Travel Industry Leadership in Italy and China — A Biographical Comparison

Abstract

Entrepreneurial leadership has been important in developing the global travel industry with implications for both organizations and people. This comparative biographical analysis of two travel industry leaders and their respective contexts in Italy and China documents and evaluates these dimensions and applicable leadership constructs. The subjects are an Italian tour operator leader, Ermanno Chizzali (Founder of Ignas Tour SpA), and a Chinese tour operator leader, Ms. Xiaojuan Yin (Founder of Chengdu Harmony International Travel). Information was collected, analyzed, and compared about the two leaders, their organizations and leadership styles. Reference was made to their backgrounds, characteristics, values, and strategies. It was observed that entrepreneurial and innovative leadership offers evident advantages in the creation and development of Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs). The authors conclude that SMTE leaders should engage in continuous learning and training to a) adapt their leadership skills and practices and b) capitalize on scholarly insights and perspectives. This will involve addressing geopolitical and socio-cultural tensions by leveraging corporate legacies involving cross-border stakeholders to enhance competitiveness, collaboration, and agility.

Leveraging Platform-Based Games to Propel Virtual Tourism

“…Besides, a platform game called "Rome Reborn" that promote virtual tourism in Rome, Italy had successfully upswing the interest of the participants in visiting Rome and deepening their understanding of the city's history (Costa et al, 2018). Another 2D platform game named "Adventures in Jilin" showed the effectiveness of platform games in promoting tourism in specific region as the participants exhibited a significantly higher intention to visit Jilin (Zhang et al, 2018). In addition to their role in virtual tourism, platform games can also serve as vehicles for educating players about different cultures and customs.…”