Factors Affecting Occupancy Rate Of Jackalope Hotel Mornington Peninsula

Location

This study will identify issues and develop strategies for increasing occupancy rates in rural luxury hotels. This study will consider Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula to identify the effective strategies that can be implemented for improving the trade volumes during midweek. 

Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula is a luxury hotel having 46 rooms and is located on a working winery.  The hotel provides full service to its customers with room service and front desk service for 24 hours. The facilities in the hotel includes the free WiFi, pools and spa that are solar heated, welcome drinks, complimentary mini bar, two on site restaurants and room service twice a day. Recently, the hotel is facing issued due to the less occupancy rates during the mid weeks. Occupancy rate of the hotel during the weekend is 90% where as during the mid week it falls under 50% (Gourmet Traveller 2018). Therefore, the daily takings are affected due to the decrease in the number of consumers but the operating costs are remaining same regardless of the decrease in customers. The location of the hotel is an issue as it attracts only the premium consumers in the market. The hotel may have to curtail costs within their cost structure, which may lead to increase in turnover rate of the organization. In this study, these problems will be addressed to identify suitable strategies for mitigating these issues.

This research is aimed at identifying the different factors that are responsible for affecting the occupancy rate of Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula. The identified factors will be evaluated to investigate the nature of impact of each of the factors on the occupancy rate during midweek trade. This research will conclude by providing valid recommendations regarding different strategies that should be implemented for improving the occupancy rate during midweek.

• To identify the factors affecting the occupancy rate of Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula
• To investigate the impact of these factors on the occupancy rate of Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula
• To recommend suitable strategies for improving the occupancy rate of Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula during mid week trade

As stated by Viglia, Minazzi, and Buhalis (2016), occupancy rate is the most crucial aspect of a hotel as decrease in occupancy rates increases the depletion rate of hotel resources. The external and internal factors are very important for growth, performance and success. The external factors will include the market competitors, economic changes, political situation and seasonality. The internal environment will consist of factors such as service quality, employee attitudes, room facilities, prices and cleanliness. The characteristics of the hotel are also an important factor, as it will consist of factor such as location of the hotel and the number of beds in the hotel.

Occupancy Capability

 According to Radojevic, Stanisic and Stanic (2015), the characteristics of the hotel will determine the attractiveness of hotel. The consumers will be initially be attracted due to the location of the hotel, number of rooms and extra amenities they are providing to the consumers.

Location

  There are certain consumers that give importance to the location of the hotel and they are willing to pay more for a suitable location. The surrounding environment of the hotel will determine what type of consumers they will attract. Business consumers will occupy a hotel that is located near a corporate centre and the hotel can collaborate with the centre to attract those consumers in the market Zervas, Proserpio and Byers, (2017). Thus, the hotels can adapt to the events by formulating suitable strategy. Thus, identifying the possible customer could provide competitive advantage, as they can understand what the location of the hotel can offer to the consumers. According to Phillips et al. (2017), the location of the hotel will determine the potential expansion they can obtain in the near future. The target groups of the hotels are determined by the location and a good location may provide support to the sustainability. There are generally two types of hotel settings, one is the centre hotels and other is the rural setting hotels. However, both have their own set of positives and negatives.  As stated by (), the hotels in the city centre cater to a saturated market so the analysis of the market competitors are essential in gaining competitive advantage in the market. Moreover, they should have sound knowledge about the surround hospitality industry so that suitable strategies can be formulated.  The location issue is less significant for the hotels located in rural setting, as there is less competition.

The hotel occupancy capability is another important factor for understanding the growth and performance of the hotels in the industry. The total number of rooms and the number of rooms occupied in the hotel will determine the occupancy rate. The occupancy rate of a hotel signifies the profit margin, revenue streams and cost structure of the hotel. The occupancy rate of hotels fluctuates depending upon the seasonality. The occupancy rate identifies the behaviour of the population during the weekdays and week offs (Ling et al. 2015). Generally, hotels experience less occupancy rates during the weekdays and there are certain seasons when the business prospects are quite low for the hotel. Therefore, it is essential to compare the different hotels in the same region to understand the competitiveness of the environment.  Thus, by understanding the trends in the market, any firm can implement strategies for improving their occupancy rate. These strategies may include factors such as promotions and packages, targeting, segmentation and positioning.  

Internal Factors

The internal factors that will be considered in this literature review are service quality, room facilities, prices, employee attitudes and cleanliness. As stated by Molina-Azorín et al. (2015), service quality, employee attitudes, room facilities, prices and cleanliness are the different attributes for retaining visitors in the hotel.

Service Quality

As stated by Stefano et al. (2015), it is difficult to provide an exact definition of service quality as it is intangible in nature. However, service quality is an integral part of the hotel industry and sustainability of the hotel is dependent on it. It is essential to understand the requirement of quality as many people misinterpret quality as durability and luxury.  On the other hand, Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés (2015) describes service quality as meeting the expectation of the client and going beyond it. In order to obtain competitive advantage in the market, the hotels have to add value to the products they are offering and service quality is one of ways of adding value to the consumer offerings. Hotel industry use different form of Service Quality measurement techniques, which is used for monitoring the service quality of the hotels. SERVQUAL Model is one of the most popular model for measuring the quality of service in the industry. This model identifies the service quality gap keeping client evaluation as the parameter for evaluation. This model identifies seven gaps in service quality. The gaps are as follows:

Gap1: This measures the gap between management perception and customer expectation of service quality. Excessive management layers and wrong market research orientation are the major reasons for this type of gap.

Gap2: This measures the gap between service specification and management perception. The gap arises when the standards are not maintained within the organization, which results in the lack of commitment among the employees and the management.

Gap3: This measures the gap between service delivery and service specification. This gap arises due to lack of clarity in job role and key responsibility areas of the employees.

Gap4: This measures the gap between external communication and service deliveries. This gap arises due to over promise to consumers along with low horizontal communication.

 Gap5: This measures the gap between the perception of service delivered and consumer expectation. This gap arises when the organization is unable to address the needs and expectations of the consumers. This is the true measure of quality of service as there is direct relationship with the external customers.

Service Quality

Gap 6: This measures the gap between employee perception and customer expectation. This arises due to wrong perception of the employees of the customer expectations.

Gap 7:  This measures the gap between management perception and employee perception. This arises due to communication gap between the management and the employees.

(Source: Stefano et al. 2015),

Room and Hotel facilities

As stated by Martinez et al. (2017), the majority of the customers are attracted by the extra facilities the organization is able to provide. This will act as a unique selling proposition for the hotel, which may include factors such as free Wi-Fi facility, complementary dinners, swimming pools, recreation centres and discounts for regular clients. However, promotion of these value propositions is important, as the customers need to be made aware of the facilities the organization is providing to the consumers.  However, the marketing and promotion strategy will include identification of the target customers and identifying suitable strategies. The customers should be provided the amenities they need so market survey is required to analyze the behavioural pattern of the consumers.

Prices

As stated by Viglia, Mauri and Carricano (2016), effective pricing strategy is essential for gaining success in the hotel industry.  A hotel has to consider many factors before deciding upon the prices. However, the simplest rule followed by most of the hotels is following competitive pricing or increasing the prices when there is shortage of inventory. Therefore, pricing strategy will be different as they operate in different environment having different target consumers. The basic factors that have to be considered are booking patterns, available inventory, consumer needs and competitive response. These are the internal pricing factors; evaluation of the booking pattern will show the type of consumers, the hotel is drawing. The inventory is a major concern in the hotel industry so available inventory and demand. When there is availability of resources is high, the rates are low and vice versa.

This is a simple case of yield management where the prices are increased due to less availability of resources but as the hotels do not operate in vacuum, other relevant factors such as market competition, the location, facilities are essential elements of determining the prices. It is viable to adjust prices based on the market situation and the prices set by the competitors in the market. As the hotel makes changes to their pricing strategy based on their competitor pricing, similarly, the competitors are expected to respond in similar way if they want to maintain their competitive advantage in the market (Ali, Amin and Cobanoglu 2016). However, without considering the consumers it is impossible to formulate an effective strategy. It is essential to evaluate the elasticity and sensitivity of the consumers towards change in pricing which is generally done using sophisticated tools in now days.

Room and Hotel Facilities

Employee Attitude

According to Chan et al. (2017), employee attitude and behaviour is essential for retaining the existing consumers in the market.  In hotel industry, the employees directly interact with the customers at all time so the behaviour of the employees plays an important role in providing the consumers with high quality experience.  Employee attitude is highly linked with customer satisfaction and different literatures have provided instances of effective employee attitude required for improving the overall experience for the consumers. Researches show that familiarity, responsiveness, politeness, friendliness, caring, trustworthiness, understanding and helpfulness are elements proved effective in providing the consumers with better satisfaction and develop a long-term relationship with the customers (Kim, Im and Hwang 2015).   The outcome of various studies clearly shows that friendly behaviour is important for improving consumer experience and the service industry has become more oriented towards the customers so understanding customer needs and providing them with personalised service is crucial for organizational success.

Cleanliness

As opined by Nicholas and Lee (2017), maintaining high standards of sanitation in the hotel industry is essential. The hotels require commercial cleaning expertise in each aspect for keeping their hotel in top condition at all times. Cleanliness is the basic requirement of a hotel and companies can gain consumer loyalty. As stated by Zemke et al. (2015), consumers expect clean environment in a hotel and this is an important factor for quality. Different hotels focus on providing different experiences to the consumers, which leads to varied activities. Therefore, tailored cleaning processes are required for hotels where there are more things to offer to the consumers such as smoking zones, gym equipments and allowing pets will require extensive cleaning standards at all time.

The external environment of any hotel cannot be controlled and the organization will have to adapt to the changing environment. The external factors will affect the overall industry and consist of factors such as seasonality, competitors, economy, political environment, social environment, legal environment, ecological environment and technological environment. However, two factors that will be discussed in this part of the study are seasonality and surrounding competitors.

Seasonality

Seasonality is a factor, which a organization is affected by the most, and occupancy rate of a hotel is profoundly affected by seasonality. The fluctuation in occupancy rate of the hotel happens mainly due to seasonality. During the festival periods, the expected occupancy rate is high and during the off-season, the occupancy rate is low. Thus, the consumer behaviour changes with seasonality and the consume demand varies due to this factor.  The management of the hotel has to understand the seasonality of the surrounding environment by incorporating infrastructure necessary for sustainability (Duro 2016). However, marketing plays an important role in this context whereas the organization can use marketing orientation to make consumers aware of the special deals and facilities provided by the hotels. Therefore, using marketing the hotels are able to influence the demand of the products. However, the effectiveness of the loyalty programs are more during the peak seasons. Generally, hotels face issues with occupancy rate during mid weeks depending upon the type of consumers they are targeting. However, the amounts of resources spent during the mid week are equal to the weekend expenditure. Marketing strategies will play valuable role as it will enable to identify the target segment and develop strategies based on it.  

Prices

Surrounding competitors

The hotel industry is divided depending upon the type of consumer they deal and the possibility of having overlapping sets of consumers is less. However, the hotels catering to the same market segment will face tough competition as they share the same market segment. During the midweek, the numbers of consumers are less and if the surrounding hotels are serving to the same consumer segment, the competitors will take some consumers away.  The market volatility in the hotel industry is high due to availability of resources. However, demand is consistent and managers will be able to predict the changes in demand. There is duality in the hotel industry where in some markets small number of hotels dominates the market and there are markets where the larger firms will dominate on the global context. Globalization has changed the strategy formulation of the organizations from a being a product orientation to market orientation (Aznar et al. 2016). The organizations are focusing on retaining their existing customers than on gaining new customers. The costs of acquiring new customers are high so it is better to focus on existing customers.  Customer experience management is a tool used by the organizations for providing the consumers with memorable experience and excellent service. The overall experiences of the consumers determine the repeat purchase of the products. The needs and wants of the consumers are changing rapidly and their requirements have become more specific. This suggests that customization of services have been key factor in developing competitive advantage. Competitor analysis is essential to identify the strength and weakness of the consumers so that possible threats to the organizations sustainability can be identified. The above factors mentioned in the literature review are important for gaining competitive advantage of the organization.

Political Situation

The political situation of the surrounding environment will have a direct impact on the hotel industry. The stability of the government in the country in which the organization operates will determine the rules and regulations regarding the business operations. The government will determine the taxation laws, environmental regulations, safety laws and hygiene laws (Jones Hillier and Comfort 2016). There are countries where the laws are strict that maintaining high standard is necessary in the industry, which will increase the barriers to entry and operation in the country. Political instability may lead to corruption and unlawful activities, which will directly affect the consumer base and working environment.  

Employee Attitudes

Economic Status

The economy of the operating environment will have influence the operations and business of the hotels. The stability of the economy will determine whether the disposable income of the population. The hotels will have to develop their market segmentation based on the economic aspects (Bowie et al. 2016). The market competition is extremely high in stable economies where it is tough to sustain in unstable economies. The employee wages and labour prices are also highly affected by the economic condition of the country.  Therefore, before entering into a foreign market, the organizations analyze the macro and microenvironment to assess the feasibility of their strategy.  However, the hotels do not have any control over these factors and they can merely adapt to the changes and take precautions to mitigate the risk factors.

According to Hung, Shang and Wang (2015), maintaining the sustainability of the hotel industry is totally dependent on their occupancy rate. The occupancy rate determines the lost opportunities of gathering consumers and generating revenue. Hotels tend to function in normal way in the lean seasons in order to cover up the expenses and fixed costs associated with it. Therefore, the market scenario can be determined by a hotel’s occupancy rate and decrease in occupancy during peak seasons indicates internal organizational problems.

Room occupancy rate

 There relationship between total numbers of rooms available and the number of rooms occupied is known as the room occupancy rate. The room occupancy rate is represented by the equation, R_r = O_r + T_r (Viglia, Minazzi and Buhalis 2016).  In this equation, O_r = occupied rooms, T_r = Total number of rooms and R_r = room occupancy rate.  

Bed occupancy rate

Similarly, the relationship between the hotel capacity and number of beds occupied is known as Bed Occupancy rate (Fung et al. 2016). The bed occupancy rate can be explained using a particular equation and it is as follows:

R_B = O_B + T_B

O_B= Number of beds occupied

T_B= Total number of beds

R_B= Bed occupancy rate

The above literatures were unable to provide specific details about the hotels in the rural setting. The factors affecting the hotels in the rural setting may vary, even though occupancy rate is an issue faced by all the hotels no significant solution has been mentioned in the journals and articles.  The articles and journals referred in this literature have conducted single design analysis for establishing the facts however; this current study will be using multiple designs to provide a different dimension to the study. The conceptual framework in the previous part shows that impact of different factors of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The literatures in the study have been unable to link the different factors affecting the occupancy rate of the hotels.

Cleanliness

Research methodology is the systematic way of identifying the hidden facts within the research.  Research methodology will describe all the research methods used in the study and the valid justifications for using the methods. Every methodology has fixed assumption that cannot be altered in the study as the overall findings and analysis of the research is dependent on it. Nature, classification, purpose and design are the factors which will determine the methods used (Best and Kahn 2016).  This study will use applied research as it is dealing with a specific problem in a specific organization. The managers in the organization to make improvements to their existing problems can use the finding of the study. This is based on the nature of the study but if consider the other factors the study will be analytical where mixed method will be used for data collection and data analysis.

(Source: Best and Kahn 2016)

The different method of collecting and analysis will be identified using research philosophy.  Research philosophy will make the researchers aware of the assumptions taken in the study.  Every research has some practical implication and research philosophy will be selected based on the practical implications. Positivism, intepretivism, realism, and pragmatism are the different philosophies used in research (Bryman and Bell 2015).  Realism considers scientific approaches and human mind is excluded from the reality. However, personal human experience are taken into account in some instances which is known as direct realism whereas the rejection of personal experiences in done in critical realism. In positivism philosophy, observations are used to gain accurate knowledge. This philosophy is limited to data interpretation and data analysis, which leads to quantifiable data. Thus, statistical analysis of data is an important component of positivism philosophy (LoBiondo-Wood and Haber 2014). The inclusion of human element is done in interpretivism philosophy where social construction is used for accessing reality.  The approach to the study is subjectivism where secondary analysis of data is executed by collecting data from blogs, articles and peer-reviewed journals (Flick 2015). Pragmatism accepts all dogmas, which are supported by relevant actions in the study.  Positivism and Interpretvism are mutually limited approaches used in business researches. However, there are instances where a different approach is required for research, as pragmatism believes in the existence of multiple realities as every situation has different forms of interpretation. Pragmatism will assist in shifting the assumptions to a different position on the range. In this study, as mixed method is used, pragmatism is the research philosophy selected for the study.

Conclusion

(Source: Flick 2015)

The study will be using mixed method, which means that it will consist of multiple designs. Therefore, pragmatism is the most suitable approach of research, as it will enable to conduct both quantitative and qualitative analysis of data. The study consists of hypothesis testing and the quantitative analysis will enable to test the hypothesis. Pragmatism will also facilitate in conducting qualitative analysis of data, which will provide a different dimension to the study.

The different approaches for research methods are inductive, deductive and abductive approach (Kumar 2014). Inductive approach and deductive approach are distinguished based on the importance of hypothesis in the study. Deductive approach will develop the hypothesis based on the information that has been collected in the study. The existing theories in the study will be taken into account to form the hypothesis. Deductive will facilitate in conductive quantitative analysis of data where the concepts will be quantified. In inductive approach, new theories are developed and formulated which will be validated by using the different observations. However, as there is less availability of data, the risk of not attaining new theory is high.  Abductive approach provides shocking facts and the remaining study focuses on identifying and explaining the reasons. In this study, deductive approach will be used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of data.

(Source: Kumar 2014)

Justification for selecting the deductive approach

As this is a conclusive study, the existing theories defined in the study will be validated using the deductive approach. Therefore, the hypothesis formed in the study will be proved using the deductive approach. The deductive approach identifies all the premises and conclusions in the study and assumes that if the conclusion holds true then all it is premises are accurate. Moreover, the time span for conducting the study is less and relevant conclusion can be drawn from the study.

Research can be of three types exploratory, conclusive and explanatory. This depends on the type of methods used (Creswell and Poth 2017). In this current study, sequential explanatory is the method used for conducting the data analysis. The study will collect and analyze quantitative data at the initial stage. The qualitative data will be conducted for explaining and inferring the data findings in quantitative analysis.

Data collection will consist of primary data collection where both quantitative and qualitative analysis will be executed (Orkin 2014).  The study consists of multiple designs where data has been collected through surveys and questionnaires. In quantitative analysis, data will be collected through close-ended questionnaires, which will be asked to the customers that visit the hotels as they have less knowledge about the research topic. The data collected through quantitative survey will be analyzed statistically. The qualitative analysis will consist of open-ended questionnaire asked to the managers in the organization. The data collected through qualitative analysis will be analyzed by identifying the patterns within the answers. 

Qualitative analysis will identify the patterns within the answers provided by the managers in the organization. Quantitative analysis will consist of descriptive statistics where frequency of data will be calculated and represented in graphs and charts (Panneerselvam 2014). Regression analysis will be conducted for identifying the degree and nature of relationship between both the variables. Ms excel is the tool used for analyzing the quantitative data.

Sampling is used to reduce the sample size for complexity reduction. There are two types of sampling methods, one is probabilistic sampling method and the other is the non-probabilistic sampling method. The different methods of probabilistic sampling are simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified sampling and cluster sampling. Simple random sampling randomly selects sample from the overall population. In systematic sampling, a particular interval is set and random samples are selected at regular intervals. In cluster sampling, all the other sampling methods are used to randomly select population sample. Stratified sampling divides the population sample into groups that do not overlap and unique sample from each of the group is selected. The different methods of non-probabilistic sampling are extensive sampling, convenience sampling, judgement sampling, quota sampling and snowball sampling. Non-probabilistic sampling is used when the sample size and the population is known. It is also used in scenarios where the population sample is hidden and it is tough to identify population sample for the analysis. In this study, probabilistic sampling will be used as data sampling is large. Randomization is the method used for selecting population sample from the overall population (Silverman 2016). Sample random sampling is the method for reducing the sample size. In this study, initially data from 200 respondents were collected in quantitative analysis but 100 respondents have selected to represent the overall population. In qualitative analysis, data set consist of a single respondent.

(Source: Silverman 2016)

Reliability is the ability of the study to reproduce similar results by using different data sets in similar research context. It is essential to keep reliability of the study high for achieving the desired result. The different types of reliability study are parallel form reliability, test rated reliability, internal consistency reliability and inter-rated reliability. Initially pilots study was conducted where sample questionnaires were sent out to check the reliability of the questionnaire. In this study, Test rated reliability is used for generating high reliability where the data sample are collected multiple times to evaluate whether similar result are obtained or not.   Validity measures the correctness of the different methods and frameworks used for conducting the study. The different methods of testing validity of the data are content validity, face validity, external validity, internal validity, construct validity, criterion validity and concurrent validity. Similarly, construct validity is the method used for measuring the validity of the tools in the study (Einstein 2014).

In this present study, the anonymity of the respondents have been maintained and data in this study has not been used in any other articles and journals (Treiman 2014).  While conducting the study it is essential to protect the privacy of the respondents so all the personal information has been with held.  The respondents have been made aware of the objective of the study so that the purpose of the research is clear to them. The respondents have been forced to take part in the study and everyone has participated of their own free will. The data collected is authentic and has not been manipulated to form desirable result.  The research has maintained transparency and misleading of information has been avoided.  The study has adhered to the data protection act(1998) and has avoided plagiarized content. Therefore, the literature taken from different, articles, peer reviewed journals and web articles have been properly cited. The questionnaire has not used in form of offensive and discriminatory language which may be unacceptable to the response group. Highest level of objectivity has been maintained throughout, especially in analysis and discussion part of the study.

1. How often do you visit hotels in a year?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Once a year	24	24%	100
Twice a year	30	30%	100
Thrice a year	20	20%	100
More than 4 times	26	26%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

This question is addressing the frequency of visit of the consumers in the hotel. The result suggests that the respondents are almost equally distributed. The majority of the consumers visit the hotel as least twice a year.

1. What is your profession?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Businessman	30	30%	100
Doctor	40	40%	100
Corporate employees	14	14%	100
Others	16	16%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

1. What is your monthly income?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Less than 10,000	22	22%	50
Between 10,000-20,000	20	20%	50
Between 21,000-50,000	34	34%	50
More than 50,000	24	24%	50

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

1. How much do you want to spend on hotel accommodation and services?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Less than 1000	32	32%	100
Between 1000-2000	20	20%	100
Between 2000-5000	24	24%	100
Above 5000	24	24%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

1. What is your purpose for visiting the hotel?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Business	34	34%	100
Leisure	66	66%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

1. How far do you agree that there are plenty of rooms available during midweek?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	44	44%	100
Agree	42	42%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	8	8%	100
Strongly disagree	4	4%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

The results of the data collected shows that 44% of the respondents strongly agree to the research question, 42% of the respondents have agreed to the fact and 2% are indifferent towards the task. On the contrary, 12 % are in disagreement. However, majority of the consumers agree that during midweek the availability of rooms are high.

1. How far do you agree that hotel booking is easier during midweek?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	46	46%	100
Agree	40	40%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	6	6%	100
Strongly disagree	6	6%	100

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

The study findings show that 86% of the respondent agrees to the question whereas 12 % disagree to the majority of the respondent. The majority suggest that it is convenient in booking room during mid-week than on weekends. However, it will be validated using regression analysis later on in the study.

1. How far do you agree that location of the hotel is influences your buying behaviour?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	36	36%	100
Agree	50	50%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	6	6%	100
Strongly disagree	6	6%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

The results show that majority of the consumers feel that location of the hotel is an important factor for attracting the consumers. The study suggests that 86% of the respondents think consumer take the location of the hotel into account where as 12% disagree to the question. This shows that location of the hotel is impacting their choice of hotel.

1. How far do you agree that number of rooms in a hotel influences your buying behaviour?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	52	52	100
Agree	34	34	100
Indifferent	2	2	100
Disagree	8	8	100
Strongly disagree	4	4	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

 The findings show that 52% strongly agree and 34% agree to the question that number of rooms in a hotel influences their buying behaviour. On the contrary, 12% are disagreeing to the question. The majority of the respondents chooses their hotel based on the number of rooms in a hotel.

4.1.4 Quantitative Questions on occupancy rate on internal factors

1. How far do you agree that extra amenities provided by the hotel influences your buying behaviour?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	44	44%	100
Agree	42	42%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	8	8%	100
Strongly disagree	4	4%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

The findings of the study show that 44% are in strong agreement and 42% have agreed to the research question. On the other hand, 12% of the respondents are in disagreement with the research question. Thus, the majority of the consumers are attracted by the extra amenities that are being provide by the hotels.

1. How far do you agree that service quality and cleanliness is one of the main criteria of choosing a hotel?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	56	56%	100
Agree	30	30%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	6	6%	100
Strongly disagree	6	6%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

The results in the study show that 56% of the respondent strongly agrees service quality and cleanliness is major criteria for selecting a hotel.  Moreover, they have been supported by 30% of the respondents. On the contrary, 12% are in disagreement with the research question. This shows that majority of the respondents consider service quality and cleanliness as a key factor in selecting a suitable hotel.

1. How far do you agree that friendly employee behaviour influences your choice of hotel?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	38	38%	100
Agree	48	48%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	8	8%	100
Strongly disagree	4	4%	100

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

The results in the study show that 38% of the respondent strongly agrees employee behaviour is major criteria affecting the consumer perception.  Moreover, they have been supported by 48% of the respondents. On the contrary, 12% are in disagreement with the research question. This shows that majority of the respondents expects appropriate behaviour from the employees which a crucial factor for retaining the customers.

1. How far do you agree that prices of the hotel rooms affect your choice of hotel?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	41	41%	100
Agree	45	45%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	5	5%	100
Strongly disagree	7	7%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

The results in the study show that 41% of the respondent strongly agrees that price of the rooms is one of the significant determinant of choosing a hotel.  Moreover, they have been supported by 45% of the respondents. On the contrary, 12% are in disagreement with the research question. This shows that majority of the respondents will evaluate the prices and offers form different hotels before making the purchase decision.

1. How far do you agree that it is difficult to book rooms during the peak seasons?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	58	58%	100
Agree	30	30%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	8	8%	100
Strongly disagree	2	2%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

The study findings show that 58% are in strong agreement with the research question and they have been supported by 30% of the respondents. On the other hand, 10% of the respondents are not in agreement with the research question. Therefore, it can be seen that during peak seasons the business is high which is the main reason that consumers are unable to book rooms easily. This will be different in case of the off seasons as then plenty of rooms are available.

1. How far do you agree that you check variety of similar hotels before making the purchase decisions?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	32	32%	100
Agree	56	56%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	2	2%	100
Strongly disagree	8	8%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

The study findings show that 32% are in strong agreement and 56% agree whereas 10% are in disagreement with the question. Thus, the majority of the respondents feel that competitors in the surrounding area affect the business of the hotel as customers compare hotel prices and other factors before making their decision.

1. How far do you agree that political stability and economy of the country will affect the choice of destination?

Row labels	No of response	Percentage of response	Total respondents
Strongly Agree	37	37%	100
Agree	51	51%	100
Indifferent	2	2%	100
Disagree	5	5%	100
Strongly disagree	5	5%	100

(Source: As created by author)

(Source: As created by author)

Findings

The study findings show that 37% are in strong agreement with the research question and they have been supported by 51% of the respondents. On the other hand, 10% of the respondents are not in agreement with the research question. The consumers while making holiday planning choose peaceful areas with less political unrest and stable economy so that they can enjoy their leisure time.

Regression 1

SUMMARY OUTPUT
Regression Statistics
Multiple R	0.887036862
R Square	0.786834394
Adjusted R Square	0.784659235
Standard Error	0.477994485
Observations	100
ANOVA
	df	SS	MS	F	Significance F
Regression	1	82.64908472	82.64908472	361.7364543	1.15677E-34
Residual	98	22.39091528	0.228478727
Total	99	105.04
	Coefficients	Standard Error	t Stat	P-value	Lower 95%	Upper 95%	Lower 95.0%	Upper 95.0%
Intercept	0.183347923	0.10028004	1.8283591	0.070537622	-0.015654547	0.382350394	-0.015654547	0.382350394
X Variable 1	0.896605389	0.047141696	19.0193705	1.15677E-34	0.803054229	0.990156548	0.803054229	0.990156548

Regression analysis is conducted to identify the nature and degree of relationship between both the variables in the study. In this first regression analysis the relationship between occupancy rate and hotel characteristics have been identified. Multiple R is a factor, which determines the goodness so fit as it the correlation coefficient and determines the nature and degree of relationship between both the variables in the study. The value of multiple R in this regression analysis is 0.887036862, which quite close to 1 and that signifies strong positive correlation between occupancy rate and hotel characteristics.  As the value of multiple R is greater than 0.8 the study the goodness of fit is high and in practical study this is a good result as large number of data falls within the regression equation.

R² is the coefficient of determination, which shows the explaining capability of the independent variable of the dependent variable. The value of R² in this regression is 0.7868, which means that 78.68% of the characteristics of the dependent variable can be explained by the independent variable. However, there is variability of around 21.32 % due to randomness in data, which is quite common in practical research studies.

In regression analysis, the hypothesis is rejected when the F value is less than 0.05 and in this study; the value of F is 1.15677E-34, which is less than 0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis will be rejected and the alternative hypothesis has been accepted. Therefore, there is positive impact of hotel characteristics on the occupancy rate of the hotel. The regression equation in this regression analysis is y = 0.8776x + 0.2377, where if the value of x is put as 1 unit, the value of y will be 1.1069. Therefore, with 1 unit increase in value of x, there is 1.1069 increase in value of y and this signifies the positive relationship. The regression line shows that nature of the data and the normality plot identifies the normality of the distribution. The normality plot should resemble a straight line if the data collected is following normal distribution. In this study, the normality plot shows that the data is normally distributed.

Regression 2

SUMMARY OUTPUT
Regression Statistics
Multiple R	0.965024358
R Square	0.931272012
Adjusted R Square	0.930570706
Standard Error	0.271413304
Observations	100
ANOVA
	df	SS	MS	F	Significance F
Regression	1	97.82081219	97.82081219	1327.911095	8.7078E-59
Residual	98	7.219187813	0.073665182
Total	99	105.04
	Coefficients	Standard Error	t Stat	P-value	Lower 95%	Upper 95%	Lower 95.0%	Upper 95.0%
Intercept	0.026197771	0.057175811	0.458196761	0.647825501	-0.087265761	0.139661304	-0.087265761	0.139661304
X Variable 1	0.983271973	0.026982933	36.44051447	8.7078E-59	0.929725221	1.036818724	0.929725221	1.036818724

. This regression analysis will determine the nature and degree of relationship between occupancy rate and internal factors. The value of multiple R in this regression analysis is 0.965024358, which quite close to 1 and that signifies strong positive correlation between occupancy rate and internal factors.  As the value of multiple R is greater than 0.8 maximum data set falls within the regression line, which means goodness of fit, is high.

R² is the coefficient of determination, which shows the explaining capability of the independent variable of the dependent variable. The value of R² in this regression is 0.9313, which means that 93.13% of the distinctiveness of the dependent variable can be explained by the independent variable. However, there is inconsistency of around 7 % due to randomness in data, which is quite frequent in practical research studies.

In regression analysis, the hypothesis is rejected when the F value is less than 0.05 and in this study; the value of F is 8.7078E-59, which is less than 0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis will be rejected and the alternative hypothesis has been accepted. Therefore, there is positive impact of internal factors on the occupancy rate of the hotel. The regression equation in this regression analysis is y = 0.9471x + 0.1034, where if the value of x is put as 1 unit, the value of y will be 1.0027. Therefore, with 1 unit increase in value of x, there is 1.0027 increase in value of y and this signifies the positive relationship.  The regression line and the normality plot are showing that the goodness of fit of collected and normality of the sample distribution in this study.

Regression 3

SUMMARY OUTPUT
Regression Statistics
Multiple R	0.862395452
R Square	0.743725916
Adjusted R Square	0.741110874
Standard Error	0.524103022
Observations	100
ANOVA
	df	SS	MS	F	Significance F
Regression	1	78.1209702	78.1209702	284.4030836	9.87548E-31
Residual	98	26.9190298	0.274683978
Total	99	105.04
	Coefficients	Standard Error	t Stat	P-value	Lower 95%	Upper 95%	Lower 95.0%	Upper 95.0%
Intercept	0.136148431	0.114872173	1.185216811	0.238797826	-0.091811653	0.364108514	-0.09181	0.364108514
X Variable 1	0.933493629	0.055353388	16.86425461	9.87548E-31	0.823646635	1.043340624	0.823647	1.043340624

This regression analysis will determine the nature and degree of relationship between occupancy rate and external factors. The value of multiple R in this regression analysis is 0.862395452, which quite close to 1 and that signifies strong positive correlation between occupancy rate and external factors.  As the value of multiple R is greater than 0.8 majority of data set falls within the regression line, which means goodness of fit, is high.

R² is the coefficient of determination, which shows the elucidation capacity of the independent variable of the dependent variable. The value of R² in this regression is 0.7437, which means that 74.37% of the individuality of the dependent variable can be explained by the independent variable. However, there is irregularity of around 26 % due to unpredictability in data, which is quite frequent in practical research studies.

In regression analysis, the hypothesis is rejected when the F value is less than 0.05 and in this study; the value of F is 9.87548E-31, which is less than 0.05. Thus, the null hypothesis will be rejected and the alternative hypothesis has been accepted. Therefore, there is positive impact of external factors on the occupancy rate of the hotel. The regression equation in this regression analysis is y = 0.7967x + 0.3648, where if the value of x is put as 1 unit, the value of y will be 1.1324. Therefore, with 1 unit increase in value of x, there is 1.1324 increase in value of y and this signifies the positive relationship.  The regression line and the normality plot are showing that the goodness of fit of collected data and normality of the sample distribution in this study.

1. What are the strategies of increasing the mid-week trade in Jackalope Hotel?

According to the director there is scope of improvement in terms of mid-week business. There is scope of improvement of both MICE (meetings, incentives, conference and events) and leisure travels. In order to do so they have appointed a business development manager whose key responsibility area is to bring in more customers and increase sales of the organization. This consist of providing offers to both local and overseas clients to travel and relax at much cheaper prices. However, in order to increase the number of overseas travellers the organization is working on their brand awareness. They are using both digital marketing and promotional campaigns to increase the awareness of the consumers at global level. The organization has also developed partnerships with DMC (Destination Management Companies) so that they can bring in overseas consumers more frequently. According to the director, the organization has been able to form contracts with 15 high end travel agents and they have been attending international conferences like LE Miami, ILTM, Luxperience, Virtuoso Travel week to personally present to travel agents. In order to increase their domestic travels, the organization has been working with local agencies such as Mr & Mrs Smith and Helloworld’s network of agencies. However, the organization likes to keep up their image and do not promote too much discounting advertisements even on the promotional websites which can be seen only by members.

1. What are the success rate of these strategies? 

According to the director, they are pretty confident that these strategies will be effective and have a high success chance. However, the organization has developed several contingency plans if these strategies proven to be ineffective.

1. Marketing strategies that are being considered or being discussed. 

According to the director they have just been accepted into Virtuoso, a network of the world’s leading hotels and travel agents. This is an important relationship building network within the international luxury travel trade. This membership will give them direct access to the world’s leading travel agents and inbound operators. In addition to this, they have been evaluating consortia memberships like Leading Hotels of the World or Small Luxury Hotels, who generate a similar overseas profile.

This year they will look to launch some midweek offers and value add rather than discount such as complimentary spa treatment with midweek stays of two nights or more etc. They will also develop more of an events-based marketing program (special dinners etc) and look to generate occupancy from that.

One initiative that they will be rolling out in March is a two-night midweek yoga retreat in collaboration with a studio in Armadale. This is likely to sell more than 40 room nights to a market that otherwise would not have come down.

1. What is being done with Visit Victoria/ tourism agencies to help increase the occupancy rate & traffic for the region? 

They have been working very closely with Visit Victoria and Tourism Australia, as well as with regional associations like Go Beyond Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula Regional Tourism Association. These agencies, in varying degrees, work on increasing midweek domestic, interstate and international visitation. The main way the organization has been supporting their activities is by assisting with media and travel trade families.

Therefore, by comparing the quantitative and qualitative data analysis it can be seen that the internal factors of the hotel are the most important for increasing mid-week trade within the organization. The regression analysis has shown highest level of correlation between occupancy rate and hotel internal factors. Similarly, the strategies shared by the director of Jackalope Hotel shows that they have been focusing on improving factors such as facilities, prices, service quality, and cleanliness and employee behaviour to improve their mid-week trade. The organization has been focused on improving the consumer experience by providing complimentary spa treatments and yoga lessons which shows that they are trying to focus on the extra amenities part the most. As they have been focused on providing extra facilities, the organization is not in favour of discounts so they want to keep their prices as constant as possible. This is because of the fact that consumers are most sensitive to prices but at the same time the competitors are also sensitive to price change and they may reduce the prices immediately which would not enable Jackalope Hotel to capture the target segment.

On the other hand, the result from the quantitative analysis also shows that there is positive correlation among occupancy rate, hotel characteristics and hotel external factors. Jackalope Hotel is not at all concerned about the macro factors as it will affect the overall industry along with the other competitors in the same environment. The hotel has been promoting themselves in the overseas market which means that they have been promoting their promoting the hotel characteristics along with the key facilities.  

Conclusion

This chapter of study will provide relevant conclusion by linking with the objectives formulated in the first chapter.

Objective 1: To identify the factors affecting the occupancy rate of Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula

The findings of the study have revealed that hotel characteristics, hotel internal factors and hotel external factors all influences the occupancy rate of Jackalope Hotel. The data from regression analysis highlights that the value of multiple R is greater than 0.8 in all instances which means that there is positive correlation among the variables. However, it has been seen that internal factors have maximum influence on the occupancy rate of the hotel. The internal factors such as price, service quality, cleanliness, employee attitude and facilities are the most factors for increasing the occupancy rate.

Objective 2: To investigate the impact of these factors on the occupancy rate of Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula

The factors assessed in the chapter four of the study shows that all the hypothesis has been validated and null hypotheses has been rejected in all the cases. This shows that hotel characteristics, internal factors and external factors all have positive correlation with occupancy rate. This means that these factors are directly proportional to the occupancy rate; with increase ion one factor there will be increase in the occupancy rate. The marketing director of Jackalope hotel is enhancing these factors to improve the occupancy rate during mid-week which validates the fact these factors have significant positive influence on the occupancy rate.

Objective 3: To recommend suitable strategies for improving the occupancy rate of Jackalope hotel Mornington Peninsula during mid-week trade

  The organization has been using various strategies to improve their occupancy rate both in foreign and local market. Some of their strategies are still going through discussions. The strategies shared by the director of Jackalope Hotel shows that they have been focusing on improving factors such as facilities, prices, service quality, and cleanliness and employee behaviour to improve their mid-week trade. The organization has been focused on improving the consumer experience by providing complimentary spa treatments and yoga lessons which shows that they are trying to emphasize on the extra amenities part the most. As they have been focused on providing extra facilities, the organization is not in favour of discounts so they want to keep their prices as constant as possible. However, the organization is not putting enough emphasis on the improving their employee behaviour and service quality which could be a concern for them. Jackalope Hotel should also focus on providing the employees with training so that they can improve their skills and provide better service. The employees should be motivated so that they are able to perform to their full potential.

Even though, the director is against the policy of providing discounts, the organization should provide discount on timely basis by analysing the competitor response. The organization should focus more on digital marketing as it reduce their marketing cost and improve their operating margin. The digital media such as social media websites, email marketing, search engine marketing should be used the organization to improve their brand awareness in the overseas market. Moreover, social media will provide more exposure to the organization and they should optimize their online website so that they can grab the attention of the consumers at zero moment of truth.

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