Entrepreneurial Characteristics,Motives, and Business Challenges: Exploratory Study of Small- and Medium-Sized Hotel Businesses

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to gather information about the determinants and characteristics of the owners/managers of small- and medium-sized hotels (SMSHs) and identify various issues in starting up and operating businesses in the United Arab Emirates. The results of this study reveal that the majority of the owners/managers of SMSHs in the United Arab Emirates are male, young and middle age, and relatively new to the tourism industry. The motivations for the business ventures of the entrepreneurs include wanting to be financially independent, become one’s own boss, involvement in family business and the opportunities of the hotel business. Among the key business challenges highlighted by the owners/managers of SMSHs are stiff competition in the hotel industry, increased operating costs, reduced demand, and lack of skilled employees. Several key strategies have been employed to face these challenges. These include offering competitive pricing, improving the marketing and channels of promotion, enhancing the quality of service and providing superior customer service.     

Entrepreneurship in the tourism industry: Issues in developing countries

The tourism industry in Malaysia is one of the most important sectors in terms of its contribution to the growth of the nation. The extensive demand on the tourism industry has stimulated the emergence of many small and medium hotels, resorts, and chalets in Malaysia. According to the literature, small and medium hotels are an extension of the entrepreneurial characteristics of the owners/managers of the hotels. In Malaysia, small and medium hotel entrepreneurs (SMHEs) have not been given much attention. Looking at this gap, this study aims to provide a significant result on entrepreneurship issues in Malaysia. The main objective of this study is to examine the characteristics of small and medium hotel owners/managers and the issues and problems they confront in relation to their survivability in the industry. The result revealed that the majority of owners/managers of small and medium hotels were male, middle-aged and older, with secondary and upper level of education, and whose prior specialisations or knowledge were not related to tourism. With strong self-confidence and independent personality characteristics, the majority started to establish their businesses after the financial crisis in 1997–1998. The result also defined small scale to mean hotels with less than 50 rooms, which had been constructed with limited personal funding and bank loans. Information technology was found to be an important tool to promote their hotels, but conventional techniques such as word of mouth and signboards were still significant. The owners/managers of small and medium hotels were in agreement over their weaknesses in terms of lack of knowledge and skills in running the business. At the same time, they also felt that the government should play a more proactive role in promoting the tourism industry.     

Regional Environment of Destination and the Entrepreneurship of Small Tourism Businesses: A Case Study of Dali and Lijiang of Yunnan Province

Small tourism businesses play vital roles in tourism destinations. However, an understanding of the extent to which the destination where the business is located influences decisions made by tourism entrepreneurs has not received the attention it deserves. Based on 173 questionnaires and 50 interviews in Dali and Lijiang, and using factor analysis, the author explores the effect of regional environmental factors on the entrepreneurship of small tourism firms. Seven factors were derived with a cumulative variance of 66.8% explained. Tourism attractiveness, including the natural and human environment as well as regional economics, drives the macro-location of small tourism firms and is the most important influence factor, followed by information and communication factors. The market potential and accessibility, which are keys to success, are also important factors that entrepreneurs considered. The family background provides support for entrepreneurs. Also, emotional supports among entrepreneurs with shared values, hobbies, and experience are crucial for lifestyle entrepreneurs to start a venture. However, the influence of financial environment, government policy, and labor conditions are not perceived to be significant to the entrepreneurs.     

Emerging Definitions of Boutique and Lifestyle Hotels: A Delphi Study

Despite growing interest in the boutique and lifestyle sector of the lodging industry, there is not an accepted definition of either “boutique hotel” or “lifestyle hotel.” Boutique and lifestyle hotel strategies provide hotel companies with important points of differentiation in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The current study determined definitions using a Delphi analysis of responses from a diverse group of experts from the lodging industry. Forty-one panel members were involved in the process that was undertaken with three rounds of questions. The study determined that boutique hotels are best characterized as small, stylish hotels that offer high levels of service. Lifestyle hotels are described as innovative and provide more of a personal experience than so-called “branded” hotels.     

'Staying Within the Fence': Lifestyle Entrepreneurship in Tourism

Lifestyle, non-economic motives have been recognised as significant stimuli for tourism entrepreneurship and growth of the small-business sector. Tourism research, to date, has focused on the conceptualisation of entrepreneurship informed largely by economic analysis. In this context, the long-term survival of lifestyle entrepreneurs in tourism has been addressed as a constraint within regional economic development. Our research of an emerging cohort of lifestyle entrepreneurs in New Zealand tourism, focusing on the motivating values of these entrepreneurs, reveals that their often conscious rejection of economic and business growth opportunities is an expression of their sociopolitical ideology. Coincidentally, this rejection of an overtly profit-driven orientation does not necessarily result in financial suicide or developmental stagnation but rather provides opportunities to engage with 'niche' market consumers informed by values common to themselves within rapidly segmenting markets. Moreover, the research indicates that these lifestyle entrepreneurs are often instrumental in the creation and introduction of innovative products to the wider industry which are not only capable of articulating values common to the sustainability debate with respect to a sense of place and community, but also stimulate regional development and reproduction of niche market products.     

How do hospitality entrepreneurs use their social networks to access resources? Evidence from the lifecycle of small hospitality enterprises

This study investigates entrepreneurs’ use of social networks to access resources during the conception, start-up, and consolidation stages of small enterprises in the hospitality industry in Sergipe State, Brazil. This study analyzes four cases of small hotel ventures, employing cross-case analyses to identify the patterns, similarities, and differences between the cases. The study findings highlight that, in the start-up stage, entrepreneurs access fewer resources, utilizing only family and friends, primarily as moral support. In the consolidation stage, entrepreneurs rely more on their weak links, accessing them with greater frequency. Mobilizing social networks is a dynamic process, and how entrepreneurs use these networks changes throughout the business-creation process. This is one of the first studies on how entrepreneurs use their social networks, especially in a developing economy.     

How do lifestyle hospitality and tourism entrepreneurs manage their work-life balance?

This study uses border theory to explore how lifestyle hospitality and tourism entrepreneurs manage their work-life balance. This research utilizes in-depth interviews and observations from Dali and Lijiang, China. Three types of findings emerged. First, for lifestyle entrepreneurs, work and personal life are not divided; business is considered a style of living, not work. Second, lifestyle entrepreneurs’ boundary management tactics include temporal tactics, physical tactics, and psychological tactics. Third, the factors influencing the work-life balance of lifestyle entrepreneurs include personal factors and the contextual factors related to tourism destinations. This paper contributes to border theory by indicating how an individual’s psychological borders have a decisive effect on work-life balance perception, and how both the tourism and Chinese contexts moderate the psychological borders of work-life balance to some extent.     

Women as vectors of social entrepreneurship

Drawing on the literature examining women in the tourism sector and social entrepreneurship, this article critically explores a theoretical framework for analyzing the role of women owner-managers of small tourism firms (STFs) as social entrepreneurs. Through a qualitative analysis of owner-managers of STFs, the article provides evidence of how women integrate social transformational and commercial goals in their business strategies, while serving defined communities around the tourism sector. By critically examining the operationalization of these goals and community needs, the development impacts of women-owned STFs and opportunities for women social entrepreneurship in the tourism sector are identified and discussed.     

Exit Planning of Lifestyle and Profit-Oriented Entrepreneurs in Bed and Breakfasts

ABSTRACT

With approximately 17,000 bed and breakfasts (B&Bs) currently in operation in the United States and the majority owned and managed by an entrepreneur, the entrepreneurial process becomes a focus of this sector of the lodging industry. This research examined the engagement in the entrepreneurial process, specifically exit planning among B&B owner/operators according to their entrepreneurial type (lifestyle or profit oriented). In addition, research questions evaluated motivational factors of job satisfaction, work–life balance, and family involvement related to exit planning. This study used a cross-sectional design comprised of B&B owner/operators, innkeepers, and entrepreneurs with geographic representation of the United States. This study concluded that B&B entrepreneurs are aware of and engaged in exit planning and the majority of B&B entrepreneurs are lifestyle entrepreneurs.     

Towards a lifestyle experience: A phenomenological conceptualization and scale development in the hotel context

The topic of lifestyle has attracted interest both in service providers and marketing researchers. To better understand lifestyle experience, study 1 adopts a phenomenological approach to conceptualize lifestyle experience that is generated within consumers in a hotel setting. It is discovered that sense of community and culture is the spirit of a lifestyle experience that lives up to its name. In addition, it is uncovered that lifestyle experiences essentially meets consumer's higher-ordered psychological social needs. Studies 2, 3, and 4 demonstrate the development of a scale, LHEI—Lifestyle Hotel Experience Index, that captures consumer's lifestyle hotel experience. Such scale can be easily adapted to measure lifestyle experiences in other contexts. This paper contributes to current research by conceptualizing and quantifying the novel lifestyle experience. It contributes to the industry as a wakeup call for more sustainable and consumer-centric strategies in value co-creation.     

The Otus theory of hotel demand and supply

The structural balance of an economy and the economic policies that influence its development are shown to be determinants of the volume and structure of hotel supply. Similarly, these features of an economy are also shown to be determinants of the volumes of domestic hotel business and leisure demand.     

Predicting Korean lodging firm failures: An artificial neural network model along with a logistic regression model

Using financial variables as predictors, this study developed logistic regression and artificial neural network (ANN) models to predict business failures for Korean lodging firms. While both models demonstrated comparable Type I errors, the ANN model showed considerably lower Type II errors for both in-sample and hold-out sample predictions. This study also found that interest coverage is the most important signal of business failure for the Korean hotel industry. This ratio is directly related to the hotel's solvency, ability to service debts and productivity of profits and can thus be regarded as a survival indicator of Korean hotel firms.     

生活方式型旅游小企业的特征及研究启示

近年来,生活方式型旅游小企业已成为国际学术界关注的热点,西方学者对生活方式型旅游小企业的研究较为丰富,但国内对此领域的研究极少。文章首先对生活方式型旅游小企业的概念进行了界定,从创立动机、经营目标、信息媒介、地点选择、主体来源、经营业态、经营业主七大方面揭示其特征;其次,指出在发达经济体和发展中/转型经济体下生活方式型旅游小企业意义和价值的差异性,并从经济、社会、文化三方面阐释生活方式型旅游小企业对旅游目的地的影响;最后,作者对国内外该领域现有文献进行了回顾与梳理,并在此基础上指出了未来可能发展的走向。     

Interpreting the mind of multinational hotel investors: Future trends and implications in China

This study provides an updated outlook on the future of the investments proposed by multinational hotel corporations in China. Data were collected from secondary sources using keyword research to identify proposed new hotel developments and future trends in China. A grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that the decisions of multinational hotel groups with respect to business formats, the direction trends of investments, and the attractiveness of Chinese market are affected by the happening of mega-events, Chinese government policies, the presence of local entrepreneurs, and market potential.     

Purpose of stay and willingness to stay as dimensions to identify and evaluate hotel experiences

The market of experiences promises business opportunities to service-based sectors. However, company managers miss procedures for strategic decision-making. This paper presents a practical procedure to help managers to move into the experience business in the hospitality sector. Sector experts participated in a session identifying hotel possible uses. 290 clients evaluated the promotional brochure of 18 hotels stating their intention to stay and perception of hotel adequacy to the uses experts proposed. A PCA identified five stay purposes: couple, collective, business, elderly and soloing. A logistic regression analysis showed that couple and collective have the highest positive influence in staying intention whereas elderly and business have the most negative influence. Experiences elicited by hotels were assessed as belonging to a series of clusters defined by “will to stay” and stay purposes. Results allow managers to better understand consumer's experiences and to manage their offerings into the experience market.     

An exploratory analysis of hotel selection factors: A comprehensive survey of Tehran hotels

The selection of residence location in different countries is of high priority and significance for tourists. The selection of the most appropriate hotel entails a rather complicated decision-making process. A comprehensive hotel selection model can empower the hotel managers, the tourists, and the tourism industry to make decisions based on more effective indicators of high quality services for a higher rate of satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to deeply explore the broad literature and to identify the most significant hotel selection indicators and factors in Tehran hotels and to present a comprehensive model through an exploratory factor analysis of the extracted indicators so as to provide the managers and tourists with a firm ground for making better decisions regarding the indicators of hotel selection. Promenade and comfort, security and protection, network services, pleasure, staff and their services, news and recreational information, cleanliness and room comfort, expenditure, room facilities and car parking were identified as the main hotel selection factors of Tehran hotels. Afterwards, another factor analysis has been done in order to extract the next hidden set of factors within the aforementioned factors which return two main factors of “Hotel Comfort Factors” and “Hotel Compensatory Factors”. Following the creation of the final model and based on the intrinsic vagueness of decision making in the process of selection, a set of fuzzy membership functions for the extracted factors has been provided. The intention has been to provide the expert system and decision support system developers and users with a set of practical indicators in order to help them design and implement realistic systems based on the deeply studied indicators and factors of hotel selection. Such supportive systems can be directly presented to the tourists requesting a mechanism for selecting the most appropriate hotel but lacking enough information about the important indicators and factors and also to the managers of hotels who are trying to make strategic decisions regarding the most optimized investments on the indicators of selecting a hotel. Considering the priorities of tourists, hotel managers, entrepreneurs and investors in the hotel industry require deep investigations and studies for which this paper provides a firm basis.     

An examination of cost management behavior in small restaurant firms

The purpose of this study is to test cost management behavior of small restaurant firms and identify whether managers of these small restaurants behave differently depending on their management and ownership structure. The sample was comprised of 87 small restaurant firms identified from the 1998 Survey of Small Business Finances (SSBF). Cost of doing business, size of staff, and five performance measures were used as dependent variables. Independent variables included management and ownership type. Study findings identified significant differences in the profit margin depending on management type and ownership percentage of the primary owner. We also find that the cost of doing business (total expenses) varies depending upon single-family majority/minority ownership and the ownership percentage of the primary owner. The results support the notion that small restaurant firms are operated differently depending on their management and ownership structure.     

Rethinking sleep quality in hotels: Examining the risk and protective factors associated with travel-related insomnia

This study attempts to illustrate how traveling affects the sleep and well-being of hotel guests. We collected data from hotel guests and looked at various factors affecting their sleep quality during travel. The particular impact of said variables on insomnia was analyzed using a binary logistic regression. Study results show that the risk factors of developing insomnia while traveling include unhealthy sleep habits at ordinary times, being an early riser, short sleep durations, business trips, and sensitivity to unfamiliar environments. Protective factors include being a late sleeper and being satisfied with the accommodation facilities. The research findings offer specific theoretical and practical implications for improving the sleep experience of hotel guests.     

饭店业员工过度劳动的实证分析与管理

近年来,过度劳动问题已严重影响到人们的工作生活和健康。文章以山东省饭店业为例,对员工的过度劳动状况进行调查。基于因子分析结果,从员工的生理表现、工作状态、行为反应3个维度14项指标进行过度劳动的方差分析。结果表明,饭店员工的过劳程度总体呈现中等偏上的水平,其中,性别、年龄、职位层级不同,过度劳动的生理表现差异性显著;受教育程度、工作年限、职位层级、饭店星级的不同,过度劳动的工作状态差异性显著;性别和受教育程度的不同,过度劳动的行为反应差异性显著。在分析结论的基础上,提出过度劳动两大系统6个层面的有效管理系统。     

Business Travelers’ Accommodation Selection: A Comparative Study of Two International Hotels in Cairo

The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, it aimed to determine what business travelers in two international hotels in Cairo, Egypt, the first being 5 stars and the second 4 stars, believed were the factors influencing hotel selection and their importance. Second, this work aimed to ascertain the extent of congruence between business guests on attributes that feature in hotel selection. Results showed that business travelers at the 5-star hotel assigned top importance to the attribute “accuracy of wake-up call”, whereas their counterparts at the 4-star hotel identified “security and safety of room” as their most important factor in hotel selection. The independent samples t-test identified statistical significant differences on 50 attributes between both sets of respondents. The eta-squared value was calculated to examine the magnitude of such differences. Despite the difference in hotel star rating, research findings did not reveal a large statistical difference on all attributes. However, a large statistical difference was discovered between respondents on 21 attributes; a moderate difference on 25 attributes and; a small difference on 4 attributes. The results of this study could equip accommodation managers with a better insight into the actual needs of business guests, the issue that could lead to their satisfaction and improve customer service.