The evaluation of thermal hotels' online reviews

Th e main objective of this study was to evaluate the perceptions related to the online user reviews of thermal hotels. Specifi cally, it was investigated whether perceptions towards value (V), location (L), sleep quality (SQ), rooms (R), cleanliness (C), service (S) and factors infl uencing general evaluation depend on the star numbers of hotels, the location of the hotels and the nationalities of participants. In order to obtain data on perceptions of consumers towards thermal hotels in Turkey, the web site Trip Advisor (TA) was used. In total, 2,895 user reviews about thermal accommodations on TA were assessed by content analysis method. According to the study results, it was determined that the most important factor was the cleanliness of the hotels. It was followed by the location, sleep quality, rooms and service. Th e value factor was the last important. To analyse the eff ect of the nationality of the participants, domestic and foreign visitors, stars and the location of the accommodation on the perceptions towards value, location, sleep quality, rooms, cleanliness and service, t test and one-way ANOVA method were performed. It was found that the perceptions towards value, location, sleep quality, rooms, cleanliness and service diff ered between domestic and foreign visitors, nationalities, location and 4 or 5-star

Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research

This paper reviews the published articles on eTourism in the past 20 years. Using a wide variety of sources, mainly in the tourism literature, this paper comprehensively reviews and analyzes prior studies in the context of Internet applications to Tourism. The paper also projects future developments in eTourism and demonstrates critical changes that will influence the tourism industry structure. A major contribution of this paper is its overview of the research and development efforts that have been endeavoured in the field, and the challenges that tourism researchers are, and will be, facing

The evaluation of thermal hotels\u27 online reviews

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the perceptions related to the online user reviews of thermal hotels. Specifically, it was investigated whether perceptions towards value (V), location (L), sleep quality (SQ), rooms (R), cleanliness (C), service (S) and factors influencing general evaluation depend on the star numbers of hotels, the location of the hotels and the nationalities of participants. In order to obtain data on perceptions of consumers towards thermal hotels in Turkey, the web site Trip Advisor (TA) was used. In total, 2,895 user reviews about thermal accommo-dations on TA were assessed by content analysis method. According to the study results, it was determined that the most important factor was the cleanliness of the hotels. It was followed by the location, sleep quality, rooms and service. The value factor was the last important. To analyse the effect of the nationality of the participants, domestic and foreign visitors, stars and the location of the accommodation on the perceptions towards value, location, sleep quality, rooms, cleanliness and service, t test and one-way ANOVA method were performed. It was found that the perceptions towards value, location, sleep quality, rooms, cleanliness and service differed between domestic and foreign visitors, nationalities, location and 4 or 5-star

PROFILING SOCIAL MEDIA TOURISTS USING LITERATURE DURING 2015-2019: CRIMINAL PROFILING METHOD

With the continuous development of mobile commerce and the Internet, social media has deeply penetrated people’s lives and fundamentally changed the way of searching, reading and using travel-related information. With this backdrop, this research studied social media tourists (SMTs) who share or acquire information related to the hospitality and tourism on social media platforms. Based on 271 empirical articles retrieved from major databases and top hospitality and tourism journals in the recent five years from 2015 to 2019, this research developed a profiling framework about SMTs using criminal profiling method. The findings showed the possibility of using the criminal profiling method to analyze SMTs and provided a holistic personal, social-psychological, and behavioral profile of SMTs. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed

VIRTEL – Teaching hospitality with a virtual hotel e-simulation

The conference was organized by the Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association, the Asia-Pacific Centre for Education Leadership and School Quality (APCELSQ) of The Hong Kong Institute of Education and The Hong Kong Education Research Association. The theme was "Educational research, policy, and practice in an era of globalization : the Asia-Pacific perspectives and beyond."2006-2007 > Academic research: not refereed > Other conference paperOther VersionPublishe

Customer Perceptions of Service Quality in Luxury Hotels in Petra and Aqaba, Jordan: An Exploratory Study

The aim of the study is to assess customers perception of service quality in luxury hotels, in both, Petra (The iconic tourist attraction), and Aqaba (The commercial capital) on the Red Sea in Jordan and to help the hotel management identify how guest perceive the services and compare their performance against clients expectation. The study used a survey and interviews to accumulate information using SPSS version 20.0 for data analysis. The study sample consists of 271 participants of hotel guests at four- and five-star hotels in Petra and Aqaba. Findings results show that for responses relating to front office, room service, and in-house cafe/restaurant, the importance score is statistically significant to and higher than the performance rating. Overall, the results indicate a significant difference in guest expectations and actual experiences, thus highlighting managerial implications. The current study cannot claim to be wholly conclusive as it is limited to a small sample size from only two cities of Jordan. From a practitioner’s perspective, the study provides an opportunity to recognize, in ranking order, features that are considered important by the guests staying in luxury hotels of Petra and Aqaba, as well as to identify the areas of disparity in service quality. It is observed that this is a significant study regards to its contribution to the literature and hotel managers who plan to improve their performance and competitiveness through guest satisfaction

Big Box Backlash: The Stealth Campaign at the World Trade Organization to Preempt Local Control Over Land Use

As communities across the United States and elsewhere are increasingly successful in their effort to limit "big box" store expansion and destructive retail practices through transparent and accountable measures at the local level, Wal-Mart and other retailers have pursued rules at the World Trade Organization (WTO) which threaten to preempt, or at the very least chill, these local laws. These rules are part of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In 1994, the United States committed retail and wholesale distribution, as well as the hotel and restaurant sectors, to the terms of the GATS, one of 17 Uruguay Round agreements enforced by the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO). The GATS expansive "market access" rules are geared toward facilitating the entry of foreign service providers into the U.S. market by incorporation or acquisition of U.S. firms. These GATS rules forbid limits on the number of services suppliers, as well as measures that would reduce the value of a service transaction or limit the number of employees. Policies containing economic needs tests, like that in the city of Los Angeles for very large retail operations, are explicitly forbidden. Unless the United States takes action to fix this problem in the current round of negotiations, local governments could see challenges to state and local land use laws brought before WTO tribunals, which are empowered to authorize trade sanctions against countries that refuse to conform their domestic policies to WTO dictates. Across the country, state and local officials are working to put laws in place to protect their communities, their environment, their wage base and tax dollars by putting land use limits on "big box" retailers, as well as retail chains and other development projects they deem destructive to the community or the environment or out of step with local needs and planning