Posts By / dbuhalis

NEW PAPER: Buhalis, D., Harwood, T., Bogicevic, V., Viglia, G., Beldona, S., Hofacker, C., 2019, Technological disruptions in Services: lessons from Tourism and Hospitality, Journal of Service Management,

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NEW PAPER: Buhalis, D., Harwood, T., Bogicevic, V., Viglia, G., Beldona, S., Hofacker, C., 2019, Technological disruptions in Services: lessons from Tourism and Hospitality, Journal of Service Management, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 484-506

https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-12-2018-0398

Purpose

Technological disruptions such as the Internet of Things and autonomous devices, enhanced analytical capabilities (artificial intelligence) and rich media (virtual and augmented reality) are creating smart environments that are transforming industry structures, processes and practices. The purpose of this paper is to explore critical technological advancements using a value co-creation lens to provide insights into service innovations that impact ecosystems. The paper provides examples from tourism and hospitality industries as an information dependent service management context.

Design/methodology/approach

The research synthesizes prevailing theories of co-creation, service ecosystems, networks and technology disruption with emerging technological developments.

Findings

Findings highlight the need for research into service innovations in the tourism and hospitality sector at both macro-market and micro-firm levels, emanating from the rapid and radical nature of technological advancements. Specifically, the paper identifies three areas of likely future disruption in service experiences that may benefit from immediate attention: extra-sensory experiences, hyper-personalized experiences and beyond-automation experiences.

Research limitations/implications

Tourism and hospitality services prevail under varying levels of infrastructure, organization and cultural constraints. This paper provides an overview of potential disruptions and developments and does not delve into individual destination types and settings. This will require future work that conceptualizes and examines how stakeholders may adapt within specific contexts.

Social implications

Technological disruptions impact all facets of life. A comprehensive picture of developments here provides policymakers with nuanced perspectives to better prepare for impending change.

Originality/value

Guest experiences in tourism and hospitality by definition take place in hostile environments that are outside the safety and familiarity of one’s own surroundings. The emergence of smart environments will redefine how customers navigate their experiences. At a conceptual level, this requires a complete rethink of how stakeholders should leverage technologies, engage and reengineer services to remain competitive. The paper illustrates how technology disrupts industry structures and stimulates value co-creation at the micro and macro-societal level.

NEW ARTICLE The impact of online reputation on profitability

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NEW ARTICLE

Anagnostopoulou, S., Buhalis, D., Kountouri, I., Manousakis, E. and Tsekrekos, A. (2019), “

The impact of online reputation on hotel profitability”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,  https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-03-2019-0247

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to quantify the impact of online customer reputation on financial profitability.

Design/methodology/approach

Online reputation is captured by extracting the most recurring textual themes associated with customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, expressed within positive vs negative online guest reviews on Booking.com. Latent semantic analysis is used for textual analysis. Proxies of overall financial performance are manually constructed for the sample hotels, using financial data from the Financial Analysis Made Easy (FAME) database. Ordinary least squares is used to gauge the effect of online customer reputation on financial profitability.

Findings

Empirical findings indicate that recurring textual themes from positive online reviews (in contrast to negative reviews) exhibit a higher degree of homogeneity and consensus. The themes repeated in positive, but not in negative reviews, are found to significantly associate with hotel financial performance. Results contribute to the discussion about the measurable effect of online reputation on financial performance.

Originality/value

Contemporary quantitative methods are used to extract online reputation for a sample of UK hotels and associate this reputation with bottom-line financial profitability. The relationship between online reputation, as manifested within hotel guest reviews, and the financial performance of hotels is examined. Financial profitability is the result of revenues, reduced by the costs incurred in order to be able to offer a given level of service. Previous studies have mainly focused on basic measures of performance, i.e. revenue generation, rather than bottom-line profitability. By combining online guest reviews from travel websites (Booking.com) with financial measures of enterprise performance (FAME), this study makes a meaningful contribution to the strategic management of hotel businesses.

Keywords

Quantitative content analysis Online hotel reviews EWOM Hotel reputationLatent semantic analysis Hotel performance

New paper published : Yao, B., Qiu, R., Fan, D., Liu, A. and Buhalis, D. (2019), “Standing out from the crowd – an exploration of signal attributes of Airbnb listings”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2019-0106

BU research


New paper published : 

Yao, B., Qiu, R., Fan, D., Liu, A. and Buhalis, D. (2019), “Standing out from the crowd – an exploration of signal attributes of Airbnb listings“, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-02-2019-0106

 

Airbnb signal attributes and competitiveness

Abstract

Due to product diversity, traditional quality signals in the hotel industry such as star ratings and brand affiliation do not work well in the accommodation booking process on the sharing economy platform. From a suppliers’ perspective, this study aims to apply the signaling theory to the booking of Airbnb listings and explore the influence of quality signals on the odds of an Airbnb listing being booked. A binomial logistic model is used to describe the influences of different attributes on the market demand. Because of the large sample size, sequential Bayesian updating method is utilized in hospitality and tourism field for the first attempt. Results show that, in addition to host-specific information such as “Superhost” and identity verification, attributes including price, extra charges, region competitiveness and house rules are all effective signals in Airbnb. The signaling impact is more effective for the listings without any review comments. This study contributes to the literature by incorporating the signaling theory in the analysis of booking probability of Airbnb accommodation. The research findings are valuable to hosts in improving their booking rates and revenue. In addition, government and industrial management organizations can have more efficient strategy and policy planning.

New paper published: Rihova, I., Moital, M., Buhalis, D. and Gouthro, M. (2019), “Practice-based segmentation: taxonomy of Customer to Customer (C2C) co-creation practice segments”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,  https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-01-2018-0096

BU research, Events

New paper published: Rihova, I., Moital, M., Buhalis, D. and Gouthro, M. (2019), “Practice-based segmentation: taxonomy of Customer to Customer (C2C) co-creation practice segments“, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,  https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-01-2018-0096

Abstract

This paper aims to explore and evaluate practice-based segmentation as an alternative conceptual segmentation perspective that acknowledges the active role of consumers as value co-creators. Data comprising various aspects of customer-to-customer (C2C) co-creation practices of festival visitors were collected across five UK-based festivals, using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with naturally occurring social units (individuals, couples and groups). Data were analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis procedure within QSR NVivo 10. Private, sociable, tribal and communing practice segments are identified and profiled, using the interplay of specific subject- and situation-specific practice elements to highlight the “minimum” conditions for each C2C co-creation practice.

C2C

Unlike traditional segments, practice segment membership is shown to be fluid and overlapping, with fragmented consumers moving across different practice segments throughout their festival experience according to what makes most sense at a given time. Although practice-based segmentation is studied in the relatively limited context of C2C co-creation practices at festivals, the paper illustrates how this approach could be operationalised in the initial qualitative stages of segmentation research. By identifying how the interplay of subject- and situation-specific practice elements affects performance of practices, managers can facilitate relevant practice-based segments, leading to more sustainable business. The paper contributes to segmentation literature by empirically demonstrating the feasibility of practice-based segments and by evaluating the use of practice-based segmentation on a strategic, procedural and operational level. Possible methodological solutions for future research are offered.

C2C

New Research Article: Peters, M., Kallmuenzer, A.; Buhalis, D., 2019, Host-Guest Value Co-Creation in Hospitality Family Firms,

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NEW RESEARCH ARTICLE – download for FREE :

Peters, M., Kallmuenzer, A.; Buhalis, D., 2019, Host-Guest Value Co-Creation in Hospitality Family Firms,

Current Issues in Tourism, Vol.22(16) pp. 2014-2033

https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2018.1437122

#cocreation #value#sme #entrepreneurship #hospitality #family #marketing

The hospitality industry is dominated by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).They are often led by entrepreneurs who face the challenge of simultaneously managing business decisions and their own wellbeing. The competitiveness of tourism destinations often depends on these entrepreneurs and therefore understanding their motivations and work patterns is critical. Research on individual wellbeing increasingly builds on the concept of quality of life (QoL). Hospitality and tourism literature so far predominantly focused on investigating QoL for tourists and residents, rather than for entrepreneurs’ QoL, even tho

Peters, M., Kallmuenzer, A.; Buhalis, D., 2019, Host-Guest Value Co-Creation in Hospitality Family Firms, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol.22(16) pp. 2014-2033 https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2018.1437122

ugh being key stakeholders in the hospitality industry. Therefore, this study explores the factors influencing hospitality entrepreneurs’ quality of life (“HE-QoL”) and how these relate to business growth. Results of a 380 hospitality entrepreneurs’ survey identify six distinct factors of HE-QoL. Two groups of HE-QoL are identified with significant differences in fitness level activity, entrepreneurial competencies and business growth. Findings lead to recommendations to reduce stress to improve HE-QoL, and to develop entrepreneurial competencies, which help to cope with entrepreneurial challenges. Tourism destinations and politics can support hospitality entrepreneurs in these actions by creating conditions that foster social exchange in regional communities and trust in political and economic stability.

Keywords: quality of life, business growth, wellbeing, entrepreneurship, hospitality

Dr. Daisy Fan received “Best Paper of the Year 2019 for Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (JHTR)”

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Dr. Daisy Fan received “Best Paper of the Year 2019 for Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (JHTR)”

Congratulations to Dr. Daisy Fan together with all the other co-authors who has received the “2019 Outstanding JHTR Best Paper of the Year” in the Awards Banquet, 26 July 2019 at the ICHRIE summer conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The JHTR Editorial Review Board considered all of the papers published in 2018 and the paper entitled “Analyzing the Economic Sustainability of Tourism Development: Evidence from Hong Kong” was voted the very best of the best.

Reference:

Qiu, H., Fan, D. X. F., Lyu, J., Lin, P. M. C., & Jenkins, C. L. (2019). Analyzing the Economic Sustainability of Tourism Development: Evidence from Hong Kong. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 43(2), 226–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348018777046

 

 

NEW PUBLICATION Fan, D., Buhalis, D., Lin, B., 2019, A tourist typology of online and face-to-face social contact: Destination immersion and tourism encapsulation/decapsulation, Annals of Tourism, Vol.78,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.102757

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NEW PUBLICATION Fan, D., Buhalis, D., Lin, B., 2019, A tourist typology of online and face-to-face social contact: Destination immersion and tourism encapsulation/decapsulation, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol.78,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2019.102757

Download from https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ZQH0aZ3ER7eS

Highlights

•Information communication technology has changed tourists’ perceptions and behaviours.
•Tourists use technology to connect with home while experiencing the destination.
•The study adopts a qualitative approach and results are based on 51 in-depth interviews.
•A six-fold tourist typology is established to portray tourist behavioural patterns.
•A contact–immersion nexus is developed to indicate the tourist attachment tendencies.

Abstract

The sense of tourism encapsulation/decapsulation is increasingly determined by the level and type of connectivity enabled by advanced Information Communication Technology (ICT). This study explores tourists’ online and face-to-face social contacts and their effects on travel experiences. A six-fold tourist typology is established, namely: Disconnected Immersive Traveller, Digital Detox Traveller, Diversionary Traveller, Dual Zone Traveller, Daily Life Controller and Social Media Addict. A contact–immersion nexus is also developed to indicate the attachment tendencies of different tourist types between their home and away zones. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords

Online social contact
Face-to-face social contact
Contact–immersion nexus
Tourism encapsulation/decapsulation





New publication: Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover Determinants in High Contact Services: Insights from Employees’ Online Reviews,

BU research

NEW PAPER: Stamolampros, P., Korfiatis, N., Chalvatzis, K., Buhalis, D., 2019, Job Satisfaction and Employee Turnover Determinants in High Contact Services: Insights from Employees’ Online Reviews, Tourism Management,  Vol.75, Dec. pp.130-147, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.04.030

Abstract

We explore a special case of electronic word of mouth that of employees’ online reviews to study the determinants of job satisfaction and employee turnover. We perform our analysis using a novel dataset of 297,933 employee online reviews from 11,975 US tourism and hospitality firms, taking advantage of both the review score and text.

Leadership and cultural values are found to be better predictors of high employee satisfaction, while career progression is critical for employee turnover. One unit increase in the rating for career progression reduces the likelihood of an employee to leave a company by 14.87%.  Additionally, we quantify the effect of job satisfaction on firm profitability, where one unit increase leads to an increase between 1.2 and 1.4 in ROA. 

We do not find evidence supporting the reverse relationship, that growth on firm profitability increases job satisfaction. The feedback to management in employee reviews provides specific managerial implications.

Highlights

•We use online reviews to evaluate job satisfaction and employee turnover factors for tourism and hospitality firms.
•297,933 employee review ratings and texts for 11,975 U.S tourism and hospitality firms from Glassdoor are analyzed.
•A recent extension of probabilistic topic modeling the Structural Topic Model (STM) is used for the text analysis.
•A one unit increase of the rating for career opportunities decreases the likelihood of an employee to leave by 14.87%.
•An increase by one star in the overall rating of a company is linked with an increase between 1.2 and 1.4 of ROA.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis at the WTO Forum: Facing the Demographic Challenge Through Tourism and Innovation

BU research

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis addressed the World Tourism Organization Forum: Facing the Demographic Challenge Through Tourism and Innovation in Segovia, Spain, 26 March 2019.

The meeting was opened by the Prime Minister of Spain, HE  Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, President of the Government of Spain and Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Professor Buhalis contributed to the Round Table focused on Tourism, Sustainability and Territorial Redistribution

Moderator: Cristina Gallach, High Commissioner for Agenda 2030 of the Government of Spain

  • Alvaro Carrillo de Albornoz, Director General of Instituto Tecnológico Hotelero
  • Damià Serrano, Director of Experience Marketing and Research at the Catalan Tourism Board
  • Elena Gil, Global Big Data Director at Telefónica and CEO at Luca
  • Violeta Matas González, Responsible for the Tourism Area of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces

Professor Buhalis in his intervention he explained the need for the creation of digital hubs that will enable innovations in rural areas and minimise the distance from the global centres through technology. Creating innovative products and services through facilitating a bottom up approach to empower entrepreneurship and support sustainable development will enable the repopulation of rural and peripheral areas. Smartness and agility will empower the development of innovative ecosystems that can address different market segments and create resources for all stakeholders.

New article by Angela Smith, Derek Robbins & Janet E. Dickinson 2019,Defining sustainable transport in rural tourism: experiences from the New Forest

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New article by Angela Smith, Derek Robbins & Janet E. Dickinson 2019,
Defining sustainable transport in rural tourism: experiences from the New Forest
Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Volume 27(2), Pages: 258-275 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1401633

ABSTRACT

Transport policy agendas have long sought to bring about more sustainable transport at tourism destinations. Whilst there are examples of successes, it remains unclear what inroads have been made towards creating a sustainable transport future. Policy directions have evolved over a number of years and in many tourism destination contexts, it is far from clear what a desirable transport future looks like. When translated to implementation, the aims of initiatives can be unclear and baseline measures inconsistent, making success difficult to judge. This paper analyses how sustainable travel has been implemented in practice at a destination level. The focus is rural tourism and data are derived from a specific case, the New Forest National Park, UK, where a wide range of transport initiatives have been implemented since the Park’s designation in 2005. The study adopts a social practice theory perspective. Data are derived from a visitor survey, interviews and observations. It finds there is scope to improve sustainable transport provision at destinations through understanding visitor practices, but limited scope to influence meanings associated with visitor travel and travel skills. Policy meets the needs of some visitors more than others.

KEYWORDS: Rural tourism, sustainable travel, social practices, national parks

Author information

Angela Smith is a PhD student with a background in transport planning. Her research uses the experiences in the New Forest National Park to analyse transport practices and relative sustainability.

Derek Robbins is a senior lecturer at Bournemouth University. Trained as a transport planner his research interests include the relationship between transport and tourism, tourism and climate change, sustainable transport policy and the cruise industry.

Janet Dickinson is a professor at Bournemouth University. Her research interests focus on tourism and climate change, the sharing economy, social representations and time.

Funding

New Forest National Park Authority.

Bournemouth University Professional development courses for tourism & hospitality 

BU research, Fusion, Impact, Industry collaboration, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Exchange and Impact Team, Training

18 March – 22 March  2019 Bournemouth University Professional development courses for tourism & hospitality https://tinyurl.com/BUProfessionalCourses

Join Bournemouth University Department of Tourism and Hospitality to learn how you can develop your potential and competitiveness through managing your staff, developing your product and service, understanding your customers and using digital marketing. You will also have access to our resources and networks to develop your competitiveness. The courses are delivered through interactive workshops and networking with leading academics and students and will support managers to develop contemporary knowledge of critical business aspects that influence their profitability and performance.

Part of our Fusion and BU2025 strategy at Bournemouth University the short courses run from 18 March – 22 March and can be booked individually or as a package at a discounted rate. Our series of half-day courses will be delivered through interactive workshops and networking with leading academics and students. They will support managers, supervisors and their teams in their operational and strategic thinking.

The courses will focus on the following cutting edge areas:

  • Digital marketing and branding
  • Finance & the economy
  • Tourism attractions and heritage
  • Conferences & events
  • Asian markets & culture
  • HR – managing & developing staff
  • Sustainable hospitality

View the full schedule of short courses and click below for more detail about each course.https://tinyurl.com/BUProfessionalCourses

 

During these courses we share and disseminate our research findings and we develop collaborations and engagement to develop the talent of the future. Please forward this message to your network and encourage them to participate

New Paper Published – Volchek, K., Liu, A., Song, H., Buhalis, D. (2018). Forecasting tourist arrivals at attractions: Search engine empowered methodologies. Tourism Economics.

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New Paper Published – Volchek, K., Liu, A., Song, H., Buhalis, D. (2018). Forecasting tourist arrivals at attractions: Search engine empowered methodologies. Tourism Economics. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816618811558

Abstract

Tourist decision to visit attractions is a complex process influenced by multiple factors of individual context. This study investigates how the accuracy of tourism demand forecasting can be

improved at the micro level. The number of visits to five London museums is forecast and the predictive powers of Naïve I, seasonal Naïve, seasonal autoregressive moving average, seasonal autoregressive moving average with explanatory variables, SARMAX-mixed frequency data sampling and artificial neural network models are compared. The empirical findings extend understanding of different types of data and forecasting algorithms to the level of specific attractions. Introducing the Google Trends index on pure time-series models enhances the forecasts of the volume of arrivals to attractions. However, none of the applied models outperforms the others in all situations. Different models’ forecasting accuracy varies for short- and long-term demand predictions. The application of higher frequency search query data allows for the generation of weekly predictions, which are essential for attraction- and destination-level planning.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, attractions, forecasting, Google Trends, search engine, tourist demand

 

New paper published Viachaslau Filimonau and Delysia A.De Coteau 2019 Food waste management in hospitality operations: A critical review,

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New paper published Viachaslau Filimonau and Delysia A.De Coteau 2019 Food waste management in hospitality operations: A critical review, Tourism Management Volume 71, April 2019, Pages 234-245 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.10.009
Abstract

Hospitality food waste represents a significant societal challenge. It is however under-researched with most studies approaching the issue from the perspective of sustainable agriculture and environmental, rather than hospitality, management. Given the specificity of hospitality operations, this is a major shortcoming which hampers understanding of the determinants of effective mitigation. This paper provides a critical, analytical account of the literature on hospitality food waste made from the viewpoint of hospitality managers. It reviews the challenges in classifying, quantifying and characterising hospitality food waste, discusses the opportunities and obstacles to its mitigation and, drawing on good business practice examples, derives a framework for managing food waste across the different areas of hospitality operations. The framework is underpinned by such determinants of effective mitigation as: core in-house competencies; training needs; initial investment costs; and potential monetary savings. The feasibility of its broader adoption by managers across the sector is discussed.

new article published by Philipp Wassler and Ksenia Kirillova 2018, Hell is other people? An existential-phenomenological analysis of the local gaze in tourism

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Philipp Wassler and Ksenia Kirillova 2018, Hell is other people? An existential-phenomenological analysis of the local gaze in tourism, Tourism Management, Volume 71, April 2019, Pages 116-126
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.10.005

Abstract

The “Gaze” is a complex and overarching phenomenon comprised of diverse “Gazers” and “Gazees”. This paper adopts an existential-phenomenological perspective to understand tourists’ lived experiences of being gazed upon by local people. Based on thirty experiences collected from interviews with ten participants, we show that experiencing the “Local Gaze” exposes the tourist as Sartrean “Tourist-esque”: an inauthentic experiencer of positivity, discrimination, alienation and self-consciousness. Moments of true human connections are at best ephemeral. Through an existentialist lens, the study questions the possibility of authentic host-guest relationship in tourism and argues that to maintain hopes for an authentic relationship, the concepts of “Gaze” and – perhaps even of “Tourism” – need to be transcended.

Bournemouth University Professional development courses for tourism and hospitality 18 March – 22 March  2019

Business Engagement, conferences

Bournemouth University Professional development courses for tourism & hospitality 18 March – 22 March  2019

Department of Tourism and Hospitality Bournemouth University

Information  https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/our-faculties/faculty-management/our-departments/department-tourism-hospitality/professional-development-courses

Booking https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professional-development-courses-for-tourism-hospitality-professionals-tickets-51803261951?_eboga=1715778101.1516471310

Professional development courses for tourism & hospitality professionals

Our series of half-day courses will be delivered through interactive workshops and networking with leading academics and students. They will support managers, supervisors and their teams in their operational and strategic thinking. Our half-day courses will focus on the following areas:

  • The power of technology Professor Dimitrios Buhalis
  • Digital marketing and social media Dr Elvira Bolat
  • Managing tourism destinations, economic impacts and development Professor Adam Blake
  • Heritage interpretation at visitor attractions Dr Duncan Light
  • The greener conference Dr Julie Whitfield
  • Managing self and others Dr Lia Marinakou
  • Looking after your workforce Professor Adele Ladkin
  • Managing a multicultural workforce Dr Charalampos (Babis) Giousmpasoglou
  • Upcoming Asian and Chinese Markets – Attracting new customers Dr Philipp Wassler and Dr Daisy Fan
  • Managing hospitality food waste Dr Viachaslau Filimonau

View the full schedule of short courses and click below for more detail about each course.
Information  https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/about/our-faculties/faculty-management/our-departments/department-tourism-hospitality/professional-development-courses

Booking https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professional-development-courses-for-tourism-hospitality-professionals-tickets-51803261951?_eboga=1715778101.1516471310

Please feel free to forward this email to interested parties.

Our Professional development courses for tourism & hospitality professionals are primarily for our partners and help us to develop the competitiveness of the tourism and hospitality industries of the future.  Join us to learn how you can develop your potential and competitiveness through managing your staff, developing your product and service, understanding your customers and using digital marketing. You will also have access to our resources and networks to develop your competitiveness. The courses are delivered through interactive workshops and networking with leading academics and students and will support managers to develop contemporary knowledge of critical business aspects that influence their profitability and performance. We pride ourselves on the cutting edge knowledge and professional excellence we cultivate. The combination of staff expertise and enthusiasm, knowledge excellence and co-creation with industry, generate innovation and best professional practice. We have developed a suite of professional development courses for the tourism and hospitality industry to support managers in their operational and strategic thinking. They will bring you the tools and techniques to help grow your business.

ABOUT BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

The Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Faculty of Management, Bournemouth University is a top university in the world for the study of tourism and hospitality, ranked 8th in the world for hospitality and leisure management according to the QS University Rankings 2018 and 12th in the world for hospitality and tourism management according to the Shanghai Rankings of Academic Subjects 2018 and 3rd in the UK for hospitality, event management and tourism in the Guardian League Table 2019. We are recognised globally as a leading contributor to knowledge creation and dissemination in tourism and hospitality. A team of 29 academic staff and over 1,000 undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students make us one of the biggest and most prolific departments in the world. The combination of staff expertise and enthusiasm, knowledge excellence and cocreation with industry, generate innovation and best professional practice. Our approach is about creating value with everyone we work with, locally and globally, and to share the benefits with society.

Look forward to welcome you to our Professional Development courses.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis
Head of Department Tourism and Hospitality
Bournemouth University

BU Artificial Intelligence for Tourism and Hospitality – IFITTtalk – Wednesday 28 November 2018

BU research

BU Artificial Intelligence for Tourism and Hospitality – IFITTtalk
Wednesday 28 November 2018 – 09:00-17:00 FG06, Fusion, Bournemouth University, BH12 5BB, UK
Chairs: Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and Dr Nigel Williams eTourismLab, Department of Tourism and Hospitality, Bournemouth University –
Supported by IFITT talks #BUeTourism #IFITT https://tinyurl.com/BU-IFITT-AI

The (re) emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a service automation approach leveraging low cost computing and large datasets is impacting consumer experiences and is set to revolutionize tourism experiences. The ubiquitous and prevailing use of mobile devices for communication assures that stakeholders of such ‘consumer experiences’ are required to provide rapid responses to contextual queries made at any time, including within an experience encounter or activity at a destination level. AI tools that can make sense of real-time questions posed by consumers in context can provide significant value and increase engagement as well as reducing costs to destination organizations. The use of AI by tourism organizations is still low and this workshop will explore the opportunities and challenges of engaging AI as a customer co-creation toolset for industry and economic benefits. It will conclude with a scenario development exercise to identify possible futures for AI and Tourism along with a roadmap for the next 3 years of AI/Tourism development.

Evening of 27th Social get together at 19:30 at
Revolution Bournemouth Revolution Bournemouth, 165-167 Old Christchurch Rd, Bournemouth BH1 1JU

09:00 –09:30 Arrival and networking FG06

09:30-11:00 Artificial Intelligence for Tourism and Hospitality – theoretical perspectives

© Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and Dr Nigel Williams, Bournemouth University: Artificial Intelligence for Tourism and Hospitality: From individuals to clusters
© Dr Iis Tussyadiah University of Surrey, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
© Dr Luiz Mendes Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, Smart Tourism developments
© Professor Vasilis Katos Bournemouth University: Tourism focused Verticals: smart cities and data-driven circular economy
© Dr Chulmo Koo, Kyung Hee University, Korea, Smart Tourism and Artificial Intelligence

11:00-11:30 Coffee and networking

11:30-13:00 Artificial Intelligence for Tourism and Hospitality – current and future best practice

© Anthony Story SiliconSouth
© Gergana Halatcheva, GHS Global Hospitality
© Lee Mallon, Rarely Impossible
© Rowena (Copestake) Revill Dorset Creative
© Nikos Maniatis The Cato Bot
© Adam Greenwood greenwoodcampbell.com
© Jack Flannigan This is Crowd
Tom Keeping Keeping Studio

13:00 -14:00 Networking Lunch

14:00-15:30 Workshops Designing the future of Artificial Intelligence in Tourism

15:30-16:00 Break and Networking

16:00-17:00 Conclusions Research and Innovation agendas for the future
Chairs: Professor Dimitrios Buhalis and Dr Nigel Williams
AI Fusion: Future research – Projects – Publications – Best Practice Excellence – Education Innovations

new paper published  Volchek, K., Liu, A., Song, H., & Buhalis, D. (2018) Forecasting tourist arrivals at attractions: Search engine empowered methodologies. 

BU research

new paper published  Volchek, K., Liu, A., Song, H., & Buhalis, D. (2018) Forecasting tourist arrivals at attractions: Search engine empowered methodologies. Tourism Economics. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816618811558

Abstract

Tourist decision to visit attractions is a complex process influenced by multiple factors of individual context. This study investigates how the accuracy of tourism demand forecasting can be improved at the micro level. The number of visits to five London museums is forecast and the predictive powers of Naïve I, seasonal Naïve, seasonal autoregressive moving average, seasonal autoregressive moving average with explanatory variables, SARMAX-mixed frequency data sampling and artificial neural network models are compared. The empirical findings extend understanding of different types of data and forecasting algorithms to the level of specific attractions. Introducing the Google Trends index on pure time-series models enhances the forecasts of the volume of arrivals to attractions. However, none of the applied models outperforms the others in all situations. Different models’ forecasting accuracy varies for short- and long-term demand predictions. The application of higher frequency search query data allows for the generation of weekly predictions, which are essential for attraction- and destination-level planning.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, attractions, forecasting, Google Trends, search engine, tourist demand