This study sheds new light on the importance of perceived object-related authenticity for a positive tourism experience. We used a novel method of categorizing tourists based on their objective and constructive authenticity perceptions. The authors hypothesized that authenticity perception type would affect tourists’ positive experiences more than other factors. Specifically, differences among authenticity perception types in existential authenticity, satisfaction, and memorability scores were investigated using on-site surveys. The effect was empirically tested in settings with conflicting characteristics: original and re-created heritage sites in South Korea. The results suggest that tourists had more existentially authentic, satisfactory, and memorable experiences when they perceived the site as more objectively authentic. This had a greater impact on positive experience than setting and authenticity orientations. This study makes theoretical contributions by uncovering the relationality of objective and constructive authenticities, which also has implications for practitioners, as it significantly and positively contributes to tourists’ experiences.

Purpose: In-depth interviews were conducted with practitioners and experts in this field. Collected data were qualitatively analyzed both inductively and deductively using a two-stage approach. The UTAUT2 framework was used for deductive analysis.Design/methodology/approach: The impact of COVID-19 on the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry resulting in the adoption of virtual and hybrid events inspired this study to explore the potential impact, sustainability, applicability and limitations of the Metaverse technology on the future of the MICE industry.Findings: Five themes and six factors of Metaverse adoption emerged. The findings suggest that Metaverse technology has limitations in achieving the purpose and function of live events and that its impact on the MICE industry in the future may not be significant. However, its advantages for certain events in reducing barriers to participation, promotional impact and providing entertaining experience were outlined.Research limitations/implications: This study highlights the opportunities and challenges of adopting Metaverse technology, providing insights into preparing for and responding to environmental changes in this industry. This study concludes that Metaverse technology should be seen as a differentiated experience rather than the enhancement. It recommends future research to include younger professionals and event attendees, who are more familiar with digital technology.Originality/value: This empirical research extends previous literature in the impacts of Metaverse on tourism industry that were mostly limited to conceptual discussions. Additionally, this study is one of a few studies to approach Metaverse adoption from suppliers’ standpoint.

The rapid proliferation of peer-to-peer short-term vacation rentals has sparked a debate regarding their impact on housing markets. This study further investigates this issue by examining the effect of Airbnb on relative rent costs in San Francisco. The research addresses a critical gap in understanding whether Airbnb financially burdens local renters within different income groups. The authors also differentiated the effect of Airbnb accommodations with different levels of commercialization by categorizing Airbnb listings based on their level of commercialization. Using the multiscale geographically weighted regression technique, this study also considered spatial variations in the relationship between short- and long-term rental markets. The findings indicate that the density of Airbnb only affects the relative rent of renters with a yearly household income between USD 50,000 and USD 75,000. Furthermore, the density of Airbnb listings from more commercialized hosts that own between three and eleven showed a positive relationship with the relative rent cost. This study highlighted the variability in the impact of Airbnb on the local community by income group, listing characteristic, and geographic region. This finding underscores the need for differentiated regulation toward peer-to-peer accommodations, as the impact on rent affordability varies by host commercialization level and renter income group.

Resilience has emerged as a critical focus in tourism studies, but the literature on tourismresilience is still embryonic and largely conceptual. This study presents a novel approach thatis designed for pre-event assessment of tourism sector resilience. We tested the index bypredicting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on South Korean and US domestic tourism.Tourism sectors with diversified and balanced demand experienced a greater disruption.Nonetheless, these destinations were able to recover quickly and attract more tourists afterrecovery. The findings demonstrate that the index captures the responsiveness of the tourismsector. With high versatility and low data requirements, our resilience assessment tool offersopportunity to advance our understanding of tourism resilience and inform policy decisions.