IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/toueco/v29y2023i8p2165-2182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Go moderate! How hotels' cancellation policies affect their financial performance

Author

Listed:
  • Mehmet Altin
  • Chih-Chien Chen
  • Arash Riasi
  • Zvi Schwartz

Abstract

Hotel cancellation policies have shifted considerably in recent years. This is mainly in response to growing rates of last-minute cancellations and no shows and the resulting negative impact on the hotel’s performance. This study explores how two key policy elements, the penalty and the cancellation window, are likely to benefit the hotel. That is, how the severity of the policies is likely to positively impact the hotel’s financial performance. We developed a mathematical model and used cancellation and performance information data from a random sample of over 500 U.S. hotels to examine the effectiveness of a range of cancellation policies. The empirical findings support the mathematical model’s prediction that moderate cancellation policies are likely to generate better financial performance levels, compared to more lenient or more stringent policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mehmet Altin & Chih-Chien Chen & Arash Riasi & Zvi Schwartz, 2023. "Go moderate! How hotels' cancellation policies affect their financial performance," Tourism Economics, , vol. 29(8), pages 2165-2182, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:29:y:2023:i:8:p:2165-2182
    DOI: 10.1177/13548166221128450
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548166221128450
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/13548166221128450?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tsung-Hsien Tsai & Chien-Min Chen, 2019. "Mixed logit analysis of trade-off effects between international airline fares and fences: a revenue management perspective," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 265-275, February.
    2. Liang Guo, 2009. "Service Cancellation and Competitive Refund Policy," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(5), pages 901-917, 09-10.
    3. Jinhong Xie & Eitan Gerstner, 2007. "Service Escape: Profiting from Customer Cancellations," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 18-30, 01-02.
    4. Arash Riasi & Zvi Schwartz & Chih-Chien Chen, 2019. "A paradigm shift in revenue management? The new landscape of hotel cancellation policies," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(6), pages 434-440, December.
    5. V. Padmanabhan & I. P. L. Png, 1997. "Manufacturer's Return Policies and Retail Competition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 81-94.
    6. Zvi Schwartz & Mehmet Altin & Manisha Singal, 2017. "Performance measures for strategic revenue management: RevPAR versus GOPPAR," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 16(4), pages 357-375, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeffrey D. Shulman & Anne T. Coughlan & R. Canan Savaskan, 2011. "Managing Consumer Returns in a Competitive Environment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(2), pages 347-362, February.
    2. Gérard P. P. Cachon & Pnina Feldman, 2017. "Is Advance Selling Desirable with Competition?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(2), pages 214-231, March.
    3. Scott Fay & Jinhong Xie, 2010. "The Economics of Buyer Uncertainty: Advance Selling vs. Probabilistic Selling," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1040-1057, 11-12.
    4. Wen Zhang & Weizhe Yang, 2021. "Optimal pre-order strategy with delay in payments," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 305(1), pages 347-374, October.
    5. Xiao Huang & Dan Zhang, 2020. "Service Product Design and Consumer Refund Policies," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(2), pages 366-381, March.
    6. Rachel R. Chen & Eitan Gerstner & Yinghui (Catherine) Yang, 2012. "Customer Bill of Rights Under No-Fault Service Failure: Confinement and Compensation," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 157-171, January.
    7. ChihChien Chen, 2016. "Cancellation policies in the hotel, airline and restaurant industries," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 15(3), pages 270-275, July.
    8. Liao, Chen-Nan & Chen, Ying-Ju, 2019. "Role of exchangeable tickets in the optimal menu design for airline tickets," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 151-163.
    9. Yurong Pei & Mengying Xie & Qiuling Yang & Yi Liao & Yuping Wu, 2021. "Effect of Consumer Strategic Behavior on Online Presale Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-21, October.
    10. Jeffrey D. Shulman & Marcus Cunha & Julian K. Saint Clair, 2015. "Consumer Uncertainty and Purchase Decision Reversals: Theory and Evidence," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(4), pages 590-605, July.
    11. Gérard P. Cachon, 2020. "A Research Framework for Business Models: What Is Common Among Fast Fashion, E-Tailing, and Ride Sharing?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1172-1192, March.
    12. Huifang Jiao & Xuan Wang & Chi To Ng & Lijun Ma, 2021. "Pricing and Return Policies in a Competitive Market: A Consumer-Valuation Based Analysis with Valuation Uncertainties," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, January.
    13. Jinyang Zheng & Youwei Wang & Yong Tan, 2023. "Platform Refund Insurance or Being Cast Out: Quantifying the Signaling Effect of Refund Options in the Online Service Marketplace," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 910-934, September.
    14. Lauren Skinner Beitelspacher & Thomas L. Baker & Adam Rapp & Dhruv Grewal, 2018. "Understanding the long-term implications of retailer returns in business-to-business relationships," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 252-272, March.
    15. Mutlu, Fatih & Çetinkaya, Sıla, 2020. "Supplier–carrier–buyer channels: Contractual pricing for a carrier serving a supplier–buyer partnership," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    16. Lee, Seoki & Pan, Bing & Park, Sungbeen, 2019. "RevPAR vs. GOPPAR: Property- and firm-level analysis," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 180-190.
    17. Jian Liu & Xinyue Sun & Yanyan Liu, 2022. "Products pricing and return strategies for the dual channel retailers," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3841-3867, September.
    18. Wenyan Zhou & Oliver Hinz, 2016. "Determining profit-optimizing return policies – a two-step approach on data from taobao.com," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 26(2), pages 103-114, May.
    19. Wang, Yulan & Zipkin, Paul, 2009. "Agents' incentives under buy-back contracts in a two-stage supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(2), pages 525-539, August.
    20. V. Daniel R. Guide , Jr. & Gilvan C. Souza & Luk N. Van Wassenhove & Joseph D. Blackburn, 2006. "Time Value of Commercial Product Returns," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(8), pages 1200-1214, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:29:y:2023:i:8:p:2165-2182. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.