Matching Items (13)
Description
This study aims to identify the self-reported sustainability goals, practices, and results of the five largest hotel companies that are headquartered in the United States through a comprehensive content analysis of each of their websites. The five companies included in the study are Best Western International, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Choice Hotels International, Hilton Worldwide, and Marriott International. The main focus centered on the qualitative information they shared about their goals and implemented practices across the hotels owned and operated by each company. In addition, the published qualitative data was analyzed to look at the reported results of their implemented practices. The results showed a large variety in the level of information that was shared by each of the five companies.
Information was examined using thirteen indicators of sustainability. Eight indicators were chosen that represented environmental sustainability, plus five indicators that represent social and economic sustainability. Based on the information analyzed, each company received a score for each indicator according to the level of information disclosed. This created a sustainability scorecard, with Marriott and Hilton scoring the highest, Wyndham and Best Western scoring the lowest, and Choice Hotels falling in the middle .In summary, it was determined that Hilton is reporting at the highest level, based on the measured indicators in addition to receiving external assurance on their disclosed results from implemented practices, The other four companies have further steps they should take to better communicate their sustainable practices and overall commitment to sustainability.
Information was examined using thirteen indicators of sustainability. Eight indicators were chosen that represented environmental sustainability, plus five indicators that represent social and economic sustainability. Based on the information analyzed, each company received a score for each indicator according to the level of information disclosed. This created a sustainability scorecard, with Marriott and Hilton scoring the highest, Wyndham and Best Western scoring the lowest, and Choice Hotels falling in the middle .In summary, it was determined that Hilton is reporting at the highest level, based on the measured indicators in addition to receiving external assurance on their disclosed results from implemented practices, The other four companies have further steps they should take to better communicate their sustainable practices and overall commitment to sustainability.
ContributorsStefanowski, Stacey Rita (Author) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Thesis director) / Chhabra, Deepak (Committee member) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Volunteering can lead to many positive outcomes on individuals in terms of social, psychological, and professional development. This study sought to understand the process and mindset of volunteers and how their experience affects attitudes towards environment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the attitude change of volunteers toward the environment, culture, and community after volunteering at a community of a background different than theirs. In this study, the volunteer setting is in Shonto, a Native American community in the Navajo Nation, Arizona. This study utilized a qualitative research approach. A total of 12 participants were interviewed in this study. All participants were members of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) at Arizona State University and have traveled to Shonto. Questions were asked to participants about their experiences with EWB and their volunteering experiences in Shonto. The main findings were categorized into four themes: 1) motivations; 2) preconceived perceptions and exposure; 3) collaboration and connection; and 4) commonality and reflection. The findings can be described as a process that participants go through in their entire volunteering experience. The first two themes occur before individuals volunteer and the last two themes occur after. First, individuals develop certain motivations to volunteer. Then, the preconceived perceptions of individuals were analyzed, and it was presumed that these perceptions were a result of their upbringing and exposure, or lack thereof, to the community they volunteer at. The last two themes occur after the individuals have volunteered. Individuals are able to collaborate and form a connection with the community, which influences their awareness and their ability to reflect on their experiences. These last two themes are important because they indicate the change of perceptions that volunteers perceive. These findings connect the motivations that volunteers have all the way to their attitude changes after volunteering. Further, findings demonstrate that the preconceived perceptions are influenced by an individual’s upbringing or exposure, but these misconceptions are changed after volunteering experience, which supports contact theory. Through these findings the study contributes to the existing literature on voluntourism. This study is applicable to organizations and tour operators who offer volunteer tourism programs and work with communities of different backgrounds. It can provide individuals an insight to other volunteering experiences.
ContributorsRoman, Brian (Author) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Thesis director) / Legg, Eric (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Eng Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Throughout history, terrorism has had major effects on tourists and tourism destinations that are targeted. When terrorists execute an attack in order to communicate a message, resulting impacts go far beyond lives lost. Included in these impacts is the fear that terror attacks leave on tourists, sometimes creating such an impression that tourists change travel plans as a result. Although there are many studies on destination image, risk perception, and decision-making, very few focus specifically on the millennial generation. Because millennials are changing the travel and tourism scene - as they now make up the largest percentage of the population \u2014 it is important for stakeholders in the tourism industry and DMOs to understand this shift and the implications that come with these changes. This study provides a qualitative analysis of millennials' views, attitudes, and beliefs regarding terror impacted tourist destinations. Specifically, it will explore how millennials develop their destination images, if millennials view international travel to be risky, and if millennials are willing to travel to terror impacted tourist destinations. Using focus group methodology, this study gathered data from students from a number of disciplines, genders, and travel experience, in order to understand the themes listed above. Analysis of the findings and implications for officials and DMOs follow, as well as a conclusion including limitations and recommendations for future studies.
ContributorsBacon, Laura Elizabeth (Author) / Buzinde, Christine (Thesis director) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / College of Public Service and Community Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Rural communities experience various challenges, including having higher education options, regulating the workforce, access to capital and goods, and infrastructure development. Despite these challenges, what makes these communities unique is their ability to be resilient, considering their small population. A prime example of this is Gila County, located in eastern Arizona. This area includes a cluster of rural towns that have survived for a long time, 142 years! Amidst the rise and fall of the copper rush from the 1880s to the 1950s, as well as the development of U.S. 60 that bypassed multiple towns, Gila County prevailed. The health of this community is deeply connected to the current nonprofit sector. This county is home to a few churches, one private nonprofit school, a variety of public charities, a community hospital, and several volunteer organizations. In order to understand how Gila County nonprofits have been so successful, this study uses the Supply and Demand Theory to answer the central idea: how do leaders build resilient nonprofits? Using in-depth interviews and demographic data collection, this study reports on the views of rural nonprofit leaders with years of expertise. It answers four key questions: 1) How strongly do nonprofit leaders equate being resilient to the longevity of their organization? 2) How is funding currently used in rural nonprofits’ program development? 3) How is collaboration between community members and rural nonprofits necessary for success? 4) How does the organization currently use technology to further its mission? Through the lens of the Supply and Demand Theory, this study pinpoints how rural nonprofit leaders have utilized their resources to create an equilibrium between supply and demand. The results show that successful nonprofits showcase resilient practices through their current leadership. These findings expand upon current research on succession planning, funding resiliency, internal and external collaboration, and overall use of technology. By expanding on this knowledge, valuable information has been documented for both active and upcoming nonprofit leaders. Capturing the first-hand expertise of successful leaders in rural Arizona provides advice, inspiration, and hope for those to come.
ContributorsLeonardi, Isabella (Author) / Andereck, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Wang, Lili (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
After many decades of promoting sustainable tourism and development, the world faces the pressing issue of overtourism. Overtourism is viewed as the condition where the growth of visitor volume puts destinations’ capacity under pressure resulting in many negative impacts on the environment, economy, culture, and society. It causes many community residents to resent tourism development. Visitors are concerned about their travel experience in overcrowded places. Understanding overtourism is necessary for destination management. This dissertation includes three studies to: 1) review the phenomenon of overtourism; 2) examine the perceptions of local residents and test the relationship between their satisfaction with quality of life and level of support for tourism development in overtourism context; and 3) examine the management of stakeholder involvement in an evidence-based sustainable tourism plan that aims to address overtourism. Different research methods are employed in the three studies of the dissertation: a conceptual paper based on literature review; a concurrent triangulation approach using both quantitative and qualitative data collected from a survey with host community; and a case study involving analysis of documents related to a sustainable tourism plan and in-depth interviews with key informants who were involved in developing the plan. Several theoretical or conceptual frameworks are used to guide research, including those that consider the relationship between residents’ satisfaction with QOL and their support for tourism development, crowding theory, stress coping framework, place attachment, and a multi-stakeholder involvement management framework. Sedona, a destination that is concerned about overtourism, was chosen to be the research site for two of the studies. Study 1 reveals the complexity of overtourism and pinpoints important aspects and details (e.g., causes, impacts) that need to be considered while solving overtourism. Study 2 investigates impacts of overtourism on the quality of life of the host community and identifies different ways residents cope with the crowding condition. Residents’ support for tourism development is influenced by their satisfaction with quality of life and possibly by their attachment to destination. Study 3 documents a comprehensive mechanism to manage stakeholder involvement and utilization of evidence in a sustainable tourism plan. Findings are helpful for destination management.
ContributorsPham, Kim (Author) / Andereck, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Vogt, Christine (Thesis advisor) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Morgan, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been lauded as a sustainable framework through which corporations can contribute to society. However, in the wake of global social justice movements, society demands that corporations take a stance on social ills to contribute to a just society. The concept of corporate social justice (CSJ) has been introduced to frame such endeavors, although it has yet to be extensively applied to the tourism industry. Drawing on the conceptual framework of corporate social justice, this study explores how CSJ principles, including accountability, transparency, impact, and sustainability, inform the business operations of eco-rated tourism enterprises in Maasai Mara, Kenya. Ecotourism Kenya, the eco-rating agency, has guidelines for eco-rated facilities on community engagement and development that require these businesses to commit to: investing in people; implementing empowerment programs for local populations; and supporting community economic linkages. The study adopted a case study research design using Maasai Mara in Kenya as a site of inquiry. Guided by a constructivist epistemological lens, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with management officials operating the eco-rated tourism businesses and Maasai community members residing in the vicinity. Purposive sampling was used to select participants from eco-rated tourism businesses, whereas a combination of snowball and convenience sampling techniques was utilized in selecting key informants from the Maasai community. Accordingly, twelve participants from eco-rated businesses and eighteen Maasai community participants took part in this study. The findings indicated that eco-rated tourism businesses in Maasai Mara engaged with the tenets of CSJ, albeit in predominantly business-focused ways. Further findings also revealed other factors that seemed to influence the local community’s appreciation of the community empowerment initiatives by eco-rated businesses. These factors included: human-wildlife conflict, corrupt reserve land dealings, and exploitation of Maasai trade by some local tourism actors. Based on the findings, this study recommends that eco-rated tourism businesses in Maasai Mara enhance their engagement with the tenets of CSJ to reflect community-centered initiatives. Moreover, a keen reassessment of multi-stakeholder influences on the Maasai community’s full appreciation of benefits from eco-rated tourism businesses should be undertaken to propel further implementation of action-oriented solutions for the community.
ContributorsChepkwony, Mercy (Author) / Buzinde, Christine N (Thesis advisor) / Bricker, Kelly S (Committee member) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
The emergence of social media in concert with improved camera and cell phone technologies has helped usher in an age of unprecedented visual communication which has radically changed the tourism industry worldwide. Serving as an important pillar of tourism and leisure studies, the concept of the tourist gaze has been left relatively unexamined within the context of this new visual world and more specifically image based social media. This phenomenological inquiry sought to explore how image based social media impacts the concept of the tourist gaze and furthermore to discover how the democratization of the gaze in concert with specific features of image based social media applications impacts the hermeneutic circle of the tourist gaze. This in-depth analysis of the user experience within the context of travel consisted of 19 semi-structured photo elicitation interviews and incorporated 57 participant generated photos. Six salient themes emerged from the study of this phenomenon; 1) sphere of influence, 2) exchange of information, 3) connections manifested, 4) impression management and content curation, 5) replicated travel photography, and 6) expectations. Analysis of these themes in conjunction with examples from the lived user experience demonstrate that the tourist gaze is being accelerated and expanded by image based social media in a rapid manner. Furthermore, democratization of the gaze as enabled by technological developments and specialized social media platforms is actively shifting the power role away from a small number of mass media influencers towards a larger number of branded individuals and social media influencers. Results of this inquiry support the theoretical assertions that the tourist gaze adapts to social and technological developments and demonstrates that the concept of the tourist gaze is increasingly important within tourism studies. Practical implications regarding the prevalence of real-time information, site visitation, and “taking only pictures” as sustainable touristic behavior are discussed.
ContributorsCampbell, Brenda Jean (Author) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Thesis advisor) / Lee, Woojin (Committee member) / Stone, Lesego (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Destination image has been explored by studying various aspects of the process of forming a perception about an area and choosing to visit or not. This study uses a variety of theories from previous research which has focused on subsets of factors which influence the overall process to create a model to organize the perception formation and decision making progress into one continuous and interrelated progression. Online questionnaires using Likert scale statements and questions were distributed to participants through Facebook in order to measure and test the model. A total of 266 questionnaires were completed and analyzed using t test, ANOVA, regression, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. The original model from the beginning of the study transformed with the removal of some variables and the alteration of others. The factors that were shown to influence perception of the destination were tourist type and knowledge of the country. Tourists who were more likely to seek new environments and had a higher level of knowledge of the country used in the marketing video had a better perception of the destination before and after the video. Obstacles for deciding to visit the destination were found to be long distances traveling and substitution of alternative destinations. The results show that marketing videos do create a positive change in the perception of the destination, but this alone is not likely enough to influence the decision to visit the destination. Marketing agencies should consider more ways of informing consumers of the destination in addition to commercials so that overall knowledge of the area can be improved. In addition, marketing agencies should target consumers that are interested in visiting new environments by using travel magazine subscriptions, international airline agencies and hotels, and social media groups.
ContributorsHugo, Nichole (Author) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Thesis advisor) / Andereck, Kathleen (Committee member) / Buzinde, Christine (Committee member) / Harrill, Rich (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
In this study the impact of outside the classroom activities and experiences of study abroad participants on cultural attitude change and perceived cultural competence was investigated. Motives to participate, expectations and outcomes of study abroad programs were also explored. The study used a mixed methods approach and was conducted in three parts including an exploratory sequential component followed by a concurrent embedded component. The exploratory sequential component included a photo elicitation project, the results of which contributed both to the results of the study and the development of the questionnaire used in the concurrent embedded component. The concurrent embedded component used a pre and post-test survey design and included a qualitative writing exercise with select participants between the completion of their pre and post-test questionnaires. The results suggest that study abroad participation does result in changes in both participants' cultural attitudes and cultural competency. It was hypothesized that length of time abroad and the cultural distance of the host country would have an influence on the change in cultural attitudes and cultural competency. As found in previous research, length of time abroad was not found to be a major contributing factor to this change when considering the results of the pre and post-test survey. However, the results of the qualitative studies resulted in many questions about the impact of length abroad. Participants in longer-term programs discussed changes in their cultural attitudes in a more complex way than short-term participants. Longer-term participants expressed changes in their cultural competency differently as well, though not in a way that it can be conclusively said they were more culturally competent. The reverse was the case for cultural distance. Cultural distance was a factor in the changes in cultural competency, however not in cultural attitudes when considering the results of the quantitative component. The qualitative results seem to bring up more questions. While shorter-term participants discussed cultural competency differently than longer-term participants, surprisingly the short-term programs had a higher percentage of participants studying in countries with large cultural distance than did long-term programs.
ContributorsPachmayer, Ara (Author) / Andereck, Kathleen (Thesis advisor) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Timothy, Dallen (Committee member) / Davey, Lynn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Branding and brand management have been top management priorities in the hotel industry. Some researchers have concluded that strong branding would be an efficient way for hotels and hotel chains to differentiate themselves from each other. Recent studies have focused on the establishment of a brand equity model and the relevant causal relationships of the model. Most of these studies have used types of desirability scales examining the importance of individual factors in measuring brand equity. However, they ignore the trade-offs that affect and characterize choice. Particularly, the personal decision process implied by the hierarchical brand equity model is absent. This study proposed two alternative measures of brand equity, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and conjoint analysis (CA), to address these limitations. The AHP and the CA were compared using several validity measures to aid in selecting efficient methods. This study examined the validity of AHP and CA under two data collection methods applied to hotel branding: paper-based survey and online survey. Result showed that the AHP data collection methods were easier, as well as with respect to saving time and costs. Results also indicated that the AHP is equivalent to the CA with respect to predictive accuracy. Practical differences for hotel branding in attribute preferences were clearly observed between the AHP and the CA. The AHP results were consistent with previous studies by awarding high importance to perceived quality and brand loyalty and lower importance to brand awareness and brand image. Managerial implications were provided for results. In terms of practicality in data collection, the study results revealed that the data gathered online leads to a slightly lower internal and predictive validity. A limitation of this study was that the two methods were not perfectly comparable. Nevertheless, the validity of both AHP and CA seems satisfactory for both methods. The study results also offer useful perspectives to consider when choosing between the two methods, as well as between AHP and CA.
ContributorsLee, Seung-Hyun (Author) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Thesis advisor) / Uysal, Muzaffer (Committee member) / Andereck, Kathleen (Committee member) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014