scholarly journals The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on customer experience design: The hotel managers’ perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 102871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Bonfanti ◽  
Vania Vigolo ◽  
Georgia Yfantidou
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samaneh Rahimian ◽  
Mehdi ShamiZanjani ◽  
Amir Manian ◽  
Mohammad Rahim Esfidani

Purpose Creating an extraordinary and memorable customer experience is the goal of every company seeking to be a market leader. This amplifies the need for customer experience management (CEM), particularly in customer-centric industries. Despite the indispensable importance of CEM, studies conducted within this area have been scattered and no agreement has been reached upon its stages. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the main stages and steps for effective and efficient CEM in the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach Considering the variety of approaches in the literature and also the need to explain CEM stages in the hotel industry, a systematic literature review (SLR) has been picked as the first research methodology. It entailed a systematic review of 116 academic and professional studies. Then, the framework was completed by interviewing 19 experts. Findings With SLR and complementary interviews, this study obtains a four-stage framework for CEM in the hotel industry, each comprising necessary steps. These four stages are customer identification, customer experience design, customer experience implementation and customer experience measurement, which are all executed through organizational factors such as culture, structure, leadership, human resources and technology. Research limitations/implications This study identifies CEM stages in the hotel industry via SLR and interviews. Due to dispersion in customer experience studies, the need for research on CEM in another service- and customer-based industries is apparent. Practical implications The suggested framework can help hotel managers enhance the management of their customers’ experience and deliver a superior and memorable experience. Originality/value The current study aims to add value to the literature by presenting a framework of CEM in the hotel industry. Through a systematic literature review and interviewing experts, a framework of CEM stages and steps was identified. The proposed framework allows for improving future CEM studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3094
Author(s):  
Wagih Salama ◽  
Essam Abdelsalam

Hotels face many issues related to food waste management, which is considered a serious environmental and socioeconomic issue in the 21st century. The improper disposal of food waste causes greenhouse gases emissions, consequently badly affecting the environment. This research aims to measure the impact of customer trends in changing the pattern of food waste disposal and recycling into bioenergy relating to hotel purposes and contributing to reducing hotel energy costs in Egypt. Two survey questionnaires were designed for hotel managers and guests, with 25 and 300 forms, respectively. The results indicated that hotel managers are highly willing to recycle food waste to produce bioenergy and hence play an effective role in environmental preservation. Such alternative energy sources are less expensive than conventional ones. This study revealed guests’ intentions to participate in the process of preserving the surrounding environment, as well as their preferences to stay in hotels that are practicing food waste recycling operations. Limitations can be seen in the lack of advertising for such hotels as well the high cost of staying in green and ecological hotels.


Author(s):  
Martin Nielsen ◽  
Karen K. Zethsen

Hotel bookings are increasingly made online, and many travellers rely on eWOM in the form of peer hotel reviews. These reviews potentially contain information of great relevance to the tourism industry and offer a unique and ever-expanding corpus of unsolicited data. If this data is investigated systematically, it may provide insights that would enable hotel managers to be proactive in their marketing. The present study focuses on the under-researched area of the potential impact of nationality on the reviews. Using a corpus of authentic American and German hotel reviews and the qualitative, phenomenologically-inspired method of Systematic Text Condensation, this study investigates the impact of national culture on review comments in order to establish whether nationality makes a difference for the themes and attitudes expressed. The data indicate that Americans are more likely to focus on old-world charm, romance, physical comfort, personal service/relations and problem-solving than Germans are. The overall results of this qualitative study allow us to conclude that there are indeed differences between the German and the American reviews to a degree that is worth pursuing in future mixed-methods research and that may have practice implications for hotel managers.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Brochado ◽  
Paulo Rita ◽  
Ana Margarido

Purpose This paper presents an analysis of the impact of current technologies on customer experiences in upscale hotels and assesses the potential of the latest technologies for enhancing customers’ stay. Design/methodology/approach A two-step approach was applied in this study. The qualitative phase included an examination of upscale hotel websites, interviews with hotel managers and an internet search regarding the latest technological innovations in hotels. In the quantitative stage, a questionnaire was developed for hotel guests, generating a sample of 310 valid completed questionnaires. Findings The results reveal that hotel guests value digital involvement in their hotel experience. Moreover, business travellers and younger generations give greater importance to latest technologies. Originality/value This study analyses the most innovative technologies, providing guidance for hoteliers wishing to upgrade or implement new technologies. Based on the findings, hoteliers can achieve greater differentiation by offering the most important and latest technology to guests, enhancing their experience and attracting new customers, which can potentially lead to increased revenues. The study’s results are also important because they include the perceptions of both managers and customers.


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