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Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine consumer perceptions toward the adoption of mobile technology within the vacation ownership/timeshare segment of the hospitality industry. Despite the proliferation of mobile applications in the greater hospitality and tourism industry, few timeshare companies use this technology. However, customers have expressed strong intentions to use technology. Therefore, this study examines consumers’ attitudes toward and experiences with mobile applications and then through the use of a prototype, examines consumers’ intentions to use a mobile application. The relationships between attitude, experience and usefulness are explored in relation to intention to use. Design/methodology/approach – Consumers that owned timeshares in the Orlando area responded to an online survey invitation from their resort management company. The survey instrument gathered data related to consumers’ attitudes toward and experiences with technology using established measures. A total of 914 surveys were collected and the proposed model was analyzed using path analysis. Findings – Findings indicate that traditional technology adoption antecedents (experience, usefulness and attitude) explain timeshare owners’ intentions to use a mobile application. This is consistent with prior research. However, using established measures, the model explained consumers’ intentions to use the technology with greater certainty than what previous research has reported. Research limitations/implications – The most encouraging and noteworthy implications from the findings are threefold. First, timeshare owners are using mobile technology while traveling (mobile phones, tablets and laptops). The owners’ experiences with mobile devices exert a positive influence that moderates intention to use. In addition, the impact of technology experience on intent to use is mediated by perceived usefulness and attitudes toward the application. Though the sample size was large, limitations do exist, as those surveyed were all owners of a single timeshare resort based in Orlando, Florida. Originality/value – In studies reported to date, there is scarce empirical research regarding mobile application adoption for timeshare owners or information about the factors that drive usage, attitude and adoption. This study discusses important insights about mobile services for an industry that lacks research in information technology.

This study aims to assess the Web-based destination marketing activities employed by American Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs). Empirical data was collected via a survey from 260 CVBs in the USA. The research results reveal that organizational size, financial resources and management team's technological expertise are the dominating factors affecting the effective implementation of each of the four functions of Web-based marketing activities (i.e., information, communication, transaction, and assurance) as well as the overall effectiveness of these activities. The findings suggest that CVBs should use Web-based marketing activities under the guidance of relationship marketing principles. However, the research findings further imply that this is a challenging process which requires investment of considerable resources and organizational support. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing empirical evidence on this relatively under researched area. The research findings will be of interest to destination marketing organizations.

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Many non-profit organizations depend on volunteers to provide services to their clients thus helping to alleviate some of the costs and financial burdens non-profits face. A volunteer’s motivation and satisfaction drivers are varied thus making the task of attracting and retaining volunteers a difficult one. Since volunteers are a vital part of any non-profit and volunteer supported organization, retention initiatives are crucial to the organization’s success. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of organizational support, group integration, empowerment and participation efficacy on volunteer satisfaction and retention. Over 100 volunteers, from a Central Florida organization, were surveyed to: 1) measure their motivating factors and satisfaction with various aspects of their volunteer experience and 2) measure their intentions to remain as a volunteer. The results of the hierarchical multiple regression suggest that participation efficacy and organizational support are significant predictors to intent to remain with the organization.

Customized services allow travelers to receive services that would meet their unique needs. This study establishes a theoretical framework of customized service for the tourism industry including the emotional and behavioral outcomes of customized service, integrating the moderator of gender. In tourism, the interactions between the traveler and the service provider can generate the feeling of gratitude. However, there is a gap in the literature developing a framework integrating customized service and gratitude in tourism contexts. In addition, there is a lack of research investigating the effect of gender on the differences between 'males' and 'females' emotional responses after receiving customized services. This study attempts to bridge this gap in the literature by constructing a theoretical framework of the relationship among customized service, customer gratitude, customer repurchase intentions, and gender. The framework proposed would provide explanations of the effect of the social interactions between travelers and the service provider in the tourism industry. Furthermore, the study would help explain the impact of customized services on 'customers' repurchase intentions from the perspective of emotions and how men and women differ in their emotional responses after receiving customized services. The framework proposed would assist the tourism industry to take advantage of customized services to retain customers in the company and make those customers loyal to the company.Contribution/Originality: This paper's contribution is establishing a conceptual framework of customized service for the tourism industry. Specifically, the paper proposes the emotional and behavioral outcomes of customized service, integrating the moderator of gender. INTRODUCTIONCustomized services in the tourism industry offer opportunities for companies to provide something unique for the tourists visiting the destination. Based on the literature, service customization requires a certain level of adaptation or tailoring of the service offered to satisfy customers' needs (Shostack, 1987). In tourism, customized services can include offering helpful information according to customers' individual needs. Therefore, it is likely that the tourism industry can take advantage of personalized services to provide what travelers desire (Kotler, 1989). The outcomes of customized services can be the increase of customers' willingness to pay and their retention level (Franke & Schreier, 2008). In the current study, the authors establish a conceptual framework including the emotional response of customized services, the moderator of the relationship between customized service and the emotional reaction, and the outcome of customized services. The framework proposed would assist the tourism