Host-guest Relationship Research Articles

Implementation of Omotenashi in Japanese Ryokan

Omotenashi, often referred to as Japanese hospitality, is a service to customers based on Japanese spirit and culture. Omotenashi is evident in the services provided by a ryokan, which is a traditional Japanese inn. This paper seeks to describe the application of omotenashi in ryokan management, how omotenashi control is implemented, and what the implementations are. The research was conducted by observing the involvement of the Hyoe Koyokaku ryokan, an old ryokan located in the tourist area of Arima Onsen. From the results of observations and analysis, it was found that ryokan employees control omotenashi as a vision of service to customers through training, instruction, and improvement based on feedback. The implementation of ometenashi is manifested in personalization, host-guest relationships, hospitableness, and lots of little surprises

A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST. DRAMAS OF HOSPITALITY IN REBECCA WEST’S THE RETURN OF THE SOLDIER

First published in 1918, Rebecca West’s debut novel The Return of the Soldier focuses on a common trope in Great War Literature: the traumas of war and the difficulties of returning veterans to fit back in with everyday life. The story of the shell-shocked soldier Chris Baldry, who suddenly finds himself in a world which has aged 15 years beyond his memory, may be read as the unfolding of a multi-layered drama of hospitality, in which the host-guest continuum is constantly renegotiated. Chris’s memory erasure does not only turn him into a foreigner who does not recognize his wife or remember his dead son, but also forces his family members to question the role they have been playing in Chris’s life. His family equilibrium is shattered as his wife suddenly becomes a stranger to him, while his long-lost love, a working-class woman well below Chris’s social standards, become more important to him than anyone else. An analysis of the modernist techniques and stylistic features of the novel will allow me to address the concept of hospitality in relation to trauma and disease. The paper will show that The Return of the Soldier may be read not only as a critique of war, but also as a multi-perspective narrative on the precariousness of host-guest relationships. It will be argued that the “question-of-the-foreigner”, which Derrida addressed in his seminal essay Of Hospitality (2003) acquires new meanings when disease suddenly transforms a loved one into an “other” with whom communication seems to be interrupted. Hospitality may thus be regarded an unstable concept, in which identity and alterity are constantly renegotiated.

Human Gut Microbiome and Liver Diseases: From Correlation to Causation.

The important role of human gut microbiota in liver diseases has long been recognized as dysbiosis and the translocation of certain microbes from the gut to liver. With the development of high-throughput DNA sequencing, the complexity and integrity of the gut microbiome in the whole spectrum of liver diseases is emerging. Specific patterns of gut microbiota have been identified in liver diseases with different causes, including alcoholic, non-alcoholic, and virus induced liver diseases, or even at different stages, ranging from steatohepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, to hepatocellular carcinoma. At the same time, the mechanism of how microbiota contributes to liver diseases goes beyond the traditional function of the gut–liver axis which could lead to liver injury and inflammation. With the application of proteomics, metabolomics, and modern molecular technologies, more microbial metabolites and the complicated interaction of microbiota with host immunity come into our understanding in the liver pathogenesis. Germ-free animal models serve as a workhorse to test the function of microbiota and their derivatives in liver disease models. Here, we review the current evidence on the relationship between gut microbiota and liver diseases, and the mechanisms underlying this phenotype. In addition to original liver diseases, gut microbiota might also affect liver injury in systemic disorders involving multiple organs, as in the case of COVID-19 at a severe state. A better understanding of the gut microbial contribution to liver diseases might help us better benefit from this guest–host relationship and pave the way for novel therapies.

The circular economy in tourism: transition perspectives for business and research

ABSTRACT Despite being classified as a service sector, producing immaterial services, tourism relies on huge quantities and flows of exhaustible natural resources and largely reflects a linear take-make-dispose production model. In recent years, the concept of the circular economy (CE) and its restorative and regenerative principles for production and consumption, has attracted growing attention among businesses, policy makers and researchers. While the concept of sustainability increasingly is applied in tourism research, the implications of CE in tourism have not received much attention. This paper argues that CE offers great potentials as an integrative and instructive framework for encouraging more sustainable tourism practices. It introduces, theoretically, CE in a broader socio-technical transition perspective, explores tourism as the specific context for application and provides an empirical example of a Danish hotel, inspired by a pragmatic circular business model. The paper also argues that tourism, due to its close host–guest relationships, potentially holds transformative potentials beyond how CE has been used in other fields. The paper thereby contributes to research debates about the transformative power of tourism.

Measuring the Valence and Intensity of Residents’ Behaviors in Host–Tourist Interactions: Implications for Destination Image and Destination Competitiveness

While studies have documented the valence (e.g., facilitation and harm) of residents’ behaviors toward tourists, research into the intensity (i.e., activeness or passiveness) for such behaviors and the corresponding matrix that could be generated by considering both of these dimensions in the context of tourism remains unexplored. This research offers a more holistic conceptualization of residents’ behaviors by generating a matrix that constitutes the framework of the Behaviours from Intergroup Affect and Stereotype (BIAS) Map. Twelve behaviors were measured and cross-culturally validated via samples from Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States: Active Facilitation (i.e., socializing, interacting, and starting a conversation with tourists); Passive Facilitation (i.e., tolerating, accepting, and enduring tourists’ behaviors); Active Harm (i.e., mocking, threatening, and being unfriendly to tourists); and Passive Harm (i.e., resisting, refraining, and being reluctant to help tourists). This research provides implications for tourism policy makers to manage host–guest relations that could influence destination image and destination competitiveness.

Host-guest relations and destination image: compensatory effects, impression management, and implications for tourism recovery

ABSTRACT Incidences of negative host-guest interactions have been frequently reported through news and social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of this, the present study examines the exposure of negative information about residents on potential tourists’ evaluations of destination images. The findings show that tourists may offset negativity about residents through the concept of compensatory efforts by providing more favorable judgements to other elements of the destination (e.g. culture and environment). This study contributes by highlighting the dynamics of compensatory efforts and impression management on destination images, which are relevant for promoting destinations when travel and tourism recover from COVID-19.

Enraged: Why Violent Times Need Ancient Greek Myths

Enraged: Why Violent Times Need Ancient Greek Myths

The Host Community and Its Role in Sports Tourism—Exploring an Emerging Research Field

The increase in individual sports activities is stimulating the rise of sport-related forms of vacationing. This is further intensified by tourists seeking authentic experiences in host–guest relations, physical health and well-being, and the consumption of local products and services. Communities, especially those in developing countries, do not yet fully recognize the potential of local sports as a resource and competitive advantage in their destination development. In the same way, tourism research is lacking analyses regarding the role of the community and its specific sports identity. Given this, the present paper aims to systematically review the promising interface between community development and sports tourism. The research questions are based on the potential of identity-based sports and necessary local engagement. These efforts are pursued through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) with 49 articles. The results reveal the thematic clusters, research features, and prevalent challenges and benefits that the community has to deal with. The discussion proposes the utilization of local sports identity in systematic product development and highlights increasing local engagement. In conclusion, we call for future research on non-event-related sports tourism, in-depth case studies, and multi-disciplinary concepts to foster local sustainability.

Assessing explicit and implicit stereotypes in tourism: self-reports and implicit association test

Stereotyping is a dichotomy system of cognitive information processes reflecting explicit and implicit biases. While existing studies have studied tourist stereotypes with a wide range of approaches, ranging from face-to-face interviews to numerical scale ratings via self-reports, these studies measured only one type of stereotypes: explicit stereotypes, while neglecting the other: implicit stereotypes. The nature of explicit stereotypes allows individuals to access their cognitions, which could increase the chance of socially desirable responses and thus offer incomplete knowledge in tourist stereotyping. Drawing from existing literature on explicit and implicit stereotypes, this study seeks to identify implicit tourist stereotypes via implicit association test (IAT) and measure them against explicit biases from residents of four popular destinations, covering Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. This study contributes by presenting a detailed development of the IAT and demonstrates the applicability of this method for future cognitive-related studies in the tourism literature. Overall, this study provides a timely and impactful methodology for measuring tourist stereotypes, an important cognitive component that could shape residents’ attitudes toward sustainable tourism development, and harmonious host-guest relationships.

Factors affecting intended hospitable behaviour to tourists: hosting Chinese tourists in a post-Covid-19 world

ABSTRACT Since the Covid-19 virus appeared the resulting pandemic has been associated with China and the Chinese in the media. This research, using the Integrated Threat Theory’s perspective, aims to understand the effect that this association may have on host-guest relations. The study, based on 537 questionnaires collected online, investigates whether the hospitable behaviour to be shown by the Turkish hosts to Chinese tourists in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic is influenced by risk perceptions, and by views of the Chinese and their responsibility in the spread of the virus. The findings confirm the strong negative influence of perceived risk of infection, the weaker positive effect of perceptions of the Chinese, and the indirect impact of attribution of responsibility.

The influence of zero-fare tours on the host–guest understanding

PurposeThe aim of this study is to explore the host–guest relationship at a macro level, investigating the sociopsychological relationship between a destination and its markets.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted netnography to fulfill the research purpose. Data were collected from Sina Microblog, the predominant social media platform in China, focused on bloggers responses to a fatal conflict between a tour participant and the guide during a shopping tour.FindingsBloggers' attributional discussions help to understand the nature of the host–guest relations. Responses from Chinese and Hong Kong bloggers showcased criticism toward the other community and criticism of one's own community. These were reflected in three themes: concerns with the place of conflict or the identities of the perpetrators, hospitableness or discrimination and the Chinese and Hong Kong cultures.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation is that the subject of this study (young bloggers) does not represent a complete cross section of the residents of China and Hong Kong. This study suggests a need for a broader theoretical perspective of the host–guest encounter. The study results have practical implications for destinations receiving Chinese group package tours.Practical implicationsThe study results have practical implications for destinations receiving Chinese group package tours.Originality/valueOn-site interaction has been the focus of previous studies of the host–guest relationship, and off-site interactions were seldom explored. This study bridges the gap and extends the discourse on the host–guest relationship to a wider temporal (by taking a post event view) and spatial (by assessing the issue off-site) scale.

COVID-19: a pandemic to tourism guest-host relationship in India

PurposeThe emerging situation of pandemic due to COVID-19 has not only influenced the daily life but also the society and travel activities around the world thereby depriving tourists (especially who are already on the move) of facilities and even making them to look for desperate alternatives. Such situation in fact may draw a long-term impact on guest–host relationship while residents’ behavior reflects hostility toward the tourists. Such kind of interactions contributes toward tourists’ perception and experience about the destination and its services thereby affecting their level of acceptance and tolerance for tour and travel activities (Armenski et al., 2011). Moreover, the guest–host relationship has mostly been studied with perspective of and focus on residents/host and not enough on tourists (Skipper, 2009; Vargas-Sánchez et al., 2014). Keeping this in view, this paper aims to analyze the impact of pandemic situation on guest–host relationship and its future impact on travel intentions among the tourists in India.Design/methodology/approachThe study undertakes the help of in-depth interviews and extracting themes to understand the guest–host relationship and the perspective of tourists in challenging times like COVID-19 and its impact on the relationship. The secondary sources have been adopted to retrieve the data related to current status of travel industry in India. In-depth interviews were conducted online to gather data for the qualitative analysis regarding the research. Further, the data has been analyzed for retrieving a dimensional approach to subject area.FindingsThe data from participant observation showed that the hosts displayed panic, mistrust and irresponsible behavior toward the guests, and this clearly indicates that the pandemic situation has a highly negative impact on the image of the community and the destination. This ultimately affects the guest–hosts relationships in the long term. Most of the tourists showed that they were okay with following the rules and respect local culture but were expecting support from local community during distress. It was found that there were two female tourists who were asked to vacate the accommodation, which can be considered as an inappropriate and extreme behavior. Thus, COVID-19 is not only causing a threat to the tourism presently but will have a prolonged influence on guest–host relationship as negative interaction or experiences are supposed to be frequently radiated by the tourists (de Albuquerque and McElroy, 2001).Originality/valueThere is no dearth of studies focusing on travel behavior dimensions, whereas the linkage of residents’ behavior toward it still requires much consideration and analyzing simultaneously. The study looks into the area of guest–host relationship and tries to explore it from the perspective and significance of tourist (guest) rather than the much read and researched resident (host) perception at the center. The findings of the study could be helpful in drawing the strategic framework for the industry to handle and sustain the guest–host relation so as to safeguard the future of tourism and sustain potential travel market reiterating the significance of tourists/guests and their perspective about the hosts, in developing and growing the tourism of a destination.

Transforming the guest–host relationship: a convivial tourism approach

Purpose This study aims to provide a fresh perspective toward understanding the forces that exist in the guest-host dynamic and thereby contribute to the guest–host relationship literature. Design/methodology/approach This study examines guest–host relationship via the philosophical lens of convivialism. Findings This study conceptualizes conviviality in the guest–host relationship. A convivial guest–host relationship is characterized by well-being mutuality and hospitality mutuality. Such a relation can be built when the guest and the host form a tri-party of coalitions, namely, economic, experience and hospitality. While an economic coalition represents the pragmatic value in a guest–host relationship, an experience coalition represents an experiential value in a guest–host relationship. A hospitality coalition then represents the spiritual alliance in such a relationship. Practical implications This paper suggests that tourism development should be guided by a conviviality vision. Health and well-being of both the visitors and the destination community should be a goal priority. This paper suggests that the starting point of experience planning is the residents, not the visitors. The critical role of hospitality in formulating market communication strategies is emphasized. Social implications This study contributes to the larger conversation of diversity and sustainability. Originality/value This study proposes a convivial tourism model – a form of tourism that is oriented toward mutuality of hospitality and well-being of both visitors and destination communities.

Foreigners, fakes and flycatchers: stereotypes, social encounters and the problem of discomfort on the street in Arusha, Tanzania

PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to research on the interrelations between urban tourism, travelling and landscapes. It shows how young visitors to the tourism-reliant city of Arusha, northern Tanzania, experience and interpret discomfiting encounters with street sellers by drawing on stereotypes circulating in guidebooks, online forums and in the tourism industry. In turn, such re-interpreted encounters are increasingly seen as problematic for the city’s development of urban tourism.Design/methodology/approachThe author draws on extensive ethnographic fieldwork with tourist-product street sellers in Arusha and Moshi, Tanzania in 2015–2017. With detail-oriented focus on social interaction and communication, the author has used participant observation and interviews to understand the perspectives and actions involved. Complementing this, the author draws on interviews with tour companies and local authorities to connect everyday occurrences with broader political, economic and urban transformations.FindingsThis paper explores the interrelation between changing urban landscapes, gentrification and burgeoning urban tourism by highlighting not only how streets are created and sought to be re-created but how also re-interpreted stories and stereotypes fundamentally influence how it is understood by local authorities. As the consumption of place, shopping and foreigners’ experiences take centre stage in Arusha’s urban development project, practices and people that are re-interpreted as causes of discomfort, become objects of ordering and discipline.Originality/valueThis paper emphasizes that the social encounters beyond dichotomies of host–guest relationships are a fruitful and important means of investigating how “encounters” connect space to power, the street to urban planning and mundane on-the-street interactions to processes of transformation and gentrification. This paper presents a reading of “landscapes” not as a text, but as a series of encounters that catch our attention when and where they break our norms, or the norms of others.

Islamic beliefs and host-guest relationships in Iran

This study examines how Islamic beliefs affect host-guest interactions from the perspectives of local people in two Islamic heritage villages in Iran. Face-to-face interviews with 51 people across ...

Power dynamics in peer-to-peer accommodation: Insights from Airbnb hosts.

This study explores power dynamics in peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation by examining how they manifest in the host-guest relationship. In so doing, it advances understanding on the role of hosts in the P2P practice and contributes insights on the factors conditioning the reciprocity of the P2P exchange. Drawing from power theories, the study uncovers how the interdependencies among hosts, guests and platforms influence power constellations emanating from P2P accommodation growth and reflexively redefine host practice. Specifically, the study illustrates how hosts are attempting to resist power imbalances characterising the exchange and how the dynamic environment of P2P accommodation leads to distinct representations of host types. The study makes explicit a conceptual framework that captures the power shifts noticeable in P2P accommodation that may be of theoretical and practical value to academics and policymakers alike.

Rhythms of nutag

Abstract While Henri Lefebvre used his rhythmanalysis for analysing urban spaces and the effects of those rhythms on the inhabitants of those spaces, I attempt to apply it to a more rural and non-European environment, the comparatively small and familiar space of a Mongolian nutag. Case studies based on oral and written Buryat and Barga Mongols’ accounts demonstrate that entering the spiritually thick atmosphere of the nutag (crossing its borders) requires a certain slowing down and tactical deceleration to adjust to local rhythms. To examine the hierarchy of the various contingent forces that influence people and their movement either in their own or in khari nutag [foreign land], I elaborate host–guest relations into a triangulated arrangement of relations between ezed masters, guests and the locals. To borrow an expression from physics to add to our analytical vocabulary of writing on slowness and deceleration, each nutag appears to be a sort of a ‘viscous medium’ with different rhythms and fluids creating more drag on objects (people) moving through it.

The perceptions of frontline employees towards hotel overbooking practices: exploring ethical challenges

This paper explores the ethical perceptions of frontline hotel employees towards hotel overbooking policies. Thus far, the majority of literature has focused on the ethics of overbooking from the guests’ perspective. This research finds that frontline employees form an ethical ideology based on their perceived need to deliver hospitableness to the guest. Overbooking is viewed as a threat to the host–guest relationship. However, if frontline employees can offer relevant compensation to guests and give advanced warning of an outbooking scenario they perceive that an ethical balance between hospitableness and commercially driven overbooking practices can be achieved.

How are overtourism and host–guest relationships portrayed by the Portuguese print media?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the main perceived impacts of overtourism in Portugal and the reactions of tourism stakeholders in the main Portuguese cities, especially the host. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a qualitative approach, based on the analysis of news published in Portuguese newspapers between March 2018 and March 2019, applying Bardin’s (2011) content analysis and matching with the theory as proposed by Laville and Dionne (1999). Findings The study reveals that the main perceived impacts are the evictions and transformation of old residence into short-term rentals (e.g. Airbnb) and small hotels, besides other impacts such as garbage in the streets, gentrification, loss of security and others. Research limitations/implications The study considered the period of one year, being a limitation of analysis for contexts within that period, as well as the possible partiality of how the context of overtourism is dealt by newspapers. Practical implications This study seeks to understand the context of overtourism and its perception by the hosts and aims to present a basis of tourism planning for public and private sector stakeholders, in order to provide a better visit experience to the tourist, without losing the hosts’ quality of life. Originality/value Studies using newspapers as sources of data are rare. The newspapers are considered local witnesses; therefore, they bear important information for several purposes, not just for tourism but for other realities or contexts.

共享住宿主客关系行为分析及影响研究

共享住宿主客关系行为分析及影响研究