The Ecosystem of Hospitality – Not without Culture and Creativity!

Chairs: Harald Pechlaner, Katholische Universität Eichstätt – Ingolstadt, Germany; Julian Philipp, Katholische Universität Eichstätt – Ingolstadt, Germany; Lucia Marchegiani, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy, and Michela Marchiori, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy.

In a time of increasing global challenges and crises, of multiple parallel developments and trends, and of social systems that are as complex as never before, traditional spatial management approaches such as destination management or location management are proving not only to be limited, but also to be ineffective to face the rising negative side effects such as overtourism, non-sustainable developments, unequal power distributions, negligence of stakeholder interests, or local protest movements (Dodds & Butler, 2019). Additionally, global megatrends such as digitalization, globalization, urbanization, demographic chance or climate change, and changing behaviors on the demand side concerning sustainability, authenticity or individuality are forcing cities and regions to recalibrate their strategies and approaches (Philipp & Pechlaner, 2023). From a different perspective, space has become more relevant in the development of cultural and creative initiatives (CCI), as cultural and creative organizations are exploring new approaches that emphasize the participation of different audiences and valorize the territorial dimension (Biondi et al., 2020). Hence, more holistic and integrated management approaches are needed.

The Ecosystem of Hospitality is a recent proposition in this direction and centered around visitors, target groups and stakeholders, with local and regional culture and creativity being of particular importance (Pechlaner et al., 2022; Philipp et al., 2022). Culture and creativity are one aspect among others that constitute identity, which strengthens the coordination of actors and stakeholders as it creates a sense of specific actions (Borin & Juno Delgado, 2018). Within CCIs, cultural heritage holds an intrinsic value and promotes meaningful cultural experiences that enhance the authentic understanding of the local identity and could strengthen social cohesion among different audiences. Furthermore, the culture of hospitality promotes appreciation of personal encounters and considers them as vital for the quality of place and space development (Pechlaner, 2022). If embedded in the Ecosystem of Hospitality, the cultural and creative experiences better express the authentic intrinsic value of the cultural object and are more likely to give rise to transformative processes at the micro level, aimed enhanced resilience, behaviors and values.

Among the above-mentioned megatrends, particular attention is to be paid to how AI-enabled technologies influence value co-creation in the hospitality and tourism industry (Konstantinos et al., 2022). With AI rapidly accelerating in recent months, the claim for a research agenda on how the Ecosystem of Hospitality may be impacted by these technologies – which some scholars have been proposing for the tourism sector for some years now (Tussyadiah, 2020) – becomes more timely than ever.

The contributions to this track could address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

·         Culture and creativity in network approaches

·         From cultural tourism to a new tourism culture

·         Local and regional development processes involving residents and visitors

·         The role of culture in sustainable tourism development

·         Building a spatial identity through culture and creativity

·         Coordinating stakeholders and their actions through a common culture and identity

·         Commonality and diversity in culture and identity

·         The impact of culture on human encounters, authenticity, and quality of life

·         Human encounters in the local and regional space

·         Authenticity and individualism in tourism destinations

·         Spatial adaptations of the ecosystem logic

·         Transformative Ecosystems in CCIs

·         Transformative nature of CH

·         Regional and urban regeneration processes

·         AI-enabled technologies’ influence on value co-creation in hospitality and tourism

A special issue of the European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy  has been launched on this topic, welcoming papers presented at this thematic track of the ENCATC Education and Research Session. The call for the special issue can be checked here.

This track is related to the RIC – Research Interest Cluster “Cultural Leadership in Transition Tourism”. 

Main references

Biondi, L., Demartini, P., Marchegiani, L., Marchiori, M. & Piber, M. (2020). Understanding orchestrated participatory cultural initiatives: Mapping the dynamics of governance and participation. Cities, 96, 102459.

Borin, E. & Juno Delgado, E. (2018). The value of cultural and regional identity: An exploratory study of the viewpoints of funders and cultural and creative entrepreneurs. Journal of Cultural Management and Policy, 7(1), 16-29.

Dodds, R. & Butler, R. (2019). Overtourism: Issues, Realities, and Solutions. De Gruyter.

Konstantinos, S., Katsoni, V., Mahmoud,  Ali B. & Grigoriou, N. (2022). Factors affecting value co-creation through artificial intelligence in tourism: a general literature review. Journal of Tourism Futures (pp. 1-15). DOI 10.1108/JTF-06-2021-0157

Pechlaner, H. (2022). From Urban and Rural Spaces to Integrative and Transformative Places – Ecosystems of Hospitality as an Expression of Future-Oriented Living Together. In H. Pechlaner, N. Olbrich, J. Philipp & H. Thees (Eds.), Towards an Ecosystem of Hospitality – Location:City:Destination (pp. 10-13). Graffeg.

Pechlaner, H., Olbrich, N., Philipp, J. & Thees, H. (Eds.) (2022). Towards an Ecosystem of Hospitality – Location:City:Destination. Graffeg,

Philipp, J. & Pechlaner, H. (2023). Towards Places and Ecosystems: The Integrated Management of Locations, Destinations and the Living Space. In H.Y. Arias Gomez & G. Antosova (Eds.), Considerations of Territorial Planning, Space, and Economic Activity in the Global Economy (pp. 70-93). IGI Global.

Philipp, J., Thees, H., Olbrich, N. & Pechlaner, H. (2022). Towards an Ecosystem of Hospitality: The Dynamic Future of Destinations. Sustainability, 14(2).

Tussyadiah, I. (2020). A review of research into automation in tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102883.