Award Date

8-1-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

William F. Harrah College of Hospitality

First Committee Member

Mehmet Erdem

Second Committee Member

Billy Bai

Third Committee Member

Laura Book

Fourth Committee Member

Fatma Nasoz

Number of Pages

108

Abstract

In the era of COVID-19, hospitality was one of the industries that was most severely impacted by the virus. Spread of the virus was rapid enough to force hotels to close properties worldwide, and hotels were required to adopt safety measures and protocols in order to re-open or remain open. New types of measures, some never seen before the pandemic, were created and implemented throughout the hotel industry.

The main purpose of this study is to assess guests' perception of preventive safety initiatives and measures in the era of COVID-19 and to determine their level of satisfaction with such measures. This study comprehensively reviewed the previous literature with respect to the similar past cases of health and safety crises in the hospitality industry. A total of 42 hotel pandemic safety measures were identified and compiled into a master list and grouped into four stages of the guest cycle: pre-arrival, arrival, occupancy, and departure. Using the list of measures, a survey was carried out to examine hotel guests’ perceived importance and performance of the listed measures. The Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) technique was adopted to analyze the survey results. The study provided managerial suggestions on resource and effort allocations based on the results of the IPA analysis.

A total of 310 usable responses were collected, and the findings suggested majority of safety measures in the “pre-arrival” stage required more concentration. A lot of distinct technology related safety measures were introduced in the “occupancy” stage, but the majority of them were perceived to be “low priority” by guests. It was also found that many guests have concerns about staying at a hotel during the pandemic, and they were dissatisfied with hotels’ performance on informing guests about updated information regarding COVID-19. Major findings and practical implication on the hospitality industry were further discussed.

Keywords

corona; covid-19; disaster; ipa; risk; safety

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations

File Format

pdf

File Size

2100 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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