Abstract:Understanding how tourist firms set their online prices is important due to their growing reliance on Online Travel Agencies (OTA). Little is known, however, about whether differences exist in the online pricing approaches adopted by hotels using an OTA. The article tests, using a big data approach, whether the diffuse narrative of a pervasive presence of dynamic pricing provides a realistic description of hotels' pricing behavior and thus challenges the view that dynamic pricing should be considered the prevailing norm for the industry. The evidence suggests a heterogenous attitude across hotels, with uniform pricing being more widespread in most hotels of our sample, namely, the 3-star or less, while dynamic pricing is more likely applied in higher quality hotels.

Purpose Events play a strategic role to attract tourist flows especially during the low season. The purpose of this paper is to explore the gap between consumers’ expectations and actual satisfaction at cultural events. Design/methodology/approach A principal components analysis identifies a set of orthogonal factors related to visitors’ expectations and actual satisfaction at two different events. The empirical data were collected during two events. The geographical setting is Sardinia (Italy) where two important cultural events are held in the low season: the Cavalcata (held at the end of May) and the Sartiglia (held during Carnival). A representative random sample is collected taking into account gender, age and visitors’ nationality heterogeneity (Italian, English-speakers, French and Spanish). Findings Some homogeneous findings have been obtained for the two events, regardless of the different levels of attractiveness. Notably, both the events are perceived as authentic and as the expression of identity. On the whole, the empirical results indicate that the events were able to generate high levels of satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this research is that the data refer to only one year, while a wider time series could allow a more accurate evaluation of both the expectations and the performance results deriving from the management of the two events. The findings provide directions to local policy makers to adopt tailored strategies to boost strengths and to contrast weaknesses of low season events. Practical implications The methodological approach presented in this paper helps practitioners and policy makers to deepen their understanding of visitors’ actual experience as well as to improve the overall quantity and quality of services offered during the events. Social implications An in-depth analysis of the perceived quality of the services provided at events can allow public and private organizers to identify critical issues, enabling them to improve event planning, efficiency, profitability and overall performance. Originality/value This paper employs an “Importance-Performance” model (Martilla and James, 1977; Riviezzo et al., 2009) to study the gap between visitors’ expectations and their perceived performance in two events held during the low tourist season. Thanks to the use of an equivalent survey, the comparison offered the opportunity to highlight common features that allowed a generalization of results and a broader discussion.

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Obiettivo del paper: Questo studio segmenta i residenti della città di Cagliari in base alle percezioni che essi hanno rispetto agli impatti generati dal turismo crocieristico e, nel contempo, verifica l' esistenza di differenze significative tra i gruppi in base alle caratteristiche socio-demografiche degli intervistati.Metodologia: Lo studio applica una factor-cluster analysis ad un campione stratificato di 1.034 residenti intervistati face-to-face.Risultati: L' analisi evidenzia l' esistenza di cinque diversi segmenti di residenti: "indifferenti", "critici", "cauti", "sostenitori e "amanti della cultura". I cluster differiscono in maniera significativa solo in base ad alcune delle variabili sociodemografiche considerate (livello di istruzione, la distanza del luogo di residenza dai siti turistici della città e il tipo di occupazione).Limiti della ricerca: Lo studio risente della specificità del contesto geografico analizzato e, quindi, dell'impossibilità di generalizzare i risultati. Inoltre, esso non considera il ruolo che altri fattori intrinseci, e/o altre variabili psicografiche, potrebbero avere nel discriminare le percezioni dei residenti.Implicazioni pratiche: Lo studio fornisce utili informazioni a policy makers e destination marketers interessati ad implementare politiche di marketing interno finalizzate ad aumentare l' efficacia dei messaggi di comunicazione veicolati ai residenti per far percepire loro un bilancio costi/benefici maggiormente positivo e avere un maggior supporto nei progetti di ulteriore sviluppo del turismo crocieristico.Originalità del paper: Gli studi che analizzano le percezioni dei residenti rispetto al turismo crocieristico, sono ancora pochi; ancora meno numerosi sono quelli che riguardano l' area del Mediterraneo e, in particolare, il contesto italiano. Inoltre, risultano assenti studi sul tema realizzati utilizzando campioni areali.

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Purpose Focusing on two beer festivals held in Nottingham, England, this study aims to evaluate their indirect impact on the performance of city hotels. This study builds on theoretical insights from the revenue management literature to shed empirical light on the potentially beneficial effects of events on the hotels’ performance. This study investigates the impact of the differential support offered by the destination management organisation (DMO) over two years. Design/methodology/approach Using online prices posted in advance of the events on an online travel agent, the authors assess hotel performance for each day of the events relative to the same day of the week in a week with no event. A similar comparison is made to assess the impact across two different years. In both cases, an ordinary least squares methodology was used. Findings Both events appear not to have had a strong impact on hotel prices and occupancy in 2016, i.e. when the DMO’s promotional effort was more proactive. Instead, in 2017, one event registered higher hotel prices and occupancy both relative to the year before and to the “business as usual” week. Practical implications The study identifies the existence of an indirect positive economic impact of the events on the hospitality sector. Originality/value The investigation adopts a more naturalistic experimental design to collect the data, which allows the authors to control for both the impact on prices and occupancy at the level of the single hotel. The evidence is therefore micro-founded. Moreover, results shed light on the role played by the DMO.