Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry: An evaluation from the hotel managers' perspective

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.

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Social desirability and cynicism biases in CSR surveys: an empirical study of hotels

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights ◽

10.1108/jhti-01-2020-0006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 567-588

Author(s):

Henri Kuokkanen ◽

William Sun

Keyword(s):

Response Bias ◽

Social Desirability ◽

Purchase Intention ◽

Choice Model ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Future Research ◽

Content Type ◽

Novel Approach ◽

Survey Results ◽

Hotel Managers

PurposePrevious studies support the notion that corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives can have a positive effect on customers in the hospitality and tourism industry. However, most of these studies have ignored response biases and none have incorporated them into their analyses numerically. This study aims at closing this research gap.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilized a hybrid choice model to test for the hypothesized effects of social desirability (SD) and cynicism biases on reported purchase intention. The authors further compared the results with those of analyses that ignore these biases to demonstrate their distorting influence.FindingsThe results indicate that SD and cynicism biases have a moderating effect on reported purchase intention. Older generations and frequent travelers seem particularly prone to bias, and the biases have a distorting effect on the overall survey results.Research limitations/implicationsTraditional analyses that exclude biases, incorrectly, suggest several aspects of CSR that are significant (or insignificant) to purchase intention, provide unreliable results. The authors did not generalize bias-prone respondent segments but urge future research to investigate this.Practical implicationsHotel managers aspiring to gain competitive advantage through CSR investment must consider biases in their market research. Otherwise, they risk developing CSR initiatives that do not instigate positive customer behaviors, leading to the failure of the investment.Originality/valueThe authors quantified SD and cynicism as significant causes of response bias, which distorts survey results. Previous studies have conceptualized SD without quantifying its impact, while cynicism has been identified as a novel source of bias in the industry. This study further introduces hybrid choice modeling as a novel approach to address response bias that could extend itself beyond the industry studied here.

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Dimensions of wine hotel experiences shared online

International Journal of Wine Business Research ◽

10.1108/ijwbr-12-2018-0072 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 59-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ana Brochado ◽

Mike Troilo ◽

Helena Rodrigues ◽

Fernando Oliveira-Brochado

Keyword(s):

Market Segmentation ◽

Food Service ◽

Online Reviews ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Content Type ◽

Wine Tourism ◽

Tourism Experience ◽

Hotel Managers ◽

Practical Implications ◽

Present Understanding

Purpose The purpose of this study sought to identify the main themes linked with wine hotel experiences, based on tourists’ narratives shared online, and to investigate whether these narratives vary according to traveler type. Design/methodology/approach Content analysis was carried out on 4,114 online reviews of 52 wine hotels located in 27 wine regions across 11 nations in both the Old and New World. Findings The analysis of these web reviews revealed that narratives can be grouped under 11 themes organized into 7 main dimensions as follows: wine, lodging (i.e. hotel, area and room), food service (i.e. restaurant and breakfast), scenery (i.e. views and vineyards), staff, transportation and recommendation. The main narratives vary according to traveler type. Practical implications Improving the present understanding of wine tourists’ experiences should help wine hotel managers find new approaches to enhancing visitors’ satisfaction. As the dimensions of wine tourism experiences shared online vary according to traveler type, wine managers can design their offer to target families, couples, friends, solo and corporate clients. Originality/value Prior research has identified the need for market segmentation in the wine tourism industry. This research addresses this need by specifying the wine tourism experience according to traveler type. The breadth of the data, and the method of using travelers’ own testimony as opposed to more common surveying are additional contributions for both academics and managers.

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Inciting tourist accommodation managers to make their establishments accessible to people with disabilities

Journal of Tourism Futures ◽

10.1108/jtf-03-2015-0010 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 196-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Virginie Capitaine

Keyword(s):

Economic Value ◽

People With Disabilities ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Market Potential ◽

Exploratory Research ◽

Content Type ◽

Individual Interviews ◽

The Disabled ◽

Hotel Managers ◽

Tourist Accommodation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the research carried out in Québec as part of a master’s degree for the IÉSEG School of Management on behalf of Kéroul, an organization whose mission is to make tourism and culture accessible to people with disabilities. Established over 30 years ago and active largely in Québec, Kéroul has observed a lingering reluctance on the part of tourism industry operators to meeting the needs of disabled visitors. In the research, we set out to answer the following question: how can Kéroul encourage tourism establishments to develop accessibility? In light of the hotel industry’s key role in tourism, exploratory research was conducted with 30 Québec hotel managers through extensive individual interviews. Design/methodology/approach The exploratory research took the form of in-depth interviews with hotel managers. The sample was selected after conferring with Kéroul and a Québec hotel association. As a first step, a jointly written letter was sent to managers who were association members, inviting them to be interviewed. Findings Some respondents showed an interest in accessibility, seen as a means of attracting group bookings; others confirmed that accessible rooms rented well to guests from all categories. Nonetheless, most were skeptical about the economic value of the disabled market. They were also poorly informed about this type of clientele, the concept of accessibility and the facilities “barrier-free” tourism requires. Originality/value Until now, the literature on accessible tourism has generally accentuated the needs of disabled consumers and analyzed their behavior with regard to tourism. Arguments to demonstrate the market potential of tourists with disabilities have ensued. The need to meet this demand was expressed while highlighting the low degree of consideration given to the disabled market by tourism professionals at present. However, few publications treat accessibility as a viable business opportunity. The study reveals the concerns and views of tourism industry professionals vis-à-vis accessibility and is all the more relevant, given the current context in Québec.

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Environmentally-friendly practices in hotels

Acta Commercii ◽

10.4102/ac.v16i1.362 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Miriam Mbasera ◽

Engelina Du Plessis ◽

Melville Saayman ◽

Martinette Kruger

Keyword(s):

Global Climate ◽

Environmentally Friendly ◽

Environmental Problems ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Environmental Damage ◽

Green Management ◽

Managerial Implications ◽

Value Add ◽

Hotel Managers ◽

The Impact

Orientation: There has been a growing concern for a ‘green’ hotel in the view of customers as they experience an increased awareness of environmental damage and excessive consumption of goods, energy and water.Research purpose: To determine the environmentally-friendly practices in hotels in Zimbabwe and South Africa and establish the contribution that hotels are making towards mitigation of the negative environmental effects.Motivation for the study: Currently, the world is facing environmental issues, which include global climate change, ozone depletion, pollution, high consumption of resources and increasing amounts of solid waste. Hotels, as part of the tourism industry, exert a significant impact on the environment. While the extent and range of the impact that hotels exert on the environment suggest an urgent need to address this problem, the question that arises is whether hoteliers appreciate the need for environmentally-friendly initiatives in their establishments.Research design, approach and method: A qualitative research was carried out in eight hotels that employ the strategy of the case study in the aforementioned countries. Main findings: Currently, no policies for green management exist, although some hotels do engage in some environmentally-friendly practices. Some hotel managers do not implement green management initiatives to mitigate the environmental problems emanating from their hotel operations.Practical and/or managerial implications: This indicates that a gap exists between managers’ awareness of appropriate environmentally-friendly practices for hotels, implying a need for training and increased awareness of green management.Contribution and/or value-add: The results could guide managers in the implementation of environmentally-friendly practices in an effort to mitigate environmental problems facing the present generation.

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Marketing of environmentally friendly hotels in China through religious segmentation: a theory of planned behaviour approach

Tourism Review ◽

10.1108/tr-08-2019-0327 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Lei Wang ◽

Philip Pong Weng Wong

Keyword(s):

Purchase Intention ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Descriptive Analysis ◽

Environmentally Friendly ◽

Positive Influence ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Content Type ◽

Incentive Variable ◽

Hotel Managers ◽

Selection Of

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between religiosity, green purchase attitude (GPA), subjective norm (SN), perceived behavioural control (PBC) and green purchase intention (GPI) towards the selection of environmentally friendly hotel. The current study argues that consumers’ incentive variable, namely, religiosity, can influence consumers’ environmentally friendly hotel selection. Design/methodology/approach This study had successfully gathered 404 completed questionnaire sets through online surveys. All survey data were subjected to descriptive analysis and analysis of variance using SPSS. Besides that, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed for the testing of hypotheses. Findings The results suggest that religiosity significantly and positively influences GPA, SN, PBC and GPI. Furthermore, GPA and PBC positively and significantly influence GPI. The SN also displays significant positive influence on GPA, while GPA plays a full mediation role between SN and GPI. In addition, statistically significant differences in religiosity, SN and PBC were obtained between religious affiliations of consumers towards environmentally friendly hotel selection. Originality/value This study extended the existing knowledge based on the selection of environmentally friendly hotels among religious consumers in the tourism literature. Besides that, these empirical findings would greatly benefit hotel managers and other key stakeholders in the tourism industry.

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A NEEDS ANALYSIS ON STAKEHOLDERS AND ELT STUDENTS TO DEVELOP ENGLISH FOR TOURISM COURSE MATERIAL

Epigram ◽

10.32722/epi.v18i2.4137 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Eka Fajar Rahmani ◽

Iwan Supardi

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Study ◽

English Education ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Needs Analysis ◽

Education Department ◽

Travel Agents ◽

Course Material ◽

Hotel Managers

This study investigates the needs of tourism stakeholders and students of the English Education Department to develop the English for Tourism (EFT) course material. The participants were ten hotel managers, five travel agents, and 86 second-semester students of the English Education Department. This descriptive quantitative study employed a questionnaire as the primary tool to gather the data adapted from Puspitasari (2018) and Ratmanida et al. (2020). The data then were analyzed using the formula of percentage and mean range table to determine the level of needs from the responses. The results indicated that the stakeholders and students agreed that speaking (100%) and writing (90%) were the most needed English skills to acquire. Then, in terms of the EFT topics, the participants responded to the topics that were relevant with their needs or fields. However, specifically, they seemed to have the same opinions and needs for the hotelier topics and some relevant expressions. In short, the results are expected to be beneficial for the EFT course designers to design suitable, directed, and valuable materials for students to help them be skillful and knowledgeable in the tourism industry.

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Impacts from Tourism Development in Langkawi Island, Malaysia

International Tourism and Hospitality in the Digital Age - Advances in Hospitality, Tourism, and the Services Industry ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8268-9.ch002 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 21-33

Author(s):

Azizan Marzuki

Keyword(s):

Tourism Development ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Local Economy ◽

Public Infrastructure ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Government Organizations ◽

Key Issues ◽

The Government ◽

Local Populace ◽

Hotel Managers

Based on a study conducted in Langkawi Island, this chapter attempts to track the progress of tourism development of the island since 1986 until year 2004. Although the government and private sector had invested a lot of money in providing public infrastructure and facilities to boost the tourism industry in the island, no study had been conducted to relate tourism spending with the impact of these developments towards the local economy and socio-culture. Nevertheless, results from semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders involving hotel managers, government and non-government organizations representatives, resort and tourism developers and community leaders show two key issues regarding the benefits of tourism development and the costs of tourism development. The analysis also found that despite the limitation and development issues, the benefits of tourism development in Langkawi far outweighed the costs accrued to the local populace.

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CSR influence on hotel brand image and loyalty

Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Administración ◽

10.1108/arla-12-2013-0190 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 267-283 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Patricia Martínez ◽

Andrea Pérez ◽

Ignacio Rodríguez del Bosque

Keyword(s):

Latin American ◽

Brand Loyalty ◽

Brand Image ◽

Explanatory Power ◽

Structural Equations ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Future Research ◽

Content Type ◽

New Variables ◽

Hotel Managers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on brand image and loyalty in the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach A reflective structural equations model was developed to test the research hypothesis. The study was tested using data collected from a sample of Spanish consumers who assessed the top ten Spanish hotel chains operating in the Latin American context. Findings The role of CSR as a tool to generate both functional and affective brand image, and loyalty was confirmed. CSR has a greater influence on the affective dimension of brand image, whereas functional image has a greater influence on brand loyalty. Furthermore, CSR can be seen as having a direct positive effect on brand loyalty. Research limitations/implications It is necessary to extend this study to other subsectors in the tourism industry and to other Latin American countries. Future research should measure CSR as a formative construct to provide a greater consensus regarding the measurement of this topic. Moreover, the inclusion of new variables in the model would increase its explanatory power. Originality/value The principal contribution of this paper is that it provides important insights into the development of efficient strategies to enhance brand image and loyalty through CSR. Findings from this study may be of importance for hotel managers and directors when developing more effective branding strategies.

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Do Relationship Marketing Constructs Enhance Consumer Retention? An Empirical Study Within the Hotel Industry

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/21582440211009224 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 215824402110092

Author(s):

Suha Fouad Salem

Keyword(s):

Relationship Marketing ◽

Hotel Industry ◽

Customer Retention ◽

Measurement Model ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Customer Engagement ◽

Customer Commitment ◽

Conflict Handling ◽

Hospitality And Tourism Industry ◽

Hotel Managers

The increasing growth of new hotels in the Malaysian domestic market indicates that the hospitality and tourism industry is growing rapidly. As a result, there will be high competition as customers can easily switch from one hotel to the other. Therefore, to maintain competition in the market, it is crucial for hotels to recognize the importance of conflict handling, trust, and customer commitment in maintaining good relationships with their customers. Hence, the objective of this study is to study, relationship marketing constructs such as conflict handling, trust, and commitment are evaluated based on their direct and indirect relationships with customer retention. Overall, 188 questionnaires were collected from hotel guests in Malaysia to evaluate the structural relationships between these constructs and the performance of the measurement model using SmartPLS 3.2.3. Moreover, the importance-performance map analysis (IPMA) was used to identify measures that could be utilized to enhance management activities. The research outcomes of this study indicated that customer retention is directly influenced by conflict handling, whereas customer engagement is directly affected by trust, conflict handling, and commitment. However, conflict handling, commitment, and trust indirectly affected customer retention via customer engagement. The IPMA also revealed several aspects to help decision-makers and managers prioritize their actions efficiently. The results of this study revealed that customer engagement and conflict handling had the highest effect, whereas commitment and customer engagement had the highest performance on customer retention in the hotel industry. Therefore, to maintain customer loyalty, it is recommended that hotel managers prioritize their customers’ complaints and resolve them effectively.

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