Hotel Selection Process

convention attendees, revenue is also generated by conventioneers utilizing other hotel services like restaurants and drugstores. Additional revenue for the various hotel services is also created by spouses that often accompanying convention delegates (Weber, 2001). Also, Hu (1994) proved that meeting guests tend to spend more on food and beverages and meeting space rental than do other guests.

Finally, conventions and meetings are excellent prospects for repeat business (Weber, 2001). The repeated use of a hotel chain for an event can depend on the satisfaction of convention attendees. In 2009, Knutson, Beck, Kim and Cha address the guest experience at a hotel and conference center. This study concludes that there are four main areas that

By using hybrid conjoint analysis, Hu (1994) tried to measure the meeting planner’s preferences of hotel site selection to help hotel management understand what their customers want in the meeting business. It has been found that the “price (room rate) range” is the most important attribute in meeting planners’ considerations of hotel selection. “Location” is the second most important attribute, followed by “functional properties of meeting rooms,” “hotel guestroom comfort,” “food and beverage function,” and “hotel conference planning procedure.” However, Opperman (1996) identified in his study that hotel’s service quality as one of the most crucial factors in meeting planners’ decision process for meetings and

attempted to analyze how meeting planners perceive the performance of a hotel’s meeting services across four different stages of meeting planning including sales phase, pre-event phase, event phase and post-event phase; and how such perceptions can develop their overall satisfaction. By using a dynamic model of meeting planners’ satisfaction, it has been found that the event-phase performance was most important to the overall satisfaction of the meeting planners holding meetings in hotel.

One year later, Lee expanded the study to address the needs of both sides, the demand side of the industry, the conference organizers and the supply side, the hotel managers. This study also explores operational issues that hotels hosting meetings commonly face. The findings of this study conclude that there are definite differences between the meeting planner and the hosting hotels with regard to requirements necessary and the existing problems that occur when hosting a