Hospitality Administration and Management Commons^™

The Quick Service Food And Beverage Line Of Business And How It Is Aligned With The Overall Objectives For The Walt Disney World® Resort And The Walt Disney Company, Meghan Mcclure

Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Disney College Program allows for many opportunities, such as instructor lead offerings, experiential learning, career path development, and academic support. This internship gives us hands-on work in a global company but also helps us further ourselves in our career by providing networking opportunities and behind-the-scenes access to things others may never experience.

As an intern in Food and Beverage, it was my job to provide not just food but experiences to guests from all around the world. It was my job not only to make sure guests left the restaurant locations happy, but also to maximize production. To do …

Evaluating The Sustainability Of The Portraits Of Progress Event Using The Meter Method To Achieve More Sustainable Small-Scale Events, Anna Switzer

Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

Global warming and climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions are causing society to re-evaluate how our actions affect the environment. This can be seen in many people’s professional and personal lives (Roy & Verplanken, 2016). The event management industry is no exception to this change of mindset. The purpose of this study is to measure the environmental impact of the Portraits of Progress Event on September 9, 2022, using the Measuring Events Through Environmental Research (METER) Method and provide recommendations to improve the sustainability of the event.

Concern Or Control?: Gender Stereotyping And Hospitality Leaders, Bendegul Okumus, Wei Xiong, Shiyun Chen, Fang Fan

Rosen Research Review

Although most managers in the global hospitality industry are still male, an increasing number of women are taking on leadership roles. But how exactly do employees perceive masculine and feminine leadership styles? New research led by UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management's Associate Professor Bendegul Okumus and the research team she works with looks at gender stereotypes and finds that the most successful managers, in the eyes of their staff, have a management style that combines both masculine and feminine leadership traits.

Mind The Service Gap: Lgbt+ Customers' Hospitality Experience, Heejung (Cheyenne) Ro

Rosen Research Review

Hospitality managers could be missing out by not paying enough attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBGT+) guests. New research by Associate Professor Heejung Ro, UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management, looks at this growing and valuable customer segment, and studies how sexual minority guests perceive they are welcomed by hospitality staff. In one of the first studies of its kind, Dr. Ro finds that delivering the right service experience is about more than just flying the rainbow flag.

Off-Course: Understanding The Popularity Of Alternative Golf Experiences, Juhee Kang, David Kwun, Jeeyeon (Jeannie) Hahn

Rosen Research Review

Alternative golf is a nascent leisure product category that is growing in popularity. However, little is known as to why, its potential impact on traditional golf, and whether it will encourage more and diverse people to play traditional golf. Drs. Juhee Kang, David Kwun, and Jeeyeon Jeannie Hahm at UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management investigated the relationship between consumers' value perceptions, satisfaction, and involvement at golf entertainment venues, and whether those influenced their desire to return or refer, and, ultimately, spread their wings onto an actual golf course.

Unravelling The Tourism–Poverty Nexus, Jorge Ridderstaat, Xiaoxiao Fu, Bingna Lin

Rosen Research Review

Literature on the links between tourism development and poverty alleviation is surprisingly fragmented. A new model, the Tourism-Poverty Interdependence Diamond (TPID), from Dr. Jorge Ridderstaat and Dr. Xiaoxiao Fu, UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management, offers a tool to unravel the complexities of this relationship. Using Honduras as a case study, this new approach clearly shows that tourism development can impact poverty, and highlights that poverty can also impact tourism development, with the links ranging from direct to indirect.

Beyond A 'Like': Building Parasocial Relationships With Baby Boomers On Facebook, Yunying (Susan) Zhong, Valeriya Shapoval, James Busser

Rosen Research Review

Baby boomers are a crucial cohort for hospitality marketing as they have more money to spend and more time on their hands than younger cohorts. However, reaching them on social media is harder. There is one social media platform popular with baby boomers: Facebook. Dr. YunYing Zhong and Dr. Valeriya Shapoval at UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management, together with their collaborator, have combined their different areas of expertise to analyze the effectiveness of social media marketing directed at baby boomers from an unusual angle: the illusionary and imaginary relationships we build with fictional characters.

Saba: 'The Unspoiled Queen', Kelly Semrad, Bruce Zagers

Rosen Research Review

Bruce Zagers became Commissioner of Tourism, Public Entity, Saba in 2017. Dr. Kelly Semrad interviews him about his role, and the development of a new tourism master plan for the island.

Influences On Destination Loyalty, Asli D.A. Tasci, Abdullah Uslu, Dimitrios Stylidis, Kyle Maurice Woosnam

Rosen Research Review

Dr. Asli D.A. Tasci from UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management and fellow researchers have undertaken research in the popular tourist destination of Antalya, Turkey to investigate destination loyalty. The study explores whether place-oriented or people-oriented factors have a larger influence on tourists' likelihood to revisit the same destinations, while also considering the differences between domestic and international tourists. The findings from this research will support tourism managers' understanding of how to drive repeat visits in a market with overwhelming competition.

Theme Park Knowledge Hub Of The Future, Carissa Baker

Rosen Research Review

The global attractions industry has grown in size and innovation in the last few decades. Encompassing theme parks and waterparks as well as cultural and natural attractions, this segment has diverse career opportunities and constant potential for growth in mature and emerging markets. Theme parks alone garnered a billion visitors in 2019. Post-pandemic, the industry bounced back quicker than expected, with most operators seeing increased attendance and revenue. The attractions industry continues to develop new concepts which provide amazing experiences for guests around the world. However, retirement during the pandemic, coupled with the industry's rapid expansion, created a greater need …

Towards More Authentic Heritage Destination Experiences, Xiaoxiao Fu, Xiaoli Yi, Vera Shanshan Lin, Honggen Xiao

Rosen Research Review

Heritage destinations have a significant responsibility to visitors. In countries like China, where heritage plays a significant role in a person's identity, such destinations offer visitors an opportunity to develop a deeper sense of self. For this reason, they need to be authentic, but so do the visitors. UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management researcher Dr. Xiaoxiao Fu joined a team of experts based in China to identify how the perceived authenticity of two of China's most revered heritage sites affects visitors' personal sense of authenticity, their wellbeing, and how memorable they found their visits.

Providing A Clear Foundation For Smart Destinations, Youcheng Wang, Alan Fyall, Ekaterina Sorokina, Peter Lugosi

Rosen Research Review

Smart destinations are a nascent and growing category in destination marketing but suffer from a lack of clarity. What is a 'smart destination'? UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management's Dr. Youcheng Wang and Dr. Alan Fyall led an international team of hospitality management specialists tasked with providing a clear foundation for smart destination researchers and practitioners. Their study, published in the Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, provides significant insight and stokes the fire beneath destination marketing organizations.

Theme Park Visitors Prefer Human-Like Robots In Customer Service Interactions, Ady Milman, Asli D.A. Tasci

Rosen Research Review

Service robots are becoming increasingly popular in many industries and social settings, including education, childcare, elderly therapy centers, and even theme parks. Tourism and hospitality industries are adopting robots enthusiastically and are being closely studied to observe guest engagement and reaction to robotic services. Service robots are becoming increasingly popular in many industries and social settings, including education, childcare, elderly therapy centers, and even theme parks. Tourism and hospitality industries are adopting robots enthusiastically and are being closely studied to observe guest engagement and reaction to robotic services. UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management researchers, Dr. Ady Milman and Dr. …

Just Looking: Tourist Gaze And The Theme Park Experience, Wei Wei, Yanyan Zheng, Nathaniel Line, Lu Zhang

Rosen Research Review

What makes a memorable theme park experience? New research led by UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management's Assistant Professor Wei Wei looks at how visitor experience is influenced by the 'tourist gaze'—the consumption of visual experiences, as well as other services, in a tourism destination. With important implications for theme park operators and managers, the study focuses on visitors' visual interactions with fellow visitors and finds they have a significant impact on visitors' emotions and the quality of their overall experience.

Virtual Reality Images As A Tool In Hotel Promotions: Is It Effective And Worth Investment?, Lisa Slevitch, Tilanka Chandrasekera, Luis Mejia Puig

ICHRIE Research Reports

This report examines how traditional photos compare to two different types of virtual reality (VR) images (static and 360°) when used as promotional tools for hotels. An experimental study by Slevitch et al.(2022), which utilized multiple types of measures, served as the foundation for the recommendations. The results showed that static VR images performed the same way as traditional photos, however the 360° VR images had a more positive impact on participants’ emotional responses and were more engaging than other images. This suggests that 360° VR images are better for hotel promotions, especially when initial impressions, such as interest and …

An Indispensable Spice In Multicultural Hatay Cuisine: Sumac, Ibrahim Cekic

Journal of Mediterranean Tourism Research

Hatay is an ancient city that has hosted dozens of civilizations in the history. Today, this city, which includes different ethnic groups, has a rich culinary culture shaped by cultural interactions. Spices are among the basic components of this cuisine. Locust powder, nutmeg, mahaleb, fennel, dried basil, cajun, Samandag’s red chili powder, zahtar, and sumac are among the most used spices in Hatay cuisine. This study was carried out to determine the traditional consumption patterns and uses of sumac, which is one of the spices identified with the gastronomic identity of Hatay. In this context, a semi-structured interview form consisting …

Advancing Health And Well-Being In Hospitality: Employers Respond To New Workforce Expectations, Deborah Popely, Leigh Uhlir

Kendall College Research

Kendall College at National Louis University conducted research between Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 on the status of health and well-being initiatives in hospitality. The research involved in-depth surveys with 27 hotels and 18 restaurants, for a total sample of 45 hospitality businesses located primarily in the Chicago region. In addition, working collaboratively with the national food service research firm, Datassential, a sample of 401 food service providers from across the U.S. was collected. The findings confirmed that poor working conditions have helped drive turnover and that current and prospective employees are seeking healthy, safe and inclusive work environments with …

Stakeholder-Based Problems In The Local Benefit Chain Of Tourism: A Study In Adıyaman, Elif Arica

Journal of Mediterranean Tourism Research

The geographical movement of large human societies is the phenomenal phenomenon of our time. This mobility is also a social event, and the cause-effect relationship has an impact area extending from the individual to the general. Similarly, tourism as a system is complex. Each element constituting this system operates on the axis of different purposes and processes and affects the tourism system. Based on this starting point, this study aims to examine tourism development problems in Adıyaman. In the research, data were collected from eight (8) tourism stakeholders between 05.01.2022 and 15.02.2022 by semi-structured interview method. The data were analyzed …

Bibliometric Analysis Of Academic Publications On Tourism And Humor, Omur N. Timurcanday Ozmen, Songul Gokhan

Journal of Mediterranean Tourism Research

The aim of this study is to examine academic publications related to tourism and humor by using bibliometric analysis method. Research data were collected using the Elsevier Scopus bibliometric database. In this context, 90 data, including articles, papers and book chapters at international level, were found in the search carried out on Scopus. Maxqda 2022 package program was used to analyze and visualize the obtained data. As a result, it was observed that publications on tourism and humor were relatively few between 1989 and 2007, and an increase in the number of publications between 2019-2022. The majority of publications are …

Space Tourism As A New Experience: A Research On Gen-Z, Osman S. Sesliokuyucu, Ruveyda Koc, Ahmet Ozturk

Journal of Mediterranean Tourism Research

Space tourism will start to attract more attention in terms of the fact that tourist areas in the world are becoming more ordinary day by day, and in this process, it offers a new experience area to users of Gen-Z. In this context, the existing literature needs to reveal the perspective and intention to use Gen-Z, a newly developing field in parallel with the developments that constitute an important potential user group in this process. This study aims to reveal the factors that affect the intentions of Gen-Z tourists to avoid space tourism within the framework of the push-pull-mooring (PPM) …