopted an arts and culture based strategy in urban regeneration policy by local authorities, inspiring global dimension of arts will add value to place. Design is also a dominant factor guiding regeneration of space and community. But it should consider community design in order to design community forms. ‘Community design focuses on urban form, from cities to villages; its purpose is to “design” community forms, the physical shelter of human settlements’. It is essential that ecological settlements and ecological design of traditional architecture should be taken into account when conservation, heritage led regeneration or culture-led regeneration and sustainability are aimed. As a summary, the framework for urban design process in historical environment, like the case study in Safranbolu, should be adopted as a guide for urban design. The following systematic should be followed up from the beginning to the end of the regeneration and urban design process in every historical environment, like Safranbolu. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Gathering all data in historical environment Understanding historical environment and the relation between a part and the whole Determination of opportunities and threats of place by SWOT analysis Adoption of holistic approach for urban design Analysis of the visual image of the case area Determination of current tendencies and urban needs of the community by means of a public survey 7. Culture led regeneration in addition to the heritage led regeneration 8. Scenario building for the part related to the whole 9. Comparing the scenarios protection, regeneration, ecology and sustainability point of view. 10. Integration with social-economic objectives and environmentally objectives 11. Consideration of stakeholder’s views 12. Determination of the design strategies 13. Giving a new function to the historical buildings 14. Creation an attractive urban area sustaining original characteristics

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15. Consideration of the historical texture 16. Consideration of the architectural styles of the traditional buildings 17. Determination of the typologies 18. To enable design of building facades harmonic with the historical buildings 19. Consideration of landscape potential and natural characteristics of the place According to the checklist above, urban design process in which as stakeholders, local authorities, community, public / private users, investors, planners and designers write spatial rules of regeneration in historical environment. Creation of inspiring places in the case area can create leisure quarter with a combination of sensitively restored historic buildings and the best of urban design. When adopted by local administrations, planners, urban designers, architects, landscape architects and whoever studies in historical environments, this framework to be used as a guide for designers will help to protect, to regenerate, and to improve historical textures of the settlements. Thus, it would be enabled either protection and regeneration or sustainability of historical environments having historical, cultural, and ecological identity. As much as illustrated in this case study, being adopted as the favorite scenario by all stakeholders cultural centre will add artistic and cultural dimension to the image of the city. Thanks to application of this scenario, art and culture as increasingly employed instruments of spatial planning in some cities in the world will be inspiring component for both local community and tourists staying in Safranbolu. The key question which can remain is which factors leading regeneration should gain priority among heritage, culture or design? In Safranbolu case, as a settlement in the World Heritage List, traditional architectural heritage covered throughout the city center. Tourism act changed the most of private houses to pensions and hotels serving to tourists. But a lack of spatial opportunities for art and cultural activities is a problem of community life. Art and culture as inspiring factors bringing together individuals and reminding them sharing as it was in the past are the factors to add universality to locality in Safranbolu. As emphasized in this study, the relation between planning and designing of a place and community are of significance. But not considering tendencies and preferences of community and the dynamic force of theculture, none of urban studies creates positive and inspiring places for community. After planning and design process of urban, historical environment, to make man reconciled with his environment, conservation should have a context in which cultural and ecological footprints of the community clearly appear. These alternative scenarios in this study were built for illustration of a train of thought regarding regeneration of an unused district having commercial importance in the past. In fact, when public authorities decided to regenerate this district, at the beginning of decision making process regarding land uses and functions of the building all stakeholders should league together. After alternative ideas are discussed and some scenarios are evaluated, local and social consensus should be created. Of course this process is not so simple yet rather complex including cultural behaviors, visions of the community, besides tendencies and preferences. In addition to these issues, project management, financial support, application of urban design plans and team are other issues should be considered. Buildings of heritage value have developed into an extremely complex process involving a team of many professionals, specialists, trades, and craftworks. In order to regenerate historical urban parts and to create

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inspiring spaces adding value to place in urban design process it is essential that a multidisciplinary professional team makes decisions considering the relation between community, culture and the historical environment (Celıkyay et al., 2010). REFERENCES Anonymous1; http://www.safranbolu.gov.tr/sayfa.asp?sayfaID=63 Anonymous2 ; http://www.safranbolusonhaber.com/haber_detay.asp?haberID=138 Anonymous3 ; http://www.karabuknethaber.com/haber_detay.asp?haberID=1412 Gürbüz, A.(2009). Karabük 2023 Turizm Vizyonu, Karabük University (pp;14-18) Madran, E, Tanzimattan Cumhuriyet’e Kültür Varlıklarının Korunmasına İlişkin Tutumlar ve Düzenlemeler: 1800-1950, Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture Ankara, 2001 World Heritage Committee, 1994. Convention Concerning The Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 18th session, Phuket (pp; 54-56) http://whc.unesco.org/archive/repcom94.htm ICOMOS, 1993. Cultural Tourism. The ICOMOS Specialized Committee on Cultural tourism. Sri Lanka. Pedersen, A. 2002. Managing Tourism at World Heritage Sites: A Practical Manual for World Heritage Site Managers. Paris, 96 pp. UNWTO, 2011.Tourism Facts. http://www.unwto.org UNWTO, 2010. UNWTO Tourism Highlights. Pp11. UNESCO, 2009. Türkiye’nin Dünya Miras Alanları Koruma Yönetiminde Güncel Durum 2009 UNESCO Türkiye Milli Komisyonu,2009, Ankara(pp;227-231) UNESCO3, 2011. World Heritage Sites of Turkey. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/614 UNESCO2, 2011. World Heritage Sites of Turkey. http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/tr UNESCO1, 2011. World Heritage Sites. http://whc.unesco.org Leask, A. and Fyall, A. (Editors) 2006. Managing World Heritage Sites. Amsterdam, Elsevier, 294 pp. Seker, D.Z., Alkan, M., Kutoglu, H., Akcin, H. And kahya, Y. 2010. Development of a GIS Based Information and Management System for Cultural Heritage Site; Case Study of Safranbolu, FS 2B - SIM Best Practice Applications, FIG Congress 2010, Facing the Challenges – Building the Capacity, Sydney, Australia, 11-16 April 2010. Celikyay, S., Donmez, S., Bollukcu, P., Kajriman, E. And Ates, O. 2010. An urban design framework for sustainability of historical environment: A case of Safranbolu, Turkey, African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 5(12), pp. 1456-1473. TUIK (Turkish Statistical Institute), 2011. Database on population. http://report.tuik.gov.tr/ Kiper, T. and Arslan, M. 2007. The Expectations of the Local Community and Visitors From Tourism in Rural Areas: Case of Safranbolu-Yorukkoyo Village.Journal of Applied Science, vol. 7, Issue 17, p.2544-2550. Uysal, B., Kurt, S., Karaman, A., Yıldırım, M.N. 2010. Dating of Some Historical Safranbolu Houses With Dendrochronological Methods. Techolonology, 13(4), 201-218.

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THE IMPACT OF PERCEIVED JUSTICE, SERVICE QUALITY AND CONSUMPTION EMOTIONS ON CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP Wen Biyan School of Management, Jinan University Guangzhou, P. R. China E-mail: [email protected]

Christina Geng-qing Chi Washington State University Pullman, Washington, USA E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT Service business shall be devoted to continuous improvement of service quality in an effort to provide zero-error service. However, even for the best service firms it is difficult to completely avoid mistakes during the service delivery process; thus it is important that when mistakes happen service firms take effective remedial measures to turn dissatisfied customers into satisfied ones. Drawing on consumer behavior and service marketing literature, the authors examined how customers’ judgment of service recovery justice, service quality and consumption emotions affect customer relationship and their repurchase behavior. Results of an empirical study using a sample of nearly 600 delayed airline passengers indicated that customer perceived justice, service quality, and consumption emotions influenced customer satisfaction, trust, customer repurchase intentions and word-of-mouth recommendations either directly or indirectly. Keywords: Service Recovery; Perceived Justice; Consumption Emotions; Service Quality; Trust; Customer Satisfaction

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STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR CAREERS IN TOURISM Nikolina Božinović ACMT, Dubrovnik, Croatia,

Zrinka Friganović-Sain ACMT, Dubrovnik, Croatia, E-mail: [email protected]

Barbara Perić ACMT Dubrovnik, Croatia E-mail: [email protected] Abstract

The proficiency in multiple foreign languages is a basic assumption for successful communication in tourism. It is indisputable to state that in today’s world of globalization, tourism and mobility have a significant and important role, where intercultural contacts contribute to the development of intercultural dialogue. This paper attempts to explore perceptions of students from the American College of Management and Technology (ACMT) on the importance of teaching various foreign languages. The results obtained could help in raising the awareness of the importance of the role of learning and teaching foreign languages, and, ultimately, developing and promoting tourism in Croatia. The paper lists the key definitions of multilingualism and language policy supported by the Council of Europe, and presents the results of a quantitative survey that was conducted at the ACMT in Dubrovnik. The final part of the paper specifies the implications for teaching practice, and provides guidelines for future research. Keywords: ‘Communicative Competence’, ‘Foreign Language Proficiency’, ‘Intercultural Competence’, ‘Communication in Tourism’ Introduction In today’s globalized world, the importance of knowing foreign languages is ​​ a necessity and multilingualism is viewed as an investment in the future. In order to survive in today’s business world it is important to encourage foreign language proficiency. It increases employment opportunities, creates a network of business contacts, facilitates business via the Internet and opens the door to successful business collaboration and economic prosperity. The goal of modern foreign language teaching relates primarily to the development of communicative language competence as a key competence in foreign language teaching. The mastery of appropriate language learning strategies will certainly improve the language competence in the target language. In Europe, languages have long been a fundamental and accepted part of educational programs. With the continued expansion of the European Union, European language policies are moving towards the teaching of ‘at least two foreign languages from a very early age’ and describe the

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knowledge of foreign languages as a ‘basic skill’ (Euridyce 2005, in Fernandez, 2008). The proficiency in multiple foreign languages is a basic assumption for successful communication in tourism. It is also indisputable to state that in today’s world of globalization, tourism and mobility have a significant and important role, where intercultural contacts contribute to the development of intercultural dialogue. We live in a dynamic world, therefore cultural diversity, as well as both understanding and appreciation of the language and culture of others, will make part of the global economy for the remainder of this century. Anybody from the business world already knows that it gives you an incredible edge to be able to communicate directly with your customer, without intermediaries. It creates a relationship you could never achieve if you try to do your business through an interpreter. The knowledge of foreign languages has evidently the key role in the development of tourism which has a multiple role and is viewed as economic, social and cultural activity. Therefore, it is indisputable to say that it represents one of the most important activities of the modern, contemporary society around the world, but especially in Europe (Vuković, 2006). Language Proficiency in Europe today All European educational systems are attaching ever-increasing importance to the learning of foreign languages. There is a dire need to educate multilingual and multicultural individuals in a context where the linguistic consequences of globalization are more and more evident. The globalization process is forcing European educational systems to pay more attention to the learning of foreign languages. Therefore European schools and institutions of higher education are offering courses taught in foreign languages, exposing students to teaching through the medium of foreign language. Lasagabaster (2008) points out that one of the most important issues in many European education systems is whether it is better to start foreign language teaching at an early age, or whether it is better to include content and language integrated learning at a later stage without establishing an early first contact with the foreign language. The research undertaken in naturalistic settings confirms that students who start learning foreign language at an early age ultimately achieve higher competence in the L2. Numerous empirical studies in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have shown that children who begin learning a second language before adolescence exhibit more native-like pronunciation and are more likely to become fluent speakers. The critical period hypothesis states that there is a period when language acquisition takes place naturally and effortlessly (Ellis, 1986:107). In most cases, if a person is not exposed to a language during the critical period, he or she will never be able to speak the language as fluently as someone who learned a language normally. It is argued that the optimum age for language acquisition falls within the first ten years of life. During this period the brain retains plasticity, but with the onset of puberty this plasticity begins to disappear. Recent findings in brain research indicate that the specialized functions of specific regions of the brain are not fixed at birth but are shaped by experience and learning. This means that we should promote the importance of learning more than one foreign language in the early age. It must, however, be emphasized that L2 learners vary considerably both in how quickly they learn and how

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successful they are. The evidence suggests that the explanation for this lies in differences in personal and general factors. Second language (L2) learners vary on a number of dimensions that have to do with personality, motivation, learning style, learning strategies, aptitude and age (Dörnyei, 2005). Multilingualism in European context Multilingualism is a common and increasing phenomenon in present day society which can be studied from different perspectives. The last decade has witnessed a rapid increase in interest in multilingualism. This increase is certainly linked to the commitment of the European Union to a multilingual Europe (Jessner, 2008). The language policy supported by the Council of Europe promotes teaching and learning of several foreign languages in the European educational context. In accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) it was proposed that EU citizens should be proficient in three European languages, their mother tongue (L1) and two other community languages, to ensure multilingualism as an essential characteristic feature of European identity. Multilingualism has long been of interest to researchers (e.g. Weinreich, 1953, in Kemp, 2009) but for the most part their research has been focused on sociolinguistic studies or psycholinguistic studies that have been carried on in this area (Ramsay, 1980; Nation and McLaughlin, 1986; Klein, 1995, in Kemp, 2009). However, the recent research into multilingualism has expanded into many new areas in the last 10 years. It has often been noted that experienced language learners are better at learning an additional language than learners with less experience. As Cenoz (2003) stated bilinguals have been found to be better than monolinguals at learning another language, while multilingual people have been found to be better than bilinguals in recognizing grammatical stimuli in artificial grammars (Nation and McLaughlin, 1986; Nayak et al., 1990, in Kemp, 2007) and better than monolinguals at learning another language (Klein, 1995; Ramsay, 1980, in Kemp, 2007). Multilinguals are experienced language learners who use three or more languages without necessarily having equal control of all domains in all those languages. Multilinguals may differ in increased positive effects such as motivation, attitudes and self-confidence (Ramsay, 1980), and cognitive effects such as metalinguistic awareness (Jessner, 1999, 2006, in Kemp, 2007). Kemp (2007) stated that multilinguals appear to become better at learning additional languages if they know more languages, and in particular to be faster at learning grammar. Multilinguals use a number of different strategies serving as a tool that helps them independently influence the effectiveness of foreign language learning (Oxford and Nyikos, 1989; O’Malley and Chamot, 1990; Gardner and MacIntyre, 1993). Multilingual learners also differ by their choice of learning strategies and they consciously choose strategies that suit them most. Metalinguistic and metacognitive awareness also play an important role in the development of language learning strategies in multilingual learners and users (Jessner, 2006; Moore, 2006, in Jessner, 2008). Due to their experience in language learning, multilingual learners use different strategies rather than monolingual students learning their first foreign language (McLaughlin, 1990, in Jessner, 2008). According to Ellis (1986), strategies are referred to as some forms of mental activity which occur at a specific stage in the language learning process and are not necessarily problem-oriented and conscious. Oxford (1990) defines language learning strategies as specific actions taken by the learner

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to make this learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, and more transferrable to new situations of language learning and use. Early studies of learning strategies are associated with strategies used by good language learners. The most well-known study on the good language learner, that is multilingual learners, was carried out by Naiman et al. (1978, in Jessner, 2008). In their large-scale interview study they found that the learning success of good language learners was attributed to a number of strategies, such as an active learning approach or the realization of a language as a system as well as a means of communication. A further research in this area has shown that expert language learners show a superior ability to shift strategies and restructure their internal representations of the linguistic system (Nation and McLaughlin, 1986; McLaughlin & Nayak, 1989; Nayak et al., 1990, in Jessner, 2008). One fact is obvious – students’ prior linguistic experience influences strategies which they subsequently adapt and their success in the foreign language classroom. According to the large-scale study on the language learning strategies in multilingual students in German context which was carried out by Mißler (1999, 2000, in Jessner, 2008) it was found that the increase of language learning experience was reflected in the number of strategies, which also turned out to depend on individual factors. Ender (2007, in Jessner, 2008) conducted a very interesting study, having found out that expert learners outperformed other learners who did not exploit their prior language knowledge in the same way. Kemp (2001, in Jessner, 2008) also highlighted that multilinguals pick up the grammar of another language faster, i.e. they use more grammar learning strategies. Jessner (2008) pointed out the importance of cross-linguistic influence which takes place in a multilingual system. She emphasized that the L3-learners do not rely on their L1 as expected, but on their L2. Various studies of Third Language Acquisition (TLA) and L3 have made clear that the L2 in a trilingual system has to fulfill a particular role. As described above, language learning strategies present a crucial part of multilingual development and, according to the results of recent studies, the number of strategies employed seems to increase with linguistic experience and language proficiency in the various languages in contact. In this context it is necessary to emphasize the importance of explicit strategy instruction (Božinović et al., 2011). The aim of explicit strategy instruction and the development of individualized strategy systems help learners to raise their awareness of the strategies they already use and to encourage them to develop a set of new adequate and effective strategies within a particular language context. Another objective of strategy instruction is to encourage learners’ autonomy and self-direction, in order to enable them to choose their own strategies in a spontaneous way, without constant teachers’ intervention. When this is applied to a multilingual classroom, Jessner (1999, 2008) argued that silent processes in multilinguals that are already recognized from natural language learning and usage should be made explicit in instructed language learning. Chamot and O’Malley (1994) pointed out that ‘entdeckendes Lernen’ (learning through discovery) also helps to develop procedural knowledge, and it is suggested to foster this type of learning in multilingual learners since it equips a learner to be autonomous. The process of globalization has already greatly influenced the multiplicity of social, cultural and economic aspects in Europe. It has moved and destroyed a lot of barriers and obstacles, thus creating a lot of space for multilingualism. This, on the other hand, has almost become a conditio sine qua non for a

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European language context or a trend that has a very positive impact on various economical and social activities and tourism is only one of them. Communicative language competence According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2005) communicative language competence is seen as a key competence in modern foreign language teaching. Recent theoretical and empirical research on communicative competence is largely based on three models of communicative competence: the model of Canale and Swain, the model of Bachmann and Palmer and the description of components of communicative language competence in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Bagarić et al., 2007). One of the most popular approaches of communicative competence (Canale and Swain, 1980, in Bagarić et al., 2007) defines this competence as knowledge and skills necessary for communication. Bachman and Palmer (1982, in Bagarić et al., 2007), on the other hand, consider that communicative competence is connected with morphology, syntax, lexis, cohesion and organization of the text. Tarone and Yule (1989, in Luka, 2007)) further elaborated Canale and Swain’s classifications of communicative competence and they associate communicative competence with an ability to form and understand syntax, lexis, phonology of the language and an ability to use a language according to the socio-cultural context in which it is spoken. It is also seen as an ability to effectively pass information to the partner, including an ability to use different communication strategies in order to solve problems that have arisen in the communication process. According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2005), language competence or linguistic competence refers to the knowledge of and the ability to use language resources to form well structured messages. The sub-competences of language competence are lexical, grammatical, semantic, phonological, orthographic and orthoepic competence. Sociolinguistic competence refers to the possession of knowledge and skills for an appropriate language use in a social context. It relates primarily to an understanding of other cultures, register, accent, dialects, and interaction skills. In the field of tourism, beside the communicative language ability it is extremely important to also develop the so-called intercultural competence, or the ability of successful communication between members of different cultures. The process of globalization has indeed opened many doors thus forcing us to recognize the existing differences and diversities of people living in European Union. Still, it is an ongoing process to learn how to recognize, respect and learn to appreciate those differences. According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001) knowledge, awareness and understanding of the relation between the ‘world of origin’ and the ‘world of the target community’ produce this intercultural awareness. It is, of course, important to note that intercultural awareness includes an awareness of regional and social diversity in both worlds. This process is also enriched by the awareness of a wider range of cultures than those carried by the learner’s L1 and L2. This wider awareness helps to place both languages in context. In addition to objective knowledge, intercultural awareness covers an awareness of how each community appears from the perspective of the other, often in the form of national

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stereotypes. Intercultural skills and different know-how skills include the ability to bring the culture of origin and the foreign culture into relation with each other. It also helps develop the cultural sensitivity and the ability to identify and use a variety of strategies to contact those from other cultures. Those strategies should also include the capacity to fulfill the role of cultural intermediary between one’s own culture and the foreign culture and to deal effectively with intercultural misunderstanding and conflict situations as well as the ability to overcome stereotyped relationships (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, 2001). As already stated before, in the European context languages and intercultural competence represent an economic imperative (Fernandez, 2008). It is clear that the phenomenon of globalization has led to the dramatic rise of usage of English as ‘the global language’. It is also well known that many millions of people in countries all over the world are learning this language, so the knowledge of English more and more comes to be seen as a ‘universal basic skill’ or, the language itself as lingua franca. But even though the number of people using English as a lingua franca is increasing steadily, this does not necessarily mean that this language will be the only language used in the future. This thesis is also supported by Graddol (2004, in Jessner, 2008) who points out that ‘English will indeed play a crucial role in shaping the new world linguistic order, but its major impact will be in creating new generations of bilingual and multilingual speakers across the world’. Intercultural competence for professionals in tourism and hospitality It is evident that in the field of tourism and hospitality it is extremely important to develop not only communicative language ability but also the intercultural competence, or the ability of successful communication between members of different cultures. As indicated in the thematic title of this year’s conference, tourism and hospitality are clearly seen as drivers of transition. The authors of this article feel that language is the vehicle they use in this process of transition. Nowadays, the communicative competence without the existence of awareness of cultural dimensions in the use of any language use is not complete. In the process of learning a new language it is important to be aware of its cultural aspect(s), because the knowledge of other cultures helps a learner to learn a certain language and to assess cultural values of that language (Ellis, 2005; Williams and Burden, 1999, in Luka, 2007). According to Byram (2000, in Luka, 2007), intercultural competence includes attitude, knowledge, interpretation and related skills, various discovery and interaction skills, as well as critical awareness of culture or political education. In order to develop intercultural competence, students should not only learn a foreign language, but such a process should also include intercultural training and intercultural exchange of ideas. It is evident that the knowledge and the skills acquired in this learning process will highly contribute to the development of tourism and hospitality services in general. Students of tourism, hospitality and management also have to acquire theoretical and practical cultural knowledge, which can be gained through intercultural communication and the development of intercul-

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tural competence. Intercultural competence is mostly referred to as an ability to see and understand differences in one’s own and other people’s culture, to accept them and accordingly react (in conversation and behavior, treating people in a way which is not offending or insulting to the members of other cultures). At the same time this competence includes the knowledge of one’s own nation and culture, and the awareness of its values as well as the necessity of their preservation (Luka, 2007). If we transfer this into the area of tourism and hospitality, and try to distinguish what is important to know about the language that hotel and restaurant employees use, we will soon realize that it is not only the knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary that they need to apply but they need to be aware of the importance of socio-cultural aspect as well (or, as some linguists call it, its pragmatics) (Petrovska, 2010). Although their grammatical and their lexical competence of a foreign language may be outstanding it still can cause cultural misunderstanding, or a final failure in communication with native speakers. Petrovska (2010) points out that this failure may be a result of lack of knowledge of cultural differences between the two (or more) societies, or the influence of their mother tongue and direct transfer of meaning in the other language. They simply may not know how to handle cultural differences or how to see what they are at the first place. This, for example, is of utmost importance for the communicative competence of HR employees. Language thus becomes the true manifestation of a culture and people’s value systems. According to Petrovska (2010), the language is the most important medium of human communication, since through it we express information, ideas, emotions, attitudes and so many other things. Due to multiple functions and roles of language in humans and in our societies as a whole it is crucial that we all recognize that the world we all live in is influenced by a series of interlocking cultures, and it is not a unique, uniformed cultural model. Those different cultures influence the way we perceive and view our world, and the multiplicity of such a world influences the ways we make our decisions and how we interact with others. National cultures, on the other hand, also have an enormous influence on people’s values, attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, in order to function better in the real world, people from different cultures have to negotiate, and learn how to understand and respect better the behavior and reactions of people from other cultures. The authors of this article feel that this awareness is an extremely important factor for consideration, especially in tourism since multicultural groupings are becoming more common in this area. Therefore, this approach should be part of learning strategies in teaching foreign languages to students of hospitality and tourism. SURVEY ON STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES FOR CAREERS IN TOURISM Survey objectives In the view of the aforementioned importance of foreign languages for careers in tourism, the objective of our survey was to identify the importance of knowledge of five foreign languages (English, German, Italian, French and Spanish) in improving the overall offer in the hospitality area of Dubrovnik. Additionally, we were also interested to grade the importance of this knowledge in different tourist categories in the overall tourist offer, such as cultural tourism, congress tourism, nautical tourism and ecotourism as well as to identify which foreign languages are important for specific types of tourism. Another goal

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of our survey was also to identify the importance of foreign language skills in different institutions and organizations, such as hotels, restaurants, institutions of local government, tourist board and public sector that are responsible for the development of the city of Dubrovnik as a tourist destination. Finally, the last objective of our survey was to rank the difficulty in learning of previously mentioned foreign languages on a scale from most difficult to learn to the easiest to learn. Our initial hypothesis was that English will be rated as the most important language in the tourism industry due to the fact that it is considered to be a global language (or so-called ‘lingua franca’) and that the majority of people in today’s world are constantly being exposed to this language. As a consequence, it would be easy to assume that in our survey English will be ranked as the easiest language to learn, while German or French will be ranked as the most difficult languages to learn. Methodology Instrument The importance of knowledge of foreign languages was examined by a questionnaire that was designed by the authors of this paper. This questionnaire is a semi-structured questionnaire, divided into 6 categories of questions which examine the importance of knowledge of foreign languages in specific areas of tourism. A five-point scale was used to evaluate the degree of importance of foreign languages in each tourism category (1- ‘not important’, 2- ‘slightly important’, 3- ‘moderately important’, 4- ‘very important’, 5- ‘most important’). In the first category of the questionnaire the respondents had to rate the importance of knowledge of a particular foreign language in improving the overall offer in hospitality services in Dubrovnik. In the second category the respondents had to rate the degree of importance of four categories of tourism (cultural, congress, nautical and ecotourism) in the overall offer. In the third category the respondents had to answer which foreign languages are important for specific types of tourism, and in the fourth category the respondents had to rate the degree of importance of foreign languages in mass tourism and elite tourism. In the fifth category the respondents had to rate the importance of knowledge of foreign languages in different institutions and organizations that are responsible for the development of the city of Dubrovnik as a tourist destination, i.e. in hotels, restaurants, coffee bars, institutions of local government and self-government, tourist board and public sector (medical institutions, public transportation, banks etc.) In the last category, respondents were given a task to rank the languages according to the degree of difficulty (1- ‘most difficult to learn’, 2- ‘difficult’, 3- ‘neither difficult nor easy’, 4- ‘easy’, 5 – ‘easiest’). The questionnaire also provided some demographic data on the respondents (gender, age, language learning degree, mother tongue, first (L1) and second (L2) foreign language. Participants A total of 107 respondents that are currently attending American College of Management and Technology in Dubrovnik participated in this survey. There were 58 male (54.2%) and 49 female (45.8%) respondents. 46 of them (43%) were senior students, while 61 of them (57%) were the students in their third year of study (junior students). It is important to mention that all respondents are enrolled in Hospitality and Service Management Program (HSM). 89 respondents (83.2%) were native speakers of Croatian, while 18 respondents (16.8%) were native speakers of one of the following languages: Bosnian, English, Macedo-

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nian, Montenegrin, Albanian, Serbian, German, Norwegian and Italian. For 91 respondents (85%) English was their first foreign language. 28 respondents (26.2%) took German as their second foreign language while 40 respondents took Italian (37.4%) as their second foreign language. 11 respondents (10.3%) took French as their second foreign language, 22 respondents (20.6%) took Spanish as their second foreign language, 5 respondents learned English (4.7%) as their second foreign language, and for 1 respondent (0.9%) Russian was his second foreign language. Most of our respondents had already previously studied relative foreign languages: 38 respondents (35.5%) stated that they had been studying their second foreign language for more than 6 years, 33 respondents (30.8%) stated they had been studying their second foreign language for more than two years, while 16 of them (15%) stated that they had been studying their second foreign language for already more than 4 years. As to an answer to the question how many languages they speak, 52 respondents (48.6%) declared to speak two foreign languages, 29 respondents (27.1%) three foreign languages, while 12 of them (11.2%) declared to speak four foreign languages. Data collection and analysis All the data in this questionnaire were collected during regular classes at the American College of Management and Technology and its respondents were not informed beforehand about the survey. The survey was anonymous, in order to provide sincere and honest answers to questions. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and the data from the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS 11.0 statistical program. Results and discussion Descriptive analysis is used to show the importance of knowledge of foreign languages in the improvement of the overall offer in hospitality services in Dubrovnik. As shown in Table 1, English has a role of the most important foreign language in the hospitality area in Dubrovnik, and is followed by Italian and German, and then Spanish, French and Russian. 96 of our respondents (89.7%) stated that English is the most important language, for 54 respondents (50.5%) German is very important and 56 respondents (52.3%) said that Italian is very important. M SD Min Max English 4.84 .569 1 5 German 3.71 .942 1 5 Italian 3.74 .965 1 5 French 3.31 1.094 1 5 Spanish 3.48 .945 1 5 Russian 3.21 1.147 1 5 Table 1: Descriptive statistics for dimensions of the importance of foreign languages As indicated in Table 2, our students perceived cultural tourism as the most important type of tourism, and congress tourism immediately follows. It is evident that cultural tourism plays a very important role in the tourism industry of Dubrovnik. The city authorities have also realized the importance of this type

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of tourism which can be also seen by their decision to nominate this year, 2011, as the year of cultural tourism in order to promote and support better this type of tourism in the overall tourist offer. M SD Min Max Cultural tourism 4.57 .715 1 5 Congress tourism 3.92 .859 1 5 Nautical tourism 3.76 .989 1 5 Ecotourism 3.60 1.036 1 5 Table 2: Descriptive statistics for dimensions of the types of tourism According the data that was revealed in our questionnaire for 99 respondents (92.5%) English is important for the development of cultural tourism while 104 (97.2%) respondents said that English is also important for the development of congress tourism. With regard to nautical tourism, 91 (85%) respondents said that English is important also in this type of tourism. In addition to English, 13 respondents (12.1%) stressed the importance of the Italian language in the development of nautical tourism. With respect to ecotourism, 98 respondents (91.6%) stated that English is important in the development of this type of tourism. The collected data indicate that English is very important in the development of all types of tourism, which confirms our initial hypothesis that English has become a global language. It is already a well-known fact that many millions of people in countries all over the world are learning English which more and more comes to be seen as a ‘universal basic skill’ or ‘lingua franca’. Correlation

Significance

Mean difference 3.95

Standard Deviation 1.200

t

Significance

Mass .170 p>.15 -6.756 p 224 groups), appearance of “hospitality” in the group description (224 > 32 groups), more than 10 participants (32 > 20 groups), more than 10 revenue management discussions (20 > 13 groups), more than 1000 words (13 > 11 groups). Hence, the choices of units of analysis were made on practical grounds, not on representative grounds. The structure of the data was time series, although the data on all units did not correspond to precisely the same time period. The data were manually collected between October 2008 and April 2011 (See Table 4). The raw data was directly uploaded to a free visualisation tool website (Many Eyes). Word Cloud and Word Tree visualisation techniques were used to analyse and represent the group discussions. These visual data mining techniques were considered useful as little was known about the data (Keim, 2002) and could ‘provide a quick insightful analysis of content’ (Kline et al., 2010, p.7). The analytical limitations, ‘in terms of dealing with large data sets, occlusion of data, disorientation and misinterpretation’ (Shneiderman, 1996, p.6), as well as the limitation that the effectiveness of visualisation generators can only be evaluated subjectively and in real-life application (Zhao et. al., 2005), were, therefore, accepted. On May 31, 2011 a second primary research study was carried out via an online discussion session between Revenue Management professionals. The research tool was provided by Synthetron, which provided a scalable on-line discussion platform where participants could anonymously and interactively comment, exchange and validate ideas via a structured process on a real-time basis, using their own pc’s. The outcome was a structured list of the most supported ideas of the group. The global properties of the discussion are summarised in Table 6. Number of active participants (scored and/or sent message)

46

Synthetronisation Elaboration level Messages per person Messages per person / 10 minutes Table 6 :Global Properties of Synthetron Discussion

18% 34% 8.6 1.3

A number of 46 participants were involved in this project, although, based on received post-session comments, it was observed that some properties included more than one hospitality professional (e.g. both a Revenue Management Director and General Manager were participating from the same PC). The actual amount of participants could, therefore, not be determined with absolute certainty (it was estimated around 80). The software randomly divided the participants in subgroups of five. During the online interaction in a subgroup participants sent and received opinions after which they validated the opinions. The opinions with a high average score within a subgroup became a Synthetron (i.e. a first level of synthesis). The algorithms of the software then subsequently presented these Synthetrons to another subgroup, and as long as they continued gaining support, this process was repeated for the other subgroups (Hein, 2008).

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Figure 1: Activity Analysis per User The level of aggregation of group discussions (i.e. Synthetronisation) was 18% which was above median according to the Synthetron consultant who operated the platform. The aggregation protocol thus sufficiently allowed the validation or refutation of individual opinions to arrive at collective group conclusions. As can be seen in Figure 1, the degree of contribution of various users to the generation of Synthetrons was different. LINKED-IN FINDINGS Based on the extracted datasets two Tag Cloud visualisations were created at the whole dataset and 26 at the individual data set level. Common words were iteratively indicated on the list of banned words (e.g. “hotel”, “hotels”, “just”, “also”, “richard”). Based on the whole dataset the following word-combinations appeared: “booking engine”, “channel management”, “rate parity”, and “social media” (See for example, Figure 2).

Figure 2: a Two-Word Tag Cloud of the Whole Data Set Table 7 summarises all findings of the Word Cloud and Tag Cloud visualisations at a more detailed level.

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It can be observed that the topical words “channel or (online)distribution”, “booking”, “rate(s)/price”, “rate integrity/parity”, “pricing”, “systems”, “technology”, “social media” were repeatedly among the most frequent. Dataset # of Mem- Word bers Count 1.1-1.15 26,540 140,955

1.2.

5,353

1.3.

1,388

1.4.

284

1.5.

5,205

1.6.

4,401

1.7.

420

53,690

Word Cloud Findings

Tag Cloud Findings

business, channel, free, guest(s), industry, internet, management, market, rate(s), revenue, room, sales, service, system(s), technology, website booking, distribution, channel, engine, management, manager, online, parity, pms, rate(s), revenue, system, website

booking engine, channel management, channel manager, rate parity, revenue management, revenue manager(s), social media

booking engine(s), channel management, channel manager, management system(s), online distribution, rate parity, revenue management, revenue manager(s), social media 3,617 business, channels, distribu- distribution cost, early bird, flash sales, tion, guest, management, hotel brand, hotel website, management parity, price, property, rate, software, management tool, market revenue, sales, website share, rate parity, revenue management 3,078 business, coffee, guests, sales, brand hijacking, business model(s), social, time coffee shop, corporate guest, gift shop, hotel brand hotel revenue, job title, leisure guests, rate strategies, real time, revenue management, sales agents, social media, social networking 112,409 business, free, internet, booking engine(s), channel manageservice(s), solution(s), ment, digital signature, free internet, system(s), management, guest, free wifi, internet access, management room, software, technology system, people counting, property management, social media 32,384 business, demand, managebottom line, channel management, ment, manager, price, pricing, comp(etitive) set, dynamic pricing, genrate(s), revenue, revpar, sales, eral manager, long term, management system tool, market share, price war(s), rate integrity, rate parity, revenue management, revenue manager(s), revpar index 5,588 business, guest, industry, infor- information security, payment security, mation, revenue, security, social risk management, social media

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1.11.

937

2,561

group(s), management, manag- basic skills, corporate rates, effective ers, online, revenue, travel revenue, group bookings, group business, hotel industry, hotel revenue, lack basic, revenue management, revenue manger(s), target group(s) 1.12. 4,352 4,777 Groupon, marketing, offer, affiliate partners, bed nights, booking rate(s), social engine, bottom line, buying websites, group deals, killer deals, killer offer, promotional rate, social media, social shopping, 1.13. 2,824 27,238 business, Google, managebusiness success, corporate clients, ment, market, marketing, landing page, rate tiger, revenue manoccupancy, revenue, rate(s), agement, revenue manager, room types, room, travel search engine, social media, tour operators, trade show 1.14. 782 5,884 data, demand, management, airline revenue, booking agents, credit marketing, price, pricing, rev- crunch, historical data, inventory manenue, systems agement, pricing decision, published rate, revenue management, rm systems 1.15. 472 1,826 booking, Google, management, deluxe upmarket, hotel distribution, hopricing, revenue tel revenue, revenue management, small deluxe, upmarket hotels Table 7: Overview of All Word Cloud and Tag Cloud Key Findings SYNTHETRON FINDINGS In total six subjects were discussed in the online discussion platform, which were selected on the basis of the academic literature review results, the expert opinions, and the LinkedIn outcomes. A total of 71 Synthetrons were generated. Those with a reached agreement level of medium or high are summarised in Table 8. Subject 1: What according to you have been the main changes and trends in Europe driving change in revenue management over the past five years? Total number Agreement level of Synthetrons Medium High Low Bottom 8 24 0 7 9 Table 8a: Discussed Subject and Number of Generated Synthetrons Summary: the main changes over the past five years were related to changes in distribution channels, more transparent rates, and changes in customers’ shopping behaviour. The changes in customers’ shopping behaviour were connected to “extreme shortening of booking lead time”, which made “accurate forecasting

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more challenging”, and created a need for more flexible tools “not just based on long term history”. Subject 2: In terms of pricing, what are the most urgent issues or problems you are facing right now? Total number of Agreement level synthetrons Medium High Low Bottom 2 14 0 1 11 Table 8b: Discussed Subject and Number of Generated Synthetrons Summary: most urgent issues were the unwillingness to accept dynamic rates as percentage of BAR rates, and wholesalers “selling their rates on websites like hoteltravel.com, gtahotels.com etc. in spite of contractual obligations”. Subject 3: Will the mining of customer data contribute to the future development of revenue management? What kind of development do you expect to unfold in Europe? Total number of Agreement level synthetrons Low High Medium Bottom 2 2 0 0 0 Subject 4: Do you agree with the following statement: from a forecasting perspective human oversight should be minimal and limited to special events. In other words: computers do the job, not people. Do you agree? (Poll) Total number of Agreement level synthetrons Low Bottom High Medium 8 2 10 0 0 Table 8c/d: Discussed Subject and Number of Generated Synthetrons Summary: not applicable according to the specified criteria Subject 5: In terms of organising the revenue management function, what are the most urgent organisational issues or problems you are facing right now? Total number of Agreement level synthetrons Medium High Low Bottom 1 6 0 4 1 Table 8e: Discussed Subject and Number of Generated Synthetrons Summary: hiring qualified revenue managers was one of the most urgent organisational issues participants are facing right now.

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Subject 6: What according to you will be the main changes and trends driving revenue management in Europe in the next five years? Agreement level Total number of | synthetrons High Medium Low Bottom 15 6 1 7 1 Table 8f: Discussed Subject and Number of Generated Synthetrons Summary: main changes and trends were (1) a shift of revenue management towards total revenue management focused on other revenue streams and not only on room revenue (i.e. function space management, F&B, etc.); (2) introduction of new tools to optimise pricing and (total) revenue and forecast demand; and (3) changes in GM’s background that will include revenue management background. As can be noticed from the Table 8 various levels of agreement were achieved on various subjects and only 18 Synthetrons reached agreement level of high or medium. Subject 6 (the future of revenue management) resulted in the highest agreement level, while agreement level on other subjects was lower. SYNTHESIS The findings of the academic literature review, industry expert opinions, LinkedIn groups, and Synthetron discussions were combined in an overview to explore interlinkages between major topics from all studies, and to set a practice-oriented research agenda that would enable academic-practitioner consensus (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Visual Overview of Major Topics Looking at the overall findings we adopted a “levels-categorisation” approach summarised in Table 9. All topics identified in Figure 3 were categorised in three different levels based on the adopted criteria.

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A-Level topic B-Level topic A three-level topic that is consid- A two-level topic that is considered significant by Academia AND ered significant by either AcaExperts & Opinion Leaders AND demia AND Experts & Opinion RM professionals Leaders, or Academia AND RM professionals, or Experts & Opinion Leaders AND RM professionals Table 9: Overview of levels’ categorization

C-Level topic A one-level topic that is considered significant by either academia or Experts & Opinion Leaders or RM professionals, and which is evaluated by the researcher as a topic worth investigating because of future potential to become a B or A level topic.

This categorisation led to a new overview (See Figure 4) where the following key topical areas for a practice-oriented research agenda were identified and highlighted: • Level-A topics: (1) Pricing; (2) Forecasting; (3) Systems; (4) Human Element; (5) CRM and Customer–Centric RM • Level-B topics: (1) Education/skills; (2) Value chain optimisation • Level-C topics: (1) Auctions NB: in the figure differences in keywords were observed as stakeholders attributed different names to similar concepts (i.e. A4. is mentioned both as “organisational implementation” and “human element”).

Figure 4: Identified A-, B- and C-Level topics

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Whilst there is conformity between findings of the academic, expert & opinion leaders and RM professionals, it was observed that the nature of issues raised by revenue management professionals were of a more immediate and operational concern, whilst academia and experts & opinion leaders paid attention to issues of a more strategic and long-term point of view. PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS This paper reports on a study that seeks directions for future research that enables bridging both concerns about academic rigour and industry relevance in revenue management. It has identified the following research topics suitable for making an original contribution to knowledge in academia as well as utilisation and valorisation in industry: (1) pricing, (2) forecasting, (3) systems, (4) human element, and (5) CRM and customer–centric RM. Furthermore, as academics, experts, opinion leaders, and hospitality professionals bring in different perspectives, choosing the right research partners is key to developing research that bridges both academic and professional knowledge demands. For example, research into CRM and RM system integration, and its effect on forecasting accuracy, would benefit from having research project partners both at the property (e.g. a revenue manager) and manufacturer (e.g. a software developer) level. Moreover, the choice of partners will depend on the level category of a topic. For example, as auctions are considered a necessary direction for future academic research, taking on a property level industry research partner will not likely help to decrease the overall industry criticism that academics only publish for each other as industry’s knowledge needs lay in another area. For such c-level topic it would be more feasible to set up a partnership with an industry expert and opinion leader, before bringing in property level partners. In addition, the longer it will take to enable utilisation or valorisation of research (e.g. Ph.D. research), the wiser it will be to pick either a level-b or level-a category topic in order to capture opportunities that narrow the gap between real-life operational need and academic inquiry. REFERENCES Armstrong, J.S. (2003). Discovery and Communication of Important Marketing Findings:evidence and proposals. Journal of Business Research, 56(1), 69–84. Armstrong, J.S. (2004). Does an Academic Paper contain Useful Knowledge? No (p