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In the past decade, the positive and memorable tourism experience (MTE) has merged as a critical concept in the hospitality and tourism field. Previous quantitative studies on MTE mainly focus on measurement development and the relationship between MTE and behavioral intention, and they lack the integration of MTE with other core marketing constructs such as satisfaction and affective commitment. Furthermore, storytelling is conceived as central to the tourist experience, but its relationship with MTE has not been empirically investigated. Within such a context, in this study we surveyed 400 tourists who recalled their most recent leisure travel, and empirically investigated the relationships among MTE, satisfaction, affective commitment, and storytelling behavior. The results show that MTE, compared to satisfaction, is a stronger predictor of affective commitment. Moreover, MTE is a more powerful antecedent of tourists' storytelling behavior than affective commitment. The study expanded the overall nomological network related to MTE, which is critical to advancing the experiential view of tourists' experience. It also generated insights for destination branding and marketing.

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Purpose This paper aims to understand the relationships among calling, employee engagement, work-life balance and life satisfaction for executive chefs based on role theory and spillover theory. Design/methodology/approach Surveys were completed by members of the American Culinary Federation in North America, the Nevada Restaurant Association and attendees at the ChefConnect Annual Conference. The data were analysed with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Findings All relationships in the model were significantly positive except for calling to life satisfaction. Importantly work-life balance was a significant mediator between calling and life satisfaction as well as for employee engagement and life satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The research provides a more comprehensive framework for hospitality scholars to understand the outcomes of work as a calling through meaningfulness. The sample of executive chef limits generalizability. Practical implications The identification of a calling through in-depth interviews is recommended. Once recognized, managers should further foster chef’s passion through employee engagement facilitated by workplace autonomy and continuing education and work-life balance supported with human resource management practices including time off for critical life events. This will allow calling to flourish, increase life satisfaction and reduce the likelihood of turnover and burnout. Originality/value Outcomes reveal the complexity of the relationship between calling and life satisfaction. Contrary to previous findings, the presence of positive work-life balance was critical to attain life satisfaction, even when work was viewed as a calling.

Purpose This study aims to understand employee career retention in the hospitality industry. Building on the socially embedded model of thriving, signaling theory and social cognitive career theory (SCCT), the study examines a structural model of psychological contract fulfillment (PCF), perceived organizational support (POS), thriving, career satisfaction and career turnover intention. Design/methodology/approach The proposed research model was tested using structural equation modeling with responses from 300 US hospitality employees. Data were collected using an online survey available through a panel service at Qualtrics. Findings Empirical results supported all proposed hypotheses and confirmed the critical mediation role of thriving for workplace contextual factors and employee career retention. As predicted, both PCF and POS positively influenced employee thriving, which positively influenced career satisfaction and negatively influenced career turnover intention. Practical implications Findings of this study yielded several recommendations for hospitality managers, including using the concept of thriving as an indicator and a remedy for employee career development and retention. Originality/value Given the increased need for qualified talent and reduced career satisfaction, this study sheds light on the further understanding of sustainable employment in the hospitality industry. Using signaling theory and SCCT as an overarching framework, this study extends the socially embedded model of thriving as well as SCCT and supports combining psychological contract theory and organizational support theory to better understand hospitality career retention.

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There are few empirical studies on the contribution of tourism festivals toward destination image improvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of a planned festival, which was organized by local government to attract tourists, to the improvement of destination image. Image differences before and after the visit, between festival participants and nonparticipants, between festival recognition and non-recognition groups, between information request and nonrequest groups were analyzed. The results showed that the tourism festival in this study did not contribute to a positive image formation for festival participants. The study further found that the festival's quality and promotion were related to negative image change. Longitudinal research on the contribution of festivals toward positive image improvement is needed in the future.