Pauline A. Milwood’s research while affiliated with Pennsylvania State University and other places

As e-tourism scholars advance innovative research on the use and study of artificially intelligent systems, it is important to reflect on how well we are advancing transformative philosophies which ask that emerging fields consider issues of ethics, power, and bias. We conduct a scoping study of review papers published between 2015–2021 to understand the extent to which ethical and social bias issues are identified and treated in AI research in tourism. Results suggest that the potential for ethical and bias issues in AI in tourism is high, but identification and treatment of these issues by tourism researchers is weak. We summarize key implications of this trend and offer suggestions for pursuing a research agenda which increasingly identifies and treats issues of ethics and bias when advancing research on artificial intelligence (AI) in tourism.

In response to ongoing philosophical and pedagogical debates in university-based entrepreneurship education (EE) research, this study offers a cross-disciplinary perspective of how hospitality management students experience a high-stakes, experiential entrepreneurship project. We present vignettes of dialogues, experiences, and interactions among “student-manager” members of a small group engaged in developing and implementing a real-world, fine dining pop-up restaurant. By triangulating our analysis of classroom observation data, social network maps, and student artifacts, we chronicle four vignettes of how students experience learning during ideation, design, launch, and evaluation modules. Theory–practice gaps, coping humor in load–overload states, and complex affective–cognitive interactions emerge as salient elements of high-stakes experiential EE. We discuss implications for learners and educators and put forward recommendations to inform and improve the design of cross-disciplinary models of experiential EE.

This paper uses boundary objects theory to advance a novel conceptualization of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (EEs) in tourism and address gaps in our understanding of the environments within which physical and virtual elements of EEs interact, change and expand over time. An extensive literature review of select information science and organizational strategy literature is used to identify key characteristics of tourism EEs and situate the concept within a ‘tourism as system’ perspective. The resultant models demonstrate that tourism EEs represent an expanding meso-level experience space made up of actors engaged in multiple types of activities, complemented by an ever-expanding set of interactions, and driven by a variety of entrepreneurial behaviors and technological innovations. Theoretical implications suggest that future research should employ dynamic measurement approaches to understanding and measuring EE performance vis-a-vis the disruptive impact of digital technology. Practical implications for governments, communities, and global tourism organizations include the need for governance systems to expand opportunities for current EE players while encouraging the entry of new players through the creation of new tourism ventures.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand how Caribbean tourism micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) perceive their corporate sustainability and social responsibility (CSSR) practices during design and implementation of new innovations. This knowledge helps our understanding of how the uniquely tourist-dependent region of the Caribbean can, through the social innovation practices of MSMEs, maximize its contribution to attainment of the 2030 sustainable development goals. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a responsibility–sustainability framework premised on seven core subjects of the International Guidance (ISO 26000) for Social Responsibility and goals from the 2030 Agenda to analyze interview data from tour operators in five Caribbean Community (CARICOM) territories: Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica and St. Lucia. Findings The results reveal that when designing new products and services, Caribbean tour operators contribute to sustainable development through social and economic change, responsible business model design, fair labor and operating practices, environmental sustainability and health and safety education. These behaviors do vary and are not consistent across the tour operators. Research limitations/implications Social and business planners and policymakers should create deliberate and purposeful mechanisms designed for Caribbean tourism MSMEs to have a fulsome understanding of how they might maximize contributions to the 2030 Agenda. Originality/value This work represents the first instance of use of the ISO 26000 Guidance in a Caribbean tourism context and provides insight into tour operators’ views toward corporate sustainability and CSSR.

Purpose Few papers address innovation activities among tourism entities. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the extent to which the theoretical framework of network orchestration can explain the system of relations underlying roles and behaviors of tourism actors in collaborative innovation settings. Design/methodology/approach Using interview data collected from destination management organizations and their destination partners within two polar-sampled North American destinations, this study identifies relationships which underlie the behaviors of tourism and hospitality actors engaged in collaborative innovative activities. To understand these relationships, this study abductively imposes the emergent theoretical framework of network orchestration and offers practical implications for conducting successful innovation among tourism collaborators. Findings First, orchestration of knowledge mobility processes in collaborative innovation settings is associated with trust, perceived fairness and the search for experts within the network. Second, orchestration of innovation appropriability processes is associated with forging shared ownership and knowledge exchange with “dissimilar” partners. Third, orchestration of network stability processes is associated with enhancing the reputation of influential actors within the tourism destination, and shared visioning of future innovation outcomes. Originality/value This paper contributes to the collaborative innovation landscape by testing the emerging theoretical framework of network orchestration and proposing practical implications for hospitality and tourism actors engaged in innovative activities. The research further demonstrates the value of abductive reasoning for elucidating theory from interview evidence and proposes a model for future studies on collaborative innovation networks.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus an empirical investigation on the financial ramifications of regulatory policies on American professional team sport leagues, while at once including the inseparable effects on the outcomes of contests. The authors conduct a comparative analysis of the impact of alternative regulatory mechanisms adopted by American professional team sport leagues, and their implications for the league performance. Design/methodology/approach The paper conducts a comparative analysis of ten years of financial and contest data from Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Hockey League (NHL). Using relative measures of payroll and profits for the two leagues, the authors test hypotheses on the impact of the market-based payroll taxes of the MLB with the strict payroll limits imposed by the NHL and their relationship to both financial and contest outcomes of the two leagues. Findings The comparison of MLB and NHL shows that market-based tax incentives are more consistent with the league financial objectives than strict, enforced mandates, suggesting that comparatively higher profits are associated with the MLB’s approach when compared to the strict bounds imposed by the NHL. Conversely, the comparison of player costs in the NHL and MLB reveal no distinguishable features based on the alternative regulatory methods. Originality/value This paper provides an initial, valuable assessment of different regulatory mechanisms on the on- and off-field (-ice) performance of MLB and NHL. Given that MLB has adopted market-based tax incentives to regulate payroll (the competitive balance tax), and the NHL has imposed strict payroll limits (hard salary cap), the authors at once consider MLB’s innovative revenue-sharing system alongside the NHL’s more conventional and restrained method of revenue redistribution, and their implications for performance.