International Journal of Services, Economics and Management (24 papers in press)

Regular Issues

• Antecedents of job satisfaction and organisational commitment PLS-SEM approach
  by Mai Ngoc Khuong, Tran Phuong Mai, Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong 
  Abstract: This study was conducted in order to identify the relationship between human resource management practices, employee job satisfaction and organisational commitment in hospitality industry in Vietnam. Quantitative approach was mainly applied with exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, PLS-SEM using SmartPLS software (version 3.0). The questionnaires were distributed to employees from the lowest level to high-ranked management level. The findings showed that employee organisational commitment was indirectly affected by compensation, career development, leader-follower relationship, working environment and organisational support through the mediation of job satisfaction. In addition, organisation commitment also experienced the direct effect from compensation, career development and leader-follower relationship. Consequently, the result could be recommendations and suggestions for organisation leaders to develop appropriate strategies in order to increase job satisfaction and organisational commitment.
  Keywords: job satisfaction; organisational commitment; compensation; career development; leader-member exchange; working environment; hospitality sector.
  
  
• Factors influencing online transport drivers job satisfaction in Indonesia  
  by Keni Keni, Nicholas Wilson, Chee Wei Loon, Boo Mei Chin, Lim Thean Pheng 
  Abstract: This paper tries to understand the impact of perceived occupational health hazard, perceived job risk and perceived job insecurity on online transportation drivers job satisfaction in Indonesia, and how people fear towards the COVID-19 pandemic moderates those impacts. This study uses a quantitative survey method by using questionnaires which were virtually distributed to 202 online transportation drivers in Indonesia. A non-probability sampling method in the form of convenience sampling was chosen to ensure that the criteria of respondents are in line with the ones that have been set by the authors. This study conducted the PLS-SEM method, and it was concluded that perceived occupational health hazard, perceived job risk and perceived job Insecurity significantly affect the online transportation drivers job satisfaction. Furthermore, peoples fear towards the COVID-19 outbreak was found to significantly moderate the effect of perceived occupational health hazard, perceived job risk and perceived job insecurity towards job satisfaction.
  Keywords: perceived occupational health hazard; perceived job risk; perceived job insecurity; job satisfaction; fear of COVID-19 outbreak; Indonesia.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10051708
   
  
• Skilled immigrants job search: the role of self-efficacy, future orientation, and work involvement  
  by Satvir Singh, Prajya R. Vidyarthi, Laura Guerrero, Fernando Parra 
  Abstract: Drawing upon self-efficacy theory, we developed a job search process model to show the relationship between self-efficacy, job search behaviour, and job search outcomes among 240 skilled immigrant job seekers in Canada originating from 31 countries. We also tested moderating effects of home-country culture value of future orientation and individual level work involvement in these relationships. Hierarchical linear modelling supported a positive relationship between skilled immigrants job search self-efficacy and job search effort, and between job search effort and number of job interviews obtained. Results also showed that the relationship between job search efficacy and job search effort was stronger at low levels of future orientation and low levels of work involvement.
  Keywords: job search; self-efficacy; effort; immigrants; culture.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10051710
   
  
• Understanding the conceptualisation and strategies of service recovery processes in service organisations  
  by Sohail Anwar 
  Abstract: Many service providers struggle with service recovery (SR) processes, since they do not directly involve customers, and have no bearing on the needs and expectations of customers. The way in which compensation and complaint resolutions are delivered can have a significant impact on how customers perceive of SR and retention efforts in organisations. This study unpacks conceptualisations and the practicality of SR processes in service providing organisations. To meet these objectives, data were collected from reputed public banks using online reviews, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussion. The results reveal that disruption and frustration typically occur during the first stage of service failure, and there is therefore a need to redesign SR processes so that employees can identify the causes of disruption and understand what customers expect from service providers. This study highlights that focussed engagement, help, feedback, improvements, complaint handling, fair compensation, fast services, apologies, customer participation, the credibility of feedback, and competence are some important factors that can improve the SR processes of public banking organisations. This study presents a conceptual framework that illustrates how SR processes can help banking organisations improve the usefulness of SR processes.
  Keywords: service recovery; SR; service failure; complaint handling; customer participation; social media; feedback; banking.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10052095
   
  
• Strategic resource management in private, public, and mixed-owned organisations in cities: the power of strategic urban networks  
  by Donizete Beck, José Storopoli, Júlio Carneiro Da Cunha, Eran Vigoda-Gadot 
  Abstract: This study mapped the seminal intellectual structure, the recent mainstream research, and discussed the evolution from seminal intellectual structure to mainstream research on resource-based View (RBV) for strategic resource management (SRM) in the urban context. We performed bibliometrics through co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling. Findings: 1) RBV has not been enough for the public, private or mixed organisations to set their SRM; 2) RBV, relational view, industry-structure view, and stakeholder theory are critical for SRM in cities; 3) we conceptualised the term strategic urban network for SRM, which mainly concerns with the dynamic of resources and stakeholders within the urban context. Social capital, dynamic capabilities, human resources, non-human resources, marketing, knowledge-based view, and global and diverse stakeholders are vital aspects for efficient exploration and exploitation in strategic urban networks. In turn, it can result in the better socioeconomic development of cities and performance of public, private, and mixed-owned organisations.
  Keywords: resource-based view; RBV; relational view; industry-structure view; stakeholder theory; urban studies; public administration; organisational studies; strategic management; strategic urban networks; strategic networks; urban development; socioeconomic development; social capital; dynamic capability; urban branding.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10052615
   
  
• Investigation of the effect of physical evidence and word of mouth on customer satisfaction and purchase intention in professional services  
  by Kalender Özcan Atilgan, Özge Koç 
  Abstract: Professional services differ from other general services in many ways. Specifically, consumers benefit from physical evidence providing tangible clues in evaluating professional services. This study aims to investigate the effect of physical evidence on customer satisfaction and word of mouth in professional services purchase intention. In this direction, face-to-face questionnaires were applied to 300 patients who received service from a dental health centre. Structural equation modelling analysis was used to test the hypothetical model. According to the results of the study, it has been determined that the ambient factors of physical evidence affect customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth communication. Also, social factors of physical evidence significantly affects on word-of-mouth communication. Additionally, customer satisfaction significantly affects word-of-mouth communication, and word-of-mouth communication has an effect on purchasing intention. In the conclusion, suggestions were made regarding the selection of various professional services for future studies.
  Keywords: professional services; physical evidence; customer satisfaction; word of mouth; purchase intention.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10052854
   
  
• Harsh realities of migrant workers during COVID 19 epoch: an investigation from the backward remote districts in India  
  by Tarak Nath Sahu, Sudarshan Maity, Nabanita Sen 
  Abstract: The pandemic revealed horrifying striving truths with multiple hardships and bleak indication of improvements in the socio-economic condition compelling migrant wage earners to return to homeland in lieu of their life with high risk undertaken. In the study, researchers have reflected the socio-economic milieu of the impoverished casual migrant labourers in the course of pandemic induced curbs when they were unemployed and unwaged. The study takes into account 390 migrant workers from West Bengal, India. The pair sample t-test evaluates socio-economic condition of migrant workers in the course of pre-pandemic and pandemic period. The study further evaluates influencing factors of migrant work. The inference from ordered logistic reveals the wage difference, standard of education and if any other family members engaged as migrant workers significantly predict migrant employability. The study infers that elongated stern lockdown has significantly affected migrant workers economically and socially.
  Keywords: employability; migrant; COVID-19; pandemic; socio-economic; India.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053122
   
  
• A novel hybrid approach for rice plant disease detection based on stacked autoencoder and convolutional neural network model  
  by Manoj Agrawal, Dr. Shweta Agrawal 
  Abstract: Among all staple of foods, rice is most commonly used all over the world. A rice plant disease is a major concern that shows its negative effect on crop yields. If regular and proper diagnosis of these diseases were not carried out then it may decrease its production and, ultimately rise the food scarcity. Manual diagnosis is quite time-consuming. Therefore, this paper is dedicated to using the benefits of deep learning for the automated detection of diseases. In this paper, a novel hybrid model termed a Stacked Autoencoder Module with ResNet (SAMResNet) is presented by cascading of stacked autoencoder (SAE) and ResNet50 for automated rice plant disease detection and compared with other convolutional neural network (CNN) models such as basic CNN and VGG16. Among all, SAMResNet has achieved highest accuracy of 97%. The benefit of using SAE is that it minimises the learning parameters so that complexity reduces and ultimately improves the detection accuracy with reduced dimensionality.
  Keywords: rice disease; deep learning; stacked autoencoder; convolutional neural network; CNN; VGG16; ResNet50; SAMResNet.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053123
   
  
• Service quality determiners in higher education: the students perspective  
  by Mehmet Pekkaya, Öznur Pulat, Ilknur Zeydan 
  Abstract: Higher education (HE) institutions, which are the highest step in training qualified people, provide economic and socio-cultural added value to their regions by ensuring its sustainability via service quality (SQ) and students satisfaction (SS). The purpose of this study is to measure the HE SQ/SS, and determining factors that affect SS from HE, and reporting the findings to researchers/decision-makers. According to the results, the sample students views on the SQ factors can be accepted nonbiased in terms of students gender and unit of membership in the university but biased in terms of students whose families living in different locations. The factors of administrative quality, attitude and behaviour, physical environment quality, support infrastructure, core educational quality, curriculum, and transformative quality have a quite powerful effect on SS from HE. In case of improving these factors, SS from HE would be increased more effectively than other factors.
  Keywords: higher education; HE; service quality; SQ; student satisfaction; SS; Hesqual.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053125
   
  
• Impact of sensitivity index on tourism-economic growth relationships  
  by Veli Yilanci, Maxwell Kongkuah, Seyi Akadiri 
  Abstract: This study examines the relationship among risk uncertainties, economic growth and tourism in South Korea over the period 1990Q12019Q4. To achieve study stated objective, we derive a new index called the sensitivity index. It is a dimensionless signal used in statistic detection theory that reflects the impact of uncertainties and risks using principal component analysis. We employ the Fourier Toda-Yamamoto predictive test and find oneway causality running from the sensitivity index to tourism. Empirical results show a negative and significant predictive effect of the sensitivity index on tourism and economic growth. Summarily, sensitivity index negatively impacts on tourism development and hence overall economic growth. Thus, governments and policymakers in tourist destinations of the world should focus and pay close attention on enhancing tourist safety, by increasing ties with neighbouring economies, and enforce intelligence on tourists gathering in any tourist centres among other relevant policy suggestions.
  Keywords: tourism; economic growth; sensitivity; index; risk; uncertainties; predictive methods.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053244
   
  
• Factors influencing the adoption of mobile app during the COVID-19 pandemic  
  by Tag Lee, Amy Wong 
  Abstract: The recent COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled a rise in the adoption of contactless payments such as mobile apps, as consumers shift from cash to digital options in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. This study examines the factors leading to customer perceived value and mobile app adoption in workplace canteen services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was collected via an onsite intercept interview survey of white- and blue-collar workers at a workplace canteen during the pandemic. The results show that mobile app accessibility, internet connectivity, and perceived safety affected customer perceived value while internet connectivity predicted mobile app adoption. In addition, perceived privacy and security as well as perceived functional quality displayed non-significant effects on both perceived customer value and mobile app adoption. The findings provide insights into the use of mobile apps as part of workplace safety management during and post-pandemic.
  Keywords: perceived customer value; adoption of mobile app; mobile app accessibility; internet connectivity; perceived safety; perceived privacy and security; perceived functional quality.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053507
   
  
• Industry 4.0 and its impact on supply chain management: an overview  
  by Manorama Maharana, Remya Lathabhavan 
  Abstract: Industry 4.0 envisions a global network of machines that operate autonomously in a smart factory to reduce manual labour and enhance efficiency in the supply chain system. The implementation of Industry 4.0 in supply chain management (SCM) would increase flexibility, quality standards and efficiency. The present study analyses the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies in SCM. For this purpose, a survey was conducted among 167 employees from various industries in India. The study found that most companies to which the respondents belonged have already fully or partially implemented Industry 4.0 technologies. The study described the various benefits and challenges of Industry 4.0 implementation. The study also showed the levels of impacts of various Industry 4.0 technologies on the SCM of different sectors and scales of companies.
  Keywords: Industry 4.0; supply chain management; SCM; survey; Chi-square analysis; procurement; warehouse; logistics; fulfilment; aerospace; healthcare; automotive; electronics; radio frequency identification; RFID.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053508
   
  
• Students intention to purchase online air tickets of two developing nations: an extended concept of planned behaviour model  
  by Hitesh Jhanji 
  Abstract: This article tries to identify the factors influencing the student intention to purchase online air tickets using the concept of planned behaviour of two developing nations India and Nepal. A survey of 200 students, 100 from India and 100 from Nepal, was carried out at a private university in India. These students use air transport for travelling as students are from different countries and different states. The hypothesis was tested using multiple regression analysis. Empirical findings confirmed that students in India and Nepal are primarily motivated by a desire to save money when purchasing airline tickets. Perceived behavioural control in Nepal and trust in India is the second factor which influences the purchase intention of students. Students purchase intentions are unaffected by attitudes and subjective norms. The findings can enhance the understanding of airline companies by offering relevant implications from students perspective in improving marketing strategies and customer services.
  Keywords: airlines; purchase intention; online air tickets; developing countries; perceived behavioural control; trust; price saving.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053511
   
  
• Antecedents of product innovation and the role of product organisational units in the life insurance industry: a case study of LIC of India  
  by Furquan Uddin 
  Abstract: The present study aims to examine the antecedents of product innovation and the role of product organisation in the life insurance industry in general and the LIC of India in particular. This study uses Garretts ranking technique to examine the factors under consideration on a sample of 107 officials working in several offices of LIC of India. The present study reveals that the LIC of India focuses on product innovation on account of its growth, market strategy, competition, and other factors. Further, the new product committee, actuary, underwriting, and followed by other organisational units, play a crucial role in the product organisation of LIC of India. The concept of product innovation and product organisation has not been discussed in the context of life insurance so far; therefore, this present study is distinct and brings novelty to the existing literature.
  Keywords: product innovation; product organisation; life insurance; LIC of India; Garrett’s ranking technique.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053696
   
  
• Multi-level configuration of sustainability drivers of the municipal service supply chain with uncertainty  
  by Hadi Balouei Jamkhaneh, Ahamad Ghorbanpour, Reza Shahin 
  Abstract: The main purpose of this research is to design a multi-level model of service drivers to provide sustainable urban services by considering uncertainty. First, by reviewing the literature, twenty-seven service drivers are identified and using the content analysis approach (CAA) common service drivers are combined and then, a few of them, which required low frequency, are removed from the list of statistics. Then, by using the experts opinions and CAA, service driver adaptation is performed for our case study. The demographic population of this study includes managers, deputies and experts working in the municipalities of Bushehr province. In order to analyse the data, an interpretive structural modelling is employed. Findings show that the incentives of rules and regulations, energy management, social responsibility, recycling management, carbon emission management, service management services and education and culture are at the root levels of the model, and they have higher impact.
  Keywords: service supply chain; sustainable service supply chain management; municipality; fuzzy interpretive structural modelling.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053843
   
  
• Application of the theory of planned behaviour to predict Indian consumers intention to purchase organic food  
  by Avani Raval, Diljeetkaur Makhija 
  Abstract: Organic food and its consumption are at a promising stage in India due to health and environment concerns. The current study examines the intentions of Indian customers to purchase organic food through defined constructs of theory of planned behaviour. Further, the study has also incorporated additional constructs based on an extensive literature review. Hypo-deductive research design was adopted for the study. The proposed framework was tested by examined data collected from 314 consumers using structural equation modelling. Mediating effects on purchase intention investigated through attitude towards environmental attributes. Results confirm that subjective norms and attitude positively influence on consumers purchase intention. Further, it determines that environmental attributes have positive influence on attitude. Additionally, attitude is found to have strong positive mediating effect for environmental attributes on purchase intention. The study provides various contributions to theory and practices towards consumer purchase intentions by examining the proposed model in Indian context.
  Keywords: organic foods; environmental attributes; attitude; purchase intentions; mediation; theory of planned behaviour; TPB; India.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10053944
   
  
• Forecasting symbiosis in tourism enterprise networks: Monte Carlo simulation of risk and return  
  by Plopailin Kijkasiwat, Jennifer Cave, Nirosha Hewa Wellalage, Stuart Locke 
  Abstract: This study re-conceptualises the relationship between symbiosis and risk/return as an influence for economic benefit or harm for micro, small and medium enterprises in tourism. A critique of predictive literature identifies Monte Carlo simulations capacity to use non-parametric data and input of multiple, concurrent variables as best suited to forecasting firms performance. Statistically significant risk/return variables are established from national monitors. The secondary which is accessed from the New Zealand Business Benchmarking Survey and the Management Resource Centre is used for the simulations. Results show that businesses in different industries were affected by range of factors that resulted in variation in a particular firms profit. Hospitality enterprises are most vulnerable, accommodation and retail firms experience greater flux, but the retail component recovers quickly. The research contributes to symbiosis theory, predictive methodology and has implications for the economic recovery of the tourism sector.
  Keywords: symbiosis; firm performance; risk and return; forecasting; micro; small and medium enterprise; MSME; tourism; hospitality.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2023.10053945
   
  
• Investigating the influence of service quality on loyalty in banking industry: the role of customer engagement  
  by Reza Saral, Reza Salehzadeh, Seyed Mehdi Mirmehdi 
  Abstract: Over recent years, special attention in the banking industry has been paid to customer loyalty, mainly because of the relationship between loyalty and profitability in an organisation. This study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting customer engagement and loyalty. In this study, a cross-sectional questionnaire-based research project was employed to collect data from a sample of 356 customers from randomly selected banks in Isfahan. The content validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts and its construct validity was approved by using factor analysis. Reliability of the questionnaires was confirmed based on Cronbachs alpha method. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses. According to the research findings, the rate of profit, brand, and service quality significantly affect the customer engagement. Furthermore, the rate of profit, brand, service quality and customer engagement have a significant impact on customer loyalty.
  Keywords: customer loyalty; customer engagement; service quality; rate of profit and facilities; brand love; brand image; speed of service provision; innovation in services; employee behaviour.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2022.10054157
   
  
• Motivation and organisational culture from the perspective of SME employees a case study at the time of COVID-19 pandemic  
  by Tibor Zsigmond, Ladislav Mura, Renáta Machová, Ferenc Bakó, Marcell Kupi 
  Abstract: The aim of the research is to investigate the relationship between motivation and organisational culture from the viewpont of employees working at SMEs in Slovakia. The study examines all of this during the COVID-19 period, which took a heavy toll on individuals social and organisational relationships as well. To investigate this, first the overlaps between the two areas were tried to be revealed. When exploring the theoretical part, the authors faced with the problem that the influence of motivation and organisational culture was usually examined together, and not on each other. A questionnaire survey was conducted, to which 581 valuable responses were received. Based on the results, it was proven that the wider the range of motivation tools used, the more positive the employees evaluate the organisational culture. All of this is worth considering for companies that would like to build a suitable organisational culture in their company.
  Keywords: motivation; organisational culture; employees; SMEs; COVID-19.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2023.10054223
   
  
• Personal preferential treatments influencing young peoples intention to use ride-sharing services  
  by Eva Malichová, Emese Tokarčíková, Alžbeta Kucharčíková, Lukáš Falát 
  Abstract: This article aims to indicate the influence of travel behaviour, travel preferences and personality of young people on their interest in ride-sharing. The research focuses on students aged 16 to 24 from Croatia, Slovakia and Romania. Young people were chosen because their current travel habits and interest in shared services can significantly influence future generations travel behaviour. The influence of determinants was identified by logistic regression. Models results indicate that young people who prefer to travel by bicycle, like using modern technologies during travel, think about the environment when choosing means of transport, do not mind being close to strangers and have an experience with ride-sharing have a higher interest in this service. On the contrary, people prefer privacy during travel and the frequency of travelling by train and car as a passenger decreases their interest in ride-sharing. Personnel characteristics identified based on the mini IPIP scales are not significant.
  Keywords: ride-sharing; travel behaviour; personality; preferences; young people intention; IPI scale; transport; personal preferential treatments; shared services; sustainable services; personality.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2023.10054298
   
  
• Service quality metrics in a teacher training program  
  by Anastasios Athanasiadis, Vasiliki Papadopoulou 
  Abstract: There are two major methodological approaches to service quality measurement. The first suggests measuring service quality in terms of the difference between customers expectations and perceptions of a service, whereas the second focuses only on perceptions. In the relevant literature, there is no clear evidence of whether the two methodologies concur or not in their outcomes. Thus, there is a need for more empirical data to help select the most appropriate method of measuring service quality. The present paper aims to test if there are significant differences in service quality measurement as measured by the two approaches in a teacher training program for prospective teachers in Greece. Data collection was based on the EppekQual scale designed for educational contexts, whereas data analysis was carried out according to the confirmation and disconfirmation paradigm. The research sample is comprised of 481 subjects. The analysis conducted revealed statistically significant differences in the measurements of the two methodologies, but the present research does not favour a particular measurement approach as more efficient since data analysis identified slight deviations and therefore proposes the adoption of both methodologies depending on the orientation of the evaluation to reliable data for the educational organisation managers.
  Keywords: educational service quality; teacher training program; perceptions; expectations; EppekQual.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2023.10054501
   
  
• Impact of domestic migration and smart governance on quality of life: mediating role of emotional and physical well-being  
  by Shahzad Ali, Nor Azam Bin Abdual Razak, Naveeda Sajjid 
  Abstract: The study aims to investigate the linear and nonlinear effects of migration, smart governance on quality of life, using emotional and physical well-being as mediator variables. To achieve the goal, data were collected from 1,184 respondents using strata convenient sampling techniques, SEM for testing hypotheses, and Hayess footstep process for nonlinear relationship. The linear and nonlinear results confirmed the direct and indirect impact of domestic migration and smart governance on quality of life. This study to contributes the literature by unique combination of migration, smart governance, and quality of life. In addition, emotional, and physical well-being taken as mediating variable this was ignored to investigate the link between migration and quality of life. To accommodate the enormous influx of migrants, there should be a scarcity of resources. To reduce internal migration, the government should assist small and medium-sized businesses in creating more employment opportunities.
  Keywords: linear and nonlinear analysis; domestic migration; quality of life; smart governance; emotional and physical well-being.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2023.10054641
   
  
• Performance and cost evaluation of an adaptive queuing system with customer reneging and retention: steady-state and transient analysis  
  by Sapana Sharma, Rakesh Kumar, Godlove Suila Kuaban, Bhavneet Singh Soodan, Pradeep Singh 
  Abstract: Customers are often required to wait when they arrive at service facilities and see the servers are busy, or when they find other customers who arrived earlier waiting. The longer customers wait, the more dissatisfied they are likely to be and may leave the queue without receiving service (reneging). The objective of the service provider is to improve the quality of service in order to minimise the possibility of customer reneging since it increases cost and reduces revenue. Therefore, a trade-off between performance and cost should be considered when designing, planning and reducing the queues at service facilities. In this paper, we propose an adaptive queuing model with the retention of reneging customers. We derive the steady-state and transient-state performance parameters, and also discuss performance and cost evaluation. We demonstrate the utility of the model in the evaluation of waiting lines in the service industry using numerical examples.
  Keywords: performance evaluation; cost evaluation; customer reneging; customer retention; adaptive queuing system.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2023.10054965
   
  
• Business cycles and tourism activity: the case of Portugal  
  by António Portugal Duarte, Inês Veloso Garcia, Fátima Sol Murta 
  Abstract: This paper analyses the synchronisation of business cycles with tourism activity in Portugal from 1990 to 2021. The importance of the tourism sector in Portugal and its enormous contribution to the countrys economic growth is an acknowledged fact. To better understand the business cycle and the corresponding stage of evolution of the tourism activity we use the Hodrick-Prescott filter to break down the GDP into its cyclical and trend components. The same procedure is applied to four indicators associated with the tourism activity: the number of overnight stays in tourism accommodations, the income from the tourism activity, the revenue per bedroom and the population employed in the sector. The results suggest the existence of a relatively strong synchronisation between the business cycle and tourism activity in Portugal, the expansion (recession) phases of the Portuguese economy showing alignment with a more (less) favourable evolution in tourism activity in Portugal.
  Keywords: business cycle; economic growth; Hodrick-Prescott filter; synchronisation; tourism activity; sun; sea and sand; Dutch disease; correlation; nights spent; employment; COVID-19; Portugal.
  DOI: 10.1504/IJSEM.2023.10055137