Japanese Tourists ´Expectations versus Luxury Hotel Strategy

Before Covid-19, Luxury Hotels did not focus on Asian Markets and viewed Asians mainly as Chinese. For that reason, it is important in our research to introduce the Chinese for comparison with the Japanese, and to ask ourselves the question: do they expect the same from Luxury Hotels?

5.4.1. Japanese Culture versus Luxury Hotel Strategy

Portuguese Luxury Hotel strategies are principally focused on markets with European Cultures or similar. However, western culture is very different from Japanese culture. In Asia, young people are brought up to respect their elders, and scholars stress politeness as a critical dimension that westerners must take into consideration when dealing with the Japanese.

(Reisinger & Turner, 1999; Ziff-Levine,1990) pointed out two major Japanese cultural attributes: one is a behavioural characteristic referred to as “polite inexplicitness,” and the other is trust. To promise a service and not fulfil it is a big trust issue for the Japanese. Communication is another issue of concern as western direct communication can be seen as rude by the Japanese. The gap between Portuguese Luxury Hotel Strategy and Japanese Culture with regard to services on offer or attendance is summarized below:

Figure 5.1: Gap between Luxury Hotel Strategy and Japanese Culture

Source: Own Elaboration

147 5.4.2. Japanese and Chinese Tourists - Similarities and Differences

Travel and Social Characteristics

1,354 booking.com reviews (538 Japanese and 816 Chinese) of the 46 luxury Lisbon hotels in our sample were analysed and classified according to: travel type; visit type; number of overnight stays, and hotel rating. Both the Japanese and Chinese travelled mainly for leisure (78% and 77% respectively), and as a couple, or as a family or in group (74% Japanese and 87% Chinese). More Japanese travelled as individuals than did the Chinese (26% versus 13%) and both, in more than 90% of the cases stayed 4 nights or fewer. Both rated the 5-star hotels higher than the 4-star hotels, but the Japanese rated them a little lower than the Chinese. The overall rating of 4 and 5-star hotels reviewed by the Chinese on booking.com was 8.4 and 8.7 respectively, and the Japanese ratings were similar at 8.3 and 8.5 respectively. The booking.com scale is 1 to 10 => 1 is bad and 10 is wonderful. More words were used in the reviews written about Boutique and Independent Hotels, which confirmed the findings of a study by Xu (2018) that customers are motivated to give more detailed descriptions of core attributes of the products and services of independent/chain hotels in online textual reviews to help future customers make purchase decisions. Our study provides further confirmation of this as we found there were more positive and negative comments written by Japanese customers for Independent Hotels than for Chain Hotels.

Among the Japanese, the preferred channels of communication are word-of-mouth recommendations and reviews on trip advisor.

The Most Important Hotel Attributes: Japanese versus Chinese

A qualitative analysis of the booking.com content was conducted using the open, axial and select coding to identify which Hotel Attributes were important to Japanese and Chinese tourists. These attributes grouped mainly in six dimensions: Location, Features, Room (Bedroom, Bed and Bathroom), Breakfast, Staff/Service, Finance. These were then classified according to the Balanced Scorecard Dimensions (Market/Customer, Processes and Procedures, People and Finance). The differences found between the Japanese and Chinese concerning the most important Hotel Attributes are summarized in Figure 5.2.

An exploratory study of Portuguese luxury hotel management strategy

148 Figure 5.2 The Most Important Luxury Hotel Attributes for the Japanese and Chinese

The location or design of a hotel or room are hard to change, so these items were classified as features and this dimension was added to the other four dimensions of the balanced scorecard.

The cross-reference dimension of Market/Customer is present in all these dimensions. Several improvements in processes and procedures could be made, for example, by introducing vegetables and Asian food at breakfast; providing clearer explanations of how to use the room equipment and verifying whether they are working properly before check-in; and clearly explained invoicing procedures and pricing. Staff could be trained to develop a better understanding of Asian culture and could learn, for instance, the importance of not only attributing a room with a bathtub to the Japanese, but one with bathroom privacy. Staff could be taught to be more aware of the elderly Asian’s need for a kettle in which to boil water for tea, and the importance the Japanese attach to a hot bath. Another aspect of service that is important to the Japanese is the timely resolution of problems and clear, quick feedback on any issues they may have raised; it is important to bear in mind that the Japanese regard making excuses for any lack of service as impolite. Price, however, is not a big issue for the Japanese

Source: Own Elaboration

149 and they usually do not bargain for discounts, but it must be stressed that price and invoicing processes should be crystal clear.

This research is in line with some other research such as that of Tsang and Ap (2007), which reports that Asians prefer the basic and practical aspects of service, giving high ratings for variables such as, “staff understanding your problems and needs”, “dependable service” and responding effectively”. The research of Resinger and Turner (1999), despite being more than a decade older, also reported that respect for others is paramount in service and seen as good manners. Also found to be of extreme importance are punctuality; giving prompt feedback; fast resolution of problems; and reduced waiting time or making up for time waited with a gift or entertainment. Japanese customers focus more on service than Chinese customers do. In accordance with the findings of Liu et al. (2017) and Magnini et al. (2011), the focus of the Chinese is on room features and facilities. This, too, is in line with the eleven determinants of customer delight: Customer service, Cleanliness, Location of the hotel, Value, Facility (other than room), Size and Décor of room, Renovation/Newness, Food, Amenities and Quietness of the hotel. Peace-of-mind also plays a large role in customer satisfaction and has a significant impact on loyalty and word-of- mouth recommendation, which means that providing hotel customers with a pleasurable, trouble-free experience not only satisfies them but also generates positive-word-mouth for the organization (Ko,2020).

Luxury Hotel Strategy Before-Covid-19

Through interviewing Hospitality Top Management and Experts and from a questionnaire given to four different sector groups (Automotive and other industries, Bank, Insurance and Other services, Education and Consultancy and Hospitality and Tourism), we obtained feedback on the Luxury Hotel Strategy for the Asian Market (Chinese and Japanese) before Covid-19 that led us to conclude there had been no long-term strategy in place for these markets. Some approaches had been made with regard to the Chinese market (mainly through the Portuguese Tourism Office), but very little or nothing at all was in place for the Japanese market.

There were no significant differences among the sectors concerning what is known about Japanese tourists and the differences between them and the Chinese. This general lack of knowledge can and should be improved.

A Performance Component Analysis was conducted, as well as a confirmation factor analysis using AMOS26. The results showed that the seven components of the observed variables: 1. Market, 2. Asian Training, 3. Front-Office Competences, 4. Continuous

An exploratory study of Portuguese luxury hotel management strategy

150 improvement, 5. General Procedures, 6. Procedures-Customer, 7. Finance - were considered significant for the model. However, concerning the pre-Covid 19 long term strategy for retaining and attracting Chinese and Japanese tourists, only three components contributed to this strategy. These were the Front-office competences, Continuous improvement, and Finance.

In fact, the front-office had already taken some measures that were much appreciated by the Chinese and Japanese (being kind, helpful, proactive), and their policy of continuous improvement is important. However, these were not done specifically with the Asian Markets in mind but were aimed at other markets whose cultures are closer to European culture. Finance is directly connected to the strategic decision of whether luxury hotels want to invest in the Asian markets. As far as the Market component is concerned, the interviews confirmed that nothing or almost nothing is being done with regard to training or establishing procedures dedicated to the Asian markets.

Detailed answers to the research questions can be found in point 5.5.