Purpose – Besides possessing professional knowledge, tourism service providers need to have expressed communication skills and soft skills in order to offer a better tourism service. In this paper, the tourism employees' set of soft and communication skills is analysed and compared from two different points of view: tourists on the one hand and future tourism professionals, i.e., tourism students, on the other. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to analyse the importance and differences in the perception of soft skills and communication skills in the tourism and hospitality sector from these two standpoints. Methodology – Two structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data: the first questionnaire aimed at examining the tourists' attitudes regarding the importance of soft and communication skills (N=431), and the second one, at analysing the importance of soft and communication skills from the perspective of future tourism professionals (N=404). The research results are presented using descriptive statistics, the t-test, and the Mann-Whitney U test. Findings – The results indicate that both groups are aware of the importance of communication and soft skills. The statistically significant differences between the tourist sample and the future tourism professional sample were found for all items of the Soft skills factor, with the exception of the items Demonstrating respect, Integrity, and Responsibility. Both samples show similarities with regard to all kinds of Communication skills. Statistically significant differences in the perception of all five Communication skills items from tourists' and future tourism professionals' perspectives were found. Contribution – The paper contributes to the theory by systematizing and analysing the literature and conceptualizing the soft skills and communication skills up to date. Its empirical contribution derives from the examination of data related to the tourist sample and the future tourism employee sample. This different point of view contributes to filling the research gap and opens new future research directions. By examining the most important soft skills and communication skills from these two perspectives, this study provides a practical implication for tourism educators and hospitality managers, revealing the communication skills and soft skills that require further development.

No abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the global economy, particularly the tourism sector, thus making the interplay of pandemics and tourism a prominent topic of research. This paper aims to provide an overview of scientific research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism and determine future research directions. The main research questions are: 1) Which research topics related to the impact of the pandemic on tourism have been addressed? 2) What are the bibliometric characteristics of published papers on these topics? 3) What are the directions for future research within this field? A qualitative method was applied to obtain answers by analyzing the scientific papers published between March 2020 and March 2021. By applying the PRISMA protocol, a total of 33 relevant articles were identified, which were subjected to bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer, and finally, content analysis was conducted. Thereby, the following key research areas were distinguished: the impacts and consequences of COVID-19 on tourism, the transformation of tourism and post-pandemic recovery strategies, the changes in behavior from the travelers' perspective, and the issues from the perspective of tourism enterprises. Based on the analysis, new research directions are proposed.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the corporate image as a high-order construct in the hospitality industry. Therefore, it includes an important part of all the agents that contribute to the formation of this corporate image: the clients, the employees and the hotel management.Design/methodology/approachIn order to better conceptualize and understand the dimensions of corporate image in the hospitality industry, a theoretical systematization and analysis of the literature on corporate image definitions and validated scales to date are presented. The primary research is based on a questionnaire survey that emerged from the theoretical model. The collected data were tested using confirmatory factor analysis and covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM).FindingsResults indicate that corporate image is a high-order construct that includes the dimensions of symbols from servicescape, employees' behaviour, perception of the organization, perception of the management, perception of the service and perception of the hotel.Research limitations/implicationsThe application of this paper will enable new research in the corporate marketing literature, while the presented multidimensional approach will support future empirical research on corporate image in hospitality.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to theory by conceptualizing the corporate image as high-order construct. It provides evidence of corporate image multidimensionality, comprising six dimensions. Moreover, the findings provide an insight for practitioners to better understand how to manage hotel image.

No abstract

Purpose – The paper aims to identify the main hotel management response strategies to a negative online review and examine their influence on the trust of potential guests reading reviews in usergenerated media. Design – Five response strategies that emerged from the literature were empirically tested: personalization, empathy, confession, denial, and excuse. A mixed-method was applied, and the research was conducted in two phases using a qualitative method with a scenario-based approach and a quantitative research using the PLS-SEM method. Methodology/Approach – A focus group was used to provide a basis for the survey. The survey included one real negative hotel review and five hypothetical responses written according to the five observed strategies. Each response was followed by a set of statements examining the level of trust. A total of 435 questionnaires completed. The influence of each strategy on trust was tested individually. Findings – The results show that personalization, empathy, and confession as response strategies positively influence the trust of potential guests, whereas denial and excuse as response strategies have a negative effect on trust. Originality of the research – The research systematizes previous literature and identifies the main response strategies to a negative online review. It empirically tests all five strategies so that they can be observed in relation to each other. Moreover, this research includes the concept of trust as a dependent variable. The results can help scholars to build further models and hotel managers to understand how they should respond to negative online reviews.

Purpose -This paper aims to identify critical destination attributes and examine their contribution to the overall satisfaction in relation to different age groups.Design/Methodology/Approach -The research was conducted on the Opatija Riviera in Croatia using the survey method. Importance-performance analysis was used to identify priority attributes within the context of destination choice, and the results were compared with the quality provided from the destination management perspective. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated within three age groups to determine the statistical relationship between perceived quality of destination attributes and overall satisfaction with the destination.Findings and implications -The results show negative and significant differences between the importance and the perceived quality of all destination attributes. The Sažetak Svrha -Svrha je rada identificirati ključne atribute turističke destinacije te istražiti njihov doprinos ukupnom zadovoljstvu s obzirom na različite dobne skupine turista.Metodološki pristup -Istraživanje je provedeno anketiranjem na Opatijskoj rivijeri u Republici Hrvatskoj. Da bi se utvrdili prioritetni atributi u okviru izbora turističke destinacije, korištena je analiza važnosti i performansi. Dobiveni rezultati uspoređeni su s rezultatima ocjena pružene kvalitete atributa destinacije od strane menadžmenta turističke destinacije. Kako bi se istražila statistička povezanost između percipirane kvalitete atributa destinacije i ukupnog zadovoljstva s njome, izračunat je Pearsonov koeficijent korelacije za tri dobne skupine.Rezultati i implikacije -Rezultati pokazuju negativne i statistički značajne razlike između važnosti i percipirane kvalitete svih promatranih atributa. Najveći je jaz

Purpose – This study focuses on common identity attributes of Croatian island destinations based on pull travel motivators. Its main purpose is to determine the significance of the gaps between the importance and performance of these attributes, as well as to examine their influence on overall satisfaction and destination brand loyalty. Methodology – The survey was conducted in Croatia in 2020, using two interrelated questionnaires designed for two target groups, domestic tourists and Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) managers. A total of 116 valid questionnaires were collected from tourists and 6, from the DMOs of all coastal counties. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) was applied, followed by a paired sample t-test and simple linear regression analysis. Findings – The IPA results show a negative and statistically significant difference between the importance and performance of natural and cultural attributes, making them the key points of future interest for DMO managers. The regression analysis results show a statistically significant and positive influence of all island destination attributes on overall satisfaction, and the significant positive influence of satisfaction on destination brand loyalty. Contribution – The research provides evidence on satisfaction and loyalty concerning the main motivation-based identity attributes of island destinations. The results can help DMO managers to reallocate marketing efforts from low- to high-impact areas to achieve satisfaction and brand loyalty. The findings can also help reinforce the collaborative marketing activities of Croatian island destinations based on common identity attributes.