If you’ve ever chosen a hotel using Trip Advisor you’ll know that there is a relationship between our online reviews and hotel performance. So do hoteliers, because they are diverting resources to improve their online reputations. But how can hotels optimise the balance between their clicks and their bricks and mortar?
Paul Phillips and his co-authors adopt an innovative artificial neural network model to analyse this question for Swiss hotels. They find that it is a less than obvious utilisation of resources that enhances revenue per available room. In addition, they discover that for Switzerland, subtle regional factors mean that location matters more for hotels than we previously knew.
Phillips, P., Zigan, K., Silva, M.M.S. and Schegg, R., 2015. The interactive effects of online reviews on the determinants of Swiss hotel performance: A neural network analysis. Tourism Management, 50, pp.130-141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2015.01.028.