International Tourist Hotels Research Articles

Effect of internal branding on employee brand commitment and behavior in hospitality

The purpose of this study was to explore the implementation of internal branding in international tourist hotels and to investigate the impact of internal branding and employee brand commitment on employee brand behavior. Based on the results of 661 questionnaires returned from a sample of international tourist hotels in Taiwan, internal branding and employee brand commitment have a significant effect on employee brand behavior. Moreover, internal branding and employee brand commitment and behavior differ significantly according to personal variables such as age and work experience, and in different categories of tourist hotels. The results of this study imply that hoteliers could shape employee attitudes and behavior through internal branding, and it is therefore recommended that internal branding be added to corporate education and training. In the extant literature on the hospitality industry, the effect of internal branding on organizational performance and effectiveness is unclear; the present study contributes to academic research in clarifying this link.

Productivity Growth of Taiwanese International Tourist Hotels in a Metafrontier Framework

Due to the vigorous development of the tourism industry in Taiwan, the number of international tourist hotels has been on an upward trend. To survive in an increasingly competitive environment, it is important to seek out improvement in performance. This study measures the performance of fifty-four international tourist hotels in Taiwan from 2008 to 2011 by using the metafrontier Malmquist productivity index. This index satisfies the requirement of circularity, is immune to linear programming infeasibility, overcomes the problem of base period dependency, and considers the heterogeneity among hotels. To investigate sources of productivity change, this index can be further decomposed into within-group efficiency change, within-group technical change, and technical leadership change. The empirical results indicate that the use of different technologies by hotels affects the productivity change. Both within-group efficiency and technical changes are the main factors of productivity change. Chain hotels are technology leaders, and independent hotels are followers. By identifying each competitor’s productivity change, operators can refer to appropriate best-practice hotels to improve their operations.

Does uncertain demand affect service quality?

The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of demand uncertainty on labor intensity as well as service quality. Theoretical predictions are mixed: on the one hand, risk aversion leads hotels to choose a lower level of capital in response to demand uncertainty, thereby leading to higher labor intensity; on the other hand, the demand-enhancing benefit of service quality may be weakened due to demand uncertainty, thereby leading to a lower service quality decision. Using the data of international tourist hotels in Taiwan, this article shows that demand uncertainty leads to a positive impact on hotels’ labor intensity. In addition, hotels located in markets with a higher degree of concentration, having more diversified revenue sources, or belonging to hotel chains also tend to exhibit higher labor intensity.

Hotel Environmental Management Decisions: The Stakeholder Perspective

This study investigates stakeholder perceptions of the factors that are critical to the adoption of environmental management practices in international tourist hotels in Taiwan. The empirical data were based on 26 semistructured interviews with four types of stakeholders. According to the qualitative results, the themes that emerge associated with hotel owners/managers include economic concerns, top management commitment, and operational challenges to environmental practices. Environmental policies, regulations, and support are identified as the themes associated with government agencies. Moreover, the knowledge, consultancy, and professional assistance provided by academics and non-governmental organizations facilitate the acceptability and implementation of hotel environmental initiatives. The research implications highlight the need for communication and collaboration among stakeholders.

Using fuzzy logic approach in estimating individual guest loyalty level for international tourist hotels

Retaining and improving guest loyalty has become the main focus of hospitality management due to fierce competition in recent years. While many existing studies have relied on survey-based methods to assess guest loyalty level, this study aims to achieve precise estimates by using quantitative data and expert knowledge of practitioners. This study proposes a decision support model which integrates fuzzy logic with expert judgment in order to estimate guest loyalty in international tourist hotels, thereby providing strong evidence for further guest loyalty management. This decision support model is illustrated by using a case study of an international tourist hotel. This research provides a rigorous and practical approach that enables hotel managers to estimate and manage guest loyalty. Enhanced knowledge of each guest's loyalty level and the deployment of specific marketing strategies to different guests can help hotels strengthen the existing customer bases more effectively.

Exploring green service quality elements for international tourist hotels in Taiwan from the aspect of two-dimensional quality model

The enhancement of leisure atmosphere in the past years has resulted in environmental pollution and changes, thus tourism industry is no longer a non-smokestack green industry. Although the governmental organizations have promoted Green Hotel for the improvement, the remodeling of appearance and equipment and the alternation of spares sources have increased the costs, therefore a lot of hotels are still waiting and seeing the successive development. This study tends to find out customer emphases on the green service quality of international tourist hotels through the classification with Two-Dimensional Quality Model. The research findings show that 20 out of 28 green service quality items are Indifferent Quality, 4 Attractive Quality, and 4 One-Dimensional Quality. The businesses therefore should enhance Attractive Quality and One-Dimensional Quality. For instance, the green service quality items of Hotel providing balanced and diversified foods, Hotel offering traditional food with local characteristics, Fresh fruit and vegetable juice offered in a hotel, and Hotel providing 24-hour free wireless network services could enhance consumer satisfaction. The government, on the other hand, should promote the value of Green Hotel and green service quality. Furthermore, making improvements with internationally effective green service quality evaluation standards could promote Taiwan to be the first choice of green tourism.

A study on the key success factors of service quality for international hotels

With Taiwan ROC’s economic growth, the importance of service industries has gradually increased. Tourism services, as a comprehensive undertaking with multiple objectives, contribute greatly to the foreign exchange earnings of the country. Specifically, international hotels, which provide accommodation, catering, shopping, socializing, committee rooms and recreation, play a crucial role in the tourism industry. The current study adopted the Delphi method and offered an anonymous channel for conveying opinions. After repetitive consultations, summarizations and revisions, the analytic network process (ANP) principles for the study were finally constructed. The subjects of the study were clients of international tourist hotels in the Taipei area. In total, 250 questionnaires were distributed, and 176 valid questionnaires were collected, at a questionnaire response rate of 70%. As the results demonstrated, the most significant dimension was “Responsiveness” (weight = 0.238): which accounted for 23.8% of the overall weights. Other dimensions were also important: “Assurance” (weight = 0.217), “Reliability” (weight = 0.205), “Empathy” (weight = 0. 183), and “Tangibles” (weight = 0.157). The research results showed that “Responsiveness” was of the greatest importance for service quality in international tourist hotels. The data compiled from the overall weights of evaluation indicators of the service quality for the international hotels showed that, among the 16 evaluation indicators, the top five indexes were ranked, based on importance, as follows: service willingness, expertise, responsiveness, reliability, and cordiality.

The Study on Constructing a Curriculum Model of Hotel English for Undergraduate Hospitality Management in Taiwan

To meet the development of the international tourism market, international tourist hotels have gradually replaced tourist hotels in Taiwan. Owing to the industrial trend, foreign language proficiency, which is essentially communicative skill training required for undergraduate students/learners and industrial practitioners, has been significantly emphasized and noticed among educational institutions and hospitality industries. This study namely aimed at constructing a English curriculum model for hospitality field which infused from English for Specific Purposes. The modified Delphi technique was adopted to determine the relevant course contents of ESP curriculum model for hospitality derived from the consensus of both educators and practitioners. The results revealed that two dimensions of ESP curriculum model for hospitality field constructed as well as nine courses contained in this study respectively. Also, it appears that Taiwan’s hospitality educators and practitioners should assist students/learners to strengthen English proficiency.

Advertising, Price and Hotel Service Quality: A Signalling Perspective

This study investigates two main issues: the relationship between advertising expenditure and service quality, and the relationship between price and service quality in the hotel industry. The authors consider an asymmetric-information environment, in which consumers are uncertain about service quality, and address the above issues from a signalling perspective. Building on signalling and counter-signalling theory in economics, the authors propose a number of testable hypotheses and conduct an empirical study using data for Taiwanese international tourist hotels. The empirical results support the hypothesis that the advertising–quality relationship is inverted-U shaped, whereas the price–quality relationship is positive and monotonic. Hence, higher prices may signal higher service quality, whereas higher advertising expenditure does not necessarily signal higher service quality.

Regional Traffic & Medical Services and Cost Efficiency of International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan

This study analyzes how regional public transport facilities and medical services affect the efficiency of international tourist hotels (ITHs). First, we adopt data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the cost efficiency of international tourist hotels in Taiwan during 1998 to 2009. Next, we use the truncated regression to estimate the effect of traffic convenience and medical services on cost efficiency. The distance to international airports and distance to MRT station have significantly negative effects on cost efficiency of international tourist hotels, while the distance to the freeway exit, distance to bus station, and pick-up service, chain system, and shorter operating year have significantly positive impacts on their cost efficiency. The shorter distance to the hospital and more hospitals in a region significantly improve cost efficiency of ITHs in Taiwan.

An Empirical Study of Environmental Practices and Employee Ecological Behavior in the Hotel Industry

This study examines the relationships among environmental knowledge, environmental awareness, environmental concern, and employee ecological behavior to implement green practices across the hotel industry. Structural equation modeling with a bootstrapping estimation was used with 385 employees from international tourist hotels in Hong Kong. The results show that environmental knowledge positively influences environmental concern and ecological behavior. In addition, employee environmental awareness mediates the relationship between environmental knowledge and concern, while both environmental awareness and concern appear to mediate the relationship between environmental knowledge and ecological behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of study results are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

Regional Environmental Quality and Cost Efficiency of International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan

The purpose of this study is to compute the cost efficiency of international tourist hotels ( ITHs) in Taiwan and analyze how regional environmental quality affects cost efficiency. The study collects a variety of operating data of international tourist hotels in Taiwan between 1998 and 2009 from the Annual Tourist Hotels Operational Analysis Report, as published by the Tourism Bureau. The data of regional environmental quality are collected from the Taiwan Environment Data Warehouse. This study first uses data envelopment analysis ( DEA) for computing cost efficiency, and then applies the truncated regression to investigate the impact of environmental indicators on cost efficiency. Namely, it is a two-stage DEA-regression method. The empirical results indicate that the density of pungent air pollutants, such as O3 and SO2, have significantly negative impacts on the cost efficiency of ITHs in Taiwan. However, the high volume of waste disposal and low recycling rate reflect a higher business activity intensity in a region, which positively enhances ITHs’ cost efficiency.

Do ethical and sustainable practices matter?

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of Maignanet al.’s (1999) four-dimension model of corporate citizenship (based on economic, ethical, legal and discretionary responsibilities) on business performance in the hospitality sector.Design/methodology/approach– This study obtained its empirical evidence from international tourist hotels in Taiwan and applied structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses.Findings– The results show that ethical and sustainable practices of corporate citizenship have positive effects on employee affective organizational commitment, organizational innovation and customer loyalty, while affective organizational commitment, innovation and customer loyalty all have positive effects on business performance. Most important of all, bootstrap estimations based on SEM show that corporate citizenship has indirect positive effects on business performance through the mediating roles of affective organizational commitment, innovation and customer loyalty.Originality/value– While most prior studies were conducted in Western contexts, based on this work’s empirical investigation of international hotels in Taiwan, it is concluded that proactive corporate social responsibility strategies and practices, such as corporate citizenship, can ultimately increase the overall effectiveness of the hospitality industry in a Chinese context.

A Comparison Study of Housing-performance between B&B and Hotel Industry in Taiwan

As also offering accommodation supply just the same as B&B, the hotel industry, including international and regular tourism hotels which were strictly classified and regulated by Tourism Bureau in Taiwan, played not only a competing role in attracting visitors’ accommodation more or less, but an operational and profiting benchmark in some aspects to all the B&B owners while evaluating their own operational housing performance. The monthly practical statistics which were obligatedly submitted to administration by each B&B and hotel were collected in this study. Three housing performance indexes, including the room sold ratio, averaged room price, and averaged productivity per employee, were calculated and analyzed. The statistical procedures, including correlation analysis, K-Means clustering, MANOVA analysis and MDS as well, were respectively conducted to explore the correlation of dependent variables within B&B and two kinds of hotel, classify each accommodation object into one cluster based on relative similarity, test the hypothesis of heterogeneous means existing in factors or clusters, and finally reduce the dimensionality in order to have better and easier visible interpretation.

Research Note: Market Disequilibrium Effect on Hotel Prices

The authors reformulate the hedonic price approach by taking into account market disequilibrium in the hotel market. In the reformulated model, the imbalance between room supply and demand is incorporated into the hedonic price function. The hedonic price function for a hotel facing market disequilibrium is then estimated using data from a national panel of international tourist hotels in Taiwan during the period 1996–2008. They find that market disequilibrium has a positive and significant effect on room rates of tourist hotels in Taiwan; that is, an increase in excess demand may significantly raise the room rates. The effects of other physical attributes of hotels on room rates are also discussed.

Practical application of importance-performance analysis in determining critical job satisfaction factors of a tourist hotel

The service profit chain theory suggests that the satisfied employee delivered customer satisfaction and profit for service businesses. Competition between tourist hotels in Taiwan remains strong, as trips by foreign visitors are increasing year after year. One of the critical factors that differentiate whether or not a hotel can be profitable is the revenue per employee. Satisfied employees whose organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is high will generate a higher ratio of revenue per employee. This study explores the key factors that effectively drive job satisfaction of the employees in an international tourist hotel. The study collected 474 valid employee responses. It applied an importance-performance analysis (IPA), using the self-explained matrix, which indicated that compensation was the top issue to be addressed, followed by work environment, interpersonal relationship, and supervision. Based on the research results, the author discusses some useful implications.

Research Note: Service Quality and Market Structure in the International Tourist Hotel Industry

This paper empirically examines the relationship between service quality and market structure using metropolitan-level panel data from the Taiwanese hotel industry. The empirical results indicate, first, that the influence of market structure on room service quality is U-shaped – high and low levels of market concentration lead to better service quality; and, second, that market structure is positively associated with food and beverage service quality.

Tourist Preferences and Cost Efficiency of International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan

This paper analyzes the effects of tourist nationality sources on international tourist hotels’ (ITHs) cost efficiency in Taiwan and the factors affecting a tourist’s choice of a hotel. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach is used to compute cost efficiency scores of 61 ITHs in Taiwan during 1998-2007. The number of Asian, North American, Japanese, and local tourists has significantly positive effects on cost efficiency, but the number of overseas Chinese has a negative effect on cost efficiency. The number of tourists of other nationalities has no influence on cost efficiency. Generally, most tourists in Taiwan prefer a larger, older, and closer-to-airport hotel. This study also finds that the chain system, the number of scenic spots surrounding hotels, and the ratio of individual tourists all significantly improve the cost efficiency of ITHs in Taiwan.

Research Note: Revenue and Labour Demand in the Hotel Industry: An Investigation of Endogeneity

This paper investigates the effect of hotel room revenue on labour demand based on data for international tourist hotels in Taiwan. Past empirical research on the relationship between hotel room revenue and labour demand has failed to take into account the fact that the causality between these two variables can be a two-way rather than just a one-way relationship. In other words, room revenue can affect labour demand and vice versa. The authors address this issue by using an instrumental variables (IV) regression approach in which room revenue and hotel labour demand can be determined simultaneously. The empirical results indicate that a failure to account for the two-way causality will underestimate the effect of room revenue on labour demand. The findings are of particular importance to hotel managers as the authors provide more accurate estimates for the relationship between hotel room revenue and labour demand.

Measurement of tourist hotels׳ productive efficiency, occupancy, and catering service effectiveness using a modified two-stage DEA model in Taiwan

This study develops a modified two-stage model to evaluate productive efficiency, occupancy, and catering service effectiveness of Taiwan׳s international tourist hotels. The difference between the modified and original two-stage model is that the modified two-stage model allows for multiple efficiencies to be calculated in the unique stage and the concept of intermediate input is introduced.The modified model was tested using 58 Taiwanese international hotels and the results show the modified model offers a more efficient and effective approach in calculating all the efficiencies in a single data envelopment analysis (DEA) implementation as opposed to independent efficiency calculations.