Quality Services and Experiences in Hospitality and Tourism: Volume 9

A simple strategic marketing framework is developed based on responsiveness to purposes of travel. It entails identifying purposes of visit associated with a specific destination for potential tourists, shaping tourism development policy decisions based on them, and attracting tourists by directly fulfilling their wishes. Its focus is on what a destination can already offer and is contributory to short- to medium-term tourism development. A structured recognition of purposes of visit is suggested − encompassing 16 categories across four focus areas. To demonstrate the approach, generic strategic action plans are provided for each category. The framework is further applied to Iran, a country associated with a range of attractions as well as certain restrictions.

Service quality in tourism and hospitality is intimately connected to human resources, which can be cultivated by enhancing workforce skills through training. This chapter probes challenges faced by the expanding tourism higher education in Mashhad, Iran. This growth, partly related to the current or potential development of the industry, is also associated with the general growth dynamics of Iran’s education system. As such, it may have an insufficient connection to the requirements of the job market. The study utilizes results from two focus group sessions organized with educators and tourism service providers in Mashhad. The findings reveal limited practical training, weak instruction, inappropriate course contents, and lack of motivation to have aggravated the gap between higher education and industry needs.

This chapter examines destination risk perceptions of domestic pilgrims in Mashhad, Iran. Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to visitors of Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad through a time-based systematic random sampling method. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. Results indicate that perceived risk was associated negatively with the quality of past visits, nonvictimization experience, and destination loyalty. Having past visit experiences did not moderate the strength of the model’s structural links except for the perceived risk to loyalty. The findings provide insights into distinct risk perceptions that can be leveraged by destination planners to tailor business strategies to meet quality expectations.

This chapter uses the dataset of tourist satisfaction index of Hong Kong to investigate the impact of cultural difference on the gap between tourists’ expectations and their perceptions of actual service performance. When the tourists’ demographic profile and their experience are controlled, it is found that small cultural difference between Hong Kong and Mainland China has a positive impact on expectation–performance gap, whereas negative relationship is identified for large cultural difference between Hong Kong and Western countries. The practical implication for the former is that service providers should manage the gap in accordance with the aspects of the cultural difference between the destination and the source markets.

Family tourism remains an important market segment. Its dynamics evolve when family members take a trip together. Understanding how families from emerging markets create quality touristic experiences is essential in a globalized environment of tourism flows. Using textual data from online blogs, this study explores how multigenerational family tourists from China experience and interpret the United States as a destination. Results show that traditional Chinese values assist family members to construct quality experiences. Different generations fulfill their respective functions with pleasure and responsibility. The findings suggest that quality experiences for the family tourists from China are constructed upon their consumption of the physical and tangible environment in the United States.

Stories are at the heart of tourist experiences and, not surprisingly, there is increasing use of accounts by tourism businesses and destination marketing organizations in their promotions. The use of stories within experiences is also beginning to emerge, although to date the focus has been on telling destination or business stories to tourists, who are cast in the role of an audience member. But a comprehensive model of tourist stories offers a wider range of innovative ways in which tourists can be involved in − and create − their own stories. This chapter uses such a model to generate and apply principles for tourism practice through a case study of an Australian island destination.

Social network sites are gaining increasing importance in tourism business and marketing. They have become a rich source of information by creating virtual destination environments that offer pictures, videos, and other opportunities for sharing tourism experiences. These are significant electronic means that affect intentions of potential tourists to visit a destination. This chapter discusses how social network sites provide a great opportunity for individuals to virtually experience destinations prior to their potential journeys. This may, in turn, influence their expectations and satisfaction levels during their actual visits, followed by reinterpretation after the trip.

This chapter investigates the role of social media in enhancing the interactions between customers and event management. It is based on a field study conducted on three UK horse racing events using a set of interviews and questionnaires to probe the views of the audience and the managers. Findings underscore the growing importance of social media, which are progressively embraced by consumers as part of their daily communication mix. Horse racing customers are likely to use social media to leave event feedback. While there is demand for a reply, interviewed managers admit a weakness regarding the use of social media to gain post-event feedback − which can act as an important means to engage and co-create value with customers.

Describing and interpreting social tourism activities requires cross-referencing tourists’ social ownership, their itineraries, and their experiences with the historical, cultural, geographical, and social characteristic contexts within which their activities take place. By using a selection of qualitative resources, this chapter examines the reasons why an individual might get involved in one or more types of tourism activities. Such an examination benefits from the inclusion of tourism experiences and the characterization of the socialization aspect, which is eminently plural and varied, as dispositional factors in the creation of tourism preferences. The sociological analysis from a French perspective, therefore, consolidates the new concept of the plural tourist.

This chapter investigates the antecedents of individuals’ emotional outcomes from their dining-away-from-home experiences and conceptualizes how food and emotions are related and how travel and emotions are associated. The study applies the stimulus-response theory to set up the premise that emotions that individuals experience while dining out comprise a pivotal part of their emotional well-being and their emotions can be triggered by stimuli encountered on trips and in other away-from-home situations. Cognitive appraisal, arousal, and other causes that are responsible for awakening affective responses are utilized in developing six propositions regarding individuals’ emotional outcomes in travel and dining contexts. Theoretical and practical implications are suggested following the discussions on these propositions.

Rivalry among conference centers has greatly increased in the past few years. It is thus important to adequately comprehend the critical characteristics of conferences, including those associated with their facilities and services. This chapter explores the impacts of conference quality and perceived value on attendees’ behavior in Malaysia. A questionnaire was administered to international attendees of nine academic association conventions held in Malaysia in 2016. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to the collected data using Smart-PLS software. Results capture the positive impacts of service quality and perceived value on behavioral intention. Delegate perspectives regarding the significance of some facilities and services are further appraised.

This chapter conceptualizes a framework that can be applied to examine the service experiences of business tourists at luxury hotels. A synthesized literature review results in the identification of three service constructs − surprise, recovery, and sweetness − that constitute the service experiences. In the development of five propositions and in views of emotional appreciation and reciprocity, the chapter posits that emotional value from these three constructs of service experiences can enhance business tourists’ attitude of gratitude and consequently their willingness to pay a price premium. The proposed conceptual framework extends the three service constructs to, and integrates them with, a value–attitude–behavior model.

This chapter treats the luxury hotel concept and practice and its recent trends in the tourism industry. This niche market is expanding rapidly with changing global income structures and increasing complexity of the hospitality sector. Its clientele comprises quality-seeking, prestige-striving, and high-spending customers. The chapter first explores the concept of luxury in relation to hotels. It further groups various associated assets into tangibles and intangibles to discuss their recent trends across the world. It is suggested that companies and destinations active in the luxury hotel market or contemplating entry take these trends into account to gain and/or maintain competitiveness.

Big data generated on social media offers rich sources of information for the study of service quality. Although a still incipient field in hospitality and tourism studies, the growth of user-generated content sources has driven the development of big data analytics to discover significant patterns on customer experiences and satisfaction. The chapter explores how this analysis of texts from TripAdvisor provides insights on the service quality in Barcelona’s hospitality sector. Drawing on the results from this case study, the chapter argues that user-generated content can become an important tool in guiding better service delivery.

Hotel classification systems are used to convey information about facilities and services. Yet, they have been prone to criticism for overemphasizing facilities at the expense of other matters of importance to service quality. In contrast, online travel agents (OTAs) use innovative methods to evaluate satisfaction with hotels. Conventional systems will lose relevance if they do not step up to consider service aspects associated with customer satisfaction. This chapter probes five hotel classification systems along with one OTA and leverages the literature to propose an improved framework classification. This is based on nine critical areas that include service quality, infrastructure, facilities and services, human resources, sustainability, safety and security, accessibility, quality systems, and online hotel ratings.