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The purpose of this paper is to examine the hard and soft measures of service quality and visitors' satisfaction, which ultimately contribute to visitor loyalty to the destination, specifically in the context of the Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) in Sibu, Sarawak (Malaysia).

The study uses a quantitative research approach with 427 valid responses from domestic and international tourists of BCF and employs the cognitive-affective-conative theory to examine how the festival impacts visitor loyalty.

The findings indicate that both hard and soft measures significantly contribute to the service quality and visitor satisfaction at the BCF. Additionally, service quality and visitor satisfaction were found to positively influence destination loyalty, while the relationship between legibility and visitor satisfaction was not significant.

The findings encourage the ministry and event organisers to adopt a destination event strategy that positions Sibu as an attractive event destination capable of attracting domestic and international tourists.

The findings of this study contribute to the existing body of knowledge on event tourism and destination loyalty by applying the cognitive-affective-conative theory. This study marks the first of its kind, analysing both the tangible (hard) and intangible (soft) measures of service quality and their impact on visitor satisfaction, ultimately influencing visitor loyalty to the destination, particularly in the context of the BCF in Sibu, Sarawak.

This paper aims to model the price of cellar tours using a hedonic pricing approach. The authors analyze the complex relationship between the price of an add-on (here, cellar tours) and the price of the reference product (here, wine).

Thanks to a large database containing information on about 1,000 winery experiences, the authors regress the price of cellar tours on wine prices and on a broad set of objective characteristics that are (1) tour specific and (2) common to all tours offered by the winery. These exogenous controls include the type and style of experience offered, amenities and winemaking characteristics.

The authors show that the price of cellar tours follows the price of the most expensive wine sold by the winery, which is a proxy for reputation. The authors find that one of the main determinants of cellar tour prices is visit length: wineries charge more for longer experiences. The number of wines tasted during the visit also increases the price. Prices are higher in places where there is a high level of wine tourism activity, which might be a sign of authenticity.

Wine producers in different countries need to gain insights on how to price cellar tours, which are composite goods. The results can help practitioners price their winery experience according to common practices in different wine regions. The results may also be of interest to professionals in the tourism sector who are in charge of the pricing of by-products (e.g. tee-shirts, books, etc.), or for luxury fashion labels extending their brand in the catering industry with cafes and restaurants.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first empirical analysis that examines the complex relationship between the price of an add-on and the price of the reference product in the context of wine tourism.

Land value in urban areas in India is influenced by regulations, bylaws and the amenities associated with them. Planning interventions play a significant role in enhancing the quality of the neighbourhood, thereby resulting in a change in its value. Land is a distinct commodity due to its fixed location, and planning interventions are also specific to certain locations. Consequently, the factors influencing land value will vary across different areas. While recent literature has explored some determinants of land value individually, conducting a comprehensive study specific to each location would be more beneficial for making informed policy decisions. Therefore, this article aims to examine and identify the critical factors that impact the value of residential land in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India.

The study employed a combination of semi-structured and structured interview methods to construct a Relative Importance Index (RII) and ascertain the critical determinants affecting residential land value. A sample of 36 experts, comprising property valuers, urban planners and real estate professionals operating within the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India, were selected using snowball sampling techniques. Subsequently, rank correlation and ANOVA methods were employed to evaluate the obtained results.

Location and stage of urban development are the most critical determinants in determining residential land values in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. The study identifies a total of 13 critical determinants.

A scenario planning approach can be developed to achieve an equitable distribution of values and land use entropy. A land value assessment model can also be developed to assist professional valuers.

There has been a lack of emphasis on assessing the impact of planning interventions and territorial regulation on land values in the context of Delhi. This study will contribute to policy decision-making by developing a rank list of planning-based determinants of land value.

Despite city authorities in Bangladesh being concerned about urban sustainability, they often face difficulties in addressing predominant urban challenges threatening urban sustainability, due to limited relevant literature. To reduce this gap, this study aims to address the predominant urban challenges and assess their severity levels in four city corporations of Bangladesh, e.g. Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal, and Gazipur.

Using a mixed-method approach, this study rigorously analyzed field-level data obtained from 1,200 residents across selected cities using diverse statistical techniques. The quantitative analysis included descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and chi-square tests, whereas qualitative insights were derived through thematic analysis.

The study uncovered nine predominant urban challenges under two crucial factors “Feeble Urban Management” and “Illicit Activities” that collectively explain 62.20% variance. “Feeble Urban Management” explains 44.17% variance, whereas “Illicit Activities” accounts for 18.13%. Within these challenges, uncontrolled urban sprawl, inadequate disaster management, congested roads, and shabby drainage and waste management pose significant threats to urban sustainability. Illicit activities, manifested by encroachment on water sources, grabbing roadside, destruction of natural properties, and activities undermining social security, compound the urban sustainability issue. Severity analysis reveals Sylhet (54.5%), Rajshahi (46.4%), and Barishal (31.2%) as highly impacted, whereas Gazipur exhibits moderate severity (66.7%).

The findings of this study reveal intrinsic insights into urban challenges in Bangladesh that will provide valuable guidance to city authorities, equipping them to implement integrated and effective initiatives and programs that overcome these predominant urban challenges, with a specific focus on Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Barishal city corporations.

After completion of the case study, the participants would be able to understand the challenges in building a sustainable homestay tourism business; develop a positioning statement for La Pinekonez which builds a unique competitive advantage; and outline elements of the business strategy to profitably sustain and grow a sustainable tourism homestay in terms of service offering, pricing, marketing and operations.

La Pinekonez Homestay, located in the beautiful region of Himachal Pradesh, India, is the subject of this case study, which explores both its successes and its difficulties. In August 2022, Arvind, the dedicated sole proprietor of La Pinekonez, grappled with multifaceted challenges, the first being the foray of established hotel chains into the homestay business. As the protagonist, was is in dilemma of preserving La Pinekonez’s unique identity amidst corporate competitors, particularly with regards to differentiating from the expanding hotel chains. The clash between customer expectations for hotel-like amenities and the homestay’s commitment to sustainable tourism presented a crucial challenge. Negative reviews questioning the authenticity of La Pinekonez’s green initiatives heightened the complexity. Adding to Arvind’s predicament were the seasonal fluctuations in tourist inflow and his aspiration to embrace immersive tourism trends. This case study facilitates exploration of strategic positioning, sustainability management and marketing strategies in the dynamic and competitive hospitality industry. It also offers insights into the complexities of balancing differentiation, customer satisfaction and sustainability while navigating the evolving landscape of tourism trends.

This case study is suitable for students of tourism and hospitality management at postgraduate level. The case study can be discussed once the basic concepts of hospitality management and service dimensions are covered.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 12: Tourism and hospitality.

Applying the value-attitude-behavior (VAB) model, this study investigated how perceived utilitarian and hedonic values (i.e. novelty and emotion) affect individuals' attitudes toward medical hotels and how these attitudes, in turn, influence their intentions to stay at medical hotels. The current study also explored the moderating impact of overall health status on the relationships between perceived utilitarian, novelty and emotional values and attitudes toward medical hotels.

The data collected from 351 individuals who spent a night in a hospital to undergo medical treatment was used in conducting structural equation modeling to evaluate the research model and test the study hypotheses.

The study results revealed that perceived utilitarian, novelty and emotional values exerted a positive influence on individuals’ attitudes toward medical hotels, consequently enhancing their intention to stay. Additionally, significant moderating impacts of overall health status on the associations between perceived utilitarian, novelty and emotional values and attitudes toward medical hotels were observed.

The study findings provide useful guidance for professionals, such as operators, marketers and managers in medical hotels. These insights can improve operational and marketing strategies, benefiting both the industry and healthcare accommodation seekers.

This study is among the first to empirically assess a theoretical model that explored the influence of individuals' value perceptions within the realm of medical hotel establishments.

This study aims to analyze the importance and performance of customer-facing technologies in luxury hotels. The study also assessed differences between and within the four generations in the importance-performance analysis (IPA).

Data were collected using a Qualtrics panel of recent luxury hotel customers in the USA belonging to all four generations. The cross-generational IPA was conducted using t-tests and (ANAOVA).

The IPA matrix concentrated most technology items in either low importance – low performance or high importance – high performance quadrants. One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences between generations on the importance ratings of all technology items except wireless charging power solutions and on the performance ratings of all technology items. Furthermore, post hoc tests indicated that millennials rated luxury technology most favorably among the four cohorts, followed by generations Z, X and Baby Boomers. In addition, significant differences between the importance and performance of many technology items within each generational cohort were observed. Overall, Wi-Fi was unanimously ranked across generations as the most important technology among luxury guests, but it was the only one that scored lower in performance than importance.

The findings of this study contribute to hospitality scholarship in two primary ways: the importance and performance of technology and generational differences. The results advance the understanding of the impact of generational factors on customer-facing technological adoptions in the luxury hotel sector.

Technologies that are pervasive in the home also become vital offerings for hotels. The more pervasive technology, the more a luxury hotel must work to ensure that it performs at optimal levels. Additionally, which technologies are most important to targeted generations are provided so practitioners may budget for their implementation.

This research is a pivotal step forward in unraveling the intricate interplay between generational factors and technological evaluations, providing a foundation for future research and practical applications in a rapidly evolving technological landscape in the hospitality industry.

Thailand's Halal-friendly destination attributes are the focus of this study. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Halal-friendly attributes on tourists’ intentions to visit non-Muslim destinations. Also, this study analyzes the impact of Muslim tourists’ attitudes on Halal-friendly characteristics and their intentions to visit countries that are not predominantly Muslim.

To accomplish objectives, a survey was used to gather the data by using a convenient non-probability sampling approach from Muslim-majority countries Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. A proposed structural equation model was used to assess the influence of the variables above on the outcomes.

This study found that the factors of Halal-friendly facilities and Halal-friendly service positively influence the visiting intentions of Indonesian, Malaysian and Brunei Muslim tourists. In contrast, the social environment, food/beverages and local and staff attributes do not influence visit intentions. The tourist attitude mediates the relationship between the intention to visit and three dimensions of Halal-friendly attributes (social environment; food/beverage; and locals and staff).

This study did not investigate different kinds of dimensions for Muslim tourists visiting Thailand, such as preferences regarding personnel and families, cultural and artistic characteristics and the attributes of events and festivals. These dimensions cover a wide range of Halal-friendly tourism aspects. Second, this research did not investigate the associations between the demographics of Muslim tourists (age, gender, education level and income level) and the model variables. Such an investigation could have helped business developers and marketers in Thailand develop an efficient strategy for target marketing. The results of this research provide fundamental guidance and information for tourist enterprises in non-Muslim nations on how to enhance Muslim travellers’ images and intentions. However, because of the influence of other variables, locations in various areas of Asia, Africa and Europe may exhibit somewhat different effective qualities (e.g. environment, culture, history, etc.).

This study sheds light on the factors contributing to visitor satisfaction in the context of a desire to go to a Halal-friendly site. This insight from this study can be adapted and applied by tourism managers and marketing executives to build or develop the Halal-friendly destination image of a tourist destination (Phuket) in the right dimensions. It is a possibility that the image of a tourist attraction has a tight relationship with travelers’ perceived value, contentment and loyalty (Hsu et al., 2008; Khunrattanaporn, 2013; Pike, 2008). Battour et al. (2022) found that Muslims’ behavioural intentions are affected by the Halal attributes of the destination. It indicates that Halal attributes are very important for Muslim tourists when selecting a destination. To attract Muslim tourists, this study can be used for strategies and planning.

This study sheds fresh light on the concept of Halal tourism. It examines the perspective of Muslim tourists using Halal goods or services in anticipation of a future trip to a non-Muslim location (Phuket). This study is crucial for destination tourism operators, managers and marketers who lead Muslim tourists to non-Muslim destinations.

The sharing economy enables apartment owners to generate income from their assets. “Agoda Homes” is an online travel agent (OTA) that directly competes with Airbnb. A destination has to discover its competitiveness, but few studies have provided an overview of accommodation attributes in each destination, which are crucial to shaping its brand image. This paper aims to illustrate firm-generated content or attributes that apartment owners list about their properties on an OTA platform to comprehend factual information about apartments in each destination with various star ratings and user ratings and to formulate a research model for future studies.

Informational content and accommodation attributes for apartments are automatically collected using a Web scraping tool (the Data Miner). Descriptive statistics and text analysis (word cloud and word frequency) are used to analyze data.

Findings reveal the primary location, facilities, cleanliness and safety attributes for all apartments in each destination, along with star ratings and user ratings. A research framework for scholars is also suggested. Guidelines for stakeholders in the tourism industry are additionally furnished.

This work concentrates on apartments, which have received less attention in the tourism literature. The study gathers factual data from a website to mitigate respondent bias issues inherent in the traditional survey methods.

Developing a reliable cost estimate at the early stage of construction projects is challenging due to inadequate project information. Most of the information during this stage is qualitative, posing additional challenges to achieving accurate cost estimates. Additionally, there is a lack of tools that use qualitative project information and forecast the budgets required for project completion. This research, therefore, aims to develop a model for setting project budgets (excluding land) during the pre-conceptual stage of residential buildings, where project information is mainly qualitative.

Due to the qualitative nature of project information at the pre-conception stage, a natural language processing model, DistilBERT (Distilled Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), was trained to predict the cost range of residential buildings at the pre-conception stage. The training and evaluation data included 63,899 building permit activity records (2021–2022) from the Victorian State Building Authority, Australia. The input data comprised the project description of each record, which included project location and basic material types (floor, frame, roofing, and external wall).

This research designed a novel tool for predicting the project budget based on preliminary project information. The model achieved 79% accuracy in classifying residential buildings into three cost_classes ($100,000-$300,000, $300,000-$500,000, $500,000-$1,200,000) and F1-scores of 0.85, 0.73, and 0.74, respectively. Additionally, the results show that the model learnt the contextual relationship between qualitative data like project location and cost.

The current model was developed using data from Victoria state in Australia; hence, it would not return relevant outcomes for other contexts. However, future studies can adopt the methods to develop similar models for their context.

This research is the first to leverage a deep learning model, DistilBERT, for cost estimation at the pre-conception stage using basic project information like location and material types. Therefore, the model would contribute to overcoming data limitations for cost estimation at the pre-conception stage. Residential building stakeholders, like clients, designers, and estimators, can use the model to forecast the project budget at the pre-conception stage to facilitate decision-making.