An Importance–Performance Analysis of Low Cost Carriers in Asia

This article investigates the degree of importance and performance of 11 attributes of short- and long-haul low-cost carriers (LCCs) in Asia. Results find that airfare and perception of safety are considered as the most valued attribute for short-haul LCCs and long-haul LCCs, respectively. The importance-performance analysis also reveals that LCCs should “keep up the good work” in areas such as timetable schedules, perception of safety, airfare, and punctuality. It is also found that more efforts should be devoted in rectifying the misconception of low-cost, low quality and reinforcing an image of low-cost, high quality.     

Organizational Learning and Hotel Performance: The Role of Capabilities’ Hierarchy

Building on the capabilities’ hierarchy concept, a model of the effect of organizational learning on hotel performance is proposed and tested in this study. Data was collected from 240 managers in the hotel industry of United Kingdom and Pakistan via survey. The results revealed strong direct inter-relation between different level of capabilities and an indirect relation between organizational learning and performance through these capabilities. This paper makes theoretical contributions to management as well as hospitality and tourism research by generating an integrative and unifying framework for an organizational learning performance relationship, clarifying capabilities inter-relationships and empirically revealing the exact way these capabilities enhance performance. Also, it has practical implications for hotel managers’ understanding on the development and use of capabilities as a hierarchy in enhancing their hotel performance.     

Does the Usability Experienced Performance of Travel Websites in China Meet Users' Expectation?

Despite the increasing use of the Internet in travel and tourism, the issue of usability on travel websites has been largely overlooked in the existing tourism literature in Mainland China (hereafter known as China), one of the world's largest markets for generating and receiving tourists. This paper reports on a study that investigated the perceptions of Internet users in China on China-based travel agency websites (henceforth referred to as travel websites). The expectancy disconfirmation theory was used to compare the expected performance and experienced performance of 24 usability attributes. Empirical results showed significant differences between perceived performance and expected performance for all included attributes.     

Importance‐Performance and Segmentation: An Application at a Biosphere Reserve in Vietnam

This paper examines how importance‐performance analysis (IPA) used with segmentation can be an effective natural resource management tool. Data were obtained from visitors (n = 368, response rate = 66%) to the Can Gio Mangrove Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam. Two distinct user segments were identified according to their preference for facility development within the reserve. The two segments differed in their importance‐performance ratings for (a) attractions, (b) beach facilities and services, (c) facilities in the area, and (d) beauty of the area. Those favoring development rated each of these reserve attributes as more important (p < .001) than those less disposed to additional development. Those favoring development rated the performance of three of four attributes positively, while all four attributes received negative performance scores for those less disposed to additional development. Implications show that segmentation can allow for more accurate planning and decision making.     

Does Franchising Create Value? An Analysis of the Financial Performance of US Public Restaurant Firms

It is commonly believed that the franchising method of distribution provides strategic and operational benefits to the companies that adopt it. These benefits should result in superior financial performance as compared to that of firms that do not use franchising. Yet, the empirical evidence of the effects of franchising on financial performance is sparse and mixed. The purpose of this article is to examine the empirical evidence of the impact of franchising on US publicly traded restaurant firms. The results provide some evidence that franchising firms create more market and economic value than do non-franchising firms in the US public restaurant sector.     

On the Validity of the “Importance Minus Performance” Construct—A Genuine Contribution of the Tourism Literature or a Mishap?

Measuring service quality in a reliable and valid manner is crucial. Accordingly, this study explores whether the tourism-oriented Importance-Performance construct is a theoretically sound measure of service quality. The conceptual analysis is followed by an empirical test of the construct's prediction capability within the realm of service quality/satisfaction framework in the tourism context of a large festival. Both the conceptual and empirical results clearly indicate that the validity of the Importance-Performance construct should be strongly doubted, and that tourism and hospitality managers as well as researchers would be better off avoiding the use of the Importance-Performance construct.     

An Investigation of Market Orientation (MO) and Tourism Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’ (SMEs) Performance in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature

This paper aims to build a structured literature review of the field of market orientation and its impact on tourism small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) performance in developing countries. This literature review will present a comprehensive survey of market orientation (MO) published articles to facilitate good understanding of MO. It serves as an archive and aims to help the scholars and practitioners to explore, analyse, and develop a clear understanding about the different research points and methodologies implemented in previous studies related to MO and its impact on tourism SMEs’ performance. The paper systematically reviews and categorizes the published literature implementing a three-stage methodology, and thereafter analyzes and reviews this literature methodologically. The review covered many areas and identified some factors that drive/hinder market-oriented activities within tourism SMEs. Furthermore, suggestions have been made to understand more thoroughly how market orientation influences tourism SMEs performance in developing economies. A research gap in the area of market orientation and tourism SMEs performance in developing countries was identified. The study provides great benefits for owner-managers, government policy makers, scholars, and educators by clarifying the concept of market orientation and its relationship with performance in the context of tourism SMEs.