This study is Work In Progress and focuses on Phase 1 of the proposed study. Phase 2 will be implemented in spring 2011. The purpose of phase 1 is to introduce ESI (Economic Sentiment Indicator) to the field of tourism demand studies. The proposed study is intended to develop a demand model in...

Drawing from contingency theory and the concept of entrepreneurship, this study investigates the viability of the small-scale agritourism business by identifying the environmental and operational characteristics unique to agritourism businesses and proposing a model to explain owner behavior in...

This study examines the accuracy of various time series models in forecasting daily levels of occupancy. A reservation data set of 3 hotels that include over 3450 booking curves is used to test the performance of five models in forecasting occupancy levels up to 99 days in advance. Three...

Relationship/collaborative selling, as opposed to traditional, transaction oriented selling, stresses the need to form relationships with prospects and customers across all stages of the buyer-seller relationship (Jolson, 1997). The problem is that applying the relationship selling process to...

The offer of vacation packages is a marketing tool called bundling, selling at least two separate products at one single price (Guiltinan, 1987). Sellers adopt bundling strategies in order to sell more at lower costs, to contract consumer surplus, and to create value for consumers. Consumers...

The objective of this study was to uncover the critical success factors that have significant value-added impacts on corporate acquisitions in the lodging industry. Specifically, this study attempted to systematically discover evidence about the determinants of a successful pre-acquisition...

Understanding the choice behavior of customers is crucial for effective service management and marketing in the hospitality industry. The first purpose of this dissertation is to examine the differential effects that cognitive, affective, and sensory attributes have on consumer hotel choice. The...

There is much anecdotal evidence and academic argument that the location of a business influences its value. That is, some businesses appear to be worth more than others because of their location. This is particularly so in the tourism industry. Within the domain of the destination literature,...

As more companies enter the international market, the need for skilled expatriate managers will continue to grow. This demand for skilled expatriate managers is particularly evident when high international standards of service are desired for serving guests from disparate locations. Although...

AbstractSocial responsibility and ethics have been shown to have a positive influence on consumer behavior, however the vast majority of related research has measured this relationship indirectly through scenario analysis of hypothetical firms rather than consumers' perceptions of real-world...