Grant Cairncross

Small accommodation providers and UGC web sites: perceptions and practices

Purpose – This paper aims to understand the perceptions and practices of small accommodation providers regarding the growing area of user‐generated content (UGC) web sites.Design/methodology/approach – A total of eight small hospitality enterprise cases of four classifications were selected using a purposive stratified sampling procedure. On‐site semi‐structured interviews are the main source of information.Findings – Empirical findings indicate that there is a divergence among small accommodation providers with regard to UGC web sites. It finds that small accommodation provider views are varied as to the influence of UGC web sites on traveller decisions. It also shows that some providers are using innovative, proactive practices to respond to UGC web sites, whilst others have limited awareness of the internet and are currently not responding.Research limitations/implications – The generalisation of this research is limited by its sample size. The research implications are that more research using a more ...

Employee Stress and Stressors in Gambling and Hospitality Workplaces

Employee stress has harmful effects for employees, organizations, families and society. However, employee stress, and the workplace stressors that create it, go largely unaddressed by organizations. Hospitality workplaces, including gaming venues, appear especially conducive environments for employee stress, although little research has focused on stressors in gaming venues. Through qualitative analysis of data from a previous study of gaming venue employees, the authors of this study investigated stressors in gambling workplaces. The analysis revealed that employment conditions, shift work, demanding work roles, emotional labor, patron interactions, uncertainty and lack of control, legal responsibilities, ethical concerns, and super-charged environments are key stressors for employees in gambling workplaces. In this regard, gaming venue employees may face additional stressors to hospitality employees more generally. Policy and practical implications for human resource managers are discussed.

Enterprise bargaining in small business: a comparative study of the Australian construction and hospitality industries

A major change in Australian industrial relations system since the early 1990s has been the shift from conciliation and arbitration to formalized enterprise and individual bargaining. These changes occurred at the federal and state levels. At the federal level, the introduction of individual bargaining through Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) and award simplification has resulted in substantially reduced reliance on awards. However, the small business sector has been viewed as reluctant participants in formalized bargaining for various reasons. Despite this reluctance, during the late 1990s there have been increasing numbers of small businesses negotiating collective agreements at the federal level. This article examines 102 certified agreements involving small firms from the construction and hospitality industries in order to identify the outcomes from these agreements. The study found that the increasing incidence of small businesses adopting enterprise agreements are largely due to the fact that state awards have disappeared in Victoria thereby necessitating a move to certified agreements under the federal Workplace Relations Act 1996. The study shows that in small to medium enterprises employees who are highly organized, and represented by unions, can obtain improvements to conditions of employment under enterprise bargaining. These conditions are often obtained through the use of sustained pattern bargaining campaigns, particularly in the construction industry, and especially in Victoria. Conversely, where union coverage is weak employers are capable of using enterprise bargaining to obtain changes in working conditions that, with regard to pay rates, penalty rates and flexible hours of work in particular, are of benefit to the employers and are in some cases a major change to those existing under the award.

How small regional accommodation providers view and respond to online intermediaries

The internet has become a particularly important means for distribution in the tourism industry, leading to the emergence of many global companies operating as online intermediaries. While research has focused on the strategies of these intermediaries and the distribution strategies of hotel chains, limited research attention has been paid to online distribution with regard to regional small accommodation providers. This study investigates the perspective of these organizations with regard to their evaluations of online intermediaries and their resulting online distribution strategies. Adopting a multiple case study strategy, the research finds that the interests of the small accommodation providers and online intermediaries conflict and result in dissatisfaction. This is resulting in small accommodation providers moving away from contracting online intermediaries in favour of search engine optimization (SEO) of their own website. The study concludes by discussing the implications, and associated issues, of such a strategy.

Ten years of enterprise bargaining and the hospitality sector

Abstract The perceived lack of labour flexibility in Australian industries resulted in substantial criticism of Australias centralised industrial relations system during the 1980s. The existence of awards and the involvement of trade unions were seen as restricting workplace flexibility and resulting in uncompetitive businesses. This argument appeared particularly relevant for industries such as tourism and hospitality. These industries operated outside of standard hours, were subject to severe demand fluctuations and competed in international markets. The criticism of the centralised system resulted in legislative changes taking place at the federal and state levels throughout the 1990s. The introduction of formalised enterprise and individual bargaining was an important feature of the new legislation. Despite the introduction of bargaining legislation the hospitality industry, a perceived beneficiary of a deregulated approach, has not used formalised bargaining to any substantial degree. The inability of enterprise bargaining to have a major impact is understandable considering the level of flexibility the sector possessed under the centralised industrial relations system.

Identifying Visitor Service Quality in Australian Regional Botanic Gardens

Abstract A considerable bulk of literature on service quality in leisure and recreation is set in, and driven by, conceptual frameworks based on commercial transactions. Little research reported in English deals with service quality in popular, public leisure settings such as botanic gardens or museums. This paper presents findings from a study of visitors’ perceptions of service quality at four regional botanic gardens in Australia, a replication study of a similar exploration of service quality in botanic gardens of six Australian capital cities. Perceptions of service quality, demographic profiles, and measures of behavioural intentions post‐visit were collected from more than 1000 adult visitors in 2008. Factor analysis of 17 visitor‐defined attributes of service quality identified three underlying dimensions of service quality. Subsequent hierarchical linear regression identified considerable explanatory effects of these factors for visitor service quality of visitors’ overall satisfaction with their visit, their level of recommendation of the garden, and their likelihood to revisit the garden. There appeared to be significant and meaningful predictive power of visitors’ intended behaviour based on their ratings of particular visitor service quality attributes. Results of the study included a call for replication studies and engagement with related attempts to understand the meaning of service quality for visitors to regional public institutions where recreation and leisure experiences are clear outcomes for visitors. For researchers, implications include the need to consider further refinement to the concept and measurement of service quality for public and non‐profit organisations providing popular leisure experiences and visitor benefits.

Training and Service Quality—A Case Study Analysis of Regional Australian Restaurants

The incorporation of training procedures, both formal and informal, within hospitality firms is recognised as a vital element in achieving sustainable perceived service quality. Yet, despite this importance, relatively little is known about the extent, nature and determinants of training in hospitality firms in regional Australia. Restaurants in particular have proven hard to analyse because many are what the Australian Bureau of Statistics calls micro-businesses who employ less than five staff, or are small businesses with five to twenty employees, and have little in the way of training resources and expertise in the area. An examination of six restaurants in Northern New South Wales identified that medium sized boutique operations owned and managed by operators with a passion for fine food and service had training policies that were more extensive than larger organisations such as resorts even though the latter often had a higher star rating. It was apparent that organisational size and resources had more of an effect on the adoption of formal training strategies such as induction and the establishment and provision of a formal training manual.

Event tourism in remote areas: an examination of the Birdsville Races

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine the direct economic and social benefits accruing from the Birdsville Races. The paper also explores how strategic place marketing has been used to shape the image of the destination, and how this has provided a boost to tourism visitation to periods outside of the event. Design/methodology/approach – This study was based around a textual analysis of online discourse, interviews with local residents and business owners and a survey of visitors. Findings – The data indicate that the Races make a solid contribution to the local, regional and state economy; however the local economic benefits are relatively limited due to the high level of leakages. It is also clear that the Races provide important social benefits by generating a strong sense of history, togetherness and engagement among the local community. Another important benefit is the national and international exposure the event receives, enabling the generation of additional economic benefits. Researc...