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Literature review
Hotel attributes are facilities and services that hotels offer, whose characteristics and features affect the customer and her choice among other different services and products. These attributes that directly affect the decisions of guests can also be referred to as determining attributes, as they can lead to a desire to purchase and differentiate this desire in relation to the offer by competitors. Perceptions of hotel attributes are defined by a number of studies as the level of importance hotel guests and tourists attach to a number of facilities and services in meeting their needs and wants. The results of a number of surveys show that guests, when selecting a hotel, select price, location if the accommodation and value for their money, service quality, security, cleanliness and the reputation of the hotel as the key attributes. In other studies of the behaviors of hotel guests during the selection of their accommodation, the distinctions in the priorities of choosing elements between the different kinds of guests were analyzed (Kersloot and Kauko 144- 63).
Numerous studies have analyzed the differences between leisure and business guests. They suggest that the business guests put location and cleanliness in the first position, while the other kind of guests choose security, safety, accommodation prices and personal contact as the most essential factors. From the previously mentioned, one can conclude that hotel attributes have different value when it comes to making decisions about hotels and accommodation. There are factors that are essential to all hotel guests, but there are a number of differences in priorities between different types of hotel guests, when examining the essentiality of hotel attributes in hotel selection decisions, one should consider or look at, at least two aspects of the hotel attributes from the point of view of the customers: presented and experienced (Kersloot and Kauko 144- 63).
Experienced attributed would include those attributes that the guest has experienced while staying at a certain hotel. These attributes can cause or influence hotel guests to return to the same hotel, or can influence loyalty. On the other hand, presented attributes are those attributes that the hotel guest has not experienced because the guest has never stayed in a certain hotel so they are only familiar or presents to the potential guest through a number of communication channels like television, magazines and newspapers. Attributes like cleanliness or personal contact are usually better analyzed when experienced, while price and location can easily be presented without the need for experience (Kersloot and Kauko 144- 63).
The significance of security and safety in the hotel and tourism industry has been analyzed and examined vastly in literature and studies. Chu and Choi, for instance, in 2000 in the context of the Asian hotel industry looked at a number of elements that travelers, both leisure and business took into account or considered when making decisions about which hotel to book accommodations in. the two researchers concluded that security was perceived as the most essential factor and that it had some power in influencing hotel guests in their selection of hotels (Chu and Choi 363- 77).
Just the same, way, other researchers in 2006 found that most American tourists typically need and expect clean rooms at a considerable price; however, it was found that these guests had the potential to offset these expectations for an offer of increased security when travelling out of their country (Shanahan and Hyman 107). All of these findings and conclusions draw the attention of readers to the significance of security from the view of point of travelers and tourists. Some environmental attributes of a place might be connected to the fear tourists and travelers have of insecurity and crime. For example, living in a huge hotel apartment with only a few other guests, the sounds of barking stray dogs in the middle of the night and even other sounds of the night can be extremely scary for many people. However, all these scary experiences and encounters can be different during the day, or even at times when there are numerous guests occupying the guest rooms in the next units (Kersloot and Kauko 144- 63).
Where a hotel is located can also be a great influence to the perceptions of the hotel guests of the level of security offered in the hotel. In 2009, a study showed a strong relationship between the location of a hotel and its security. Suburban, urban and airport hotels seem to score higher marks on security and safety when compared to those hotels located in resorts, along highways in small metropolitan locations (Enz 555). The window and door locks, the control over the hotel space and the brightness of the area around the hotel in the nighttime are also other factors that can also affect the perception of possible hotel guests of the security in the hotel. In his study, Enz found that certain behavioral and physical devices such as closed- circuit television cameras, deadbolt locks, caller screening by the hotel’s telephone operators, door viewports, routine and constant visits to the hotel by security personnel like the police and locked side entrances into the accommodation areas provided hotel guests with a greater sense of security and safety (Enz 551).
The paper has looked at and compared the performance and essentiality of a number of hotel selection elements as perceived by leisure and business travelers. Both the leisure and business travelers were found to have similar perceptions towards all the essential hotel selection factors. Most studies indicate that the value factor of hotel guests falls under the following categories, service quality, safety and security, and business facilities. Though most of these studies did not show any considerable difference on the perceived significance of hotel selection elements between leisure and business travelers, the two types of guests did differ from each other in the way they decide on their accommodation away from home. In choosing accommodation in hotels, it was found that business travelers and guests considered front desk and room to be key essentialities, whereas their leisure counterparts considered security and safety as one of the most critical element to them. Analyzing and studying perceptions of quality in terms of distinct segments can be of help to those in hotel businesses to formulate and develop marketing strategies to meet and satisfy the needs of each certain segment. By recognizing and pinpointing the appropriate hotel segments, hoteliers can design and tailor their marketing strategies and tactics to best meet the expectations and needs of tourists and travelers, thus increasing their profitability.
Work cited
Enz, A. and Taylor, S. ‘The safety and security of U.S. hotels a post-september-11 report’. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 43(2002): 119–136. Print.
Kersloot, J. and Kauko, T. ‘Measurement of housing preferences – A comparison of research activity in the Netherlands and Finland’. Nordic Journal of Surveying and Real Estate Research 1(2004): 144–163. Print.
Shanahan, J. and Hyman, R. ‘An exploratory study of desired hotel attributes for American tourists vacationing in China and Ireland’. Journal of Vacation Marketing 13.2 (2006): 107–118. Print.
