In the present study, milled wood lignin (MWL) and organosolv lignin isolated from red oak (hardwood), loblolly pine (softwood) and corn stover (herbaceous biomass) were characterized by TGA, elemental analyzer, GPC, FTIR, 2D-HSQC NMR, and then pyrolyzed in the absence and presence of a zeolite catalyst. For all three biomass species, organosolv lignins contained fewer volatiles in comparison to the corresponding MWLs. Red oak lignin was affected most by the organosolv process, evident by the greatest decrease in volatile content and increase in carbon content of the organosolv lignin. Compared to the corresponding MWLs, organosolv lignins produced more char and less phenolic oil upon pyrolysis. Organosolv lignins also convert to catalytic coke and light hydrocarbons in higher selectivity in comparison to the MWLs during catalytic pyrolysis. When pyrolyzed, corn stover MWL produced 16.26% of phenolic monomers, which is a significantly higher yield compared to 8.61% from red oak MWL and 9.51% from loblolly pine MWL. During catalytic pyrolysis, corn stover lignins also produced higher yields of aromatic hydrocarbons in comparison to red oak or loblolly pine derived lignins. Overall, corn stover lignin had the highest potential for volatilization because it retains highly branched polymer structure enriched in tricin, ferulate and coumarate groups.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to investigate the factors influencing financial performance of small hotels, particularly in developing countries like Tanzania.Design/methodology/approachThis investigation used financial ratio analysis on business performance data collected from small hotels in Tanzania through face‐to‐face interviews. Currently there is no existing data on such aspects of the hotel industry in Tanzania. As a consequence, Arusha region was selected as the sample for this study due to a significant amount of hospitality industry activity in this area.FindingsFindings of this investigation suggest that operating factors in small hotels such as inefficiencies due to lack of employee training, low investments in fixed assets and technology may be equally responsible for low profitability as are government policies that ignore appropriate emphasis on ensuring safety and security, and quick processing of licenses and permits.Research limitations/implicationsEven though this is one of the few studies that has investigated the profitability of small hotels in a developing country, its findings are based on the analysis of one (even though a prominent) tourist area of East Africa.Practical implicationsNevertheless, findings provide preliminary evidence for professionals and policy makers to critically evaluate factors that would ensure profitability of small hotels in countries such as Tanzania.Originality/valueAs this paper highlights, this is critical because such businesses are locally owned and may truly and positively influence economic development.

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Purpose This report aims to present a detailed evaluation of resilience planning of the ASEAN-5 tourism sector to national disasters. The project analyses the challenges to the tourism industry in the ASEAN-5 (Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia) countries due to national disasters (economic crisis, health hazards, natural calamity and/or act of terrorism) and the effectiveness of the measures taken in response to disastrous events. Design/methodology/approach The project analyses the effect of national disasters over a 10-year period in the ASEAN-5 countries on tourism economy and effectiveness of government action in resilience planning. The study uses two research questions to comment on comparative effectiveness of resilience planning in the ASEAN-5 nations. Findings The findings of this study revealed that national disasters affect a county’s tourism sector performance and its economy negatively. In particular, national disasters have harmful effects for a country’s tourism arrivals, tourism receipts, gross domestic product and unemployment. The findings reveal that regardless of geographical closeness of the ASEAN-5 countries, each experienced different effects in terms of national disasters and each used different government recovery measures. Practical implications This paper builds a knowledge management system for national disasters and the tourism sector. It provides a ready reference of timeliness and effectiveness of measures and to develop a framework for future tourist disaster management systems. Specifically, the relationships between the tourism indicators explored in this study contribute significantly to the knowledge on how these indicators interact to affect the tourism industry and the country’s economy. Furthermore, this information would act as a guide for countries to design and implement resilience planning and disaster management response. Originality/value Resilience planning is emerging as a key area under sustainable development. This report presents an evaluation of resilience planning of the ASEAN-5 tourism sector to national disasters.

The primary objective of this study was to examine how perceived risk could be managed in the destination choice context. Relationships among risk perceptions, uncertainty (information quality), and price premium were explored by using ordinal logistic regression. Eight types of perceived risk were investigated: health/life risk, financial risk, personal satisfaction risk, social risk, time risk, technical risk, political risk, and terrorism risk. Findings showed that perceived risks were decreased by information quality but various patterns were identified for different types of perceived risk. Results additionally suggested that travelers were willing to pay extra for products and services if more safety and security are provided. Managerial implications for how the findings can be incorporated into risk management strategies are also presented in this paper.