Social media play an important role in the consumer's decision -making process in tourism as they do in many other business areas. Tourism and hospitality marketers may reach more potential consumers in a shorter time and at a lower cost through the active use of social media. This study examines the influence of social media on the decision -making process and online buying trends of tourism consumers and the potential relationships between participant demographics and some of the variables such as information obtained from social media, use of social media for tourism services, the act of buying, influence and intention to share travel experiences. A survey method was used to collect data from various social media users, and Structural Equation Modeling was employed for the data analysis. According to the results; statistically meaningful relationships were found between the variables of knowledge about tourism services in the media and perceptions of use, influence on customers, intention to share experiences and the act of buying tourism and hospitality services.

There are many studies on the concept of emotional labor in the literature, but limited studies available in the food services business. For this reason, the basic objective of present study is to identify the factors affecting emotional labor of employees in this industry and to explore the situational factors and demographic variables that may have an impact on emotional labor through its sub dimensions as surface acting and deep acting. The data were collected from the food services workers during 2017 summer season in Van, by a questionnaire as the survey instrument which was developed by the authors from the literature. Major findings of this survey can be summarized as; emotional labor was mostly influenced by emotional dissonance and interaction variety, and positive relationships were found between interaction frequency and interaction intensity, emotional dissonance and interaction variety; there is a significant association between intensity of interaction and gender of the employees; and as a demographic dimension, woman workers display more intensive emotional labor then men do.

Sport tourism can be viewed as the amalgam of specific sporting activities, being undertaken by people in various forms of competitive interplay or other interaction, that occur in the places where might be instrumental to the sport and/or tourist experience. It is one of the fastest growing market segments in tourism and travel industry and is receiving increased attention for its social, environmental, and economic effects on destinations. It is estimated that there will be a larger market potential than ever for sport-related tours and tourism. On the other hand, it is well known that tour guides are tourism professionals that lead their guests through the many parts of any destination and they are responsible for planning, organizing, and execution of the tours as a very critical component of the tourism value chain. In this chapter, the basic functions and services of tour guides for sport activities and sport tourism will be discussed and the basic objective is to provide detailed information about this enhancing field of tourism for young generation tour guides.

The aim of the study is to investigate the current situation of mountain tourism and its sustainability in Turkey. Not only the tourism policies of the government are enough to promote a new alternative tourism type, but also the role and effects of tourism middlemen such as travel agencies, tour operators, and tour wholesalers cannot be denied in the promotion of a destination. Mountain tourism could be one of the best alternative tourism opportunities for many destinations if they have sufficient resources, namely naturally attractive mountains and related infra and/or superstructure. Turkey and Aegean region have many attractive resources in this sense. In this research, in addition to analyzing the current situation in Turkey; ways of developing mountain tourism in a sustainable way as well as possible roles and effects of travel intermediaries in this area are questioned. With this purpose, the contents of the research vary differently. The first part depends on literature review presenting general definitions and discussions concerning mountain tourism. In the second part of the study, tourism policies in general and the mountain tourism policies of Turkish Government will be discussed. In the last part, the field survey is applied by developing and distributing questionnaire to major group A travel agencies in Turkey and outbound tour operators organizing tours to Turkey as well. The sample of the research consists of 83 firms and each was reached via e-mail. The data gained through the survey were analysed by computer based statistical program, SPSS 16. In the discussion part of the research, depending on the major findings, the comments and suggestions for further researches were developed.

Technology has transformed the tourism industry over time, and today, this transformation has accelerated with digitalization and Industry 4.0. With the application of new generation technologies that shape Industry 4.0 to the tourism industry, the concept of smart tourism has entered the literature and digitalization has accelerated in tourism. It can be said that digital transformation has had an impact on tourist experiences. In this context, this chapter aims to describe the potential impact of digital transformation on the tourist experience. For this purpose, the following topics and concepts will be studied: uses of Industry 4.0 technologies in tourism industry, digital transformation, tourist experiences, and effects of digital transformation on tourist experience.