A multilevel study in Portuguese hotels

Funding: FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal (grant nr. PEst-OE/EGE/UI0315/2011) and ADHP (Associacao dos Diretores de Hoteis de Portugal)Purpose: Employees’ turnover intention is a key problem that hotel managers face daily. This is partially explained by the inevitability of performing tasks with little significance and low identity. This study aims to understand how job embeddedness and job satisfaction could lessen the undesirable effect of task characteristics on turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach: A sample of 525 employees operating in 46 Portuguese hotels was used in this study. The questionnaire included demographic variables and four reliable instruments used to measure job satisfaction, job characteristics, job embeddedness and turnover intentions. The study used a multilevel statistical approach considering both the individual and the hotel levels of analysis. Findings: Through multilevel statistics, the findings suggest that both at the individual level and the hotel level of analysis, job satisfaction and job embeddedness fully mediated the relationship between different task characteristics (significance and identity) and turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications: Despite a possible absence of common method variance, due to the confirmatory factor analysis, social desirability bias may exist because of the self-reported nature of the survey. Practical implications: Managers should increase the perceived costs of employees leaving the hotel by introducing training programs and plans for career development. Also, to increase job embeddedness, managers should also rethink the organizational dynamics of this industry. Originality/value: This research provides empirical evidence of the antecedents and mediators of employees’ intentions to leave the hotel industry both at the individual and at the hotel level (multilevel approach).authorsversionpublishe

The attractiveness of Portugal as a tourist destination: the perspective of Czech tour operators

In this study we investigate the attractiveness of Portugal as a tourist destination from the perspective of Czech tour operators. Tour operators were selected as the target population because they represent an important source of information about a destination and can significantly influence the decision of potential tourists about a holiday destination. One of the important findings of this research is that weak promotion and financial demands are perceived as the main reasons why many Czech tourists do not choose Portugal as their vacation destination. An obvious obstacle in the development of Portugal as a Czech tourism destination is the lack of information about its advantages as a tourist destination. The results also show that Portugal is not considered a key destination for Czech tourists. However, in terms of its attractiveness as a tourist destination Portugal has much potential, which should be utilized in the future