Service quality is at the forefront of how the leisure, events, tourism and sport (LETS) sectors operate. An important consideration for any business, and therefore any student of the subject, this new edition of a successful textbook addresses the key points and principles of managing service quality across the industry sector. Considering the underpinning theory of service quality, this book informs the reader of the practical application of service quality management tools and techniques in an industry with distinctive features and challenges. An invaluable read for students within the LETS sectors, it also provides a useful refresher for practitioners working in the industry.

Describing the fundamental elements of research methods for leisure, recreation and tourism, this new edition of a popular textbook is updated throughout. It covers the measurement of variables, sampling, questionnaire design and evaluation methods, and also a wider discussion of writing proposals, communicating research findings, cross-cultural research, and the use of new technologies in conducting research. Written by internationally renowned researchers in an accessible style, this book introduces both undergraduate and graduate students to the vital skills they will need to succeed in the leisure, recreation, tourism and hospitality industries.

The gap between theory and practice in the leisure, sport and tourism studies areas seems to have widened as scholars have become more specialized. Nevertheless, it is imperative that students be as familiar as possible with a wide range of social and political theory, and also be able to reconcile that knowledge with their own current and future roles as practicing professionals. As well as extensive updating of sources, this new edition examines such topics as libertarianism, theocracy, anti-establishment politics, and the concept of generations. A new chapter presents discussions of a number of 'issues and challenges' facing the leisure, sport and tourism sector. Introducing the subject for undergraduate and postgraduate students of leisure, sport and tourism, this book is also a useful addition to the shelf of any policy maker or practitioner within the industries.

This established textbook explores how regions, and food industry, travel and hospitality companies present themselves to tourists experiencing the culture, history and ambience of a location through the food and wine it produces. It provides practical suggestions and guidelines for establishing a food-related tourism destination and business, discussing the environment, understanding the food tourist, supply issues, tours and tasting sessions, themed itineraries, planning and developing the tourist product, marketing and best practice strategies. It also includes numerous case studies from around the world and plentiful pedagogical features to aid student learning. If food and wine tourism is well planned, managed and controlled, it can become a real economic resource. Suitable for students in tourism and leisure subjects, the practical application provided in this book also makes it an ideal resource for those operating in the food and wine sector.

Training in research methods is increasingly important for students of tourism, and this broad, accessible textbook outlines the concepts and tools essential to understand, manage, and conduct research. Taking a practical approach throughout, this new edition provides advice on the use and cautions associated with some of the more common research designs and tools used by tourism researchers. Also including an increased use of handy pedagogical features to aid learning, this new edition is an essential overview for undergraduate and postgraduate students of tourism research, as well as a useful resource for researchers, consultants and managers.

Fully updated, this new edition covers IT applications and social media across the industry, including airlines, travel intermediaries, accommodation, food service, destinations, events and entertainment. Organized around the visitor journey, it considers how tourists use technologies for decision making before, during and after their travels.

Innovative and the first of its kind, this informative and multidisciplinary book explores the socio-cultural significance inherent in event infrastructures. While mainstream event management literature addresses event infrastructures mainly through its operational relevance, this carefully compiled edited volume takes infrastructures as an analytical point in respect to its social, political, economic and cultural potential of the study of events. Borrowing from the ongoing social scientific debates on the geography, sociology and anthropology of infrastructures, critical questions are posed in relation to the event contexts. With references to events in Argentina, Malawi, Spain and the UK, among others, the volume combines an international perspective with a highly relevant subject for contemporary event management education. By bringing together theoretical as well as empirical readings on the question of event infrastructures from a critical point of view, the debates are relevant to practitioners and researchers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of events, leisure, tourism, anthropology, sociology, geography and urban planning – among others.