Australian Hotels Research Articles

Hitting the jackpot: what drives casino hotel stock returns’ predictability?

ABSTRACT Forecasting casino hotel stock prices are strategically important to key stakeholders making investment decisions. However, there is a paucity of studies that have examined the impact of macro-economic variables, sector-specific variables and firm-specific variables on casino stock returns. This research fills a research gap by examining the predictability of Australian casino hotel stock returns. The forecasting of casino hotel stock prices was modelled using econometric panel predictive regression analysis through the efficacy of 26 predictors comprising macroeconomic variables, sector-specific variables, and firm-specific variables as predictors. All eight casinos listed on the Australia Stock Exchange (ASX) were included in our sample. Our econometric panel predictive regression model found macro-economic variables with the strongest return predictability relative to the sector-specific and firm-specific variables. Our study contributes to the theoretical advancement of forecasting methodology through panel predictive regression modelling by addressing the endogeneity, persistency and heteroskedasticity of stock predictors by considering a large set of macro-economic variables, sector-specific and firm-specific variables as predictors to develop an econometric framework that suits the features of hotel financial data.

Key lessons from the establishment of a nurse-led infection prevention and control program for COVID-19 in an Australian hotel quarantine and isolation service

BackgroundA key aspect of Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic was to control transmission through legislated quarantine and isolation of overseas returning travellers and potentially infectious community members. In New South Wales, Special Health Accommodation (SHA) was rapidly established as a comprehensive health service for individuals that were at risk of having COVID-19, were confirmed to have COVID-19 or for those with complex health needs that were deemed inappropriate for management in Police managed Quarantine Hotels. SHA services were later expanded to care for community members who were COVID-19 positive and unable to effectively isolate, or contacts of individuals who were unable to quarantine effectively in their homes. SHA's unique nurse-led Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) program offers key lessons that may impact future programs. MethodsA reflection on the experience of leading an Infection Prevention and Control program in SHA was undertaken. This was supported by a review of SHA admission, workforce and transmission data and data obtained from a cross-sectional questionnaire aimed to better understand the experiences of a novel population of health workers (HW) in a comprehensive health-led quarantine and isolation service. ResultsSHA program data demonstrates how its IPC program implementation prevented transmission of COVID-19 to SHA staff and patients. Responses from the questionnaire suggested staff felt safe and well-prepared through the IPC education they received. They also gained transferrable knowledge and skills, which they intend to use in future healthcare roles. ConclusionThe SHA nurse-led IPC program offered successful quarantine and isolation for COVID-19 in non-purpose-built facilities. A review of IPC strategies and key lessons from the establishment of the SHA IPC program are of critical importance to planning and management of current and future pandemics.

Engaging hotel guests to reduce energy and water consumption: A quantitative review of guest impact on resource use in tourist accommodation

Compared to residential and commercial buildings, hotels use a high amount of resources in their operation, particularly electricity, water and gas. Resource use in hotels is influenced by both hosts and guests, however initiatives to reduce consumption are typically initiated by the host. To improve the effectiveness of host requests aimed at guests to use less resources, it is important to understand how hotel guests contribute to overall consumption. This study assesses quantitative resource consumption and occupancy data from two Australian case study hotels and investigates the impact of guest occupancy on net resource use. Agency theory is adopted as a framework to examine the host (principle) – guest (agent) exchange, and the agency costs associated with discretionary resource usage by the guest. It is found that guest numbers have little impact on net electricity consumption, however, are closely correlated with water consumption in both case studies. The findings suggest that strategies to reduce resource use are to be organised differently between electricity and water, with the former targeted at the hosts and the latter with the guests. Engaging with guests to reduce discretionary water consumption is expected to achieve greater reductions as compared to electricity and gas. The findings have implications for hotel operators and researchers toward designing and implementing effective resource use reduction strategies in hotels, and for understanding hotel resource use in the context of agency theory.

Visitors’ satisfaction towards indoor environmental quality in Australian hotels and serviced apartments

Tourism is Australia’s fourth-largest exporting sector, yet insufficient research has been done on how satisfied guests are with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of Australian guest homes. This project utilised web-mining, natural language processing and aspect-based sentiment analysis to analyse visitors’ IEQ satisfaction in Australian tourist accommodations across ten tourism cities. By analysing 543,213 IEQ-related reviews from 1397 hotels and serviced apartments with two-stars and above at the Booking.com, guests’ text comments were classified by semi-supervised word-embedding based models into nine IEQ dimensions. Using a cutting-edge custom-trained bidirectional context-aware deep sequence model, sentiment scores were computed to estimate the degree of IEQ satisfaction. Results showed that guests were most dissatisfied with facilities, cleanliness and maintenance, and acoustics. IEQ dissatisfaction reduced as the buildings’ star ratings rose, except for thermal, lighting, exterior view, and layout and design dimensions. There was a small effect of seasonal fluctuations on the levels of dissatisfaction with thermal conditions, indoor air quality, and cleanliness and maintenance. All IEQ dimensions, excluding indoor air quality, showed small effects on the percentage of dissatisfied visitors across climate zones. During the pandemic, there was a significant decline in the guests’ evaluation scores. Notwithstanding, the IEQ satisfaction was scarcely affected by COVID-19, except for indoor air quality, cleanliness and maintenance, and facilities. This study’s findings can serve as a rationale for the Australian hospitality industry to enhance visitor satisfaction.

"Their tenacity to just keep going": Nurses' experiences in medical hotel quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To explore how nurses and nursing knowledge contributed to the success of an Australian nurse-led medical hotel quarantine facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility was established to accommodate returning travellers who were COVID-19 positive or at risk of becoming positive, to travellers requiring complex care and expanded to community members who could not quarantine at home. This descriptive qualitative study explored how nurses and nursing knowledge in the quarantine facility contributed to the low transmission incidence of COVID-19 infection. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted via ZOOM from February to May 2022 with all levels of nursing staff (nurse managers to assistants in nursing) who had worked in the facility for 3 months or more. The nurses were asked to describe their experiences, the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. The data were rich and were analysed using Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis. Four broad themes were generated demonstrating how nurses played a pivotal role in the success of the facility. First: nursing knowledge was evident through the development of policies, which minimized risks to nurses and patients. Second: a community of learning was developed as nurses supported upskilling and capacity building of staff, particularly new graduates with the facility. Third: a supportive management structure promoted teamwork and a positive workplace culture. And finally: the nurses were encouraged to develop techniques that promoted self-care which enabled them to develop resilience. This was a nurse-led service that developed strategies to manage care delivery and overcame unanticipated difficulties in a unique clinical setting. The quality of the research design was ensured by using the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) checklist. No patient or public contribution.

АНАЛІЗ ЛЕКСИКО-СТИЛІСТИЧНИХ ОСОБЛИВОСТЕЙ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ ТЕМАТИЧНОЇ ГРУПИ РЕКЛАМ ГОТЕЛЬНОЇ ІНДУСТРІЇ АВСТРАЛІЇ

The article examines the specifics of the lexical and stylistic features of the functioning of the English thematic group for the designation of advertisements in the Australian hotel industry. The influence of stylistic means and techniques to enhance the overall connotative load of the advertising text of the hotel industry is generalized. Despite the considerable number of linguistic works devoted to the study of various aspects of English texts of the advertising industry, it should be noted that the English thematic group denoting the Australian hotel industry has not yet been the subject of a special linguistic description. The advertising text of the Australian hotel industry is compiled taking into account the ways of dialogization, de-automation of the addressee's perception of the language and the formation of positive emotions. The article is based on the analysis of 90 advertising texts and slogans of the Australian hotel industry (2020-2023). In particular, the following lexical and stylistic means have been identified that are widely used in advertising texts of the Australian hotel industry: hyperbole, metonymy, synecdoche, metaphor, personification, epithet, comparison, synonyms, antithesis. In the advertising texts of the hotel industry, there is a wide range of vocabulary related to the hotel business, food, tableware, hotel rooms (deluxe, standard), excursions, Australian attractions, restaurants, hygiene products, and drinks.

The Psychological and Wellbeing Impacts of Quarantine on Frontline Workers during COVID-19 and Beyond.

The current study investigated the experiences, wellbeing impacts, and coping strategies of frontline workers who participated in "Hotels for Heroes", an Australian voluntary hotel quarantine program during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was open to those who were COVID-19 positive or exposed to COVID-19 as part of their profession. Frontline workers who had stayed in voluntary quarantine between April 2020 and March 2021 were invited to participate in a voluntary, anonymous, cross-sectional online survey including both quantitative and qualitative responses. Complete responses were collected from 106 participants, which included data on sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, experiences of the Hotels for Heroes program, and validated mental health measures. Mental health problems were prevalent amongst frontline workers (e.g., moderate anxiety symptoms, severe depression symptoms, and greater than usual impact of fatigue). For some, quarantine appeared to be helpful for anxiety and burnout, but quarantine also appeared to impact anxiety, depression, and PTSD negatively, and longer stays in quarantine were associated with significantly higher coronavirus anxiety and fatigue impacts. The most widely received support in quarantine was from designated program staff; however, this was reportedly accessed by less than half of the participants. The current study points to specific aspects of mental health care that can be applied to participants of similar voluntary quarantine programs in the future. It seems necessary to screen for psychological needs at various stages of quarantine, and to allocate appropriate care and improve its accessibility, as many participants did not utilise the routine support offered. Support should especially target disease-related anxiety, symptoms of depression and trauma, and the impacts of fatigue. Future research is needed to clarify specific phases of need throughout quarantine programs, and the barriers for participants receiving mental health supports in these contexts.

Indoor environmental quality satisfaction in Australian hotels and serviced apartments

Tourism is Australia's fourth-largest exporting sector, yet little research has been done on how satisfied guests are with the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of Australian guest homes. This research project utilized web-mining, natural language processing and sentiment analysis to analyse customers' IEQ satisfaction in Australian tourist accommodations across ten tourism cities. By analysing 543,213 guest reviews from 1,397 hotels and serviced apartments with two-stars and above at the Booking.com, guests' text comments were classified by semi-supervised word-embedding based models into nine IEQ dimensions. Using a bespoke deep sequence model, sentiment polarities were found, and sentiment scores were computed to estimate the degree of IEQ satisfaction. Results showed that guests were most dissatisfied with facilities, cleanliness and maintenance, and acoustics. As the buildings' star ratings increased, dissatisfaction towards thermal environment, indoor air quality (IAQ), and acoustics decreased. Some IEQ dimensions displayed seasonal trends in customer dissatisfaction. The main sources of dissatisfaction with the thermal environment, IAQ, lighting, and acoustics were identified.

Experiences of risk in Australian hotel quarantine: a qualitative study

BackgroundIn response to the threat of COVID-19 infection, Australia mandated a 14 day quarantine period in a designated facility for all travellers returning from overseas from late March 2020. These facilities were usually hotels, or hotel-like serviced apartments, and also included a repurposed former mining village in the Northern Territory. This paper aimed to investigate the experiences of risk of people quarantined in designated supervised facilities in Australia, which has not been systematically explored before.MethodsIn this qualitative study semi-structured interviews were conducted with 58 participants quarantined between March 2020 and January 2021. Participants were returned Australian citizens and residents who were required to undergo mandatory supervised quarantine for COVID-19. Interviews were conducted using video teleconferencing (via Zoom), transcribed and coded, then analysed thematically.ResultsWhile participants generally supported the concept of quarantine to protect the Australian public, they were critical of elements of it where they felt exposed to risk (COVID-related or not). They also described instances where infection control within the system seemed inadequate. For some, particularly those quarantined with small children, they reported that the facilities were inadequate or inappropriate for health and wellbeing. Using thematic analysis, three major themes were identified that related to problems in the existing system: perception of being subjected to high risk through lax standards of COVID protection in the quarantine process; risks to the community identified in quarantine; and risk in non-hotel managed quarantine facilities.ConclusionsThere are systemic issues with infection control in hotel quarantine, which can be further undermined by individual non-compliance. Risks to safety for those in quarantine can be reduced, both in terms of infection control within hotel quarantine and, in the case of the Northern Territory facility, timely in-person medical care as needed for non-COVID conditions. Systems of infection control need ongoing review to ensure that people entering quarantine are protected from known risks of infection at every stage. Medical services in quarantine facilities should be examined to ensure timely and appropriate non-COVID medical services are available.

“Seriously, Australia, why are you so stingy with Wi-Fi?”: customer satisfaction with Wi-Fi speed in Australian hotels and lessons for public Wi-Fi provision

Purpose This paper aims to analyse whether the speed of Wi-Fi in hotels influences customer satisfaction with hotels and the implications of this for the provision of Wi-Fi by commercial and governmental bodies seeking to boost tourism. Design/methodology/approach Regression analysis on data from Australian hotels (191 entries) and 111 responses to a national survey of local government authorities on public Wi-Fi (PWF) provision were combined with a literature review and content analysis of online reviews by hotel customers. Findings If Wi-Fi quality rises by 1%, customer satisfaction with the hotel increases by 0.376/100 units. In the areas where hotel Wi-Fi is of better quality, PWF provided by the local government is also of better quality; the reverse statement is also true. Practical implications Tourists value continuous access to Wi-Fi, whether provided by commercial or public bodies. It is imperative for hotels and local governments seeking to boost tourist activity to invest in quality Wi-Fi networks. However, to assist this, national policies should address spatial disparities in broadband infrastructure revealed in the study. Originality/value This study looks beyond a conventional distinction between the private and public provision of Wi-Fi to examine the shared interests of industry and government in this essential component of tourist infrastructure. The study is unique in the English-speaking literature for its focus on the link between the quality of Wi-Fi provision and customer satisfaction, with original results and discussion providing a rationale for investing in quality Wi-Fi networks.

Barriers and drivers of environmental sustainability: Australian hotels

PurposeThe paper presents the findings of research into the barriers to and drivers of environmentally sustainable policies and practices (ESPPs) in the Australian hotel industry. This study aims to explore these drivers and barriers from the perspective of hotel managers and involve a range of hotels with different hotel industry profiles and management structures.Design/methodology/approachThe study conducted one-on-one interviews with hotel managers to explore the barriers to and drivers of ESPPs. The purpose of the sample and sample size was to ensure representation of different segments of the hotel industry to include international chain affiliated hotels, Australian chain affiliated hotels and independent hotels.FindingsAn analysis of the findings suggests that the major barriers to implementing and sustaining environmental sustainability in the Australian hotel industry are time, financial challenges, availability of resources and the views and imperatives of hotel owners and shareholders. The major drivers are financial, marketing, owner and shareholder interests and guest preferences. These stakeholders play a major role in creating both barriers and drivers.Research limitations/implicationsBased on the results, this study can modify the application of stakeholder theory to a degree and argue that stakeholders need to co-operate further to drive sustainability. This study demonstrates that management of environmental sustainability is a challenge for many hotels and there is a particular need for small and independent hotels to embrace environmental sustainability to keep pace with their larger counterparts.Originality/valueThis study is broadly informed by the stakeholder theory. Owners, shareholders and associated stakeholders have a significant influence over environmental sustainability in the Australian hotel industry and they create both drivers and barriers. Responses from hotel managers in this research demonstrate that owners act as a barrier to as well as a driver of environmental sustainability initiatives in the Australian hotel industry.

Stakeholders’ Influence on Environmental Sustainability in the Australian Hotel Industry

Hotels are a key element of the tourism industry. Hotels are the most common form of accommodation for tourists and the hotel industry is intricately to tourism. A review of the academic literature indicates that existing research is primarily focused on sustainability in tourism, but very few studies have analysed the environmental dimension of sustainability in hotels in Australia, an important facet of the Australian tourism industry. The paper presents the findings of the influence of stakeholders on environmentally sustainable policies and practices (ESPPs) in the Australian hotel industry. One-on-one interviews were conducted with hotel managers as a representative sample of Australian hotels in Melbourne, Australia. The selected sample for the research comprised managers who manage approximately 60 hotels. The data was collected through in-depth interviews. It was then transcribed, coded, and analysed with NVIVO, a computer-aided qualitative data analysis software program. The sample size ensured representation by different segments of the hotel industry to include international chain-affiliated hotels, Australian chain-affiliated hotels and independent hotels. An analysis of the findings suggests that owners and shareholders are the biggest influencers as their investment takes primary importance. Other key stakeholders such as guests generally play a secondary role in influencing the ESPPs of hotels. ESPPs should lead to well-intentioned initiatives and practices that are undertaken by stakeholders to create drivers for change to contribute to environmental sustainability.

From hospitality classrooms to successful careers: an appraisal of Australian hospitality higher education

This thesis examined curriculum and pedagogic requirements that contribute to beneficial graduate outcomes for Australian hotel management students. Specifically, the study identified necessary com...

“I’m mindfully green”: examining the determinants of guest pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) in hotels

ABSTRACT The paper examines the antecedents of Australian hotel consumer pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). The research investigates three forms of hotel guests’ actual (self-reported) PEB: water-saving, energy-saving, and recycling behaviors. This study employs a hotel-customer survey in Australia (n = 339). A focus on green mindfulness is an innovative feature of the study. Interestingly, the results show green mindfulness to be the dominant predictor of hotel guests’ PEB, followed by the individual’s green habits at home. The findings address current environmental issues in the hotel industry and extend the literature of tourist sustainability on the actual PEB in a hotel context. Practically, this research contributes insights for hoteliers to understand guests’ PEB so that they can improve their green programs.

From Hospitality Classrooms to Successful Careers: A Current Appraisal of Australian International Hotel Requirements

ABSTRACT Hospitality higher education institutions struggle to ensure students’ learning outcomes are relevant to the requirements of workplaces. Therefore, it is important that these institutions begin to close the gap between the skills that students graduate with, and the skills the industry requires. This paper examines the curriculum and pedagogic requirements that contribute to beneficial graduate outcomes for Australian hotel management students. Specifically, the study seeks to identify the necessary competencies that make hotel management graduates more employable and achieve successful careers in the contemporary Australian hotel industry. Key findings from this study highlight the importance of “soft skills” and the need for hotel managers to possess sound leadership, communication, customer service, people, and financial capabilities. To inform this study, a range of Australian hotel managers are used as research participants and the outcomes appraise, advance and potentially reposition hotel management curriculum in Australia.

Informal diversity management practices and their effectiveness: In the context of ethnically diverse employees in hotels

Managing ethnically diverse employees is a key challenge for managers, and research shows that managers often use informal diversity management practices. Yet we do not know enough about the relationship between informal diversity management practices and organizational outcomes. To address this challenge, the present study examined the relationship between informal diversity management practices and two organizational outcomes – innovation and financial effectiveness. The study also examined the moderating role of ethnic diversity in the above relationships. Data were collected from Australian hotels at organizational level, and hierarchal regression was used to analyze the data. Results indicated a significant positive direct relationship between informal diversity management practices and organizational outcomes. However, ethnic diversity moderates only the relationship between informal diversity management practices and innovation. The study advances the hotel diversity management literature and offers practical implications for how to sustain the benefits of informal diversity management in the long term.

Organophosphate and brominated flame retardants in Australian indoor environments: Levels, sources, and preliminary assessment of human exposure.

Concentrations of nine organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) and eight polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in samples of indoor dust (n = 85) and air (n = 45) from Australian houses, offices, hotels, and transportation (buses, trains, and aircraft). All target compounds were detected in indoor dust and air samples. Median ∑9OPFRs concentrations were 40 μg/g in dust and 44 ng/m3 in indoor air, while median ∑8PBDEs concentrations were 2.1 μg/g and 0.049 ng/m3. Concentrations of FRs were higher in rooms that contained carpet, air conditioners, and various electronic items. Estimated daily intakes in adults are 14000 pg/kg body weight/day and 330 pg/kg body weight/day for ∑9OPFRs and ∑8PBDEs, respectively. Our results suggest that for the volatile FRs such as tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and TCIPP, inhalation is expected to be the more important intake pathway compared to dust ingestion and dermal contact.

Precursors to the financial and strategic orientation of hotel property capital budgeting

Abstract The purpose of this study is to develop and test a set of hypotheses concerned with exploring for precursors to the degree of emphasis hotel property General Managers attach to a financial versus strategic orientation in capital budgeting. Results are based on 200 survey responses from the General Managers of Australian and New Zealand hotels. The findings indicate that capital budgeting is more financially orientated than strategically oriented in hotel properties that adopt a management contract and also where the owner gets more involved in the capital budgeting process. No support is found for the hypothesised role of ego-trip hotel ownership, the age of a hotel property, a General Manager's number of years of experience, or public versus private hotel ownership. As an over-reliance on financial capital budgeting information can bias decision-makers against longer-term investment projects, it is conjectured that hotel capital budgeting may be somewhat sub-optimal in those hotels that adopt a management contract and which have a greater level of hotel owner involvement in the capital budgeting process.

Work organisation, bullying and intention to leave in the hospitality industry

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine relationships between work organisation, bullying and intention to leave (ITL) in the Australian hospitality industry, using pressure, disorganisation and regulatory failure (PDR) to measure work organisation.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional survey data were collected from 72 workers in Australian accommodation hotels. They were aged 20-65 years (M=38.26, SD=12.60) and 57.1 per cent were female. The proposed path model was tested with the Mplus (v.7) statistical package using Hayes’ (2009) procedure for mediation analysis.FindingsThere were positive bivariate correlations between all variables. The path model indicated that disorganisation and regulatory failure had direct positive associations with bullying. Financial pressure and bullying had direct positive associations with ITL.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample may not be representative and the cross-sectional design and self-report data risk common method variance effects and preclude attributions of causality. Future studies should use more representative samples and longitudinal designs to address common method variance issues and facilitate causal inferences.Originality/valueBullying and turnover are significant problems in the hospitality industry, but the contribution of work organisation variables is poorly understood. The present study provides promising preliminary evidence on the potential role of PDR as an antecedent of both bullying and ITL.

Measuring customer equity and managing the customer asset: an explanatory study in the Australian hotels

ABSTRACTAlthough there are a range of conceptual and theoretical studies about customer equity (CE) measurement and management in the literature, there are few empirical studies where these two concepts are examined together. This paper focuses on the need for a more synthesised approach and addresses calls for more research into this specific area of marketing management. A conceptual framework was developed that synthesises both customer lifetime value and customer relationship management from a customer equity management (CEM) perspective. The framework was used to empirically examine how four CE strategies, together with a firm’s use of the two types of customer data (aggregated and disaggregated), impact on CEM outcomes. Data were collected from 114 hotel managers in Australia and analysed through a decision tree methodology. The results show that hotels are utilising their CE strategies for acquisition purposes more than retention purposes (customer asset management), which overall appears to satisfice more than maximise their hotel’s capacity in achieving effective CE outcomes. The study’s contribution to theory is through empirically testing a framework that combines two discrete theoretical concepts in one study to provide insights to guide future research.