In Islamic destinations female tourists face the added challenge of negotiating their way through male constructed local norms. This paper fills the gap in gender and tourism research with a focus on female tourists' experiences in Egypt as an Islamic destination, outlining the diverse ways in which gender shapes and influences their experiences. A qualitative approach was taken to explore women's coping strategies with the male sexualised gaze that they encountered during their holiday in Egypt, and sheds light on measures taken towards safeguarding themselves. Their experiences were highly influenced and often involuntarily altered by unwanted male attention and sexual harassment, as the women felt the need to fit into local female norms of behaviour in order to safeguard themselves.

Abstract:This paper examines the multiple roles that globalised, branded spaces of commercial hospitality can play in tourists' experiences in destinations. Drawing on empirical data of consumers' discussions of McDonald's, the paper examines five themes: 1) controlled separation and the way consumers use these venues as spaces of comfort and familiarity, while employing notions of home to assess their touristic consumption of the venues and destinations; 2) strategic behaviour, in particular how tourists utilise such venues in their broader touristic endeavours; 3) identity work, specifically as tourists (re)construct their identities as they explain and often excuse their decision to consume in these venues; 4) engagement(s) with the destination, including how such hospitality venues are used as reference points by tourists to mentally construct the destination and shape their consumption practices; and finally, 5) authenticity, as consumers critically assess their consumption in such venues alongside critiques of authenticity and globalisation. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for the marketing and management of this and similar branded commercial venues, the marketing and management of destinations, and it outlines avenues for further research.

Solo travel is a growing trend, a significant proportion made up of international students who take solo trips during their study abroad. However there is limited empirical research on the Asian proportion of this growing market. This study explores the main motivations and constraints of 10 female Vietnamese students’ solo travellers through in-depth interviews. The findings indicate that travel motivations can be categorised into personal factors, such as freedom and flexibility, self-empowerment, independence and exploration, and social interaction factors including a lack of companions and meeting new people. Travel constraints relate to being female and alone and being of Asian descent. This research extends understanding of this important market segment. As a result, tourism providers and destination marketing organisation (DMOs) can capitalise by developing their products and marketing.

This study investigates how customers use their construct of “home” in evaluating their experience in peer‐to‐peer rented accommodation, as opposed to traditional hotels. The literature has paid considerable attention to people's perceptions of destinations, but almost none to their perceptions of “home” and its complexities whilst visiting a destination. We examine the relationships between the concepts of “home” or “here” represented in peer‐to‐peer accommodation and the construct of “away” or “there” represented in traditional hotels. A mixed‐method approach determines the existence of bias in reporting behavior. Our findings indicate that there is a consistent review gap between institutional actors and peer‐to‐peer actors. Also, consumers of peer‐to‐peer accommodation prefer not to engage in negative reporting if a bond with the host is developed. This perception of a home shapes consumers' relationship with the host and leads to reporting bias. This study provides clear theoretical insights to advance our knowledge about the underlying motives behind reporting behavior of negative experiences. Furthermore, it offers practical implications for both institutional and peer‐to‐peer contexts.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which a transactional marketing approach can generate customer loyalty in a hotel brand. Design/methodology/approach -The paper provides a review of the paradigm shift from transactional marketing to relationship marketing, in the services marketing literature. The inductive research used a qualitative approach, with multiple techniques including non-participant observation in several hotels; in-depth interviews with hotel managers; and telephone interviews with hotel customers in the UK. Findings -The findings suggest that a transactional approach to marketing can be an effective strategy for hotels, which target niche segments with highly differentiated offers at competitive prices. It was found that this approach can create significant customer loyalty.Research limitations/implications -The case study approach and focused sample mean that attempts to generalize the findings should be taken with care. Furthermore, this study does not attempt to measure the effectiveness of transactional marketing on customer loyalty; it reports findings from a qualitative study carried out to explore marketing practices in a small sample of hotels. Practical implications -For practitioners, the paper suggests that transactional marketing and relationship marketing can be seen as complementary marketing strategies. Originality/value -The paper provides novel insights into hotel culture, hotel/customer relationships, hotel service customization and customer loyalty. The paper challenges the received view that transactional marketing is less appropriate than relationship marketing in achieving customer loyalty in hotel branded operations.