PurposeThe aim of the paper is to examine and analyse the thematic literature on tourism seasonality and the causes and effects thereof.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a review of scientific and theoretical research by various authors on tourism seasonality, in order to systematically analyse the causes and effects of the seasonal patterns in tourism activity.FindingsSeasonality is one of the most important features of tourism demand, and it has a significant effect on many aspects of the tourism industry. The literature review suggests that tourism seasonality is caused by natural and anthropogenic factors that have a very significant bearing on the geographical location of a tourist destination, as well as institutional and economic factors. Assessments of the effects of seasonality in the scientific literature differ. The effects of seasonality analysed in the relevant literature can be divided into four major categories: economic, employment, social and cultural as well as ecological.Originality/valueThe paper presents a systematic literature review on tourism seasonality and the causes and effects thereof.

PurposeThis article aims to adopt a thematic approach to a review of the literature relating to sustainability and its challenges in destinations that highly depend on tourism.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides a review of scientific and theoretical research studies on the concept and principles of sustainable tourism, the effects of tourism on society and sustainable tourism strategy.FindingsThe basic principles of sustainable tourism development apply to all destinations, including Cyprus. The development of tourism is associated with the observance of the principles of sustainable tourism development, which takes the form of balanced environmental and economic development and involves the observance of public interest.Originality/valueThe paper offers a broad-ranging review-based perspective on sustainable tourism and the principles and development thereof.

Food waste is a global problem, which becomes apparent at various stages of the food supply chain. The present research study focuses on the optimization of food consumption in schools and effective food management through data-driven decision making within the trends: zero food waste and digital transformation. The paper presents a plate waste forecasting system based on mathematical modeling and simulation using the Monte Carlo method, which showed an RMSE equal to ±3% and a MAPE of 10.15%. The solution based on the simulator provides a possibility to better understand the relationship between the parameters investigated through data visualization and apply this knowledge to train managers to make decisions that are more effective. The developed system has multi-disciplinary application: forecasting, education and decision making targeted to reduce food waste and improve public health and food management in schools.

A system simulation is a one of the approaches to understand business processes or to explain them to other people. It is an excellent decision making solution to provide data-driven conclusions based on system modelling and experiments. This paper proposes simulation results of a school canteen. The aim of the research was to investigate the relation between a food waste amount and meal time duration. The proposed simulation was based on business process analysis, business process modelling, a Monte Carlo method and expert knowledge. The frequency distributions were constructed based on children meal duration observation completed by their mothers. It is a magnificent citizen science solution to involve mothers in the research because they can additionally better understand their children meal preferences and habits. Therefore, a questionnaire for citizens was developed, which can be applied to collect statistical data for model accuracy improvement and extension.

This research was conducted within the framework of a research project aimed at detecting patterns of plate waste and developing recommendations for improving catering in seven schools in Rezekne city (Latvia) by a combination of observation, physical weighing, semi-structured interview approaches and statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA). We identified plate waste (including wasted beverages), which remains after the lunch of schoolchildren in grades 1–7, examining a total of 7064 lunch samples. The originality of the research is due to the fact that a unified menu was designed for the field study, which ensured the same field study conditions in all the schools. The results of the research revealed that the average weight of plate waste per schoolchild reached 178 g, and the total weight of plate waste accounted for 28.75% of the total weight of food served. No significant differences in plate waste weight between various age groups and grades of schoolchildren were found, which was also confirmed by a one-way ANOVA test. An analysis of plate waste by food category showed that beverages accounted for the largest share of total plate waste (42.24%), followed by staple food (28.38%) and meat (11.77%). An analysis of plate waste shares of food served (%) by food category revealed a similar situation: the largest share of food served was made up of beverages (37.56%), followed by staple food (36.48%) and meat (28.77%). An analysis of the monetary value of food waste showed that the average cost of plate waste (excluding beverage) per schoolchild was EUR 0.236, which represented 16.6% of the national and municipal funding of EUR 1.42 per portion. Given the research results, the authors have concluded that in order to reduce the amount of plate waste generated by Rezekne city schools, school menus should be based not only on the requirements prescribed by relevant legal acts but also on cooking processes that meet the requirements of modern consumers (learners), e.g., by following trends in cooking practices in society to make the learners interested in consuming school food.