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- ITC'18: X International Tourism Congress: The image and sustainability of tourism destinations: proceedings bookPublication . Almeida, Paulo; Jorge, João Paulo; Almeida, Anabela; Oliveira, Verónica; Costa, João
- Customer delight: perception of hotel spa consumersPublication . Elias-Almeida, Anabela; Miranda, Francisco Javier; Almeida, PauloDelighted customers are those whose expectations have been exceeded by the service provider. Competitors in the hotel business need to go beyond what is expected in order to satisfy the guest with an unpredictable positive experience. This study was aimed to clarify the significance of customer delight as an antecedent to customer loyalty, in five-star hotel spas in Portugal. To better understand spa consumers’ perception of delight, the development and testing of an integrated model was undertaken by examining the relationship between perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, loyalty and customer delight. The model was tested using surveyed data from 427 spa consumers and validated using partial least squares (PLS) technique. The results indicated that satisfaction had a direct positive effect on customer delight and, consequently, influences the effect of customer delight on customer loyalty.
- Gestão de Destinos TurísticosPublication . Almeida, Paulo; Oliveira, Verónica Nobre de; Carvalho, Mário; Coelho, Júlio; Almeida, Nuno; Almeida, Anabela Elias; Fonseca, Júlia Fragoso; Eurico, Sofia; Viana, Ana Sofia; Almeida, António Sérgio Araújo de
- Food tourism in the touristic development pole of the western region – PortugalPublication . Oliveira, Simão; Elias-Almeida, Anabela; Ferreira, Cátia; Ezequiel, Graça; Cabral, PaulaCurrently, tourism is characterized by significant changes in its supply. These changes are motivated by the need of adjustment to the actual demand, which seek new types of experiences, different sensations and new destinations. Regarding tourist behavior, we can identify that there are profound changes, today, in comparison to previous years. Tourists travel more annually (but with shorter stays), are more knowledgeable about the destinations and products offered (playing, in this case, the internet a very important role) seeking new sensory experiences that are compelling, often to release accumulated labor stress resulting from a competitive urban society. As a result of these changes, niche tourism (also called thematic tourism), has gained an increasing interest from the tourism industry (supply) as well as by the academic community, which particularly in the mid-90s, began to turn more of its attention to this new way of supplying and practicing tourism. Food tourism in academic terms only began to receive greater attention in the beginning of this century. However, it has been relegated, to a secondary plan, in comparison with other types of niche tourism, such as wine tourism, ecotourism or even sports tourism. Therefore, it is easy to understand that all the studies about food tourism are relevant to increment the state of the art. This article results from a research project in the Western Region of Portugal, which had the duration of one year (May 2010 to May 2011) with a team of five investigators and two fulltime research fellows. This region is gastronomically rich, especially on fish, which attracts visitors to the area. Thus, among others, the following objectives were outlined for the study: Assess the potential of food tourism in the Western Touristic Pole; assess the local tourist agents’ perception on food tourism and their sensibility of the same; to profile the food tourist that travels to the Western Touristic Pole; and identify key practices of those who travel, motivated by food. In terms of methodology, the case study approach was used, with field work that resulted in 863 questionnaire surveys on the demand side and 92 questionnaire surveys on the supply side, resulting in a very interesting sample. The conclusions of the project revealed that food can actually be an important factor as a primary attraction, as well as secondary; that although the local agents are aware, the non-structure of a concrete product, results in a predominance of day visitors; there is little promotion of this tourism product; and it was possible to identify the profile of food tourists that visit the region.
- Gestão do alojamento, receção e housekeepingPublication . Abranja, Nuno; Almeida, Mafalda; Almeida, Anabela EliasEsta publicação, com grande ênfase nas operações, surge num momento em que se constata um novo boom do turismo internacional, com elevada incidência no nosso país, registando-se números de movimentações turísticas nunca antes verificados, provocando por isso uma elevada necessidade de mão de obra qualificada em todos os campos de ação turística em geral, mas na hotelaria em particular, pela sua peculiar relevância. O futuro ditará que o elemento diferenciador e determinante na escolha do alojamento do consumidor turístico deixará de ser apenas o produto hoteleiro, para incidir mais no serviço e no atendimento praticados pelas unidades hoteleiras. Os hotéis são hoje confrontados com elevados desafios ao nível das operações, da tecnologia, da formação, da competitividade e dos mercados de consumo, implicando uma intervenção rápida no campo do conhecimento e da construção de competências diferenciadoras. Este livro aborda fundamentalmente os procedimentos técnicos da área do alojamento, do front office, do back office (reservas) e do housekeeping (andares e lavandaria), as áreas operacionais porventura mais importantes do ponto de vista da produtividade e da rentabilidade de um hotel. Esta obra inclui entrevistas a administradores hoteleiros, diretores de hotéis, chefes de receção, chefes de turno, diretores de front office, rececionistas, night auditors e governantas que exercem funções em vários hotéis em Portugal e no estrangeiro e que partilham as suas opiniões profissionais com base em largos anos de experiência hoteleira. São disponibilizadas também fichas de trabalho de elevada utilidade para quem estuda, ensina e trabalha na hotelaria em Portugal, permitindo ao leitor aferir os seus conhecimentos e competências neste campo de estudo.
- Manual de boas práticas e sustentabilidade no turismoPublication . Almeida, Paulo; Eurico, Sofia; Almeida, Sérgio; Oliveira, Fernanda; Jorge, João Paulo; Ramos, Dulcineia; Oliveira, Verónica; Simões, Ana Raquel; Borges, Patrícia; Malheiros, Cátia; Caetano, Marta; Amorim, Daniela; Viana, Ana Sofia; Coelho, Júlio; Sousa, Ana Elisa; Lourenço, Paulo; Rafael, Célia; Almeida, Nuno; Fonseca, Júlia; Schön, Michael; Martins, Rui; Dias, Francisco; Cardoso, Lucília; Mendes, Alexandra; Bento, Carla; Elias-Almeida, Anabela; Varela, Luciana; Varela, Jorge; Santos, Luís Lima; Gomes, Conceição; Brasão, Inês; Baptista, Pedro
- Implementation of mystery shopping in hotel management: practical overview in F&BPublication . Dinis, João; Elias-Almeida, AnabelaThe dynamic of the present ever-changing market makes service quality management increasingly demanding, compelling organizations to monitor constantly the rapid changes that are often unexpected. It is in this context that quality management value becomes essential for organizations. Mystery Shopping has become an accepted method of performance measurement in many industries. Therefore, the goal of this research is to present the development and implementation of mystery shopping tool carried out by a Portuguese hotel chain with the final purpose of analyzing its efficiency. This paper shows the methodology towards the construction of the questionnaires that analyze the compliance with the standards, and also describes the technical training throughout the project to which the employees of the Food and Beverage (F&B) department were submitted as well as a comprehensive mystery shopper training program to ensure consistency of quality in the assessment process. After collecting the information of the mystery shopper audits, the information is processed and presented as reports containing the interpretation of the results. The results indicate that an ongoing process of mystery shopping visits can contribute for a short-term improvement in quality service results. This study contributes to the Mystery Shopping research stream by empirically testing if the tool effectively produces an improvement in compliance with the standards in a practical context. Further, this study proposes future research directions.
- Are alternative accommodations a threat to hotels in Portugal?Publication . Elias-Almeida, Anabela; Ferreira, Cátia Malheiros; Lopes, Maria SofiaThe possibility to book unique accommodations around the world is growing. Since 2005 an alternative segment of accommodation is becoming a strong phenomenon in Portugal, progressively increasing in demand. There are many different types of alternative accommodations, from cheap to luxury, each operating in its own niche. In Portugal, the rise of luxury accommodations has brought new attention to the lodging sector. Traditional accommodations are also benefitting from recent travel trends. More travelers want to live and feel as a local, and less like a tourist. Today, it´s becoming more about experiencing a destination for what it is and meeting other travelers who are interested in meeting new people. Therefore, this study aims to understand the growth of tourism and alternative accommodations in Portugal, and their impact on the Hotel industry. Are alternative accommodations a threat for hotels? And what about hotel operational performance? To answer these two questions the present study examines the effects of alternative accommodations supply on two key hotel performance metrics: occupancy rate and RevPar in all Portuguese hotels for the period between 2014 and 2018.
- Gastronomical Experiences in the Western Touristic Pole of PortugalPublication . Elias-Almeida, Anabela; Oliveira, Simão; Cabral, Paula; Ferreira, Cátia; Ezequiel, GraçaThe tourism concept associated to an experience is getting more prominent every day. Food Tourism is one of those expansions of tourism that focuses on the individual as opposed to the world around him. The tourist is the protagonist of an experience, apparently individual, but in reality it involves a whole range of factors, physical and psychological, that do not allow isolating him but identifying him as the one who surrenders to the sensations. According to Fields (2005), gastronomy is run by four pillars that allow tourists to move in certain areas in order to meet their needs. It is the destinations onus to attract tourists with its attributes and its capacity to distinguish itself from other destinations, aiming to provide different experiences. The Western Region through its attributes, either by food associated with the region or some events, allowed us to develop this study, individualizing its characteristics but particularizing the region in a global context. This article results from a research project in the Western Region of Portugal, which had the duration of one year (May 2010 to May 2011), with the objective to understand the role that food tourism plays for the differentiation of a destination, assess the local tourist agents’ perception on food tourism and their sensibility of the same and to profile the food tourist that travels to the Western Touristic Pole and identify key practices of those who travel, motivated by food. Regarding the method of the study, the case study approach was used, with field work that resulted in 863 questionnaire surveys on the demand side and 92 questionnaire surveys on the supply side. To conclude, we sought out to understand if gastronomy has a primary or secondary role in this coastal region, determined by particular gastronomical aspects, in order to evaluate its recognition from both views, supply and demand.
- O turismo gastronómico no Pólo Turístico do Oeste (Portugal) na perspetiva da ofertaPublication . Ezequiel, Graça; Almeida, Anabela; Ferreira, Cátia; Cabral, Paula; Oliveira, SimãoO turismo gastronómico consiste num segmento de mercado em crescimento que permite desenvolver destinos turísticos competitivos. Enquanto área abrangente, traduz-se em viagens a locais específicos com o propósito de estabelecer um sentido de pertença onde a qualidade da experiência relacionada com a gastronomia é o mais importante. Este artigo resulta de um projeto desenvolvido na região Oeste de Portugal, com a duração de um ano (maio de 2010 a maio de 2011), a fim de compreender o papel que o turismo gastronómico desempenha para a diferenciação do destino, avaliar a perceção dos agentes turísticos locais, traçar o perfil do turista gastronómico do Pólo Turístico do Oeste, e identificar as suas práticas-chave. Em termos de metodologia, foi utilizado o estudo de caso, com trabalho de campo, de onde resultaram 863 inquéritos por questionário do lado da procura e 92 inquéritos por questionário do lado da oferta. As conclusões do projeto revelaram que a gastronomia pode efetivamente ser um fator importante como atração primária, bem como secundária; e que, embora os agentes locais estejam cientes da sua importância, a inexistência de um produto organizado, resulta na predominância de visitantes e não de turistas. Este artigo pretende explorar a perceção da oferta do turismo gastronómico, sobre a preocupação em oferecer produtos regionais e do seu envolvimento em decisões estratégicas.