收益管理决策行为及绩效水平的影响因素研究——以中国高星级酒店为例

Research on Factors Influencing Hotel Revenue Management Decision-making and Performance: An Empirical Study Based on High Star-rated Hotels in China

收益管理作为企业增收的重要管理手段,在国外酒店行业得到广泛重视,并成为国外相关研究的重要论题。然而,国内对收益管理的认识和应用还处于起步阶段。该研究首次采用实证研究的方法考察在中国独特情境下影响酒店收益管理决策行为和绩效水平的影响因素。在梳理国外研究成果的基础上,结合对酒店行业领袖的深度访谈,利用174份以中国高星级酒店为研究对象的有效调查问卷进行实证分析。研究发现:(1)管理公司类型和业主类型对酒店采用收益管理的决策行为和实施收益管理的绩效水平有显著影响;(2)客房数量会影响酒店收益管理决策行为但不影响其绩效水平;与之相反,酒店星级不会影响酒店的决策行为但却影响实施收益管理的绩效水平;(3)与国外研究结论不同,地理环境、平均房价、入住率、细分市场对酒店收益管理决策行为和绩效水平没有显著影响。该研究丰富了收益管理理论研究成果,对中国酒店行业实践具有一定参考意义。

As an important technology and strategy for revenue and profitability optimization, revenue management （RM） has caught wide attention in the international hotel industry, especially in developed countries, such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Australia. It has been an important subject for research in the world since it was introduced to the American hotel industry by Marriott about 30 years ago. However, it has been only a few years since Chinese domestic hoteliers began to pay attention to RM. Even now, only a small percentage of hotels in China have applied RM strategies and tactics in their daily pricing and distribution practices. Most of Chinese hotels owned or/and operated by domestic hotel companies without carrying an international brand name have just started to hear about the word of RM when they compete with other hotels run by international hotel chains, most of which have implemented RM. Therefore, the understanding and application of RM in Chinese hotel industry is still in its infancy. This paper is the first empirical study to learn what the factors are that affect hotel RM decision-making and its performance in the unique context of China. Our study is based on in-depth interviews with hotel industry leaders in China and an online survey of 174 valid questionnaires answered by the hoteliers from different high star-rated hotels throughout the country. We used quantitative approaches to analyze the data we have collected. We also compared our findings with those of international researchers. We found that： （1） Who owns or/and runs the hotel affects significantly the hotel＇s RM decision-making and performance. For example, if a Chinese hotel owner hires an international hotel management contractor to operate its hotel（s）, it tends to accept RM and support the management contractor to practice it. If an international hotel chain owns or/and runs a hotel in China, it is highly possible that it will use RM approaches in daily operation to yield the hotel＇ s products and services as it does in other hotels in other countries. （2） The size or the number of guest rooms of a hotel greatly affects its RM decision-making; but it is not related to the hotel＇ s RM performance. On the other hand, a hotel＇ s star rating has strong impact on its RM performance; but it does not affect RM decision-making. （3） Unlike what some international researchers have found, the location, average room rate, occupancy rate and market segmentation of a hotel do not affect its RM decision-making and its RM performance. In conclusion, we suggest that given the current situation in China, the understanding of RM among Chinese hotel owners and managers＇ and their attitude towards RM play the most important role in RM decision-making and performance. If they understand RM and believe it is helpful, managers will welcome it and invest time and other resources on it. If it is the case, RM decision making will be much easier and effective and it will lead to better RM performance. To make that happen, Chinese hotels, hotel associations, hotel schools, tourism and hotel government authorities need to work together to invest in and improve RM training and education. We believe our study will enrich the findings in RM research and it will be beneficial to the Chinese hotel industry.