Showing papers in "Enlightening Tourism: A Pathmaking Journal in 2021"

What leads guests to satisfaction and loyalty in uae five-star hotels? ahp analysis to service quality dimensions

Abstract: The hospitality industry has witnessed impressive growth in the recent past. However, this has also led to fierce competition resulting in an enhanced focus on customer satisfaction. This study investigates and identifies critical service dimensions for five-star hotels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The objective of the study is to examine the intricacies of customer satisfaction and loyalty with regard to service quality in the five-star hotels of UAE. Following a quantitative and empirical approach, the data was collected by a structured questionnaire and tested on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Results support the impact of service quality dimensions on both Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty. The "Personal Contact” dimensions (Responsiveness and Empathy) and the "Service Performance” dimensions (Reliability and Assurance) were found to be a significant factor impacting the perception of the hotels' guests towards Service Quality. The findings are useful particularly to the hotel industry to analyze the gaps in service quality and thereafter put more efforts into developing appropriate strategies for achieving customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

What are the determinants of consumers' online reviews adoption for hotel bookings: a structural equation modelling approach

Abstract: Experienced travelers share their reviews regarding hotel services which serve as a testimony for novice travelers and help them to make their decision whether to book that hotel or not. The current study aims to identify the various factors affecting the intentions of travelers for online hotel bookings. Data was collected from 419 respondents who adopt online reviews published on online travel aggregators for online hotel bookings. The respondents for this study are taken from Delhi. Further, the hypotheses of this study were validated with the help of structural equation modeling (SEM) using partial least squares (PLS). The paper found Information quality; Source credibility, Information sidedness, and Information consistency are the significant predictor of traveler’s Information usefulness for hotel bookings. Further, the relationship between Information usefulness and online hotel bookings intentions was also found statically significant. This study has provided implications for hotel managers that hotel managers should continue to monitor the negative reviews and take some necessary actions to overcome these issues. As well as they should focus on their service quality which helps them to make their customers happy and encourage them to upload positive reviews. This study analyzed the travelers’ adoption of user[1]generated reviews from online travel aggregators for online hotel bookings by using an information adoption model with additional constructs.

Social participation and tourism public policy: the brazilian tourism regionalization program

Abstract: Issues of governance, collaboration, and participation are at the forefront of much tourism public management on finding new alternatives to tourism destinations development. This paper aims to diagnose the performance of social participation in the Brazilian Tourism Regionalization Program from 2004 to 2020. This research has a qualitative approach with data collected through bibliographic and documentary research covering 2004 to 2020. The data collected were analyzed according to categories defined by the literature. We analyzed eleven Tourism Regionalization Program documents and 13 specific published articles on tourism governance instances in the Tourism Regionalization Program. As a result, we observe that social participation went from a fundamental issue in 2004 to a prerequisite for integrating a tourist region in 2020. And they are now suppressed by the targeting of protagonism for the private sector. The results of this research advance the theoretical discussions regarding social participation in Brazilian tourism's regionalization. The synthesis of the analyses and discussions promoted the need to rethink organizing tourism governance in the Brazilian case to meet the demand for social participation and the regional development of tourism.

Tourism ambassadors as special destination image inducers

Abstract: The image of destinations is a key factor when it comes to positioning and attracting the attention and interest of potential tourists. That being, the subject matter is relevant to experts and academics as well as destination managers looking for new alternatives to generate greater impact and influence. Today, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is widespread in all areas of life, being also useful and fully adopted in tourism image projections, mainly through social networks. Accordingly, this article focuses on the figure of the tourism ambassador as a diffuser or enhancer of the image of a tourism destination, particularly through the use of an appropriate web platform created by the French tourism destination authority—the Ambassadeurs Savoie Mont Blanc. To understand the repercussions of this initiative, a content analysis of its official Facebook page is made, studying variables such as fans, content and engagement.

Achieving service recivery through service innovation in the hotel industry: The critical role of employee empowerment

Abstract: Research in service recovery and service innovation has attracted significant attention in recent years but few studies have focused on achieving service recovery through service innovation. The current study aims to bridge this gap in research – to investigate the effect of service innovation on service recovery. Additional emphasis is also given to examining whether employee empowerment serves as a mediator between service innovation and service recovery in the hotel industry. A quantitative survey method was applied by using a 60-item questionnaire and data collected from a sample of 381 employees from five-star hotels in Jordan. The findings confirmed the hypotheses, revealing a direct effect of service innovation on employee empowerment which, in turn, had a significant influence on service recovery. Additionally, this study proposed a model of influence of service innovation in service recovery, whereby employee empowerment fully mediates this relationship. The current study contributes to the existing literature on service innovation and service recovery as it identifies the role of service innovation in enhancing service recovery performance in hotels.

Study of the efficiency of Spanish airlines: a non-parametric data envelopment analysis

Abstract: Spain is an eminently tourist country, which allows the creation of countless jobs and contributes greatly to GDP growth. Millions of people visit this country every year, and more than 80% do so through air transport. This paper studies whether the 13 Spanish airlines with the highest revenues in 2018 were efficient in that year, thus filling a gap in the tourism literature. For this purpose, the non-parametric DEA technique has been used, using as inputs the total number of workers in the company and the total number of seats available (airline capacity). Total revenue and number of passengers have been used as outputs. The results obtained show that all the airlines studied within the IAG group (Iberia, Vueling, Air Nostrum, Iberia Express) are efficient, in addition to the Canary Islands airlines (Binter Canarias, Canarias Airlines and Canary Fly) and Air Europa. Likewise, the reference airlines for the inefficient ones have been determined, which will have to reduce the number of workers or make changes in capacity in order to achieve greater income and be efficient.

Sustainability indicators for hospitality smes: application to portuguese context

Abstract: Tourism has been a fundamental pillar for the development of the Portuguese economy and has supported and stimulated new opportunities. However, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the hospitality sector, and given their specific characteristics, there are no specific indicators to monitor sustainability, and they are only based on existing generic models such as ETIS, WTO, and Green Globe. Given the complexity of the indicators in these models and their comprehensive vision, it makes it difficult for hospitality SMEs that have limited resources to measure them. Consequently, it is important to focus their attention on the most relevant indicators for their activity. In this sense, this study is relevant in identifying the critical sustainability factors for Portuguese hospitality SMEs. In total, and after the synthesis and assessment of the various indicators, a total of 35 critical indicators were identified, distributed among the economic, social, sustainable management, and environmental dimensions.

An investigation into the attitudes of key tourism providers regarding "carbon neutral" tourism in county Clare, Ireland

Abstract: The global tourism industry is inextricably linked with climate change, and, faced with a ‘climate emergency’, there is an increasing emphasis on finding environmentally sustainable tourism models. One such model is ‘carbon-neutral tourism (CNT)’. This paper investigates attitudes towards CNT in County Clare (Ireland), focusing on tourism providers. By reviewing and evaluating key relevant academic sources, clarification is given about climate change and the tourism industry’s relationship with it. The concept of sustainable tourism is explored, leading to an understanding of the meaning of CNT, and the various steps taken to create it. Following this, semi-structured interviews are conducted with selected tourism providers in County Clare. Using purposive sampling, a selection of tourism providers, covering key elements of the tourism product, are interviewed. These interviews are of a semi-structured format, allowing for some generic investigation, but also permitting an exploration of each provider’s contribution to the tourism product. The analysis concludes that tourism providers in Clare hold generally positive attitudes towards CNT. All respondents currently carry out at least some elements of CNT and all respondents express an enthusiasm to be more involved. However, certain barriers to fuller participation are identified.

The usability of I-Suyyah: a mobile tourism application for Arab tourists in Malaysia

Abstract: Globalisation and the rapid growth of technologies call for ease and automation in different aspects, including in tourism. Tourism is an important sector in Malaysia as it generates income for the country. In recent years, Malaysia has seen a surge in the arrival of high-spending Arab tourists. This reflects the need to provide a tool, specifically a tourism mobile application in the Arabic language, that could help ease their journey in Malaysia. Thus, this study aims to determine the usability of the i-Suyyah mobile application for Arab tourists in Malaysia. The data obtained were analysed using the Fuzzy Delphi method, and twelve experts were selected to analyse the fuzziness consensus. It was found that the i-Suyyah mobile application recorded a high percentage of expert consensus, specifically on its usability. All usability items have reached unity with the threshold value of d 0.2, and the percentage of consensus among the expert group is more than 83%.