Key-drivers in hotel and environmental management: a comparative analysis in Malaysia

In tourism, the environment is a core business product.Since hotels occupy a central place in the tourism industry and its development does impact upon the environment considerably, it is believed that hotels should be more proactive in their managerial response concerning environmental performance.Using interview data, this study compares the environmental management practices among hotels operating in Penang and Langkawi, Malaysia.The results have shown that although hotel companies in both destinations are concerned with environmental management issues, many are not proactive enough in their responses and prefer to only take management initiatives that have considerable financial benefits for their business.Focus has been mainly on cost-cutting management measures such as minimising energy use and water conservation as this contributes directly toward a hotel|s profitability. In both cases, business refuses to take sole ownership on environmental management.Instead, the government and society are expected to play a leading role before business can be expected to emulate

The impact of tourist attractions and accessibility on tourists' satisfaction: The moderating role of tourists' age

Age has frequently been recognized as one of the key attributes and indicators in creating an advertising system. In any case, it has been infrequently discovered the moderating effects of age on the links between attractions and accessibility as well as tourist satisfaction. Particularly, in the context of Bangladesh, this sort of study has not ever been considered. Hence, this study fulfils the gap by examining the moderating role of age in the relationship of these constructs. The questionnaire survey was directed for gathering data from international tourists in the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Bangladesh. The outcomes got from Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using the SmartPLS v3 uncovered that age significantly moderated the relationship between attraction and tourist satisfaction as well as accessibility and tourist satisfaction

Exploring Hospitality Students’ Expectation for Internship Placement During the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Case of Universiti Utara Malaysia Students

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the tourism and hospitality industry globally and the accommodation sector is amongst the hardest-hit. As for hospitality education, the internship program is part of the core component curricula for most undergraduate degrees which provide students with the opportunity to gain hands on experience within the industry. This paper provides some insights on issues and challenges faced by hospitality students in securing internship placements during the Covid-19 period. The study utilizes qualitative research methodology using in-depth interviews. The interviews are conducted through WhatsApp voice calls and video calls and WEBEX virtual meeting platform. The findings revealed problems faced by hospitality students when securing their internship placements. This paper offers some practical suggestions for the department in charge of internship placements to be more informed about the challenges faced by the students. This is vital as acknowledging the problems will help the university become more prepared when handling internship placements during the time of pandemic. More interaction between the industry and universities as well as corporate participation in internship acceptance are crucial for the benefit of all stakeholders

The influence of guests’ social interaction on the hostel experience: a conceptual framework

Social interaction among fellow travellers forms a significant component of the authentic backpacking experience. Hostel accommodation have been purposely designed to provide the kind of environment that fosters communication and interaction between backpackers. Hostel guests have typically been provided with dormitory-type rooms, shared washrooms, kitchen and living areas, thus offering less privacy but more opportunity for social interaction.Few studies to date have fully investigated how social interaction among customers actually enhance or damage the service experience.Therefore, building on previous studies on servicescapes, co-creation and backpacker tourism, a conceptual framework is developed to examine how the hostel environment could be manipulated to influence guests’ social interaction, and consequently their evaluation of the hostel service experience

Tourists’ Emotional Experiences at Tourism Destinations: Analysis of Social Media Reviews

Experiential aspect of consumption has becoming more important in the era of social media. Social life has changed. Today, people are exposed to overflowing information; voluntarily or involuntarily. Almost everyone can express their emotional experience about tourism destinations, which may influence viewers’ response and their purchasing decision. Thus, this study was conducted to identify the salient domains of emotional experiences remembered and recalled by tourists in the online social environments. Content analysis method was utilized to uncover the common themes from 200 online reviews about tourism destinations in Malaysia. The study revealed the presence of cognitive and affective components in online reviews. It also discovered that tourists attributed their emotional experience to concrete factors, which include core (activities) and facilitating components (accommodation, food and beverages and transportation). This in-depth analysis of unstructured text reviews captured some clues about tourists’ emotional experience that would help tourism providers in developing strategies that can stimulates desired emotion, improve positive electronic word of mouth (eWOM) transmissions, which later may contribute to building a destination brand that resonates with its consumers

Examining the impact of customer-to-customer interaction on service experiences: A pilot study

This research focuses on how the design of backpacker hostels influences social interaction among guests and how this could enhance or spoil their service experience. There are opposing views on how different aspects of hostel design and services contribute towards guests’ evaluation of their hostel stay.On one hand, it is suggested that a hostel environment which encourages social interaction adds value to the service experience while on the other hand, an environment that offers extra privacy, such as en-suite bedrooms, is more valued.The present research therefore argues that some aspects of the hostel’s current design and core services may now be redundant for certain market segments of the hostel guest. Empirical evidence is needed to illustrate the extent to which hostels are providing the right design and services to meet the current requirements of their target market. At this stage of the research, a pilot study has been carried out using semi-structured interviews with individuals who have stayed in backpacker hostels. Using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT), respondents were asked to recall a specific incident where they had interacted with other hostel guests.Details about the environment in which the interaction took place, as well as how the respondents felt about the interaction, were asked during the interview.It is expected that the findings of this research will shed light on which aspects of a hostel’s design and guests’ interaction would contribute towards enhancing the service experience

Examining food wastage, cash handling and cost control practices: the case of food and beverage outlets in Malaysia

Background: The food and beverage industry in Malaysia is foreseen to have a bright future as increasing new comers emerge in the market. As competition is getting intense, there is a growing need to understand how food and beverage outlets make profits through an important aspect, but seldom neglected academically, which is cost control measures. Objective: This paper addresses one business strategy to making profit that is by minimising costs, via imposing cost control measures through daily operations. In particular, issues regarding controlling of food and beverage costs are the prime concern in the paper. Little research has been done in understanding cost control issues, particularly in the case of food and beverage outlets in Malaysia hence, an exploratory study is deemed feasible to investigate cost control measures being practiced in their daily operations. What are cost control practices being applied needs exploration whilst other areas that need further investigation includes food wastage and cash handling procedures. Qualitative approach via semi structured interview protocols are being conducted on 30 foodservice outlet managers around the northern part of Malaysia. Results: The findings revealed that the majority of managers acknowledge that there were awareness on cost control measures in their daily operations however these are based on the routine experience of running their operations. The implementation of control procedures are still unbalanced and require improvements. Conclusion: This exploratory study has surfaced the need to cultivate the correct application of cost control measures in food and beverage outlets’ operations in order to remain competitive in the business

Are students competencies in line with industry expectation?

Competencies are perceived as essential for student’s future career. Educational providers need to consider industry requirements when planning related educational programme. Thus, a continuous effort must be carried out to identify relevant competencies for hospitality students. This study was undertaken to investigate competencies from the hospitality students’ perspective. The research was carried out using questionnaires that were administrated to 30 students from year 3 and year 4 of bachelor hospitality programme in Universiti Utara Malaysia. The results indicated the importance of soft skills as essential competencies. Hospitality students noted the power of teamwork in hospitality industry and good customer relations as essence for excellent customer service. On the other hand, an industry specific competency such as writing standard operating procedures (SOP) and business acumen competencies for example interpreting financial statements, forecasting revenues and forecasting staffing needs were perceived as less important. The study results provide implications that further collaboration between the hospitality education providers and hospitality industry are needed to enhance student’s competencies desired by the industry

Predictors of travel motivations: The case of domestic tourists to island destinations in northwest of Malaysia

This paper examines the role of key socio demographic attributes and trip characteristics in travel motivations of domestic tourists to island destinations.A total of 1780 useful survey responses were collected over a period of 6 months via an assisted survey.Analysis using independent sample t-test and one-way ANOVA revealed that only the “travel companionship status” in respondents' trip characteristics significantly influences the travel motivations of domestic tourists. Particularly, family and friends were found to be a major influence on the travel motivations of domestic tourists.The study concludes that the travel motivations of domestic tourists are more influenced by who individuals choose to travel with, therefore reflecting the issue of local conditions. The findings support Gilbert's (1991, Progress in tourism, recreation and hospitality management. London: Belhaven) theory of family influence in travel decisions. However, it adds that where the population is relatively young, friends can also be a major influence.Theoretical and managerial implications are then discussed

Policy changes and its enforcement toward foreign workers in hotel industry

The change of government after the 14th Malaysian general election is followed by some changes in government policies and practices. Hence, business practices including those in the service industry are also affected. Among the issues raised in the Dewan Rakyat is regarding the employment of foreign labour. While the news has broadcasted information regarding efforts to reduce the number of foreign workers in Malaysia under the new government, scholarly article regarding the matter remains scarce. This paper tracks the current policies on foreign workers and their enforcement effort. Findings from secondary data reveal that there are some changes in policies that regulate foreign workers’ employment, and there is stricter enforcement of the regulations. While the local employees can rest assured that there will be fewer competition for jobs, it is also crucial for them to improve their attitude and increase their productivity