Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues: Proceedings of the Tourism Outlook Conferences 9811070679, 9789811070679

Table of contents :
Preface
References
Contents
Tourism Economics
The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing Techniques in Performance Evaluations of Hotel Businesses
Introduction
Why Is Performance Assessment Important?
What Is the Main Purpose of Performance Assessment?
The Relationship Between Costing and Performance Evaluation
Standard Costing and Budgeting
What Is the Importance of Supply Chain Management?
Methodology
Results
Performance Measurement and Variance Analysis for Hotel General
Electricity Consumption Performance Measurement
Electrical Cost Performance Measurement
Variance Analysis
Variance Analysis and Performance Measurement for a Hotel Department
Conclusion
References
Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social, and Environmental Effects of the Kuşadasi International Golf Resort
Introduction
Kuşadası International Golf Resort
Purpose of the Study
Methodology
Model of the Study
Sample Population
Data Gathering Tools and Process
Findings
Conclusions
References
Experiential Marketing as a Moderating Effect on Exhibitor Performance at International Tourism Trade Shows
Introduction
Background to the Study
The Study Framework
The Theoretical Framework
Literature Review
Research Methods
Data Analysis
Cronbach Alpha
The Findings
Conclusions
References
Research on the Determination of Preferences for Showrooming and Webrooming Behaviors in Vacation Purchase
Introduction
Literature
Method
Population and Sample
Data Collection Tool
Research Questions
Data Analysis
Results
Conclusion and Suggestions
References
Innovation Through Business Models: The Case of the Airline Industry
Introduction
Busıness Model Concept and Its Components
Business Models for Airlines
Full-Service Network Airlines
Low-Cost Airlines
Hybrid Airlines
Charter Airlines
Regional Airlines
Conclusion
References
Designing an Activity-Based Costing Method for Food and Beverage Businesses: A Determination of Activities
Introduction
Activity-Based Costing
Why Is Performance Assessment Important?
Methodology
Findings
Interview Findings
Observational Findings
Conclusion
References
An Overview of Turkish Drinks with Traditional Meals
Introduction
Method
Results
Conclusion
References
Evaluation of Participants’ Gains and the Organizational Competence of Cooking Competitions
Introduction
Methodology
Findings
Participants’ Gains of Cooking Competitions
Organizational Competence of Cooking Competitions
Conclusion
References
Tourism Management
Destination Management Organisation Managers’ Behavioural Intentions Towards Crisis Planning in Malaysia
Introduction
Research Problem
Literature Review
Crisis Planning
Theory of Planned Behaviour
Main Research Question
Theoretical Framework
Methodology
Measure and Questionnaire Design
Data Collection
Analysis
Results
Response Rate
General Profiles
Crisis Management and Planning and Level of Awareness
Reliability and Validity
Evaluation of Measurement Model
Evaluation of Structural Model
Discussion and Recommendations
Conclusion
References
Impact of Managerial and Entrepreneurial Skills on the Success of Small and Medium Enterprises in North Western Province, Sri Lanka
Introduction
Literature Review
Methodology
Results and Discussion
Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents
Reliability Evaluation
Descriptive Statistics
Correlation Analysis
Regression Analysis
Conclusion
References
The Effect of Knowledge Sharing Practices on Employees’ Knowledge and Capabilities in the Hotel Industry in Sri Lanka
Introduction
Literature Review and Theoretical Model
Knowledge Sharing (KS)
Employees’ Knowledge and Capability (EKC)
Training
Capability
Employee Motivation (EM)
Conceptual Framework
Hypotheses
Research Methodology
Research Population
Research Sample
Sampling Technique
Pilot Test
Data Analysis Method
Multiple Regression Model
Sobel Test
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Profile of the Sample
Correlation of the Coefficient
Multiple Regression
Mediation Impact
Relationship Between KS and EKCs
Conclusions
Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Future Researches
References
Effect of Çeşme and Chios Port Services on Visitor Satisfaction
Introduction
Literature Summary
Service and Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction
Service Quality at Ports Providing Passenger Transport and Customer Satisfaction
Materials and Methods
Importance and Purpose of the Research
Population and Sample
Method
Results
Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendations
References
Geographical Distribution of Hunting Tourism Areas in Turkey
Introduction
Method
Results
Conclusion
References
Passenger Satisfaction in European Airports
Introduction
Methodology
Analysis and Findings
Conclusion
References
University Students’ Alienation Levels: The Case of the Anadolu University Tourism Faculty
Introduction
Alienation
Literature Review
Method
Population and Sample
Data Collection Tool and Data Collection
Data Analysis and Findings
Findings on Students’ Demographic Features
Findings About Differences
Findings of Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Conclusion and Recommendations
Appendix 1 Question Form
References
Improvement of Anadolu University Campus Guiding Services Through Student Volunteer Feedback
Introduction
Methodology
Analysis and Findings
Problems Experienced in Tour Coordination
Problems Related to Incoming Groups
Problems Caused by Lack of Equipment During the Tour
Problems Related to the Geographic Conditions
Suggestions Related to the Training Received
Suggestions Related to Equipment
Suggestions Related to Improvement of Tour Coordination
Conclusion
References
Tourism Sustainability
Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up Approaches in Heritage Tourism Management and Planning: An Analysis of Contrasting Models Based on Two Turkish Case Studies
Introduction
Background
Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches
Methodology
Analysis and Findings
Conclusion
References
Influences of Perceived Environment Uncertainty on Sustainable Destination Management Practices for Malaysian Tour Operators’ Businesses
Introduction
Literature Review
Adoption of Sustainable Destination Management Practices
Perceived Environment Uncertainty
Methodology
Results and Discussion
Measurement Model Assessment
Structural Model Assessment
Conclusions
References
Event Implications on Villagers Socioeconomic: A Case of Indigenous Orang Asli of Tanjung Sepat, Kuala Langat, Malaysia
Introduction
Literature Review
Local Residents’ Socioeconomic Conditions
Quality of Life
Engagement and Assistance
Methodology
Findings
Conclusion
References
Antecedents of Residents’ Support for Mega-Events: A PLS Path Model Based on Perceived Event Impacts and Quality of Life
Introduction
Literature Review and Theoretical Framework
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological Needs
Safety Needs
Social Needs
Esteem Needs
Self-actualization Needs
Positive Event Impacts
Negative Event Impacts
Quality of Life and Mega Sports Events
Conceptual Framework
Hypothesis
Methodology
Results and Discussion
Demographic Profile of Respondents (N = 737)
Evaluation of Measurement Model
Evaluation of Structural Model and Hypothesis Testing
Predictive Relevance of Model (Q2)
Discussion
Conclusions and Contributions
Limitations and Future Research
References
Impacts of All-Inclusive Package Tours on Local Enterprises: The Cases of Antalya and Canakkale
Introduction
Literature Review
Negative Impacts of the All-Inclusive System for Local Businesses
Negative Impacts of AIPTs for Local Enterprises
Methodology
Research Objective, Population, Sampling, and Data Collection Methods
General Findings Related to Participating Local Businesses
Findings Related to the Attitudes and Perceptions of Local Businesses Located in Antalya and Canakkale Toward AIPTs
Conclusion
References
Experiences at ESOGÜ Tourism Camp: A Grounded Theory Approach
Introduction
Methodology
Analysis and Findings
Conclusions and Future Insights
References

Citation preview

İnci Oya Coşkun · Nor’ain Othman · Mohamed Aslam · Alan Lew Editors

Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues Proceedings of the Tourism Outlook Conferences

Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues

İnci Oya Coşkun Nor’ain Othman Mohamed Aslam Alan Lew •

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Editors

Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues Proceedings of the Tourism Outlook Conferences

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Editors İnci Oya Coşkun Faculty of Tourism Anadolu University Tepebaşı, Eskişehir, Turkey Mohamed Aslam Department of Tourism Management Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka Belihuloya, Sri Lanka

Nor’ain Othman Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management Universiti Teknologi MARA Selangor, Malaysia Alan Lew Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ, USA

ISBN 978-981-10-7067-9 ISBN 978-981-10-7068-6 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6

(eBook)

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Preface

Business management and economics have been a core focus of tourism studies since mass tourism began to emerge after World War II to become among the world’s largest industries (Hall and Lew 2009). International tourist arrivals have grown from 25 million in 1950 to over 1.3 billion in 2017, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) shows how the travel and tourism industry has consistently grown faster than the global economy, and now contributes over 10% to global GDP. In addition to its economic benefits, tourism affects the cultural, environmental and social growth of destinations. In these ways, tourism is a richly dynamic and broad research area, embracing issues in economics, management, environment, and culture through a wide range of disciplinary perspectives. The UNWTO (2016, 14) defines the tourism business sector’s value chain as Linked processes such as policy making and integrated planning, product development and packaging, promotion and marketing, distribution and sales and destination operations and services are the key primary activities of the tourism value chain.

This definition embraces every aspect of tourism as a research area which this book endeavors to contribute. The chapters in this volume review tourism in three main aspects: economics, management, and sustainability. They were selected from the 10th Tourism Outlook Conference held in Belihuloya, Sri Lanka and the 11th Tourism Outlook Conference held in Eskişehir, Turkey, and reflect the range of topics covered at those two very successful meetings. The 10th Tourism Outlook Conference was hosted by the Faculty of Management Studies, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, and the 11th Tourism Outlook conference was organized by Anadolu University along with international collaborators. The editors of this volume appreciate the efforts of the conference organizers and sponsors, which included:

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Preface

• Anadolu University, Faculty of Tourism, Turkey • Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Faculty of Management Studies, Sri Lanka • Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam (UiTM), Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Malaysia • Northern Arizona University (NAU), Department of Geography, Planning and Recreation, USA • International Geographical Union (IGU), Commission on the Geography of Tourism, Leisure and Global Change • Tourism Geographies journal, Routledge, UK The selected chapters provide a platform for tourism scholars, tourism industry practitioners, public and private tourism decision-makers, and others interested in sustainable tourism management, economic processes and indicators, and management aspects of tourism businesses and destinations. The contributors to this book present a wide range of research perspectives on these areas of tourism. They, and the editors of this volume, appreciate this opportunity to contribute their knowledge to the world. Tepebaşı, Turkey Selangor, Malaysia Belihuloya, Sri Lanka Flagstaff, USA

İnci Oya Coşkun Nor’ain Othman Mohamed Aslam Alan Lew

References Hall, C. M., & Lew, A. A. (2009). Understanding and managing tourism impacts: An integrated approach. Oxford: Routledge. UNWTO. (2016). Annex I. report of the committee on tourism and competitiveness. Madrid, Spain: United Nations World Tourism Organization. http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/ docpdf/generalprogrammeofworkdmgt.pdf.

Contents

Tourism Economics The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing Techniques in Performance Evaluations of Hotel Businesses . . . . . . . . . Vedat Ekergil and Merve Özgür Göde Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social, and Environmental Effects of the Kuşadasi International Golf Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eda Elşan Atağan, Sultan Baysan, Ruken Akar Vural and Adil Adnan Öztürk

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Experiential Marketing as a Moderating Effect on Exhibitor Performance at International Tourism Trade Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zauyani Zainal Mohamed Alias and Nor’ain Othman

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Research on the Determination of Preferences for Showrooming and Webrooming Behaviors in Vacation Purchase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emre Ozan Aksöz and Furkan Hafif

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Innovation Through Business Models: The Case of the Airline Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ferhan Kuyucak Şengür and Yusuf Şengür

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Designing an Activity-Based Costing Method for Food and Beverage Businesses: A Determination of Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Merve Özgür Göde and Vedat Ekergil An Overview of Turkish Drinks with Traditional Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Önder Yayla, Şeyda Yayla and İsmail Konuk Evaluation of Participants’ Gains and the Organizational Competence of Cooking Competitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Sema Ekincek and Merve Özgür Göde

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Tourism Management Destination Management Organisation Managers’ Behavioural Intentions Towards Crisis Planning in Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Mohmed Razip Hasan, Nor’Ain Othman and Norliza Aminudin Impact of Managerial and Entrepreneurial Skills on the Success of Small and Medium Enterprises in North Western Province, Sri Lanka . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Wijesinghe Arachchilage Nadeesha Priyadarshanie The Effect of Knowledge Sharing Practices on Employees’ Knowledge and Capabilities in the Hotel Industry in Sri Lanka . . . . . . 171 Chathuri P. Danthanarayana, P. H. T. Kumara, W. G. S. R. Wijesundara and J. Sutha Effect of Çeşme and Chios Port Services on Visitor Satisfaction . . . . . . 193 Esin Özkan, Nilgün Avcı, Selcen Seda Türksoy, Samet Can Curkan and Mehmet Alper Nisari Geographical Distribution of Hunting Tourism Areas in Turkey . . . . . . 207 Önder Yayla, Şeyda Yayla and Semra Günay Aktaş Passenger Satisfaction in European Airports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Nevin Yavuz, Serkan Olgaç, Semra Günay Aktaş and Yeliz Mert Kantar University Students’ Alienation Levels: The Case of the Anadolu University Tourism Faculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Sezi Aydın and Çağıl Hale Özel Improvement of Anadolu University Campus Guiding Services Through Student Volunteer Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Gökçe Yüksek, İnci Oya Coşkun and Semra Günay Aktaş Tourism Sustainability Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up Approaches in Heritage Tourism Management and Planning: An Analysis of Contrasting Models Based on Two Turkish Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Barış Seyhan and Antonio Paolo Russo Influences of Perceived Environment Uncertainty on Sustainable Destination Management Practices for Malaysian Tour Operators’ Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Maisarah Abd Hamid and Salmi Mohd Isa

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Event Implications on Villagers Socioeconomic: A Case of Indigenous Orang Asli of Tanjung Sepat, Kuala Langat, Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Mazlina Mahdzar, Zuliah A. Hamid, Nor’Ain Othman, NorAsmalina M. Anuar and Siti Sabariah Ismail Antecedents of Residents’ Support for Mega-Events: A PLS Path Model Based on Perceived Event Impacts and Quality of Life . . . . . . . . 299 Ruwan Ranasinghe and Dhananjaya Nawarathna Impacts of All-Inclusive Package Tours on Local Enterprises: The Cases of Antalya and Canakkale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Mustafa Boz Experiences at ESOGÜ Tourism Camp: A Grounded Theory Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Yaşar Sarı, Rasa Pranskūnienė, Cemile Ece and Efnan Ezenel

Tourism Economics

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing Techniques in Performance Evaluations of Hotel Businesses Vedat Ekergil and Merve Özgür Göde

Abstract Accommodation establishments represent a complex sector with many elements, including demand uncertainty, customer-oriented management, complex production constraints, unified long raw material procurement processes, and adaptation to changing economic conditions. In such a sector, it is not possible to minimize the costs of the business and to maximize the efficiency of the service by controlling only one of the largest cost items. To create a competitive advantage in a customeroriented market, many elements, such as manpower, energy, water, maintenance, and stocks, need to be properly managed. Planning for as much communication as possible in supply chain management is also an important factor. Planning is the creation of a common consensus regarding the future objectives of business management. There are two basic elements to making the plans concrete. The first element is the estimates that embody the vision of the management of the business. Estimates may vary depending on the size of the vision. Some businesses connect their vision to standards, while some businesses base their vision on more than one estimate. The second element is the operating budget. Operating budgets are an important guide for determining the extent to which business management visions are realized. This guide allows for the evaluation of the success of the entire business, as well as the success of each department and the managers. The main aim of the study is to measure the success of the hotel business. Supply chain management and standard costing techniques are used to measure this success. To achieve this goal, a five-star hotel has four years of data. In the study, electricity consumption, the total cost of electricity, and the fixed and variable costs are first estimated and actualized for the four-year data of the hotel, which represents the activity period of the hotel. Using this data set, the performance is assessed using data about the rooms and customers per night. In the second part of the study, electricity consumption, total cost of electricity, and fixed and variable costs are determined. Performance evaluation can be conducted V. Ekergil Open Education Faculty, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] M. Özgür Göde (B) Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_1

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at the level of rooms and customers per night. The degree to which the performance evaluation of each part of the hotel affects the overall performance of the hotel can therefore be analyzed. Keywords Supply chain management · Standard costing · Performance · Deviation analysis · Hotel business

Introduction Service businesses tend to be more efficient, competitive, and profitable in the market as they tend to monitor their productivity, implement quality control, design service delivery, and use other cost management concepts and techniques (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013, p. 111). Service businesses cannot “keep” their services for future use; for example, it is not possible for an airline to add vacant seats from one flight to the available seats on the next flight. Similarly, a hotel business cannot transfer its vacant rooms to the next day. The service cannot be produced without demand, and the service can only be produced when the customer requests the service (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013, p. 111). As a result, it is difficult to provide the service on the basis of quantitative values. In such businesses, production based on the customer, rather than on mass production, hinders the standardization of costs and activities. Although hotel businesses are considered a part of the service sector, they are not the only service providers. Hotels are actually mixed-feature businesses because of the kind of service and production they provide while fulfilling their customers’ demands. This situation necessitates an analysis of the business based on financial data, as well as nonfinancial data. “Continuous cost control” is the basic condition that a hotel business needs to fulfill to survive in a customer-based competitive environment. The main result of cost control is performance evaluation. Performance evaluation is an integral part of any cost and management control system. Making strategic planning and control decisions requires the production of information regarding how the different subunits of the business perform. For performance appraisals to be effective, performance criteria (both financial and nonfinancial) should motivate managers who strive to achieve the company’s strategies and objectives at all levels. Performance criteria are generally based on internal financial information. However, diversifying the performance criteria in a highly competitive environment may enable the enterprise to differentiate from other enterprises. For example, performance criteria may include: (a) external financial information (such as stock prices); (b) nonfinancial internal information (such as defect rates, service production times, number of customers, and number of new patents); and (c) external nonfinancial information (such as customer satisfaction values and people). Performance criteria based on water consumption, hygiene inspection scores, food analysis results, and market share may also be used. All of these measurements provide an opportunity to analyze the subunits within the enterprise by comparing them with the subunit itself and the other subunits of the enterprise (Horgnren et al. 2003).

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Why Is Performance Assessment Important? Performance evaluation is often referred to as “employee performance.” The manager identifies the weaknesses and strengths observed in an employee and defines the opportunities for the professional development of the employee. The performance of the employee is examined based on how well he achieves his goals (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013). A performance appraisal should not be understood as the success or failure of employees to reach the targets set by the company (Evaluating and Improving Costing in Organizations 2009). A performance appraisal is much broader and more important according to the guidance of the International Federation of Accountants Professional Accountants in Business Committee in 2009 (IFAC PAIB Committee) (Evaluating and Improving Costing in Organizations 2009). The IFAC PAIB Committee defines the importance of cost improvement and performance evaluation under five headings. (1) Measuring, collecting, and allocating various processes and outputs of the enterprise shall enable the disclosure, understanding, and development of the organization’s structure and work. (2) Costing contributes to the understanding of how profit and economic value is created and how operational processes transform input into efficiency. Costing can be applied to information related to the organization, source, process, product/service, customer, and channel. Cost information can be used to provide feedback about past performance and to motivate and change future performance. (3) The basic building blocks of cost are the operational measurements of resources consumed (resources, people, space, equipment, and consumables); these are the leverages of cost and change. These measurements help managers reach conclusions and create the necessary information in order to make effective decisions. This information (a) produces results regarding the current situation of the entity (performance evaluation), and (b) estimates the implications for the future (planning). (4) Costing is used to support decisions, improve performance, create value, analyze break-even, and efficiently implement the resources and operations of a business.

What Is the Main Purpose of Performance Assessment? The main purpose of performance evaluation is to provide an opportunity for clear communication about performance expectations and feedback. Feedback is bidirectional. First, feedback is for employees; second, feedback from employees to employer increases or maintains the welfare of the employer by understanding their expectations or by improving their own performance. The employer or management wants to understand the compliance or deviation from their plans for the future of the business. Lockett (1992) highlights the purpose of performance evaluation (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013): 1. To ensure that employees achieve superior business performance standards;

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2. To help employees identify the knowledge and skills they need to do the work efficiently, so that they can focus on the correct task; 3. To encourage empowerment, motivation, and implementation of an effective reward mechanism; 4. To establish a two-way communication system to clarify expectations about roles and responsibilities among auditors and employees; 5. To identify barriers to effective performance and resolve these barriers through continuous monitoring, coaching, and development interventions; and 6. To encourage personal development and development in the careers of employees by helping them acquire the desired knowledge and skills. To determine the extent to which the decisions made by the management have achieved the business objectives, the management takes advantage of two concepts of cost management. These are “standard costs” and “operating budgets.”

The Relationship Between Costing and Performance Evaluation A standard cost indicates the performance that an entity expects from its management, its employees, its equipment, its suppliers, and even its customers. A standard cost is a target cost to be achieved. The creation of a standard cost is based on sound technical and engineering studies and on known production methods and plans (Mutya 2018). The standard cost is a predetermined calculation of how many costs should be incurred in the specified operating conditions. Businesses have different expectations for appropriate levels of costs when setting their standards. Differences in expectations lead to two types of standards: ideal standards and standards that can be reached given the current conditions (Blocher et al. 2005). The management should choose one of the standard approaches according to the performance value they want to achieve. The use of standard costs helps managers comprehend the behavioral models of cost elements, evaluate and monitor the effectiveness and profitability of their organization and identify the parts that go beyond the objectives (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013, p. 111). Standard costing controls the cost and revenue targets of the business by using cost and income standards by means of a deviation analysis.

Standard Costing and Budgeting Standard costing is a management accounting control technique that deals with budget systems and liability accounting. Planned operations are usually carried out using established standards. These budgeted standards can be understood as a future action

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plan designed by management to help achieve organizational goals (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013, p. 111). Standard costs help to determine the limits that must be placed on the execution of the business. However, these limits are only guidelines. For example, recommendations for menu items in a restaurant, the cleaning time of rooms in a hotel establishment, or drinks prepared by a bartender, can be linked to a standard. However, the implementation phase of these standards can be achieved with the budget of the business. Standard data are the basic data used in the budget preparation process. Standard costing and budgets facilitate the monitoring and control of operations, help in performance evaluation, and help managers make decisions regarding, for example, product pricing and resource management (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013, p. 111). The budget is to be planned in accordance with the vision, mission, goals, and objectives of the business for a certain period of time and ensures the necessary coordination in the execution of this plan. In this process, planning aims to reach the enterprise management, and the control refers to the measures that prevent the separation from targets in the process of achieving the planned targets. Control is the process of setting standards, receiving feedback on actual performance, and taking corrective action when actual performance deviates significantly from the planned performance. For this reason, budgets can be used to compare actual results with planned results, and they can guide the operations review when necessary (Guan et al. 2009). As a result, performance appraisals, standard costing, and budgeting are interrelated. Supply chain management needs to be performed well in order to ensure that activities, such as tourism are maintained at the highest level of customer satisfaction according to the determined standards, prepared budgets, and expected performance values.

What Is the Importance of Supply Chain Management? Over the last two decades, supply chains of manufacturers and retailers have become more closely linked. In many sectors, suppliers fulfill the orders of their customers and their needs without taking orders when the contracts are made. This is achieved by well-adjusted and timely supply chain management. Possible problems can therefore be identified before the creation of the supply chain, prices can be dynamically optimized, and customer dissatisfaction minimized, and this all contributes to customer loyalty (https://www.cio.com/article/2439493/supply-chain). In the field of service supply chain management, two types of supply chain systems emerge: SOSC, where the “service” is a pure service and supply chain system in which physical products are not involved; and the PSSC, which is a supply chain system that includes service delivery along with physical products. This classification according to “service supply chain management” in the service sector is shown in Fig. 1 (Wanga et al. 2015).

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Fig. 1 Service supply chains

An effective supply chain management is important for hotel businesses. The supply chain, according to the Supply Chain Council, covers all activities related to the production and delivery of the product (Stephens 2001). At the same time, the supply chain is regarded as a key competitive advantage in markets where customer satisfaction is important (Skjoett-Larsen 2000). Supply chain management covers many activities. For supply chain activities, a large portion of the costs consists of transportation, storage, demand forecasting, production planning, customer service, stock management, purchasing, order management, distribution, and disposal of waste (Alagöz and Ceran 2007, p. 157). One of the most important factors in a supply chain is “electricity,” especially for hotel enterprises that are in the process of converting their resources so that they can fulfill the demands of their customers. Although the supply chain that distributes electricity to customers/users seems to be composed of only distribution companies, this chain is composed of more than one member, as well as other supply chains. Some of these members are public institutions, while others are private businesses. The structure of the electricity supply chain is given in Fig. 2 (Af¸sar and Büyükkeklik 2016). Electricity supply chains are chains that extend from users who use the input for power generation to end users in the same way as traditional supply chains. In addition to energy supply providers, the chain includes production companies that convert the source supplied by the providers into electrical energy, the transmission companies that ensure the flow of the electrical energy from production companies between the power plants and distribution companies, distribution companies that

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9

Fig. 2 Structure of the electricity supply chain (Source Af¸sar and Büyükkeklik 2016, p. 81)

deliver the energy to users in the last link of the chain, and users of the energy at the end of the chain. Since 2002, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority in Turkey defined electricity users who are above a certain limit as “eligible consumers,” and the hotel businesses, therefore, also have the right to choose their supplier.

Methodology Deviations help managers with planning and control decisions. This analysis enables managers to focus more on situations outside of their expectations (such as the sale of a service pack below expectations). Since flexible budgets are created for different operating volumes, it allows for a comparison of budget figures and realized-cost figures for the volume of activity. Thus, if there are deviations between the results and the budgeted results, corrective measures can be taken by examining these deviations and causes. This process is called “variance analysis.” In variance analysis, the amount of the deviation, the source of deviation, and the reasons for deviation are identified. Variances are generally used in performance evaluation (Horngren 2009, p. 216). One benefit of deviation analysis is that it highlights individual aspects of performance. However, if any performance measure (for example, a labor productivity deviation or a consumer rating report) is considered on its own, this may cause performance to point in a specific direction. These actions may conflict with the company’s overall objectives and prevent them from being achieved. This erroneous view of performance often occurs when senior management designs a performance evaluation and reward system that does not emphasize company objectives. In the study, real data from a five-star hotel were utilized in order to examine the budget, standard costs, and success measures in the hotel business. The data used in this study were prepared at the beginning of the relevant month by the Central Bank of Turkey and missing data were estimated. The effect of inflation on the same month and year-to-year comparisons were therefore minimized. To facilitate the clarity of the study, the cost items focused solely on electricity costs, and on the June and August months of the seven-month period.

10

V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

Table 1 Realized accommodation and full number of rooms: 2014–2017 Number of person occupied (person)

Number of rooms occupied (room)

Year Month

2014

2014

March

524

72

280

310

328

45

110

120

April

13,945

5016

1958

2405

6063

2181

819

1018

May

40,173

17,309

18,789

21,106

13,828

5958

6774

7705

June

53,638

37,270

29,037

56,679

16,470

11,444

9430

17,909

July

43,338

61,356

49,626

59,999

12,701

17,981

1739

18,096

August

59,489

60,641

47,865

58,349

17,684

18,026

15,417

18,198

September

36,849

42,225

31,843

47,980

12,811

14,680

11,060

17,354

2015

2016

2017

2015

2016

2017

Results The data for the hotel include a seven-month period over four years. The hotel records its data using Turkish Lira. The hotel collects consumption and cost data in order to prepare sustainability reports. To prepare a sustainability report and a quality report, the hotel uses eight cost items specific to the environment: gasoline, water, LNG, electricity, hazardous waste, paper, glass, and metal. These cost items will focus on standard costing, performance valuation, and supply chain management by means of “electricity” cost data.

Performance Measurement and Variance Analysis for Hotel General The occupancy status of the hotel between the periods 2014–2017 is shown in Table 1.

Electricity Consumption Performance Measurement The cost of electricity is an important cost item for hotels. For this reason, hotels should estimate the amount of electricity to be consumed at the beginning of the period, so that they can select their electricity distribution company as an “eligible consumer.” Depending on demand, the entity expects production inputs to be calculated at the beginning of the period on the basis of both quantity and cost. The electricity input of the business is taken as an example, and the electricity consumption estimates for 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 are shown in Table 1 using kilowatt-hour (kWh). Even when they have no customers, hotels still face costs. During the opening of the season, a hotel has to face many fixed costs in order to provide the desired

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing …

11

quality of service to its customers. For example, garden and hotel lighting costs are not directly related to whether or not the customer is available. If the hotel operates at a capacity of 10%, it still faces the same costs as if it carries out its activities at a 100% capacity. Fixed costs are fixed for a certain range of services and electricity consumption is expected to be constant. However, in the tourism sector, it is observed that the lowest capacity in the full season or full capacity occurs in the last three months of the season. In such cases, hotels avoid constant electricity consumption every month. Hotels do not provide some services given their occupancy rate, and this causes fluctuations in fixed consumption. For example, in March and April, hotel pools are closed, while in June hotels may prefer not to open à la carte restaurants. This situation causes constant electricity consumption to vary between months. The fixed electricity consumption of the hotel during the period of 2014–2017 is shown in Table 2 using kWh. Activities to ensure customer satisfaction are generally associated with variable costs. To calculate the average room and person performance in Table 3, total variable consumption must first be calculated. For this calculation, total consumption is determined by subtracting constant consumption from total consumption in Table 3. Table 3 shows the average performance values of electricity consumption per room and per person and the consumption level between 2014 and 2017. Since the “estimated average room consumption performance value” is calculated by dividing the variable consumption by room occupancy, the “estimated average per person performance” is obtained by dividing variable consumption by the number of people per night. Table 3 shows that average consumption values per person are the same for all months. The main reason for this finding is the assumption that the unit variable cost is linear. Hotels can also calculate this rate on a room basis. Deviation analysis can be performed by comparing the estimated consumption values of the hotel with the actual consumption values. Table 4 shows the hotel’s actual consumption values. The difference between actual electricity consumption and actual fixed electricity consumption is calculated as actual electricity consumption. Since the actual average room consumption performance value is calculated by dividing the actual variable electricity consumption by the full number of rooms, the “actual average per person performance value” is calculated by dividing variable consumption by the number of people per night. These values are given in Table 5.

Electrical Cost Performance Measurement The cost of electricity represents a very high proportion of total costs for hotels. For this reason, a hotel first estimates the cost of electricity based on consumption values, and the unit electricity price guarantee that it receives from its supplier as an “eligible consumer.” Estimated electricity costs and estimated fixed electricity costs are given in Table 6.

6,678,552

1,302,820

July

Total

1,094,600

June

1,472,000

810,200

May

1,144,600

624,618

April

September

229,714

March

August

2014

Year Month

6,286,527

1,186,391

1,397,636

1,317,765

954,497

704,904

518,861

206,473

2015

Estimated consumption (kWh)

5,431,666

1,007,908

1,328,188

1,289,263

874,833

644,074

190,256

97,144

2016

Table 2 Estimated electricity consumption (kWh): 2014–2017

5,946,641

981,060

1,349,777

1,380,815

1,096,417

726,128

312,180

100,264

2017

3,985,725

744,500

826,000

832,000

512,000

374,000

473,200

224,025

2014

4,192,750

791,500

830,500

744,000

606,000

543,000

471,950

205,800

2015

3,545,980

673,100

825,000

767,800

569,600

446,600

169,680

94,200

2016

Estimated fixed consumption (kWh)

3,305,686

457,500

725,500

739,000

490,000

500,300

286,440

96,946

2017

12 V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing …

13

Table 3 Estimated electricity consumption average performance: 2014–2017 Average performance (kWh/room)

Average performance (kWh/person)

Year Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

March

14.4

15.0

26.8

27.7

10.86

9.35

10.51

10.70

April

25.0

21.5

25.1

25.3

10.86

9.35

10.51

10.70

May

31.5

27.2

29.2

29.3

10.86

9.35

10.51

10.70

June

35.4

30.5

32.4

33.9

10.86

9.35

10.51

10.70

July

37.1

31.9

33.1

35.5

10.86

9.35

10.51

10.70

August

36.5

31.5

32.6

34.3

10.86

9.35

10.51

10.70

September

31.2

26.9

30.3

29.6

10.86

9.35

10.51

10.70

According to Table 6, electricity costs tend to decrease from 2014 to 2017. When electricity consumption values in Table 2 are analyzed, consumption is higher than in 2017. Estimated total variable costs for full room and per capita costs are given in Table 7. Fixed costs directly affect the profitability of a business. To achieve profit targets, businesses have to meet their fixed costs. When the cost structure of a service business is examined, it is seen that fixed costs are concentrated. Most of the labor costs are for professional staff, usually paid in monthly salaries. At the beginning of the season, making salary payments should continue in order to retain qualified personnel during periods when there are few customers. The cost of salary payments is accepted as a fixed cost, since it does not differ from one period to the next. General Service costs are generally costs related to facilities and equipment and are considered fixed costs because they are the same for each time period (Aruomoaghe and Agbo 2013, p. 111.). Therefore, the fact that a hotel’s variable costs represent a low proportion of the cost structure requires managers to be very sensitive in their decisions. Costs incurred and recognized during continuing operations are referred to as actual costs. Actual costs are costs that can be proven by a document. For example, the hotel’s electricity consumption and costs are the results of an invoice resulting from use. The invoice is a document of proof. Accounting records are made based on invoice information and can now be used as accounting data. Table 8 shows the cost of electricity during the period 2014–2017. “Actual average room cost performance value” is calculated by dividing the variable costs obtained from data in Table 8 by the number of full rooms. When the variable costs are divided by the number of people per night “the actual average per person cost performance value” is obtained. These values are given in Table 9. After estimated consumption and cost values have been obtained, actual consumption and cost values in the period are recorded. Performance values were therefore calculated on the basis of both full rooms and person basis on a monthly basis for four years.

6,651,026

1,289,717

July

Total

1,102,957

June

1,465,166

797,410

May

1,136,977

632,857

April

September

225,942

March

August

2014

Year Month

6,285,121

1,184,391

1,397,409

1,319,314

954,790

703,934

522,510

202,773

2015

Actual consumption (kWh)

5,447,786

1,007,908

1,328,188

1,298,263

874,833

652,084

195,306

91,204

2016

Table 4 Actual electricity consumption (kWh): 2014–2017

5,958,723

975,090

1,347,779

1,382,790

1,100,519

726,837

313,324

112,384

2017

4,146,450

764,900

864,100

852,000

561,000

391,800

492,000

220,650

4,128,780

777,600

813,500

728,200

596,000

537,200

474,200

202,080

2015

Actual fixed consumption (kWh) 2014

3,587,700

677,800

832,000

783,800

573,600

457,200

175,000

88,300

2016

3,184,800

436,000

692,000

708,500

463,500

489,600

286,300

108,900

2017

14 V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing …

15

Table 5 Actual electricity consumption average performance: 2014–2017 Average performance (kWh/room)

Average performance (kWh/person)

Year Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

March

16.2

15.4

26.4

29.0

10.10

9.63

10.37

11.24

April

23.2

22.2

24.79

26.5

10.10

9.63

10.37

11.24

May

29.3

28.0

28.8

30.8

10.10

9.63

10.37

11.24

June

32.9

31.4

31.9

35.6

10.10

9.63

10.37

11.24

July

34.5

32.9

32.7

37.3

10.10

9.63

10.37

11.24

August

34.0

32.4

32.2

36.0

10.10

9.63

10.37

11.24

September

29.0

27.7

29.8

31.1

10.10

9.63

10.37

11.24

Table 6 Estimated electricity costs ($): 2014–2017 Estimated costs ($)

Estimated fixed costs ($)

Year Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

March

27,025

23,046

9943

7752

26,355

22,971

9642

7495

April

76,774

55,805

19,271

24,455

58,163

50,759

17,186

22,439

May

90,358

75,260

62,677

58,867

41,710

57,974

43,460

40,559

June

129,576

96,491

84,522

97,788

60,609

61,261

55,032

43,703

July

147,968

144,516

125,720

121,158

94,495

81,592

74,871

64,843

August

178,433

142,771

126,550

119,512

100,126

84,837

78,606

64,237

September

151,240

112,759

95,491

89,500

98,373

75,227

63,771

42,649

Total

801,373

650,647

524,174

519,032

479,832

434,622

342,568

285,925

Table 7 Estimated electricity costs average performance: 2014–2017 Average performance ($/room)

Average performance ($/person)

Year Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

March

2.04

1.67

2.74

2.14

1.28

1.04

1.08

0.83

April

3.07

2.31

2.54

1.98

1.33

1.01

1.06

0.84

May

3.52

2.90

2.84

2.38

1.21

1.00

1.02

0.87

June

4.19

3.08

3.13

3.02

1.29

0.95

1.02

0.95

July

4.21

3.50

3.23

3.11

1.23

1.03

1.02

0.94

August

4.43

3.21

3.11

3.04

1.32

0.96

1.00

0.95

September

4.13

2.56

2.87

2.70

1.43

0.89

1.00

0.98

Variance Analysis All production factors should be taken into account in a variance analysis. The raw materials and the materials used in the hotel, labor, and other production elements

16

V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

Table 8 Actual electricity costs ($): 2014–2017 Actual costs ($)

Actual fixed costs ($)

Year Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

March

26,581

22,633

9335

8689

25,958

22,556

9038

8419

April

77,787

56,197

19,782

24,545

60,474

51,001

17,725

22,428

May

88,931

75,156

63,456

58,924

43,696

57,355

44,492

39,692

June

130,565

96,520

84,522

98,154.3

66,410

60,250

55,418

41,339

July

146,480

144,686

126,598

121,331

96,766

79,860

76,431

62,166

August

177,604

142,748

126,550

119,335

104,744

83,101

79,273

61,271

September

150,233

112,569

95,491

88,956

101,069

73,906

64,216

39,776

Total

798,181

650,510

525,734

519,934

499,117

428,028

346,593

275,091

Table 9 Actual electricity costs average performance: 2014–2017 Average performance ($/room)

Average performance ($/person)

Year Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

March

1.90

1.72

2.70

2.24

1.19

1.07

1.06

0.87

April

2.86

2.38

2.51

2.08

1.24

1.04

1.05

0.88

May

3.27

2.99

2.80

2.50

1.13

1.03

1.01

0.91

June

3.90

3.17

3.09

3.172

1.20

0.97

1.00

1.00

July

3.91

3.61

3.19

3.27

1.15

1.06

1.01

0.99

August

4.12

3.31

3.07

3.19

1.22

0.98

0.99

1.00

September

3.84

2.63

2.83

2.83

1.33

0.92

0.98

1.03

should be the subject of deviation. This analysis examines the electricity consumption and costs of a hotel. Electricity is one of the overall service costs. According to the usage of this hotel, it is a hem semi-variable cost, in that it includes both variable and fixed cost features. Even if there were no customers staying at the hotel, the hotel would still have to bear the costs of electricity. However, fixed costs can vary gradually (depending on the month) as customers are accommodated at the hotel. In addition, electricity costs may vary depending on the customer. In this context, the deviation analysis of the sample hotel uses both consumption and cost dimensions. In addition, performance deviation is calculated on the basis of rooms and persons depending on electricity consumption. The consumption deviation analysis of the hotel is shown in Table 10. In Table 10, both total consumption deviation and average performance deviation are given. The estimated consumption values in Table 2 (e.g., 206,473 kWh for March 2015) are calculated by subtracting the actual consumption values in Table 4 (e.g., 202,773 kWh for March 2015) from the consumption figures (e.g., +3700 kWh for March 2015). The results are given in Table 10, and the table also includes cost deviations. The estimated cost of electricity

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing …

17

Table 10 Consumption and cost variance analysis Total consumption deviation (kWh)

Total costs deviation ($)

Year Month

2014

2015

2016

2017

2014

2015

2016

2017

March

3772

3700

5940

−12,120

443.8

413.0

608.0

−937.0

April

−8239

−3649

−5050

−1144

−1012.7

−392.5

−511.5

−89.6

May

12,790

970

−8010

−709

1426.4

103.6

−779.5

−57.5

June

−8357

−293

0

−4102

−989.2

−29.6

0.0

−365.9

July

13,103

−1549

−9000

−1975

1488.2

−169.9

−877.6

−173.3

August

6834

227

0

1998

828.4

23.2

0.0

176.9

September

7623

2000

0

5970

1007.3

190.1

0.0

544.6

Total

27,526

1406

−16,120

−12,082

3192.1

137.9

−1560.6

−901.7

(e.g., $22,633 for March 2015) is calculated with the estimated cost of electricity in Table 6 ($23,046 for March 2015). The deviations are examined. Although in 2015, there was a positive deviation of 1.406 kWh, in 2016 and 2017, it was concluded that electricity consumption was higher than the estimate for those years, or the estimates could not be made correctly. However, when electricity consumption by room and person is examined, it is seen that 2017 is a more successful year than other years. The variance analysis of the hotel’s electricity consumption cost dimension is given in Table 10. When the direction of the total consumption and cost deviations (positive/negative) in Table 10 is analyzed, it is seen that they are similar across years.

Variance Analysis and Performance Measurement for a Hotel Department A general deviation analysis and performance measurement for all enterprises contribute to the decision-making of managers. For this reason, making comparisons on a year-by-year basis or in the same month of the year will help make many decisions and resolve problems. However, in order to correctly analyze the deviations, a deviation analysis of a hotel on the basis of departments, or the responsibility centers, will lead to more accurate decisions. Only the June and August months in the hotel data were taken into account in order to explain the deviation analysis for hotel departments. The deficiencies or faults in the consumption and cost data for parts of the hotel have been corrected based on the hotel’s total data. In this context, the estimated electricity consumption of the hotel is given in Table 11. The electrical costs of the parts of the hotel are shown in Table 12.

Human resources

Kitchen

Pools

FB

Quu Spa

Reception

Laundry

Store

Animation

Technical service

40,985

August

290,870

25,680

August

June

194,300

254,100

June

180,680

August

70,010

August

June

75,201

30,008

August

June

28,900

24,800

August

June

19,280

June

22,800

August

18,600

10,450

August

June

12,345

41,390

June

23,105

August

473,900

August

June

292,422

June

29,065

32,844

277,793

222,576

267,000

237,160

54,288

60,387

25,365

20,647

23,769

19,115

18,387

16,071

15,465

13,095

26,802

27,131

490,680

228,619

33,671

25,680

227,778

130,992

214,297

137,910

67,010

56,014

37,657

27,600

17,268

16,653

18,732

14,800

12,893

11,745

38,798

25,699

405,634

228,600

26,532

22,679

283,453

283,700

303,692

75,831

39,749

56,417

23,700

34,290

16,236

24,318

11,657

6397

15,911

15,344

13,408

16,789

376,520

210,530

4968

3040

35,259

23,001

30,801

21,388

8486

8902

3638

3421

3006

2282

2764

1237

2255

1461

5017

2735

57,445

34,616

2969

3320

28,377

22,500

27,275

23,975

5546

6105

2591

2087

2428

1932

1878

1625

1580

1324

2738

2743

50,124

23,111

2015

2014

2017

Estimated costs ($) 2016

2014

2015

Estimated consumption (kWh)

Table 11 Estimated electricity consumption and cost based on departments of the hotel

3208

2481

21,703

12,656

20,418

13,324

6385

5412

3588

2667

1645

1609

1785

1430

1228

1135

3697

2483

38,649

22,086

2016

(continued)

2349

2023

25,097

25,303

26,889

6763

3519

5032

2098

3058

1438

2169

1032

571

1409

1369

1187

1497

33,338

18,777

2017

18 V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

General of Total

Purchasing Offices

Housekeeping

Table 11 (continued)

1,094,600

1,472,000

August

8930

June

2947

August

195,607

August

June

229,290

June

1.397.636

954.497

3210

3214

165,812

73,639

1.328.188

874.833

9780

2340

244,670

196,800

1.349.777

1.096.417

12,344

5289

226,575

344,832

178,433

129,576

1082

349

23,711

27,143

142.771

96.491

328

325

16,938

7444

2015

2014

2017

Estimated costs ($) 2016

2014

2015

Estimated consumption (kWh)

126.550

84.522

932

226

23,312

19,014

2016

119.512

97.788

1093

472

20,061

30,755

2017

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing … 19

Human resources

Kitchen

Pools

FB

Quu Spa

Reception

Laundry

Store

Animation

Technical service

39,418

August

296,418

28,612

August

June

201,412

256,121

June

187,000

August

71,316

August

June

72,504

30,222

August

June

26,325

23,298

August

June

20,001

June

18,412

August

19,000

14,320

August

June

15,200

39,760

June

22,105

August

471,400

August

June

287,918

June

43,148

32,914

308,226

222,667

297,275

237,105

80,426

60,287

24,217

20,650

24,710

19,080

24,594

16,031

16,752

13,300

39,768

27,200

407,005

228,756

35,805

32,560

244,305

190,075

209,468

161,266

88,249

55,709

22,719

17,467

22,741

16,653

16,172

11,497

13,669

7383

37,237

25,699

400,133

224,817

37,312

22,499

256,185

258,334

70,673

75,460

55,460

56,155

33,267

34,590

21,588

22,318

16,255

6497

15,005

14,553

18,907

10,790

523,544

285,818

4778

3387

35,931

23,843

31,046

22,137

8645

8583

3663

3116

2824

2368

2232

1695

2303

1799

4820

2617

57,142

34,083

4408

3327

31,486

22,509

30,367

23,969

8216

6094

2474

2088

2524

1929

2512

1621

1711

1345

4062

2750

41,576

23,125

2015

2014

2017

Actual costs ($) 2016

2014

2015

Actual consumption (kWh)

Table 12 Actual electricity consumption and costs based on departments of the hotel

3412

3146

23,277

18,364

19,958

15,581

8408

5382

2165

1688

2167

1609

1541

1111

1302

713

3548

2483

38,125

21,721

2016

(continued)

3304

2007

22,683

23,040

6258

6730

4911

5008

2946

3085

1911

1991

1439

579

1329

1298

1674

962

46,356

25,492

2017

20 V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

General of Hotel

Purchasing Offices

Housekeeping

Table 12 (continued)

1,102,957

1,465,166

August

5501

June

4280

August

194,300

August

June

223,280

June

1,397,409

954,790

4808

3220

126,480

73,580

1,328,188

874,833

5282

2340

232,408

129,367

1,347,779

1,100,519

16,360

5175

283,223

308,330

177,604

130,565

667

507

23,553

26,431

142,748

96,520

492

326

12,920

7438

2015

2014

2017

Actual costs ($) 2016

2014

2015

Actual consumption (kWh)

126,550

84,522

503

226

22,144

12,499

2016

119,335

98,154

1449

462

25,077

27,500

2017

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing … 21

22

V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

Partial electrical deviations values of the hotel are calculated in Table 13. The consumption deviation analysis shows the hotel departments, such as technical services, pool, kitchen, and housekeeping departments that had the highest values. Although the deviations are not very high, it was found that technical service consumption in June 2017 was 75,288 kWh, while there was a highly negative deviation of 147,024 kWh in August. Similarly, in August 2017, the pool had a positive deviation of 233,019 kWh. Accordingly, it can be concluded that the hotel has difficulties with correctly determining electricity consumption standards; the hotel is not sufficiently maintained or would not be if an extraordinary situation were encountered. Excessive deviations in consumption are reflected in the same way as cost deviations. This situation also leads to the conclusion that the enterprise should review standard consumption and costs and review the regulations. Segmental consumption and cost performance values are given in Table 14. Turkey has experienced a major crisis in terms of hotel occupancy in the tourism sector between the years 2015 and 2017. The effects of the crisis are reflected in performance appraisals. This crisis is because data regarding full rooms and the number of people are used in the calculation of performance evaluations. However, this situation does not adequately reflect performance values. When the performance values of the hotel included in this study are analyzed, it is seen that the hotel has seen a serious degradation in performance across almost all the parts of the hotel between 2015 and 2017. Since hotel management performed the performance evaluation at the hotel level, it did not measure performance and could not take the necessary measures. This observation is shown in Table 13, as well as in Table 14.

Conclusion Standard costs are realistic cost estimates based on the analysis of operating costs and conditions in the past and future. Managers use standard costs to plan and control performance through budgets in the management process and to provide deviation analysis and facilitate communication between business segments. In this process, supply chain management is gaining importance. This rise in importance is, in part, because of the standards that are established. Based on these standards, no deviations from actual costs and conditions will be realized by carrying out the procurement process as desired. In fact, enterprise management considers a variety of objectives when setting standards and creating associated budgets: (1) setting goals for performance; (2) motivating responsible managers to achieve these goals; (3) holding these managers responsible for actual performance; and (4) appraising positive performance and negative performance. For this purpose, standard costing, budgeting, deviation analysis, performance appraisal, and supply chain management are interrelated by means of using interdependent cost management techniques. In the study, it is shown that these techniques work in harmony with each other and that a detailed analysis of the results that contribute to more successful decision-making by managers can be produced.

Human resources

Kitchen

Pools

FB

Quu Spa

Reception

Laundry

Store

Animation

Technical service

1561

−12,966 −205

1630

−2855

June

August

−2134

−14,083

1567

August

−16527 −6880

August

−59,083

−30433

−91

−7112

June

−23,356 4829

−70

−30,275

−2021

August

−5548

55

−6320

June

−21,239

−2932

−26,138

−1306

August

305

14,938

June

100

1148

2697

−214

June

August

10,133

−3

−5473

−941

1502

August

2575

0

35

−721

June

June

2560

−6207

4388

August

−776 3303

−1287 40

−400

−3870

June

4362

0

−69

1000

5501

3783

83,675

−137

August

2500

August

June

4504

June

−10,780

180

27,268

25,366

233,019

371

−15,711

262

−9567

−300

−5352

2000

−4598

−100

906

791

−5499

190

−347

−673

−842

−245

−748

−158

319

−26

305

182

−85

532

−458

−48

−338

198

118

303

−147,024 5999

533

−75,288

−1439

−7

−3109

−9

−3,092

6

−2670

10

117

0

-96

4

−634

4

−131

−21

−1324

−7

8548

−14

2015

2014

2017

Costs deviation ($)

2016

2014

2015

Consumption deviation (kWh)

Table 13 Consumption and costs variance analysis for all department

−203

−665

−1575

−5708

460

−2257

−2024

29

1423

979

−521

0

244

319

−74

421

149

0

524

365

2016

(continued)

−954

16

2414

2262

20,632

33

−1391

23

−847

−27

−474

178

−407

−9

80

71

−487

535

−13,018

−6715

2017

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing … 23

General of Hotel

Purchasing Offices

Housekeeping

Table 13 (continued)

4498

−1598 −293

3429

−8357

+6834

August

June

August

+227

0

−6

−1,333

June

0

0

12,262

67,433

39,332

1307

August

59

6010

June

+1998

−4102

−4016 +828

−989

416

−158

158

−56648 114

711

36,502

+23

−29

−164

−1

4018

6

2015

2014

2017

Costs deviation ($)

2016

2014

2015

Consumption deviation (kWh)

0

0

429

0

1168

6515

2016

+177

−365

−356

10

−5016

3256

2017

24 V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

Human resources

Kitchen

Pools

FB

Quu Spa

Reception

Laundry

Store

Animation

Technical service

0.0045

August

0.0544

0.0221

August

June

0.2104

0.0554

June

0.1965

August

0.0132

August

June

0.0970

0.0066

August

June

0.0416

0.0101

August

June

0.0208

June

0.0177

August

0.0034

0.0014

August

June

0.0065

0.0145

June

0.0303

August

0.1447

August

June

0.1075

June

−0.0416 −0.0054

−0.0330

−0.2023

−0.0213 −0.0231

0.0079

−0.0884 −0.0895

−0.0759

−0.0222

−0.0033

−0.0501

−0.0653

0.0370

−0.0020 0.0339

−0.0129

−0.0037

0.0037

0.0008

−0.0017

−0.0054

0.0056

−0.0158

0.0011

−0.0020

0.0159

−0.0019 0.0123

0.0030

−0.0324 −0.0040

0.0012

−0.0028

−0.0014

0.0065

0.0241

0.1674

−0.0220

0.0017

−0.0283

−0.0024

0.0350

0.0368

0.5199

−0.0087

−0.0413

0.0008

0.0072

0.0132

0.0683

0.0141

0.0638

0.0032

0.0315

−0.0251 −0.0065

0.0135

0.0029

0.0068

0.0054

0.0004

0.0008

0.0021

0.0040

−0.0053

−0.0144

0.0026

−0.0121

−0.0011

0.0005

0.0003

−0.0144

0.0098

0.0395

−0.3874 0.0151

0.0349

−0.2440

−0.0101

−0.0010

−0.0293

−0.0065

−0.0289

−0.0068

−0.0199

−0.0016

0.0001

−0.0006

−0.0013

−0.0005

−0.0049

−0.0004

−0.0013

−0.0006

−0.0099

−0.0009

0.0450

−0.0068

2015

−0.0021

−0.0075

−0.0160

−0.0657

0.0001

−0.0247

−0.0169

0.0012

0.0105

0.0120

−0.0044

0.0003

0.0016

0.0040

−0.0008

0.0052

0.0005

0.0004

−0.0025

0.0078

2016

2014

2017

Costs performances ($/person)

2016

2014

2015

Consumption performances (kWh/person)

Table 14 Consumption and costs performances evaluation for all department

(continued)

−0.0094

−0.0008

0.0043

0.0116

0.1551

−0.0027

−0.0138

−0.0020

−0.0084

−0.0017

−0.0049

0.0008

−0.0040

−0.0003

−0.0002

0.0001

−0.0048

0.0048

−0.1296

−0.0771

2017

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing … 25

General of Hotel

Purchasing Offices

Housekeeping

Table 14 (continued)

−0.0204

−0.0870

0.0446

August

0.0410

−0.0909

1.0230

0.0102

−0.0040

0.0117

August

June

0.0001

−0.0003

−0.0003

June

0.0246

0.0806

−0.2915

August

0.2471

−0.0067

0.2893

June

−0.1362

−0.1524

−0.0108

−0.0003

−0.1578

0.0610

−0.0076

0.3322

0.0036

−0.0001

−0.0968

0.0940

−0.0394

−0.0279

−0.0012

−0.0001

0.0224

−0.0021

2015

−0.0216

0.0133

0.0032

0.0000

0.0051

0.0803

2016

2014

2017

Costs performances ($/person)

2016

2014

2015

Consumption performances (kWh/person)

−0.0739

−0.0482

−0.0037

−0.0001

−0.0545

0.0193

2017

26 V. Ekergil and M. Özgür Göde

The Role of Supply Chain Management and Standard Costing …

27

A hotel business needs to prepare nonfinancial reports (such as sustainable reporting, integrated reporting, quality report, customer profitability), as well as financial reporting (such as financial statements, financial performance tables) in a highly competitive environment. For these reports to be produced in a transparent, accurate, and truthful manner, the data must first be obtained in a manner that would allow these reports to be prepared. Currently, international hotel chains have an important place in the market and national hotels are trying to prepare these reports at an international level. In this intense competitive environment, hotels need to set standard costs, prepare their budgets, determine cost controls, and prepare deviation analyses and performance evaluations for the hotel as a whole, as well as for each part of the hotel. As a result of the study, the sample hotel studied between the years 2015 and 2017 during a crisis in the tourism sector in Turkey has reached the conclusion that it was not managed correctly; deviation analysis and performance evaluation techniques allow for the examination of the budgeted values during the related period or at the end of the period. Since the sample hotel was not able to identify the negative deviations that started in 2015, it could not take the necessary measures to update its standards and was unable to make the necessary corrections to its budgets. Acknowledgements This study was supported by Anadolu University Scientific Research Projects Commission under the grant no.: 1808E284.

References Af¸sar, Y., & Büyükkeklik, A. (2016). Elektrik Enerjisinde Tedarik Zinciri Yönetimi: Türkiye’de Kullanıcılara Yönelik Bilgisayar Uygulaması Önerisi [The electricity supply chain management: A proposal for users of computer applications in Turkey]. Verimlilik Dergisi, 3(75), 80. Alagöz, A., & Ceran, Y. (2007). Muhasebe meslek mensuplarinin sorunlari, meslek örgütünden beklentileri ile mesleki vizyon algilarini belirlemeye yönelik bir ara¸stirma: konya ili uygulamasi [ A research aiming to determine the problems of professional accountants, their expectations from professional organization and their perception of professional vision: Case of Konya]. Sosyal Ekonomik Ara¸stırmalar Dergisi, 7(14), 291–312. Aruomoaghe, J., & Agbo, S. (2013). Application of variance analysis for performance evaluation: A cost/benefit approach. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting ISSN 2222-2847 (Online), 4(13), 111. Blocher, E. J., Chen, K. H., Cokins, G., & Lin, T. W. (2005). Cost management: A strategic emphasis (3rd ed.) Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin. ISBN: 0-07-111210-3, p. 518. Evaluating and Improving Costing in Organizations. (2009). https://www.ifac.org/aboutifac/professional-accountants-business/publications/evaluating-and-improving-costingorganizations. Accessed 23 December 2019. Guan, L., Hansen, D. R., & Mowen, M. M. (2009). Cost management (6th ed.). Mason, MI: SouthWestern Cengage Learning. ISBN13: 978-0-324-65736-4, p. 250. Horgnren, C. T., Datar, S. M., & Foster, G. (2003). Cost accounting: A managerial emphasis (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-099619-X, p. 786. Horngren, C. T. (2009). Cost accounting: A managerial emphasis, 13/e. Pearson Education India.

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International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). (2009). http://files.fasab.gov/pdffiles/ifac_eval_ and_improv_costing.pdf. Accessed 23 June 2019. Lockett. (1992). Objectives of performance management. Retrieved from http://www. managementstudyguide.com on 23 December 2019. Mutya, T. (2018). Cost control: A fundamental tool towards organisation performance. Journal of Accounting & Marketing, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.4172/2168-9601.1000283. Skjoett-Larsen, T. (2000). Third party logistics–from an interorganizational point of view. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 30(2), 112–127. Stephens, S. (2001). Supply chain operations reference model version 5.0: A new tool to improve supply chain efficiency and achieve best practice. Information Systems Frontiers, 3(4), 471–476. Wanga, Y., Wallace, S. W., Shen, B., & Choi, T.-M. (2015). Service supply chain management: A review of operational models. European Journal of Operational Research, 247(685), 686.

Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social, and Environmental Effects of the Ku¸sadasi International Golf Resort Eda El¸san Ata˘gan, Sultan Baysan, Ruken Akar Vural and Adil Adnan Öztürk

Abstract The purpose of this research is to examine the perceptions of the employees of the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort and the economic, social, and environmental effects of golf tourism. In addition, considering the location of the resort, the perceived effect of golf tourism, which forms an alternative tourism activity, is examined. As in a descriptive qualitative design, employees’ perceptions were attempted to be revealed by using semi-structured interview forms. The study sample consisted of eight staff working in the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort. Maximum variation sampling was selected from among the purposeful sampling methods. As a result of the research, it was concluded that the environment was perceived to be undamaged, the natural structure was preserved, and that there was no over-irrigation. In addition, it was revealed that because of the resort being far from the local residential area, there is no interaction between the visiting tourists and the local people. Moreover, the employees also reported on the employment creation effect of the resort, which is very similar to what is asserted in tourism literature. The implication of this paper is that stakeholders’ perspectives are important to understand their feelings, and therefore to act in a more sustainable manner. Keywords Golf tourism · Sport tourism · Environmental · Economic · Social effects · Sustainability · Qualitative research

E. E. Ata˘gan Institute of Social Sciences, University of Aydın Adnan Menderes, Aydın, Turkey S. Baysan (B) · A. A. Öztürk Department of Social Studies, University of Aydın Adnan Menderes, Aydın, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] A. A. Öztürk e-mail: [email protected] R. A. Vural Department of Educational Sciences, University of Aydın Adnan Menderes, Aydın, Turkey © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_2

29

30

E. E. Ata˘gan et al.

Introduction From past to present, humankind has affected the environment and the environment has affected human life. This interaction has been the main discussion area of many disciplines, particularly geography. Nowadays, environmental determinism advocates that the environment affects human beings, while the possibilist approach that advocates that man dominates the environment, and the probabilistic approach argues that both affect each other. Therefore, interaction occurs in various forms and is embodied in many economic activities (Tümertekin and Özgüç 2016). Tourism, as one of these activities, aims to create welfare and employment as one of the biggest employers of the world. Sports activities that contribute to tourism business are examined under three headings: first, professional sports events conducted by organisations such as such as the Olympics or World Cups in different types of sports; second, use of certain places for activities such as mountaineering, trekking, and diving; and third, sports for health and leisure (Hinch and Higham 2001 cited in Avcı 2008). Golf is included in the third category. Golf, which falls under special interest tourism, has 65 million registered people playing golf, among whom 27 million who travel (Tourism Investment Magazine n.d.) provide continuity to the game and contribute to the world and Mediterranean economies. Therefore, it is also considered a development indicator. Golf, as a lifestyle, is seen as a symbol of perfection and elitism starting from its operators to its audience. Golf-based tourism projects conform to the model of tourism development, ‘which is characterised by significant political, economic and territorial pressure from developers, high levels of land use stemming from the expansion of residential building, and an exogenous model of economic development seeking to create a socalled “quality” market oriented towards the elite consumer’ (Domínguez-Gomez and Gonzalez-Gomez 2017). However, golf tourism has both negative and positive effects, and it has been the subject of debate (Niitsuma and Onishi 1992; Pleumarom 1992; Smith and Bridges 1996; Tobin and Taylor 1996; Wan et al. 1996; Markwick 2000; Domínguez-Gomez and Gonzalez-Gomez 2017). These discussions are being replaced by the classic developmentalist view towards social and sustainable views nowadays (Domínguez-Gomez and Gonzalez-Gomez 2017). As in other types of tourism, there are various stakeholders in golf tourism. The role and attitudes of stakeholders can be one of the leading keys to sustainability. Therefore, this study examines the perceptions of the employees of a golf resort in Aydın as a qualitative case study. It is an attempt to make a kind of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) (Domínguez-Gomez and Gonzalez-Gomez 2017) of a golf resort. As important revenue generators, there are 18 establishments and 36 golf courses in Turkey, most of which are in the Mediterranean Region (Anonymous 2018). In the Aegean Region, Bodrum stands out with its two establishments and two golf courses. There is also one establishment and golf course in Aydın Ku¸sadası, which is the subject of this study (Table 1).

Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social … Table 1 Golf courses in the Aegean Region

31

Location

Establishment

Number of golf courses

Bodrum

Bodrum Golf Club

1

Bodrum

Regnum Golf Club

1

Aydın

Ku¸sadası International Golf

1

Source Ministry of Culture and Tourism (2018)

There are two approaches to the construction of golf courses. The first is Europeantype architecture where the natural landscape is largely preserved, and the other is American-type architecture, where the golf course is literally re-created and the natural structure is completely changed. There are examples of both worldwide. European-style architecture is preferred in the majority of the golf courses in Turkey (Avcı 2008). It is necessary to protect the environmental characteristics of a region when choosing the location and constructing the facilities. In the construction of golf courses, it is necessary to take into account the land structure, whether the vegetation is suitable for change, the climate is mild, and the land has sufficient surface area. However, there are problems in site selection and regulation. For example, pesticide use and excessive irrigation practices create environmental problems. After the World Conservation Strategy (IUCN et al. 1980) and Our Common Future (WCED 1987), there have been initiatives to define sustainability in tourism, which means that natural, historical, cultural, social, and aesthetic values can be preserved and carried forward (Bramwell and Lane 1993; McIntyre et al. 1993; Hunter 1995; Green 1995; Archer 1996; Pelit et al. 2015; Gündüz 2017). Within the scope of sustainability, golf tourism is a matter of debate in terms of water resources, ecological balance, vegetation, and the area where golf courses are established. In addition to its economic impacts, golf tourism also has social and environmental problems. As well as providing income to a country, the multiplier effect increases by ensuring direct or indirect employment. Employees contribute to the hotel and dining area, accessing golf courses, materials, staff, entertainment, and travelling to local attractions. However, many side effects, in the literature are stated, namely construction of new roads in order to reach golf courses; using large amounts of water, chemical fertilisers, and pesticides; cutting trees for the construction of social facilities and administrative buildings; and effects on the quality of local life (Pleumarom 1992; Smith and Bridges 1996; Wan et al. 1996; Kozak and Kozak 2010). Considering the social impacts of golf tourism, it may be said that the interaction with local people is high in places where there are many establishments and golf courses, such as Antalya (Ministry of Culture and Tourism 2018). However, where there are few, such as the Aegean Region, the interaction between local people and golf tourists is limited as golf generally takes place in closed and remote areas. Golf tourism revenues are growing three times faster than world tourism revenues. A golf player’s spending is estimated to be about three to four times the average tourist expenditure (Ata 2016). As of the last 10 years, it is stated that the income

32

E. E. Ata˘gan et al.

obtained from golf tourism on a world scale is over 100 billion dollars. As of 2016, the revenue coming from golf tourism is about 11% of the world’s tourism receipts, which is 1401.5 billion dollars (WTTC 2017). Golf tourism has gained importance due to the diversification of tourism in recent years in Turkey, to create employment opportunities and green areas, as well as bringing in revenue (Kozak et al. 2009). Despite the higher income yield of golf, the effect on the local economy is limited and its share is low. This is similar to package tours that are defined as all-inclusive. Those who come to play golf, spend most of their time in the facility. All the expenses, including extras, are made there (Avcı 2008). In the environmental perspective there are golf courses designed to the highest standards in accordance with USGA (United States Golf Association) laws. These are establishments that continue to support the development of new courses with grass types tolerant to salt, resistant to heat and drought, or are developed for the seashore, and therefore use a small amount of or recycled water or tolerate the use of salty irrigation water. Today, new lawns are able to withstand the hardships of traffic coming from golfers and golf equipment, close mowing, and extreme weather conditions, with less fertiliser and pesticide usage. Advances in the environmental standards extend beyond the lawn. For example, the conscious use of water is a priority that supervisors address with the help of computerised irrigation systems. Therefore, it is possible to create more sustainable establishments by providing a protective cover for the habitat and wildlife, and by reducing the amount of fertilisers and plant protectors (USGA 2010). In the 10th Development Report of the State Planning Organisation (DPT), tourism and golf tourism are handled within the scope of sustainability. Increasing construction, lack of infrastructure, and environmental problems in tourist centres, and the adaptation of investments in tourism-oriented development plans are important. With this report, it is proposed to complete the infrastructure deficiencies related to golf tourism together with other tourism types and to support the diversification of the market, while supporting the development of alternative tourism types. It is noteworthy that some alternatives, such as quantity restriction and different pricing for underground water resources, are recommended to ensure sustainability in irrigation, which is particularly important in golf facilities (DPT 2013). Considering all these impacts and sustainability principles, this study aims to investigate the perceptions of employees related to the economic, social, and environmental effects of golf, which is a branch of special interest tourism, and thus to make a kind of social impact assessment. For this reason, the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort located in Ku¸sadası, which is oa mass tourism area, was investigated. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the employees of the golf course.

Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort The Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort, which opened in 2012, is located in the Dilek Peninsula Büyük Menderes Delta National Park, south of the Ku¸sadası-Söke

Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social …

33

highway. Its location, namely Kıranta in the vicinity of Kemalpa¸sa, is within the borders of Söke (Aydın). The hotel consists of two sections: the hotel division, La Costa, and the golf course. The establishment is the first international golf course in the Aegean Region. The Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort is not only for golf purposes but also for non-golf activities such as hiking, yoga, and dining. The resort is spread over an area of 6359 square metres. It has an 18-hole golf course with an altitude of 130m (Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort n.d.). In La Costa, there are 750 apartments that serve two different purposes: circuit property and tourism accommodation. Apart from this, there are nine more apartments on the upper floor of the Club House. The golf section is the Club House in which one manager and instructor, one receptionist, two caddy masters, two irrigation staff, one technical service staff member, and one agricultural engineer serve. The golf course was designed by architect Jose Canales Galvez. It is Turkey’s third most difficult pitch following Golf Class in Istanbul and Regnum Golf in Antalya. The golf course has Bermuda grass, which has been preserved in its natural shape. There are two artificial ponds in the course. The maquis vegetation consists of carobs (Ceratonia siliqua L.) and olive (Olea europaea) trees. The resort is in compliance with the stringent USGA/PGA specifications. It has hosted five tournaments since its inauguration.

Purpose of the Study The main purpose of this paper is to examine the economic, social, and environmental impacts of golf as one of the special interest tourism types in a case study of the resort. For this purpose, the following questions were examined: (1) According to the perceptions of the employees, how has golf tourism affected the region and other economic activities? (2) According to the perceptions of the employees, how has golf tourism affected other tourism types and local people? (3) What do the employees perceive about what the tourists who visit the resort for playing golf know about the culture and values of the local people? (4) According to the perceptions of the employees, how has the resort affected the quality of life of local people, habitats, wildlife, and vegetation? (5) What is the impact of the resort on water and energy sources, according to the perceptions of the employees? (6) What are the practices of the resort with respect to fertilisation and agricultural spraying of grass, according to the perceptions of the employees? (7) What are the impacts of the resort on the environment, according to the perceptions of the employees?

34

E. E. Ata˘gan et al.

Methodology Model of the Study This study was designed as a descriptive research model. In the descriptive model, in this type of analysis, which includes summarising and interpreting the data obtained with the various data collection tools according to pre-determined themes, the researcher can frequent quotations to reflect the views of the individuals they have observed. The main purpose of this analysis type is to present the findings obtained to the reader in a summarised and interpreted form (Yıldırım and Sim¸ ¸ sek 2016). In this study, a semi-structured interview technique was used to reveal the perceptions of employees about the effects of the resort.

Sample Population The sample of the study consisted of all the personnel working at the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort. The staff of the golf resort consists of one manager (also the golf trainer), one agricultural engineer (greenkeeper), one receptionist, one technical service, two caddy masters, and two irrigation staff (Table 2). Maximum variation sampling was used in the research. The aim of this sampling is not to provide diversity for generalisation but rather to try to find out whether there are any common or shared phenomena between different situations and reveal the different dimensions of the problem according to the diversity (Yıldırım and Sim¸ ¸ sek 2016). In this study, it was attempted to reveal the common phenomena by Table 2 Characteristics of Employees (the sample) Participant number

Age

Occupation

Occupational experience (years)

Work experience in the resort (years)

P1

28

Irrigation staff

0

6

P2

42

Manager and golf trainer

21

1,5

P3

32

Caddy master

0

6

P4

34

Receptionist

12

6

P5

45

Technical service worker

20

3

P6

36

Agricultural engineer (greenkeeper)

0

6

P7

41

Caddy master

20

6

P8

28

Maintenance officer

0

5

Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social …

35

determining different dimensions of the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort as special interest tourism.

Data Gathering Tools and Process A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool. Questions on the interview form consisted of three themes that were divided into economic, social, and environmental effects categories, and 22 questions were asked about personal characteristics (age, occupation, and work experience) and the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the resort. Two expert opinions were taken from faculty members of Aydın Adnan Menderes University about the semi-structured interview form consisting of open-ended questions. As a result, the preliminary interview form was revised and a pilot interview was conducted with one participant. After this process, all eight employees were interviewed. In the interviews, the answers of seven people were recorded. One person did not agree to an audio-recording because of personal reasons, and therefore the answers of this participant were transcribed by the note-taking method. The audio-recordings were transferred to a Word file by analysing word by word, and 46 pages of raw data were obtained. By the inductive method, first, open coding and then thematic coding were performed, and data were processed using descriptive analysis and content analysis techniques. The results were thus derived.

Findings Three themes from the interview form are reported in this section: the economic, social, and environmental effects of the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort, as per the participants’ perceptions. Theme 1: Perceptions of Employees on the Economic Impact of the Resort In the interviews, all participants employed in the resort and hotel division mentioned increased employment opportunities (f: 8), while half of the participants stated that the surrounding areas gained value (f: 4). The resort provided financial support to the region (f: 3), increased the quality of the region (f: 2), promoted tourism (f: 1), and also contributed and added value to restaurants (f: 1). There were two participants who stated that the resort has ‘no contribution’ (Table 3). Some of the statements of the participants are below: P5 ‘…There are different job opportunities, so the hotel has many staff here in Ku¸sadası’. P2 ‘…of course, Ku¸sadası Golf is reflecting on people, people are taking bread to their homes. For example, if you ask this hotel, now maybe there are over 500 employees from Söke [over the years]. No doubt there is a benefit’.

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Table 3 Economic effects of Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort and La Costa hotel Theme

Category

Codes

Economic effects

Ku¸sadası International Golf and La Costa hotel

Contribution: Provided employment (f: 8) Surrounding areas gained value (f: 4) Provided financial support to the region (f: 3) Quality of the region increased (f: 2) Contributed to tourism (f: 1) Contributed to restaurants (f: 1) No contribution: Advertisement of the region (f: 1) Providing customers and hosts (f: 1)

Total

Table 4 Effects on other sectors

21

Theme

Category

Codes

Economic effects

Effects on other sectors

Agriculture (f: 3) Transportation (f: 3) Insurance (f: 2) Service (f: 1) No effects (f: 1)

Total

10

Table 4 summarises perceptions about the economic effects of golf tourism on other sectors. Three of the eight participants responded: agriculture (f: 3) and transportation (f: 3), followed by insurance (f: 2) and service sectors (f: 1). Two participants did not answer this question. Below are some of the participant’s statements: P3 ‘Despite [the fact that] the golf season lasts for 12 months, all flights end com˙ pletely after 20th of November in Izmir Turkey, This situation effects negatively tourism activities’. P2 ‘When I came in the last year, all roads were bad; there were traffic problems, roads are a little more structured now. Participant 7 stated that the resort affected the agricultural sector negatively by using excessive irrigation water. While P3 drew attention to the seasonality issue, P2 indicates that the transportation sector was affected, but the roads are better now, and thus the resort has a positive effect. All of the participants stated that their labour need was mostly provided by Söke (f: 8) (Table 5). As the reason for Söke’s preference, five participants expressed the geographic closeness; other reasons were stated to be easy access, low cost and hotel shuttles. One participant left this question unanswered. Below are some of the participants’ perceptions:

Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social … Table 5 Source of employment

37

Theme

Category

Codes

Economic effects

Source of employment

Söke (f: 8) Ku¸sadası (f: 2) Antalya (f: 1) Davutlar (f: 2)

Total

13

P4 ‘Söke is weighted. I suppose it is close to the staff and it may be less costly for the staff to commute or I think they prefer to work because it is close to Golf Centre’. P5 ‘Most of the staff is commuting to Ku¸sadası, Söke because the shuttle service is available for transportation’. When the participants were asked about the effects on other tourism types, they pointed out that there was an additional attraction to cultural tourism, such as to Efes, Meryem Ana, and Sirince ¸ (f: 3) (Table 6). P2 ‘When I look at this tourist area, I can see agencies think what they could do for tourists. Here we have ancient places such as Selçuk, Efes, Meryem Ana, and S¸ irince. When you look at the cultural aspects of the visit, of course after seven day vacation, you can also say after visiting these places we can play golf as well in Ku¸sadası’. Theme 2: Employees’ Perceptions About the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort’s Social Activities When the participants were asked about the main purpose and motivation of the establishment, they listed the main reasons as: to create a social activity (f: 2), to move the region forward (f: 1), to create change (f: 1), to raise players for the national team (f: 1), and hiking (f: 1) (Table 7). Below are some quotes from the participants: P2 ‘… as we said before, our goal is not to take money from people, but to teach people, lovely, valuable things at reasonable prices, to attract them to social activity…’ P4 ‘…that was the purpose (change and development) but did it? I haven’t known for 6 years’. When the participants were asked about the culture and values of the local people, the most frequent answers were visits to Efes, Meryem Ana, the National Park, Karina, Table 6 Influence on other tourism types Theme

Category

Codes

Economic effects

Influence on other tourism types

An alternative choice besides ancient areas of the region (Efes, Meryem Ana, Sirince, ¸ etc.) (f: 3)

Total

3

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Table 7 The aim of Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort Theme

Category

Codes

Social effects

The aim of Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort

Creating a social activity (f: 2) To move the region forward (f: 1) Creating change (f: 1) To raise players for the national team (f: 1) Hiking (f: 1)

Total

6

Table 8 Tourists’ awareness of the culture and values of the local people Theme

Category

Codes

Social effects

Tourists’ awareness of the culture and values of the local people

Visits to Efes, Meryem Ana, the National Park, Karina, and Sirince ¸ (f: 3) Turkish cuisine (f: 2) Turkish traditions (f: 1) Learning Turkish (f: 1) Friendly, hospitable, tolerant, modest, helpful views towards Turkish people (f: 3)

Total

10

and S¸ irince (f: 3), and the Turkish people are friendly, hospitable, tolerant, modest, and helpful (f: 3) (Table 8). Less frequently answered were Turkish cuisine (f: 2), Turkish customs (f: 1), and learning Turkish (f: 1). Three participants did not answer this question. Below are some of the participants’ statements. P3 ‘When we talk to the players, they say that the Turks are always warm, hospitable, well-intentioned, tolerant, modest, and helpful’. P7 ‘…golfers who want to go out and eat somewhere or want to go around a place. When we recommend to them visiting Karina or S¸ irince and if they visited these tourist places they inform us they had been pleased. They especially imply their satisfaction with Turkish breakfast’. Table 9 shows the participants perceptions about the positive and negative effects of golf tourism in and around Ku¸sadası. Tourists, who heard of the presence of a golf course, request to visit (f: 2), golf players wish to explore different golf courses (f: 1) providing nature-involved life (f: 1), climate of Turkey (f: 1), and a reasonable cost for a holiday (f: 1) were positive impacts that participants stated. The perceptions of negative influences were war and terrorism (f: 2), lack of motivation and support from other sectors (f: 2), political tendencies and management in Turkey (f: 1,) negative point of view of the European press (f: 1), newcomers for their appearance in social media (f: 1), and attracting other activities instead of golf (f: 1). Below are some of the participant responses:

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39

Table 9 Developments affecting golf tourism Theme

Category

Codes

Social effects

Developments affecting golf tourism

Positive: Tourists, who heard of the presence of the golf course, request to visit (f: 2) Golf players wish to explore different golf courses (f: 1) Providing a nature-involved life (f: 1) Climate of Turkey (f: 1) A reasonable cost for a holiday (f: 1) Negative: War and terrorism (f: 2) Lack of motivation and support from other sectors (f: 2) Political tendencies and management in Turkey (f: 1) Negative point of view of the European press (f: 1) Newcomers for appearance in social media (f: 1) Attracting other activities instead of golf (f: 1)

Total

14

P3 ‘Most people think that golf is for rich people. Golf is a waste of time; that’s why we shouldn’t play golf here. They say let’s sit in a cafe, let’s do something… and most people are holding back from playing golf. Some people use playing golf for doing tags on social media applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. They don’t play golf, they just take a photo and add tags like “… I’m at the golf club here, here we have our ancestors’ sport…”’. P2 ‘When you compare our prices to the other clubs, you can see we are cheaper’. When asked about the social effects of golf tourism and the communication with local people, the participants stated that the communication with the public seemed weak (f: 2), that the tourists were dealing with their agency (f: 1), and that the tourists conducted their sports in a limited time (f: 1) (Table 10). Below are some of the participant perceptions: P6 ‘I don’t think they are communicating with the local people. If they are staying in a hotel in Ku¸sadası, as I said, they are going to Yaylaköy for a dinner’. P7 ‘Tourists staying in Ku¸sadası region already come for a day trip and play golf, then they go to their hotels after that, so they just come out of the bazaar, they only communicate in that way’. Table 11 presents the responses given for initiatives for improvement of the golf club. It was reported that advertisements and presentations were made to schools,

40

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Table 10 Communication between tourists and local people Theme

Category

Codes

Social effects

Communication between tourists and local people

Communication with local people is weak (f: 2) Tourists are committed to tourism agents (f: 1) Tourists will leave after playing golf (f: 2)

Total

5

Table 11 Improvement works for the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort Theme

Category

Codes

Social effects

Improvement works for the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort

Advertisements and presentations were made to schools, hospitals, and the chamber of commerce (f: 2) Students were given free lessons (f: 2) Advertisements to the rest of the public (f: 2) Local people’s recommendations (f: 1)

Total

7

hospitals, and the chamber of commerce (f: 2), students were given free lessons (f: 2), advertisements to the rest of the public (f: 2), and local people’s recommendations were solicited (f: 1). Some participants’ statements are given below: P2 ‘…even though there was so much advertising at the time, we didn’t get a lot of benefit from it. We went to schools, went to hospitals, went to lawyers, went to the chamber of commerce, but when you look back, we found that there wasn’t much demand’. P3 ‘…Since it was founded in 2012, there have been advertisements constantly in such places in Ku¸sadası…all of these schools, business associations, Rotary Clubs and the others. The students in schools were given free lessons to get to know and it is not an expensive game and…for not only the rich people, you know that a lot of…promotions were done to advertise the golf course’. The answers of the participants about their expectations from the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort are as follows: Inviting the public (f: 3), Presentation (f: 2), Vegetables and fruits are taken from farmers instead of markets (f: 1), Developing the region (f: 1), and Building solar panels (f: 1) (Table 12). Below are some of the participants’ perceptions: P3 ‘… Vegetables and fruits would be taken from farmers instead of markets It can also improve the quality of the region by offering its guests better quality of food’.

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Table 12 Expectations from Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort Theme

Category

Codes

Social effects

Expectations from Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort

Inviting the public (f: 3) Presentation (f: 2) Vegetables and fruits are taken from farmers instead of markets (f: 1) Developing the region (f: 1) Building solar panels (f: 1)

Total

8

P4 ‘… There is nothing that the administrators can do about the public, but rather how they can make money for them, and what can be the local publicity because we will only earn money from tourists. So, ultimately advertising is the best way of doing business, so advertisement is needed’. Theme 3: Perceptions of Employees on the Environmental Impact of the Resort Table 13 summarises the perceived characteristics of the course as follows: coexists with nature (f: 3), landscape (f: 3), the only course around (f: 2), Turkey’s third most difficult golf course (f: 2), isolation (f: 1), and not crowded (f: 2). Below are some of the participants’ perceptions: P1 ‘… now you see that every place is green’. P7 ‘… As you can see, it has a magnificent view and a single site, plus the advantage that our course is not too crowded’. When asked about the old usage of the golf course, in line with the theme of environmental impacts, the participants stated that it was state mandated land (f: 4), idle (f: 4), Maquis bush (f: 3), mountainous (f: 2), and not agricultural area (f: 2) (Table 14). Two participants left this question unanswered. Below are some of the participants’ perceptions: P8 ‘It belonged to the state previously. It was not a commercial use area’. P3 ‘There were places previously used as gardens. There were mountainous and Maquis places as well…’. Table 13 Golf course features Theme

Category

Codes

Environmental effects

Golf course features

Coexisting with nature (f: 3) Landscape (f: 3) The only course around (f: 2) Turkey’s third most difficult golf course (f: 2) Isolation (f: 1) Not crowded (f: 2)

Total

13

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Table 14 Former use of golf course

Theme

Category

Codes

Environmental effects

Former use of golf course

State mandated land (f: 4) Idle (f: 4) Maquis bush (f: 3) Mountainous (f: 2) Not the agricultural area (f: 2)

Total

15

Participants’ opinions on the sustainable practices of the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort and the hotel La Costa are as follows (Table 15): The vegetation balance was preserved and additions were made (f: 7), No water treatment system required (f: 6), No restriction on people’s living space (f: 3), Nature is protected (f: 3), No excessive groundwater use (f: 3), Rain water is used in irrigation (f: 2), and Recycling applications (f: 2). Below are some of the participants’ thoughts: P7 ‘If you say things about garbage here, for example, paper, they (the cleaners) are collecting them separately. We provide bottled water for golf players and we collect the bottle caps for a social responsibility [project]…called [the] Blue Cap Project. Besides this, when the batteries of the vehicles are changed, we get new batteries. We also give old batteries back, but I know that they have been recycled as well”. P2 ‘…no harmful application to the environment. No factory around us. We use water from wells and ponds. People say that “golf courses are using the scarce waters and exploiting nature, hurting animals”. We have a lot of animals’. Table 15 Sustainable practices of the resort and La Costa hotel Theme

Category

Codes

Environmental effects

Sustainable practices of the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort and La Costa hotel

Vegetation balance was preserved and additions were made (f: 7) No water treatment system required (f: 6) No restriction on people’s living space (f: 3) The nature is protected (f: 3) No excessive groundwater use (f: 3) Rain water is used in irrigation (f: 2) Recycling applications (f: 2)

Total

26

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43

Table 16 Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort’s impact on water and energy resources Theme

Category

Codes

Environmental effects

Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort’s impact on water and energy resources

Water resources: Water use from wells/ponds (f: 8) Use of rain water in winter (f: 3) Computerised system use in irrigation (f: 3) Energy sources: Unknown (f: 8)

Total

14

Table 16 shows the participants’ responses to the question about the effects of the resort on water and energy sources. Responses are, in terms of water resources: water use from wells/ponds (f: 8), use of rain water in winter (f: 3), and computerised system use in irrigation (f: 3). Energy sources are unknown (f: 8). Below are some of the participants’ statements: P8 ‘We have wells. There are automatic sprinklers watering the lawns. They’re watered for three minutes, three times per day. Sometimes the grass needs more water depending on the conditions. Sometimes we provide watering five or six times’. P5 ‘We have water wells from Söke Creek and different regions… There is a golf course within the resort. They’re scattered, but they’re getting water from four to five zones. Depending on the condition of the golf course, the use of water increases in the hot weather. In the winter, the air is already cool and we don’t need watering. We are watering between April–October/November. There are two artificial ponds in this tourist complex…Computerised system is used for irrigation. Remote control makes [it possible for the] golf course to be watered itself. You can also do this manually…’. When the participants were asked about the golf carts in terms of energy use, they listed material source unknown (f: 4), electric and total of 36 carts (f: 4), approximately five to six hours of electricity usage (f: 1), and 12-volt battery (f: 1). Two participants left this question unanswered. Below are some of the participants’ perceptions: P2 ‘Electric yes. We can take two tours per day. A game takes four and half hours. They are operated for eight hours. But since we have a small number of customers at the moment, we are able to raise an average of five per day on average. Others are in the garage. We do not use them’. P6 ‘Yes, our cars are electric. We don’t have many golf vehicles since we don’t have many customers. I don’t think there is a loss of electric energy. I think we have 36 vehicles. Our 36 vehicles are available for our average of 20–25 customers per day. I have no idea about financial resources’. Table 17 states the participants’ perceptions of fertilisation and pesticide use. More than half of the participants stated fertilisation is done 2–3 times a year in summer

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Table 17 Fertilisation and agricultural spraying Theme

Category

Codes

Environmental effects

Fertilisation and agricultural spraying

Fertilisation: 2–3 times a year in winter and summer (f: 6) Pesticides use: It is not systematic but when needed (f: 5) Do not know exactly (f: 1)

Total

12

and winter (f: 6). Also, more than half of the respondents stated that pesticide use is not systematic and is done when needed (f: 5). One of the participants emphasised that they had no idea about the frequency of fertilisation and spraying. Below are some of the participants’ statements: P1 ‘… 2–3 times a year. In winter, we have winter seeds. After seeding, it is fertilised when the seed is about to sprout after a week or so, and then again after two weeks. At the beginning of summer, fertilisation is done to wake up the grass, called Bermuda. Two or three times so [four to six] times a year. Spraying pesticides is constantly being done. Application of algae, for example, has a separate spraying’. P2 ‘We do fertilisation in winter and summer. The grass we use at the moment is called Bermuda. It is resistant to heat. It also sleeps when the weather gets a little warmer. The course then gets greener’.

Conclusions As a result of this study, it may be concluded that Ku¸sadası, which comes to the forefront mostly with the 3S’s and cultural tourism, was introduced to golf tourism through the inauguration of the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort in 2012. The number of personnel at this resort is small as there is not much demand and the resort is still unknown to many people. For this reason, only eight people work to meet all kinds of needs at the resort. As in Kozak and Kozak (2010), employment in this study has emerged as one of the most important economic effects of golf tourism. It has been concluded that the labour demand is met mostly from Davutlar, Güzelçamlı, and Söke, the last being closest to the resort. Only the golf instructor, who is also the manager, is from Antalya. Thus, it may be said that Antalya, with its experience in golf, exports its know-how through this instructor-manager. In addition, it was found that land around the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort gained value, and that the quality of the region was increased by providing financial resources.

Employee Perceptions of the Economic, Social …

45

With the inauguration of the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort, it was stated that improvements were made to roads and traffic issues. Although the Mediterranean climate is suitable for golf throughout the year, the lack of transportation was thought to hamper tourism because charter flights end in November. It is also concluded that, in contrast to the literature about golf courses restricting agricultural areas, Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort is believed to have an impact on the excessive use of irrigation water, but not in exploiting agricultural areas, as the site is located in a non-agricultural area. The employees of the resort also expressed the purpose of creating change and development in the region. However, it was frequently mentioned that this aim could not be reached. In addition, it was stated that one of the aims of the resort was to train golfers for the national team, and some promotional courses were even held in this context. When the social effects are examined, the employees thought that the tourists are interested in Turkish cuisine, especially breakfast, as well as in other customs and traditions. Besides, they thought that the tourists say that Turks are hospitable, helpful, friendly, warm, and benevolent. The political disturbances, terrorism and war situations in the country, which are the main factors that negatively affect golf tourism (frequently cited in the literature as the reason for fragile tourism business), are also expressed. Within the scope of social impacts, it was perceived that the visitors have to deal with tour agencies directly to conduct their sports. As stated in Avcı’s study (2008), the result of the all-inclusive system is that the communication between local people and tourists, who do not need to go out of the resort, is almost none. It was concluded that the visitors in the resort, if any, only use the restaurants in Yaylaköy, where they then contact the owners of the premises. Another result is that the participants think that Turkish visitors come to play golf only for the purpose of sharing the experience on social media. They also mentioned their observation of some visitors sitting in the cafe rather than playing golf. The reason given is that golf is a rich sport and there are not enough financial resources for this sport to be properly done. Since the resort is remote from settlements, isolated and coexisting with nature, and is the only course in the Ku¸sadası region, as well as being the third most difficult area in the country, it bears distinctive features from other golf resorts. It was observed, as a result of the interviews, that the area was idle, mountainous, and covered with Maquis bush before the resort was opened. Because of these characteristics, it was frequently repeated by the participants that it did not cause any restriction in the agricultural area and settlements. The European-style architecture, where the natural landscape and wildlife are largely preserved, stands out in the construction of the golf course. It was perceived that the vegetation balance was also preserved and some sections were even covered by other species, such as cypress (Cupressus sp.) and poplar (Populus sp.) trees. In addition, it was mentioned that because of the design of the golf course, following the inclination rules of geography, rain water accumulates in two ponds in the site; irrigation is done using this rain water winter.

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It may be said that the Ku¸sadası International Golf Resort has achieved considerable success in terms of employee perceptions about protecting and developing the natural, historical, cultural, social and aesthetic values specified for sustainability in tourism. It was also stated that the use of fertilisers and pesticides is done consciously under the supervision of the agricultural engineer. Fertilisation is carried out twice a year, during summer and winter. As a benefit of this irregular spraying, it is thought that damage to the surrounding areas from the wind will be reduced. As a result of this study’s findings, employee perceptions have gained importance. This study shows that golf tourism has more positive effects, especially in terms of employment, rather than negative impacts to the region, as it is not yet used intensively and is rather small in size. The role of the resort for the employees as a ‘bread & butter door’ is also important. The next step for researchers should be case studies with the visitors who are the users of this course. New studies examining the perceptions of other stakeholders in addition to employees’ can be beneficial in terms of finding out the perceived social impacts of special interest tourism. In other words, social impact assessments will give more insight to the social and sustainable understanding of the business rather than a classical developmental perspective (Domínguez-Gomez and Gonzalez-Gomez 2017). If the sector can be approached in a more sustainable manner, golf can be a new alternative for ‘rejuvenation’ (Butler 1980) in Ku¸sadası, where ‘ageing’ is rapid with the 3S’s traditional product.

References Anonymous. (2018). Golf Turizmi. Retrieved from http://yigm.kulturturizm.gov.tr/TR,10161/golfturizmi.html. Accessed 11 June 2018. Archer, B. (1996). Sustainable tourism: An economist’s viewpoint. In L. Briguglio, B. Archer, J. Jafari, & G. Wall (Eds.), Sustainable tourism in islands & small states: Issues and policies (pp. 6–17). New York: Pinter. Ata, E. (2016, November 28). Golf turisti gitti˘gi ülkede normalden 4 kat fazla para harcıyor. Hürriyet. Retrieved from http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/golf-turisti-gittigi-ulkede-normalden-4-kat-faz40290561. Accessed 14 June 2018. Avcı, S. (2008). Golf Örne˘ginde Spor Mekânlarının Çevresel Etkileri: Bir Spor Co˘grafyası Çalı¸sması. V. Ulusal Co˘grafya Sempozyumu 2008 (16-17 Ekim 2008), Bildiriler Kitabı, 15–29. Ankara Üniversitesi Türkiye Co˘grafyası Ara¸stırma ve Uygulama Merkezi (TÜCAUM). Bramwell, B., & Lane, B. (1993). Sustainable tourism: An evolving global approach. Journal of Sustainable Tourism., 1(1), 6–16. Butler, R. (1980). The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resources. Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe Canadien, 24(1), 5–12. https://doi.org/10. 1111/j.1541-0064.1980.tb00970.x. Domínguez-Gomez, J. A., & Gonzalez-Gomez, T. (2017). Analysing stakeholders’ perceptions of golf-course-based tourism: A proposal for developing sustainable tourism projects. Tourism Management, 63, 135–143. DPT (State Planning Organisation). (2013). Onuncu Kalkınma Planı (2014–2018), Turizm Özel ˙ Ihtisas Komisyonu Raporu. Ankara: DPT13, 114, 139. Green, H. (1995). Planning for sustainable tourism development. In C. Hunter & H. Green (Eds.), Tourism and the environment (pp. 93–121). London: Routledge.

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Experiential Marketing as a Moderating Effect on Exhibitor Performance at International Tourism Trade Shows Zauyani Zainal Mohamed Alias and Nor’ain Othman

Abstract International tourism trade shows are an essential instrument for the marketing of goods and services. Trade shows establish direct relationships between supply and demand and provide the opportunity for specific marketing activities. A growing body of academic and practitioner trade show literature has highlighted the relationship between trade show marketing strategies and trade show performance. However, the effect of exhibitor experience on the international trade show marketing strategy and performance relationship has not been addressed in the literature. This paper, therefore, fills the research gap by examining the moderating role of exhibitors’ trust, commitment, and satisfaction during their trading experience at selected trade shows. The purpose of this study is (1) to identify the experiential marketing concepts at international tourism trade shows, (2) to determine the dimensions of exhibitors’ trading experience at international tourism trade shows, (3) to develop a conceptual framework regarding the relationship between the exhibitors’ trading experience and trade show performance, and (4) to propose a new perspective on exhibitors’ performance at international trade shows from an experimental point of view. A theoretical model of the effect that exhibitors’ experience has on trade show performance was developed, drawing on research regarding exhibitor behavior, experiential marketing, government support, and trade show performance. A questionnaire consistent with a positivist methodology was developed and tested, data was collected from 100 respondents, and structural equation modeling was used to test the theoretical and other competing models. This study provides an initial understanding of the nature of exhibitors’ experiences at international trade shows. By reporting exhibitor responses, this study also contributes to research on trade show performance.

Z. Z. M. Alias (B) · N. Othman Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Puncak Alam Campus, Shah Alam, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] N. Othman e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_3

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Keywords International tourism trade show · Experiential marketing · Government support and trade show performance

Introduction Markets and business relationships have become global, and as a result, trade shows and the exhibition industry have experienced rapid growth. Trade shows are considered a vital communication technique for those companies that operate in international markets. Making them an integral part of a company’s marketing communication strategy in turbulent times enables companies to develop customer relationships, and creates opportunities for sales and sales promotions, undertaking and maintaining good international business relations, monitoring the international competition, and for minimizing entry barriers to new markets. Keller (2003) refers to marketing communication as the voice through which companies can start a dialogue with their target markets and other stakeholders. Due to severe market competition over the last few years, the importance of marketing communication has grown significantly. Importantly, as Pantano (2011) points out, the emergence of information technology and audience fragmentation has radically changed the marketing communication environment. In today’s market, companies have many different available ways of reaching consumers, such as traditional and nontraditional media, but due to audience fragmentation they are moving away from mass communication toward direct communication. At the same time, marketers are exploring all the advantages of the other elements in the communication mix (Kotler 2003). According to Gabrielli and Balboni (2010), integrated marketing communication became important for companies, because using different sources can confuse a consumer’s perception. Presenting a systematic and integrated message across all communication channels has, therefore, become a fundamental issue for marketers today. Trade shows are defined as organized market events, which are held at specific times and places, where a large number of companies present their offers and where consumers obtain information or buy goods (Pantano 2011). The main advantage of trade shows is that they enable companies to involve their visitors and to interact with them in real time (Kirchgeorg et al. 2010). It is important to mention that along with other communication tools, such as events, road shows, and showrooms, trade shows also belong in the two-way communication category. Kirchgeorg et al. (2010) point out that this form of communication is mostly focused on sharing experiences with specific target groups, providing them with a personal encounter, letting them experience the brand, and encouraging an emotional appeal. In this context, depending on the nature of the business and the industry in which it operates and the target audience, the use of trade shows as a communication technique aims to create a direct and personal interaction between the company and its target group as a way to create unique and lasting memories (Kirchgeorg et al. 2010). Moreover, companies that decide to use trade shows as a communication technique need to plan

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all the activities that should take place before, during, and after the event. In fact, the need to organize all the activities in these steps is stressed both by academics and marketing practitioners.

Background to the Study Trade shows are an essential tool for the marketing of goods and services because they provide vendors with a very focused platform for communication and exchange with different kinds of customers (Kirchgeorg et al. 2010). As a result, the trade show business has become an international multibillion-dollar industry (Hansen 2004) in which trade show organizers earn the biggest share of sales from exhibitors, who pay fees for exhibition services. Although academics refer to trade shows in different ways in the extensive literature, such as exhibitions, fairs, and trade fairs, all of them define trade shows as regularly scheduled events, where companies meet their customers and other important parties in their industry. Specifically, Kirchgeorg et al. (2010) define trade shows as events that are held on specific days, where a large number of companies present their new products and sell them to customers and/or potential ones. However, the organization of trade shows itself is a complex issue that requires the support of an entire industry, in order for participants to view trade shows as the perfect place to establish and cultivate future business relationships (Sharma and Patterson 1999). Academics and marketing practitioners recognize that trade shows are an important marketing tool, which, compared to the other elements in the communication mix, can considerably influence a company’s ability to compete in a marketplace, especially in the global business market (Seringhaus and Rosson 1998). The aim of this paper, therefore, is to study the effectiveness of trade shows as a marketing tool in global market competition. It is important to mention that along with other communication tools, such as events, road shows, and showrooms, trade shows also belong in the two-way communication category. Kirchgeorg et al. (2010) point out that this form of communication is mostly focused on sharing experiences with specific target groups, providing them with a personal encounter, letting them experience the brand, and encouraging an emotional appeal. In this context, depending on the nature of the business and the industry in which it operates and the target audience, the use of trade shows as a communication technique aims at creating a direct and personal interaction between the company and its target group, in order to create unique and lasting memories (Kirchgeorg et al. 2010). Like other services, trade shows are associated with intangible qualities and a high degree of customer integration, which coproduce the perceived quality of service at the point of service (Parasuraman et al. 1988). Vendors, therefore, strive to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction in order to foster desired customer attitudes and behaviors, such as the intention to buy, positive word of mouth, and purchase or repurchase behavior (Keaveney 1995). Measurement and evaluation of customer

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expectation, perception and satisfaction, specifically exhibitors’ and visitors’ satisfaction are therefore the key success factors for every trade show and public fair organizer. Perceived value has been defined as a customer’s perception of the estimated utility of a product in terms of what is received versus what is given by the customer (Zeithaml 1988). Sánchez et al. (2006) found that consumer behaviors vary depending on the degree of consumer perceptions related to the value of products and services. Additionally, Ryu et al. (2008) found perceived value to be a predictor of customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Measuring exhibitors’ expectations and perceptions across their trading experience at international tourism trade shows have, therefore, become an important factor in increasing trade show performance. Satisfaction has always been a crucial factor in predicting positive future customer behavior. Satisfied customers tend to have positive behavioral intentions, a greater willingness to pay (Tsiotsou 2006) and increased intention to return (Severt et al. 2007). In the trade show context, satisfied exhibitors are more likely to have a high intention to return to a future trade show and a high willingness to pay for either a large booth or a better location, because of the reduced risk of uncertainty as to whether their exhibition will be a success or not (Patterson and Spreng 1997). Exhibitors’ experience has also been found to be an influential factor in trade show exhibitors’ behaviors (Breiter and Milman 2007). Exhibitors’ previous experiences at a specific trade show can influence the exhibitors’ beliefs and attitudes related to the show, as well as the exhibitors’ intentions to return to the same show in the future (Kemp and Smith 1998). Novice exhibitors may focus on building a company profile in a new marketplace and on creating relationships with customers and competitors, whereas experienced exhibitors may seek opportunities to reinforce business partnerships and to maintain their current market position (Motwani et al. 1992). Additionally, exhibitors’ satisfaction with a trade show can be influenced by the unique experiences they have at the show, which they cannot obtain from their normal work environment (Severt et al. 2007). In general, the trade show marketing literature has focused on understanding the critical strategic exhibitor success factors that enable more efficient and effective exhibit plans (Gopalakrishna et al. 1995; Dekimpe et al. 1997; Tanner 2002; Smith et al. 2004; Li 2007, 2008; Lee and Kim 2008). Seringhaus and Rosson (2001) examined the impact of prior international trade show experience on the international trade show practices and performance of Canadian companies, and they examined the differences between heavy and light users, in which international trade show usage (i.e., the number of trade show exhibitions) was used as a proxy for experience. The differences between heavy and light users in regard to international trade show selection practices exhibit planning, management practices, and performance levels suggest that experience shapes behavior, which in turn impacts performance. However, the question of how the international trade show experience factor affects the behavior-performance relationship remains unanswered. Given the above discussion, this study, therefore, aims to examine the moderating role of exhibitor trust, commitment, and satisfaction on trading experience at selected trade shows. The study’s intermediate objectives are as follows:

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• To identify the concept of experiential marketing at international tourism trade shows; • To determine the dimensions of exhibitors’ trading experience at international tourism trade shows; • To develop a conceptual framework regarding the relationship between the exhibitors’ trading experience and trade show performance; and • To propose a new perspective on exhibitors’ performance at international trade shows from an experimental point of view.

The Study Framework See Fig. 1.

The Theoretical Framework See Fig. 2.

Literature Review In recent years, as a result of globalization and the subsequent increase in tourist activities, the tourism industry, including travel trade shows, has experienced significant growth. Travel trade shows, and in particular international trade shows (ITS), are a popular medium for promoting tourism, travel, and hospitality services. Although some research examines trade shows in the tourism industry (e.g., Cleverdon 2001; Fayos-Sola et al. 1994; Makens and Gee 1987; Telfer 1999), research investigating the motivations for participating in international trade shows and the effectiveness of trade shows has been scarce (Seringhaus and Rosson 2001; Smith et al. 2003). However, given the distinctly service-oriented nature of international trade shows and given their many benefits, including contacting customers at a lower cost compared to sales calls or advertising (Shipley and Wong 1993), testing the acceptability and marketability of products, understanding international competitors, and investigating channels of distribution (Bello and Barksdale 1986a, b; Goodsell 1996), the lack of research on travel trade shows is surprising. Already nearly three decades ago, trade show expenditures were recognized as the second-largest item in business marketing communications’ budgets after advertising: they accounted for nearly one-fifth of the total budget for U.S. firms and approximately one-fourth of the budget for European firms (Jacobson 1990). Though the importance of trade shows is apparent, their role in a firm’s promotion mix and

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Exhibitor Trust Trust Cognitive (TC), Trust Affective (TA) Johnson & Grayson (2005); Grayson, Johnson & Chen (2008); Kantsperger & Kunz, (2010).

Exhibitor Commitment EXHIBITOR BEHAVIOR Munro et al. (2007); Nisbet & Gick (2008); Webb et al., (2010).

Commitment Affecvtive (CA), Commitment Normative (CN), Commitment Calculative (CC) Aurier & N’Goala (2010); Jones, Taylor & Bansal (2008); Cater & Zabkar (2009).

Exhibitor Satisfaction Overall Satisfaction (OS), Overall Service Quality (OQ) Hansen (2004); Jung (2005); Lee & Back (2009); Jin & Weber (2013).

Government Support

Part 2 Part 3 Experiential Marketing Sense (EM1), Feel (EM2), Think (EM3), Act (EM4), Relate (EM5)

Staff Training (ST), Visitior Attractions (VA) Hansen (2004); Li (2008): Lee & Kim (2008).

ITTS Performance Image Building (IB), Sales-related (SR), RelationshipBuilding (RB), Information Gathering (IG) Ling Y (2010); Tafesse & Korneliussen (2011); Shi & Smith (2014) ; Lin Y., Jiang J. & Kerstetter D. (2015).

Tynan & McKecvhnie (2010); Schmitt (2012); Maghnati, Choon Ling & Nasermoadeli (2012).

Event Marketing Gupta (2003), Krantz (2006), Sneathet et al., (2005).

EMBOK Silvers (2008), Tassiopoulos (2010).

Event Tourism Getz (2008), Gretz (2012a, 2012b), Pike & Page (2014), Connell, Page & Meyer (2015), Getz, D., Page, S. J.. (2016).

Path 1: Independent path Path 2: Mediating path Path 3: Moderating path : Scope of the study : Not in scope of the study

ROI Financial

Sales Company Profile

Fig. 1 Study framework. Adapted from Munro et al. (2007), Nisbet and Gick (2008), Webb et al. (2010), Johnson and Grayson (2005), Grayson et al. (2008), Kantsperger and Kunz (2010), Aurier and N’Goala (2010), Jones et al. (2008), Cater and Zabkar (2009), Hansen (2004), Jung (2005), Lee and Back (2009), Jin and Weber (2013), Tynan and McKechnie (2010), Schmitt (2012), Maghnati et al. (2012), Hansen (2004), Li (2008), Lee and Kim (2008), Ling-yee (2006), Tafesse and Korneliussen (2011), Shi and Smith (2014), and Lin et al. (2015)

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Exhibitor Behavior

EXHIBITOR TRUST Trust - Cognitive (TC)

H2a

Trust - Affective (TA) Johnson & Grayson (2005); Grayson, Johnson & Chen (2008); Kantsperger & Kunz, (2010.) EXHIBITOR COMMITMENT Commitment - Affective (CA)

H4(H4a, H4b, H4c) H2b

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

H2

Staff Training (ST), Visitor attraction (VA)

Commitment - Normative (CN) Commitment - Calculative (CC)

H5

Aurier and N’Goala (2010); Lacey (2007); Jones, Taylor & Bansal (2008); Cater & Zabkar (2009).

(Mediating Variables) H5(H5a, H5b, H5c)

EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

EXHIBITOR SATISFACTION Overall Satisfaction (OS) Overall Service Quality (OQ) Hansen (2004); Jung (2005); Lee & Back (2009); Jin & Weber (2013).

Hansen (2004); Li (2008); Lee & Kim (2008).

H2c

H3

EXHIBITOR PERFORMANCE IN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM TRADE SHOWS Image Building (IB), Sales-Related (SR), Relationship-Building (RB), InformationGathering (IG). Ling-yee (2010); Tafesse & Korneliussen (2013); Shi & Smith (2014); Lin Y., Jiang J. & Kerstetter D. (2015. (Dependent Variables)

Sense (EM1), Feel(EM2), Think (EM3), Act (EM4), Relate (EM5) Tynan & McKecvhnie (2010); Schmitt (2012); Maghnati, Choon Ling & Nasermoadeli (2012). (Moderating Variables) H1 (H1a, H1b, H1c)

(Independent Variables)

Fig. 2 Theoretical framework. Adapted from Johnson and Grayson (2005), Grayson et al. (2008), Kantsperger and Kunz (2010), Aurier and N’Goala (2010), Lacey (2007), Jones et al. (2008), Cater and Zabkar (2009), Hansen (2004), Jung (2005), Lee and Back (2009), Jin and Weber (2013), Tynan and McKechnie (2010), Schmitt (2012), Maghnati et al. (2012), Hansen (2004), Li (2008), Lee and Kim (2008), Ling-yee (2006), Tafesse and Korneliussen (2010), Shi and Smith (2014), and Lin et al. (2015)

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overall marketing program has been less clear (Kerin and Cron 1987). Nevertheless, one major area of research over the last two decades highlights sales, promotion, and service quality (Han and Verma 2014). Historically, trade shows have been viewed as an extension of a firm’s personal selling effort. Smaller firms or new entrants into an industry have viewed trade shows as an efficient means of reaching a large number of prospective buyers and decision participants (Parasuraman 1981). Cavanaugh (1976) and Bonoma (1983) point out that trade shows have developed a much broader role; that is, many firms exhibit at trade shows for reasons other than making sales. These are firms that consider sales image enhancement, gathering competitive information, and improving corporate morale as equal to, if not more important than, selling. In these firms, the role of trade shows has expanded beyond selling to include a host of functions (Kerin and Cron 1987). Exhibit marketing has been misunderstood in the past, but newer perspectives see it as a vital part of the international marketing process (Pitta et al. 2006). According to a comprehensive recent study (Han and Verma 2014), trade shows are in flux. Trade shows will be targeted at smaller audiences with a more specific agenda, making them more valuable and focused. Technology will play a more significant role, new marketing opportunities will be experimented with, and environmental sustainability will become a larger consideration (Han and Verma 2014). Technology will increasingly be woven into trade show structures, by means of advancements such as touchscreen displays, computer simulations, and solutions for meeting scheduling. It will help with tracking attendees throughout the show and with developing personal contact by capturing attendees’ attention. The use of mobile apps is also making trade shows more interactive. Some trade shows, or parts of them, will become completely virtual, by letting an “attendee” join a meeting in a specific trade show customized to their needs. There will also be trade shows with a combination of physical and virtual components. Some exhibitors fear that technology will take away from the valuable face-to-face interaction and the relationship that follows, but others believe it will help with developing new ways of taking care of customers and facilitate the face-to-face interaction. Attendees can, for instance, be connected with each other or with exhibitors, or with a mainstage representative before the show (Han and Verma 2014). Trade show performance measurement has been fragmented and haphazard, and since trade shows have come under increased scrutiny by researchers in recent years, it warrants more attention (given the substantial budget allocations companies make to these marketing activities) in order to redress the shortcomings in analysis methodology. In recent years, academic researchers have focused their conceptual and empirical attention on several areas, including visitor motives and interaction with exhibitors (Hansen 1996; Manuera and Ruiz 1999; Rosson and Seringhaus 1995); exhibitor management and performance (Kijewski et al. 1993; Tanner and Chonko 1995); effectiveness of trade fair expenditures (Gopalakrishna and Lilien 1995; Gopalakrishna et al. 1995); and comparative research on trade fairs across industry sectors and nations (Dekimpe et al. 1997; Pfeiffer et al. 1997). A common feature of most of these studies is their pursuit of better conceptual foundations and more valid measures. This paper continues in the same vein: it attempts to develop a

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more realistic, multidimensional analysis model for evaluating exhibitor trade show performance and then examines the relationship between exhibitor behavior, experiential marketing values, and government support activities for international tourism trade shows (ITTS).

Research Methods This section offers an overview of the technique used to examine the research question and to test the hypotheses. In this research, a mixed methodological approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods was employed to study the construct as proposed in the theoretical framework. The research adopted Johnson and Onwuegbuzie’s (2004) definition of mixed methods, which is considered the most complete: “Mixed methods research is the class of research where the researcher mixes or combines quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods, approaches, concepts or language into a single study or set of related studies.” Mixed methods’ studies allow for the inclusion of both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and/or analysis to achieve a range of outcomes (Creswell 2009; Greene and Caracelli 1997). The use of mixed methods, as distinct from either qualitative or quantitative methodologies, is growing in popularity and this approach has been more widely recognized following the publication of a number of texts specifically dealing with mixed methodologies (for examples, see Creswell et al. 2003; Greene and Caracelli 1997; Tashakkori and Teddlie 2003). With regard to qualitative methods, data collection was carried out by means of semistructured interviews. First, preliminary interviews were conducted to ensure correct focus of the study and to improve the questionnaire. Next, other interviews were conducted to complement the preliminary data. The data collection was carried out by means of semistructured interviews with selected international trade shows exhibitors. With regard to quantitative methods, the questionnaires contain seven sections (A– G). Sections A–F comprise the six subsections in the construct and Part F includes questions regarding the exhibitor profile. Only a few of the questionnaire items were adopted from previous research; most of the items were designed based on an understanding of the relevant research literature. A pilot study was conducted to ensure that the wording, language, phrasing, and content of the items were coherent and straightforward prior to fieldwork. A total of 100 exhibitors were randomly selected to complete the questionnaires. After minor amendments to the questionnaire, the final fieldwork was conducted at selected international tourism trade shows. The method of distributing the questionnaire was a simple random sampling: the exhibitors at the trade shows were choosing the respondents, who were randomly selected. The questionnaire was designed on the basis of, and adapted from, questionnaires created by various researchers. The data collection was self-administered, and the respondents were assisted by the researcher and her assistants in completing the questionnaire.

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Data Analysis (i) Normality Assessment Data is normally distributed when the value of skewness is between −1 and 1 (Hair 1995). Table 1 shows that all the values of skewness lie between −1 and 1, and the data are therefore normally distributed. (ii) Exploratory Factor Analysis Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO) statistics vary between 0 and 1. Kaiser (1974) suggested that accepting values greater than 0.5 is acceptable. Furthermore, values between 0.5 and 0.7 are moderate, values between 0.7 and 0.8 are good, values between 0.8 and 0.9 are great and above 0.9 the values are superb (Hutcheson and Sofroniou 1999). Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity is considered significant when the p-value is less than 0.05. Table 2 shows the results for KMO and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity for each construct. The KMO result for each construct is greater than 0.5, as suggested by Kaiser (1974). The values for Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity for all constructs are significant because the p-value = 0.000 is lower than 0.05. Table 3 shows the number of items with their factor loading and the total variation explained by each construct. Since all the values of factor loading for each item are greater than 0.60, no item needs to be deleted. The value of total variation explained by each construct is greater than 60%, as suggested by Hair (1998). All constructs are therefore suitable for use in the field study.

Cronbach Alpha Nunnally (1978) suggests that the value of Cronbach Alpha must be greater than 0.70. Table 4 shows that the value of Cronbach Alpha for each construct is greater than 0.70.

The Findings (i) Theoretical Significance A critical review of the literature revealed various frameworks for understanding the concept with which the present study is concerned. Previous theories relevant to the context of exhibitor performance include the Trade Show Performance Theory (Hansen 2004; Shi and Smith 2014), Expectation Disconfirmation Theory (Santos and Boote 2003), Customer Perception Theory (Zeithaml et al. 1996), Customer Satisfaction Theory (Devellis 2012), Experiential Marketing Theory (Schmitt 2011),

Experiential Marketing as a Moderating Effect … Table 1 Normality assessment

59

Items

Skewness

TC1

−0.208

TC2

−0.538

TC3

−0.553

TC4

−0.504

TA1

−0.503

TA2

−0.313

TA3

−0.626

TA4

−0.423

CA1

−0.375

CA2

−0.480

CA3

−0.377

CA4

−0.647

CN1

−0.451

CN2

−0.600

CN3

−0.625

CN4

−0.753

CC1

−0.392

CC2

−0.324

CC3

−0.528

CC4

−0.274

OS1

−0.456

OS2

−0.582

OS3

−0.417

OS4

−0.557

OQ1

−0.510

OQ2

−0.675

OQ3

−0.516

EM1

−0.573

EM2

−0.554

EM3

−0.462

EM4

−0.524

EM5

−0.689

ST1

−0.480 (continued)

60 Table 1 (continued)

Z. Z. M. Alias and N. Othman Items

Skewness

ST2

−0.416

ST3

−0.595

ST4

−0.467

VA1

−0.884

VA2

−0.805

VA3

−0.834

IB1

−0.569

IB2

−0.567

IB3

−0.573

IB4

−0.710

SR1

−0.807

SR2

−0.789

SR3

−0.718

RB1

−0.676

RB2

−0.770

RB3

−0.645

RB4

−0.826

IG1

−0.856

IG2

−0.789

IG3

−0.779

IG4

−0.734

and Trade Shows Performance Measure Theory (Lee and Kim 2008). This study also refers to Event Management Body of Knowledge (EMBOK) in order to identify the research that is needed, especially in the area of event marketing. These theories provide a comprehensive framework for understanding exhibitor performance at international tourism trade shows (ITTS). Although prior studies of exhibitor performance have focused on several antecedents of performance measures, literature regarding how the antecedents of experiential marketing and government support influence exhibitor performance at international tourism trade shows is scarce. Thus, these antecedents were thoroughly addressed in this study. The results of this study are expected to contribute to the existing theoretical literature and to be a useful reference for academics and other researchers. It should also serve as the basis for further research in the area of trade shows and exhibitions in Malaysia. This study is also expected to create new knowledge by means of research that links academia and industry, providing students with learning opportunities and industry practitioners with data that can serve as the foundation for good decisionmaking, event development, and strategies for continuous improvement.

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Table 2 KMO and Bartlett’s Test for each construct Constructs

Exhibitor trust Exhibitor commitment

Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy

Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity

Cognitive

0.790

0.000

Affective

0.883

0.000

Affective

0.823

0.000

Normative

0.872

0.000

Calculative

0.787

0.000

Exhibitor satisfaction

Overall satisfaction

0.831

0.000

Overall service quality

0.686

0.000

Experimental marketing

Sense, feel, think, act, relate

0.853

0.000

Government support

Staff training

0.805

0.000

Visitor attractions

0.782

0.000

International trade show performance

Image-building performance

0.876

0.000

Sales-related performance

0.755

0.000

Relationship-building performance

0.831

0.000

Information-gathering performance

0.873

0.000

Table 3 Total variation explained by each construct Constructs Exhibitor trust

Exhibitor commitment

Items

Factor loading

Total variation explained (%)

Cognitive

TC1 TC2 TC3 TC4

0.715 0.920 0.927 0.953

78.164

Affective

TA1 TA2 TA3 TA4

0.841 0.958 0.955 0.963

86.649

Affective

CA1 CA2 CA3 CA4

0.924 0.941 0.948 0.940

88.005

(continued)

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Table 3 (continued) Constructs

Items

Factor loading

Total variation explained (%)

Normative

CN1 CN2 CN3 CN4

0.966 0.947 0.938 0.957

90.608

Calculative

CC1 CC2 CC3 CC4

0.948 0.952 0.951 0.915

88.725

Overall satisfaction

OS1 OS2 OS3 OS4

0.953 0.819 0.915 0.942

82.578

Overall service quality

OQ1 OQ2 OQ3

0.937 0.839 0.905

80.047

Experimental marketing

Sense, feel, think, act, relate

EM1 EM2 EM3 EM4 EM5

0.930 0.936 0.925 0.909 0.944

86.292

Government support

Staff training

ST1 ST2 ST3 ST4

0.931 0.932 0.949 0.930

87.530

Visitor attractions

VA1 VA2 VA3

0.963 0.965 0.966

93.037

Image-building performance

IB1 IB2 IB3 IB4

0.968 0.968 0.956 0.956

92.532

Sales-related performance

SR1 SR2 SR3

0.935 0.966 0.959

90.952

Relationship-building performance

RB1 RB2 RB3 RB4

0.899 0.959 0.943 0.947

87.912

Information-gathering performance

IG1 IG2 IG3 IG4

0.954 0.971 0.967 0.942

91.937

Exhibitor satisfaction

International trade show performance

Experiential Marketing as a Moderating Effect …

63

Table 4 Cronbach Alpha Constructs

Number of items

Cronbach Alpha

4

0.900

Exhibitor trust

Cognitive Affective

4

0.945

Exhibitor commitment

Affective

4

0.954

Normative

4

0.965

Calculative

4

0.958

Overall satisfaction

4

0.927

Overall service quality

3

0.872

Experimental marketing

Sense, feel, think, act, relate

5

0.960

Government support

Staff training

4

0.952

Visitor attractions

3

0.963

Image-building performance

4

0.973

Sales-related performance

3

0.950

Relationship-building performance

4

0.954

Information-gathering performance

4

0.971

Exhibitor satisfaction

International trade show performance

In addition, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by highlighting the importance of exhibitor trust, commitment, and satisfaction; not only providing additional understanding but also proving useful for further studies of trade show performance. The findings of this study are expected to significantly increase the understanding of exhibitor behavior in trade show performance contexts. (ii) Practical Significance Regarding the practical contribution of the present study, it is expected to increase knowledge and information about trade show exhibitors and to facilitate the decisionmaking processes leading to their participation in international tourism trade shows. The present study thus provides information for the trade show organizer, who is in a particular need of information pertaining to how exhibitor trust, commitment, satisfaction, experiential marketing, and government support influences international tourism trade shows (ITTS). This research may be conducted within the academic realm, as well as by trade associations that serve various industry sectors. Practically, the research data from both sources is expected to contribute to the body of knowledge and to aid current and future practitioners, as well as event consumers, by means of improved standards of practice. From a practical perspective, the findings of the study are expected to provide several benefits to the government of Malaysia regarding the understanding of exhibitor behavior at international tourism trade shows (ITTS). Other related bodies, which are expected to benefit from the present research include tourism-related agencies,

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trade show organizers, tourism marketers, and tourism-related businesses, notably travel agencies. Primarily, however, this study is expected to provide invaluable information and strategic direction to potential exhibitors, both local and international, who might wish to use trade shows for promoting their products and services; the study helps identify suitable marketing tools to promote their products and services, especially in the international tourism market.

Conclusions This study highlights the key effects of exhibitor behavior on international tourism trade show performance, and most importantly, reveals the important moderating effects of experiential marketing activities on performance, thus validating the proposed theoretical framework. Consequently, by providing a better understanding of exhibitor behavior, the study also promises to reduce the costs of promotion and marketing in marketing strategies. The findings are expected to assist organizations in making well-informed decisions regarding their taking a stand at a trade show. Participants in trade shows would be in a better position to determine whether the shows were appropriate, to ensure that the exhibitions fitted into their overall strategy, and to achieve their business objectives. Trade shows could also use the results in order to formulate strategies that would add value to participating organizations and ensure their continued existence. Moreover, the government, its agencies, and policy-makers might use the results to formulate national policies beneficial for the country in the trade industry. Finally, the findings can be summarized as a list of actions that can positively influence trade show performance: • Exhibitors have to plan and prepare for a trade show (Tanner and Chonko 1995; Swandby et al. 1989; Rosson and Seringhaus 1995; Tanner 1995); • Exhibitors have to advertise their presence at the event with customers and prospects (Bello 1992; Rosson and Seringhaus 1995; Tanner 1995, Dekimpe et al. 1997); • Exhibitors have to properly train their booth personnel (Tanner and Chonko 1995; Gopalakrishna and Lilien 1995); and • Exhibitors need to choose the right trade show for their needs (Greipl and Singer 1980; Kerin and Cron 1987; Gopalakrishna and Williams 1992).

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Research on the Determination of Preferences for Showrooming and Webrooming Behaviors in Vacation Purchase Emre Ozan Aksöz and Furkan Hafif

Abstract The disadvantages of online and traditional shopping have led to two different multi-channel shopping behaviors: showrooming, which refers to online purchasing after obtaining information from a store, and webrooming, where consumers buy from a store after getting information online. The aim of this study is to reveal the showrooming or webrooming intentions of consumers, reasons for their preferences, and demographic characteristics of such consumers when purchasing vacations. This study is important for tourism companies to develop and improve effective and efficient marketing strategies in line with the obtained data, as well as to contribute to relevant literature. Data were obtained by conducting a face-to-face survey with 282 people who reside in Eski¸sehir, who were selected by means of a convenience sampling method. A total of 241 collected surveys were considered valid. The analyses revealed that consumers mostly preferred getting information from the Internet before buying services for tours (n = 153), accommodation (n = 172), air tickets (n = 182), and transfers (n = 124), and were more inclined to webrooming behavior while purchasing a vacation. Tourism companies are recommended to develop effective marketing strategies aimed at multi-channel purchasing behaviors as consumers use different channels for obtaining information on tourism services and purchasing. Keywords Showrooming · Webrooming · Vacation purchase

E. O. Aksöz (B) Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eski¸sehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] F. Hafif Department of Tourism Management, Social Sciences Institute, Anadolu University, Eski¸sehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_4

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Introduction The World Tourism Organization (2017) reported that 1.235 billion people participated in international tourism activities in 2016. According to data from the last five years, an increase of 4.7, 4.7, 4.6, 4, 4.5, and 3.9% was seen in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively (UNWTO 2017). These figures show an increase of over 4% each year in international tourism. Today, tourism companies must adopt targets to meet consumer needs in the best way possible under these increasingly competitive conditions. The determination of purchasing behaviors of consumers is quite important for tourism companies to meet their targets by developing more effective and efficient strategies (Durmaz et al. 2011). Consumers experience a shift between shopping channels when they compare online shopping and traditional shopping from stores when purchasing products, especially due to financial, psychological, safety, and performance risks (Chiu et al. 2011, p. 269). Such a shift has affected consumers in the tourism industry as in many other sectors. At this point, we are faced with two different multi-channel shopping behaviors for, firstly, obtaining information on the product and then purchasing. These are showrooming, which refers to online purchase after consumers get information about the product from the store, and webrooming, where consumers buy from the store after getting information online (Nesar and Sabir 2016, p. 50). This study aims to reveal consumers’ showrooming or webrooming intentions when purchasing vacations, why they prefer these behaviors, and the relationship between the demographic characteristics of the participants and these behaviors. It is thought that the results of how much these behaviors are demonstrated during both the vacation purchase and information obtaining processes can be important for tourism companies to develop effective strategies in this field. In addition, important information is included in the literature about consumer behaviors in the tourism industry in line with the obtained data.

Literature Consumers today utilize various shopping channels during the purchase decisionmaking process. While multi-channel shopping consumers use one channel to obtain information about a product, they might use another channel at the purchase stage (Verhoef et al. 2007, p. 129). For instance, consumers might use an online channel to research the product and purchase it from a store, or they may get information about the product from a store and purchase it using an online channel (Mehra et al. 2012, p. 1). Guardia and Nevarez (2017) stated that the Internet has become the most popular retail channel for most consumers, especially in the entertainment, fashion, tourism, and electronics industries, and it offers more advantages than the store environment. Consumers get information about a product by going to a store and then buying

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online due to difficulties they experience in evaluating the features of many products through online channels (Mehra et al. 2012; Zimmerman 2012; Kalyanam and Tsay 2013; Wu et al. 2015; Johansson 2016). Showrooming consumer behavior is defined as the behavior of obtaining information from a retail store before buying a product or service and then purchasing the same product or service online (Darlington 2012, p. 50; Bachrach et al. 2016, p. 4; Gensler et al. 2017, p. 29). It is stated that in showrooming behavior, consumers will visit a physical store and experience the products before undertaking their online purchase, and this helps reduce the product, process, and psychological uncertainties of online shopping (Arora et al. 2017). In other words, “showroomers” want to visit a physical store to observe, touch, feel, and try a product; however, they do not shop there (Guardia and Nevarez 2017, p. 176). Some disadvantages of online purchasing, developments in mobile technology, and a greater amount of information being desired by consumers have all led consumers to webrooming, which is another form of multi-channel shopping. Webrooming is a type of behavior in which consumers get online information about the product or service by means of a computer or mobile device, and then purchase the product from a store (Wolny and Charoensuksai 2014, p. 318; Schampers 2015, p. 14). In other words, it refers to online research performed by the consumer followed by the purchase of the product through an offline channel. Consumers use Internet sites as a marketing source to purchase from stores (Schampers 2015, p. 14). Along with developments in mobile technologies, the impact of obtaining online information about the product for offline purchases has become quite important (Flavian et al. 2016, p. 459). Consumers prefer to first review the product online before buying it, and then purchase the product from a physical store. According to Kisseberth (2014), 69% of people between the ages of 18 and 36 who have a smart phone demonstrate webrooming behavior. Webrooming and showrooming behaviors also create competitive motivation for suppliers aimed at improving the quality and price of products, diversifying their discount policies, and developing their customer service or postsales services (Dinh 2015). Webrooming behavior in the tourism industry refers to consumers obtaining information through online channels during the intended purchase of tourist products, and then performing the purchase process by going to a travel agency (Fig. 1). Fig. 1 Distribution of showrooming and webrooming behavior across the world. Source Google Consumer Barometer Report (2016)

45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

41% 33% 28%

40% 38% 38%

33%

29%

Showrooming (All Products) Webrooming (All Products)

10% 5%

9%

6% 1%

7% 3%

4%

Showrooming (Vacation) Webrooming (Vacation)

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According to the review in the Google Consumer Barometer Report (2016) shown in Fig. 1, in terms of webrooming behavior, the Asia-Pacific region (40%) ranks first in webrooming behavior for the purchase of all products, whereas the Middle East (41%) ranks first for the purchase of vacations. This behavior is observed at the same rate (33%) in Europe and the Middle East for the purchase of all products. The lowest rate of this behavior in the purchase of vacations is seen in Europe (28%). According to Fig. 1, in the review in terms of showrooming behavior, Europe ranks first in showrooming behavior not only for the purchase of all products (10%) but also for the purchase of vacations (5%). The lowest rates of showrooming behavior are seen in the Middle East, both for all products (6%) and for purchase of vacations (1%). It is observed that webrooming behavior is preferred by today’s consumers for both all products and purchase of vacations. While there are studies on showrooming and webrooming behaviors, which are multi-channel shopping types, there are no studies in the existing literature conducted to reveal the showrooming or webrooming intentions of individuals when buying vacations. The aim of this study is to identify the showrooming or webrooming intentions of consumers during the purchase process for vacations, and to contribute to the relevant literature and practice in line with the obtained data.

Method Population and Sample The population of this study consists of individuals who reside in Eski¸sehir. Individuals who are over 18 and who reside in Tepeba¸sı and Odunpazarı, the most densely populated districts of Eski¸sehir, constitute the sample. According to TUIK (2016) data, 343,701 and 391,106 individuals, who are over 18, reside in Tepeba¸sı and Odunpazarı districts, respectively. When the chance of selecting individuals who constitute the population is not known and an approximate estimation is desired to be made about the population, the non-random sampling method is preferred (Gegez 2015). In this study, which aims to determine the intentions of individuals residing in Eski¸sehir on webrooming or showrooming behaviors, of the non-random sampling methods, a convenience sampling method was used because of limitations of time and cost. Convenience sampling is used only when sampling available individuals who can be reached in the sample and when there are time/cost limitations (Gegez 2015; Co¸skun et al. 2015). In quantitative research methods, it is stated that a sample size of 271 would be ideal for a population of one million with a reliability level of 90% (Kozak 2015, p. 113) (Table 1). Between August 10, 2017 and September 5, 2017, and the hours of 12 PM and 6 PM, a survey was conducted with 282 people on a voluntary basis in the densely

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Table 1 Sample size in quantitative research methods Population size

Calculated sample size Assumption of 90% confidence level and heterogeneous population

Assumption of 95% confidence level and heterogeneous population

Assumption of 99% confidence level and heterogeneous population

100

74

80

88

1000

214

278

400

10,000

264

370

623

50,000

270

381

655

100,000

270

383

660

500,000

271

384

663

1,000,000

271

384

664

10,000,000

271

384

664

100,000,000

271

384

664

Source Kozak (2015), Bilimsel Ara¸stırma: Tasarım, Yazım, and Yayın Teknikleri, p. 113

populated regions, and data were collected. The number of valid surveys was considered to be 241 since 27 had missing data and 14 included incorrect data. Surveys were conducted by the researcher on a face-to-face basis.

Data Collection Tool The survey was used as a data collection tool in the study. In the first section of the survey form, questions are aimed at determining how many times the participants go on vacation on average per year, how much they benefit from the services of travel agencies, their daily Internet usage, and their purposes for using the Internet. In the following section, there are statements to determine their information-obtaining processes regarding tourist services as well as their vacation purchase preferences. In the next section that consists of questions addressing the reasons for the participants’ preferences, there are a total of 21 expressions that were prepared using a 5-point Likert scale with the options “1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Not Sure, 4-Agree, and 5-Strongly Agree” aimed at assessing trust, benefit, price, and convenience. Expressions in the scale have been prepared by using the studies in the existing literature conducted on the reasons for consumers’ preferences for online and offline shopping (Zaveri 2009; Keskinkılıç et al. 2016; Choi and Yang 2016; Yılmaz Dursun 2016). In the final section of the survey form, there are six questions relating to the recommendations of the participants regarding their preferences for vacation purchases and their demographic information. Before starting the data collection, the views of eight specialist academic were sought regarding the scope and face validity of the expressions on the question form. As a result of specialist views, four

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E. O. Aksöz and F. Hafif

expressions that were incomplete in terms of meaning were corrected. Thus, the final version of the survey form was created. Following the data collection process, a reliability analysis was performed on the scale that consisted of 21 items. As a result of the analysis, Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated as 0.915.

Research Questions The questions for the study are stated below: (1) Do consumers prefer multi-channel purchase behavior for tourism services? (2) Are there differences between the demographic characteristics of consumers who prefer multi-channel purchase behavior? (3) Is price important in consumers’ preference for multi-channel or single-channel purchase behavior during the purchase of vacations? (4) Is trust important in consumers’ preference for multi-channel or single-channel purchase behavior during the purchase of vacations?

Data Analysis The obtained data were coded and analyzed using SPSS statistics package software. First, a frequency analysis was performed to determine the demographic characteristics of participants, their preferences about channels to obtain information about tourism services, and the degree to which they agree with the statements on the scale. In addition, the mean and standard deviation values were obtained for the expressions in the scale using the frequency analysis. In order to determine the information regarding obtaining and purchasing preferences and find the demographic characteristics of participants who preferred either multichannel or single channel behavior, a cross-tab analysis was used and cross-tabs were created.

Results Results related to the demographic characteristics of participants are provided in Table 2. According to Table 2, 52.7% of the participants were female. 33.6% of the individuals in the sample were within the age range of 26–33, followed by 27.4% in the 34–41 range. It is seen that 53.1% of the individuals were married, 49.4% worked in the private sector, 65.6% had a Bachelor’s degree, and 28.2% had a monthly household income between 1501 and 3000 TL; 51.5% of the participants went on vacation

Research on the Determination of Preferences for Showrooming …

75

Table 2 Demographic characteristics of the participants Variables Gender

Age

Occupation

Frequency of going on vacation per year

n

%

Variables

Male

114

47.3

Education

Female

127

52.7

n

%

Primary School

5

2.1

Secondary School

9

3.7

Total

241

100

High School

36

14.9

18–25

55

22.8

University

158

65.6

26–33

81

33.6

Postgraduate

33

13.7

34–41

66

27.4

Total

241

100

42–49

22

9.1

1500 TL and below

13

5.4

50 and older

17

7.1

1501–3000 TL

68

28.2

Total

241

100

3001–4500 TL

64

26.6

Self Emp.

17

7.1

4501–6000 TL

44

18.3

Public

59

24.5

6001 TL and above

52

21.6

Private Sector

119

49.4

Total

241

100

Retired

9

3.7

Married

128

53.1

Monthly household income

Marital status

Student

25

10.4

Single

113

46.9

Unemployed

12

5

Total

241

100

Total

241

100

None

89

36.9

None

8

3.3

Once

124

51.5

Twice

60

24.9

3–4 times

35

5 times or more Total

Frequency of using travel agency services per year

Once

95

39.4

Twice

43

17.8

3–4 times

8

3.3

14.5

5 times or more

6

2.5

14

5.8

Total

241

100

241

100

once a year on average, while 39.4% benefitted from the services provided by a travel agency once a year, on average. Table 3 provides the results of analysis performed to determine the channels for obtaining information on tourism services. According to Table 3, 63.5, 71.4, 75.5, 51.5, and 43.6% of the participants prefer to obtain information from the Internet about tours, accommodation, air tickets, transfers, and car rentals, respectively. In contrast, 37.8% on cruise tours and 48.1%

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Table 3 Results related to channels for obtaining information on tourism services Tourism services

Getting information from Internet

Getting information from travel agency

I prefer to not get information

n

n

n

%

%

Std. Dev.

%

Tours

153

63.5

82

34.0

6

2.5

0.53,749

Accommodation

172

71.4

66

27.4

3

1.2

0.48,515

Air ticket

182

78.5

39

16.2

20

8.3

0.62,2S4

Transfer

124

51.5

72

29.9

45

18.7

0.77,218

Car rental

105

43.6

69

28.6

67

27.8

0.83,169

Cruise tours

87

36.1

63

26.1

91

37.8

0.86,104

Yacht charter

73

30.3

52

21.6

116

48.1

0.86,921

on yacht charter services stated that they did not prefer to obtain information related to such services from the Internet. The results of the analysis performed to reveal participants’ preferences about showrooming or webrooming behaviors in relation to tourism services are shown in Table 4. It is thought that the analysis results can be seen from a wider perspective by including results in the table relating to other preferences for obtaining information and purchasing. However, because of the purpose of the study, the preferences relating to showrooming and webrooming behaviors in tourism services are reviewed in the table. Table 4 shows that webrooming behavior is preferred in relation to all tourism services. Showrooming behavior is preferred mostly for car rental (n = 19), followed by cruise tours (n = 18) and transfer services (n = 18). Webrooming behavior, on the other hand, is mostly preferred for air tickets (n = 77), followed by accommodation (n = 64) and tours (n = 55). Table 5 reveals the demographic characteristics of participants who prefer multichannel and single channel purchase behavior. As is seen in Table 5, single channel purchase behavior is preferred more for tourism services. It was seen that single channel purchase behavior was preferred for car rentals, tours, and transfers among the range of services. Multi-channel purchase behavior, on the other hand, is preferred for air tickets and accommodation. It was found that single female, single male, and married male consumers preferred multichannel purchase behavior for tours, accommodation, and air tickets, respectively. In Table 6, frequencies of the scale items found in the question form are given. Given the mean values of the above expressions, it is seen that individuals agree with most of them. The most agreed upon expressions are that it provides convenience for reservation and payment transactions when purchasing a vacation and it offers extensive information about price and product range, whereas the least agreed expressions are that it offers the same prices to everyone, that it does not involve unforeseen costs, and that it is safe when providing personal information.

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77

Table 4 The results on showrooming and webrooming behavior preferences in tourism services Tourism services

Tours

Accommodation

Air ticket

Transfer

Car rental

Cruise tours

Yacht charter

Channels for getting information

Vacation purchase preferences Purchase from travel agency

Purchase from Internet

Total

Getting information from Internet

55

98

153

Getting information from travel agency

68

14

82

I prefer to not get information

1

5

6

Getting information from Internet

64

108

172

Getting information from travel agency

59

7

66

I prefer to not get information

1

2

3

Getting information from Internet

77

105

182

Getting information from travel agency

34

5

39

I prefer to not get information

13

7

20

Getting information from Internet

46

78

124

Getting information from travel agency

54

18

72

I prefer to not get information

24

21

45

Getting information from Internet

33

72

105

Getting information From travel agency

50

19

69

I prefer to not get information

41

26

67

Getting information from Internet

30

57

87

Getting information from travel agency

45

18

63

I prefer to not get information

49

42

91

Getting information from Internet

21

52

73

Getting information from travel agency

36

16

52

I prefer to not get information

67

49

116

78

E. O. Aksöz and F. Hafif

Table 5 Participants’ demographic characteristics related to multi-channel and single-channel purchase preferences Tourism services

Variables

Multi-channel purchase behavior n

n

Tours

Total

69

172

Male

32

82

Female

37

90

Married

34

94

Single

33

78

71

170

Male

38

74

Female

33

96

Married

31

97

Gender Marital status Accommodation

Total Gender Marital status

Single Air ticket

Transfer

Total

40

73

82

159

43

71

Gender

Male Female

39

88

Marital status

Married

43

85

Single

39

74

Total Gender Marital status

Car rental

Single-channel purchase behavior

64

177

Male

32

82

Female

32

95

Married

30

98

Single

34

79

52

189

Male

25

89

Female

27

100

Married

27

101

Single

25

88

Total Gender Marital status

Conclusion and Suggestions Today, competition between tourism companies is increasing. Companies must follow the purchase behaviors of consumers and develop suitable strategies in order to maintain their presence and be successful under these competitive conditions (Ero˘glu et al. 2012). Therefore, it is important to reveal the purchase preferences of consumers. According to the results obtained in the study, it was seen that consumers mostly preferred getting information from the Internet before purchasing tour (n = 153),

Strongly Agree (5)

Agree (4)

Not Sure (3)

Disagree (2)

Strongly Disagree (1)

Degree of Participation

105

43.6

%

39.4

%

n

95

n

8.3

%

5.0

20

%

n

12

%

n

9

3.7

n

It saves time when purchasing a vacation

Expressions

48.1

116

36.5

88

9.1

22

5.0

12

1.2

3

It offers more diverse products when purchasing a vacation

Table 6 Frequencies related to scale items

26.1

63

30.7

74

32.8

79

6.6

16

3.7

9

It is safe for providing personal information when purchasing a vacation

26.6

64

32.8

79

29.9

72

7.1

17

3.7

9

It is safe for providing financial information when purchasing a vacation

42.7

103

42.7

103

10.8

26

2.9

7

0.8

2

It provides extensive information about the product when purchasing a vacation

45.6

110

41.1

99

7.5

18

4.6

11

1.2

3

It provides extensive information about the price when purchasing a vacation

49.8

120

34.0

82

8.3

20

5.4

13

2.5

6

It provides comparison of products when purchasing a vacation

(continued)

48.1

116

38.6

93

7.5

18

3.7

9

2.1

5

It provides convenience in payment transactions when purchasing a vacation

Research on the Determination of Preferences for Showrooming … 79

Expressions

Degree of Participation

strongly Agree (5)

Agree (4)

Not Sure (3)

Disagree (2)

Strongly Disagree (1)

1.01

Std. Dev.

126

52.3

n

%

34.9

%

7.9

84

%

n

19

4.1

n

10

%

%

n

2

0.8

n

It provides convenience in the reservation processes when purchasing a vacation

4.14

Mean

Table 6 (continued)

4.25

30.7

74

33.6

81

24.9

60

8.7

21

2.1

5

It provides support services after purchase of a vacation

0.90

3.68

28.2

68

32.8

79

28.6

69

8.3

20

2.1

5

The possibility of facing a problem during the purchase of a vacation is lower

1.04

3.71

46.9

113

36.1

87

9.1

22

6.2

15

1.7

4

It requires less effort during the process of purchasing a vacation

1.05

4.23

35.3

85

33.2

80

23.2

56

5.4

13

2.9

7

It gives the best price guarantee before purchasing a vacation

0.82

4.25

44.4

107

42.3

102

7.1

17

3.7

9

2.5

6

It allows price information to be obtained rapidly when purchasing a vacation

0.87

4.23

33.6

81

44.8

108

15.4

37

2.5

6

3.7

9

It allows for accuracy in obtaining price information when purchasing a vacation

0.98

4.26

(continued)

24.5

59

24.9

60

27.8

67

15.4

37

7.5

8

It offers the same prices to everyone when purchasing a vacation

0.90

80 E. O. Aksöz and F. Hafif

3.74

0.99

Std. Dev.

24.9

%

36.5

60

%

n

88

29.0

%

n

70

n

7.1

%

2.5

17

%

n

6

It offers more affordable prices when purchasing a vacation

Mean

Strongly Agree (5)

Agree (4)

Not Sure (3)

Disagree (2)

Strongly Disagree (1)

3.82

1.03

Expressions

n

0.85

Std. Dev.

Degree of Participation

4.33

Mean

Table 6 (continued) 3.76

4.20 0.95

0.99

3.74

25.8

62

35.6

86

24.5

59

10.0

24

4.1

10

There are no unforeseen costs when purchasing a vacation

1.01

3.92

1.08

3.68

27.0

65

44.8

108

22.4

54

3.3

8

2.5

6

It provides accurate information about the product when purchasing a vacation

1.03

4.22

4.02 0.96

0.91

3.90

41.9

101

42.3

102

9.1

22

3.3

8

3.3

8

It allows comparison of prices when purchasing a vacation

0.91

3.43

0.95

4.16

37.3

90

44.4

107

14.5

35

2.5

6

1.2

3

It provides more benefits as compared to other purchase preferences when purchasing a vacation

1.22

Research on the Determination of Preferences for Showrooming … 81

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E. O. Aksöz and F. Hafif

accommodation, (n = 172), air ticket (n = 182), and transfer (n = 124) services. Another result suggests that today’s consumers increasingly prefer webrooming behavior for the purchase of all tourism products. They prefer such behavior especially for tour (n = 55), accommodation (n = 64), and air ticket (n = 77) services. The most preferred services related to showrooming behavior were car rental (n = 19) and transfer (n = 18) services. It was seen that showrooming behavior was preferred at a very low rate for accommodation (n = 7) and air tickets (n = 5). In addition, many consumers stated that they did not intend to buy cruise tours or yacht rental services. As a result of the analysis on tourism service purchasing behaviors, it was seen that single channel purchase behavior was preferred more. Consumers’ previous purchase experiences, benefits they have obtained, their ages, and the risks perceived might be among the reasons for preferring such behavior. In addition, in line with the analysis, single female consumers prefer multi-channel shopping for the purchase of tours. It was found that singe male consumers preferred multi-channel shopping mostly when purchasing accommodation. Lastly, thanks to the analysis of consumers’ expressions of their reasons for preferring these behaviors, important aspects that lead consumers towards such behavior have been discovered. It will be possible for tourism companies to develop effective and efficient marketing strategies to increase their sales and thus survive in the current market by taking into account the information obtained about these two behavior types. In light of this information, companies in the tourism industry might be advised to use the Internet more effectively since it is used by consumers as a channel to obtain information, in order to develop strategies to increase the trust and loyalty of consumers of services where webrooming and showrooming behaviors are preferred, to offer the best prices, focus on human relations, and provide various advantages. In our study, of the non-random sampling methods, the convenience sampling method was used because of time and cost limitations. In order to generalize the obtained results to the population, a random sampling method should be used, and light should be shed on various dimensions of the subject with a larger number of participants in different areas. Acknowledgements This study was presented at the 11th Tourism Outlook Conference.

References Arora, S., Singha, K., & Sahney, S. (2017). Understanding consumer’s showrooming behavior: Extending the theory of planned behaviour. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 29(2), 409–431. Bachrach, D. G., Ogilvie, J., Rapp, A., & Calamusa, J. (2016). More than a showroom (1st ed.). NewYork, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. Co¸skun, R., Altunı¸sık, R., Bayraktaro˘glu, S., & Yıldırım, E. (2015). Sosyal Bilimlerde Ara¸stırma Yöntemleri (8. Baskı). Sakarya: Sakarya Yayıncılık.

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Chiu, H. C., Hsieh, Y. C., Roan, J., Tseng, K. J., & Hsieh, J. K. (2011). The challenge for multichannel services: Cross-channel free-riding behavior. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 10(2), 268–277. Choi, H. S., & Yang, S. B. (2016). An empirical study on influencing factors of switching intention from online shopping to webrooming. Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems, 22(1), 19–41. Darlington, H. (2012). Showrooming and the Internet. Supply House Times, 55(7), 50–52. Dinh, T. M. (2015). The trend of showrooming and webrooming behaviors of the consumers in Ho Chi Minh City. Proceedings of the 3rd IBEA International Conference on Business Economics and Accounting, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. Durmaz, Y., Bahar, R., & Kurtlar, M. (2011). Ki¸sisel Faktörlerin Tüketici Satın Alma Davranı¸slarına Etkisi Üzerine Bir Ara¸stırma. Akademik Yakla¸sımlar Dergisi, 2(1), 114–133. Ero˘glu, E., Velio˘glu, M. N., Barı¸s, G., & Argan, M. (2012). Tüketici Davranı¸sları. Eski¸sehir: Anadolu Üniversitesi Açıkö˘gretim Fakültesi. Flavian, C., Gurrea, R., & Orus, C. (2016). Choice confidence in the webrooming purchase process: The impact of online positive reviews and the motivation to touch. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 15(5), 459–476. Gegez, A.E. (2015). Pazarlama Ara¸stırmaları (5. Baskı). ˙Istanbul: Beta Yayınevi. Gensler, S., Neslin, S. A., & Verhoef, P. C. (2017). The showrooming phenomenon: It’s more than just about price. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 38(2), 29–43. Google Consumer Barometer. (2016). Research & Purchase Behaviour (ROPO). Accessed 7 September 2017. https://www.consumerbarometer.com/en/graph-builder/?question=N11. Guardia, F. R., & Nevarez, C. L. (2017). “Showrooming” in consumer electronics retailing: An empirical study. Journal of Internet Commerce, 16(2), 174–201. Johansson, U. (2016). Understanding showrooming—An exploratory research focusing on channel motivations and personal motivations that trigger showrooming (Master’s thesis), Lund University, Department of Business Administration, Sweden. Kalyanam, K., & Tsay, A. A. (2013). Free riding and conflict in hybrid shopping environments: Implications for retailers, manufacturers, and regulators. The Antitrust Bulletin, 58(1), 19–68. Keskinkılıç, M., A˘gca, Y., & Karaman, E. (2016). ˙Internet ve Bilgi Sistemleri Kullanımının Turizm ˙sletme Ara¸stırmaları Dergisi, 8(4), 445–472. Da˘gıtım Kanallarına Etkisi Üzerine Bir Uygulama. I¸ Kisseberth, M. (2014). Are you looking beyond e-commerce? Webrooming is changing what commerce means for publishers. Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, 43(6), 14. Kozak, M. (2015). Bilimsel Ara¸stırma: Tasarım, Yazım ve Yayım Teknikleri (2. Baskı). Ankara: Detay Yayıncılık. Mehra, A., Kumar, S., & Raju, J. S. (2012). Showrooming and the competition between store and online retailers. 22nd Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems, Orlanda, Florida. Nesar, S., & Sabir, L. B. (2016). Evaluation of customer preferences on showrooming and webrooming: An empirical study. Al-Barakaat Journal of Finance & Management, 8(1), 50–67. Schampers, G. (2015). Consumer purchase behavior of online professional sports merchandise (Master’s thesis), Concordia University, Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, Canada. Türkiye ˙Istatistik Kurumu. (2016). Belediye, Köy ve Mahalle Nüfusları, Eski¸sehir, Tepeba¸sıOdunpazarı. Accessed 11 September 2017. https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=tr. Verhoef, P. C., Neslin, S. A., & Vroomen, B. (2007). Multichannel customer management: Understanding the research-shopper phenomenon. Journal of Research in Marketing, 24(2), 129–148. Wolny, J., & Charoensuksai, N. (2014). Mapping customer journeys in multichannel decisionmaking. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 15(4), 317–326. World Tourism Organization. (2017). UNWTO world tourism barometer, (2017). Accessed 17 september 2017. http://mkt.unwto.org/barometer/june-2017-volume-15. Wu, C., Wang, K., & Zhu, T. (2015). Can price matching defeat showrooming? (Working Paper), Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

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Yılmaz Dursun, E. (2016). Tüketicilerin Online Alı¸sveri¸s Davranı¸sını Etkileyen Faktörler. Yayınlanmamı¸s Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Avrasya Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Trabzon. Zaveri, B. N. (2009). A study on online versus offline shopping activities of female Internet users in selected cities of Gujarat (PhD thesis), The M.S. University of Baroda, Department of Commerce Including Business Administration, India. Zimmerman, A. (2012). Can retailers halt “showrooming”? The Wall Street Journal. Accessed 10 September 2017. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ SB10001424052702304587704577334370670243032.

Innovation Through Business Models: The Case of the Airline Industry Ferhan Kuyucak Sengür ¸ and Yusuf Sengür ¸

Abstract The airline industry has changed tremendously in recent years. New airline business models have emerged in different markets since the middle of the 90s, for example, low-cost and hybrid airlines. In the airline industry, many different business models can be defined according to each airline’s business design. There are five business models that are used by the majority of airlines around the world. Today, the distinction between the different business models has changed and is no longer as clear as in the past. Competition has led many low-cost carriers to adopt attributes of network operators, including frequent flyer programs and most commonly the ability to connect with other airlines’ services. As a result, hybrid carriers have appeared recently. This categorization of business models stems from operational attributes as well as strategic choices such as business model components. This study explores both common characteristics and business model components of airline business models. Keywords Business models · Airline industry · Air transportation · Strategic management

Introduction The term “business model” is often used to identify business or organizational logic associated with how a company creates, delivers, and captures value for its customers. It also demonstrates the revenue and cost structure from business processes that were implemented. Clearly stated or not, every business has a business model, and a good model is essential for the success of any business (Magretta 2002; Chesbrough 2007). F. Kuyucak Sengür ¸ (B) Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Eskisehir Technical University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] Y. Sengür ¸ Istanbul Aviation Academy, Istanbul, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_5

85

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F. Kuyucak Sengür ¸ and Y. Sengür ¸

Liberalization in the airline industry makes it easier for airlines to access markets. Hence, competition rules have been changing. Airlines previously competed with each other based on routes, using differentiated products to attract passengers. Having a busy hub and obtaining a good position in computer reservation systems provided an airline a favorable position over its competitors. Even though the rules of the game have changed significantly, these attributes are still important today. The competition is now much more complex because of emerging new business models and industrial transformation. Other than competitive concerns, revenue and cost structure is one of the top priorities for airlines in terms of sustainable growth and performance. These pressures cause airlines to rethink their business models.

Busıness Model Concept and Its Components It is difficult to find a unique definition of the concept of a business model; different authors have presented several definitions. Table 1 presents selected business model definitions from the literature. In today’s global competitive environment, innovation is immeasurably important for companies in almost all industries. Innovation is associated with new technology, such as innovative products or services. However, technology does not return yield by itself until it is employed in a business model (Chesbrough 2010). New technological developments can facilitate business model innovations. Nevertheless, business model innovation is much more than technology innovations (Baden-Fuller and Haefliger 2013). Casadesus-Masanell and Zhu (2013) define business model innovation as “the search for new business logics of the firm and new ways to create and capture value for its stakeholders.” A business model innovation could occur in two ways, the creation of a new business model and the change of an existing model with the aim of creating better value for customers than existing models. According to a global survey, senior managers favor new business models over new products and services as a source of future competitive advantage because business model innovations are harder to imitate than product and service innovations (Amit and Zott 2015). A business model provides a good understanding of a company’s strategic choices and positioning (Nenonen and Storbacka 2010). The question of what constitutes a business model has gained the attention of researchers for at least two decades. Value proposition, business configuration, strategic choices, value chain activities, stakeholder relations, and customer-related activities fall into the business model domain. The business model components are also considered as elements and building blocks of a business model. Table 2 presents selected business model components from the literature.

Innovation Through Business Models …

87

Table 1 Selected business model definitions Researchers

Definitions

Demil and Lecocq (2010)

“The description of the articulation between different business model components or building blocks to produce a proposition that can generate value for consumers and thus for the organization”

Yip (2004)

“The value proposition, the nature of inputs and outputs, the scope, the target customers and the structure”

Chesbrough and Rosenbloom (2002)

“A cognitive map across domains, able to help managers in identifying a target market, articulating the value proposition, building the value chain and the costs/margins structure, describing the position of the firm in the value network and formulating the competitive strategy”

Timmers (1998)

“A description of the product, services, and information flows, the potential benefits, and the sources of revenue”

Amit and Zott (2001)

“The architectural configuration of the components of transactions designed to exploit business opportunities”

Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart (2010)

“The logic of the firm, the way it operates and how it creates value for its stakeholders”

Shafer et al. (2005)

“A representation of a firm’s underlying core logic and strategic choices for creating and capturing value within a value network”

Osterwalder et al. (2005)

“A conceptual tool containing a set of objects, concepts and their relationships with the objective to express the business logic of a specific firm”

Teece (2010)

“How the enterprise creates and delivers value to customers, and then converts payments received to profits”

Business Models for Airlines There are numerous classifications regarding airlines. Classification is challenging due to the variety of characteristics possessed by airlines. In addition, the motive for classification changes according to the function and domain perspectives. Size, revenue, customer segments, load type, scope, and range are the functions that can be used to classify airlines. It is extremely difficult to make a clear distinction between airline business models because of the extremely dynamic nature of the industry. In addition, there is a lack of a consistent and standardized approach to analyzing airline business models (Mason and Morrison 2008). While airline business models have some common characteristics, each airline has its own so that airline business models fall into a spectrum ranging from low-cost airlines to full-service network airlines (Lohmann

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Table 2 Business model components Researchers

Components

Chesbrough and Rosenbloom (2002)

Value proposition, Market segmentation, Position in value network, Value chain, Competitive strategy, Cost structure, and profit potential

Hedman and Kalling (2003)

Offering, Customers, Activities and organization, Suppliers, Resources, Competition, Scope of management

Magretta (2002)

Value proposition, Customer definition, Revenue and Economic logic

Osterwalder et al. (2005)

Value proposition, Target customer, Distribution channel, Relationship, Value configuration, Core competency, Partner network, Cost structure, Revenue model

Shafer et al. (2005)

Strategic choices, Create value, Capture value, Value network

Al-Debei and Avison (2010)

Value proposition, value architecture, value finance, value network

Janssen et al. (2008)

Business logic, Value proposition, Customers; Current or future business

Johnson et al. (2008)

Customer value proposition Profit formula Key resources, Key processes (incl. metrics, rules and norms)

Gassman et al. (2013)

Value proposition, Target customer, Value chain, Revenue model

and Koo 2013). Hence, this categorization brings hybrid airlines into the picture. There are basically four different types of airline classifications: full-service network, low-cost, charter, and regional airlines (Nenonen and Storbacka 2010; Hedman and Kalling 2003; Al-Debei and Avison 2010). These categorizations can be applied to the passenger airline business. The Boeing Company classification of airlines falls into two dimensions (Boeing 2017): the range (short-, medium-, long-haul) and customer segments (businessleisure). According to this classification, airlines are categorized as ultralow-cost, hybrid, global network, non-global network, charter, and cargo airlines. This categorization has, to a certain extent, similarities with the one put forward in this paper. We add the hybrid airline business model in addition to generic models such as full-service, low-cost, charter, and regional airlines. When airline business models are categorized the question arises that to what extent these models differ from each other. It is believed that a business model framework could answer this question. One of the aims of this research is to clarify and examine the business model components. Therefore, the distinctions among airline business models would be more apparent. All airline business models have different structures regarding air traffic. Fullservice network airlines handle both domestic and international traffic in their hubs.

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They also offer multiple classes that enable them to offer cheap tickets by applying yield management techniques. Average paying customers are usually a mix of business and leisure travelers. In addition, premium paying customers are also an important customer segment for full-service network airlines. These airlines rely on significant inbound or outbound traffic in their hubs. However, potential transit passengers are one of the main focuses of their strategies. Regional carriers very often serve more remote, midsize, or smaller destinations. Carriers provide reduced quantitative capacity with smaller airplanes, but because of the relatively high prices and the advantages of air access, segments with strong respective buying power are encouraged to these destinations. Charter airlines increasingly operate on medium- and long-haul routes. They lead to quantitative advantages but have relatively inflexible traffic streams due to fixed rotations. The emergence of new classes on charter planes attracts new segments on these types of flights. Low-cost carriers bring intensive, highly flexible, and fairly mixed traffic streams (Bieger and Wittmer 2006). From a business model perspective, analyzing model components could provide insights explaining the distinction between airline business models. Business models are discussed in four dimensions according to the content analysis of the websites of the top 50 largest airlines (Sengur and Sengur 2017). (1) Value proposition: This is what airlines offer to their customers. Better customer services and travel experience fall into this component. It also represents network coverage and offering low fares. (2) Market segmentation: This component defines the target customer. From a product viewpoint, market segmentation can be passenger and cargo. Cargo airlines mainly have two types of load such as carrying various types of cargo and parcel carriage. On the other hand, passenger airline business could have market segmentation according to distance covered such as long-, medium-, or shorthaul, or international versus domestic. In addition, there is also segmentation by customer types such as business, leisure, and visiting relatives and friends. (3) Value chain: A firm’s value chain activities are the processes, resources, and internal capabilities of a company (Demil and Lecocq 2010; Mason and Morrison 2008). On the other hand, a company’s position within the industry value chain and the relationships with the other players in the industry is also important for a business model. These internal and external value chain activities basically represent how an airline offers its value proposition. For airlines, safety, service/operational quality and commitment, service innovation, and relationships with other companies within the air transport industry describe value chain activities. (4) Profit structure: This represents the revenue and cost structure of a company. It shows how a company generates revenue from its activities. For airlines, it describes fares, having low costs, cost control, and profitable growth. Table 3 provides distinctive characteristics of airline business models through business model components. That is, this table shows how airline business models differ from each other as the characteristics are analyzed from the perspective of

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Table 3 Airline business model components Value proposition

Market segmentation

Value chain

Profit structure

Full-service network airlines

Wide network coverage, better travel experience

Business and leisure passengers

Activities for better and differentiated service

From low to expensive fares, cost-cutting strategies

Low-cost airlines

Low fares

Price sensitive customers

Simple value chain activities for low costs

Lowest fares and costs possible

Hybrid Airlines

Low fares and service quality

Price sensitive customers

Activities for lower costs

Competitive fares and low costs

Charter airlines

Low fares

Tourists

Simple value chain activities for low costs

Block sales with low fares and low costs

Regional airlines

Connecting small cities with big ones

Customers within a geographical niche

Feeder services

Positive return depends on load factor, higher unit cost

model components. There are five basic airline business models generally accepted in the industry: full-service network, low-cost, hybrid, charter, and regional airlines.

Full-Service Network Airlines Full-service network airlines are also known as network, legacy, and traditional airlines. The business model is generally based on providing air services to a variety of destinations with many ancillary services such as in-flight services, booking flexibility, multiple classes, and airport lounges. In addition, these airlines serve business and leisure travelers and provide domestic and international flights (Bitzan and Peoples 2016). They use a hub-and-spoke network structure and offer differentiated products to passengers. These airlines offer services to all passenger segments and attempt to increase their destinations from their hub locations. Increasing connectivity brings advantages for both passengers and airlines. Passengers are able to reach a variety of connecting flights from hubs. They have multiple choices for flight times and can reach their destinations without using different airlines. The hub-and-spoke system is the major innovation that provides frequent air services to various origin–destination pairs. Airlines benefit from economies of scope by having an additional cheaper destination instead of providing a point-to-point service (Al-Debei and Avison 2010; Lohmann and Koo 2013).

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Full-service network airlines have at least one hub and the majority of their operations take place within the hub. Various connecting flights can be offered to customers, which requires effective and efficient network management. This is the core of all operations. The functions of network management are route planning, scheduling, and fleet assignment. Yield management is also an important component of this airline business model. Using resources or capacity with a higher return is the main goal for the operations (Bieger and Agosti 2005). In-flight services and booking restrictions are the main areas that differentiate their product (Franke 2004). These airlines offer a range of classes such as first, premium, comfort, and economy class and various in-flight services such as meals and beverages. They operate all sector lengths and attempt to attract leisure and business passengers (Bitzan and Peoples 2016; Boeing 2017). As a consequence, their marketing efforts do not only focus on prices (Moreira 2014), instead they promote their high-quality services in all phases of the travel experience. Other characteristics include the use of primary airports, frequent flyer programs, and airport lounges. In addition, these airlines offer many connecting flights, shared loyalty programs, and use of airport lounges in many other airports through airline alliances. This business model is based on broad service in product and geography; it requires a variety of aircraft with differing capacities and these features require time, resources, and labor. Therefore, the characteristics of this model increase capital, labor, and operating costs. This model also necessitates complexity in the demand side, creating the need for computer reservation systems, yield management, loyalty programs, and managing customer relationships. This business model has also some difficult tasks such as managing complex schedules, capacity, and frequency (Gillen 2006). Full-service network airlines optimize the use of network effects by designing hub and network structures and by joining an airline alliance (Bieger and Wittmer 2011). From a marketing and strategic viewpoint, using a hub-and-spoke network enables the airlines to serve more origin and destination markets. Therefore, airlines gain market power within their hubs, which allows them to reduce competition and charge higher fares for passengers originating from the hub (Reichmuth et al. 2008). In addition, if the location hub is convenient, they can handle many transit passengers. Another important characteristic of full-service network airlines is the use of complex yield management; such practices are used to maximize revenues. Overbooking and charging higher prices to customers with more inelastic demand are the techniques related to yield management (Bitzan and Peoples 2016). Although there are many other different characteristics among full-service network airlines, the most common characteristics are outlined in Table 4 (Al-Debei and Avison 2010; Lohmann and Koo 2013; Leick and Wensveen 2014; Bieger and Wittmer 2011; Sengur and Sengur 2017; Doganis 2006; Bitzan and Peoples 2016; Bieger and Agosti 2005).

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Table 4 Characteristics of full-service network airlines Aspects

Characteristics

Fleet

Different types of aircraft, from regional aircraft to long-range wide-body aircraft

Cabin configuration

Selection of multiple class configurations among economics, comfort, business, and first-class

Network range

Domestic short-haul, international medium-haul, and intercontinental long-haul

Network structure

Mostly hub-and-spoke network, also point-to-point and smaller secondary hubs

Schedules

Connecting flights to destinations from hubs and high frequencies

Pricing

Complex yield management

Low-Cost Airlines The aim of the deregulation in the industry that occurred in USA in the late 70s and in Europe in the 90s was to increase competition. One of the results of airline deregulation has been the expansion of low-cost airlines. In a liberalized environment, easy entry has made it possible for low-cost airlines to emerge in major short-haul markets (Franke 2004; Lawton 2002; Wallace et al. 2006; Moreira 2014; Gillen 2006). Low-cost airlines focus on cost minimization strategies. Reducing costs allows these airlines to offer low fares, which has made them serious competitors of fullservice network airlines. On the other hand, most importantly, low fares have attracted new customers and stimulated demand for air transportation (Moreira 2014; Gillen 2006). The low-cost airline business model has had many impacts on air transportation; these airlines use underutilized airports, they offer a simple product at relatively lower prices, and they mostly use direct sales channels (Pels et al. 2009). Although there are variants of this model, they typically have some common characteristics, therefore, the term “low-cost airlines” is frequently used to describe these airlines (Bitzan and Peoples 2016; Wallace et al. 2006; Bieger and Wittmer 2011; Reichmuth et al. 2008). They are also known as no-frills airlines, discount airlines, or budget carriers. Generally, the term low-cost airline is used to describe airlines whose costs are reduced compared to full-service network airline operators in a number of ways, thereby enabling them to offer lower fares (Gassmann et al. 2013; Wallace et al. 2006). Although low-cost airlines have various characteristics, they typically focus on cost reduction strategies. These are high utilization of aircraft, short turnaround time, no-frills, point-to-point routes, high aircraft capacity, use of secondary airports, single-type fleet, low wage scales, profit sharing with employees, simple pricing, single class, and direct sales channels. These factors have enabled airlines to reduce their costs and lower their fares relative to full-service network airlines (Lohmann and Koo 2013; Wallace et al. 2006).

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Table 5 Low-cost airlines’ characteristics and the reflections Characteristics

Reflections

Use of secondary airports

Reduce unit cost, contribute short turnaround times

High aircraft utilization

Efficient use of equipment and personnel, Reduce aircraft ownership cost per available seat kilometers

Short turnaround times

Allow high aircraft utilization

Single-type of fleet

Reduce ownership and maintenance cost, Efficient use of equipment and personnel

High-density seating

Reduce unit cost

Single class

Simple product and simple fare structure

Short-haul point–to-point services

Simple operational activities High number of daily frequencies

No-frills

Reduce unit cost, contribute short turnaround times

Internet booking

Reduce sales and marketing costs

Simple fare structure and pricing strategy

Simple product

High labor productivity and lower wage scales

Reduce labor cost

Profit sharing

Create workforce loyalty, increase motivation and influence efficiency

The distinctive characteristics of low-cost airlines enable them to provide lower costs than full-service network airlines. These characteristics should somehow reduce the costs of airlines. None of these factors are enough to reduce unit cost when implemented alone, only a combination of these factors can reduce costs at a particular rate. Therefore, we should examine the reflections of these characteristics on the cost side, which are shown in Table 5. A low-cost airline adopts a combination of these characteristics. Other cost-reducing strategies can be used such as outsourcing some services. Airlines attempt to outsource many activities and functions except marketing and management. Revenue generating strategies are also prevalent among low-cost airlines. Ancillary revenues such as advertising on seatback trays and headrests, and on the exterior of some of their aircraft are an important part of their revenues. Car rentals, hotel bookings, and travel insurance are also a source of revenue (Berrittella et al. 2009). Low costs stem from both operational and product features (Alamdari and Fagan 2005). In addition, low-cost airlines use other management practices such as profit sharing with employees, lower wage scales, and high labor productivity. The use of secondary airports is an important operational feature of low-cost airlines. It contributes to short turnaround times and eventually allows high aircraft utilization. Fleet commonality is another feature of low-cost airlines and this reduces ownership and operational costs. In addition, it also reduces training costs and provides more

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flexibility for staff planning. Fleet commonality also reduces maintenance, staff, and overhead costs relating to aircraft. Product features include high-density seating, single class, Internet booking, and simple fare and pricing strategies. High-density seating reduces unit costs. Around 20–30 more seats per flight significantly lowers unit costs. Having “no-frills” during flights also has an impact on unit costs. Low-cost airlines tend to sell food and beverages during flights and this ancillary revenue is an important revenue source for airlines. Another benefit of “no-frills” during the flight is to help achieve short turnaround times. This facilitates ground operations and reduces turnaround times compared to full-service network airlines. Low-cost airline operations are based on short-haul point-to-point services and this feature allows high number of flight frequencies and simple operational activities; it also indirectly contributes to short turnaround times. There are various positive impacts of low-cost airlines. Low-cost airlines have increased competition in deregulated markets. Thus, an increase in competition results in declining prices. In addition, the usage of secondary airports has boosted economies (Reichmuth et al. 2008).

Hybrid Airlines Because of the dynamic nature of the airline industry, a number of airlines are adopting models that do not exactly fit the typical business models (Reichmuth et al. 2008). A hybrid airline combines strategies of both full-service network and low-cost airlines into a unique model (Jean and Lohmann 2016) and the basics of these business models have blurred (Franke and John 2011). To be more competitive, airlines have adopted best practices from both business models and differentiated themselves in terms of pricing, network, and product features (Pantazis and Liefner 2006; Francis et al. 2006; Dobruszkes 2006). Specifically, some of the former low-cost airlines have evolved into hybrid airlines by adopting some features of full-service network airlines. Some of the characteristics adopted include using hub airports, having strategic alliances with other airlines to expand their network, having a mixed fleet, and using frequent flyer programs (Jean and Lohmann 2016). In Europe, full-service network airlines have used cost-cutting strategies, which have prompted low-cost airlines to change their strategies. Hence, they have modified the key elements of their strategies and adopted hybrid strategies (Klophaus et al. 2012). Low-cost airlines have attempted to expand their business passenger segment for the last decade. They have changed their product features such as using primary airports, multi-class, spacious seating, and frequent flyer programs. In addition, they have started to use other distribution channels and have participated in using global distribution systems. Instead of having a single-type fleet, they have begun to use different aircraft and have expanded their routes accordingly (Daft and Albers 2015).

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Aer Lingus, the former Irish flag carrier, has changed its business model to that of a hybrid airline. It now offers low-cost services from Dublin as well as full-service network flights to North America. Air Berlin, formerly a charter airline, is another example that has changed its business model to that of a hybrid airline (Reichmuth et al. 2008).

Charter Airlines Charter airlines carry leisure passengers and work with tour operators for inclusive holiday packages (Gillen 2006; Alamdari and Fagan 2005; Jean and Lohmann 2016). They focus on the transportation of tourists. There are many features in common with low-cost airlines although there are some essential differences. Commonalities with low-cost airlines basically focus on cost savings and product design: • • • • • • • •

High aircraft utilization High seating density Simple service design Low distribution costs Point-to-point traffic Use of secondary airports High labor productivity Single class

The main characteristics of charter airlines achieving low costs per seat mile are: (1) serving point-to-point flights, (2) using homogenous fleets, and (3) having a high-density seating configuration (Reichmuth et al. 2008). On the other hand, there are some essential differences between the two business models. The product itself is an integrated product of holiday packages. The main customers are not the passengers. Instead, charter airlines mostly sell their seats to tour operators via a block selling method or if the airline is affiliated with a large tour operator, the customer is their affiliates. Charter airlines can use their fleet more efficiently because they can also operate throughout nights (Rodríguez and O’Connell 2018). Demand fluctuates throughout the year and seasonality is one of the core factors of this business model. The success of charter airlines mostly depends on the marketing abilities of their partner tour operators (Leick and Wensveen 2014; Franke 2004). Other differences include pricing and network structures. While low-cost airlines use simple yield management techniques, charter airlines generally charge fixed prices. In addition, low-cost airlines tend to have a service to destinations at least once per day, whereas charter airlines do so once a week (Reichmuth et al. 2008). A charter airline is a special form of a point-to-point business model that serves tourist destinations. They are not allowed to sell tickets individually and tickets have to be sold to tour operators. The comparative advantage of charter airlines comes from less complex operations and cheaper cost structures. Flexible scheduling provides a

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higher usage of capacity. In addition, minimal transaction cost per seat allows them to reduce their costs (Bieger and Wittmer 2011). Charter airlines are essentially an integral part of tour operators’ value chains. This allows them to concentrate solely on operational efficiency to achieve the lowest costs possible. The strategic success factors of charter airlines are cost efficiency and integration of operational and marketing activities with tour operators (Bieger and Agosti 2005).

Regional Airlines Regional airlines generally use smaller aircraft with 20–100 seats and operate in a geographically limited area (Reichmuth et al. 2008). These airlines serve short scheduled air services and connect small cities with large cities. They operate as feeders to hubs and are mostly controlled by or working for full-service network airlines. Regional airlines mostly have code sharing agreements, marketing alliances, capacity provision agreements, and other joint business strategies with full-service network airlines (Sengur and Sengur 2017). Regional airlines have geographically defined niche networks and are closely linked to major network airlines. Generally, marketing, yield management, maintenance, and employee training functions are taken over by the major airline (Bieger and Wittmer 2011). Some regional airlines operate independently and provide point-to-point flights. However, most of them generally operate as feeder airlines for full-service network airlines and connect the hub of their partner airline with nearby regional airports (Reichmuth et al. 2008). One of the reasons regional airlines work for full-service network airlines is that the unit costs of regional airlines are the highest costs in the airline industry. In addition, marketing, capital, and overhead costs per unit are also higher than in the other airline business models. Therefore, it is difficult to survive as an independent regional airline. There are some successful regional airlines around the world such as Aegean Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Cathay Dragon, and American Eagle. When their fleet structures are examined, it is revealed that some of these airlines have started to switch to smaller, narrow-body aircraft. Successful regional operations mostly depend on higher load factors. These airlines are well-positioned to serve small communities given their small size aircraft. When the load factor is low, it is almost impossible to survive in the industry. Therefore, their partner’s marketing performance is very important as well as the amount of traffic that the partner’s hub handles. These airlines are a specific group in terms of fleet structure, target market, and cost structure. Developing new markets and protecting existing ones are the key success factors (Bieger and Agosti 2005).

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Conclusion Although there are many types of airlines worldwide, there are five basic airline business models in the air passenger market. These business models differ from each other in terms of various characteristics. In this paper, these characteristics were discussed from the perspective of the business model components. These components provide a detailed schema for businesses to assess their business models properly. The business model framework suggests that every business model has different value offers, customer segments, value chain activities, and profit formula. Therefore, an examination of the business model components revealed that airline business models also differ from each other. Whether there will be a convergence of these models or not in the future, there are currently definite distinctions between airline business models. Another impact would be innovation or changes in the business model components of new airlines. It can be concluded that airline business models are also clear enough when we examine throughout the business model domain. Closer examination of the common characteristics and the distinctions of such models would benefit the business model and the airline industry domains.

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Designing an Activity-Based Costing Method for Food and Beverage Businesses: A Determination of Activities Merve Özgür Göde and Vedat Ekergil

Abstract Food and beverage companies generally use traditional cost calculation methods, but modern costing methods have emerged that allow these companies to calculate their costs more regularly. The current observational study looks to determine all department activities and transactions that occur in the process of designing an activity-based costing (ABC) system, which leverages a contemporary cost management approach. We propose cost center activities that can be used to calculate costs in a more realistic manner for food and beverage businesses. To determine activities in line with the ABC method, a first-class restaurant was chosen in Eski¸sehir, Turkey; there, the researcher made observations in each restaurant department, and activities and process steps were observed and noted in line with the ABC system. Additionally, the restaurant manager was interviewed. Subsequently, the obtained data were presented to, and approved by, the business manager. As a result of this work, five main activities were determined for food and beverage businesses: receipt of the order and service, food preparation, food preparation for the final product, preparation of the table and setups for the next operation, and purchasing. Keywords Cost management · Activity-based costing · Food business · Beverage business · Restaurant · Eski¸sehir

Introduction Businesses need new costing systems if they are to leverage technology and be suitably cost-effective (Karacan 2000, p. 37). The activity-based costing (ABC) method has emerged as an alternative method that precludes the inaccuracy that comes with M. Özgür Göde (B) Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] V. Ekergil Open Education Faculty, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_6

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traditional costing methods and produces accurate cost information (Köro˘glu 2013). Generally speaking, across many companies, the share of direct labor costs in total cost—which enterprises consider an important cost element—has decreased; additionally, developments in information technology have increased the share of overhead costs. As a result, indirect costs have increased as a proportion of total product/service costs, and as a measurement metric and this ratio has grown in importance, leading to the diversification of allocation measures and the development of new distribution approaches. The activity cost pool speaks to the total cost of an activity, and each cost pool refers to the activity (or set of activities) carried out at the activity center (Ülker and ˙Iskender 2005, p. 199). In allocating costs to products, the traditional cost accounting (TCA) system follows a simple framework, wherein direct product costs—such as material and labor costs—can be traced directly to products. Indirect overhead costs, meanwhile, are allocated to products based on a firm-wide overhead rate or multiple departmental overhead rates (Huang 2018). While TCA was developed to comply with external financial reporting requirements, it falls short in terms of providing public sector organizations with the strategic information they need in today’s environment (Oseifuah 2018). Cooper and Kaplan (1987) are credited with developing the ABC methodology, which can be used to resolve the problems inherent in traditional cost management systems—that is to say, traditional cost management systems are often unable to correctly and accurately identify true process costs. ABC systems assign costs to products on the basis of multiple “cost drivers,” and these costs may or may not be proportional to the volume of output (Noreen 1991). The advantages of ABC over the TCA system have been documented in various industries (Huang 2018). In the TCA system, there is only one cost pool for all production costs; with the ABC method, however, there are multiple cost pools for each factor that affects resource use. With the ABC method, a two-stage distribution process is used, with costs being allocated to activities. The costs that accumulate in the activities are loaded to the products or services (Köro˘glu 2013). Unlike with the TCA system, during ABC system cost allocation, the cost drivers that directly relate to the products or services produced are used. Cost drivers measure how many resources a product or service consumes during each activity. Afterward, activity costs are charged to the goods or services so consumed during these activities (Erden 2004, pp. 191–192). As for the design of the ABC method, it is important to identify and group the business activities and calculate the operating costs in detail (Gunasekaran and Sarhadi 1998, p. 231). Although the design of the ABC method differs from business to business, it generally consists of five steps (Öker 2003, p. 37): determination of activities, grouping of activities, costing of activities, selection of cost drivers, and loading costs to products/customers/zones. Briefly, in the TCA system, products consume resources, while in the ABC system activities consume resources (Özkan and Aksoylu 2002, p. 55). The current study uses the ABC method to determine the activities inherent in a food and beverage business.

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Activity-Based Costing Technology has been developing very quickly in recent years, and the use of modern production methods (especially those that leverage new technologies) in the costing process has changed. Contemporary costing approaches have emerged—namely, ABC, time-based ABC, and cost-based costing relating to budget-based activity— have emerged and generally supplanted the TCA approach. With the development of information technology, product lines and marketing channels have grown in breadth and depth. Certain overhead costs—including those pertaining to factory support processes, marketing, distribution, and engineering— have increased, and the use of technology has reduced the cost of direct labor to only a small proportion of the overall operating costs. Although many firms have already reduced the effect of the direct labor base, many continue to distribute general production costs on the basis of direct labor (Cengiz 2011). However, while the share of direct raw materials and direct labor in total costs was high prior to the 1980s, since then, the share of general production costs has increased to 50%, and that of direct labor costs has decreased by 10%. The TCA system recognizes that the only factor to affect resource use is production volume. The assumption with the ABC system is that there are many reasons for using resources, and that production is but one of them (Alkan 2005). As part of an information system, the ABC method was developed in the 1980s to overcome the constraints of the TCA system and to strengthen the effectiveness of strategic decision-making (Gupta and Galloway 2003, p. 131). The ABC method was first developed in 1986 by Robert Kaplan and Robin Cooper at the Harvard Business School, and they proposed it as a different means of calculating product costs (Eker 2002, p. 239). The ABC method was first applied to manufacturing companies operating in the United States; rapid growth in the service and production sectors in the 1990s revealed the necessity of implementing the ABC method in those sectors (Cooper and Kaplan 1991, p. 130). Cooper and Kaplan (1988) state that the ABC method is a business strategy instrument; they stated that it constitutes a data source related to the activities and provides important information about company functions. This information is generated outside the product costing system. The chief benefit of this method is that it eliminates the mistakes otherwise caused by the traditional volume-based cost keys used in traditional cost calculation systems to load costs to products (Büyük¸salvarcı 2006, p. 163). One of the objectives in using the ABC system is to analyze existing activities. In a production environment, activities are typed as those that add or do not add value; these are taken into consideration when enacting further cost-cutting and quality improvement efforts (Tanı¸s 1999). At its heart, the ABC method is a cost calculation method that is applied with an acceptable level of accuracy to today’s production conditions, to calculate overall costs and the costs of manufactured goods or services (Köro˘glu 2013). This system offers many advantages—especially in production and in considering general production expenses—in deriving more accurate product cost

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information (Alkan 2005). The ABC method features a two-stage distribution process: the costs are attributed to the activities, and the costs incurred during the activities are loaded to the products or services (Köro˘glu 2013). In the case of costs, the cost drivers—which establish a direct relationship between the products or services produced and the activities carried out—are mobilized; in this respect, the ABC method differs from traditional cost calculation methods. Cost drivers measure the amount of various products or services consumed during each activity; subsequently, operating costs are charged to the products at the rate at which those activities lead to the production of certain products or services (Erden 2004, pp. 191–192). The basic thinking behind an ABC system is that the production of a cost object (products, customers, etc.) involves the consumption of resources (e.g., salaries, equipment) in various activities (Demeere et al. 2009, p. 297). The main objectives with the ABC method are ensuring the correct distribution of indirect costs to products (services) and customers, and calculating a more accurate unit (cost) (i.e., relative to full costing); the endpoint is the ability to make better operational and strategic decisions (Szychta 2010, p. 50).

Why Is Performance Assessment Important? Designing an ABC system offers important opportunities for determining those activities that relate to the method—in both the grouping and the calculation of operational costs, and in detail (Gunasekaran and Sarhadi 1998, p. 231). The design of the ABC method differs from business to business, but it usually consists of five steps. These steps are as follows (Öker 2003, p. 37). Step 1: Determine the activities The activities in question are the transactions that start upon the receipt of the order by the enterprise, and which continue to be fulfilled until the time of customer delivery (Kızılyalçın 2011). The activities required to produce each product or service must be clearly identified by the enterprise. Additionally, determining in which group each activity will take place, according to its characteristics, is a critical step; for most businesses, it may not be economically viable to address each activity in a separate activity group. For this reason, many businesses combine multiple related activities in a single activity group; this is done to reduce the amount of detail and cost records involved (Erden 2004, p. 183). In producing a product unit, the activities performed at each time are considered unit-level activities (Çakıcı 2001, p. 106). For example, energy consumption is a function of the machine clock durations required to complete all product units; therefore, energy consumption is considered a unit-level activity. Two of the most basic steps in enacting the ABC method are identifying all the activities that relate to an enterprise’s production, sales, support, and similar activities, and determining the distinctive features of these activities. In this way, it becomes possible to classify and group a business’s defined activities (Kurt 2018).

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Step 2: Group the activities Business activities should be grouped, as many of the activities carried out in business show common features (Köro˘glu 2012). Each of the grouped activities must be used by a particular product group, and it should be borne in mind whether the activities use the same cost driver (Gümü¸s 2007). When grouping activities, two issues should be considered. First, the activities within a joint activity center should be consumed for a specific cost object, for the product or service group. Second, it is important to determine operating costs with the same cost factor. Drawing together those activities with the same factor into the same center will allow an enterprise to use a common cost source in its distribution (Kurt 2018). Step 3: Cost the activities An ABC system is used not to reflect upon the common costs to the products, but to measure the extent to which resources are used in the activities, and to load the costs to the products, services, and customers; this is done with the help of the cost drivers and source drivers (Gümü¸s 2007, p. 85). Accurate determinations of the costs of the activities will help an enterprise calculate the costs more accurately. The total amount of resources consumed by each activity is determined by examining the nature of the activities and by creating activity centers (Dumano˘glu 2005). Step 4: Select the cost drivers Cost drivers validate the amount and cost of the resources that each activity consumes (Köro˘glu 2012). The cost factor relates to an activity that results in the consumption of operating resources (Babad and Balachandran 1993). Step 5: Load costs to products/customers/regions After determining the appropriate cost drivers for the activity centers, the costs collected for each product group—in line with the degree to which these cost drivers are used—are transferred to the product groups (Köro˘glu 2012). The costs collected in the activity centers are divided by the number of average cost factors, and the cost factor loading rate is available for each activity center. Then, the product or service’s cost factor is calculated, and the cost factor loading rate will be multiplied by the operating costs to be charged to the product or service (Kurt 2018).

Methodology This study employed a qualitative approach to determine the actionable steps and activities that occur in the design stages of an ABC system—a system driven by a contemporary cost management approach. As part of this study, we conducted a case study—that is to say, a detailed examination of a single example of a class of phenomena. While a case study cannot provide reliable information about a broader class of phenomena, it may be useful in the preliminary stages of an investigation, since it can generate hypotheses that can be tested systematically with a larger number of cases (Abercrombie et al. 1984, p. 34). The observational method is used to

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describe in detail behavior that occurs in any environment or institution (Yıldırım and Sim¸ ¸ sek 2013, p. 199). From the observational method types available, an unstructured field study was used in the current study; this is because unstructured field trials are conducted in the natural environment in which the behavior occurs, and in most cases, the “participant observation” method is used (i.e., in which the researcher participates) (Yıldırım and Sim¸ ¸ sek 2013, p. 201). In the current study, research data were captured during observations in and personnel interviews with a first-class restaurant in Eski¸sehir, Turkey, that holds a tourism operation license. On July 13, 2018, December 21, 2018, and January 10, 2019, interview and observational data were captured with regard to activities and business transactions at that restaurant. Upon consulting the literature, food and beverage activity centers emerged with regard to observational forms, and these were prepared for the observational data captured at the restaurant. Following the observations, a semi-structured interview was held with the business manager regarding those observations. Descriptive analysis was undertaken during data analysis; with this approach, the data obtained are summarized and interpreted on the basis of predetermined themes. To more obviously reflect the opinions of interviewed or observed individuals, direct citations are frequently used in descriptive analysis. The purpose of this type of analysis is to present the findings in a revised and easy-to-interpret manner. In line with this method, the data were analyzed in four stages: (1) form a frame for descriptive analysis, (2) determine the underlying themes, (3) identify the findings, and (4) interpret the findings. The obtained data were summarized and interpreted in line with the previously determined theme. In descriptive analysis, direct citations are frequently given, in order to reflect the views of the interviewed or observed individuals in a striking way. Again, the purpose of such analysis is to present the findings in an organized and an easy-to-interpret manner. The answers to the questionnaire were reported; to help ensure validity, the data were first presented without interpretation, and the data were then analyzed by more than one researcher. The researchers for this study adhered to the “hypothetical circle” by making continuous comparisons during data analysis (Ersoy and Anagün 2009).

Findings Interview Findings In the study, one person who is both the restaurant owner and manager was interviewed. This individual was asked two questions, as follows: 1. Thinking about your business, can you tell us about your daily work? 2. Considering your business, can you tell us about your intermittent work?

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The data obtained by the researcher were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The manager’s answers to each question are presented precisely, below: Thinking about your business, can you tell us about your daily work? When asked about the daily work of the business manager, he provided the following answers: “We first look at whether there are customers with reservations. Accordingly, we determine the number of future customers and inform the kitchen personnel of the number of customers. What is important here is to estimate how many people will arrive, except for customers with reservations.” “We use the 10% rate to forecast the number of future customers.” “We know that on Sunday and Monday, we do not work; on these days, customers do not come to the restaurant.” “We check the stores daily. If there is food to be destroyed, we will throw it away. We identify missing ingredients.” “We go to our supplier to purchase vegetables and fruits on a daily basis.” “At 07:00, our cleaning staff opens the restaurant and starts general cleaning. In general cleaning, all our floors and toilets are cleaned.” “The dishwashing area is a department that works continuously in our business. Things like the pan-cooker are constantly washed, dried, and put in place for use, too. Other than that, after an order is placed, dirty dishes are washed without delay.” “Our staff personnel take turns coming in, according to their work shift. The cold kitchen staff arrive first. We will forward to them the expected number of customers, and they will tell us their material needs.” “We use some ready-made sauces, but the sauces are prepared daily.” “Dinner service starts at 19:30. All the ingredients are washed, dried, and prepared for service hours. When ordering, it is served by the combining chef.” “All tables are prepared for the following day, before the restaurant closes at night; our service staff will do a general check of these.” “Every day in the morning, the accounts are checked by our purchasing manager, and the Z report is taken every evening.” Considering your business, can you tell us about your intermittent work? When the manager of the business was asked about the work done intermittently, he offered the following answers: “We intermittently check our stores and do general cleaning.” “Even if you don’t have a customer, you have to have meat in the stores, you have to have liver. Also, fruits and vegetables are not stocked.” “We do not serve meat without pre-preparation. For this reason, we prepare meat at least three or four days in advance, and store it in the stores.” “We hold our meetings on Mondays, on a weekly basis. By that time, employees’ working hours and places are determined. If there is a special event, a meeting is held about that.” “We do not receive goods every day from every supplier. We make requests when the stores low in quantity. For example, for alcoholic beverages.”

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“In this restaurant, we have not only an à la carte service; we also do events like cocktails and birthdays.” “We make our desserts for two days, and the dessert stand is refreshed every two days.” “We close our restaurant occasionally and do a deep cleaning: all chandeliers are wiped, seats are wiped, and windows are cleaned.” “We have two rooms that are not typically used in our restaurant: the upper floor and the VIP lounge. If they are to be used on that day, they are cleaned and their tables are designed.”

Observational Findings Based on the data obtained during the observational phase—and using the literature as guidance—we evaluated the activities and cost elements of this food and beverage business. In this context, we generated a total of five activity codes—namely, the receipt of the order and service, food preparation, food preparation for the final product, preparation of the table and setups for the next operation, and purchasing. More detailed notes on each of these elements are provided below. Receipt of the order and service: Based on the observations, the taking of orders and service tasks were collected under the same activity. Orders are taken in two different ways: one involves taking an order with a reservation, and the other is to receive the order when the customers arrive. With the former, customers contact the business and make their requests for a certain day and hour; in such a situation, menu information is rarely given to the customer. Additionally, the customer is asked how many people would be arriving, where they want to sit in the hall, and at what time they will arrive. After the reservation request has been created, the kitchen is informed. Transactions made after the customer arrives are identical to those for customers without reservations. The business refers to customers without reservations as “door customers,” and they are welcomed to the restaurant as soon as they arrive, and directed to a table. After the customer has settled at the table, the menu is given to the customer, and after the customer has made a decision, the customer’s order is taken and recorded. Order information is forwarded to the kitchen. After the preparations are completed in the kitchen, prepared meals and drinks are taken from the kitchen and served to the customer. During this process, the service person will be in contact with the customer. After the customer eats the food, the account information is collected from the cash register. If the customer wants to pay the account at the table, the service person accepts the payment; if the customer wants to pay the cashier, he or she will be directed to the cash register. After the customer leaves the restaurant, the table setting is collected and dirty dishes are taken to the dishwashing area. A clean tablecloth is placed on the table, in preparation for the next service. Food preparation: The business’s preparation work is done in the cold and hot kitchens. The team working in the cold kitchen starts work every day at 11:30. The

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cold kitchen staff first checks the food remaining, for one day in advance. Foods that must be disposed of are appropriately eliminated. They then ask how many customers are expected that day. All of this information is followed by a list of materials that will be used during the day. In the meantime, the kitchen is cleaned to make it suitable for work, and the materials to be used are prepared. Appetizer, salad, and garnish preparations are started by bringing the required materials from the warehouse. First, those materials from the warehouse are cleaned and washed; those that need to be peeled are then peeled. Materials are also chopped into their appropriate shapes. If appetizer inventory levels are low, the appropriate ingredients are combined, and appetizers are prepared and sent to the appetizer cabinet. The chopped ingredients for salads are stored in suitable conditions and combined when the salad is ordered. Garnishes are prepared in addition to meals. The hot kitchen staff then arrive at the restaurant at 13:00; this team performs any precooking that involves the chopped ingredients. Preparing the food for the final product: In this stage, the cooking of common ingredients in line with customer requests takes place. Depending on the recipe, the cooking process is combined and the dish is cooked. In the meantime, garnishes, supplementary foods, or salads are added to the dish to make it ready for service. After the cooking process is complete, the dish is placed on the plate and the plate is finished. After the plate is prepared, the relevant service person is informed. Preparing the table and setups for the next operation: This stage relates to the general cleanliness of the business, organizing the service area, and the dishwashing area. General cleaning is done in the morning. All service area cleaning and kitchen cleaning are also done during this stage. The cleaning staff sweeps the entire restaurant, and all furniture is dusted. Toilets are washed in during general cleaning, and they are cleaned again at certain times of the day. When organizing the service area, the tables are checked and the dirty tablecloths are changed. All covers are placed on the tables. All servers clean themselves and get ready for service. In the dishwashing area, dirty dishes are collected. The refuse is removed from the plates and made ready for washing. Thereafter, washing is carried out until all contaminants are eliminated. Cleaned equipment is sited in the appropriate places after drying. Purchasing: Vegetables are purchased daily. Meats are purchased for three days at a time. Unused meats are stored appropriately. Drinks are supplied by a different supplier, and soft drinks are purchased more frequently than alcoholic beverages. The stores are checked daily, and deficiencies are determined. Missing ingredients are purchased and placed in the appropriate storage areas.

Conclusion This study looks to determine the activities and transactions of all business departments, within the context of the design stages of the ABC system. As a result of our analysis, five activity centers were identified, which enable the use of the ABC method in food and beverage businesses—namely, receipt of the order and service,

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food preparation, food preparation for the final product, preparation of the table and setups for the next operation, and purchasing. Additionally, we determined five transactions inherent in receiving an order and providing service—namely, receiving reservation request/meeting the customer, presenting the menu to the customer, receipt of the order, giving information about reservation/order to the kitchen, and serving the order to the customer. Food preparation transactions include control of the rest of the day before, the disposal of spoiled food, cleaning (i.e., kitchen workspaces), the preparation of tools and equipment, the washing of materials, the peeling of food materials, the chopping of food materials, prebaking materials in accordance with recipes, and premixing materials in accordance with recipes. There are two transactions in food preparation for the final product (i.e., cooking to order from the prepared common ingredients, and food preparation/plating). The collection of dirty dishes, the stripping of dirt, the washing away of dirt, the drying of dishes, the removal of clean tools, general cleaning, cover changes, and meetings are transactions that relate to preparing a table and setting up for the next operation. Finally, there are six purchasing transactions—namely, checking accounts, checking of stores, determination of missing ingredients, liaising with suppliers, receiving deliveries, and placing materials in the appropriate storage areas. Raab and Mayer (2007) and ˙Iyito˘glu (2016) gather activity centers into two groups (i.e., the front of the house and the back of the house). The current study, however, cites five activity centers. Similarly, Annaraud et al. (2008) determined five major activities for quick-service restaurants—namely, serving customers, cleaning, preparation, cooking, and administration. As such, the results of the current study are similar to those of other studies, in terms of the number of activity centers; the characteristics of those centers, however, did generally differ. Acknowledgements This study was supported by Anadolu University Scientific Research Projects Commission under the grant no: 1806E229.

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An Overview of Turkish Drinks with Traditional Meals ˙ Önder Yayla, Seyda ¸ Yayla and Ismail Konuk

Abstract Turkish cuisine, which is one of the world’s greatest cuisines, does not sufficiently use its variety of drinks. Drinks, which play an important role in tourist experience, need to be used effectively in gastronomic tourism. The study aims to determine what foreign tourists think about Turkish drinks and to emphasize the importance of matching the drinks of Turkish cuisine with traditional dishes. In the study, the thoughts of 1263 foreign tourists about Turkish drinks on TripAdvisor were determined. Later, a 10-person commission consisting of experts in the field was established to match the drinks determined from the literature with Turkish cuisine. Fifteen well-known traditional dishes were matched with traditional beverages. With this study, it was demonstrated that Turkish cuisine and drinks occupy an important place in Turkish cuisine, but foreigners cannot be reminded often enough about these drinks and because of bad experiences visitors have developed negative attitudes toward Turkish drinks. For foreign visitors and Turkish gastronomy experts, Ayran is often the first thing that comes to mind. However, there are many other drinks apart from Ayran in Turkish cuisine. It is important that food and beverage companies take responsibility and encourage the widespread use of Turkish beverages. Keywords Turkish drinks · Turkish cuisine · Gastronomy in Turkey · Traditional dishes · Food and drink pairing

Ö. Yayla (B) · S. ¸ Yayla Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Korkut Ata University, Osmaniye, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] S. ¸ Yayla e-mail: [email protected] ˙I. Konuk Tepeba¸sı, Eski¸sehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_7

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Introduction Turkish cuisine is known throughout the world for its richness. People from different cultures living together and interacting with each other over time are reflected in the diversity of Turkish cuisine. Anatolia has a long history, and it has a rich eating and drinking culture due to its fertile lands (Güne¸s 2012, p. 235). The food culture of a society is influenced by various factors such as geographical location, migration, climate, religion, cultural values, and lifestyles. Foods and beverages are a mirror of local life, history, culture, economy, and society. They were shaped by the local lifestyle throughout history (Yarı¸s 2014, p. 15), and the fame of Turkish cuisine derived from the use of different ingredients and flavors in various ways (Özdo˘gan and I¸sık 2008, p. 1060). Food and drinks are cultural elements with sociocultural meaning (Tezcan 2000, p. 1). The richness of Turkish cuisine is well-known around the world, and both food and drinks have a significant place in Turkish cuisine (Sarıo˘glan and Cevizkaya 2016, p. 238). The first drink that comes to mind in Turkish cuisine is undoubtedly Ayran. It is a drink that is frequently consumed by most Turkish people without discrimination. Made of yogurt, water, and salt, it is recognized as a national drink in Turkey, and it is associated with health and well-being by Turkish people (Arslantas et al. 2008, p. 240; Glanville et al. 2015, p. 6). The preparation of Ayran varies from region to region. Some kinds of Ayran such as Susurluk Ayran in Sakarya and Misis Ayran in Adana attract attention from throughout the country. Most Turkish people only drink Ayran with their meals, including dessert. In addition, sherbets are a fragrant drink that complements Turkish cuisine. Sherbets can be served at any time of the day and can be served with or without meals. Traditional sherbets are made in two different ways. The first method is to squeeze fruit juice and add sugar. The second method is to boil fruit juice together with sugar and then cool the juice. The second method mostly produces dark sherbets that last longer than the first method, and when they are drunk, cold water is added to achieve the desired temperature (Savkay ¸ 2000, p. 292). A variety of sherbets were drunk instead of water in the Ottoman Empire (Akçiçek 2002, p. 745). Nowadays, sherbet has been replaced by fruit juice. However, in some villages in Anatolia, sherbet made from herbs is consumed. These drinks, which are slowly being forgotten, are superior to today’s drinks in terms of taste and health (Özdo˘gan and I¸sık 2008, p. 1074; Sarıo˘glan and Cevizkaya 2016, p. 241). Sherbets are derived from many different plants in Turkey, and they are named after the food that is used to make the sherbet or a specific event, such as apple sherbet, mulberry sherbet, rose sherbet, or maternity sherbet. Restaurants should be encouraged to include different sherbets on their menus (Sarıo˘glan and Cevizkaya 2016, p. 249). Furthermore, Turkey is one of the world’s largest consumers of tea, and it is an integral part of Turkish lifestyle and culture. It is cheaper than coffee, and it is also easier to prepare. Therefore, it has become the favorite drink for many people. Although there are different types of teas and preparation methods, it is normally brewed with Turkish style tea, powdered roasted black tea, and served with small cups

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(Güne¸s 2012, p. 237). Tea is an important element of the Turkish culinary culture, and it is usually a beverage consumed during breakfast and when people gather to have a conversation. Thus, tea houses are an important element of socialization in Turkey. Additionally, Salgam ¸ (turnip juice) is another famous traditional drink in Turkish Cuisine. It is a fermented beverage, red in color, opaque, and sour. In Turkey’s southern and southeastern regions, it is served as an alternative to beverages such as Ayran and cola. It is also consumed with kebabs, lahmacun, meatballs, and other meat dishes (I¸sık et al. 2007, p. 701). It is consumed extensively in southern and southeastern parts of Turkey. The reason for the spread of Salgam ¸ is because it has been demonstrated that Salgam ¸ is compatible with the foods of this region and completes them in terms of taste (Canba¸s and Fenercio˘glu 1984, p. 279). Local cuisines in southern and southeastern parts of Turkey contain bitter spices. In addition to the nutritional value of Salgam, ¸ it contains natural antioxidants, phenols, and lactic acid bacteria (I¸sık et al. 2007, p. 709) and it has an important place in traditional culture in Turkey. Moreover, Boza is a fermented malt drink made from cereals fermented with lactic acid bacteria and yeast (Todorov et al. 2008, p. 465; Hancioglu and Karapinar 1997, p. 271) and it is a drink that is also consumed in winter. Along with Kumis, which is derived from fermented milk, Boza was an important drink of the Ottoman Empire (Baysal 1993, p. 32). However, nowadays, while Kumis is a mostly forgotten drink, Boza (Arslan 2009, p. 3) continues to exist today, and it is an important drink in winter. In addition to these, Salep is made from the powdered root of wild orchids, and it is commonly mixed with milk to make a hot drink, which is served sprinkled with cinnamon (Develi I¸sıklı et al. 2015, pp. 6556–6557). Apart from soft drinks, Raki is an unsweetened alcoholic beverage obtained by distillation and usually flavored with anise seed. It was first produced by non-Muslims in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, and it has become a common drink in Anatolia (Gürsoy 2001, pp. 37–38). Raki-like drinks are consumed in countries around the Mediterranean such as Albania, Greece, the Balkan states, and even in Turkic countries like Azerbaijan, Northern Cyprus, and Turkmenistan. Raki is considered Turkey’s national alcoholic beverage. Turkish cuisine, which is one of the world’s greatest cuisines, does not sufficiently use its variety of drinks. Regional food and beverages are a powerful and effective means of improving or deteriorating a region’s tourism destination profile (Green and Dougherty 2008, p. 150; Za˘gralı and Akbaba 2015, p. 103). Foods and drinks in Turkish cuisine are an important reason why tourists visit Turkey. Yet, the introduction of drinks in Turkish cuisine at the international level is insufficient. In most studies, the names of drinks do not appear in foreign tourists’ opinions of Turkey (Albayrak 2013) and foreign visitors do not know enough about the variety of drinks in Turkey. Drinks that play an important role in tourist experiences need to be used effectively in gastronomic tourism. In a study on 1027 domestic and foreign tourists in a number of places in Turkey (Ankara, Alanya, Antalya, Aydin, Istanbul, Izmir, Mugla, and Nevsehir), about one-third of the tourists said that they loved alcoholic beverages (Sanlıer ¸ 2005, p. 224). However, unfortunately, Turkish cuisine is often

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limited to nonalcoholic beverages. In this regard, alcoholic beverages should not be ignored in studies on Turkish beverages. Wine tourism exists in the Cappadocia region (Samilo˘ ¸ glu and Karacaer 2013) and therefore the wines in this region can attract tourists (Yılmaz 2017, p. 186). Wine tourism is perceived as positive by Turkish wine producers, and they believe that wine tourism will bring advantages and opportunities to wine producers (Sevil and Yüncü 2009, p. 485). Naturally, these opportunities and advantages will be reflected in the local community. It is revealed by research in recent years that fermented products are important in terms of healthy nutrition (Marsh et al. 2014; Sanlıer ¸ et al. 2017). Huge numbers of the species found in fermented foods are phylogenetically identified with probiotic strains (Marco et al. 2017). Both Turkish dishes and Turkish drinks show fermented characteristic. Most of the traditional drinks in Turkey are fermented products. In this respect, increasing the use of those drinks will also contribute to healthy nutrition. Drinks as well as food play a key role in developing gastronomy tourism in a region. There are a lot of tourists visiting Australia, France, Scotland, and USA to taste drinks (Micallef 2018). The best thing that can reveal the palate of a beverage is food. Foods and drinks made in the same region ought to be matched with each other to reflect the texture of the region. The fact that food and drinks are in a certain harmony will contribute to increase the satisfaction levels of consumers in a way. In this context, the study aims to determine what foreign tourists think about Turkish drinks and to emphasize the importance of matching the drinks of Turkish cuisine with traditional dishes.

Method This study was carried out using a screening model. Screening models are a research approach that attempts to define a situation that exists in the past or today. There is no attempt to change the situation in this approach. In this approach, the researcher can examine the object or the individual directly or by interpreting scattered data that will be obtained by integrating the data with observations by referring to various records and other research (Karasar 2014, p. 77). In the first stage of the study, the thoughts of foreign tourists about Turkish drinks were determined. Turkish drinks were evaluated from customer comments made on Turkish restaurants on TripAdvisor. Within the scope of the research, reviews of 1263 foreign visitors who had visited 245 food and beverage companies operating in Istanbul (40), Ankara (30), Antalya (30), Izmir (20), Mugla (20), Gaziantep (20), Bursa (10), Konya (10), Trabzon (10), Eskisehir (10), Mersin (10), Adana (10), Mardin (10), Kahramanmaras (5), Erzurum (5), and Van (5) were evaluated. Opinions that were not about Turkish drinks were excluded from the scope of the research. The descriptive analysis method was used in the analysis of data. According to this approach, the data obtained are summarized and interpreted according to previously determined themes. In the descriptive analysis, the data were analyzed in four stages (Yıldırım 2013): (1) forming a framework for descriptive analysis, (2) finding the

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themes, (3) identifying the findings, and (4) interpreting the findings. One of the strategies used in qualitative research to ensure the validity and reliability of the research is an expert examination (Yıldırım 2013, p. 302). In this study, an expert review was conducted to ensure the reliability of the study. The researchers came together with experts in the field, and all processes were evaluated orally by the experts. In the next stage of the study, Turkish beverages were determined from the literature. In this context, books, articles, reports, and theses about Turkish drinks were examined. A 10-person commission consisting of experts in the field (Table 1) was established to match the drinks determined from the literature with Turkish cuisine. The commission stated their opinions on the harmonization of standard recipes and the determined drinks and determined the co-ordination of the food and beverage to be matched. The researchers determined the final meal and drink association and the opinions were communicated back to the experts before consensus was provided. Table 1 Information about experts

Expert’s code

Title

Expertise

Experience in the field/year

E1

Chef

Turkish Cuisine

12

E2

Chef

International Cuisines

14

E3

Chef

Turkish Cuisine

20

E4

Instructor

Local Cuisines

4

E5

Instructor

Turkish Cuisine

5

E6

Research Assistant

Turkish Cuisine

6

E7

Research Assistant

Turkish Cuisine

10

E8

Research Assistant

Turkish Cuisine

14

E9

Assistant Professor

Local Cuisines

16

E10

Associate Professor

Local Cuisines

22

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Results When the comments made to the Turkish food and beverage companies were examined, it is evident that the customers’ opinions were about Turkish food in general. The comments made by the visitors on TripAdvisor about Turkish cuisine are illustrated in Fig. 1 with a word cloud. The reviews of Turkish restaurants on TripAdvisor were mostly about Turkish meals. The customers’ opinions about the restaurants were often based on the food that they had ordered. Comments on things other than meals generally related to the physical appearance of the restaurants. Within the scope of the research, the customer’s opinions of Turkish cuisine were about meat, fish, and kebab dishes in Turkish cuisine. They also commented on Turkish breakfast, and the overall satisfaction level of the customers visiting Turkish restaurants was high. The visitors’ opinions shared publicly on TripAdvisor were collected, and their views on Turkish drinks were selected for the study. In light of the data obtained, 1263 foreign visitors’ comments about Turkish drinks were collected under two themes for the content analysis. These themes were determined as alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. Then, the comments on these themes were visualized in Fig. 2 using a word cloud. The drinks left in the memories of foreign visitors were mostly Ayran and Turkish coffee and they mentioned that the Turks drank too much tea. It is also noteworthy that lemonade was also mentioned. Overall, the selected drinks were perceived by foreign visitors as average quality drinks. In the other part of the study, Turkish dishes known by foreigners were determined from the literature and comments on social media. The number of dishes known was identified as 97 in the first stage, and this was then reduced to 22 by taking into

Fig. 1 Word cloud of comments about Turkish cuisine on Tripadvisor

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Fig. 2 Drinks from Turkish Cuisine mostly mentioned on Tripadvisor

account the expert examination. The dishes were the most well-known dishes among foreign visitors to Turkey. Afterward, drinks that are specific to Turkish cuisine were selected from the geo-targeted products by the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and from the products defined on kulturportali.com. In addition to the expert opinion, 33 traditional beverages (25 nonalcoholic and 8 alcoholic drinks) were determined to match the dishes (Table 2). In order to match these beverages, a 10-person commission consisting of chefs, experts, and gastronomy specialists was established, and they were asked to match the beverages that could accompany the meals from 0 to 100 points. First, the determined dishes were prepared in accordance with the geographical specific recipe. These recipes were taken from the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office, and kulturportali.com, which is created by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and in which the data collected from 81 provinces is regularly updated, located in a safe, and checked for quality. The same method was applied in the preparation of beverages as well. Due to the difficulty of some tourist accessing some meals, the number of meals selected was reduced after the expert examination. Members of the commission were asked to try and score the meals given to them by the researchers. They scored the food and beverage pairings. In general, the materials used in the products and the drinks specific to the region were matched. In addition, eating habits played an important role in these pairings. Table 3 indicates the coupled foods and drinks with the highest scores from these matches, respectively. According to Table 3, the highlights of the food pairings were Ayran, Turkish tea, lemonade, and turnip. In some matches, alcoholic beverages were also observed. However, there is a bias in the results. Turkish people tend to drink Ayran with almost

120 Table 2 List of the selected dishes and drinks

Ö. Yayla et al. List of dishes

List of drinks

Tas Kebab with Begendi (Cream Sauce with Eggplant)

Nonalcoholic Beverages

Adana Kebab

Ayran

Pasty (Manti)

Boza

Cig Kofte

Salgam ¸ (Turnip Juice)

Meatball

Lemonade

Lamb Tandoori

Cherry Sherbet

Hamsi Tava (Fried Cornbreaded Anchovies)

Tamarind Sherbet

Iskender Kebab

Cranberry Sherbet

Ali Nazik Kebab

Pomegranate Sherbet

Doner Kebab

Pickle juice

Kavurma (Fried Meat)

Sıra ¸ (Fermented Grape Juice)

Lahmacun

Turkish Tea

Pide

Linden Tea

Leaf Wrapping with Olive Oil

Sage Tea

Arnavut Cigeri (Spiced Mutton Liver)

Rosehip Tea

Stuffed Mussels

Fizzy Lemonade

Menemen

Salep

Dolma (Stuffed Vegetables)

Kımız (Kumiss)

Piyaz

Kefir

Simit (Turkish Bagel)

Sirkencübin (Syrup made by mixing Honey and Vinegar)

Baklava

Hardaliye (Grape Juice flavored with Mustard)

Cake

Gilaburu

Coffees Turkish Coffee Mirra Coffee Menengic Coffee Dibek Coffee Alcoholic Beverages Beer Wine Raki Traditional Turkish Raspberry Liquor Traditional Turkish Strawberry Liquor (continued)

An Overview of Turkish Drinks with Traditional Meals Table 2 (continued)

List of dishes

121 List of drinks

Traditional Turkish Rose Liquor Traditional Turkish Apricot Liquor Traditional Turkish Cherry Liquor

Table 3 Some of matched dishes and drinks

Dishes

Drinks

Tas Kebab with Begendi (Cream Sauce with Eggplant)

Ayran, Salgam, ¸ Hardaliye

Adana Kebab

Ayran, Salgam, ¸ Raki

Meatball

Ayran, Raki, Traditional Turkish Cherry Liquor

Lamb Tandoori

Ayran, Sirkencübin, Cherry Compote

Hamsi Tava

Salgam, ¸ Beer, Raki

Doner Kebab

Ayran, Salgam, ¸ Beer

Menemen

Turkish Tea, Lemonade, Ayran

Lahmacun

Ayran, Salgam, ¸ Gilaburu

Leaf Wrapping with Olive Oil

Ayran, Turkish Tea, Lemonade

Simit

Ayran, Turkish Tea, Lemonade

Baklava

Milk, Turkish Coffee, Ayran

Cake

Turkish Coffee, Turkish Tea, Salep

all food. Therefore, the findings were standardized, and Ayran was eliminated from some of the matches. The final matches are illustrated in Table 4. According to Table 4, some alcoholic beverages are matched with the main courses. Those dishes can be used to promote Turkish alcoholic beverages. Certain cheeses and snacks were matched with certain drinks and these included snacks that are not known by foreign tourists. Although Ayran was tried to be limited as much as possible in the study, most of the other drinks were unfortunately not very well-known by foreign tourists. However, it is noteworthy that the researchers also highlighted alcoholic beverages in the second round. Considering that most of the food will be eaten by foreign tourists, it is thought to be a more useful matching drink.

122 Table 4 Standardized matchups

Ö. Yayla et al. Dishes

Drinks

Tas Kebab with Begendi (Cream Sauce with Eggplant)

Ayran, Salgam, ¸ Hardaliye

Adana Kebab

Salgam, ¸ Raki, Tamarind Sherbet

Meatball

Ayran, Beer, Raki

Lamb Tandoori

Sirkencübin, Cherry Compote, Hardaliye

Hamsi Tava

Salgam, ¸ Beer, Raki

Doner Kebab

Ayran, Salgam, ¸ Beer

Menemen

Turkish Tea, Lemonade, Ayran with fizzy water

Lahmacun

Ayran, Salgam, ¸ Gilaburu

Leaf Wrapping with Olive Oil

Ayran, Turkish Tea, Lemonade

Simit

Ayran, Turkish Tea, Lemonade

Baklava

Milk, Turkish Coffee, Traditional Turkish Mint Liquor

Cake

Turkish Coffee, Turkish Tea, Salep

Maras Tarhana

Beer, Turkish Tea, Apple sherbet

Ezine Cheese

Raki, Strawberry juice, Black Mulberry Juice

Van Herbed Cheese

Raki, Red Wine, Cherry Juice

Conclusion Turkish cuisine is very rich in terms of traditional dishes and beverages. Both Turkish foods and beverages have fermentation characteristics, and Turkish dishes have a spicy and intense taste. Therefore, the drinks consumed alongside certain dishes should be suitable for the taste of the dish. As a result of this research, geographical Turkish drinks and meals were matched, and a roadmap was developed for further studies. With this study, it was demonstrated that Turkish cuisine and drinks occupy an important place in Turkish cuisine, but foreigners cannot be reminded often enough about these drinks and because of bad experiences visitors have developed negative attitudes toward Turkish drinks. It is very surprising that Turkish cuisine is so popular then why Turkish drinks are not so well-known. Although there are many Turkish drinks, the majority of the participants emphasized Ayran consumption. For foreign visitors and Turkish gastronomy experts, Ayran is often the first thing that comes to mind when talking about Turkish drinks. However, there are many other drinks apart

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from Ayran in Turkish cuisine. Turkish drinks should be used more frequently for healthy and sustainable nutrition. In this sense, it is very useful to drink sherbet instead of carbonated drinks and to adapt them to the taste of foreign visitors. Sherbets are especially ignored in Turkish cuisine, and perhaps, this suggests that sherbets should be developed according to today’s palate. To achieve this, the following is suggested: • Particular attention should be paid to the use of sherbets, which are beneficial for health in daily life. • Drinks that have been neglected should be legally protected and introduced into Turkish cuisine. • It will also be useful to reintroduce ceremonial drinks, neglected due to changes in culture, into today’s Turkish cuisine. • Promoting domestic alcoholic beverages instead of imported products will create awareness of Turkish beverages. • Turkish beverages should be actively used in tourism businesses serving foreign tourists. • Turkish tea and coffee should be taken into consideration in leisure activities. Foods to accompany Turkish coffees are also necessary. New products should be developed accordingly. • It is important that food and beverage companies take responsibility and encourage the widespread use of Turkish beverages. • Above all, these suggestions should become widespread in Turkish society.

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Evaluation of Participants’ Gains and the Organizational Competence of Cooking Competitions Sema Ekincek and Merve Özgür Göde

Abstract Cooking competitions organized by institutions and organizations have an important place in gastronomic activities. Cooking competitions provide the creation of unique flavors in terms of gastronomy and the emergence of young talent. At the same time, gastronomy students are able to express themselves, hear their names among others in the field, and communicate with people in the gastronomic sphere. In this respect, cooking competitions are important tools that contribute to participation in many ways. When the literature is examined, it is seen that there is a significant lack of exploration of this issue. The aim of this work is to show the benefits that the cooking competitions have for the participants and the organizational competence of the cooking competitions. For this purpose, this paper seeks to answer the questions “What do the participants of cooking competitions gain?” and “What are the organizational competencies of the cooking competitions?” Qualitative research methods were used in the study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with participants participating in the contest through a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was performed with the data obtained at the end of the interviews. As a result of the study, it was observed that the participants experienced gains in terms of creativity and motivation as well as social, cultural, and career aspects. The competition also turned out to positively contribute to the competitors’ careers. The participants also stated that the organizational competence was sufficient. Keywords Gastronomy · Cooking competitions · Gains · International Istanbul Gastronomy Festival

S. Ekincek · M. Özgür Göde (B) Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] S. Ekincek e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_8

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Introduction With the increasing popularity of gastronomy, many people have begun to develop their gastronomic experiences. Gastronomy schools, courses and activities have increased. Food preparation practices have changed dramatically in the past fifty years (Soliah et al. 2006). Thus, the activities and competitions related to food have become more organized. Yangın and Kirca (2013) found that the students who did not participate in social and scientific activities were the most dissatisfied among all of the students. In this context, it can be said that students taking gastronomy education courses affect the satisfaction levels of the competitions in which they participate. In their study, Gül et al. (2017) stated that competitions play an important role in revealing and developing the skills of university students in relation to cookery. Gatenby et al. (2011) argue that cooking activities in schools improve students’ cooking skills, help them gain healthy eating habits, and increase their respect for different local and international culinary cultures. Fisher et al. (2011) also suggest that activities related to cooking stimulate students’ imaginations, inspiration and abilities. Petruzzelli and Savino (2015) also argue that researching old dishes and their contents in such competitions triggers the food innovation. Svejenova et al. (2010) emphasize that individuals who can better use external activities, organizations and resources based on individual interests and motivations are able to make income, fame and competence gains more easily. Frey and Gallus (2016) claim that award-winning competitions have the potential to raise the intrinsic motivation of competitors. Using a similar approach, Rudd (2015) also states that cooking competitions increase the number of participants, the competition and curiosity about what the champions do. Sanlıer ¸ (2005) emphasizes the importance of cooking competitions in introducing Turkish cuisine abroad and draws attention to the role of cooking competitions in the preservation and sustainability of Turkish culinary culture. In this context, the participants contribute their personal gain and national culinary culture through cooking competitions. Participants can also learn about other cuisines while promoting their kitchens. Professional activities and competitions improve participants’ skills, creativity, productivity, motivation and research spirit (Büyükparmaksız 2013). In their study, Boyraz et al. (2018) showed that cookery competitions organizations provide opportunities to all participants and students in terms of practical skills, and instructional and social dimensions. These competitions are able to announce their own goals and activities and are able to make their own ads. Some institutions contribute to the participants’ education and organize competitions in order to reveal students’ creativity (Büyükparmaksız 2013). Kırlangıç (2008) states that the tangible awards provided by the competition organizations provide resources for the participants to be more productive. From this point of view, the aim of the study is to reveal the benefits of cooking competitions for the participants.

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Methodology This study employed a qualitative approach to understand the participants’ opinions about their own gains from and the organizational competence of cooking competitions. Qualitative studies stand out by revealing the viewpoints and semantic worlds of the subjects (Unisen and Kaya 2015). The study population for this research consisted of the participants of the 16th International Istanbul Gastronomy Festival. Data were collected during the festival, which took place between February 22 and 25, 2018. A total of eight responses were received. Data were collected through a questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions. The questionnaire used in this study was developed through a literature review. The questions were as follows: 1.

How does participating in cooking competitions affect your artistic and creative development? 2. What are you influenced by when preparing for cooking competitions? 3. Is participating in competitions helpful for participants’ career? 4. How did the participants decide to join a cooking competition? 5. How do food contests affect your social life? 6. How do food contests affect your cultural development? 7. How do food contests affect your career? 8. What have cooking competitions personally given you? 9. Can you review the style of the competition juries before joining the competition? How important is the jury to you? 10. What do you think of the evaluation process of the meals in cooking competitions? 11. What do you think about the awards given in the food competitions? 12. What do you think about the organization of food competitions? A descriptive analysis method was utilized for data analysis. According to this approach, the data obtained are summarized and interpreted on the basis of predetermined themes. To accurately reflect the opinions of the interviewed or observed individuals, direct citations are frequently used in descriptive analysis. The purpose of this type of analysis is to present the findings in a revised and interpreted manner. For credibility reasons, the data were first presented without any interpretation, and the data were analyzed by more than one researcher. The researchers in this study adhered to the hypothetical circle through continuous comparisons during data analysis (Ersoy and Anagün 2009). Each question was related to one of the main themes of: motivation, cultural, social and personal gains. The data were processed in accordance with these four themes, and the results were presented and discussed. In the quotations, respondents were labeled K1–K8 to ensure their anonymity.

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Findings In this study, which aims to present the achievements of the participants and the organizational competence of the cooking competitions with the data were analyzed, two main themes and subthemes were determined. These included 1. 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. 1.5. 2. 2.1. 2.2. 2.3. 2.4.

Participants’ Gains of Cooking Competitions Creativity Gains Motivation Gains Social Life Gains Cultural Gains Career Gains Organizational Competence of Cooking Competitions Importance of the jury Chef evaluation process Awards Physical conditions

Participants’ Gains of Cooking Competitions The main theme of the organizational competence of cooking competitions has five subthemes: “Creativity Gains”, “Motivational Gains”, “Social Life Gains”, “Cultural Gains” and “Career Gains”.

Creativity Gains The answers of the cooking competition participants about the effects of the competitions on their artistic and creativity included: My friends increase. I meet more chefs. I get ideas from other chefs. Everyone introduces each other to their chefs. (K1) The competitions positively affect me. I’m designing a plate. [The experience] also make an artistic contribution. (K2) I think that the plates we see here open up our horizons, we see and learn new things and create new things in our minds. (K3) Cooking competitions are a great opportunity for us. I apply immediately when there is a competition. These competitions make me very motivated. I have the ability to draw pictures. I see the plate as paper. For me, food presentation is like a painting, and I’m preparing my food. This is something artistic for me. (K5) We think of what we can add to our dinner plate presentations. Cooking competitions push the human horizon. For those who are not chefs but want to be chefs, competitions are more important. (K6) Cooking competitions affect my creativity positively. (K8)

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When these findings are examined, six participants stated that they had a positive effect on their creativity (K1, K2, K3, K5, K6, and K8), while two participants did not declare any effects on their creativity (K4 and K7).

Motivation Gains The main theme of the motivation gains has four subthemes: the preparation phase, the decision-making process, degree and personal.

Preparation Phase When the participants were asked what influenced them in preparing for the cooking competitions, six of them (K1, K2, and K6) mentioned that they got inspired from famous chefs. For example We give importance to plate presentations. We do research to find original ideas. We meet chefs. We make plates with the help of chefs who are on national team. (K1) I’m impressed by my chefs’ and my thoughts about the future. (K6) I pay attention to what people in the field say. (K2) K3, K4, and K5 emphasized that they were influenced by social media and the internet as well as by famous chefs. For example: People’s beautiful plate designs increase my desire. I examine the famous chef plates, especially from the internet, and the contributions of my chefs are huge. (K3) I get contributions from famous chefs, social accounts, photos and videos. (K4) I’m very much influenced by social media. I look at the plates of my teacher and the famous Michelin star chefs. I’m looking at the color harmony of the materials and plate I will use. (K5)

K8 stated that only the internet affected him, mentioning “Doing research on the internet.” On the other hand, another participant, K7, stated that “I was impressed by the confidence of the people around me.”

Impact of the Environment on the Decision-Making Process The question of “Do you think your environment will be helpful for you in participating in the cooking competitions?” participants answered as follows: My parents and school teachers are very influential. (K3) It is important to participate in such competitions. My chefs and family provided the biggest contribution. (K4) My teacher and my family supported me. I have an excellent teacher. I am very lucky. (K5) My family and my teacher supported me. (K8)

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Four of the participants (K3, K4, K5 and K8) stated that they received support in the competitions from both their parents and their teachers. Two participants (K1 and K7) stated that they only received support from their friends in the decision to participate in the competition, and one participant (K2) stated that only his family supported him. Another participant (K6) stated, that “someone being behind me is good” and that “my environment is supportive of me joining the competition”.

Degree Seven of the participants (K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6 and K7) mentioned the positive effect of their degree on their motivation to enter into the competitions. Participants used the following statements to indicate the positive effects of entering into the competitions: When we receive an award, our motivation increases. Getting a good rating allows us to be noticed in the businesses we work in. (K1) It increases my motivation. (K2) The degree influences my motivation, but we should not be too sad when we cannot enter. The important thing is to gain experience. (K3) It affects both motivation and CV. (K4) Qualification is of course a positive influence. However, it’s important to come here and represent the school. Gaining experience. (K5) [The competition is] important for motivation. If I could get this rating in this competition, then I think I would do better. (K6) It raises motivation. I am the first person to rank in my university, and this will be a long-time motivation source for me. (K7)

One participant (K8) stated that “ranking at the top…or not ranking at the top does not affect my motivation” to enter the competition.

Personal In response to the question of “what do food competitions give you personally”, participants gave the following answers: It increases self-confidence. It’s not easy to cook in front of so many people. You break out in a cold sweat at first. You’re quite responsible. Because you’re gonna design a plate alone. You have the materials and the responsibility. As soon as he gets here, there’s a responsibility. You get used to competitions. You experience growth, and then you’re having fun. (K1) It increases my motivation. (K2) In a short time, we learned to work faster and try new things. (K3) Self-confidence. I learned to meet new people. I learned to talk to the chefs. I learned to work as a group. (K4) We had a great time and we learned to prepare something in a short period time. If the jury likes the taste, it increases our confidence. I cry out of happiness. (K5)

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Gaining nice friendships. Professional experience. (K6) It stretched my imagination. My self-confidence has increased. He made me use the short time well. (K7) My sense of responsibility has increased. I’m trying not disappoint people who trust me. (K8).

Social Life Gains To the question of how cooking competitions affect their social lives, seven participants (K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K7 and K8) responded that they have seen positive gains in their social lives as follows. It makes it fun, I’m having a good time with others. (K1) I am developing my environment in my social life. (K2) I am from Izmir. I’m travelling and make new friends. (K3) I’ve met new people. I contacted people using social accounts. I took pictures. (K4) For example, I joined here with my friends from different universities. I meet the chefs. (K5) My friends increase. My family is proud of me. (K7) It has a positive impact on my social life. It is life experience for me. (K8)

Only one, K6, of all the participants said, “It has a negative effect on my social life because I have to cook constantly.”

Cultural Gains All of the participants stated that the competitions make a positive contribution to their cultural development. We see and learn cuisine from every region. (K1) Seeing the plates of people from all over the world contributes to my cultural development. (K2) I made meatballs, I made hummus for the first time here. Getting something from the local cuisine of other cities. (K3) The kitchen is a versatile profession. Much local food is served here. I also review the plates of people from abroad. (K4) It affects me culturally. We are trying to remove the delicacies that are used in Ottoman world cuisine recipes while researching. I made a raspberry soufflé with tahini. The soufflé and tahini are hardly used. I tried to make a difference using tahini. The Ottomans used too much of tahini. Thus, the blending of two cultures emerged. (K5) We are also affected by world cuisine. (K6) We find the opportunity to meet people from every country and culture. (K7) It definitely adds [to my cultural development]. I learned about Ottoman cuisine. (K8)

When the opinions of the interviewed participants about their cultural achievements were reviewed, they stated that they had seen cultural gains from local and

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world culinary culture. Only one participant (K4) stated that the competitions did not contribute to the careers of the people who were in the early stages of their career.

Career Gains Seven of the participants (K1, K2, K3, K5, K6, K7 and K8) stated that the competitions had made a positive contribution to their careers. In a good way. I meet famous chefs, I communicate. I’m on the phone. He’s supporting me in terms of career. (K1) I hope my career will benefit. (K2) I can get a good job because it contributes a good degree to my CV. (K3) Competitions don’t have any contribution because I am at the beginning of work. (K4) Especially when I write my resume. I’m gonna work at a five-star hotel instead of 4 stars. (K5) We meet chefs. This step allows me to jump. (K6) I got the opportunity to enter the national team for entering the degree program. (K7) [It will] have a nice effect. It’s gonna work for me in the future. (K8)

Only one participant (K4) stated that the competitions did not contribute to the careers of the people who are in the early stages of their career.

Organizational Competence of Cooking Competitions The main theme of the organizational competence of cooking competitions has four subthemes: “Importance of the Jury”, “Jury Evaluation Process”, “Awards” and “Physical Conditions”.

Importance of the Jury Four of the participants (K1, K5, K6, and K8) stated that they had examined the jury before the competition and that the jury was important. Participants used the following statements to indicate the importance of the jury in competitions: Yes, I do a little bit of who cooks in what style, who likes what style. We care more about them because when chefs taste it, it’s not something they know, we’re trying to do things that they don’t know. (K1) No, I don’t. I do what I like. (K2) I didn’t examine the jury before I saw it. The jury is very important. We think about what they like and how we can make the plates beautiful them with small details. What the jury cares about is important. (K3)

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I did not research. The juries were announced late. The jury is the biggest factor for me. What they say is important to me. I may change the whole menu based on what they say. They are trying to get us to do our job better. (K4) Yes, I’m studying. I’m investigating which juries are coming. For instance, if I’m going to make dessert, I’m searching which fruit they like. Or which kitchens they think are good and in which kitchens they work. The jury is not in the most important, but the second most. In the first place, my teacher gave me the most value, I worked with him and we came together. Of course, the jury’s attitude is very motivating. (K5) Of course. I look at social media accounts. (K6) I never researched the jury. But I searched the criteria for which they give the points. It makes me happy if the jury members are good cooks. The jury here was good, I learned a lot from them. However, the opinion of the person who prepared me for this contest is more important than the jury’s opinion. (K7) The attitude of the jury here affects my motivation. The first person is the teacher who prepares me for the competition. He works hard. His opinion is important. Of course, the facial expressions of jury members are also important when they taste the meal. (K8)

Jury Evaluation Process When the participants were asked about the evaluation process of the meals by the jury in the food competitions, they gave the following answers: Some chefs show favour and some do not. This affects us. (K1) [It was] a stressful process, I think I got a fair shot. (K2) I think it slows down. For example, we entered the competition in the morning, and results are announced in the evening but can be explained earlier. (K3) We wait here for a very long time. I expect the results to be explained until the evening, sometimes staying until the next day. I think it can be explained faster. (K4) The evaluation period is fine. When we finish cooking, we come forward. The jury sees that we have finished our meals and they taste the food. (K5) It varies by competition. Most competitions are not objective. (K6) Appearance and interpretation are also objective but do not know show in the background. I’ve never seen a great injustice in most competitions. But I think the evaluation in the sweet category is not objective. (K7) I find it nice. I didn’t have any troubles. (K8)

Two of the contestants (K1 and K6) stated that the jury had showed favor. Two participants (K3 and K4) stated that the evaluation process was slow. The other participants stated that they did not experience any problems with the jury evaluation process and were satisfied with the process.

Awards When asked what they thought about the awards given to the participants in the food competitions, the participants made the following comments:

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Some deserve the awards, some do not. We are either competing, or they will reward us or other country participants. But I think they’ll give them the reward to make them come back again and attend the competition. We prioritize them and we stay in the background. (K1) The medal is enough for me. (K2) The medal is also nice but I think it should be better evaluated. (K3) They are awarded to different areas based on a certain score. But the ranking is not objective. Prize money can be given. It could be listed like first, second and third. (K4) Rewards are always motivating. But I don’t feel sorry if I don’t get an award because it’s very important to taste the atmosphere. I would be very happy if I did. I got medals before and I’m here again. Medals and prizes are motivating. But next to the medal, extra training programs, academy programs, and kitchen-related equipment can be presented as gifts. (K5) It varies by competition. Most of them are likely string-pulling. (K6) The award must be awarded separately from the medal. (K7) Maybe more motivating gifts, such as education [should be given]. The medals make me happy, but they can be improved. (K8)

Five of the participants (K3, K4, K5, K7, and K8) stated that the medal was a beautiful reward, but that extra education programs, academy programs, kitchenrelated equipment and money could be given as a gift separately from the medal. The other participants stated that the medal was an adequate and motivating reward.

Physical Conditions When asked what the participants thought of the physical logistics and organization of the food competition, they stated the following: We care about the kitchen layout and we care about the preliminary preparation. The equipment is a bit inadequate. The meat of some of our friends didn’t cook enough. The food of some of our friends was overcooked. There is a mixed system. I was excited during the presentation process, but the time was inadequate. The material collection facilities are insufficient. The collection is fast in c the kitchen plus points are given, so we quickly put everything in the suitcases. (K1) The material equipment is adequate but the bench should be wider. I brought the supplies myself. The presentation time was sufficient. The material collection facilities were sufficient. (K2) The organization is sufficient but there are students sitting in places. Everyone is waiting in places with suitcases. I don’t think it’s nice that they sit that way. I think this should be corrected. The material and equipment are enough. The time is enough, but due to the excitement, we were 5-10 minutes late. The material collection is difficult. There are shortcomings. Dishes accumulate, we take them background, but it’s difficult. (K3) The kitchen tools are enough. But the small kitchen equipment is inadequate. We come from many different cities, we can forget. The 20 minutes is also inadequate. There are menus ranging from person to person. Ours was not able to hold hummus and stuffed meatballs. The plates get worse when we are in trouble. They did not give a preliminary preparation period. Material collection was insufficient. There was no seat. There was no area to wash dishes. (K4) I competed in the sweet category. They gave me an extra 10 minutes of preparation, which was very pleasing. I needed the bakery today, but there was no professional oven. There was

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an oven under the hob. I had trouble adjusting the temperature. I was so scared that it would burn and I had to open it and check. In fact, it was supposed to cook without opening. Our ovens warmed up slowly. It was supposed to be a professional oven. After a meal, we are given time. There’s a sink. We were able to throw away our trash and clean. (K5) We bring everything. Only the cooker and oven are available. Equipment such as pans should be given. In addition, the team does not fit into the field as you enter the competition. The working area was distressed. We didn’t have an oven. We had no problem collecting materials. (K6) Everything was perfect. The presentation time was short. The equipment was great. (K7) Everything was perfect. They helped us. The equipment was very adequate. I’m very happy they provided a big cooker. The countertops and the fridge were adequate. But according to our meals, the competence status of the equipment may change. Sometimes it changes according to what we do. The presentation time could have been a bit longer. The first 510 minutes we were already excited and it went very fast. The preparation time was enough. We had a sink in the back, it was good in terms of cleanliness. (K8)

Three participants (K1, K4, and K6) emphasized that the small equipment was insufficient. Three participants (K1, K3, and K4) stated that the material collection facilities were insufficient. Two participants (K5 and K6) stated that there was no professional oven. On the other hand, two participants (K3 and K4) stated that there was no seating area and that the participants were sitting on the ground. All participants stated that the duration was insufficient. All participants but one (K8) emphasized that the given time was sufficient.

Conclusion This study aimed to show the participants’ gains and the organizational competence of cooking competitions. According to the results of the questionnaire, cooking competitions contributed to the creativity and motivation and the social, cultural, and career gains of the participants. Participants emphasized the contributions to their creativity through designing plates and preparing for the competitions. They stated that they experienced cultural gains from local and world culinary culture. Additionally, there was positive contribution to their careers, professional experiences and CVs. In addition, the competitions have helped the participants to increase their motivation, responsibility, and self-confidence. The participants became acquainted with new friends and new chefs and experienced social gains. The participants stated that getting awards was important for them. However, they emphasized that the most important thing was the experiences they gained. It was observed that the findings of the study were accord with the findings of the studies in the literature. For example, Frey and Gallus (2016) claim that award-winning competitions have the potential to raise the intrinsic motivation of competitors. Similarly, in this study, it was concluded that cooking competitions had an effect on increasing the motivation of the contestants. In addition, Fisher et al. (2011) stated that activities related to cooking stimulate students’ imagination, inspiration, and talent. Sanlıer ¸ (2005) emphasized the importance of cooking competitions in promoting Turkish cuisine abroad. In

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addition to these results, the participants evaluated the organizational competence of cooking competitions in terms of the importance of the jury, the jury’s evaluation process, the awards and the physical conditions. The participants’ evaluations of the organizational competence were generally positive. They had examined the jury before the competition and that the jury was important to them. In general, they said that the jury made a fair assessment. Participants stated that the medal was a beautiful reward, but that extra education programs, academy programs, kitchen-related equipment, and money could be given as a gift to the medal. They said the awards could be diversified. They stated that the lack of small equipment and material facilities and the lack of seating areas caused problems in terms of physical competence. They stated that they did have any problems in general. These results are in agreement with those of the study by Kırlangıç (2008).

References Boyraz, M., Mutlu, A. S., & Mutlu, H. (2018). A¸sçilik yari¸smasi katilimcilarinin tutumlarinin belirlenmesi: ulusal a¸sçilar ve pastacilar s¸ampiyonasi örne˘gi [Determination of the attitudes of the culinary contest participants: an example of the national chefs and pastry championships]. Akademik Sosyal Ara¸stırmalar Dergisi, 6(85), s. 468–s. 482. Büyükparmaksız, M. A. (2013). Ulusal Resim Yarı¸smalarına Yönelik Ö˘grenci Görü¸sleri [Student opinions about national painting competitions] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Konya: Necmettin Erbakan University. Ersoy, A., & Anagün, S. ¸ S. (2009). Elementary teachers’ views about homework process in science and technology course. Necatibey Faculty of Education. Electronic Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 3(1), 58–79. Fisher, C., Nicholas, P., & Marshall, W. (2011). Cooking in schools: Rewarding teachers for inspiring adolescents to make healthy choices. British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 36, 120– 123. Frey, B. S., & Gallus, J. (2016). Honors: A rational choice analysis of award bestowals. Rationality and Society, 28(3), 255–269. Gatenby, L. A., Donnelly, J., & Connell, R. (2011). Cooking communities: Using multicultural afterschool cooking clubs to enhance community cohesion. British Nutrition Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 36, 108–112. Gül, M., Erdemir, B., & Gül, K. (2017). A¸sçılık yarı¸sması etkinliklerinde organizasyon yeterlili˘gi ve ö˘grenci kazanımları: Balıkesir Üniversitesi örne˘gi [Organizational competence and student achievements in cookery competitions: Balıkesir University case]. Electronic Turkish Studies, 12(13). Kırlangıç, A. (2008). Sanat Yarı¸smaları Üzerine Genel Bir De˘gerlendirme. Rh+Sanart Türkiye’nin Plastik Sanatlar Dergisi, 48/2008, 33. Petruzzelli, A. M., & Savino, T. (2015). Search, recombination, and innovation: Lessons from Haute Cuisine. Long Range Planning, 47, 224–238. Rudd, L. (2015, March). Competition + classes = Winning channel. Business Casual, pp. 24–28. Sanlıer, ¸ N. (2005). Yerli ve Yabancı Turistlerin Türk Mutfa˘gı Hakkındaki Görü¸sleri [Native and foreign tourists’ opinions about Turkish Cuisine]. Gazi E˘gitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 25(1), 213–227. Soliah, L., Walter, J., & Antosh, D. (2006). Quantifying the impact of food preparation skills among college women. College Student Journal, 40(4), 729–740. Svejenova, S., Planellas, M., & Vives, L. (2010). An individual business model in the making: A chef’s quest for creative freedom. Long Range Planning, 43, 408–430.

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Unisen, A., & Kaya, E. (2015). An investigation into teachers’ views on placement of science education in primary 3rd grade. Adıyaman Universitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsu Dergisi, 8(20), 546–571. Yangın, H. B., & Kırca, N. (2013). Antalya Sa˘glık Yüksekokulu Hem¸sirelik ö˘grencilerinin memnuniyet düzeyleri ve etkileyen faktörler [Antalya School of Health Nursing students satisfaction levels and affecting factors]. Gümü¸shane Üniversitesi Sa˘glık Bilimleri Dergisi, 2(1).

Tourism Management

Destination Management Organisation Managers’ Behavioural Intentions Towards Crisis Planning in Malaysia Mohmed Razip Hasan, Nor’Ain Othman and Norliza Aminudin

Abstract This study investigates the behavioural intentions of Destination Management Organisation (DMO) managers towards undertaking crisis planning. The study takes an explorative approach to identify several challenges in crisis planning and destination management. A literature review was conducted along with interviews with professionals in the travel industry before an actual survey. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used to develop the framework underpinning the study based on three psychological factors, namely, Subjective Norms (SN) focusing on Social Influence (SI), Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) and Past Crisis Experience (PE), and two external contextual environmental factors (i.e. the national culture of safety and security and operation in crisis-prone locations, and attitude as a mediating variable) were investigated to determine their relationship with behavioural intention (dependent variable) to undertake crisis planning. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to DMO managers, with a 68.8% response rate or 295 usable responses for data processing and analyses using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS for windows) PLS-SEM. The results show that all indicators used in the study have a high level of capability to capture the issue of interest. The findings show that perceived behaviour and location have significant effects on managers’ attitudes. On the other hand, managers’ experience, social influence and attitudes have strong effects on their behavioural intentions towards crisis planning. There was no effect of national culture and location on managers’ behavioural intentions to undertake crisis planning. As a strategy, it is important for DMO managers to be exposed to crisis training, related committees and tools so that they are more prepared and ready to take responsibility in crisis planning. A crisis can be managed effectively when crisis planning is in place, tested and ready to be executed by managers M. R. Hasan · N. Othman · N. Aminudin (B) Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, University of Technology MARA (UiTM), Selangor, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] M. R. Hasan e-mail: [email protected] N. Othman e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_9

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so that the impact of the crisis can be minimised and converted into new opportunities. This study has implications for crisis training, preparedness and overall crisis management strategies by way of crisis planning to safeguard destination resilience and positive image. Keywords Crisis planning · Destination Management Organisation · Theory of planned behaviour

Introduction Tourism is one of the world’s most economically important industries, but it is also one of the most susceptible and vulnerable to crises and disasters (Pforr 2009). Even in the early years of the new millennium, it has been noticed that disasters and crises have become more frequent, intense and geographically diverse (International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 2006). Tourists are frequently caught up in disasters in various localities and countries, which often requires a response from localised, planned action through major international humanitarian relief efforts with multi-agency coordination and collaboration, and tourists’ wellbeing in times of crisis is often incorporated into the emergency plans of tour operators and governments for evacuation from the crisis situation (Morakabati et al. 2016). The industry has now been exposed to crisis and it is therefore very important to formulate a strategy to deal with future crises that come from different platforms and directions. Crisis is an unavoidable part of the tourism business, and as a consequence, it is even more necessary to have effective risk and crisis management in place (Beirman 2003; Henderson and Ng 2004; Avraham and Ketter 2006; Robertson et al. 2006; Anderson 2006; Henderson 2007; Pforr and Hosie 2008, 2010; Prideaux 2009). If crises are not monitored, averted, or controlled, then destinations could experience disastrous effects (Varghese and Paul 2014). This concern is supported by the fact that crisis management preparedness at both the organisational and local destination level is important to improving outcomes and reducing the effects on tourism (Mair et al. 2016). The UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organisation) Tourism 2020 Vision forecasts that international arrivals will exceed 1.56 billion by the year 2020 and, out of these arrivals, 1.18 billion will be intra-regional and 337 million will be long-haul travellers (UNWTO Barometer 2016). By region, the top three receiving regions will be Europe, East Asia and the Pacific and the Americas. An exceptional increase is expected in the Asia Pacific, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa regions, with 5% growth per year compared to the world average of 4.1%. For Malaysia, the target for tourist arrivals is 36 million by 2020, with RM168 billion in tourism receipts (Tourism Malaysia Annual Report, 2016). Tourist arrivals grew by 4.0% to 26.8 million in 2016, while tourism receipts rose by 18.8% to contribute RM82.1 billion to the country’s revenue (Tourism Malaysia Annual Report 2016). Tourism demand will depend above all on economic activities, but safety and

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security are among the most significant factors influencing demand at the tourist destination area, apart from the Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) of attractions offered by a destination (Volo 2008, 2012). The success of the tourism industry is also directly linked to its ability to offer tourists a perceived safe and pleasant place to visit (Breda and Costa 2006).

Research Problem A Crisis Management Plan (CMP) is designed to handle crises and includes crisis response drills, evacuation plans and machines, but many organisations are illprepared in terms of communication during a crisis because they lack a Crisis Communication Plan (CCP) (Lando (2014), which is an important part of crisis planning. Wang and Ritchie (2012) argued that despite crisis planning and preparedness to create resilient tourism organisations, the majority of past studies focused on response and recovery aspects instead of planning. Wang and Ritchie (2012) further emphasise an urgent need to study a country’s tourism crisis planning. This indicates the importance of a destination, through its tourism organisations, to lead the crisis planning, to be ready for crises and to take precautions to overcome the potential negative impact of the event (Augustine 1995; Fink 1986; Heath 1998a, 1998b). As Malaysia is gearing up towards a high-income economy, it needs a worldclass workforce, including for the tourism sector (National Transformation Plan Annual Report 2015 (NTPAR 2015). Without exception, Destination Management Organisations (DMO)—like Tourism Malaysia and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC)—which are a part of the public sector delivery system, need highly skilled, knowledgeable, talented, visionary and responsible managers who are resilient in performing their tasks, including in crisis management and planning. Malaysia requires managers of its DMOs to have the responsibility, capability, ability, readiness and crisis competency to safeguard the positive image of the destination among tourists and stakeholders of the industry, such as tour operators, airlines, accommodations and other service providers. This anticipation of managers’ qualities and attributes leads to this study on the behaviour of DMO managers towards undertaking crisis planning by measuring their intentions to exhibit such behaviour using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) developed by Ajzen (1991, 1996).

Literature Review Crisis Planning Ritchie (2011) indicated three aspects of crisis behaviour: crisis planning that takes place before the crisis, the implementation of a crisis plan during the crisis, and

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control after the crisis. The theories of crisis management and crisis process have indicated the important elements of prevention and mitigation, which refer to crisis planning (Wang and Ritchie 2010). However, these crisis planning factors are not given due consideration by organisations compared to managing the crisis when it happens. Nonetheless, the tourism and hospitality literature is replete with conceptual and empirical work on various issues of crisis management taking place in the industry, in particular with the DMO authority, but there is a lack of research on crisis planning (Wang and Ritchie 2010). This issue persists because there is a limited body of literature available on planning and understanding tourism manager’s commitments to preparedness (Pennington-Gray et al. 2013). Seventeen years after that observation, the same issue still prevails. Mair et al. (2016) posited that there is a poor understanding and limited research on tourism destination crisis management and recovery marketing effort.

Theory of Planned Behaviour The theoretical model applied in this study is based on Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen 1991). It is the expansion of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) developed to fill the gap in the TRA (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). TPB deals with behaviour over which people have incomplete control (Ajzen 2002). Upon expansion from TRA, TPB has three main factors: the social factor, called Subjective Norm (SN); Attitude towards the behaviour (ATT); and a new construct, the degree of Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) (Ajzen 1985, 1991, 2002). Based on TPB, the elements of attitude towards behaviour, subjective norms and perception of behavioural control lead to the formation of behavioural intention (Davis et al. 2002). TPB has been used in the tourism literature, but to date, there has been no study that applies TPB to DMO Crisis Planning (CP); thus, this study attempts to close this gap.

Main Research Question The main research question for this study is ‘How would destination managers’ behavioural intentions to carry out crisis planning tasks for DMO in Malaysia be affected by psychological and external factors?’

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Theoretical Framework The framework of this study is based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen (1991), as per Fig. 1. The first determinant of this framework is the manager’s perception of social pressure to perform or not to perform the behaviour under consideration, which in this study is to undertake crisis planning. As it deals with perceived normative prescriptions, this factor or variable is called the Subjective Norm (SN) (Ajzen 2005). The second determinant of intention is the ability of a manager to perform the behaviour of interest in this study (i.e. undertake crisis planning), which is referred to as the Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) (Ajzen 2015). The third determinant of intention is the past crisis experience of managers. This is based on Wang and Ritchie (2012), who added Past Experience (PE) as an individual factor influencing managers’ intentions towards crisis planning in their related research among accommodation managers. A personal factor, the manager’s individual attitude towards the behaviour, which is the individual’s positive or negative evaluation of whether they should perform the particular behaviour of interest (Ajzen 2005) (i.e. undertaking crisis planning) is referred to as the mediating or intervening variable. We also determine the effect of external variables in this framework (i.e. the national culture of safety and security [NC] and geographical location of operation [LO]) as moderating variables, DMO Managers’ Psychological Factors Subjective Norm (SN) to undertake Crisis Planning

Perceived Behavioural Control to undertake Crisis Planning

H3

Past Crisis Experience (PE) to undertake Crisis Planning

Independent Variables

External Environmental Contextual Factors

H1 National Culture (NC) towards safety & security

H4

H2

Location of Operation (LO) of Establishment

H5

DMO Managers’ Attitude (ATT) towards Crisis Planning

H6

DMO Managers’ Behavioural Intention (BI) to Undertake Crisis Planning

H3

Moderating Variables

Mediating Variable

Dependent Variable

Fig. 1 Theoretical framework of DMO manager’s behavioural intentions towards undertaking crisis planning using the modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)

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as well as their effect on managers’ behavioural intentions to undertake the task of crisis planning. The attitude towards the behaviour includes behavioural belief and evolutions of behavioural outcomes, while the subjective norms are made up of normative beliefs and the motivation to comply. Perceived Behavioural Control is made up of the ability to perform and the ability to control. Buttle and Bok (1996) used the Theory of Reasoned Action to explore the hotel choice process of business travellers and found that a significant correlation existed between subjective norms and behavioural intentions. Lam and Hsu (2004) used TPB to predict the behavioural intentions of choosing a destination and found a significantly positive relationship with behavioural intention. Wang and Ritchie (2012) used TPB to predict the intentions of accommodation managers in Australia to undertake crisis planning.

Methodology Measure and Questionnaire Design The questionnaire has seven sections. Section “Introduction” is for general information on crisis engagement and experience. Section “Research Problem” is about the managers’ awareness of 25 selected crisis events from 2001–2016 and nine crisisrelated documents. Section “Literature Review” is for measuring the psychological factors of Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). Section “Methodology” measures External Environmental Factors. Section “Results” measures managers’ attitudes towards crisis planning. Section “Discussion and Recommendations” measures managers’ intentions towards crisis planning. Section “Conclusion” is for demographic profiles.

Data Collection This empirical research was based on 400 self-administered questionnaires that were distributed to DMO managers in Malaysia. This questionnaire covers managers in Tourism Malaysia (TM), the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), the Malaysia Convention Bureau (MyCeb), the Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC), State Tourism Bodies, Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB) and Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC). Several follow-up procedures, such as telephone calls, emails and personal visits, were performed in order to receive as many responses as possible within the data collection time frame (10 months) from November 2016 to August 2017.

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Analysis The data sets were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) based on the Partial Least Square (PLS) approach. The statistical program Smart-PLS 3.0 was used. This statistical program assessed the psychometric properties of the measurement model and estimated the parameters of the structural model. In addition, descriptive analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics software. Tests of reliability and validity were conducted as well.

Results Response Rate Out of 400 questionnaires, the response rate was 68.8% or 295 usable questionnaires for data processing and analyses.

General Profiles By gender, the results indicate that 49.1% of the respondents were male and 50.9% were female. The majority of the respondents were in the age range of 36–40 years old (23.3%), and 3.6% were 56 years old and above. In terms of marital status, the majority (70.2%) of the respondents were married. In terms of ethnicity, the majority were Malay (68.4%); Chinese (11.3%); Indian (1.8%) and others (18.5%) comprised of Punjabi, Kadazan, Iban and other minorities. The majority of the respondents had a monthly income of Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 5001 to RM 10,000 (36.0%), and only 2.2% of the respondents had a monthly income from RM 15,001 and above. In terms of current job level, most respondents were at the middle management level (32.7%), followed by the executive level (22.2%) and senior executive level (17.1%). The majority of the respondents had professional membership in Tourism Related Institutes (63.6%), followed by those in Emergency Related Institutes (12.1%), Institutes of Public Relations (IPR) (10.6%), Chartered Institutes of Logistics and Transport (3.0%) and others (19.7%) in Institutes of Management and Institutes of Marketing. Management and administration (56.8%) and sales, marketing and promotions (46.2%) were the top two categories of current responsibility held by the respondents. The top five past trainings in which most of the respondents were involved were crisis management and communication (28.3%), emergency (25.8%), outbound school training (25.8%), risk management (24.0%) and safety and security (22.7%).

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Crisis Management and Planning and Level of Awareness The results show that only 44% of the respondents were involved in crisis management-related assignments in the last 3 years compared to 56.0% who have not. Even fewer respondents (39.6%) were involved in crisis planning. The findings also reveal that the majority (60.4%) of the respondents were aware of the existence of a Crisis Management Committee (CMC) in their current organisations, and 54.5% of the respondents were aware of the availability of a Crisis Management Plan (CMP) in their organisation. To determine the Relative Importance Index (RII), the analysis directly used the available data and gave a weighted relative index to each indicator based on the data (Jarkas and Bitar 2012). In this study, the Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to measure the level of managers’ awareness of crisis events that happened around the world. The analysis indicates that the top five crises that the majority of the respondents were aware of the missing MH370 Plane, 2014 (RII = 92%); the MH17 Plane Shot Down over Ukraine, 2017 (RII = 89.77%); the Mount Kinabalu Earthquake, 2015 (RII = 83.69%); the Lahad Datu Intrusion, 2013 (RII = 83.43%) and the Acheh Tsunami, 2004 (RII = 83.17%).

Reliability and Validity Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) The reliability and validity of the instruments were tested before proceeding with the measurement model analysis. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted to ensure the validity of the questionnaire, and an analysis was carried out for each variable in this study. Four EFA analyses were conducted based on the types of variables: (i) EFA analysis for the Independent Variable (ii) EFA analysis for the Moderator Variable, (iii) EFA analysis for the Mediator Variable and (iv) EFA analysis for the Dependent Variable. A reliability analysis using Cronbach’s Alpha values was also performed for each extracted factor. In the EFA analysis, the numbers of factors to be extracted were accessed through the eigenvalue (i.e. Kaiser’s Criteria) and the cumulative percentage. In terms of the Kaiser Criteria, the factor can be extracted if the eigenvalue was above one (Hair et al. 2010). In terms of the cumulative percentage explained variance, the extracted factors can be considered good if the cumulative percentage threshold was above 60.0% (Meyers et al. 2006; Hair et al. 2010).

EPA Analysis for Independent Variables (Psychological) The results of the EFA analysis for the independent variable instruments were shown by using the Principal Component (PC) extraction method with the Varimax Rotation

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method. The KMO index for this analysis was 0.915, which is above the acceptable limit of 0.50, and Bartlett’s Test for sphericity for these sets of items was significant (X 2 (300) = 6498.84, p < 0.01). Therefore, it can be concluded that the correlation matrices for independent variable items were not an identity matrix, and thus the items can be used for EFA analysis. The results also indicate that all of the independent variable items exceeded the threshold value of 0.40 (Range: 0.434 to 0.911) factor loading. All 25 items that passed the factor loading assessment also had communality values of at least 0.40 (Range: 0.565 to 0.857). The names of the grouped items were maintained as Past Experience (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.943), Social Influence (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.950), PBC (Belief) (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.946) and PBC (Control) (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.825). These grouped items also have good to excellent reliability values since all Cronbach’s Alpha values were above 0.80 and 0.90.

EPA Analysis for Moderating Variables (External Contextual) The KMO index for moderator variable instruments was 0.937, and Bartlett’s Test for Sphericity for this set of items was largely significant (X 2 (120) = 3723.74, p < 0.01). Therefore, it can be concluded that the correlation matrices for the moderator variable items were not identity matrices, and thus the items can be used for EFA analysis purposes. In addition, all 16 items measuring the moderator variable exceeded the threshold value of 0.40 (Range: 0.478 to 0.886) factor loading and had communality values of at least 0.40 (Range: 0.450 to 0.806). The grouped items’ names were maintained as Location (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.955) and National Culture (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.880), and the grouped items also had good to excellent values of reliability since the Cronbach’s Alpha values were above 0.80 and 0.90.

EPA Analysis for Mediating Variables (Attitude) The EFA analysis was conducted using the PC extraction method in combination with the Varimax rotation method. The KMO index for this analysis was 0.973 and Bartlett’s Test for sphericity for this set of items was largely significant (X 2 (190) = 5952.82, p < 0.01). Hence, the correlation matrices for this variable item were not identity matrices; therefore, the items can be used for EFA analysis purposes. The result also shows that the nine items used for measuring the mediator variable exceed the threshold value of 0.40 (Range: 0.664 to 0.845) factor loading, and all items also had communalities values of at least 0.40 (Range: 0.590 to 0.859). These grouped items’ names were maintained as Judgement Attitude (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.959) and Belief Attitude (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.962). Both grouped items can be concluded as having excellent values of reliability since all Cronbach’s Alpha values were above 0.90.

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EPA Analysis for Dependent Variable (Behavioural Intention) The EFA analysis for the dependent variable items was conducted using the PC extraction method and Varimax rotation method. The KMO index for this analysis was 0.958 and Bartlett’s Test for testing the sphericity of the dependent variable items was also highly significant (X 2 (435) = 13,950.89, p < 0.01). Therefore, from this assessment, it can be concluded that the items in the dependent variable were appropriate for use in the EFA analysis since the correlation matrices of these items did not form an identity matrix. The results indicate that the 30 items used for measuring the dependent variable exceeded the threshold value of 0.40 (Range: 0.541 to 0.818) factor loading, and this set of items also had communalities values of at least 0.40 (Range: 0.797 to 0.931). The grouped items’ names were maintained as Behavioural Intention—Social Influence (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.945), Behavioural Intention—Belief (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.960), Behavioural Intention—Past Experience (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.961), Behavioural Intention—Location (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.957) and Behavioural Intention—National Culture (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.963). The grouped items also had excellent reliability, since all Cronbach’s Alpha values were above 0.90. Based on the summary of results as per Table 1 below, it can be concluded that the instruments or items used to measure the targeted variables in this study were valid in terms of the items’ validity. This is seen from the EFA perspective, where factor loadings were larger than 0.40 (> 0.40) and communalities were larger than 0.40 (> 0.40). The items also have an acceptable reliability level for each extracted variable. Therefore, the extracted variables from the EFA analysis can be used in constructing the measurement model of PLS-SEM analysis.

Evaluation of Measurement Model Hair et al. (2014) and Chin (1998), in their works on the PLS-SEM statistical method, stated that the evaluation of the measurement model must be reviewed first before the structural model can be evaluated. Since the targeted measurement model (second order), which is illustrated in Fig. 3, can be used to test the specific hypotheses in this study, the first-order measurement model, as illustrated in Fig. 2, must be tested first. This step has to be done before we can use the measurement model as per Fig. 3. The analysis plan was conducted by using the two-stage approach proposed by Henseler and Chin (2010), which uses the Latent Variable Scores (LVS) approach. The key to determining the quality of the measurement model is assessing the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement model (Hair et al. 2014; Hair et al. 2011; Chin 1998). Since the measurement model in Fig. 2 is used entirely as a reflective measurement model, the convergent validity assessment and criteria such as indicator loadings, Cronbach (1971) Alpha reliability (α), Composite reliability (ρ) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were used. Three types of

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Table 1 Summary of results of EFA analysis Variable structure

Extracted variable

Independent

Past experience Social influence

Moderator

Items

Factor Loadingª

Communalitiesª

CA

8

0.689 → 0.838

0.577 → 0.799

0.943

7

0.717 → 0.857

0.674 → 0.847

0.950

Perceived behavioural (Belief)

5

0.866 → 0.911

0.797 → 0.857

0.946

Perceived behavioural (Control)

5

0.434 → 0.827

0.565 → 0.787

0.825

Location

9

0.730 → .0.886

0.608 → 0.806

0.955

National culture

7

0.478 → 0.866

0.450 → 0.776

0.880

Mediator

Attitude (Judgment)

10

0.681 → 0.796

0.606 → 0.794

0.959

attitude (Belief)

10

0.664 → 0.845

0.590 → 0.859

0.962

Dependent

BI (Social influence)

6

0.725 → 0.809

0.797 → 0.850

0.945

BI (Belief)

6

0.742 → 0.818

0.865 → 0.891

0.960

BI (Past experience)

6

0.541 → 0.770

0.838 → 0.931

0.961

BI (Location)

6

0.754 → 0.785

0.873 → 0.928

0.957

BI (National culture)

6

0.593 → 0.665

0.896 → 0.930

0.963

Note CA = Cronbach’s Alpha; BI = Behaviour Intention ªthe reported values is a range of values from the minimum value to the maximum value

discriminant validity assessment, Fornell–Larcker (2011) and Cross-loading assessments and HTMT assessments were performed to evaluate the discriminant validity of the measurement models. As illustrated in Fig. 2, all the indicators for the latent constructs were based on the results of the EFA analysis. Then, the LVS for the Attitude (Belief) and Attitude (Judgement) latent constructs from the measurement model in Fig. 2 were used as indicators for measuring the Attitude latent construct in Fig. 3 measurement model. Using the same concept, the LVS for Behaviour Intention Social Influence, Behaviour Intention Belief, Behaviour Intention Past Experience, Behaviour Intention Location and Behaviour Intention National Culture latent constructs in Fig. 2 were also used as indicators for measuring the Behavioural Intention latent construct, whereas the LVS for the Belief and Control latent constructs were used to measure the Perceived Behavioural Control latent construct. However, the Social Influence, Past Experience, Location and National Culture latent constructs in the measurement model illustrated in Fig. 3 were maintained as first-order latent constructs.

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Fig. 2 First-order measurement model

The results of the indicator loadings, Cronbach Alpha (α), Composite Reliability (ρ), AVE, Fornell–Larcker with Cross-loading analysis and HTMT analysis for the first-order measurement model were satisfied according to their respective recommended thresholds; hence, it can be concluded that all indicators that have been used in this study were valid and gave an indication that the first-order measurement model of this study can also be concluded to have a good level of convergent and discriminant validity. Therefore, the latent variable scores (i.e. LVS) for each latent construct that had been computed in this stage was valid and fit to be used at the second stage of the model assessment analysis.

Evaluation of Structural Model The key aspect to evaluate the structural model is illustrated in Fig. 3. The evaluations of the structural model are based on several methods. The methods are the coefficient of determination (R2 ), predictive relevance (Q2 and q2 ) evaluation and evaluation of the effect size (f 2 ) of the structural model. In addition, evaluating the path coefficients of the structural models is another important key aspect in this process. Almost all PLS-SEM research focuses on explaining the variance of the endogenous latent construct, which is measured using the coefficient of determination (R2 ) assessment

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Fig. 3 Second-order measurement model

(Ringle et al. 2013; Hair et al. 2011; Henseler et al. 2009). This assessment represents the amount of the variance in the endogenous latent construct that is explained by the respective exogenous latent constructs (Hair et al. 2014). The findings show that the R2 value for Attitude was 0.681. This value indicates that approximately 68.1% total variations of the Attitude latent construct were explained by the Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience, National Culture and Location exogenous latent constructs, whereas the remaining of 31.9% of the Attitude variations were explained by other factors. Moreover, the degree levels of the R2 for the Attitude endogenous latent constructs can be considered as large levels of variance explained (Hair et al. 2014; Ringle et al. 2013; Hair et al. 2011; Henseler et al. 2009; Chin, 1998). On the other hand, the analysis also indicated that the Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience and Attitude exogenous latent constructs were able to give a variance explained of approximately 45.9% towards Behavioural Intention (R2 = 0.459). According to the works of the predominant researchers in PLS-SEM, the degree levels of the R2 for the Behavioural Intention endogenous latent construct can be considered as having a moderate level of variance explained (Hair et al. 2014; Ringle et al. 2013; Hair et al. 2011; Henseler et al. 2009; Chin 1998). The Stone–Geisser’s assessment (Q2 ) was also performed to measure the overall predictive relevance of the endogenous latent constructs in this model. The Q2

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assessment reports that each endogenous latent construct in this model has an adequate degree of predictive relevance to their, respectively, exogenous latent constructs because the values of Q2 can be considered as having moderate to large predictive relevance effects (Hair et al. 2014). Mediator Effect The results indicate that Attitude (ATT) mediated the relationship between Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC) and Behavioural Intention (BI) but did not mediate the relationship between Social Influence (SI), Past Experience (PE) and Behavioural Intention (BI), according to the assessment of observed t-value and 95% confidence interval of the bootstrap analysis of the indirect coefficients. As a mediator, attitude had a fully mediating effect on the relationship of Perceived Behaviour and Behavioural Intention, where the mediating effect was 14.73%. However, the analysis confirmed that Attitude did not mediate the relationship between Social Influence, Past Experience and Behavioural Intention. Moderating Effect As for the moderating variables, the analysis indicates that National Culture had a positive moderating effect on the relationship of Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience and Attitude. Hence, the relationships of Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience and Attitude were much stronger when the impact of National Culture is strong, compared to a situation when the National Culture is weak, which means that the strength of relationships among Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience and Attitude tend to be reduced when the National Culture is low. The same situation can also be concluded for the Location moderating effect. The analysis indicated that Location also has a positive moderating effect on the relationship among Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience and Attitude. Therefore, the relationships of Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience and Attitude are stronger when the impact of Location is strong, compared to the situation when the Location impact is weak, which is when the strength of the Social Influence, Perceived Behaviour, Past Experience and Attitude relationships tends to be reduced. National Culture Towards Safety and Security The study shows that the National Culture (NC) has a positive moderating effect on the relationship of SI → ATT, PBC → ATT and PE → ATT. Hence, the relationships of SI → ATT, PBC → ATT and PE → ATT were much stronger when the impact of National Culture (NC) is strong, compared to the situation when the National Culture (NC) is weak, which is when the strength of the SI → ATT, PBC → ATT and PE → ATT relationships tends to be reduced. Location of Operation It is found that the Location (LC) has a positive moderating effect on the relationship of SI → ATT, PBC → ATT and PE → ATT. Hence, the relationships of SI → ATT, PBC → ATT and PE → ATT were much stronger when the impact of Location (LC) is strong, compared to the situation when the Location (LC) is weak, which is when

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the strength of the SI → ATT, PBC → ATT and PE → ATT relationships tend to be reduced. Discussion The analysis of PLS-SEM has shown that the indicators used in this study have high levels of capability to capture the issue of interest. The assessment of the PLS-SEM criteria, including indicator loading, Cronbach’s Alpha (α) reliability, composite (ρ) reliability, Fornell–Larcker discrimination analysis, Cross-loading discrimination analysis and HTMT discriminant analysis, showed evidence that all the indicators met the minimum requirements of this assessment. The first- and secondorder measurement models also showed acceptable levels of capability to capture the interested research phenomena of the study. Effect on Managers’ Attitudes The results of PLS-SEM path modelling for the structural model indicated that Perceived Behaviour and Location have a positive and significant effect on managers’ Attitudes. On the other hand, Past Experience has a negative effect on Attitude. Hence, it can be concluded that if the average level of Perceived Behaviour and Location were high, then the average level of Attitude will be increased simultaneously. However, if the average level of Past Experience was high, then the average level of Attitude will be decreased. In addition to that, if the average levels of Social Influence and National Culture were high, then these increments did not have an effect on Attitude levels. Effect on Managers Behavioural Intention The analysis indicates that except for Perceived Behaviour, other factors like Attitude, Social Influence and Past Experience have positively significant effects on Behavioural Intention in crisis planning. Hence, it can be concluded that, if the average level of Attitude, Social Influence and Past Experience were high, then the average level of Behavioural Intention of DMO managers will also be increased significantly. However, any increase or decrease of the level of Perceived Behaviour will not have an effect on the Behavioural Intention of the managers. Hypotheses Testing Table 2 shows the summary results of hypothesis testing based on the PLS-SEM.

Discussion and Recommendations The results show that DMO managers’ behavioural intentions towards crisis planning in Malaysia are affected by attitude, social influence and past experience. This is in consistence with two earlier variables of the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980); attitude and subjective norms before the Theory of Planned Behaviour was developed by Ajzen (1991) and then by Wang and Ritchie (2014), who modified the TPB by introducing past experience as another independent variable.

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Table 2 Summary results of hypothesis testing for the structural measurement model Hypotheses

Decision

Statistical analysis

H1: There is a significant effect of social influence towards DMO managers attitude to undertake crisis planning

Reject

PLS-SEM

H2: There is a significant effect of perceived behaviour towards DMO managers attitude to undertake crisis planning

Accept

PLS-SEM

H3: There is a significant effect of past experience towards DMO managers attitude to undertake crisis planning

Accept

PLS-SEM

H4: There is a significant effect of national culture towards DMO managers attitude to undertake crisis planning

Reject

PLS-SEM

H5: There is a significant effect of location towards DMO managers attitude to undertake crisis planning

Accept

PLS-SEM

H6: There is a significant effect of DMO managers attitude towards their behavioural intention to undertake crisis planning

Accept

PLS-SEM

H1b: There is a significant effect of social influence towards DMO managers behavioural intention to undertake crisis planning

Accept

PLS-SEM

H2b: There is a significant effect of perceived behaviour towards DMO managers behavioural intention to undertake crisis planning

Reject

PLS-SEM

H3b: There is a significant effect of past experience towards DMO managers behavioural intention to undertake crisis planning

Accept

PLS-SEM

Nonetheless, Perceived Behavioural Control (PBC), which was added into Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to create the TPB, was somehow insignificant for DMO managers’ behavioural intention. This could possibly be due to the belief that they may not have the capability and control the implementation of crisis planning despite knowing the importance of the planning. In view of this, DMOs have to pay attention to this issue. This is based on the view that people’s behaviour is strongly influenced by their confidence in their ability to perform that behaviour (Bandura et al. 1980). It is important that managers be empowered with certain authority and allowed to practice decentralisation for implementing the planning within their scope of duties. In addition, it is recommended that adequate resources, time, support, regular check-ups and simulations and training be provided. As the intention is the predictor of behaviour, top management has to understand its strength and implications for managers. Self-motivation and self-discipline have to be encouraged and promoted among managers. The managers themselves have to be resilient and strong in performing their crisis planning roles, which are parts of management skills and leadership qualities. They have to prepare for the battle (preparing for crisis) as an ingredient for winning. Concurrently, management is required to strengthen human resources and material assets that are needed for success in crisis planning.

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For future research, we may specifically examine the perception of top management towards crisis preparedness and its contribution to the development and improvement of managers’ behaviours in crisis management and planning.

Conclusion The findings of this study are important for understanding the application of TPB to determine the effect of psychological and external factors on DMO behavioural intention towards crisis planning in the Malaysian setting. The final study has confirmed the results of the pilot study in which three individual psychological factors, namely, subjective norms, past experience and attitude are the main factors contributing to the DMO managers’ behavioural intention. As moderating variables, the national culture and location of operation were also found to have a positive influence on managers’ intention to perform crisis planning. This was evidenced when PLS-SEM analysis shows that the hypotheses on relationships between attitude and psychological factors moderated by national culture and location were accepted. This contributes that the national culture and location of tourism establishments significantly motivate managers to perform their duty in crisis planning. Academically, the result contributes to the expansion of the application of TPB in tourism crisis management studies.

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Impact of Managerial and Entrepreneurial Skills on the Success of Small and Medium Enterprises in North Western Province, Sri Lanka Wijesinghe Arachchilage Nadeesha Priyadarshanie

Abstract Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) act as a useful vehicle for economic growth because they have the capacity to achieve rapid economic growth while generating considerable employment opportunities. However, SMEs are heavily criticized due to their high failure rate. It is important to study the factors that contribute to the success of entrepreneurs, so they can be emulated. As highlighted in many studies, lack of managerial knowledge and skills hamper the rapid growth of the SME sector. This research attempts to investigate the impact of managerial and entrepreneurial skills on the success of SMEs in the North Western Province in Sri Lanka. Simple random sampling was employed to select 129 SMEs as the sample. A questionnaire was distributed among owner–managers of these businesses to collect data. Conceptual, human and technical skills were considered as managerial skills, and entrepreneurial skills were also analyzed. Owners’ satisfaction with the financial and non-financial success of the enterprise was selected to measure business success. The study revealed that technical and entrepreneurial skills have a significant positive impact on business success. The findings can help policymakers who are connected to entrepreneurship development. They can organize programs to develop skills identified by this research that positively impact business success. The growth of SMEs can be accelerated by developing owners’ managerial knowledge and identified skills. Keywords Entrepreneurial skills · Managerial skills · Entrepreneurial success · Small- and medium-sized businesses

Introduction SMEs play a clear role within Sri Lanka and help many people engage in this field to generate income and sustain their livelihoods (Ramawickrama 2011). Developed and developing countries have recognized the importance of the development of small W. A. N. Priyadarshanie (B) Department of Accountancy, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_10

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and medium enterprises (SMEs) because they play a significant role in economic development. The SME sector is well recognized for its contribution to employment, innovation, and economic dynamism and is considered an engine of growth and an essential part of a healthy economy (Wickramasinghe 2011). SMEs account for 80– 90% of the total number of enterprises in Sri Lanka (SME white paper 2002). In addition, this sector contributes more than 70% to gross domestic product (GDP) and employment generation in Sri Lanka. The contribution of SMEs to Sri Lanka’s economy is significantly more than in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. The failure of this sector would therefore have a significantly adverse impact on the Sri Lankan economy (Bandara 2012). In Sri Lanka, the rate of business failure among SMEs is 45% and several researchers have identified the reasons for this, particularly the difficulty to access finance, improve competitiveness and market relevance, and entrepreneurship and skills development. Priyanath (2006) found that even basic management functions such as planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling are not properly practiced in most SMEs. The author concluded that the growth of SMEs can be accelerated by developing owners’ managerial knowledge. Wickramasinghe (2011) identified that absence of technical and managerial skills constrains SME growth. Wijewardena and Zoysa (2005) identified efficient management as one of the factors that have a positive and significant impact on the success of an SME. However, there is a significant lack of research on management and entrepreneurial skills in the context of SMEs. This research will address the issue of failure by identifying the impact of such skills, which enable entrepreneurs to be more effective in business success. The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of managerial and entrepreneurial skills on the success of small and medium scale entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka. The findings of this research will be valuable on a national level as this will strengthen entrepreneurs and ensure continued business success without wasting resources.

Literature Review There is very little research on managerial skills in SMEs. Chu et al. (2011) investigated motivations, success factors, problems and business-related stressors for entrepreneurs in small- and medium-sized enterprises. By studying 196 entrepreneurs in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, they found that having good management skills is a necessary condition for business success. Yusuf (1995) studied critical success factors perceived by entrepreneurs in Asia-Pacific region as necessary for successful operation of small businesses in the region. A random sample of 220 entrepreneurs was asked to identify and rank the factors they perceived as critical for the success of small businesses. Overall the four most critical success factors were perceived to be good management, access to financing, personal qualities, and satisfactory government support. The entrepreneurs perceived that both individual factors (such as possession of certain skills and good character) and environmental factors (such as

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government support, political and traditional demands, and the need for balancing these demands with business commitments) are critical to the success of small businesses. Pansiri and Temtime (2008) identified the perceived critical management factors affecting the performance of SMEs by using a survey questionnaire to collect data on SMEs’ perceptions of the degree of impact of selected managerial issues on their performance. The study has empirically identified four perceived critical management factors affecting the performance of SMEs. These factors could be summarized or labelled as ‘lack of managerial skills’. Chandler and Jansen (1992) examined three sets of skills: technical-functional and managerial skills are derived from Katz while entrepreneurial skills were defined in terms of opportunity recognition and pursuit. Muhammad et al. (2015) examined the impact of managerial skills on small-scale entrepreneurs using a sample of 386 firms in Kampala, Uganda. Findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between conceptual, human and technical skills and the success of small-scale entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the study revealed that success can be better predicted by technical and conceptual skills compared to human skills. Yahya et al. (2011) analyzed the role and extent of management skills in determining the success of entrepreneurs and identified the most dominant predictors/variables of management skills in influencing success. Study samples were taken from SME entrepreneurs in the service sector in Malaysia. Using Pearson correlation and stepwise regression procedures, they found that high entrepreneurial success was associated with high business operating skills, skills to obtain market share that suits their size and capability and skills to offer more specialized services. Ibrahim (2015) examined the impact of managerial skills on the performance of small-scale businesses (SSBs) in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Their study found that managerial skills have a significant impact on SSBs’ performance. Lack of such skills in establishing goals, allocating resources, managing conflict, communication, measuring performance, taking action, and self-control is the main factor behind poor performance of SSBs. The study concluded that inadequate managerial skills are factors hindering SSBs performance and recommended that the government, nongovernment organizations, and SSB owners’ unions should provide adequate training and development programmes to improve the managerial skills of SSB owners and their management. Agbim (2013) demonstrated that management skills are one of the key factors for entrepreneurial success. The author found that the highest relative contribution was made by skills for planning and budgeting for a marketing strategy that provides an attractive range of products; followed by skills to act quickly on detecting changes in the environment; skills for assessing sales problems as a way of maintaining good customer relations; skills to focus on product quality to capture a sizeable market share; and management expertise to attract and retain competent employees. They also emphasized that entrepreneurial leadership enhances sustained entrepreneurial success. Thus, they have suggested that entrepreneurs should endeavour to think and act strategically, develop verbal and non-verbal communication skills, cultivate good personality traits and develop good motivational skills.

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Francis et al. (2015) empirically investigate the impact of motivation, personal values and managerial skills of managers on the performance of small and medium enterprises in South Africa. Data were collected through the use of self-administrated questionnaires from 140 managers of SMEs. The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between motivations, personal values and managerial skills of SME owners on performance. They tested six managerial skills: human resource management, strategic planning, networking, organizing, financial management and marketing skills. Human resource management skills are the most important and marketing skills are the least important factor relative to other skills. Ranjith and Bandara (2014) examined the determinants of the success of small businesses by conducting research in the Kuliyapitiya region in Sri Lanka. The results have highlighted a number of key factors for the success of small businesses. These factors are the family background of the entrepreneur, ability to make decisions, level of training, and the amount of money invested in the business. They have concluded that development of entrepreneurial skills of entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises is crucial for the success of the business. Priyanath (2006) investigated the basic managerial deficiencies of SMEs in Sri Lanka with special reference to those in Ratnapura District. The study found that even basic management functions like planning, organizing and controlling are not properly practiced in most SMEs. In addition, most SMEs do not have clear plans for future development, production process, marketing, financial activities and so on. In most SMEs, entrepreneurs act as managers handling all the responsibilities that are not delegated to others. Therefore, most of the SMEs do not function efficiently due to delay in the decision-making process, poor organization, poor staffing, and weak controlling and directing. Financial management was also found to be very weak in most of the SMEs. It concluded that the growth of SMEs can be accelerated by developing managerial knowledge of entrepreneurs in the SMEs.

Methodology The population of this study comprises all the small and medium enterprises in North Western Province in Sri Lanka. Due to the absence of a nationally accepted definition of SMEs, following previous research (Karunananda and Jayamaha 2011), the definition provided by the white paper issued by the Sri Lankan government in 2002 was used to identify appropriate businesses for inclusion in this study; that is, enterprises with asset values not exceeding Rs. 50 million excluding land and buildings. Following previous research (Francis et al. 2015), a simple random probability sampling technique was employed to select an appropriate sample; SMEs were randomly selected in the Kurunegala and Putlam districts. A questionnaire, which was divided into three sections, was used to collect data from owners/entrepreneurs of SMEs. Section A captured the entrepreneurs’ demographics, section B assessed managerial and entrepreneurial skills and section C

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Fig. 1 Research model

measured success. Section B and C are measured on a five-point Likert scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) (Fig. 1). Based on the literature reviewed and the research objectives, the following hypothesizes were derived. H1: Conceptual skills are positively related to the entrepreneurial success of SMEs. H2: Human skills are positively related to the entrepreneurial success of SMEs. H3: Technical skills are positively related to the entrepreneurial success of SMEs. H4: Entrepreneurial skills are positively related to the entrepreneurial success of SMEs. Following other research (Yahya et al. 2011; Agbim 2013; Ibrahim 2015; Narkhede et al. 2014), indicators were selected to measure three managerial and entrepreneurial skills. Conceptual skills are the ability to see the organization as a whole and to solve problems from a systemic point of view. Planning skills are those used to obtain market share that suits the company’s size and capability, decisionmaking skill and ability to offer more specialized services and provide an attractive range of products were used to measure conceptual skills. Human skills were defined as the ability to work cooperatively with others, to communicate effectively, motivate and train others, resolve conflicts, and be a team player. The ability to motivate others, skills to maintain customer–supplier relations, and the ability to effectively empower and delegate were used as indicators of human skills. Expertise in a technical or functional area is the technical ability required for the success of a business. Careful budgeting skills, that is, skills to ensure that financial records are maintained, to secure capital, industry-specific skills and good cost control were used as the measure of technical skills. Identifying customer needs, technical or market opportunities and pursuing opportunities are the required entrepreneurial skills for SME owners. Risk-taking ability, creativity/innovation, ability to detect opportunities in the business environment and to act quickly were the indicators of entrepreneurial skills.

166 Table 1 Cronbach’s alpha of independent and dependent variables

W. A. N. Priyadarshanie Variables

Number of items

Cronbach’s alpha

Conceptual skills

09

0.827

Human skills

09

0.781

Technical skills

09

0.874

Entrepreneurial skills

05

0.840

Business success

06

0.911

With regard to business success, satisfaction with financial success including profitability, sales turnover, sales growth, and return on investment were assessed. Evaluation of non-financial success took the form of ratings of owners’ and employees’ overall satisfaction.

Results and Discussion Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents The findings revealed that more than 86% of SME owners in North Western Province were men, most of them had at least secondary school education (73.65%), the mean age range is 30–40 years and 88.4% of them were married. A total of 79.1% employed fewer than five people and 21% had been in business for less than five years. Of these responses, 83.7% came from small businesses and 16.2% were from medium-sized business. Most of the SMEs were sole traders that were founded with an investment of less than Rs. 500,000. Most respondents were engaged in retail or wholesale.

Reliability Evaluation Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was used to assess the reliability of the data (Table 1). Cronbach’s Alpha for four independent variables and the dependent variable were above 0.7. Therefore, the data collected for this research were considered to be internally stable and consistent.

Descriptive Statistics The views of 129 SME owners were collected. Respondents indicated their responses on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The third column of Table 2 presents the minimum values; a minimum value for

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Table 2 Descriptive statistics Conceptual skill

N

Minimum

Maximum

Mean

Std. deviation

129

2.78

5.00

4.0967

0.66423

Human skills

129

3.44

5.00

4.3618

0.44036

Technical skills

129

2.67

5.00

3.8727

0.69920

Entrepreneurial skills

129

2.40

5.00

3.8791

0.78915

Success

129

2.00

5.00

3.8798

0.77786

evaluating success of the business is 2. This indicates that all SME owners’ perception of their business success is above the ‘Dissatisfied’ level. The maximum value is 5 for all independent and dependent variables. The highest mean is recorded in human skills, indicating respondents possess more human skills than other skills. The lowest mean value is recorded in technical skills, reflecting that SME owners possess less technical skills (Table 2).

Correlation Analysis All the independent variables are significantly positively correlated with the dependent variable. Entrepreneurial skill records the highest correlation coefficient, indicating greater correlation with business success than other variables (Table 3). The second highest correlation coefficient was recorded for conceptual skills. Human skills show the lowest correlation coefficient of 0.385. However, all variables are significantly correlated with each other. Table 3 Results of correlation analysis

Business success Conceptual skills

Pearson correlation

0.593

Sig. (2-tailed)

0.000

Human skills

Pearson correlation

0.385

Sig. (2-tailed)

0.000

Technical skills

Pearson correlation

0.572

Sig. (2-tailed)

0.000

Pearson correlation

0.602

Sig. (2-tailed)

0.000

Entrepreneurial skills

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Table 4 Results of regression analysis

Coefficient beta

Significance

Constant

0.856

0.103

Conceptual skills

0.224

0.060

−0.136

0.371

Human skills Technical skills

0.366

0.001

Entrepreneurial skills

0.330

0.001

Regression Analysis According to the regression analysis, technical and entrepreneurial skills have a significant positive relationship with business success. Although conceptual skills show a positive relationship with business success, the relationship is insignificant. There is a negative relationship between human skills and business success. The R squared value is 0.474, which indicates that the four independent variables in the model account for 47.4% of the variance in the dependent variable (Business Success). It can therefore be concluded that the model is a moderately good model as there are other factors which account for 52.6% of the variance in business success (Dependent Variable) (Table 4). The R squared value of the model is 0.474 and this implies that the independent variable (entrepreneurial skills) accounts for 45.7% of the variation in the dependent variable (business success).

Conclusion The main focus of this study is the managerial and entrepreneurial skills or lack thereof and their impact on the entrepreneurial success of SMEs. To address the issue of managerial and entrepreneurial skills, the researcher assumed that conceptual, human, technical and entrepreneurial skills have an impact on the business success of SMEs. Empirical evidence concludes that there is a significant positive relationship between the technical and entrepreneurial skills of business owners and the success of their business. Technical skills were assessed in terms of careful budgeting skills; skills to ensure that financial records are maintained; skills to secure capital; good cost-control skills; and industry-specific skills, while entrepreneurial skills were assessed via risk-taking ability, creativity/innovation ability, ability to detect opportunities in the business environment and to act quickly. The results of this study are similar to the results of previous studies (Bandara 2014; Chandler and Jansen 1992; Lyons 2002; Kariyapperuma 2012). Conceptual skills were measured using planning skills; skills to obtain market share that suit the size and capacity of the company; skills to offer more specialized services and provide an attractive range

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of products; and decision-making skills, which are also critical to the success of SMEs (Yahya et al. 2011; Agbim 2013). In line with the conclusions of Muhammad et al. (2015), success can be better predicted by technical and conceptual skills as compared to human skills, which are measured by the ability to motivate others, ability to effectively empower and delegate, and skills to maintain customer–supplier relations. Since this research model contains 47.4% variance, there may be many other factors relevant to the business success of SMEs. Therefore, future research should be conducted by differentiating managerial skills variables. In addition, different cohorts of the population must be utilized to compare and contrast the results of this particular model as well as any alternative models.

References Agbim, K. C. (2013). The relative contribution of management skills to entrepreneurial success: A survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the trade sector. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 7(1), 08–16. Bandara, C. (2012) What matters for business success or failure? The Chartered Accountant. The Journal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, 46(2), 21–24. Chandler, G. N., & Jansen, E. (1992). The founder’s self-assessed competence and venture performance. Journal of Business Venturing, 7(3), 223–236. Chu, H. M., Orhan, K., Xiaowei, Z., & Kubilay, G. (2011). Chinese entrepreneurs: Motivations, success factors, problems, and business-related stress. Journal of Chinese Entrepreneurship, 3(2), 84–111. Francis, A., Olawale, O. F., & Rungani, E. (2015). The impact of motivations, personal values and management skills on the performance of SMEs in South Africa. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, 6(3), 308–322. Ibrahim A. & Olowu M. D. (2015) Impact of managerial skills on small scale businesses performance and growth in Nigeria. European Journal of Business and Management, 7(5), 109–114. Kariyapperuma, K. (2012). Barriers for innovation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka: An empirical study. In Proceedings of 1st Annual Research Conference, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. Karunananda, A., & Jayamaha, A. (2011) Financial practices and performance of small and medium sized enterprises in Sri Lanka. In Proceedings of International Conference on Business and Information. Lyons, T. S., & Lyons, J. S. (2002). Assessing Entrepreneurship Skills: The Key to Effective Enterprise Development Planning? In The Proceedings of 44th Annual Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (pp. 21–24). Baltimore, Maryland. Muhammad, K., Sumil, N., Mpora, B. E., Kazibwe, S., Sumil, M., Ssemugenyi, F., et al. (2015). Managerial skills and success of small-scale entrepreneurs in Kampala Uganda. Canadian International Journal of Social Science and Education, 3, 546–552. Narkhede, B. E., Rupendra, S. N., Rakesh, D. R., & Subhash, K. M. (2014). Impact of entrepreneurial skills on the firm’s performance: Evidence from manufacturing SMEs in India, International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 8(2), 216–236. Pansiri, J., & Temtime, Z. J. (2008). Assessing managerial skills in SMEs for capacity building. Journal of Management Development, 27(2), 251–260.

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Priyanath, H. M. S. (2006). Managerial Deficiencies in the small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka: An empirical evidence of SMEs in the Ratnapura District. Sabaragamuwa University Journal, 6(1), 93–105. Ramawickrama, J. (2011). Role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) towards sustainable development in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka (special reference to the SMEs of automobile service sector in the Matara District). Retrieved from http://www.kln.ac.lk/fcms/ICBI2011/ ICBI%20CD/ICBI%202011/Papers/SME%20315.pdf. Ranjith, J. G. S., & Banda, O. G. D. (2014). Determinants of success of small business: A surveybased study in Kuliyapitiya Divisional Secretariat of Sri Lanka. International Journal of Business, Social Research (IJBSR), 4(6), 38–50. Wickramasinghe, S. I. (2011). The status of SMEs in Sri Lanka and promotion of their innovation output through networking of S & T institutions. Tech—Monitor. Wijewardena, H., & De Zoysa, A. (2005). A factor analytic study of the determinants of success in manufacturing SMEs. In 35th EISB Conference Proceedings (pp. 1–1). Yahya, A. Z., Fatt, C. K., Othman, A. S., Rahman, I. A., & Moen, J. (2011). Management skills and entrepreneurial success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the service sector. African Journal of Business Management, 5(26), 10410–10418. Yusuf, A. (1995). Critical success factors for small business: Perceptions of South Pacific entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business Management, 33, 68–73.

The Effect of Knowledge Sharing Practices on Employees’ Knowledge and Capabilities in the Hotel Industry in Sri Lanka Chathuri P. Danthanarayana, P. H. T. Kumara, W. G. S. R. Wijesundara and J. Sutha Abstract The hotel industry is a service-intensive industry in which human resources hold a major place. Employees’ knowledge and capabilities are considered the most critical factors in such an industry. Organizations face negative experiences such as costly information storage systems because employees are reluctant to share their skills, knowledge, and experiences with other employees. Knowledge sharing can be considered an ideal model for conducting operations effectively in hotels. Because of the importance given in the business world in relation to knowledge sharing, limited studies have been conducted in the context of the effect of knowledge sharing on employees’ knowledge and capabilities. Therefore, researchers have explored the gaps by arguing that knowledge sharing combined with employee motivation enables knowledge and capability within organizations. Thus, the study is based on four objectives: First, it aims to identify the existing level of knowledge sharing practices in the hotel industry. Second, the study explores the relationship among knowledge sharing, motivation, and employees’ knowledge and capabilities. Third, it reveals the impact of knowledge sharing on employees’ knowledge, capabilities, and training. Finally, it examines how motivational factors mediate the relationship between knowledge sharing and employees’ knowledge and capabilities. Survey data were collected from two hundred operational level employees from four- and five-star hotels in Colombo. The study used the survey method and measures adopted from past literature. Further, this study used the multistage sampling technique to collect primary data. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, multiple regressions, the coefficient correlation, the Baron and Kenny mediator assessment and the Sobel test. The results of the study indicate that a positive relationship obtained between (1) knowledge sharing and (2) employees’ knowledge and capabilities. In addition, employee motivation was found to significantly and partially mediate the relationship between (1) knowledge sharing and (2) employees’ knowledge and capability (training and capability). The findings of the study suggest that C. P. Danthanarayana (B) · P. H. T. Kumara · W. G. S. R. Wijesundara · J. Sutha Department of Public Administration, Uva Wellassa University, Badulla, Sri Lanka e-mail: [email protected] P. H. T. Kumara e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_11

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top-level managers in the hotel industry can improve employees’ knowledge and capabilities by enhancing proper implementation of knowledge sharing practices through stimulating intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Keywords Knowledge sharing · Human resource practices · Employees’ knowledge and capabilities · Training · Capability · Employee motivation

Introduction In most modern organizations, knowledge sharing is an important aspect of Human Resource Management (HRM). Knowledge consists of insights and interpretations, is personalized, and refers to specific situations. According to the literature (Hansen et al. 2005), knowledge sharing is a discretionary behavior that matters to individuals and organizations because it encourages learning. Since the hotel industry is labor intensive, motivating employees is a very important factor when satisfying customers and providing delightful services for customers. Motivated employees make a commitment to survive in the business environment. Employers must identify the complexity of motivating employees. Within the competitive environment, organizations require highly skilled, motivated and loyal employees who are committed to work their best for an organization’s success. Organizations have been faced with negative experiences such as modern and costly information storage systems because employees do not intend to share their skills, knowledge and experiences with other employees. Therefore, several organizations have introduced some incentive schemes to encourage employees to share their knowledge. Employees need to search information referring them to do new things, taking more time to prepare for and complete tasks. Doing so reduces employees’ individual job performances and the organization’s overall efficiency. Therefore, the effectiveness and accuracy of work also decreases. All of these factors cause employee turnover to increase as a result of employees trying to leave the organization. The hotel industry has the challenge of attracting and retaining employees with expert knowledge and the required capabilities with practical experience, because they face a shortage of skilled personnel with the quality of human capital and key competencies. Most hotel employees do not share their knowledge effectively with their subordinates. Hotels have an issue with knowledge management (KM) that causes the defective utilization of resources. Knowledge management has become one of the most contested and debated concepts in the general business world. A large number of studies have been conducted regarding dimensions of knowledge (Szulanski 1996). However, many studies consider organizational processes, technologies, and knowledge transfer procedures. Knowledge management did not emerge as an academic field until the 1980s (Cooper 2006), and although practitioners and academics have increasingly recognized the

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potential benefits of KM, an ongoing dispute continues about the meaning of the concept (Davenport and Prusak 1998). Past researchers (Mooradian et al. 2006) identified the relationship between organizational culture and the knowledge sharing process at the team level. The hospitality and tourism industries were unable to reach the same levels of application of and empirical research in knowledge management as other fields. The study and practice of KM have grown rapidly in most industries, with the exception of the tourism and hospitality sector (Cooper 2006). Motivation was the most frequently mentioned reason for sharing knowledge, and through knowledge sharing, employees’ knowledge and capabilities will be improved. Previous research studies have not yet examined the relationship between (1) knowledge sharing and (2) employees’ knowledge and capabilities with the mediating impact of employee motivation. Therefore, this study designs a combined research model by linking (1) knowledge sharing and (2) employees’ knowledge and capabilities to achieve the objectives of identifying the following: • the existing level of knowledge sharing in the hotel industry, • the relationship among knowledge sharing, motivation, and employees’ knowledge and capabilities, • the impact of knowledge sharing on employees’ knowledge and capabilities and • how motivational factors mediate the relationship between knowledge sharing and employees’ knowledge and capabilities. This research is significant for employers to recognize the importance of knowledge sharing as a HRM technique, especially in the hospitality industry. This study contributes to identifying the level of knowledge sharing and benefits educators. This study gives a comprehensive idea of the importance of having knowledge sharing practices to gain knowledge and capabilities. Potential benefits from knowledge sharing include the spreading of knowledge through the organization, which can be used to make innovative products and services, to increase product and service quality, and to improve customer satisfaction. Hoteliers can apply the strategies identified in this study for their hotel operations. Furthermore, this research contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing by identifying that operational level employees’ motivations for knowledge sharing are sensitive to the internal fit among HRM practices utilized to enhance employees’ knowledge and capabilities. The findings of this study will give a recommendation to the hoteliers regarding the level of knowledge sharing among employees that will help hoteliers reconstruct the organization system to encourage knowledge sharing.

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Literature Review and Theoretical Model Knowledge Sharing (KS) Knowledge sharing is making knowledge available within an organization to other workers by a knowledge provider (Szulanski 1996). Most studies have proven that KS is important because it allows organizations to improve creativity and innovation performance and to reduce unnecessary learning efforts (Calantone et al. 2002). Literature has demonstrated that KS improves organizational effectiveness (Gupta and Govindarajan 2000). Past studies (Wang and Noe 2010) have recognized that KS is an important element for gaining competitive advantages for companies. The hospitality industry is identified as a service industry by its output of service products, which are focused on the demand for accommodation, food and beverage (Buttle 1986). Further studies (Knapp 1998) have stated that knowledge is considered an asset in all sectors of the economy and recommends that hoteliers implementing KS strategies would find costs in terms of money, time and effort in terms of the overall effectiveness of hotels. In the hospitality industry, only a small number of hotels have implemented knowledge management systems, although they are likely to gain benefits from knowledge management because hotel chains located dispersedly require an overall quality standard (Bouncken 2002). Early studies of KS mainly focused on employees’ abilities (capabilities), motivation (rewards and appraisals), and opportunity (training) with respect to their knowledge sharing (Isabel et al. 2010).

Employees’ Knowledge and Capability (EKC) Based on past literature, the researcher identified the common two dimensions of EKC; training and capability.

Training Training is an intrusion system, developed to increase job performance on an individual basis (Chiaburu and Tekleab 2005). Training is a crucial strategy for organizations to guide employees to gain the necessary knowledge, competencies and skills to overcome challenges (Goldstein and Gilliam 1990). According to a past study (Chen et al. 2004), training is important when fear occurs during job performance due to the lack of skills, unfavorable causes, lack of communication skills, annoyance and other factors controlling situations. Studies (Rowden and Conine 2005) have stated that training allows organizational employees to know well how to satisfy their customers.

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Recent research argues that abilities (training) have a positive impact on employee performance (Jiang et al. 2012). Training shapes a collective capacity to share and maintain knowledge to create new knowledge (Collins and Smith 2006). The literature shows (Tsai et al. 2007) a positive impact on organizational goals when employees are trained, when they can satisfy the job requirements, and when they are loyal to their organizations. Researchers (Lang 1992) explained that an organizational training system helps to enhance the productivity of employees and to achieve goals. Multinational companies provide opportunities (training) for employees to work closely with other employees and encourage knowledge sharing through work teams (Cabrera et al. 2006).

Capability Capability is the ability of firms or employees to generate new ideas for the development of new products and services to achieve better organizational performance and competitive advantage (De Jong and Den Hartog 2010). Organizations can evaluate employee performance for a specific task and the effectiveness of achieving goals through capability (Chen and Lou 2002). Mutual trust between knowledge senders and recipients results in effective knowledge sharing through open communication. The existing knowledge of employees, self-confidence, team work abilities, communication skills, leadership skills and other required skills are more important than other factors to the capabilities of employees to work properly and share knowledge effectively. The literature (Cabrera et al. 2006) has proven that motivation mediates the relationship between KS and EKCs by stimulating employees’ knowledge sharing behaviors. Enacting multiple Human Resource Management practices simultaneously has a much larger impact on knowledge sharing motivation than individual level mechanisms. Some level of direct relationship obtains between KS with EKCs. However, the relationship is stronger when employee motivation acts as a mediator within the relationship.

Employee Motivation (EM) “Work-motivation is a set of energetic forces that originate both within as well as beyond an individual’s being to initiate work related behavior and to determine its form, direction, intensity and duration” (Pinder 1998). One researcher (Baron 1983) defined motivation as “a collection or arrangement of procedures involved in push and pull forces that makes the actions stronger towards success”. Motivation is identified as a key element in effective knowledge flow in an organization (Argote et al.

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2003). According to the literature, the factors influencing employees’ motivations and knowledge sharing are important to understand (Szulanski 1996). Motivations were the most frequently mentioned reason for sharing knowledge. People share knowledge because of resources, altruistic motivations, extrinsic global incentives, and social motivations. These factors are motivations to share knowledge and develop strategies to increase knowledge sharing among employees within organizations. Here, motivation is measured through rewards systems in organizations: extrinsic and intrinsic. Rewarding plays a major role in knowledge transference within organizations. Rewards have a more positive impact on the motivation to knowledge share when employees experience a noncontrolling job design and climate in support of knowledge sharing. Extrinsic rewards are financial rewards such as basic salary (pay), incentives, bill payments and bonuses. Pay has a direct link with employee efficiency (Bishop 1987). Organizations must have an effective extrinsic reward system to earn better performance and greater efficiency from employees (Carraher et al. 2006). The literature has stated tangible rewards including pay and promotion (Porter and Lawler 1968) play a very large role in motivating employees. According to one researcher (Mottaz 1985) extrinsic rewards can be defined as organizational and social rewards. Organizational rewards include pay, bonuses and fringe benefits. Social rewards support employees by creating interest in achieving a company’s common objectives. Intrinsic rewards are intangible in nature such as appreciation, caring attitudes from employers and job rotation. These rewards are found within the job such as satisfaction from successfully completing a task or appreciation from supervisors (employers) (Ajila and Abiola 2004). Researchers (Porter and Lawler 1968) have said that intrinsic rewards are the satisfaction employees’ gain when they do their work better. These rewards include job satisfaction, fulfilling a challenge competently, social interactions with colleagues and enjoyment in the work place. Previous studies found a positive impact of rewards such as recognition and appraisals on motivation, because these rewards strengthen the receivers’ feelings (Deci et al. 1999). Support received from managers and colleagues is one of the most effective determinants of knowledge sharing among employees (Cabrera et al. 2006). Intrinsically motivating employees by providing intrinsic rewards has positive effects on knowledge sharing activities (Cabrera et al. 2006). Past researchers (Wang and Noe 2010) have argued the existence of an impact of extrinsic and intrinsic motivational rewards on the knowledge sharing willingness of employees. The main factors driving employees to share knowledge are the potential benefits, costs, rewards, reputations, social structures, personal trust, and justice and shared norms (Lazarova and Tarique 2005). A past researcher (Huber 2001) has stated that the lack of sufficient extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to compensate individuals for knowledge sharing becomes a common barrier to knowledge sharing.

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Fig. 1 Conceptual framework (Source Model developed based on the literature)

Conceptual Framework Based on the conceptual framework (Fig. 1), the researcher identified KS as an independent variable, EKCs as a dependent variable and EM as a mediator. Hypotheses were developed because of the contradictory results found in the literature, and they are tested to achieve the research objectives, which are to identify the relationships between the KS and EKCs mediated by EM. Each relationship is tested as mediated by EM.

Hypotheses H0: H1: H0: H2: H0: H3: H0: H4:

No relationship obtains between KS and EKCs. A positive relationship obtains between KS and EKCs. No relationship obtains between KS and EM. A positive relationship obtains between KS and EM. No relationship obtains between EM and EKCs. A positive relationship obtains between EM and EKCs. No relationship obtains between KS and EKCs when mediated by EM. A positive relationship obtains between KS and EKCs when mediated by EM.

Research Methodology Research Population The population of this study comprised the operational level employees of four- and five-star hotels in the Colombo area.

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Research Sample The researcher selected a sample of 200 operational level employees in the hospitality industry to collect the data and to check the responses of different employees. Target respondents were operational level employees of four- and five-star hotels from four major departments: front office, kitchen, housekeeping, and food and beverage. The operational level can be considered the most knowledge using level because employees require bottom level knowledge, knowledge regarding hotel operations, knowledge about top management decisions, updating information within the hotel, knowledge regarding guests and required information about destinations near the hotel.

Sampling Technique Two hundred operational level employees were selected from five “four-star” and five “five-star” hotels in the Colombo region. The sample was selected by using a multistage sampling technique and twenty employees were selected from each hotel. Therefore, data were collected from five employees from each department (Fig. 2). Hotels were selected by using a simple random sampling technique.

Fig. 2 Sample of the study and sampling technique

The Effect of Knowledge Sharing Practices … Table 1 Cronbach’s alpha values for each variable

179 Number of items

Cronbach’s alpha

Knowledge sharing

8

0.819

Employee motivation

9

0.721

Employee knowledge and capability

14

0.837

Source SPSS output from field information

The survey was conducted through personal visits to collect primary data. Doing so also assured respondents about their willingness to take part in the activity before giving them the questionnaire. For this purpose, the researcher used a self-administered questionnaire completed from the right respondents for true results. The questionnaire consisted of four main sections (A, B, C and D). Check boxes were used to gather data regarding demographic factors, and five-point Likert-scale questions were used to collect required data for the dependent and independent variables.

Pilot Test A pilot test was conducted with the involvement of 40 operational level employees to measure the reliability of the data collection instrument. The reliability of the instrument was assist by the Cronbach’s alpha test, and the results are listed in Table 1. The result indicates that all variables have a Cronbach’s alpha greater than the standard criteria of reliability (0.7). Each variable is acceptable and their reliabilities are ideal for further results.

Data Analysis Method Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 23.0 software was used for analysis of collected data. Descriptive statistics, Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation, multiple linear regression analysis and the Baron and Kenny model of mediator analysis were used to analyze the data.

Multiple Regression Model Y = f (X 1 , X 2 , X 3 , . . .)

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EKCs = β0 + β1 KS + β2 EM + ε

Independent variable

X 1 —Knowledge Sharing (KS)

Dependent variable

Y—Employee Knowledge and Capability (EKCs)

Mediator

M—Employee Motivation (EM)

Controllable variables

X 2 —Organizational Culture X 3 —Top Management Commitment X 4 —Job Safety X 5 —Technological Advancements

These controllable variables influence the dependent variable; however, the researcher does not analyze the impact of these variables on the dependent variable in this study. The Baron and Kenny model was used to identify the mediating impact between variables. The first step is to assess the relationship between the independent (KS) and the dependent variables (EKCs) EKCs = β0 + β1 KS + ε

c path

The second step is to assess the relationship between the independent (KS) and the mediating variables (EM) KS = β0 + β2 EM + ε

a path

The third step is to assess the relationship between the dependent (EKCs) and the mediating variables (EM) EM = β0 + β1 EKCs + ε

b path

The fourth step is to conduct a multiple regression analysis with the independent (KS) and the mediating variables (EM) predicting the dependent variable (EKCs): EKC = β0 + β1 KS + β2 EM + ε

c path

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Sobel Test The Sobel test (Preacher and Hayes 2008) was conducted on the regression results to verify the mediating impact of EM on EKCs and KS independently.

Data Analysis and Interpretation Profile of the Sample The study included 132 (66%) male and 68 (34%) female employees, representing a male participation of approximately twice the female participation. This statistic means the hotel industry has a higher number of male than female employees. Nineteen employees (9.5%) have the minimum educational qualification of a G.C.E. Advanced Level, and two employees (1%) have the highest educational qualification of a Master’s Degree. The majority (111 employees, 55.5%) of the operational level employees hold diplomas. Sixty-eight employees (34%) have degrees. To identify the existing level of KS in the hotel industry, descriptive statistics were analyzed. Table 2 represents the mean and the standard deviation, derived by analyzing the field information. According to the table, the mean value of KS is 3.6669, implying that employees almost agreed with KS. With regard to the standard deviation, the higher value represents that the response for KS is widely dispersed from its mean value. The coefficient of variance, 10.34%, reflects a different level of perception towards the KS. Table 2 Mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variance Mean

Std. deviation

Minimum

Maximum

Coefficient of variation

3.6669

0.37912

2.63

4.50

10.34%

Source SPSS output from field information

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Figure 3 illustrates that the level of KS among operational level employees is moderate, 97%. When compared with high (1%) and low (2%) levels of KS, this result is much higher. According to Table 3, the importance of knowledge in performing daily tasks is at the highest level (4.645) compared with seven other dimensions. Willingness to share knowledge is also high. All eight dimensions show higher responses, positively affecting the level of KS among operational level employees. Figure 4 clearly magnifies the broad view of KS in terms of its indicators.

Fig. 3 Level of knowledge sharing (Source SPSS output from field information)

194 = 97% 200

150

100

50 2 = 1%

4 = 2% 0 Low

Medium

High

Table 3 Mean and standard deviation of knowledge sharing dimensions Mean

Std. deviation

Importance of knowledge for daily tasks

4.6450

0.49008

Opportunities to learn new things

4.0150

0.77962

Willingness to share knowledge

4.5300

0.62534

Top management commitment

1.9600

0.67131

Opportunities to get-together

3.3300

0.79641

Opportunities to form teams

3.4000

0.91333

Opportunities to build close attachments

3.4350

0.91100

Employee opinion about importance of KS to hotel

4.0200

1.38172

Source SPSS output from field information

The Effect of Knowledge Sharing Practices …

Employee opinion about importance of KS to hotel

Opportunities to build close attachments

183

Importance of knowledge for daily tasks 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

Opportunities to learn new things

Willingness to share knowledge

Top management commitment

Opportunities to form teams

Opportunities to get together

Fig. 4 Distribution of knowledge sharing indicators (Source SPSS output from field information)

Correlation of the Coefficient Correlation analysis was conducted to identify the association between KS and EKCs and the mediating impact of EM. Table 4 shows the analyzed data regarding the association of variables. All the hypotheses are significant at 0.01, which is the standard significance level (Figs. 5, 6, and 7). Therefore, all hypotheses were accepted. A strong positive correlation obtains between KS and EKCs. Table 4 Correlation results of the hypothesis

Pearson correlation

Significance (2 tailed)

H1 KS versus EKC

0.717***

0.000

H2 KS versus EM

0.491***

0.000

H3 EM versus EKC

0.283***

0.003

H4 KS versus EKC mediated by EM

0.239***

0.000

***Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) Source SPSS output from field information

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Fig. 5 c path analysis—relationship between KS and EKCs (Source Based on the Baron and Kenny mediation model)

Fig. 6 a path analysis—relationship between KS and EM (Source Based on the Baron and Kenny mediation model)

Fig. 7 b path analysis—relationship between EM and EKCs (Source Based on the Baron and Kenny mediation model)

A weak positive correlation obtains between KS and EM. A weak positive correlation obtains between EM and EKCs. A weak positive correlation obtains between KS and EKCs when mediated by EM.

Multiple Regression According to Table 5, the correlation of KS is 0.791. The R-square of 0.578 is the proportion of variance in EKCs that can be explained by KS. This result is an overall measure of the strength of association between two variables. An adjustment of the R-square is 0.567, which reflects the addition of extraneous predictors to the model. The standard error of the estimate is 0.31006, which is comparably lower than the mean value. Table 5 Model summary of the values

a

Model

R

R2 Square

Adjusted R2

Std. error of the estimate

1

0.791a

0.578

0.567

0.31006

Predictors: (constant) average_employee_knowledge_and_capabilities Source SPSS output from field information

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Table 6 Coefficient table β (unstandardized coefficient)

Standard error

β (standardized coefficient)

t-value

p-value

0.192

0.046

0.283

4.145

0.000

Source SPSS output from field information

Mediation Impact Relationship Between KS and EKCs Step 1: The significance between KS and EKCs. Table 6 illustrates β Coefficient value of EKCs is 0.192, and the standard error is 0.046. However, the significance of the regression is 0.000, which is less than the standard significance level at 0.01. Therefore, according to the mediation model (Baron and Kenny 1986) c path is statistically significant. EKCs = 2.922 + 0.192 KS + ε Step 2: The significance between KS and EM. In accordance with the regression equation, the constant value is +0.982. This result implies the value of EM when KS equals zero. Furthermore, the coefficient of KS is 0.698. This result is the average change in EM due to a one-unit change in KS. The result suggests that when KS increases by one unit, EM increases by 0.698, approximately 0.7 times. In addition, it implies a strong positive relationship between KS and EM. EM = 0.982 + 0.698 KS + ε According to the outcome of the regression model, Table 7 indicates the status of significance 0.00 is less than the level at 0.01. Therefore, according to the mediation model (Baron and Kenny 1986), a path is statistically significant. Step 3: The significance between EM and EKCs. In accordance with the regression equation, the constant value is +2.402. This result implies the value of EKCs when the EM equals zero. Furthermore, the coefficient of EM is 0.342. The result is the average change in EKCs due to a one-unit Table 7 Coefficient table β (unstandardized coefficient)

Standard error

β (standardized coefficient)

t-value

p-value

0.698

0.048

0.717

14.479

0.000

Source SPSS output from field information

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Table 8 Coefficient table β (unstandardized coefficient)

Standard error

β (standardized coefficient)

t-value

p-value

0.342

0.043

0.491

7.937

0.000

Source SPSS output from field information

change in EM. It suggests that when EM increases by one unit, EKCs increases by 0.342, approximately 0.3 times. In addition, the result implies a positive relationship between EM and EKCs. EKCs = 2.402 + 0.342 EM + ε According to the outcome of the regression model, Table 8 indicates the status of significance 0.00 is less than the level at 0.01. Therefore, according to the mediation model (Baron and Kenny 1986), b path is statistically significant. Step 4: The following findings demonstrate the relationship between KS and EM by using multiple regression. EKCs = 2.516 + 0.167 KS + 0.414 EM + ε According to the results, the value of constant (β 0 ) was 2.516, implying that while the other two variables remain zero or constant, the EKCs is 2.516. Hence, the p-value of the constant term was considered significant (p < 0.01). Additionally, all the values of the beta coefficients were positive, evidencing a positive relationship between the variables. The beta coefficient of the KS was 0.167. This result illustrates that if KS increases by one unit while other variables are constant, EKCs increases by 0.167 units. Its p-value was less than 0.01 level of significance; therefore, a positive relationship obtains between the KS and EKCs with the presence of the mediator. Similarly, with regard to the EM, the beta coefficient indicates a value of 0.414. This result implies that if EM increases by one unit while all the other variables stay constant, EKCs increases by 0.414 units. The p-value of the variable was 0.00, which is less than 0.01 level of significance. Therefore, a relationship obtains between the EM and EKCs. According to the outcome of the multiple regression models, c path is also significant. Therefore, when the mediator is in the model, the effect of the independent on the dependent variable is reduced. The unstandardized coefficient difference is 0.025. This result implied that EM partially mediates the relationship between KS and EKCs at 0.01 significance level. To verify the results of the above tests, researcher conducted the Sobel test, and the result of the test is as follows: Sobel Test—Calculating the indirect effect

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 Sab =

(Sb .a)2 + (Sa .b)2

where, S b = standard error of path b S a = standard error of path a a = coefficient of path a b = coefficient of path b. Sobel Test Results (KS and EKCs) Indirect effect = a × b 0.698 × 0.342 0.2387  Sobel’s SE =

(Sb · a)2 + (Sa · b)2

0.0342 (Source: http://quantpsy.org/sobel/sobel.htm). Z value = Indirect effect/Sobel’s SE 0.2387/0.0342 6.979532 Standardized indirect effect = (standardized coefficient of path a × standardized coefficient of path b) βa × βb 0.717 × 0.491 0.352047 Portion of independent variable on dependent variable due to mediator   = c − c /c 0.192 − 1.167 0.192 0.1302 13.02% The above Sobel calculation illustrates the portion of knowledge sharing on employee knowledge and capability due to the mediating effect of employee motivation, which is 13.02% at the 0.05 significance level.

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Knowledge sharing (0.000) is significant because its p-value is less than 0.01 of the standard significance level. Therefore, the null hypothesis can be rejected. The first variable (constant) associated as the Y intercept, the height of the regression line when it crosses the Y axis, which means this result is the predicted value of employee knowledge and capability when all other variables are 0. Under unstandardized coefficients, B values are the values for the regression equation for predicting the dependent variable from the independent variable. According to the results of Table 9, the regression equation can be developed as follows: EKCs = β0 + β1 KS + ε EKCs = 2.240 + 0.167KS + ε The coefficient for average KS is 0.167. Therefore, for every unit increase in KS, an approximately 0.167 point increase in the EKCs can be expected as the mediating impact of EM, all other variables remaining constant.

Conclusions The existing level of KS among the operational level employees is at a moderate level. From the sample, 97% represents a moderate level of KS. At the same time, 1% of a high level of KS can be seen, and 2% from the sample conveys a low level of KS. Employee knowledge and capability are measured through training and capability. Moreover, the results support the mediating role of EM and maintaining the relation between KS and EKCs. The model was tested within the hotel industry, and if managers recognize the link between KS and EKCs, they should be able to actively manage their human resources through a variety of practices to stimulate the capability of creating knowledge as well as the capability of sharing and maintaining knowledge. Therefore, employers (managers) may use HR practices to gain better levels of innovation outcomes. Motivation has been measured through rewards—extrinsic and intrinsic—proven by employers in organizations. Recent research within this stream of literature has mainly focused on addressing the relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards with KS (Cabrera et al. 2006). The current literature provides different results regarding the effects of rewards on KS. The literature (Quigley et al. 2007) indicates that KS enhances the effect of rewards on it. The current knowledge-sharing literature has illustrated how a wide variety of HRM practices such as rewards (Cabrera et al. 2006) and training (Gagné 2009) have a positive impact on KS. Employee motivation has a positive impact on EKCs: training and capability. Employees have more knowledge and capabilities when they are motivated. Doing

0.201 0.042

0.218

Variable: Average_Employee_Knowledge_and_Capability Source SPSS output from field information

a Dependent

2.240

0.167

Average_Knowledge_Sharing

β

β Std. error

Standardized coefficients

Unstandardized coefficients

1 (Constant)

Model

Table 9 Regression table

4.653

11.161

t

0.000

0.000

Sig.

0.662

Zero order

0.344

Partial

Correlations

0.266

Part

0.341

Tolerance

2.351

VIF

Collinearity statistics

The Effect of Knowledge Sharing Practices … 189

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so creates confidence in employees, and they perform their work with full interest. It creates a positive influence, as the results show. This research shows that high levels of motivation are required to gain knowledge and capabilities for employees more than the simple implementation of knowledge sharing strategies. With this study, managers can obtain a clear indication of the fundamental importance of establishing motivational factors to share knowledge and to gain knowledge and capabilities. As knowledge sharing is the source of enhancing organizational efficiency and effectiveness, managers should encourage their employees. Knowledge sharing has a direct impact on employee motivation. As the results show, knowledge sharing has a positive significant relationship with employee motivation, which plays a partial mediating role between (1) knowledge sharing and (2) employee knowledge and capabilities.

Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for Future Researches EKCs can be measured using different dimensions. Here, the researcher used only training and capability. EM is a large area with many measurements. In this study, the researcher used main two rewards—extrinsic and intrinsic—to measure motivation. In this study, EM acts as a mediator. However, other mediators can influence the relationship between KS and EKCs. Therefore, it is reasonable to research the area regarding the other dimensions of EKCs and mediators among them. With regard to data collection, it was difficult to obtain completely true responses from the employees because sometimes they were unwilling to complete questionnaires and did not reveal true information.

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Porter, L. W., & Lawler, E. E. (1968). Managerial attitudes and performance. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press. Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Assessing mediation in communication research (pp. 13–54). London: The Sage sourcebook of advanced data analysis methods for communication research. Quigley, N. R., Tesluk, P. E., Locke, E. A., & Bartol, K. M. (2007). A multilevel investigation of the motivational mechanisms underlying knowledge sharing and performance. Organization Science, 18, 71–88. Rowden, R. W., & Conine, C. T. J. (2005). The impact of workplace learning and job satisfaction in small US commercial banks. Journal of Workplace Learning, 17, 15. Szulanski, G. (1996). Exploring internal stickness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 27–43. Tsai, P., Yen, C. Y., Huang, L., & Huang, I. (2007). A study on motivating employee’s learning commitment in the post-downsizing era: Job satisfaction perspective. Journal of World Business, 42, 157. Wang, S., & Noe, R. A. (2010). Knowledge sharing: A review and directions for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 20, 115.

Effect of Çe¸sme and Chios Port Services on Visitor Satisfaction Esin Özkan, Nilgün Avcı, Selcen Seda Türksoy, Samet Can Curkan and Mehmet Alper Nisari

Abstract Guest satisfaction is one of the most important issues in the service industry. It can be defined as individuals’ judgments after their service experiences, which affect their purchasing decisions as well as recommendations they give to others. Many studies have investigated the importance of service quality for customer satisfaction. This study aimed to determine the effect of ferry terminal service quality on customer satisfaction. Ferry terminals are important for customer satisfaction since they present the first image of the tourist destination. As such, these terminals are related to the competitiveness of destinations. While there have been many studies on the effect of airport terminal service quality on customer satisfaction, relatively few have considered the effect of ferry terminals. This study, therefore, investigated the effect on customer satisfaction of ferry terminal service quality at Çe¸sme and Chios. In 2017, 140,811 guests visited Chios island while 139,344 visited Çe¸sme. As a result of simplified visa regulations, the number of passengers carried between Chios and Çe¸sme ferry terminals has greatly increased. For this study, questionnaires (with scales for service quality and customer satisfaction, along with demographic questions) were administered to passengers at Chios and Çe¸sme terminals between November 2017 and June 2018. SPSS was used to analyze the obtained data. Keywords Customer satisfaction · Çe¸sme · Chios · Terminal services

E. Özkan (B) · N. Avcı · S. S. Türksoy · S. C. Curkan · M. A. Nisari Cesme Faculty of Tourism, Ege University, ˙Izmir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] N. Avcı e-mail: [email protected] S. S. Türksoy e-mail: [email protected] S. C. Curkan e-mail: [email protected] M. A. Nisari e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_12

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Introduction Increasingly gaining recognition as a tourist destination, Çe¸sme attracts a great number of tourists from diverse regions. The district’s geographic proximity to Chios and the Greek government’s implementation of border entry point visas have increased accessibility to the island for domestic and foreign tourists. In this way, it is a frequent destination for tourists coming from different geographic areas and passing through to Chios. There are regular ferry services between Çe¸sme and Chios 7 days a week during the summer season and two days a week during the winter season. One such service is carried out by means of fast catamarans. The distance between Çe¸sme and Chios is eight nautical miles, and the travel time is 45 min by ferry. In 2016, 280,155 people passed through the ports of Chios and Çe¸sme. Given the high volume of visitors, the crowds can cause malfunctions at the Çe¸sme and Chios port services, especially during the summer season. Since the ports are the first places encountered while traveling to the main tourism destination, they play an important role in the image of the district as perceived by visitors. It is important, therefore, to identify the expectations and service quality perceptions of visitors who receive port service at Çe¸sme and Chios. In the literature, studies that measure the service quality of ports are limited. Moreover, no study has investigated customer satisfaction and service quality at the Çe¸sme and Chios ports. In the relevant research, the face-to-face survey method has been used to collect data. For this study, survey forms were given to 427 people who used the Çe¸sme and Chios ports. Excluding invalid surveys, 380 surveys were obtained for analysis. The surveys were conducted by the research team at the ports of Çe¸sme and Chios, as well as during ferry transfer.

Literature Summary Service and Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction In management science, especially total quality management studies, quality is the level at which the expectations of people who receive services or goods are met (Yamak 1998). Definitions of quality have adopted customer-centered, productioncentered, and holistic approaches (Halis 2010). The European Organization for Quality and the American Society for Quality define quality as the totality of the features and characteristics of a product or a service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (Clausing 1990, p. 66, cited in Halis 2010). The term service should be defined before discussing service quality. Service has been defined in various ways according to its usage. A service is an act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything (Kotler 1997, 467).

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Vargo and Lusch (2008) and Solomon et al. (1985) developed different definitions of service. In these definitions, the features and dimensions of service and can be summarized as follows (Özer and Özdemir 2007, pp. 11–13): • • • • • • • •

Service provides benefits to parties and meets their needs Service bears on knowledge and ability Goods and services are inseparable Service emerges as a result of acts, processes, and interactions Service is depleted immediately, and the output is abstract Production and consumption happen at the same time Customers are involved in the production process The measurement of service quality is subjective.

Most definitions of service quality focus on evaluating expectations before service provision and the actual performance after service provision (Tütüncü 2001). It is becoming more difficult to provide and measure service quality following the features and dimensions listed above. It would be useful, therefore, to identify the primary factors affecting service quality. Factors affecting service quality that have been identified in the literature include accessibility, communication, ability, courtesy, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy (Kotler et al. 1999, cited in Küçükaltan 2007, p. 63). Parasuraman et al. (1985) suggested that providing excellent service is a very profitable strategy for companies. Considering the potential benefits for companies, adopting “excellent service quality” is a rational approach. Positive outputs of service quality include new customer acquisition, increased business volume with current customers, lower customer turnover, reduced price-competition impact, and fewer mistakes during service production. Conducting qualitative and quantitative research to measure service quality, Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) developed the SERVQUAL scale, which consists of 22 items that are widely used to measure service quality (Table 1). The SERVQUAL model was the first tool developed to measure service quality, and it is still widely used (Parasuraman et al. 1988). The scale is composed Table 1 Dimensions of the SERVQUAL scale Dimensions

Propositions

Definitions

Tangibles

1–4

The appearance of physical facilities, equipment, and materials

Reliability

5–9

Performing the service in a dependable and accurate way as promised

Responsiveness

10–13

Providing help with customers’ demands and expectations, as well as the problems encountered

Assurance

14–17

The knowledge, courtesy, and trustworthiness of employees

Empathy

18–22

The ability of employees to put themselves in the customer’s place

Source Parasuraman et al. (1988, p. 23)

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of five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Tangibles are physical facilities, equipment, and materials; reliability refers to performing the service in an excellent, dependable, and accurate way; responsiveness is the willingness to help customers regarding their demands, expectations, and problems encountered; assurance corresponds to employees’ knowledge and courtesy, and their ability to inspire trust and confidence; and, lastly, empathy is employees’ ability to put themselves in the customer’s shoes. Despite its widespread use, the SERVQUAL model has also faced criticism (Özkul 2007, pp. 132–133). Many studies have associated customer satisfaction with service quality. This is because customers, after buying and consuming goods or services, or during such processes, form opinions about the goods or services, mainly in consideration of quality. Aside from the qualitative characteristics of purchased goods, the service provided also plays an important determining role. Therefore, many studies have been based on the measurement of service quality (Tütüncü 2001, p. 108). For the present research, service quality with regard to ports was analyzed along with customer satisfaction. In the literature, mediating factors have been examined in terms of the effect of service quality and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty (Caruana 2002).

Service Quality at Ports Providing Passenger Transport and Customer Satisfaction As part of the services sector, the tourism business produces and provides services. Since production and service are concurrent, controlling service quality can be difficult (Kozak and Kozak 2012, p. 66). Rapid changes in consumers’ preferences and habits create a need for continuous novelty in the tourism market (Kozak and Kozak 2013). Moreover, since consumers are becoming more aware and more numerous, demands and expectations are increasing as well (Koç 2015). Adjusting to these changes and establishing emotional bonds with customers while responding to their demands and expectations are becoming crucial for business sustainability and competitive advantage. Considering the abovementioned features, service quality can be generally explained as consumers’ impressions (perceptions) of services, which increase businesses’ competitiveness and give them advantages. As structural features of tourism, tourism products have heterogeneous characteristics. Physical, natural, cultural, and human values exist as a whole in the minds of tourists visiting a region (Kozak and Kozak 2015, p. 67). Therefore, having a negative experience with one aspect of intertwined, hard-to-discern tourism services might affect a tourist’s impressions of other aspects. Although not directly related to the tourism sector, elements that make up the tourism product as well as services provided by other stakeholders can affect tourists’ satisfaction levels and intentions to revisit (Kozak and Kozak 2015, p. 76).

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To provide satisfactory products and services in tourism, “destination-based total quality management” programs should be planned in conjunction with all relevant stakeholders at a destination (Kozak 2004). In terms of service quality and customer satisfaction, it is important to provide quality transport services for the sustainability of the tourism destination. Accessibility makes it easier to visit a region and is important for foreign currency inflow and potential tourist attraction (Arıkan and Ahipa¸sao˘glu 2005, p. 11). Defining service in tourist transportation, which exists in the services sector, is quite difficult because of its intangibility, instability, and impartibility. It is important, therefore, for transportation services, which enable the tourism phenomenon, to adopt innovative practices to keep pace with changing and increasing customer expectations. While many studies have investigated service quality and customer satisfaction, few have specifically examined ports, and those focused on port selection and transporters rather than service. Yeo et al. (2015) and Lopez and Poole (1998) studied port quality while Brady and Cronin (2001) defined service quality characteristics in terms of interaction quality, physical environment quality, and outcome quality. The present study is important because service quality and customer satisfaction tend to be low in the maritime sector, especially regarding ports. Sea transport is conducted between two or more wharfs by means of small, fast ships providing scheduled services; passengers can transport their cars, bicycles, motorcycles, or other means of transport on the boats (Ahipa¸sao˘glu and Arıkan 2003, p. 96). The wharfs, where the vessel services start and end, establish the components of sea transport. In the literature, ports differ from typical pickup and drop-off points and show differences in terms of the services they provide. Services that are expected to be provided at ports are as follows (Arıkan 2015, p. 81): • • • •

Favorable water depth Anchorage Passenger lounge Facilities for food and beverages, shopping, rest, communication, bathrooms, post offices, and exchange bureaus • Providing protection for the ship passengers and personnel • Water and electricity supplies; liquid and solid waste disposal services. The conditions expected of the drop-off and pickup ports are as follow (Arıkan 2015, p. 81): • • • • •

Baggage handling systems Registration and passport desks Sufficient suit carriers and taxi stands Information desks Security services.

In addition to these, there should be enough parking lots, customs waiting points, and drop-off and pickup places for both passengers and vehicles at the ports providing ferry services. When providing services, transportation firms should use quality and

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attractiveness in advantageous ways to compete with other firms (Küçükaltan and Özer 2015, p. 230). Studying the factors affecting perceived service quality in port management, Arlı (2012) found that service affects intention to revisit, intention to recommend to others, and general satisfaction level; further, a relation was found between general satisfaction level, intention to revisit, and intention to recommend to other people. That study concluded that to boost service quality in port management, in addition to physical elements, the following items are important: employees’ eagerness to work, customer-centered operations, establishing empathy to understand problems and create solutions, and being respectful and good-humored toward customers. Öztürk et al. (2013) evaluated the effect of renovation activities on management performance in ports. They found that renovation activities improved financial performance, increased customer satisfaction, positively affected internal processes, and provided opportunities for learning and improvement. Chen et al. (2015) conducted similar research on airlines—one of the building blocks of transportation services. The fact that airlines need to provide fast, convenient, comfortable, and secure services increases the importance of service quality and customer satisfaction issues. Thus, they created an evaluation model to investigate the effects of service innovation, customer satisfaction, and customer appreciation. Customer appreciation was found to be influenced by customer satisfaction and service innovation. Renovations such as check-in kiosks (for more convenient check-in), x-rays, social media communication, and micro-hotels at the airports had a positive mediating effect between customer satisfaction and customer appreciation. Security control was found to be the most important evaluation factor for customer satisfaction.

Çe¸sme and Chios Built in 1991, Çe¸sme (Ulusoy) port, located at the westernmost end of the Aegean region and in the center of Çe¸sme, is the best organized roll-on/roll-off port in the Aegean Sea. Assessed in terms of location, the port has important potential as a roll-on/roll-off port. Aside from Çe¸sme port, ˙Izmir central port and Ku¸sadası cruise port are muchfrequented places in the region for passenger and cruise ships. Corporatized in 2003, Çe¸sme port is still run by Ulusoy. Port Çe¸sme has shown a big increase in incoming and outgoing passengers since 2012. Although Port Çe¸sme was affected by events in 2016 that adversely affected Turkish tourism, tourism has continued to increase since 2017, when about 150,000 people passed through Port Çe¸sme. Port Chios, built in July 1985 and located on the Greek island of Chios, plays an important role in the island’s development. The attractive pedestrian walk around the port provides employment for many people living on the island. The port is situated at the eastern end of the island, 3.5 miles from Çe¸sme. The port can harbor two cargo and passenger ships at the same time. The maximum height of the port is 8.2 m. In

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the southern part, there is a marina for yachts, sailing boats, and fishing boats. In 2017, more than 167,000 passengers travelled between Çe¸sme and Chios.

Materials and Methods Importance and Purpose of the Research Today, customer satisfaction is understood as the efforts made to increase the quality of provided services, not as a customer satisfaction program. It was expected that this study would identify the port service activities at Çe¸sme and Chios and that the results could serve as a reference to improve service standards. Further, based on the results, elements that could positively affect the general satisfaction levels of visitors can be identified, taking into account factors related to service perception; these elements will be shared with the management of the ports of Chios and Çe¸sme, institutions, municipalities, and students studying in the region. Moreover, the results can be applied to design activities that need to be practiced to boost service quality. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of port service quality in Çe¸sme and Chios on customer satisfaction. This study also aimed to specify the factors that facilitate visitor contentment. The results obtained from measuring visitors’ satisfaction levels can be used to increase service quality at the two ports.

Population and Sample The participants were passengers traveling by ferry between Çe¸sme and Chios. Convenience sampling was used, and data were collected from passengers who agreed to participate at the ports and the ferries. From the 427 collected surveys, 381 were included in the analysis.

Method Quantitative methods and survey techniques were used in the study. The survey was composed of two parts and 35 items. The first part had a scale containing 27 items aiming to determine the effect of Çe¸sme–Chios port services on customer satisfaction. The second part had seven questions related to demographic characteristics. The final question aimed to measure whether passengers encountered any problems during their travels.

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Data were collected by means of face-to-face meetings at the Çe¸sme and Chios ports over a one-year period when the ferries were operating, during both the “low” and “high” seasons. SPSS 22.0 was used for the analyses.

Results A total of 168 (44.1%) respondents were female, and 212 (55.8%) were male; one participant did not answer this question. Regarding marital status, 184 were married, and 195 were single; two people did not answer. More than half of the respondents were aged 26–40. For educational background, about 60% held a bachelor’s degree, and more than 10% were postgraduates; that is, more than 70% were college educated, indicating high educational levels among travelers between Çe¸sme and Chios. Regarding occupation, almost half worked in the private sector, and 20% worked in the public sector. For income, which was considered one of the important results for this study, 66% had a monthly income of 1300–3750 TL. Regarding respondents’ nationalities, 262 were Turkish citizens while Greek citizens comprised the second-largest group. Lastly, the percentage of people who had troubles during their travels was very low (5.6%). Table 2 shows the detailed demographic features of the participants. This study investigated the effect of port services on customer satisfaction. A 27item Likert-type scale with responses ranging from 1 to 5 was prepared to measure the effect of Çe¸sme and Chios port services on customer satisfaction. The survey was administered to participants at both ports. The reliability level of 0.932 indicated that the scale was highly reliable and applicable. The averages of the answers were taken, and, with minimum and maximum levels, the mean and standard deviations were calculated. Table 3 shows detailed information about the participants’ responses to the statements in the scale. The analysis showed that the participants’ satisfaction levels were generally positive. Participants mostly agreed with the statement, “Arrivals and departures were on time” (4.139 and 4.079 for Çe¸sme and Chios, respectively). For Port Çe¸sme, the second- and third-most positive responses were for “The port staff were friendly and helpful” (4.06) and “The port staff were knowledgeable about the services” (4.005), respectively. For Port Chios, the second and third most positive responses were for “The port staff were knowledgeable about the services” (3.947) and “The information on how to get to the port was clear” (3.875). Responses showing the lowest satisfaction for both ports concerned the children’s areas (Çe¸sme: 2.335; Chios: 2.253). Participants also drew attention to insufficient banks or ATMs at Port Chios (2.843); responses to the same statement tended toward the middle for Port Çe¸sme (3.031). Regarding the statement, “Public transit for dependent people (children, the disabled) was adequate,” participants responded ambivalently for both ports; responses were similar for the statement, “The facilities for disabled people were sufficient at the

Effect of Çe¸sme and Chios Port Services … Table 2 Demographic characteristics of participants

201 Frequency

Rate

168

44.1

Male

212

55.6

Unspecified

1

Gender (n = 381) Female

0.3

Marital status (n = 381) Married

184

48.3

Single

195

51.2

Unspecified

2

0.5

Age (n = 381) 20 and under

17

4.5

21–25

78

20.5

26–30

99

20.6

31–40

104

27.3

41 and above

81

21.3

Unspecified

2

0.5

Primary school

3

0.8

Secondary school

9

2.4

High school

95

24.9

University

227

59.6

Postgraduate

45

11.8

Unspecified

2

0.5

Education (n = 381)

Occupation (n = 381) Student

59

15.5

Private sector

170

44.6

Public sector

75

20.5

Retired

30

7.9

Not working

27

7.1

Other

16

4.2

Unspecified

1

0.3

Monthly salary (n = 381) 1300–2500 TL

122

32.0

2501–3750 TL

120

31.5

3751–5750 TL

76

19.9

5751–9167 TL

30

7.9

9168 TL and above

14

3.7

Unspecified

19

5.0 (continued)

202

E. Özkan et al.

Table 2 (continued)

Frequency

Rate

Turkish

262

68.7

Greek

58

15.3

Other

61

16.0

Nationality (n = 381)

port.” Overall, most people had generally positive opinions about both ports, indicating that satisfaction levels with the provided services were positive and could be made even better with adjustments.

Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendations The Turkish–Greek controversy in the Aegean Sea area is a significant foreign policy issue for Turkey. Despite this situation, ferry services between the two countries’ ports provide opportunities for cultural and social interaction. People use ferry services to travel between Çe¸sme and Chios year round. Since these ports give tourists their first impressions of their destinations, they are important for tourist satisfaction and can thus give destinations a competitive advantage. While many studies have investigated the effect of airline services on customer satisfaction, few have examined ferry ports in this regard. This study’s results suggest that satisfaction levels are generally improving, and when deficiencies are corrected and necessary alterations are made, customer satisfaction might reach even higher levels. Participants responded to the same statements regarding both Çe¸sme and Chios ports. They agreed most with the statement, “Arrivals and departures were on time.” Most also agreed with, “The information on how to get to the port was clear.” One important result was that the participants agreed strongly that “The port staff were knowledgeable about the services” for both ports, but slightly more so for Port Çe¸sme, indicating that passengers positively perceived the service quality provided by the personnel at both ports. The survey also measured the sufficiency of transportation to the ports. Participants’ responses were mixed for both ports, as evidenced by responses to the statement, “The transportation service (shuttle, taxicab, etc.) was sufficient in terms of port accessibility.” Regarding the sufficiency of information provided in the terminal facilities, most passengers found it satisfactory. The similarities in the responses to statements for both ports indicate that the ports are similar in terms of guidance. The results highlight the importance of providing playgrounds in the terminal facilities so children can enjoy themselves while guests with children wait at the terminals.

Effect of Çe¸sme and Chios Port Services …

203

Table 3 Scale of the effect of Çe¸sme and Chios port services on visitors’ satisfaction No

Items

Çe¸sme

Chios

Mean

Std. dev.

Mean

Std. dev.

1

The information on how to get to the port was clear

3.9526

0.93191

3.8757

1.02897

2

The port parking was near the terminal

3.8676

0.98843

3.7081

0.97179

3

The transportation service (shuttle, taxicab, etc.) was sufficient in terms of port accessibility

3.5921

1.13911

3.6790

1.12770

4

Public transit for dependent people (children, the disabled) was adequate

3.2043

1.14745

3.2608

1.15591

5

Ferry terminals had signs indicating the location of specific services

3.8734

1.04137

3.8757

1.06444

6

Arrivals and departures were on time

4.1398

0.98345

4.0769

1.07531

7

The security check-in processes at the port were acceptable

3.9286

0.93143

3.8462

1.01200

8

The equipment for security at the port was acceptable

3.8457

0.96754

3.7212

1.02522

9

The internal organization of the terminal building was sufficient

3.7974

0.94631

3.6032

0.96143

10

The signs and the directions of the terminal were sufficient

3.9156

0.93052

3.8602

0.99946

11

The terminal building’s seating and waiting areas were sufficient

3.4947

1.10048

3.2316

1.14124

12

The terminal building’s temperature comfort level was good

3.8021

0.95972

3.5794

1.09025

13

The bank and ATM service facilities were sufficient

3.0317

1.24257

2.8439

1.20761

14

The facilities for disabled people were sufficient at the port

3.2634

1.21556

3.2049

1.21969

15

The children’s play area and facilities were sufficient

2.3351

1.26889

2.2533

1.22903

16

The ferry terminal toilets were clean

3.3727

1.23698

3.3181

1.16534

17

The passenger capacity of the ferry terminal was good

3.6247

1.05796

3.4101

1.13708

18

The port staff were friendly and helpful

4.0604

1.00212

3.8132

1.08447

19

The port staff were skilled at communicating with passengers

3.8100

1.02395

3.7493

1.08035

20

The port staff were knowledgeable about the services

4.0052

0.95144

3.9474

0.99198

21

I am satisfied with the port’s security check

3.8789

0.86934

3.7646

0.95251

22

I am satisfied with the port’s terminal organization

3.7018

0.90751

3.5741

0.97233 (continued)

204

E. Özkan et al.

Table 3 (continued) No

Items

Çe¸sme

Chios

Mean

Std. dev.

Mean

Std. dev.

23

I am satisfied with the port’s accessibility

3.6640

0.94454

3.6383

0.96721

24

I am satisfied with the port staff’s services

3.9894

0.93994

3.8042

1.00333

25

My satisfaction with the port has increased

3.6781

0.94663

3.5544

1.03288

26

My impression of this port has improved

3.6755

0.95835

3.5520

1.02995

27

I now have a more positive attitude toward the port

3.7513

0.92794

3.6180

1.00398

Meanwhile, respondents were ambivalent about the convenience of terminal services for the disabled. This reveals a need to improve facilities for the disabled. Given the sensitivity of the accessibility issue, this area should be addressed meticulously, and the related deficiencies should be corrected. Since many port services are provided between Greece and Turkey, it would be beneficial to conduct similar studies in locations other than Çe¸sme and Chios to identify general customer satisfaction levels and correct deficiencies at the terminals providing port services. As mentioned above, one of the most important statements perceived in a negative way by the respondents concerned the provision of play areas. In addition, independent variables (accessibility, terminal facility, and security control) from the SERVQUAL dimensions were adapted to port service industry. It is recommended that future studies include different dimensions.

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Geographical Distribution of Hunting Tourism Areas in Turkey Önder Yayla, Seyda ¸ Yayla and Semra Günay Akta¸s

Abstract Nowadays, with an increase in the desire to return to nature, hunting tourism is increasing. The geographical structure, vegetation, and wildlife of Turkey are appropriate for the development of hunting tourism. The purpose of the study is to determine the spatial distribution of species that are allowed to be hunted. It also aims to evaluate hunting tourism in terms of the geographical distribution of the animal species. In the study, the data were defined using percentage distribution tables and frequency analysis. Within this research, the animal species and quotas set for hunting tourism in Turkey have been mapped. Additionally, interviews were then conducted with hunters. For 2018–2019, a total of 511 animals are allowed to be hunted from 10 different species. Of the 511 animals, the animal species that is most allowed to be hunted is the Anatolian Chamois (Wild Goat). This was followed by the Roe deer and red deer. As a result of the study, tourists interested in hunting activities are often people who are conscious about nature conservation. The areas designated for hunting are far away from the mass tourism regions of Turkey and indicates the importance of spreading tourism to different regions. Keywords Hunting tourism in turkey · Hunting tourism areas in turkey · Spatial distribution of species · Species for hunting tourism

Ö. Yayla (B) · S. ¸ Yayla Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, Korkut Ata University, Osmaniye, Turkey S. ¸ Yayla e-mail: [email protected] S. Günay Akta¸s Department of Tourism Management, Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_13

207

208

Ö. Yayla et al.

Introduction Hunting is as old as the existence of humanity and has changed continuously. In ancient times, it was a necessity for survival, but it has become an activity for sports and entertainment over time (Özer 2015, p. 4). In this century, both hunting in general and trophy hunting, in particular, have become popular recreational activities that drive a multi-million dollar global hunting industry (Damn 2008, p. 5). To be able to hunt, many people travel around the world, and hunting tourism is the activity of traveling for the determined purpose of hunting. Hunting tourism uses hunting and wildlife resources under the supervision of domestic and foreign hunters and contributes to national (Özdönmez et al. 1996). It is a type of tourism that consists of temporary travel and accommodation made for the purpose of hunting, in a region or country where hunters do not live continuously, and it also makes important contributions to the national and regional economy (Küçükaslan 2007, p. 234). Trophy hunting is the hunting of animals for sports purposes to keep the head, skin, or horns of the killed animal for souvenir purposes. The meat of the animals is also sometimes used as food purposes by the hunters (Ulusoy 2015, p. 75). When the history of hunting tourism in Turkey is examined, it is evident that domestic and foreign hunters began hunting tourism in the 1950 s without any hunting fees, and until 1975, foreign hunters continued hunting game in Turkey without any legal rules. In 1967, Turkey became a member of the “International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation,” which was established for the purpose of the regulation and development of hunting, and for the protection of game and their living environments. In order to organize the activities of hunting travel agencies in Turkey, in 1973, a “Hunting Tourism Regulation” was issued and various arrangements were made for hunting tourism (Demir et al. 2012, p. 28). In 1977, a fee for foreign tourist hunters was introduced, which they paid through travel agencies, and the first official hunting tourism began in Turkey in 1977 with wild boar hunting (Ba¸skaya et al. 2012, p. 5638). In 1981, wild goats were included in the hunting tourism legislation, and domestic tourist hunters have been continuing hunting in the context of tourism since 1984 (Ulusoy 2015, p. 76). Beginning in the 1995–1996 hunting season, a share of the revenue obtained from hunting tourism was transferred to Village Legal Entities (Alkan 2014, p. 2). The Hunting and Wildlife Protection Department regulates hunting game animals for hunting tourism in Turkey. The implementation and planning are based on the fact that prey animals are not disturbed during breeding and they are not hunted while they are juveniles. In this way, the balance of natural life is preserved. This is also important for sustainable hunting tourism and to increase and stabilize the populations of game animals. If the balance cannot be achieved and the game animals cannot be protected, the game animals will become extinct. As illegal hunting is the first reason for the extinction of the animal kinds, illegal hunters are subject to legal proceedings, and if they are found guilty, they are given a prison sentence and a fine. All hunters must follow the rules in specific hunting dates, and all instructions are determined by the commission in each hunting year. In these decisions, the species

Geographical Distribution of Hunting Tourism Areas in Turkey

209

allowed to be hunted, the areas allowed to be hunted, hunting dates, wages, fishing principles, and prohibited methods are specified. Hunting tourism in Turkey is carried out under the following principles (Yatırım ve ˙I¸sletmeler Genel Müdürlü˘gü 2018): 1. To ensure the continuity of the numbers of wild animals, to maintain the populations by taking measures to protect animals against pests, and to manage the maintenance and reproduction of animals. 2. To ensure the sustainable management of wildlife resources by allowing game animals to reach a sufficient population by taking into account the carrying capacity from inventory studies. 3. To ensure that hunting is carried out consciously without damaging natural life. 4. To ensure the sustainable use of natural resources for tourism purposes. 5. To ensure that local people benefit from the added value of the wildlife resources by taking into consideration the basic principles of supporting rural development. The majority of tourism hunters come to Turkey to hunt wild boar because of how wild these animals are and how large wild boars are in Turkey. Subsequently, they have gained a global reputation. Anatolian wild goat hunting is also a main reason that foreign hunting tourists visit Turkey. The reason for this is that the Anatolian Wild Goat, as the name suggests, is unique to Anatolia. The 2018–2019 Hunting Year (1 April 2018–31 March 2019) includes the following species of animals to be hunted (Do˘ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü 2018): (1) Large game mammals and wild animals (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h)

Anatolian Mouflon (Wild Sheep, Ovis gmelinii anatolica) Anatolian Chamois (Wild Goat, Capra aegagrus) Mountain goat with hook horns (Rupicapra rupicapra asiatica) Red deer (Cervus elaphus) Hybrid wild goat (Hybrid ibex) Gazelle (Gazella marica) Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) Wild boar (Sus scrofa)

(2) Predators (a) Coyote (Canis aureus) (b) Fox (Vulpes vulpes). With an increase in the desire to return to nature, hunting tourism is increasing. People are looking for new alternative tourism that is different from mass tourism. They want to explore new places and visit beautiful beaches. This can be called a transition from mass tourism to special interest tourism. The desire to find the alternative pushes people to explore and travel. One of the motivations that push people to travel is to take a risk, and it is perhaps the most unusual reason. In this context, it may be necessary to build a bridge between risk, excitement, and adventure (Sarıba¸s and Öter 2013, p. 54). Hunting tourism has rapidly developed and become an important source of foreign currency in recent years. Wealthy hunters prefer hunting

210

Ö. Yayla et al.

in other countries in order to satisfy their desire to hunt and to have an adventure. Many countries have recognized this and have opened their hunting areas to hunters in order to meet the demands of foreign hunters and thus obtain foreign exchange income (Ukav 2012, p. 6). Contributing to the national economy while allowing game animals to maintain a sufficient population is the most important aim of hunting tourism. Hunting tourism can be seen as additional employment and as an income-generating industry in traditional rural areas that normally focus on agriculture and forestry industries. It is a type of tourism with a high-income due to a large amount of monetary expenditure, and the importance of hunting tourism in Turkey is emerging (Yıldızbakan and Kele¸s 2012, p. 297). Tourists participating in hunting normally have a high tendency to spend large amounts of money, and in some settlements, village mansions are offered to the hunters. Along with accommodation costs, fees, local products, and local food made by local people constitute a significant source of income for the region. Hunting tourism provides more income on a personal basis than other types of tourism. While a normal tourist spends an average of USD750 per vacation, the expenses for hunting tourism can go up to USD2000 per tourist. In some cases, this amount can reach USD10,000–20,000 (Do˘ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü 2018). The geographical structure, vegetation, and wildlife of Turkey are appropriate for the development of hunting tourism. In contrast to the general belief, hunting tourism does not destroy wildlife and allows wildlife to develop in line with the principle of protection-use. Many countries around the world are able to protect and develop their natural life and develop a valuable income from hunting tourism. In Turkey, although hunting generates a large amount of revenue, animal husbandry for hunting tourism develops far less. There will not be enough share from hunting tourism unless the necessary value and importance are given to hunting tourism (Kırıkçı 2012, p. 49). The development of the hunting tourism system is a precondition of the arrival of hunting as demonstrated by Turkey. Hunting tourism allows hunters to travel to hunting sites individually or as a group. In hunting tourism, the consumer has to buy the product directly from the place where the product is made. In other words, it is not possible to deliver the product to the consumer using distribution channels. In this context, a company that accepts domestic or foreign hunters has carried out an export in terms of the balance of payments within the borders of the country without incurring costs. Hunting tourism is known to contribute significantly to regional development (Safak ¸ 2003, p. 139; Yıldızbakan and Kele¸s 2012, p. 298; Ukav 2012, p. 17; Demir et al. 2012, pp. 37–38; Ulusoy 2015, p. 79). Additionally, it is thought that hunting tourism can revive regions that face the risk of population loss. In other words, the migration of local people to other regions can be partially prevented through the development and promotion of hunting tourism activities (Safak ¸ 2003, p. 145). Moreover, hunting tourism must be carried out sustainably so that depending on the number of wild animals and the variety of species, animal breeds are not lost. Hunting tourism allows the number of animals to be balanced and not more than nature can handle. Hunting tourism implemented in this way that ensures such a balance is called “sustainable hunting tourism” (Ulusoy 2015, p. 75).

Geographical Distribution of Hunting Tourism Areas in Turkey

211

The purpose of the study is to determine the spatial distribution of species that are allowed to be hunted. It also aims to evaluate hunting tourism in terms of the geographical distribution of the animal species.

Method The screening method was used in this study, and the data were defined using percentage distribution tables and frequency analysis. Within this research, the animal species and quotas set for hunting tourism in Turkey have been mapped. The allocated hunting areas in Turkey, which are concentrated in a certain region, were assessed by the investigators to see if they are suitable for alternative tourism. Interviews were then conducted with hunters, and the descriptive analysis method was used for the analysis of this data. The data obtained are summarized, and suggestions were developed to promote sustainable hunting tourism.

Results As of January 11, 2019, 143 travel agencies operate in the hunting tourism industry in Turkey (Do˘ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü 2018). The distribution of travel agencies by province is illustrated in Table 1. Accordingly, in terms of hunting tourism, most travel agencies operate in Antalya (34), Istanbul (24), Ankara (15), Mugla (9), Aydın (7), Izmir (5), and Konya (5). The dates determined for hunting specific animals according to the 2018–2019 hunting calendar are illustrated in Table 2. The hunting season is more intense in autumn and winter, as opposed to the seasonality of mass tourism. Animal hunting is Table 1 Travel agencies for hunting tourism by Provinces Provinces

Number of travel agencies

Antalya

34

Istanbul

24

Ankara

15

Mugla

9

Aydin

7

Izmir, Konya

5

Adana, Artvin, Balıkesir, Kayseri, Samsun, Trabzon

3

Canakkale, Giresun, Karabuk, Ordu

2

Adıyaman, Afyonkarahisar, Aksaray, Amasya, Bolu, Burdur, Bursa, Corum, Denizli, Erzurum, Eskisehir, Kastamonu, Mersin, Nigde, Tekirdag, Tokat, Yalova, Zonguldak

1

1.09.2018

20.08.2018

1.09.2018

1.08.2018

1.05.2018

1.09.2018

Anatolian Mouflon (wild sheep)

Coyote

Gazelle

Hook horned mountain goat

Roe deer

Red Deer

31.03.2019

1.02.2019

Faulty horn

1.07.2018

1.08.2018

1.08.2018

Hybrid

Nanny (individual)

31.10.2018

1.08.2018

31.01.2019

31.03.2019

31.03.2019

15.10.2018

Billy (individual)

Anatolian Chamois (wild goat)

15.01.2019

31.01.2019

31.10.2018

31.01.2019

15.11.2018

31.01.2019

31.01.2019

End date of hunting season

Fox

Pile horn

Stag

Start date of hunting season

Animal species

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

January

Table 2 2018–2019 hunting season by animal species

X

X

X

February

X

X

X

March

April

X

May

X

June

X

X

July

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

August

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

September

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

October

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

November

(continued)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

December

212 Ö. Yayla et al.

2018–2019—Central hunting commission decides

X

X

March

X

April

X

May

X

June

X

July

X

August

X

X

September

X

X

October

X

X

November

X

X

December

a This is a method of hunting for game animals in a designated area by hound dogs and hunters in a certain direction, and more than two hunters are deployed at certain points (Do˘ ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü 2018) b It is a form of hunting waiting for wild animals in the passageways (Do˘ ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü 2018) X shows the months when animals can be hunted

X

X

The hunt for fighting purposes

31.03.2019

X

1.04.2018

20.02.2019

1.09.2018

Track

February

Battue

January

Wild boar

End date of hunting season

Start date of hunting season

Animal species

Table 2 (continued)

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Table 3 Hunting permission fees Animal species

Foreign

Anatolian Mouflon (wild sheep)

1000

Hook horned mountain goat

300

Domestic/local

Gazelle

350

Roe deer

300

150

Billy

750

350

Pile horn

200

Red deer Hybrid wild goat

350

Anatolian Chamois (wild goat)

Billy

400

Nanny (individual)

100

Faulty horn

0

100

Wild boar

Governmental/general/operational sample hunting area/battue and track hunt for fighting purposes/battue and track hunt

50

25

Operated sample hunting area

25

0

25

0 0

Special hunting areas Poultry courts

Operated poultry sample hunting area

25

Other species

Coyote and fox

25

300

not allowed in the spring and summer seasons as these seasons have been determined as the animals’ breeding period. The locations where hunting is allowed are generally natural parks. Table 3 illustrates the costs of entering hunting areas. Even if visitors do not take part in hunting, they must still pay the fees in order to support the sustainability of the natural area. It is possible that these fees directly contribute to the living space of animals. It is important that some of the economic problems brought about by the lack of interest in nature parks in Turkey can be overcome by hunting activities. Although the cost of hunting is different according to the type of hunter, generally foreign hunters must pay high hunting fees, while the cost of hunting for local hunters is generally low. The highest cost of hunting is for Anatolian Chamois (Wild Goat) and Anatolian Mouflon (Wild Sheep) followed by wild goats and red deer. The species with the lowest hunting costs are animals such as wild boar, jackal, and fox which can damage local areas like plantations, pastures, and domestic animals. The number of species that are allowed to be hunted in the 2018–2019 hunting season is indicated in Table 4. For 2018–2019, a total of 511 animals are allowed to be hunted from 10 different species. The number of these animals varies according to the species population growth each year and the quota determined by the ministry. Of the 511 animals, the animal species that is most allowed to be hunted is the

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Table 4 Hunting fees of animals allowed to hunt Name of the animal species

Foreign

Anatolian Chamois (wild goat)

180

Faulty horned wild goat Nanny (female) individual wild goat

Local

Diplomat

Total

72

26

3

281

54.99

0

9

14

0

23

4.50

0

0

8

0

8

1.57

Hybrid wild Goat

13

5

1

0

19

3.72

Hook horned mountain goat

14

9

0

0

23

4.50

Anatolian Mouflon (wild sheep)

5

0

0

0

5

0.98

23

21

2

0

46

9.00

0

0

1

0

1

0.20

Red deer Pile horned red deer

Domestic

Distribution rate by animal species

Gazelle

4

2

0

0

6

1.17

Roe deer

37

60

0

2

99

19.37

276

178

52

5

511

100.00

10.18

0.98

100.00

Total Distribution rate by hunter types

54.01

34.83

Anatolian Chamois (Wild Goat), and 281 will goats were allowed to be hunted. This was followed by the Roe deer and red deer. For the mountain goat with hook horns, only one quota was reserved for local hunters. The Anatolian Mouflon (Wild Sheep) was the least permitted species allowed to be hunted due to be taken under the protection of them. This is followed by gazelle and nanny (female) wild goats. Table 5 illustrates the animals that can be hunted in different hunting areas. The areas designated for hunting are far away from the mass tourism regions of Turkey and indicates the importance of spreading tourism to different regions. As hunting tourism is inherently developed in rural areas or mountainous areas, it does not coincide with mass tourism activities. In these regions, hunting tourism is a specific type of tourism with a significant economic return. Figure 1 indicates the areas reserved for hunting tourism in Turkey. In Turkey, hunting tourism is generally located in the interior part of the country where tourism activities are low. In addition to this, in provinces such as Erzincan, Bingol, Artvin, Karabuk, Duzce, Nigde, Kahramanmaras, Giresun, and Gumushane, and so on where the hunting cluster is formed, other forms of tourism are almost negligible. Hunting tourism can be considered as an important tourism activity in these regions. Hunting

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Table 5 Provinces for hunting tourism Name of the animal species

Province

Anatolian Chamois (wild goat)

Adana, Adiyaman, Antalya, Artvin, Bingol, Erzincan, Erzurum, Giresun, Gumushane, Hatay, Isparta, Karaman, Kayseri, Konya, Mersin, Mugla, Nigde, Sivas

Faulty horned wild goat

Artvin, Giresun, Karaman, Sivas, Mugla, Mersin

Nanny (female) individual wild goat

Giresun, Mersin, Erzurum

Hybrid wild goat

Adıyaman, Giresun

Hook horned mountain goat

Artvin, Bingol, Erzincan, Rize

Anatolian Mouflon (wild sheep)

Ankara, Konya

Red deer

Afyonkarahisar, Ankara, Bolu, Corum, Denizli, Düzce, Eskisehir, Kahramanmaras, Kastamonu, Kutahya

Pile horned red deer

Kahramanmaras

Gazelle

Sanlıurfa

Roe deer

Bartin, Corum, Duzce, Giresun, Kastamonu, Sinop, Ordu, Karabuk

Fig. 1 Provinces for hunting tourism in Turkey

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Fig. 2 Provinces for wild goat hunting in Turkey

tourism can be an important opportunity for tourism enterprises in provinces such as Antalya and Mugla to continue their tourism activities in the low season. Figure 2 indicates the areas where wild goat hunting tourism can be implemented in Turkey. Wild goat hunting tourism is generally implemented in the interior part of the country where tourism activities are low. In addition to this, in most of the provinces such as Erzincan, Artvin, Erzurum, Bingol, Nigde, Kayseri, Giresun, Gumushane, Adiyaman, and Isparta, and so on where the wild goat hunting cluster is formed, other forms of tourism are almost negligible. Hunting tourism can be considered as an important tourism activity for local people in these regions. Hunting tourism can be a significant opportunity for tourism enterprises in the provinces. Figure 3 indicates the areas where red deer hunting tourism can be implemented in Turkey. Red deer hunting tourism is generally implemented in the interior part of the country where tourism activities are low. In addition to this, in most of the provinces like Corum, Bolu, Duzce, Eskisehir, Kutahya, Afyonkarahisar, Denizli, Kahramanmaras, and Ankara where the cluster is formed, tourism is almost negligible in some of these areas. Hunting tourism can be considered as an important tourism activity for local people in these regions. Figure 4 indicates the areas where roe deer hunting tourism can be implemented in Turkey. Roe deer hunting tourism is generally implemented in the north part of the country where tourism activities are low. In addition to this, in most of the provinces such as Duzce, Bartin, Karabuk, Kastamonu, Corum, Ordu, Sinopa, and Giresun where the cluster is formed, tourism is almost negligible in some of these areas.

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Fig. 3 Provinces for red deer hunting in Turkey

Fig. 4 Provinces for roe deer hunting in Turkey

Hunting tourism can be considered as an important tourism activity for local people in these regions. Figure 5 indicates the areas where Anatolian Wild Sheep hunting tourism can be implemented in Turkey. Anatolian Wild Sheep hunting tourism is generally implemented in the center of the country where tourism activities are low. In addition to this, in most of the provinces such as Ankara and Konya where the cluster is formed, tourism is almost negligible in some of these areas. Hunting tourism can be considered as an important tourism activity for local people in these regions.

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Fig. 5 Provinces for anatolian wild sheep hunting in Turkey

Figure 6 indicates the areas that Gazelle hunting tourism can be implemented in Turkey. Gazelle hunting tourism is generally implemented in the center of the country where tourism activities are low. In addition to this, tourism in Sanliurfa is almost negligible. Hunting tourism can be considered as an important tourism activity for local people in these regions.

Fig. 6 Provinces for Anatolian wild sheep hunting in Turkey

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From all of these figures, it is evident that the provinces allocated for hunting tourism are the provinces most in need of tourism activities for economic development. Most of them are migration cities in Turkey, as their occupants are emigrating to bigger cities, and the causes of migration can be reduced by hunting tourism. Primarily, hunting must be a sustainable activity. Otherwise, it is not a recreational or sporting activity, but it is murder. Research has demonstrated that tourists interested in hunting activities are often people who are conscious about nature conservation. Similar to the sustainable hunting program planned by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Do˘ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü, n.d.), the main topics brought up by the sustainable hunting interviewees were the following: • In areas where the pressure from hunting is high, harmful and unwanted species should be hunted. Therefore, this pressure can be reduced. • The number of animals hunted from a population should not exceed the annual natural increase rate of that population.

Conclusion Hunting tourism will play a significant role in the geographical distribution of tourism in Turkey. There are some debates in Turkey that tourism is limited to particular geographical areas and this causes some inevitable problems in those areas. In particular, the sustainability of those areas is being harmed in most cases. Hunting tourism contributes to the protection of local species, and it is important for the introduction of endangered animals. It is also effective in raising awareness about animal protection. Furthermore, the contribution of hunting tourism by providing employment to local people cannot be ignored. Due to hunting tourism, areas such as mountains, grasslands, and plateaus can be used as income generating areas for local economies, and local people can contribute to their economic revenue. Particularly for locations in Turkey’s rural areas that have experienced continuous migration, tourism activities will help stimulate the local economy. Hunting tourism is a form of tourism that will contribute to the spread of tourism activities in Turkey during all seasons. The creation of distribution maps for game animals in Turkey will be useful for tourism planners.

References ˙ Alkan, U. M. (2014). Antalya Bölgesinde Yaban Hayatı Açısından Av Turizmi Üzerine Incelemeler (Unpublished master’s thesis). Kahramanmaras, Turkey: Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University. Ba¸skaya, S., ¸ Ba¸skaya, E., & Arpacık, A. (2012). Relationship between forest protection and hunting tourism in Turkey. African Journal of Agricultural Research, 7(42), 5637–5643.

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Damn, G. R. (2008). Recreational trophy hunting: What do we know and what should we do? In R. D. Baldus, G. R. Damn, & K. Wollscheid (Eds.), Best practices in sustainable hunting—A guide to best practices from around the world (pp. 5–11). Budakeszi, Hungary: The CIC—International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation. Retrieved August 23, 2018, from http://www.cicwildlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Technical_series_1.pdf. Demir, M., Okutucu, M. A., A˘gyürek, C., & Güven, M. (2012). Av turizminin alternatif turizm kapsamında Erzurum ili turizmine etkisi (ara¸stırma). Enstitüler Ara¸stırma Dergisi Serileri, 23–40. Retrieved from http://yayin.ogm.gov.tr/yaydepo/1625.pdf. Do˘ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü. (2018). Retrieved May 25, 2018, from T.C. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlı˘gı. www.milliparklar.gov.tr. Do˘ga Koruma ve Milli Parklar Genel Müdürlü˘gü. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2018, from T.C. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlı˘gı. http://konyasube.ormansu.gov.tr/Konya/Files/S%C3%BCrd%C3% BCr%C3%BClebilir%20Avc%C4%B1l%C4%B1k%2062_91.pdf. Kırıkçı, K. (2012). Özel Avlaklar ve Katkıları. Av Tutkusu, 174, 44–52. ˙ Turizmi. Bursa: Ekin Yayınevi. Küçükaslan, N. (2007). Özel Ilgi Özdönmez, M., ˙Istanbullu, T., Akesen, A., & Ekizo˘glu, A. (1996). Ormancılık politikası [Forest policy]. ˙Istanbul: ˙I. Ü. Basımevi ve Film Merkezi. Özer, O. (2015). Av Turizmi ve Görsel Medya: Yaban TV’nin Türkiye’deki Yerli Turist Avcıların Tutumlarına Yönelik Etkileri (Unpublished master’s thesis). Izmir, Turkey: Izmir Katip Celebi University. ˙I. (2003). Türkiye‘deki av turizmi uygulamalarının özel avlak i¸sletmelerine etkileri. Süleyman Safak, ¸ Demirel Üniversitesi Orman Fakültesi Dergisi, A(2), 133–148. Retrieved from http://dergipark. gov.tr/download/article-file/195650. Sarıba¸s, Ö., & Öter, Z. (2013). Risk as a motivation in adventure tourism and its use in terms of tourism marketing. In 8th Silk Road International Conference on “Development of Tourism in Black and Caspian Seas Regions” (pp. 53–57). Tbilisi-Batumi: International Black Sea University. Retrieved September 23, 2018, from http://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/bitstream/1234/242413/1/8t_ Internacional_Silk_Road_Symposium_%202013.pdf. Ukav, ˙I. (2012). Adıyaman’da Av Turizmi. II. Disiplinlerarası Turizm Ara¸stırmaları Kongresi (pp. 3–18). Kemer, Antalya: Anatolia Turizm Ara¸stırmaları Dergisi. Retrieved July 23, 2018, from https://anatoliajournal.com/atad/depo/bilgibankasi/Kitap_113.pdf. Ulusoy, H. (2015). Av Turizminin Kırsal Turizm Açısından Kırsal Kalkınma Üzerindeki Etkisinin ˙Irdelenmesi. Türk Bilimsel Derlemeler Dergisi, 8(2), 74–80. Retrieved June 12, 2018, from http:// dergipark.gov.tr/download/article-file/417956. ˙sletmeler Genel Müdürlü˘gü. (2018). Retrieved May 30, 2018, from T. C. Kültür Yatırım ve I¸ ve Turizm Bakanlı˘gı. yigm.kulturturizm.gov.tr/Eklenti/810,avveyabanhayatindaavturizmidoc. doc?0. Yıldızbakan, A., & Kele¸s, H. (2012). Yaban Keçisi (Capra aegagrus Erxleben 1777) Avının Mersin ˙Ili Turizm ve Ekonomisine Katkısı. KSU J. Nat. Sci., Special Issue, 293–299.

Passenger Satisfaction in European Airports Nevin Yavuz, Serkan Olgaç, Semra Günay Akta¸s and Yeliz Mert Kantar

Abstract Transportation is most often seen as just part of the tourism system. Among transportation types, air transport involves an important part of a broader travel and tourism sector. Thanks to air transport, the shortening of the transport time increases the average time in a destination where tourists spend time. Also, airports provide the physical and social environment in which all parties come together in the production of air transport services. On the other hand, airports represent the prestige of the country. Passenger satisfaction on airport services is an important first step for holiday satisfaction of holidaymakers because airports are the start and the end points of journeys. Therefore, airports may have a significant influence on the passengers in order to support future tourism. For this reason, it is important for airport management to assess the level of passenger satisfaction in terms of airport services. The first step of tourist’s satisfaction is satisfaction in airports which depends on various factors. Thus, it is important to identify which factors in the airport are unpleasant and which factors are enhancers of passenger satisfaction. Since there are a lot of airports in European countries, the first 100 airports receiving the highest number of passengers are chosen for this study. Our analysis is based on a sample data obtained from Skytrax. First, maps are drawn according to the cleaning, terminal settings, queuing, and overall satisfaction factors in airports in European countries. Then, we seek to find the factors affecting the overall satisfaction. The airport ownership, seating capacity, cleaning, queuing time, and the number of passengers are considered as the variables to explain the overall satisfaction. We observed that while the airport N. Yavuz Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Eskisehir Technical University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] S. Olgaç (B) · S. Günay Akta¸s Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] S. Günay Akta¸s e-mail: [email protected] Y. Mert Kantar Faculty of Science, Eski¸sehir Technical University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_14

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ownership and also the number of passengers are not statistically significant on the overall satisfaction, the queuing time is the main factor in explaining the overall satisfaction in European Airports. Keywords European airports · Satisfaction maps · Terminal cleaning · Queuing times · Terminal seating facilities · Overall satisfaction · Regression · Skytrax

Introduction Transportation systems make a significant contribution to the development of societies in social, cultural, and economic terms; and transportation is one of the most important factors affecting tourism phenomena (Yavuz 2018) since it forms the bridge between the point of origin and the destination in tourism (Sarılgan 2016). Therefore, transportation enterprises are the most important component of the tourism sector. Air transportation is one of the most popular types of transportation, and it provides the most important contribution to the development of tourism. An important innovation provided by air transport is the time-saving factor. The shortening of transportation time increases the average time tourists spend at a destination. In addition, since very distant points in the world can now be connected to each other by air transportation, the tourism market has expanded worldwide (Tan 2008). At the same time, air transportation has initiated the third age of tourism (Saatçio˘glu 2016). Khan et al. (2017) concluded that air transportation has a significant impact on creating tourism demand. Bieger and Wittmer (2006) and Dimitriou (2018) underlined the relationship between tourism and air transport, and they concluded that any changes in aviation efficiency are closely linked to tourism development. Additionally, Dimitriou and Aparicio (2018) stated that new forms of tourism and new destinations influence air transport demand. On the other hand, airports provide the physical and social environment in which all parties come together to produce air transport services (Kuyucak 2007). Today, airports are considered as multifaceted service units, and they are constructed to serve this purpose (Tan 2008). Due to the rapid increase in the number of passengers traveling internationally in recent years and the increase in private and public sector investments in air transport in many countries, airports have gained huge importance in the twenty-first century. The services offered by Airports consist of two parts, the flight line (airside) and terminal line (landside), which work together to ensure the relationship between air and ground transport modes. Passenger terminals, as a gateway to the country, provide a place for check-in, security and customs checks, as well as baggage procedures, waiting and transfer facilities, shopping, and other facilities between flights. Technically, terminals are areas where the physical and routine needs of the visitors are addressed. In the communicative context, the terminals are usually the place in which the passenger makes a first or last impression of a destination when arriving in or departing from a country or city. As the result of the liberalization of air transport, airports are no longer a simple transportation terminal; they have become a center

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that fulfills the most basic needs of tourists (car rental services, shopping, restaurants, cafeterias, bars, banks, exchange offices, support services, etc.) (Tan 2008). The desirability of increasing commercial income at airports brings about the quality of service that constitutes the basis of tourism (Tan 2008). On the other hand, since airports are the starting and ending point of travel for tourists, they are the first place where tourists form an impression of the holiday experience in the relevant destination, and thus, the satisfaction of airport services plays an important part in the satisfaction tourists gain from holiday experiences. Moreover, airports represent the prestige of the countries they are in (Douglas et al. 2001). Contemporary airport terminals should be user oriented, functional and sustainable (Demir and Terzi 2012). For these reasons, some basic functions in the airport, such as passport and security checks, baggage claims and other shopping and entertainment services, should be effectively and efficiently planned. Thus, the effective planning of these basic functions for basic and compulsory services will minimize the time spent by tourists in the airport (Rendeiro and Cesar 2006). With the impact of globalization, the most important developments in air transportation can be divided into two groups: technological and structural changes. As a result of structural changes, passengers have developed different expectations for the quality of services provided. Therefore, passengers’ perceived quality of service and satisfaction with airport operations are also significantly affected (Okumu¸s and ve Asil 2007). On the other hand, rapid improvements in travel comfort and technology have increased passenger expectations of the airport experience (Chen and Chang 2005). The passengers make a choice between airports, taking the airport service, which includes all activities from departure to arrival, into account. For this reason, many studies have been conducted in this area to understand the general satisfaction level of passengers at different airports and the degree of loyalty tourists have to a destination. On the other hand, customer satisfaction is described as a critical determinant of behavioral intentions (e.g., revisiting, recommendation, and spending more) in various industries (Kim et al. 2009; Lam et al. 2011; Lee 2014; Qiu et al. 2015; Ryu et al. 2012). Previous studies show that the overall physical environment (such as seat capacity and cleaning) affects customer satisfaction and therefore tourist satisfaction (Ali and Amin 2014; Heung and Gu 2012; van Oel and van den Berkhof 2013). For example, I¸sıldak and ve Tunca (2018) identified the factors that affect customer satisfaction in airport services. Overall, these are the factors that affect customer satisfaction: terminal staff, terminal environment and navigability, terminal facilities, reliable and accurate service, terminal conditions, demand and instant service, advantage and convenience, internet access and physical functionality of the terminal. Chao et al. (2013) emphasized the importance of the physical properties of the terminal to improve service quality in the Kaohsiung International Airport. Bogicevic et al. (2013) conducted research at 33 airports. The findings show that airport cleaning is key to passenger satisfaction. Park and Jung (2011) conducted research on airport service quality perceptions of transfer passengers in Incheon International Airport, and they found that passengers who are satisfied with the quality of the airport service are more likely to use the airport again and recommend it to other passengers. Mohammad Al-Haj Mohammad

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(2014) based on data taken from Queen Alia International Airport, indicated that five tourist satisfaction factors, including “support services,” “transportation and cleanliness,” “variety of services and hospitality,” “accommodation, food and beverage” and “events and safety,” have an effect on revisit intentions and the recommendation of Jordan as a tourist destination. Moon et al. (2017) found that airport cleaning has a positive impact on the desire to spend more time at the airport, and Assaker’s (2011) finding supported the results Moon et al. for satisfaction and revisit intention. On the other hand, Shirazi and Mat Som (2011) claimed that “revisit and positive recommendation” are two important issues in relationship marketing in a tourism destination. While Hui et al. (2007) indicated the importance of satisfaction on loyalty, Wang et al. (2012) researched tourist experience, a known mediator between service quality and revisit intention, through Chinese tourists. Gim (2018) studied the relationships among attribute satisfaction, overall satisfaction, image, and tourist loyalty (intention to revisit and to recommend) in the three areas of South Korea: Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi. In Shirazi (2016), a survey questionnaire based on earlier studies was developed and administered to international tourists in Penang. Evaluations of tourist satisfaction have been conducted on basic elements of a destination, including attraction, accessibility, image, amenities, price, and the people working in tourism. “Attraction” has been found as the most liked element. The relationship between tourists’ perception and satisfaction was identified in (Athula Gnanapala 2015) by using regression analysis. Additionally, baggage access time has been evaluated in terms of passenger satisfaction levels at airports (Oflac and Yumurtaci 2014), and it has been found that baggage access time (after arrival) is a significant factor in overall passenger satisfaction. Correia et al. (2008) studied the overall level of service data collection at airport passenger terminals. The design of seats and large corridors are other factors that provide great satisfaction for users at airports (Zheng 2014). It is also concluded from studies on the aviation industry that the comfort of seating has a significant impact on visitors (Ahmadpour et al. 2014; Batra 2014). Additionally, since passengers spend at least two hours before departure in airports, seating comfort is a vital element of the physical environment for gratifying visitors (Moon et al. 2017). Passenger perceptions of service quality with eleven factors were studied in Park (2007). To obtain high levels of passenger satisfaction, many performance indicators must be taken into account by airport management. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction perceived by passengers and tourists are correlated with service quality and customer satisfaction in an airport. Therefore, forming the necessary plans and strategies by knowing which services affect customer satisfaction is an important step in ensuring customer satisfaction (Çolak and Do˘gan 2015). In addition, overall satisfaction has a positive effect on the intention to recommend the airport to others. For airport management, it is necessary to develop various strategies by considering the services of an airport that passengers are not satisfied with (Kim et al. 2016). Aviation is one of Europe’s most competitive sectors. Airports are a vital part of the European aviation system, and airports are increasingly important to the economy. Europe has a strategic position as a “hub” for the world for historical and

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geographical reasons. European airports currently face intense global competition. Over the next 20 years, half of the world’s new air traffic is expected to be routed through the Asia Pacific region. Over the next five years, air transport growth will be driven mainly by regions such as Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. Moreover, European airports face two major challenges: capacity and quality (European Commission 2011). Considering these realities, the aim of this study is to investigate passenger satisfaction in European Airports. The study was driven by the following questions in accordance with the main purpose: 1. What is the distribution of cleaning satisfaction levels in European airports? 2. What is the distribution of seating capacity satisfaction levels in European airports? 3. What is the distribution of queuing time satisfaction levels in European airports? 4. What is the distribution of the overall satisfaction levels in European airports? 5. Is there any difference between public and private airports in terms of satisfaction? 6. Which areas of satisfaction are expository of overall satisfaction in airports? 7. Is there a relationship between the number of passengers and satisfaction? In this paper, we seek to find the factors that affect overall satisfaction at the 100 airports in Europe that receive the highest number of passengers. The results of this study will contribute to the evaluation and comparison of all airports.

Methodology Our analysis is based on sample data obtained from Skytrax. Skytrax has been conducting an ongoing airport survey since 1999. Skytrax collects passenger reviews of international airports and airline services via its website (www.airlinequality.com/ skytrax-research/). Mapping is the graphic representation of the considered variable to gain information. We used the MapInfo program to draw maps to answer the first four questions of the study. An inverse distance weighted algorithm was used for interpolation. Low levels are demonstrated by dark blue and soft blue colors. High levels are shown in bright red and orange tones; the medium level is marked in yellow. The overall satisfaction level for airports was determined by Skytrax based on the assessment of seating capacity, queuing time s and cleaning variables. Satisfaction levels for airports are shown on 7-point scale. The highest satisfaction is indicated by 7, and the lowest satisfaction level is indicated by 1. The places with low satisfaction levels on the map are indicated by cold spots (blue tones), and the places with high satisfaction levels are indicated by hot spots (red tones). To explain the fifth question of this research (Is there any difference between public and private airports in terms of satisfaction?), the Chi-square test is used. For the exploration of the question of “Which areas of satisfaction are expository of overall satisfaction in airports?” we use regression analysis to explain overall

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satisfaction in terms of other variables. The question “Is there a relationship between the number of passengers and satisfaction at the airport?” is answered by linear or other regression models.

Analysis and Findings Maps for terminal cleaning, terminal seating, queuing times and overall satisfaction according to the data obtained from passengers’ votes in airports are given Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4. It is seen from Fig. 1 that in terms of terminal cleaning satisfaction, only four airports in Europe—Porto International, Zürich, Gothenburg-Landwetter and Stavanger—are observed to provide the highest level of satisfaction. It is known that the number of passengers and the total amount of air transport in these four airports are generally less than those in other European airports. On the other hand, the lowest satisfaction for terminal cleaning is observed in Heraklion Airport, which is the second busiest airport in Greece; Heraklion Airport serves over five million international passengers annually and is the main gateway to Crete (Papatheodorou and Arvanitis 2009). The other satisfaction factor is the terminal seating capacity, its map is given in Fig. 2. Almost all Europe airports exhibit inadequate satisfaction in terms of terminal seating capacity. Bordeaux, Heraklion, Nantes Atlantique, Luton, Pisa, Berlin Schoenefeld, and Berlin Tegel airports have the lowest seat capacity. Only ˙Izmir

Fig. 1 The terminal cleaning satisfaction in the European airports receiving the highest number of passengers

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Fig. 2 Terminal seating capacity satisfaction of the European airports receiving the highest number of passengers

Fig. 3 Queuing times satisfaction of the European airports receiving the highest number of passengers

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Fig. 4 Overall satisfaction of the European airports receiving the highest number of passengers

Adnan Menderes Airport shows the highest satisfaction according to terminal seating capacity. At the most of European Airports, passengers’ queuing time’s satisfaction level is not high (see Fig. 3). While passengers are not satisfied at Gran Canaria, Lyon and Paris Beavuals, the highest satisfaction in terms of queuing times is observed in the Ekaterinburg Koltsovo and Gothenburg Landvetter Airports. It is observed that while the satisfaction level is low at airports in the southern Iberian Peninsula, the satisfaction level has increased in the eastern airports, and the highest level of satisfaction is seen in the northern and northwestern airports of the peninsula. The overall satisfaction level in the airports in France, England and Italy is low. The satisfaction levels in airports in Central, Northern and Eastern European countries are generally moderate and good. The satisfaction level of Turkish airports is low in the southern part of the country but increases in the northern part. Airports with the highest overall satisfaction level in Europe are Ankara Esenbo˘ga in Turkey, Porto in Portugal and Bilbao in Spain. Gran Canaria has the lowest satisfaction level on the European continent (see Fig. 4). According to all satisfaction types, two airports in Berlin have remarkably worse scores. Generally, the overall satisfaction levels in the European biggest airports is low in the western and southern parts of the continent. As seen in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the overall satisfaction map is similar to the terminal seating capacity and the queuing time satisfaction maps. Passengers in airports in France, Italy, and England are not satisfied in terms of cleaning, terminal seating capacity and queuing time factors; thus, these airports need to improve these services. Satisfaction depends on many factors. Thus, these factors should be studied in detail. At first, we assumed that a crowded airport can be a predictor of overall satisfaction. Additionally, airport

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Table 1 The levels of the overall satisfaction according to airport types Airport types

1

2

3

Private

0

0

7

4 4

5

6

7

2

1

0

Public

0

6

4

5

9

4

6

Mostly private

0

1

4

3

1

2

1

Mostly public

1

3

8

12

4

4

3

Equal private and Public

0

1

1

2

2

0

1

ownership can affect overall satisfaction. Thus, the study was driven by the following questions in accordance with the main purpose: 1. Is there any difference between public and private airports in terms of satisfaction? 2. Which areas of satisfaction are expository of overall satisfaction in airports? 3. Is there a relationship between the number of passengers and satisfaction? It is observed that there is no relationship between overall tourist satisfaction on a 7-point scale and airport ownership (private, public, mostly private, mostly public and private-public) based on the Chi-square test. Table 1 shows the contingency table proving the frequency between the ownership of an airport versus overall satisfaction with that airport. The Chi-square test is 23,642 with a p-value of 0.482, and the values of Goodman and Kruskal tau and Cramer V coefficients are very close to zero. Thus, it can be concluded that there is no correlation between overall satisfaction with an airport and the ownership of the airport. In addition to the test above, we cannot find any evidence from regression models to support the effect of airport ownership on overall satisfaction. Therefore, the seating capacity, cleaning, queuing time s, and number of passengers are considered to be variables that explain overall satisfaction. We observed that while airport ownership and the number of passengers did not have a statistically significant effect on overall satisfaction, queuing time s are the main factor in explaining overall satisfaction in European airports. According to Table 2, there are positive correlations between overall satisfaction and seating capacity, cleaning and queuing time. Unexpectedly, no positive or negative correlation between overall satisfaction and the number of passengers is observed. Table 2 Correlation matrix Overall

Seating

Cleaning

Queuing time

Number of passengers

1

0.694

0.677

0.823

−0.025

1

0.654

0.651

0.014

1

0.638 1

0.084 −0.122 1

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Finally, we use regression analysis to explain overall satisfaction in terms of other variables. That is, tourists’ satisfaction as the dependent variable is modeled by seating capacity, cleaning, queuing times and the number of passengers as explanatory variables. Table 3 shows that the number of passengers is insignificant in explaining the overall satisfaction at the 5% level (Model 1). The significance tests of the other coefficients of seating capacity, queuing time s and cleaning showed all the regression coefficients to be significant and positive. The t-test results show that seating capacity and queuing time s are all significant in Models 2 and 3. Satisfaction with queuing time s is a more important factor of overall satisfaction in airports. All models are suitable for explaining overall satisfaction according to the F test and high coefficient of determination. Table 3 Estimated parameters, R2 , F and AIC Model 1

Model 2

Model 3

Model 4

Coefficient

Std. error

t-statistic

p-value

Constant

−0.37

0.311

−1.189

0.238

Seating capacity

0.336

0.129

2.612

0.01

Cleaning

0.281

0.128

2.203

0.03

Queuing time

0.943

0.125

7.554

0

Num. passengers

2.17× 10−9

0

0.428

0.67

Constant

0.158841

0.280899

0.565474

0.57307

Seating cap.

0.321759

0.13897

2.31531

0.02273

Cleaning

0.182495

0.130709

1.3962

0.16588

Queuing time

0.902222

0.131074

6.88332

0

Constant

0.341476

0.249796

1.36702

0.17478

Seating cap.

0.406462

0.125639

3.23514

0.00166

Queuing time

0.976576

0.120352

8.11431

0

Constant

0.412

0.261

1.577

0.118

Queuing time

1.323

0.093

14.171

0

R2

F

p-value

0.736

64.7

0

0.7084

77.77

0

0.70257

114.5

0

0.67

200.83

0

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Conclusion Tourist satisfaction is crucial for loyalty to a destination, which is explained as revisit and recommendation intentions. Taking into account the review of the literature concerning tourism studies, it is emphasized that satisfaction with and loyalty to a destination is one of the thrust areas of tourism research. Wöber and Fesenmaier (2004) stated that visitor satisfaction with a tourism product is one of several indicators that are frequently used to measure success in tourism destination management. According to Fuchs and Weiermair (2004), many tourism destinations consider tourist satisfaction to be one of the most important sources of their competitive advantage. As mentioned by Buhalis (2000), delighting tourists by maximizing their satisfaction is one of the key strategic management objectives for destinations. Tourist destinations include an amalgam of industries such as accommodation, transportation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment and travel agencies. Tourist destinations also include public services and facilities and physical and natural attractions. All these elements are branded together under the name of the destination (Buhalis 2000; Poonyth et al. 2002; Ritchie and Crouch 2003; Vassiliadis 2008). Yen-Lun Su (2004) states that “the purpose of measuring customer satisfaction is to assess the quality of the existing management practices and identify directions for improvement”. To achieve high levels of passenger satisfaction, many performance indicators are taken into account by airport management. Among these indicators, cleaning, terminal seating capacity and queuing time s are very important factors. Additionally, baggage access time is an important issue that can increase passenger satisfaction levels at airports (Oflac and Yumurtaci 2014). Park and Jung (2011) observed that airport service quality raises the levels of passenger satisfaction, value perception, and airport image formation. Additionally, Al-Refaie et al. (2014) examined various factors that affect passengers’ overall satisfaction and loyalty in Jordan Airport. Fuchs and Weiermair (2004) explained that many tourism destinations regard tourist satisfaction as one of the most important sources of competitive advantage. According to Buhalis (2000), one of the most important strategic management goals for destinations is maximizing tourist satisfaction. Considering that the European air transport system is facing global competition, the importance of increasing passenger satisfaction in European airports is understood. As a result of the above literature and issues, a strong relationship between satisfaction and loyalty provides a likely ground for repeat visitation. It is also understood that satisfaction levels between different nationalities can vary (Akta¸s et al. 2009; Do˘gan 2013). The objective of this study is to present the overall satisfaction with the 100 airports in Europe that receive the highest number of passengers and to explain the overall satisfaction level with other satisfaction levels. In this paper, the overall satisfaction level of the European airports that receive the highest number of passengers is studied with maps. When the satisfaction level map is examined, it is observed that there is a spatial pattern in the distribution of overall satisfaction levels. The satisfaction level increases from the south to the north and from the west to the east. Airports with the highest levels of satisfaction in the European continent are Ankara Esenbo˘ga

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in Turkey, Porto in Portugal and Bilbao in Spain. The airport with the lowest level of satisfaction is Gran Canaria. In Europe, the airports in Berlin are unsatisfying in terms of terminal cleaning, terminal seating capacity and queuing time factors. Airports in France, Italy, and England, all of which receive more tourists than other airports in Europe, present low levels of passenger satisfaction. Second, we examined whether there is a difference in overall satisfaction in airports according to ownership. We observed that whether the airport is private or public, this factor does not affect satisfaction. Finally, we seek to identify the factors that affect overall satisfaction. Airport ownership, seating capacity, cleaning, queuing time s and the number of passengers are considered to be variables that explain overall satisfaction. We observed that while airport ownership and the number of passengers do not have a statistically significant effect on overall satisfaction, queuing time s are the main factor in explaining overall satisfaction in European airports. Acknowledgements This study was supported by Anadolu University Scientific Research Projects Commission under grant No: 1705E153.

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University Students’ Alienation Levels: The Case of the Anadolu University Tourism Faculty Sezi Aydın and Ça˘gıl Hale Özel

Abstract A person may suffer alienation from oneself, society, the workplace, or the living environment. Alienation of the individual is an issue that increasingly causes alienation from society, and education constitutes one of the foci of alienation. It is crucial both theoretically and practically to determine the alienation levels of students, investigate the causes of alienation, and advance possible solutions. In this context, research was conducted during the fall semester of the 2017–2018 academic year to determine the alienation levels of students studying in different departments of the Anadolu University Tourism Faculty. In this study, a quantitative approach and a descriptive research model were applied. The Student Alienation Scale was used as a data collection tool to investigate whether students’ alienation levels differed by variables such as gender, department, class, and income level. In conclusion, it was found that students experience moderate alienation along all subdimensions of alienation, namely, powerlessness, irregularity, isolation, and meaninglessness. The results of this study may help the Anadolu University Tourism Faculty administration to take precautions to prevent further student alienation. Keywords Alienation · Alienation in education · Undergraduate students · Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism

Introduction The quest to discover and know oneself is an inherent property of all humans. Thus, realizing oneself depends on self-knowledge and forging a meaning (bond) with the world. However, “alienation,” defined as living a meaningless life as a self-alienated individual, has appeared as a psychological problem in today’s industrialized and S. Aydın · Ç. H. Özel (B) Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] S. Aydın e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_15

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technological society. Alienation generally refers to a person’s failure to connect with the current world and living a life without meaning. As alienation may be toward oneself, it can also be toward society, state, the workplace, or the living environment, but an individual’s alienation gradually leads to social alienation. Alienation, which appears intellectually in society at first, leads to conflicts with one’s own values and fragmentation of the social structure through society’s failure to hold values for the self (Sahin ¸ 2013). Alienation comprises one of the social problems especially affecting current societies in the sociological, technological, political, and economic realms that vary from one culture to another. Educational institutions are the most important social institutions in which humans find themselves from birth. Alienation, which can manifest itself in consumption, production, and professional, political, and many other areas of life, can also be seen in educational institutions, which exist to shape individuals to adopt socially accepted behavior. The place of alienation phenomenon in education, which is defined as an individual’s alienation from oneself, is described by Sidorkin (2004) thus: the situation of individuals’ diverging from processes about learning and that the learning process gradually becoming meaningless to the individual, thereby of decrease in attention to learning process and education gradually becoming boring.

Alienation, which can be seen in individuals of different age groups, can also usually be seen in students (Sim¸ ¸ sek and Akdemir 2015); a solution to alienation in education necessitates searching for how alienation in educational institutions affects the student’s life. It is generally accepted that alienated students do not appreciate the education provided at schools; in addition, it is known that school education is not meaningful to them and thus they have a tendency to turn away from school. This alienation pushes the student to failure and decreases identification with school, hence causing the student to abandon academic goals (Finn 1989, p. 123). In other words, alienation may cause serious problems in education. For that reason, identifying the alienation level of students, increasing educational institutions’ awareness of this problem, and developing suggestions for a solution are seen as important steps in education. When the literature is examined, it is found that the number of studies investigating the alienation levels of university students is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of alienation experienced by the students of the Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism. Determining whether the alienation experienced differs by gender, program, class, and monthly income of the students in three different departments of the Tourism Faculty (tourism management, tour guiding, gastronomy, and culinary arts) is the subgoal of this study. By this means, it is thought that awareness can be created of the problem of alienation at universities, which are seeking to graduate qualified human resources, and suggestions can be made about the ways to solve this problem.

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Alienation The concept of alienation, while having a long history, primarily appeared in the field of theology in the eighteenth century and entered philosophy with Hegel and economics and politics with Marx; later it became a basic topic in many fields under the impact of these thinkers (Ergil 1978, p. 93). Alienation was first used by G. W. Friedrich Hegel regarding an entity’s externalization, while Karl Marx institutionalized the concept through his arguments regarding worker, labor, and product alienation. Similarly, Durkheim dealt with the alienating side of the division of labor, Simmel of metropolitan life, Weber of rationalization and bureaucracy, and Marcuse of industry and mass medium. Peter Berger applied a broader point of view and dealt with how humans become alienated from themselves as producers of the sociocultural world, and many other nineteenth- and twentieth-century thinkers analyzed the concept in fields such as theology, modernization, personalization, and existentialism (Tekin 2014, p. 30). Ergil (1978, p. 95) states that alienation originates in private property and the division of labor, causing humans, whose economic roles are determined, to be alienated from themselves and others due to a lack of a self-organized work-order and products of labor. With reference to the social fact in the historical process, Marx argued that human alienation has to be understood in order for people to be free. Property relations in the historical process, which caused humans to be alienated from themselves, shaped the social structure. He stated that because features that promote alienation exist in the social structure, such as property relations, in order to eliminate alienation from human life, relations that promote the evolution and existence of the social structure primarily need to be understood (Co¸skun 2013, p. 121). While “alienation” used to be a concept to define mental patients reflecting a wholly self-plucked person, in the nineteenth century Hegel and Marx used it to define a smooth self-plucked position, instead of mental derangement. Alienation, which is defined as self-plucking, underlines that person sees himself as being in a circumstance created by his actions, instead of seeing his actions created by himself. This situation, in fact, is the same as “idolatry.” That is to say, the idolatrous person prostrates himself before the sculpture he created, transferring his own life forces to it. This can be explained through love; the loving one reflects all his love, thoughts, and wealth to the other and regards his wealth as not his own but the other’s and becomes one with his values only by submitting to that person, regarding him as a superior entity (Fromm 2014). For a better understanding and, especially, evaluation of alienation, it is useful to examine the subdimensions that reveal alienation. Researchers have analyzed alienation along four subdimensions in various studies. For instance, Ça˘glar (2012) stated that alienation comprises four subdimensions. Among these, weakness defines the situation in which outer factors such as chance, faith, and others’ behavior impact the individual so that the individual’s own effectiveness and individual control are limited (Elma 2003). Normlessness is the situation of disapproval of the necessity

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of behaviors that are seen necessary to realize targets (Seeman 1959). Solitude is the situation that occurs when the individual withdraws himself from society or his circle excludes him (Yılmaz and Sarpkaya 2009). Meaninglessness is the situation where students doubt why they have to attend to the activities at school (Ça˘glar 2012). Newman (1981) analyzed alienation under the name of “student alienation” and similarly stated that student alienation has the four subdimensions of weakness, meaninglessness, normlessness, and solitude. Accordingly, Newman (1981) defends the position that weakness expresses students’ deficiency of personal perception in learning and normlessness defines students’ lack of suitable behaviors under the rules in fields such as ethics. On the other hand, while meaninglessness pertains to course programs that alienated students believe have no relation to their existing and future needs, solitude/isolation indicates departure from friends and teachers—social departure, in other words.

Literature Review Alienation and the importance of its impact on education have also attracted the attention of numerous previous studies. Avcı (2012), embracing alienation as a fundamental problem in education, emphasized the reasons for alienation observed among students in educational institutions and conducted a conceptual analysis to identify the measures to be taken on an individual and institutional basis to minimize alienation, which has many negative impacts on students. The writer stated that, in order to protect students from the negative effects of alienation, the life standards of teachers must be enhanced, schools must spatially be more ergonomic, families must be informed about the causes and solutions of alienation, and social media must pull their weight. In Sim¸ ¸ sek and Akdemir’s study (2015), conducted to determine the variables that affect the alienation levels of university students along the weakness, meaninglessness, and solitude dimensions, a student alienation scale was used and a descriptive scanning model was applied to 421 university students. It was discovered that students’ genders, department choices, academics, relations with classmates, and level of attendance at social activities were the factors effective in causing a feeling of alienation from school. A similar study conducted in Bozok University in 2014 sought to determine whether the alienation level of students differed depending on their gender, age, department, family income, and purpose of technology use. As a result, it was found that all of the students were experiencing a middle level of alienation on all four subdimensions of weakness, normlessness, solitude, and meaninglessness (Çelik and Babao˘glan 2017).

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In Table 1, studies of alienation in education are cited, but it may be seen that the number of studies examining alienation among students is limited. One of these was conducted on 875 students in the Adıyaman University Faculty of Education to examine their alienation levels and attitudes toward teaching profession. It was concluded that there was a moderately negative relationship between alienation level and attitudes toward teaching profession (Ça˘glar 2013). Another study was made by Ça˘glar (2012) to develop a tool to measure the feeling of alienation of students and involved 857 students studying in different departments of the Education Faculty in different years. A structure with four factors was tested within the framework of validity works. The mentioned four factors were utilized in this study as well in defining the alienation levels of students studying in the Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism.

Method This study applied a descriptive research model and adopted a quantitative research approach. The Student Alienation Scale was applied to determine whether alienation showed any meaningful differences by students’ gender, department, year of study, and monthly income.

Population and Sample The research population comprised the 831 undergraduate students studying in the Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism in the fall term of the 2017–2018 school year. However, because of time limitations, sampling was implemented. According to the sampling calculation formula (Ural and Kılıç 2013, p. 47), it was determined that a representative sample for the limited population of 831 students was 260 students. Convenience sampling was applied in gathering the data. The sample included 283 students in total studying in the Tourism Management, Tour Guiding, and Gastronomy and Culinary Arts departments of the Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism.

Data Collection Tool and Data Collection Survey techniques were used to obtain descriptive data to define students’ alienation levels. The Student Alienation Scale, developed by Ça˘glar (2012), was used to measure the alienation perceptions of 283 students studying in the Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism. The Student Alienation Scale is of a 5-point Likert type, valued between 1 (strongly disagree) and 5 (strongly agree). The scale is composed of four

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Table 1 Previous studies Subject

Research method

Sample

Outcome

Yapıcı (2004)

Education and alienation

Theoretical approach

n/a

Educational institutions play an effective role in alienation

Erjem (2005)

Alienation concept in education and teaching

Qualitative analysis

20 teachers working in two classical state high schools in Mersin

Teachers experience alienation not along all dimensions and prevalently, but along some dimensions and partially

Yılmaz and Sarpkaya (2009)

Alienation in educational organizations and its management

Theoretical approach

n/a

Changes made in the system and course programs under the name of “reform” increase uncertainty and these negations in education lay the basis for alienation of students, teachers, and manager

Ata¸s and Ayık (2013)

Alienation from school in candidate teachers

Quantitative analysis

680 faculty of education students in Atatürk University

Candidate teachers’ genders, department choices, levels of relationship with academics, and classmates and frequency of attending social activities are factors that affect their feeling of alienation from school (continued)

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245

Table 1 (continued) Subject

Research method

Sample

Outcome

Develio˘glu and Tekin (2013)

Relationship between characteristics and alienation

Quantitative analysis

539 hotel employees in 18 five-star hotels

Meaningful relationships identified between 5 factor characteristics of the employees and different dimensions of alienation

Karagülle and Çaycı (2014)

Socialization and alienation in the web-based society

Theoretical approach

n/a

The structure of digital environments, which are far from reality, makes individuals dependent on screens and technology. This situation renders them isolated within crowds and causes alienation for the individual and his circle

Kale and Nur (2016)

Education and social gender from the view of Marxist Theory

Theoretical approach

n/a

The fact that individuals do not have equal chances in reaching education but are subject to same examination, exhibits educational gap

subdimensions of alienation, “weakness” (6 items), “normlessness” (4 items), “solitude” (5 items), and “meaninglessness” (5 items), and consists of 20 statements. An additional personal information form was included in the scale in order to determine the demographic features of the students and to measure whether these features show meaningful differences in alienation.

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For the validity of the scale, interviews with three field experts were made and positive feedback was received from them about the suitability of the questions to the purpose of the research. Data were collected during the fall semester of the 2017– 2018 school year at the Faculty of Tourism, and students were reached at places such as the canteen, holding bay, and yard. Filling out the surveys took about five minutes on average for each student and unclear questions were clarified with the help of the researchers.

Data Analysis and Findings SPSS 22 and the AMOS packages were used to analyze the data. Descriptive analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, t-tests, and ANOVA were used to analyze the data gathered for the measurement of students’ perceptions of alienation. The Cronbach’s α reliability coefficient for the four subdimensions of the scale had the values of “weakness” (.79), “normlessness” (.75), “solitude” (.76), and “meaninglessness” (.76), while the overall value was found to be 0.86. The internal consistency coefficient was calculated as 0.81, showing the scale to be highly consistent (Kalaycı 2010). The average, median, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis values were used to find out if the data distribution was normal. Each dimension of alienation was tested according to the results of the analysis and it was discovered that measures of central tendency are close to each other, with skewness and kurtosis value between +1 and −1 (Table 2). It is accepted that data meet the normalcy criteria if aberrations from normalcy are either between +1 and −1 (Kalaycı 2010) or +1.5 and −1.5 (Tabachnick and Fidell 2013). The research accordingly was continued with parametric tests.

Findings on Students’ Demographic Features It is seen that the numbers of male and female participants were close. By department, most of them were in Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, followed by Tourism Table 2 Measures of the normality of the subdimensions of alienation Weakness

Normlessness

Solitude

Meaninglessness

Average

2.0

2.96

2.82

3.06

Median

2.50

3.00

2.80

3.00

Standard deviation

0.79

0.81

0.57

0.98

Skewness

0.50

0.01

0.16

0.15

Kurtosis

0.29

−0.34

0.23

0.68

University Students’ Alienation Levels … Table 3 Students’ demographic features

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Demographic variables

Categories

N

%

Gender

Female Male

123 146

45.7 54.3

Department

Tourism Management Tour Guiding Gastronomy and Culinary Arts

86 62 121

32.0 23.0 45.0

Year of study

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

83 64 46 76

30.9 23.8 17.1 28.3

Monthly income

≤500 TL 501–800 TL 801–1200 TL ≥1201 TL

75 60 73 61

27.9 22.3 27.1 22.7

Management and Tour Guiding. The number of students in the first, second, and fourth years are close to each other but the number of third-year students was less. Finally, by monthly income, it is seen that the numbers of students with an income less than 500 TL, 501–800 TL, 801–1200 TL, and 1201 and over are close to each other (Table 3).

Findings About Differences According to the independent t-test results, the weakness dimension of alienation differs by the gender of the student. This difference comes from the fact that men experience more alienation along the weakness dimension than women do. The other three dimensions of alienation, normlessness, solitude, and meaninglessness, did not differ by gender (Table 4). ANOVA found that monthly income showed a meaningful difference in the alienation level of students. Those students with incomes between ≤500 TL and ≥1201 TL experience more alienation along with the meaninglessness dimension, while those students with incomes between 501–800 TL and 801–1200 TL experience less such alienation. Students’ alienation levels along the weakness, solitude, and normlessness dimensions did not differ by income level (Table 5). ANOVA found that students’ alienation levels did not differ by department or year. It is generally concluded that students experience a medium level of alienation along all four subdimensions of alienation.

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Table 4 T-test results for the alienation level of students by gender Dimension

Gender

N

Average

Standard deviation

Degree of freedom

t

P

Weakness

Female Male

122 146

2.46 2.71

0.68 0.85

266

−2.60

0.01∗

Normlessness

Female Male

123 146

2.89 3.00

0.71 0.50

267

−1.13

0.26

Solitude

Female Male

123 146

2.84 2.80

0.62 0.78

267

0.62

0.53

Meaninglessness

Female Male

122 145

2.99 3.12

0.95 0.99

265

4.99

0.29

*p < 0.05 Table 5 Students’ level of alienation by monthly income Dimension

Monthly income

N

Average

Standard deviation

Degree of freedom

F

p

Weakness

≤500 TL 501–800 TL 801–1200 TL ≥1201 TL

70 60 72 61

2.42 2.55 2.69 2.37

0.72 0.79 0.78 0.84

3

2.33

0.07

Normlessness

≤500 TL 501–800 TL 801–1200 TL ≥1201 TL

75 60 73 61

2.87 2.90 2.92 3.16

0.79 0.77 0.80 0.89

3

1.65

0.17

Meaninglessness

≤500 TL 501–800 TL 801–1200 TL ≥1201 TL

74 59 73 61

3.00 2.86 2.97 3.43

0.89 0.93 1.05 0.95

3

4.09

0.01∗

Solitude

≤500 TL 501–800 TL 801–1200 TL ≥1201 TL

75 60 73 61

2.84 2.88 2.87 2.64

0.57 0.52 0.54 0.61

3

2.41

0.06

*p < 0.05

University Students’ Alienation Levels … Table 6 Goodness of fit indices

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Index

Acceptable adaption

Cmin/DF

χ2

CFI

0.95 ≥ CFI ≥ 0.97

0.927

NFI:

0.90 ≥ NFI ≥ 0.95

0.820

GFI

0.85 ≥ GFI ≥ 0.90

0.903

SRMR

0.08 ≥ SRMR ≥ 0.05

0.0572

RMSEA

0.08 ≥ RMSEA ≥ 0.05

0.047

≤3

Found value 1.534

Findings of Confirmatory Factor Analysis Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied after explanatory factor analysis via AMOS to test the constructed structure. CFA is used to test whether a previously defined structure is verified as a model (Çokluk et al. 2012). In this study, it was not necessary to eliminate any item because of the absence of comparatively low-load point items in the CFA results, as the item load point in CFA must be close to 0.60 (Kline 2005). It is observed that most of the items were close to or above this value. Following CFA, a correlation matrix was obtained for 20 items. Even though the GFI (0.899) and NFI (0.810) were close to the acceptable values, because they fell short, connections and modifications were made between two disturbance terms (e5–e6; e7–e10). Goodness of fit values are shown in Table 6. As can be seen in the table, the values are at acceptable levels (Harrington 2009; Kline 2005; Meydan and Se¸ ¸ sen 2015). The analysis confirmed that the scale developed by Ça˘glar (2012) is, as explained, a structure of 20 items and four factors. As seen in the Fig. 1, the statements that compose the weakness dimension are S2, S6, S8, S9, S16, and S20; the normlessness dimension, S10, S13, S17, S18, and S19; the meaninglessness dimension, S3, S4, S14, and S15; and the solitude dimension, S1, S5, S7, S11, and S12 (please refer to Appendix 1).

Conclusion and Recommendations The current study addressed the alienation experienced in educational institutions by investigating the levels of alienation experienced by students at the university level. The study concluded that university students in general experience medium levels of alienation along all subdimensions of alienation, namely, weakness, meaninglessness, normlessness, and solitude. This result proved to be similar to those of previously conducted research (Çelik and Babao˘glan 2017; Co¸skun and Altay 2009). Turning to the individual subdimension of alienation, university students’ weakness levels vary by gender. According to this result, male students experience more alienation along the weakness dimension than female students, but normlessness, solitude, and meaninglessness did not differ by gender. This outcome can be

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Normlessness Weakness

Meaninglessness Solitude

Fig. 1 The findings of confirmatory factor analysis

explained by the fact that the educational institutions are not student-centered, in other words, teaching methods are not based on the needs at the student level, so that activities are not commensurate with students’ active participation in the educational process. Some studies have shown that students’ alienation levels differ by gender such that male students experience significantly more alienation than female students (Ata¸s 2012; Polat et al. 2015; Uzun 2006). On the other hand, other studies have concluded that female students experience more alienation than male students (Bayhan 1995). It was found that students’ meaninglessness levels differ by monthly income such that students with the lowest and highest monthly incomes experience more alienation. It may be that low-income students find school and educational life meaningless because of the demands of work life and high-income students because of extracurricular life. Nevertheless, students’ weakness, solitude, and normlessness levels do not differ by monthly income. A similar result was found in Uzun (2006), which concluded that students at lower socioeconomic levels experience more alienation. However, other studies that took family income as a variable (Ata¸s 2012; Çelik 2005; Çelik and Babao˘glan 2017; Co¸skun and Altay 2009) found that students’ alienation levels do not differ by family income level. It was also found that the weakness, normlessness, and solitude levels of students do not differ by department or year. However, other studies concluded that students’ alienation levels differed by department (Bayhan 1995; Çelik and Babao˘glan 2017). On the other hand, other studies found that the alienation level of students varies by year of study such that feelings of alienation increase with the year of study. This

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situation reflects students’ experiences. In the first years of school, lack of experience evaluating their instructors and environment may lead students greater optimism. As their studies progress, this optimism may give way to alienation as their experience allows them to make more accurate evaluations (Ça˘glar 2013). Students experience alienation along the weakness subdimension more than the others. This may indicate that students are not happy with their schools. This result indicates that students do not believe that the knowledge they gain from school improves them. On the other hand, students do not feel lucky to be educated at their school and believe that the knowledge they gain makes no contribution to understanding and interpreting life. Along the normlessness dimension, on the other hand, students experience alienation at a medium level. According to this result, students think that disciplinary regulations at school are strict and pour themselves into their classes so as to avoid boredom. Similarly, students experience a medium level of alienation along the solitude dimension and believe that their schoolmates are selfish and untrustworthy. Alienation along the meaninglessness level is experienced at lower levels by students than along the other dimensions, indicating that their school activities do not feel meaningless to them and they go to school willingly. Although the research results are consistent with those of previous studies, they differ in certain respects. Handling alienation in education more comprehensively is important for the educational life of students. For that reason, the relationships of alienation with the students’ age, relations with friends and instructors, attendance to school activities, and course success must also be studied. Examining alienation from a broader perspective is important to understand the source of the problem and develop solutions. With reference to the findings of this research, suggestions for the faculty and administration can be made, such as creating more room for social activities for students, working on teamwork for the development of friendlier relations, and helping them to develop friendships and implementing group activities such as hobby clubs that strengthen sharing between students.

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Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Disagree

The purpose of this survey is to determine the alienaon levels of Anadolu University Tourism Faculty students. By carefully reading the following statements, indicate your level of agreement by marking the appropriate rang opon (X) in front of each statement. Please, do not leave any statement blank. Sezi Aydın Arslan [email protected]

Strongly disagree

Appendix 1 Question Form

S1. I don’t know who to trust. S2. I believe that the informaon I obtained from this school has improved S3. me.* If I knew that I would not fail the course, I would not work for courses.







 







 







 

S4. In order to complete the school, I feel that I have to do many things even if I do not find correct.







 

S5. I feel so lonely at school.







 

S6. I can make more effecve decisions thanks to what I learn at school.*







 

S7. I think that my school mates are selfish people who only think about themselves.







 

S8. I feel lucky for being in this school.*







 

S9. I feel greater confidence in myself as I spend more me at school. *







 

S10. I find compulsory aendance to classes unnecessary.







 

S11. I trust in my school mates.* S12. I cannot find a friend at school these days, who can understand me and share my problems.







 







 

S13. I think that the regulaons about school discipline are very strict.







 

S14. I connue to school not willingly but because the condions necessitate it. S15. Although many pracces at school are meaningless for me, I have to endure to graduate.







 







 

S16. I think that the knowledge gathered from school have important contribuon to understand and interpret life.*







 

S17. I think that school restricts my freedom.







 

S18. I am bored to death in the class unless I find something to entertain myself.







 

S19. I find the rules at school meaningless.







 

S20. I think that being successful at this school maers.*







 

Gender: Female ( ) - Male ( ) Monthly income: ______________ Department: Tourism Management( )– Tourism Guidance ( ) – Gastronomy and Culinary Arts ( ) Class: 1. ( ) – 2. ( ) – 3. ( ) – 4. ( )

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Improvement of Anadolu University Campus Guiding Services Through Student Volunteer Feedback ˙ Gökçe Yüksek, Inci Oya Co¸skun and Semra Günay Akta¸s

Abstract The quality and sustainability of the campus guidance service is important for the promotion of universities. Campus trips are the most effective way of informing the opinions of visitors about a university. In a well-prepared campus trip, the most important aspect for high school students and their families are the student guides who show them around the campus. The Campus Guidance Project, prepared by instructors of the Department of Tour Guiding at Anadolu University and carried out with 19 volunteer students, has served 35 schools and 4842 persons between April 4, 2016 and May 6, 2016. There are three main components of the project. The first component includes preparatory activities. The second component is application and the third component is evaluation. Successful results obtained from the service quality scale and demands from the University Administration have resulted in new structuring. In terms of the use of the experiential learning process, the Campus Guidance course has been included in the program by evaluating the contribution to student education. In this paper, the opinions of the 22 students involved in the project in terms of voluntary improvement of the project have been discussed. The findings of this study, in which qualitative research methods are used, will be followed by improvements to the restructured part of the project. Keywords Tourist guidance · Campus guidance · Process improvement · Anadolu university · Turkey

G. Yüksek (B) · ˙I. O. Co¸skun · S. Günay Akta¸s Faculty of Tourism, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] ˙I. O. Co¸skun e-mail: [email protected] S. Günay Akta¸s e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_16

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Introduction Tour guides are people who provide a destination with the recognition, image, and quality of service required for the success of the tourism industry (Ap and Wong 2001, p. 551; Zhang and Chow 2004, p. 81). They also have the role of “private diplomat” who not only serves as a guide but also establishes professional communication during the tour (Hiroe 2010). Campus guides may be defined as student workers who are selected among talented students, who play major role in providing student candidates and their parents with information regarding all aspects of campus life. They have the characteristic of being a face for the brand of the university and are able to share experiences from their own student life. Campus guidance services, examples of which may be seen at universities of various countries in the world, is provided by two universities in Turkey. These are Bilkent University and Anadolu University. Both universities have different structures. Bilkent University is a private university where students pay for education while Anadolu University is a state university. When campus guidance services around the world are examined, the functions of the service can be generalized as follows: campus tour programs are announced on web pages, reservations are made, and one to one-and-a-half hour tours are arranged for groups of about 20 people accompanied by trained student guides. In some countries, campus guidance services are available for a fee. Campus tours are usually provided by students who work for a certain fee. This service was initiated by Anadolu University in 2016 within the scope of the “Campus Guidance Project” prepared by the academic staff of Anadolu University, Faculty of Tourism and Department of Tour Guiding within the scope of a scientific research project. The business processes of the project have been carried out as follows: • • • • • • • • • • •

Announcement made about campus tour guiding Volunteer students are involved in the project Public relations staff have been interviewed and collaborative work has been started Students involved in the project have been provided with training to support their personal development Information about the campus has been compiled and students have been provided with training Instructions in which standard tasks are written for use during the tour have been prepared Tour routes and parking areas for buses have been determined and standardized Standard texts have been prepared for students to introduce the academic departments of the university Students have been provided with applied campus tour guide training Students have been provided with name badges and appropriate clothing Under the supervision of the instructors participating in the project, students have carried out campus tours

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• Satisfaction surveys on tours have been conducted for visitors who take the tour and the quality of service has been measured • Interviews have been made with the students in order to evaluate the contribution of the project from the students and to improve the project Two main routes have been identified for campus tour guiding. Some tours have requested a general campus tour. In this tour, the assigned campus student guide communicates with the relevant tour leader, and leads the tour from the moment they enter the campus and provides general information about the campus. The other route covers departments requested by the tour. The campus student guide in charge prepares the tour program by taking into consideration the faculties reported by the Public Relations Unit and communicates with tour leader. They welcome the tour at the campus entrance and lead the tour. Generally, the tours are completed after lunch in the dining hall of Anadolu University. Academic members who follow this process evaluate the performance of the student. In addition, visitors provide feedback via a quality of service scale. The quality and sustainability of the campus guidance service is important for the promotion of the university. This is because the most important factor affecting high school students and their parents is the student guides who organize and conduct campus tours, even though universities prepare their brochures, try to make their web sites interesting, and carry out public relations studies (Lombardi 2006). A well-planned campus tour may have a positive impact on the visitor’s ideas about the university (Greenough 2003). The results of the service quality scale feedback from visitors in the project have showed that the campus guidance service has been executed successfully. At the same time, a new structure has begun to be designed upon the request of the Public Relations Department of Anadolu University to provide satisfaction and service continuity. A Campus Guidance course has been included in the program every day during weekdays during the peak spring semester, when Anadolu University has visits and in the peak mornings when the tours come. In this regard, the experiential learning process will have contributed to the development of the student participants. Students who have been involved in the campus guidance project have been asked to evaluate the project through structured open-ended questions. This statement has addressed the students’ views on improving campus guidance.

Methodology The main purpose of this study is to determine which areas of the Campus Guidance Service should be improved according to the views of students taking part in the “Campus Guidance Project.”

258 Table 1 Student problems faced when conducting campus tours

G. Yüksek et al. • Problems experienced in tour coordination – Misdirection of buses (3) – Failure to communicate with public relations (12) – Failure to comply with the hours reported (10) • Problems related to incoming groups – Inappropriateness of the group profile (3) – Lack of interest in the group (2) – Problems caused by lack of equipment during the tour – Microphone deficiency (2) – Failure to use sound correctly (3) – Missing brochures showing information on the departments (2) • Problems related to geographic conditions – Unfavorable weather conditions for tour (3)

The Campus Guidance Project was announced to students in Anadolu University, Tourism Faculty, Department of Tour Guiding on October 2015. From the department, 22 students have volunteered and been involved in the project, while 19 students have taken part in the entire application part of the project. Qualitative research methods are used for the purposes of this study. Within this context, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 students between April 4, 2016 and May 6, 2016. All project participants were included in the study. Semi-structured interview forms were used in face to face interviews. In the interview form, students’ opinions have been collected on “Problems faced when campus tour guiding” and “Points considered missing in the campus guidance project” in order to improve the service. The interviews were then evaluated and different codes were assigned to each participant. Data collected from students has been analyzed through the MAXQDA program. The data coded by the researchers was grouped and thematized by specialists to reach an agreement. Information on the frequencies of the phrases is shown in Tables 1 and 2.

Analysis and Findings Within the scope of the campus guidance project, students who actively acted as campus guides have been consulted about problems they experienced within this project. The data obtained has revealed missing points in the project and is informative for determining deficiencies that occurred. The issues conveyed are also matters that need attention and improvement. The data obtained within this scope has been examined under four headings as follows: problems experienced in tour coordination,

Improvement of Anadolu University Campus … Table 2 Points considered as missing in the campus guidance project by students

259

• Suggestions related to the training received – Longer training periods (2) – Providing more practice opportunities (2) – Improvement of social behavior and protocol course (1) • Suggestions related to the equipment – Giving name badges to the campus guide (12) – Optimizing campus guide clothes (6) – Use of audio devices (5) • Suggestions related to improvement of tour coordination – Establishing healthier communication (3)

problems related to incoming groups, problems caused by lack of equipment during the tour, and problems related to geographic conditions.

Problems Experienced in Tour Coordination Students who organize and conduct campus tours have expressed their difficulties in directing arriving tour buses with the following words: Firstly, I experienced a parking problem. Directing buses caused trouble… (Ö1)

Another problem related to tour coordination is the lack of communication with the public relations unit about tour cancellations and time changes. The problems experienced within this context are expressed as follows: There was a lack of coordination with the public relations unit. Consequently, the information about the tour was provided incorrectly or incomplete. (Ö20) … I just had a lot of tour cancellations and I was informed on the last day. We had a communication problem with public relations. (Ö21)

On the other hand, students who stated that the problems experienced with tour coordination caused by failure to comply with the hours reported said that A tour arrived an hour late according to the time reported. They should inform us in advance about the importance of the time management. (Ö19) …Schools have arrived at the reported hour…. (Ö13)

Problems Related to Incoming Groups Students who conduct campus tours have mentioned the following problems related to groups to whom they have given a tour. The students stated that the group profile

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occasionally consists of little children; therefore, they have problems in terms of tour coordination as specified below: Primary school children came once in my tour and it was really hard to get through to them and to keep calm… (O2) Incoming groups were underage. (Ö3)

Another problem experienced with incoming groups was a lack of interest in the group. This status has been reported by nine students as follows: It was the most difficult to work with students who were uninterested and did not respect us… (Ö9)

Problems Caused by Lack of Equipment During the Tour During the campus tours, students stated that they felt a lack of some equipment. A student, who expressed difficulties with projecting their voices to crowded groups, said that: Microphone deficiency was an important problem. (Ö8)

On the other hand, students also stated that they were both inexperienced and had problems using their voices because the group was crowded, and they expressed the opinion that they should be trained in this respect as follows: We definitely need intensive training on how to use our voice. (Ö10)

Student guides have been informed in advance about the students to whom they give tour on the stats of the departments. However, they stated that they had problems with memorizing the stats of each department and that the students who came within this scope had problems with the absence of brochures where the stats of the departments would be written. In this context, students expressed their views on this issue as follows: Brochures may be printed (Scoreboard) and distributed to the participants. (Ö5) Scoreboard brochure: It will make the project much more professional and will help guides. (Ö1)

Problems Related to the Geographic Conditions While students were specifying the problems they experienced, they sometimes were faced with adverse weather conditions during the tour and they expressed the problems they have experienced in this respect as follows:

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First of all, weather was always bad on my luck, so the groups that came with me sometimes got cold and did not listen to me in this respect. It was sometimes hard for me to walk in bad weather and turn to them. (Ö18) … It rained a lot and we had to take shelter in the canteen of a pharmacy, except rainy weather everything else was fine. (Ö2)

Students’ opinions have been collected on the issues in which they felt were lacking within the scope of the campus guidance project. In this context, an applied course made in the Department of Tour Guiding revealed findings related to the needs of the students, subjects considered as missing by the students, and suggestions on this issue. Findings obtained in this context have been examined under three headings. These are: suggestions for the training received, suggestions about equipment, and suggestions for improvement of tour coordination.

Suggestions Related to the Training Received Students were subjected to a number of trainings prior to campus guidance (Social Behavior and Protocol, Drama, Diction, and Campus Information). Some students have put forward suggestions on issues in which they felt were lacking with respect to trainings. These are: The training period could be increased. (Ö3) The trainings we receive must be a course. (Ö9)

On the other hand, students actively guiding in the campus guidance project experienced a lack of practice and put forward their suggestions on this issue as follows: More practice opportunities… (Ö17) …Students should be able to practice further by making tours among themselves. (Ö21)

Suggestions Related to Equipment The primary issues which they felt was lacking during campus guidance was name badges. The opinions set forth in this context are listed as follows: …Guides could have name badges which attract more attention. (Ö4) I would like to have name badges which attract more attention. (Ö9) …Name badges would make us appear more dominant and authoritative. (Ö20)

During the campus tours, students wore a red t-shirt on which “campus guide” was written. However, students made various suggestions about the clothes. Some of these have been specified below:

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…There may be several changes to the shirt. (Ö12) …A claret red uniform with a polo collar could be wearable. (Ö20)

Since they have to give tours to crowded groups, the necessity of using products such as microphones is another incomplete aspect of the campus guidance project according to students. In this context, it is clearly understood from the following clauses that there is a lack of audio devices in the campus guidance project: Audio equipment could be given to us. (Ö2) There should be an audio guide. (Ö18)

Suggestions Related to Improvement of Tour Coordination Students made various suggestions about the improvement of tour coordination. In this context, students requested to be informed in a timely manner on cancellations by establishing healthier communication with the public relations unit. The answers given accordingly are as follows: If there is a change in the tours (for example, if the tour is canceled), students must be informed by the public relations unit or the tour representative. (Ö19) Healthier communication with the public relations unit. (Ö13)

Conclusion The campus guidance service is very important in terms of introducing Anadolu University to its guests. In other respects, the students who will be in tour guiding profession have the opportunity to practice with this project. In this context, Anadolu University was promoted and on the other hand, students who took the tour guiding training had a chance to develop themselves in the field of management, information transfer, coordination, and leadership. Although universities perform various activities in order to promote themselves (brochure distribution, web site arrangement), the most important person influencing high school students who are university candidates and VIP guests are the student guides who conduct campus tours (Lombardi 2006). In this study, the results obtained in line with the opinions of the 22 student participants and the improvements that need to be made during the project may be specified as follows: • Many students have stated that they want to have name badges because they are similar to a tour guide work card. In the VIP tours conducted, they wear a name badge like a real professional tour guide. (As per the Professional Law on Tourist Guiding No. 6326, professional tour guides have to wear their work card around their neck during tours.)

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• Headphones have been purchased from the project budget in line with the demands of the students who conduct campus tours, and microphones have been used during tours. • It has been observed in the project that campus student guides serving high school student groups, who come to know the university, change their complaints related to the group profile when VIP groups arrive. • A statistics brochure has been requested for high school students who come to visit the university from the public relations department. • Care has been taken to ensure that tours are conducted during favorable weather. • Communication problems with public relations have been removed. • Students have made presentations about important people, such as Yunus Emre, King Midas and Shepherd Mustafa Pasha, who are significant in terms of Eskisehir, in the form of drama by taking their expressions a step further after acquiring acting skills. These dramas have breathed new life into tours and helped to increase the quality of service. • During the campus guidance project, students have been provided with extra training regarding their needs and opportunities practice more in the areas where they felt they were lacking. Within the scope of the project conducted, researchers have made efforts to train students to be self-confident, knowledgeable, and leadership-minded guides. This study has been very effective in determining points to take into consideration in the campus guidance and similar tour guiding application projects, the problems and suggestions of students, and what to do to improve this project. Acknowledgements This study was supported by Anadolu University Scientific Research Projects Commission under the grant no: 1505E450.

References Ap, J., Kevin, K., & Wong, F. (2001). Case study on tour guiding: Professionalism, issues and problems. Tourism Management, 22(5), 551–563. Greenough, A. S. (2003). In search of the “right place”: Institutional image, person-environment fit and college choice (PhD thesis), The College of William and Mary, United States Virginia. Hiroe, T. (2010). Competence model and elements required for tour guides. Kyushu Communication Studies, 8(1), 21–39. Lombardi, K. S. (2006). Tour guides at universities master diplomacy and deal with reality. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/05/education/05tours.html. Accessed 1 April 2015. Zhang, H., & Chow, Q. I. (2004). Application of importance-performance model in tour guides’ performance: Evidence from Mainland Chinese outbound visitors in Hong Kong. Tourism Management, 25(1), 81–91.

Tourism Sustainability

Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up Approaches in Heritage Tourism Management and Planning: An Analysis of Contrasting Models Based on Two Turkish Case Studies Barı¸s Seyhan and Antonio Paolo Russo Abstract Bottom-up and top-down approaches in heritage tourism management and planning are assessed using two case studies from Turkey. This study first provides a brief background of heritage management concepts and practices in the Mediterranean Basin, with a focus on Turkey. To typify heritage tourism management processes within a bottom-up/top-down binary, the involved agents are classified according to their natures and hierarchical levels. Heritage tourism management in the Phrygian Valley is thus analysed as an example of a top-down approach, while that in ancient Lykia/Olympos is evaluated as a demonstration of a bottomup approach in a rural destination setting. Data were gathered with semi-structured and structured interviews in the two case study areas and included primary data from previous works as well. According to the results, both bottom-up and top-down approaches demonstrate weaknesses and strong points. Operational dimensions of the two approaches are exemplified and discussed in detail. Keywords Cultural heritage tourism planning · Cultural heritage tourism management · Bottom-up and Top-down approaches · Phrygian Valley · Olympos · Turkey

Introduction The Mediterranean basin is characterised by a long history of cultural diversity, generating unrivalled opportunities for heritage tourism. Thus, Mediterranean heritage tourism is the subject of tourism research due to the use of these opportunities (i.e. Millar 1989; O’Leary et al. 1998; Boniface and Fowler 2002; Apostolopoulos and B. Seyhan (B) Tourism Faculty, Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] Faculty of Tourism and Geography, University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain A. P. Russo Department of Geography, University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_17

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Sönmez 2000). From a holistic perspective, the competitiveness of heritage tourism destinations can be seen as relating to the heritage itself as well as to the state of conservation of the surroundings, to the attributes of local societies and to the range of tourism services offered at destination. The interaction between heritage sites and their surroundings (i.e. local people) is expressed as an essential criterium to maintain sustainability in the tourism industry and a determinant of market competitiveness (Hassan 2000). Research (Hawkins 2004; Alberti and Giusti 2012) has highlighted the importance of heritage and related services in tourism-based clusters and regional competitiveness. Thus, heritage tourism management and planning should consider the maintenance of the balance between protection and use to succeed in competitiveness and sustainability principles. As many studies (Russo 2002; McKercher et al. 2002; Garrod and Fyall 2000; Nuryanti 1996; Larkham and Ashworth 1994) have noted, the dilemmas of coherence between heritage conservation and tourism development require the endorsement of a clear, shared vision and strategy that adheres to the principles of sustainable development and the adoption of effective planning and management tools. Because of the importance attributed to tourism development in regional and national strategy across the Mediterranean and the objective attractiveness of Mediterranean regions and especially coastal destinations areas for mass tourist markets, the possibility of having a ‘sustainable tourism development strategy’ is important not only for the sake of heritage conservation but also in terms of the competitiveness of local tourism regions, as heritage is assumed to provide an element of diversification and ‘stabilisation’ of tourism flows. Each heritage site is different and faces its own conditions for sustainable tourist uses. The uniqueness of heritage sites forces managers and stakeholders to design specific policies based on such conditions. To understand what constitutes a successful strategy in heritage tourism management, we will first discuss the overarching concepts of heritage policy, referencing the specific context of the Mediterranean Basin with the main focus on Turkey.

Background Policies about heritage sites and artefacts in Turkey took shape in the nineteenth century. As a result of the westernisation of the Ottoman Empire, heritage sites started to receive legal protection. Although the exhibition of artefacts started during the Ottoman Empire period, these practices were still far from being consistent with a scientific process of museology. The foundation of public museums with a scientific approach started with the Turkish Republic. The Protection Law of Cultural and Natural Assets published in 1983 attributed ownership of cultural and natural property strictly to the State and restricted the usage of such property under the framework of conservation plans; this was when planning started to be used as a tool for heritage management. The policy framework for cultural heritage management has been upgraded according to the European Union harmonisation process (Özdemir Da˘gıstan 2005).

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In the decades since the 1983 Protection Law, Turkey has produced a wide array of management strategies oriented at the sustainable development of heritage sites. New policies such as Turkey’s Tourism Strategy 2023 have been created not only at the national scale but also at the regional and local levels to attain sustainability.

Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches Bottom-up and top-down approaches are based on social development theories and have been used extensively as analytic frameworks for community development strategies by social scientists. The top-down approach represents a broad scope, such as policies, legislation and agents at the international to national scale. In contrast, the bottom-up approach represents a narrower scope, such as policies, regulations and local groups at the state/regional to national scale. In terms of the spatial context, while the top-down approach indicates global action, the bottom-up approach indicates local action (Theerapappisit 2012). The top-down approach has a significant philosophical and practice history, predating the bottom-up model (Larrison 2002). The term ‘top-down’ used in organisational theory implies that a strategy is conceived by an authority (usually a government) and is developed by professional staff, with limited or no involvement of those likely to have a legitimate interest or be affected by the outcomes (stakeholders). It also implies that the setting of goals and methods by that authority does not necessarily coincide with those of the stakeholders. Implementation is also typically a responsibility of such authorities. Such top-down approaches are not restricted to national governments but are also found at lower levels of administration (OECD 2001, p. 41). During the 1950s, as a response to the weaknesses of the top-down perspective, a new approach called the bottom-up approach started to be used by researchers (Clark 1942). The term ‘bottom-up’ is defined in the dictionary (28) as ‘…progressing from small or subordinate units to a larger or more important unit, as in an organization…’. Mostly, policy makers pioneered analysing problems or issues from an operational and local level (Sabatier 1986). In heritage tourism management and planning, the bottom-up approach is often related to conditions of a heritage site at the local scale. In other words, the unique conditions of heritage sites do not allow the application of the same solutions that were applied at another heritage site. Studies that take this approach (Theerapappisit 2012) insist on the uniqueness of the conservation process. The concept of a bottomup policy approach reflects a principle for local communities to set their own goals and make decisions about their resources in the future, including heritage preservation and the development of buildings, parks, open space and other conservation or development activities. A bottom-up decision-making process requires local groups to be initiated with little involvement of local, regional, central or international government agencies in the setup of key ideas. Local groups represent the ‘bottom’ in

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the process, and their decisions affect regulations and policies ‘up-wise’. Decentralisation can take place from the local to the regional level and then from the regional to the national level (Dalal-Clayton and Bass 2002). Bottom-up processing in tourism planning is frequently related to communitybased tourism (CBT). CBT refers to the participation of all stakeholders of the community in tourism planning and management in a broader context and in all stages of development (Yamashita 2011). CBT has been extensively used by development agencies as a tool to community development, especially in developing countries, where other forms of economic development are limited (Le et al. 2012; Mtapuri and Giampiccoli 2016). Connell (1997) indicates that participation is not only about achieving the more efficient and equitable distribution of material resources but also about the sharing of knowledge and the transformation of the process of learning itself through a self-development process. In other words, community participation refers to not only an involvement of all components of the community but also sharing the decision-making process with all stakeholders and a power redistribution within the community. CBT centres on the involvement of the host community in planning and maintaining tourism development to create a more sustainable industry (Hall 1991).

Methodology In this paper, following a brief history of the cultural heritage management development of Turkey, contemporary cultural heritage management strategies are investigated in 2 heritage tourism destinations. The main objective of the paper can be stated as the identification of the efficiency of top-down processing in heritage tourism management by using a scale that has been used and demonstrated to measure success and to determine the employability of the top-down approach in the management of the Phrygian Valley as a heritage destination. Another aim is to clarify the performance of bottom-up processing in Olympos heritage destination management and planning. The implementation of top-down management is explained, and its success is examined by using the four-steps model and five principles that have been identified to achieve success in heritage tourism in the USA. Data were gathered by face-toface interviews and written responses. In addition, the implementation of bottom-up management was investigated by face-to-face interviews held on site in Olympos Valley with academics, heritage scholars and stakeholders of the process. The second part of the research was conducted with a set of semi-structured interviews with site managers and heritage professionals in Olympos. In addition to the researcher’s site observations, the legal, social, economic and environmental consequences of unplanned tourism development were investigated in-depth during the interviews. The participants were chosen based on their managerial levels. The questions were designed to assess the communication and interaction between different levels of managing bodies. Visitors were not included in the research. Interviews

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were held for a limited period of time due to the workload of the experts and the site managers. The research indicates a gap between the two approaches, and the negative and positive outcomes of their implementation are discussed. Furthermore, the adaptability of both strategies to the two sites is evaluated. Which strategy should be used with which case? The negative and positive aspects of each strategy are identified, and potential solutions are offered. The research problem is identified to clarify which approach has the ability to provide success in heritage tourism and at which scale. What are the negative and positive aspects of the approaches in practice? How can the approaches be used in planning? The characteristics of the approaches are significant when comparing the cases and considering them individually. In the Olympos case study, the small scale of the case study provides advantages for observing hierarchical levels in detail in heritage tourism management and planning. In the Phrygian case, the collaboration of multiple managerial bodies through holistic heritage tourism planning is assessed. In the first case, Phrygia refers an area on the western end of the high Anatolian plateau, an arid region quite unlike the forested lands to the north and west (Thonemann 2013). The valley part of the area currently covers three cities: Eski¸sehir, Kütahya and Afyonkarahisar. The number of visitors of museums and archaeological sites was 95,045 in 2015 (Museum Statistics 2015). The geographical locations of the heritage sites in the valley are distributed among these cities’ administrative domains. FR˙IGKÜM (Association for the Development and Protection of Phrygian Cultural Heritage) is assessed as an example of a top-down planning process in heritage tourism management. To understand how successful top-down management and planning are, a set of data was gathered from 3 cities located in FR˙IGKÜM’s administrative domain. Each city’s central and local managers were surveyed with semi-structured questions in face-to-face meetings. The questions were derived from the four-step model and the five principles of the National Trust for Historical Preservation (NTHP) in the USA. The four-step model refers to a model for success in heritage tourism. The first step is ‘Assess the Potential’, which involves describing the attractions in the area, prioritising the resources and tourism-related resources, assessing the market and creating a mission statement. The second step is ‘Plan and Organise’, which refers to building a strong local network, identifying and securing sufficient financial resources, building broad support to promote buy-in all levels and ensure long-term support through the education of young people. The third step is ‘Prepare for Visitors’ and includes preparing for visitors, protecting and managing cultural, historic and natural resources. ‘Market for Success’ is the fourth step. It addresses public relations, advertising, promotion and cooperation with others. Additionally, the NTHP has developed five guiding principles for building successful and sustainable cultural heritage tourism. These steps are to ‘collaborate’ with partners and stakeholders, ‘find the fit’ between the needs of residents and visitors, ‘make sites and programs come alive’ so they are worth visiting, ‘focus on quality and authenticity’ of the sites and programmes, and ‘preserve and protect’ local natural, cultural and historic resources (NTHP 2008; Jiang and Homsey 2008).

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Table 1 Participants of the Phrygian Valley study Cities

Central managing bodies

Local managing bodies

Residents and visitors

Total

Eski¸sehir

8

3

26

Afyonkarahisar

3

0

5

8

Kütahya

6

0

50

56

17

3

81

101

Total

37

The responses are analysed to measure success in heritage tourism. The same questions were posed to residents and visitors in heritage sites, educational institutions and museum professionals in the area. A group of seven instructors from a wide range of disciplines, including history, sociology, tourism marketing and organisation and management, examined the questions in terms of content and ability to represent steps of the model. The questions were administered through two assessment cycles. Convenience sampling and purposive sampling methods were used during the research (Table 1). According to the steps of the model, the questions were constructed to obtain the diverse opinions of participants on the assessment of potential, planning and organisation, preparation and management, and display and marketing. In addition, the attractions and service facilities of the Phrygian Valley, financial and human resources and opinions about a successful marketing strategy were investigated during interviews. In the second case, Olympos Beyda˘gları Coastal National Park (including many ruins and ancient cities) was founded in 1972, including both archaeological and natural heritage sites on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The ancient Olympos ruins and the village of Olympos (a contemporary settlement) are located side by side in the same area as a part of Olympos Beyda˘gları Coastal National Park. Today, the accommodation capacity of the Olympos area has gone beyond its limits without acquiring the necessary physical additions such as infrastructure to satisfy the demands of the increased population, especially during the high season of tourism. The number of visitors to the archaeological site reached 354.489 in 2015, 156.592 in 2016, 170.907 in 2017 and 226.008 in 2018 (DOSIM 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018). To assess the situation and uncontrolled tourism development, the consequences of the unsustainability of the status quo must be taken into consideration. Before mass tourism began, the archaeological site had few visitors and no accommodations. However, the orange gardens nested within the ruins that are explored by tourists have been transformed from having single pergolas to having large camps with bungalows, ignoring the construction ban in area (Seyhan and Emeksiz 2011). Uncontrolled tourism development became the core of the problem, which is vital for central, regional and local managing bodies, residents, NGOs, tourism companies, and archaeological site managers to solve.

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Analysis and Findings To understand how top-down planning works in practice, in this paper, FR˙IGKÜM (Association for Development and Protection of Phrygian Cultural Heritage) is examined as a case study. The case study is a key example of heritage tourism management and planning in recent years in Turkey. To begin at a broad scope, the Turkish Republic published Tourism Strategy 2023, and one of its notable points was developing cultural heritage tourism. The strategy reflects the governmental interest in cultural heritage tourism, stated as follows: ‘NGOs and local managing bodies are planned to include works which are related to necessity of protection of cultural heritage in tourism.’ After the tourism strategy was published in 2007, FR˙IGKÜM was founded by the Cabinet Decree in 2009 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey 31 October 2009). Phrygia is located in the middle area of Turkey, the present location of 3 modern provinces (Afyonkarahisar, Eski¸sehir and Kütahya). An association was founded with the collaboration of each province’s managing body called the ‘Special Provincial Administration’. The association members created their own legislation in line with the requirements and heritage tourism planning (Table 2). From then on, a diverse range of activities have been carried out, such as the mapping of the valley for trekking tourism and the creation of the Phrygian Way (a trekking and mountain biking route), mountain biking festivals, photographing competitions and other regular marketing activities. Additionally, educational institutions such as universities have been included in a series of activities with students to maintain young students’ interest in the valley (Table 3). According to the responses, participants’ opinions were mostly positive about the first step (assess the potential). All participants stated that the Phrygian Valley has high potential in terms of heritage tourism. Managers responded more optimistically to questions about accommodation services, food and beverage services, road networks, public transport services and information systems. In contrast, visitors and residents used the term ‘inadequate’ frequently during their responses. The second group of questions was based on the plan and organise step of the model. The responses reflected a wide range of ideas about what should be done. Managers as well as residents and visitors expressed that there were inadequate facilities for disabled tourists. In detail, seven sub-concepts were formulated according to the questions based on the plan and organise step: tourism professional responsibilities, resident interest in Table 2 Parties and hierarchical levels of the top-down management process in the Phrygian Valley Level

Parties

National

Cabinet, Ministry of culture ˙ FRIGKÜM, Special Provincial Administration

Regional Local

Universities, Governorships, Municipalities, Villages, Outdoor Sport Professions, NGOs, Museum Professionals

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Table 3 Top-down process of heritage management in the Phrygian Valley Level

Organisation

Action

↓ National

Cabinet, Ministry of culture

2023 Strategic Plan (2007) Cabinet Decree (2009)

↓ Regional

FR˙IGKÜM, Special Provincial Administrations, of 3 cities, Development Agencies

Phrygian Way (2008), Photo Competition (2010, 2011, 2012), Mountain Biking Tourism Cup (2010)

↓ Local

Universities, Governorships, NGOs, Municipalities, Villages, Outdoor Sport Professions, volunteers

Activities (Tours, Exhibitions, Advertising Facilities, Concerts, Festival, etc.)

heritage tourism, infrastructure, tourism authority responsibilities, effective stakeholders, financial issues and usage of folktales for heritage tourism purposes. The participants identified the efficient stakeholders who could achieve successful heritage tourism to be NGOs, businesses, various ministries related to heritage tourism, central and local managing bodies and educational institutions. Currently, all these stakeholders are working together under the coordination of FR˙IGKÜM to develop heritage tourism in the valley. A third group of questions was generated to investigate the protection and preparation of heritage sites, as is outlined in the third step of the model. The dilemma between conservation and display (which has become the main topic of heritage studies) was observed in the responses. The legal status of the heritage sites and their usage with the purpose of heritage tourism were criticised by all parties. Museums and exhibitions were identified as ‘inadequate’ by all parties. Although the participants’ expectations were unsatisfied, the transformation and renovation of museums and heritage sites were appreciated when the scale of the valley and the distribution of the heritage sites were taken into consideration. The usage of cultural elements was both criticised and supported in terms of authenticity. Ultimately, according to the responses concerning the advertisement step, marketing facilities were described as ‘inadequate’ by residents. Residents’ responses showed that the tourism potential of the valley was not advertised even among residents (Table 4). In contrast to the past, increasing numbers of tourists and the unplanned development of tourism have brought some environmental, social, economic and legal consequences over the recent decades. Thus, a bottom-up process has been adopted to address problems in the heritage tourism area (Table 5). Table 4 Parties and hierarchical levels of the bottom-up process in Olympos/Lykia Level

Parties

National

Ministry of culture

Regional

Governorship, regional associations

Local

Residents, local managing bodies, law enforcements, NGOs, tourism businesses, site managers

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Table 5 Bottom-up process of heritage management in Olympos/Lykia Level

Action

Year

↑National

Gaining an ability to adapt to legal changes at the national scale, with the goal of competition in the national heritage tourism industry

2012, 2014

↑Regional

Preparing master zoning plan for protection, transferring local expectations to regional protection bodies, planning environmental solutions for reconstruction

2011

↑Local

Identifying current problems, developing effective collaboration with all stakeholders and rapid solutions to prior problems, conducting participative management and awareness trainings

2008, 2009

The bottom-up process began under the coordination of Anadolu University in 2008. The consequences of unplanned tourism growth in areas such as pollution and security risks have been observed. The continuity of the management process provided rapid solutions at the heritage site in 2009. As an example, security control points were constructed around heritage areas to prevent illegal accommodations of tourists for both security and economic purposes. All parties provided diverse contributions to a wide range of regulations, activities and decisions and took responsibility in control mechanisms. Both the environmental and economic consequences of unplanned tourism development have been explained to raise awareness in local residents and local businesses. Mapping of facilities and precautions for illegal construction have been undertaken with the collaborating residents and businesses. Positive attitudes have been demonstrated by the involved parties in regard to planning activities. The importance of planning has become better understood after a destructive flood in 2009. Collective behaviour to prevent smuggling in heritage sites has been developed after a long awareness training period. In 2011, the master zoning plan preparation period was started by excavation coordinators and governors to prevent the pressure of mass tourism on the heritage site. Regional and national representatives held meetings to listen to the expectations of residents and business. All local-level parties listed demands such as decreasing the number of tourists and increasing quality, creating legal construction regulations and legal guarantees, and developing solutions for infrastructure and traffic problems. The demands of excavation coordinators included the improvement of the bottom-up communication process. Additionally, the bottom-up process provided rapid adaptation ability for major legal changes at the national scale in 2012 and 2014.

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Conclusion Both bottom-up and top-down approaches have negative and positive aspects. DalalClayton and Bass (2002, p. 145) inferred that the gap between bottom-up local-level analysis and top-down policymaking has widened. Local-level analyses have frequently have not fully considered how policy is constructed and how it interacts with and affects local interest groups. In contrast, policy analysis has tended to focus on the motivations and initiatives of policy elites and bureaucrats rather than on the perspective of those ultimately affected by policy choices; when policy analysis does include local stakeholders, it is in terms of the ‘impacts on people’ rather than their participation in policy. There are some more critiques from the top-down perspective. First, it is possible to neglect strategic initiatives coming from policy subsystems such as local officials, local-level bureaucrats or the private sector. Second, it is difficult to use top-down models where there are no dominant policies. Third, there is an ignorance of strategies used by local-level bureaucrats and target groups. Additionally, difficulties in integrating top-down decisions with local-level managers’ purposes are other critiques (Sabatier 1986). In the Phrygian Valley case, top-down planning provided the ability to work to have diverse parties collaborate on a large scale. However, the responses indicated that some practices could not satisfy the expectations of those at the bottom level, such as expectation for infrastructure and advertising, due to a lack of micro-planning. Another critique can be made regarding the participation of local people in the management and planning process. While top-down planning is useful at large scales (such as the destination), it also requires a strong ability to monitor the unique conditions of each heritage site. In addition, top-down planning seems far from being able to produce and implement creative advertisement strategies in line with the demands of young tourists. The participants indicated that leisure activities were inadequate compared to the heritage tourism potential of the valley. On the other hand, it can be argued that the bottom-up process in Olympos has succeeded due to practising participatory management principles. Policy makers should consider that sustainability in heritage management is strongly based on appropriate bottom-level parties. As indicated by Rashed (2013), it has often been inferred that heritage protection should not rely only on top-down interventions by governments or experts but should also involve local communities, as in the bottom-up approach. In the Olympos case, the protection of cultural heritage and the environment was the push factor among local people to participate in management. In fact, community-based heritage tourism planning has proven successful in recent decades, and as discussed previously (Goodwin and Santilli 2009), it has ultimately emerged as a result of the failure of the top-down approach in both conservation and development, which has been widely practised by both conservation and development organisations. CBT has emerged as an alternative to mainstream tourism. Concerns about the negative consequences of mass tourism have motivated local people to develop a holistic strategy under the leadership of site professionals. In other words, the first

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step to sustainability in heritage tourism in Olympos was to build awareness of the negative effects of unplanned developed mass tourism and the unsustainability of the current situation, especially in recent years. Additionally, local people and frequent visitors have some advantages in their ability to observe and recognise environmental changes that have been introduced since mass tourism activity has begun. A process from the bottom to upper levels of organisation may undoubtedly provide information that medium or top management bodies are able to monitor. To do this, local people should be informed about the main principles of sustainability, conservation and protection. This approach has succeeded in Olympos with the help of awareness training since the beginning of the managerial process. It is seen that effecting the upper level of organisation to make possible changes in policies is not easy; on the other hand, the bottom-up process may provide the proper foundation to strengthen the participation of local people in the policy-making process. Additionally, succeeding in transferring local people’s and tourism businesses’ expectations to regional-level bodies are additional outcomes of bottom-up heritage tourism management and planning. The relationship between heritage sites and tourism relies not only on site professionals but also on tourism businesses in the area. In this regard, Olympos has an advantage with its local entrepreneurs. Most of the businesses are owned by local residents. Ownership is mainly based on patrimony and the transition in the source of income of local people from agriculture to tourism. Therefore, local people and tourism businesses have already been in collaboration for many years in terms of coordination and cohesiveness. This collective way of thinking reflects similar concerns held by local society that are transmitted to regional-level management bodies. Likewise, contribution to policy-making about reconstruction of the area is carried out through bottom-up process in Olympos for creating new plans for renewal of the tourism area that surrounds the ancient city and monuments. Based on the data gathered and analysed, a generalisation can be made about where to use bottom-up and top-down approaches in heritage tourism management. It can be argued that the top-down approach is more sufficient in large-scale heritage tourism destinations that include two or more heritage sites. Top-down decisions may help to act collaboratively in multi-structured organisations where regional or local managing bodies cannot establish harmony in the decision-making process. Additionally, the top-down process may provide more for a regional identity or destination brand than the bottom-up process in multi-partnered heritage tourism destinations. Based on the data gathered from the Phrygian Valley, it can be said that gathering local marketing activities under a regional perspective that is established by national management bodies is more successful. In addition, the data showed that residents strongly identify with more than one heritage site and that it is difficult to organise, plan and manage through bottom-up processes. Furthermore, the legal framework for conservation is vital to maintaining sustainability in heritage tourism management on both the local and regional scales. Thus, while the monitoring mission of national management bodies is important (control), practising conservation principles by local or regional managing bodies

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must be considered (practice). Apart from other management activities, conservation must include both bottom-up and top-down approaches. As the Olympos case study showed, the education of residents about conservation principles is necessary and important to have successful heritage tourism management. While top management bodies should construct the legal framework, regional and local management bodies should assume legal responsibilities through education. This approach can be applied only with the collaboration of all management bodies. It is hard to say that one approach is better than the other, but it can be argued that both approaches may provide success in heritage tourism management and that success is related to choosing the proper approach according to the characteristics of the heritage site. Using only one approach is not enough to attain either sustainability or success in heritage tourism. Another outcome of the research concerns monitoring heritage tourism development. While the bottom-up process provides easy monitoring, the top-down approach is far from able to control what occurs at the local level. Decentralisation of control must be applied through both approaches. This decentralisation refers to national management bodies constructing the main framework by regulations and laws based on regional and local-level needs and the context of the international heritage tourism market.

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Larkham, P. J., & Ashworth, G. (Eds.). (1994). Building a New Heritage: Tourism, culture and identity in the New Europe. London: Routledge. Larrison, C. R. (2002). A comparison of top-down and bottom-up community development interventions in rural Mexico: Practical and theoretical implications for community development programs. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press. Le, T. A., Weaver, D., & Lawton, L. (2012, March). Factors influencing the performance of community-based tourism in the semi-periphery of Vietnam: A resident perspective from Ta Van Village. In CAUTHE 2012: The new golden age of tourism and hospitality; Book 2; Proceedings of the 22nd annual conference (p. 361). La Trobe University. McKercher, B., & Du Cros, H. (2002). Cultural tourism: The partnership between tourism and cultural heritage management. New York: Routledge. Millar, S. (1989). Heritage management for heritage tourism. Tourism Management, 10(1), 9–14. Mtapuri, O., & Giampiccoli, A. (2016). Towards a comprehensive model of community-based tourism development. South African Geographical Journal, 98(1), 154–168. NTHP. (2008). Four steps for successful and sustainable cultural heritage tourism. 2005 partners in tourism: culture and commerce. http://www.culturalheritagetourism.org/fourSteps.htm. Nuryanti, W. (1996). Heritage and postmodern tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 23(2), 249– 260. OECD. (2001). The DAC guidelines: Strategies for sustainable development: Guidance for development co-operation. OECD (p. 41). OECD Development Assistance Committee. (2001). The DAC guidelines: Strategies for sustainable development, 41. Official Gazette of the Turkish Republic. (27392- 31 October 2009). Frigya Kültürel Mirasını Koruma ve Kalkınma Birli˘gi (FR˙IGKÜM). O’Leary, J. T., Morrison, A. M., & Alzua, A. (1998). Cultural and heritage tourism: Identifying niches for international travelers. Journal of Tourism Studies, 9(2), 2. Özdemir, M. Z. D. (2005). Türkiye’de kültürel mirasın korunmasına kısa bir bakı¸s. Planlama, 31, 20–25. Rashed, H. F. (2013). Sustainable urban development in historic Cairo (Doctoral dissertation), University of Nottingham. Russo, A. P. (2002). The “vicious circle” of tourism development in heritage cities. Annals of Tourism Research, 29(1), 165–182. Sabatier, P. A. (1986). Top-down and bottom-up approaches to implementation research: A critical analysis and suggested synthesis. Journal of Public Policy, 6(1), 21–48. Seyhan, B., & Emeksiz, M. (2011, May 9). Saklayarak Koruyamıyoruz. Radikal. Radikal 2. Retrieved from http://www.radikal.com.tr. Theerapappisit, P. (2012). The bottom-up approach of community-based ethnic tourism: A case study in Chiang Rai. In Strategies for tourism industry-micro and macro perspectives. IntechOpen. Thonemann, P. (Ed.). (2013). Roman Phrygia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Yamashita, S. (2011). Community-based associations for sustainable tourism development: Fostering sustainable development in developing countries. http://www.dosim.gov.tr/muze-istatistikleri 2015 (6 July 2015). http://www.dosim.gov.tr/muze-istatistikleri 2016 (6 March 2019). http://www.dosim.gov.tr/muze-istatistikleri 2017 (6 March 2019). http://www.dosim.gov.tr/muze-istatistikleri 2018 (6 March 2019).

Influences of Perceived Environment Uncertainty on Sustainable Destination Management Practices for Malaysian Tour Operators’ Businesses Maisarah Abd Hamid and Salmi Mohd Isa

Abstract Sustainable development has emerged as an important consideration in global tourism development. Realising the importance of this type of development, tour operators are encouraged to be more involved in their roles for destination sustainability. In addition, it is important to determine the factors that may influence the adoption of sustainability among tour operators in Malaysia. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to determine the influence of perceived environment uncertainty among tour operators towards the adoption of sustainable destination management practices based on the changes of customer demand, advanced technology and government regulation factors. For this study, the quantitative method was utilised by using semi-structured questionnaire, whereby data obtained from 192 respondents were analysed using SEM PLS 3.0 to determine the relationship of these factors. The results indicated that changes in market demand and government regulations influenced the adoption of sustainable destination management practices, whereas changes in advanced technology posed no impact on such practices. This was suggestive of tour operators’ businesses that need to be more alert towards the changes in market demand for the tourism industry in Malaysia, as well as changes in governmental regulations and policies. Future research would be useful in assessing the effect of tourist’s demands for sustainability, as well as the identification of other factors that may influence the adoption of sustainability in tour operator businesses, as these areas are gaining much attention across the tourism industry worldwide. Keywords Perceived environment uncertainty · Sustainable destination management practices · Tour operators · Customer demand · Advance technology · Government regulations

M. A. Hamid Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA Terengganu, Dungun, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] S. M. Isa (B) Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, Penang, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 ˙I. O. Co¸skun et al. (eds.), Travel and Tourism: Sustainability, Economics, and Management Issues, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7068-6_18

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Introduction Sustainable development has become a global agenda, requiring the participation of all industries and businesses. The tourism industry has demonstrated its commitment by introducing sustainable tourism practices and tour operators count among the stakeholders that have the obligations towards sustainable issues. Large tour operators are in the ideal position to develop and manage tourism activities in ways that contribute to sustainable development (Tepelus 2005; Van Wijk and Persoon 2006; Schwartz et al. 2008; Khairat and Maher 2012). However, despite the increase in awareness among tour operators towards sustainability issues as deduced from tour operators’ attitudes towards sustainable destination (Budeanu 2005); studies on the adoption of sustainability practices have shown that tour operators have little real motivation to behave in a more sustainable manner. Therefore, this makes it a critical factor for the successful implementation of sustainability in tour operator businesses while focusing on the different ways of overcoming various obstacles arising during the adoption process (Khairat and Maher 2012). This shows that the involvement of tour operators is required from the destination perspective, whilst it is useful to identify the factors that influence the businesses in the course of adopting sustainability in their operations. As with any study related to business sustainability, the internal and external factors count are among the highlighted topics in this particular area of study. In the tourism industry, the perceived environment uncertainty is evaluated for external factors that influence involvement in business sustainability. Major sources of environmental uncertainties include customers (demand), suppliers (supply), technology (structural), and competitors (Fynes et al. 2004; Wong and Boon-Itt 2008; Wang et al. 2014; Huang et al. 2016). This indicates the several external factors of environment uncertainty that influences the involvement in sustainable tourism. The tourism industry in Malaysia is evolving and showing its commitment towards sustainability. The stakeholders are encouraged to be involved with this particular type of development, whereby tour operator businesses are important stakeholders that are obliged for sustainable tourism, especially from the destination perspective. In order for tour operators to be competitive in the industry, they must have the right strategy in engaging with the adoption of sustainable tourism practices in a manner that is beneficial for them. To encourage the involvement of tour operator businesses, the factors that may influence the adoption of sustainability need to be explored further in consideration of limited existing studies focused on this area. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the external factors that influence the adoption of sustainable destination management practices in Malaysia. The variables of perceived environment uncertainty were used to determine the external factors influencing the involvement in sustainability. Three research questions were tested in this study:

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1. Does the uncertainty of customer demand influences the adoption of sustainable destination management practices? 2. Does the uncertainty of advanced technology influences the adoption of sustainable destination management practices? 3. Does the uncertainty of government regulation influences the adoption of sustainable destination management practices?

Literature Review Adoption of Sustainable Destination Management Practices Tour operators are engaged in a broad range of responsibilities that are directly tied to a tourism destination, influencing activities that occur at the destination and the perception of the destination by those who visit it (Bricker and Black 2015). The term ‘sustainable destination management’ encompasses a broad area that includes cultural attitude, managerial tools and strategic behaviour among others. However, it is strictly related to multidimensional development through the equilibrium between issues that occasionally contrast, such as environment, social and economic growth. It is also related to territorial valorisation, the correct use of local resources and respect for other expectations (Fyall et al. 2011). This highlights the manner in which sustainable destination management reflects the ability of a company to handle the territorial valorisation by looking at the use of local resources and the respect towards others’ needs to become economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. The adoption of sustainable destination management refers to practices that are implemented by tour operators towards achieving sustainable tourism for any destination. The term ‘sustainable tourism’ is related to the studies on ecotourism, green tourism, supply chain management, and corporate social responsibility (Hamid and Isa 2017). Based on these components, several themes have been identified to be linked to sustainable destination management practices, which include community development, contribution to conservation, interpretation and education, environment preservation, and their benefits towards cultural heritage and supply chain efforts (Hamid and Isa 2018). This indicates the areas of sustainable destination management practices that can be adopted by tour operator businesses (Fig. 1).

Perceived Environment Uncertainty The perceived environment uncertainty state that overall amount of ambiguity present in the environment is determined by managerial perceptions of such environment (Duncan 1972). In the tourism industry, the perceived environment uncertainty is evaluated for external factors that influence the tourism-related businesses towards

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Community development

Contribution to conservation

Interpretatio n and education

Preserve environment

Benefits cultural heritage

Supply chain efforts

Fig. 1 Key areas of sustainable destination management practices (Sources Original for this study)

the involvement in business sustainability. Major sources of environmental uncertainties are customers (demand), suppliers (supply), technology (structural) and competitors (Fynes et al. 2004; Huang et al. 2016; Wong and Boon-Itt 2008). Similarly, earlier studies have also identified several sources of uncertainty, such as geographical, political and sociocultural factors (Bell and Ruhanen 2016; Oreja-Rodriguez and Yanes-Estevez 2007). This indicates the various factors that influence sustainability. Previous studies have delved into the internal and external factors that influence the adoption of sustainability, such as the studies by Dibra (2015), Khairat and Maher (2012), and Le and Hollenhorst (2005). They have identified the external factors to include level of completion, customer demand and government regulatory policies. Besides, a study related to external drivers of eco-innovation by Bell and Ruhanen (2016) has identified government regulations, recognition and legitimac, and market demand as the factors affecting the adoption of eco-innovation. These are among the external environment factors discussed in previous literature that may affect the adoption of sustainability. Moreover, previous studies on perceived environment uncertainty have shown that the research were conducted with pooling scores on several items on issues like customers, suppliers, competitors, sociopolitical, and technology (Miller 1993). However, studies related to adoption and performance have required separate factors so as to examine and identify which factors of uncertainty may influence the adoption of sustainability or business performance. Therefore, this study will further determine the factors of uncertainty under the three variables of uncertainty, namely, customer demand, advanced technology and government regulation, which may influence the adoption of sustainability among tour operators in Malaysia. The hypothesis testing for this study were as following: H1: There is significant relationship between uncertainty of customer demand with adoption of sustainable destination management practices H2: There is significant relationship between uncertainty of government regulatory and adoption of sustainable destination management practices H3: There is significant relationship between uncertainty of advanced technology and adoption of sustainable destination management practices

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Methodology A structured questionnaire was used for this study’s data collection. The survey consisted of items to elicit respondents’ demographic information and factors of perceived environment uncertainty. The items consisted of customer demand (six items), advanced technology (six items), government regulatory (four items) and the adoption of sustainable destination management practices (15 items). A seven-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree was utilised to assess perceived environment uncertainty, while a seven-point Likert scale ranging from very low to very high was used for questions related to the adoption of sustainable destination management practices. Items for the adoption of sustainable destination management practices were covered in the preliminary phase of the study, whereby two expert panels were engaged to validate the practices. Meanwhile, items for perceived environment uncertainty were adapted from Desarbo et al. (2005) and Le and Hollenhorst (2005). The respondents for this study consisted of the managers or owners of tour operator businesses in Malaysia who possessed the knowledge of their business operations. Clustered sampling was applied to all tour operators in the 13 states of Malaysia, resulting in a total of 450 questionnaires distributed accordingly. The usable responses obtained amounted to 192, which indicated a response rate of 42%. The common method bias test was performed through exploratory factor analysis with an unrotated factor solution using SPSS. For this study, based on the Harman’s one factor analysis conducted, eight factors were presented and the most covariance explained by one factor was of 46.044, which was not more than 50%. Therefore, common method biasness was not a contaminant for the research results. The data was analysed using SEM PLS 3.0 to examine the effects of factors for perceived environment uncertainty with the adoption of sustainable destination management practices. The two-step approach was taken in which both the measurement model and structural model were assessed.

Results and Discussion In this study, the data from 192 questionnaires returned were analysed, with respondents hailing from all 13 states in Malaysia. The highest number of respondents was of the Central Region in Malaysia that consisted of the states of Wilayah Persekutuan and Selangor. The majority of respondents were housed staff rosters of five persons and less, indicating that the majority of the respondents were from SME businesses. Similarly, a majority of the respondents (35%) have been operating for 11 years or more.

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Table 1 Validity and reliability result Constructs

Items

Loadings

AVE

CR

Customer demand

4

0.595–0.848

0.536

0.820

Advance technology

4

0.657–0.874

0.644

0.877

Government regulations

3

0.749–0.906

0.722

0.886

Sustainable destination management

15

0.571–0.837

0.528

0.943

Measurement Model Assessment The PLS 3.0 test is used to analyse the measurement model based on factors of internal consistency, factor loading, convergent validity and discriminant validity. In measuring the validity, two types of assessment were utilised, namely, convergent validity and discriminant validity. The convergent validity was accessed through factor loadings and AVE as suggested by Hair et al. (2017). The indicators loading, CR and AVE values of the reflective construct are shown in Table 1. For indicators loading, the value ranged between 0.5 and 0.9, whereby according to Hair et al. (2017), the loading of 0.708 is recommended, while a value of 0.5 is regarded as acceptable. Meanwhile, the manifest variables with loading value of less than 0.5 should be dropped (Chin 1998; Hair et al. 2017). Therefore, all items were retained in this study as the CR values exceeded 0.8 and 0.9, indicative of them being at a satisfactory level. Meanwhile, the AVE values in this study were greater than 0.5, therefore, confirming that the constructs fulfilled and met the reliability and convergent validity requirements at this stage. The second part of the analysis focused on discriminant validity analysis of which the assessment was conducted using two methods. The first method was carried out by comparing the cross loading between constructs. The results indicated that all indicators loaded highly on their own construct but low on other constructs, thus confirming the values as outlined by Fornell and Larcker (1981). Meanwhile, the second method used was the HTMT technique, which required the value to be smaller than 1 (Henseler et al. 2015). All values fulfilled the criteria of HTMT.90 (Gold et al. 2001) and HTMT.85 (Kline 2010), indicating that the discriminant validity was confirmed in all constructs.

Structural Model Assessment The second part of the assessment was performed on the structural model, with the first issue being the lateral collinearity. This issue was highlighted using the VIF value, which should be less than 5.0 (Hair et al. 2017). In this study, the VIF values were lower than 5, indicating that lateral collinearity was absent.

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Table 2 Result for hypothesis testing Hypothesis

Relationship

Std beta

Std error

T-value

Decision

R2

F2

Q2

H1

Advance technology > SDM practices

−0.055

0.095

0.575

Not supported

0.292

0.002

0.131

H2

Customer demand > SDM practices

0.369

0.084

4.409

Supported

0.115

H3

Government regulation > SDM practices

0.289

0.079

3.637

Supported

0.071

The second part of the assessment consisted of hypothesis testing, whereby three direct hypotheses were developed between the constructs. To test for the significance level, the t-statistics for all paths were generated using the Smart PLS 3.0 bootstrapping function. Two hypotheses were found to have t-value > 1.645, which was thereby significant at 0.005 level of significance. The uncertainty of customer demand (β = 0.369 P