Purpose – The purpose of this study is twofold: to determine hotel customers’ preference among hotel amenities pricing strategies, specifically a bundled, all-inclusive charge in the form of a resort fee, a limited choice resort fee at a lower price or a la carte pricing, and to determine whether hotel customer prefer bundled or partitioned pricing when faced with a mandatory resort fee. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey of participants aged 18 years and older who had taken an overnight leisure trip in the past six months is conducted. A fixed-choice set conjoint analysis is performed to analyze the 353 usable surveys. Findings – Results of this conjoint analysis show that 67 per cent of respondents prefer bundled pricing over partitioned pricing. Respondents also show higher utility for no resort fee and paying for amenities based on usage instead of being forced to pay a mandatory resort fee. Practical implications – Guest preferences for pricing strategies can provide hotel operators with valuable information on how to establish pricing structures. Results suggest that hotel operators could benefit from presenting a bundled price inclusive of room rates and mandatory fees. Originality/value – This is the only known study that examines mandatory fees in which customers receive additional amenities or services in exchange for an additional surcharge. This study also adds to the literature on pricing research in the hospitality industry.

Purpose-State and local governments are considering large increases to the minimum wage. Since restaurants employ many individuals paid at or below minimum wage these changes may affect their businesses. This study evaluates the anticipated effects of minimum wage growth on employment and pricing in U.S. food and beverage operations. Design-The study utilizes an experimental design where restaurant owners and managers are presented with scenarios of differing levels of potential minimum wage increases and are asked to anticipate changes to employment and pricing. Findings-Restaurant owners and managers involved in the study indicate the level of the minimum wage increase will significantly affect changes in pricing and employment levels. Results also show that restaurant demographics such as type of restaurant and average check do not significantly affect the relative change operators anticipate implementing. Specific ways participants plan to make adjustments are also presented. Originality-The anticipated impact of minimum wage increases at the restaurant-level is examined, which differs from previous studies that determine the impact at the industry-level. This study evaluates large minimum wage increases of up to 100%, which have previously not been studied.

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This study tests whether national labour costs affect international competitiveness in the tourism industry. Using a fixed effect model design and two-stage least squares (2SLS) estimation, a set of 40 countries is examined during the period 1990–2010. The study reveals that labour costs may be an important supply-side determinant of tourism expenditures, and supports the hypothesis of a negative relationship between these two variables. Implications of the reported findings for industry and for government macroeconomic policy are provided. Potential extensions of these findings to the tourism area life cycle model are also discussed.