Theses and Dissertations, Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM)

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations, Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) by Author "Altin, Mehmet"

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    Economic Sentiment Indicator as a Demand Determinant in Tourism: A Case of Turkey
    Altin, Mehmet (Virginia Tech, 2011-04-28)
    Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, employing approximately 220 million people and generating over 9.4% of the world's GDP. The growing contribution of tourism is accompanied by an increased interest in understanding the major factors which influence visitation levels to those countries. Therefore, finding the right variables to understand and estimate tourism demand becomes very important and challenging in policy formulations. The purpose of this study is to introduce Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) to the field of tourism demand studies. Using ESI in demand analysis, this study will assist in the ability to tap into individuals' hopes and/or worries for the present and future. The study developed a demand model in which the number of tourist arrivals to Turkey from select EU countries is used as the dependent variable. ESI along with more traditional variables such as Interest Rate, Relative Price, and Relative Exchange Rate were brought into the model as the independent demand determinants. The study utilized such econometric models as ARIMA for seasonality adjustment and ARDL Bound test approach to cointegration for the long and short-run elasticities. ESI was statistically significant in 8 countries out of 13, three of those countries had a negative coefficient and five had a positive sign as proposed by the study. The study posits that ESI is a good indicator to gauge and monitor tourism demand and adding the visitors' state of mind into the demand equation could reduce errors and increase variance in arrivals. Policy makers should monitor ESI as it fluctuates over time. Since we do not have direct influence on travelers' demand for tourism, it is imperative that we use indirect approaches such as price adjustment and creating new packages or promotional expenditures in order to influence or induce demand. Using this information generated from the study, government officials and tourism suppliers could adjust their promotional activities and expenditures in origin countries accordingly.
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    An Examination of the Link between RM Implementation Strategies and Performance
    Altin, Mehmet (Virginia Tech, 2015-03-19)
    Since its foundation, revenue management techniques on aggregate have added billions of dollars to many firms' bottom lines, while using existing products or services and existing sets of consumers (Cross, Higbie, and Cross, 2010). The recent rapid changes in the business environment have forced firms to adopt strategies that will fit their overall strategies to aid in their survival and success (Pechlaner and Sauerwein, 2002). As a result of the modern reality of business, academic literature has not yet been able to address many important considerations. An example is RM implementation strategies and the performance outcomes as a result of these decisions. This study investigated the advantages and disadvantages of implementation of RM strategies; in-house, centralized, and outsourced. This was followed by the make or buy decision, specifically focusing on Transaction Cost Economics and the Resource Based View to investigate antecedents of outsourcing intention, and if and how these different strategies affect hotel properties' performance. Data were collected using an online survey of lodging properties located in the U.S. in October 2014. A total of 374 usable responses for outsourcing intention study and 591 usable responses for the performance study were collected. Factor analysis, hierarchical multiple regression, repeated measures ANOVA, regression analysis, and pairwise comparison analysis were the statistical analyses used in the study. The results found that specificity is significant and negatively associated with outsourcing intention. In addition, uncertainty is significant and positively associated with outsourcing intention as proposed. The moderating effect of organizational capability is significant and changes from base model to final model with the moderator being statistically significant. The findings of regression and a pairwise comparison test confirmed the difference in strategy choice on performance for US hotels, giving us insights into the importance of selecting the strategy that is optimal for a given property.