Ksenia Kirillova

Although craft breweries have grown rapidly over the last decade, previous research has primarily focused on the aspects of marketing and consumer preferences. Little is known about authenticity of visitor experiences or perceptual differences that might exist between local and non-local visitors. Furthermore, a valid scale applicable to craft beer settings and authentic hospitality experiences at large is non-existent. This study addressed these research gaps by developing an authenticity scale for measuring craft brewery visitor experiences using a mixed-methods approach (participant observations, semi-structured interviews among brewery visitors, and two waves of survey data collection). A three-factor scale (Core Product Authenticity, Authenticity of Care, and Authenticity of Ambiance) was developed and validated through thematic analysis, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. No significant differences were found between local and non-local brewery visitors. This study sheds light on visitor experience management at craft breweries.

In the age of global pandemics, increasing geopolitical conflicts, and subsequent restrictions on human mobilities (including tourism), the question of consumer agency in tourism is particularly pressing. Previous scholarship has largely assumed that tourists are free agents in the pursuit of authenticity through increasing mobility. This conceptual research problematizes the lack of conceptualization of agency in tourism. Based on various streams of tourism literature that demonstrated—although did not explicitly discuss—tourist agency in action, we theorize tourist agency as a product of intersectional and institutional forces, accentuated by spatiality and temporality. We further built a parsimonious typology of tourist agency consisting of Unconstrained, Stigmatized, Constrained, and Negotiated agencies. We hope that this conceptual paper fuels further research and acknowledgment of agency.

This study aims to address the convergence of boundaries in Tourism, Hospitality, Events, and Leisure (THEL) fields. We offer a synthesized definition of THEL and discuss a set of meta-concepts that define the core and knowledge structure of THEL. We argue that hospitality, experience, and place are unifying constructs upon which all THEL scholarship activities and practice fields are established. The paper invites a system-wide conversation to stimulate thinking regarding academic discipline building at a time when technological and societal forces are transforming work, life, and education. This research contributes to modernization of THEL and engenders new perspectives to guide future scholarship. This paper invites a reassessment of curricular structures to stay relevant and adaptive to changing needs of contemporary societies.