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This study aims to identify key factors influencing Chinese domestic travelers’ behaviors in hotel selection from a pool of budget hotel attribute-based factors and customer personal characteristics and determine the extent to which these factors impact on domestic Chinese travelers’ hotel selection preferences.

This study uses a discrete choice experimental design and a multinomial logit model to examine the key influential factors contributing to Chinese domestic travelers’ choice behavior to budget hotels. Both hotel attribute-based and personal trait factors were tested.

Results indicate that location, price and business functions were factors influencing guest choice behavior. For budget hotels, being located in the traditional central business districts and having a restaurant would leverage guest preference to stay. Among consumers’ personal characteristics, income, occupation, purpose of travel, personal attitude and past experience were found to be determinants of guest choice behavior.

This study contributes to the understanding of Chinese domestic travelers’ choice behaviors toward budget hotels and offers insights for industry practitioners to better design budget hotel products and service.

This research is the first that integrates hotel attributes with travelers’ characteristics and quantitatively evaluate the determinants affecting hotel choice behavior in China. The insights are of value academically to our understanding of cognitive mechanism underlying choice behavior.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and document current US hotel management company practices in budgeting and forecasting, and to recommend a process to improve accuracy and efficiency.

Key corporate financial executives of hotel management companies operating in the USA were surveyed. Different from prior studies that surveyed the US property‐level managers, or European hotel operators, the study surveyed the authors of budget guidelines of US hotel management companies with at least ten units or 1,000 rooms, to discover and document the budgeting and forecasting practices of multi‐unit hotel management companies. Chi‐square and t‐tests for equality of means were used to identify the differences between large and small hotel management companies.

Many concepts were identified that are not found in hospitality management textbooks. Current budgeting and forecasting methods used in the industry present opportunities for improving accuracy. There are also opportunities for time efficiencies, which may lead to improved participant satisfaction. Some significant differences were identified in budgeting and forecasting processes between large and small management companies.

The findings may not apply to independently owned and operated hotels, or small hotel management companies. Future research may focus on identifying economic factors that most influence hotel revenues at the local or regional level. Also, future research may focus on corporate computer software that facilitates intranet consolidation of property level budgets and forecasts and also allows spreadsheet flexibility for exploring various scenarios.

The practical application of the study is the recommendation for a centralized budget process that enhances accuracy, improves efficiency, and reduces “gamesmanship”.

There are four main contributions of the study: the obtaining of inputs from corporate officers of hotel management companies with operations in the USA; the documenting of forecasting and budgeting practices of hotel management companies operating in the USA; the recommending of a forecasting and budgeting process that may improve accuracy and participant satisfaction; and the identifying of differences between large and small companies in relation to forecasting and budgeting practices.

This study aims to investigate if experiences can create satisfaction, loyalty and place attachment in the context of the budget hotel industry given growing proportion of Gen Y and Gen Z of budget travellers.

This study uses structural equation modelling-partial least squares approach to validate the path model. A total of 168 samples in Indonesia were collected using online consumer survey.

The findings show positive and significant effects of experience on memories, perceived value, satisfaction, loyalty and place attachment among budget hotel travellers.

Some studies have investigated the importance of experiences in budget hotels marketing. This study contributes to this discussion by presenting that multiple dimensions of experience (sensing, feeling, thinking, acting and connecting) are significant drivers of satisfaction, loyalty and place attachment among Gen Y and Gen Z majority budget travellers.

From the findings, the authors suggest budget hotels to provide physical service environment that can enhance the visitor experience while visiting the hotel related to services relating (e.g. cozy room), acting (e.g. instagrammable spots), thinking (e.g. game centre) and sensing experience (e.g. music that soothes the soul) and social interaction (guest-to-staff interaction) that can enhance feeling service (e.g. welcoming staff).

Given the growing proportion of Gen Y and Gen Z among budget travellers and growing occupation of budget hotels, it become more essential to understand how customers perceive the services of budget hotels. This study shows that today customers perceive not only cost but also experiences as important factors that determine their satisfaction, loyalty and attachment towards budget hotels.

The purpose of this study is to identify the emerging challenges that are faced by branded budget hotels in India. The paper aims to do this by exploring the expectations as well as challenges faced by the customers and hospitality managers of branded budgets hotels in India.

Utilizing a multi-method approach, data were collected through literature review, eight in-depth interviews and 422 customer reviews. Thematic analysis using the hybrid approach brings out the challenges faced by hospitality managers of branded budget hotels in India.

Hospitality managers face the following challenges – dipping gross operating profits, higher global distribution systems productivity for international hotel brands, location constraints, high royalty structures for management contracts, regulatory issues, business poaching and unorganized growth, bureaucracy among vendors and contactors and lack of trained manpower. Customer expectations include poor check-in/check-out services, inefficient service management, inconsiderate personnel, poor management of feedback and instances of theft.

This work adds to the body of knowledge using real customer data and thematic analysis. The authors have not come across any scholarly work, especially in the Indian context, which looks at two stakeholders of the branded budget hotel industry. Hence, recommendations from this work are valuable for hospitality managers as well as researchers.

This paper aims to explore the accommodation experience of customers in the budget hotel sector – a less explored but rapidly expanding sector in the hospitality industry. This study investigates the effects of such experience on customer behavior.

The study adopts a quantitative approach and draws on a comprehensive data set (N = 414) by using a quota sampling approach. The context of the study is the Chinese market, where budget hotels and the number of mass tourists (inbound and outbound) have increased tremendously.

This study identifies a behavioral pattern that differs from trends reported in prior studies. The finding shows that the relationship between customer experience and behavioral intentions is mediated by customer satisfaction, which similarly mediates the relationship between perceived value and behavioral intentions.

The results provide significant implications for hoteliers in the budget hotel industry by calling for a differentiated marketing approach for this segment of customers. Furthermore, the study provides insights into the accommodation behavior of Chinese mass tourists. These findings can serve as reference for international budget hotel practitioners, especially those involved in hotels that target the increasing number of travelers from China.

The budget hotel sector is the first accommodation choice for many Chinese mass tourists. This study is the first to conduct a systematic exploration of the behavioral patterns of customers toward budget hotels in this context. Moreover, this study adopts a holistic approach by adopting an experiential view in measuring the overall experience of customers in budget hotels.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into budgetary practice in UK‐based hotel organizations and an update on previous survey work in this area. The research aims to cover a broad range of budgeting issues, including: the process used in setting budgets, monitoring and review of the budgetary processes, and the human aspects of the budgeting process.

This research used a census‐based questionnaire of hotel organizations' finance directors. The questionnaire consisted of mainly closed questions, with opportunities for further explanation to be given. Statistical analysis tools included Chi‐square tests, Spearman's Rank Coefficient, and ANOVA.

The paper finds that the key reason organizations produce budgets are to aid control, evaluate performance and aid planning. Neither the top‐down, bottom‐up or combination approaches to budgeting dominated in the UK. The results showed a higher rate of the top‐down approach in the UK, compared to previous surveys in other countries. Budgets were generally viewed as the main performance indicator in hotel organizations. There is little use of flexible budgeting, budget committees or budget manuals in the hotel industry. The “human aspects” of budgeting identified some interesting contradictions such as the belief that participation is key in budgeting working, yet there is a lack of participation in practice, most significantly amongst hotel department managers.

Limited information as to budgetary practice in hotels has previously been published, particularly related to the UK. This survey and further findings from the broader research project it is part of identify hotel industry budgetary practice. This aids identifying change over time and provides an invaluable insight into how budgets are used in the industry.

The budget hotel sector in the United Kingdom was established in 1985 and is now experiencing accelerated growth. If this sector simulates some of the developments that have occurred in the US and French budget/economy hotel sectors, then traditionally‐minded operators in the country will have to reconsider some of their original long‐term strategies. The growth and success of the US and French budget/economy hotel are reviewed, and parallels with the emerging growth and success of the UK budget hotel are drawn. In summary the authors consider that the concept of service quality will provide the best foundation for successful strategies in the next decade.

In 2020, the world encountered travel restrictions because of pandemic, and the hospitality sector across the globe was one of the most affected industries. The purpose of this study is to further explore real-time experiences of guests who stayed in budget hotels and how pandemic has changed the expectations of its customer segment.

The current study uses netnography to examine customer experience of guests who stayed at budget hotels during the COVID-19 pandemic. A thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo 12 plus on 1,391 customer reviews collected from various travel portals.

The results suggested personalization and hygiene were the most significant themes that influence customer experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors’ analysis revealed that the use of self-service technologies like contactless services during check-in, checkouts and use of Quick Response codes in restaurants and other services would help reduce the perceived risk of guests and enhance the overall customer experience.

The branded budget hotel sector has pumped in lot of money envisaging growth just before the COVID crises emerged. Therefore, the fast recovery is of paramount importance for the sector. Additionally, majority of the pandemic-related studies in hospitality sector have focused on luxury hotels and failed to address the real-time experiences of customers with respect to budget hotels of a developing country. The outcome of this study will be relevant for the budget hotels and policymakers because they face the crucial task of reviving and sustaining enterprises and the industry at large.

The term “budget” hotel has become a buzz word in the hotel and catering industry. It is argued that it is a misnomer as it implies a homogeneous product when, in fact, “budget” hotels are highly segmented. The major segments are identified and the implications of “budget” concepts for hotel companies and their customers considered.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of revenue management (RM) pricing practices and managers’ perceptions towards this practice in a budget hotel chain and to provide recommendations for improving the adoption of and perception towards this practice.

A single case study method was adopted to conduct an in-depth qualitative research in a hotel organization. In-depth data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and documentation.

The research findings indicate that the implementation of revenue management system (RMS): needs to be clearly communicated and made tangible to employees; can impact the profitability of the budget hotel sector and not only mid-scale or luxury sectors; and remains a profit-oriented decision with little consideration for customer outcomes.

The findings may not apply to mid-scale or luxury properties, as the results cannot be generalized to other hotel chains in other countries that apply complex pricing structures. Future research might develop multiple case study design to increase the rigor of the research by focusing on themes or patterns uncovered in a single case study.

The practical application of the study is twofold: the recommendation to maintain ongoing implementation activities, such as designing operational plans and training programs; the recommendation for a RM pricing strategy that maintains positive price fairness perceptions and results in positive behavioral intentions.

This study helps advance our understanding of the characteristics that influence the success of RM implementation in the budget hotel context and provides us with useful insights to design effective dynamic strategies to enhance the implementation process both for the organization and its stakeholders.