The Importance of Hotel Attributes in Contributing to Travelers' Satisfaction in the Hong Kong Hotel Industry

Abstract

This study surveyed 402 international travelers to explore their satisfaction levels towards service and facility quality in three Hong Kong hotel market segments, High-Tariff A, High-Tariff B and Medium Tariff. Six perception dimensions were extracted from 33 hotel attributes by a factor analysis. All six dimensions had a significant impact on the overall satisfaction of travelers with service quality and facilities in the three Hong Kong hotel market segments. Quality of Staff Performance was the most influential factor followed by Quality of Room Facilities, Value for Money, Variety and Efficient Services, Business Related Services, and Safety and Security respectively. It was found that travelers had the lowest satisfaction level towards the Medium-Tariff hotel segment. By identifying the most influential hotel dimension in influencing travelers' satisfaction levels, hoteliers will be in an advantageous position to formulate tactics to meet the changing needs and expectations of travelers. Implementing human resources training that emphasizes the fact that service quality is part of each employee's job should have a significant impact on guest re-purchase intention. The importance of value segmentation cannot be overlooked by hoteliers. Travelers will continue to expect hotels to provide more value-for-money services and facilities and they are expected to shift their purchasing decision to an economic value basis.     

Trip destinations, gateways and itineraries: the example of Hong Kong

Trip itinerary data present analytical problems because of the great diversity of routes that travelers follow and the varying significance of destinations along those routes. Most of the models that have been proposed to deal with this complexity have focused either on the total number of travelers from one country to another, or on the overall pattern of entire trips. An alternative and complementary approach is to examine the relative location of a destination within the larger itinerary pattern. Depending on their location within the overall trip itinerary, places can exhibit characteristics of one or more destination types: Single Destination, Gateway Destination, Egress Destination, Touring Destination, or Hub Destination. Data collected on international air travelers to Hong Kong exhibited the first four of these five patterns. Taiwan and Singapore residents primarily used Hong Kong as a Single Destination for short break shopping holidays and for business. US and Australian residents were the most likely to use Hong Kong as a trip Gateway and as a Touring Destination, especially as the Gateway for a trip to China, but Hong Kong also served as a Gateway for trips to destinations in East and Southeast Asia and, for US residents, to Australia. Residents of China were more likely to use Hong Kong as a trip Egress Destination than were others. Hong Kong has traditionally considered itself primarily as a ‘gateway to China’ and an ‘Asian travel hub’. Hong Kong, and other destinations, could benefit from being more aware of their role as an Egress Destination and of their relationships with destinations that travelers visit before and after their arrival.     

Inbound Travelers' Selection Criteria for Hotel Spas in Hong Kong

With a growing number of travelers enjoying spa experiences, it is vital that hotels understand their preferences. As Hong Kong has a high visitor inflow and is in the preliminary stages of hotel spa development, an examination of the selection criteria used by inbound travelers when choosing hotel spas should provide Hong Kong hoteliers with the information needed to further develop and refine their facilities. This study examines the selection criteria that inbound travelers use to gain insight into how demographic factors and travel characteristics affect their spa-related decisions. A measuring instrument was developed based on in-depth interviews of spa industry professionals and secondary data. The results reveal that relaxation, pampering, and beautification were the main reasons that people visited hotel spas; with the three most important major selection dimensions being therapists, price, and product and treatment types. Of the 28 selection criteria studied, professional skills, product and service knowledge, sense of privacy, range of facilities, and product branding were the most important attributes. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed here.     

The Effect of Length of Stay on Travelers' Perceived Satisfaction with Service Quality

SUMMARY

Consumer satisfaction related to service quality during the vacation experience is of paramount importance to the travel and tourism industry. This study tests empirically the effects the number of nights spent on a vacation have on the levels of satisfaction recent travelers report for three service aspects of the travel destination: perceived satisfaction with tourism service providers; perceived “freedom from defects” of tourism services; and perceived reasonableness of the cost of tourism services. Differentiation in satisfaction scores between “short-term visitors” (i.e., those who stayed from one to six nights) and “long-term visitors” (i.e., those who stayed seven or more nights) were examined. Significant differences between the two groups of visitors were present for (1) perceived satisfaction with industry professionals delivering the service experience at the travel destination, (2) perceived satisfaction with “freedom from defects” of the actual services at the destination, and (3) perceived reasonableness of the cost of services at the travel destination. Suggestions for how tourism industry professionals can make use of this information are presented.     

The Situational Influence of Travel Group Composition

Abstract

A substantial amount of statistics and articles in travel magazines indicated that family vacation travel is one of the major worldwide trends. However, very limited empirical research has been dedicated to this special market segment. This study examined Japanese family travelers to Taiwan by comparing and contrasting them with other travel companionship groups including traveling with friends and traveling alone. The importance of travel group composition segmentation was explained and conceptualized through the understanding of the value of social groups from sociology perspective. The results indicated that Japanese family travelers exhibited unique characteristics when traveling. Family travelers tended to be more motivated by learning oriented themes and participated enthusiastically in activities that facilitated experiential learning as well as total physical relaxation. The “traveling with friends” and “traveling solo” segments tended to be seeking more of activities that had strong entertaining and socializing undertones. The traveling solo group appeared to be the most evasive or the least understood in what their needs and preferences were. Marketing implications were discussed.     

Business Traveler Satisfaction with Hotel Service Encounters

Abstract

This study examines customer satisfaction with a series of hotel services. Five service encounters were examined in a sample of business travelers (n = 140) who had stayed in Hong Kong hotels. Overall satisfaction and repurchase intention were differentially impacted by the various service encounters. Business center encounters had the greatest effect on business traveler satisfaction, followed by check-out and check-in encounters. Interestingly, room and restaurant encounters had the least impact on satisfaction. The delivery of good core services alone cannot guarantee customer satisfaction. Hotels must also pay attention to peripheral service delivery, because these encounters help to shape the customer's overall level of satisfaction and repurchase intention.     

Family Vacation Activities and Family Cohesion

Family is an important unit of individuals seeking experiences together during vacation. This consumptive unit deserves explicit attention not only because of its market size but also because of ramifications of family vacation on family functioning. This study explores the interplay of vacation activity patterns and family cohesion. It reveals a taxonomy of four types of family travelers with respect to their patterns of activities and needs for cohesion. They are “bonded and nature seeking”; “attached and enthusiastic”; “self-directed and recreation oriented”; and “sociable but static” family travelers. This research provides empirical evidences for the proposition that vacation activities are valuable contributors to family cohesion. Implications are provided pertaining to the development of quality family vacation programs and enhancement of family life satisfaction.     

How do Mainland Chinese travelers choose restaurants in Hong Kong?: An exploratory study of individual visit scheme travelers and packaged travelers

The introduction of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), which allows Mainland Chinese travelers (hereafter called Chinese travelers) to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis, has been beneficial to the fast recovery of the local economy in Hong Kong from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The IVS travelers, together with the packaged travelers who visited Hong Kong by joining packaged tours, are presently forming the largest segment of inbound travelers to Hong Kong. Despite the significant economic contributions of Chinese travelers to Hong Kong in general, and to the foodservice sector in particular, there has been an absence of prior studies on IVS travelers’ behavior of selecting restaurants in the existing hospitality and tourism literature. This paper reports on an exploratory study that investigated the perceived importance of attributes that pertain to the selection of restaurants from the perspective of IVS and packaged travelers from Mainland China. Empirical findings of a questionnaire survey with 230 Chinese travelers, including 127 IVS travelers and 103 packaged travelers, showed that the respondents in general viewed the included attributes as relatively important. In addition, only two attributes exhibited significant differences between IVS and packaged travelers. Findings of this research would be useful for hospitality and tourism practitioners to better prepare for receiving the growing number of Chinese travelers.     

Effect of cultural distance on tourism: A study of pleasure visitors in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the effect of cultural distance on pleasure visitors, mainly vacation overnight visitors, in Hong Kong. Secondary data on 10 source markets are extracted from the annual report of visitor profile 2014 published by Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). The data are compared to recognize the influence cultural distance can have on visitor profiles and trip characteristics, including travel patterns, expenditure, and satisfaction levels. Deteriorating effects ascribed to cultural distance are clearly observed in the following three important aspects: repeated visit, length of stay, and expenditure; however, these effects do not extend to all aspects. Therefore, cultural distance may be used to complement physical distance in order to explain the tourist flow, and it should be further studied.     

Ethics of Chinese & Western tourists in Hong Kong

The potential for tension between tourists and residents due to tourist behaviour is rising. In such environment, understanding tourists’ ethical judgments of different scenarios is important. This study asks tourists and residents to ethically evaluate five different scenarios, using a multidimensional ethics scale and rate the likelihood they are to engage in these scenarios while at home and on vacation. An intercept survey of 1827 questionnaires were collected from Hong Kong residents, Mainland Chinese and Western tourists. Teleological ethical theories may justify actions that are deemed ethically inappropriate by deontology or ethics of justice. Western tourists are more likely to engage in unethical behaviour on holidays than at home. For Mainland Chinese visitors, the opposite is true.     

Information search behavior of Hong Kong's inbound travelers‐a comparison of business and leisure travelers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the information search behavior of Hong Kong's inbound tourists, in particular business and leisure travelers. The study clearly shows that business and leisure travelers demonstrate different information search behavior. ‘Personal experience,’ ‘Travel agency/tour company,’ ‘Airlines’ and the ‘Internet’ are most frequently relied upon by business travelers in searching for travel information, while leisure travelers prefer ‘Travel agency/tour company,’ ‘Friends or relatives,’ ‘Travel guide books,’ and ‘Personal experience.’ The study also reveals that the total number of information sources used and the length of pre‐trip planning lead‐time are significantly different between these two groups of travelers. First time travelers also have a longer pre‐trip planning lead‐time than repeat travelers. Furthermore, business and leisure travelers perceive the levels of influence of several information sources, including ‘Corporate travel departments,’ ‘Friends or relatives,’ ‘Travel guide books,’ and the ‘Internet,’ differently. These information sources were classified into five different dimensions, including ‘Media,’ ‘Neutral,’ ‘Retail,’ ‘Interpersonal,’ and ‘Personal experience.’ Analysis based on travelers' purpose for traveling and demographic information was performed. Leisure travelers perceive the level of influence of ‘Neutral’ sources as significantly higher, and those with lower household incomes perceived the level of influence of ‘Personal experience’ as lower. The results of this study will allow marketers in Hong Kong to better understand travelers’ information search behavior so that they can more effectively tailor their marketing strategies to these two major markets.     

Long-haul and short-haul outbound all-inclusive package tours

Most long-haul and short-haul outbound travelers in Hong Kong purchase all-inclusive package tours through travel agencies. Thus, it is important for travel agencies to understand the criteria used by travelers to select package tours. This study aims to identify these criteria, and to investigate the differences between these two groups of travelers. The sample size was 200. The results show that personal safety and the guarantee of a promised departure date were the most important selection criteria for the travelers. Prospective long-haul travelers were more concerned with product features and the quality of counseling, and were less sensitive to price than were short-haul travelers.     

User preferences for web site attributes: A study of the Hong Kong Disneyland

The Hong Kong Disneyland will be open in 2005 and the theme park is very likely to have an official web site. In order to determine the nature of a model/ideal official web site that would serve the promotional purpose, this study is conducted with two objectives. First, the study makes an attempt to understand the information types that the target markets, namely local Hong Kong residents, Western visitors and Chinese visitors, would like to have on the future Hong Kong Disney web site. Secondly, this research examines whether e‐ticketing is feasible for the web site. Using a questionnaire and a convenience sampling method, 198 responses were received. Empirical results indicate that the respondents all agreed that the suggested attributes should be listed in the web site. In addition, no significant difference was found among different groups of respondents on homepage information. However, significant differences were found among the interviewees’ views regarding products/services information, and ticketing information. To communicate effectively, the adoption of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is recommended in a value‐chain system for achieving successful e‐commerce.     

Skills and Competencies Needed for the Hong Kong Hotel Industry

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry is one of the main sources of income to Hong Kong. If qualified employees provide better service, Hong Kong can potentially attract even more visitors. The training of new recruits and existing staff is therefore vital, but views on the value and the type of training vary amongst the stakeholders. This study of the views of hotel human resources managers revealed that they considered that people who were interested in developing their career in the hospitality industry must be prepared to start at the bottom. The hotel human resources managers strongly believe that employees must have a positive service-mind and commitment to the industry with a certain degree of working experience. Employers perceived these were important components to success for every member of staff, rather than having a good educational background. Such qualifications will raise the status of the hotel industry in general and enhance the status of the service providers as professionals.     

A Cross-cultural comparison of customer complaint behavior in restaurants in hotels

This study documented consumer complaint behavior in hotel restaurants in two diverse cosmopolitan cities, Hong Kong, SAR and Houston, USA. It was found that in the area of food and beverage attributes, the Hong Kong group rated tastiness, temperature and freshness less important to make a complaint about the Houston group. As for service, service efficiency, greetings, attentiveness and helpfulness were rated differently, with the Hong Kong group rated “greetings” higher than the Houston counterparts. Regarding atmospherics, the two groups were most alike, though the Hong Kong group would be more likely to complain about the noise level while the Houston group, temperature and décor of hotel restaurants.     

Virtual MICE Promotion

ABSTRACT

Hong Kong and Singapore have been the leading cities for hosting MICE in Asia. Every year, thousands of events are held, both by local and international organizers, in Singapore and Hong Kong. Despite the significant economic contributions of MICE to a local economy, hospitality and tourism literature seldom analyzes Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of MICE promotion. The absence of published articles is particularly true in the context of virtual promotion. This paper reports on a study examining events promotion in the Web sites of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Singapore Tourism Board. The paper also analyzes the performance of the official Web sites in providing useful site selection information to event organizers and meeting planners. Empirical results of a content-based analysis indicate that the information provided by the Singaporean Web site is more comprehensive than its Hong Kong counterpart.     

Cross-Border Restaurant Patronage

ABSTRACT

This research takes a cross-cultural view of the variables influencing dining consumers' perception of the attractiveness of a neighboring country as a venue for dining, and satisfaction with the cross-border dining experience. Specifically, it studies consumers' attractiveness perceptions of neighboring country restaurants as a venue for dining and satisfaction, with the cross-border dining experience as a function of three key individual-difference variables associated with Western and Asian consumers. In a survey of 636 cross-border diners at United States/Canada and Hong Kong/China borders, perceptions of attractiveness and satisfaction were found to vary as a function of variables associated with the cultural attributes of individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and time perspective.     

Residents’ opinions on gaming activities and the legalization of soccer betting

Many Asian countries have an active gaming industry yet limited published information about the industry's development, operation, impact, or resident opinions is available. The purposes of this study were to examine residents’ opinions on various forms of gaming and to identify factors influencing their support for legalized soccer betting. Telephone interviews were undertaken with 449 Hong Kong residents. Respondents’ opinions were divided on most gaming issues, including the recently announced authorization of soccer betting. Soccer betting's association with potential economic benefits was the strongest indicator of respondents’ support for its legalization. Soccer betting proponents were generally more supportive of all other forms of gaming activities.     

Market Segmentation in the Tourism Industry and Consumers' Spending

Abstract

Despite the unabated pace of globalisation and the incessant flow of tourists to multiple tourist destinations, there is little attention paid by tourist operators and hospitality managers to the segmentation of holiday makers based on their distinctive spending habits for revenue maximization. Segmenting holiday makers according to their levels of expenditure is an important factor in developing comprehensive marketing strategies since travellers who decide to spend a vacation in the same area and in the same period might spend their money in very different ways. This paper uses the CHAID technique to examine direct as well as daily tourist expenditures of holiday makers in Hong Kong to define market segments (particularly, the big spenders). The results obtained confirm that CHAID is a relatively flexible technique to use and can be employed as a precursor to a more parametric approach.     

Exploring Family Roles in Purchasing Decisions During Vacation Planning

Abstract

Family decision making not only has been an interesting subject to consumer behavior researchers but also has served as a valuable source in shaping marketing strategies adopted by the tourism and hospitality industry. However, little research has been devoted to understanding the roles of family members in the decision-making process during vacation planning. This paper attempts to provide further understanding on the nature and the importance of family roles played in making travel purchase decisions. The authors conceptually reviewed past studies to explore different roles played by the core family members in the decision-making process and developed research propositions along with a conceptual model regarding family vacation planning. Relevant marketing implications were discussed and unique research methods were also recommended for further study.