Self-Positioning of International Tourist Hotels in Taiwan

Transcription

1 Internatonal Journal of Busness and Management; Vol. 8, No. 17; 2013 ISSN E-ISSN Publshed by Canadan Center of Scence and Educaton Self-Postonng of Internatonal Tourst Hotels n Tawan Jn-L Hu 1, Hwa-Shuh Sheh 2 & Jyun-Fong Dng 1 1 Insttute of Busness and Management, Natonal Chao Tung Unversty, Tawan 2 Department of Toursm and Hosptalty Management, Kanan Unversty, Tawan Correspondng: Jn-L Hu, 118, Sec. 1, Chung-Hsao W. Rd., Tape Cty 10044, Tawan. E-mal: jnlhu@mal.nctu.edu.tw Receved: May 20, 2013 Accepted: June 13, 2013 Onlne Publshed: August 10, 2013 do: /jbm.v8n17p71 URL: Abstract Ths paper analyzes the self-postonng of nternatonal tourst hotels (ITHs) n Tawan at the corporate strategy level and posts two types of postonng strategy-room revenue-orented and food and beverage (F & B) revenue-orented - to examne whch one s sutable for ITHs. Hotels located n Hualen and n scenc areas have a sgnfcantly negatve effect on the rato of F & B revenue to total revenue, mplyng that hotels n these areas should be room revenue-orented. Local toursts have a sgnfcant postve mpact on the rato of F&B revenue to total revenue, whereas Asan toursts have a sgnfcant negatve mpact on the rato. Moreover, the operaton-year and room prce have sgnfcantly negatve effects on the rato of F & B revenue to total revenue, suggestng that hstorc hotels should adopt room revenue-orented postonng and mprove ther servce qualty so as to be able to ncrease the room prce. The number of restaurants has a postve effect on the rato of food and beverage revenue to total revenue. Therefore, the hotels adoptng F&B revenue-orented postonng should offer dversfed types of restaurants for varous toursts. Keywords: self-postonng, F & B revenue-orented postonng, room revenue-orented postonng, nternatonal tourst hotels, panel data 1. Introducton Accordng to the long-run forecast n the Toursm 2020 Vson by the World Toursm Organzaton (UNWTO, 2008), the number of total nternatonal toursts globally s expected to reach nearly 1.6 bllon by Ths demonstrates an average annual growth rate of 4.1% over the perod , wth 1995 as the base year, and a 6.5% growth rate n East Asa, whch owns the second hghest growth rate n the world. The Asa-Pacfc market s forecasted to grow from 195 mllon person-vsts n 2010 to 397 mllon n Because of unque trats n ts geographc envronment, Tawan possesses plentful and dverse cultural and natural resources. The Tawan Toursm Bureau (TTB) Yearbook (2010) ndcates that the top three man purposes of vstng Tawan are natural landscape, festvals, and gourmet. Accordng to TTB Statstcs, there were 5,567,277 nternatonal vstors n 2010, whch s a 26.67% growth rate compared to In Tawan the number of nternatonal vstors has been ncreasng contnuously, mplyng great potental for the country s development of toursm. Therefore, the toursm ndustry has been one of the most mportant sources of foregn exchange earnngs for Tawan. The toursm ndustry s consdered as one of the star ndustres of the 21st century snce t brngs along such great benefts as creatng jobs and ncreasng foregn exchange earnngs. Toursm authortes understand that the ndustry plays an mportant and key role n Tawan s economc development. Therefore, they are proactvely steppng up nvestment and constructon at domestc scenc spots that possess nternatonal potental so as to create an excellent and compettve travel envronment. In order to promote the toursm ndustry and attract more nternatonal toursts, the government s mplementng a Doublng Tourst Arrvals Plan (DTAP) n an effort to acheve the goal of ncreasng annual toursts. Over the past sx years, total toursm recepts have rsen rather quckly and the ndustry has become a major source of foregn exchange earnngs for Tawan. The government not only wants to attract more foregn toursts, but also wants local Tawanese to enjoy ther holdays n Tawan. Based on the Operatng Report of Internatonal Tourst Hotels n Tawan publshed by the TTB, there are 89 tourst hotels n Tawan wth a total of 21,095 sutes and rooms. They can be classfed nto two groups: 71

2 nternatonal-class tourst hotels and domestc, regular hotels. Of the total number of tourst hotels, 60 are nternatonal-class tourst hotels wth a total of 17,830 rooms and 29 are regular hotels wth 3,265 rooms. In recent years, Tawan s government has proactvely promoted the toursm ndustry n order to stmulate demand for nternatonal tourst hotels (ITHs). In fact, the number of ITHs n Tawan ncreased from 47 n 1992 to 89 n Ths has ntensfed competton n hosptalty ndustres, partcularly the hotel ndustry. The fercely compettve envronment has brought about changes n organzatons and forced executves target for best postonng strateges that wll enable ther organzatons to gan or sustan a compettve advantage n the marketplace. Ths prncple can apply to most ndustres and the hotel ndustry s no excepton. The hotel ndustry, especally the ITHs, has gradually approached a saturaton pont n Tawan. It s mportant for an organzaton s survval and prosperty to adopt a proper strategy that best fts ts rapdly changng busness envronment (Pechlaner & Sauerwen, 2002). In order to take on large busness opportuntes and enlarge proft margns as much as possble, ITHs managers have to develop and choose the adequate compettve postonng strategy. Today, hotels offer varous servces for customers, such as swmmng pool, conference room, nght club, etc. In hs classc book, Ganng and sustanng compettve advantage, Barney (2002) ponts out these knds of resources wll make hotels choose the rght postonng they ft. Ths paper ams to analyze the corporate level strategy and to fnd out whch factors affect a hotel s postonng strategy. In general, the hotel ndustry s man revenues are composed of two types, ncludng food and beverage (F&B) revenue and room revenue, and so we post two types of postonng strategy exst wthn the ITHs: one s F&B revenue-orented postonng; the other s room revenue-orented postonng. In the tradtonal vew, most of us thnk a hotel s major revenue should come from room revenue, but accordng to the Operatng Report of ITHs n Tawan, the average room revenue occuped 41.72%, whle the average F&B revenue occuped 43.82% of total operatonal revenue n In fact, the average F&B revenue has always been hgher than the average room revenue for ten consecutve years over the perod 1998 to 2007 n Tawan (see Fgure 1). Such offcal statstcs change our deep-rooted stereotype that ITHs major revenues should be from rooms. We are deeply nterested n the phenomenon that F&B revenue s larger than room revenue, and hence we further want to understand whch factors affect ITHs postonng strategy. In ths study we do not prejudge whether the F&B revenue-orented postonng strategy or room revenue-orented postonng strategy s better for ITHs, because every postonng strategy has ts own mert. Fgure 1. The F & B revenue and room revenue contrast Data sources: Operatng Report of Internatonal Tourst Hotels n Tawan (1998~2007). 2. Lterature Revew 2.1 Postonng Chrstensen & Cheney (1994) acknowledged that postonng strateges are often necessary to gan vsblty n a crowded marketplace. A basc goal of the strategy s to deal wth severe competton (Porter, 1980). A corporaton can succeed, maybe because of havng a structure or strategy that fts well wth the challenged market (Scott, 1975; Venkatraman & Prescott, 1990). Pala & Lchenberg (1999) ndcated that the central dea of strategc management for a properly artculated strategc ft between organzatonal competence and varous envronmental stuatons s crtcal for good performance. These fndngs have mportant strategc mplcatons n that strategy plannng could lead a frm to get past the dynamc compettve envronment and acheve a postve performance. 72

3 In ther famous book, Postonng: The Battle for Your Mnd, Res & Trout (1981) noted that the concept of postonng s not only applcable to a brand, but also to a company, servce, person, or place, whch s consstent wth the broad concept of the product that can be defned as a physcal good, servce, place, person, or dea (Kotler, 2011). One of the most effectve tools n toursm marketng s postonng, as t s a form of market communcaton that plays a vtal role n enhancng the attractveness of a hotel (Chacko, 1997). The objectve of postonng s to create a dstnctve place n the mnds of potental customers. Postonng can evoke mages of a hotel n the customer s mnd, dfferentate the hotel from the competton, and also be a place that can satsfy customers needs and wants. Snce market segmentaton s based on the noton that dfferent hotels appeal to dfferent types of toursts, a postonng strategy must be selected to entce these potental customers. An effectve postonng strategy provdes a compettve edge to a hotel that s tryng to convey ts attractveness to the target market. Postonng s more than just mage creaton, because t helps to dstngush hotels from smlar hotels so that customers can choose the one that s the most attractve. The concept of postonng goes beyond mage creaton, whch merely dentfes the attrbutes that are strengths, to provde gudance on whch attrbutes to use n the postonng/repostonng and promoton of a product (Essam & Jacquelne, 2005). Thus, proper postonng can effectvely dfferentate a hotel from ts compettors on attrbutes that are meanngful to customers and gve t a compettve edge. In the words of Doyle (1983), postonng strategy refers to the choce of target market segment, whch descrbes the customers whom the busness wll seek to serve, and the choce of dfferental advantage that defnes how t wll compete wth rvals n the segment. Balmer & Greyser (2006) suggested that a frm or busness should have ts own dentty, and the deal dentty s the optmum postonng of the organzaton n ts market n a gven tme frame. Several studes show that a value-added strategy wth ts own resource to buld up the unque corporate poston can create a more sustanable dfferentaton (Tokarczyk & Hansen, 2006). 2.2 Strategc Management There tradtonally has been lttle explct acknowledgement n strategc management theores of the mportance and role of communcatons n frm-envronment nteractons. One reason for ths s the consderaton of communcatons as a largely tactcal or functonary actvty supportng other busness functons wthn the frm, rather than as a strategc boundary-spannng functon operatng at the nterface between the organzaton and ts envronment. Communcatons can help gather, relay, and nterpret nformaton from the envronment as well as represent the organzaton to the outsde world (Whte & Dozer, 1992; Vercc & Grung, 2000). Consderng strategy as a process of postonng-.e., postonng the frm vs-à-vs ts compettors n the marketplace-has become an ncreased concern among concepts such as corporate brandng as t artculates the strategc process of lnkng corporate strategy to communcaton processes that express the frm n relaton to groups n ts envronment (Balmer & Greyser, 2003; Fombrun, 1996; Hatch & Schultz, 2000; van Rel & Balmer, 1997). To emphasze the relaton to ths postonng process, t s strategcally mportant for frms to acheve an algnment wth the corporate brandng that they consder to be as an deal stuaton (Balmer & Greyser, 2003; Fombrun & Rndova, 2000). In the resource-based vew of strategc management, for nstance, corporate brandng s an ntangble resource or asset of a frm that, when adequately exploted, leads to sustaned compettve advantage and superor fnancal performance as stakeholders value assocatons and transactons wth hgh-reputaton frms (Barney, 1991; Deephouse, 2000; Rndova & Fombrun, 1999; Roberts & Dowlng, 2002; Lähtnen, 2007). Holfer & Schendel (1979) defned strategy as the basc characterstcs of the match an organzaton acheves wth ts envronment and ths content s consdered as the common theme underlyng most defntons of strategy. They dvded strategy nto three levels as follows. 2.3 Corporate Level Strategy It can also be called busness portfolo strategy. Corporate level strategy determnes how the whole frm operates and decdes that strategc busness unts (SBUs) should play what knd of poston. In the classc book, Resources, frms and strateges: a reader n a resource-based perspectve, edted by Foss (1997), Andrews descrbed that corporate strategy s the pattern of decsons n a company that determnes and reveals objectves, purposes, or goals, produces the prncpal polces and plans for achevng these goals, and defnes the range of busness the company s to pursue, the economc and human organzatons t s or ntends to be, and the nature of economc and non-economc contrbuton t ntends to make to ts shareholders, employees, customers, and communtes. Hll & Jones (2010) ponted out that corporate strategy determnes what knd of busness can maxmze long-run profts. Barnett et al. (1996) presented that the corporate level context set by top 73

4 management has strong selectve effects on the strategc actons of mddle and operatonal managers at the busness level. From a corporate strategy perspectve, the queston of how to fnance the frm represents a fundamental functonal decson whch should support and be consstent wth the long-term strategy of the busness (Andrews, 1980). Andrews (1980) also beleved corporate strategy defnes the busnesses n whch a company competes, preferably n a way that focuses resources to convert dstnctve competence nto a compettve advantage. 2.4 Busness Level Strategy Busness level strategy decdes how the SBUs of a frm wll compete wth other frms. For only one SBU of a small corporate or non-dversfcaton corporate, ts busness strategy s smlar to the corporate strategy. For mult-sbus of a corporate, every sngle SBU has ts strategy to defne what knd of product or servce t can offer customers. Compared to a corporate strategy whch s usually appled to the whole enterprse, a busness strategy s less comprehensve and defnes the choce of product or servce and market of ndvdual busnesses wthn the frm (Andrews, 1980). Tradtonally, cost leadershp, dfferentaton, and focus have been recognzed as the three prmary forms of ths strategy (Porter, 1980). Dess et al. (1995) beleved the heart of a busness-level strategy s the concept of compettve advantage, whch can be appled n a multple forms. Abell (1980) defned three decsons of a busness strategy: customer groups, customer needs, and dstnctve competences. A corporate can fnd ts own compettve advantage n the selected market segment through these decsons. Busness strategy, n other words, s the determnaton of how a company wll compete n a gven busness and poston tself among ts compettors (Andrews, 1980). 2.5 Functonal Level Strategy Functonal level strategy emphaszes on daly operatons. It s manly desgned to support corporate and busness strateges. Mntzberg (1981) stated there are fve basc functonal parts of a corporate: operatonal core, strategc apex, mddle lne, techno structure, and support staff. In general, a corporate s made up of research and development, producton, marketng, fnance, and human resource functonal departments. Ths study heren emphaszes ITHs corporate level strategy, because the concept of corporate strategy s phrased n terms of the strategc poston based on a frm s resources (Andrews, 1980; Brger, 1984), and t s the man topc that we want to dscuss. We employ corporate level strategy to explan ITHs postonng strategy n order to fnd out the affectng factors, to analyze the mportant factors of ther postonng strategy, and to make some suggestons for hotelers. 2.6 Emprcal Industry Study Adee (1995) wrote that a hotel s strategy process s concerned wth understandng how an admnstratve system and the decson process nfluence ts strategc postonng. Papadopoulos (1989) ndcated that a tourst organzaton must defne the target customer segment that s seekng a servce, or else t cannot check whether ts offer matches customers needs or not. Km (2008) employed the Mann-Whtney U test, stepwse logstc regresson, and multvarate analyss of varance statstcal analyses to compare the performance of a hotel that whether usng strategc management or not usng strategc management, and found that management contract s postvely related to the performance of the hotels and a strategy could strengthen the hotel s compettveness durng toursm recessons. The recent study by Vecchato & Roveda (2010) uses corporate level strategy to explan envronmental uncertanty and offer strategy foresght. They nvestgated four leadng frms ncludng Kodak, Noka, Starbucks, and Luxottca, and took mcro-(operatonal), meso-(busness), and macro-(corporate) level nsghts to explan ther respectve strategc postonng. Essam & Jacquelne (2005) nvestgated toursm n Barbados, tryng to fnd the postonng strategy based on an analyss of customers perceptons and satsfactons. They then used factor analyss and multple regresson to fnd out four repostonng strateges (recreatonal, sports, culture, and eco-toursm) they can choose. Jayawardena (2002) presented that the future of toursm markets depends on the abltes of toursm countres to delver a hgh qualty product that corresponds to the changng tastes, needs, wants and demands of the nternatonal toursts, and further ponted out that usng well-developed nche-based marketng strateges can lead to total market growth. The development of such marketng strateges requres hotelers to measure the mage customers have of the hotels toursm products and dentfy how satsfed they are wth the delvery of such products. 3. Methodology and Data 3.1 Panel Data and Panel Regresson Hsao (2003) and Klevmarken (1989) lsted several benefts to mplementng the panel data method. Frst, f the 74

5 frms have heterogenety when we use the ordnary least squares (OLS) method, then the estmator wll show bas. The panel data can resolve ths problem by controllng an ndvdual frm s heterogenety. Second, the panel data method gves the researcher larger numbers and more nformatve data, less collnearty among the varables, and more degrees of freedom and effcency. Thrd, t can study the dynamcs of adjustment much better. Fourth, the panel data method allows researchers to analyze the questons that cannot be addressed by usng pure cross-sectonal or tme-seres datasets. The estmaton of panel data regresson tests s based on three methods, ncludng pooled OLS, the fxed-effects model, and the random-effects model. The man dfference between these three models s the estmaton about the cross-secton (hotels) constants. The OLS method estmates a common constant for all cross-sectons - that s, there are no dfferences between the estmated cross-sectons. In the fxed-effects model, t can also be called the least squares as dummy varables estmator, because t uses a dummy varable for each hotel to allow for dfferent constants for each hotel. The fxed-effects model can be expressed as: Y t D X t u t where D 1 for { 0 otherwse, s the constant term for, s a vector of slopes, and u t s a random varable. In the random-effects model, the constant term for each secton s a random varable. The random-effects model can be expressed as follows: Y t X t u t 2 where and ~ N (0, ). Therefore, we can rewrte the equaton as: Yt ( ) Xt u = t Xt ( ut ) where u t + s the error component, mplyng that the ntercepts of dfferent hotels are random and ndependently drawn from the populaton. In order to choose whch the random-effects model or the fxed-effects model s approprate, the Hausman test can be appled before the panel regresson analyss. In the Hausman test, the null hypothess s that u and X are uncorrelated and thus random effects are consstent and effcent (Dmtros, 2005; Maddala, 2001). The test statstc s: H ( ˆ FE ˆ RE ) 1 ˆ ˆ ) ( ˆ ˆ 2 Var ( FE ) Var ( RE FE RE ) ~ ( k ) where ˆ FE s the estmator of the fxed-effects model and ˆ s the estmator of the random-effects model. RE Therefore, f the result rejects the null hypothess, we choose the fxed-effects model; otherwse, we select the random-effects model. 3.2 Data Sources and Varable Defntons Ths study uses an unbalanced panel dataset over the perod We collect all the varables from the Annual Operatng Report of ITHs n Tawan publshed by the TTB. The cross-secton number of observatons n each year s as follows: 1998 (46 hotels), 1999 (47), 2000 (50), 2001 (51), 2002 (53), 2003 (56), 2004 (57), 2005 (57), 2006 (56), and 2007 (58), makng 531 observatons n total. Chu & Cho (2000) examned busness and lesure travelers' perceved mportance and performance of sx factors affectng ther selecton of hotels (servce qualty, busness facltes, value, room and front desk, food and recreaton, and securty) n the Hong Kong hotel ndustry. Ananth et al. (1992) surveyed 510 travelers, askng them to rate the mportance of 57 hotel attrbutes n the hotel choce decson. They found that the most mportant affectng factor s prce and qualty and then securty and the locaton of hotel. Barsky (1992) used guests nformaton to support hotel decson-makng by conductng a survey from selectng guests randomly. He showed that the employee atttude and locaton are the frst two factors customers emphasze, followed by rooms, prce, hotel facltes, hotel servce, parkng facltes, and food and beverage. Other studes n the lterature suggest that factors ncludng locaton, room rate, and reputaton of the hotel are also mportant n affectng customers choce about ITHs (Barsky, 1992; Barsky & Labagh, 1992; LeBlanc & Nguyen, 1996; McCleary et al., 1993; Pzam & Ells, 1999; Rvers et al., 1991; Wlensky & Buttle, 1988). Chen et al. (2010) nvestgated the effects of tourst natonaltes on the effcency of ITHs n Tawan and found out toursts comng from North Amerca, Japan, and Australa have a postve effect on the effcency of ITHs n Tawan. Based on the prevous studes, we can conclude that prce, locaton, facltes, tourst natonaltes, and 75

6 reputaton of the hotel are all mportant varables that mpact ITHs revenue. Therefore, we employ these varables to examne how they affect hotels postonng strategy. In addton, we add other varables, ncludng number of restaurants, restaurant type, operaton year, and tourst type, that mght affect hotels revenues. Here are the defntons of these varables. 3.3 Dependant Varable Percentage of food and beverage ncome accountng for total revenue (Y): It s computed as food and beverage revenue dvded by total revenue. 3.4 Independent Varables Locaton (Locaton): Where the nternatonal tourst hotel s located. Accordng to the Annual Operatng Report of Internatonal Tourst Hotels, we dvde the hotels nto seven regons: Tape, Tachung, Taoyuan (ncludng Hsnchu and Maol), Hualen, Kaohsung, scenc area, and other areas. We use a dummy varable to express these seven varable, 0 represents the hotel s located n Tape and 1 means the hotel s not located n Tape, and so on. We take other areas as a reference group and do not count t nto our regresson. Prce (Prce): The average room prce of an nternatonal tourst hotel, measured n thousands of NT dollars per room. Facltes (Total_Fac): The total number of a hotel s facltes. Number of restaurants (Num_Res): The total number of restaurants n a hotel. Restaurant type (Res_Type): We use a dummy varable to express ths. 0 represents the hotel just has ts own restaurants and 1 means there are one or more other brand restaurants operatng n the hotel. Operaton year (Bult_Year): How long the hotel has been n operaton. We defne 1996 as year 1 and 1997 as year 2, and so on. Toursts by natonalty: The percentage of Locals (Per_Domestc), overseas Chnese (Per_Oversea), North Amercan (Per_North_Am), European (Per_Europe), Japanese (Per_Japan), Australan (Per_Australa), Asan (Per_Asan), and other (Per_other) toursts. We take others as a reference group and do not count t nto our regresson. Tourst type (Group): Toursts always reserve a hotel under a group or ndvdual type. We select the group type (group toursts dvded by total toursts) for examnaton and take ndvdual group as the reference group. Reputaton of the hotel (Chan): An nternatonal tourst hotel that has joned an nternatonal chan wll have a better reputaton. We use a dummy varable to express ths, where 0 represents ndependent management and 1 represents hotels jonng an nternatonal chan. Fnally, we can obtan the panel regresson equaton: Y Tape Taoyuan Kaohsung Hualang Scenc Tachung Prce Total _ Fac Num _ Re s Re s _ Type Bult _ Year Per _ Domestc Per _ Oversea Per _ Austurala Per _ Europe Per _ Asa Per _ Japan Per _ North _ Am Group Chan Emprcal Results and Dscusson 4.1 Descrptve Statstcs Table 1 provdes descrptve statstcs for all the varables, ncludng dependent and ndependent, n the model. The average percentage of F&B revenue occupng total revenue s 50.25%, whch means on average F&B revenues are slghtly larger than room revenues. We examne the correlaton of the ndependent varables and fnd out the varables correlaton s smaller than 0.8. We then employ the varance nflaton factor (VIF) to nvestgate the severty of multcollnearty n a regresson analyss. If the VIF value s bgger than 10, t means the varable has collnearty wth other varables. In our regresson model, all VIF values of the varables are smaller than 10, allowng us to conclude that multucollnearty does not exst n ths model. 76

7 Table1. Descrptve statstcs of dependent and ndependent varables Independent Varables Mean Standard Devaton Mnmum Maxmum VIF Total_Fac Vew Prce Gro_Tourst Chan Bult_Year Per_ Domestc Per_Oversea Per_Japan Per_Asan Per_Europe Per_Australa Per_North_Am Tape Kaohsung Hualen Scenc Taoyuan Tachung Num_Res Out Dependent Varable Per_Res_Revenue Result of Panel Regresson The panel regresson used n ths study can be separated nto two parts. Frst, we want to test the mpact of locals and foregners on the dependent varable. In the regresson, we take the foregner group as the reference group. We then apply the Hausman test to examne whether the random-effects or the fxed-effects model s more approprate for regresson. The result of panel regresson mples that the more local toursts that a hotel accommodates, the hgher the rato of F&B revenue to room revenue a hotel wll have. We further put all ndependent varables nto the panel regresson to examne the total effect and also use the Hausman test to choose the adequate model. The result does not reject null the hypothess that the random-effects model s better. 77

8 Table 2. The random-effects panel data regresson on the percentage of F & B ncome Varable Estmate Std. Error t-value P-value C <0.0001*** Vew Prce *** Total_Fac Num_Res * Out Bult_Year *** Gro_Tourst Chan Per_Oversea Per_ Domestc * Per_Asan ** Per_Australa Per_Europe Per_Japan Per_North_Am Tape Kaohsung Hualen *** Taoyuan Scenc ** Tachung Note: Notatons ***, **, and * represent sgnfcance at the 1%, 5%, and 10% levels, respectvely. When the effect of locaton s consdered, hotels located both n Hualen and n a scenc area have a sgnfcantly negatve mpact, mplyng that most of the hotels revenues are manly composed of room revenue n these two areas (see Fgure 2). Wth respect to toursts natonalty (see Fgure 3), Asan toursts have a sgnfcantly negatve mpact on the rato of food and beverage revenue to room revenue. By contrast, local toursts have a sgnfcantly postve mpact on the rato of F&B revenue to room revenue, whch means Asan toursts have hgh demand for room servce, and local toursts have hgh demand on F&B servce. Because both operaton-year and prce have sgnfcantly negatve mpacts on the rato of F&B revenue to room revenue, we post that toursts who have hgh demand on room servce wll prefer hotels wth a better reputaton and a longer hstory. From the toursts' vewponts, the hgher prce symbolzes hgher qualty servce, or n other words, t causes hgher room revenue from the hotelers' vewponts. The number of restaurants has a sgnfcantly postve mpact on the rato of F&B revenue to room revenue, and so we suggest that F&B revenue-orented hotels should offer varous types of restaurants to satsfy dfferent customers demand. Fgure 2. F & B revenue to total revenue rato Sources: Operatng report of nternatonal tourst hotels n Tawan (1998~2007). 78

9 Fgure 3. Numbers of toursts by natonalty Data sources: Operatng report of nternatonal tourst hotels n Tawan (1998~2007). 5. Concluson Strategc postonng s very vtal for ITHs to face ferce competton and to satsfy dfferent toursts demands. Ths paper has employed the panel regresson to examne how envronmental factors wll affect ITHs self-postonng, and suggests that both tourst natonalty and locaton are mportant factors n determnng ITHs self-postonng. We fnd that Asan toursts have a negatve mpact on F&B revenue. However, local toursts have a postve mpact on F&B revenue. Ths nterestng fndng s consstent wth the fndng by Tsaur (2001), because ncreasng ratos of people n Tawan who eat out as local consumers n Tawan are used to dnng outsdes (Hu et al., 2009; Hu et al. 2010). Accordng to both the survey of Global Vews Monthly (2007), one of the most famous magaznes n Tawan, and the report of The Chnese Federaton of Dettans Assocaton (2008), more than 70% of Tawanese people eat out. Owng to the growth of the economy, Tawanese people are now enjoyng an ncrease n average ncome, rate of employment for women, as well as a better change n lfestyle (Hu et al., 2009; Hu et al. 2010). In addton, based on locaton vewpont, hotels located n Hualen and n scenc areas have a negatve mpact on F&B revenues. Accordng to these results, we are nterested n further examnng whether all hotels located n Hualen and n scenc areas have selected sutable postonng strateges for themselves. TTB s Operatng Report of ITHs shows only three hotels located n Hualen and n scenc areas, ncludng Chnatrust Hotel Hualen, Marshal Hotel, and Grand Hotel Kaohsung, and these three hotels major revenues are from F&B. However, comparng wth our emprcal results, these three hotels may have napproprate postonng strateges. To enhance a compettve advantage, these three hotels should focus on ncreasng room revenue nstead of F&B revenue, because toursts always love to enjoy natural scenery durng ther vacaton. Accordng to our emprcal results, local toursts have a sgnfcantly postve mpact on the rato of F&B revenue to room revenue, and the toursts that these three hotels n Hualen and n scenc areas accommodate are manly composed of local toursts (see Fgure 2). Based on ths nformaton, we suggest that these three hotels should reposton and adopt a room revenue-orented postonng strategy and reallocate ther resources to ncrease the rato of room revenue to F&B revenue. Next, takng the toursts natonalty nto consderaton, 24 ITHs manly attract local toursts (.e. the number of local toursts s larger than total foregn toursts) (see Fgure 3). Based on ths study s result, we could post that all these 24 hotels should adopt the F&B revenue-orented postonng strategy. But n fact, there are 13 ITHs adopt a room revenue-orented postonng strategy, of whch 11 are located n Hualen or n scenc areas. Ths result means that some ITHs located n Hualen or n scenc areas do not proactvely emphasze or promote ther beautful scenc resources, or maybe foregn toursts also do not know these natural resources are nearby the ITHs. Trout and Rvkn (1996) ponted that a repostonng strategy becomes necessary when: (1) Customer atttudes have changed; (2) Technology has overtaken exstng products; and/or (3) Products have strayed from the customers long-standng percepton of them. To enhance ITHs compettve advantages, we suggest the hotelers should reposton and develop compettve 79

10 strateges to promote the unque local customs and practces to attract more foregn toursts. Owng to factors such as prce, number of restaurants, and operaton-year that can be adjusted, we suggest that the hotelers should frstly determne the postonng strategy and then adjust these factors weghts. Accordng to the emprcal results, operaton-year and room prce have sgnfcantly negatve effects on the rato of F&B revenue to total revenue. Therefore, we suggest that hstorc hotels should adopt room revenue-orented postonng strategy and mprove ther servce qualty to ncrease the room prce. For example, ITHs located n Hualen or n scenc areas can make more efforts to rase the room prce by means of enhancng ther room servce qualty. Hstorc ITHs should also adopt room revenue-orented postonng strateges. Furthermore, the number of restaurants has a postve effect on the rato of food and beverage revenue to total revenue. Besdes, the hotels adoptng F&B revenue-orented postonng should offer dversfed types of restaurants for varous toursts. Crompton et al. (1992) suggested that, for effectve postonng of a destnaton, the strong attrbutes that are perceved as mportant by vstors should be frst dentfed. Also to be dentfed are other relevant attrbutes that are unque to the destnaton and capable of dfferentatng t effectvely from compettors n ts ablty to satsfy customers needs. Consstent wth ths lne of thought, ths study would lke to recommend ITHs managers use strategy postonng on a corporate strategy level. The fndngs heren can provde a reference for new entrants n the hotel ndustry for when they are thnkng how to formulate a proper and effectve self-postonng strategy. References Abell, D. F. (1980). Defnng the Busness: The Startng Pont of Strategc Plannng. Upper Saddle Rver, NJ: Prentce-Hall. Adee, A. (1995). The nterface of toursm and strategy research: an analyss. Toursm Management, 16(6), Ananth, M., DeMcco, F. J., Moreo, P. J., & Howey, R. M. (1992). Marketplace lodgng needs of mature travelers. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Admnstraton Quarterly, 33(4), Andreas, M. R., & Perry, C. (2000). Natonal marketng strateges n nternatonal travel and toursm. European Journal of Marketng, 34, Andrews, K. R. (1980). The Concept of Corporate Strategy (2nd ed.). Dow-Jones-Irwn, Homewood, IL. Balmer, J. M. T., & Greyser, S. A. (2003). Revealng the Corporaton: Perspectves on Identty, Image, Reputaton and Corporate Brandng. London: Routledge. Balmer, J. M. T., & Greyser, S. A. (2006). Corporate marketng: Integratng corporate dentty, corporate brandng, corporate communcatons, corporate mage and corporate reputaton. European Journal of Marketng, 40(7/8), Barnett, W. P., & Burgelman, R. A. (1996). Evolutonary perspectves on strategy. Strategc Management Journal, 17(1), Barney, J. (1991). Frm resources and sustaned compettve advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), Barney, J. B. (2002). Ganng and Sustanng Compettve Advantage (2nd ed.). NJ: Prentce-Hall. Barsky, J. D. (1992). Customer satsfacton n hotel ndustry: Meanng and measurement. Hosptalty Research Journal, 16(1), Barsky, J. D., & Labagh, R. (1992). A strategy for customer satsfacton. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Admnstraton Quarterly, 35(5), Brger, W. (1984). A Resource-Based Vew of the Frm. Strategc Management Journal, 5(2), Bourgeos III, L. (1985). Strategc goals, perceved uncertanty, and economc performance n volatle envronments. Academy of Management Journal, 28(3), Chacko, H. E. (1997). Postonng a toursm destnaton to gan a compettve edge, Asa Pacfc Journal of Toursm Research, 1(2), Chen, C. T., Hu, J. L., & Lao, J. J. (2010). Toursts' Natonaltes and the Cost Effcency of Internatonal 80

11 Tourst Hotels n Tawan. Afrcan Journal of Busness Management, 4(16), Chrstensen, L. T., & Cheney, G. (1994). Artculatng dentty n an organzatonal age. In S. A. Deetz (Ed.), Communcaton Yearbook. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Chu, R. K. S., & Cho, T. (2000). An mportance-performance analyss of hotel selecton factors n the Hong Kong hotel ndustry: a comparson of busness and lesure travelers. Toursm Management, 21(4), Crompton, J., Fakeye, P., & Lue, C. (1992). Postonng: the example of the lower Ro Grande Valley n the wnter long stay destnaton market. Journal of Travel Research, 31(2), Deephouse, D. L. (2000). Meda reputaton as a strategc resource: An ntegraton of mass communcaton and resource-based theores. Journal of Management, 26(6), Dess, G. G., Gupta, G. G., Hennart, J. F., & Hll, C. W. L. (1995). Conductng and ntegratng strategy research at the nternatonal, corporate, and busness levels: Issues and drectons. Journal of Management, 21, Dmtros, A. (2005). Appled econometrcs: A modern approach usng EVews and Mcroft. New York: Houndmlls, Basngstoke, Hampshre, Palgrave Macmllan. Doyle, P. (1983). Marketng Management. Bradford Unversty Management Centre. Essam, E. I., & Jacquelne, G. (2005). A postonng strategy for a tourst destnaton, based on analyss of customers perceptons and satsfactons. Marketng Intellgence & Plannng, 23(2), Fombrun, C. (1996). Reputaton: Realzng Value from the Corporate Image. Cambrdge. Fombrun, C. J., & Rndova, V. P. (2000). The road to transparency: Reputaton management at Royal Dutch/Shell. In Schultz, M., Hatch, M. J., & Larsen, M. H. (Eds.), The Expressve Organzaton (pp ). Oxford: Oxford Unversty Press. Foss, N. J. (1997). Resources, Frms and Strateges: a Reader n a Resource-based Perspectve. Oxford Unversty Press. Hatch, M. J., & Schultz, M. (2000). Scalng the tower of Babel: Relatonal dfferences between dentty, mage and culture n organzatons. In Schultz, M., Hatch, M. J., & Larsen, M. H. (Eds.), The Expressve Organzaton. Oxford: Oxford Unversty Press. Hll, C. W. L., & Jones, G. R. (2010). Strategc Management Theory: An Integrated Approach (9th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mffln Company Press. Hsao, C. (2003). Analyss of Panel Data (2nd ed.). Cambrdge, U.K: Cambrdge Unversty Press. Hofer, C. W., & Schendel, D. (1979). Strategy Formulaton: Analytcal Concepts. New York: West Publshng. Hu, J. L., Chu, C. N., Sheh, H. S., & Huang, C. H. (2010). A Stochastc Cost Effcency Analyss of Internatonal Tourst Hotels n Tawan. Internatonal Journal of Hosptalty Management, 29(1), Hu, J. L., Sheh, H. S., Huang, C. H., & Chu, C. N. (2009). Cost Effcency of Internatonal Tourst Hotels n Tawan: A DEA Applcaton. Asa Pacfc Journal of Toursm Research, 14(4), Jayawardena, C. (2002). Masterng Carbbean toursm. Internatonal Journal of Contemporary Hosptalty Management, 14(2), Km, S. (2008). Hotel management contract: mpact on performance n the Korean hotel sector. Servce Industres Journal, 28(5), Klevmarken, N. (1989) Panel studes: what can we learn from them? European Economc Revew, 33(2), Kotler, P. (2011). Marketng Management (13th ed.). Pearson Educaton, Inc., NJ. Lähtnen, K. (2007). Lnkng resource-based vew wth busness economcs of woodworkng ndustry: Earler 81

12 fndngs and future nsghts. Slva Fennca, 41, LeBlanc, G., & Nguyen, N. (1996). An examnaton of the factors that sgnal hotel mage to travelers. Journal of Vacaton Marketng, 3(1), Maddala, G. S. (2001). Introducton to Econometrcs (3rd ed.). West Sussex: John Wley & Sons, Ltd. McCleary, K. W., Weaver, P. A., & Hutchnson, J. C. (1993). Hotel selecton factors as they relate to busness travel stuatons. Journal of Travel Research, 32(2), Mntzberg, H. (1981). Organzaton Desgn-Fashon or Ft. Harvard Busness Revew, 59, Papadopoulos, S. I. (1989). Strategy development and mplementaton of toursm marketng plans: Part 2. European Journal of Marketng, 23(3), Pala, D., & Lchenberg, F. (1999). Manageral ownershp and frm performance: A re-examnaton usng productvty measurement. Journal of Corporate Fnance, 5(4), Pechlaner, H., & Sauerwen, E. (2002). Strategy mplementaton n the Alpne toursm ndustry. Internatonal Journal of Contemporary Hosptalty Management, 14(4), Pzam, A., & Ells, T. (1999). Customer satsfacton and ts measurement n hosptalty enterprses. Internatonal Journal of Contemporary Hosptalty Management, 11(7), Porter, M. E. (1980). Compettve Strategy. New York: Free Press. Res, A., & Trout, J. (1981). Postonng: The Battle for Your Mnd. New York, NY: McGraw-Hll Book Company. Rndova, V. P., & Fombrun, C. J. (1999). Constructng compettve advantage: The role of frm-consttuent nteractons. Strategc Management Journal, 20(8), Rvers, M. J., Toh, R. S., & Alaou, M. (1991). Frequent-stayer programs: The demographc, behavoral, and atttudnal characterstcs of hotel steady sleepers. Journal of Travel Research, 30(2), Roberts, P., & Dowlng, G. (2002). Reputaton and sustaned superor fnancal performance. Strategc Management Journal, 23, Scott, W. R. (1975). Organzatonal structure. Annual Revew of Socology, 1(1), Tokarczyk, J., & Hansen, E. (2006). Creatng ntangble compettve advantage n the forest ndustry. Forest Products Journal, 56(7/8), Trout, J., & Rvkn, S. (1996). The New Postonng. New York, NY: McGraw-Hll. Tawan Toursm Bureau. (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007). Operatng Report of Internatonal Tourst Hotels n Tawan. Tape. Toursm Bureau of Tawan. (2010). Retreved from Tsaur, S. H. (2001). The operatng effcency of nternatonal tourst hotels n Tawan. Asa Pacfc Journal of Toursm Research, 6(1), UNWTO. (2008). Retreved from Van Rel, C. B. M., & Balmer, J. M. T. (1997). Corporate dentty: The concept, ts measurement and management. European Journal of Marketng, 31, Vecchato, R., & Roveda, C. (2010). Strategc foresght n corporate organzatons: Handlng the effect and response uncertanty of technology and socal drvers of change. Technologcal Forecastng and Socal Change, 77, Venkatraman, N., & Prescott, J. E. (1990). Envronment-strategy coalgnment: an emprcal test of ts performance mplcatons. Strategc Management Journal, 11, Vercc, D., & Grung, J. E. (2000). The orgns of publc relatons theory n economcs and strategc 82

13 management. In Moss, D., Vercc, D., & Warnaby, G. (Eds.), Perspectves on Publc Relatons Research (pp. 9-58). London: Routledge. Whte, J., & Dozer, D. M. (1992). Publc relatons and management decson-makng. In Grung, J. E. (Ed.), Excellence n Publc Relatons and Communcaton Management. Hllsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Assocates. Wlensky, L., & Buttle, F. (1988). A multvarate analyss of hotel beneft bundles and choce trade-offs. Internatonal Journal of Hosptalty Management, 7, World Toursm Organzaton (UNWTO). (2008). Retreved October 26, 2008, from Copyrghts Copyrght for ths artcle s retaned by the author(s), wth frst publcaton rghts granted to the journal. Ths s an open-access artcle dstrbuted under the terms and condtons of the Creatve Commons Attrbuton lcense ( 83