Tourists’ Satisfaction With Innovation In Romanian Hotels

As competition in the hospitality industry grows more intense, accommodation facilities face the challenge of continuously adapting, improving, changing and renewing their offer of services, structure and ways of doing business. Thus, innovation plays an ever increasing role in the hospitality industry, although its impact on customer satisfaction and ultimately on the overall business performance remains little discussed. The purpose of this article is to investigate consumers’ satisfaction with innovation in the Romanian hotel industry, as well as with innovation in individual hotel services such as accommodation, events, dining, spa and entertainment. The paper discusses the results of a questionnaire-based research, measuring perceived satisfaction on a five-level Likert scale. The study is exploratory, representing a relevant starting point for further research into the means of increasing customer satisfaction through innovation and creativity. Results show that tourists are less satisfied with innovation in Romanian hotels than with innovation in foreign establishments. As far as particular characteristics and services are concerned, the study indicates that tourists are most satisfied with payment methods, non-business events and booking. Furthermore, hotel services consumers feel that hotel enterprises should be more innovative in what regards entertainment services, environmental technologies and loyalty programmes. Results are particularly relevant to practitioners in the hotel industry and especially to hotel managers, as the study highlights the areas in which innovation could generate increased customer satisfaction and implicitly longterm competitiveness.