The deterministic factor of hotel selection in Phuket during COVID-19:A case study of domestic tourists

Abstract

Thailand has long been a competitive tourist destination. Tourism appears to contribute significantly to Thailand's GDP and economic growth. Global travel and tourism are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as it spreads across the world. Particularly in Phuket, which is heavily reliant on tourism as a growth driver. The impact of COVID-19 found that Phuket's 2020 tourist arrivals would have fallen to just 4 million, a 72 percent decline, and its revenue would have fallen to 108 billion baht, a 75 percent decline from 2019. (Ministry of tourism and sports, 2021). While hotels are categorized as businesses that are impacted by the pandemic. Thus, the study of the factors influencing hotel selection is essential and beneficial to the public. The objective of this study is first to identify the source of information used by tourists for hotel selection in Phuket. Secondly, to investigate tourists’ behavior for hotel selection in Phuket. Thirdly, to identify emerging factors that influence hotel selection in Phuket. Finally, to investigate the deterministic factors for hotel selection during the pandemic. This study is quantitative and applies quota sampling techniques. Over 420 usable questionnaires have been completed from May to October 2021 at three major tourist destinations, including Promthep Cape, Patong Beach, and Phuket Old Town by an equal portion of 140 questionnaires in each destination. The data analysis of descriptive statistics was used to determine tourists’ characteristics, behavior, and hotel attributes. While the inferential statistics included Pearson's Chi-square were implemented to investigate the relationship between the source of information and hotel selection, it was also used to examine the relationship between tourists’ behavior and hotel selection. Moreover, a one-way ANOVA was performed to investigate the relationship between hotel attributes and hotel selection in order to identify emerging factors among the groups for hotel selection. Factor analysis was also used to investigate the insightful relationships between variables. Furthermore, an independence sample T-test and binary logistic regression was implemented to investigate the hotel factors that influenced the possibility of the hotel selection. The hotel selection as the dependent variable of this study consists of two hotel selections which are accommodation rate and accommodation type. The study’s finding indicated that due to travel restrictions, all participants were Thai, mainly female, aged 21–30 years old, single status, with a bachelor’s degree and earning less than 150,000 baht per year. The result found that "friend and family" and "direct contact" with the hotel have significant influence at non-upscale hotels in Phuket during COVID-19. While the purpose of tourists' travels has significant influence on hotel selection, including both accommodation rate and type. However, travel duration and first-time travelers have no significant hotel selection, both accommodations rate and type. Furthermore, the investigation of emerging factors discovered that cleanliness and hygiene, which include SHA standards, physical social distance, and daily room cleaning, have a significant influence on hotel selection in Phuket during COVID-19. Furthermore, the result indicated that hotel service facilities, hotel image and reputation, hotel location and features all have a significant impact on the selection of an upscale hotel. Besides that, the findings discovered that hotel selection by accommodation type is significantly influenced by value for money, staff service, and education level. According to the findings, the hospitality and tourism industries would benefit from strengthening their planning and strategy in the event of a future pandemic. Traditional sources of information from friends and family and direct contact are costless tools that result in significant cost savings for hotel operations during the pandemic. Moreover, upscale hotels should emphasize vacationing tourists while non-upscale hotels must emphasize business and sightseeing tourists. Meanwhile, Thailand’s tourism must rely on cleanliness and hygiene as a basic requirement for hotel operations during the pandemic. Additionally, the upscale hotel must emphasize customer positive perceptions of hotel service facilities, hotel image and reputation, and hotel location and features to attract customers during the pandemic. Traditional accommodations must emphasize customer positive perceptions of staff service, while alternative accommodations emphasize the value of money. Furthermore, the outcome would provide an insight into the needs of domestic tourists in Phuket, enabling the hospitality and tourism industries to provide the appropriate products and services. However, the researcher suggests that future research should focus on both international and domestic tourists, which would provide greater benefit to the community.