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Copyright of International Journal of Professional Business Review (JPBReview) is the property of Open Access Publications LLC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Engaging in webcare, i.e. responding to online reviews, can positively affect consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior. Research is often scarce or inconsistent regarding the effects of specific webcare strategies on business performance. Therefore, this study tests whether and how several webcare strategies affect hotel bookings. Design/methodology/approach: We apply machine learning classifiers to secondary data (webcare messages) to classify webcare variables to be included in a regression analysis looking at the effect of these strategies on hotel bookings while controlling for possible confounds such as seasonality and hotel-specific effects. Findings: The strategies that have a positive effect on bookings are directing reviewers to a private channel, being defensive, offering compensation and having managers sign the response. Webcare strategies to be avoided are apologies, merely asking for more information, inviting customers for another visit and adding informal non-verbal cues. Strategies that do not appear to affect future bookings are expressing gratitude, personalizing and having staff members (rather than managers) sign webcare. Practical implications: These findings help managers optimize their webcare strategy for better business results and develop automated webcare. Originality/value: We look into several commonly used and studied webcare strategies that affect actual business outcomes, being that most previous research studies are experimental or look into a very limited set of strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This current research aims to reveal customers' behaviours who purchased à la carte menu service in a chain hotel operating in Istanbul, Türkiye after the Covid-19 outbreak. In addition to this main objective, customers' main course preferences, tipping, complaining, maintaining eating and drinking habits, local food preferences, photograph taking and food waste behaviours were determined as the sub-research objectives. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research method was adopted, and naturalistic observation was chosen as the data collection tool in this study. Firstly, an observation form was created based on the literature. To ensure the content validity, seven experts (five researchers and two experienced hotel employees) were consulted on 15 July 2021. After revising the form, a pilot study was carried out between 4 August and 29 September 2021. By conducting the pilot study, it was aimed to prevent any unpredictable behaviours of customers. As a result, four new items were added to, and two items were removed from the form. Then, 341 customers who purchased à la carte menu service in the restaurant of the hotel chain were observed between 7 October 2021 and 28 January 2022. Findings: It was revealed that 52% of the customers who purchased à la carte menu services did not make any reservations, while approximately 59% of the customers with reservations did not stay at the hotel in which the research was conducted. In addition, 69% of them started to eat meal together; 56% of them paid in "cash"; 48% of them preferred local food and beverages; 41% left food on the plate; and 43% of them gave tip. In contrast, very few customers (6%) engaged in complaint behaviour. Research limitations/implications: First, data were collected during the post-pandemic period when international travels were mostly restricted and thus, the researcher observed mostly Turkish customers at the restaurant. Second, only those customers sitting at the six tables close to the guest welcoming were observed. Third, just one observer took part in the data collection process. Fourth, the researchers chose one out of two restaurants of the hotel because only Asian cuisine was served and children under 12 years of age were not allowed to enter the other restaurant. Fifth, focusing on only a hotel and using naturalistic observation as a data collection tool may be shown among the limitations of this study. Originality/value: This paper presents the customers' behaviours who preferred à la carte menu service in a chain hotel operating in İstanbul, Türkiye after the Covid-19 outbreak. Although there are some studies focusing on changing of customer preferences during the post-pandemic period, "observation" was not preferred as a data collection tool by most of the researchers; hence, the findings of this study are useful for both researchers and educationists in tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present findings on the use of behavioural economics elements on the websites of Polish hotels. Design/methodology/approach: This article presents how Polish hotels use elements of behavioural economics to increase website effectiveness and encourage users to book a hotel service, and thus achieve the company's business goals. The research method used is an exploratory content analysis of the websites of selected hotels in Poland. Findings: Some Polish hotels use elements of behavioural economics, and thus attempt to increase the number of bookings through their own/indirect booking channels-including the website. However, there is an area to be developed-many sites have identified areas where popular cognitive biases can be further exploited and thus work to increase conversions from the website. It was noted that the ability to exploit some elements of influence depends on the software that hoteliers use (usually the booking system-booking engine). Research limitations/implications: It would be advisable to continue the consideration based on a study of the use of behavioural economics elements on hotel websites on a larger scale and to test the effectiveness of individual measures (for example through A/B tests on the websites). In addition, since cognitive errors are not only experienced by consumers, but also by managers, an area for investigation regarding the impact of cognitive errors on managerial decisions is also suggested. Specific theoretical constructs allow for a good description of the mechanisms under investigation, creating an innovative research space in the field of management science and quality. Practical implications: Identifying and analysing the behavioural economics elements used on hotel websites, can shape the research space for determining the relationship between the use of these elements and the effectiveness of the website as one of the channels that achieves the company's business objective. Subsequently, enable managers to create effective communication on websites to increase the number of accommodation bookings through this channel. Social implications: with knowledge of cognitive errors, a manager can create effective marketing strategies, make better decisions and better manage his or her team. Originality/value: The websites of Polish hotels were reviewed, identifying the most common elements using behavioural economics. It was noted that Polish hotels use these elements to a limited extent. Examples of cognitive biases that are not yet or rarely used by hoteliers on their websites and could help to increase direct bookings were identified. In addition to theoretical knowledge, the article draws on the authors' many years of experience in the topic of management, including in the hotel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study investigates whether unpleasant weather—a prominent aspect of a consumer's offline environment—influences online review provision and content. It uses a unique dataset that combines 12 years of data on hotel bookings and reviews, with weather condition information at a consumer's home and hotel address. The results show that bad weather increases review provision and reduces rating scores for past consumption experiences. Moreover, 6.5% more reviews are written on rainy days and that these reviews are 0.1 points lower, accounting for 59% of the difference in average rating scores between four- and five-star hotels in our data. These results are consistent with a scenario in which bad weather (i) induces negative consumer mood, lowering rating scores, and (ii) makes consumers less time-constrained, which increases review provision. Additional analyses with various automated sentiment measures for almost 300,000 review texts support this scenario: reviews on rainy days show a significant reduction in reviewer positivity and happiness, yet are longer and more detailed. This study demonstrates that offline context influences online reviews, and discusses how platforms and businesses should include contextual information in their review management approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotel booking websites to collect information about hospitality products/services are becoming more popular in the hotel industry. As a result, the importance of these websites for tourism firms marketing their services and products through electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on these hotel booking websites continues to grow. Despite its importance, there has been little research on how guests interact with information to increase eWOM. This paper creates a new scale for assessing guest interaction with Meituan.com information to fill this void. To this end, a three-step mixed-methods approach using open-ended surveys and published relevant research is used. Data were gathered from 440 hotel guests in Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. Using SmartPLS 4, confirmatory factor analysis revealed 33 final items for the new scale. This paper significantly contributes to potential guest behavior by creating and confirming this new scale in the hospitality context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial introducing a special issue on "Systems Engineering and Knowledge Management." It explains that systems engineering is a transdisciplinary approach to developing engineered systems, involving cooperation between business and technical stakeholders. Knowledge management is described as a field that encompasses both technical and organizational management approaches. The editorial then briefly introduces the manuscripts included in the special issue, which cover topics such as success factors in IT service projects, decision-making techniques using fuzzy sets, strategic planning of projects, adapting e-commerce applications to IoT and cloud computing, optimizing residential appliance scheduling, and improving recommender systems using language models. This collection of papers explores the application of advanced technologies in systems engineering across various domains. The papers cover topics such as healthcare, finance, social media analysis, supply chain management, computer vision, cloud computing, smart city development, engineering optimization, genomics, optimization problems, and cybersecurity. The use of technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, data analytics, bioinformatics, and swarm intelligence is examined to address complex challenges in interconnected systems. The papers also emphasize the importance of knowledge management in effectively utilizing the vast amounts of data generated by these systems. Overall, these papers contribute to interdisciplinary research and innovation in systems engineering to improve the resilience, efficiency, and sustainability of complex systems in the digital age. [Extracted from the article]

The number of tourists who use smartphones to make hotel reservation is continuously increasing. Nonetheless, only a few studies have investigated the attributes to make hotel reservation via mobile devices (e.g., smartphones). Hence, the present study comprehensively evaluates the attributes to make hotel reservation through mobile online travel agencies (OTAs) based on the web function design framework to identify the perceived important attributes to make hotel reservation via mobile OTAs from the perspective of tourists and to find out the possible factors with specific attributes to measure hotel reservation via mobile OTAs through an online questionnaire survey method. Findings reflect that the perceived important attributes of tourists have changed from those allowing them to meet their hierarchical needs to those supporting their nonhierarchical intertwined needs. In addition, four factors of hotel reservation via mobile OTAs are identified: hotel information provision, relationship and social media, design and layout, and consumer requests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customers have ample opportunities regarding channels to use to book a hotel room: offline and online. In the online world, the options are using the hotel's website, referred to as the brand website, or third party internet sites like online travel agencies (OTAs). The primary objective of this article is to explore the motivators and factors that influence customers in booking hotel rooms through a brand website. Additionally, the study aims to derive insights from the exemplary practices employed by online travel agencies that contribute to their significant share in capturing online bookings. This study relies on the opinions from 110 participants who frequently reserve their hotel accommodations through Booking.com, booking more than once annually for leisure or vacation purposes. Using an online booking channel requires that the booking tool is perceived as user-friendly and trustworthy and offers a comparison of prices. The benefits of a loyalty programme, integration with other travel-related services and hotels paying commissions are the least important to customers. The primary motivator to book via a brand website is the personal contact and the best price. To achieve this, the hotel needs to make sure that the website is easy to use, offers possibilities for comparison of prices and reviews, is mobile friendly and accepts other payments besides credit cards. Currently, a primary disappointment is the quality of the brand website and, therefore, being perceived by the customer as not user-friendly. Hotels should analyse their brand website's five elements: room price, payment options, user-friendliness, trustworthiness, reputation and visuals to encourage bookings and enhance customer experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the relationship between service providers' self-disclosure on hotel booking platforms (i.e. Booking.com and TripAdvisor) and consumers' trust, hesitation, and booking intentions. The study also investigates the mediating effects of trust and hesitation on booking intentions and the moderating role of social media influencers (SMIs) on these relationships. Data analysis of 418 respondents found that service providers' self-disclosure significantly affects consumers' trust and hesitation, which in turn impacts their booking intentions. The results also showed that trust and hesitation both mediate the relationship between self-disclosure and booking intentions, with trust decreasing hesitation. Additionally, the study found that SMIs significantly strengthen the effect on consumers' trust and weaken hesitation through self-disclosure. These findings contribute to our understanding of trust, service management, and consumer behavior, and have implications for online booking platforms. The study also acknowledges its limitations and suggests areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Academica Turistica is the property of University of Primorska, Faculty of Tourism Studies - Turistica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examined the factors that influence consumers' booking intentions when using hotel mobile apps during a global health crisis. Data were collected from 386 hotel mobile app users and analyzed using Smart PLS-SEM, which can handle smaller sample sizes and complex models. The results showed that the most influential factor in booking intentions was self-efficacy, followed by trust relating to consumer health. This study expands the study of mobile technology and mobile apps by evaluating the psychological insights from actual consumers using self-efficacy, personalization, perceived benefit, privacy risk, and trust relating to consumer health and their influence on booking intentions during a worldwide health crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to test the role of price consciousness, reputation, trust, and perceived value on tourists' booking intentions on Airbnb. Additionally, this study investigates the mediating role of perceived value and consumer trust in Airbnb on the link between attributed causes and guest booking intention. A cross-sectional survey was designed to examine the theoretical framework, which yielded 311 responses. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The study found that reputation and price consciousness influence tourists' cognitive evaluation of Airbnb service and affect their intention to book accommodation on the Airbnb platform. The findings of this study may serve as the basis for designing effective marketing tools to understand better causes that may drive guests' booking intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hotel industry is vulnerable to various external crises, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Social media is one of the primary platforms for hotel crisis communication. Accordingly, this study adopted the perspective of message appeal and tried to develop effective hotel crisis communication messages. An online experiment was conducted where 260 Chinese customers were included. The results showed that emotional-appeal messages are more effective in attracting customers for luxury hotels, while functional-appeal messages are more suitable for economic hotels. The results also showed that perceived safety mediated the relationship between the message appeal and booking intentions and that this mediating relationship is moderated by the hotel type. This study further discussed theoretical and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Service Industries Journal is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Demand forecast accuracy is critical for hotels to operate their properties efficiently and profitably. The COVID-19 pandemic is a massive challenge for hotel demand forecasting due to the relevance of historical data. Therefore, the aims of this study are twofold: to present an extension of the additive pickup method using time series and moving averages; and to test the model using the real reservation data of a hotel in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study shows that historical data are still useful for a SME hotel amid substantial demand uncertainty caused by COVID-19. Empirical results suggest that the proposed method performs better than the classical one, particularly for longer forecasting horizons and for periods when the hotel is not fully occupied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to address the role of content type in social media posts and the influence of management response congruence on improving user engagement, booking intention and hotel brand image. An online between-subjects factorial experimental design with 559 subjects from a consumer panel was performed to test the proposed model. The empirical evidence suggests that congruency should be considered a key moderating variable when assessing the impact of content and messages on social media since it might significantly change how content affects online users' decision-making process. If hotel management is thus unable to properly manage its responses to users' comments in a congruent way, posts related to the ambience dimension become more important. Furthermore, congruence between a published post and the subsequent management response to user comments effectively leads to higher engagement, functional brand image, hedonic brand image and booking intention than incongruent or no management response.本研究旨在探讨社交媒体帖子内容类型的作用,以及管理层回应一致性对提高用户参与度、预订意向和酒店品牌形象的影响。研究采用在线主体间因子实验设计,从消费者小组中挑选了 559 名受试者,对所提出的模型进行了检验。实证结果表明,在评估社交媒体上内容和信息的影响时,一致性应被视为一个关键的调节变量,因为它可能会显著改变内容对在线用户决策过程的影响。如果酒店管理层无法以一致的方式妥善管理其对用户评论的回应,那么与氛围维度相关的帖子就会变得更加重要。此外,与不一致或无管理回应相比,发布的帖子与随后管理层对用户评论的回应之间的一致性能有效提高参与度、功能性品牌形象、享乐性品牌形象和预订意向。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the tourism sector changing the guest satisfaction during hotel stays. In this paper, we analyse how this perception has changed considering various pandemic stages. Methodology - Using 1595 reviews for hotels in Cuenca left on the Booking platform, we analyse the changes in the ratings of the stay and identify the factors that have the greatest influence on customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction by conducting a ANOVA analysis. We also consider the urban/rural area, type of traveler, nationality, gender and room type. Findings - he main results show an improvement in guest ratings after the worst moments of the pandemic, albeit with lower scores than in 2019 and 2020, indicating that the services offered by the hotel are key elements for customer satisfaction. Therefore, hotel managers should continue on the path taken, as it seems to be producing results, and try to enhance the services offered to guests. Originality - The outbreak of the COVID -19 pandemic necessitates a detailed analysis of the changes in hotel ratings and hotel characteristics evaluated positively and negatively by guests. However, a review of the literature reveals a gap in this regard, especially when considering different points in time during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of OPUS Journal of Society Research is the property of OPUS - International Journal of Society Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research navigates the intricate landscape of Sri Lanka's tourism sector against the backdrop of its rich cultural heritage and captivating landscapes. As global travel trends increasingly pivot towards sustainability, this study investigates the core of Sri Lanka's tourism dynamics, exploring consumer preferences and the diverse factors that shape them. The research employed a structured questionnaire distributed to 209 visitors who chose environmentally certified hotels, offering a comprehensive dataset for analysis. Utilizing a quantitative approach, the study employs descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses to unravel patterns and relationships among variables. The findings highlight consumers' positive inclinations towards environmental certifications, while shedding light on nuanced preferences regarding transportation, room reservations, pricing structures, hotel accessibility, food availability, environmental satisfaction, and cultural practices. Key relationships, such as the impact of environmental certifications on transportation facilities, pricing structures, and environmental satisfaction, are quantitatively explored. The results provide valuable insights for policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders aiming to align tourism practices with sustainability goals in Sri Lanka, offering a holistic understanding of consumer preferences in this culturally rich and environmentally diverse destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business Hotels cater to travelers who priotize efficiency and convenience making the introduction of Mobile Check-in. Marriott which is a pioneer in this area recognized the potential of mobile technology and introduced mobile check-ins in 2013. This helped to streamline the check-in process, offering the guests a seamless and Time-saving experience and enhancing Guest Satisfaction. Pune is a city that deals with a lot of corporate travelers. Mobile check-in can be defined as the process of registering yourself on the Mobile/ App to speed up the Process. This paper highlights the impact of implementing mobile check-ins in Business Hotels in Pune, shedding light on its efficiency and preference among Travellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green hotels prioritize safety, health, and environmental sustainability, promoting eco-conscious practices in operations. As for green hotel operators, affecting travelers' cognitive reactions to environmentally friendly practices and, ultimately, their booking intentions is important, especially since the impact of online hotel reviews on consumer behavior is significant. Therefore, the purposes of this study are to establish a measurement of online hotel reviews corresponding to source credibility and review characteristics for green hotels as well as to explore how green online hotel reviews relate to travelers' green psychological cognition and influence their green hotel booking intentions based on a cognitive model and a knowledge-attitude-behavior model. The study design is a two-phase quantitative survey in the Penghu area, Taiwan, and investigates online hotel reviews with green issues that consider the perspectives of source attributes and content characteristics. This study distributed questionnaires for the first and second phases, which yielded 350 and 568 responses, respectively. A structural equation model (SEM) is used to examine the hypothesized relationships between source credibility, review characteristics, conformity, green perceived value and online green hotel booking intention. The results revealed that the source credibility and review characteristics represent valuable information to persuade travelers about choosing green hotels. Both conformity and green perceived value play important roles as mediators. This study also extends the current knowledge on the cognitive model and the knowledge-attitude-behavior model. A new path vision thus emerges to fill existing gaps in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented article focuses on the issue of customer segmentation in the hospitality industry and its use for price optimisation. To identify the market segments article uses the Two-Step cluster analysis. The analysis was based on the seven variables (length of stay, average room rate, distribution channel, reservation day, day of arrival, lead time and payment conditions). Six clusters were identified as following segments: Corporates, Early Bird Bookers, Last Minute Bookers, Product Seekers, Values Seekers and Last Minute Bookers. To optimise the price for these segments, article works with the coefficient of price elasticity of demand for the presented market segments. The price elasticity of demand is measured by the log-log regression analysis. Data were colected from the four-star hotel in Prague, Czech Republic and analysis is based on more than 9000 transactions. Last minute bookers segment was the only one with the positive coefficient of price elasticity and has the lowest value of lead time (9,27 in average). Product seekers have the highest coefficient of price elasticity (−3,413) and highest average room rate (3573 CZK in average). Early bird bookers, Long time stayers, Corporates and Value seekers was identified as pricely inelastic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technologies have empowered the consumers with ease of access to information about products and services in form of electronic word of mouth (eWOM). eWOM plays a critical role in consumer purchase decisions in the form of online reviews. The study uses the S-O-R framework to examine the impact of online reviews on online hotel booking. The data were collected using purposive sampling through an online self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using the PLS-SEM technique. The results of the study show that review valence significantly impacts review credibility whereas review length does not. Furthermore, credible reviews lead to high purchase intention. The positive impact of purchase intention on purchase in online hotel booking context is a novel finding. We suggest managers to include more positive valanced reviews to develop trust and credibility while take proper measures to reduce risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a variety of revenue management systems that require making pricing or availability decisions for unique resources. For example, lodging marketplaces, boutique hotels, and bed-and-breakfasts offer unique rooms, apartments, or houses. Matching platforms for freelancers recommend differentiated workers with unique characteristics. When managing unique resources, one has to keep track of the availability of each resource at each time point in the future. Moreover, if the customers substitute between different resources, then the pricing and availability decisions for all resources become interdependent. Thus, it can be challenging to find good policies to make pricing or availability decisions. In "Revenue Management with Heterogeneous Resources: Unit Resource Capacities, Advance Bookings, and Itineraries over Time Intervals," Rusmevichientong, Sumida, Topaloglu, and Bai consider revenue management problems when unique resources are requested for use over intervals of time under advance reservations. Using the interval structure of resource requests, they give policies with performance guarantees. We study revenue management problems with heterogeneous resources, each with unit capacity. An arriving customer makes a booking request for a particular interval of days in the future. We offer an assortment of resources in response to each booking request. The customer makes a choice within the assortment to use the chosen resource for her desired interval of days. The goal is to find a policy that determines an assortment of resources to offer to each customer to maximize the total expected revenue over a finite selling horizon. The problem has two useful features. First, each resource is unique with unit capacity. Second, each customer uses the chosen resource for a number of consecutive days. We consider static policies that offer each assortment of resources with a fixed probability. We show that we can efficiently perform rollout on any static policy, allowing us to build on any static policy and construct an even better policy. Next, we develop two static policies, each of which is derived from linear and polynomial approximations of the value functions. We give performance guarantees for both policies, so the rollout policies based on these static policies inherit the same guarantee. Last, we develop an approach for computing an upper bound on the optimal total expected revenue. Our results for efficient rollout, static policies, and upper bounds all exploit the aforementioned two useful features of our problem. We use our model to manage hotel bookings based on a data set from a real-world boutique hotel, demonstrating that our rollout approach can provide remarkably good policies and our upper bounds can significantly improve those provided by existing techniques. Funding: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [Grants CMMI-1824860 and CMMI-1825406]. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/opre.2022.2427. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of travelers' growing preference for sustainable hotel accommodation, this study investigated the relative importance of green certification labels/badges in online hotel selection/booking choice. A conjoint analysis was performed on seven online hotel attributes (including green certification labels/badges) in two specific scenarios (imagining they were booking in a pre- and post-COVID-19 setting) using 270 U.S. subjects surveyed in April 2020. The results revealed that green certification labels/badges do impact travelers' online hotel booking choice, but not as much as cancellation policies, hotel rating, price, and location. Price in particular exerted a greater influence on travelers' booking preferences in the post-COVID-19 scenario. Yet, a significant percentage of travelers (around 40% in both scenarios) were willing to pay more for a hotel with green certification. These results contribute to our theoretical and practical understanding of the factors that influence online hotel booking, as well as the power of green certification labels/badges in driving online hotel bookings in the pre-and post-COVID-19 contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing uncertainty in travel has resulted in elevated cancelation and no-show rates across many aspects of travel, elevating the importance of overbooking practices. Overbooking helps address travel uncertainty by accepting reservations beyond available rooms but may result in walk or re-accommodation costs if all (most) of these reservations materialize. Walk costs are not homogeneous across all customer types, with costs potentially different for loyal (branded, direct) versus non/less-loyal (third-party-intermediated) guests. We formulate an optimal overbooking model with class-dependent walk-out costs for a hotel with two classes of reservations—loyal members with higher walk-out costs, and nonmembers with lower walk-out costs, but with each class at the same room rate. We embed a dynamic walk-out model, one where guests may be proactively walked, that is, walked while rooms still available, into an overbooking model. The joint model determines optimal walk-out decisions to minimize expected walk-out costs while also determining optimal overbooking levels. We investigate how class-dependent no-show rates and walk-out costs impact optimal walk-out decisions and optimal overbooking levels. We find that changes in the no-show rates for a customer class only impact the overbooking levels of the related class whereas changes in class-specific walk-out costs impact all customer class overbooking levels. We offer managerial insight into a proactive and strategic walk-out policy for the lodging industry, aiming to achieve optimal overbooking levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recommender systems have become indispensable tools in the hotel hospitality industry, enabling personalized and tailored experiences for guests. Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, and persuasive technologies have opened new avenues for enhancing the effectiveness of those systems. This paper explores the potential of integrating ChatGPT and persuasive technologies for automating and improving hotel hospitality recommender systems. First, we delve into the capabilities of ChatGPT, which can understand and generate human-like text, enabling more accurate and context-aware recommendations. We discuss the integration of ChatGPT into recommender systems, highlighting the ability to analyze user preferences, extract valuable insights from online reviews, and generate personalized recommendations based on guest profiles. Second, we investigate the role of persuasive technology in influencing user behavior and enhancing the persuasive impact of hotel recommendations. By incorporating persuasive techniques, such as social proof, scarcity, and personalization, recommender systems can effectively influence user decision making and encourage desired actions, such as booking a specific hotel or upgrading their room. To investigate the efficacy of ChatGPT and persuasive technologies, we present pilot experiments with a case study involving a hotel recommender system. Our inhouse commercial hotel marketing platform, eXclusivi, was extended with a new software module working with ChatGPT prompts and persuasive ads created for its recommendations. In particular, we developed an intelligent advertisement (ad) copy generation tool for the hotel marketing platform. The proposed approach allows for the hotel team to target all guests in their language, leveraging the integration with the hotel's reservation system. Overall, this paper contributes to the field of hotel hospitality by exploring the synergistic relationship between ChatGPT and persuasive technology in recommender systems, ultimately influencing guest satisfaction and hotel revenue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Studies show that internet has become a major force propelling growth in tourism sector in many countries. An appropriate diffusion of the information and communication technology (ICT) services can facilitate visibility of hotels and lodges on search sites and third-party booking websites and thus influence demand. It also helps leverage the use of social media for promotion and customer acquisition purposes. Recently, Myanmar, with impressive historical world heritage sites, is witnessing a tourist boom; more hotels are opening up and achieving competitive advantage by offering free internet connectivity to guests and locating their premises in the vicinity of an ICT infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to investigate ICT readiness to support the lodging industry in Myanmar by focusing on one sub-index of the Network Readiness Index (NRI, a term heavily used by World Economic Forum). The paper focuses on the "Network Use" component of NRI, pertaining to the effect of the "quality of the Internet connection" available to lodges, and its association with the following dimensions: customer service: the availability of ICT services to guests, such as internet connectivity and availability of ATM in the vicinity; digital marketing: the use of social media, keeping records of guests and analyzing aggregate data to extract business insights; and business-to-business online booking: the use of online booking via major third-party intermediary websites like Expedia, Booking.com and Agoda.com. Design/methodology/approach: Surveys were conducted in three major touristic cities in Myanmar: Bagan, Mandalay and the capital city, Nay Pyi Taw. A total of 101 valid questionnaires were used. Survey questions were centered around the following themes: internet connection problems, digital marketing activities, and online booking directly or via third party digital intermediary. The data are presented and interpreted by descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Findings: Though, Myanmar is new to internet and commercial use of ICT, the awareness of the importance of leveraging social media and online booking for business development is surprisingly high in the lodging sector. On average, about 80 percent of surveyed hotels are present on the WWW through a dedicated hotel website. However, most websites lack an online booking capability. As a result, and due to a global trend, online booking through third-party intermediaries has become the dominant option for hotel booking arrangements in Myanmar. Agoda, founded in Bangkok in 2002, was found to be the number one choice for online booking intermediary in Myanmar, followed by Booking.com. Analysis of the logistic regression revealed that it was highly likely that areas around ATMs have better internet connectivity. As expected, it was also found that it is very unlikely that hotels reporting a problem in internet connectivity will be able to provide internet service to their guests. Despite the presence of problems in internet connectivity in Mandalay and Bagan cities, located away from the capital; most hotels in these cities resort to leveraging social media for promotion and customer/guest development. The analysis also revealed that cities located away from the capital are more aggressive in leverage online third-booking intermediaries. Research limitations/implications: While researchers were hoping for a higher participation rate in the survey, especially in the city of Mandalay, data collection was challenging, a number of hotels/lodges denied participation. This may have some implications on the generalization of results. However, over 70 and 45 percent of hotels/lodges in the capital city and the ancient city of Bagan, respectively, had participated in the survey. Practical implications: Tourism has a great potential for growth in Myanmar. This research recommends ways to achieve and sustain competitive advantage for the lodging sector, which is vital for tourism. Originality/value: Though a considerable research exists on tourism and the recent advances of the ICT sector in Myanmar, the country's readiness for the actual usage of the internet for the development of tourism has not been specifically addressed. This paper explores this with compelling research findings useful for policy makers as well as players in the tourism sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: Photos are powerful tools to attract individuals' attention and convey service experiences. Yet exactly how visual cues in a photo contribute to the perceptions of the staged servicescape, and how these perceptions inspire online booking/reservation behaviors, remains underexplored. Addressing the gap, this study aims to uncover (1) how perceptual information mediated by an online photo contributes to the formation of consumers' holistic perceptions of the service environment and (2) how such consumers' holistic perceptions further influence customers' online purchasing behaviors. Design/methodology/approach: This research adopts an innovative crowdsourcing approach and refers to field data on consumers' online hotel booking behaviors to examine relationships among inferred servicescape dimensions, consumers' holistic perceptions of the mediated servicescape and their actual online booking/reservation behaviors (e.g. page-view and meta-click behaviors). Findings: Confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis indicated that five mediated servicescape dimensions (i.e. color, lighting, furnishings, layout and style) contribute significantly to consumers' perceptions of the mediated servicescape (CPMS) and exert different impacts on CPMS. Connecting the crowdsourced rating and consumer behavioral data, CPMS is found to influence consumers' aggregated page-view and meta-click behavior, especially in the US market. Originality/value: Building upon servicescape theory, the medium theory and the online booking literature, this research proposes a novel conceptual framework of CPMS to theorize the process by which visual cues in online photos contribute to CPMS and subsequent online purchase behaviors. Findings from this research extend Bitner's servicescape framework to mediated service contexts and provide practical implications for promoting service businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology drives new opportunities that result in a competitive environment for the hotel industry. More consumers are nowadays passionate to book hotels online from the comfort zone from any part of the globe. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to understand the various factors influencing Consumer's Decision Making on Online Hotel Reservation. The study identifies the various factors such as Privacy &Safety, Easy and User Friendly, Transaction, Convenience, price, Information, Website Usability and accessibility which influences the Consumer Decision Making on Online Hotel Reservation. The study will be helpful for the marketers to frame the promotional strategies for capturing and withstanding the competitive market by acquiring more consumers' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research findings have shown that consumers' cultural backgrounds affect their evaluations on products or services. We argue that the ethnic affinity between consumers and service providers can affect their evaluations and online engagement after consumption. Using the information of 359,885 consumer reviews and their profile images collected from restaurants in New York City listed on Yelp, we employ face recognition and a difference-in-differences (DID) design. The results suggest that the ethnic affinity between consumers and restaurants induces consumers to post positive reviews with high ratings and sentiments; their engagement in posting reviews is also enhanced with longer texts and more photos. These findings offer direct implications for restaurant managers and online booking platform operators from the perspective of hospitality marketing and management. 现有研究表明消费者的文化背景会影响其对产品和服务的评价, 本研究认为消费者和服务提供商之间的种族亲和力会对消费者的在线评价和在线参与行为产生影响。本研究基于纽约市Yelp平台餐厅的359885条消费者评论, 采用了图像识别模型识别消费者头像信息, 并进一步构建了双重差分模型进行实证分析。研究结果表明, 消费者与餐厅之间的种族亲和力会促使消费者发布含有更高评分、更多字数和图片的评论。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of big data has led to a greater need for applications to change their schema frequently. NoSQL databases provide flexibility in organizing data and offer multiple choices for structuring and storing similar information. While schema flexibility speeds up initial development, choosing schemas wisely is crucial, as they significantly impact performance, affecting data redundancy, navigation cost, data access cost, and maintainability. This paper emphasizes the importance of schema design in NoSQL document stores. It proposes a model to analyze and evaluate different schema alternatives and suggest the best schema out of various schema alternatives. The model is divided into four phases. The model inputs the Entity-Relationship (ER) model and workload queries. In the Transformation Phase, the schema alternatives are initially developed for each ER model, and subsequently, a schema graph is generated for each alternative. Concurrently, workload queries undergo conversion into query graphs. In the Schema Evaluation phase, the Schema Rank (SRank) is calculated for each schema alternative using query metrics derived from the query graphs and path coverage generated from the schema graphs. Finally, in the Output phase, the schema with the highest SRank is recommended as the most suitable choice for the application. The paper includes a case study of a Hotel Reservation System (HRS) to demonstrate the application of the proposed model. It comprehensively evaluates various schema alternatives based on query response time, storage efficiency, scalability, throughput, and latency. The paper validates the SRank computation for schema selection in NoSQL databases through an extensive experimental study. The alignment of SRank values with each schema's performance metrics underscores this ranking system's effectiveness. The SRank simplifies the schema selection process, assisting users in making informed decisions by reducing the time, cost, and effort of identifying the optimal schema for NoSQL document stores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is quite a common to read online reviews before making a purchase decision. Online reviews have transformed the way individuals make their purchase decisions. Online reviews are more than just a way to collect the information. The present study explained and explored the impact of online reviews on purchase decision among novice travelers for hotel bookings. A structured and un-disguised questionnaire was developed and used to collect the primary data from 427 respondents. Conceptual model was examined by using structural equation modelling. Study delivered detailed insight on various elements used for analysis and revealed that online review score and volume, online review platform, online reviewer expertise, timeliness of review influenced trust of novice travelers. Further, study confirmed mediating role of trust between the online review score and volume, online review platform, online reviewer expertise, timeliness of review and purchase decision for hotel bookings by first time travelers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Many tourism-related industries, such as hotels, use social media as a marketing tool for promotion and distribution. This paper aims to use a model that explores the impact of social media platform image (SMPI) on customers' visit intention (VI) in a hotel context, using hotel image (HI), motivation (Mot) and anticipated service quality (ASQ) as mediators. The objectives of this study are then: to understand the interactions between the two brand images, to test the mediation effect of HI, Mot and ASQ and to investigate how this interaction contributes to customers' VI to hotel. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a convenience sampling method that targeted respondents who are willing to book a hotel using a social media platform such as Facebook and a hotel reservation website (Agoda, Airbnb, Booking.com, Hotels.com and Trivago) that have forums that allow customers to share their experiences. The survey was conducted through various social media platforms, with 349 responses being collected. Findings: This study finds that SMPI contributes to Mot largely through HI, Mot partly mediates the relationship between HI and ASQ and Mot contributes to VI mostly through direct impact and a small part through ASQ. The findings also indicate that SMPI is less potent in terms of contributing to the later constructs if HI is low. Practical implications: This research provides practical implications for marketers serving the hotel industry, and social media sites, and establishes the interrelationship between them. This research also offers insight to the hotel managers for using social media platforms to attract potential visitors because social media platforms in recent years have become significant contributors to customers' decision-making process of booking and visiting a hotel. Originality/value: This study provides results on how social media platforms can be caused to become a more effective hotel promotion channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "book now, pay later" phenomenon is one form of payment which has flow-on effects such as increasing last-minute cancelations. To encourage prepayment, some hotels have been offering a price discount or free upgrade for choosing the "pay now" option, but little is known about which incentives can generate better outcomes. This study aims to examine what types of payment options are preferable based on the time between booking and check-in (i.e. temporal distance), and to investigate how the payment options and temporal distance jointly influence perceived risks. The findings demonstrate that while people prefer the pay now with monetary incentive option when traveling time is in the near future, they mostly prefer the pay later option when traveling time is distant. In addition, people planning a trip in the distant future perceive significantly higher risks from the pay now with non-monetary and monetary incentive options than from the pay later option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on relationship quality (RQ) and customer citizenship behavior (CCB) by considering hotel reputation as a moderator in the hotel industry. The study sample was customers in hotels with the highest number of bookings in selected cities that have been most visited in Iran. PLS-SEM approach was adopted for analyzing data. The results indicate that CSR in hotels improves the relationship quality with customers, and relationship quality has a positive effect on CCB. Moreover, the moderating role of hotel reputation in the relationship between relationship quality and CCB was verified. This study provides tourism practitioners and hotel managers with new insights and key points about establishing a better relationship with customers from CSR perspective and its relationship with CCB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to bridge the gap between academia and the actual application of blockchain technology in the industry. In-depth interviews were undertaken with two blockchain online travel agency (OTA) operators, six hotel/bed and breakfast owners or managers as well as three end users who had booking experience with blockchain OTAs. The interviews explored the management perceptions regarding blockchain technology in five areas, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and how trust level influences the collaboration intention towards blockchain OTAs. Most managers agree blockchain enhances organisational performance and could simplify operation procedures. Blockchain OTAs could take up technical tasks and reduce small and medium-sized hospitality organisations’ investment and labour cost on IT systems. However, star-rated hotels hesitate to work with blockchain OTAs because they are start-ups. They do not trust these newly established business models could be sustainable in the tourism ecosystem. This study is the first study that empirically examines the perceptions of Taiwanese hotel managers and customers towards blockchain technology and blockchain OTAs. Further, it sheds light on managers’ attitudes towards collaborations with start-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of several online travel agents (OTA) has come with several benefits for the potential travellers. Many accommodation establishments especially hotels find OTA helpful in this age of technological innovations and are using them as distribution channels for their products. This paper examines why hotel customers opt to book indirectly via OTA rather than making direct booking with the hotel. The paper also determines why hotel customers in the Cape Metropole think it is cheaper and more convenient to make reservations through travel agents. Hotel customer behaviour when booking accommodation is also reviewed to establish the motivations in choosing a specific booking method. Three-hundred hotel guests participated in the study, and the data was analysed descriptively using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed a preference for OTAs rather than direct reservation with the hotel, and this was mainly attributed to convenience and affordability. The study is of importance to hotels and OTAs as it advances an understanding of booking behaviours of hotel customers. Recommendations on how hotels could attract and convince customers to book directly to help avoid paying commissions to OTAs were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]