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The purpose of this study is to explore from a place attachment (PA) theory perspective the extent to which and how, a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience enhances tourists’ attachment level on-site at a rural destination.

This study applied an exploratory mixed method approach. Respondents were tourists visiting the Lake District National Park who were asked to try a VR experience. In Study 1, interviews were conducted to explore new themes and to develop an enhanced PA framework in VR. Study 1 confirmed existing variables from the literature and highlighted new variables (themes) to be included in the new framework on how PA is formed. In Study 2, surveys were conducted, and the proposed framework analyzed using structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). To fully understand how VR had an impact on enhancing PA, the moderating effect of tourists’ pre-existing PA was considered.

The findings revealed “Accessibility”, “Memories” and “Increased Place Knowledge” as new themes (variables) and confirmed that these and established variables “Aesthetics” and “Presence” enhance PA, leading to increased loyalty. Significant moderating effects of existing PA were found.

VR serves as a complementary and substitutional tool for tourism. Tailored VR experiences for diverse tourist needs may enhance destination marketing and competitiveness. For tourists with low PA, destinations should focus on promoting activities and highlights to enhance engagement and the experiential understanding of the destination. For tourists with high PA, VR experiences should focus on providing a comprehensive view of the destination and unveiling new places. In both cases, the VR experience leads to deeper engagement with the destination and an increase in PA.

Research on the impact of VR on tourists’ PA is limited. To address this gap, this study’s theoretical contribution lies in developing and testing a PA framework within a VR and tourism context. This also includes the validation of new measurement items developed in relation to the new themes.

Looks at the principal causes and consequences of the promotion to what can no longer be viewed as a complete vacuum: women in positions of general management. Focuses on the views of four female general managers in different international hotel groups. From an analysis of their experience and views concludes that potential for women holders of these senior positions is significant, though the industry appears unwilling to make specific “concessions” to use this largely latent labour resource.

This descriptive study explored how community colleges are teaching leadership in technical programs. Leadership education curricular offerings were identified via a survey and selected programs reviewed. 68 Deans, Directors, or Chairpersons of a Business, Management, or Technology program completed the survey, representing 61 community colleges. A review of four programs was conducted through web searches and interviews of leaders representing two of these programs were conducted. Leadership education is an emerging area for community colleges; one that is narrowly defined as workplace readiness, communication, and confidence building activities. There appears to be a need for technical programs to teach students leadership skills, as well as technical skills. Further research is needed to determine which leadership skills are needed for technologists at the community college level.

The aim of this paper is to explore the role and potential of lived experiences in informing and shaping the formation of place identity within the sphere of the production and consumption of craft objects.

This paper is part of a larger funded research project and focuses on Manchester’s Craft and Design Centre. It draws upon a series of in-depth interviews conducted with craft makers and visitors.

The analysis and interpretation of textual data help to theorise an experiential identity of place, which revolves around the fusion of the cultural heritage and lived insideness of the physical setting; activity spaces and the micro-encounters of craft-making; and conflicting meanings and attachments to the Craft and Design Centre.

This study provides a novel perspective on the understanding of place identity in the context of craft-making by focusing on the lived experiences of various stakeholders and acknowledging the multi-faceted, dynamic and processual nature of place.

This chapter provides “viewpoints” on the education of learners with extensive and pervasive support needs. That is, students who require the most support to learn, often categorized as having intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, or related disabilities. The lenses through which we provide these viewpoints are historical and future-oriented; we begin with historic perspectives on the education of students with extensive and pervasive support needs, and then provide 21st century viewpoints for these learners. We interpret the notion of viewpoints in two ways: first, consistent with a viewpoint as indicating an examination of objects (in this case, practices and interventions) from a distance so as to be able to compare and judge; and, second, viewpoint as indicating our perspective on said interventions and practice.

This paper aims to discuss stakeholders’ understanding of sustainable tourism development and their experiences regarding the contribution of these movements to sustainable tourism development. The contribution of the Slow Food and Cittaslow Movements to the success of a tourism destination is evaluated by determining local stakeholders’ perceptions of the meaning of these terms and views on their benefits.

A case study approach used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 11 purposively sampled local stakeholders. The interview questions spanned knowledge, membership and perceived benefits of the Slow Food and Cittaslow Movements and the contribution of these Movements to sustainable tourism development. The data were analysed using framework analysis.

Varying levels of familiarity with the Slow Food and Cittaslow Movements were evident. Clear economic and personal benefits from membership were acknowledged. It was confirmed that the Slow Food and Cittaslow Movements have contributed to sustainable tourism development and that public–private partnership is key to its success.

The specific research context and limited purposive sample suggest great caution in any generalisation of the results.

Close and continued involvement of stakeholders plus membership of the Slow Food and Cittaslow Movements can contribute strongly to promoting sustainable tourism development in rural areas.

It is recognised that the Slow Food and Cittaslow Movements make a substantial contribution to local economies and add value to sustainable practices.

Involving local stakeholders in public–private partnerships can contribute to the success of rural tourism destinations when the Slow Food and Cittaslow Movements are considered as alternative approaches to sustainable tourism development.

This chapter examines the everyday experiences of short women, focusing on the problems they face and the coping strategies used to navigate being short in a heightist society. Further, this chapter views height as a stigmatized identity, which both negatively and positively impacts short women.

Sixteen qualitative interviews were conducted with women 5′2″ and under.

Using the literature on stress, and coping models laid out by social psychologists, this chapter elucidates the unique place of short women in American society.

While there has been a wealth of literature on how short stature impacts men, research on how short stature impacts women has been scant.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ways in which a researcher's maternal status as “mother” or “non-mother/child-free” is implicated in the research process.

This paper draws on the experiences as two feminist researchers who each independently researched experiences of motherhood: one as a “mother” and one as a “non-mother/child-free”. The paper draws on extracts from the original interview data and research diaries to reflect on how research topic, methodology and interview practice are shaped by a researcher's maternal status.

The paper found that the own maternal identities shaped the research process in a number of ways: it directed the research topic and access to research participants; it drove the method of data collection and analysis and it shaped how the authors interacted with the participants in the interview setting, notably through the performance of maternal identity. The paper concludes by examining how pervasive discourses of “good motherhood” are both challenged and reproduced by a researcher's maternal status and question the implications of this for feminist research.

While much has been written about researcher “positionality” and the impact of researcher identity on the research process, the ways in which a researcher's “maternal status” is implicated in the research process has been left largely unexamined. Yet, as this paper highlights, the interaction of the often-conflicting identities of “mother”, “researcher”, “feminist” and “woman” may shape the research process in subtle yet profound ways, raising important questions about the limits of what feminist social research about “motherhood” can achieve.