Woodbury B-School Professor Publishes New Edition of Journal Examining Hospitality in Digital Age

In a fresh assessment of the economic impact of business travel in six disparate destinations, Angelo Camillo, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Strategic Management in Woodbury University’s School of Business, today announced the latest edition of an academic research journal aimed at the tourism and hospitality industry.

In the new volume, The International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management in the Digital Age (IJTHMDA) visits Italy, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Malaysia and North America, among other destinations.

“We experienced an overwhelming interest in tourism research during the first half of 2017,” said Prof. Camillo.  “We at the IJTHMDA are very proud of our contributing authors for the high quality contributions to this second edition of Volume I.”  The second edition includes seven research papers and covers the topics of entrepreneurship, innovation, technology, and services.

According to Prof. Camillo, the tourism/hospitality/leisure industry continues to witness a dynamic shift to digital platforms, particularly through innovations to existing products and the introduction of new and improved services “to cater to the ever-demanding and well-informed customer.”

IJTHMDA is emerging as a pivotal reference source for emerging research, concepts, and managerial solutions within the hospitality and tourism industry with an emphasis on the impact of technology on consumer behavior, service demand and delivery, and customer experience, IJTHMDA meets the research needs of managers, business executives, researchers, educators, and graduate-level students in the areas of travel and tourism, hotel management, event planning, luxury services, and restaurant management.

Among the highlights of the new issue:

• Italy’s Albergo Diffuso.  The edition opens with a study of entrepreneurship and a phenomenon in hospitality innovation in Italy: the concept of Albergo Diffuso (“Diffused or Scattered Hotel”).  Joining Prof. Camillo, authors Angelo Presenza and Isabell Camillo investigate the concept as a new form of sustainable development within the tourism and lodging industry.  Identifying the main characteristics of the Albergo Diffuso, the team noted that it offers similar and unique amenities of a typical hotel brand, contributes to the creation of new sustainable enterprises, and supports development of new sustainability policy for marginal regions.

• WiFi in North American Hotels.  Author Galen Collins investigates Wi-Fi ubiquity in hotels and planning factors around wireless network architecture.  Collins argues that, when traveling, many expect to be Internet-connected at all times, without being tied down to physical wires, just as in their offices and homes.  According to a 2016 J.D. Power study, the most important amenity for guests in North America was free in-room Wi-Fi.  Colllins discusses key issues in planning for Wi-Fi and the implications for wireless network architecture decisions in hotel environments.

• Local Support for Tourism Development in Bangladesh.  Zeroing in on Saint Martin Island, Bangladesh, Abdul Hai and Badsha Alamgir argue that tourism development, a double-edged sword for many local communities, is influenced by the attitude of area residents.  Researchers engaged 175 locals, who completed a self-administered questionnaire — and confirmed that local community support translated to improved satisfaction levels among tourists.  The study found that the Saint Martin Island community supported future tourism development based on the personal benefits residents receive, while identifying significant differences based on profession, age, education, and family income.  The study is expected to help the government shape future tourism development for the island.

• Room Service in Indonesia.  Ensconced at the Grand Mercure Hotel Gajah Mada, in Jakarta, Adilla Anggraeni and Meyliza Thorina studied variables affecting hotel room service.  The research examines the relationship between room service, room comfort, and reservation process factors on such deliverables as in-room dining, front office service, room amenities, hotel access and safety.  The results indicated that room service does have a direct relationship on the performance of in-room dining, but not on room amenities and hotel access and safety.  On the other hand, the reservation process does have a direct effect on the performance of front office service as well as to the room amenities and hotel access and safety.

• Web Marketing and E-satisfaction in Egypt.  Authors Nancy A. Awad and Sherif Saad Soliman present a compelling study on how to achieve e-loyalty through focusing on e-satisfaction success factors (website information quality, system convenience, system safety, service quality, expectations, and perceptions for hotel services and facilities, and intention to revisit).  The study focused on five-star rated hotels and revealed that most customers were dissatisfied with website marketing in the Egyptian hotels. “Enhancing quality of the marketing websites in the hospitality business leads to sustaining hotel-customer relationship, customers E-satisfaction, E- loyalty, increasing the number of new customers, improving the brand image of the Egyptian hotels, and consequently achieving profitability,” they concluded.

• Dining Out in Malaysia.  Authors Quee-Ling Leong, Shahrim Ab Karim, Bee-Lia Chua and Kallayanee Tengpongsathon address the behavior of Muslim tourists from the Middle East toward the dining experience in Malaysia.  With minimal research done to date, how do they regard Malaysian gastronomy?  The findings revealed that gastronomy attributes, dining quality, and overall satisfaction around the dining experience were significant positive predictors of the Middle East tourists’ behavioral intention.  The study discussed theoretical and managerial implications, along with suggestions for future research.
• Ecotourism, 25 Years On.  After an extensive review of the literature, Sita Mishra and Abhinav Chandel determined that ambiguity exists in the conceptual understanding of ecotourism.  What are the principal components or themes necessary for the development of ecotourism policy and applications?  Ecotourism in practice is evolving differently in developing and developed nations, which calls into question the basic principles of ecotourism.  Without a clear understanding of ecotourism, the ethics on which the principles are designed are in question, and the natural environment on which ecotourism activity depends is at risk. The study identified six key components of ecotourism — themes widely accepted by researchers and that form the fundamental understanding of ecotourism.

About Angelo A. Camillo

Angelo A. Camillo, PhD, is Associate Professor of Strategic Management at Woodbury University in Burbank, Calif.  He has more than 35 years of international hospitality industry management experience and has worked and lived in ten countries and four continents. He holds a degree from Heidelberg Hotel Management School in Germany, an MBA from San Francisco State University, and a PhD from Oklahoma State University. He teaches courses in Strategic Management, Global Enterprise Management, and special topics in Hospitality Entrepreneurship and Business Development. He is an educator for “luxury wine and investment” and an award-winning amateur wine maker. He is Visiting Professor at various institutions in Europe and China, where he teaches Global Entrepreneurship and International Management. He is also hospitality business consultant to major international corporations.

About Woodbury University

Founded in 1884, Woodbury University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Southern California. The university ranks 15th among the nation’s “25 Colleges That Add the Most Value,” according to Money Magazine, was voted “Best Graduate School” in the Los Angeles Daily News 2018 Readers Choice Awards, and is a 2018-19 College of Distinction. Woodbury was a finalist for the General Community Service Award, a part of the 2015 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll recognition program. With campuses in Burbank/Los Angeles and San Diego, the university offers bachelor\\’s degrees from the School of Architecture, School of Business, School of Media, Culture & Design, and College of Liberal Arts, along with a Master of Business Administration, Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Science in Architecture. The San Diego campus offers Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture, Master of Interior Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture degrees, as well as a Master of Science in Architecture, Real Estate Development. Visit woodbury.edu for more information.