Investigation of Social Media Marketing: How Does the Hotel Industry in Hong Kong Perform in Marketing on Social Media Websites?

The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which social media marketing is being utilized in the Hong Kong hotel industry. Marketing performance of 67 hotels in Hong Kong on 23 social media sites was evaluated according to 18 criteria adapted from past studies. The results indicate that hotels generally have a poor performance in using social media to learn about customers. Major problems regarding the hotels' social media marketing efforts are identified. Implications behind these problems and recommendations for improvement are made accordingly.     

Hospitality Employees' Empowerment in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland

Abstract

This paper reports on a research project investigating the current and potential existence, implementation and levels of training in empowerment management styles in five international hotel groups in Asia. Initial findings suggest that empowerment is not going to be used as a management style in China for a long time. Reasons for this seem to be authoritarian management styles, culture, higher than average staff/customer ratios, employees who are not trusted, and an environment which discourages risk taking. However, in the East meets West culture of Hong Kong empowerment is starting to be introduced to a selection of staff in several international hotel chains.     

The influence of trust perceptions on German tourists’ intention to book a sustainable hotel: a new approach to analysing marketing information

ABSTRACT

This study examined the relationship between German tourists’ trust perceptions and their intention to book a sustainable hotel, pioneering a new quantitative approach to sustainable tourism marketing. Data came from 300 respondents who participated in an online survey. Respondents were given a digital brochure to read containing information about a “fictitious” three-star beach hotel in Portugal, before completing a questionnaire that measured inter alia their intention to book this sustainable hotel. Both individual “general trust” (perception of others’ trustworthiness) and “specific trust” towards the fictitious hotel in the brochure were measured. The survey also evaluated respondents’ perceptions about the usefulness of the information in the brochure. Multiple regression analysis of the data indicated that general trust, trusting the hotel and perceived usefulness of the brochure were positively and significantly related to booking intentions. An interaction between general trust and perceived usefulness was also observed. This means that the higher the perception rate about the brochure's usefulness, the higher general trust was for booking intentions and vice versa. The practical implications of the results suggest that tourists could be motivated to book a hotel if its sustainability attributes and amenities were communicated in a trust inspiring way in marketing material.     

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.     

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.     

Terrorism,Economic Uncertainty and Outbound Travel from Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of three consumer surveys conducted in Hong Kong examining and outbound travel frequency and future travel intentions. The surveys were conducted in December, 2000, October, 2001, some three weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks, and in April/May 2002, thus enabling the researchers to track the immediate and medium term impacts of the 9–11 incident on outbound tourism. The study revealed that a dramatic softening in intentions to travel was reported, yet no apparent differences were noted in overall travel participation rates before and six months after the event. However, consumers have modified their travel activities, taking shorter trips and expressing greater concerns about the safety of travel. The study further reveals that consumer confidence in the safety of outbound travel is returning, but more enduring economic concerns are beginning to affect travel intentions.     

Employees' Perceptions of Performance Appraisal

ABSTRACT

In spite of the importance of performance appraisal for hotels to evaluate their employees, the existing hospitality literature largely covers studies in Western countries only. Prior studies have rarely investigated the issue of performance appraisal in the context of China, the world's largest potential market for generating tourists and receiving tourists. This paper reports on a study that used focus group interviews with employees in an upscale hotel in Hong Kong, a special administrative region in China, on their views of the appraisal system that has been used. Research findings reveal that the system could be further improved.     

香港赴澳门游客特征研究——与内地游客比较

本研究通过在澳门返回香港的轮船上以随机抽样调查的方式调查了香港到澳门旅游的游客348人.通过SPSS软件分析,揭示了香港赴澳游客的基本特征、行为模式和对澳门旅游设施的满意度.通过对比到澳门旅游的内地自由行游客和团客,本研究发现,香港游客同内地自由行游客的消费模式比较接近,同团客差距较大.本研究对预测内地游客未来的消费模式有较大的意义.     

Air Quality in Hong Kong: A Study of the Perception of International Visitors

This paper reports on a study of the views of 1304 international travellers about their perception of air quality in Hong Kong. Findings indicated that the respondents generally did not perceive the air quality in Hong Kong as a concern when they chose to travel; they had a neutral view of this issue. However, after their visit they considered Hong Kong's air quality in both indoor and outdoor environments as worse than in their home countries. Many visitors were willing to pay an additional departure tax to fund improvements. The findings of this study have implications for decision-makers in formulating more sustainable planning policies to deal with this important environmental issue.