ISSN 0798 1015 HOME Revista ESPACIOS ÍNDICES / Index A LOS AUTORES / To the AUTORS Vol. 41 (Issue 14) Year 2020. Page 3 Factors affecting a Thai five-star hotel reputation: A SEM analysis Factores que afectan la reputación de un hotel tailandés de cinco estrellas: un análisis SEM UPANUN, Kawee S. 1; SORNSARUHT, Puris 2 Received: 14/07/2019 • Approved: 04/04/2020 • Published 23/04/2020 Contents 1. Introduction 2. Methodology 3. Results 4. Conclusions Bibliographic references ABSTRACT: RESUMEN: Thailand has become the 10th most popular tourist Tailandia se ha convertido en el décimo destino destination in the world, which is expected to greet 41 turístico más popular del mundo y se espera que million foreign guests in 2019. Given this significance, reciba a 41 millones de huéspedes extranjeros en the authors undertook a study using a structural 2019. Dada esta importancia, los autores realizaron un equation model [SEM] and LISREL 9.1 to assess the estudio utilizando un modelo de ecuación estructural opinions of 542 guests on how a Thai five-star hotel’s [SEM] y LISREL 9.1 para evaluar las opiniones de los reputation (RP) was affected by service quality (SQ), 542 invitados explicaron cómo la reputación de un guest trust (TR), and guest satisfaction (ST). Results hotel tailandés de cinco estrellas (RP) se vio afectada determined that the factors most important were SQ, por la calidad del servicio (SQ), la confianza del TR, and ST, respectively. huésped (TR) y la satisfacción del huésped (ST). Los Keywords: Guest satisfaction, guest trust, service resultados determinaron que los factores más quality, tourism. importantes fueron SQ, TR y ST, respectivamente. Palabras clave: Satisfacción del huésped, confianza del cliente, calidad del servicio, turismo. 1. Introduction Thailand today is the tenth most popular destination in the world, with foreign tourist visitors expected to reach 41 million in 2019 (Marukatat, 2018). Foreign travelers also spend more money in the Kingdom than anywhere else in Asia, which has made Thailand the fourth-most-profitable tourism destination globally (Ekstein, 2018). Also, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (2017), travel and tourism contributed $82.5 billion to Thailand’s gross domestic product [GDP] in 2016, representing 20.6% of Thailand’s total GDP. Additionally, the tourism sector supports over 15% of Thailand’s total employment, which represents over 5.7 million jobs. Given the significance of these numbers and the impact on Thailand, its economy, and business development, the authors opted to undertake a study on what factors affect a five-star hotel's reputation. However, first, we need to understand just what a ‘five-star' hotel is. A hotel rating system embraces two parts, which includes a basic registration standard as well as a grading standard (Callan, 1993). The basic registration standard is the minimum quality and physical requirement that a hotel property must meet, with the evaluation criteria an extension of basic requirements of qualitative and intangible services, allowing a hotel comparison to other properties. There is also a common misconception around the world that there is an international standard for a hotel with 'five-stars,' but in reality, there is not (Amey, 2015), with hotel star ranking systems differing widely from country to country. However, there is some consensus as to what makes a hotel a 'five-star' hotel, with the numbers of 'stars' related to the hotel's level of service, amenities, cleanliness, location, room sizes, and price. The ‘star’ ranking system began with the Forbes Travel Guide in the U.S. in the 1950s, but in the U.K., tourist authorities such as VisitBritain and VisitScotland are in charge today (LaRock, 2018). Additional research complications arise from the fact that between 1994 and 2014, there were 70 qualified scholarly research articles which used a variety of terms used to discuss the high-end hotel industry (Chu, 2014). These terms included ‘luxury hotels,' ‘deluxe hotels,' ‘upscale hotels,' ‘high-end hotels,' ‘palace hotels' (France), and ‘four- or five-star hotels.' Furthermore, one can find in hotel guides and academic papers the terms ‘upscale’ in China (Hsu, Oh & Assaf, 2011), ‘first class’ in Scandinavia (Mattsson, 1994), ‘moderate deluxe,' ‘deluxe,' and ‘superior deluxe’ (Sanyal, 2008). However, from a search of the Crossref database using the phrase “five-star hotel”, 225,423 entries were returned. A search of Google using the same search phrase returned 12.7 million results. Therefore, from this analysis, the authors selected the phrase 'five-star hotel' to describe a property wherein the services and standards are at the highest level available within Thailand. The phrase ‘five-star’ hotel was also adopted in 2004 for the launch of the Thailand Hotel Standard program (Narangajavana & Hu, 2008; Thailand Standards Hotel Directory, 2017). This program and its assessment committee began with representatives from the Thai Hotels Association [THA], the Tourism Authority of Thailand [TAT], the Association of Thai Travel Agents, and university hotel management programs. Individuals from these groups were called upon to conduct a voluntary annual assessment, and certification inspections (Narangajavana & Hu, 2008), with each hotel inspected and scored based on one to five stars. Criteria used in the ranking process included the hotel's construction and facilities, maintenance, and service. Furthermore, starting in 2011, inspections started to be undertaken by no less than four individuals representing a minimum of three organizations, whose standard's criteria was approved by the Thailand Hotel Standard Task Force (Thailand Standards Hotel Directory, 2017). As a comparison, in the United Kingdom, five-star hotels must also offer fitness and spa facilities, valet parking, butler and concierge services, 24-hour reception and room service, and a full afternoon tea. In France, however, the standards are regulated by the French Government (Amey, 2015). In 2012, the French government overhauled their ranking system, and today a five-star hotel must have guest rooms of at least 24 square meters, which are provided with air conditioning, valet parking, room service, a concierge, and an escort to the room at the time of check-in (Chavanne, 2019). The staff must also be able to speak two foreign languages, including English. Support for the importance of a five-star hotel’s staff was revealed in a Bangkok study in which the authors stated that employees play an essential role in making a hotel's brand 'come alive' (Kimpakorn & Tocquer, 2009). Gotsi and Wilson (2001) also determined that the staff’s role is pivotal in the corporate reputation management process, which is affected by the actions of every business unit, department, and staff member. Thailand has also become the tenth most popular tourist destination in the world, with 60% of bookings made by Chinese and 55% of bookings made by Indians were in four-star and five-star hotels (“US remains top source," 2019). International travelers from the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and South Africa have also emerged as high-value markets for hotels, as 70% of total bookings made by these nationalities were in four-star and five-star hotels. These statistics support the Thai government's focus on attracting more high-end arrivals. Furthermore, in 2019 Thailand is projecting 41.1 million foreign tourists. Thailand, therefore, has become a very attractive global tourism brand, and as a consequence, has been transformed into a major world tourist destination (Marukatat, 2018), which is now projecting 65 million visitors within a decade (Chuwiruch, 2019). Therefore, the study aims to investigate the importance and interrelationships of guest satisfaction (ST), the hotel’s service quality (SQ), and a guest’s trust (TR) on a five-star hotel’s reputation (RP). Additionally, the paper aims to contribute to the literature and a Thai hotel’s reputation by identifying which factors play the most significant role. It reports on a survey of both Thai and foreign guests distributed across six regions within the Kingdom. Furthermore, the paper is divided into four main sections. Additionally, underlying theory was investigated to obtain the variables and the creation of the hypotheses and a conceptual model in Figure 1. The methodology is detailed in section two, which includes the population and sample, the research tools, data collection, and data analysis. Section three details the results, which is followed by the conclusion and discussion in section four. 1.1 Research objectives 1. The authors wished to develop a structural equation model [SEM] of factors to analyze how guests perceive a five-star hotel’s reputation. 2. To compare the interrelationships of these factors and determine their importance to hoteliers and their guests. 1.2 Research hypothesis After a review of the literature and theory, the authors determined that the hotel’s reputation (RP) was affected by guest satisfaction (ST), the hotel’s service quality (SQ), and a guest’s trust (TR). From this, six hypotheses and a conceptualized framework were developed (Figure 1): H1: SQ directly influences ST. H2: SQ directly influences TR. H3: SQ directly influences RP. H4: ST directly influences TR. H5: ST directly influences RP. H6: TR directly influences RP. Figure 1 Conceptualized model 2. Methodology A quantitative method was adopted for the primary data collection stage of the study, which involved a questionnaire survey technique to test the theoretical model of factors influencing a Thai five-star hotel’s reputation. 2.1. Population and sample Thai and foreign guests staying in one of 10 five-star hotels spread throughout six regions in Thailand was the population for the study. From the evaluation statistical sample size theory, it was determined that a common method for determining a sample’s size was to use a multiple times the number of observed variables, with the multiple ranging from 10-20 (Schumacker & Lomax, 2010).