Babu P. George

Service Quality in the Public Sector Hospitals: A Study in India

Abstract Most studies on service quality have been conducted in the context of the private sector of the economy. In fact, in the healthcare setting, for a long time, public-sector hospitals were not expected to excel in the provision of service quality. In a country such as India, even now, public-sector hospital staffs enjoy relatively higher salaries, flexible work schedules, and secure employment until retirement. Because patients do not pay for most services, normally they are concerned only about the quality of the core product. The authors indicate that, even in the public sector context, the quality of the physician and that of the clinical support staff significantly impact patient satisfaction. However, the quality of nonclinical support staff is not found to have any significant effect on patient satisfaction.

Child sex tourism: exploring the issues

Child sex tourism (CST) refers to a particular kind of tourism organized to satisfy the need among certain customer segments for establishing commercial sexual relationships with children. It is an expression of contemporary slavery and a major human rights challenge facing our generation. In this paper, the trauma experienced by child victims of commercial sexual abuse in the touristic setting is discussed. An overview of treatment modalities for the victims such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing are presented. The efforts of outstanding movements around the world in eradicating CST are highlighted. The paper also considers the complex web of relationships that constitutes the CST distribution system.

Global warming and tourism: chronicles of apocalypse?

Purpose – Global warming is a huge challenge faced by the mankind in the twenty‐first century and beyond. The paradox of ecology lies in the pervasive attitude of lay people who overtly condemn pollution but do not alter their individual practices. Unfortunately, the scientific community has still not reached unanimous conclusions about the causes or impacts of global warming. To close this gap, the present paper aims to stimulate discussion in two main senses: the relationship between industry and global warming; and the role of tourism in the coming decades.Design/methodology/approach – Based on reading and criticism of many works, this paper provides a conceptual framework for readers to understand social adjustment and adapting to climate change.Findings – Many sources blame the tourism industry as being one of the major contributors to global warming and want the industry to take proactive moves to help address this. The present analysis exerts considerable criticism over the existent literature that...

The media or the message? An examination of myths as resources to understand the tourism phenomenon.

The present paper discusses the histories of tourism knowledge. The authors argue that tourist travel should be considered in the perspective of broader institutions enrooted into the mythical structures of cultures. The inadequacies of some of the previous attempts to understand tourism from various methodological perspectives are noted. Then, myths are introduced as offering alternate explanations of the tourism phenomenon. Myths have two pronged advantages in understanding tourism: they contain our collective historical understanding about tourism; also, they are a methodological solution to tap into the wealth of tourism knowledge hidden in expressive artefacts. These claims are verified by presenting and analysing a sample of well-known myths.

The Bells Within the Bell Curve: Destination Visitation Model Revisited

Abstract In the present research, Stanley Plogs (1974) Psychocentrism—Allocentrism Visitation Model is reimagined. The authors decompose Plogs original model and identify five smaller bell-shaped curves constituting five tourist personas within the normal distribution of tourist flow that depicts Plogs model. The study also finds that while allocentric tourists largely prefer nascent destinations, they also regain a strong affinity for destinations that are nearing the end of their life cycles.

Sustainable tourism and global warming: panacea, excuse, or just an accidental connection?

Purpose – The debate linking tourism with global warming is very polemical: neither camp engaged in the debate sees the other side. Sustainable tourism is seen by some as a panacea to mitigate the negative impact of tourism on global warming, and by many others as a ploy planted by post‐industrial society to divert attention from the core issues. A few see it as just an accidental relationship. This paper aims to be a reflective essay on the current state of polemics relating to tourism and global warming.Design/methodology/approach – A critical review of relevant literature coupled with original reflections of the authors forms the basis of argument employed in this paper. In certain ways, this paper is a meta‐analysis of the existing literature.Findings – In a conservative sense, the authors do not “find” anything, if finding means a definitive answer to a question. At the same time, it can be said that the objective is achieved since the analysis leads to the opening up of fresh streams of thought and ...

The provision of healthcare services for the Hmong women in the USA: a qualitative inquiry in the Alaskan context

We examine the struggles and needs for better healthcare services for the Hmong women migrated from China and living in Alaska, USA. The researchers identify three major concerns of the Hmong women living in Alaska regarding the US healthcare system: these include language barrier, lack of knowledge about the healthcare system, and cultural differences. Focus group method within the framework provided by the appreciative inquiry paradigm was employed to conduct the inquiry. It is expected that the findings of this study can be used to improve the provision of healthcare services for the Hmong women, especially those who live in the State of Alaska.

Organisational role stress and the function of selected organisational practices in reducing it: empirical evidence from the banking service front line in India

The present study examines the varying impacts of health, environmental, and organisational factors on organisational role stress. It uses survey data from 483 respondents representing the private and public banking sectors in Goa, India. Analysis shows that environmental factors, health practices, and demographics such as age, salary, and length of service are strong predictors of reduction in organisational role stress. Also, married couples experience less stress and females are subject to higher stress than males. The study adds to the evidence that environmental, health, and demographics at workplace are potential explanatory variables in finding lasting cures for workplace stress.

Service quality assessment of transportation and government services: a study of the Hong Kong tourism industry

This paper presents the results of a study examining service quality assessment of selected sectors of the Hong Kong tourism industry. The functioning of three related sectors of air, rail, and road transport, as well as tourism related government departments, is considered. Identification of the visitors and their perceptions of quality of service offered by these sectors are examined. In order to establish the importance of each of the service quality attributes in determining each sector’s performance, importance-performance analysis was conducted on the airlines, public transport, and government agencies such as police, immigration, customs, and leisure and cultural services. The implications of the results obtained are discussed.