Preliminary evidence from animal and human studies shows that gut microbiota composition and levels of microbiota-derived metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), are associated with blood pressure (BP). We hypothesized that faecal microbiota composition and derived metabolites may be differently associated with BP across ethnic groups. We included 4672 subjects (mean age 49.8 ± 11.7 years, 52% women) from six different ethnic groups participating in the HEalthy Life In an Urban Setting (HELIUS) study. The gut microbiota was profiled using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Associations between microbiota composition and office BP were assessed using machine learning prediction models. In the subgroups with the largest associations, faecal SCFA levels were compared in 200 subjects with lower or higher systolic BP. Faecal microbiota composition explained 4.4% of the total systolic BP variance. Best predictors for systolic BP included Roseburia spp., Clostridium spp., Romboutsia spp., and Ruminococcaceae spp. Explained variance of the microbiota composition was highest in Dutch subjects (4.8%), but very low in South-Asian Surinamese, African Surinamese, Ghanaian, Moroccan and Turkish descent groups (explained variance <0.8%). Faecal SCFA levels, including acetate (P < 0.05) and propionate (P < 0.01), were lower in young Dutch participants with low systolic BP. Faecal microbiota composition is associated with BP, but with strongly divergent associations between ethnic groups. Intriguingly, while Dutch participants with lower BP had higher abundances of several SCFA-producing microbes, they had lower faecal SCFA levels. Intervention studies with SCFAs could provide more insight in the effects of these metabolites on BP.

Tourism is facing an unprecedented crisis whose sheer scope is dictating global transformation of the industry. The aim of this paper is to explore how different countries and destinations responded to the initial blow of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what is expected in the recovery and restart phases. A crisis management model was developed using data from 31 interviews with tourism organizations. The findings help identify the actions required to build resilience, emphasizing the responsibilities and interventions that can achieve tourism restoration. We point out implications for theory and practice in terms of incorporating policymakers’ perceptions, while also informing tourism organizations about policy development and the reformulation of strategies. This might support countries and destinations choosing the right path in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the negative and taking advantage of the positive repercussions.

Regional business development is driven by family firms, which are generally deeply embedded in their region, particularly in rural areas. This study explores how family entrepreneurs’ embeddedness drives an entrepreneurial ecosystem as a regional context for innovation. For this purpose, the study brings together entrepreneurship research on embeddedness and on ecosystems, and develops the entrepreneurial ecosystem embeddedness framework to better understand the connection of entrepreneurs to their local environment along three dimensions. Analyzing qualitative interviews from the hospitality context with a pattern matching approach, we highlight the role of family entrepreneurs’ (1) horizontal embeddedness in the economic and socio-political environment, their (2) vertical embeddedness in industry regimes, in particular the family, and their (3) spatial embeddedness in the region for value creation. Thereby we contribute to a differentiated understanding of how embeddedness as a social fabric relates to entrepreneurial ecosystems. The propositions of this study recommend raising awareness for managing entrepreneurs’ embeddedness along these three dimensions since unilateral engagement and a lack of coordinated embeddedness can restrict value creation.

Responsible tourism implies that all actors involved in tourism take responsibility for their actions. The concept of responsible tourism has been extensively addressed in tourism research and practice. However, studies analyzing the tourists’ contribution to responsible tourism have been neglected. Considering that tourists have the potential to contribute to economic, environmental socio-cultural, and institutional sustainability, this study focuses on the role tourists can play in responsible tourism. It also examines how responsible behavior among tourists has been triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, drawing on a planned behavior perspective by concentrating on the tourist contribution to sustainable tourism, responsible tourism behavior is investigated by means of 19 semi-structured interviews. The study found that tourists are not only sensitive to sustainability but that they also behave responsibly both on site and in their travel choices. At the same time, tourists pass the buck to suppliers and providers by requesting rules, information and opportunities for responsible tourism to be created. In this regard, implications for theory and practice can be derived by informing suppliers and providers about their requested responsibilities, as well as by adding a crisis perspective to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).

The link between sports and tourism has been widely researched. In this context, many studies have focused on sports event (SEs), finding that SEs provide a multitude of opportunities but also face many challenges at a local level. Despite the academic interest in the sports event tourism field, there is still little synthesis and no overview of research directions. Therefore, we proposed answering three research questions (RQs): What do we know today about the tourism perspectives of sports events? (RQ1); What are the main tourism implications of a sports event? (RQ2); What are the most and least investigated streams of research in this specific field of study? (RQ3). To answer these questions we conducted a systematized literature analysis including worldwide literature published between June 2000 and October 2020. Based on the findings, we provided insights into six clusters and their characteristics and highlighted major avenues to describe how SEs provide unique assets for tourism host destinations. Finally, we drew attention to important implications for future research, particularly in the context of the role of events for tourism recovery in the post-COVID-19 time.

Investment in leadership development programs (LDPs) does not reliably increase leaders’ competence in core socioemotional skills related to self-management, self-awareness, and relationship-building with employees. Training programs focused on self-leadership, in combination with mindfulness practices, have the potential to address this gap. However, robust research that assesses the suitability and efficacy of such programs is lacking. In this article, the results of a systematic review of the literature on self-leadership and mindfulness in the context of LDPs are reported. A total of 52 articles were selected from an initial pool of 284 articles, subjected to textual analysis, and coded in terms of the reported impact levels for all of the examined training programs. This study revealed that training in self-leadership competencies and skills improved stress resilience, job performance and satisfaction, and positive attitudes and increased leaders’ abilities to organize and motivate their teams. Mindfulness training was strongly linked to stress reduction and self-regulation as well as to enhanced sleep and reduced burnout. Mindfulness also appeared to improve job performance and emotional regulation and to increase the ability to establish positive relationships with employees.