Vol. 7, no. 1/2025

Anniversary editorial: 15 years of CACTUS - The Tourism Journal for Research, Education, Culture and Soul

By Claudia-Elena Țuclea

Optimizing green food on MICE industry: determining performance strategy

By Wijaya I Nyoman Cahyadi, Ahmadi Lukman, Sena I Made Aswin Ananta

The increasing emphasis on sustainability in global business ecosystems has transformed environmental responsibility from an ethical obligation to a strategic imperative. In the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry, eco-friendly food is crucial in reducing environmental impact and improving long-term competitiveness. However, the Indonesian MICE sector faces major challenges in implementing structured sustainability strategies, especially in food procurement and waste management. The lack of a standardized decision-making framework limits the industry's ability to optimize its sustainability efforts and creates a research gap in identifying the most impactful green food initiatives. Data was collected from 50 individual members of the Indonesian Event Association (IVENDO) representing event consulting, event management, hospitality and exhibition organization, as well as from three medium-sized companies affiliated with IVENDO and operating in the MICE sector. The results show that local and organic sourcing (LOS) is the highest priority (0.206), followed by storage optimization (SO) (0.138), sustainable packaging (SP) (0.129) and energy-efficient operations (EEO) (0.100). These results highlight the industry's preference for local partnerships, efficient food storage management and environmentally friendly operational concepts. While the study provides a structured approach to green food optimization, the focus on Indonesia and the limited sample size limit its applicability on a broader scale. However, the findings serve as a foundation for future research to expand datasets and explore blockchain-enabled supply chain transparency to ultimately improve sustainability and operational efficiency in the Indonesian MICE industry while strengthening its global impact.

The Impact of Socio-Demographic Factors on Tourism Experience: The Role of Sense of Place, Memorability, and Authenticity

By Alina-Maria Vieriu, Iulia Daus (Ogoreanu), Andreea Fortuna Șchiopu, Ana Mihaela Pădurean

Tourists’ satisfaction and post-travel experiences are impacted by sense of place, memorability and authenticity. These concepts have been thoroughly studied, but not from a socio-demographic perspective. The present study contributes to the growing literature regarding sense of place, memorability, authenticity and destination satisfaction in the context of socio-demographics (age, income, and gender). This paper employed a survey using a sample of 648 respondents. Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Linear Regression were applied. Findings show that sense of place varies according to age, with younger people more prone to develop ties with visited place. Memorability differs according to income and gender, where women tend to have a more memorable tourism experience. Authenticity differs according to gender and income, with women and high-income groups reporting higher authenticity; lastly, destination satisfaction variations were present across gender and income groups. In addition, regression results showed that sense of place, memorability and authenticity have a positive influence on tourist destination satisfaction. These findings contribute to travel experiences studies by integrating a socio-demographic context into destination satisfaction.

Understanding how social media information intensity drives choices in tourism destinations: an exploratory study

By Maouahib Zerouati, Asma Boukhaoua

Social media platforms have fundamentally changed the way tourists discover, evaluate and select destinations by amplifying electronic word of mouth. This study examines the role of information intensity, a critical dimension of electronic word of mouth, in influencing the successive decision stages of awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and destination choice. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was used to collect survey data from100 active social media users from Algeria who had recently planned or selected a travel destination. The results show that information intensity has a significant effect on awareness and directly influences destination choice, with intermediate constructs such as interest, evaluation and trial playing an important mediating role. These results underline the importance of high quality, engaging content in increasing awareness and acceptance of destinations.

Exploring the cultural foundations of digital innovation in tourism: a conceptual framework

By Vlad Diaconescu, Gabriela Țigu, Cristina-Mirabela Malaia

The digital transformation of the tourism industry presents both significant opportunities and complex challenges for companies seeking to enhance competitiveness. This study explores the role of organizational culture in shaping how tourism firms adopt and implement digital innovation. A conceptual framework is proposed, grounded in the Competing Values Framework (CVF), which categorizes organizational cultures into Clan, Adhocracy, Market, and Hierarchy types. The framework highlights how these cultural dimensions affect the integration of digital tools, market adaptability, and organizational performance. Drawing on a theoretical synthesis of the literature on culture and innovation in tourism, the study conducts an exploratory analysis of ten tourism companies. The findings suggest that organizational culture is a key enabler of digital transformation, although the small sample prevents statistical generalization. Companies with adhocracy-oriented cultures showed the highest digitalization scores, while hierarchical cultures lagged behind. Moreover, people-oriented leadership emerged as a positive moderator of digital innovation adoption, whereas task-oriented leadership had no significant influence. These preliminary results underscore the importance of aligning culture and leadership style with digital transformation goals. The paper offers both theoretical contributions and practical implications by linking cultural attributes with technology-driven strategic development. For tourism managers, understanding these dynamics can inform more effective digital strategies. The study also opens new avenues for future empirical research to validate and refine the proposed model across broader samples and diverse tourism contexts. Overall, it provides a foundation for further inquiry into how organizational culture and leadership styles can support digital modernization in tourism.

The role of social networks in enhancing domestic tourism in Algeria

By Noui Rabah

This article attempts to analyze the impact of digital communication, particularly social networks and travel management platforms, on the promotion and revitalization of domestic tourism in Algeria. The methodology used is mainly, but not exclusively, based on a questionnaire survey of tour operators and regular tourists. The questionnaire was designed online using Google Forms and distributed on various online platforms specialized in tourism. 114 valid questionnaires were retrieved and statistically analyzed using SPSS. The main results clearly show the growing role that digital communication is playing in creating a new culture of domestic tourism. 78%of respondents stated that they were influenced by this digital strategy when choosing their destinations. The use of digital social networks, particularly Facebook and Instagram, together account for around 80-85% of responses. These results illustrate how social media and online platforms are reorganizing the tourism value chain on the one hand and changing the customer experience on the other, which is essential for understanding the new tourism expectations and behaviors, as it is a consumer-centric approach. The study suggests that tourism marketing strategies should focus more on partnerships with local influencers to boost domestic tourism and develop local tourism programs that focus on archeological, historical, cultural, religious and environmental values.

Digital transformation and sustainability: mapping research gaps and thematic connections

By Daniela-Elena Mocanu, Diana-Maria Preda (Naum), Olimpia State, Mădălina-Lavinia Țală

The intersection of digital transformation and sustainability is increasingly recognized as a critical area of research, but the academic literature remains fragmented and lacks integrative frameworks. A review of previous studies shows that while digital technologies such as AI, IoT and big data offer significant opportunities to advance sustainability goals, research has mainly focused on a few sectors and regions, with persistent gaps unstandardized impact metrics, theoretical integration and attention to the environmental footprint of digital solutions. To address these limitations, this article applies Systematic Network Literature Analysis, combining systematic literature review with advanced bibliometric analysis using VOS viewer. Our process began with 357articles identified in the Web of Science database using the keywords “digital transformation” and “sustainability”; after applying category and document-type filters, 68 articles published between 2016 and 2025were selected for in-depth analysis. Our analysis empirically shows that, in addition to the central concepts of "digital transformation” and “sustainability,” the literature is grouped around subtopics from the fields of business and management: Technological Enablers (e.g., big data, industry 4.0), Innovation and Business Models(e.g., business model innovation), Performance and Impact (e.g., performance, challenges) and Sustainability Dimensions (e.g., environmental sustainability, circular economy). Co-occurrence and citation analyses not only confirm known sectoral and geographical imbalances but also provide new insights by quantifying the density and interconnections of key concepts and highlighting underexplored sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and education. This structured mapping advances the field by offering a visualized knowledge map and revealing actionable research gaps and emerging trends.

The impact of ESG disclosure on firm value: evidence from the tourism industry

By Iuliana Mădalina Petrică (Papuc)

In light of recent challenges, including climate change initiatives, the need for natural resource preservation, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance(ESG) disclosure has reached new heights. The tourism industry, characterized by its reliance on natural resources and interaction with local communities, stands out as a sector where sustainability initiatives are essential not only to mitigate negative impacts but also to improve stakeholder relations. The data was collected from Thomson Reuters' Eikon platform and covers a sample of 117 tourism companies from 2020 to 2022. Using SPSS statistical software, regression modelling was applied to determine the extent to which ESG information is correlated with market value. This paper highlights the key findings, including a significant association between ESG disclosure and firm value in the tourism sector, with ESG values explaining 59.4% of the variation in market value. Positive impacts were observed in two industry subcategories- Hotels, Motels & Cruise Lines and Leisure& Recreation, while Restaurants & Bars showed no significant effect. The originality of this study consists of it examination of the impact of ESG not only within the tourism industry as a whole, but also across its three specific sub-categories, providing a comprehensive perspective on the topic. It contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable business practices and has implications for both companies and investors seeking to harmonise financial and sustainability objectives. Future research could benefit from qualitative approaches to better understand the nuanced relationship between ESG practices and corporate value.

Branding and brand equity in the hospitality industry in Romania

By Andrada-Jawel Istanbouly

In the faced-paced world of the 21st century, with unique new inventions around every corner in the hospitality industry, something always must stand out, be different, be an eye-catcher. Words like branding and brand equity are important - what makes something the way it truly is, what draws customers to a particular place or product, especially after the pandemic that has changed the entire industry. To explore these concepts in depth, a quantitative study was conducted, a survey to be precise, and the results that emerged are quite captivating. With just one name in mind (the brand name), potential customers were able to visualize what a hotel looks like, what the atmosphere is like and how they would feel if they stayed at that particular hotel. Branding and brand equity are very important in the hospitality industry as they influence staff opinion, brand loyalty and willingness to pay more for a particular hotel brand, thus increasing sales and therefore profits. A strong brand can set a hotel apart from its competitors, encourage customer loyalty and create a sense of trust among customers. To gain a competitive advantage, hotels in the Romanian market need to use branding and brand equity to their advantage.

Exploring research methods for tourism resilience

By Iuliana Tudose-Pop

This paper examines various research methods used in the study of resilience in tourism across European Union(EU) Member States. To this end, several relevant literature articles were reviewed. In the theoretical research process, particular attention was paid to the research methods employed by researchers to analyze resilience in tourism, the indicators used, and the results obtained. The article aims to present a concise overview of the most commonly used research methods for analyzing tourism resilience in EU Member States, focusing on two major crises that severely impacted these economies: the financial and economic crisis (2008–2010) and the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022). The research proposes a set of indicators, constructible from Eurostat data, for future analyses using multiple linear regression techniques and offers a modest methodological proposal for further studies to explore the role of key factors contributing to tourism resilience within EU countries.