Customer Oriented Strategy and Business Performance in Tourism and Hospitality Industry

The primary purposes of this study were: (a) to determine the extent to which customer oriented strategy is implemented to four and five-star hotels, and (b) to examine the relationship between customer oriented strategy used by four and five-star hotels and business performance (profit, ROI, sales volume and market share). The research was addressed to all four and five-star hotels in the Region of Peloponnese (142 four and five-star hotels, which recognized by Hellenic chamber of hotels) and involved 142 experienced managers who were the most knowledgeable regarding marketing issues. Responses were received from 98 managers of 98 four and five-star hotels with a 69% response rate. For the purpose of this study a 40-item questionnaire, was used developed by Whiteley (1991). The reliability of the scale was found to be α = 0.89. Also, the particular research used the subjective way of measuring performance. Business performance was judged against four criteria two financial (profit and ROI) and two market based (sales volume and market share). Descriptive statistics and Pearson chi-square (χ2) statistics were used to examine variables relationship using SPSS software (version 22). The results (means) indicated that customer oriented strategy is applied to a great extent from four and five-star hotels (M = 3.97, SD = 0.66). Also, there were significant and positive relationships between the customer oriented strategy and business performance (profit, ROI, sales volume and market share) of four and five-star hotels. This study is useful in extending the concept of customer oriented strategy to the tourism and hospitality industry. The study will be useful in helping managers to their further understanding of the customer oriented strategy process in their respective organization.