Stakeholder Influence on the Implementation of Environmental Management Practices in the Hotel Industry

Based on the stakeholder theory, this research aims to analyze the relationship between hoteliers' perceptions of stakeholders' interests and the implementation of environmental management practices in Oaxaca, Mexico, incorporating the effect of three hotel characteristics: size, age and economic capacity. Empirical evidence, obtained from hotel owners and/or managers, reveals a direct and positive relationship between the hoteliers' perceptions of stakeholders' interests and the implementation of environmental management practices, with hotel age and size having a moderating effect. Economic capacity, as an independent variable, is also an important factor in the implementation of environmental management practices. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strategic Planning and Community Involvement as Contributors to Sustainable Tourism Development

This paper is concerned with the role of stakeholder driven strategic planning as a contributor to the ultimate sustainability of tourism development. An initial literature review describes the evolution of theory related to three specific issues in the study of tourism – sustainability of tourism development as a desirable goal, stakeholder participation as a contributor to sustainability, and strategic planning as an appropriate framework within which stakeholder driven development activity can occur. The review concludes that these concepts are well supported in the literature, with little empirical evidence available on which to base any meaningful level of support. It is therefore argued that the value of these propositions may exist more strongly in theory than in practice. After discussing a number of factors which may negatively impact upon the practical implementation of these theoretical constructs, the paper proposes a quantitative instrument by which a specific tourism development planning process can be assessed for its conformity with desirable principles of sustainability in tourism development. Closing paragraphs indicate an intention to test this instrument across a variety of regional settings.     

Restorative quality in tourist hotel marketing pictures: natural and built characteristics

Individuals often expect to recover from the fatigue of their regular lives when they engage in tourism activities. However, the intangible features of the service lead to the tourist hotels must identify associated physical clues to include in marketing pictures. Those pictures should attract the attention of these pressured customers and influence their accommodation decisions. Based on attention restoration theory, this study used eye-tracking analysis and questionnaires to investigate the influence of images of natural and built hotel scenes on visual attention and assessments of the hotel’s restorative quality. This study used 24 marketing images from a hotel as the experimental stimulus, and 80 participants with an average age of 55 years participated in the experiments. Empirical results suggest that visual clues in hotel marketing pictures can influence customers’ visual behaviour and assessments of restorative quality. In particular, images of natural scenes may attract more visual attention than those of built scenes, and natural scenes may also signal higher restorative quality to potential customers.     

The impact of sharing accommodation on the hotel occupancy rate in the kingdom of Swaziland

This paper examines the relationship and impact of sharing accommodation on the hotel occupancy rate (HOR) from a developing country perspective. Using panel data on the monthly HOR and the number of Airbnb room occupancy rate for the periods 2012–2016 and 2015–2016, respectively, the study applies a hierarchical regression model to respond to the research questions. The Pearson correlation test reveals a positive relationship between the HOR and Airbnb room occupancy rate, thus indicating that an increase in the hotel room occupancy rate moves in tandem with a rise in the Airbnb room occupancy rate. Further test revealed that increase in the Airbnb room occupancy rate coincided with an increase in the hotel room occupancy rate. In addition, the Airbnb platform was found to appeals to a different tourist market profile than does that of hotels, and that, therefore, the two products may be viewed as non-competitors. Furthermore, inconsistencies in regulatory provisions, in terms of which hotels are required to undergo various legal procedures as opposed to such platforms, are evident. The study recommends that the Swaziland Government should undertake stakeholder consultations aimed at developing regulations to manage and monitor sharing accommodation platform participants that will incorporate its innovative and diverse dimensions. The study is important as it provides insights into tourism destination managers on the impact of the sharing economy from a developing country perspective where empirically based research that could be useful in policy formulation is scant.     

An analysis on the concentration–advertising relationship in the hospitality industry

This paper empirically investigates the non-linear relationship between advertising and concentration in the hotel industry. Using data collected from the Taiwanese hotel industry, this paper finds that (1) the influence of concentration on advertising intensity is inverted U-shaped in the room service market and (2) concentration in the food and beverage markets has no significant effect on advertising intensity.     

TripAdvisor and hotel consumer brand loyalty

Electronic Word-of-Mouth and Consumer Generated Media (CGM) have become important aspects of the hospitality and tourism marketing mix. This research looked at hotel reviews on the CGM review-site TripAdvisor to determine the influence loyalty to a hotel brand has upon postings. From the literature, one would expect brand loyalty to have a positive impact upon a poster's reviews. The findings, however, do not support this relationship. Brand loyalists were found to be neither more or less generous, nor volatile, than were other posters. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Estimating efficiency and its determinants in the hotel sector using a profit function

Inefficiency in the hotel sector is normally estimated through cost and scale efficiencies. This paper estimates hotel profit efficiency and its determinants employing a stochastic frontier profit function and the inefficiency effects function. The key advantage of this methodology is its ability to estimate efficiency for each hotel and the factors that explain differences in efficiency in a single-stage sampling procedure. The sample consists of 231 hotels in Spain in the period 2008–2012. Empirical evidence shows that the average level of profit efficiency is 45.85% and that age, labour productivity and location are determinants of this efficiency. Policy implications for the improvement of less efficient hotels are noted.     

Monitoring hotel performance using occupancy time‐series analysis: the concept of occupancy performance space

Time series factor analysis is used to identify four temporal dimensions of occupancy performance in 279 English hotels over the period January 1992 to December 1994. These dimensions referred to as reference curves differentiate hotels on the basis of overall occupancy level (RC1), seasonality (RC2), long‐term trend (RC3) and length of season (RC4). The reference curves are used to define the dimensions of occupancy performance space in which the 279 hotels are positioned, with the hotels differentiated by hotel situation type. It is shown that the positioning of a hotel in occupancy performance space can provide a precise and effective basis for hotel marketing.     

Planning for urban tourism: a critique of borough development plans and tourism policy in London

The paper presents a critique of tourism policy in London in the context of local environmental plans and central government policy for tourism and hotel development. Rationales for local authority tourism policies are assessed in relation to city‐level planning imperatives and local land‐use plan formulation. A comparative analysis of borough development plans and the treatment of tourism is based on a survey of London's 33 unitary authorities. The paper presents a World City case study of urban tourism from the position of the environmental planning process and in the light of the highly concentrated distribution of hotel provision and tourist activity in London. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hotel general managers: A review of prominent research themes

This paper offers a comprehensive review of the prominent research themes concerning hotel general managers. The paper identifies and explores six main research themes; issues relating to managerial work, hotel managers’ careers, the personality characteristics of hotel managers, occupational functions, skills and competencies, women hotel managers, and emerging themes. The commonalities and differences between the research fields are outlined, both within and between the categories. By way of conclusion, the paper identifies areas of research that would benefit from further exploration, these are issues relating to skills and competencies, job mobility, and the barriers to career advancement for females in the hotel industry. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Domestic midscale chain hotel brands' effectiveness in research and development: An exploratory study

While many midscale chain hotel brands in China's domestic market have developed rapidly since 2010, it is still unclear how a new midscale chain hotel brand can be most effectively researched and developed. Drawing from resource-advantage theory, this study aimed to understand the effectiveness of six key attributes of new domestic midscale chain hotel brands and map them onto a research and development (R&D) competitive position matrix. The results show that the actual R&D process lasts beyond the opening of the first hotel of the new brand and requires a further 2-year maturation period. This study contributes to the literature by creating a maturation system that could play a key role in the effectiveness of the R&D underlying a chain hotel's brand development. It also provides a compelling tool for monitoring the effectiveness of domestic midscale chain hotel brands' R&D.     

Exploring resource procurement for community-based event organization in social enterprises: evidence from Piedmont,Italy

ABSTRACT

This research contribution aims to shed light on the key role of social tourism entrepreneurship in community event management through the combination of innovative strategies for resource procurement. An exploratory qualitative case study was undertaken with 67 social tourism enterprises in Piedmont, Italy. The analysis shows that these social tourism enterprises have specific resource procurement strategies for community-based events. A business model emerges where the fundamental resource mobilization processes are based on three strategic approaches: (a) stakeholder participation and partnership; (b) sharing ideas, materials and knowledge; (c) capturing dispersed resources and assets from the local community. The identified variables provide a new perspective for the study of resource procurement in community event management.     

The uses of cost–benefit analysis in public transportation decision-making in France

Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is a tool used to evaluate the potential socio-economic impact of public investment choices. In many countries, particularly in France, this tool is used to support decision-making related to transportation infrastructure. In the context of difficult budgetary arbitrations, taking the multiple effects of the different choices into account makes choosing among transport infrastructure investments a two-fold problem. On the one hand, public decision-makers have limited resources that they must use in the best way possible. On the other hand, when choosing among alternative investment projects, the decision-makers reveal their priorities (based on the importance they assign to the different projects), and these priorities must be perceived as legitimate. Based on a case study of how French institutions use the CBA method, this paper examines how the use of cost–benefit analysis interacts with the use of public debate and stakeholder participation in France today. This French case illustrates the difficulty of striking the right balance between the expert knowledge produced by CBA methods and the knowledge produced by the participation of various stakeholders in the decision-making process.     

Post-2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup: oversupply and location of luxury hotel rooms in Cape Town

An excess of hotel rooms in cities preparing to host a mega-event such as the FIFA Soccer World Cup is not a new occurrence. Between 2007 and 2010 the number of five-star hotel rooms in Cape Town increased by 50% and four-star hotel rooms by 20%. A spatial database of three-, four- and five-star hotels was compiled for the hotel sector of Cape Town. This paper reveals the global–local nexus of luxury hotel development in Cape Town (South Africa) and three different contexts in which the oversupply of hotel rooms must be understood. First is South Africa as a developing country engaged in hosting a hallmark event and engrossed in concomitant inflated tourism-related expectations. Second is the vulnerability of Cape Town's hotel sector with its overdependence on long-haul holiday tourists from a narrow northern-hemisphere market experiencing the worst economic recession since the 1930s. Third is the favourable economic trends in South Africa from 1999 to 2007 that have trapped hotel developers in a ‘fallacy of composition’.     

Multinational hotel development in developing countries: an exploratory analysis of critical policy issues

Multinational hotel companies, often integrated with tour operators, travel agencies and other businesses in tourist‐generating or tourist‐receiving countries, play a key role in the development and continuity of an international tourism industry in developing countries. In order to take advantage of benefits and minimise the unwanted adverse effects from multinational hotel involvement, developing countries need the planning, implementation and evaluation of carefully designed policies linked to their particular objectives. This paper reviews the potential benefits and costs of multinational hotel companies and brings together previously scattered critical policy issues in relation to them, while suggesting possible options for developing countries to follow. Seven critical policy areas are identified: establishment of the need for foreign investment; deciding on forms of involvement; deciding on the scale of hotel development; supporting sectoral linkages; supporting indigenous employment/training; monitoring business practices; and determining foreign investment incentives and regulations. It is argued that policies should be worked out in these areas and co‐ordinated in order to achieve a balance between the benefits and costs of multinational hotel involvement in developing countries. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An examination of US hotel firms' risk features and their determinants of systematic risk

This study examined risk features of hotel firms and the determinants of their systematic risk. After reviewing the financial data for 31 US hotel firms from 2004 through 2008, we found that 86% of the hotel firms' total risk could be characterized as unsystematic risk. The results showed that while debt leverage and growth are positively related to systematic risk, firm size is negatively associated with such risk. Our findings suggest that conservative growth via mergers and acquisitions, and less reliance on debt financing is advisable for hotel firms seeking to reduce systematic risk and enhance firm value. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficiency and productivity growth in hotel industry

This paper analyses the relative efficiency and productivity of a representative sample of Portuguese hotels by using the directional distance function and the Luenberger productivity indicator. The key advantage of this approach is that both input contraction and output expansion are considered. The model generates hotel efficiency scores, ranking the hotels in the sample. We conclude that both inputs and outputs play a major role in hotel efficiency. Therefore, we suggest an alteration of management procedures in order to enable efficiency to be increased, based on an effective enhanced‐incentive policy and taking into account the small hotel characteristics of the sample. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The economic return on education for hotel managers

This paper estimates econometrically the economic return on education among Portuguese hotels managers, based on a survey carried out in 2003. A Mincerian human capital model is estimated. The main findings indicate that the rate of return is in the range 12–15%, signifying that Portuguese hotel managers are better paid than the average population. The results also indicate that in this sector, the return on education does not depend on the number of employees in the hotels in which the individual works, nor on the region where the hotel is situated. Gender has an impact in this labour market. Being a foreign manager has a positive impact on earnings, as is also the case for partners in the hotel company. The research draws the attention of hotel managers to the need to acquire human capital to enable them to perform their tasks effectively in a globalised world. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling roles of task‐technology fit and self‐efficacy in hotel employees' usage behaviours of hotel information systems

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between hotel information system (HIS) users' personal perceptions and beliefs of the given system and their daily routine usage intention via the technology acceptance model (TAM), considering the two external variables (motivational variables) of the model — ‘task‐technology fit’ (extrinsic motivation; system feature) and ‘self‐efficacy’ (intrinsic motivation; personal feature). Data were collected from hotel employees of 13 upscale hotels in Jeju, South Korea, and path analysis was utilised to test structural model and hypotheses. The results provided empirical support for an extended TAM, and verified its robustness in predicting hotel employees' intention to use a HIS. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.