Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how to go about interpreting causal maps and provides an introduction to the literature of causal mapping. Design/methodology/approach – The paper includes two international causal maps showing the favorable antecedent conditions of Germans...

Purpose – The purpose of this editorial is to introduce eight training exercises developed for tourism executive decision making. Design/methodology/approach – The paper introduces the papers in this special issue and discusses the need for experiential learning techniques for adult...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce measures of the motivation of tourists who travel to their ancestral homes. A set of learning exercises is presented for students and managers to apply understanding of these motives to tourism strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers with an analytical tool for deconstructing well‐established tourist typologies in which motivations and meanings are coupled together with practices of travel arrangements. Design/methodology/approach – In line with the...

Purpose – This study seeks to achieve two objectives: first, to expand on Fodness's five‐dimensional travel motivation scale by empirically demonstrating that a sixth driving force – shopping – encourages tourists to visit particular destinations; and second, to provide a clear...

Purpose – In‐depth tourism is a new traveling pattern, which combines thematic traveling experience and personal knowledge. This paper aims to analyze the industry characteristics and approaches to develop and promote in‐depth tourism from a service innovation perspective....

Purpose – Ratings grids, emerging from personal construct theory, measure an individual's perception of a situation. This paper and exercises seek to demonstrate how researchers and managers can use the grid to evaluate visitors' perceptions of an attraction or event....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show how to identify red flags in letters responding to customer complaints and demonstrate elements of effective response letters. Design/methodology/approach – Using actual form letter responses, the paper shows how to identify weaknesses in form...