Josep M. Sayeras

Differences in seasonal price patterns among second home rentals and hotels: Empirical evidence and practical implications

Hotels and second home rentals are two of the most important tourist accommodation options in Spain. In terms of seasonality, almost all previous studies have analysed tourism demand from the point of view either of total arrivals or the number of tourists lodged in a single accommodation type (hotels, rural accommodation, etc). However, there are no studies focusing on price seasonality or comparing seasonality among different accommodation types. By using seasonality indicators and a price index constructed by means of hedonic methods, this paper aims to shed some light on seasonal pricing patterns among second home rentals and hotels. The paper relies on a 2004 database of 144 hotels and 1,002 apartments on the Costa Brava (northeast Spain). The results show that prices for second home rentals display a smoother seasonal pattern than hotels due to reduced price differences between shoulder (May and October) and peak periods (August).

A measure of perceived performance to assess resource allocation

Performance measurement is a key issue when a company is designing new strategies to improve resource allocation. This paper offers a new methodology inspired by classic importance–performance analysis (IPA) that provides a global index of importance versus performance for firms. This index compares two rankings of the same set of features regarding importance and performance, taking into account underperforming features. The marginal contribution of each feature to the proposed global index defines a set of iso-curves that represents an improvement in the IPA diagram. The defined index, together with the new version of the diagram, will enable the assessment of a firm’s overall performance and, therefore, enhance decision making in the allocation of resources. The proposed methodology has been applied to a Taiwanese multi-format retailer and managerial perceptions of performance and importance are compared to assess the firm’s overall performance.

Airbnb landlords and price strategy: Have they learnt price discrimination from the hotel industry? Evidence from Barcelona

Abstract The hospitality industry is facing a major disruption as a consequence of Airbnb and similar peer-to-peer platforms. This empirical research analyses the impact of perceived quality in pricing differences according to seasonality. Upper-scale hotels show less difference comparing peak and low season prices than do middle-scale hotels. Airbnb landlords discriminate prices according to seasonality, but contrary to the hotels, there are generally no differences between weekday and weekend pricing. Perceived quality seems to have a lower effect on prices for Airbnb apartments compared to the hotel industry, suggesting the idea of two clearly different business models.