Laurent Botti

A framework to analyze productivity changes: theoretical aspects and application to the Portuguese travel agencies sector.

The Ponale Road features a spectacular panorama, consisting of one of the most beautiful mountain-top views of Lake Garda (northern Italy). In the past, it attracted large numbers of tourists from all over Europe, especially mountain bikers, due to its unique characteristics. However, it was closed at the end of the 1990s due to geological instability. In this study, we estimated the social benefit of the reopening of this scenic route using the contingent valuation method, focusing exclusively on its recreational use value. During 2002, we conducted face-to-face interviews with 675 randomly drawn potential users of the road and got a response rate of 96%. Our target population was all potential road users, both tourists and residents, because at the time the research was carried out the road was closed to any type of use. A hypothetical scenario proposed the reopening of the road conditional on users paying an access fee. We elicited willingness to pay (WTP) using a payment-card format. The Cameron and Huppert parametric interval regression method was used to analyze data. Benefits compared with annual cost of maintenance show the attractiveness of the project. The feasibility of a pricing policy was also evaluated.

Productivity growth and sources of technological change in travel agencies.

This paper proposes a procedure for analysing tourism productivity. The procedure is based on the Luenberger productivity indicator for estimating and decomposing productivity change into efficiency change and technological change. The authors expand the procedure and further decompose the process of technological change to study the sources of bias within it. Therefore, a clearer and more enlightening view emerges of the productivity of travel agencies. The Portuguese travel agency sector is used as an application. Some managerial implications are developed.

Cost efficiency of French rugby clubs

This article analyses the cost efficiency of French first-league rugby clubs using a stochastic frontier model. The frontier estimation confirmed that the model fits the data well with all coefficients correctly signed and in line with the theoretical requirements. The results show that one of the clubs is operating efficiently, with the majority of clubs clustered around 20% inefficiency. Policy implications are derived.

Does managerial efficiency relate to customer satisfaction? The case of Parisian boutique hotels

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the managerial efficiency and the customer satisfaction of Parisian boutique hotels by using the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods. Design/methodology/approach In the first stage, hotels’ managerial efficiency is assessed by data envelopment analysis to establish which hotel has the most efficient performance. In the second stage, the customer satisfaction of these hotels is estimated by the ELECTRE (ELimination et Choix Traduisant la REalite) method to assess the hotel’s ability to satisfy their customers. Findings Empirical results show that there is an inverse relation between customer satisfaction and ability to maximise the Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR). In other words, trying to improve efficiency implies a reduction in guests’ satisfaction (and vice versa). Research limitations/implications Therefore, through this research the authors can realise that hotel managers should give more attention to customer service because it has a more direct and important impact on customer satisfaction. It also positively impacts on resource management. However, there are some limitations to this study. First, this study only focuses on 12 hotels. Because the data set is very confidential, it is very difficult to have a bigger sample. Then, the evaluation is based on 2014 figures only. It could be interesting to know their performance for previous years to understand their evolution. Finally, it is necessary to know the percentage of direct reservations for each hotel. For instance, if a hotel is relying too much on online travel agents (i.e. Booking.com, Expedia, etc.), it needs to pay a significant amount of commission to these companies. As a result, it could have a good RevPAR but might pay a huge commission (for example, 20 per cent for most of sites) at the end. In terms of perspectives, it is necessary to conduct a more extensive research to test the hypothesis in a different context. Additionally, the data were taken for a single period of time. It will be very interesting to create a panel of hotels and collect data over a period of time (Barros, 2005; Barros and Santos, 2006; Barros and Deike, 2008). This would enable to better understand the relationship between managerial efficiency and customer satisfaction in a long-term prospective. Originality/value This paper presents the relationship between the managerial efficiency and customer satisfaction in Parisian boutique hotels context. Study suggests that in service industry, increase of firm’s efficiency could negatively impact the guest satisfaction. Therefore, through studying the authors can realise that why hotel managers should focus on customer satisfaction, which attributes play the vital role in customer satisfaction and how to optimize their resources. One of the originalities of this paper is that the authors use the customers’ feedback from the UGC websites (Trip Advisor and Booking.com) as the performance evaluation indicators for customer satisfaction. The data are very confidential and hard to get.

Diagnostic touristique régional : le cas du Languedoc-Roussillon

Résumé L’espace régional qu’est la région française du Languedoc-Roussillon a souffert, au début des années 1990, d’un décalage entre son offre touristique et les attentes de la demande. Une adaptation de son offre avait ainsi été préconisée en 1993. L’objectif de cet article est de reconsidérer, plus de dix ans après la mise en oeuvre de cette stratégie, la situation du tourisme dans cette région. Pour cela, nous présentons en parallèle les grands enjeux du tourisme contemporain et les solutions qu’envisage le Languedoc-Roussillon. Cette analyse nous permet de décrire la stratégie adoptée actuellement par la région pour mettre en valeur ses ressources. Sources des données : Toutes les données de ce papier proviennent de l’Organisation mondiale du tourisme (OMT), de l’Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) et de l’Observatoire régional du tourisme du Languedoc-Roussillon.

Optimizing tourist demands with utility efficient frontier

Mean-variance portfolio analysis leads to determine tourist demands mix but it does not provide any information regarding the risk attitude of the decision maker. In this article, we propose to fill this research gap by proposing a methodological approach which combines the portfolio theory with the utility function technique. By doing so, our approach incorporates the risk attitude of the decision maker through different values of risk tolerance. We apply this methodology on destination management framework. An illustration of its strengths is suggested by using the case study of European tourists visiting France between 2008 and 2013. Our article shows that the optimal origins mix depends on the level of risk aversion of the destination manager. Accordingly, the implications of our methodological approach are highlighted.