PhD Seminar

ATLAS PhD Seminar
Tourism 2022 and Beyond - What matters now for Tourism and Leisure Postgraduates?
Reflections from a post pandemic research environment
6 September 2022

Taking its lead from the theme for this year’s Annual ATLAS conference, this PhD seminar intends to provide a space for dialogue, discussion and collaboration for the PhD candidates engaged in research about tourism, leisure, hospitality, recreation and their related fields.

As the world emerges from the last few years of uncertainty, tourism as an industry is making a come-back. Yet many of the issues and challenges related to tourism remain unsolved. In a similar way post-graduate researchers have, in many cases, endured a number of years of insecurity in their studies and their futures, and are emerging into a slightly different post-pandemic academic environment.

This PhD seminar will provide an opportunity for postgraduate researchers to present their ideas, gain external feedback on their research and its progress, offer networking and collaborative opportunities and provide advice on aspects including dissemination of research and career planning for the future.    
 
Requirements
Participants are expected to be enrolled as PhD researchers within fields related to tourism, leisure, recreation, hospitality, mobilities, social/cultural geography, cultural studies or similar. PhD candidates at all stages of their project are welcome. In order to apply for the seminar, the candidate must submit a research reflection paper (1000-2500 words). The paper must consider some of the challenges and issues related to processes of undertaking postgraduate research during the COVID-19 pandemic and reflect on (potential) future outcomes. These reflections should engage theoretically, methodologically, empirically or ethically with the PhD candidate’s research and issues that have arisen over the last few years or the futures that are envisaged. The paper might work around questions such as: How does my research remain relevant in a post-pandemic world? How can my research make an impact beyond academic outputs? How have the challenges I have faced over the last few years impacted my research/ impacted on me and my perceived future? What does the future for tourism research in my area look like? What can I do to influence positive social/sustainable/environmental change in my research area?   
 
The participants papers will form part of the discussions during the PhD event, in particular the workshop sessions. In sharing and discussing the papers and the aims/purposes/meanings behind them, the PhD seminar strives to foster a space of insight into possible futures for the tourism and leisure industries and futures for those studying and researching in these areas.

Who should apply?
Participants should be enrolled as PhD candidates within fields related to tourism, leisure, recreation, hospitality, mobilities, social/cultural geography, cultural studies or similar. Candidates at all stages of their PhD are welcome.    

Submissions
Please send a research reflections paper of 1000-2500 words (excluding references) to admin@atlas-euro.org. ATLAS encourages creative interpretations of this theme and welcomes submissions that offer challenges to traditional methods of dissemination.  

Paper specifications
1000-2500 words (excluding references)
In English
Word format, 1.5 line spacing, Times New Roman or Calibri 12-point font
Include a short bio-sketch (5-10 lines max) about you which outlines where you are in the PhD process.
Deadline 24 June 2022

Certificate
PhD candidates will be issued with a certificate outlining the total amount of hours of the PhD seminar.

Preliminary Programme
08:30    Registration and welcome
09:00    Workshop: Looking at papers in progress
10:30    Coffee break
11:00    Workshop: Looking at papers in progress
12:00    Lunch
13:00    What is dissemination and how to do it?
13:45    In anticipation of a bright future? Career Aspirations/Hopes/Discussion
14:30    Close

Seminar committee
Tara Duncan - Dalarna University, Sweden
Angela Wright - Munster Technological University, Ireland
Mary Rose Stafford - Munster Technological University, Ireland

Practical Information
Date: Tuesday 6 September 2022
Place: Cork, Ireland
Maximum number of participants: 25-30.

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Call for special tracks

The conference organizers invite proposals for organizing special tracks during the conference and encourage ATLAS Special Interest Groups and Chapters to plan meetings and workshops within or alongside the conference programme. Please contact admin@atlas-euro.org before February 1^st 2022 if you have any plans to organize a SIG meeting, a project meeting or a special track during this conference.

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Special Track 1

Analysing and rethinking the infrastructure of tourism mobilities
ATLAS SIG Space, Place, Mobilities in Tourism

Track convenors
Antonio Paolo Russo, University Rovira i Virgili (antonio.russo@urv.cat)
Chiara Rabbiosi, University of Padua
Federica Cavallo, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

This special track, organised under the aegis of the ‘Space, Place and Mobilities in Tourism’ SIG, invites contributions which present conceptual, methodological and empirical advances in research on the physical and digital infrastructure which sustain different mobilities and regimes thereof in tourist places. This will be a strongly inter-disciplinary session, situated at the crossroads of emerging ‘turns’ in social sciences such as mobilities, the relational and performative turns, gendered approaches, and the critical and radical studies of place.

Mobilities are always supported by a wide range of systems and infrastructures that create particular kinds of mobility spaces, and such spaces produce power differentials in the capability for mobility (Sheller, 2018). These may be physical infrastructures for moving things (such as roads, railways, data centres, pipes and cables) or they may be protocols that enable particular kinds of mobility (such as rules and laws, logistics systems, mobile communications systems, or various systems for queuing) (Adey et al., 2017). While infrastructure are current objects of analysis in mobilities studies, little studies have focused on infrastructure on the ground of tourism and how they are a significant part of tourism as dwelling-in-motion and enable place regimes based on ordering and access (Graham & Marvin, 2002).

There are many ways to approach mobilities infrastructures: from macro perspectives focusing on infrastructure networks and their governance to micro perspectives, focusing on the embodied experience of infrastructures. The latter is particularly overlooked, despite being of extreme interest as far as tourism mobilities concern. Physical and digital infrastructures are what sustain the transit of tourism, which can be understood as one of the subtle, momentary, and ordinary practices forming a significant part of a tourist’s daily routine, demanding a considerable amount of time, attention and practiced negotiation (Barry, 2021).

Moreover, when mobility infrastructures become tourist attractions themselves (consider, for example, the Pan-American Highway, the Bernina Glacier Express train in Switzerland, or stations such as Grand Central in New Yok or Helsinki Central Station), this can generate sometimes monospecific specialization (such as in some historical railways or boats), overlaps and potential conflicts between tourism and other forms of mobility. Another aspect worthy of consideration is the reconversion of mobility infrastructures, as in the case of old or abandoned roads and railways converted into hiking or biking trails (a pivotal case the High Line in New York): changing transport corridors that can reshape mobility practices and social meanings of places.

We are thus especially keen on welcoming contributions tackling the analysis of mobility infrastructure as planned, enacted, negotiated, imagined, assembled, contested, abandoned and performed, underlining relations of agency, dominance and contestation between the plurality of human and nonhuman entities moving at and navigating tourist places.

Contributions should cover a variety of themes, including:
The construction of tourist places through mobility infrastructure
Performing mobility spaces and infrastructure
Contesting and negotiating tourism mobility infrastructure projects
Infrastructure assemblages in the tourist city
Mobility transitions and the re-design of infrastructure
The experience of tourism through physical and digital infrastructure
Representations, ideologies and meanings attached to infrastructure and tourism
Infrastructure and the reconfiguration of the tourist experiences of distance and proximity
Creative approaches to the study of infrastructure

The organiser of this session will actively seek for publication opportunities with high-impact journals or book publishers. He will also make sure that the session will be followed up through active engagement of the participants in the ‘Space Place Mobilities’ SIG.

Key references

Adey P, Bissell D, Hannam K, et al. (eds) (2014) Introduction: Spaces, systems, infrastructures. In Adey P, Bissell D, Hannam K, Merriman P & Sheller M (Eds.) The Routledge handbook of mobilities. London: Routledge.

Barry K (2021) Unsettling the aesthetics of air travel through participatory tourist photography. Tourist Studies 21(3): 404–423. DOI: 10.1177/14687976211019906.

Graham S & Marvin S (2002) Splintering urbanism: networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and the urban condition. London: Routledge.

Sheller M & Urry J (2004) Tourism mobilities: Places to play, places in play. London: Routledge.

Sheller M (2018) Mobility Justice: The Politics of Movement in the Age of Extremes. London; Brooklyn, NY: Verso.

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Special track 2

Methodology of Interpretation of European Nature Heritage in Tourism

Track Convenor
Aisling Ward - MTU, Ireland (Aisling.Ward@mtu.ie)

MIENAT Erasmus+ project partners:

• CZ –University of Economics, Prague (Lead)
• A - University of Applied Sciences - Fachhochschule Burgenland, Eisenstadt
• SP -  Universidad Europea, Madrid
• RO - Alexandru Ioan Cuza University from Iasi
• G - Fachhochschule des Mittelstands, Schwerin
• LTU - Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas
• PT – Porto – Universidade do Porto
• IR – Munster Technological University

The research teams are focusing on developing an understanding of the role of modern interpretation methods in the delivery of the nature heritage tourism experience. The emphasis is on examining best practice in interpreting inanimate nature such as flora, fauna, coastal landscapes, geology and nature. The project is also examining the role of interpretation in sustainability and conservation, social inclusion, the significance of branding the nature heritage attractions and networking within a cluster of nature heritage attractions management. The role of interpretation is changing as the tourist seeks a more intimate, authentic and hands on approach in the tourism experience. Two key constructs of good heritage interpretation are conservation and sustainability (Mareno-Melgarejo et. al., 2019¹). Additionally, developments in technology has enabled the adoption of a range of different methods of interpretation to be used by the heritage attraction in communicating the uniqueness of the destination and ensuring minimal impact on the ecosystem and biodiversity.

This special track seeks to invite abstracts on a range of different aspects of heritage interpretation taking a broad focus on all aspects of heritage from the natural to the built. It will be used as a mechanism to disseminate information on the findings of the MIENAT research project, as well as a learning event to build on current knowledge and expertise in this realm.

Teachers, researchers and experts from the industry involved in the interpretation of nature heritage are welcome to present their thoughts and their views on interpretation of nature heritage from both, theoretical and methodological perspectives

¹ Moreno-Melgarejo A., García-Valenzuela, L. H., Hilliard I & Pinto-Tortosa, A.J., 2019. Exploring Relations between Heritage Interpretation, Visitors Learning Experience and Tourist Satisfaction. Czech Journal of Tourism, 8(2) 103-118.

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Special track 3

Festivals & events: offering wellbeing, solidarity and hopefulness in times of uncertainty
SIG Events

Track Convenors
Bernadette Quinn  – TUDublin, Ireland (Bernadette.quinn@TUDublin.ie)
Maarit Kinnunen – University of Lapland, Finland (maarkinn@ulapland.fi)

Recent years have brought crisis and uncertainty to the festival and event sector. In 2022, while some countries have reason to hope that the worst of the pandemic is over, others have less reason to be confident. Meanwhile, with the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and consequent refugee crisis, political tensions are high and international political relations extremely tense. In this context, it seems crucial that discussions about festivals & events go beyond the academic. In what we hope is a ‘post-pandemic’ scenario, finding ways to re-energise festival and event activities in ways that are economically resilient, societally relevant and environmentally sustainable is now a central challenge for practitioners, policy-makers and academics alike. In a time of great political uncertainty, advancing understandings of how festivals and events constitute important social practices that have the potential to foster socio-cultural inclusion, build communal solidarity, enhance wellbeing and encourage a spirit of hopefulness is more relevant than ever.

This special track acknowledges that the burgeoning festival & event literature has recently seen a move to view festivals and events more holistically and more critically. It continues ATLAS Events work on the social aspects of events, including the volume published on the Social Impact of Events in 2013 (Richards, de Brito and Wilks 2013). It responds to recent calls in the literature to pay more attention to the intersection between festivals & events and social sustainability (Mair and Smith 2021); socio-cultural inclusion (Walters and Jepson 2019, Quinn et al 2020); and mental and physical well-being (Brownett and Evans 2020, Stadler, Jepson and Wood 2021). It invites researchers to identify and discuss sustainable future pathways for festival and events for wellbeing, solidarity and hopefulness. In terms of the latter, the aim is to revisit Waitt’s (2008) suggestion that hope can be a central theme of festivities. He linked this with festivals organised by marginal social groups, but during the pandemic, in the depths of city lock downs when governments decreed that public space and communal socialising was off limits, signs of hope could be seen everywhere in grassroots, spontaneous collective gatherings. From a New York neighbourhood diner playing the iconic ‘New York, New York’ song over loud speakers as ‘cheering residents in the surrounding block leaned out of their doors and windows to sing along’ (Tett 2022) to dancing on balconies in Menorca (Villalonga-Olives, Kawachi, and Hernández-Aguado 2021) people instinctively and ingeniously made public space and created their own events to keep then connected through the crisis. In these times of widespread political turmoil and globalised disruption, can these kinds of socially sustaining endeavours continue into the future? And can forms of bonding and bridging capital continue to be generated in festivals and events settings?

This special track invites papers that discuss festivals and events in the light of one or more of the following thematics:

• COVID-19 – opportunities & lessons learnt
• Digital & hybrid futures
• Social connectivity / engagement in the context of online/hybrid festivals and events
• We stand with Ukraine: solidarity in festivals and events
• Spaces of protest
• Spaces of hope
• Place matters
• Local/neighbourhood/community
• Individual and collective wellbeing
• Loneliness, social isolation, social anxiety
• Festivals, events and sexual harassment
• Festivals, events and inequalities
• Social inclusion / exclusion
• Festival making as creative practice
• Future Governance / Policy directions
   

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Special Track 4

Innovative research methods in Family Businesses in tourism and hospitality

Track convenor
Marco Valeri , Niccol  Cusano University, Italy (marco.valeri@unicusano.it)
 

This special track aims to provide a comprehensive collection of papers including new insights for traditional paradigms, approaches and methods, as well as more recent developments in research methodology in family business in tourism and hospitality. The aim of the special issue is to verify whether, in the tourism sector, the “family business model” is an important development opportunity and, in particular, if it is an innovation driver, for this industry development. In this context, the authors will investigate personal and family needs and preferences alongside the relationship between family business model, growth and profit maximization and the development of tourism businesses through innovation drivers.

In the tourism industry, most enterprises are characterized by small size and family ownership (Getz and Carlsen, 2000; 2005). Between the family and the firm, an exclusive entrepreneurial culture develops (Astrachan, 2003; Peters and Kallmuenzer, 2018), potentially making transgenerational entrepreneurship the main economic engine in the tourism sector (Puzi and Ismail, 2017). Influenced by the family conflicts, local culture and commercial interests, the management of this type of business involving family members has become increasingly more complex over the years (Ismail et al, 2019). This highlights that the development of a family business is influenced by three factors: the family, property and the business system adopted (Gersick et al., 1997; Peters and Buhalis, 2004). These characteristics of family business are connected to the family’s life stage and its culture. Human, social and financial capital represent the natural resources owned by the family business (Ireland et al., 2003). Human capital includes elements, such as reputation, skill and intuition, which reflect the influence of the founder of the family business. The exploitation of resources in the family business approach is different from that in the non-family business approach (Sirmon and Hitt, 2003).

These exclusive resources reflect the fact that the family acts as owners; therefore, the intangible familiarity factor is the element that differentiates the family business from other non-family businesses (Arteaga et al., 2018) and can represent a competitive advantage; however, at the same time, by having a suffocating effect (Craig and Lindsay, 2002), family-related skills and resources could inhibit growth (Camisón et al., 2016). Regarding market performance, family businesses have a number of advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are represented by personal relationships with corporate stakeholders (Mustakallio et al., 2002) and strong social values (Peters and Kallmuenzer, 2018), highlighting the positive relationship between family involvement and performance (Allouche et al., 2008; Lindow et al., 2010; Block et al., 2011; Chu, 2009; Miralles-Marcelo, Miralles-Quirós and Lisboa, 2014; Wagner et al., 2015). In contrast, the disadvantages are often related to the nature of relationships often characterized by the lack of professionalism of family members (Chaudhry and Crick, 2004; Crick et al., 2018) and to the absence of a business strategy or a vision (Legohérel et al., 2004; Pikkemaat and Zehrer, 2016). Therefore, business development and family history are two related concepts that influence each other. A family business is governed by the objective of pursuing the vision of a business, which is owned by a dominant group and is under the control of family members, such that the business is sustainable across generations of the family (Chua et al., 1999). In a family business, the important elements are the following: the same family members’ exercise of control of the family business; the pre-eminence of family benefits; and the production of sustainable income for future generations (Jaskiewicz et al., 2015). Furthermore, for the survival of the family business in tourism, innovation in response to a constantly changing environment is required, and shared products are offered by many actors (Sundbo et al., 2007; Kallmuenzer and Peters, 2018a). Letonja and Duh (2015) believe that “the survival of family businesses across generations depends upon different factors, including their ability to renew through innovation” (Letonja and Duh, 2016; Prevolsek et al., 2017). However, in the tourism sector, the owner often runs the business himself, or the business is run by a few close family members (Getz and Carlsen, 2000; Kallmuenzer and Peters, 2018a). Therefore, ownership and management are often coincident. Therefore, family involvement is very strong, and consequently, a strong innovative element is expected to emerge within family businesses. In addition, by implementing innovative strategies, tourism companies create a more sustainable environment, as they recognize innovation as an essential and promoting engine for sustainable development in tourism (Arcese et al., 2020; Elmo et al., 2020).

In tourism, compared to general management, innovation is a more complex dimension. In tourism, innovations consist of product, service, management, marketing, process or institutional innovations (Legohérel et al., 2004; Hall and Williams, 2008; Hjalager, 2010; (Kallmuenzer and Peters, 2018a). Innovation in tourism is more limited in family businesses than in non-family businesses. The factors that determine whether a family business will innovate are either economic factors, such as financial restrictions, or non-economic factors, such as risk aversion, the maintenance of traditional products, family conflict and closure to external information by investors (Hauck and Prügl, 2015a). In the same way, family businesses may give up on implementing sustainability practices, as their implementation often requires innovation and high risk (Memili et al., 2018; Elmo et al., 2020). Some studies in the literature, i.e., Craig and Moores (2006) or Bergfeld and Weber (2011), show that innovation is a factor in ensuring long-term survival (Craig and Moores, 2006; Hauck and Prügl, 2015).

The heterogeneity of family businesses can be explained by socio-emotional and non-economic factors (Chrisman et al., 2012; Hauck and Prügl, 2015a). Moreover, some studies show the decreasing propensity for innovation of family businesses (Litz and Kleysen, 2001; Craig and Moores, 2006; Beck et al., 2011; Hauck and Prügl, 2015a). In other studies, such as Westhead et al (2002) or Hauck and Pru (2015), once structures and processes are acquired and consolidated, family businesses reduce their ability to react to external changes (Westhead et al., 2002; Hauck and Prügl, 2015a). Generally, these companies are more hostile towards innovative processes precisely because they tend to want to maintain the status quo of the acquired elements (Vrontis et al., 2016). Other interesting aspects of family businesses concern their relation to the innovation and succession process. It is possible to argue that the involvement of the successor in a business can act as a “catalyst of change”, that is, as an opportunity to innovate (Kotlar and De Massis, 2013; Hauck and Prügl, 2015a).

All theoretical and methodological (both qualitative & quantitative) approaches are equally appreciated, and we particularly welcome multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary submissions that covers different issues relevant to strategic management, operations or marketing, and provides evidence based on the theme of special issue

Guest Editor Biography
Marco Valeri received PhD in Strategic Management and Organizational Behavior from "Tor Vergata" University (Italy). He is a Senior Lecturer in “Knowledge Management” and Senior Lecturer in “Corporate Social Responsability, BA (Hons) in Global Management and International Business – NCIUL – London. He is a Senior Lecturer in Organizational Behavior (Master Degree and Doctoral Course), Faculty of Economics, Niccolò Cusano University, Rome (Italy). He is Visiting Professor at Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management, School of Hospitality, Tourism and Events, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya 47500, (Malaysia). He’s teaching and consultancy fields include: strategic management, leadership development, hotel/lodging management, cross-cultural management, international hospitality management. His research areas include competitive advantage, sustainability and green practices, strategy implementation, knowledge management, family business and tourism hotel/lodging management, crisis management, destination marketing, information technology and developing countries, network analysis. He was a visiting professor in several Universities: University of Eichastaett – Ingolstadt (Germany), Universitè Jean Moulin, School of Management – Lyon, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Faculty of Economics – Lebanon, University of Pannonia, Faculty of Business and Economics – Hungary, University of West Attica, Faculty of Business and Economics – Greece, TBS Business School, Faculty of Business and Economics – Toulouse, Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave (IPCA) – Portugal, Adiyaman University, Tourism Faculty - Turkey, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics - Romania , Joji Ilagan International School of Hotel and Tourism Management – Philippine, Bahria University, School of Management – Pakistan, Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Seth Jai Parkash Mukand Lal Institute of Engineering & Technology (JMIT), Radaur – India, University of Delhi, Shivaji College, Department of Commerce – India, Jagran Lakecity University, School of Hospitality & Tourism, Bhopal – India, University of Mumbai, Saket College of Arts, Science and Commerce – India, Taylor’s University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management, School of Hospitality, Tourism & Events – Malaysia (in top 20 in the World in the subject of “Hospitality and Leisure Management). He serves on the Editorial Boards of several academic journals covering tourism and hospitality management. He is member of several editorial board of international tourism journals, reviewer and editor of several handbooks on entrepreneurship, tourism and hospitality management (Emerald Publishing, Springer and IGI Global). He received the award as Outstanding Reviewer in the 2021 Emerald Literati Awards, selected by the editorial team of Journal of Family Business Management (Emerald Publishing).

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Special Track 5

Resilience of Tourism Small-Medium Enterprises: Upskilling and Reskilling

Track convenor
Miju Choi - Leeds Beckett University, UK (m.choi@leedsbeckett.ac.uk)

The tourism industry is one of the key pillars of the European economy and European tourism, employing over 35 million people in 2020. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up around 80% of European tourism businesses (Figini & Patuelli, 2021). However, the rapid digitalisation of business models has transformed the ways services are delivered, posing a major threat to the tourism workforce, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (Jiang & Wen, 2020; Kaushal & Srivastava, (2021). Indeed, serious concerns about employability have been raised by tourism and hospitality employees, particularly those working for SMEs, due to widening digital skills gaps and limited relevant training and support (Vatan & Dogan, 2021). Given the low entry barrier to working for SMEs in the tourism industry, many low-educated employees have become even more vulnerable to digital skills gaps during the COVID-19 pandemic (Baum, Mooney, Robinson, & Solnet, 2020). These digital skills gaps have quickly widened with the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring the urgency of critical social and economic issues. It is therefore urgent to provide tourism SMEs with an adequate supply of digital skills through reskilling and upskilling.

Whilst scholars have paid considerable attention to both basic digital literacy and the digital skills required of information and communications technology (ICT) professionals (Van Laar, Van Deursen, Van Dijk, & De Haan, 2017), limited research has focused on developing the digital skills of tourism employees. Most studies on digitalisation and the workforce have examined the impact of digitalisation on the tourism workforce and business operations (Rydzik & Kissoon, 2021; Xu, Stienmetz & Ashton, 2020). However, preparing the future tourism workforce to meet the growing demand for digital skills in an increasingly competitive market has been largely overlooked in the management literature. Assessing digital skills gaps is a prerequisite for ensuring an adequate supply of digital skills (Van Laar et al., 2017). As such, some studies have developed essential digital skills frameworks (e.g., Gekara et al., 2019; UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2019) and examined policy responses to digital skills gaps (Carlisle, Ivanov, & Dijkmans, 2021). However, these studies have generally focused on basic digital skills for everyday life and work, such as creating an email account, and overlooked the advanced levels of digital skills required of the workforce in the digital economy. This lack of information makes it difficult for employers and policymakers to accurately identify these gaps and provide effective reskilling and upskilling.

Therefore, in this session, we aim to bring together a range of abstracts that explore tourism SMEs from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives.

Researchers are invited to submit abstracts that may address, but are not be limited to, the following areas:

• Challenges and opportunities for tourism SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Technologies and trends shaping work in tourism SMEs
• Conceptualising digital transformation in tourism SMEs
• Enhancing resilience of tourism SMEs through artificial intelligence and technology
• Technology innovation for tourism SME growth
• Role of artificial intelligence and technology in tourism SMEs • Digital skills gaps and digital skills shortages in tourism SMEs • Reskilling and upskilling training to prepare tourism SMEs to meet future digital needs.
• Employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction with tourism SMEs
• Stakeholders’ perceptions of tourism SMEs • Policy responses to prepare the workforce in tourism SMEs
• Building capacity of managers and entrepreneurs to support tourism SMEs

Session Chair’s Bio

Miju Choi, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Marketing at Leeds Beckett University, UK. Her research interests include consumer experiences with advanced technologies and digital marketing in tourism businesses. Recently, Miju co-authored a 2021 OECD report entitled ‘Preparing the Tourism Workforce for the Digital Future’ with financial support from funding bodies in Portugal, Switzerland and the European Commission. Dr Choi will serve as a special session chair on ‘The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism and hospitality business: Perspectives on technology adoption’ at ICOT2022, annual conference (22-25 June, 2022).

References

Baum, T., Mooney, S. K., Robinson, R. N., & Solnet, D. (2020). COVID-19’s impact on the hospitality workforce–new crisis or amplification of the norm? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 32(9), 2813-2829.

Carlisle, S., Ivanov, S., & Dijkmans, C. (2021). The digital skills divide: evidence from the European tourism industry. Journal of Tourism Futures. Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-07-2020-0114

Figini, P., & Patuelli, R. (2021). Estimating the Economic Impact of Tourism in the European Union: Review and Computation. Journal of Travel Research, 00472875211028322.

Gekara, V., Snell, D., Molla, A., Karanasios, S., & Thomas, A. (2019). Skilling the Australian Workforce for the Digital Economy. Research Report. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

Jiang, Y., & Wen, J. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on hotel marketing and management: a perspective article. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32 (8), 2563-2573.

Kaushal, V., & Srivastava, S. (2021). Hospitality and tourism industry amid COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives on challenges and learnings from India. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 92, 102707.

Motyl, B., Baronio, G., Uberti, S., Speranza, D., & Filippi, S. (2017). How will change the future engineers’ skills in the Industry 4.0 framework? A questionnaire survey. Procedia Manufacturing, 11, 1501-1509.

Rydzik, A., & Kissoon, C. S. (2021). Decent work and tourism workers in the age of intelligent automation and digital surveillance. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-18.

Vatan, A., & Dogan, S. (2021). What do hotel employees think about service robots? A qualitative study in Turkey. Tourism Management Perspectives, 37, 100775.

Van Laar, E., Van Deursen, A. J., Van Dijk, J. A., & De Haan, J. (2017). The relation between 21st-century skills and digital skills: A systematic literature review. Computers in Human Behavior, 72, 577-588.

Xu, S., Stienmetz, J., & Ashton, M. (2020). How will service robots redefine leadership in hotel management? A Delphi approach. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(6), 2217-2237.
 

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Special track 6

Tourism in the new normal: accelerating climate change or embodying crisis?
SIG Climate Change and Tourism

Track Convenor
Ioanna Farsari - Dalarna University, Sweden (ifa@du.se)
Harald A. Friedl - FH JOANNEUM, Austria (harald.friedl@fh-joanneum.at)
Jane Turner - Leeds Beckett University, UK (jane.turner@leedsbeckett.ac.uk)

There have been positive signs that the pandemic is gradually reaching a turning point. The Covid pandemic and disruption it has created over the last two years are beginning to diminish with several countries announcing the lifting of restrictions – not least travel restrictions - and a return to “normality”. Throughout the pandemic there have been alarming calls for sustainability goals not be overlooked or sacrificed in the recovery effort (Hall et al., 2020). Instead of just going back to ‘business as usual’ the industry, tourists, and scholars alike should take the opportunity to reconsider their options and future paths to transform (Ioannides and Gyimóthy, 2020). Along with the pausing of tourism and other economic activities, the pandemic also brought about the first reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (Gössling et al., 2020). What though will this new normal bring for tourism and climate change? Are we retuning to business as usual or are we embodying and internalising the lessons learned from the pandemic in relation to the climate crisis? How is tourism research incorporating the experience of the pandemic into its climate change research? What lessons are to be learned? Lessons learned can relate to innovative products and ideas, to a realisation of the frantic pace of tourism growth, and to what the resilient destinations of the new normal might look like. Are destinations bouncing back to pre-covid levels of tourism growth or instead adapting new trajectories and system transformations?

During covid there have been calls to find new ways to move beyond business as usual and towards more regenerative forms of tourism (Cave and Dredge, 2020). Lessons learned from coping with the covid crisis can be used to manage the climate crisis as well as adaption of the circularity paradigm (Prideaux, Thompson and Pabel, 2020). Are there examples of regenerative tourism which incorporate climate change? How are debates in the circularity paradigm and proximity tourism informing climate change and tourism research? How do citizenship and civil movements incorporate climate change discourse and action (Jourdan and Wertin, 2020)?

Climate change as well as the covid crisis have highlighted global inequalities, with developing countries and deprived societal groups emerging as more vulnerable and experiencing greater suffering from the impacts of the crisis.  What are the values underpinning our actions and relations in the Anthropocene and in an increasingly complex world where pandemics, climate change, migration, and water and food shortages are interlinked (Jamal and Higham, 2021)?  How is climate and mobility justice in the wake of the new normal affecting our view of crisis recovery (Sheller, 2021)?

We invite abstracts around (but not limited to) the following topics linked to climate change and tourism:

• Embodiment of crisis
• Innovation
• Transformation
• Hopeful and regenerative tourism
• Degrowth
• Circularity
• Resilience
• Climate justice
• Citizenship and civil movements
• Critical tourism
• Tourism and climate change in the Anthropocene
• Marketing and green washing

Publication opportunity

Following the presentation in the special track, a number of Opinion Pieces will be invited for publication in ATLAS Review.

References

Cave, J. & Dredge, D. (2020) Regenerative tourism needs diverse economic practices, Tourism Geographies, 22(3), 503-513, DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2020.1768434

Gössling, S., Scott, D., & Hall, C.M. (2020): Pandemics, tourism and global change: a rapid assessment of COVID-19. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2020.1758708

Hall, M., Scott, D. and Gössling, S. (2020): Pandemics, transformations and tourism: be careful what you wish for. Tourism Geographies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2020.1759131

Ioannides, D. & Gyimóthy, S. (2020): The COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity for escaping the unsustainable global tourism path. Tourism Geographies, DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2020.1763445

Jourdan, D. & Wertin, J. (2020) Intergenerational rights to a sustainable future: insights for climate justice and tourism, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 28(8), 1245-1254,
DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1732992

Prideaux, B., Thompson, M. & Pabel, A. (2020): Lessons from COVID-19 can prepare global tourism for the economic transformation needed to combat climate change, Tourism Geographies, DOI: 10.1080/14616688.2020.1762117

Scott, D., Hall, C.M. & Gössling, S. (2016) A review of the IPCC Fifth Assessment and implications for tourism sector climate resilience and decarbonization. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(1), 8-30, DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2015.1062021

Sheller, M. (2021) Reconstructing tourism in the Caribbean: connecting pandemic recovery, climate resilience and sustainable tourism through mobility justice, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(9), 1436-1449, DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1791141

Tazim, L. & Higham, J. (2021) Justice and ethics: towards a new platform for tourism and sustainability, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29 (2-3), 143-157, DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1835933

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Special track 7

From tangible to intangible cultural heritage: pathways for the future?
SIG Cultural Tourism

Track Convenors
Greg Richards - BUAS, Netherlands (richards.g@buas.nl)
Maria del Pilar Leal - CETT Barcelona, Spain (mpilar.leal@cett.cat)

As Richards (2021) has noted, one of the most significant changes in the field of cultural tourism has been the shift from tangible to intangible cultural heritage (ICH) as targets for tourism experiences. The continuing imbalances in the UNESCO designations for World Heritage means that many areas of the world remain without significant cultural heritage sites. This has stimulated many countries, regions and cities to go in search of intangible heritage resources that can be valorised for tourism. UNESCO designations for World Intangible Heritage have increased significantly in recent years, as has the number of UNESCO Creative Cities framing different areas of intangible culture and creativity.

This top-down process of stimulating intangible heritage tourism development is strengthened by bottom-up processes involving the creation of ‘heritage from below’ (Robertson, 2016). This combination of trends has vastly increased the articulation of tourism and intangible heritage, as du Cros (2012) predicted some time ago. Not only has debate raged about how to conserve the growing heritage of the past, but also discussions are emerging on the development of ‘future heritage’,  or the conscious framing of cultural resources, also to include a more diverse range of cultural heritages in the tourist repertoire.

Moreover, the pandemic generated by Covid-19 has created new dynamics about the intangible cultural heritage experiences for both the offer and the demand. In this regard, the transformation of the experiences into virtual experiences that rely on new channels and formats are also part of the current discussion due to the new drives of ICH that are shaping new tourism dynamics.

This session organised by the ATLAS Cultural Tourism Group in association with the CULTSENSE Project will focus on the links between tourism and cultural heritage, and the challenges and opportunities that the intangibilisation of cultural tourism experiences imply. We therefore invite papers and presentations focussing on issues including:

• The development of intangible heritage attractions and events
• The marketing and promotion of ICH to tourists
• The use of ICH brands, such as UNESCO ICH and Creative City labels, in the cultural tourism field
• Tourist management of ICH manifestation: cultural routes and itineraries
• Specific fields of ICH and tourism, such as:
  • Literary tourism and Storytelling
  • Music tourism
  • Film tourism
  • Design tourism
  • Food tourism
• The use of ICH in museums
• ICH experiences facing virtual transformation
• Post-Pandemic trends in ICH tourism
• Animating tangible cultural heritage through ICH
• Contested heritage and tourism
• Future cultural heritage: forms, processes and meanings

References
Du Cros, H. & Salazar, N. (2012) Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage. Madrid: UNWTO.
Richards, G. (2021) Rethinking Cultural Tourism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Robertson, I. J. (2016). Heritage from Below. London: Routledge.

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Special track 8

Good Practice in Learning and Teaching Tourism in Higher Education
SIG Tourism Education

Track Convenors
Sheena Carlisle - Cardiff Metropolital University, UK (scarlisle@cardiffmet.ac.uk)
Goretti Silva – IPVC, Portugal (goretti@estg.ipvc.pt)

Welcome to the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Tourism Education. This is a Call for Summaries of Good Practice in Learning and Teaching Tourism in Higher Education.

The Tourism Education SIG is hosting a special track to showcase practice and experiences in learning and teaching through the compilation of a range of up to 12 case study examples of experiences on how different tourism education themes and topics can be delivered in or outside the classroom. Experiences can range from more traditional teacher-centered approaches or student-centered, active learning experiences, that place the student at the center of learning.

If you are interested to join us and share your experience with conference delegates and the wider ATLAS  community, please use the headings format mentioned below at (2) to write a 500-word summary of practice. Examples of teaching practice could be based on any of the conference themes (1) or another contemporary tourism education topic, that can showcase and demonstrate how you approach the learning of a specific topic:

(1) Conference topics:

• Defining the ‘global tourist’ in 2022 and beyond
• Tourism in times of (post) crisis
• Redefining tourism impacts in uncertain tourism environments
• Tourism and Risk
• What/who are new voices in (tourism and leisure) spaces & places
• Critical approaches to the sustainability of tourism
• Problematizing ‘smart’ tourism
• Mindfulness and wellness in the ‘new normal’ of tourism
• Emotions, affect and positive psychology in tourism and leisure after COVID-19
• Revisiting niche tourism in a post-pandemic world
• Resilience and contingency planning for destinations
• Transformative travel and tourism as the ‘new normal’
• Ambitions for social and environmental equity in new tourism futures
• Social media and technology use in Destination Marketing,
• Cutting edge development in tourism

(2) Key Summary Headings to include:

• Introduction of learning topic
• Key applied theories/Concepts/Models
• Learning objectives
• The pedagogical approach
• The Learning Experience
• Conclusion
• Key references

Please use the ABSTRACT SUBMISSION FORM to submit your Summary (word count up to 500 words).

Following the approval of your written summary, we would then require a specific pedagogical approach case study format of 2000 - 3000 words that elaborates on the above headings and can be written up by the 1st July 2022 in time to publish on the ATLAS website in advance of the conference. A sample of a case study using the above format will be provided at the end of April as a guideline.

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Special track 9

Dereliction, duty and delightful destination
SIG Urban Tourism 

Track Convenor
Donagh Horgan – INHolland, the Netherlands (Donagh.Horgan@inholland.nl)

Dereliction, duty and delightful destination - taking a regenerative placemaking approach to vacancy in Cork.
 
In an illuminating case study, Horgan (2022, in publication) outlines how that a century after independence, Ireland is recast as a leading small European economy, away from historical framings of a rural backwater of the British Empire. A model of success based on targeted economic policies and somewhat dubious indicators for growth, Dublin is consistently voted among top European destinations. Yet urban tourism outside the capital is particularly underdeveloped, pointing to a lack of strategic investment in place. The draws attention to the challenges of Cork, where neoliberal strategy has driven uneven spatial development impacting its market potential. Widespread dereliction and neglect, a symptom of speculative models of entrepreneurial urban governance appear to be a barrier to sustainable tourism, cultural growth, and city-marketing. The case study combines themes from extant literature to offer an historical, contemporary and frame for spatial inequity, with new knowledge derived from interviews with key informants in the city in assembling narratives around governance, ownership, and participation. Findings identify a set of concepts which offer a lens for rethinking urban vacancy through regenerative placemaking.

In response, this workshop is designed to initiate a participatory dialogue with a diverse group (tourism academics, urban theorists, circular economy experts, architecture students and other stakeholders) to understand the role of tourism in contributing to a regenerative placemaking process for Cork. Post-colonial readings illuminate how uneven power dynamics continue to stifle social innovation in Cork, while nuanced models of insurgent tourism suggest a broader discourse on rights to the city – to be explored in an interactive session. Participants will be invited to suggest short and longer-term propositions, using design thinking tools to encourage discussion and experimentation with underused spaces and nuanced programmes that engage locals and visitors. The workshop seeks to initiate a creatively imagining of new tourism propositions for Cork – inviting fresh eyes to contemplate context of arrested development in Cork, identify new opportunities social exchange and a local stewardship of cultural artefacts in space  and time.

It will be facilitated by Cork native Dr. Donagh Horgan, an expert on social innovator in the built environment (based at Inhollands’s Urban Leisure and Tourism Living Lab, based in Rotterdam, Netherlands), in association with MTU and the Cork Centre for Architectural Education. The 90 min. co-design session will bring stakeholders together with subject matter experts, local residents and international tourism academics to discuss how to approach socio-spatial transformation in the city, through the lens of regenerative tourism. This workshop will have space for 45 participants (including facilitators), comprising 5-10 MTU (architecture, tourism, service design) students; 5-10 tourism experts attending the conference; 5-10 local residents, activators and champions in the creative culture sector; and 5-10 representatives of the local destination management ecosystem, local authority and public bodies.

A small 90 min. approx co-production workshop bringing stakeholders together with subject matter experts, local residents and international tourism academics to discuss how to approach socio-spatial transformation in the city, through the lens of regenerative tourism.
 
This session will have space for 45 participants (including facilitators), comprising 5-10 MTU (architecture, tourism, service design) students; 5-10 tourism experts attending the conference; 5-10 local residents, activators and champions in the creative culture sector; and 5-10 representatives of the local destination management ecosystem, local authority and public bodies. High-level schedule below:
 
NETWORK - 5-10 mins
Quick-fire introductions: Your name and a sentence about Cork
SHARE - 30 mins total (10-12 mins per presentation max.)
anois (Frank O'Connor and Jude Sherry) presentation on research, Walking Tour of Dereliction
Department of Architecture presentation on insights, mapping Cork's lost potential, introducing Cork stakeholders, strategies etc.
Inholland presentation on Regenerative placemaking for Cork

CO-DESIGN - 40 - 45 mins
Facilitated co-design exercise in groups of 6 (6 groups of 6, 36) bringing together local community champions, subject matter experts and policy stakeholders to consider opportunities for a regenerative tourism - programme.
Bespoke tool (A2 or A3 canvas to be designed in collaboration with MTU) to be produced to structure the conversations around stakeholder needs, opportunities and visitor experiences.

FEEDBACK - 5-10 mins (3-5 mins per group)
Group comes together to share their insights, propositions for Cork.

Horgan (2022) Addressing dereliction and devaluation in urban tourism: the case of Cork, Ireland, International Journal of Tourism Cities (in publication).

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