THE HOTEL INDUSTRY VS. ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES: FOREVER FOE?

Sun-Young Park,Jonathan P. Allen 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

The hotel industry vs. online travel agencies: forever foe? The rise of Online Travel Agency (OTA) conglomerates such as Expedia and Priceline has forced the hotel industry to find ways of working with, or avoiding, an increasingly powerful channel for room distribution, and an increasingly relevant set of brands for consumers (Zhang, Denizci Guillet, & Kucukusta, 2015; Lee, Denizci Guillet, & Law, 2013). Although strategizing how to work with different electronic distribution channels has been studied, very few of them have addressed hoteliers‘ perceptions of OTAs, and how OTAs are affecting the industry. In this exploratory research, we sought to investigate the state of current and possible future relationships between OTAs and the hotel industry, from the perspective of diverse hoteliers in the U.S. Using a grounded theory method (Charmaz, 2014; Corbin, Strauss, & Strauss, 2014) that advises to maximize variety to increase the chances of finding new distinctions through a method of ‗constant comparison‘ between data sources, we interviewed eight highly accomplished hotel industry professionals in the U.S., mostly executives, across a variety of roles. Two of our informants were owners/operators of a large hotel management group (Interviewees 1 and 2), one was a former C-level executive at a major hotel brand (Interviewee 3), one was a senior executive at a midlevel regional hotel brand (Interviewee 4), one was the owner/operator to two family-run independent hotels (Interviewee 5), one was the owner of an independent, luxury hotel online services provider (Interviewee 6), one was the manager of a mid-level major brand hotel (Interviewee 7), and one was the owner of a hotel real estate investment company (Interviewee 8). The interviews were semi-structured on: the influence of OTAs on their business, and the hotel industry in general and current strategies for working with, or competing against, OTAs. The interviewees were guaranteed full anonymity, and the resulting 60-75 minute conversations were fully transcribed. Based on the grounded theory design, we followed gradual phases of data analysis: a preliminary open coding phase where concepts are associated with a line-by-line reading of transcripts; a focused coding phase where a limited number of concepts are chosen for further analysis; and an ‗axial‘ coding phase where concepts are systematically related to each other. During the open coding phase, this study‘s authors individually did initial code generation. They then came together to select the primary themes that emerged during focused coding, and worked together to relate the chosen themes to each other, and to key contextual variables such as industry role, hotel size, and hotel category. The impact of OTAs The first consistent perception of OTAs from every corner of the hotel industry is that they ―are not going away‖ (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8). The interviewees noted that OTAs first came into the picture post 9-11 when the market was down. Back then, hoteliers ―signed up for OTAs without thinking about any future impacts‖ (Interviewee 5), and ―did not anticipate how disruptive they were going to be, because the original OTA model was to sell distressed or unusable inventory‖ (Interviewee 1). The negative perceptions of OTAs were widespread, with the use of terms such as ―necessary evils‖, ―evil empires‖, and ―Frankenstein‖ (Interviewees 4 and 5). The hotel industry ―sold its soul‖ to OTAs (Interviewee 1), we [hoteliers] are idiots‖ (Interviewee 8) and ―we hate them all.‖ (Interviewee 5). The interviewees expressed that OTAs have had an unexpectedly significant and negative impact on the hotel industry and their business, ―dramatically changing the landscape of hotel business‖ (Interviewee 8). With a marketing budget far larger than that of many hotels, OTAs have successfully convinced consumers to book on their websites for speed, convenience, choice, and loyalty points, and made them believe – incorrectly, according to the interviewees – that they can get the cheapest rates there. The negative view of OTAs has led to a predominantly zero-sum view of the hotel- OTA relationship. OTAs have consolidated to develop a large network of suppliers, and they have been taking more direct business away from hotels, according to the interviewees. As such, the main impact of OTAs on the interviewees‘ hotel bookings was increasing costs due to commission fees to the OTAs, which ―drive up the customer acquisition cost, [which is why] profit hasn‘t gone up in proportion to the revenue increase‖ over the years (Interviewee 6). All but one interviewee mentioned the term ―rate parity,‖ whereby hotels and OTAs have to offer the same room rates on their respective websites. Nonetheless, one interviewee expressed discontent about OTAs‘ practices of rate parity, because hoteliers have ―no clue what they‘re selling [my inventory] for, especially when hotels are packaged with other travel products‖ (Interviewee 5). To minimize this negative financial impact, hotels try to increase direct bookings as much as possible from their members by offering extra features such as mobile check-in, or better rates available only to them. This ‗closed group‘ offering is also practiced by OTAs through which their loyalty program members can also be offered more favorable pricing or terms. The interviewees mentioned that the impact of OTAs is larger for independent than for chain hotels because independent hotels have no ―big distribution channel, and it‘s a way for [them] to be visible‖ (Interviewee 8). However, OTAs are more expensive for independent than for chain hotels, as the latter can leverage their large size to negotiate better terms with OTAs. The OTA commission rates at the interviewees‘ hotels ranged between 6% and 28%, with the highest rate being for independent hotels. Four interviewees pointed out that hotel location and service/price level influence the degree to which OTAs are utilized. That is, OTAs‘ booking volume is higher at resorts, and at hotels at or near airports with a high guest turnover. OTAs‘ booking volume is also higher for hotels with limited service (economy or budget hotels) than those with higher levels of service/price (luxury or upper scale hotels). The former, as compared to the latter, are akin to ―soap on a shelf‖ (Interviewee 8) because they are not distinctive in the consumer‘s mind, and consumers who choose to stay at the former are typically price-elastic. Although the majority of bookings at major chain hotels are still generated by direct bookings, what concerns the hoteliers most is that the percentage of bookings by OTAs has been ―growing at a double-digit rate for many years‖ (Interviewee 3). This makes the interviewees feel that ―OTAs take customers away‖ from their hotels (Interviewee 8). Strategic response of the hotel industry Although all the interviewees acknowledged and worried about the negative financial impact of OTAs, the only consistent strategy for coping with OTAs was to divert bookings to more cost-effective channels such as direct booking, or ―limit visibility over premium dates as much as possible‖ (Interviewee 8). They responded that they use or have to use most or all major OTAs (e.g., Expedia, Priceline), simply because these are prevalent and most familiar to consumers today. The response to the perceived OTA threat varied, depending on the respondent‘s role in the hotel industry. The REIT investor (Interviewee 8) and the major brand executive (Interviewee 3) displayed the purest zero-sum view of the relationship. The REIT investor believed the best response is to strengthen the bargaining position of hotels and win back lost revenue, expressing that hotels are ―letting other people take all this money…we‘re stupid.‖ From the major brand perspective, the best response was consolidation (getting bigger) to have better leverage in complex OTA negotiations, and to have more capital for marketing campaigns and technology development. For the more ―independent‖ respondents there was more scope to react by working with OTAs at some level. The single hotel manager and the independent hotel owner both used the metaphor of ―playing the game‖ to survive in the new era: ―You‘d better play ball with them if you want a presence online‖ (Interviewee 5). For an independent hotel, ―Expedia is my franchise website‖ (Interviewee 7) because OTAs are ―doing things that I could never do as an independent‖ (Interviewee 5). In particular, they emphasized the necessity to understand and master the digital marketing landscape of social media, review sites, search engine optimization, daily deal sites, and a good online presence on their own websites, expressing ―You gotta fish where the fish are‖ (Interviewee 4). Independent and small hotels do suffer from higher OTA commissions, but can also work in their favor in terms of preferred placement in hotel searches and referrals from OTAs. The technology service company‘s, (Interviewee 6) key strategic response was to gain control over customer data, because customer email addresses are particularly important for ―retargeting and email marketing to get guests back for zero costs‖ but is difficult to obtain when receiving bookings from OTAs. Some interviewees were able to see other potential strategic responses that were promising, but not yet pursued widely. One example was ‗bundling‘ products and services along with hotel rooms in new ways (Interviewees 1, 2, 4, 5, 6), similar to Airbnb‘s recent pivoting of offerings. Recognizing that part of the success of OTAs comes from customer convenience, some interviewees thought that innovations such as eliminating check-in (Interviewee 4) would help hotels cope with the new pressures. The regional hotel chain executive and the hotel management company owners perceived that changes to the physical product offered by hotels were needed to compete with Internet providers, especially Airbnb, saying that hotels need to ―rethink the long hallway‖ and the ―300 square-foot rooms‖ (Interviewee 4). This same executive saw significant barriers to innovation in the hotel industry. ―We [hotel industry] are definitely trying…but we are capital heavy, labor heavy, slow to innovate‖ (Interviewee 4). Discussion Our exploratory findings suggest that hoteliers, across a variety of hotel industry roles, had an almost uniformly profoundly negative, zero-sum view of the OTA relationship. While not dismissing the very real concerns and profitability pressures of the hotel industry, we are concerned that these perceptions may lead hotel industry players to not pursue or develop the relationship between them and OTAs in more mutually beneficial ways. The strategy of choice right now is to simply compete directly with OTAs, which is not a strategy that has necessarily worked for other traditional industries when digital intermediaries have entered their space, especially highly fragmented ones with many service providers such as the media and retail industries (Grossman, 2016). This view of the relationship does explain the relative lack of innovation about how to maximize the benefits of this relationship for both sides. In contrast to the zero-sum view, we would point to an alternative theory such as coopetition (Brandenburger & Nalebuff, 2011). The theory of co-opetition points to two simultaneous processes: the cooperation required to ‗create the pie‘, or create value for all parties; and the competition to ‗divide up the pie‘ or capture the value created. Success in co-opetition comes from ‗changing the game‘ by developing new partnerships with four related parties: customers, suppliers, competitors, and complementors that offer ancillary services. In our data, we saw some tentative recognition of co-opetition possibilities in each of these four categories. For new customer relationships, we saw some desire by hoteliers to improve customer convenience and value, beyond simply increasing loyalty rewards. Some hoteliers recognized that OTAs have succeeded in part because of the consumer convenience and value proposition is a superior one. For new supplier relationships, there is limited recognition that new kinds of hotel products might be needed, supplied by non-traditional sources as in the Airbnb case, or by construction partners when building new hotels. Hotels have traditionally worked with complementors by bundling rooms with various travel services such as gaming or meals, but OTAs and Airbnb now offer similar services, making it difficult for hoteliers to differentiate themselves. Thus, there is an opportunity for hoteliers to creatively rethink their relationship with complementors, which none of our respondents mentioned. Despite the negative perceptions, our respondents reported some possibilities for new relationships with their OTA competitors, by using digital marketing techniques to their own advantage. To take an example, instead of having a booking war against OTAs, Red Lion Hotels strategically decided it would partner with Expedia in 2016. When customers see Red Lion hotel rates on Expedia sites, they see both a loyalty member rate, which is lower, and a non-member rate. Even if they are not part of Red Lion‘s loyalty program, customers can still book the loyalty rate and are then automatically enrolled as Red Lion members – thus enjoying member benefits while at the same time also earning points with Expedia. To complete the enrollment, the customer‘s email address is then sent to Red Lion ―which is a big deal because the online travel agencies don‘t normally share such information with partners‖ (Schaal, 2016b, p. 1). Looking across all four categories of new co-opetition relationships, however, we see little evidence of coordinated, systematic strategies for pursuing them in the hotel industry. For the hotel industry to respond to the rise of today‘s OTAs, and the other technology companies that might enter the industry in the future, we suggest that hotels will need to transcend their negative, zero-sum views of the OTA relationship and actively experiment with new co-opetition relationships. In addition, the hotel industry should also continue to improve the effectiveness of its traditional responses to OTAs, including their loyalty programs and brand loyalty initiatives. Several interviewees acknowledged that consumer behavior is changing and consumers today are not as brand loyal at they used to be. Research results echo the same phenomenon. For example, Wollan, Davis, De Angelis, and Quiring (2017) found that 71% of 25,426 respondents in 33 countries said ‗loyalty programs do not engender loyalty‘; 77% ‗retract their loyalty more quickly than they did three years ago‘; and 61% said they ‗switched one brand to another in the last year.‘ Decreasing brand loyalty is also apparent for hotels. MBLM (2017) found that consumers have the least ‗brand intimacy‘ (emotional bond with a brand) with hotel brands compared to those of other industries such as automotive and retail. Similarly, Oracle Hospitality (2017) found that 58.7% of survey participants (8,000 in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, France, Germany, Japan, U.K. and U.S.) stated that they do not belong to any hotel program. The Global Traveler Study (2014) also found the diminishing meaning of ‗loyalty to one hotel,‘ as 66% of their 4,618 respondents in the U.S., U.K., Germany and China are members of 1-4 hotel loyalty programs, while 15% are members of 5 or more programs. Despite the decreasing numbers and the questioned value of such programs, hoteliers are still trying to make consumers loyal to their own brand by enticing them to join their loyalty program. This effort is to increase direct bookings and compete with OTAs by offering ‗member-only‘ incentives such as member discounts, or additional perks such as free late check-outs, free meals, or free upgrades. However, these incentives may exacerbate the already increasing costs for hoteliers, particularly if they are attracting consumers who are price sensitive and would not book directly unless they get something back. While the interviewees mentioned their efforts to increase direct bookings through loyalty programs, none referred to the cost of those programs. Given the changing consumer behavior toward becoming less loyal to brands, it stands to reason for hoteliers to re-consider their loyalty programs. Conclusion Hoteliers are fighting intermediation and trying to push direct bookings. This is nothing new for them since they have been doing it with traditional travel agencies for years. Yet, bookings with traditional agencies remain strong, and OTA bookings continue to grow. It seems that it might be time for hoteliers to quit fighting intermediation, and embrace the ―good‖ that it can bring by adopting a co-opetition mindset, while also creatively thinking about brand loyalty programs and what they might bring to that mindset – if anything. In the zero-sum perception of OTAs, however, we found little space for innovative thinking about how to create new offerings through new partnerships, or loyalty programs. While existing OTAs, and emerging OTAs such as Airbnb, are personalizing services for customers, offering new services that are bundled with rooms, and new products with a new population of room suppliers, the hotel industry‘s response is to simply copy what the OTAs are doing and apply it to their own online bookings. We urge the hotel industry to move beyond this response, and be equally creative in finding new co-opetition opportunities that speak to the traditional strengths of the hospitality industry and its experienced professionals.

호텔산업 경쟁력 평가에 관한 연구 : 인천지역을 중심으로

봉미희 한국기업경영학회 2020 기업경영연구 Vol.27 No.6

본 연구에서는 인천지역을 대상으로 하여 호텔산업 경쟁력 진단을 하기 위하여 호텔산업 경쟁력 관련 선행 연구를 바탕으로 하여 정성적 평가요소를 추출하고, 추출된 평가요소를 바탕으로 호텔산업 성과평가와 지역관 광경쟁력과의 관계를 분석하여 시사점을 제시하는 것을 목적으로 하였다. 이러한 목적을 달성하기 위하여 3개 의 가설을 수립하여 각각의 가설을 검증하였다. 구체적으로는 첫째, 경쟁력, 관광경쟁력에 대하여 관련 국내·외 문헌연구 및 유사사례를 조사하고 둘째, 선행연구를 바탕으로 하여 호텔산업 경쟁력 요인을 도출하고 셋째, 호텔산업 경쟁력 진단지표, 호텔산업성과평가, 지역관광경쟁력의 영향관계를 분석하였다. 실증분석을 수행하 고자 인천 지역의 4, 5성급 호텔을 이용한 경험이 있는 구성원들을 모집단으로 규정하여 약 20일 동안 온라인 및 오프라인 설문지를 바탕으로 설문조사를 실시하여 표본을 추출하였으며, AMOS 분석 도구를 통하여 구조방 정식 모형 분석을 수행하였다. 분석결과 첫째, 호텔산업 경쟁력 요인인 요소조건_인프라, 요소조건_매력도, 관련 및 지원산업, 경영여건, 인적자원 요소는 호텔산업 성과평가에 정(+)의 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인 되었다. 둘째, 호텔산업 성과평가가 지역관광경쟁력에 정(+)의 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인되었다. 셋째, 호텔산업 경쟁력 요인 중 호텔산업 관련 및 지원산업과 정부 요소만 지역관광경쟁력에 정(+)의 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 확인되었다. 분석을 통해 검증된 결과를 바탕으로 하여 학문적ㆍ실무적 시사점을 제시하였다. The purpose of this study was to extract qualitative assessment factors based on prior research on hotel industry competitiveness in order to diagnose the competitiveness of the hotel industry in Incheon area, and to present implications by analyzing the relationship between hotel industry performance evaluation and regional tourism competitiveness based on the extracted evaluation factors. To achieve this goal, three hypotheses were established to verify each hypothesis. First, domestic and foreign literature research and similar cases were investigated for competitiveness and tourism competitiveness. Second, the existing developed indicators were corrected and supplemented. Third, hotel industry competitiveness index, hotel industry performance evaluation, and regional tourism competitiveness were analyzed. In order to perform the empirical analysis, the members with experience using 4 and 5 star hotels in Incheon were defined as a population, and surveys were conducted based on online and offline questionnaires for about 20 days to extract samples. And structural equation model analysis was performed through the AMOS analysis tool. As a result of analysis, first, it was confirmed that the competitive factors of the hotel industry except government factor had a positive (+) significant effect on the hotel industry performance evaluation. Second, the hotel industry performance evaluation was found to have a positive (+) significant effect on regional tourism competitiveness. Third, only the hotel industry-related and support industries and government factors among hotel industry competitiveness factors were found to have a positive (+) significant influence on regional tourism competitiveness. Based on the results verified through analysis, academic and practical implications were presented.

호텔산업 경쟁력 평가모델 개발에 관한 연구

봉미희,서원석 한국서비스경영학회 2017 서비스경영학회지 Vol.18 No.4

The purpose of this research is to suggest development of a model and the associated index to objectively evaluate the competitiveness of the national hotel industry. Although prior literature has addressed national competitiveness theory in the context of the broader service industry, there has been a lack of focus on the hotel industry, which is arguably one of the most service-intensive industry. This study proposes a new model combining the national competitiveness research and the research variables from studies on other service industries, using Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchical Process(AHP). 25 Delphi panel members from the hotel industry were recruited for the 1st and 2nd round surveys, in which average values and CVR were used to refine the items through the two rounds. In order to calculate the weighted value for the final items, 3rd survey was conducted on 14 Delphi panel members. Results indicate that, among the upper categories, ‘Factor conditions in hotel industry’ takes the largest portion, followed by ‘Demand conditions in hotel industry’,‘ Related and supporting industries’, ‘Business context in hotel industry’, ‘Human resource’, and ‘Role of government’. Contributions and implications of the study are disscussed with the findings.

호텔 기술기반 셀프서비스(TBSS)에 대한 고객의 기술준비도 및 사용의도에 관한 연구

이수희 한국호텔리조트학회 2020 호텔리조트연구 Vol.19 No.2

The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of customers’ technology readiness on intention to use about technology based self service in hotel industry. In total, 306 validated questionnaires were analyzed by customers who experience technology-based self-service of hotels such as hotel websites, mobile applications, hotel check in/check out kiosks, keyless programs, IOT services, and AI services. These results are based on research, and the outcomes are as follows: First, it was shown that among Technology Readiness Factors, optimism, innovativeness, and discomfort had significant effect on customers' perceived usefulness. Discomfort is the most significant factor in perceived usefulness when customers use self services in hotels. Secondly, optimism, discomfort, and insecurity had significant effect on customers' perceived ease of use. Among them, customers’ optimistic attitude makes customers much easier to use self services technologies. Third, perceived ease of use had significant effect on perceived usefulness. Also, when perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were positively related to customers’ intention to use. Based on these results, this study suggested strategies to introduce and utilize various kinds of self services in hotel industry. Discomfort is the most significant factor in perceived usefulness when customers use self services in hotels. Secondly, optimism, discomfort, and insecurity had significant effect on customers' perceived ease of use. Among them, customers’ optimistic attitude makes customers much easier to use self services technologies. Third, perceived ease of use had significant effect on perceived usefulness. Also, when perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were positively related to customers’ intention to use. Based on these results, this study suggested strategies to introduce and utilize various kinds of self services in hotel industry. The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of customers’ technology readiness on intention to use about technology based self service in hotel industry. In total, 306 validated questionnaires were analyzed by customers who experience technology-based self-service of hotels such as hotel websites, mobile applications, hotel check in/check out kiosks, keyless programs, IOT services, and AI services. These results are based on research, and the outcomes are as follows: First, it was shown that among Technology Readiness Factors, optimism, innovativeness, and discomfort had significant effect on customers' perceived usefulness. Discomfort is the most significant factor in perceived usefulness when customers use self services in hotels. Secondly, optimism, discomfort, and insecurity had significant effect on customers' perceived ease of use. Among them, customers’ optimistic attitude makes customers much easier to use self services technologies. Third, perceived ease of use had significant effect on perceived usefulness. Also, when perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were positively related to customers’ intention to use. Based on these results, this study suggested strategies to introduce and utilize various kinds of self services in hotel industry.

국내 호텔산업구조의 특성과 문제점 그리고 중저가 호텔산업 발전을 위한 제언

조용현 한국관광학회 2008 관광학연구 Vol.32 No.6

Hotel industry should be considered as a basic infrastructure for the city and country as like airport and expressway because hotel industry is related with other industries. But, hotel business requires long-term investments of a lot of money and needs to employ many workers. Thus, most of deluxe hotels in Korea are owned by the plutocrats who are able to operate hotels in a long-term plan. It evokes the shortage of quality budget hotels in Korea. Thus, Korean government needs to understand hotel is basic facilities not only for tourists but also other industries and innovate policies for hotel industry in the process of both development and operation.

외국인 유학생 고용정책이 부산국제관광도시에 미치는 영향 - 부산지역 호텔업 사례를 중심으로

김현미 한국아시아학회 2024 아시아연구 Vol.27 No.1

저출산과 고령화로 인한 인구 소멸위기에 따른 노동인구 감소라는 인구 구조적인 문제와 MZ세대의 직업 가치관의 변화 등으로 발생되는 사회적 요인에 더불어 코로나19로 인한 경영악화로 대량의 해고사태를 맞았던 국내 관광산업은 엔데믹 이후에도 여전히 고용난을 겪고 있다. 그럼에도 불구하고 부산지역 관광산업 활성화를 위한 외국인 유학생 활용방안에 대한 연구는 많이 이루어지고 있지 않는 점에서 호텔업 고용효과를 도출하였다. 본 연구는 특히 부산지역에 호텔업 고용난 해소를 위한 고용효과와 고용허가제 적용에 관한 측면에서 살펴보았다. 첫째, 부산 관광산업의 활성화와 호텔업의 정상적인 경영을 위해서는 증가하는 외국인 유학생의 호텔업 전문서비스 인력 양성과 고용이 불가피하다. 둘째, 호텔업의 고용허가제 범위가 더 확대되어야 한다. 셋째, 외국인 유학생의 취업활성화와 정착 및 관리를 위한 컨트롤 타워가 필요하다. 이를 통해 국내로 유입되는 외국인 유학생의 호텔업 서비스전문종사자로서의 역할과 더불어 한국 사회의 정착은 글로벌 허브도시를 지향하는 국제 관광 도시로서의 성장에 한 축으로 작용할 것으로 기대된다. Demographic issues such as the decrease in the working population due to the population extinction crisis attributable to low birth rate and aging, as well as changes in the MZ generation's work values have led to labor difficulties in the hotel industry. In addition to these social factors, the domestic tourism industry, which underwent massive layoffs due to worsening business conditions caused by COVID-19, is still experiencing labor challenges even after the pandemic. Since not much research has been done on ways to utilize foreign students to revitalize the tourism industry, the effect on labor in the hotel industry was examined. This study specifically looks at the effects on labor and the application of the work permit system to resolve the hotel industry labor crisis in the Busan region. First, in order to revitalize tourism in Busan and normalize the hotel industry, it is inevitably necessary to hire and train an increasing number of foreign students as professional service personnel in the hotel industry. Second, the scope of the work permit system in the hotel industry must be further expanded. Third, a control tower is needed to promote employment, settlement, and management of foreign students. Consequently, it is expected that foreign students flowing into the country will play a role as service professionals in the hotel industry, and their settlement in Korean society will play a role in the growth of Busan as an international tourist destination aiming to become a global hub city.

숙박서비스 분야 자격제도 개선방안에 관한 연구 - 국가자격 및 NCS기반 자격 비교를 중심으로 -

박경연 ( Park Kyung-yeon ) 한국호텔리조트학회(구 한국호텔리조트카지노산학학회) 2018 호텔리조트연구 Vol.17 No.3

This article introduces the qualification system of hotel industry focusing on the comparison of the national qualification and the NCS qualifications. It is an overall review of the qualification systems from its background, scope of the test, and overall application summary so far. This article also aims to find out how to improve the qualification system dealing with practical issues. To serve the purpose of this study, the researcher has conducted a focus group interview in joint efforts with two specialists from the related business fields and six professors who have experience in hotel industry and participated in NCS development project. Based on an analysis of the interview, the researcher suggests the followings. Firstly, the demand of the national qualification exam of hotel industry should be increased. In order to increase the demand, the exam should be more industry focused and practical. Also providing incentives to the hotels which hiring the holders of hotel industry national qualification is suggested. Secondly, the exam criteria should be re-consisted in a more practical way which is applying general practice of hotel industry. Finally NCS qualification system should be improved the awareness since it has not been widely acknowledged by the hotel industry, hotel employees and the students who majoring hotel and tourism yet.

Comparison of e-Commerce Systems in Different-sized Hotels

김홍범,함선옥,문혜영 한국마케팅과학회 2011 마케팅과학연구 Vol.21 No.3

Use of Internet is getting popular to hotel industry to promoting marketing activities. Hotel operations adopt electronic distribution channels to facilitate the operations by rendering conveniences to customers and suppliers. Literature review on the distribution channels showed the value of using traditional and electronic channels (Middleton & Clarke, 2001). O’Conner and Frew (2004) argued that the selection of appropriate distribution channels may differ according to the goals of organizations. The size of hotels may determine many characteristics of the hotel operations. Thus, the hotel size may be a criterion to make a difference in the selection of relevant distribution channels of certain types of operations in the hotel industry. While previous research confirmed the importance of using electronic distribution channels, little research has examined the selection of distribution channels by the size of hotel operations. This study proposes an investigation of electronic distribution channels of hotel operations according to size. Specifically, this study holds two research objectives: 1) to identify the basic characteristics and the underlying dimensions that portray e-Commerce systems for hotels, and 2) to compare the key dimensions of e-commerce systems and related informational activities with respect to hotel sizes. The necessity for this consideration arises from the significance of adopting e-commerce systems for S&M hotels which may not coincide with same imperatives for large hotels. In-depth interviews of managers collect data from 16 hotels chosen for the study. The participating hotels are seven large hotels (super deluxe and deluxe), and nine S&M hotels (1st, 2nd, and 3rd rated tourist). The study has value for the hotel industry by positing implications for the influence of e-commerce on hotel management. This study offers major findings: First, e-commerce has expanded throughout the hotel industry regardless of hotel size or management style. Large hotels tend to institute more e-commerce than smaller hotels, through both B-to-B and B-to-C channels. The findings also support previous research that e-procurement is an important element of e-business operational excellence for large firms (Barua et al., 2001). In particular, reinforcing e-commence is important for F&B procurement, which helps hotel management by offering cost reductions, since F&B divisions allocate higher variable costs than rooms divisions. In addition, large hotels, primarily chain-affiliated, accrue other benefits from effective customer management connected to the CRM of the central corporation, and cost reductions as a whole. Second, although S&M hotels also need to promote both B-to-B and B-to-C systems, they are able to adopt B-to-C easily due to limited resources. One suggestion is that S&M hotels place emphasis on enforcing B-to-B systems through e-Market places or in cooperation with large hotels, rather than developing unique systems, considering resources and management styles. While large hotels tend to facilitate more e-commerce than smaller hotels, this study’s results indicate that the expansion of e-commerce continues in the hotel industry regardless of the hotel’s size or management style. From a marketing perspective, the findings of the study benefit hotel industry managers’ decision-making processes with regard to investments in e-commerce and selection of effective e-commerce systems for specific hotel systems.

관광호텔 규제 철폐를 통한 서비스산업의 창조경제실현방안

이웅규 ( Woong Kyu Lee ),권봉헌 ( Bong Heon Kwon ) 한국호텔리조트학회(구 한국호텔리조트카지노산학학회) 2013 호텔리조트연구 Vol.12 No.2

The struggle for economic prosperity encourages many developing countries to exploit ‘unique industries’ to their advantage. One such industry is tourism. This study examines the relationship between the deregulation of the aviation industry and the impact on Korean service industry(tourist hotel) and economic development. In particular it seeks to articulate the likely benefits of deregulation for tourist hotel development in Korea. Qualitative research was carried out gaining the views of both International standards and representatives of the government ministries who generated the deregulation policies. The findings support the hypotheses that deregulation of the hotel industry in Korea is an effective approach in increasing visitor frequencies to Korea. However, deregulation of the hotel industry and the subsequent introduction of Special Act for lodging facilities does not exclusively lead to economic prosperity of the region based solely on increased frequency of travel. The study indicates that Korean government should also endeavor to draw synergies between the type of ‘tourist’ attracted and their consequential benefits on other economic sectors that play a role in creating the job. Implications for further research were directed towards considering the generalization of the findings to representative outside the service industry and understanding the different factors attributable to hotel industry.

호텔기업의 R&D가 기업 효과성에 미치는 영향

김홍범(Kim Hong-bumm),이동수(Lee Dong-soo) 한국호텔관광학회 2016 호텔관광연구 Vol.18 No.2

The need for R&D in charge of developing new products and services by hotel corporations and the evaluation of its result are important in successfully managing current hotel business. Little research, however, has been made on R&D in hotel corporations. As corporate competitions intensify, every corporation makes an effort to satisfy or resolve specific demands of its customers while it continues to suffer from problems of losing substantial amount of time and material resources. In order to minimize such excessive losses of time and resources, R&D makes an effort to find ways to obtain outcomes that simultaneously incorporate technology, management and strategies that corporations require. As interest in R&D in the service industry increases, the importance of R&D in hotel corporations has been brought to light. The industry has recently benefited from the increase of overseas visitors, and R&D in hotels helped attract tourists and increase job creation. Hotel corporations have characteristics that are more varied and complex among corporations in service industry. Their functions include a function of providing accommodations to customers via personal service and direct contacts with customers, in addition to a function of securing competitive edge through differentiated services and customer relations. This study has as an objective to measure R&D in hotel corporations and its effectiveness by deducing systemization and key factors of success of R&D from employees related to R&D tasks. The research result showed that R&D in hotel corporations had a significant influence on corporate effectiveness. Development of new products and services had the highest influence on the ranks of innovative competitiveness, and development of human resources and investment in R&D showed a high influence on effectiveness in tasks and organization. The result indicated that R&D played a few important roles: R&D increased competence by developing new products and services, secured effectiveness by raising staff training in internal human resources, and increased job satisfaction in their executing tasks so that there would be smooth collaborations between organizations.