Wesley S. Roehl

Risk Perceptions and Pleasure Travel: An Exploratory Analysis

This article investigates risk perceptions associated with pleasure travel. Psychophy sical scaling methods and multivariate analysis identified three basic dimensions of perceived risk: physical-equipment risk, vacation risk, and destination risk. Subsequent cluster analysis of the respondents based on the three risk dimensions identified three groups of travelers with substantially different risk perceptions regarding travel. The three risk groups differed in terms of the most recent trip taken and the benefits soughtfrom travel as well as basic demographic characteristics. Interestingly, relationships between risk perceptions and travel behavior appear to be situation-specific, suggesting that it may be difficult to generalize behaviors observed in the purchase of goods to travel decision making.

Profiling People Searching for and Purchasing Travel Products on the World Wide Web

This study provides a profile of people who use the Internet to gather travel information or to purchase travel arrangements. Compared to other World Wide Web users, those who search for or purchase travel on-line are more likely to be 26 to 55 years of age; to have higher incomes; to be employed in management, professional, or computer-related occupations; and to have more years of experience on-line. Concerns about credit card security, evaluation of product quality, and privacy issues are problems that on-line retailers of travel products must overcome.

Quality of Life Issues in a Casino Destination

Abstract Gambling is spreading across North America. Debate has accompanied this diffusion. This study: (1) describes attitudes held by Nevada residents about the effects of legalized gambling and (2) identifies the relationship among resident characteristics, perceptions of the impact gaming has had in Nevada, and perceived quality of life (QOL). Residents recognize that legalized gambling has brought both benefits and costs. Among interesting correlates, individuals with less education and urban residents perceived more social costs from legalized gaming. Perceived social costs are negatively correlated with QOL, whereas perceived job growth is positively correlated with QOL. These impacts are similar to those reported for other forms of mass tourism, and the data suggest that equity issues need further investigation.

Competition, Casino Spending, and Use of Casino Amenities

Users of some casino amenities, such as gourmet restaurants, coffee shops, and large-and small-scale shows, spend substantially more money gambling than do nonusers of these amenities. As competition increases, information on the role amenities play in attracting guests and keeping them on-site will become more important.

Training and its Impact on Organizational Commitment among Lodging Employees

Training is one of the key methods managers employ to control hospitality products and services. The purpose of this research was to examine the attitudes U.S. hotel employees have about the training that they have received and to test for a relationship between training and their commitment to the organizations. Other variables that addressed employee satisfaction, such as awareness of rules, morale, and perceived quality of management, were examined to assess if indirect effects occurred between training and organizational commitment. These results demonstrated that persuasive evidence speaks loudly to the necessity of implementing high-quality training programs. Training is consequential to the success of franchise lodging organizations because it has not only a direct positive relationship with morale, perception of supervisor quality, and awareness of rules but also a significant indirect effect on organizational commitment.

Rethinking service recovery: a customer empowerment (CE) perspective

Generally, complainants have been given little power to effect how their service recovery encounter unfolds. Meanwhile, the satisfactory resolution of customer complaints has been a challenging task for many service organizations. Empowering customers in service recovery provides a solution for this challenge. However, the studies on customer empowerment (CE) have taken very narrow perspectives of CE and therefore, none of them individually can explain the nature of CE in service recovery situations among various services that represent the services industry. Based upon the review of the previous research, this article proposes a more integrative theoretical framework in an attempt to better describe and explain the customers’ view of CE in the management of service recovery encounters. According to the proposed model, the degree of complainant-perceived empowerment during service recovery determines both the level of complainants affective/cognitive responses and the level of subsequent complaint satisfaction. Implications are provided and discussed from both practical and theoretical perspectives.

Influences on Video Poker Machine Performance

Abstract This study seeks to determine if slot machine performance levels are influenced by casino floor location and specific game characteristics. A Las Vegas hotel casino supplied the results of 418,

Highway Accessibility and Regional Tourist Expenditures

0.25, video poker machines, which were used to test hypotheses based on the findings of extant performance-potential research and casino management theory. Results from a simultaneous multiple regression model indicate that the core locations of the slot floor, featuring superior access and traffic volume, outperform the perimeter locations. Variables representing cabinet style (i.e., slant-top and bar-top units), par and program are also found to influence a machines performance, at the .05 alpha level. The resulting equation offers an alternative performance measure that considers the unique operating parameters of a game, moving beyond basic performance comparisons of unit results to category averages (e.g., all

Impacts of the offshore marine industry on coastal tourism: The case of Padre Island national seashore

0.05 video poker games).

Tourism land use conflict in the United States

This study attempted to quantify the contribution of highway infrastructure to tourisms economic impact. When natural and man-made resources were held constant, counties with more miles of highway received more tourist expenditures. Further analysis of only the rural counties showed that the transportation system alone explained a significant amount of variation in tourist expenditures. Implications of the findings for tourism development strategies in rural areas are discussed.