Tourism professionals underestimate the value of hospitality

The study revealed that it is important to guests how they are treated at their vacation destination, the university announced on Tuesday. 48 percent of guests surveyed ranked hospitality as one of the three most important factors they would consider when making a booking. Hospitality is less important to those who have to offer it. According to the university, only 26 percent of tourism professionals ranked it among the three most important factors. In their view, the landscape and local attractions are more important than hospitality. It is problematic if industry representatives underestimate how important hospitality is for guests, explained the authors of the study. Hospitality is a competitive factor. Guests who feel welcome are more satisfied, stay longer, spend more money, come back more often and recommend the place to others.

However, the study also showed that the treatment of guests is not as bad as is often portrayed. On a scale of 1 (completely dissatisfied) to 7 (completely satisfied), guests gave hospitality a score of 6.2. The tourism professionals themselves only gave the hospitality offered a self-critical score of 4.7. The locals' assessment of hospitality was 5.6. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts surveyed 114 representatives of the tourism industry in Central Switzerland, 496 locals and 887 tourists, most of whom were from Switzerland. (SDA)