Does better service induce higher profitability? Evidence from Taiwanese Hospitality Industry

We adopt Wang et al. (2006) service quality measure to examine how the qualities of various hotel services affect hotel's profitability using panel data in the Taiwanese international tourist hotel sector. The empirical results indicate that there is a non-linear relationship between food and beverage service quality and hotel profitability, while the effect of room service quality on hotel profitability is not significant.     

Shopping experience evaluation: a case of domestic and international visitors

Understanding domestic and international visitors and delivering service quality that meets the expectations and needs of these markets should be among the key objectives of retail and commercial sector in tourist resorts. Shopping is an important tourist activity and its contribution to the economy is significant. For many visitors no trip is complete without having spent time shopping and tourists often feel they cannot return home without buying ‘something’. Shopping on vacation goes beyond functional utility and task orientation and provides other experiential benefits. This research examined domestic and international visitors’ perceptions of service provided in shops and attempted to understand whether domestic and international visitors differed in their service evaluation and shopping item preferences. The analysis was based on Kusadasi Chamber of Commerce database. Mann–Whitney U-tests indicated significant differences between domestic and international visitors’ evaluation of service delivered in shops. Domestic visitors were more negative in their service evaluations than their international counterparts. Chi-square tests revealed that these two groups also differed significantly in their shopping preferences. Management implications of the study are discussed and recommendations are provided.     

Star rating and corporate affiliation: their influence on room price and performance of hotels in Israel

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain whether and how star rating and corporate affiliation, as signals of quality, influence pricing decisions of hotels in Israel in various geographical locations, each with its specific market characteristics and during two different periods in which the business environment suffers from a crisis due to the political circumstances in the Middle East. The data suggests that the star-rating system, which is traditionally used to rate hotels’ quality, is a still stable and consistent predictor of room prices. However, in light of the increased usage of brand names in the Israeli industry, it was found that the ability to charge and receive a premium for the hotel corporate affiliation or brand name is not consistent. The analysis presents the case in which a premium for brand name is eroded by the influence of the crisis, by the level of corporate intensity in the region, and also by the relative strength of consumers in the different geographical locations.     

日本主要国际客源市场研究——以20世纪90年代访华国际客源市场为主

一般而言,主要客源市场,其最大的特征不仅仅是市场规模大,而是它能直接影响接待国的旅游发展。但对接待国而言,真正的客源市场则要看实际来访者占该国或该地区的比率而非来访者的总量。因此市场的动向是我们必须关注的焦点。本文想通过这个研究了解访华日本国际客源市场的真正面目,并借此提供中国在争取日本国际客源市场时的一个科学参考依据。     

A comparative analysis of international tourists’ satisfaction in Mongolia

The purpose of this study was to examine international tourism development in Mongolia in the last decade and analyze international tourists’ satisfaction of their travel experience with tourist attractions, facilities, services and prices. This study identified the demographic characteristics of international tourists from four regions: Europe, the US, Japan and other Asia/Pacific countries by surveying a sample of 530 visitors by air travel. Satisfaction level of international tourists from these four different regions were analyzed and compared to find regional similarities and differences. Recommendations were made for the Mongolian tourism authority to target efficiently its international tourism markets and improve tourism services in Mongolia.     

Revisiting the convergence hypothesis for tourism markets: Evidence from Turkey using the pairwise approach

This paper empirically revisits the tourism markets convergence hypothesis (Narayan, 2006) for the case of Turkey by employing the newly developed pairwise approach to the analysis of stochastic convergence ( [Pesaran, 2007] and [Pesaran et?al., 2009]). This new approach allows for unit root tests to be conducted on all possible pairs of tourist arrival differentials across Turkey’s 20 major tourist source markets, thus avoiding the need to choose a base source market or total tourist arrivals figure as the benchmark. Using monthly data over the period January 1996 to December 2009, the main finding is that despite considerable ‘co-movement’ of international tourist arrivals in Turkey, there is no evidence of long-run ‘convergence’ among Turkey’s major tourism markets. Cluster-based club convergence analyses alongside bivariate pairwise estimations confirm the lack of convergence and highlight specific tourist source markets with considerable untapped potential. These findings have profound policy implications for Turkey’s inbound tourism planning and promotion.     

Hotel pricing at tourist destinations – A comparison across emerging and developed markets

The application of price hedonic theory in the hotel pricing domain has relatively ignored the destination and country-level differences. We compare hotel rents across tourist and non-tourist destinations for an emerging (India) and a developed (USA) market. Utilizing multiple regression on a combined dataset of 21,904 data points spread over 2458 unique hotels, we show that the nature of destination and market moderates the association between hotel attributes and rents. Further, the results show that hotels at tourist destinations enjoy a rent premium across markets. However, this rent premium is positively associated with star rating, only in emerging markets, and is stable in developed markets. We contribute to price hedonic theory by proposing destination and market variables as moderators. Globalization and industry concentration make location decisions recurring and flexible. The study aims to help hotel managers by providing a contextual framework for making these strategic investment decisions.     

The causality examination between demand uncertainty and hotel failure: A case study of international tourist hotels in Taiwan

The hotel business is highly sensitive to economic cycles, as the industry faces high frequency and high fluctuation of uncertainty over the demand for lodging services. Without a thorough consideration on the issue, hotels may undergo a business crisis. This research therefore investigates the influence of demand uncertainty on hotel failure by using the operation data of international tourist hotels in Taiwan during 1995–2008. The analysis applies two stages of estimation. The first stage employs a first-order autoregressive model, AR(1), to model lodging demand uncertainty. The second stage estimates the likelihood of hotels’ failure by using a logit model. The results are supportive to determine that the demand uncertainty causes hotel failures.     

Do shocks have permanent or transitory effects on tourist inflow? An application of stationarity test with structural breaks: evidence reexamined for Gilgit-Baltistan,Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Do shocks affect tourist inflows permanently or temporarily? To examine this question, we consider a region in Northern Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, known for its natural and scenic beauty and with a history of huge tourist inflows, both domestic and international. The tourist arrivals from significant source markets are investigated using univariate and Lagrange Multiplier (LM) unit root tests with two structural breaks to examine if shocks to the time path of visitors’ inflow are permanent or transitory. According to the results, the univariate and LM unit root test with two breaks reject the unit root null for all major source markets. The findings suggest transistory effects rather than permanent effects of shocks on the growth path of tourist arrivals to Gilgit-Baltistan. This result further predicts the sustainability of the tourism sector in the region in the long run.     

Impact of location on profitability in the Spanish hotel sector

This paper analyzes the impact of market structure on hotel profitability in a sample of 8992 Spanish hotels in 2005–2011, using variables relating to the hotel and tourist destination in addition to structure–conduct–performance (SCP) and Chicago School frameworks simultaneously. The results show that profitability depends largely on the market structure and the level of demand of the tourist destination and we confirm the SCP proposals. Regarding characteristics of each hotel, there are unobservable characteristics which influence on profitability and we identify the existence of economies of scale.     

Cost structure and productivity growth of the Taiwanese international tourist hotels

This study investigates the cost structure and economic implications of the Taiwanese international tourist hotel industry. A multi-product translog cost function with three inputs and three outputs is estimated using seemingly unrelated regression estimation and three-stage least squares. A balanced panel dataset consisting of 47 international tourist hotels in Taiwan over the period 1997–2001 was obtained from Taiwanese Tourism Bureau and used to estimate the cost function. The results show that both scale and scope economies exist in the Taiwanese international tourist hotel industry. In addition, productivity growth is positive over the study period. Managerial and policy implications for the Taiwanese international tourist hotel industry are also discussed.     

An integrated approach for selecting corporate social responsibility programs and costs evaluation in the international tourist hotel

The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated approach and scientific techniques for corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs selection decisions and costs evaluation in the hotel industry. First, experts are chosen to conduct the analytic structure construction for CSR programs selection by identifying cost and differentiation advantage criteria and CSR program candidates that can benefit society and competitive advantage for hotels. Second, the DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method is used to detect complex relationships and build a network structure among the cost and differentiation advantage criteria. Third, the ANP (Analytic Network Process) is used where the criteria are dependent. Fourth, the ANP results are applied to ZOGP (Zero–One Goal Programming) formulation to find the optimal CSR program portfolio under limited resources and constrained situations. Finally, ABC (Activity-Based Costing) model is used to calculate each chosen CSR program's costs in order to acquire accurate cost information. The result shows that the improvement on the image of an organization is the major dispatch for driving the international tourist hotel to fulfill CSR goals. The integrated approach can help international tourist hotels’ managers to select CSR programs more scientifically and to make decisions conforming to the reality.     

Transport infrastructure and tourism development

This paper investigates the significance of transport infrastructure as a factor in destination development, showing it to be part of the classical demand for international tourism functions. An application involving the island of Mauritius is presented, whereby total tourist arrivals are modeled. The findings show that tourists from Europe/America and Asia are particularly sensitive to the island’s transport infrastructure. Those from Europe/America are also sensitive to its nontransport infrastructure. Both types of infrastructure, as well as income of tourists, distance, and relative prices are important ingredients in their own respect in the tourism demand equation. Mauritius is an expanding destination, with the European and American markets being most promising.     

Validating the international tourist role scale

This study was designed to validate the international tourist role scale and the three dimensions it revealed. The purpose of this attitudinal scale was to measure the tourist role typology. United States adult outbound tourists flying with 11 major airlines returned useful questionnaires. This study validated the role scale as a reliable one that properly identified three conceptual dimensions of international tourist typology and successfully provided measures of tourists’ novelty-seeking preferences on the three dimensions. The study demonstrated, however, that the scale would measure the novelty-seeking preferences of international tourists more effectively if it were supplemented by other measures.     

Vulnerability and resilience of the tourism sector in India: Effects of natural disasters and internal conflict

Tourism resilience studies often focus on a single shock event. In reality, the same destination may face different kinds of shocks. It is important to compare the relative effect and resilience to different shocks.Using a panel dataset for 22 Indian states, we build random effect models to understand the impact of natural disasters and political conflict on domestic and foreign tourist arrivals. Severe conflict events affect domestic tourist arrivals negatively, while natural disasters do not. In contrast, natural disasters affect international tourist arrivals negatively but conflicts do not.We study resilience by identifying breaks in tourist arrivals and noting corresponding recovery times. Breaks were observed in more states for the international segment compared to domestic segment. Recovery times was also greater for international rather than domestic tourists. Thus domestic tourists seem to be more resilient compared to international tourists. Our study provides useful insights that may have policy implications.     

Market shares analysis: The Case of French Tourism Demand

This paper examines the magnitudes and determinants of changes in destinations’ shares of a major tourist origin market. The Almost Ideal Demand System model is used to quantify the responsiveness of French tourism demand in Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom to changes in relative prices, exchange rates, tourists’ expenditure budget, and external events. The results indicate that effective price competitiveness is a key variable driving changes in market shares. Policymakers who wish to maintain their shares of the French market should pay particular attention to tourism pricing policies, as well as to improving the tourism offer.     

Determinants of demand for international tourist flows to Turkey

This article describes the development and findings of a set of models used to identify the most important of the following selected variables influencing international tourist flows to Turkey: per capita income; relative prices; relative exchange rate; promotional expenditure (the Turkish Government has invested a substantial amount in promoting foreign tourism) and ‘special events’, eg political unrest. The demand for travel was measured both by the number of tourists, and by the total tourist expenditure. Data were obtained from secondary sources, and analysis was by least squares multiple regression. Income, price and exchange rate were found to be important factors but the impact of promotional expenditure was minimal     

Tourism in multi-ethnic districts: the case of Porta Palazzo market in Torino

More and more often, cities compete with each other focusing on tourist attractions based on multi-ethnicity. Some of them, with a growing success, are street and food markets. This paper is focused on Porta Palazzo, the largest existing street market in Europe, located in Torino (Italy), which is becoming, from 2006 on, a tourist attraction, without losing its popular character. Our goal is to identify the characteristics of this touristification process and show how it has averted those aspects of ‘retail gentrification’ which often affect street and food markets: it has happened thanks to the role played not only by the economic stakeholders of the market but also by social and religious stakeholders, that everyday work in order to integrate the different social components of the area concomitant with new waves of migrants.     

AIRPORT RUNWAY SLOTS: Limits to Growth

The United States–European Union market accounts for approximately 25% of all international tourist arrivals worldwide, and is arguably the busiest market in the world. This paper argues that landing slot policy and the manner in which airport capacity is allocated among airlines across the north Atlantic is likely to underpin the future geographic structure of the tourism industry. By analyzing the historical evolution of slot policy, this paper attempts to enhance the extant literature on how government authorities allocate scarce airport resources. The paper concludes by arguing that various slot reform proposals need to be adopted to make airports more “elastic” when managing origin-destination tourist flows.     

Influences of consumer characteristics on fairness perceptions of revenue management pricing in the hotel industry

Fairness perceptions play an important role in customers’ behavior, and this study explores which consumer characteristics influence fairness perceptions of revenue management (RM) pricing in the hotel context. To examine such differentiating characteristics, the study conducts a logit analysis by comparing two groups: one group of customers who consider hotels’ RM practices to be fair and the other group considers the practices to be unfair. The findings provide an opportunity for hotel managers to identify customers’ particular characteristics that affect customer's perceptions of the fairness of hotels’ RM pricing practices.