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This study aims to strengthen implications about hotel cleaning outcomes by comparing guests’ perception of the amount of contact they have with cleanliness of hotel surfaces.

This study used two data-collection methods, a survey and an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) test. Data were collected from recent hotel guests using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Guests were asked to identify hotel surfaces that they touch most frequently. Actual hotel cleanliness was measured using empirical data collected with ATP meters. The two data sets were used to compare guests’ perceptions about the amount of contact they have with actual cleanliness measurements of those hotel surfaces.

This study found that amount of guest contact was related to cleanliness of surfaces in guestrooms. Significant differences were found in guest perception between high- and low-touch areas and between guestrooms and hotel public areas. More high-touch areas and higher ATP readings were found in guestrooms than in hotel public areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge this study is the first to compare guest contact with hotel surfaces to a scientific measure of hotel cleanliness. In addition, this study is unique because it assesses guest contact and cleanliness of public areas to provide a holistic view of hotel-cleaning needs. The study offers industry empirically based results from guest perception and scientifically based data that can be used to improve hotel housekeeping programs.

Drawing on protection motivation theory (PMT) and expectancy theory, this study aims to investigate consumers’ lodging consumption intentions during a pandemic crisis.

The research survey was conducted during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (August, 2020) in the USA to investigate consumers’ lodging intentions amidst the pandemic crisis. PLS-SEM and multiple regression were conducted to explore answers to proposed research questions.

The research finds that, during the pandemic crisis, consumers’ lodging consumption intentions are subject to both their internal protection motivation evaluations and the external prevention practices implemented by the lodging facilities regardless of property types and travel purposes. Notably, the research finds that consumers are willing to make efforts and pay extra for a safe stay at lodging facilities.

This research contributes to the literature regarding the applications of PMT and expectancy theory from a crisis management perspective, and it provides implications and guidelines to the crisis management practices in the lodging industry.

The current research examines the specific protection motivation appraisal factors and prevention practices significantly impacting consumers’ decisions in terms of willingness to stay at various lodging facilities (hotels and non-hotel homestay/short-term rental properties) for different purposes (business and leisure) and to pay premiums for a safe stay.

There are decades of research analyzing turnover in the hospitality industry and yet it remains nearly double other industries. Whereas previous studies have analyzed training and its impact on turnover, the purpose of this paper is to look at the direct relationship between training at the management level and how this impacts their direct employees’ turnover intentions.

This study utilized annual evaluation data from two luxury resorts in the southeast USA. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted which resulted in four factors: management style, manager/employee relations, manager training and employee turnover intentions. Multiple regression was utilized to assess these relationships between factors.

The analyses show that an employee’s perception of his or her manager was inversely related to turnover intentions. Additionally, it was found that management training and management style had a significant inverse relationship with employee turnover intentions. Finally, this study found that as manager training increases, employee turnover intentions decrease. This research indicates that if hotels invest in management training then there will be a reduction in employee turnover intention.

The sample consisted of only two luxury full service hotels in the southeastern USA. Both luxury hotels recruited a significant amount of employees from local universities; therefore, the workforce was more educated than other hotels. This study should be replicated across hotel types and throughout various locations.

This research has relevant implications for practitioners. General managers should analyze their training requirements and fiscal appropriations. This research finds that if hotels invest in management training then there will be a reduction in employee turnover. If managers had more training, this study indicates that employees would view their managers more favorably, feel closer to their managers and have less of a desire to leave the organization.

Extant research has shown that employee training programs impact employee turnover and that manager training programs impact manager turnover. This study extends that research by showing that these segments are not autonomous; manager training has a significant direct effect on employee turnover intention. This has not been studied in turnover intention literature suggests that this could be the missing variable in the body of turnover research.

This study aims to empirically assess restaurant surfaces’ cleanliness and compare them to customers’ perceptions about the cleanliness of surfaces when dining in a restaurant.

This study used two methods to collect data. The first was a survey method to gauge customers’ perceptions and an empirical test to measure cleanliness using an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) meter. Two data sets were collected to compare customers’ perceptions and actual cleanliness measurements. One data set surveyed respondents as to their perceptions of high- and low-touch restaurant surfaces among 19 areas of the dining room and 15 surfaces from the restroom, and their perceived cleanliness or dirtiness of those same surfaces. The second one conducted empirical measurements of the cleanliness of these surfaces using an ATP meter, which were then compared to customers’ perceptions.

Although all surfaces had higher ATP readings than a 30 relative light units’ threshold, there were significant differences in ATP readings among surfaces. Results showed a fair amount of consistency between the consumers’ perceptions of cleanliness and the actual results of ATP readings for the cleanest areas, but very little consistency in customers’ perceptions and experimental measurements for the dirtiest areas.

This study empirically demonstrated the need for improved cleaning techniques and the importance of proper training for foodservice employees. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, results of this study suggest an additional responsibility on managers and staff to ensure clean environments and the imperative to address the concerns of their customers.

Based on an extensive literature review, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior studies have compared consumers’ cleanliness perceptions with empirical measurements of cleanliness in restaurant settings using an ATP meter. The results of this study provide restaurant managers a better understanding of customers’ perceptions of cleanliness. It also provides restaurant managers and staff information to develop more effective cleaning procedures. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, perceptions of cleanliness and measures of actual cleanliness are more important than they have been in the past.

This paper aims to examine generational formative referents as factors that influence meeting attendees’ adoption and technology use within virtual and hybrid meetings, and test the applicability of the technology acceptance model (TAM) as presented by Davis (1986). This study investigates how attendees’ experiences from their respective formative years (i.e. generational formative referents), the basis of the Generational Cohort Theory (GCT), influence the TAM model constructs.

A partial least squares analysis test is utilized to determine technology acceptance within meetings across three generations: Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1978) and Generation Y (1979-2000).

The multi-group comparison determined all three generations responded similarly with regard to the paths being tested, indicating each of the three generational cohorts within this study are influenced by the experiences of their formative years, which are different for each generation.

The findings add to the limited foundation for scholars wanting to further analyze technology use within meetings, and for those interested in generational influences.

This study provides useful information for marketers and planners to increase meeting attendance, enhance attendee satisfaction, and further explore meeting engagement opportunities.

Underpinning the GCT, this study is the first within hospitality and tourism studies to investigate a theoretical model on generational technology use within meetings.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a typology of customer delight in the hotel industry. By doing so, it identifies patterns by which hotels delight their guests. The paper explores the Torres and Kline model in light of the data and proposes an addition to the model.

Content analysis is utilized to analyze letters of customer feedback provided by several hotels. A codebook was created, letters were coded by two raters and inter-rater reliability was calculated.

The most frequently mentioned codes included: taking care of the guest's needs, exceptional friendliness, professionalism of staff, employees going outside of the call of duty and problem-solving skills. Based on this information the authors propose the following delight types: fulfillment delight, charismatic delight, professional delight, comparative delight, problem resolution delight. It was also found that the culture of an organization has an impact on the type of delight that is most prevalent.

The research conducted helps hotel operators to identify the behaviors and actions that lead their guests to be delighted. By knowing this information, appropriate steps can be taken in the selection and development of staff that will lead towards greater customer engagement.

In the hospitality literature, much information exists on what to do to correct negative service experiences. However, a relatively smaller number of articles highlight how to create great service experiences for the guests. This article provides a theoretically sound and practically useful framework to delight hotel guests in the hotel industry.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the approaches used by leading lodging properties to assess the costs and contributions of training. The study also investigates the barriers to collecting data required for the calculation of return on investment (ROI) and begs the question, “when are hotel companies going to design a system that tracks the value of employee development?” Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a purposeful sampling method and focuses on a small number of hotel companies rather than a large sample. The interview questions were developed through an extensive literature and are based upon Kirkpatrick and Phillips' framework. The qualitative method employed for this study uses Littrell and Dickson's adaptation of Marshall and Rossman's qualitative research cycle. Findings – The paper reveals the haphazard approach to corporate spending and tracking training, one of the major expenses in the lodging industry. It explores the failure of hoteliers to expect accountability for the investment into employee development. Research limitations/implications – This study is exploratory and therefore may not be generalized to the entire population of human resources and training departments within the hotel industry. Practical implications – This exploratory study identifies the barriers of calculating the ROI of training. It also suggests strategies human resource managers can use to develop ROI for training programs and access employee development programs and budgets. Originality/value – This paper explores the unique perspective held by lodging managers on the issue of ROI in training. Very little research has been done on this aspect of ROI in training in the hotel industry.

This article seeks to develop a managerial model that will aid in the effective management of customer relations. This study explains in detail the concepts of satisfaction and delight; their antecedents and potential outcomes.

An extensive review of existing customer delight literature reveals the key concepts necessary for customer delight to occur.

Customer delight is a better measure of customer relationship management than customer satisfaction. Delight is likely to generate positive business results such as word‐of‐mouth communications, loyalty and increased profitability. Using existing literature a model is developed.

The proposed model can be used by managers to achieve customer delight in their organizations. It can also be used to gain a better understanding of the process of managing customer relations.

In the last few years the concept of customer delight has been taking precedence over the concept of satisfaction. Despite such emphasis, there are few published articles relating to this topic in the hotel industry. The study uses customer delight literature from various industries and attempts to apply such knowledge to the hospitality industry.