Environmental proactivity of hotel operations: Antecedents and the moderating effect of ownership type

This study examines the relative importance of three influential factors (stakeholder pressure, economic opportunities, and top managers’ personal environmental concern) in shaping managerial attitudes toward adoption of green programs in the hotel industry. The results, based on a sample of 235 top managers of hotels affiliated with three U.S. state hotel associations, suggest that stakeholder pressure is the most dominant predictor of managerial attitudes toward adoption of green programs followed by economic benefits and top managers’ personal environmental concern. In addition, the relationship between managerial attitudes toward adoption of environmental programs and organizational environmental commitment is found to be moderated by the ownership style. The relationship is stronger for independent hotels than for chain-affiliated hotels, indicating a more significant role of managerial discretion in implementing environmental strategies at the independent hotel setting than the chain hotel setting.     

Do online hotel rating schemes influence booking behaviors?

Travelers’ hotel booking behaviors increasingly depend on peers' opinions and online ratings. This study investigates the effects of online hotel ratings on travelers' attitudes toward the hotel and booking intentions, using a 2 × 2 experimental research design. The results suggest that online rating lists are more useful and credible when published by well-known online travel communities (e.g., TripAdvisor). More favorable attitudes toward a hotel and higher booking intentions emerge when the hotel appears in best hotels lists. Finally, for the entries on best hotels lists, better attitudes and higher booking intentions result if the list is published on a well-known online travel community (Tripadvisor), whereas for entries on a worst hotel list, attitudes and booking intentions decrease even further if the list appears on TripAdvisor.     

Hotel guests’ perceptions of environmental friendly practices in social media

Despite hotels’ managers spend substantial time and money on environmental initiatives; they are not sure whether their guests perceive their green efforts appropriately. The purpose of this study is to analyze guests’ perceptions of hotels’ environmental practices expressed through social media. Main results suggest that even though customers perceive green efforts regarding six items: Energy, Water, Purchasing, Waste, Site and Education & Innovation, they do not discern hotels' level of environmental commitment. Moreover, guests' perceptions of hotel efforts in environmentally friendly practices do not significantly differ by the mode of travel nor by the reviewer's experience in travel platforms. A relevant implication is that the communication about environmentally friendly practices needs to be redesigned and intensified by hotel managers in order to take advantage of these efforts.     

Managing green marketing: Hong Kong hotel managers’ perspective

In view of the serious environmental problems we are currently facing, taking action to protect our planet is becoming more persuasive and important. Along with various environmental initiatives, the concept of green marketing emerged in the late 1980s. Some hotels have taken various initiatives to position themselves as green hotels, including the use of eco-labels as a marketing ploy to attract customers. Nevertheless, some of the hotels that use these green marketing strategies have been accused of “green washing”. The main aim of this study is to investigate Hong Kong hotel manager perceptions of the relative importance of different green marketing strategies. Questionnaires containing 30 attributes were distributed to this effect. The findings reveal that hotel managers equally perceive “Hotel green marketing should begin with green product and service design”, “Hotels provide products and services that do no harm to human health” and “The Internet is an effective channel to market a hotel's green initiatives to customers directly” as the top green marketing ploys. Independent t-tests and one-way ANOVA were also used to examine significant differences in the way hotel managers with different professional backgrounds and individual demographic characteristics rate the importance of hotel-related green marketing strategies. The findings indicate that lower-grade hotels tend to adopt lean green marketing strategies, whereas hotels with larger sizes or formal environmental management systems are likely to adopt shaded or extreme green marketing strategies. The study also provides a number of insights to help hotel managers and especially marketers better understand the implementation and importance of different green marketing strategies, thereby allowing them to employ suitable measures to avoid the “green washing” designation and attract more green-conscious travellers.     

Tourists’ preferences for hotel booking

This paper analyzes tourists’ preferences for hotel booking mode using a sample of 17,921 tourists visiting a Northern Spanish region during 2005–2016. Four different booking modes are considered: telephone, the internet, travel agency and other non-market-based intermediaries. We estimate a Finite Mixture Multinomial Logit Model that allows us to define three classes of tourists. Our results show that leisure tourists coming from distant locations and lodged at luxury hotels have higher likelihood of online hotel booking in class 1. Travel agencies are preferred by offseason tourists with longer stays, while those travelling by public transit modes and staying at luxury hotels opt for non-market-based intermediaries in class 2. In class 3, first-time tourists choose the internet, telephone is more prevalent among those staying at economy hotels and travel agencies are preferred among those travelling in the offseason and by public transit modes.     

The influence of uncertain demand on hotel capacity

We examine the effects of uncertain demand on hotel capacity using the operation data of international tourist hotels in Taiwan from 1996 to 2008. Abel (1983) argued that demand uncertainty leads to an increase in the capacity of a firm if uncertain demand takes the form of output price uncertainty for the competitive market. We empirically test Abel's model. Our findings support the demand uncertainty hypothesis in Abel's model. Moreover, our results indicate that effective management of hotel capacities is a more important issue for managers of medium-sized hotels than for small or large-sized hotels in the Taiwanese hotel industry.     

Strategic alignment leverage between hotels and companies: The buyer–supplier relationship perspective

Hoteliers are seeking ways to increase their revenue by working with travel agencies to costeffectively expand sales. In addition, they are simultaneously turning to hotel bookings to bolster their revenue in the face of decreasing airline commissions. The research objectives of the present study included determining how the strategic decisions of cooperating contract companies and travel agencies of the hotels are influenced by the service vision and standard service communication. Data were obtained via a mailed questionnaire survey from a sample of travel agencies and contract companies in Taiwan. Of the 300 questionnaires sent, 201 responses (67%) were received, yielding a usable response of 192 fully completed questionnaires. The use of the structural equation model to test the theoretical model of collaboration relationship could lead to a greater understanding of the nature and determinants of choice and decisions related to cooperation between firms. From the perspective of buyer–supplier relationships, hotels are seeking ways to develop long-term relationships and to increase their revenue by collaborating with travel agencies and contract companies, and through the firm's service vision and service-standard communication, hotels can develop services to align with their needs. Moreover, service trends affecting hoteliers may include adapting customer demands, increased expectations of value and quality, and an increasingly highly competitive environment. Hotels would therefore need to be able to make these changes in order to continue this alignment relationship, with substitution possibly being an option for these firms when hotels cannot do this. That is, hotels generally face fierce competition, and to be able to compete they must make continuous efforts to maintain product and service quality; they also need to be innovative to be the leading performers.     

Developing a Forecast System for Hotel Occupancy Rate Using Integrated ARIMA Models

Abstract

International tourist hotels play a consequential role in the development of the tourism industry. The occupancy rate is usually considered a pertinent indicator in measuring the performance of the hotels. This study employs the ARIMA and ARIMA transfer function model incorporated with the Box-Cox transformation function for the forecasting of occupancy rate. The results of this research find two explanatory variables strongly affect the occupancy rate: one is the numbers of tourists and the other is the Taiwan/ Japan foreign exchange rate. The forecasting shows slow rising of the occupancy rate for the international hotels in Taiwan; it will reach 64.67% by the year 2000. The forecast of the occupancy rate provides important information tor both government agencies and hotel managers so that corresponding management strategies can be made.     

Making innovation happen through building social capital and scanning environment

Both new service development and existing service improvement are critical tools for hotels to gain competitive advantages, but pursuing new services while simultaneously improving existing services is difficult for hotel managers. The success of highly proactive hotel managers has been credited to their ability to change the environment effectively, and such managers may be able to lead hotels to resolve the trade-off dilemma and deliver better services. To elucidate the contributions of proactive managers in making innovation happen, this study explored two key activities that hotels may undertake when prompted by the proactive managers, namely, environmental scanning and social capital building. The process involved in developing new services and improving current services was examined using empirical data collected from the general managers of 226 hotels in Taiwan. The results confirm that environmental scanning and social capital fully mediate the relationship between proactive personality of managers and capacity for service innovation as well as service improvement of hotels, indicating that hotel managers with a proactive personality are helpful at implementing innovation.     

Constraints to attracting new hotel workers: A study on industrial recruitment

The global hospitality and tourism industry is not only burdened with high turnover rates but also may soon be in the throes of a labor shortage. As such, a better understanding of industry employment perceptions has become a critical issue for hospitality managers. Of particular concern are the perceptions of those potential employees that do not have prior employment experience in the hospitality industry. Accordingly, the purpose of this research is to consider perceptions of hotel employment among the segment of the potential employee population that has no current or past experience working in hotels. Per the tenets of Constraint Theory, perceptions of pay, promotion opportunities, work-to-life conflict, and workplace-induced isolation are proposed to significantly affect potential employees’ attitudes toward hotel employment. In turn, these attitudes are proposed to affect both intention to apply for hotel work and the intention to recommend applying for hotel work to others.     

Customer Satisfaction,Training and TQM

Abstract

Managers within the hospitality industry make frequent reference to TQM principles. The extent to which these principles are applied effectively within the human resource management area of hospitality however remains under-researched. By applying TQM principles, this paper focusses on the relationship between customer service and training drawing upon comparative data from Western and Thai hotels. The paper also examines the perceptions of staff towards of hotels' guest-orientation and the provision of quality guest services. The researchers found that guest assessments of the performance of hotel frontline staff depend on their services function (e.g., front-office, housekeeping). The service quality skills needed by frontline staff were also found to differ in the case of Western and Thai hotels. Such differences merit proper consideration on the part of managers within the major hotel chains. The various findings may assist hospitality managers to determine appropriate strategies for the enhancement of guest services particularly in cross-cultural settings.     

Satisfaction and positive emotions: A comparison of the influence of hotel guests’ beliefs and attitudes on their satisfaction and emotions

This research provides a comparative study of two comprehensive servicescape models to explore the underlying influence of various hotel elements on guests’ satisfaction with, and emotional responses to, their hotel stays. Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this research sought to identify the differences in guests’ beliefs and attitudes about the elements of hotels’ public areas, rooms, ambiance, social, and green practices in determining their satisfaction and emotions. Two structural models were developed illustrating the theorized interrelationships between identified constructs. Data collected through an online survey from 310 guests stayed in upscale hotels with four-star ratings were used for the analysis. Results from two structural models revealed that the model with attitudes is a better predictor of guest satisfaction and emotions than the model with beliefs. Further, emotionally attached guests engage more in WOM than did satisfied guests. Hotel managers need to offer experiences that consist of elements that matter to customers since customers’ attitude towards various service elements determine their satisfaction and emotional attachment with hotels. Additionally, in order to get brand promoters through WOM recommendations, hotels need to focus on emotionally attached customers than satisfied customers.     

Hotel booking through online travel agency: Optimal Stackelberg strategies under customer-centric payment service

Facing stiff competition, online travel agencies (OTAs) are dedicating to provide customer-centric payment service in hotel online booking, which poses challenges for hotels and customers to make optimal strategies. This paper studies the optimal Stackelberg decisions and strategic interactions of a hotel and a customer in online booking through online travel agencies with customer-centric payment service. The results show that refund rate has great effect on the customer's payment decision, while transaction cost has great influence on the hotel's operational decision. When the refund rate is greater than a threshold, the customer prefers online payment. Being a leader in the Stackelberg game, the hotel can induce customers to choose the payment option with the lowest transaction cost by setting a refund rate.     

An Assessment of Key Hotel Guest Contact Personnel in Handling Guest Complaints

Abstract

The quality of a guest's hotel experience is frequently dependent on the consistency with which hotel standards of service are applied. Where the existing systems break down, guests will complain. This should be viewed as an opportunity for the hotel's management. However, some hotel direct guest contact personnel may view guest complaints as causes for panic rather than opportunities for improving the hotel operation. Guests whose complaints were resolved satisfactorily were willing to return back to the hotel. Proficiency in handling their complaints results in greater guest satisfaction and loyalty. The application of the research will be on Hotel Assistant Managers/Guest Relations Agents to investigate whether they are applying the necessary steps and techniques to solve guests' complaints related either to tangible or intangible products in hotels. Results indicate that Hotel Assistant Managers and Guest Relations Agents could improve their effectiveness in handling guests' complaints. Assistant Managers were found in this study to be better at handling complaints than Guest Relations Agents.     

TOURISM INVOLVEMENT,WORK ENGAGEMENT AND JOB SATISFACTION AMONG FRONTLINE HOTEL EMPLOYEES

This study examined the relationship among tourism involvement, work engagement and job satisfaction in the hotel industry. Data was gathered from 336 frontline employees of 20 international hotels in Taiwan and was analyzed via structural equation modeling. Findings show that tourism involvement is positively related to work engagement, while both tourism involvement and work engagement are positively related to job satisfaction. Work engagement was found to partially mediate the relationship between tourism involvement and job satisfaction. Implications for hotel managers, limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

Don't change my towels please: Factors influencing participation in towel reuse programs

Towel reuse is the flagship of hotel environmental practices. This paper examines the effects of consumer demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics influencing a two-stage decision making process including participation and support to a towel reuse program. A meta-analysis shows that 53% of customers are willing to financially support green hotels. A survey of 1304 Greek and foreign hotel customers in tourism hot spots in Greece reveals that 72% of hotel customers would adopt a towel reuse program while 44.1% are willing to pay extra an average of 2.15 euros per day to support it. Younger customers and customers that book high-priced hotels or with higher length of stay exhibit higher willingness to pay extra for towel reuse programs. As rising water and energy shortages in specific tourism hotspots bring hotels' environmental integration under increased scrutiny, the focal findings hold significant implications for hotel managers and tourism policy makers.     

Modeling a green supply chain in the hotel industry: An evolutionary game theory approach

Despite extensive discussion of environmental management for hotels, little research has been done on the hotel industry’s green supply chain management. This study uses the evolutionary game approach to examine the generation of green behaviors and a green supply chain by hotels. Results show that most hotels do have an incentive mechanism for green growth; hotels with green behaviors are more profitable than those that are not. Furthermore, governments and hotel customers are critical in the “greening” of traditional hotel supply chains. The findings can assist governments in formulating effective environmental policies, provide a theoretical avenue in governing green practice, and guide stakeholders to understand the formation and evolution of green development in the hotel industry.     

Managerial attitudes towards environmental management among small and medium hotels in Kuala Lumpur

Empirical work on the acceptance of environmental impacts and responsibilities by hotels in developing countries is still relatively rare. There is also little work on understanding the relationship between business and environment among small and medium hotel companies. This research helps fill the knowledge gap by providing information on the responsiveness of small and medium hotels towards environmental management within the context of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, It explores the awareness and attitudes of small and medium hotel managers towards environmental management and their opinion on how things can be improved. Questionnaires containing Likert scale questions, supplemented by open-ended questions, were personally administered to willing participants. The findings indicate that respondents generally tend to provide positive response to the Likert scale questions, but refused or were unable to give clear answers to the open-ended questions which were designed to explore further the answers they provided. In practice, managers also did not go beyond the basic common sense of cutting their water and energy costs. These indicate a lack of clear and adequate knowledge about environmental management, and their tendency to be “politically correct” in relation to environmental issues. The paper ends with recommendations on how to improve the environmental management knowledge and know-how among managers of small and medium hotels.     

Luxury hotels going green – the antecedents and consequences of consumer hesitation

Abstract

Luxury hotels might hesitate to operate in a more environmentally friendly way because they worry such practices will harm their performance. However, hotels can have a significant impact on the natural environment. Building on protection motivation theory, this study examines consumers’ evaluations of luxury hotels that are becoming more environmentally friendly by investigating the influences of perceived risks (i.e. functional, financial, hedonic, and self-image risks) on consumers’ hesitation and subsequent purchase intentions. Additionally, the moderating effect of consumers’ green hotel knowledge on the influences of perceived risks on hesitation is examined. Questionnaires were completed by 548 participants from Taiwan and revealed that perceived risks can significantly influence hesitation, which can in turn affect purchase intentions. Furthermore, green hotel knowledge moderates the influence of perceived functional and hedonic risks on hesitation. This study’s contributions to the luxury product consumption literature and sustainable tourism studies are discussed.