Hotel Services Research Articles

Prospects for the development of the domestic hotel business and personnel training

The purpose of the study is to identify the transformations of working conditions and requirements for hotel staff based on an analysis of current trends in the development of the hotel business and changes in consumer preferences. The methodological basis of the study was the works of Russian scientists and practitioners in the field of hotel services and tourism, as well as on the topic of the peculiarities of the functioning of the domestic hotel business in modern conditions. The subject of the study is the economic relations that arise in the process of functioning of enterprises in the hotel industry, considering current trends and prospects for their development. The article identifies the following main and new challenges facing the hospitality industry as a result of the consequences of the pandemic and the current realities of the international situation: to ensure the widespread digitalization of technological processes and services offered; to pay attention to issues of respect for nature (greening activities); to introduce new types of accommodation means into the practice of domestic business, to take into account changes in consumer requirements and preferences. Based on the analysis of such customer preferences, a conclusion is made about their diversity and inconsistency. It was found that hotel companies are forced to change along with tourists, adapting to their requests and requirements. The development of tourism and hospitality in the digital economy also implies qualitative changes in the training and hiring of personnel. It was revealed that further digitalization, the use of modern software and the use of artificial intelligence in the hotel business will lead to a decrease in routine work in hotels, a reduction in employees and at the same time to the need to improve their qualification level. It is shown that it is advisable to make the choice of optimal software in order to increase the productivity of a hotel enterprise based on the involvement of specialists. Consulting analysts will help to choose from a variety of applications for the hotel business exactly those that will improve the efficiency of a particular customer hotel.

ТРЕНДЫ РАЗВИТИЯ ТУРИЗМА В РОССИИ В УСЛОВИЯХ НЕСТАБИЛЬНОСТИ И САНКЦИЙ

The idea of a global world with free movement of people, goods and capital around the world is being revised not only by unorthodox economists, but also by adherents of liberal concepts. The tourism sector is no exception: entire countries are closing their borders, direct fl ights between them are canceled, security threats are increasing, and the geopolitical situation is changing dramatically. The purpose of this work is to analyze the trends in the development of tourism in Russia in the new reality, to analyze the dynamics of the development of individual sub–sectors of this sector, which in the future will allow the authors to develop recommendations for the development of institutional measures to support domestic tourism. The results of the presented work are the identifi ed trends in the development of tourism at the present stage and the analysis of economic indicators of the tourism sector of Russia in 2017–2021. The paper also highlights the main trends in the development of tourism in the Chelyabinsk region. In Russia, there is an active reorientation of tourism to the domestic, new regions are emerging — leaders in tourism. The volume of hotel services and other means of collective accommodation is increasing. Inbound tourism is signifi cantly reduced. The volume of tourist services provided has increased compared to the pandemic indicators. A study of the economic indicators of travel agencies and tour operators showed that there is an active investment, despite the decline in fi nancial indicators, companies see signifi cant prospects for long-term development of the industry due to internal potential. Travel agencies in general demonstrate an increase in fi nancial indicators, actively increase investments with the support of the state. Many regions, including the Chelyabinsk Region, demonstrate signifi cant progress in the development of domestic tourism, off ering new tourist routes and products. When conducting the study, the authors used data from open sources in the sectoral and regional context, in particular, the FiraPro information and statistical database, Rosstat data. Methods of statistical analysis, graphical interpretation of data, methods of analysis and synthesis were used in the study.

New demands by hotel customers post COVID-19 era

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the situation of hotels and tourism industry in Malaysia during and in post Covid-19 and to mitigate indirect damage caused by COVID-19 to the hotel business and tourism industry by examining the factors that have an influence on hotel’s customer satisfaction rating and revisit intention through an integration of service quality (SERVQUAL) framework and expectation-confirmation theory (ECT). Design/methodology/approach The SERVQUAL and ECT were considered the underpinning theoretical models but are integrated and extended by including a few additional variables. Data were collected from 458 respondents of travelers and hotel customers in Malaysia and analysed by applying partial least squares structural equation model technique. Findings The empirical results established that significant positive relationships exist between the three newly emerged independent variables (IVs), namely, hygienic practice, greenness of service and digitalization and hotel customer satisfaction towards hotel revisit intention, and only two variables from SERVQUAL, namely, reliability and assurance, have a significant relationship with hotel customer satisfaction towards hotel revisit intention. The results reveal that customer satisfaction has significant direct effect between above-mentioned IVs and customers revisit intention. Research limitations/implications The use of purposeful sampling method in only one country might limit the generalizability of the results. Future research should be planned to duplicate the current study using a sizable sample of participants from multiple countries and include other related factors related to the pandemic phenomena such as safety, hotel location and health value offered. Practical implications Theoretical findings imply that service quality is a dynamic theory that should be examined continuously to achieve sustainable and resilient performance in today’s competitive business environment, as some modifications inevitably occur over time and new factors could be emerged. Regarding practical implications, study findings proved the great significance of assurance, reliability, digitalization, greenness and hygienic practices on customer satisfaction towards intention to revisit to hotel. Therefore, it is critical for hotel management to retain hotel business industry in a way that fits and matches customer’s health protection, meets customer’s newly prompted expectations and needs and ensures resilience during unsettled times. Originality/value This study is unique as the newly emerged variables are included in the research framework, and thus it helps to close the literature gap by introducing an integrated SERVQUAL and ECT theoretical model, which rarely performs in this context and can be replicated or extended with validated scales. This study contributes to enhancing hotel and tourism sustainable service quality performance to achieve myriad economic and health values.

LGBTQ hotel selection criteria: a thematic analysis method

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) hotel selection criteria.Design/methodology/approachA thematic analysis was performed to explore 104 LGBTQ traveler comments based on TripAdvisor's top five LGBTQ hotels in Thailand.FindingsThe results indicated that tangible and intangible hotel attributes influence the LGBTQ community's hotel selection.Practical implicationsThe results emphasize the need for hoteliers to understand the diversity of the LGBTQ community's hotel selection criteria and adjust or adopt different marketing strategies to engage and attract LGBTQ travelers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the tourism literature by showing the importance of recognizing the LGBTQ community's hotel selection criteria and providing recommendations to improve product quality and services of hotels.

Experiential marketing in the budget hotel: do Gen Y and Gen Z change the game?

PurposeThis study aims to investigate if experiences can create satisfaction, loyalty and place attachment in the context of the budget hotel industry given growing proportion of Gen Y and Gen Z of budget travellers.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses structural equation modelling-partial least squares approach to validate the path model. A total of 168 samples in Indonesia were collected using online consumer survey.FindingsThe findings show positive and significant effects of experience on memories, perceived value, satisfaction, loyalty and place attachment among budget hotel travellers.Research limitations/implicationsSome studies have investigated the importance of experiences in budget hotels marketing. This study contributes to this discussion by presenting that multiple dimensions of experience (sensing, feeling, thinking, acting and connecting) are significant drivers of satisfaction, loyalty and place attachment among Gen Y and Gen Z majority budget travellers.Practical implicationsFrom the findings, the authors suggest budget hotels to provide physical service environment that can enhance the visitor experience while visiting the hotel related to services relating (e.g. cozy room), acting (e.g. instagrammable spots), thinking (e.g. game centre) and sensing experience (e.g. music that soothes the soul) and social interaction (guest-to-staff interaction) that can enhance feeling service (e.g. welcoming staff).Originality/valueGiven the growing proportion of Gen Y and Gen Z among budget travellers and growing occupation of budget hotels, it become more essential to understand how customers perceive the services of budget hotels. This study shows that today customers perceive not only cost but also experiences as important factors that determine their satisfaction, loyalty and attachment towards budget hotels.

Tourist Preferences for Robotic Services in Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Case Studies of Iranian and German Tourists)

Tourist Preferences for Robotic Services in Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Case Studies of Iranian and German Tourists)

Pengelompokan Tamu Hotel Dengan Menggunakan Metode K-Means Clustering

Research This research applies the K-Means Clustering method to identify groups of hotel guests based on their room preferences, duration of stay and level of satisfaction. The results of this research have great potential to help hotel management improve service quality and marketing strategies. The main focus of the research is on guest satisfaction and resource optimization. Using K-Means Clustering data analysis, this research aims to uncover common patterns among hotel guests, enabling management to allocate resources more efficiently. By understanding guest preferences regarding rooms and length of stay, management can better customize their hotel services and facilities. Apart from that, this research also aims to increase guest satisfaction by identifying factors that influence satisfaction levels. With a deeper understanding of guest needs and preferences, management can take appropriate steps to improve the guest experience. The results of this research can also have significant marketing implications. By understanding different guest profiles, hotels can design more effective marketing strategies and target specific promotions to specific groups of guests based on their characteristics. Overall, this research has the potential to help hotels improve guest satisfaction and operational efficiency through better understanding guest preferences and grouping them based on certain factors.

가치-태도-행동 모델을 적용한 호텔 AI 로봇서비스에 관한 연구

After COVID-19, hotel industry is rapidly experiencing changes in the business environment, and under the influence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, hotel industry is striving to secure competitive advantages through differentiation, including the use of big data and the IoT in service provision, as well as the introduction of artificial intelligence(AI) robot services. This study analyzed the perceived value of AI robot services and their impact on usage attitudes and behavioral intentions of customers who have used hotels that have introduced AI robot services.
 The results of the study showed that the value of robot services perceived by customers who have used robot services in hotels is categorized into three dimensions: social, experiential, and functional, and all of them have a positive effect on usage attitudes, with social, functional, and experiential values having a positive effect on usage attitudes in that order.
 Attitude toward use was also analyzed to have a positive effect on behavioral intention, which is consistent with the value-attitude-behavior model. Therefore, it is necessary for hotels to improve the satisfaction of hotel guests through diversified services of AI robot service.

Measuring Hotel Service Quality Using Social Media Analytics : The Moderating Effects of Brand of Origin

Measuring Hotel Service Quality Using Social Media Analytics : The Moderating Effects of Brand of Origin

Understanding customer experience with Vietnamese hotels by analyzing online reviews

On the post-pandemic recovery green economy track, especially in the hospitality and tourism industry, businesses must accelerate digital transformation and enter the race to increase customer experience. Improving customer experience is critical, and understanding customers’ emotions and needs after using hotel services is crucial. This is why businesses increasingly rely on online customer reviews on booking sites to gain insight into what their customers seek. By understanding their needs and experiences, hotel managers can provide services that meet customer expectations and improve overall service quality. Although online review analysis is meaningful for hotel managers because of its practicality in business operations, a specific model, method, or tool is needed to explore customer emotions. This study proposes a method to analyze customers’ online reviews of Vietnamese hotel services. With a Data set of 20,551 reviews collected from TripAdvisor, the study examines customers’ perceptions of Vietnamese hotel services overall and aspects of hotel services by combining language rules of natural language and inferential statistics. The key findings indicate that customers are most satisfied with the “place” aspect of hotels, with a satisfaction rate of 78%, while the “room” service aspect has the lowest satisfaction rate at 61.3%. These results have recommended that hotel managers in Vietnam prioritize understanding customers’ sentiments and opinions to improve service quality in aspects where satisfaction rates are lower.

Classifying Quality Attributes of Hotel Services Considering Review Characteristics and Semantic Consistency: A Review-Driven IPA

ABSTRACT Service quality is associated with customer satisfaction and a determinant to success of hospitality enterprises. Different types of quality attributes affect customer satisfaction in varying degrees. Online reviews offer opportunities and challenges in terms of building importance-performance analysis (IPA). Considering review characteristics and semantic consistency, this paper explores a review-driven IPA that achieves the classification of service quality attributes, based on which appropriate improvement strategies are generated for hotel services. First, measuring service quality from online reviews is conducted to convert the voice of customer into requirements associated with service quality. The performance of the attributes is estimated by considering multiple aspects with different proportions among reviews. Second, the importance estimation is advanced with a newly defined semantic consistency that can reflect customers’ actual preferences, ensuring the reliability of the classifications. Subsequently, the proposed method is validated by applying it to chained-brand hotels in Hong Kong together with correlation and comparison analyses. The derived results contribute theoretically to service quality analysis and IPA, while providing meaningful findings to the hospitality sector.

Unboxing the Complex between Job Satisfaction and Intangible Service Quality: A Perspective of Sustainability in the Hotel Industry

The quality of service is one of the key assumptions of a sustainable and profitable business in the hotel industry. On the other hand, employees as direct providers of hotel services have a direct impact on the perceived quality of service. Establishing a relationship between job satisfaction and perceived intangible service quality is of great importance for customer relationship management and sustainable competitive advantage. For the collection of primary data, questionnaires were distributed to two groups of respondents, namely hotel employees and guests. Thus, 456 paired questionnaires were obtained. The testing of defined hypotheses and relations between constructs and latent variables was completed using the PLS-SEM approach. The results of the study showed that all validated constructs, namely pay, promotion, supervision, fringe benefits, contingent rewards, coworkers, communication, and the nature of work, contribute positively to job satisfaction. A positive relationship between job satisfaction and intangible service quality constructs was confirmed for reliability, assurance, and responsiveness but not for empathy. The study confirmed that perceived intangible service quality can be influenced by increasing job satisfaction and that payment and communication can achieve the most significant influence.

Facilities management and clients satisfaction nexus in hotels in secondary cities in Ghana: A study of selected hotels in Wa

PurposeThis study aims to assess how the provision of facilities management (FM) services influences customer satisfaction in hotels in secondary cities. This study focussed on customer satisfaction in relation to specific FM services such as cleaning, maintenance, security, internet/information technology and air conditioner servicing.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a case study design. Simple random and purposive sampling methods were used to select the hotels and the respondents. The study used a survey based on the SERVQUAL model to collect data from 136 respondents. Six hotel managers were also interviewed.FindingsThere were disparities in customer satisfaction across the various hotel categories based on the assessment indicators used. Thus, customer satisfaction with FM services was not influenced by hotel ratings. On the calibre of staff handling FM activities, none of the hotels had a professional facilities manager. The hotel managers were in charge of FM activities, which affected the provision of FM services. Generally, customers in all the selected hotels were not satisfied with the quality of FM services. Specifically, the overall mean gap score was very low (−3.20), which meant that customers’ expectations far exceeded their perceptions, hence, their dissatisfaction. Tangible(s) of services were customers’ least appreciated (−1.04) dimension. This meant that hotels did not pay much attention to the physical (place) aspect of their FM activities. This should engage the attention of hospitality industry regulators and policymakers, given the current global health crisis caused by Covid-19 and its variance.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates customer satisfaction with FM services in hotels in secondary cities. Practically, hotels can become very competitive if they consider the findings of the study to provide effective customer-oriented FM services.

Service Quality and Customer Loyalty on Customer Satisfaction at a Hotel

Company Hotel Salak Express is currently experiencing very rapid development in line with the needs of society in various fields of life. To be able to meet people's needs, good service is needed in order to create loyalty for customers which will affect the company itself. At this study, the researcher aims to determine the effect of service quality and customer loyalty on customer satisfaction. The population in this study were 70 consumers of hotel service users. The data collection method was done through a questionnaire. The research method is quantitative. The data used in this study are primary data. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire. Analysis using Multiple Regression with testing using SPSS.

Exploring Customer Feedback on Their Hotel Experiences in Vietnam

Over the past twenty years, customer experience has attracted the attention of researchers and business executives. For the hotel service industry, understanding customer experience becomes a necessity, as it is one of the top goals for hotel survival. With the development of e-commerce and the globalized hotel industry, customers are easily shared on online booking sites, making hotel managers work harder to design a good customer experience management plan. This chapter proposes an approach to analyzing data from customers' online reviews with their experiences to understand their emotional and psychological states after using Vietnamese hotel services. The Python language is used for statistical analysis of these data, and the Vander library measures customers' positive and negative views after the hotel service experience. The results show that most customers are satisfied with Vietnamese hotel services, and less than 10% are dissatisfied with aspects such as staff, price, check-in, and location.

The Future Role of International Trade Risk Elimination and Investment Promotion in the Development of Economic Relations Between Azerbaijan and Latvia

Abstract After regaining its state independence, Azerbaijan got a favorable opportunity to enter the world market. The income from the country’s rich oil and gas resources served to rapidly increase the gross domestic product. Today, the government of Azerbaijan is preparing an action plan for the development of the non-oil sector in order to reduce the country’s dependence on oil and gas exports. In particular, there are some economic spheres that have a great need to be revived and have the main share in budget revenues. Although Azerbaijan has left behind most of its competitors in the viticulture and winemaking sector for many years, in the current conditions this sector relies on foreign investments for its development. Although tourism opportunities in Azerbaijan are very wide, the level of service in hotels and recreation centers is very low. Expensive prices in return for the level of service provided have a negative impact on the growth of Azerbaijan’s tourism revenues. Unfortunately, there are also serious problems in the development of the forestry and machine-building industries and wheat production in the country. Latvia has already specialized and has some experience in exporting in the listed economic sectors in Eastern Europe. The entry of Latvian investment into Azerbaijan will serve to strengthen economic relations between the two countries and maximize mutual income. In the research work, these issues will be considered and analyzed separately by economic spheres.

Roles of customer and employee satisfaction on corporate performance: An empirical investigation

Employee satisfaction must be improved since it is essential to any organization's ability to succeed financially. This research aims to investigate the link between customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction as well as how each affects organizational success. The impact of several organizational elements on employee satisfaction is examined in this research. In this cohort study, qualitative research techniques were used. A self-administrated questionnaire with multiple choice and release ruined questions were used to gather the data. The results of the principal component analysis (PCA) based on the correlation matrix showed that among the cohorts examined, where consumers had also indicated satisfaction with the current services, there was a high level of employee (hotel staff) satisfaction. Customers' comfort and subsequent satisfaction have mostly been influenced by ambient cleanliness, wholesome meals, and hotel services. From the viewpoint of the workers, a positive work environment combined with rewards like pay and regular training motivated the staff to work devotedly to improve the organization, which is reflected in the customers' satisfaction levels. Our research supports the existence of an indirect relationship mediated by customers between organizational performance and employee happiness. In conclusion, it is plausible to assume that awareness of employee roles is crucial since it seems to be a crucial component of the success of contemporary organizations.

Apakah Karakter Eksekutif Memoderasi Hubungan Antara Thin Capitalization, Transfer Pricing, Financial Distress dan Penghindaran Pajak?

Purpose: This research is used to examine the effect of thin capitalization, transfer pricing, and financial distress on tax avoidance with executive character as a moderating variable in hotel, restaurant, and tourism service companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the 2017-2019 period. Methodology/approach: The population of this research is 38 companies. Based on the purposive sampling method, the sample in this research was 18 companies. The data analysis method used in this research is the panel data regression analysis method and the data is processed using Eviews software Findings: The results showed that thin capitalization and financial distress had an effect on tax avoidance, while transfer pricing had no effect. The executive character is able to moderate the effect of thin capitalization and transfer pricing on tax avoidance but is unable to moderate the effect of financial distress on tax avoidance. Practical and Theoretical contribution/Originality: This research has important implications for several parties, one of which is for regulators, namely the results of this study indicate that tax regulations need to be tightened so that opportunities or loopholes for tax avoidance can be minimized. Research Limitation: This research is limited to service companies, especially in the hotel, restaurant, and tourism sectors. Besides that, the executive characteristic variable in this study was only measured in relation to the executives' risk preferences in decision making.

Consumers’ Ethical Perceptions of Autonomous Service Robots in Hotels

This study empirically and comprehensively explores consumers’ ethical perceptions of autonomous service robots (ASRs) in hotels. Under the triangulation approach, this study has identified eight themes of consumer perceived ethical issues (privacy, security, safety, transparency, fairness, socialization, autonomy, and responsibility). Each theme can be explained from two dimensions: ethical issues arise during the interaction (i.e., ubiquitous surveillance, excessive data, unidentified risks, service disclosure, inaccessibility, dehumanization, selection of services, and service recovery), and ethical issues can be raised by the characteristics of ASRs (i.e., privacy infringement, malicious use, malfunctions, untrustworthiness, biased features, job replacement, inflexibility, and self-identified solutions). This study is the first to propose ethical issues of ASRs from two dimensions with different intelligence levels, and to highlight ethical issues during hotel service interactions. The findings contribute to ethics studies of service robots from consumers’ perspectives and offer managerial insights to reduce ethical concerns and enhance ASRs usage in hotels.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND SENTIMENT REVIEWS ON SELECTED BOOKING SITES OF MANILA MANOR HOTEL 2019-2021

One approach to significantly enhance hotel products, services, and marketing strategies is through online guest evaluations. However, few research has examined online reviews utilizing a SERVQUAL model for sentiment analysis, therefore addressing this gap, notably in the Philippine hotel industry. The SERVQUAL model, which was modified in accordance with the purpose of the study, served as the foundation for the framework. Customers who had stayed at and evaluated the establishment on Agoda, Kayak, and Booking Web Portal served as subjects, and Qualitative Sentiment Analysis Research design was used. The results were divided into positive and negative sentiments and categorized using the five RATER (Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness) dimensions of service quality. The validity and reliability of the instruments used can be attributed to the literature utilizing and validating them as a measurement scale of customer satisfaction. Finally, the study revealed that the overall satisfaction of guests at the hotel establishment was heavily influenced by physical hotel features rather than intangible factors. The researchers were then able to provide specific suggestions for improving the hotel service and product quality, as well as prospective program improvements which can also be used by other accommodation.