Chris A. Vassiliadis

Differences in Sustainable Management Between Four- and Five-Star Hotels Regarding the Perceptions of Three-Pillar Sustainability

Although there are a wealth of publications about sustainability in tourism destination management literature, the concept has only recently started coming under examination within the area of hospitality management. This article’s main focus is on capturing the perceptions and practices of hotel management in respect to the concept of three-dimensional sustainability. A literature-based self-administered questionnaire was used and 423 hotels participated in the study. Logistic regression was employed in order to examine four research hypotheses and extract useful findings. The findings suggest that hotel star ratings play a significant role in the perceived importance of financial measures of economic viability, as well as in the application of socially responsible practices by hotel management; the same conclusion does not apply to environmental practices. Furthermore, it was found that hotel location does not play a significant role in shaping perceptions of sustainability dimensions.

Measuring Dimensions of Business Effectiveness in Greek Rural Tourism Areas

Destination management and business effectiveness (DMBE) is a critical concern in todays volatile and unstable economic environment. The expansion of globalization and integration of markets, the current economic crisis, and the enforcement of regional and/or local administration in the European Union brings to the forefront the need for DMBE. The core business mission of small and middle-size (SMEs) corporations is being competitive and sustainable in an active market. However, in the past, only some dimensions of entrepreneurship and management and business effectiveness in tourism rural areas have been used to measure the DMBE. This study proposes a DMBE model that is based on the theoretical dimensions identified from previous studies and builds on the work of Wilson, Fesenmaier, Fesenmaier, and Van Es (2001) on successful factors for rural development. Utilizing data collected from 174 Greek rural tourism enterprises, the proposed DMBE model is tested. Findings identify two subdimensions, namely “local leadership and government synergetic support” and “capable and skilful staff.” Managerial implications of these two dimensions for rural tourism SMEs are discussed.

Service Quality at Theme Parks

ABSTRACT The understanding of the customer’s attitude to a product is essential for the market analysis. This type of analysis can identify the factors that contribute to a higher level of customer satisfaction, through its contribution to planning of effective marketing strategies. Service quality information can be used by marketing professionals to manage consumer expectations or to implement quality improvements, which lead to higher overall customer satisfaction, brand reputation and product sales. A modified Importance–Performance Analysis (IPA) model was used to evaluate a sample of 655 E-Da World theme park visitors in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where the gap between importance and performance was assessed. The findings indicate that managers of E-Da theme park should focus on safety and value, since they to have high importance and low performance. The research findings indicate that IPA is an effective model and has the potential to become a valuable strategic management and decision-making tool. This article contributes to the literature by extending the use of importance-performance model for theme park management decision-making.

Exploring the Constraint Profile of Winter Sports Resort Tourist Segments

Many studies have confirmed the importance of market segmentation both theoretically and empirically. Surprisingly though, no study has so far addressed the issue from the perspective of leisure constraints. Since different consumers face different barriers, we look at participation in leisure activities as an outcome of the negotiation process that winter sports resort tourists go through, to balance between related motives and constraints. This empirical study reports the findings on the applicability of constraining factors in segmenting the tourists who visit winter sports resorts. Utilizing data from 1,391 tourists of winter sports resorts in Greece, five segments were formed based on their constraint, demographic, and behavioral profile. Our findings indicate that such segmentation sheds light on factors that could potentially limit the full utilization of the market. To maximize utilization, we suggest customizing marketing to the profile of each distinct winter sports resort tourist segment that emerged.

Participant’s preferences for small-scale sporting events: A comparative analysis of a Greek and a Taiwanese cycling event

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate sports participants’ choice behaviour and draw useful conclusions about the ideal features of small-scale sporting events that maximize attractiveness and desirability among potential competitors to attend and compete. Design/methodology/approach – Conjoint analysis was used to determine how participants value different elements and features of two small-scale cycling events, one in Taiwan and the other in Greece. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 195 cyclists during the event in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and to 169 competitors of a similar competition in Sfendami, Greece. It consisted of two basic parts. The first presented 19 alternative scenarios that have been associated with such sporting events while the second assessed the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of participant’s in order to provide an average profile of the participants in each location. The conjoint data collected was analysed using the SPSS “Conjoint Module” at t...

Customers' cognitive patterns of assurance: a dual approach

Assurance has been identified as a key service quality dimension but has not attracted theoretical and empirical attention on a distinct basis. The present pilot study adopts both qualitative and quantitative methods to look at how distinct customer groups (internal and external) perceive assurance in particular when they evaluate service quality. Evidence comes from 83 individuals of the medical staff and 79 patients at an outpatient unit. The novelty of the present study lies in the combination of means–end analysis with a probabilistic model to ground the conceptually appealing composite structure of assurance on a more concrete attribute foundation. Findings suggest that while the groups under investigation realize different benefits in achieving assurance, they share a common guide when prioritizing service-related attributes, namely the professional capacity of personnel. Overall, assurance proves itself to be critical, at least for the healthcare sector.

Branding in the New Museum Era

Undoubtedly, museums play a vital role in the economy and tourism constituting of a significant unit of cultural tourism. However, facing either rival competition within the leisure industry or funding cutbacks museums are now adopting for-profit strategies aligned with marketing principles. Today museums have redefined their role and activities to conclude newer and more active experiences and entertainment, shifting to experiential notions of “edutainment” and “artertainment”. This paper extends the current knowledge by drawing on a review of 40 papers. This study presents the fundamental components of brand concept within the museum industry. Precisely, essential elements of branding such as brand equity, brand loyalty, and brand resonance are discussed and set to museum sector. This study makes an important contribution to the field of tourist and cultural marketing by advancing our understanding of museum branding and by proposing both new research topics and valuable managerial implications to museums practitioners and scholars.

Being customer-centric through CRM metrics in the B2B market: the case of maritime shipping

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a comparison between the traditional methods for the calculation of customer relationship performance and the modern metrics suggested by the current literature in business-to-business (B2B) markets using the Greek maritime shipping industry as an example. Design/methodology/approach The primary research was conducted in two phases: quantitative analysis of actual measurements and qualitative evaluation of the results. More specifically, in the first phase, the measures used were a collection of traditional and modern customer relationship management (CRM) metrics applied to actual historical data along with statistical data for actual customers of a company supplying services for maritime transportation of containers in the Greek international trade market. For the qualitative evaluation of these results, a semi-structured interview was carried out with seven “specialists/experts” in this business sector, who provided an assessment of the relative worth of each set of CRM measures. Findings The use of modern customer-centred metrics (Share and Size of Wallet, recency, frequency, monetary value) in the shipping sector of Greek industrial activity is the most profitable and efficient means of decision-making. The qualitative research showed that the customer-centred metrics were judged to be more effective and useful, as they provided a multi-dimensional and multi-layered picture of the current and future situation for the company and its customer base. Research limitations/implications To ensure confidentiality of personal information, the research did not use, examine or evaluate the individualized data to preserve the anonymity of the survey sponsor and their specific customers. Originality/value This is the first study that examines the effectiveness of different types of CRM metrics in the B2B market, which has, until now, suffered a dearth of empirical studies in the field, especially in the context of national economies that face intense international trading problems and significant reductions in activity in their maritime shipping industry due to the economic recession.

Evaluation of the compatibility degree of constraint variables for the demand of ski center services

We investigate through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), the existence of possible common effects that the three theoretical constraint factor categories (intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural constraints) might produce in the ski center demand, utilizing data of two visitor groups (men and women) from 12 ski centers in Greece. The final analysis sample comprised 705 observations for men and 599 observations for women. AMOS 5.0 supported the CFA by creating a quantitative analysis model of the structural relations among the screening variables. The research hypothesis was the exploration of the theoretical model suitability for the interpretation of the common effect that all three constraint categories could generate onto the two visitor groups. Results indicate that intrapersonal and structural constraint limitation factors for the most part affect women. Managerial implications for strategic marketing planning aiming at the reinforcement of ski destinations viability are also discussed.

Exploring the Negotiation Thesis Application Among Ski Resort Tourists: A Segmentation Approach:

The negotiation thesis offers a framework for understanding the participation decision making of tourists. Unlike previous studies that investigate the causal relationship between constraints and tourists’ revisit intention, this study identified distinct segments of ski tourist based on the relative strength of constraints experienced and then investigated their decision-making process across a sample of 1,348 tourists of ski resorts. Chi-squared automated interaction detection analysis revealed that the decision-making process regarding intention to revisit a ski destination varies between highly versus less constrained ski tourists, indicating different relative strengths of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and structural constraints and different interactions among them when predicting revisit intention. On a practical basis, albeit the vast majority of participants were willing to repeat its visit, we offer customized per segment recommendations on increasing frequency of visitation and spending levels.