Thesis (MTech. degree in Tourism And Hospitality Management)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / Responsible tourism was adopted as a management strategy for the tourism industry (the hotel sector included) with a view to address the social, economic and environmental impacts of this industry. Responsible tourism guidelines were formulated by the South African government through the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) with a view to ensure adherence to the concept of responsible tourism by the sector. The study confirmed that hotels were indeed knowledgeable regarding responsible tourism; were implementing most of the guidelines that were formulated by DEAT; and found these guidelines useful and effective in their operations.

M. Tech. Tourism and Hospitality Management / This study aims to determine and evaluate which hotel attributes are deemed important by hotel customers and managers in Gauteng. This knowledge will help hotel managers identify which aspects of the hotel services they should improve upon and to which ones they should devote less time. By doing this, hoteliers will be able to meet customers needs with improved level of satisfaction and loyalty, which will contributes to increased revenue.

Thesis (MTech (Quality (Faculty of Engineering)))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / Customer satisfaction is one of the most important strategic mechanisms of best practice hotel organisations. Daily, managers and employees are continuously faced with the challenges of establishing and maintaining customer satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to seek and identify measures that can be used in the hospitality industry for purposes of assessing and evaluating customer satisfaction and customer service effectiveness. The results from the research will enable hotel owners, managers and decision makers to identify the best practices in customer service design, culminating in customer value. The primary objective of this study is to assess customer expectations and perceptions of service quality in Cape Town based hotels, and to identify the gaps between client expectations and perceptions. This will be used as a basis to investigate the challenges that Cape Town hotels experience pertaining to internal and external customer strategy development and satisfaction. These identified challenges will be used as learning opportunities for improvement in aspects of quality and to establish a usable model for the organisation (hotels) from which strategies can be developed for the effective management of customer relations, and to ensure that customer expectations of service quality are met. The researcher will use SERVQUAL and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) scoring method to rate the customer’s level of satisfaction with each service attribute into an overall service performance of each hotel. The researcher will recommend an appropriate quality improvement mechanism to measure, analyse and improve processes in the hospitality industry.

This study investigated the expansion strategies of hotel companies that want to expand away from their local market. Due to the growing importance of services in economic development, there is an impressive body of knowledge on the process of internationalisation and service industries. Due to the major changes impacting upon the industry due to the effects of technology and globalisation, it would be useful to establish the important key factors and processes involved during internationalisation. Expanding cross border for a hotel group signifies a number of challenges that must be focused on at the same time. Markets need to be identified, political stability needs to be scanned and cultural differences must be taken into consideration. Logistics and supply chain have to be developed together with operational issues from financial reporting, marketing and human resources. Organisational structures must be adapted to take into account the new levels of responsibility. An in-depth review of the literature regarding internationalisation was conducted, which evidenced that the most useful model for answering the questions was the eclectic paradigm as developed by John Dunning (1993). The paradigm has been used in many manufacturing and service sector studies, including that of the hotel sector (Contractor and Kundu, 1994). A questionnaire was compiled and interviews were set up with the directors and executives tasked with the respective companies’ expansion programmes. Due mainly to the effects of new technology and globalisation on the hotel industry, there have been many changes in the last decade, including increasing consolidation and concentration and an increasing importance upon branding and financial performance. It was apparent from the research that the time taken to internationalise by hotel chains has reduced significantly in the last decade, especially if one looks at the performance of hotel companies such as Accor Hotels. iii Only two of the three companies studied in this treatise had undertaken expansion into Africa with the third company ready for entering soon. Nonequity involvement in general was the most favoured form of involvement with majority of their expansions based on management contracts, joint partnership or franchises. The role of the functional departments, the importance of a global outlook and the necessary structural changes during international expansion was also explored. In order to answer the various research propositions that are posed, the researcher chose to base this research on a phenomenological approach through case study analysis.

The management style and the communication practice of a hotel management often determine to an extent the behaviour of employees and eventually, the quality of service as well as the performance of the hotel. The objective of this study is to explore the management styles and the communication practices of hotel managers by investigating how it is perceived by hotel employees in Johannesburg and Pretoria, in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was used in which a five point Likert scale self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 250 respondents who were randomly selected from 60 hotels. The results show that there is a racial imbalance in the distribution of managerial positions within the hotels. The democratic management (32.8%), paternalistic management (25.2%) and the walk around management (23.2%) styles were perceived by respondents to be the most utilised management styles in hotels. Majority of the respondents (72 %) either agree or strongly agree that the main purpose of communication in their company is to get employees to behave in the way top management wants them to do so. In addition, the majority of respondents (60%) also indicated that the communication style of their superiors either never or rarely lead to employee empowerment. The one-way communication from management to other employees (top-up) is the most predominant form of communication among Pretoria and Johannesburg hotels / Colleges of Economic and Management Sciences / M.A. (Consumer Science)

Text in both English and Afrikaans / Since the early 2000s, the tourism industry in South Africa has experienced phenomenal change and, concomitantly, the hospitality industry has also seen significant growth. This growth has been driven by factors such as the increased demand for hospitality in both the leisure and the business markets. The hotel industry has immensely been benefited. The Tourism Business Index’s report released quarterly by the Tourism Business Council of South Africa, indicating that the revenue received from each available room in the hotel sector increased significantly from 2009. Tourism research has revealed that, globally, the hospitality industry is among the largest employers of labour. The hospitality industry, especially the hotel sector, works hand in hand with tourism. Tourists traveling to a destination require accommodation which is generally provided by hotels. If the tourist is to have a good experience, it is vital that the tourist organisation and the hotel communicate so as to exchange information. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) has been described as a concept that many organisations adopt in order both to coordinate the operation of the organisation effectively and to increase the bottom line. In IMC, also creates synergy within an organisation and paves the way for consistent messages to be sent out to the organisation’s target audience. The aim of this study was to analyse the use of IMC by the View Boutique Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa. To analyse the IMC at the hotel, in-depth interviews were conducted with both marketing staff and guests. In the aspect of planned messages, the outcome of the study revealed that the hotel uses marketing communication tools on a limited scale and, that to ensure message consistency the manager handles all external communication activities. However, the study also showed that ensuring message consistency should be the responsibility of everyone employed in the hotel. With regard to the product messages, the study showed that guests were negatively disposed towards the food, beverages, entertainment and recreation offered by the hotel. However, the service messages of the study indicated that the hotel’s service quality was good and that the staff were responsive to the needs of the guests. In respect of unplanned messages, the study showed that the hotel was receiving limited coverage from the media and that word of mouth communication was an effective tool in the hotel’s communication toolbox. On the whole, thus, it may be said that the study underscores the centrality of IMC as an instrument for creating and nurturing the relations between the hotel and its quests. It is anticipated that the outcome of this study should provide hotels such as the View Boutique Hotel with guidance in regard to utilising IMC to its full potential to make sure that there is message consistency and also to optimise communication impact. / Sedert die vroeë 2000's het die toerismebedryf in Suid-Afrika 'n merkwaardige verandering ondergaan, en daarmee saam het die gasvryheidsbedryf aansienlike groei getoon. Hierdie groei is aangevuur deur faktore soos die toenemende vraag na gasvryheid in die ontspannings- en sakemark. Die hotelbedryf het baie hierby gebaat. Volgens die besigheidsindeks vir toerisme wat kwartaalliks deur die Toerismebesigheidsraad van Suid-Afrika vrygestel word, het die inkomste uit elke beskikbare kamer in die hotelbedryf sedert 2009 aansienlik toegeneem. Navorsing oor toerisme het getoon dat die gasvryheidsbedryf wêreldwyd die meeste werk verskaf. Die gasvryheidsbedryf, en veral die hotelbedryf, gaan hand aan hand met toerisme. Toeriste wat na 'n bestemming reis het akkommodasie nodig wat oor die algemeen deur hotelle gebied word. Om te verseker dat toeriste positiewe belewenisse het, is dit kritiek dat toeriste-organisasies en hotelle kommunikeer om inligting uit te ruil. Geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie word beskryf as 'n konsep wat baie organisasies aanneem om die bedryf van die organisasie effektief te koördineer en die netto wins te verhoog. Geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie skep medewerking in 'n organisasie en baan die weg vir konsekwente boodskappe wat aan die organisasie se teikengehoor uitgedra word. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die gebruik van geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie by die View Boutique Hotel in Johannesburg, Suid-Afrika, te ondersoek. In die ondersoek van die geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie by die hotel is diepgaande onderhoude met bemarkingspersoneel en gaste gevoer. Ten opsigte van beplande kommunikasie het die studie bevind dat die hotel bemarkingskommunikasie-instrumente op beperkte skaal gebruik, en om te verseker dat die kommunikasie konsekwent is, hanteer die bestuurder alle eksterne kommunikasie-aktiwiteite. Die studie het egter ook getoon dat dit elke werknemer by die hotel se verantwoordelikheid is om konsekwente kommunikasie te verseker. Met verwysing na produkkommunikasie het die studie getoon dat die gaste negatief ingestel was oor die kos, drankies, vermaaklikheid en ontspanning wat by die hotel aangebied is. Die studie het egter bevind dat die diens by die hotel goed was en dat die personeel goed op die gaste se behoeftes gereageer het. Met betrekking tot ix onbeplande kommunikasie het die studie getoon dat die hotel beperkte dekking in die media geniet en dat mondelinge kommunikasie 'n doeltreffende instrument in die hotel se arsenaal is. Oor die algemeen kan daar gesê word dat die studie die sentraliteit van geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie onderskryf as instrument vir die skep en uitbou van verhoudings tussen die hotel en sy gaste. Die resultate van hierdie studie behoort aan hotelle soos die View Boutique Hotel riglyne te bied oor hoe geïntegreerde bemarkingskommunikasie ten volle benut kan word om konsekwente kommunikasie te verseker, en om die impak van kommunikasie te optimeer. / Communication Science / M.A.(Psychology)