Mutation version 4.0: "Centre for Regeneration and Development", aka (Ray) HOLDEN PUBLISHING & RESEARCH

I have first written about (Ray) Holder Publishing and Research back in January 2012, with an update in March 2012. Since then I have been reporting on their mutations/re-branding activities, notably when it became known as PAS Traning and Research in November 2012 and more recently Place and Space Research. Today I received an email alerting me to another mutation: Version 4.0.

The name of the ‘venture’ is now called “Centre for Regeneration and Development”. The company they purport to be running these events is Hoxton Development Services (no website, just a twitter account). They appear to be using twitter (three accounts: 1, 2 and 3) as the primary means of promoting their ‘business’. But they have also updated their website to incorporate the new brand name. Interestingly, the layout and presentation of the website are exactly the same as the in the previous name (rather ugly and amateurish). They could not even bother to change the internet domain, which is http://www.ijnr.co.uk/ (IJNR – International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal). In a (desperate?) attempt to enhance the credibility of the initiative, they have now come up with a new Journal name: Journal of Rural Renewal. First it was about renewing ‘cities’, not they are ‘concerned’ with renewing the ‘countryside’.

Below I am transcribing the email they are sending to potential targets.

************************

PROMOTIONAL EMAIL:

From: Hoxton Development Services [mailto:cultureworksjournal@googlemail.com] 

Sent: xx October 2013

To: Hoxton Development Services

Subject: Rural Works Conference Dublin 21st May 2014

On the 21^st May 2014 Hoxton Development Services is staging a one day conference called ‘Rural Works’ at the University College Dublin, which will focus on the range of issues that face the future development of rural towns and communities. 120 delegates are expected at the event, together with up to 20 speakers and 20 exhibitors.  This will a great opportunity to listen to a range of key speakers on Rural Development and also learn and share good practice.

We will also be launching an new exciting Journal at the Conference called the ‘Journal of Rural Renewal’ which will become a focus for the development and promotion of good practice and research in rural development.  All proceedings of the day will feature in the Journal. 

Details of the Conference and Journal can be found on the Twitter Feeds https://twitter.com/CentreRegenDev  and https://twitter.com/rural_develop

The cost to attend as a delegate for the day is Euro 250 but until 1^st March we are currently offering a free place for every one booked and hope that you will take up this offer.   The cost to have a display stand at the event is Euro 500.  All who participate at the event will receive a free Annual E-subscription to the Journal of Rural Renewal.  There are also some speaker slots available.  There are also 20 spaces available for students at a reduced rate of Euro 60. 

If you wish to attend as a delegate, a speaker, take a display space or submit a paper to the Conference and Journal please email here

Currently speakers are confirmed from University Research Departments, Local Development Companies and Local Energy Agencies. 

We look forward to seeing you at ‘Rural Works’ in May.

Hoxton Development Services

90 Paul Street LONDON EC2A 4NE

https://twitter.com/HoxtonDevelop

New paper accepted "Consumer behaviour in tourism: Key concepts, influences and opportunities"

Today I received the final acceptance decision of a review paper entitled "Consumer behaviour in tourism: Key concepts, influences and opportunities". The paper is co-authored by Scott Cohen (University of Surrey, UK) and Girish Prayag (University of Canterbury, NZ) and has been accepted for publication in Current Issues in Tourism. You can download the word version of the accepted paper here

This is the abstract:

Although consumer behaviour is one of the most researched areas in the field of tourism, few extensive reviews of the body of knowledge in this area exist. This review article examines what we argue are the key concepts, external influences and opportune research contexts in contemporary tourism consumer behaviour research. Using a narrative review, we examine the consumer behaviour literature published in three major tourism journals from 2000 to 2012. Of 519 articles identified and reviewed, 191 are included in this article. We examine the development of and scope for future research on nine key concepts, including decision making, values, motivations, self-concept and personality, expectations, attitudes, perceptions satisfaction, trust and loyalty. We then examine three important external influences on tourism behaviour, technology, Generation Y and the rise in concern over ethical consumption. Lastly, we identify and discuss five research contexts that represent major areas for future scholarship: group and joint decision making, under-researched segments, cross-cultural issues in emerging markets, emotions and consumer misbehaviour. Our examination of key research gaps is concluded by arguing that the hedonic and affective aspects of consumer behaviour research in tourism must be brought to bear on the wider consumer behaviour and marketing literature.

So, if you are doing research on any of the topics covered (in Purple), you will find this paper of interest to your research.

The mutation continues: Place and Space Research (aka PAS Training and Research; aka (Ray) HOLDEN PUBLISHING & RESEARCH)

Like a chameleon, this business venture continues to change colours. I have just received an email alerting me to the new face of the organisation I have first written about here, with updates here and here. Holden Research and Publishing, later re-branded PAS Research and Training, is now called "Place and Space Research".

They have a brand new website, a twitter account (which basically promotes their courses) and a facebook page, where there is not a single post by members of the page and only a handful of likes are evident – one of which is by Nikki Holden (who I believe to be the wife of Mr Ray Holden and who was the ‘director of operations’ at Ray Holden Publishing). They have been promoting a substantial number of training courses taking place throughout 2013. I wonder if these are of the same standard of the virtual conference that started my coverage of this organisation...

By the way, they have now dropped the ‘virtual’ / non-existent journal, although just this January were still promoting it.

PS: Thank you to the various people who continue to send me emails telling me more about the organisation and its people, as well as their most recent activity.

Festival of Learning @ BU - Social Media for the Terrified

As part of the Festival of Learning, my colleague Debbie Sadd organised a training event about social media for those who want to know more about the world of social media. I am helping out Debbie by explaining how blogs work.

8th CPTHL Symposium - Istanbul, Turkey (1-5 June 2013)

I have recently attended the 8th Consumer Psychology of Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure symposium, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey. The event was a 'boutique' symposium in that it attempted to attract fewer, higher quality papers. A total of  34 papers authored by academics from 22 countries were presented (Australia, New Zealand, Italy, USA, Canada, Portugal, Turkey, UK, Israel, Belgium, South Korea, Thailand, Iran, Spain, Austria, China, Taiwan, Netherlands, Russia, Serbia, Brasil, Japan). Academics from 19 countries attended the Symposium.

The onward journey was an eventful one. It started well with me getting an upgrade to business class :-). Thank you British airways! As it is a short haul flight, the seating plan is the same as in economy but there's no one sat in the middle seat. The food is much better though. I enjoyed a nice fillet steak with Dauphinoise potatoes.

On arrival in Istanbul, after waiting more than 1 hour for my suitcase (and I had a priority tag on it!), I was taken to the Hotel. It wasn't a smooth ride tough. There was a big protest in Istanbul going on located in and around Taksim Square. The hotel sits next to the square which meant that the car could not get to the front of the hotel. Apparently there were many hundreds of thousands on the streets (probably true given the sheer number of people one could see). The car had to drop me off around 300 meters from the hotel and then I was picked up by a representative of the travel agency who walked with me to the hotel. This is how busy it was!

While being driven to the hotel, a lot of damage was visible. Here are some pictures. 

(Broken glass at a bus stop)

(Burned cover of a building site)

After arriving at the hotel, I joined the welcome cocktail. The hotel is located on a hill overlooking the Bosphorus. The sunset view was very beautiful to watch.

On the afternoon of the 2nd June I presented the paper that brought me to Istanbul. This is the abstract of my presentation: 

A Review of Tourist Satisfaction Research: 2000-2012

Miguel Moital

Events & Leisure Academic Group, School of Tourism, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom.

Girish Prayag

Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Law, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

Scott Cohen

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, University of Surrey, United Kingdom.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the current state of tourist satisfaction research, thus contributing to understanding contemporary developments in the area. The literature review focused on identifying the main themes and issues covered by tourist satisfaction studies published between 2000 and 2012 in the three top tourism journals (Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management and Annals of Tourism Research). Papers which explored tourist satisfaction in any meaningful way were selected for inclusion in the review. This resulted in the in-depth analysis of a total of 76 articles. The main themes identified in the review were the predominance of quantitative research, a pro-satisfaction bias and the study of satisfaction in the context of loyalty. In reviewing the process and content aspects of tourist satisfaction, the review found that a number of heuristics (the mental processes used by consumers when making satisfaction judgments) have been researched and different perspectives with regards to what tourists evaluate have been employed. Finally, the review also found that tourist satisfaction studies have examined satisfaction differences across sectors, products and tourist characteristics, with an emphasis on the latter.

I managed to deliver my presentation within the allocated 15 minutes. A lively discussion ensued with participants making suggestions or asking for additional information.

There were many interesting presentations throughout the symposium and most attracted a lively discussion.

On the evening of the 3rd of June there was a Gala dinner where we could taste a wide range of Turkish food. A Belly Dancer was hired to perform for us:

The Best paper winners were also announced during the dinner:

Arch G Woodside Best Paper Award

Steven Pike- Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Arch G Woodside Silver Award

Brent W. Ritchie - P. Monica Chien - Bernadette Watson

University of Queensland, Australia

Arch G Woodside Bronze Award

Giacomo Del Chiappa - University of Sassari & CRENoS, Italy

Carlota Lorenzo-Romero - University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

María-del-Carmen Alarcón-del-Amo - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

During my stay, I had the chance to taste many of the traditional Turkish dishes. Here are some pictures:

When walking around the Taksim Square area, one could see a lot of damage, and the cash machines were specially targeted by protesters. Here is one of the worst damaged ones that I saw:

One thing that I found very interesting was the cleaning of the streets after the protests. With so many people, it is not surprising that the streets were full of litter. However, what was surprising was that the citizens cleaned the streets themselves. Many of the protesters carried bin bags and collected the rubbish themselves:

Despite the ongoing protests, I never felt too insecure. I found the protesters well behaved and respectful. This was my second trip to Istanbul and I will definitely return if I can.