Purpose: Few papers address innovation activities among tourism entities. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the extent to which the theoretical framework of network orchestration can explain the system of relations underlying roles and behaviors of tourism actors in collaborative innovation settings. Design/methodology/approach: Using interview data collected from destination management organizations and their destination partners within two polar-sampled North American destinations, this study identifies relationships which underlie the behaviors of tourism and hospitality actors engaged in collaborative innovative activities. To understand these relationships, this study abductively imposes the emergent theoretical framework of network orchestration and offers practical implications for conducting successful innovation among tourism collaborators. Findings: First, orchestration of knowledge mobility processes in collaborative innovation settings is associated with trust, perceived fairness and the search for experts within the network. Second, orchestration of innovation appropriability processes is associated with forging shared ownership and knowledge exchange with “dissimilar” partners. Third, orchestration of network stability processes is associated with enhancing the reputation of influential actors within the tourism destination, and shared visioning of future innovation outcomes. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the collaborative innovation landscape by testing the emerging theoretical framework of network orchestration and proposing practical implications for hospitality and tourism actors engaged in innovative activities. The research further demonstrates the value of abductive reasoning for elucidating theory from interview evidence and proposes a model for future studies on collaborative innovation networks.

This study investigates the effects of religion on perceived risks associated with travel to China. A sample of 223 international travelers answered questions about the travel risks associated with travel to China, their religious affiliation, and the strength of their religious beliefs—their religiosity. A principal components analysis identified five risk dimensions: “Value risk,” “Physical/Psychological risk,” “Health risk,” “Terrorism/Social risk,” and “Equipment/Satisfaction risk.” Regression analyses identified statistically significant positive relationships between religiosity and perceived travel risks while holding experience constant. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and a series of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests revealed significant differences in the perceived travel risks across religious affiliations. Across all five risk dimensions, travelers who reported a religious affiliation perceived more risk than nonreligious travelers did. Religiosity, religious affiliation, and the perceived risk dimensions also discriminated among preferred travel styles for a future trip to China. Implications of the study's results are discussed, and limitations and recommendations for future research presented.

This paper examines the effects of hotels' discounting practice on potential travellers' perceptions of a destination and their visitation intentions. The study adopts an experimental design, using a survey method with scenarios to accomplish its goal. The authors take Philadelphia as the destination and apply various statistical analyses to the data, including t-test, ANOVA and multiple regression. The findings suggest that a hotel's discounting practice does not hurt, but rather enhances potential visitors' perceptions of the destination.

Locational analysis addresses the position of tourism units and the distribution of flows among them. The tourism units in question can range from individual facilities to geographic regions. Locational analysis can be used to evaluate the observed performance of existing tourism units and provide prescriptive guidance when locating new ones. It can also be used in the regional analysis of resources . Making good decisions about location is a key criterion which drives accessibility and exposure to potential tourists, interacts with management strategy, aids product differentiation, and contributes to service quality. The context and method draw upon central place theory, Reilly’s law of retail gravitation, quantitative economic geography, regional science, and spatial econometrics. Locational analysis can be thought of as the spatial expression of tourism demand and supply . Typically, these studies share a methodology that relates dependent variables that measures success (number of est ...