Self-catering accommodation in a sun-and-beach destination : a service quality analysis
Abstract
Programa de doctorado: Desarrollo integral e innovación en destinos turísticos
Full text
ASERVICEQUALITYANALYSIS SELF‐CATERINGACCOMMODATIONIN ASUN‐AND‐BEACHDESTINATION LasPalmasde GranCanaria Marzo2017 CiraMendozaLeón І TesisDoctoral UNIVERSIDADDELASPALMAS DEGRANCANARIA FacultaddeEconomía,EmpresayTurismo
FACULTADDEECONOMÍA,EMPRESAYTURISMO DOCTORADOENDESARROLLOINTEGRALEINNOVACIÓNDEDESTINOSTURÍSTICOS Self‐cateringaccommodationinasun‐and‐beachdestination:A servicequalityanalysis TesisDoctoralpresentadaporDña.CiraMaríaMendozaLeón Dirigidapor D.JuanCarlosMartínHernándezy Dña.ConcepciónRománGarcía ElDirector LaDirectoraLaDoctoranda LasPalmasdeGranCanaria,a16demarzode2017
TESISDOCTORAL Self‐cateringaccommodationinasun‐and‐beach destination:Aservicequalityanalysis CiraMaríaMendozaLeón DoctoradoenDesarrolloIntegraleInnovacióndeDestinosTurísticos FacultaddeEconomía,EmpresayTurismo LasPalmasdeGranCanaria 2017
“Lacalidadserecuerdamuchotiempodespuésdehaberolvidadoelprecio” (FrederickHenryRoyce)
Agradecimientos Estetrabajodetesisdifícilmentehubierapodidohabervistolaluzsinlaayuday colaboracióndepersonaseinstitucionesalasqueenestaslíneasquisieraexpresarmi inmensagratitud. Sindarmásvaloralordendemención,enprimerlugar,quisieraagradeceralaAgencia CanariadeInvestigación,InnovaciónySociedaddelaInformación(ACIISI)porelapoyo financierorecibidoduranteestosúltimosaños.Darlasgracias,también,alos miembrosdelDepartamentodeAnálisisEconómicoAplicadoydelInstituto UniversitariodeTurismoyDesarrolloEconómicoSostenible(TiDES)delaUniversidad deLasPalmasdeGranCanaria,porlaacogidarecibidayfacilitarmeeldesempeñode lalaborinvestigadora. GraciasaTomSmulders,FernandoEstany,FranzNovotny,PedroCastroyAlfonso Villarrubiaporsuconsentimientoycolaboraciónenlarealizacióndeencuestas,por habermededicadoelpocotiempodelquedisponíanyporsusiempreafirmativa respuestaenlaaportacióndecuantainformaciónmeeranecesaria. Graciasamisdirectoresdetesis,JuanCarlosMartínyConcepciónRomán,porhaber confiadoenmídesdeunprincipioeintroducirmeenelmundodelainvestigación.Sin susconocimientoseindicacionesnohubierapodidoculminarestetrabajodetesis. GraciasaJuanLuisJiménez,porsusiempredisponibleydesinteresadaayuda,asícomo sussabiosyhonestosconsejos.También,agradeceramiscompañerasycompañeros detesis,yde“no‐tesis”.Estarenelmismobarcomehaservidodeenormeayuda.De ustedes,Gloria,AnaeIvonne,mellevoalgodeincalculablevalor.Graciasporsertan buenascompañerasymejoresamigas. GraciasaKeila,Carlota,Leticia,Daura,Ylenia,Alejandro,Sara,Patricia,Yanira,Tatiana, SoniayJosué.Graciaspormostrarmetodoelapoyodelmundo. InfinitasgraciasaJuanayPriscila.AFrancisco,NelsonyPedro,mismásqueprimos, hermanos.Graciasporestarahíparatodo.Amispadres,porhabermeservidode espejoenestavida.Porserelejemplodequetodoprogresorequiereesfuerzoy trabajoconstante.Todoloquesoyselodeboaustedes.AIrene,gracias,porsertodo loqueunahermanarepresenta. Interminablesgraciasati,Samuel,poraceptarme,apoyarmeincondicionalmentey motivarme.Porhacertuyasmisalegríasymispenas.Graciasporcompartirlavida conmigoyserunpilarfundamentalenella. Paraterminar,miGRACIASmásgrande,almejorregaloquemehadadolavida. Gracias,Carla,porhacercambiarmispeoresdefectosparadartelosmejoresejemplos. Graciasporsignificarlotodo.
iii ÍndicedeTablas ParteI TABLA1.1.EVOLUCIÓNYCOMPARACIÓNDELAOFERTAALOJATIVAENGRANCANARIAYCANARIAS(2000‐2015)..............9 ParteII TABLE2.1.TOURISTPROFILE(INPERCENTAGES)....................................................................................................46 TABLE2.2.SSQI‐IPABYATTRIBUTE...................................................................................................................47 TABLE2.3.SSQI‐IPABYDIMENSION..................................................................................................................48 TABLE2.4.GLOBALSSQI‐IPA..........................................................................................................................48 TABLE2.5.ATTRIBUTESPRIORITYACCORDINGTOSSQI‐IPAANDIPA.......................................................................52 TABLE2.6.IMPORTANCEPERFORMANCEANALYSIS(IPA)FORORGANIZATIONA..........................................................53 TABLE2.7.SYNTHETICSERVICEQUALITYINDICATORBYIMPORTANCE‐PERFORMANCEANALYSIS(SSQI‐IPA)RESULTSFOR ORGANIZATIONA............................................................................................................................54 TABLE3.1.TRIANGULARFUZZYNUMBERS.DEFAULTVALUESOFFACIALTERMS............................................................72 TABLE3.2.SCSAATTRIBUTESINSURVEY.............................................................................................................78 TABLE3.3.SCSAFUZZYPERFORMANCEMEASURES...............................................................................................79 TABLE3.4.SCSAPOSITIVEANDNEGATIVEIDEALSOLUTIONS...................................................................................82 TABLE3.5.SCSASERVICEQUALITYELASTICITIES...................................................................................................86 TABLE4.1.ATTRIBUTESANDLEVELSFORTHESTATEDCHOICEEXPERIMENT...............................................................100 TABLE4.2.TOURISTPROFILE(INPERCENTAGES)..................................................................................................105 TABLE4.3.LOGITMODELESTIMATIONRESULTS..................................................................................................110 TABLE4.4.DESCRIPTIONOFSOCIOECONOMICVARIABLESINTERACTINGWITHGENERICATTRIBUTES...............................111 TABLE4.5.WILLINGNESS‐TO‐PAYMEASURES(€)................................................................................................115
ParteI Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral Lenguaespañola
1 Capítulo1 1. Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumen general 1.1 Antecedentes Laimportanciadelturismoparalasociedadylaeconomíaengeneralesdetodos bienconocida.Elturismohavenidoexperimentandounacontinuaexpansióny diversificacióndurantelasúltimasseisdécadas,convirtiéndoseenunodelossectores económicosdemayorrelevanciaycrecimientodelmundo(UNWTO,2016).Talhasido sucrecimiento,quedelos25millonesdeturistasquerealizaronviajesinternacionales en1950,estacifrasehaelevadoa1.186millonesdeturistasen2015.LaOrganización MundialdelTurismo(OMT),ensuinformesobreprevisionesdeturismoalargoplazo TourismTowards2030,prevéquepara2030estacifraseeleveaúna1.800millonesde turistasinternacionales.Enefecto,elturismoesunaindustriaclaveenelprogreso socioeconómicodemuchospaíses,puesconstituyeunaactividaddinámicaque estimulalaeconomíamediantelageneracióndeempleo,laobtencióndeingresosde exportación,larealizacióndeinversionesylaejecucióndeinfraestructuras. LaindustriaturísticaenEspañaactualmenteseconstituyecomounodelos principalesmotoreseconómicosdelpaís.Losdatoscorrespondientesa2015señalan queelturismoaportóalPIBdelaeconomíaespañola124.000millonesdeeuros, representandoaproximadamenteun11%sobreeltotaldelconjuntodelaeconomía.A estaimportanciaeconómicaseleañadesurelevantedimensiónsocial,puesesla principalfuentedeocupaciónyempleoenmuchasregionesycomarcasespañolas, creando1decada7nuevospuestosdetrabajoenEspañaygenerandoun12,7%del empleototal(Exceltur,2016).Dehecho,enelaño2015elturismofueelprincipal sectorgeneradorderentayempleodelpaís,potenciandoportercerañoconsecutivo
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 2 larecuperacióndelaeconomíaespañolatraslacrisiseconómicayfinancieraquese produjoanivelmundialen2008(Exceltur,2016). Encuantoalallegadadeturistas,Españacerró2015conunincrementodel4,9% conrespectoalañoanterior,alcanzandosurécordhistóricode68,2millonesde turistasextranjeros.Estolahaceposicionarsecomoeltercerdestinoturísticoanivel mundial,tantoenllegadasdeturistasinternacionalescomoeningresosporturismo internacional(UNWTO,2016).Dehecho,elpaís,deentre141paísesanalizados,ocupó laprimeraposiciónenelinformedecompetitividaddeviajesyturismo correspondientealaño2015“Travel&TourismCompetitivenessIndex2015”, publicadoporelforoeconómicomundial“WorldEconomicForum”(WEF,2015).Del totaldeturistasquesealojanenEspaña,aproximadamenteun74%pernoctaenlas principalescomunidadesautónomasdedestino:Cataluña,lasislasBaleares,lasislas CanariasyAndalucía,respectivamente.Silacomparamosconelrestodelas comunidades,Canariasesunaregiónpequeñaalcontarconunasuperficiede7.447 km2.Noobstante,eslaterceraregiónespañolaquemayornúmerodeturistas extranjerosrecibe,loqueconfirmasurelevanciacomodestinoturísticoanivel internacional.Lascifrasdepoblaciónenelarchipiélagofueronde2.100.306habitantes enelaño2015(ISTAC,2016),dehecho,lasislasrecibieron11,5millonesdeturistas extranjerosesemismoaño,cifraquequintuplicalosdatospoblacionesyque representaaproximadamenteun17%sobreeltotalespañol.Estascifras,juntoconlas queseñalanunaaportacióndelturismocanariodeun31,4%asuPIBregionalasícomo lageneracióndeun35,9%delempleoen2014(Exceltur,2015),corroboranla importanciaquetienelaactividadturísticaenelarchipiélagocanario. Deestemodo,Canariassecaracterizahoyendíacomoundestinoturístico consolidadoqueatraeprincipalmenteunturismomasificado,elcualviaja principalmenteenbuscadesolyplaya.Factorescomosuclima,laseguridad,la proximidadalosprincipalesmercadosemisores,asícomosuespectacular biodiversidadpropiadelassingularidadesdesuterritorio,hacenqueelarchipiélago mantengaunasituacióndeprivilegioenelmercadoturísticointernacional.Además,la
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 3 uniformidaddesustemperaturasalolargodetodoelaño,conunamediade22 gradoscentígradosyunaoscilacióntérmicade6ºCentrelasdiversasestaciones, convierteaCanariasenundestinoidóneodondetomarsoldurantetodoelaño, evitandoasílasoscilacionesestacionales,unodelosprincipalesproblemasdela industriaturísticaotraszonascosterasdeEspaña.Dehecho,elarchipiélagocanarioes elúnicodestinoeuropeodondesudemandaturísticadesolyplayanoesestacional (García‐Falcón&Medina‐Muñoz,1999). Noobstante,apesardesusbuenascifras,elarchipiélagocanariohavenido sobrellevandolosobstáculosmásgravesycomplejosquehandeafrontarlosdestinos turísticosmaduros,estoes,laobsolescenciadelosespaciosyestablecimientos turísticos(González‐Hernández,León‐González&Padrón‐Fumero,2006).La obsolescenciaenelsectorturístico,susimplicacionesyconsecuenciastantoparalos destinoscomoparalasempresas,asícomolasposiblesalternativasaseguirensu gestión,sontemasquehansidoampliamentetratadosenlaliteratura(Hernández‐ Martín,Álvarez‐Albelo&Padrón‐Fumero,2015;Ivars‐i‐Baidal,Rodríguez‐Sánchez& Vera‐Rebollo,2013;Antón,2011;Garay&Cànoves,2011;Claver‐Cortés,Molina‐Azorín &Pereira‐Moliner,2007;Aguiló,Alegre&Sard,2005;Bianchi,2004;Agarwal,2002; González‐Hernández,León‐González&Padrón‐Fumero,2006;Oreja‐Rodríguez,2000; García‐Falcón&Medina‐Muñoz,1999).Laobsolescenciadelosdestinosturísticos mantieneunaestrecharelaciónconelanálisisdesuevolución.Desdeladécadadelos 70,elturismodemasasfueidentificadoporalgunosautorescomolaetapafinalenla evolucióndelosdestinos,alertandodelriesgoquesuponealahorademantenersu atractivoinicial(Plog,1973;Turner&Ash,1975). LateoríadelciclodevidadeButler(Butler,1980;2006a,2006b)constituyeun modelodereferenciadelosprocesosevolutivosdelosdestinosturísticos.Estemodelo distingueseisfasesenlaevolucióndeunáreaturística,cadaunacondiferentes característicasenrelaciónalnúmerodeturistasyelestadodelasinfraestructuras creadas,entrelasquedestacanlasfasesdeestancamientoy,posteriormente,declive orejuvenecimiento.Afinalesdelos90,Knowles&Curtis(1999)describieronlas
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 4 iniciativasderejuvenecimientoqueseestabanllevandoacaboenlosdestinos turísticosdesegundageneraciónespañoles(aquellosqueiniciaronsudesarrolloenla décadadelos60,comoeselcasodealgunasáreasdeCanarias),queyase encontrabanenunapronunciadafasedepost‐estancamiento.Paraelcasoparticular delarchipiélagocanario,tambiéndesdefinalesdelos90yasealertabadelosefectos negativosquesuponíalaconsolidacióndelturismodemasas(García‐Falcón&Medina‐ Muñoz,1999).Así,variossonlosestudiosenlaliteraturaqueabordanlaproblemática delareestructuraciónturísticaenCanarias(Simancas‐Cruz,2010;Oreja‐Rodríguez, Parra‐López&Yanes‐Estévez,2008;González‐Hernándezetal.,2006;Bianchi,2004; Oreja‐Rodríguez,2000). ParaelcasoespecíficodeGranCanaria,laobsolescenciadesuplantaalojativa, unidaaunapérdidadecompetitividadconrespectoalosserviciosqueseprestaal turista‐dondesehallegadoalpuntodeofrecer“máspormenos”,disminuyendoasíla rentabilidaddelsector‐hallevadoaplantearlaimperantenecesidadderemodelarel destino(Lobeira‐Alcaraz,2012).Paratalfin,elConsorcioparalaRehabilitación TurísticadelSurdeGranCanaria,constituidoen2008,gestionaelplande RehabilitacióndelasinfraestructurasturísticasdeSanAgustín,PlayadelInglésy Maspalomas,áreasdelaisladondelaobsolescenciaturísticaesmáspatente.Desdeel ámbitonacional,elConsejoEspañoldeTurismohamaterializadosurevisión estratégicadelsectorenelPlandelTurismoEspañolHorizonte2020,quecontempla comounodesusprogramaslarecualificacióndedestinosturísticosmaduros.Entresus líneasdeacción,destacalamodernizacióndelaofertaturística,impulsandoun programadereformaorehabilitaciónquemejoresuadaptaciónalosrequerimientos delademanda,asícomolamejoradelacalidaddelaexperienciavividaporelturista.
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 5 1.2 LaofertaextrahoteleradelsurdelaisladeGranCanaria 1.2.1 Génesisyevolución LaobsolescenciaturísticaenlaisladeGranCanariasemanifiesta fundamentalmenteenlasáreasturísticaspionerasdeSanAgustín,PlayadelInglésy Maspalomas.Elmodeloturísticoactualenestasáreaseselresultadodeunprocesode desarrollonacidodeformaespontáneaysinsistemasdeplanificaciónterritoriala mediadosdelosaños60,cuyoobjetivoeralasatisfaccióndeunademandaeuropea cadavezmáscrecientequehabíasurgidotraslaposguerra,yqueeracanalizada principalmenteatravésdeturoperadores. LagénesisdeldesarrollodedichasáreassurgearaízdelConcursoInternacionalde IdeasMaspalomasCostaCanaria,promovidoporD.AlejandrodelCastillo,Condedela VegaGrandedeGuadalupe,dueñoeneseentoncesdellatifundiocorrespondientey del37%delaextensióndetierrasquecomponíanelmunicipiodeSanBartoloméde Tirajana,municipiodondeseencuentranlasáreasturísticasdeSanAgustín,Playadel InglésyMaspalomas.Esteconcursosurgiótraslaideapreviadelconcurso internacionaldeideasorganizadoenelaño1960paraurbanizarunafinca,la“Fincade Elvira”,enlaprovinciadeMálaga,yenelqueparticiparoncasiquinientosproyectosde todoelmundo.Lastendenciasdelturismoeuropeoenaquellosaños,quedemandaba principalmentesolyplaya,acompañadasdeunalegislaciónqueincentivabalas inversionesextranjerasenelpaís,asícomolamayorproductividaddelsuelodedicado alaactividadturísticafrentealsueloagrario,fueronlosfactoresclavequeimpulsaron latransformacióndelastierrasagrariasensueloturísticoy,conello,eldespertar turísticodelsurdeGranCanaria.Así,elCondedelaVegaGrandedecidetransformarla fincadesupropiedad,unagranpropiedadagrariadedicadaprincipalmentealcultivo deltomate,enuncomplejourbanísticoconfinesturísticos(Cruz‐Caballero,2001).El concursodeMaspalomasteníacomofinalidadnosolosuculminacióncomoproyecto turístico,sinotambiénlapromocióndeldestinoprocedentedesureclamo.Elconcurso fueconvocadoen1961,quedandodefinidoen204páginasy,enlosdosmesesdesu
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 12 comounaunidadalojativaindependienteapiedetierradentrodesuconjunto alojativo.Elbungalowsuelepresentarunamayorsuperficiequeelapartamento, pudiendoserunalojamientotantoaisladocomoadosado,deunaodosplantas,ycon espacioslibresenelinteriordelaparcelaqueloscontiene.Tantoelapartamento comoelbungalowdisponende,almenos,unoodosdormitorios,ademásdeunárea decocina‐comedoryunpequeñosalón.Ambostiposdealojamientotambiénsuelen disponerdepiscinaydeotrosequipamientoscomunesalosresidentesdelcomplejo (gimnasio,zonasdejuegos,solárium,etc.),ademásdelosserviciosderecepción, limpiezadehabitacionesylavanderíadetoallasysábanas.Algunosdeellos,además, disponendeunpequeñosupermercadoobazar,serviciodeanimaciónyunoovarios restaurantes/bares.Loscomplejosquepresentanserviciosderestauraciónsuelen ofrecerasusclientesregímenesdedesayuno,mediapensión,pensióncompletao inclusotodoincluido;prácticasqueestánampliamenteextendidasenloscomplejos extrahotelerosdelsurgrancanario.Inclusoloscomplejosquenodisponendeservicio derestauracióntratandeofrecerregímenespormediodeacuerdosconotros complejoscolindantes,loscualespermitenelaccesodelosclientesasusinstalaciones. Encuantoalosestándaresdecalidad,laofertaextrahoteleragrancanariapresenta predominantementeunosestándaresbajos.TalycomoseapreciaenlaFigura1.2,a diferenciadelaofertahotelera(queestáconstituidaensumayorparteporestándares decalidadmedio‐altos),lamayorpartedelosestablecimientosyplazasseconcentran enlascategoríasde1y2llaves. Fuente:ElaboraciónpropiaapartirdePromotur(2016b) 1llave 2llaves 3llaves 4y5llaves 204 191 29 1 529 434 189 4 Ofertaextrahotelera 1estrella 2 estrellas 3 estrellas 4 estrellas 5 estrellas 33 18 47 54 12 116 77 157 233 44 Ofertahotelera Establecimientos Plazas Figura1.2.OfertaalojativaenGranCanariasegúncategoría.Año2015
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 13 1.2.4 Perfildelturista Enelaño2015,delos12,3millonesdeturistasquellegaronalarchipiélago,un 5,4%másdeturistasconrespectoalañoanterior,aproximadamente,3,59milloneslo hicieronaGranCanaria,delosquealrededorde2,26millonespernoctaronenlos puntosturísticosdelmunicipiodeSanBartolomédeTirajana,estoes,enMaspalomas, PlayadelInglésySanAgustín(Promotur,2016c).Esteturismoprovieneprincipalmente detresmercadosemisores,ReinoUnido(31,4%),Alemania(20,68%)yelpropio turismointeriorespañol(11,6%),seguidoenmenormedidadepaísescomoSuecia, Francia,HolandayNoruega(Promotur,2016d).Estadistribucióndemercados emisoresvaríasegúnislaypuntosturísticos.ParaelcasodeGranCanaria,losturistas alemanesconstituyenelmercadoemisorprincipal(23%),seguidosdebritánicos (16,3%),españoles(13,5%)y,enmenormedida,suecos,noruegos,holandesesy daneses,respectivamente(Promotur,2016e).Particularmente,el87,3%delosturistas alemanesquesealojaronenGranCanarialohicieronenelmunicipiodeSan BartolomédeTirajana,reduciéndoseesteporcentajeaun57,5%paraelcasodelos turistasbritánicosqueviajaronalaisla.Paraelturismointeriorpeninsularycanario, estosporcentajesrepresentanun52,7%yun55,5%,respectivamente.Encuantoala distribuciónporalojamiento,el33,35%delosturistasquellegaronaGranCanariaen 2015sehospedaronenalojamientosextrahoteleros,siendoelturismocanarioelque mostróunamayorpreferenciaporestetipodealojamiento(50,6%),seguidodel turismoextranjero(30,5%)ypeninsular(23,6%)(Promotur,2016c).Encuantoal númerodepernoctaciones,cabedestacarquedeltotaldelas28.256.859 pernoctacionesqueseprodujeronenGranCanariaen2015,19.429.873tuvieronlugar enelmunicipiodeSanBartolomédeTirajanay10.360.107secorrespondieronconel tipodealojamientoextrahotelero. Losturistasqueviajanalarchipiélagosecaracterizanporsufidelidadaldestino,ya quelamayoríaconocenCanariasyGranCanariaporvisitasanteriores.Suestancia mediaen2015,tantoenGranCanariacomoenelmunicipiodeSanBartoloméde Tirajana,fuede9,92días,conungastomedioaproximadode140€diarios,delosque
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 14 sudistribuciónporcentualorigen‐destinosecorrespondeconun70%‐30%. Principalmente,reservaronsualojamientopormediodelaturoperación(44,2%)y,en menormedida,atravésdeagenciasdeviajes(19,2%),orealizandolareservaconel establecimientodeformadirecta(12,3%).Unainformaciónmásdetalladaacercadel perfildelturistaquevisitalasislasCanarias,yparticularmenteGranCanaria,asícomo delosindicadoresdealojamientoturísticoextrahotelero,puedeserconsultadaen Promotur(2016f). 1.3 Justificacióneinterésdelestudio Laimplementaciónymejoradelacalidadenelnegocioturísticoalojativojuegaun papelfundamentalsobreelactualdebateacercadelosmecanismosdereconversióny reposicionamientodelospuntosturísticosobsoletosdelsurdeGranCanaria. Existeunaimperantenecesidadenelsectordereforzarlosatractivos,nosolodebidoa lapérdidagradualdecompetitividadquesehavenidopadeciendoenlosúltimosaños porlosefectosdesfavorablesdesumadurez,sinotambiénantelanecesidadde readaptaciónalasnuevasexigenciasdelademanda.Estanecesidaddemejoradela competitividadsehacemáspatenteanteelactualcontextointernacional,dondeestán surgiendomilesdenuevasplazasmuycompetitivas,nosoloenpreciosinoen modernidaddesusinstalacionesyenadaptaciónalosnuevosrequerimientosdel turistadelsigloXXI. Lacalidad,ensusentidomásgeneral,sehaconstituidocomolaestrategiaprincipal delasempresasturísticas,puesesunelementoclavediferenciadorqueademás aportavalordentrodelcompetitivoambientequecaracterizaalsector.Eneste sentido,lagestióndelacalidadenlosalojamientosturísticosresultaunafuentede ventajacompetitivasostenible.Laliteraturacientíficahapuestodemanifiestoquela calidadenelserviciopropicialalealtaddelconsumidor,asícomolaatracciónde nuevosclientes,desencadenandoun“bocaaboca”positivo.Además,aumentala satisfacciónyelcompromisodelosempleados,todoelloposibilitandounamejorade
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 15 laimagencorporativay,consecuentemente,delrendimientoempresarial(Berry, Bennet&Brown,1989). Encuantoalpropioconceptodecalidadenlosservicios,comoargumentabanAlén‐ González(2004)yFuster‐Lareu(1991),éstatienequeverconlasatisfaccióndelas expectativasdelosclientes.Comúnmentelacalidaddeservicioseanalizaapartirde encuestasdesatisfacción,pueséstaesunindicadorclavedeldesempeñoempresarial, ymásaúnenunmercadocompetitivodondelosestablecimientosdealojamiento compitenpormayorescuotasdemercado.Unclientesatisfechoseráaquelalquele hasidoproporcionadounserviciooproductoquehaalcanzadoosuperadosus expectativasprevias.Sinembargo,cuandoelservicioofrecidonohasuperadolas expectativasdelosclientes,éstossesentirándecepcionados,yesprobableque califiquenelserviciopordebajodelosatisfactorio.Así,unclientesatisfechoserácon mayorprobabilidadunclienterepetidor.Deestemodo,losíndicesdesatisfacción constituyenunaherramientaclavecuyosefectospuedentenerungranalcance,pues, porunlado,sirvendeherramientademonitorizacióndelrendimientodecadaunode losserviciosydepartamentosdelaorganizaciónanalizaday,porotro,permite identificaraquellasvariablesdeserviciomejorvaloradasporlosclientesalahorade establecerestrategiasdemarketingquepotencienlacompetitividaddelcomplejo extrahotelero. Laimportanciadelacalidadparalaactividadturísticahaalentadomúltiples trabajosdeinvestigación,cuyosobjetivossontenerelmayorymejorconocimientode lamisma.Noobstante,pesealaimportanciadelalojamientoextrahoteleronosoloen GranCanariayCanariassinotambiénenotrosdestinosnacionaleseinternacionales,la atenciónqueselahaprestadoenlaliteraturacientíficahasidoescasa,ycuandoseha analizadosuproblemáticahasidosiempredesdeenfoqueslegalesy/ofinancieros,y enrelaciónaladiversidaddesusmodelosorganizativosydegestión.Adíadehoy,la literaturaacercadelaspercepcionesdecalidaddelosusuariosdelaofertaturística extrahoteleraesmuyescasa.
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 16 Teniendoencuentaloanterior,esnecesarioelconocimientodelasituaciónactual delsectorturísticoextrahotelerodelsurgrancanarioatravésdeunanálisisexhaustivo delacalidaddeservicioapartirdelgradodesatisfaccióndelconsumidor.Ello permitirámonitorizarelrendimientodelosdiferentesserviciosy/oproductosdela actividadextrahoteleraempresarial,posibilitandoeldesarrollodeherramientasde gestiónymejoranosoloporpartedelasdiferentesempresas,sinotambiénporparte delsectorpúblicoantelaposiblenecesidaddeintervención,todoelloconelfinúltimo delograrestrategiasdecompetitividadydesarrollotantoenlasempresasdelaregión comoenelpropiodestino. 1.4 Objetivos Elpresentetrabajodetesisdoctoralpersigueelestudiodelacalidaddeservicioen laindustriaextrahoteleradelsurdelaisladeGranCanaria.Paraellosehanplanteado diferentesobjetivosespecíficosquetratandeaportarinformaciónalfenómenoa estudiar. Elprimerobjetivoconsisteenestablecerprioridadesenlasactuacionesdemejora sobrelasvariablesdeservicioanalizadasatravésdeunanálisisdesusfortalezasy debilidades.Esteanálisis,quesuponeademásunnovedosoavancemetodológico, permitetambiéndetectaraquellasáreasoperacionalescuyosrecursoshandeser reasignadosatravésdelassugerenciasestratégicaspropuestas. Elsegundoobjetivopersigueelanálisisdinámicodelacalidadconelfindeproveer alosdirectivosdeunaherramientaútilquelespermitaevaluarelrendimientodecada unodelosserviciosdeformadinámicaapartirdeindicadoresmensualesdecalidad global. Finalmente,eltercerobjetivoradicaenelanálisisdelosfactoresdeterminantesque influyenenlaeleccióndeundeterminadocomplejoextrahoteleroatravésdelestudio delaspreferenciasdelosturistas.Además,dentrodeesteobjetivotambiénse encuentraelestudiodelaheterogeneidadenlaspreferencias,asícomolaobtención
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 17 delasdisposicionesapagarporpartedelosturistaspormejorarlosdiferentes atributosdeservicio. Amododesíntesis,sepresentaunesquemagráficodelosobjetivosyelcontenido delatesisenlaFigura1.3. 1.5 Metodología Elanálisisdelacalidaddeserviciodelosapartamentosybungalowsdelsurdela isladeGranCanariasedesarrollaatravésdetresmetodologíasdiferentes.Laprimera deellassetratadeunanovedosapropuestametodológicaquesepresentacomo avancealtradicionalanálisisdeimportancia‐satisfacción,comúnmenteconocidocomo análisisIPA(Martilla&James,1977)‐acrónimodelinglés“Importance‐Performace Analysis”‐.Estenuevoenfoquemetodológico,querecibepornombre“Synthetic ServiceQualityIndicatorbyImportance‐PerformanceAnalysis(SSQI‐IPA)”,sedesarrolla conlafinalidaddecrearunindicadorsintéticodecalidadquerecojamayor informaciónqueeltradicionalindicadorIPAyque,portanto,délugaraunamayor robustezdelosresultados.ElanálisisIPAtradicionalsugiereplanesestratégicosa partirdelosvalorespromediodeimportanciaysatisfacciónseparadamente, ignorandolasdiferenciasquepuedenexistirenladistribuciónestadística bidimensionaldeambosconstructos,yperdiendoasíinformaciónvaliosa.Sin embargo,elnuevoíndiceSSQI‐IPA,enlugardesimplespromedios,tieneencuentala distribuciónmencionadayrealizasugerenciasestratégicasapartirdeungráfico derivadodemedidasponderadasquerecogenlasdiferenciasentrelosvalores observadosdeimportanciaysatisfacciónparacadaindividuoentrevistado. Lasegundametodologíasebasaenlalógicadifusa(Zadeh,1965)yelmétodo TOPSIS(“TechniqueforOrderPreferencebySimilaritytoIdealSolution”)(Yoon,1980). Lalógicadifusaesunmétododerazonamientoaproximadonoprobabilistaque permitemodelizarlaincertidumbreasociadaalaambigüedaddeconceptospropiosde losjuicioshumanos.Deacuerdoaestateoría,lacalidaddeserviciodesdeelanálisisde satisfaccióndelconsumidorhadeserevaluadadeformacualitativa,puesdicho
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 18 términoseencuentraabordadoporexpresionesdifusas.Expresionescomo “satisfecho”o“insatisfecho”presentanunaltoniveldesubjetividady,portanto, puedenserinterpretadasporlosindividuosdeformadiferente.Deestemodo,los términoslingüísticossonasociadosaconjuntosdifusosmediantelaasignaciónde valoresdepertenencia,todoelloenunprocesollamadoemborronamiento.Elmétodo TOPSISpermiteextraeralgorítmicamentelainformaciónrelevanteporsimilituda solucionesextremaspositivasodiferenciadesolucionesextremasnegativas,demodo queseobtengaunamedidadinámicaresumidaglobaldeldesempeñodelacalidadde servicio.Además,elcálculodelasposicionesrelativasdelosresultadosde desempeñodelosatributosyobservacionespermiterealizarunanálisisvisualdel rendimientodecadaunadelasáreasoperacionales. Finalmente,latercerametodologíaempleadaenelpresentetrabajodetesis doctoralutilizalosmodelosdeeleccióndiscretaenelanálisisdelaspreferencias declaradasdelosturistasalahoradeestudiarlasvariablesdeterminantesque influyenenlaeleccióndealojamiento.Elusodelosmodelosdeeleccióndiscretaha aumentadoenlosúltimosañoscomoherramientadeevidenciaempíricadelas propuestasteóricassobrelarelaciónentrelascaracterísticasdeunproductooservicio yelcomportamientodeeleccióndelconsumidor(Crouch&Louviere,2000).Sus fundamentosteóricosestánbasadosenlateoríadelautilidadaleatoriapropuestapor Thurstone(1927)yposteriormenteampliadaporMcFadden(1974).Actualmente,son consideradoscomolametodologíamásapropiadaenelanálisisdelaspreferenciasde losconsumidores,particularmentecuandoéstosseenfrentanaunaelecciónde compraoconsumocaracterizadaporunconjuntodeatributosinherentes.Así,el decisorseenfrentaaunaelecciónentreunconjuntodealternativascaracterizadaspor diversosatributosyeligeaquellaqueleproporcionaunmayornivelutilidad.Portanto, laprobabilidaddeelecciónesloquesemodelizaenestetipodemodelos.La aleatoriedadenlaespecificacióndelautilidadpartedelhechodequelaspreferencias delosturistasconrespectoalasdiversasalternativassonobservadasporellosmismos peronoporelanalista.Estadiscrepanciaentreloqueeldecisoreligeyloqueel investigadordetectapuedesermoderadamediantelaincorporacióndeunelemento
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 19 aleatorioenlafuncióndeutilidadindirectacondicional.Deestemodo,laasunciónde diferentesdistribucionessobredichapartenoobservadapermiteidentificardiferentes modelosdeelección. Elestudiodelaheterogeneidaddelaspreferenciashasidoademásobjetode investigaciónporungrannúmerodeestudios.Enlosmodelosdeeleccióndiscretala heterogeneidadsistemáticaseabordamediantelaincorporacióndeinteraccionesde losatributosgenéricosconvariablessocioeconómicasalafunciónindirectade utilidad.Deestemodo,sepermitetenerunmayorconocimientoacercadela diversidaddepreferenciasygustosexistentesenunmercadoconcreto. 1.6 Datos Enelpresentetrabajodetesisdoctoral,sehanutilizadotresbasesdedatos diferenciadas,delasqueapartirdecadaunadeellasseaplicaempíricamentecada unadelasmetodologíasanteriormentedescritas.Lastresbasesdedatossonfrutode lacolaboraciónconlaAsociacióndeEmpresariosdeAlojamientosTurísticosdeLas Palmas,delaquedirectivosdecuatroestablecimientosextrahotelerosdelmunicipio deSanBartolomédeTirajana‐uncomplejodeapartamentos(ColinaMar);dos complejosdebungalows(VistafloryPlayamar);yuncomplejomixtodeapartamentos ybungalows(SolBarbacán)‐ ofrecieronsucolaboraciónenlaaportaciónde informaciónydatosnecesariosparaeldesarrollodeltrabajodetesis,asícomosu aprobaciónparalarealizacióndeencuestasasusclientes.Portanto,loscuatro establecimientosextrahoteleroshanservidocomomuestraparaelestudiodela calidaddeservicioenlaindustriaextrahoteleradelsurdelaisladeGranCanaria. ColinaMar,situadocomosupropionombreindicaenloaltodeunacolinaenel áreaturísticadePuertoRico,esuncomplejode184apartamentosconcategoríade dosllavesquesedistribuyeencincoplantasycuyoañodeconstruccióndatade1988. Asimismo,Vistaflor,tambiénconstruidoafinalesdelos80,esuncomplejocon categoríadetresestrellasquepresenta216bungalowsajardinadosdistribuidosendos plantas.DichocomplejoseencuentralocalizadoeneláreaturísticadeMaspalomas.
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 20 SolBarbacán,pertenecientealgrupoSolMeliá,fueconstruidoen1980.Localizadoen lazonadeociodePlayadelInglés,presentaunadistribuciónmixtade93 apartamentosy57bungalowscuyacategoríaesdecuatroestrellas.Finalmente, Playamar,tambiénconstruidoaprincipiosdelosaños80,esuncomplejode36 bungalowsdistribuidosendosplantasquesesitúaenprimeralíneadePlayadelInglés, yquepresentaunacategoríadetresestrellas.Cabeseñalarque,desdesu construcción,estoscuatrocomplejosmuestraleshansufridoprocesosdereforma integraldesusinstalacionesyservicios. Laaplicaciónempíricadelaprimeraytercerapartedelainvestigaciónserealizóa partirdeencuestasenformatopapelrealizadasaturistasmayoresde18añose impresasenlosidiomasespañol,inglésyalemán.Paraelcasodelprimercapítulode investigación(Capítulo2),seencuestaronturistasquesehabíanhospedadoenalguno deloscuatrocomplejosmuestralesdeapartamentosybungalows.Enelanálisis correspondientealúltimocapítulo(Capítulo4),loscomplejosqueformaronpartede lamuestrafueronSolBarbacán,PlayamaryVistaflor.Lasconclusionesobtenidastras diversasreunionesconcertadasconlosdirectivosdedichoscomplejospermitieron seleccionarlosatributosempleadosenelanálisiscorrespondienteaestoscapítulosde latesis.EnlosAnexosAyC,respectivamente,semuestranloscuestionariosapartirde loscualesseobtuvieronlosdatosamodelizarenestosdoscapítulos. Labasededatosempleadaenlasegundapartedelainvestigación(Capítulo3) provienedeencuestasdesatisfacciónpropiasquetresdelosestablecimientos muestrales(SolBarbacán,PlayamaryVistaflor)realizandeformacontinuaensu procesodemonitorizacióndelacalidad.Elanálisisdinámicodelacalidadfuerealizado paralostresestablecimientosmuestrales.Sinembargo,pararesumirysinpérdidade generalidad,enlapresentetesisdoctoralsolamentesehaincluidoelanálisis correspondientealcomplejoextrahoteleroSolBarbacán.Elcuestionarioempleadoen estapartedelainvestigación–diseñadoporelpropiopersonaldemarketingdel complejo‐puedeserconsultadoenelAnexoBdelpresentedocumento.
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 21 1.7 Estructuraycontenidodeltrabajodetesis Elcontenidodelpresentetrabajodetesisdoctoralseestructuraencuatrocapítulos independientes.Lostrescapítulosquesiguenaestaintroducciónseencuentran redactadoseninglésypresentanlaestructurapropiadeunartículodeinvestigación, dondecadacapítuloabordacadaunodelosobjetivosespecíficosconcadaunadelas metodologíasanteriormenteplanteadas. Elcapítulo2,“Revisingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Anewsyntheticservice qualityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry”,suponeunaextensión metodológicadelostrabajospreviosdeMartín,Mendoza&Román(2013,2014).Este capítulopresentalametodologíaSSQI‐IPAyrealizaunaaplicaciónempíricademodo quesuanálisispermiteestablecerprioridadesyrealizarsugerenciasdeactuaciónpara cadaunodelosatributosdeservicioanalizados,asícomorealizarcomparacionescon respectoalasprincipalesempresascompetidoras. Elcapítulo3,quellevapornombre“AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbers andTOPSIS:Anapplicationtoself‐containedandservicedapartments”,utilizala metodologíadelosnúmerosdifusos(FuzzyNumbers)yelmétodoTOPSISconelobjeto decrearunindicadordinámicoglobaldecalidadquepermitaidentificarel rendimientodelcomplejoextrahoteleroestudiadoencadaunodelosperíodosde tiempoanalizados.Además,elanálisisvisualdelaposiciónrelativadecadaatributo conrespectoacadaobservación,juntoconelcálculodelaselasticidades,ofreceun marcocompletodeanálisisdelacalidadquepermitedeterminarpolíticasde actuacióndeacuerdoaldesempeñodinámicodecadaunodelosserviciosenbaseala determinacióndecómoresponderalasnecesidadesdelosclientesdeformamás efectiva,asícomodeaquellosprocesosquenecesitansermejorados. Porúltimo,elcapítulo4,“Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection: Astatedpreferenceapproach”,presentaelcontenidodelfrutodeunainvestigaciónen laquesehanaplicadolosmodelosdeeleccióndiscretaenelanálisisdelas preferenciasdelosturistasparalaeleccióndealojamiento.Enestecapítulo,se
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 28 Referencias Agarwal,S.(1994).Theresortcyclerevisited:Implicationsforresorts.InC.P.Cooper, &A.Lockwood(Eds.),Progressintourism,recreationandhospitality management,Vol.5,194–208.London:Cassell. Agarwal,S.(2002).Restructuringseasidetourism:Theresortlifecyle,Annalsof TourismResearch,29(1),25–55. Aguiló,E.,Alegre,J.&Sard,M.(2005).Thepersistenceofthesunandsandtourism model,TourismManagement,26(2),219–231. Alén‐González,MªE.&Rodríguez‐Comesaña,L.(2004).Evaluacióndelacalidad percibidaporlosclientesdeestablecimientostermalesatravésdelanálisisdesus expectativasypercepciones,RevistaGalegadeEconomía,13(1‐2),1‐18. Antón,S.(2011).Dinámicasdereestructuracióndelosdestinosturísticoslitoralesdel Mediterráneo.Perspectivasycondicionantes,López,D.(Ed.),Renovaciónde destinosturísticosconsolidados,Valencia,TirantLoBlanch,23–40. Berry,L.L.,Bennet,D.R.&Brown,C.W.(1989).ServiceQuality:Aprofitstrategyfor financialinstitutions.Dow–Jones–Irwin,Homewood,IL. Bianchi,R.V.(2004).Tourismrestructuringandthepoliticsofsustainability:Acritical viewfromtheEuropeanperiphery(TheCanaryIslands),JournalofSustainable Tourism,12(6),495–529. Breede,C.(2005).Unmodeloexplicativodelacalidaddevidaydesurelaciónconla actividadturística.ElcasodeSanFernandodeMaspalomas.Tesisdoctoral. UniversidaddeLasPalmasdeGranCanaria. Butler,R.W.(1980).Theconceptofatouristareacycleofevolution:implicationsfor managementofresources,TheCanadianGeographer,XXIV,I,5‐12. Butler,R.W.(2006a).Thetouristarealifecycle.ApplicationsandModifications,Vol.I, Clevedon,ChannelView. Butler,R.W.(2006b).Thetouristarealifecycle.ConceptualandTheoreticalIssues,Vol. II,Clevedon,ChannelView. Cáceres,E.(1988).PRIT,PlanRegionaldeInfraestructurasTurísticas.Consejeríade TurismoyTransportes. Chen,S.M.(1996).Evaluatingweaponsystemsusingfuzzyarithmeticoperations. FuzzySetsandSystems,77(3),265–276. Chen,K.Y.(2014).Improvingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Theroleofthezoneof toleranceandcompetitorperformance.ThecaseofTaiwan’shotspringhotels, TourismManagement,40,260–272. Claver‐Cortés,E.,Molina‐Azorín,J.F.&Pereira‐Moliner,J.(2007).Competitivenessin masstourism,AnnalsofTourismResearch,34(3),727–745.
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 29 Crouch,G.I.,&Louviere,J.J.(2000).Areviewofchoicemodellingresearchintourism, hospitalityandleisure,TourismAnalysis,5,97–104. Cruz‐Caballero,Antonio(2001).ElSiglodeTurismodeGranCanaria(1900‐2000). FundaciónMapfre.LasPalmasdeGranCanaria. Deng,W.J.(2008).Fuzzyimportance‐performanceanalysisfordeterminingcritical serviceattributes.InternationalJournalofServiceIndustryManagement,19(2), 252–270. Exceltur(2015).Impactur2014.Estudiodelimpactoeconómicodelturismosobrela economíayelempleodelasislasCanarias.[online]Disponibleen: http://www.exceltur.org/wp‐content/uploads/2016/02/IMPACTUR‐Canarias‐ 2014.pdf[Acceso3Nov.2016]. Exceltur(2016).Informedeperspectivasturísticas:Nº55.Valoraciónturística empresarialde2015yperspectivaspara2016.[online]Disponibleen: http://www.exceltur.org/wp‐content/uploads/2016/01/INFORME‐PERSPECTIVAS‐ Balance‐del‐a%C3%B1o‐2015‐y‐Perspectivas‐2016‐WEB.pdf[Acceso31Oct.2016]. Fuster‐Lareu,J.(1991).Turismodemasasycalidadenlosservicios.EditorialGráficas Planisi,PalmadeMallorca. Garay,L.&Cànoves,G.(2011).Lifecycles,stagesandtourismhistory:TheCatalonia (Spain)experience,AnnalsofTourismResearch,38(2),651–671. García‐Falcón,J.&Medina‐Muñoz,D.M.(1999).SustainableTourismDevelopmentin Islands:acasestudyofGranCanaria,BusinessStrategyandtheEnvironment,8, 336–357. González‐Hernández,M.M.,León‐González,C.J.&Padrón‐Fumero,N.(2006). Obsolescenciaypolíticasderenovaciónmedioambientalenelsectorturístico. CuadernosEconómicosdeICE,71,153–176. Greene,W.H.&Hensher,D.A.(2003).Alatentclassmodelfordiscretechoiceanalysis: Contrastswithmixedlogit,TransportationResearchPartB:Methodological,37 (8),681‐398. Ivars‐i‐Baidal,J.A.,Rodríguez‐Sánchez,I.&Vera‐Rebollo,J.F.(2013).Theevolutionof masstourismdestinations:Newapproachesbeyonddeterministicmodelsin Benidorm(Spain),TourismManagement,34,184–195. Hernández‐Luis,J.A.(2010).Transformacióndeunagranpropiedadagrariaensuelo turístico:ElejemplodelsurdeGranCanaria,Turismo,2,23–36. Hernández‐Martin,R.,Álvarez‐Albelo,C.D.&Padrón‐Fumero,N.(2015).The economicsandimplicationsofmoratoriaontourismaccommodation developmentasarejuvenationtoolinmaturetourismdestinations,Journalof SustainableTourism,23(6),881–899. ISTAC–InstitutoCanariodeEstadística(2016).CifrasOficialesdePoblación/Series anuales.MunicipiosporislasdeCanarias.[online]Disponibleen: http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org/istac/jaxi‐
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 30 istac/menu.do?uripub=urn:uuid:febb02fd‐d4fd‐4e6d‐bed4‐0496d4a95f88[Acceso 11Nov.2016]. Kaufmann,A.&Gupta,M.(1988).Fuzzymathematicalmodelsinengineeringand managementscience.NewYork:ElsevierScience. Keyt,J.C.,Yavas,U.&Riecken,G.(1994).Importance‐PerformanceAnalysis:Acase studyinrestaurantpositioning,InternationalJournalofRetail&Distribution Management,22(5),35–40. Knowles,T.&Curtis,S.(1999).ThemarketviabilityofEuropeanmasstourist destinations.Apost‐stagnationlife‐cycleanalysis,InternationalJournalofTourism Research,1,87–96. Lobeira‐Alcaraz,M.A.(2012).Regeneracióndedestinosturísticos:Trescasosde estudioenEspaña.IMásterpropioengestiónsostenibledeempresas,productos ydestinosturísticos.UniversidadInternacionaldeAndalucía. Martilla,J.A.&James,J.C.(1977).Importance‐PerformanceAnalysis,Journalof Marketing,14(1),77‐79. Martín,J.C.,Mendoza,C.&Román,C.(2013).Anexploratoryanalysisofcustomer satisfactionintheextrahotelindustry.IForoInternacionaldeTurismo MaspalomasCostaCanaria.CongresoInternacionaldeDestinosTurísticos, CompetitividadyEmprendimientoenTiemposdeCrisis.LasPalmasdeGran Canaria,374‐400. Martín,J.C.,Mendoza,C.&Román,C.(2014).Servicequalityevaluationinthetourist apartmentindustry:Asegmentedandweightedimportance‐satisfactionanalysis, JournalofTourismandDevelopment,21‐22,2,33‐47. McFadden,D.(1974).Conditionallogitanalysisofqualitativechoicebehavior.In: Zarembka,P.(Ed.),FrontiersinEconometrics.AcademicPress,NewYork,105– 142. McFadden,D.&Train,K.(2000).MixedMNLmodelsfordiscreteresponse,Journalof AppliedEconometrics,15,447–470. Oreja‐Rodríguez,J.R.(2000).Revitalizacióndedestinosturísticosmaduros.En BLANQUER,D.(Director):Turismo.TirantloBlanch. Oreja‐Rodríguez,J.R.,Parra‐López,E.&Yanes‐Estévez,V.(2008).Thesustainabilityof islanddestinations:Tourismarealifecycleandteleologicalperspectives.Thecase ofTenerife,TourismManagement,29(1),53–65. Parreño‐Castellano,J.M.(2001).ElProcesodeurbanizacióndelespacioturístico.En EvolucióneImplicacionesdelTurismoenMaspalomasCostaCanaria.Ilustre AyuntamientodeSanBartolomédeTirajana.TomoI,71‐101. Plog,S.(1973).Whydestinationareasriseandfallinpopularity,CornellHoteland RestaurantAssociationQuarterly,14(4),55‐58. Promotur‐TurismodeCanarias(2016a).OfertaalojativaenCanarias.Seriehistórica (2000‐2015).Año2015.[online]Disponibleen:
Capítulo1.Contextodelainvestigaciónyresumengeneral 31 http://www.turismodecanarias.com/promoturturismocanarias/wp‐ content/uploads/2016/06/Promotur_plazas_establecimientos_2000‐2015.pdf [Acceso28Oct.2016]. Promotur–TurismodeCanarias(2016b).OfertaalojativadeGranCanariapor categorías.Año2015.[online]Disponibleen: http://www.turismodecanarias.com/promoturturismocanarias/wp‐ content/uploads/2017/01/Promotur_oferta_categor%C3%ADas_2016_ISTAC.pdf [Acceso20Dic.2016]. Promotur‐TurismodeCanarias(2016c).Indicadoresdealojamientoturísticosegún municipios.GranCanaria.Año2015.[online]Disponibleen: http://www.turismodecanarias.com/promoturturismocanarias/wp‐ content/uploads/2016/04/Promotur_municipios_Gran‐Canaria_2015.pdf[Acceso 28Oct.2016]. Promotur‐TurismodeCanarias(2016d).PerfildelturistaquevisitaislasCanarias.Año 2015.[online]Disponibleen: http://www.turismodecanarias.com/promoturturismocanarias/wp‐ content/uploads/2016/04/Promotur_Islas‐Canarias_2015.pdf[Acceso28Oct. 2016]. Promotur‐TurismodeCanarias(2016e).PerfildelturistaquevisitaGranCanaria.Año 2015.[online]Disponibleen: http://www.turismodecanarias.com/promoturturismocanarias/wp‐ content/uploads/2016/04/Promotur_Islas‐Canarias_2015.pdf[Acceso28Oct. 2016]. Promotur‐TurismodeCanarias(2016f).Informesyestadísticas[online]Disponibleen http://www.turismodecanarias.com/promoturturismocanarias/informes‐y‐ estadisticas/[Acceso14Dic.2016]. Sillano,M.&deDiosOrtúzar,J.(2005).Willingness‐to‐payestimationwithmixedlogit models:somenewevidence,EnvironmentandPlanningA,37,525–550. Simancas‐Cruz,M.R.(2010).Larenovaciónedificatoriadelaofertaturísticade alojamientoendestinosconsolidados:LaexperienciadeCanarias,Cuadernosde Geografía,87,23–44. Taplin,R.H.(2012).Competitiveimportance‐performanceanalysisofanAustralian wildlifepark,TourismManagement,33(1),29–37. Thurstone,L.L.(1927).Alawofcomparativejudgment,PsychologicalReview,4,273‐ 286. Turner,L.&Ash,J.(1975).TheGoldenHordes:Internationaltourismandthepleasure periphery.London:Constable. Vera‐Rebollo,J.F.&Baños‐Castiñeira,C.J.(2010).Renewalandrestructuringof consolidatedcoastaltouristdestinations:recreationalpracticesintheevolutionof touristspace,BoletíndeLaAsociacióndeGeógrafosEspañoles,(53),329–353.
ParteI.Lenguaespañola 32 WEF‐WorldEconomicForum(2015).TheTravel&TourismCompetitivenessReport 2015.[online]Disponibleen: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/TT15/WEF_Global_Travel&Tourism_Report_201 5.pdf[Acceso15Nov.2015]. UNWTO–WorldTourismOrganization(2016).Tourismhighlights.2016Edition. [online]Disponibleen:http://www.e‐ unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284418145[Acceso8Nov.2016]. Yoon,K.(1980).Systemsselectionbymultipleattributesdecisionmaking.PhD Dissertation,KansasStateUniversity,Manhattan,Kansas. Zadeh,L.A.(1965).Fuzzysets,InformationandControl,8(3),338–353.
33 ParteII Tesisdoctoralenlenguainglesa
34
35 Capítulo2 2. Revisingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Anew syntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothe touristapartmentindustry Abstract Importance‐performanceanalysis(IPA)isavaluabletooltodevelopmarketing strategiesbyprioritizingimprovementstoservicequalityattributes.Despiteits simplicityandeasyinterpretability,IPAisnotexemptofcriticism.Moreover,IPA methodologydoesnotconsiderthedistributionofrespondentswhenimportance‐ performancegridisdisplayed.Applyingtheanalysistoasampleoffourcompeting touristservicedapartmentscomplexeslocatedintheCanaryIslands,thisworkaimsto proposeanewSyntheticServiceQualityIndicatorbyImportance‐PerformanceAnalysis (SSQI‐IPA)toovercometheabovementionedlimitations.Ontheonehand,by comparingserviceperformancewithcompetitors,managerscanestablishadequate strategiestoenhanceitsrelativepositioninthemarketandachievecompetitive advantages.Ontheotherhand,takingintoaccountthewholedistributionofthe importance‐performancegridprovidesmanagersmoreaccurateresultsthan traditionalIPA. Keywords:SyntheticServiceQualityIndicatorbyImportance‐performanceAnalysis (SSQI‐IPA),Importance‐PerformanceAnalysis(IPA),CustomerSatisfaction,Serviced Apartments,CanaryIslands.
36
Capítulo2.Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 37 2.1 Introduction MaspalomasCostaCanariaisawell‐knowntouristmaturedestinationinthe EuropeanUnionthatwasdevelopedafteranInternationalBidofideasheldin1961. Thewinningbidwastheprecursorofthelargevarietyoftouristaccommodations presentedinthearea,fromluxuryhotelsandvillastoservicedbungalowsand apartments(AlvárezLeón,2012).Inthelastdecadeanimportantdebateinthe archipelagooftheCanaryIslandsleadtotheimplementationofamoratoriumasaway torenovatepartoftheobsolescenceobservedinsomeserviceapartmentscomplexes. Nevertheless,asHernández‐Martín,Álvarez‐Abelo&Padrón‐Furnero(2015)claimed,a moratoriumisolatedfromabroadtourismregenerationplanmightintroduceother counterproductive,unexpectedorundesirableeffects. Regenerationandrejuvenationplansaimtodeliverhighservicequalitylevelsthat resultinsatisfiedclients(Shemwell,Yavas&Bilgin,1998).Inthissense,different stakeholdersneedtoanalyzehowtouristsperceivetheservicesoffered.Chen(2014) analyzeshowmarketsharesdependonservicequalityandproductdifferentiation. Importance‐PerformanceAnalysis(IPA)isatechniquethathasbeensuccessfully employedtoevaluatetheinternalfirmperformance.IPAwasfirstlyintroducedby Martilla&James(1977)intheautomobileindustry.Sincethen,ithasbeena recognizedapproachtomanagecustomersatisfaction(Matzler,Sauerwein& Heischmidt,2003)thatservestoprioritizeimprovementopportunitiesandtoguide strategicplanningefforts(Deng,2008). IPAhasalsobeenusedindifferentindustrieslikehealth(AbaloVarela&Rial,2007; Dolinsky,1991);education(Alberty&Mihalik,1989;Ford,Joseph&Joseph,1999; O’Neil&Palmer,2004);food(Aigbedo&Parameswaran,2004;Sampson&Showalter, 1999;Tontini&Silveira,2007);banking(Matzleretal.2003;Yeo,2003);sportcentres (Rial,Rial,Varela&Real,2008);e‐business(Levenburg&Magal,2005;Skok,Kophamel &Richardson,2001);tourism(Enright&Newton,2004;Deng,2008),andhotels(Chu& Choi,2000;Deng,Kuo&Chen,2008;Weber,2000).Nevertheless,IPAhaslargely
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 44 dim dim dim ‐ atr mn mn atr mn atr mn atr mn wd SSQI IPA d (2.3) ‐ atr mn mn atr mn glob atr mn atr mn wd SSQI IPA d(2.4) SSQI‐IPAsummarizesservicequalityperformanceintoonemeasurethatreflects theweightedmismatchbetweentheimportantandsuperfluousneeds.The comparisonofaparticularfirmwithothercompetitorsprovidesveryvaluable informationtomanagers.AsTaplin(2012,p.30)mentions,“Providinggoodserviceisa problemifcompetitorsareprovidingexcellentservice”. TheglobalandbydimensionSSQI‐IPAcanbeusedbypolicymakersasatooltorank theservicequalityofaparticularindustry.TheSSQI‐IPAbyattributescanbe confrontedwiththeattributeimportancetovisuallydisplayananalogousanalysisto traditionalIPA,inwhichattributescouldalsobeprioritizedtoenhanceservicequality. 2.3.3 TheSQquestionnaireintheservicedapartmentsindustry Todate,literatureonservicequalityattributesforservicedapartmentsisstill scarce.TheattributesselectionisbasedonMoreno‐Gil&Martín‐Santana(2013).Table 2.6presentsthesetofthe47attributesusedinthisstudywherethreeglobal dimensionsareanalyzed:(1)facilitiesandtangibles(attributes1‐29),(2)services offered(attributes30‐38),and(3)friendlinessofstaffofthedifferentservices (attributes39‐47). ThequestionnaireswereadministeredinEnglish,SpanishandGerman.Theywere structuredintofoursections.Thefirstsectionmeasuredaspectsofoverallquality.The secondsectioncompiledtourist’ssocio‐demographicsandholiday‐relateddata.The thirdandfourthsectionsaskedabouttheimportanceandperformanceoverthesetof the47attributesusing9‐pointLikertscales.
Capítulo2.Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 45 Internationalanddomesticstouristsover18lodgedinfourapartmentslocatedin thesouthofGranCanariaIslandwereinterviewedduringJulyandAugust2012.360 questionnairesweredistributedandatotalof164validquestionnaireswerereturned duringthedayofcheck‐out–46percentofresponseratethatwasconsidered successful.Allthetouristschecking‐outweresampledbutnotallofthemfinally completedavalidquestionnaire.Touristswereinformedaboutthepurposeofthe surveybeforefillinginthequestionnaire.Thesurveywasself‐administeredandthe questionnaireswereprovidedbythereceptionistsattheendofthestay.Receptionists weretrainedtoresolveanyqueries.Noincentiveswereoffered,butawritten guaranteeofconfidentialitywasprovided.Sincethepopulationsizewasunknown, theinfinitepopulationassumptionwastakentodeterminethesamplingerror‐7.65% foraconfidencelevelof95%(p=q=0.5).Ineachoftheservicedapartmentsunder analysis,thesampleerrordidneverexceed14%.Priorstudiesusingitemsand attributesemployedsimilarsamplesizes(Albacete‐Sáez,Fuentes‐Fuentes&LLoréns‐ Montes,2007;Tsaur,Chiu&Huang,2002;Baker&Crompton,2000). 2.4 Results 2.4.1 Touristprofile Table2.1showstherespondentprofile.Germancitizens(36.3%)werethemost representednationalitylodgedinthefourresortsanalyzed.AreGermans,afterthe British,thosewhomostvisitGranCanariaIslandinrecentyears(ISTAC,2013).62.75% weremales.Touristsagedbetween45and54werethemostrepresentedgroup (29.66%),followedbyrespondentsagedbetween35and44yearsold(19.31%). Regardingthenightsofstay,45.04%stayedbetween7and13nights.60.63%travelled intouristclass,and36.22%choseacharter/travelpackage.76.40%werefirstvisitors intheapartments,but10.11%hadvisitedthemmorethan5times.96.67%visitedthe islandforholidays.Regardingtheprofessionalgroups,managers,techniciansand professionalsandqualifiedworkerswerethemostrepresentedgroups.45.10%came
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 46 withthecouple.Regardingthenetfamilyincomepermonth,36.78%hadbetween 3001€and5000€. Table2.1.Touristprofile(inpercentages) CountryofresidencePreviousvisittothecomplex Germany36.300times76.40 Spain23.291‐3times13.48 UK14.385‐8times6.74 Ireland7.539ormoretimes3.37 Holland6.16Reasonfortravel Denmark2.74Holidays96.67 Italy2.74Other2.00 Switzerland2.05Business/Work1.33 Sweden1.37Profession Scotland1.37ManagementStaff25.42 France1.36Techniciansand professionals24.58 Lithuania0.68Qualifiedworkers19.49 GenderOfficeworker11.86 Male62.75Others9.32 Female37.26Operatorsofmachinesor others6.77 AgeUnqualifiedworkers2.55 18‐2414.48Travelcompanions 25‐3418.62Couple45.10 35‐4419.31Childrenandcouple16.99 45‐5429.66Friends15.69 55‐6412.41Children10.46 65orolder5.52Alone4.58 NightsofstayChildren,coupleandfriends3.92 1‐618.32Childrenandfriends2.61 7‐1345.04Coupleandfriends0.65 14‐20 27.48Netfamilyincomepermonth(€) 21‐289.16<1000 4.60 Typeofplaneticket[1001,2000]20.69 Touristclass60.63[2001,3000]24.14 Charter/Travel package36.22[3001,5000]36.78 Others3.15[5001,8000]6.90 [8001,10000]4.60 >100002.30 Source:Ownelaboration 2.4.2 SSQI‐IPAcompetitorsbenchmarking SSQI‐IPAmethodologycanbeusedtocomparecompetitors’performancewhen appliedtovariousservicedapartments.SSQI‐IPAbyattribute,bydimensionandglobal areshowninTable2.2,Table2.3andTable2.4,respectively.Thenamesofthe servicedapartmentsanalyzedhavebeendesignedas“A”,“B”,“C”and“D”topreserve
Capítulo2.Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 47 anonymity.Themethodcanbeusedbymanagerstoknownottheglobalrelative positionbuttoidentifyinwhichattributestheapartmentsexceedcompetitors. ApartmentDhasobtainedthehighestscoresinmostattributes;meanwhilethelowest scoresaredistributedamongtheresortsofapartmentsBandC.Bothorganizations shouldmodifyorimplementnewservicequalitystrategiestoenhanceperformancein mostattributes.ApartmentBpresentsthebestperformanceinstafffriendlinessof roomcleaningservice.Despitethegoodperformanceingeneral,apartmentAhasthe lowestlevelsofqualityonattributes26and31,closenesstobeachandotherfront desksservices,respectively. Table2.2.SSQI‐IPAbyattribute TouristapartmentcomplexTouristapartmentcomplex A BCDABCD Attribute Attribute 1 7.166.376.707.6925 6.626.213.996.63 2 6.586.576.437.9026 3.734.123.858.31 3 5.424.306.436.5027 6.495.675.426.78 4 6.723.336.438.1028 7.145.555.627.12 5 6.616.014.676.4529 6.945.053.127.09 6 5.334.193.487.3830 6.666.296.578.25 7 6.683.405.787.6231 6.776.957.478.14 8 6.785.474.597.1832 5.766.725.627.98 9 6.755.814.306.6233 7.105.675.657.97 10 6.366.154.237.8334 7.395.455.89 11 6.345.055.925.5435 5.994.885.86 12 6.326.515.517.9836 7.975.897.32 13 6.486.074.047.8337 7.036.466.83 14 6.533.694.72 38 7.776.846.30 15 5.503.815.10 39 6.886.327.498.11 16 6.514.705.32 40 7.046.307.208.58 17 6.824.516.77 41 6.957.165.564.87 18 6.945.576.048.1942 8.156.877.028.34 19 6.787.175.537.8743 7.945.876.92 20 7.247.175.797.8244 7.275.387.04 21 7.246.134.747.4945 7.835.657.70 22 7.445.696.297.1746 8.246.536.79 23 5.806.223.318.2847 7.986.856.71 24 4.984.434.616.02 Source:Ownelaboration HighestSQI‐IPAscoresareinboldandlowestSQI‐IPAscoresareunderlined.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 48 Table2.3.SSQI‐IPAbydimension Touristapartmentcomplex DimensionABCD Tangiblesandfacilities6.425.345.137.34 Services6.946.136.398.09 Stafffriendliness7.596.806.947.48 Source:Ownelaboration HighestSQI‐IPAscoresareinboldarelowestSQI‐IPAscores areunderlined Table2.4.GlobalSSQI‐IPA Tourist apartmentcomplex Global SSQI‐IPARanking D7.441 A6.742 B5.773 C5.724 Source:Ownelaboration Theknowledgeoftherelativepositioneachfirmholdsinthemarketaswellasthe comparisonofeachattributeperformancerelatingtocompetitorsconstituteanuseful toolformanagersthatallowstoidentifyqualityimprovementopportunitiesfroma competitivepointofview.TheSSQI‐IPAbydimensionshowsthatapartmentDisthe bestperformerintangiblesandfacilitiesandservices,andapartmentAisthe championforthedimensionofstafffriendliness.Finally,theglobalSSQI‐IPAshows thattheapartmentDistheoverallbestperformer.Thisanalysisshowsthattomeetor exceedservicesdesiredbycustomersmightnotbesufficientasmanagersneedto outperformcompetitors.Rethinkingandreorientingthequalitystrategicprocedures regardingtheattributeswithlowerperformanceshouldnotonlybebasedoninternal performancebutonwhatothercompetitorsobtain.Excellenceandcompetitive advantagesinthemarketplacecanonlybebasedonthiscomparativeanalysis.
Capítulo2.Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 49 2.4.3 SSQI‐IPAvisualgridanalysis 2.4.3.1 TraditionalIPAresults IPAandSSQI‐IPAanalysisareappliedtoservicedapartmentsA1.Satisfaction(S), importance(I)andgap(G)meansaswellasthequadrant(Q)inwhicheachattributeis locatedinIPAanalysisareshowninTable2.6,aswellasthepriorityofeachattribute tobeimproved.ThispriorityislistedaccordingtobothIPAandgapanalysescriteria. AttributeswithnegativegapsandfallinginQuadrantIIIarecandidatesforremedial actions.SatisfactionandimportancemeansareplottedintoagridinFigure2.3(IPA analysis).Crosshairshavebeensetatthemeanofsatisfactionandimportance(data‐ centeredapproach),asthescale‐centeredapproachwouldhaveresultedinallthe attributeslyinginthe“keepupthegoodwork”quadrant.Threemorelines correspondingtothegapanalysiswerealsoadded:theidealline,wheresatisfactionis equaltoimportanceandtwolinesshowingagapof0.8.Asthemeanimportancewas greaterthanthemeansatisfaction,theideallinewasbelowthequadrants. 1 A similar table was produced for each of the apartments included in the sample, but for ease of exposition and concretion we only report here the results for organization A. However, we can provide all the tables on request.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 50 Figure2.3.Importance‐performanceanalysis(IPA)fororganizationA IPAanalysisshows8attributeslocatedinquadrantI(possibleoverkill);20in quadrantII(keepupthegoodwork);8attributesinquadrantIII(concentrate managementhere);andfinally,11attributesinquadrantIV(lowpriorityfor management).8attributes(3,6,10,12,13,25,32and35)needremedialactions. Gapanalysisreflects24attributeswithnegativegaps,22withpositivegapsand1 attribute(foodatàlacarterestaurant)withnogap.12oftheattributeswithnegative gapsarelocatedinthecell“keepupthegoodwork”inquadrantanalysis,reflecting highsatisfactionandhighimportance.Nevertheless,thesegapsarenothighly important(<|0.35|).
Capítulo2.Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 51 2.4.3.2 SSQI‐IPAresults Table2.7nowshowstheanalysisusingSSQI‐IPAmethod.SSQI‐IPAandimportance averagevaluesforeachattributearedisplayedinFigure2.4.Crosshairshavebeenset attheaveragevaluesofimportanceandSSQI‐IPAs.Theadditionallinesnowshowa greatergap(1.6)sincethisnovelapproachusesthebi‐dimensionaldistributionof importanceandsatisfactionandtheattributebehaviorisnowmoredifferentiated. Figure2.4.Syntheticservicequalityindicatorbyimportance‐performanceanalysis(SSQI‐IPA)for organizationA TheattributesplottedintheSSQI‐IPAgridarenowmoredispersedthaninIPA. Quadrantsandgapsinbothanalysessharethesameinterpretationsandmanagerial implications.Nowthereexist9attributesinquadrantI;17attributesinquadrantII;11 attributesinquadrantIII;and10attributesinquadrantIVinSSQI‐IPA.Therearethree moreattributes(4,14and30)inquadrantIIIthatinIPAappearinQuadrantII.These threeattributesarealsolocatedtotheleftoftheidealline,reflectinganegativegap.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 52 SSQI‐IPAanalysishasalsosubstantiallymodifiedthelistofattributestobe improved(Table2.5).Attribute32(roomcleaningservice)showsthefirsthighest priorityinremedialactions.Mostattributeshaveexperiencedgapincreases.For instance,attribute3(quietnessintheapartment)havepassedfromagapof‐0.96in IPAanalysistoagapof‐2.48inSSQI‐IPAanalysis.Nevertheless,thisattributedoesnot changepositionsintheprioritylistforremedialactions. Table2.5.AttributespriorityaccordingtoSSQI‐IPAandIPA Attribute Prioritytobeimproved SSQI‐IPA IPA Roomcleaningservice13 Quietnessintheapartment22 Comfortofthemattress31 Restaurantservice(dinner)47 Cleaningoftheapartment54 Bathroomfacilities65 Apartmentsecurity76 Foodatbreakfast8‐ Frontdeskservice(check‐in)9‐ Apartmenttemperature10‐ Apartmentviews118 Source:Ownelaboration SSQI‐IPAdoesdifferentiatemorethesetofattributesandaveragefiguresarelower thanthoseobtainedinIPA2. TheincorporationofthedistributionofrespondentsinSSQI‐IPAanalysisprovides moreaccurateresultsthanIPAanalysis,astheanalysiscanemploymoreprecise information.Correlationanalysisconfirmsthegreaterdispersionofattributesacross thegridresultsinSSQI‐IPA,whichimpliesthattherelationofdependencebetween bothconstructshasbeenreduced.InSSQI‐IPAthecorrelation(0.42)islowerthanin traditionalIPA(0.58).SSQI‐IPAisbasedonthewholebi‐dimensionaldistribution,so themethodwillprovidemoreaccurateandreliableresults,fromwheremore successfulqualitystrategiescanbedeveloped. 2 It is out of the scope of this paper to analyze how these results depend to a certain extent on the selection of the s parameters to graduate adequately SQI to the areas of over and under performance.
Capítulo2.Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 53 Table2.6.Importanceperformanceanalysis(IPA)fororganizationA
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 60 Yavas,U.&Shemwell,D.J.(2001).Modifiedimportance‐performanceanalysis:an applicationtohospitals,InternationalJournalofHealthCareQualityAssurance, 14(3),104‐110. Yeo,A.Y.C.(2003).ExaminingaSingaporebank’scompetitivesuperiorityusing importance‐performanceanalysis,JournalofAmericanAcademyofBusiness, 3(1/2),155‐161.
61 Capítulo3 3. AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersand TOPSIS:Anapplicationtoself‐containedandserviced apartments Abstract Thisresearchpaperproposesamethodologicalframeworktoassesstheservice quality(SQ)ofself‐containedandservicedapartments(SCSAs).Thestudyisbasedon 2753surveysadministeredinaSCSAresortlocatedinthesouthofGranCanariaIsland. SQisbasedonaquestionnairethatcontainsalistof48attributes.Theanswers’ formatisbasedona4‐facialexpressionsscalethatcannotbeeasilytransformedina numericscale.Thus,theambiguityandpossiblebiasedanalysishaspartlyovercome applyingthefundamentsoftheFuzzySetTheory.TOPSISapproachisthenemployed toobtainasyntheticSQindicator.Finally,anobservation‐attributerelative performanceanalysisisdevelopedtoidentifytheoperationalareasthatneed improvementorcankeepupthegoodwork.Thefindingsofthisstudymayassist managersandpolicyplannerswithimportantinsightsinordertoenhancethetourists’ experiencebyimprovingthosedimensionstouristsvaluemost. Keywords:Fuzzynumbers,TOPSIS,Servicequality,Extra‐hotelindustry,SCSAs.
62
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 63 3.1 Introduction Tourismistodayoneofthelargesteconomicsectorsintheworldandisofvital importancetotheglobaleconomy.Itwasresponsiblein2014forgeneratinga significant9%worldGDP(includingdirect,indirectandinducedimpact).Also,it provided1of11worldjobsandaccountedfor6%worldexportsin2014.Theindustry hasexperiencedsignificantandcontinuedexpansionoverthepastsixdecades.The figureshaveincreasedfrom25millionglobaltouristsin1950to1.100millionin2014 (UNWTO,2015).Ofthose1,100milliontourists,Spainreceivedlastyearahistoricpeak of65.2millioninternationaltourists,beingpositionedasthethirdworld’stoptourist destinationininternationaltouristarrivalsandthesecondininternationaltourism receipts.Infact,thecountryrankedfirstamong141countriesintheTravel&Tourism CompetitivenessIndex2015publishedbytheWorldEconomicForum(WEF,2015).In Spain,tourismisthemaineconomicdrivingforce,contributingdirectly10.9%GDP, generating12%jobsandcovering276%tradedeficit(MinisteriodeIndustria,Energíay Turismo,2015).Spainisdividedinto17regions,beingCatalonia,theCanaries, BalearicsandAndalusia,respectively,themaintouristones.Theyalltogether attracted74.1%touristswhovisitedthecountrylastyear. Inparticular,theCanariesreceivedin2014about11.5milliontourists,accounting for17.7%ofthetotal.Thishighvolumeofvisitantshasmadetourismbusinessthe mostremarkabledeterminantforeconomicdevelopmentinthearchipelagoofCanary Islands,accountingfor31.4%canaryGDPandgenerates35.9%totalemploymentin theregion.Sevenmajorislands‐GranCanaria,Tenerife,Fuerteventura,Lanzarote,La Palma,LaGomeraandElHierro,formtheregion.ItislocatedintheAtlanticOcean, 1500kilometressouthoftheSpanishmainlandand100kilometresoffthecoastof Morocco. ThepredominanceandimportanceofSCSAsintheregionisverydifferentfrom otherregionsintherestoftheState.In2014,theCanaryIslandsaccountedfor36.3% nationalandinternationaltouristsovernightinginnon‐hotelaccommodationsinSpain,
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 64 with3,512,043tourists(INE,2015).Thistypeofaccommodationisparticularlyrelevant inGranCanariaIsland.Theislandprovided422openSCSAsresortsin2014,which offered68.389beds,representingapproximately72%totalopentourist accommodationsand52%totalbedsontheisland,respectively(PROMOTUR,2015). Themaintouristareasontheislandarelocatedinthesouth,where92%totalbeds and98%non‐hotelbedsaregathered.Nevertheless,almost91%non‐hotelofferingis categorizedwith1or2keys.AccordingtoMoreno‐Gil&Martín‐Santana(2013),the predominanceofageingaccommodationestablishments,particularlyinmaturing destinations,becomespartofacycleofdecline.Thedestinationdowngrades,prices areforciblycutandmarginsforproducersdwindle,resultinginareductionof investmentsonqualityimprovements.Thus,thechallengeforbothnon‐hotel managersandpolicyplannersliesinhowtoimprovecompetitivenessinthisdownturn spiraloftheeconomiccycle. ServiceprovidersandpolicyplannersonGranCanariaIslandwagerforestablishing qualitystandardstoenhancetourismservicesandproductsinordertoattracthigher spendingtouristsandenterintoavirtuousrevaluationcircle.Thearrivalofatourist causesamajormultipliereffect,companiesimprovetheirbusinessresults,obtaining majormarginstoinvestinqualityimprovementsand,therefore,therepositioningof facilitiesandtouristservicescanbeachieved.Inaddition,thehugecompetition, especiallywithMediterraneandestinations,forcesserviceproviderstofindalternative waystomaketheirservicesandproductsstandoutamongcompetitors.Numerous authorshaveemphasisedthegreatimportanceofSQforthesuccessoforganizations (Ghobadian,Speller&Jones,1994;Kandampully,2000;Hung‐Che&Yong,2013).The provisionofhigh‐qualityservicestoclientsfostersconsumerloyaltyandsatisfaction which,inturn,enhancefinancialperformanceofserviceproviders(Dagger,Sweeney& Johnson,2007).Therefore,managersandplannersintheaccommodationindustry shouldpaycloseattentiontoSQissues,especiallybyunderstandingthefactorsupon whichconsumersbasetheirperceptionsandthemannerinwhichservicesofferedare positionedintheirminds.
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 65 Satisfactionquestionnairesarethecommonmethodemployedinorderto“listen” tocustomers’voices.Customersareaskedtorepresenttheirsatisfactiondegreewitha givensetofserviceattributes.However,whenjudgingabouttheirperceptionofthe serviceprovided,theyareratherimpreciseandsignificantmistakescanbeaddedinto theanalysis.Humanbeing’ssubjectivejudgmentsareassociatedwithvaguenessand anambiguityofconcepts(Chou,Liu,Huang,Yih&Han,2011).Tosolveit,itis necessarythedevelopmentoftechniqueswhichstrengthenthecomprehensiveness andreasonablenessofthedecision‐makingprocess. Inthisregard,theaimofthispaperisfocusedontwodifferentgoals.Weproposea methodologicalframeworktoassessdynamicallyandunderstandtheSQinSCSAsin ordertohelpmanagersandplannersidentifyservicestrengthensandweaknesses. Thus,thefirstgoalisbasedontheconceptofthedegreeofoptimality,wherethe TOPSIS(TechniqueforOrderPreferencebySimilaritytoIdealSolution)approachis employedtocalculateanoverallmonthlySQperformanceindex.Secondlythen,in ordertoidentifytheoperationalareaswhichperformcorrectlyorunderperform,an observation‐attributerelativeperformanceanalysisisfurtherapplied.Theliterature reviewwillshowthatpreviousstudiesonSQoftourismaccommodationshave principallyfocusedonhotelsandtheextra‐hotelindustryhasbeenpractically neglected(Moreno‐Gil&Martín‐Santana,2015).Thepresentstudyaimstofillthisgap byanalyzingtheSQinSCSAsforthefirsttime.Itcanthusbeasignificantcontribution totheliteratureofothertouristaccommodationalternativesdifferentfromhotels. Theremainderofthepaperisorganizedasfollows:Section3.2offerssomeinsights fromtheliteraturereview,methodologyisdescribedinsection3.3,theempirical applicationisdevelopedinsection3.4andsection3.5finisheswithconcluding remarks.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 66 3.2 Literaturereview 3.2.1 ServiceQuality Inthelastdecades,aconsiderablebodyofliteraturehasstudiedtheconceptofSQ, itsdimensionanditsmeasurementtechniques(Grönroos,1984;Parasuramann, ZeithamlandBerry,1985;Carman,1990).Atpresent,thereissubstantialdebateinthe relevantliteratureaboutitsconceptualization.Thoughthereisnotstillanall‐ encompassingdefinition,definitionsofSQsuggestedbyauthorsarebasedontheidea thatSQistheresultofthecomparisoncustomersmakebetweenwhattheyexpect aboutaserviceandtheirperceptionsonthewaytheservicehasbeenprovided(Lewis andBloom(1983);Grönroos,1984;Parasuramannetal.,1985).Parasuramanetal. (1985)elaboratedaSQconceptualmodelbetweencustomersandfirms,andproposed fivegapsinwhichthefifthisdefinedas“thequalitythataconsumerperceivesina serviceisafunctionofthemagnitudeanddirectionofthegapbetweenexpected serviceandperceivedservice”(p.46).Intheirmodel,expectedservicerefersto consumers’expectationsaboutwhatserviceafirmshouldprovideandthewayit shouldbeprovided,whileperceivedservicedescribesconsumers’sensationsabout howtheyfeelregardingtheservicethathasbeenprovidedbythefirms. SQisahighlysubjectivephenomenonfromthecustomer’spointofview(Holbrook &Corfman,1985).ConsumersevaluateperceivedSQcomparingtheirdirect experienceswiththeprecedingonesofanalogousnature.ZeithamlandBitner(2000) assertedthatconsumersdonotperceivequalityasauni‐dimensionalconstruct.Their assessmentimpliestheconsiderationofmultiplefactors.AccordingtoBenítez,Martín &Román(2007),SQevaluationisacontinuousprocessthatnecessitatesconstant monitoringtokeephighlevelsofSQonacertainnumberofdifferentserviceareas, whicharerepresentedthroughattributes.Inthissense,manyearlierstudiesevaluate SQathotelsusingspecificattributesoritemsuponwhichtheperceptionofqualityis determined(Akbaba,2006;Albacete‐Saez,Fuentes‐Fuentes&LLorens‐Montes,2007; Wilkins,Merrilees&Herington,2007;Yilmaz,2009;Rauch,Collins,Nale&Barr,2015).
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 67 TherehavebeenseveralstatisticalmethodsthathaveanalysedtheSQsinthe accommodationindustry,suchasPrincipalComponentAnalysis,AnalyticHierarchy ProcessorFuzzySetTheory.PrincipalComponentAnalysisisamultivariateprocedure thatanalysesadatatableinwhichobservationsarecharacterizedbyvariousinter‐ correlateddependentvariables.Themodelextractstherelevantinformationfromthe tableandrepresentsitasasetofneworthogonalvariablesinordertodisplaythe patternofsimilarityoftheobservations.Usingthismethodology,Rauchetal.(2015) identifiedafactorstructurewithwhichthenmeasuredSQinmid‐scalehotels.The AnalyticHierarchyProcessisawidelyusedtechniqueinmulti‐attributedecision making.Itsubdividesacomplexdecision‐makingproblemintoitscomponents,and arrangesthemintoahierarchicordertocomparetoeachotherusingapairwise comparisonscheme.Theempiricaluseofthismethodologymaybeconsultedin(Chin &Tsai,2013),whodevelopedaSQevaluationmodelinhotels.FuzzySetTheoryisa problem‐solvingcontrolsystemmethodologythathasbeenusedbyBenítez,etal. (2007)toevaluatedynamicallytheSQofthreebrandedhotelsonGranCanariaIsland. FirstintroducedbyZadeh(1965),theFuzzySetTheoryisdevelopedbasedonthe premisethatessentialelementsinhumanthinkingarelinguistictermsorlabelsof fuzzysets,andnotnumbers. 3.2.2 SCSAs 3.2.2.1 SCSAsinCanaryislands CanaryIslandsareatypicalcaseof“sun,sandandsea”masstourismdestination. Thedevelopmentofmasstourismontheislandsdatesfromtheearly1960s,when plannersandpolicymakerslaunchedtherapidconstructionoftouristfacilitiesand infrastructures,inconjunctionwiththechangingtourismproductionandconsumption atinternationallevel.Themassivebedsnumbersexpansion,especiallyconcerningto SCSAs,wasaccompaniedbyasimilarlyfastgrowthininternationaltouristarrivals. Duringtheperiod1963‐74,therategrowthofapartmentresortsontheislandofGran Canariaaugmentedby10,000%(RaoulV.Bianchi,2004).Thisfastand
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 68 disproportionategrowthwascharacterisedfromthebeginningbyuncontrolled constructionsderivedfromthescarceplanningregulationsthatexistedatthetime. Therewasatrendfortheconstructionofcheapandlow‐qualitySCSAsresortswhere thecompetitivenessoftheareawasmainlyobtainedvialowprices. StudyingSQinSCSAsrequiresclarifyingcertainissues.ThetermSCSAsinthe presentworkincludestouristbungalowsandapartments.Abungalowisanisolatedor detachedhousingthatmayhaveoneortwofloors,withfreespaceswithintheplot thatcontainsthem.Thistypeofaccommodationpresentsaspatialorganization relatedtothegardencity.Theapartment,meanwhile,hastypicallyalowersurface andisgroupedintoblocksofvariousfloors,whoseservicesaregatheredonthe groundfloor.Bungalowsandapartmentsarecharacterizedbyincludingself‐catering facilities,althoughtheymayalsoofferextrafoodandbeverageservices.Theyusually havepoolsandadditionalservicesforthecustomersintheresorts. 3.2.2.2 LiteratureonSCSAs DespitethesignificantpresenceofSCSAsresortsinEuropeand,morespecificallyin SpainandCanaryIslands,previousresearchinthisfieldissurprisinglyscarce.The limitedresearchanalysingself‐cateringfacilitieshavemainlyfocusedon:(1)the differenttypesoforganizationandmanagementmodels(Warnken&Guilding,2009; Cassidy&Guilding,2011a;Cassidy&Guilding,2011b);(2)theimpactoftheirgrowth andpotentialforinhibitingdestinationrejuvenation(Warnken,Russell&Faulkner, 2003);or(3)theperceivedimage(Moreno‐Gil&Martín‐Santana,2015).SQbasedon customers’perceptionhasbeenlargelyignored. Moststudiesanalysingcustomers’perceptionsintourismaccommodationsare mainlybasedonthehotelindustryandhaveusedmulti‐attributescales.Theliterature providesnumerousattemptstoidentifythespecificattributesanddimensionsof accommodations(Parasuramanetal.,1985;Akan,1995;Ekinci,Riley&Fife‐Schaw, 1998;Choi&Chu,2000;Min,Min&Chung,2002;Juwaheer,2004;Poon&Low,2005; Akbaba,2006;Yilmaz,2009;Mohsin&Lockyer,2010;Wu&KO,2013).Regarding
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 69 SCSAs,theonlynoticeableresearchisthatfromMoreno‐Gil&Martín‐Santana(2015), whoproposealistof47attributestodeterminetheperceivedimageofSCSAsoffering onGranCanaria. 3.3 FuzzyLogicMethodologyandTOPSISapproach 3.3.1 FuzzyLinguisticapproach SQfromthecustomers’perspectiveintherealworldcannotbeassessedina quantitativemannerbutratherinaqualitativeform,sinceSQisasubjectiveconstruct burdenedbyfuzzytermsorbuzzwords.Expressionslikesatisfiedordissatisfiedare highlysubjectiveandmaybedifferentlyrepresentedonrespondents’minds. Sentiments,emotionsandexperiencesplayadeterminantrolewhereexactscalesdo notexist.Inaddition,duringtheevaluationprocess,consumersareoftenimprecise andimportantmistakescanbepresentintheanalysis.Insuchacase,theuseof linguisticassessmentsratherthannumericalonesmaybeabetterprocedure.The fuzzylinguisticapproachdepictsqualitativeaspectsaslinguisticvaluesthrough linguisticvariables(Zadeh,1975). Sinceitsinception,thefuzzytheoryhasbeenappliedtonumerousmanagerialfields includingbanking(Seçme,Bayrakdaroğlu&Kahraman,2009);energy(Kaya& Kahraman,2011;Osman,Durmus&Ayhan,2016);medicine(Das&Kar,2014); aerospace(Zalnezhad,Ahmed,Sarhan&Hamdi,2013);orbiology (Meesters,Bak,Westmacott,Ridgley&Dollar,1998),amongothers.Intourism,fuzzy theoryhasalsobeenextensivelyapplied.Huang&Pen(2012)usedfuzzymethodand RaschmodelinTOPSIStoassessthecompetitivenessofthetourismindustriesinAsian countries.Tsaur&Wang(2007)evaluatesustainabletourismdevelopmentusingAHP andfuzzysettheory.Regardingtheaccommodationindustry,Chou,Liu,Huang,Yih& Han(2008)identifiedtheinternationaltouristhotellocationselectioninTaiwan.More specifically,researchonSQevaluationusingfuzzysettheoryhasgainedsignificant acceptanceathotels(Wu,Hsiao&Kuo,2004;Benitezetal.,2007).
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 76 3.4 EmpiricalstudyofSCSAservicequality 3.4.1 Data OneSCSAresortlocatedinthesouthofGranCanariahasbeenselectedasresearch contextinordertoapplythemethodologicalproposetakingintoaccountthefactthat theSQquestionnairehasbeendevelopedbythemarketingpersonnelfromthe complex.Theresortunderstudyhas93apartmentsand57bungalowsandbelongsto theMeliaGroup.Assaid,thespecificandself‐administeredqualitysurveysarepartof thecultureofthecompany,soonaregularbasisthesurveysareusedtoanalyse customers’satisfaction.TheSQquestionnaireiscomposedof48attributes, aggregatedin7dimensions(Table3.2).Alltheattributesareusedastheevaluation criteriainourmethodologyandreflectsomeofthemajorconcernsofinternational anddomesticcustomerslodgedintourismaccommodations.Atotalof2753 questionnairesweresatisfactorilygatheredfortheperiodApril2012toAugust2013. Thereceptionistaskedcustomerstofillintheformattheendoftheirstay.Tourist profilecouldnotbedeterminedbecauseofquestionnairesdidnotincludesuch information. Inthesurveyprocess,onesetofhumanfacialexpressions(emoticons)wassetfor eachrespondenttoassesstheperformanceratingofeachserviceattribute. Respondentswereaskedtotickoffbelowoneoftheexpressionsthatbetterfitstheir evaluationforeachattribute. 3.4.2 SCSAempiricalstudy Amembershipfunctionhasbeenassociatedtoeachfacialexpressioninorderto approximatethedifferentSQperceptionsofeachcriterionandtodealwiththe ambiguityincludedintheresponses.Throughthemembershipfunction,we characterizedthesefourfacialexpressionstoafixedsetofTFNs.Facialexpressionsof humanfacesvariedfromasmileyface(highestlevelofsatisfaction)toanangryface (showingdissatisfaction)(Table3.1).Foreachmonth,theanswerswereaggregatedto
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 77 obtaintheoverallaverageperformancevaluationasanewTFNforeachattribute. Table3.3showsthefuzzyperformancemeasuresforthesurveysfulfilledinApril2012, September2012,February2013andAugust2013.Theremainingmonthswere omittedforsimplicity.Eachfuzzymeasurerepresentstheoverallperformance valuationoftheresortforagivenmonthundereachattribute.Theuseoffuzzy numbershandlesadequatelytheambiguityofevaluatinguncertainandvague informationprovidedbythefacialexpressions,mitigatingsomeproblemsthatare usuallypresentedinthetraditionalstatisticapproaches.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 78 Table3.2.SCSAattributesinsurvey
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 79 Table3.3.SCSAfuzzyperformancemeasures
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 80
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 81 Table3.4detailsthepositiveandnegativeidealsolutions,aswellasitsvariation percentages.ItcanbeobservedthatboththelowestNISandthehighestvariation percentagesvaluescorrespondto:33.Internetarea/e‐point(51.02%);10.Cleaningstaff friendliness(34.10%);45.Professionalshows(27.59%);and40.Eveningprogram (20.65%),respectively.Thismarkedvariabilitymaybeexplainedbyadual phenomenon.Ontheonehand,heterogeneoustourists’preferencesthatincrement differencesinsatisfactionlevelsmaybepresent.Touristslessconcernedaboutcertain servicesmayrevealhighsatisfactionlevelswhentheyareprovidedwithlow‐quality services,andtouristsgivinggreaterimportancemaybedissatisfiediftheir expectationsaretoohigh,despitebeingprovidedwithhigh‐qualitystandards.Onthe otherhand,thelackofastandardqualityproceduremayresultinunderperformed services,especiallywiththosenoregularservicesthataretenderedout,asmaybethe caseofprofessionalshowsandeveningprograms,orevencleaningstaffinmany resortsinthesouthofGranCanariaIsland.Whenthejobistemporary,managersdo nothaveenoughtimetoconductperiodicallyscheduledreviewofprogressandtrain employeestomeetorexceedcustomers’expectations.Withallthat,the implementationofcontinuousqualityprogramsisamusttodaytoimprovecustomers’ experiencebyofferinghigh‐qualityservices,butmanagementshouldbecarefuland flexiblewhenestablishingincentivestostaffinordertoachieveidealsolutions.The identificationofserviceattributeswithlowNISandhighvariabilityallowSCSA managersredirectactionsandprovideguidelinesabouthowtorespondeffectivelyto tourists’perceptionsandidentifythestaffskillswhichneedtobeenhanced.Table3.4 alsoshowsthatthefollowingattributesshowthemosthomogenousresults: 28.Interiorcommonareas(2.57%and3.42%);29.Room(3.61%);40.Supermarketstaff friendliness(3.67%);and11.Cleaningstaff'sknowledgeofschedulesandhotelservices (3.80%).Itcanbeconcludedthatqualityprogramsarenotgeneratingpronounced disparitiesoncustomers’satisfactionlevelsontheseattributes.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 82 Table3.4.SCSApositiveandnegativeidealsolutions
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 83
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 84 TOPSISindicatordeterminestherelativeadjacencyofeachalternativetotheideal solutioninordertocomparealltheobservationsaccordingtotheSCSASQ.TOPSIS resultsaredisplayedinFigure3.2. Figure3.2.SCSAsimilaritytoidealsolution Itcanbeseenthatthepatternofbehaviourpresentsshortcyclesofupsand downs.ThemonthofApril2013highlightsasthebestperformancevalue(TOPSIS valueof0.80).Thisobservationpresentsahigherdegreeofsimilaritytothepositive idealsolutionandalowerdegreeofsimilaritytothenegativeidealsolution.Onthe contrary,August2013rankslastwiththeworstperformancevalue(TOPSISvalueof 0.50).Asshowed,interpretationsofTOPSISbehaviourcanhelpmanagersunderstand therelativeoverallqualityperformanceleveloveracertaintimeperiodanalysed.It canbeseenthatTOPSISbehaveswithupsduringthetwospringperiodsanalysedand thenstartsgraduallyfallingdowntothemonthsofAugust,whicharecharacterisedby lowTOPSISmeasures.MidandlastsummerinthesouthofGranCanariaIslandare characterisedbyhighpresenceofdomestictouristsinSCSAs,contrarytowinter seasoninwhichthedemandismainlyinternational.Otherspeculativeexplanationfor theseresultscanlieinthetemporarystaffcontractedforthesummerseasonwhere someregularstaffenjoysvacationoreventhetemperaturefortheseparticular months.TOPSISprovidesausefultoolformanagerstoelucidatethecauseofthis Apr‐12 May‐12 Jun‐12 Jul‐12 Aug‐12 Sep‐12 Oct‐12 Nov‐12 Dec‐12 Jan‐13 Feb‐13 Mar‐13 Apr‐13 May‐13 Jun‐13 Jul‐13 Aug‐13 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 TOPSIS
Capítulo3.AssessingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS 85 underperformance,andmanagersshouldidentifythespecificoperationalareaswhere itisnecessarytoimprovetheoriginatingaspectsofthelowperformancescores.In ordertohelpmanagersidentifytheoperationalareasresponsibleforthelowest TOPSISscores,anobservation‐attributerelativeperformanceanalysisforAugust2013 isdisplayedinFigure3.3. Figure3.3.Observations‐attributesrelativeperformance ThisdatehasbeenchosenforanalysisbecauseofitslowTOPSISvalue,butthe approachmaybeappliedoveranyotherparticularmonthsusceptibleofinterest. AttributesrelativepositionisdepictedalongtheXaxis,andobservationsrelative positionisdepictedalongtheYaxis.Crosshairshavebeensetattheactualmeansof ORPandARP,dividingthegridintofourquadrants.Asitcanbeseen,agreatnumber ofevaluationcriteriaareplottedinthebottom‐rightquadrant,whichmeansthat, despiteARPscoresarehigherthantheaverage,ORPvaluesareunderperformed. Managersshouldpayspecialattentiontotheseattributestogetherwiththoseplaced inthebottom‐leftquadrant(16.Ifneeded,didyoureceiveinformationaboutthe
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 92 Warnken,J.,Russell,R.,&Faulkner,B.(2003).Condominiumdevelopmentsin maturingdestinations:potentialsandproblemsoflong‐termsustainability. TourismManagement,24(2),155–168. WEF(2015).TheTravel&TourismCompetitivenessReport.WorldEconomicForum. Retrievedfrom http://www3.weforum.org/docs/TT15/WEF_Global_Travel&Tourism_Report_201 5.pdf.Accessed15thNovember2015. Wilkins,H.,Merrilees,B.&Herington,C.(2007).Towardsandunderstandingoftotal servicequalityinhotels,InternationalJournalofHospitalityManagement,26(4), 840‐853. Wu,H.‐C.,&Ko,Y.J.(2013).Assessmentofservicequalityinthehotelindustry, JournalofQualityAssuranceinHospitality&Tourism,14(3),218–244. Wu,W.‐Y.,Hsiao,S.‐W.,&Kuo,H.‐P.(2004).Fuzzysettheorybaseddecisionmodelfor determiningmarketpositionanddevelopingstrategyforhospitalservicequality. TotalQualityManagement&BusinessExcellence,15(4),439–456. Yeh,C.H.&Kuo,Y.L.(2003).Validatingfuzzymulticriteriaanalysisusingfuzzy clustering,InternationalJournalofOperations&QuantitativeManagement,9(3), 161‐75. Yilmaz,I.(2009).Measurementofservicequalityinthehotelindustry,Anatolia:An InternationalJournalofTourismandHospitalityResearch,(April2013),37–41. Yoon,K.Systemsselectionbymultipleattributesdecisionmaking(1980).PhD Dissertation,KansasStateUniversity,Manhattan,Kansas. Zadeh,L.A.(1965).Fuzzysets,InformationandControl,8(3),338–353. Zadeh,L.A.(1975).Theconceptofalinguisticvariableanditsapplicationsto approximatereasoning.PartI”,InformationSciences,8,199–249. Zalnezhad,E.,AhmedA.,Sarhan,D.&Hamdi,M.(2013).Afuzzylogicbasedmodelto predictsurfacehardnessofthinfilmTiNcoatingonaerospaceAL7075‐T6 alloy,TheInternationalJournalofAdvancedManufacturingTechnology,68(1), 415‐423. Zhao,R.,&Govind,R.(1991).Algebraiccharacteristicsofextendedfuzzynumber. InformationScience,54(1),103–130.
93 Capítulo4 4. Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodation selection:Astatedpreferenceapproach Abstract Self‐cateringaccommodationisaprimaryoptionfortourismlodgingatsome destinations.Attributessuchastheirsize,furnitureandequipment,poolarea, quietnessinthesurroundings,accessibilitytobeachorWi‐Fiplayanimportantrolein theselectionofthistypeofaccommodation.Understandingtourists’preferenceson thispotentialattributesisessentialtoimproveservicesandgaincompetitiveness.In thispaper,astatedpreferenceexperimentwasconductedinthesouthernareaof GranCanariaIsland,whereintervieweeswerefacedtothechoicebetweentwo hypotheticallodgingaccommodations,indifferentchoicescenarioscreatedtothat purpose.Consistentmultinomial(MNL)andmixedlogit(ML)modelspecificationsthat incorporatesystematicandrandomtastevariationwithintourists’preferenceswere obtained.Willingnesstopayforimprovingserviceswerealsocalculatedforthe differentmodelspecifications.Thefindingsobtainedfromthisstudymayassist managerswithimportantinsightstostreamlinetheirmarketingandpromotional strategiesandtomakeoptimalinvestmentdecisions. Keywords:Discretechoicemodels,Statedpreference,Multinomiallogit,Mixed logit,Self‐cateringaccommodation.
94
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 95 4.1 Introduction Self‐cateringaccommodationisthemainalternativeforaccommodationinmany tourismdestinations.InCanaryIslands,itaccountsforjust64.89%totaltourism accommodationestablishments.Specifically,onGranCanariaIsland,oneoftheseven islandsthatformtheCanaryarchipelago,thisfigurerisesto72.16%,representing 50.52%totalbeds(PROMOTUR,2016).Thesefigures,linkedtothefactthateveryyear morethan3milliontouristsarrivetotheisland,evidencetherelevanceoftourismas themostremarkabledeterminantfortheeconomicdevelopmentoftheisland,in whichself‐cateringaccommodationplaysanimportantrole. ThesouthernpartofGranCanariaIslandisthemaintouristpointontheisland, lodging88.2%touristswhovisittheisland.Themasstourismdevelopmentinthis regiondatesfromtheearly1960s,followingthecallofthe“MaspalomasCosta Canaria”internationalbidofideasforarchitectsandcityplannersaroundtheworld. Thewinningbidwastheprecursorofthesubsequentinitiativesfortheconstructionof thetouristurbanizationswhicharetodaythemaintouristpointsontheisland:Playa delInglés,SanAgustín,andMaspalomas.Thistourismdevelopmentwascharacterised bytherapidanduncontrolledconstructionoflow‐qualityself‐cateringaccommodation facilities.Infact,duringtheperiod1963‐74,therategrowthofself‐cateringresortsin GranCanariaincreasedby10,000%(Bianchi,2004).Apartfromtheinternational investorswhoownedthelargestresorts,numerousfamiliesfromtheislandacquired oneormoreaccommodationunits,attractedbytheprofitabilityontheexploitationof apartmentsThiscontinuedgrowthandthelackofplanningactionshaveresultedforty decadeslaterinamassandmaturetourismdestination,whereobsoleteandlow‐ middlequalityself‐cateringresortsownedbycollectivesofsmallinvestors predominate. Tourismaccommodationobsolescenceisoneofthemorecomplexissuesthat maturetourismdestinationslikethesouthofGranCanariaIslandface.Signsofthis
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 96 obsolescenceareevidencedgiventhedeclineintheoccupancyrateandthenumberof overnights,whilethebedstockcontinuesincreasing(PROMOTUR,2016).Managers’ strategyforthissituationofoversupplyhasfocusedonreducingpricesinorderto maintaintheoccupationrates,enteringthusinadowngradingcircleofdecline:the pricereductionisfollowedbyadecreasinginthequalityofservicesandproductsand thusinanabatementoftheinvestmentcapacityinrenovationandmaintenanceof accommodationfacilities.Thislossofcompetitivenessmakemanagersandplanners ontheislandwagerforimprovingqualitystandardsinordertorevertthistrend.Inthis sense,theknowledgeoftourists’preferencesforattributesthataffectself‐catering accommodationchoiceiskeyinordertoimproveservicesprovidedinordertomeet andexceedcustomers’expectations,augmentresortattractionandenhancefinancial performancetomakeoptimalinvestmentdecisionsanddevelopeffectivepromotional strategies. Thepresentpaperevaluatestourists’preferencesandtheirwillingnesstopayfor improvingeffectiveservicesattributesinaself‐cateringaccommodationcontext.A statedpreferenceexperimentwasdeveloped,inwhichtouristswereaskedtochoose betweentwohypotheticalself‐cateringaccommodationoptionsthatdifferedinterms ofserviceattributesandtheirlevels.Thedemandinformationextractedwasthen modelledusingdiscretechoicemodelling(DCM)methodologysoastoanalysehowits patternswillbeaffectedbyintendedmanagerialchanges.Multinomial(MNL)and mixedlogit(ML)specificationswereestimatedwiththefocusoncapturingboth systematicandrandomheterogeneityinpreferences.Thisisthefirstcontributionto literatureontheanalysisofconsumerpreferencesfortouristself‐catering accommodationselection.Despitesun‐and‐sandisthemainfactorthatmotivates touriststospendtheirholidaysatself‐cateringresortsonGranCanaria,other determinantslikeaccessibilitytobeach,quietnessorWi‐Fimaybedecisivewhen choosingtospendholidaysinoneresortoranother.Themethodologyemployedin thepresentpaperoffersanintegratedapproachtounderstandinghowthediverse
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 97 attributesrelatedtoself‐cateringaccommodationaffecttheprobabilityofchoice. Adoptingamanagerialprospect,thestudyprovidesusefulinsighttobothmanagers andpolicymakersinterestedinevaluatingthepotentialchangesthatcouldbemadeat self‐cateringaccommodationonGranCanariaIsland. 4.2 Literaturereview DCMhasbeenincreasinglyappliedoverthelastdecadestotestempiricallythe theoreticalproposalsontherelationshipbetweenproductandservicefeaturesand consumerchoicebehavior(Crouch&Louviere,2000).DCMhasbeenappliedin numerousresearchfields,includingtransport(Román,Espino&Martín,2007;Román &Martín,2014;Arencibia,Feo‐Valero,García‐Menéndez&Román,2015;Batarce, Muñoz&Ortúzar,2016;Yazdanpanah&Hosseinlou,2016);technology(Inoue,Takano, Kurosawa,Iwashita,&Nishimastu,2012;Kim,Lee&Ahn,2016);ecology(Franzén, Dinnétz&Hammer,2016;Grafeld,Oleson,Barnes,Peng,Chan&Weijerman,2016); environment(Tang&Zhang,2016);energy(Ruokamo,2016);orhealth(Scott,2002; Yoo&Doiron,2013;Lagarde,Pagaiya,Tangcharoensathian&Blaauw,2013).In tourism,theinterestinmodellingconsumerchoicehasgrownamongacademics (Crouch&Louviere,2000).Despitemosttourism‐relatedapplicationshavemainly focusedondestinationchoice(Haider&Ewing,1990;Morley,1994;Seddighi& Theocharous,2002;Twan,2003;Kelly,Haider,Williams,&Englund,2007;Barros, Butler&Correia,2008;Oppewal,Huybers&Crouch,2015),therearevariousstudies analysingconsumerpreferencesindifferenttourismcontexts,suchusheritage attraction(Alexandros&Jaffry,2005);parkfees(Mmopelwa,Kgathi&Molefhe,2007); conventionsites(Crouch&Louviere,2004);terroristattack(Araña&León,2008); touristinformationoffices(Araña,León,Carballo&Moreno‐Gil,2016);spacetourism (Crouch,Devinney,Louviere&Islam,2009);artexhibitions(Castellani,Pattitoni&Vici, 2015);orbirdwatching(Guimarães,Nunes,Madureira,Santos,Boski&Dentinho, 2015).Regardingthehospitalitysector,furtherstudiescanalsobefound,suchas
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 98 generalhotelchoice(Victorino,Verma,Plaschka&Dev,2005;Román&Martín,2016); hotelroomchoice(Masiero,YoonjoungHeo&Pan,2015;Masiero,Pan&Heo,2016); andchoiceofruralhousestay(Albaladejo‐Pina&Díaz‐Delfa,2009).However,despite therelevanceofself‐cateringaccommodationatsomedestinations,totheextentof ourknowledge,researchonconsumerpreferencesatthistypeoflodgingis surprisinglyunnoticeable.Studiesaddressingself‐cateringaccommodationhave mainlyfocusedonthevarietyoforganizationandmanagementmodels(Warnken& Guilding,2009;Cassidy&Guilding,2011a;Cassidy&Guilding,2011b);ontheimpactof theirgrowthandpotentialforinhibitingdestinationrejuvenation(Warnken,Russell& Faulkner,2003);aswellasontheperceivedimage(Moreno‐Gil&Martín‐Santana, 2015)ratherthantheadoptionofadiscreteapproachtoassessclients’preferences. Discretechoicemethodsareconsideredasthemostsuitabletooltoanalyze consumerpreferenceswhentheyarefacedwiththechoiceofabundleofinherent attributesthatinvolvesapurchasedecisionofaproductorservice.Tomodelsuch preferences,choicedataarerequired.Thesedatacanbecollectedfromtwodifferent sources,mainlyrevealedandstatedpreferences.Revealed‐preference(RP)dataare obtainedbyobservingindividuals’actualchoicesinrealenvironments,whereas stated‐preference(SP)dataarecollectedfromhypotheticalmarketsthroughthe implementationofastatedchoiceexperiment.RPdatahavetheadvantageof revealingcurrentorpastreal‐worldchoices.However,theyareconfinedtoexisting choicesituationsandtheremaybenotenoughvariationinrelevantattributestoallow estimationincertainmarkets(Train,2009).Onthecontrary,theuseofSPdatahas multipleadvantages:(1)theresearchercanincludeasmuchvariationineachattribute asheconsidersappropriate;(2)itenablesthedecompositionofeffectstoindividual factors;(3)itoffersadditionalinformationaboutoptionsconsideredbutrejected;(4) thecontrolofthedesignmatrixcaneliminatecollinearity.Inthissense,theuseofSP datahasbeenwidelyusedinmanyfields.Intourism,hospitalityandleisure,a thoroughreviewoftheextendeduseofSPdatacanbeconsultedinCrouch&Louviere
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 99 (2000).Thepresentpaperanalysestheconsumerpreferencesinself‐catering accommodation,applyingastatedchoiceexperimentforanalyzingcustomers’choices ofhypotheticalaccommodationoptions.Theanalysisisperformedinordertocapture bothsystematicandrandomheterogeneityinpreferences,sothatthemodel specificationallowshavingabetterknowledgeaboutthediversityofpreferencesand tastesinthisspecificmarket. 4.3 Experimentaldesign Astatedpreferenceexperimentwasconductedatthreeself‐cateringresorts locatedinthesouthofGranCanariaIsland.Twoofthethreeresortsaresingle propertiesthatofferaccommodationintwo‐floorbungalows.Thethirdonebelongsto abrandofhotelsandresortswithsignificantworld‐widepresencethatofferlodgingin both,apartmentsandbungalows.Thefirstresortunderstudyhas216bungalows,the second36bungalowsandthethirdone93apartmentsand57bungalows. Independentlyoftheunitunderanalysis,facilitiesandqualityofservicesofferedare quitehomogeneousandresortshavesimilarstarratings. Inthefirststageofthestudy,variousfocusgroupswiththemanagersoftheresorts werearrangedtodeterminetherelevantattributesfortheexperimentandthe suitablelevels.Afterextensivediscussionamongdifferentstakeholders,atotalof8 attributeswereidentified(1with6levels,3with3levelsand4with2levels)(see Table4.1).Thestatedpreferenceexperimentwasdesignedinawaythattourists’ preferencescouldbemeasuredthroughhypotheticalaccommodationoptionsthat approximaterealonesinthecontextoftheexperiment.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 100 Table4.1.Attributes andlevelsforthestatedchoiceexperiment
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 101 Thesixlevelsofpricewereselectedbytakingintoaccounttheaverage accommodationpriceandtherangeofpricespublishedforthisareaondifferent internetsources.Thedevelopmentofself‐cateringaccommodationinthesouthof GranCanariadatesfromtheearly1960sandthemajorityofresortsareownedbya collectiveofsmallinvestorswhohavepaidlittleattentiontofurnitureandequipment renovation.Today,serviceprovidersandpolicyplannersontheislandwagerfor establishingqualitystandardstoenhancetourismservicesandproductsandimprove thequalityofthedestination.Forthisreason,theattribute‘Furniture–equipment’ wasfinallyconsideredrelevant.Itrepresentstwoqualityoptions,differentiating whethermostitemsintheaccommodationunitneedtoberenewed.Mostself‐ cateringmanagersinthesouthofGranCanariachargedtheirguestsforusingthe connectiontotheWi‐Finetwork.However,afterbecomingawareofthegreatvalue thatofferingWi‐Fiserviceshasfortheoverallquality,therehasbeenagrowingtrend toincorporatefreeWi‐Fitotheirservices.Evenso,therestillexistsacertainnumber ofself‐cateringresortsthatdonotprovideanyWi‐Fiservicetotheirguests.Inthis line,theattribute‘Wi‐Fi’accountsforthreeoptionstocustomers,being‘No‐Wi‐Fi’, ‘lowsurfinganddownloadingspeed’and‘highsurfinganddownloadingspeed’. Despitethelevel‘No‐Wi‐Fi’isnotpossibleinanyofthethreebungalowsanalyzed,the authorsandthefocusgroupconsideredappropriateitsinclusioninordertoknowthe willingnesstopayforhavingaccesstosomekindofWi‐Fi.Theself‐cateringtourist areainthesouthoftheislandextendsupto6kmfarawayfromthecoast.Thus, guestsintheresortscanhaveaccesstobeacheitherwalkingmorethan30min, walkingbetween10min.and30min.oraccessingdirectly(walkinglessthan10min.). Becauseofthepresenceofnightlifepointsinthedestination,theidentificationofthe quietnessintheareaisalsoimportant,especiallyforcertaindemandsegments. Regardingtheattribute‘Stafffriendliness’,itaccountsfortwoavailableoptions: ‘unfriendly’and‘veryfriendly’.Thestatedchoiceexperimentwasdividedintotwo gamesaccordingtothenumberofguestslodgedintheaccommodationunit.The game1wasshowedtoguestswholodgedtogetherwith2orlesstravelcompanions,
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 108 where|istheNormaldensity.Theparametersareestimatedfromtheclassic maximum‐likelihoodmethod.However,exactmaximumlikelihoodestimationisnot possiblebecauseoftheintegralinEq.(4.2)hasnotaclosedform.Theprobabilityis thereforeapproximatedthroughsimulationandthesimulatedlog‐likelihoodfunction expressedinEq.(4.3)ismaximized.Anin‐depthexplanationofthesimulationprocess alongwiththepropertiesoftheestimatorcanbeconsultedinTrain(2009). 1 ∑ (4.3) InEq.(4.3), 1iftouristqchoosesaccommodationoptioniandzero otherwise.ThenumberofdrawsusedinthesimulationprocedureisrepresentedbyR. Thereexistseveraldrawingmethodstodiminishthesimulationvarianceandimprove theefficiencyoftheestimation(Halton,antithetic,quasi‐randomsampling,etc.)(Bhat, 2001;Hensher&Greene,2003;Train,2009).Drawingfromthedensitycanbe performedbyapplyingeitherrandomdrawsoraspecificsequence.Train(2009)shows indetailhoweffectiveHaltonsequencesofdrawsareinsteadofrandomdraws.The estimatesofMixedLogitmodelsinthepresentworkarebasedon2000Halton sequencesofdraws. 4.6 Modelresults 4.6.1 Modelestimation Fourlogitmodelsareestimatedinordertoevaluatetourists’preferencesfor attributesaffectingself‐cateringaccommodationchoice.Estimationswereperformed usingBiogeme2.0software(Berlaire,2003)andtheirresultsarepresentedinTable 4.3.Thefirstmodelestimated(MNL‐1)representsthesimplestmultinomiallogit specification,inwhichtheindirectutilityfunctiononlylinearlydependsontheself‐ cateringresortsattributes.MNL‐1modelassumesconstantcoefficientsacross
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 109 respondents.Allcoefficientshavetheexpectedsignandweredifferentfromzeroat 99%confidencelevel,withtheexceptionofthepriceattribute,whichwassignificant at95%confidencelevel,andthevariable‘furnitureandequipment’.Thesefigures confirmthat,excepttheattribute‘furnitureandequipment’,thevariablesconsidered intheexperimentsubstantiallyaffecttheself‐cateringaccommodationselection.As wastobeexpected,thepriceattributepresentsnegativesign.Therefore,ahigher pricefortheapartmentorbungalowdiminishesitsprobabilityofbeingchosen.The coefficientsoftheremainingattributesalsohavethepositiveexpectedsign,asthey areconsidereddesirableattributes.AccordingtothismodelMNL‐1,stafffriendlinessis theattributethatisweightedmoreheavilybyself‐cateringresortguests(0.765), followedby‘Wi‐Fi’(level2(0.689)andlevel1(0.571)),and‘poolarea,hammocksand parasols’(level2(0.445)).Thisresultshowshowimportantemployees’attitudeand behaviourareforthetouristexperienceandsuggeststhegreateffortmanagersshould directtotrainingprogramsandperiodicallyscheduledreviewofprogressfor employeestobecomemoreefficientinmeetingcustomerneeds.Inaddition,itiswell knownthatInternetistodayvastlywidespreadamongalltheareasofdailylifeof people.Itwouldnotbesurprisingthattouristswhendecidingwheretospendtheir holidayshavegreaterpreferencesforchoosingacertainaccommodationoptionwhich allowthemforconnectingtoInternetratherthanchoosingoneinwhichtheywerenot allowed.Infact,theestimationresultsconfirmwhatitwasexpected:thehighvalueof theattribute‘Wi‐Fi’forguestsataccommodationresorts.Thealternativespecific constantwasestimatedinthisfirstspecification.Asitwasnotstatisticallysignificant,it meantthattherewasnoaprioripreferencebetweenthetwohypothetical accommodationoptionsAandB.Thus,itwasomittedandwasnotestimatedinthe subsequentmodels.
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 110 Table4.3.Logitmodelestimationresults
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 111 ThesecondmodelML‐1presentsthesamespecificationofthetourists’indirect utilityfunctionasthemodelMNL‐1,withtheparticularitythatitanalyzesthe existenceofpanelcorrelation;corresponding,therefore,toaMixedLogitmodel specification.Itcanbeseenthattheerrorcomponent‘sigma’isnotsignificant, indicatingtheabsenceofcorrelationamongchoicesmadebythesamerespondent. ThethirdmodelML‐2isanextensionoftheabovepreviousmodels,asitaddsto theindirectutilityfunctioninteractionsofstay‐relatedandsocioeconomic characteristicsoftouristswithlevelsofself‐cateringresorts’attributes.Hess,Berlaire &Polak(2005)emphasizetheimportanceofacknowledgingthepresenceofsignificant levelsofheterogeneity.Inthepresentstudy,heterogeneityinpreferenceshasbeen capturedbyincludingfivesignificantinteractions:stafffriendliness×accommodation regime,quietness×travellingwithoutchildren,apartmentsize×numberofpeople stayingintheapartment/bungalow,andWi‐Fi×internationaltourists(levels1and2, respectively).Descriptionofsocioeconomicandtrip‐relatedvariablesthatinteract withthegenericattributescanbeconsultedinTable4.4. Table4.4.Descriptionofsocioeconomicvariablesinteractingwithgenericattributes SocioeconomicvariablesDescription Accommodationregime1iftherespondenthiresaregimeofhalfboard,fullboardorall‐ inclusiveduringtheirstay 0iftherespondenthiresonlyaccommodationandbreakfastor donotcontractanyadditionalfoodserviceduringtheirstay Travellingwithoutchildren1iftherespondenttravelswithnochildren 0iftherespondenttravelswithchildren Peoplestayinginthe apartment/bungalow 1iftherespondentstaystogetherwith3ormoretravel companionsinthesameapartment/bungalow 0iftherespondentstaystogetherwith2orlesstravel companioninthesameapartment/bungalow Internationaltourist1iftherespondentisanon‐Spanishcitizen 0iftherespondentisaSpanishcitizen Source:Ownelaboration Thefinalloglikelihoodandtheadjustedrho‐squaresupportsthebetterfitofthis modeloverthetwopreviousonesMNL‐1andML‐1.Thisindicatesthatthe explanatorypowerofthemodelhasbeenstrengthenedbecauseoftheinclusionof
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 112 theseinteractionterms.Thissuggeststhatcertainsegmentsoftouristsprovide differentweightsforthesameattributestotheprobabilityofchoosingan accommodationoption.So,touristswhohiretheregimesofhalfboard,fullboardor all‐inclusiveduringtheirstayvaluethestafffriendlinessmorepositivelythanthose whohireonlybreakfastordonotcontractanyadditionalfoodservice.Thismeansthat thepresenceoffriendlystaffexertsahigherpositiveeffectontheprobabilityof choosingtheresortfortouristswhohireintensiveadditionalfoodservices.Regarding thesegmentoftouristswhotravelwithoutchildren,modelestimatesshowgreater preferencesforguestswhospendtheirholidaysatresortslocatedinquietertourist pointsthanthosewhotravelwithchildren.Thesegmentoftouriststhatovernight togetherwiththreeormoretravelcompanionsincreasesitspositivepreferencesfor apartmentsoflargersize,asexpected.Finally,forinternationaltourists,thepossibility ofhavingWi‐Ficonnectionattheresorthasahigherpositiveimpactontheprobability ofchoosingittospendtheirholidaysthanforSpanishtourists.Thishigherpositive effectisevengreaterwhenthequalityoftheofferedWi‐Fiserviceisimproved(level 2).Coefficientfortheattribute‘quietness’isnownotsignificantwithmodelML‐2and thesignificanceforthecoefficientofthevariable‘furnitureandequipment’hasalso decreasedevenfurther.Thiscanbeexplainedbytheinclusionoftheinteraction terms.Nevertheless,theadjustedrho‐squareandthefinallog‐likelihoodmeasure evincethebetterfitofdataofthismodelML‐2thanthepreviousestimatedones. TheML‐3isthelastestimatedmodel.IthasthesamespecificationastheML‐2,but itnowtreatsthecoefficientsofcertainvariablesasrandomwithaNormaldistribution inthepopulation.Wefoundtwosignificantrandomcoefficientsthatwere incorporatedintothemodel,namely‘accessibilitytobeach(level2)’and‘furnitureand equipment’.Standarddeviationsfortheserandomcoefficientsareratherhigh, indicatingthevariedimpactoftheattributesamongthesampledtourists.Itisworth notingthattheincorporationofbothsystematicandrandomtastevariationintothe modelreducessubstantiallythesignificanceleveloftheestimatedmeanforthe
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 113 attribute‘furnitureandequipment’.Thisfactconfirmsthelowpositiveeffectthatthis variableexertsontheattractivenessofself‐cateringaccommodation. Notwithstanding,itisalsoworthpointingoutthatgiventherelativelyhighmagnitude oftheestimatedstandarddeviation,theinterpretationofthemarginaleffectofthis attributecouldleadtocounterintuitiveresultsforasignificantproportionofthe populationastheprobabilityofobtainingnegativefigure(forthemarginalutility)is notnegligible.AccordingtotheadjustedR2andlog‐likelihoodstatistics,theML‐3 estimationgivesthebestfittingmodelofallspecificationsanalyzed.Itcanbe concludedthatthemixedlogitmodelML‐3isthesuperiorstatisticalmodelamongthe fourmodelsanalyzed,asitaccountsforsomerandomvariationintastes,providing moreinformationabouthowtouristsevaluateattributesdeterminingself‐catering resortsselection. 4.6.2 Willingness‐to‐paymeasures Theestimationofadiscretechoicemodelallowstheidentificationofmonetary measuresforthedifferentself‐cateringaccommodationattributes.Fromalinear utilityfunctionandforcontinuousattributes,willingness‐to‐paymeasures(WTP)can bedirectlycalculatedfromthemodel’scoefficientsasthenegativeoftheratio betweenthemarginalutilityassociatedtoagenericself‐cateringresort’sattributeand themarginalutilityofthepriceattribute(Ryan&Wordsworth,2000).Fordiscrete variables,thecalculationofWTPmeasuresforchangingfromoneattributelevelto anotherisobtainedasthedifferenceinutilitydividedbythemarginalutilityof income,i.e.thenegativeofthemarginalutilityofcost..ThederivationofWTP estimatesinMLmodelswithrandomcoefficientsisnotatrivialissue.Sillano&Ortúzar (2005)discussin‐depththeproblemsassociatedtoobtainingWTPmeasureswhen usingtheseclassofmodels.AsthepricecoefficientinourmodelML‐3wasconsidered non‐random,theWTPdistributionfollowsthesamedistributionofthenumerator,i.e. normaldistributionwithmean andstandarddeviation .Table4.5
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 114 presentstheWTPmeasuresregardingthefourmodelsanalyzed.Theyrepresentthe averageamountofmoneythattouristswouldpayforimprovementsinutility,i.e.for movingfromacertainattributeleveltoasuperiorone.Inlinewiththedefinitionof thepriceattributeinthechoiceexperiment,WTPfiguresareinterpretedinEurosper night.WTPvaluesarethesameforthemodelsMNL‐1andML‐1,astheyare equivalent.Withthisspecification,itcanbeseenthattheattribute‘stafffriendliness’ is,onaverage,themostvalued(55.03€),followedby‘Wi‐Fi’(level2(49.58€)andlevel 1(41.05€),respectively).Itcanbeseenthattouristsarewillingtopaybetween4€and 10€moreforhavinganexcellent‐qualityfurnitureandequipmentinthe apartment/bungalowthanforhavingfurniturewhosemostofitsitemsneedtobe renewed.Regardingthepoolarea,hammocksandparasols,touristsarewillingtopay, onaverage,between23€and32€moreforspendingthetimeatalittlecrowdedpool areawithpossibilityoffindinghammockandparasolatanytime,insteadofbeingina poolthatisverycrowdedandwhereitisverydifficulttofindhammockandparasol (fromlevel0tolevel2).WTPmeasuresalsorevealthatguestsatself‐cateringresorts arepreparedtopaybetween19€and25€moreforspendingtheholidaysataresort wherebeachisaccessiblebywalkingbetween10‐30minutesratherthanforonethat isnotaccessiblebyfoot.Theseamountsrisetobetween21€and27€whenthebeach isdirectlyaccessedfromtheresort.Previousstudieshavemainlyfocusedon calculatingwillingnesstopaymeasuresforroomwithseaviewattributesratherthan fromalocationperspective(Wong&Kim,2012;Masieroetal.,2015).Infact,Truchet, Piguet,Aubert&Callois(2016)confirmthepositiveeffectfortourismdevelopmentof beacheswithin25kmradiusintourismdestinations. Aftertheidentificationofvariationintastes,‘stafffriendliness’and‘Wi‐Fi’continue beingthemostvaluedattributes,butonlyforthesegmentsoftouristswhohireda regimeofhalfboard,fullboardorinclusive(intensivefoodadditionalservices)andfor internationaltourists,respectively.Theidentificationofindividualtastessubstantially reducesWTPfiguresforalltheattributes,asitcanbeseeninthemodelsML‐2and
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 115 ML‐3.Thisisanexpectedphenomenon,asexplainedbyEspino,Martín&Román (2008).Theyanalyzedpreferenceheterogeneityinanairlinechoicecontextandstated thatwhentastevariationsaresignificant,theyshouldbeconsideredinestimating willingnesstopaymeasures,sinceiftheyaredisregardedWTPfigurescouldbegreatly overestimated. Table4.5.Willingness‐to‐paymeasures(€) ItcanalsobeseenthattheinclusionofrandomcoefficientsinML‐3havefurther decreasedWTPfigureswithrespecttothemodelML‐2.Whenbothsystematicand randomheterogeneityinpreferencesareidentified(ML‐2andML‐3),thesegmentof internationaltouristswhoovernightattheself‐cateringresortsiswillingtopaya higherquantityofmoneyforhavingaccesstoWi‐Fithannationaltourists.Onaverage, internationaltouristsarepreparedtopaybetween43€and45€moreforhavingaWi‐ Ficonnectionwithlowsurfinganddownloadspeedwithrespecttohavingnoaccess (forpassingfromlevel0tolevel1).Incontrast,Spanishtouristsarewillingtopaya AttributeMNL‐1ML‐2ML‐3 ML‐1 Furnitureandequipment 10.486.953.93 Wi‐Fi(fromlevel0to1)41.0537.09a35.12a Spanishtourists17.9516.34 Internationaltourists44.9742.86 Wi‐Fi(fromlevel0to2)49.5843.11a37.92a Spanishtourists23.3119.83 Internationaltourists51.2645.37 Poolarea,hammocksandparasols(level0to1)25.6023.5121.66 Poolarea,hammocksandparasols(level0to2)32.0026.4223.54 Accessibilitytobeach(fromlevel0to1)24.6021.8519.37 Accessibilitytobeach(fromlevel0to2)27.1223.7121.20 Quietness20.7317.50a15.21a Travellingwithchildren8.746.97 Travellingwithoutchildren22.0519.49 Stafffriendliness55.0348.93a44.14a Regimesofonlyaccommodationoraccommodationandbreakfast41.2637.26 Regimesofhalfboard,fullboardorallinclusive62.3256.17 Apartmentsize(€/m2)2.211.95a1.85a Overnighting3orlesspeople1.791.61 Overnighting4ormorepeople2.362.44 Source:Ownelaboration aAveragevalue
ParteII.TesisDoctoralenlenguainglesa 116 muchsmalleramountofmoney,between17€and18€.Thesefiguresincreaseasthe qualityoftheWi‐Ficonnectionisimproved.Fromthesituationofhavingnoaccess, internationaltouristsarewillingtopaybetween45€and51€moreiftheyareprovided withhigh‐qualityWi‐Ficonnection,incontrasttoSpanishtouristswhoarewillingto paybetween20€and23€.Regardingthesegmentoftouristswhotravelwithchildren, theyarepreparedtopaybetween7€and9€moreforovernightinginaresortlocated inaquietareathanforonelocatedinanoisyarea.However,touriststravelling withoutchildrenappreciatemorethetranquility,beingwillingtopay13€morethan thosewhotravelwithchildrenforspendingtheirholidaysataresortlocatedinaquiet zone.Thisfindingrevealstherelevanceofthequietnessfortouristsspendingtheir holidayswithnochildrenatself‐cateringresorts.Inaddition,guestswhohireintensive foodadditionalservicesestablishmorefrequentcontactswiththestaff.Thissegment ofcustomersiswillingtopayabout10€moreforfindingfriendlystaffthanguests whocontractonlyaregimeofaccommodationandbreakfastorthosewhodonothire anyadditionalfoodservice.Customerswhostayinonlyaccommodationor accommodationandbreakfastregimesarewillingtopaybetween37€and41€more formeetingamicablestaffatresortsandnotunfriendlypersonnel.Lastly,onelarger accommodationunitismostvaluedwhenthetouristovernightstogetherwith3or morepeoplethanifhe/shedoeswithfewerpeople. 4.7 Conclusions Thepresentstudyaddressedforthefirsttimetheanalysisoftourists’preferences forself‐cateringaccommodationthroughtheadoptionofadiscretechoicemodelling approach.Eightattributeswereidentifiedasrelevantfactorsfortheattractivenessof thistypeofaccommodation,being‘price’,‘furnitureandequipment’,‘Wi‐Fi’,‘pool area,hammocksandparasols’,‘accessibilitytobeach’,‘quietness’,‘stafffriendliness’ and‘apartment/bungalowsize’.Astatedchoiceexperimentwasconductedina sampleofthreeself‐cateringresortslocatedinthesouthofGranCanariaIsland,in
Capítulo4.Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodationselection:Astatedpreferenceapproach 117 whichtouristswerefacedthechoicebetweentwohypotheticalself‐catering accommodationoptionsdeterminedbycombinationsofdifferentattributelevels. FourLogitmodelswereestimatedinordertomodeltouristpreferences.Model estimatesaccountedforsystematicandrandomtastevariation,whichwere introducedbyincludinginteractiontermsofthesocioeconomicandtrip‐related variablesandthegenericattributesinthetourist’sindirectutilityfunction.Both systematicandrandomheterogeneitywereanalyzedusingmixedlogitmodels accountingfortheanalysisofpanelcorrelation.Themonetaryvaluesofthedifferent attributeswerealsocalculated,indicatingtheamountofmoneythattouristsare willingtopayforimprovingaparticularservice.Thesefindingshavesomeinteresting academicandpracticalimplications,whichrepresentnovelcontributionstothefield. Estimatesshowedthatresortsplacednearthebeacharepreferredbytouristsandthat theyarewillingtopaybetween21€and27€overthepriceforovernightingataresort closetothebeach.Theidentificationofheterogeneityinpreferencesalsoallowedthe calculationofthewillingness‐to‐paymeasuresfordemandsegmentswith differentiatedtastesontheattributes,showingthatwillingnesstopayforthevarious attributesvarydependingonthetouristsegments.Estimationresultsshowedthat ‘stafffriendliness’and‘Wi‐Fi’werethemostvaluedserviceattributes,particularlyfor thesegmentofgueststhathireintensiveadditionalfoodserviceduringtheirstayand internationaltourists,respectively.Theresultsalsorevealedthathowquietisthearea wheretheself‐cateringresortislocated,hasapositiveeffectonitsattractiveness, especiallyfortouristswhodonottravelwithchildren.Thistypeoftouristshasgreater preferencesforcalmenvironmentsatself‐cateringresorts.Incontrast,modelresults showtheloweffectthatthefurnitureandequipmentexertontheprobabilityof choosingacertainself‐cateringaccommodationoption.Itisworthnotingthatthis findingischaracteristicofthesampledresortsandthespecificexperimentaldesign andcontextoftheresearch.Thisoutcomemaybehelpfulasabasisforconfirming,
AnexoA–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo2* Revisingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry *Elcuestionariorelativoalcapítulo2fuetraducidoeimpresoenlosidiomasinglés,alemányespañol.Por cuestionesdesimplicidad,enelpresentoAnexosemuestraelcuestionarioenelidiomainglés.125 AnexoA
AnexoA–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo2 Revisingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 126
AnexoA–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo2 Revisingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 127
AnexoA–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo2 Revisingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 128
AnexoA–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo2 Revisingimportance‐performanceanalysis:Anewsyntheticservicequalityindicatorappliedtothetouristapartmentindustry 129
AnexoB–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo3 AssesingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS:Anapplicationtoself‐containedandservicedapartments 131 AnexoB
AnexoB–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo3 AssesingservicequalitywithFuzzyNumbersandTOPSIS:Anapplicationtoself‐containedandservicedapartments 132
AnexoC–CuestionarioutilizadoenelCapítulo4* Determinantsforself‐cateringaccommodation:Astatedpreferenceapproach *Elcuestionariorelativoalcapítulo4fuetraducidoeimpresoenlosidiomasinglés,alemányespañol.Por cuestionesdesimplicidad,enelpresentoAnexosemuestraelcuestionarioenelidiomainglés.133 AnexoC