In the present generational context, talent management approaches and practices have evolved from the stage of “war for talent”, defined by competitiveness and elitism, to a more collaborative and inclusive “post-war stage”. Innovative solutions are increasingly important. In this framework, the main aim of the paper is to confirm that reverse mentoring, a talent management practice which appeared as a response to the necessity to bridge the present generational gap, can be considered a valuable approach in hospitality. Two case studies on the successful implementation of reverse mentoring in Swiss hospitality are presented: the Shadow Comex (Accor) and the ExCom-Y (Mövenpick). Results of a focus-group discussion on the topic of identifying the attitudes and opinions of Romanian employees regarding the implementation of reverse mentoring in hotels are further analyzed. Results support the idea that reverse mentoring has developed and offers great potential for innovation. The present study offers interesting and useful ideas to companies in hospitality on how to implement reverse mentoring. Results from the group discussion demonstrate that Romanian employees have high expectations and innovative approaches regarding the implementation of reverse mentoring, similar to the employees from Switzerland, but they lack trust in their employers regarding the real possibility to implement it.

Several challenges regarding the European tourism industry were recently identified at EU level which the experts of the European Commission tried to meet, thus formulating several priorities within the newest Tourism Action Framework: Stimulate long-term competitiveness in the European tourism sector, promote the development of sustainable and high-quality tourism, and consolidate the image and promotion of European tourist destinations. Due to the new generational context, information and communications technology ICT and innovation became keywords within the most recent European Tourism Policy. Considering the symbiotic relationship that exists at the European tourism level between sustainable development, innovative ICT solutions, and long-term competitiveness, the decision-makers in European destinations should focus on identifying innovative ways to implement the new Tourism Action Framework adopted by the European Commission, through ICT applications, in order to support long-term competitiveness achievement. Two such authentic proposals are formulated within the present discussion paper: the creation of a decision support system for the management of sustainable European destinations and the development of a trip-planner for quality-sensitive tourists based on an umbrella European certification/labeling system for tourism quality. There is still a fertile field in these areas and, therefore, more innovative ICT tools to support the long-term competitiveness of European tourist destinations can be developed.

There is direct correlation between building powerful destination brands and the degree to which tourists and locals share the brands values. The massive penetration of the active population by Generation Y has generated a major shift in tourism marketing, based on the profile of this cohort. The members of Generation Y are very different from previous generations. The so-called “digital natives” share high technological proficiency; they like to share their skills; they are disloyal consumers; and they are affected by trends. In order to connect with members of Generation Y and to actively involve them into the life of tourist destinations, viral, participative, interactive, networked and versatile marketing techniques should be employed. This article introduces the Intelligent Solution for Brand Culturalization (CUBIS) Project, which is a collaborative research initiative that offers to Destination Management Organizations an innovative idea of how to connect the members of Generation Y with destination brands using information and communication technologies (ICT). The CUBIS Project aims to create emotional attachment with the brand values and supports the adoption of the brand by young locals and tourists. The CUBIS idea is flexible and highly adaptable to other destinations. The article uses exploratory qualitative research in the form of a case study.

The contemporary world is facing a real crisis due to the depletion of basic resources, consumerism and the unprecedented proliferation of physical and mental diseases that are caused by unhealthy nutrition and eating habits. The training of future specialists in the food industry with a high level of emotional intelligence, responsible both for themselves and for others, can be a useful strategy for getting out of the crisis. This was the general objective of the present research, whose statistical hypotheses aimed at increasing the level of empathy of students enrolled in two academic programs of study in the food industry by introducing four consumer psychology modules targeting emotional awareness and moral identity. The applied experimental treatment consisted of the students going through the activities of the four modules, with each module having a triarchic structure: teaching–self-testing–reflective writing. The design used was quasi-experimental, with a single group taking a pretest–posttest measurement. The results obtained support previous research efforts that had the same objective—to contribute to increasing millennial students’ levels of empathy and awareness of their own emotions. Additionally, using the pedagogical techniques of self-testing and reflective writing proved useful in achieving the set objective.

In television advertising, persuasiveness is evident, often escalating into manipulativeness. Advertisement creators employ strategies that media advertising discourse allows them to use. As with cinematic art, commercials often contain a micro-narrative that simulates reality. Synchronously, they employ other expressive devices, both verbal and non-verbal. These devices possess properties that enable advertising to access the realm of human unconscious thought. Metaphor and metonymy, as cognitive operations, are fundamental in natural language, often used unconsciously by language users. Their iconicity and invariance are strategically and creatively exploited in advertising, where they are accumulated or combined. The multi-level semantics of advertising may not always be fully understood by the recipient. The study considers advertising as a multimodal discourse. The focus of analysis is on multimodal metaphors and multimodal metonymies in selected television advertisements. The study is conducted in accordance with the principles of cognitive linguistics.