Accommodation Prices Research Articles

Exploring the influence of online word-of-mouth on hotel booking prices: insights from regression and ensemble-based machine learning methods

<abstract> <p>Previous studies have extensively investigated the effects of online word-of-mouth (eWOM) factors such as volume and valence on product sales. However, studies of the effect of eWOM factors on product prices are lacking. It is necessary to examine how various eWOM factors can either explain or affect product prices. The objective of this study is to suggest explanatory and predictive analytics using a regression analysis and ensemble-based machine learning methods for eWOM factors and hotels booking prices. This study utilizes publicly available data from a hotel booking site to build a sample of eWOM factors. The final study sample was comprised of 927 hotels. The important eWOM factors found to affect hotel prices are the review depth and the review rating, which are moderated by a number of reviews to affect prices. The effect of the number of positive words is moderated by the review helpfulness to affect the price. The review depth and rating, along with the number of reviews, should be considered in the design of hotel services, as these provide the rationale for adjusting the prices of various aspects of hotel services. Furthermore, the comparison results when applying various ensemble-based machine learning methods to predict prices using eWOM factors based on a 46-fold cross-validation partition method indicated that ensemble methods (bagging and boosting) based on decision trees outperformed ensemble methods based on k-nearest neighbor methods and neural networks. This shows that bagging and boosting methods are effective ways to improve the prediction performance outcomes when using decision trees. The explanatory and predictive analytics using eWOM factors for hotel booking prices offers a better understanding in terms of how the accommodation prices of hotel services can be explained and predicted by eWOM factors.</p> </abstract>

Developing Service Quality Strategy for Homestays in Mount Dempo Pagar Alam Regency Using IFAS and EFAS Method

The purpose of this research is to determine effective strategies for improving the tourism destination in Pagar Alam, South Sumatra through the development of homestays in the Gunung Dempo area. The research method used is a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative method is used to describe the appropriate strategies, while the quantitative method is used to analyze the IFAS and EFAS data in the form of numbers. Data were collected through direct observation, interviews, and the distribution of questionnaires to 95 respondents who had visited homestays in the Gunung Dempo area. The results of the SWOT analysis showed that the homestays in the Gunung Dempo area are in quadrant 1, which means that the internal and external conditions are positive and quite good. In this quadrant, homestays are very advantageous with opportunities (1.55) and strengths (1.77). The appropriate alternative strategy for homestay development is an aggressive strategy that utilizes opportunities to increase strengths. Therefore, it can be concluded that alternative strategies and priority strategies can be applied to the development of homestays in the Gunung Dempo area to improve the tourism destination. Suggestions that can be given from this research are to promote advantages in quality of service, unique architecture, and affordable accommodation prices. In addition, it is recommended to collaborate with local and central governments to increase domestic and foreign tourist visits.

Selecting independent variables in the hedonic analysis of hotel rooms

The hedonic pricing method has been applied in the analysis of hotel room rates since the early 1990s and ever since has become the norm in the investigation of hotel room price determinants. A usual problem in the specific literature is that there are no theoretical guidelines in selecting the explanatory variables in hedonic pricing models. Therefore, scholars employed in such kind of research face the challenge of which of the numerous price determinants proposed in the literature should they include in their own analysis, with the hazard of multicollinearity complicating the issue even further. The current article proposes a strategy where both the variable selection problem and the potential multicollinearity are faced by utilizing a combination of stepwise regression techniques with a proper categorization of the candidate regressors. This procedure is used in analysing the determining factors of the hotel accommodation prices in Cyprus, a country whose economy is highly dependent on tourism, for 12 consecutive months, in order to account for the inherent seasonality. The main findings suggest that adding some attributes to the advertisements of the hotels significantly increase hoteliers’ remunerations, but advertising certain other features may be actually sending negative signals, therefore hoteliers should consider excluding them from their brochures.

Factors Influencing the Accommodation Prices of Romanian Rural Tourism

The hedonic pricing model posits that the price of a given product or service is an aggregate of several distinct characteristics that define it. In the context of tourism, this approach can be used to assess the prices of accommodations in a given area or market. This study explores the main determinants of tourism prices in the Brașov area of central Romania, a county that ranked as the second most visited area in Romania in 2021 based on the number of arrivals according to the ordinary least squares regression model on a sample of 398 accommodation units of different types. The main finding of this research paper is that prices are strongly influenced by luxury amenities and that prices tend to rise in lower-population-density areas, which we associate with rural areas. As previously noted in the literature, monetary values can be assigned to incremental changes in the independent variables, with the most significant changes deriving from the inclusion of spa, sauna and restaurant services in the tourism offer of accommodation units.

Booking in the Rain. Testing the Impact of Public Information on Prices

Weather forecasts are a rare example of public information which is, at the same time, relevant for agents' decisions and entirely exogenous for both sides of the (tourism) market. We develop a model where signals of good weather have a positive impact on accommodation prices, the effect being stronger the higher the accuracy of the forecast and the ex-ante uncertainty in weather conditions. Using data from a sea and sun destination, we estimate an augmented hedonic price model and find that results robustly support the theory. We also find that the response of prices to weather forecasts is larger for upper-scale hotels than for low- and mid-scale hotels, a result we link to the superior pricing capability of the former.

E-Appraisals of Japanese Hotels and Their Effects on Ratings of Performance Indicators

The trend of advertisement has been radically transformed due to fan emergence on the Internet. Consumers can not only get information from companies but also read comments and evaluations from other users. This research focuses on electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). We took advantage of a sum of 16 Japanese hotels and analysed the connections between eWOM’s and the values of hotel’s assessments. On the result of this research, we have conducted text-mining for 6,953 English reviews: term frequency-invers (Tf-Idf) was likewise calculated for these text-minined outputs. After these mathematical methods, we have been able to draw several significant outcomes: one, close connections exist between the average score of hotel appraisals and accommodation prices; two, the values of Tf-Idf calculation has resulted ten words to be most significant; and, a principal component analysis over the same data has helped us to categorize the words in the hotel reviews into several groups. Then, the multiple regression analysis examines the relationships between the values and hotel appraisals by hotel grade, region and a season of the year. This paper’s findings suggest that would help prospective clients in choosing their accommodations while helping hotel management to improve their facility amenities and services.

Change in the Structure of the Accommodation Capacity of the Czech Hotel Industry under Conditions of Economic Globalization

As our research has shown, the number of foreign tourists visiting Czechia rose in the period between 2012 and 2017, as did hotel occupancy and accommodation prices. The growth of the local economy, the new airlines from Asia and the USA to Prague, and the perception of the Czech metropolis as a safe destination, played a big part in it. Compared to other accommodation facilities, the number of 5- and 4-star hotels is still growing in Czechia, thus better meeting the needs of demanding tourists. According to experience and statistical data, these are non-European tourists and tourists with above-average income. The growth in the number of these tourists had a strong influence on the increase in the number of hotels and the increase in the capacity of the highest-category hotels. Building new, quality hotels, and renovating historical buildings to a higher standard to provide an outstanding experience for foreign tourists staying in Czechia, can contribute to achieving the sustainability of the tourism sector in the country. Also mentioned is the current impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tourism in Czechia. A statistical analysis of time series of indicators and hypothesis testing were the main methods used in the study.

PENGARUH PRODUK DAN HARGA AKOMODASI TERHADAP MINAT WISATAWAN MENGINAP DI KOTA BUKITTINGGI

In the last three years, it has been seen that the level of tourist visits in the City of Bukittinggi has increased significantly. Business actors and the government are also racing to improve tourism infrastructure, including lodging facilities. Based on observations, data was obtained that in 2018 the number of accommodations in the City of Bukittinggi was 107 inns. The number of guests staying in 2016-2017 increased by 1.51%, then in 2017-2018, it increased by 5.66%. This study aims to examine the effect of products and accommodation prices on the purchase interest of tourists in the city of Buktinggi using quantitative descriptive methods. The population used is tourists who have stayed at the accommodation in the city of Bukittinggi, with a sample size of 100 respondents. Primary data was obtained through distributing questionnaires, and secondary data was obtained from the Department of Tourism, Youth, and Sports, by testing the hypothesis of multiple linear regression techniques. The results showed that the products offered affected the purchase interest of tourists, while the price of accommodation did not affect the interest of tourists to stay in the city of Bukittinggi.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MACROENVIRONMENT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRICE OF SHARED AIRBNB ACCOMMODATION

The shared economy occupies through shared accommodation a full-featured position in many economies of the world and the extent of its impact can be expressed in various ways. In addition, the price of accommodation appears to be a sufficiently objective, measurable, and comparable element to other statistical instruments of the economic environment. In the article, we use statistical methods of correlation and regression analysis to express the relationships between the dependent variable in the form of the price of shared accommodation in European Union countries and other economic indicators of the macroenvironment and the tourism industry, which thus represent an independent variable. The results signal that shared accommodation prices shows a higher degree of correlation with other indicators of the tourism sector than with other macroeconomic indicators in individual countries. Key words: Shared Economy. Shared Accommodation Prices, Airbnb, Regression and Correlation

The Peer-to-Peer market for tourist accommodation in Latin America. Supply, Demand and Prices

Purpose: Providing empírica! evidence on the hosts, product and price farmation of the p2p market far tourist accommodation in faur Latin American cities, comparing results and highlighting its main characteristics with regards to consolidated tourist destinations.
 Designlmethodology/approach: Data comes from a total of 53,836 listings scraped in mid-March 2019 ofthe listings on the Airbnb platfarm far the cities of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Mexico City (Mexico ), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Santiago (Chile) that are among the most visited in the world. The theoretical is based on an economic hedonic price regression model; and using variables measuring host and accommodation attributes, location, booking policy, number of reviews and amenities, identifies among those what determines supply, demand and pricing.
 Findings: The p2p market in Latin America has a wide margin to continue growing and to configure itself as a professional market far the renta! of entire homes in the short term. There is high concentration of demand in a few accommodations. Relations between variables hint that hosts are not exploiting the full capacity to efficiently manage their accommodation prices. Ali this suggests that, in emerging markets, unlike in mature tourist destinations, the incorporation of specific elements, such as those related to equity and the distribution of added value, is pertinent in a global framework far the valuation of the social welfare generated by trade made through Airbnb.
 Research limitationslimplications: The fact that the number of reviews has been used as a proxy is a limitation and adds a provisional character to our results and encourages the replication of our analysis with data on the effective occupation of the accommodation, to which we did not have access to in our case. Similarly, if possible, other smaller Latin American cities could be studied.
 Practica/ implications: The differences detected in price farmation in faur Latin American cities with respect to previously analyzed consolidated destinations could suggest that, in certain regions, hosts are not taking full advantage of the potential of the market, which might be an opportunity far the propasa! of programs improving the management capacity of individual owners.
 Social implications: Given the inequality detected across hosts, if a policy priority is a more equalitarian distribution of income that is brought by tourist rentals to locals, a system that allocates permits according to the criteria reflected by social preferences could be tested.
 Originalitylvalue: This research represents the first analysis of the peer-to-peer market far tourist accommodation that takes as a reference severa! Latin American cities, with theoretical and practica! implications that could be extended to other emerging markets, paying special attention to the potential far the development of tourism and the distributional implications.

The Peer-to-Peer market for tourist accommodation in Latin America. Supply, Demand and Prices

Purpose: Providing empírica! evidence on the hosts, product and price farmation of the p2p market far tourist accommodation in faur Latin American cities, comparing results and highlighting its main characteristics with regards to consolidated tourist destinations. Designlmethodology/approach: Data comes from a total of 53,836 listings scraped in mid-March 2019 ofthe listings on the Airbnb platfarm far the cities of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Mexico City (Mexico ), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Santiago (Chile) that are among the most visited in the world. The theoretical is based on an economic hedonic price regression model; and using variables measuring host and accommodation attributes, location, booking policy, number of reviews and amenities, identifies among those what determines supply, demand and pricing. Findings: The p2p market in Latin America has a wide margin to continue growing and to configure itself as a professional market far the renta! of entire homes in the short term. There is high concentration of demand in a few accommodations. Relations between variables hint that hosts are not exploiting the full capacity to efficiently manage their accommodation prices. Ali this suggests that, in emerging markets, unlike in mature tourist destinations, the incorporation of specific elements, such as those related to equity and the distribution of added value, is pertinent in a global framework far the valuation of the social welfare generated by trade made through Airbnb. Research limitationslimplications: The fact that the number of reviews has been used as a proxy is a limitation and adds a provisional character to our results and encourages the replication of our analysis with data on the effective occupation of the accommodation, to which we did not have access to in our case. Similarly, if possible, other smaller Latin American cities could be studied. Practica/ implications: The differences detected in price farmation in faur Latin American cities with respect to previously analyzed consolidated destinations could suggest that, in certain regions, hosts are not taking full advantage of the potential of the market, which might be an opportunity far the propasa! of programs improving the management capacity of individual owners. Social implications: Given the inequality detected across hosts, if a policy priority is a more equalitarian distribution of income that is brought by tourist rentals to locals, a system that allocates permits according to the criteria reflected by social preferences could be tested. Originalitylvalue: This research represents the first analysis of the peer-to-peer market far tourist accommodation that takes as a reference severa! Latin American cities, with theoretical and practica! implications that could be extended to other emerging markets, paying special attention to the potential far the development of tourism and the distributional implications.

Estimating a spatial autoregressive model with autoregressive disturbances based on the indirect inference principle

ABSTRACT This paper proposes a new estimation procedure for the first-order spatial autoregressive (SAR) model, where the disturbance term also follows a first-order autoregression and its innovations may be heteroscedastic. The estimation procedure is based on the principle of indirect inference that matches the ordinary least squares estimator of the two SAR coefficients (one in the outcome equation and the other in the disturbance equation) with its approximate analytical expectation. The resulting estimator is shown to be consistent, asymptotically normal and robust to unknown heteroscedasticity. Monte Carlo experiments are provided to show its finite-sample performance in comparison with existing estimators that are based on the generalized method of moments. The new estimation procedure is applied to empirical studies on teenage pregnancy rates and Airbnb accommodation prices.

Анализ влияния качества школ на цену жилья в Москве

This paper considers various factors affecting housing prices in Moscow with special attention to societal conditions — particularly the quality of education provided by schools within the neighborhood. Today in Russia, children are enrolled in elementary school on the principle of territorial priority, which means that children living within the area of a given school are entitled to be enrolled there. Do parents take into consideration the quality of school education when purchasing a property? Are they prepared to pay extra for an access to better education? Does this extra amount depend on housing prices? These are the main questions of this study. To answer them, the paper analyses the best affordable school rating’s impact on accommodation prices. Not only parents, but also the real estate market would be interested in the results. Moreover, this research contributes to the understanding of migration patterns within the city. It helps determine the factors affecting someone’s choice of property. The findings will provide a more accurate assessment of decision-making in urban planning and education.

Study of Price Determinants of Sharing Economy-Based Accommodation Services: Evidence from Airbnb.com

This research aims to identify price determinants for sharing economy-based accommodation services and to further use the identified price determinants to predict accommodation prices. A dataset drawn from Airbnb.com, was collected for analysis. We identify price determinants from five categories. The top five price determinants are identified as room type, city, distance to tourist attractions, number of pictures posted, and number of amenities provided. More importantly, we find that interaction effects between variables can also significantly influence price. Finally, a series of price prediction models are built based on the identified price determinants.

Guests’ assessment of hotel facilities and services: Zadar case study

Abstract The availability of hotel facilities and services and their quality are one of the most important factor in selection of a tourist destination. The aim of the article was to analyse the impact of hotel location factors, prices of hotel services and detailed assessments of hotel services provided by the hotel on the overall rating of the hotel. As a case study, Zadar – a city located in the northern part of the Dalmatian coast of Croatia – was used to analyse the problem. The location determinants of hotels and their equipment were assessed in relation to the price of accommodation and tourists’ evaluation of the basic components of hotel services. The analysis used data obtained from the Booking.com website for accommodation prices, including selected days of the high and low season, data on the number of opinions about the object and the rating of the object by guests in terms of the overall opinion about the object, its location conditions, the standard of services rendered, cleanliness, comfort, evaluation of staff work, access to Wi-Fi network and assessment of services rendered in relation to the price of the service. The obtained results indicate hotel location, especially its distance from the city centre, railway station and airport and evaluation of chosen elements of customers’ hotel evaluation are most significant determinants of choosing accommodation for tourists.

Understanding Peer-to-Peer, Two-Sided Digital Marketplaces: Pricing Lessons from Airbnb in Barcelona

Peer-to-peer, two-sided digital marketplaces are reshaping the way in which consumers exchange products and interact with brand value propositions, particularly in the travel and tourism industry. Within the dynamics of these marketplaces, pricing approaches are of the utmost importance; yet, in contrast to conventional digital marketplaces, prices are set by non-professional vendors who are also consumers. We contribute to research on the topic by examining pricing within a single peer-to-peer, two-sided marketing platform: Airbnb. We use a large dataset covering accommodation listed by non-professional hosts in Barcelona, Spain. We identify a range of intrinsic and extrinsic attributes of the value propositions of Airbnb peer-to-peer accommodation, which enables us to explain differences in price levels. The paper offers evidence that higher accommodation prices are best explained by guests’ preference for the intrinsic functional qualities of the value proposition; and that the systematic interaction of valence and volume of online reviews can produce a crucial impact on pricing.

The Impact of Historic Building Preservation in Urban Economics: Focusing on Accommodation Prices in Jeonju Hanok Village, South Korea

The preservation of historic buildings, based on economic value, has long been discussed in developed countries. On the other hand, in Korea, where the history of preservation is relatively short, discussions have only recently started. Related to this, a discussion regarding the scope of buildings that need to be protected in relation to urban planning is needed. This study analyzes the Jeonju Hanok Village, a tourist destination where Hanok—the traditional Korean architectural type—is highly concentrated. The study provides evidence for the economic impact of historic building preservation with respect to rarity, experience and agglomeration, based on the price analysis of accommodations. As a result, the accommodation prices of Hanok were found to be higher despite being older. The relation between accommodation prices and building age was quadratic, which revealed that buildings that have become rare attained accommodation prices similar to new buildings. Also, it was found that the prices increased with the provision of traditional activities and meal services. Lastly, the price was higher in the area where Hanok was agglomerated. The results suggested that the preservation of buildings should not only be justified on cultural grounds but also economic grounds, based on market demand and the fact that such preservation could contribute meaningfully toward sustainable development.

Hotels benefit from stricter regulations on short-term rentals in European cities

The aim of this study is to examine whether the introduction of stricter rules on short-term rentals (STRs) in some European cities will have an impact on hotel overnight stays. The treatment group consists of cities with the strictest regulations in Europe (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Paris and London). The coarsened exact matching method is used to select an appropriate control group consisting of cities where there are no similar regulations but which are of a similar size in relation to population and relevant tourist space. Weighted fixed-effect models are used to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated. The specification also includes variables controlling for accommodation prices, value-added tax (VAT) rate on accommodation, terrorist attacks, real income of the destination country and time. Results show that stricter regulations for STRs in the five cities lead to an average increase in overnight stays of around 9%. This suggests that STRs such as Airbnb are substitutes for hotel accommodations and thus strong competitors. In addition, terrorist attacks lead to a decline in overnight stays, while an increase in VAT on accommodation reduces hotel overnight stays.

Hedonic pricing and the sharing economy: how profile characteristics affect Airbnb accommodation prices in Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville

ABSTRACTThe sharing economy has allowed people from all over the world to more effectively utilize their assets. Owners or controllers of assets in the sharing economy are free to set any price they want subject to prevailing market demand as long as they operate in an imperfectly competitive market environment. This paper examines how various characteristics of an Airbnb listing (size, number of photos, ratings, host responsiveness, superhost status, distance from city centre, etc.) affect the prices of accommodation and determines which factors strongly affect price using weighted least squares (WLS) and quantile regression. A hedonic pricing model was developed and applied to data from the cities of Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville to determine how the different characteristics of an Airbnb listing affect the price of accommodation in these major three Spanish tourist cities. The estimation results, which are resilient to various robustness checks, indicate that overall rating as well as characteristics indicative of the size of the accommodation have the strongest positive influence on price, while the number of reviews and distance from the city centre have the strongest negative influence on price.

Prices of short-stay accommodation: time series of a eurozone country

Purpose This paper aims to provide a reliable statistical model for time-series prices of short-stay accommodation and overnight stays in a eurozone country. Design/methodology/approach Exploiting the unit root feature, the cointegrated vector autoregressive model solves the problem of misspecification. Subsequently, variables are modelled for a long-run equilibrium with included deterministic variables. Findings The empirical results confirmed that overnight stays for foreign tourists were positively associated with the prices of short-stay accommodation. Research limitations/implications The major limitation lies in the data vector and its time horizon; its extension could provide a more specific view. Practical implications Findings can assist practitioners and hotel executives by providing the information and rationale for adopting seasonal volatility pricing. Structural breaks in price time-series have practical implications for setting seasonal-pricing schemes. Tourists could benefit either from greater price stability or from differentiated seasonal prices, which are important in the promotion of the price attractiveness of the tourist destination. Originality/value The originality of the paper lies in the applied unit root econometrics for tourism price time-series modelling and the prediction of short-stay accommodation prices.