There is a lot of attention given to the determinants of guest satisfaction and consumer behavior in the tourism literature. While much extant literature uses a deductive approach for identifying guest satisfaction dimensions, we apply an inductive approach by utilizing large unstructured text data of 104,161 online reviews of Korean accommodation customers to frame which topics of interest guests find important. Using latent Dirichlet allocation, a generative, Bayesian, hierarchical statistical model, we extract and validate topics of interest in the dataset. The results corroborate extant literature in that dimensions, such as location and service quality, are important. However, we extend existing dimensions of importance by more precisely distinguishing aspects of location and service quality. Furthermore, by comparing the characteristics of the accommodations in terms of metropolitan versus rural and the type of accommodation, we reveal differences in topics of importance between different characteristics of the accommodations. Specifically, we find a higher importance for points of competition and points of uniqueness among the accommodation characteristics. This has implications for how managers can improve customer satisfaction and how researchers can more precisely measure customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry.

In the contemporary era of smart tourism, travelers face more accommodation options than ever before. The rapid expansions of alternative accommodation sector are partially owing to the growth of electronic commerce and the rise of online intermediary platforms. Online travel agencies serve as a critical distribution channel for tourism sectors, and the significance is further increased for small and micro entrepreneurs whose direct communication channels are scarce. Considering the holistic process of customer experience started with a third-party online intermediary, this study explores basic and extended attributes of small and medium-sized alternative accommodation where the comparative value is created. In order to achieve the objective, a research design was developed to synthesize the qualitative evidence. The synthesis encompasses both theoretical and practical perspectives, from a systematic review and opinions of academic professionals to an in-depth interview with an industry expert and the current practices of online travel agencies. This study suggests that the sources of value creation for alternative accommodation are not always consistent with those of the traditional. Accounting for the temporal and spatial dynamics in customer experience, the findings of this study provide insights on the comparative value of alternative accommodation, to both academic and industry audiences.