Hospitality and Tourism: Books

Make the most of your online business resources The growing acceptance and use of the Internet as an increasingly valuable travel tool has tourism and hospitality businesses taking a critical look at their business-to-customer online environments while pondering such questions as, "How do I get people to visit my Web site?" "Is my Web site attracting the 'right' kind of e-consumers?" and "How do I turn browsers into buyers?" The Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Tourism, and the Internet analyzes the latest strategies involving Internet business applications that will help you attract--and keep--online travel customers. Researchers from the United States, Europe, and Asia present the latest findings you need to make the right decisions regarding long-term e-commerce development and planning. The Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Tourism, and the Internet examines vital issues affecting the travel and tourism industry from an online perspective. This book analyzes the latest theory and research on general online buyer characteristics, the differences between online and offline consumer behavior, the differences between broadband and narrowband users, the online search process, quality and perception of lodging brands, and Web site design, maintenance, and development. Each section of the book includes a model/diagram that serves as an overview of the topic, followed by a thorough discussion on the topic from several sources. Each section ends with commentary on the areas where future research is needed. The book's contributors use a variety of research methodologies ranging from qualitative data analyses using artificial neutral network analysis, to experimental design, non-parametric statistical tests, and structural equation modeling. Topics examined in the Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Tourism, and the Internet include: the need for businesses to use internal examinations to determine and meet online consumer needs the emerging field of e-complaint behavior--consumers taking to the Web to voice complaints about travel services how to use e-tools to measure guest satisfaction how to measure consumer reaction to Web-based technology the Internet's impact on decision making for travel products and how to use e-mail marketing, electronic customer relationship management (eCRM), Web positioning, and search engine placement The Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Tourism, and the Internet is equally valuable as a classroom resource or professional reference, providing up-to-date material on Internet applications and their impact on consumers and e-commerce.

The planning, design, management and marketing of experiences for tourism markets is a major challenge for tourism destinations and providers in a globalized and highly competitive market. This book bridges the gap in contemporary literature by carefully examining the management and marketing of tourism experiences.  It has the following specific objectives: first to analyse the main issues and challenges related to tourism experience management and marketing; second, to present and discuss adequate analytical frameworks and tools; third to explore the adoption and implementation of approaches to managing and marketing experiences in various tourism contexts and industries; and finally to present and discuss case studies illustrating approaches adopted, methods implemented and best practices in addressing related issues. The book concludes by providing strategic management and marketing implications and recommendations for tourism businesses and destinations to enable them to successfully create, manage, market and evaluate tourism experiences.

Marketing Places and Spaces' covers a broad range of issues that hospitality and tourism executives will benefit from addressing, but frequently forget to do so. To provide an indication of the broad range and exciting coverage of issues, here are a few titles of the 21 chapters in the volume: Conceptualizing the Value Co-creation Challenges for Tourist Destinations: a Supply-Side Perspective; The Emotional Attachment Built through the Attitudes and Managerial Approach to Place Marketing and Branding - The Golden City of Kremnica, Slovakia; Events as a Differentiation Strategy for Tourist Destinations; How do Tourists Turn Space into Place? - A Conceptualisation for Sustainable Place Marketing; the Influence of Slow City in the Context of Sustainable Destination Marketing; Wedding-based Tourism Development: Insights from an Italian Context.Authors include tourism researchers working in Finland, UK, Macau, Japan, New Zealand, and beyond. A practical strategy guide and an in-depth complement with extensions to Elizabeth Gilbert's 'Eat Pray Love' for hospitality and tourism professionals and educators is the relevant perspective that 'Marketing Places and Spaces' provides.

The book aims to address topics such as tourism education and its development in the latter part of the twentieth century, taking "tourism" to be a broader field than "hospitality." The term "hospitality" refers to all operations or services encompassing accommodation and food/beverage facilities at the micro level, whereas "tourism" stands for the other elements at the macro level, including business, destination, and transportation operations. Moving from the generic to the specific, this book is divided into three main parts. Part I starts from a more generic perspective, and is entitled "Tourism Management." It comprises seven chapters by 13 scholars. Part 2 has a more moderate focus, and is entitled "Hospitality Management". It includes seven chapters contributed by 15 scholars from across the world. Part 3 is entitled "Education and Training in Tourism and Hospitality", and covers a range of topics from both tourism and hospitality. This last part consists of six chapters contributed by 13 scholars from four continents.

This volume addresses the transformative power of tourism social media and offers novel theoretical and methodological approaches to its academic investigation. Acknowledging the collective value creation mechanisms of new media, the authors explore how technology nurtures, augments and modifies social or commercial interactions in tourism. The book emphasizes the role of fantasy and imagination in fluid tourism experiences and critically scrutinizes contested concepts pertaining to human interaction in cyberspace, such as equality, anonymity, transparency, democratization, and publicity culture. The chapters summon insights from Media Studies, Actor-Network Theory, Communicative Action and Symbolic Convergence among others, and offer a palette of emerging methods suitable for academic enquiries of virtual worlds. The theoretical grounding, empirical evidences, and interdisciplinary analysis of the anthology expand the actual research agenda and shed light on conceptual tensions and ambiguities in the present literature. As such, Tourism Social Media: Transformations in Identity, Community and Culture contributes to increasing research reflexivity in tourism studies at large.

Even in challenging economic times, the hospitality industry is one career field that has consistently proven itself to hold out against difficult financial circumstances. Hundreds of thousands of new job posts are added each year to the already over twelve million people working in the events, food, lodging, and tourism industries. In these pages, exciting work opportunities in these four subcategories of the hospitality field are served up with a smile, giving readers practical steps to finding and excelling in their dream job as a chef, an event coordinator, a museum guide, or in one of the many other exciting jobs explored here.

Written for high school and undergraduate students, this series will help students explore their futures, and set goals in these exciting and growing fields. This title examines 20 occupations in hospitality and tourism which encompasses the management, marketing and operations of restaurants, lodging, attractions, recreation events and other travel related services. Careers covered in the text include Chef, Cosmetologist, Fitness Trainer, Florist, Gardener, Hotel Manager, Interior Designer, Pilot, Sailor, Travel Agent, and many more. Chapters provide an inside-look at the career options within a particular profession, including: Overview: Sphere of Work A Day in the Life Work Environment: Physical, Human, Technological Education & Training: Schooling, Licensing, Adult Job Seekers Earnings & Advancement Areas with the Highest Employment Levels Employment Outlook Associations & Business Contacts to Jumpstart Networking Plus... Famous Firsts, Occupation Specialties, Skills & Abilities, Fun Facts Conversations with Real Professions, including "What I Wish I Had Known"

A career in hospitality can be both challenging and rewarding, but it is hardly ever boring. Workers in this field must be service-oriented and enjoy working with people. Although hospitality jobs are affected by the ups and downs of the economy, travel is commonplace in modern society and essential for many businesses, contributing to steady opportunities for hospitality workers. Hospitality looks at three core sectors of this industry: lodging, restaurants, and gaming. It explains how these businesses work, what opportunities they provide, and what it takes to succeed. Written in clear, accessible language, this new resource covers the full scope of hospitality careers, including tips for success, an in-depth glossary, and current and future trends.

According to the American Hotel and Lodging Association, tourism is currently the third largest retail industry in the United States, behind automotive and food stores. People who work in the travel and hospitality industry make their living by helping others enjoy themselves. Career Opportunities in Travel and Hospitality profiles occupations in a wide variety of areas, including travel and tourism services, hotels and lodging, specialty resorts and cruise ships, recreation, restaurants and culinary, casinos and gaming, and communications. Complete with a foreword by the president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, this new book features more than 75 job profiles, plus appendixes listing educational programs, professional associations, major employers, industry resources, and more.

Top Careers in Two Years: Hospitality, Human Services, and Tourism explores some of the many lucrative and popular careers in this stimulating field for high school graduates who believe four years of higher education is not the right choice for them.Job profiles include: caterer; chef; event planner; food and beverage manager; funeral home worker; hotel manager; massage therapist; recreation worker; retirement home manager; and, travel agent.