This thesis is about the customer experience in hotels. The thesis evaluates the customer experience in relation to the antecedents of behavioural loyalty. Behavioural loyalty is evaluated in relation to customer satisfaction, brand trust and brand attitude. Customer satisfaction is also evaluated in relation to the antecedents of hotel performance, service quality and perceived value. The broad research underpinning this research is: How do consumers perceive and relate to luxury and first class hotel brands? The hotel industry is a large and highly diverse industry that includes a wide range of property styles, uses and qualities (Chon & Sparrowe, 2000; Go & Pine, 1995; Olsen, 1996; Powers & Barrows, 1999). The industry covers the spectrum of small, medium and large enterprises (Brotherton, 2003; Jones, 2002) and makes a significant contribution to national and international economies. The research incorporated data collection in three stages. The first stage was a qualitative study of consumers who self selected as first class or luxury consumers. The data from the focus groups were used to develop items for inclusion in a survey instrument. The focus groups data, together with information gathered from a literature review, were used to develop scales across a number of hotel performance dimensions. In addition scales were included in the survey instrument on customer satisfaction, perceived value, brand trust, brand attitude and behavioural loyalty. The second stage of the research was a pilot study with the survey instrument being distributed to a convenience sample. The data collected at this stage were used to purify and refine the survey instrument. The final stage was data collected from consumers in a number of Australian hotels. The resultant data set comprised 693 completed and useable responses. The data were examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to confirm the hotel performance and other dimensions. The resultant dimensions showed good psychometric properties. A number of hypotheses were proposed in the thesis and examined using structural equation modelling. Although two hypotheses were rejected the resultant structural model showed strong relationships between the dimensions included. The research identified that service quality is a strong contributor to behavioural loyalty. The stronger pathway from service quality to behavioural loyalty was through customer satisfaction ( = 0.63) although the pathway through brand attitude ( = 0.22) was also significant. Both customer satisfaction and service quality had a significant effect on brand trust and service quality also influenced brand attitude. A number of recommendations for further research were made. These included the replication of this study in different geographic and industry contexts.

<p>Cambodia differs from many other developing countries because of one specific asset which is tourism. The number of tourists in Cambodia is currently growing with a rapid pace due to the Angkor site near the city of Siem Reap.</p><p>The growing number of tourists has definitely created challenges for the accommodation industry in the Siem Reap region. This has created the need for achieving a delicate balance between the exploration of the region and how much the region can cater for regarding the environment, social and long-term economical benefits. This growth has however brought along many downsides such as economical, environmental, social, cultural, political, and technological. There are no previous studies done about sustainable practice in the accommodation industry in developing countries. This study examines the barriers for the implementation of sustainable practice among accommodation providers in Siem Reap.</p><p>The first step is this process was to determine the state of the environment. The second step was to determine the cause of the state followed by determining the process of change for sustainable development which can be regarded as the barriers. Previous studies have concluded that barriers of financial difficulties, the cost of change, lack of resources, the lack of information and support regarding sustainable tourism are common barriers for the implementation of sustainable practice. The barriers can be categorized into industry barriers related to industry specific characteristics and organizational barriers that refer to barriers due to characteristics within the firm.</p><p>This report is based on a case study in which hermeneutic and qualitative method was used. The data was based on a content analysis of reports published by the International Development Centre of Japan in cooperation with the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism and 14 interviews with accommodation providers in Siem Reap.</p><p>In many areas there was a lack of sustainable practices and many barriers could be uncovered. Barriers included among others lack of financial resources which restricted ownership, low awareness of the environmental state, lack of governmental support; an insufficient educational quality which limits management opportunities for Cambodians and insufficient quality in the environmental friendly products.</p><p>This study has expanded the knowledge of barriers for the implementation not only to include environmental sustainable practices but also to include barriers when it economical, social, cultural, political and technological dimensions. These barriers should be considered representative for barriers for the implementation of sustainable practices in the accommodation industry in developing countries, especially in contexts with a similar development pattern as Siem Reap.</p>

Cambodia differs from many other developing countries because of one specific asset which is tourism. The number of tourists in Cambodia is currently growing with a rapid pace due to the Angkor site near the city of Siem Reap. The growing number of tourists has definitely created challenges for the accommodation industry in the Siem Reap region. This has created the need for achieving a delicate balance between the exploration of the region and how much the region can cater for regarding the environment, social and long-term economical benefits. This growth has however brought along many downsides such as economical, environmental, social, cultural, political, and technological. There are no previous studies done about sustainable practice in the accommodation industry in developing countries. This study examines the barriers for the implementation of sustainable practice among accommodation providers in Siem Reap. The first step is this process was to determine the state of the environment. The second step was to determine the cause of the state followed by determining the process of change for sustainable development which can be regarded as the barriers. Previous studies have concluded that barriers of financial difficulties, the cost of change, lack of resources, the lack of information and support regarding sustainable tourism are common barriers for the implementation of sustainable practice. The barriers can be categorized into industry barriers related to industry specific characteristics and organizational barriers that refer to barriers due to characteristics within the firm. This report is based on a case study in which hermeneutic and qualitative method was used. The data was based on a content analysis of reports published by the International Development Centre of Japan in cooperation with the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism and 14 interviews with accommodation providers in Siem Reap. In many areas there was a lack of sustainable practices and many barriers could be uncovered. Barriers included among others lack of financial resources which restricted ownership, low awareness of the environmental state, lack of governmental support; an insufficient educational quality which limits management opportunities for Cambodians and insufficient quality in the environmental friendly products. This study has expanded the knowledge of barriers for the implementation not only to include environmental sustainable practices but also to include barriers when it economical, social, cultural, political and technological dimensions. These barriers should be considered representative for barriers for the implementation of sustainable practices in the accommodation industry in developing countries, especially in contexts with a similar development pattern as Siem Reap.