Evaluation of the profitability of quality labels in rural tourism accommodation: a hedonic approach using propensity score matching

Abstract

In recent years, quality labels for the Spanish tourism sector have been developed as part of a competitive strategy focused on the differentiation of the product. Given this development, it is interesting to analyse the profitability of quality labels for the accommodation owners and managers. In particular, this article calculates the profitability of a rural tourism quality label. Through the use of the hedonic price approach, the market valuation of the quality label for rural self-catering cottages is obtained. This valuation is subsequently compared with the expenses incurred by establishments in achieving the quality label. In order to address the usual methodological problems associated with the endogeneity, prior to application of the hedonic approach, the propensity score matching is used. The results indicate that possessing a quality label has a positive impact on the profitability of rural tourism.

Rural Tourism Accommodation Prices by Land Use-Based Hedonic Approach: First Results from the Case Study of the Self-Catering Cottages in Asturias

“…This indicates that allowing pets has a negative effect on the price of accommodation, which decreases by 7.7%, ceteris paribus. It is possible that consumers interpret the presence of pets in the self-service cottages as being a source of dirtiness, unpleasant smells, and insects [56].…”

“…Of course, the price listed may not match the actual price. To obtain the actual price, this listed price must be adjusted according to the accommodation's filling rate [56]. Since the variable used in the model is the rental price per night in high season, in this period the filling rate is 100%, with the demand sometimes being even higher so that the contracted price will not match the brochure price.…”

“…Several functional forms have been tested in the empirical works, including the linear, log-log, semi-log (log-linear), inverse semi-log, quadratic forms, the Box-Cox transformation, and non-parametric approaches [59,60]. The semi-logarithmic function has been the most predominantly used in applications of the hedonic method for the tourism market [25,27,28,51,[56][57][58].…”

Effects of Service Quality Policies in the Tourism Sector Performance: An Empirical Analysis of Spanish Hotels and Restaurants

“…This data illustrates the significance of the tourism sector in Spain. International tourism has become one of the fastest-growing industries and is widely believed to contribute to economic growth [47]. Recently, quality labels for the Spanish tourism sector have been developed as part of a competitive strategy [48].…”

Competitive implications of quality assurance processes in higher education. The case of higher education in engineering in France

“…The potential for QA mechanisms to generate benefits in terms of marketing advantage is a popular topic of study in certain sectors outside higher education (Bilbao & Vald es, 2016;Deselnicu, Costanigro, Souza-Monteiro, & McFadden, 2013;Fearne, Hornibrook, & Dedman, 2001;Luki c, 2011;Verbeke & Viaene, 1999;Walley, Parsons, & Bland, 1999;Yu, Hudders, & Cauberghe, 2018). In the field of higher education, the competitive dimension of QA has been stressed in a context of crossborder accreditations.…”