Sofia Almeida | Universidade Europeia (original) (raw)
Papers by Sofia Almeida
Communications in computer and information science, 2022
Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2021
Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks, Feb 3, 2023
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
PurposeThis paper aims to better understand community of practice (CoP)’s dynamics with a focus o... more PurposeThis paper aims to better understand community of practice (CoP)’s dynamics with a focus on the hotel sector and perceived benefits to members and business performance.Design/methodology/approachThis is a case study research focusing on a successful experience within a CoP found in the hotel sector. The study reports in detail how a CoP was created and how it evolved to a digital platform to give birth to a fully co-designed tourism product. It analyzes this CoP’s social dynamics, processes of communication and interaction, as well as digital evolution. To collect rich data, method triangulation was applied by mixing quantitative and qualitative analyses.FindingsThe community is highly participated and valued because it is perceived as a dynamic system contributing to rapid information exchange and diffusion, efficient context for knowledge transfer and individual responsiveness to daily professional activities and challenges. The reasons why members perceive Amigas do Trade ...
Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, 2022
Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2021
Networks are cooperation arrangements that have gained importance over the last century. In the f... more Networks are cooperation arrangements that have gained importance over the last century. In the future, network-based and network structures will be among the most important organizational models. Therefore, this assumption formed the basis of the questionnaire designed for conducting this research. The objectives of this research are: (1) to examine hotel decision-makers’ perceptions about the future of networks in tourism and (2) to analyse the influence of online distribution on hotel marketing consortia. A questionnaire was sent to four- and five-star hotel units in Portugal. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis was performed. Main conclusions and recommendations for both academics and practitioners are then presented and discussedLas redes son acuerdos de cooperación que han ganado importancia durante el siglo pasado. En el futuro, las estructuras de red y basadas en la red estarán entre los modelos organizacionales más importantes. Por lo tanto, esta suposición formó la ...
Journal of Mediterranean Tourism Research, 2021
Coopetition is a strategy for a company to achieve a competitive advantage in the market environm... more Coopetition is a strategy for a company to achieve a competitive advantage in the market environment. However, little is known about how coopetition works in the hotel sector and which organizational departments perform better in terms of coopetitive behaviour. In this research, coopetition is analysed in the context of international hotel marketing consortia (HMC) operating in Portugal. Exploratory interviews and a survey were conducted to consortia members to analyze managers’ perceptions on coopetitive behaviour and the organizational departments engaged in coopetition. The results show that there is higher cooperation than competition in the marketing and research & investigation departments. The research findings support consortia managers to make an informed decision to augment or reduce coopetition inside and outside companies based on two dimensions: internal and external. Internally by enhancing cooperation and reducing competition behaviour according to relationships obser...
Sustainability
This research intends to measure the quality of life (QoL) perception, from the perspective of re... more This research intends to measure the quality of life (QoL) perception, from the perspective of residents and tourists towards Coimbra, a city with an important World Heritage Site, as classified by UNESCO. In these times, preserving tangible and intangible heritage is so important for future memories. Identifying the QoL perceptions through the eyes of residents and tourists allows the improvement of the community well-being of the destination for both stakeholders. Starting from this assumption, this study aims to: (i) measure the tourists’ and residents’ perceptions on quality of life (QoL); (ii) analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on QoL perceptions, both from the tourists’ and residents’ perspective. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was disseminated to residents and tourists in two different phases, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that in general, residents and tourists exhibited, in both periods, medium and high perceptions of QoL, with...
Tese de doutoramento, Turismo, Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Te... more Tese de doutoramento, Turismo, Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Territorio e Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo do Estoril, 2018
Tourism and hospitality management
Purpose - To better understand the impact of COVID -19 on the tourism sector, with a focus on the... more Purpose - To better understand the impact of COVID -19 on the tourism sector, with a focus on the hospitality industry, and how these changes will affect the sector and business responsiveness. Design - This is research focusing on the COVID-19 impacts on the hospitality sector in Portugal. The study reports in detail how a group of experts perceived this critical situation caused by the pandemic. Methodology - For data collection, a focus group was conducted with six experts in the field. A thematic analysis was conducted to interpret the data and NVivo software was used to organise and define the themes. Findings - Experts emphasised the massive collective dismissals in large hotel chains, the possible loss of 50 million jobs in the tourism sector, and the negative impact on the entire value chain. The low occupancy rate had a negative financial impact, as total revenues in the sector plummeted by more than 70% compared to the previous year. This pandemic required significant adju...
Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 2022
portuguesO paradigma da co-criacao propoe que as empresas reconhecam as capacidades e recursos do... more portuguesO paradigma da co-criacao propoe que as empresas reconhecam as capacidades e recursos dos clientes como fonte de criacao de valor. A experiencia co-criativa surge, neste contexto, como uma oportunidade de o cliente participar activamente na criacao personalizada de valor. A co-criacao por parte do cliente e, no presente estudo, analisada mediante as propostas de experiencias co-criativas apresentadas por tres hoteis portugueses. Espera-se que os resultados desta investigacao possam auxiliar negocios similares a estimular a sua orientacao para este emergente modelo de negocio EnglishThe co-creation paradigm advocates businesses to focus on customers' skills and resources in order to create value. The co-creative experience emerges in this context as an opportunity for the customer to actively participate in the creation of personalized value. Customer co-creation is addressed in this study through the analysis of the propositions of co-creative experiences facilitated by...
Information and Knowledge in Internet of Things, 2021
Knowledge is one of the most important assets for companies. In times of crisis, it assumes an ev... more Knowledge is one of the most important assets for companies. In times of crisis, it assumes an even more important role, as its ´possession´ is essential for efficient decision-making. This decade’s turning point is being characterized by a pandemic that had harmful effects on society and on the global economy. The way that companies manage knowledge is crucial for their results. Therefore, the objective of this research is to identify how hotel chains have been managing this important resource;how they absorb knowledge from government and institutional organizations, and how they transmit it to their different stakeholders. To achieve these objectives, a systematic review of the literature was carried out to identify the state of the art. The results were analyzed using the software VOS viewer in collaboration with Mendeley and B-On. A case study about the perceptions of hotel chain CEOs on COVID-19 financial, economic, organizational, technological, and operational impacts on the hotel sector was also essential for our research. This study contributes to the existing literature by revealing the effects of knowledge transmission to overcome the problems caused by COVID-19. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Handbook of Research on Resident and Tourist Perspectives on Travel Destinations, 2020
In this chapter, the construct of operant resource is explored in the context of young independen... more In this chapter, the construct of operant resource is explored in the context of young independent travel. The main purposes of the study are to analyze young travelers' perceptions about independent travel and operant resources that contribute the most to its success. A qualitative design was adopted, given the explorative nature of the research. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted to a sample of young travelers, using the snowball sampling procedure. Qualitative data analysis was conducted subsequently and main findings indicate that freedom, being in control, and authenticity are predominant feelings within this sample. They also show that most valued operant resources in the context of independent travel are informational and human. Conclusions drawn contribute to a better understanding of independent travel by youths and may help tourism businesses and destinations to strategically approach this market segment.
Impact of New Media in Tourism, 2021
Content generation in the age of the internet of things has been transforming tourism businesses&... more Content generation in the age of the internet of things has been transforming tourism businesses' digital strategies. Despite changes observed in the business environment following the continuous importance of consumers' role in the creation of content, hotels have to pay attention to the creation of their own content as it will influence visibility and relationship with customers. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are increasingly critical for the management and marketing of the hotel sector. This research aims at exploring the influence of generated content in the effectiveness of hotel brand identity creation. A case study was conducted on The Hotel, a luxury hotel located in Brussels, as a way to discuss the importance of the application of digital strategies in building hotel brand identity using a co-creation approach to the process. The chapter also highlights the tools used to communicate the identity and the resulting impacts on the performance of The...
Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Sep 5, 2019
No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual ... more No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors. Review Process Papers submitted to this conference have been double-blind peer reviewed before final acceptance to the conference. Initially, abstracts were reviewed for relevance and accessibility and successful authors were invited to submit full papers. Many thanks to the reviewers who helped ensure the quality of all the submissions. Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy ACPIL adheres to a strict ethics and publication malpractice policy for all publicationsdetails of which can be found here: http://www.academic-conferences.org/policies/ethics-policy-for-publishing-in-theconference-proceedings-of-academic-conferences-and-publishing-international-limited/ Conference Proceedings The Conference Proceedings is a book published with an ISBN and ISSN. The proceedings have been submitted to a number of accreditation, citation and indexing bodies including Thomson ISI Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus. Author affiliation details in these proceedings have been reproduced as supplied by the authors themselves.
In a context of increasing markets globalization, the Hotel industry has witnessed profound chang... more In a context of increasing markets globalization, the Hotel industry has witnessed profound changes in the level of business organization. Through this assumption, the present article finds a way to discuss the concept of hotels independent chain’s, evaluating the extent to which these new forms of business cooperation fall within their innovation process and allow the market to compete. A literature review on the concept of independent hotels chain, soft brand or hotels chain’s, led us to the concept of coopetition, while cooperation mechanism underlying these chains has assumed an increasing importance in improving efficiency of the organizations.
O Turismo é um sector em crescimento e sobretudo resiliente, não obstante os acontecimentos socia... more O Turismo é um sector em crescimento e sobretudo resiliente, não obstante os acontecimentos sociais, económicos e políticos que têm caracterizado a sociedade nas últimas décadas. A oferta hoteleira tem acompanhado este movimento crescente e as grandes cadeias hoteleiras procuram novas formas de expansão, criando ou adquirindo novos hotéis e desenvolvendo a sua presença nos mercados emergentes. As pequenas unidades hoteleiras também pululam, mas com obstáculos acrescidos, nomeadamente as dificuldades ao nível dos recursos disponíveis para apostar em estratégias de internacionalização ou em estratégias mais agressivas na distribuição online. Neste contexto, surgem as redes de hotéis independentes que funcionam como consórcios e pretendem apoiar as pequenas unidades na sua estratégia promocional, de marketing e comercial. Noutra perspetiva, os consórcios procuram vantagens competitivas para se diferenciarem no mercado. A sua estratégia passa por aumentar a dimensão para ganhar massa cr...
Communications in computer and information science, 2022
Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2021
Emerald Publishing Limited eBooks, Feb 3, 2023
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research
PurposeThis paper aims to better understand community of practice (CoP)’s dynamics with a focus o... more PurposeThis paper aims to better understand community of practice (CoP)’s dynamics with a focus on the hotel sector and perceived benefits to members and business performance.Design/methodology/approachThis is a case study research focusing on a successful experience within a CoP found in the hotel sector. The study reports in detail how a CoP was created and how it evolved to a digital platform to give birth to a fully co-designed tourism product. It analyzes this CoP’s social dynamics, processes of communication and interaction, as well as digital evolution. To collect rich data, method triangulation was applied by mixing quantitative and qualitative analyses.FindingsThe community is highly participated and valued because it is perceived as a dynamic system contributing to rapid information exchange and diffusion, efficient context for knowledge transfer and individual responsiveness to daily professional activities and challenges. The reasons why members perceive Amigas do Trade ...
Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, 2022
Communications in Computer and Information Science, 2021
Networks are cooperation arrangements that have gained importance over the last century. In the f... more Networks are cooperation arrangements that have gained importance over the last century. In the future, network-based and network structures will be among the most important organizational models. Therefore, this assumption formed the basis of the questionnaire designed for conducting this research. The objectives of this research are: (1) to examine hotel decision-makers’ perceptions about the future of networks in tourism and (2) to analyse the influence of online distribution on hotel marketing consortia. A questionnaire was sent to four- and five-star hotel units in Portugal. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis was performed. Main conclusions and recommendations for both academics and practitioners are then presented and discussedLas redes son acuerdos de cooperación que han ganado importancia durante el siglo pasado. En el futuro, las estructuras de red y basadas en la red estarán entre los modelos organizacionales más importantes. Por lo tanto, esta suposición formó la ...
Journal of Mediterranean Tourism Research, 2021
Coopetition is a strategy for a company to achieve a competitive advantage in the market environm... more Coopetition is a strategy for a company to achieve a competitive advantage in the market environment. However, little is known about how coopetition works in the hotel sector and which organizational departments perform better in terms of coopetitive behaviour. In this research, coopetition is analysed in the context of international hotel marketing consortia (HMC) operating in Portugal. Exploratory interviews and a survey were conducted to consortia members to analyze managers’ perceptions on coopetitive behaviour and the organizational departments engaged in coopetition. The results show that there is higher cooperation than competition in the marketing and research & investigation departments. The research findings support consortia managers to make an informed decision to augment or reduce coopetition inside and outside companies based on two dimensions: internal and external. Internally by enhancing cooperation and reducing competition behaviour according to relationships obser...
Sustainability
This research intends to measure the quality of life (QoL) perception, from the perspective of re... more This research intends to measure the quality of life (QoL) perception, from the perspective of residents and tourists towards Coimbra, a city with an important World Heritage Site, as classified by UNESCO. In these times, preserving tangible and intangible heritage is so important for future memories. Identifying the QoL perceptions through the eyes of residents and tourists allows the improvement of the community well-being of the destination for both stakeholders. Starting from this assumption, this study aims to: (i) measure the tourists’ and residents’ perceptions on quality of life (QoL); (ii) analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on QoL perceptions, both from the tourists’ and residents’ perspective. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire was disseminated to residents and tourists in two different phases, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that in general, residents and tourists exhibited, in both periods, medium and high perceptions of QoL, with...
Tese de doutoramento, Turismo, Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Te... more Tese de doutoramento, Turismo, Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Geografia e Ordenamento do Territorio e Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo do Estoril, 2018
Tourism and hospitality management
Purpose - To better understand the impact of COVID -19 on the tourism sector, with a focus on the... more Purpose - To better understand the impact of COVID -19 on the tourism sector, with a focus on the hospitality industry, and how these changes will affect the sector and business responsiveness. Design - This is research focusing on the COVID-19 impacts on the hospitality sector in Portugal. The study reports in detail how a group of experts perceived this critical situation caused by the pandemic. Methodology - For data collection, a focus group was conducted with six experts in the field. A thematic analysis was conducted to interpret the data and NVivo software was used to organise and define the themes. Findings - Experts emphasised the massive collective dismissals in large hotel chains, the possible loss of 50 million jobs in the tourism sector, and the negative impact on the entire value chain. The low occupancy rate had a negative financial impact, as total revenues in the sector plummeted by more than 70% compared to the previous year. This pandemic required significant adju...
Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 2022
portuguesO paradigma da co-criacao propoe que as empresas reconhecam as capacidades e recursos do... more portuguesO paradigma da co-criacao propoe que as empresas reconhecam as capacidades e recursos dos clientes como fonte de criacao de valor. A experiencia co-criativa surge, neste contexto, como uma oportunidade de o cliente participar activamente na criacao personalizada de valor. A co-criacao por parte do cliente e, no presente estudo, analisada mediante as propostas de experiencias co-criativas apresentadas por tres hoteis portugueses. Espera-se que os resultados desta investigacao possam auxiliar negocios similares a estimular a sua orientacao para este emergente modelo de negocio EnglishThe co-creation paradigm advocates businesses to focus on customers' skills and resources in order to create value. The co-creative experience emerges in this context as an opportunity for the customer to actively participate in the creation of personalized value. Customer co-creation is addressed in this study through the analysis of the propositions of co-creative experiences facilitated by...
Information and Knowledge in Internet of Things, 2021
Knowledge is one of the most important assets for companies. In times of crisis, it assumes an ev... more Knowledge is one of the most important assets for companies. In times of crisis, it assumes an even more important role, as its ´possession´ is essential for efficient decision-making. This decade’s turning point is being characterized by a pandemic that had harmful effects on society and on the global economy. The way that companies manage knowledge is crucial for their results. Therefore, the objective of this research is to identify how hotel chains have been managing this important resource;how they absorb knowledge from government and institutional organizations, and how they transmit it to their different stakeholders. To achieve these objectives, a systematic review of the literature was carried out to identify the state of the art. The results were analyzed using the software VOS viewer in collaboration with Mendeley and B-On. A case study about the perceptions of hotel chain CEOs on COVID-19 financial, economic, organizational, technological, and operational impacts on the hotel sector was also essential for our research. This study contributes to the existing literature by revealing the effects of knowledge transmission to overcome the problems caused by COVID-19. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Handbook of Research on Resident and Tourist Perspectives on Travel Destinations, 2020
In this chapter, the construct of operant resource is explored in the context of young independen... more In this chapter, the construct of operant resource is explored in the context of young independent travel. The main purposes of the study are to analyze young travelers' perceptions about independent travel and operant resources that contribute the most to its success. A qualitative design was adopted, given the explorative nature of the research. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted to a sample of young travelers, using the snowball sampling procedure. Qualitative data analysis was conducted subsequently and main findings indicate that freedom, being in control, and authenticity are predominant feelings within this sample. They also show that most valued operant resources in the context of independent travel are informational and human. Conclusions drawn contribute to a better understanding of independent travel by youths and may help tourism businesses and destinations to strategically approach this market segment.
Impact of New Media in Tourism, 2021
Content generation in the age of the internet of things has been transforming tourism businesses&... more Content generation in the age of the internet of things has been transforming tourism businesses' digital strategies. Despite changes observed in the business environment following the continuous importance of consumers' role in the creation of content, hotels have to pay attention to the creation of their own content as it will influence visibility and relationship with customers. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are increasingly critical for the management and marketing of the hotel sector. This research aims at exploring the influence of generated content in the effectiveness of hotel brand identity creation. A case study was conducted on The Hotel, a luxury hotel located in Brussels, as a way to discuss the importance of the application of digital strategies in building hotel brand identity using a co-creation approach to the process. The chapter also highlights the tools used to communicate the identity and the resulting impacts on the performance of The...
Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Sep 5, 2019
No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual ... more No reproduction, copy or transmission may be made without written permission from the individual authors. Review Process Papers submitted to this conference have been double-blind peer reviewed before final acceptance to the conference. Initially, abstracts were reviewed for relevance and accessibility and successful authors were invited to submit full papers. Many thanks to the reviewers who helped ensure the quality of all the submissions. Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy ACPIL adheres to a strict ethics and publication malpractice policy for all publicationsdetails of which can be found here: http://www.academic-conferences.org/policies/ethics-policy-for-publishing-in-theconference-proceedings-of-academic-conferences-and-publishing-international-limited/ Conference Proceedings The Conference Proceedings is a book published with an ISBN and ISSN. The proceedings have been submitted to a number of accreditation, citation and indexing bodies including Thomson ISI Web of Science and Elsevier Scopus. Author affiliation details in these proceedings have been reproduced as supplied by the authors themselves.
In a context of increasing markets globalization, the Hotel industry has witnessed profound chang... more In a context of increasing markets globalization, the Hotel industry has witnessed profound changes in the level of business organization. Through this assumption, the present article finds a way to discuss the concept of hotels independent chain’s, evaluating the extent to which these new forms of business cooperation fall within their innovation process and allow the market to compete. A literature review on the concept of independent hotels chain, soft brand or hotels chain’s, led us to the concept of coopetition, while cooperation mechanism underlying these chains has assumed an increasing importance in improving efficiency of the organizations.
O Turismo é um sector em crescimento e sobretudo resiliente, não obstante os acontecimentos socia... more O Turismo é um sector em crescimento e sobretudo resiliente, não obstante os acontecimentos sociais, económicos e políticos que têm caracterizado a sociedade nas últimas décadas. A oferta hoteleira tem acompanhado este movimento crescente e as grandes cadeias hoteleiras procuram novas formas de expansão, criando ou adquirindo novos hotéis e desenvolvendo a sua presença nos mercados emergentes. As pequenas unidades hoteleiras também pululam, mas com obstáculos acrescidos, nomeadamente as dificuldades ao nível dos recursos disponíveis para apostar em estratégias de internacionalização ou em estratégias mais agressivas na distribuição online. Neste contexto, surgem as redes de hotéis independentes que funcionam como consórcios e pretendem apoiar as pequenas unidades na sua estratégia promocional, de marketing e comercial. Noutra perspetiva, os consórcios procuram vantagens competitivas para se diferenciarem no mercado. A sua estratégia passa por aumentar a dimensão para ganhar massa cr...