No abstract

a b s t r a c tThe proliferation of smartphone ownership and mobile travel bookings has persuaded hoteliers to develop mobile strategies and develop applications (apps). To investigate the customer perception of these apps, a two-stage methodology was applied that identifies the available features and functions on 20 hotel chain apps. Next, the importance and performance of these 51 identified features and functions are then rated and analysed using the Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) framework. Most of the features and functions under "Reservation Information" and "Hotel Information" are commonly available, and are rated high in importance and performance, which is located in Quadrant two, "Keep up the good work". "At Hotel Functions" are not commonly available, but rated important by customers, thus placed in Quadrant one, "Concentrate here". Thus, IPA highlights specific, exclusive opportunities for hotels to engage via apps with customers during their stay.

This paper reviews the considerable literature on hotel selection. It demonstrates that this body of literature has been developed, for the most part, outside of the context of a widely endorsed consumer decision-making model based on set formulation. It then reports on a study that uses an experimental design aimed at understanding hotel consumer consideration set formation and modification, rather than the previous traditional emphasis on choice sets and attributes. For a specific market segment selecting a hotel for a leisure stay the paper reports on the size of the consideration and choice set, and identifies the different factors that influence choice at these two stages in the process.

The relevance and recall of information sources, particularly those used in the prepurchase hotel search process, have not been fully explored. As they are critical to inform the final hotel booking, it is essential to examine the relevance and recall of information sources used by customers. Thus, the main aim of this article is to investigate both relevance, in this case measured by the pages viewed, and recall, gauged by both aided and unaided recall of keywords used and websites visited during an online session. An exploratory, observation method that is "goal-directed" is the main research instrument with both qualitative and quantitative data collected. This method is supplemented with questionnaires to measure both implicit and explicit recall. Results show that online travel agencies are more relevant than both search engines and travel-related social media, based on the number of pages viewed. The recall of both keywords and websites was low, both for aided recall and unaided recall.

Tourism is a lucrative business, and Swiss hotels rely heavily on international clientele to book their rooms. The Coronavirus pandemic has halted travel and hotel stays from March to June 2020. Based on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), this paper investigates the messages Swiss hotels have posted on their official websites and Facebook pages to reassure guests that it is safe to book rooms in Switzerland again. The findings from 73 independent 4 and 5-star hotels show that most hotels did not publish messages regarding the Coronavirus or the measures they have taken; instead, the hotels posted positive messages about reopening their rooms and services. Official hotel websites emphasized deals and offers while the Facebook pages concentrated on enthusiastic ‘welcome back’ messages. The findings presented here contribute to the literature by offering the first results of a larger project on communication during the de-confinement stage of a pandemic.