Hotel Properties Research Articles

Green hotel adoption: a personal choice or social pressure?

Purpose This study aims to examine the potential guest perception of green hotel attributes (GHAs) and the underlying mechanism through which GHA perception influences attitude toward green hotels, intention to stay at green hotels and willingness to pay a premium. It also investigates the moderating roles of personal norms and social norms in the influence of GHA perception on identification and trust toward green hotels. Design/methodology/approach A two-stage survey was used to collect data via Prolific Academic. The authors tested the hypotheses on 521 valid responses using the partial least squares method. Findings The results show that identification and trust mediate the effect of GHA perception on attitude, intention to stay and willingness to pay a premium for green hotels. The authors found a positive interaction effect between GHA perception and personal norms on identification and trust and a negative interaction effect between social norms and GHA perception on trust. The interaction effect of GHA perception and social norms on identification is not significant. Originality/value This study presents an integrated framework for green hotel adoption by examining the potential guest perception of GHAs and explores how it fosters positive guest responses. Findings show that GHA perception positively influences potential guest responses through identification (the personal route) and trust (the social route). This study also simultaneously considers personal norms and social norms, together with the effects of their interactions with GHA perception on identification and trust.

Halal-friendly hotels: impact of halal-friendly attributes on guest purchase behaviors in the Thailand hotel industry

ABSTRACTThis study was designed to identify the attributes of a halal-friendly hotel and evaluate the role of these attributes in motivating the behavioral intentions of Muslim customers. Qualitative and quantitative approaches identified 30 validation and reliability items involving five distinctive dimensions, which included halal-friendly service, facilities, foods and beverages, privacy, and customer-service equality. The findings from the structural model indicate that the proposed model sufficiently explains the variance in intentions; three attributes were positively related to cognitive evaluation, and four attributes had significant influence on affective evaluation. In addition, the results indicated that cognitive and affective evaluation worked as mediators.

An Empirical Analysis of Double Round Auctions

AbstractThis article analyzes auctions that can feature two bidding rounds for the sale of a single good. In the first round, the seller, after analyzing the received bids, may elect to have k bidders rebid. The highest bidder in the second round then acquires the asset at the highest bid price. We use a sample of 67 properties that sold through this auction process. The 40 hotels in this sample are matched to a control group of 157 hotel properties that were sold in the conventional manner in order to develop a hedonic model for “conventional” sale prices. Using this model, we find that the double round auction mechanism increases the seller's expected revenue significantly: Specifically, in our sample, we estimate that the expected value of a double round auction bid is 8.4% higher than the estimated price if the property were sold using traditional methods. In addition, we show that the average bid is not significantly different from the estimated sale price. We further find (controlling for property characteristics) that the average bid increases by 3.7% from the first to the second round.

The employment of people with special needs within hotels in Dubai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges and benefits of hiring individuals with special needs in the hospitality industry in Dubai; understand management, colleague and customer perspectives concerning the integration of individuals with special needs in the workforce; emphasize the need for awareness, communication and training when introducing special needs employees to hotel properties in Dubai; recognize laws and policies in respect to introducing the special needs workforce in hotels in Dubai; and classify the requirements needed to facilitate accessibility and integration of special needs employees in the workforce. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research was conducted to better comprehend the benefits, challenges, policies/legalities and perceptions developed when considering employment practices of individuals with disabilities. Interviews with HR directors/managers in hotels in Dubai were conducted using a snowball sampling approach. Findings This study suggests that hotels in Dubai must increase their efforts to accommodate the special needs market through the provision of accessible areas, changes in perceptions and enactment of coherent laws and policies to prepare for the inflow of disabled tourists during Expo 2020. Further, that these efforts can be better accomplished by employment of individuals with special needs. Originality/value High turnover costs and shortages of labor in the hospitality industry have led to the need for the non-traditional labor force to fill the demand created by the upcoming Expo 2020. As the UAE won the bid for Expo 2020, there has been early construction of hotels to adapt to the increased demand in jobs by and influx of tourists including individuals with disabilities.

Expo 2020 and sustainability: luxury hotel properties challenges and future outlook

Purpose The purpose of this study is to know about the recent environmental changes that have impacted society worldwide have led to increased interest in and attention to the topic of sustainability. A good example of this new trend is provided by the Expo 2020, which is focussing on sustainability as one of the key sub-themes of the event. Design/methodology/approach This study explores guests’ and employees’ perspectives on the deployment of sustainable practices in hotels. Particular attention is placed on the identification of challenges and drivers of sustainable practices in luxury hotel properties in Dubai. Findings The discoveries made during the study hold meaningful implications for industry professionals and provide insightful recommendations for the upcoming Expo 2020, which can be leveraged as a tool to increase awareness and drive education on effective sustainable practices. Originality/value With 35 different nationalities contributing to the data collection, the present study provides a diverse sample, enabling the researcher to shed light on the previously identified literature contradictions.

A Case Study - Doyen in American Hospitality Industry: Entrepreneur Spirit of Mike Chaudhari

This case study narrates management principles adopted by Mike Chaudhari in his hospitality industry encompassing over four dozen hotel units in America. Mike's hotel business is over three decade old and evolved from a scratch. By humble beginning of first hotel in Arizona, USA in 1990s, his business empire portfolio includes about fifty hotel properties across USA.

How user-generated judgments of hotel attributes indicate guest satisfaction

ABSTRACTUser-generated content is a major source of information particularly in tourism industry where consumers seek unbiased and unregulated information. While making their hotel booking decisions, consumers refer to the previous guests’ experiences expressed in the hotel reviews across social media. Studies in the literature have focused on enhancing the understanding of what makes customers satisfied or dissatisfied. They have analyzed the text reviews and the patterns in the overall rating and ranking of the hotels given by hotel guests. While most emerging destinations have been studied in the literature, studies related to India, a fast-growing leisure destination are scant. The present study tries to understand the hotel attributes that contribute towards customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction using online reviews for all hotels of Andaman & Nicobar Islands in India. Among the eight attributes identified from the most frequently used words in the text reviews, the study finds that while the location has a significant probability of increasing the ratings of both high- and low-rated reviews, rooms seem to have the most significant impact on lowering the probability of high scores irrespective of positive or negative sentiment review. The study also finds that guests of luxury hotels rate the hotels significantly higher than the guests of midrange and budget hotels.

Cross-country analysis of perception and emphasis of hotel attributes

This study attempts to investigate the effect of cross-country differences on online hotel reviews. More specifically, it attempts to investigate whether there are differences in the way Italians, Americans, and Chinese travelers perceive and emphasize several hotel attributes, even when including hotel star ratings and travelers’ profiles in the analysis. Based on a random sample of 9000 online reviews, the study adopted text link analysis to extrapolate the frequencies of predefined hotel attributes on which the multivariate analyses and tests were performed. Answers are provided to two research questions: Do travelers from different countries place different emphasis on hotel attributes? Do travelers from different countries perceive hotel attributes differently? The results suggest that the differences in perceptions and emphasis are significant. The adopted text-mining method could help hotel business managers to hear the voices of consumers and include them in performance evaluation and service design processes.

Classifying technological innovation attributes for hotels: an application of the Kano model

ABSTRACTTechnological facilities and services have become attractive features in hotel selection. However, limited research has been conducted on how technological innovation attributes are perceived by hotel tourists. This paper aims to highlight and categorize the technological innovation attributes of hotels based on the Kano model. Empirical testing shows four technological innovation factors: Internet and app usage, smartphone usage as a room key and for payment, E-housekeeping, and the use of electronic self-service systems. Findings provide practical implications for hotel operators planning to introduce technologies into their hotels.

Assessing hotel readiness to offer local cuisines: a clustering approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess the organisational readiness of small and medium scaled hotels to serve indigenous local cuisines and to segment the hotel properties for gastronomic tourism campaigning and destination marketing aims. The study also explores how the concept of organisational readiness relates to menu decision makers’ intentions, perceived benefits and organisational characteristics.Design/methodology/approachOrganisational readiness was measured by three dimensions (culture, climate and capacity). Data were derived from a survey of primary menu decision makers from 187 hotels in Ghana. Using a combination of hierarchical and non-hierarchical (K-means) algorithms, the hotels were clustered into homogenous groups based on the original raw scores of hotel readiness indicators. The resultant cluster solution was then validated and profiled against relevant external variables.FindingsAnalyses reveal three clusters which distinguish hotels by the degree of readiness to serve indigenous local dishes. The resultant segments differ by hotel category (star rating) as well as by the job positions and perceptions of primary menu decision makers. Unexpectedly, lower class hotels displayed significantly greater levels of organisational readiness to serve indigenous cuisines than those in the higher class category.Research limitations/implicationsThe study demonstrates that organisational readiness is related to perceived benefits and intentions. Among others, the findings advance the understanding of organisational readiness in hotels in the context of menu decision-making. Given the need to embed new practices in a fast-changing hospitality environment, insights drawn could also serve as a basis for future research. Generalisability of empirical findings may be limited by the socio-economic context as well as the study’s focus on small and medium scaled hotels.Practical implicationsThis paper supports hotel businesses in understanding the concept of organisational readiness and its relation to organisational characteristics and menu decision-making. By highlighting the different clusters of hotels, the findings accentuate the need for destination marketers and gastronomic tourism campaigners to target higher classed hotels and draw attention to the potential benefits of serving indigenous cuisines while addressing latent concerns. The results further underscore the role of organisational culture and the necessity for such campaign activities to be directed towards those with ample influence within the hierarchical structures of hotels.Originality/valueThis is an initial attempt to examine the application of the organisational readiness concept to menu decision-making in hotels and to explore the implications for segmentation purposes. Further analysis revealed the critical role of organisational culture on menu decision-making patterns. Thus, the paper applies an important element of organisational development theory to the hotel industry and represents a valuable contribution to the scant literature on indigenous cuisines in hotel food service contexts.

A small hotel market in Slovenia: a point of view from both sides of the counter

Introduction – The purpose of this paper is to investigate a small hotel market in Slovenia. The goal of the research is to present key attributes of small hotels in the country, reasons why guests choose small rather than big hotels, and the attributes of small hotels that the guests are most satisfied with. Design/Methodology – Empirical research was conducted in Slovenia from May 2014 to June 2015. The qualitative methods were used to collect and analyse data about the key attributes of small hotels (supply side), and the quantitative methods to collect and analyse data from small hotel guests (demand side). Findings – The results of the study indicate that Slovenian investors design their small hotels similarly to small hotels’ entrepreneurs in other countries. The major reasons why guests choose small hotels are their wish to establish closer contact with the local people and the local area, friendlier staff, and reasonable prices. Staff friendliness, their professionalism, and service quality are those attributes that small hotels guests appreciate the most. Originality of research – This is the first empirical research on small hotels’ market in Slovenia that offers an overview on its current situation in the country.

Impact of Hotel Attributes, Service Quality and Brand Image on Customer Satisfaction Among Diners at a Fine Dine Restaurant- Evidences from India

The hotel industry is contributing in a positive manner to the growth of the nation. With good opportunities in the field to earn profits, more players are emerging in the market. Satisfying customers is the key in making them revisit the restaurant and earn profits. This research intends to identify and test the impact of factors that lead to customer satisfaction in the hotel industry. Hotel attributes, service quality and brand image are identified as important factors and their effect on customer satisfaction among restaurant diners is explored. Questionnaire survey method was used for data collection from residents of a cosmopolitan town in India. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data collected. Results indicate that the hotel attributes and service quality have a positive influence on customer satisfaction. Further analysis revealed that brand image partially mediates the relation between service quality and customer satisfaction.

Understanding Customer Satisfaction With Services by Leveraging Big Data: The Role of Services Attributes and Consumers’ Cultural Background

User-generated content and online reviews (ORs) are becoming an increasingly relevant source of information for online customers who use them for purchasing decisions. This paper examines the impact of services attributes and consumers’ cultural background on customer satisfaction with services in an online setting using big data. First, almost half a million expedia.com hotel ORs related to hotel properties located in five different countries (U.S., U.K., Italy, Spain, and Russia) were retrieved. Second, the resulting dataset was used to investigate if and to what extent the overall customer satisfaction with a service is affected by the evaluation of specific hotel services’ attributes (operationalized based on an established typology of attributes) and by the consumers’ cultural background (operationalized by means of Hoftstede’s framework). Comprehensive multivariate regression analysis is carried out to test the formulated literature-driven hypotheses. In particular, the analysis reveals that critical service attributes, such as hotel condition, room comfort, service and staff, and cleanliness, positively affect the overall online satisfaction ratings. The cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism, and uncertainty avoidance negatively affect the overall online satisfaction, while long-term orientation and indulgence positively affect online satisfaction. Masculinity seems not to play a significant role. We also observe that reviews’ text length exerts a negative impact on online ratings. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Examining the Effects of Service Performance, Hotel Attributes and Experiential Quality on Brand Loyalty: The Case of Hotel Impiana Morib

Examining the Effects of Service Performance, Hotel Attributes and Experiential Quality on Brand Loyalty: The Case of Hotel Impiana Morib

Organic Versus Solicited Hotel TripAdvisor Reviews: Measuring Their Respective Characteristics

Hotels that participate in TripAdvisor’s Review Express review solicitation programs add volume to their review count. But are the incremental reviews generated good for the hotel? This research note reports findings from a study comparing organic and solicited reviews on TripAdvisor for 50 hotel properties across 10 American cities. The mixed research results suggest that participating hotels carefully evaluate their property’s postings to determine the positive and/or negative impacts solicited reviews may be having upon their online review image. Multiple review attractiveness measures are provided to assist hotel management evaluate their property’s review postings and make informed decision regarding participation in review solicitation programs.

Inconsistent behavior in online consumer reviews: The effects of hotel attribute ratings on location

The purpose of this article is to analyze the effects of hotel attribute ratings on location. This analysis is highly pertinent given the prevailing use of reviews and their potential interdependence. Within the framework of prospect theory, the results show that: i) the assessment of location is influenced by the evaluation of other hotel attributes; ii) this influence is asymmetric, in line with the loss aversion phenomenon (the consumer punishes the hotel more harshly for dissatisfaction than praises it lavishly for satisfaction); and iii) the effect of a change in the evaluations of other hotel attributes on the assessment of location presents a pattern that reverses the diminishing sensitivity property. Relevant research and managerial implications are outlined.

Hotels as Critical Hubs for Destination Disaster Resilience: An Analysis of Hotel Corporations’ CSR Activities Supporting Disaster Relief and Resilience

Disaster management has begun to examine the unique role of the private sector in disaster relief. The hotel and lodging industry is an especially critical infrastructure for community disaster relief and resilience, providing many lifeline services in addition to core skills and competencies contributing to the community’s social and human capital. Social and human capital empower the community to better cope with disturbance, and companies’ efforts to build social and human capital are often tied to their corporate social responsibility (CSR) management systems. A framework was developed to evaluate the management system maturity of the hotel and lodging industry’s CSR management for disaster relief and resilience. An analysis of three hotel and lodging corporations was performed to understand the current state of the industry. While many hotel properties are engaging in CSR activities during disaster relief, the analysis revealed that corporate management systems have room for maturation and growth to support the resilience of their community.

An Investigation into Management Response to Negative Online Reviews in Hotel Operations

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Why are hotel room prices different? Exploring spatially varying relationships between room price and hotel attributes

Despite abundant research on modeling hotel room prices, traditional hedonic pricing models (HPMs) have failed to consider spatial variations in the relationships among hotel room price and attribute variables. This study demonstrates the utility of a spatial HPM (s-HPM) using a geographically weighted regression analysis of 387 hotels in the Chicago area. Specifically, this study explored spatial variations in modeling hotel room prices and further identified spatial clustering patterns of relationships between room price and hotel attributes across market segments. The findings reveal that the s-HPM successfully identified spatially varying relationships between room price and hotel attributes, such as site attributes – size, age, class and service quality – and situation attributes – distances to airports, highways and tourist attractions – across the study area. This study contributes to a better understanding of local patterns of modeling room prices, ultimately providing guidelines for effective location-based hotel room pricing strategies.

Official and Subjective Hotel Attributes Compared: Online Hotel Rates in Shanghai

ABSTRACTA number of valued attributes determine the room rates that hotels charge. These attributes include not only room quality characteristics, but also access to various shared hotel facilities, service quality and access to amenities beyond the hotel itself. Using Box–Cox-transformed and pre-specified hedonic price functions, this paper reports estimated implicit prices for hotel room attributes in Shanghai. Internet-based hotel rates are regressed against official star ratings, consumer feedback scores and objective attributes, as reported by a global online travel agency. Most attributes are significant in all functional specifications; consumer perceptions—particularly subjective location attractiveness and an index of all-attribute ratings—explain much of the variability within a given star-rating of the hotel. Online ratings are at the same time imperfect substitutes and imperfect complements for official star ratings. The results imply that online ratings are as important in Chinese hotel markets as they are in the most advanced regions of the world.