An importance–performance analysis of sustainability factors for long-term strategy planning in Slovenian hotels

This paper explores the potential role of economic, environmental and social reporting in long-term strategy planning in the hospitality industry. The context of study is Slovenia. Following the development of a set of “sustainability” indicators, hospitality managers were asked to rate the importance of each indicator to sustainable operations and the performance of their firms in implementing management actions. Seven hotel performance factors were established across the triple bottom line. Using importance–performance analysis (IPA), key issues are identified as requiring the attention of stakeholders to support the sustainable development of Slovenia's hospitality industry. For managers, the 10 most important indicators include those related to economic performance, customer relationship and cost saving environmental activities: performance here, and in marketing, was perceived as poor. In contrast, actions taken to increase environmental awareness, and improve relationships with employees are seen by managers as less important, and even as possible overkills. Community relationships are seen as of low importance and where the industry performs relatively poorly. A major recommendation is that Slovenian hotel managers should focus on improving their economic performance: neglecting this could threaten hotels’ long-term survival. IPA analysis is shown as applicable to strategy making for sustainable development in hospitality industry contexts worldwide.     

A triple lens measurement of host–guest perceptions for sustainable gaze in tourism

This paper investigates perception of self and others by hosts and guests, which may be critical for sustainability of a destination receiving tourists with different cultural backgrounds. Specifically, the study investigates self-perception of hosts and reciprocal perception between hosts and guests on several service personnel characteristics using importance and performance analysis. Thus, a triple lens of hosts’ evaluation of self, hosts’ evaluation of the guests, and hosts’ evaluation by the guests is involved in a multi-cultural tourism experience context. Results report differences between the lenses, hosts’ self-evaluation being harsher than guests’ evaluation of hosts. Suggestions are provided for destination marketing and management organizations to design effective tourism experiences for both hosts and guests for a more sustainable gaze between hosts and guests.     

Exploring the discrepancies in perceived destination images from residents’ and tourists’ perspectives: a revised importance–performance analysis approach

A comprehensive and balanced understanding of both local residents’ and tourists’ perceived destination image (DI) is a pivotal step for successful tourism development. Using the revised importance–performance analysis approach, this study assesses the differences between residents’ and tourists’ perceived implicit importance and performance of DI attributes in the Liyu Lake Scenic Area in Hualien, Taiwan. A mixed methods approach was adopted. First, 30 pertinent image attributes were identified by interviewing local residents and tourists. These image attributes were subsequently used in a questionnaire survey. Results indicate that residents’ and tourists’ opinions were divided on environmental issues and purposes of visit. The most significant finding is that both the residents and tourists regarded the majority of the attributes as “possible overkill,” suggesting that destination management organization should reconsider the direction for future development and try to realize the “real needs” of the residents and tourists based on their motivations.     

Association Planners' Satisfaction

Abstract

The meeting industry has not attracted researchers' attention as much as industry growth and suppliers' interest. Research within the industry has examined attribute importance and attribute performance separately from the association meeting planner's perspective. This study's purpose was to evaluate state association meeting planners' satisfaction with their recent convention destination through the simultaneous consideration of attribute importance and performance. A total of 252 questionnaires from 673 faxed were completed, resulting in a 37.4% response rate. Importance-performance analysis revealed that management should concentrate their resources on providing quality meeting services, better prices, and quality meeting facilities.     

Assessment of TV Drama/Film Production Towns as a Rural Tourism Growth Engine

Television (TV) drama/film production towns have been mushrooming in Korea to cater for the increasing popularity of film tourism. Most of these towns have been constructed by local governments to stimulate economic development, enhance the image and awareness of the region, and to fulfill the political desires of the local government officials. However, in the last 15 years, 34 towns have been established, which has led to heavy competition for film tourists and in attracting subsequent TV drama and film productions. Consequently, most of the towns are currently experiencing financial difficulties and are exploring effective measures to maintain their popularity. In this study, film tourists' perceptions of TV drama/film production towns were analyzed using a structured survey method. The survey data were analyzed using paired t-tests and importance–performance (I–P) analyses. The results reveal that the film tourists' had different perceptions of the I–P of the products and services provided by the towns. In particular, their perceptions of I–P displayed distinct gap patterns in relation to various socio-demographic and travel-related variables.     

Benchmarking CVB website performance: Spatial and structural patterns

This study evaluated 967 U.S. CVB websites using a modified Balanced Scorecard (mBSC) approach which assesses website performance with respect to overall technical functionality, customer friendliness and usability, effectiveness of marketing the destination, and information content. Spatial maps were constructed for these four dimensions and overall CVB website performance using ArcMap v.9.2 GIS software. A structural pattern of CVB website performance was obtained using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). It was concluded that CVB websites primarily need improvement in marketing the destination product. The analysis revealed significant differences in website performance between members and non-members of Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) as well as regional differences. Study implications for destination marketing organizations and CVB website designers are discussed.     

Determining the Attributes of Casino Customer Satisfaction: Applying Impact-Range Performance and Asymmetry Analyses

This case study assesses the asymmetric relationship between the relative importance of service quality attributes and overall customer satisfaction in Korean casino settings, using impact-range performance analysis (IRPA) and impact asymmetry analysis (IAA). Results validated the rigor of IRPA and IAA over importance–performance analysis (IPA) in identifying key determining attributes of customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction among various casino service quality attributes based on three-factor theory. The theoretical and practical implications of this study’s findings are included to enrich both academicians’ and casino industry professionals’ understanding of customers’ perceptions of and attitudes towards casinos, and the development of a marketing strategy.     

Language facilitation for outbound Chinese tourists: importance–performance and gap analyses of New Zealand hotels

ABSTRACT

Language barriers can negatively affect Chinese outbound tourists’ overseas travel experiences, highlighting the significance of language facilitation during overseas traveling. With survey data of 256 Chinese guests in two New Zealand upscale hotels, this study performed importance–performance and gap analyses on 19 language facilitation attributes. Results revealed that when resources are limited, priority should be given to improving Chinese language facilitation in room safety and security, in-room entertainment, and tourism information. Furthermore, this study reveals that the relationship between tourists’ perceived language barrier and hotel-stay satisfaction varies across socio-demographic characteristic, English language proficiency, and preferences for accommodation standards.     

The view from above: the relevance of shared aerial drone videos for destination marketing

ABSTRACT

The use of drones to produce videos has generated a large amount of visually appealing footage of various destinations. They attract much attention, but there are issues that affect their production, and their relevance to destination marketing. This research examines YouTube meta-data and spatial overlay analysis of shared aerial drone videos from the United Kingdom (UK). The results suggest that shared aerial drone videos have some unique user-generated content (UGC) characteristics and their spatial distribution tends to favor more populated areas. Theoretical and practical implications for destination marketing are further discussed.     

An Empirical Application of Quantitative Derived Importance-Performance Analysis (QDIPA) for Employee Satisfaction

ABSTRACT

Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is a common analytical tool that has been used in a variety of applications. The method has been criticized for a number of reasons. Suggested alternative methods utilize the concept of derived importance (Oliver, 1997; Mount, 1997) and a quantitative interpretation of the traditionally visual results (Mount, 2000). This study illustrates how a method using both of the suggested alternatives is utilized to analyze employee satisfaction issues in a hotel.     

Quality Selection Criteria of Travel Intermediaries

ABSTRACT

The study explores the selection criteria conducted by travel agencies, evaluating travel intermediaries (destination tour operator) founded on the visionary perspectives of product managers and front-line employees (tour leaders) of Taiwanese travel agencies. Statistically, data accumulated from the 36 product managers and 36 tour leaders by the critical incident technique indicates that local coaches, drivers, and local guides are monumental on group package tour (GPT) service sectors. Meanwhile, another critical issue being scrutinized is the selection scenarios, as to which prices are exponentially executed by product managers, whereas tour leaders tend to be destination tour operator qualities-oriented fundamentally. In order to enhance the destination tour operator service qualities, the research conducts relatively objective selection criteria in selecting the well-qualified and appropriate travel intermediaries as commissioners on the cutting edge travel agencies domain. More substantially, the revealed scenarios of destination tour operators supply the populously rivalous market, China, a relatively credential reference on selecting the well-suited Travel Intermediaries.     

The value of self-stated attribute importance to overall satisfaction

This paper provides insights into techniques used to determine the attributes that influence overall satisfaction. A survey of zoo visitors illustrates several key findings relevant for both managers interpreting survey results and researchers designing studies. First, the assumption of importance-performance analysis (IPA) that self-stated importance measures the influence of attribute performance on overall satisfaction is endorsed. Second, relative importance is shown to be vital as it improves the prediction of overall satisfaction from attribute performance while absolute importance makes it worse. Third, techniques using self-stated relative importance are shown to be superior to statistical techniques such as regression, however new techniques using both self-stated importance and regression are shown to be even better. These findings apply generally to tangible products in marketing and management as well as to tourism services.     

Visitor perceptions of the role of tour guides in natural areas

This paper explores the potential of tour guides to contribute to the protection of natural areas by educating their customers through interpretation and modeling environmentally appropriate behaviors. Applying Cohen's (1985) model of the guides' role, modified by Weiler and Davis (1993) Weiler, B. and Davis, D. 1993. An exploratory investigation into the roles of the nature-based tour leader. Tourism Management, 14(2): 91–98. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], as a framework, it examines the potential role that kayak tour guides can play in shaping the experience of visitors to one marine area, the Pacific Rim National Park. It uses two approaches to explore the perceptions of clients about the role of kayak guides using: (1) a pre- and post-trip questionnaire and (2) participant observation. Results indicate that five of the six roles were rated high in importance, but one role, the communication role, was not as important. Comparing performance with importance attached to each role revealed congruence with five roles, but lower levels of performance in relation to importance with the role of “motivator of responsible behavior”. Variability within all of the importance and performance measures suggest that for some individuals, performance did not match importance, highlighting the need to consider market segmentation in future studies. These findings are discussed within the ecotourism paradigm, and their implications for protected area management and for visitor behavior modification are considered.     

Wisdom of crowds: Conducting importance-performance analysis (IPA) through online reviews

This paper proposes a methodology for conducting importance-performance analysis (IPA) through online reviews. The methodology is composed of three stages: (1) mining useful information from online reviews, (2) estimating each attribute's performance and importance, and (3) constructing IPA plot, where the latent dirichlet allocation (LDA), the improved one-vs-one strategy based support vector machine (IOVO-SVM) and the ensemble neural network based model (ENNM) are respectively used. A case study on two five-star hotels is given, and the results obtained by the proposed methodology through online reviews are compared with those obtained by the existing methods through questionnaires (or online ratings). The results indicate that the proposed methodology can obtain effective analysis results with lower cost and shorter time since online reviews are publicly available and easily collected. The proposed methodology can give managers or market analysts one more choice for conducting IPA or serve as a preparing process of large-scale survey.     

Stopover destination image – perceptions of Dubai,United Arab Emirates,among French and Australian travellers

ABSTRACT

This study reports a rare investigation into the phenomenon of stopovers during long-haul international travel. Although destination image has been one of the most popular topics in the tourism literature, there has been a lack of attention by researchers regarding the context of stopover destination image for long-haul international air travellers. Indeed most studies have measured destination image without explicitly stating any travel context. A mixed methods approach in two geographically distant markets yielded externally valid findings. This study commenced with a qualitative stage in two countries to elicit attributes deemed salient to individuals when considering an international stopover. Attributes elicited from the two samples were triangulated with the most common themes reported in the destination image literature. A set of 29 attributes was then tested in two online surveys involving 777 consumers in Australia and France. The study highlights the value of engaging with consumers in a qualitative stage, to design a context-specific destination image questionnaire. By using this approach, 12 potentially determinant attributes of stopover destination attractiveness were identified, eight of which have not been commonly used in destination image studies, and one of which represents a new destination image attribute in the literature.     

“Just Trying to Keep the Customer Satisfied”

SUMMARY

The paper compares the predictive validity of six models used in the measurement of satisfaction; it is concerned with their application at destination level, with particular reference to Orlando, Florida. Using factor analysis and multiple regression, the ‘performance only’ model was clearly identified as the best predictor of satisfaction. The incorporation of ‘importance’ and ‘performance’ ratings did not improve the predictive power of the ‘performance only’ solution. From tourists' ‘performance’ ratings, five ‘dimensions’ of Orlando's tourism offering were identified: ‘primary,’ ‘secondary’ and ‘tertiary’ attractions, ‘facilitators’ and ‘transport plus.’ Notwithstanding Orlando's reputation as the world's theme park capital, Orlando's ‘secondary’ attractions (such as shopping and dining opportunities) and ‘facilitators’ (such as accommodation and customer service) were identified as having the most influence on overall tourist satisfaction with Orlando.     

Does ECO certification deliver benefits? An empirical investigation of visitors’ perceptions of the importance of ECO certification's attributes and of operators’ performance

Certification is highlighted as a key sustainable tourism management tool. Yet, very little is known about visitors’ perceptions of such schemes. This is an important gap: the success of certification schemes depends on consumers’ confidence in the quality of products and services that the schemes endorse. This paper surveyed 610 visitors to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and surrounds in Queensland, Australia about (1) the perceived importance of various attributes of the ECO certification scheme; and (2) the perceived performance of operators based on those attributes. Data analysis identified aspects of ECO certification and of operator performance that may need improvement. It found that importance of attributes varied across products and visitor groups; at accommodations, most attributes were perceived to be important, Nature (as an aesthetic experience) and Marketing being more important than others, while at attractions and on tours, visitors were indifferent. Younger visitors rated Environment and Conservation more highly than their older counterparts and females rated Conservation more highly than males. Visitors – notably at accommodations – considered that ECO certified operators were performing “better” than non-ECO certified operators on many attributes. How these visitor perceptions translate into reality remains an important topic for future research.     

Measuring comparative destination performance: A study in Spain and Turkey

Abstract

Competitiveness between tourist destinations has increased due to the development of international tourism activity over the last two decades. This brings the importance of the assessment of destination performance vis‐à‐vis other similar and competing destinations. Therefore, this study attempts to develop an approach for the measure of destination performance and its comparison with another destination by using the data obtained from the actual tourists visiting both places. Two types of questionnaire are developed and their findings are found to be consistent. Empirical findings indicate that each destination has its own strengths. Implications and limitations of the study are also discussed.     

Perceptions of service attributes in a religious theme site: an importance–satisfaction analysis

A growing number of commercial corporations have chosen to open visitor centers or company museums. This trend has not bypassed the religious not-for-profit sector. This study uses past literature, input from management, and importance–performance analysis (IPA) to investigate the visitor experience for a religious theme site in Orlando, Florida. A total of 176 visitor surveys collected in two phases were used to conduct the IPA for the 18 attributes identified. The data analysis revealed three attributes for management concentration, including spiritual activities, something for everyone, and inspirational experience. The remaining attributes were placed into areas of low priority, areas indicating a good job, and areas indicating possible overkill. The results of IPA considered along with the current challenges of management can provide useful insight into the decision-making of management. For the research stream related to the unique context of contrived themed religious visitor sites, this research provides additional support for the behavior of the traveler by identifying and measuring attributes of importance and the associated satisfaction with those attributes. By combining these results with future work, additional support for the testing of sound models of mixed visitor behavior applied to religious theme sites can be offered.     

Exploring Content and Design Factors Associated with Convention and Visitors Bureau Web Site Development

Abstract

Convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) have become important organizations within the tourism industry. The International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus (IACVB) reported that it represents approximately 500 destination management organizations in 30 countries (IACVB, 2003). As one of the most important components of the tourism industry in the United States, the Convention and Visitors Bureau performs various activities to facilitate destination marketing and development, with the aim of enticing leisure and convention customers to their particular city or region. Meanwhile, meeting planners are using technology to enhance their ability to produce and execute meetings that demonstrate a high return on investment. Consequently, CVBs' websites have enormous potential in selling a destination and facilitating the meeting/convention planning process. This paper explores the content and design factors associated with convention and visitors bureau web site development. It also demonstrates how planners utilize the Internet and CVB websites.