Main Goal
Develop an innovative system that utilizes online reviews to support decision-making processes aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction, hotel ratings, and profitability.
Sustainability Focus: Promote a sustainable business model for customer satisfaction management through the strategic use of CGC.
Research Objective: Provide hotels with a practical guide for using online reviews to manage customer relationships across different market segments and improve service performance.
Methodology
Stage 1: Data analysis from online reviews.
Stage 2: Empirical research through surveys with tourists.
Secondary Objective: Examine current hotel practices regarding the use of online reviews in decision making, and explore their desired future applications.
Strategic Impact: Enable hotels to integrate CGC into their long-term strategies, improving both financial and non-financial outcomes.
Project Goals
Analyze Online Reviews: Retrieve and examine online reviews to understand how various hotel service attributes influence customer satisfaction across different segments (e.g., cultural background, travel purpose, traveler type).
Compare Perceptions:
Identify how tourists perceive the impact of hotel service attributes on their satisfaction through surveys, and compare these insights with findings from online review analysis to uncover convergences and discrepancies.
Evaluate Hotel Practices:
Investigate the current extent and methods of how hotels utilize online reviews in decision making, and explore their aspirations for future use.
Develop a Managerial Guide:
Create a practical guide to help hotels optimize their service mix and enhance customer satisfaction across diverse customer segments—potentially applicable to other industries.
Personnel Training:
Provide training for hotel staff in personalizing services and effectively managing satisfaction for different types of customers.
Innovation of the project
Address Key Challenges:
Tackle two major issues in the hotel industry—interpreting online review data and strategically using it to customize services and improve customer satisfaction and performance.
Validate Online Review Data:
Assess the reliability of online reviews by comparing them with direct, primary data collected from hotel customers.
Map Current Practices:
Investigate how hotels currently use consumer-generated content (CGC) and provide guidance for its effective integration into decision-making processes.
Develop Scalable Solutions:
Create a structured and potentially scalable methodology (e.g., a digital application) to help hotels systematically analyze online reviews and adjust services accordingly.
Broader Impact:
Offer a model that supports continuous improvement and profitability in the hospitality sector, with potential application in other service-driven industries influenced by electronic word-of-mouth.
Economic Relevance for Greece:
Contribute to the development of innovative tools and practices that enhance the competitiveness, resilience, and growth of Greek tourism enterprises—an essential component of the national economy.
Scientific and/or social impact
Scientific Contribution:
Advances research in hotel management by providing a data-driven, practical guide for customizing services based on the analysis of online reviews.
Enhanced Service Personalization:
Supports the design of tailored services that address the specific needs and preferences of diverse customer segments.
Improved Customer Satisfaction:
Aims to boost customer satisfaction and perceived service quality through more targeted and responsive service offerings.
Positive Business Outcomes:
Anticipated improvements in online ratings are expected to enhance hotel profitability and strengthen competitive positioning.
Broader Industry Relevance:
Contributes to the sustainable development of the tourism sector by promoting evidence-based practices in customer experience management.