A firm would like to know which factors are the most significant for its revenue growth and this can be a very complex problem to solve since revenue determinants can be identified by literature to ...be a plethora of variables. The paper provides the methodology for pinpointing the most important revenue determinants for tourism accommodation establishments. Specifically, it aims to provide insight into revenue determinants of hotels and tourist accommodation establishments specializing in alternative tourism in a land-lock region of Northwestern Greece using the LASSO method on questionnaire data. LASSO presents many advantages for estimating tourism models with many possible determinants with a data-driven procedure for the selection of variables. Results suggest that tourists visiting the region, have strong preferences for traditional hostels of very high quality with investments in accessible tourism. Also, important determinants of revenue growth are the existence of a restaurant, playground, fitness centre, souvenir shop, the number of employees, and the human capital of the establishments. The method can be used as a yardstick in studies for other alternative tourism regions, for exhibiting the factors determining revenues.
► In this study, the emerging flashpacker is examined. ► Cultural Consensus Analysis is employed to study flashpacker and backpacker culture. ► The convergence of backpacking, ICT, and mobile ...technology is discussed.
The purpose of this study is to examine the emerging flashpacker sub-culture in relation to the backpacker culture. Cultural Consensus Analysis is employed to examine the potential cultural divergence between flashpackers and non-flashpackers. A mixed-mode dual-frame sampling procedure was employed for data collection, as surveys were administered through Facebook backpacker-groups and in hostels in Cairns, Australia. The results indicate that flashpacker and non-flashpacker groups have a shared cultural understanding of backpacking. In addition to the conceptual clarity of the emerging flashpacker, this study also provides some interesting insights into contemporary backpacker culture and the continuing convergence of physical travel with information and communication technologies.
Purpose
Environmental behavior research has shown that environmental characteristics may have a big impact on people's behavior. This paper is part of a doctoral dissertation on evaluating the ...building performance of residential hostels in Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTI) in India, an appropriate methodology was developed using the relevant attributes of environmental behavioral research to conduct post-occupancy evaluation (POE) for a pilot survey that identified unique ground conditions. The approach aids in comprehending the state of residential surroundings from the perspective of students, and the conclusion will allow the ongoing research to inquire about and suggest parameters for a student-friendly and inclusive residential hostel design in India, through its primary user, the students. The study aims to employs POE as a significant research method.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodological approach includes literature review (building performance evaluation/EBS); ground scenario in India; ground investigations outcome of ground scenario and investigations to frame further research processes; and discussions and conclusions.
Findings
Development of a methodology for studying residential environments in the CFTI in identifying variables in the Indian context and developing requisite tools for POE. The methodology also aids in communication between stakeholders and creates mechanisms for quality monitoring, providing knowledge when buildings fail to meet design intent and providing data and knowledge for future designs and key decisions. It will assist in the development of design and planning guidelines with respect to residential hostels in the Indian scenario.
Research limitations/implications
Research work is carried out only in CFTI in India where Architecture is one of the branches.
Practical implications
Development of a methodology for studying residential environments in the CFTI in identifying variables in the Indian context and developing requisite tools for POE. The methodology also aids in communication between stakeholders and creates mechanisms for quality monitoring, providing knowledge when buildings fail to meet design intent and providing data and knowledge for future designs and key decisions. It will assist in the development of design and planning guidelines with respect to residential hostels in the Indian scenario.
Social implications
This study identifies the specific difficulties and determined the research direction in this situation. It emphasized the need of paying attention to students' perceptions and contentment in residential hostels as a neglected component of Indian residential hostels that needs to be addressed. It aided in the creation of a bespoke research technique. The evaluation process of the main users of residential hostels on campuses is largely impacted by their cultural background and level of environmental awareness of their built environment. The survey also revealed the level of environmental awareness among hostel students in particular and Indian society in general. Finally, this study underlines the importance of rethinking the design and development of residential environments on campuses, particularly from the perspective of student welcoming.
Originality/value
The paper is a part of ongoing research in VNIT, Nagpur, India.
Novi Sad as the European Youth Capital for 2019 and the European Capital of Culture for 2021, with a large number of world-renowned manifestations, becomes a city tourist destination for young people ...who are mostly users of this type of accommodation, which indicates that hostels have great significance in the development of tourism in Novi Sad. Hostels have only recently been introduced as a term in legal acts in the hospitality which is the result of adjusting to the needs of the market, which has shown a great interest in this type of accommodation in our area, and therefore caused the opening of a large number of hostels, especially in major cities. Like the rest of the hospitality and tourism entreprises, hostels are facing major business challenges and a turbulent and dynamic business environment, which implies that much attention from owners and management must be directed to strategic marketing planning. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to determine the extent to which the strategic marketing planning process is being implemented in selected hostels in Novi Sad, as well as the extent to which the owners of these facilities are focused on formulating and implementing development strategies as the end result of this process.
Purpose
– The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of backpackers’s evaluation of service quality provided by hostels by developing a battery of items to assess perceptions of the ...overall hostel experience.
Design/methodology/approach
– Scale development took a mixed approach that combines qualitative and quantitative research. First, the authors performed a content analysis of reviews provided by guests in hostel booking web sites, in-depth interviews with hostel managers and focus groups with guests, to develop a battery of items to assess the hostel experience from the guests’ perspective. Then, a quantitative survey (n = 222) was conducted, to explore the dimensionality of service quality in this sector. Lisbon hostels are the target of this study, as they received several awards based on the online reviews of backpackers.
Findings
– The results revealed that service quality is a multidimensional concept and includes six dimensions, namely, social atmosphere, location and city connection, staff, cleanliness, security and facilities. Regression results revealed that the social atmosphere appears to be a core service dimension crucial to create a sense of hostel guest’s overall quality.
Originality/value
– The findings suggest that service quality scales should incorporate the specific characteristics of the hotel industry. The quality of the staff and the social atmosphere are of utmost importance to enhance the hostel backpacker experience.
ObjectivesTo compare health-related quality of life and prevalence of chronic diseases in housed and homeless populations.DesignCross-sectional survey with an age-matched and sex-matched housed ...comparison group.SettingHostels, day centres and soup runs in London and Birmingham, England.ParticipantsHomeless participants were either sleeping rough or living in hostels and had a history of sleeping rough. The comparison group was drawn from the Health Survey for England. The study included 1336 homeless and 13 360 housed participants.Outcome measuresChronic diseases were self-reported asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), epilepsy, heart problems, stroke and diabetes. Health-related quality of life was measured using EQ-5D-3L.ResultsHoused participants in more deprived neighbourhoods were more likely to report disease. Homeless participants were substantially more likely than housed participants in the most deprived quintile to report all diseases except diabetes (which had similar prevalence in homeless participants and the most deprived housed group). For example, the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was 1.1% (95% CI 0.7% to 1.6%) in the least deprived housed quintile; 2.0% (95% CI 1.5% to 2.6%) in the most deprived housed quintile; and 14.0% (95% CI 12.2% to 16.0%) in the homeless group. Social gradients were also seen for problems in each EQ-5D-3L domain in the housed population, but homeless participants had similar likelihood of reporting problems as the most deprived housed group. The exception was problems related to anxiety, which were substantially more common in homeless people than any of the housed groups.ConclusionsWhile differences in health between housed socioeconomic groups can be described as a ‘slope’, differences in health between housed and homeless people are better understood as a ‘cliff’.
This article investigates reproductive work in the Global South which thrives on the commodification of women’s reproductive bodies under local-global reproductive hierarchies, appropriating the ...process of reproduction for production. Through a qualitative study of commercial surrogacy in north India, it examines the lived experiences of surrogates within the capitalist social relations they are embedded in. Conceptualising surrogacy as reproductive labour which contributes to value generation, the article assesses labour relations at the workplace, for example hostels where surrogates ‘live and work’, and the mechanisms of recruitment, contracting and control which function through dense networks of social and material relations between various stakeholders. The weak bargaining power of surrogates and the immense power of fertility clinics and agents are compounded by the lack of effective regulation and the state’s prohibitionist policy. The article argues for protecting the rights of surrogates as workers rather than the recent ban on surrogacy imposed in India.
People experiencing homelessness faced unique challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including changes to accommodation availability, societal restrictions impacting access to essentials like food, ...and services moving to remote access. There is a paucity of in-depth qualitative research exploring how the pandemic affected this population, which this research aims to address.
33 semi-structured qualitative interviews (22 with people who experienced homelessness during the pandemic and 11 with homelessness sector service providers) were done in the UK between April 26, 2021, and Jan, 25, 2022. Ethical approval was granted by the University College London research ethics committee (Project ID: 14895/005) and all participants provided informed consent. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis utilising NVivo software. Four interviews were coded by two researchers for consistency of codes.
In our sample of people experiencing homelessness, 11 (50%) were female, 13 (59%) White British, all were aged between 24 and 59 years, and all had lived in hostels or hotels, with friends or family, or on the streets during the pandemic. Providers interviewed worked for varied services, including support charities, housing, and addiction services. Four key themes were identified: understanding of and adherence to COVID guidelines; changes to accommodation and experiences of “Everyone In” (a government initiative in which people sleeping on the street or in accommodation where it was difficult to self-isolate were provided emergency accommodation); living through a pandemic while navigating homelessness; and, adaptations to service provision for people experiencing homelessness.
Policy makers and public health communicators must learn from people experiencing homelessness to maximise effectiveness of future public health strategies. Housing providers and support services should recognise the implications of imposing a scarcity of choice on people who need accommodation during a public health emergency. The loss of usual support was destabilising for people experiencing homelessness, triggering a need to adopt survival tactics which negatively influence their health. Although this research was limited by the possibility that views expressed might differ from those unwilling or unable to participate, it does highlight successes and difficulties in supporting people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic and informs planning for similar public health events.
Nuffield Foundation, Wellcome Trust.
Supported accommodation, and congregate hostels in particular, remains the default form of provision for most young people experiencing homelessness, despite increasing evidence of its negative ...effects on residents. Existing evidence also suggests that such environments negatively impact hostel staff and thereby reduce their ability to provide effective support. The role of a keyworker in supported accommodation is to support and manage residents' behaviour. Because this behaviour is not always predictable and keyworkers operate independently, judgements cannot be universally applied and keyworkers must employ discretion in their decision making and response. However, there is a dearth of literature regarding the impact of this discretion on the keyworker role and the formation and implementation of organisational policy. This thesis aims to examine the influences on keyworkers' discretionary decision making and map the ways in which they respond to service users. It also explores how residents respond to this use of discretion, and the factors that influence their response. Rich qualitative data collected through participant observation, interviews, and focus groups conducted in three supported accommodation services within Scotland are used to examine the role of keyworker discretionary decision making in their responses to young residents. Drawing upon street-level bureaucracy, social control, and judgement and decision-making theory, this thesis develops an innovative conceptual framework through which to map out and deepen understanding of the keyworker-resident response dynamic. In doing so, it finds an irreconcilable tension within the keyworker role between: firstly, rule enforcer and, secondly, resident confidant. It argues that in conjunction with the high levels of discretionary decision making keyworkers hold, this constitutes an inherent and harmful impact of hostel accommodation for both residents and keyworkers. The thesis concludes by arguing against the continued use of the dominant congregate model of supported accommodation, while making recommendations that might mitigate the negative impact of discretionary decision making within these settings given the likely continued use of this form of provision.
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