The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has had a major impact on most societies worldwide, including the closure of non-essential businesses in spring 2020. The present study considers its impact upon gambling behavior. Particularly, changes in self-reported gambling by Swiss, land-based casino players are examined. The main characteristics of respondents who played or did not play during lockdown are also investigated. This study is embedded in an ongoing longitudinal study that examines the gambling behavior of casino players at three points in time. All respondents who had participated in the first wave of the longitudinal study by the cut-off date (15th March 2020) were asked about their gambling behavior during lockdown in a supplementary online survey three weeks after the end of lockdown. A total of 55% of the 110 respondents reported having played during lockdown. Gambling intensity significantly decreased (p < 0.001) in our sample. Considering only those respondents (n = 66) who reported having gambled during lockdown, gambling intensity also decreased (p < 0.001), but online gambling significantly increased (p < 0.002). Those players who have increased their gambling activity require particular attention. It is important that casinos respond with appropriate player protection measures to those who have increased their gambling activity during the pandemic.

Hospitality has been identified as one of the vital enhancing services of tourism organizations. However, insights about how tourists perceive the hospitality of touristic service providers and how these perceptions vary between guests of different origins are still scarce. Using the case of Switzerland, we conducted a survey of 600 tourists to investigate the different perceptions of hospitality by domestic and international guests in touristic service encounters. The results confirm the idea that domestic tourists are more demanding and less satisfied with the hospitality of touristic service providers than international guests. The regression analyses further indicate that tourists’ gender and age influence their hospitality perceptions. Importance–performance analyses on single dimensions of the hospitality concept suggest that touristic service providers’ professional expertise is a key area in which to improve the hospitality perceptions of both domestic and international tourists.

Zusammenfassung Souvenirs spielen in der Tourismuswirtschaft sowohl auf der Nachfrage- als auch auf der Angebotsseite eine wichtige Rolle. Dieser Artikel identifiziert die zentralen Gästebedürfnisse und Motive im Souvenirkauf mit speziellem Fokus auf nachhaltig produzierten Souvenirs. Im Rahmen eines angewandten Forschungsprojekts mit fünf Praxispartnern wurde eine quantitative Nachfrageanalyse durchgeführt, welche die Basis für die anschließende Entwicklung und Produktion innovativer, nachhaltiger Souvenirs bildet. Die Nachfrageanalyse bietet neue Erkenntnisse zum Kaufverhalten verschiedener Gästetypen in der Schweiz sowie zu den Bedürfnissen und der Zahlungsbereitschaft im Bereich nachhaltiger Souvenirs. Daraus werden zentrale Handlungsansätze für Destinationen zur Optimierung ihres Souvenirangebots und dessen Vermarktung abgeleitet.