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Purpose Advances in technology and in subsequent guest-related amenities have the potential to improve the guest experience and also increase both guestroom revenues and ancillary room revenues. Innovative technologies will be one of the prime differentiators of hotel companies in the twenty-first century. However, it is important for hoteliers to answer questions such as which technology amenities do their guests desire when choosing overnight accommodations? Further, what are the importance levels assigned by guests of these various technology amenities? This study aims to answer the question of how leisure travelers may differ or be similar to business travelers with regard to in-room technology amenities. Design/methodology/approach The target population of this study consisted of 2,500 US residents whose email addresses were randomly drawn from a national database company. A series of t-tests and ANOVA were conducted to answer the research questions. Findings High-speed internet access and guest device connectivity were perceived more important by business travelers than by leisure travelers. Research limitations/implications Recognizing guests’ technology needs and answering those needs are important for hotel operators to remain competitive. While some segments perceive more value in certain technologies, for others it might be an indifferent amenity. Practical implications The amount of time guests spend in their rooms directly correlates to increased revenues from in-room dining, in-room amenities offered and, in general, all pay-for-use products and services such as the internet and movies. Therefore, with the right assortment and offering of technology amenities, hotels will increase their revenues from these ancillary revenues. Moreover, a hotel property with the right mixture of desired in-room amenities and services can charge higher rates for their guestroom sales. Originality/value The results of this study provide insights into the changing attitudes toward in-room entertainment technology that many hotel developers should take note of.

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While user-generated contents (UGC) are recognized as increasingly important to destination marketing, many DMOs are uncertain how to strategically manage them to their best advantage, largely due to their lack of understanding of mechanisms underlying the UGC effects. By integrating multiple theories of travel decision-making and UGC distribution, this study develops and validates an agent-based model to inform DMOs of potential causal mechanisms of how individual tourists’ UGC behavioral features shape international arrival distribution via the social media channels of review sites (RSs) and social networking sites (SNSs). Simulated experiments with the model decompose and assess the complex UGC behavioral effects, which further suggest context-based favorable UGC distribution statuses for DMOs’ strategic UGC marketing. The model developed following a rigid procedure offers a promising UGC research approach toward the combination of restrictive causal conceptualization and real-life replicability. It also provides an adaptive prototype for cost-effective UGC effect assessments by DMOs.

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The lodging industry continues to be a fast-growing portion of the American business landscape. Simultaneously, colleges are expanding their hospitality management offerings, while remaining variable in their levels of lodging-specific coursework. The growth of the industry has led to higher competency needs/requirements among lodging recruiters. In this study, lodging managers who were members of the American Hotel & Lodging Association were surveyed to garner expectations for new-hires specifically using the job competency domains of knowledge, ability, and attitude. With inconsistency in curricula across college hospitality programs in the U.S. as the norm, lodging recruiters cannot recruit with the accuracy necessary for success. Results indicate consistently higher expectations for hospitality graduates, at the same time a wide lacuna of lodging-specific content is being offered at the college level. Recruiters are encouraged to verify the specific training before hiring and educational institutions are advised to use a more standardized curriculum for lodging students.

In response to the pressing need to psychologically empower people with mobility challenges (PwMC) to travel, this study proposes the facilitation of self-determined travel motivations as a promising approach. The variation of self-determined travel facilitation across different challenge levels is examined through a quasi-experimental design and analyzed with a new test of moderated mediation based on Hayes’ (2015a) model. The results indicate that for PwMC with significant travel challenge levels, the tourism industry should prioritize the cultivation of intrinsic travel motivations and perceived travel competence satisfaction over less-autonomous motivation dimensions and satisfaction of alternative psychological needs. Such cross-context exploration extends self-determination theory with a new moderator of challenge levels. The adopted new analysis of moderated mediations is competitive regarding accuracy, efficiency, and robustness for less-controlled, real-world tourism experiments. Results can also guide the customization of motivational programs for different PwMC to maximize the effectiveness of psychological empowerment for travel.