Andrew Maclaren

Commercial hospitality: a vehicle for the sustainable empowerment of Nepali women

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how commercial hospitality has catalysed sustainable social change in Nepal through empowering women. Utilising a new framework, developed by combining existing theories, empowerment of women tea house owners/managers is assessed. Design/methodology/approach – Within a critical feminist paradigm, primary research consisting of interviews and participant observation was undertaken over a three‐month period in the central region of Nepal. Findings – Involvement in the hospitality industry improved the livelihoods of the women tea house owners/managers, it also has the potential to facilitate sustainable empowerment for future generations, providing them with education, choice, control and opportunities. Research limitations/implications – Although steps are taken to limit rhetorical issues, language barriers could have influenced the findings of the interviews. To fully investigate the potential for hospitality to act as a vehicle for the sustainable empowerment of women, it is suggested that this study be replicated again in another region or that a detailed ethnographic study be carried out. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates how the commercial hospitality industry can be a force for good; women working in the industry are agents of change, actively improving their levels of empowerment in their immediate environment. The commercial hospitality industry has pioneered the empowerment of women and this could lay the foundation for the further emancipation of women. Originality/value – To date, there has been limited research into the relationship between involvement in the commercial hospitality sector and the empowerment of women; this paper begins to fill this gap by investigating a tourist region of Nepal.

Love motels: oriental phenomenon or emergent sector?

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the “love motel” concept by examining the changing attitude of consumers in Taiwan. This will increase knowledge of the sector and define love motels.Design/methodology/approach – The literature review charts the development of Taiwanese love motels from a dual origin: American motels and Japanese “love hotels.” This is followed by an empirical qualitative study consisting of a two‐stage collection strategy: focus groups of hospitality and tourism professionals to gather a wide range of opinions on the subject area, followed by semi‐structured interviews with consumers.Findings – The findings split into three interrelated areas: growth of Taiwanese love motels due to more liberal attitudes towards sexual practice; a change in the public perception of motels due to increased standards and an increased satisfaction with the personal consumption experience; these hotels are designed for couples.Research limitations/implications – The empirical element of the study is an e...

Enterprise in the American West: Taverns, inns and settlement development on the frontier during the 1800s

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore commercial hospitality enterprise and its impact on settlement development in the American West during the 1800s, focussing on the story of the Fanthorp Inn in Texas, USA.Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the theory relating to entrepreneurial opportunity and applies it to the historical case of the Fanthorp Inn, Texas, USA. The methodological approach of the paper is based on an in‐depth study into the development of one tavern using multiple sources of evidence.Findings – First, opportunity on the frontier was controlled to the extent that it became objective in the Kirznerian sense. Second, commercial hospitality enterprise was used as a vehicle for settlement development in frontier America.Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited by its use of one case study and the scarcity of sources of historical evidence. Further studies could engage with different examples of frontier hospitality businesses and develop the method fu...

A call for renewal in tourism ethnographic research: the researcher as both the subject and object of knowledge

Our critique of tourism ethnographic research argues that too much existing published work tends to cite preceding studies as methodological precedents without stating how particular approaches were operationalised. Moreover, findings are often presented as individual cases with limited utility in terms of theory-building or wider understanding of contextual phenomena. We argue that closer attention first to current developments within anthropology which seek to overcome researcher naivety and, second, greater philosophical reflexivity would elevate both the rigour with which such work is undertaken and the seriousness with which it is received in the wider academy. We call for a double-reflexivity in ethnographic research in tourism that accepts both the specific situational nature of individual studies and the wider discursive frames within which they are embedded. We call for constant reflection on, and acknowledgement of, this duality in ethnographic research where, after all, the researcher is so intimately embedded in empirical and subjective terms.

Enterprise in the American West

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore commercial hospitality enterprise and its impact on settlement development in the American West during the 1800s, focussing on the story of the Fanthorp Inn in Texas, USA.Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the theory relating to entrepreneurial opportunity and applies it to the historical case of the Fanthorp Inn, Texas, USA. The methodological approach of the paper is based on an in‐depth study into the development of one tavern using multiple sources of evidence.Findings – First, opportunity on the frontier was controlled to the extent that it became objective in the Kirznerian sense. Second, commercial hospitality enterprise was used as a vehicle for settlement development in frontier America.Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited by its use of one case study and the scarcity of sources of historical evidence. Further studies could engage with different examples of frontier hospitality businesses and develop the method fu...

Travelling for Umrah: destination attributes, destination image, and post-travel intentions

ABSTRACT This paper examines the links between cosmopolitanism, self-identity, and a desire for social interaction on perceived destination image and behavioural intentions. A model was tested using a sample of 538 Iranian visitors to Mecca for the purpose of Umrah. The result from the structural model suggests that destination attributes influence perceived destination image. Further, such tourists are likely to revisit or recommend Islamic destinations if their experience matches their perceived image of the destination. This implies that, while the religious characteristics of the destination remain important, destination managers cannot disregard the tangential, non-religious attributes of a destination which are crucial in order to satisfy more conventional tourist desires. As such, this study suggests that those managing religious travel destinations should endeavour to foster a welcoming image, where experience, interaction, and tolerance are at the forefront of the destination’s offering.

“Responsible drinkers create all the atmosphere of a mortuary”: Policy implementation of responsible drinking in Scotland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the reaction of customer facing staff and their attitude to the introduction of high profile corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes; in particular their level of awareness and willingness to implement them. Design/methodology/approach – Conducted using a series of site visits and interviews with managers working within the licensed trade, this was followed up with structured interviews of “front line” staff. Findings – Despite high levels of awareness of both the social problems relating to alcohol consumption and the legislative changes, engagement with operational CSR was limited and often disinterested. Legal and societal expectations regarding drunkenness are of little concern. Research limitations/implications – This paper is concerned with nascent legislation, the full impact and success of which has not yet emerged. Reviewing this study in five years would add to the strength of the results. Limited to Scotland due to its devolved licensin...

Puppets of necessity? Celebritisation in structured reality television

Abstract This conceptual paper uses field theory and a production of culture perspective to explore the celebritisation process in structured reality television. This relatively new genre, typified by The Only Way Is Essex, blends fiction with fact and constitutes a new, playful and interactive iteration of the broader category of reality television. We identify three culturally productive models that create new celebrity discourses and establish a theoretical underpinning for the role of structured reality in the celebritisation process; tournaments of value, spectacle and transformative performances. Whilst not exclusive to structured reality television, these models are particularly effective at explaining how celebrities are interactively understood in an increasingly mediatised marketplace. We contribute a model which proposes that celebritisation in structured reality is a homologising process through which celebrity meaning is legitimised.

Chapter 2 The Key is in the Reading Finding a Project

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes has an infamous method of creative reasoning that generates the ideas with which he solves the unsolvable. Ideas can be groundbreaking and positive but can be equally destructive if they are not understood, framed and appropriately applied. Luckily for his clients (and unluckily for the criminals), Sherlock Holmes is not only a master-generator of ideas, but has supreme control of his ‘mind palace’ in which his ideas are framed, judged and contextualised. The following chapter leads you through where ideas come from, how they can be moulded to attend to a problem space, how they are framed appropriately and ultimately how they can underpin a solid and realistic research proposal.

The hospitality of Nepali tea houses: redefining the boundaries of empowerment

The paper reports on research which shows that in an environment where women traditionally represent the marginalised population, the female tea house owners/managers display higher levels of economic, social and psychological empowerment. It illustrates how commercial hospitality has catalysed social change in Nepal through empowering women. This phenomenon has driven the emancipation of women in patriarchal Nepal where involvement in the hospitality industry has improved the livelihoods of women. Working in tea houses has the potential to facilitate sustainable empowerment for future generations, providing them with education, choice, control and opportunities. The findings showed that the potential empowerment of future generations may not derive from, but may be enabled by, involvement in the commercial hospitality sector. However, their sustainable empowerment is also dependent on the removal of a number of barriers which currently limit the empowerment of women. Involvement in the commercial hospitality sector can act as a vehicle for the sustainable empowerment for women, although it has been noted that to ensure long-term sustainable empowerment, every empowerment dimension must be adequately represented.