Determinants of Hotel Business Success in Rural Areas of the Western Balkan Countries

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors:

I have gone through the manuscript. Overall, the manuscript is written well. However, I have some concerns about the communication. This paper requires thorough editing. For example, the very first sentence reads as follows:

The paper examines the impact of ten microeconomic factors.

Impact of ten microeconomic factors on what?

Hypotheses development: The authors need to bring the latest literature on hypothesis development. In some hypotheses, old studies (conducted in 2018 and prior to that) were mentioned. 

Table 3: significance levels are not mentioned in the correlation table.

The discussion section needs to be strengthened. The authors need to explain why some hypotheses were not supported.

 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

This paper requires thorough editing.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

we would like to thank you once again for your efforts and the opportunity which you given us to improve the paper. We have answered all your requests:

 

Impact of ten microeconomic factors on what?

 

We've added a qualifier, so the sentence now reads:

The paper examines the impact of ten microeconomic factors on hotel business success.

We have corrected the entire text.

 

Hypotheses development: The authors need to bring the latest literature on hypothesis development. In some hypotheses, old studies (conducted in 2018 and prior to that) were mentioned.

In order to strengthen the hypotheses, we added 46 new references not older than 3/4 years, for each hypothesis in turn:

  H1:

• D. Analysis of Business Success in the Croatian Hotel Industry After the Covid-19 Pandemic. UTMS Journal of Economics 2023, 14(2): 223–235.
• Pérez Brito, A. E., Santos, L. L., & Duarte Cáceres, L. G.. Main Competitive Factors in European Small and Medium-Sized Family Hotels. In Family Businesses in Tourism and Hospitality: Innovative Studies and Approaches2023, (pp. 49-68). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
• Mellinas, J. P., & Martin-Fuentes, E. Does hotel size matter to get more reviews per room?. Information Technology & Tourism 2019, 21(2), 165-180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-018-0126-7
• Martorell Cunill, O., Otero, L., Durán Santomil, P., & Gil Lafuente, J. Analysis of the effect of growth strategies and hotel attributes on performance.  Management Decision 2024. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-06-2023-0974
• Karanović, G. Exploring the intrinsic factors influencing return on assets: A case study of the hotel industry in selected EU countries.International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research 2023, 16(1), 54-61.https://doi.org/10.25103/ijbesar.161.05
• Pérez-Rodríguez, J. V., & Acosta-González, E. The impact of ownership and size heterogeneity on hotel efficiency in the Canary Islands (Spain). Tourism Economics 2023, 29(1), 3-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548166211035853

H2:

• Mwangi, Z. M., & Kaluyu, V. K. Hotel and Manager Characteristics and Technology Orientation Strategy. The University Journal 2023,421-434. https://doi.org/10.59952/tuj.v5i3.293
• Singh, A., O’Neill, J. W., & Liu, P. The Influence of Hotel Characteristics on Debt Servicing and Default in the US Lodging Sector. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly 2024, 19389655241267241. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655241267241
• Cortes-Macias, R., Almedia Garcia, F., Jovanović, R., & Coll-Ramis, M. A. Survival of the hotel offering a mature seaside destination: the case of Torremolinos. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles (BAGE), 2023, 97. https://doi.org/10.21138/bage.3347
• Puciato, D., Szromek, A. R., & Bugdol, M. Willingness to pay for sustainable hotel services as a perspective of pro-environmental behaviors of hotel guests. Economics & Sociology 2023, 16(1). https://www.doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2023/16-1/8
• O’Neill, J. W., & Yeon, J. Hotel room rate discounting during recessionary times: effects by hotel class. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly2022,63(4), 544-558. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655211016829
• Karanović, G. Exploring the intrinsic factors influencing return on assets: A case study of the hotel industry in selected EU countries.International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research 2023, 16(1), 54-61.https://doi.org/10.25103/ijbesar.161.05

 

 

H3:

• Kitsios, F. C., & Grigoroudis, E. Evaluating service innovation and business performance in tourism: a multicriteria decision analysis approach. Management Decision 2020, 58(11), 2429-2453. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-09-2019-1326
• Gomes, C., Malheiros, C., Campos, F., & Lima Santos, L. COVID-19’s Impact on the Restaurant Industry. Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11544. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811544
• Matejić, T., Knežević, S., Arsić, V. B., Obradović, T., Milojević, S., Adamović, M., ... & Špiler, M. Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on hotel industry bankruptcy risk through novel forecasting models. Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4680.https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084680
• Crespí-Cladera, R., Martín-Oliver, A., & Pascual-Fuster, B. Financial distress in the hospitality industry during the Covid-19 disaster. Tourism Management 2021, 85, 104301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104301
• Gomes, C., Campos, F., Malheiros, C., & Lima Santos, L. Restaurants’ Solvency in Portugal during COVID-19. International Journal of Financial Studies 2023, 11(2), 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs11020063
• Madeira, A., Palrão, T., & Mendes, A. S. The impact of pandemic crisis on the restaurant business. Sustainability 2020, 13(1), 40.https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010040

H4

• Sikveland, M., Xie, J., & Zhang, D. Determinants of capital structure in the hospitality industry: Impact of clustering and seasonality on debt and liquidity.International Journal of Hospitality Management 2022, 102, 103172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103172
• Zhang, D., Xie, J., & Sikveland, M. Tourism seasonality and hotel firms’ financial performance: Evidence from Norway.Current Issues in Tourism 2021, 24(21), 3021-3039. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1857714
• Nguyen, L. T. M., Le, D., Vu, K. T., & Tran, T. K. The role of capital structure management in maintaining the financial stability of hotel firms during the pandemic—A global investigation.International journal of hospitality management 2023, 109, 103366.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103366
• Situm, M. Financial distress in the Austrian tourism industry: hotels and restaurants analysis.European Journal of Tourism Research 2023, 34, 3411-3411. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4535-2240
• El Alaoui, M. H., Ibrahim, M. D., Daneshvar, S., Alola, U. V., & Alola, A. A. A two-stage data envelopment analysis approach to productivity, efficiency and their sustainability in the hotel industry of Tunisia.Quality & Quantity 2023, 57(1), 955-972.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01389-7
• Kumar, S., Yadav, M., & Kumar, D. Viability of Man and Machine as Co-Workers in the Hotel Industry. InBuilding Smart and Sustainable Businesses With Transformative Technologies 2024, (pp. 189-204). IGI Global.
• Lucas, A., & Ramires, A. Directions for management in small and medium hotels and restaurants companies. Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites 2022, 40(1), 210-217.
• Lima Santos, L., Gomes, C., Malheiros, C., & Lucas, A. Impact factors on Portuguese hotels’ liquidity.Journal of Risk and Financial Management 2021, 14(4), 144. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14040144

H5:

• Pimić, M.; Marković, Z.; Dinić, G.; Radivojević, N., Determinants of success in hotel industry: Case study of the Republic of Serbia. Economics: theory and practice 2023, 26(2), 151-176. . http://doi:10.5937/etp2302151P
• Nguyen, L. T. M., Le, D., Vu, K. T., & Tran, T. K. The role of capital structure management in maintaining the financial stability of hotel firms during the pandemic—A global investigation.International journal of hospitality management 2023, 109, 103366.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103366
• Situm, M. Financial distress in the Austrian tourism industry: hotels and restaurants analysis.European Journal of Tourism Research 2023, 34, 3411-3411. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4535-2240

H6; H7

• El Alaoui, M. H., Ibrahim, M. D., Daneshvar, S., Alola, U. V., & Alola, A. A. A two-stage data envelopment analysis approach to productivity, efficiency and their sustainability in the hotel industry of Tunisia.Quality & Quantity 2023, 57(1), 955-972.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01389-7
• Kumar, S., Yadav, M., & Kumar, D. Viability of Man and Machine as Co-Workers in the Hotel Industry. InBuilding Smart and Sustainable Businesses With Transformative Technologies 2024, (pp. 189-204). IGI Global
• Tan, Y., & Despotis, D. (2021). Investigation of efficiency in the UK hotel industry: A network data envelopment analysis approach.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(3), 1080-1104. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2020-0641

H8:

• Franco, S., Caroli, M. G., Cappa, F., & Del Chiappa, G. Are you good enough? CSR, quality management and corporate financial performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management 2020, 88, 102395.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102395
• Sarwar, H., Ishaq, M. I., & Franzoni, S. (2024). Influence of HRM on CSR and performance of upscale hotels in developed and developing countries.Environment, Development and Sustainability, 26(1), 335-357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02711-x
• Ferreira, F., Ferreira, F. A., & Haro-Aragú, M. Environmental CSR and Pricing Strategy in the Hospitality Industry. InInternational Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism, 2023, (pp. 471-484). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54338-8_26
• Isaac, R. K., Mzembe, A. N., & Andon, R. Customers’ perceptions and responses to hotels’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation: the case of Bethlehem hotels, Palestine.Current Issues in Tourism 2024, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2024.2376990
• Badar, S., Waheed, A., Tanveer, A., & Fayyaz, H. (2024). Hotel’s customer empowerment, environmental corporate social responsibility, and online customer value co-creation to attain sustainable development goals (SDGs).Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC. https://doi.org/1016/j.ijpe.2011.03.019. 
• Ferreira, F., Ferreira, F. A., & Haro-Aragú, M. (2023, August). Environmental CSR and Pricing Strategy in the Hospitality Industry. InInternational Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism (pp. 471-484). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

H9.

• Štimac, M., Matković, M., & Karasalihović Sedlar, D. Correlations between Hotel Size and Gas Consumption with a Feasibility Analysis of a Fuel Switch—A Coastal Case Study Croatia Adriatic. Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8595. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118595
• MacAskill, S., Becken, S., & Coghlan, A. Engaging hotel guests to reduce energy and water consumption: A quantitative review of guest impact on resource use in tourist accommodation. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100156
• Becerra-Vicario, R., Ruiz-Palomo, D., Fernández-Miguélez, S. M., & Gutiérrez-Ruiz, A. M. Examining the effects of hotel reputation in the relationship between environmental performance and hotel financial performance. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 2022, 53, 10-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2022.08.012
• Akron, S.; Demir, E.; Díez-Esteban, J.M.; García-Gómez, C.D. Economic policy uncertainty and corporate investment: Evidence from the U.S. hospitality industry. Manag. 2020, 77, 104019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.104019
• Jiang, L.; Dalbor, M. Factors impacting capital expenditures in the quick service restaurant industry. Hosp. Financ. Manag. 2017, 25, 90–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/10913211.2017.1398946
• García-Gómez, C.D.; Demir, E.; Díez-Esteban, J.M.; Popesko, B. Investment inefficiency in the hospitality industry: The role of economic policy uncertainty. Hosp. Tour. Manag. 2023, 54, 383–391
• Shan, Y.; Ren, Z. Does tourism development and renewable energy consumption drive high-quality economic development? Policy 2023, 80, 103270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.103270
• Dong, K.; Hochman, G.; Zhang, Y.; Sun, R.; Li, H.; Liao, H. CO2 emissions, economic and population growth, and renewable energy: Empirical evidence across regions. Energy Econ. 2018, 75, 180–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2018.08.017
• Hailiang, Z.; Chau, K.Y.; Waqas, M. Does green finance and renewable energy promote tourism forsustainable development: Empirical evidence from China. Energy 2023, 207, 660–671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.03.032

H10:

• Xu, L.; Mohammad, S.J.; Nawaz, N.; Samad, S.; Ahmad, N.; Comite, U. The Role of CSR for De-Carbonization of Hospitality Sector through Employees: A Leadership Perspective. Sustainability 2022, 14, 5365. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095365
• Salehi, M.; Filimonau, V.; Asadzadeh, M.; Ghaderi, E. Strategies to improve energy and carbon efficiency of luxury hotels in Iran. Prod. Consum. 2020, 26, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.09.007

 

 

Table 3: significance levels are not mentioned in the correlation table.

We've added:

Note: All correlation coefficients are significant at the 5% significance level

 

 

The discussion section needs to be strengthened. The authors need to explain why some hypotheses were not supported.

We added an explanation for each hypothesis that was not confirmed as such. For example:

This finding is unexpected when considering the specific business conditions of hotels in the rural areas of the WBC, which result, among other things, from the lack of internationally qualified hotel and tourism managers. In these conditions, it is realistic to expect that the accumulated knowledge and experience have a significant impact on the success of the business. However, the obvious experience gained during business is not enough to use it as a specific and unique re-source.

High interest costs not only increase the total debt, but also increase the level of financial risk, which puts hotels in an even more unfavorable position in front of sources of financing, because they are often forced to pay additional penalties due to non-payment of debt on due dates. They are often forced to refinance the debt, which further increases the costs.

Since there was a high correlation between energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and CO2 emissions was excluded from the analysis. From that reason H10 was not tested. This is a consequence of the limitation of this research regarding the way of expressing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in expressions 4 and 5. Namely, the same activities are included through these two expressions, only different units of measure are used. Hence the high correlation between these two indicators….

.. However, the lack of statistically significant impact of energy con-sumption may suggest that these factors may not be crucial in attracting guests or in-fluencing their loyalty assessments. Also, the finding implies that the share of other costs is much higher, so that energy costs, and hence changes in energy costs, do not have such an impact on hotel operations or are not immediately noticeable, i.e. there is a certain time lag when the effects of the change in energy consumption will be noticed. Closely related to this is the method of accounting for the use of energy. Many hotels are not subject to double bookkeeping, and record these costs in different ways, which makes it difficult to assess their true effects. This doesn't mean that sustainable practices related to energy and CO2 emissions aren't important, but currently, they may not be the primary indicators for guests.

… Also, the finding implies that the share of other costs is much higher, so that energy costs, and hence changes in energy costs, do not have such an impact on hotel operations or are not immediately noticeable, i.e. there is a certain time lag when the effects of the change in energy consumption will be noticed. Closely related to this is the method of accounting for the use of energy. Many hotels are not subject to double bookkeeping, and record these costs in different ways, which makes it difficult to assess their true effects.

 

Best regards,

Authors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The study is interesting and the topic is important in current times, but the authors should make some improvements to their research paper.

1) In the abstract the authors should well define the research questions/hypotheses, main results and practical implications of such findings;

2) In the introduction, whenever possible, the authors should place the citations in chronological order. In addition, the authors should clearly define the gap in the literature and why they are doing this study.

3) In the literature review, the authors should also place the citations in chronological order, and the research hypotheses should be clearly stated.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

Small edition 

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

we would like to thank you once again for your efforts and the opportunity which you given us to improve the paper. We have answered all your requests:

 

• In the abstract the authors should well define the research questions/hypotheses, main results and practical implications of such findings;

 

We have edited the abstract according to your request, and added sentences concerning initial hypotheses and practical applications. So it now reads, with the note that the highlighted text has been added:

The paper examines the impact of ten microeconomic factors on hotel business success. The research encompassed a sample of 115 small, family-operated hotels situated in rural regions of the Western Balkan countries (WBC). The research was based on the assumption that factors such as the size of the hotel, age, solvency, liquidity, labor productivity, capital productivity, CSR, and reduction of CO2 emissions exhibit a positive influence on business success, whereas leverage, indebtedness, and energy consumption have a negative effect on the business success of hotels. The findings revealed that business success from the previous period, size, liquidity and CSR exhibit a positive influence on business success, whereas leverage, capital productivity, and indebtedness demonstrate a negative effect. Conversely, the age of the hotel and labour productivity were not found to significantly influence business success, as did energy consumption. In the context of sustainable development, a positive CSR impact means that tourists value this behaviour of the hotel, while a lack of a statistically significant impact of energy consumption implies either that hotels do not implement efficient measures of energy efficiency or that energy efficiency may not crucial factor in attracting guests or influencing their loyalty. The findings also show that labour productivity expressed conventionally, does not have a statistically significant impact on hotel business success. However, when expressed in a way that respects the concept of sustainable development and CSR, workforce productivity is a significant factor in hotel business success. Due to the problem of multicollinearity, the influence of CO2 emissions was not examined. The findings suggest two groups of key measures: 1. Policymakers must work on ensuring more favorable conditions under which hotels can borrow, as well as on ensuring adequate infrastructure; 2. They must work on improving the strategy for maintaining liquidity to avoid high costs of short-term loans and increasing size, in order to further utilize economies of scale. These two microeconomic factors have the greatest impact on the business success of hotels.

 

2) In the introduction, whenever possible, the authors should place the citations in chronological order. In addition, the authors should clearly define the gap in the literature and why they are doing this study.

 

In the introductory part, we have added a paragraph indicating the motive of the study, where it is indicated that the authors agree that these factors are important, but there is no consensus among them regarding the direction of reading, not even as the theory predicts. In the literature review part, before defining the hypotheses, we clearly pointed out the different findings of different authors, which justifies the choice of factors and the above-mentioned research motive> despite the different findings, we defined the hypotheses in accordance with the findings that support the theoretical foundations:

The focus is on studying ten microeconomic factors that different authors have identified as crucial for hotel business success, but for which there are conflicting findings regarding the direction of their influence between authors or the findings are contrary to the dominant theoretical corpus. Specifically, the analysis examines the influence of hotel size, age, solvency, liquidity, leverage, productivity, CSR, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. To encompass all material and immaterial factors influencing hotel productivity, the impact of productivity is analyzed through labour productivity and capital productivity. According to the resource-based view (RBV) [10], the selected factors possess characteristics that resources must possess to have the ability to improve hotel business [11].

 

3. In the literature review, the authors should also place the citations in chronological order, and the research hypotheses should be clearly stated.

Where it was possible without disturbing the logical sequence, as well as the requests of the other two reviewers who wanted certain references to be included, we listed the literature chronologically.

 

4. The authors recommended that the abstract should include a brief write-up of what was established by the research and its implications. At present, however, it is too general and does not sufficiently emphasize the unique findings of the research. One of the major areas of weakness is that this study lacks a literature review section, and the sources that are cited in the present work are not updated. Include recent research to give a huge picture of the present direction of research focusing microeconomic aspects influencing rural hotel enterprises.
5. We provided the following literature sources for each hypothesis:

  H1:

• D. Analysis of Business Success in the Croatian Hotel Industry After the Covid-19 Pandemic. UTMS Journal of Economics 2023, 14(2): 223–235.
• Pérez Brito, A. E., Santos, L. L., & Duarte Cáceres, L. G.. Main Competitive Factors in European Small and Medium-Sized Family Hotels. In Family Businesses in Tourism and Hospitality: Innovative Studies and Approaches2023, (pp. 49-68). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
• Mellinas, J. P., & Martin-Fuentes, E. Does hotel size matter to get more reviews per room?. Information Technology & Tourism 2019, 21(2), 165-180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-018-0126-7
• Martorell Cunill, O., Otero, L., Durán Santomil, P., & Gil Lafuente, J. Analysis of the effect of growth strategies and hotel attributes on performance.  Management Decision 2024. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-06-2023-0974
• Karanović, G. Exploring the intrinsic factors influencing return on assets: A case study of the hotel industry in selected EU countries.International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research 2023, 16(1), 54-61.https://doi.org/10.25103/ijbesar.161.05
• Pérez-Rodríguez, J. V., & Acosta-González, E. The impact of ownership and size heterogeneity on hotel efficiency in the Canary Islands (Spain). Tourism Economics 2023, 29(1), 3-29. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548166211035853

H2:

• Mwangi, Z. M., & Kaluyu, V. K. Hotel and Manager Characteristics and Technology Orientation Strategy. The University Journal 2023,421-434. https://doi.org/10.59952/tuj.v5i3.293
• Singh, A., O’Neill, J. W., & Liu, P. The Influence of Hotel Characteristics on Debt Servicing and Default in the US Lodging Sector. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly 2024, 19389655241267241. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655241267241
• Cortes-Macias, R., Almedia Garcia, F., Jovanović, R., & Coll-Ramis, M. A. Survival of the hotel offering a mature seaside destination: the case of Torremolinos. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles (BAGE), 2023, 97. https://doi.org/10.21138/bage.3347
• Puciato, D., Szromek, A. R., & Bugdol, M. Willingness to pay for sustainable hotel services as a perspective of pro-environmental behaviors of hotel guests. Economics & Sociology 2023, 16(1). https://www.doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2023/16-1/8
• O’Neill, J. W., & Yeon, J. Hotel room rate discounting during recessionary times: effects by hotel class. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly2022,63(4), 544-558. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655211016829
• Karanović, G. Exploring the intrinsic factors influencing return on assets: A case study of the hotel industry in selected EU countries.International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research 2023, 16(1), 54-61.https://doi.org/10.25103/ijbesar.161.05

 

 

H3:

• Kitsios, F. C., & Grigoroudis, E. Evaluating service innovation and business performance in tourism: a multicriteria decision analysis approach. Management Decision 2020, 58(11), 2429-2453. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-09-2019-1326
• Gomes, C., Malheiros, C., Campos, F., & Lima Santos, L. COVID-19’s Impact on the Restaurant Industry. Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11544. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811544
• Matejić, T., Knežević, S., Arsić, V. B., Obradović, T., Milojević, S., Adamović, M., ... & Špiler, M. Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on hotel industry bankruptcy risk through novel forecasting models. Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4680.https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084680
• Crespí-Cladera, R., Martín-Oliver, A., & Pascual-Fuster, B. Financial distress in the hospitality industry during the Covid-19 disaster. Tourism Management 2021, 85, 104301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104301
• Gomes, C., Campos, F., Malheiros, C., & Lima Santos, L. Restaurants’ Solvency in Portugal during COVID-19. International Journal of Financial Studies 2023, 11(2), 63. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs11020063
• Madeira, A., Palrão, T., & Mendes, A. S. The impact of pandemic crisis on the restaurant business. Sustainability 2020, 13(1), 40.https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010040

H4

• Sikveland, M., Xie, J., & Zhang, D. Determinants of capital structure in the hospitality industry: Impact of clustering and seasonality on debt and liquidity.International Journal of Hospitality Management 2022, 102, 103172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103172
• Zhang, D., Xie, J., & Sikveland, M. Tourism seasonality and hotel firms’ financial performance: Evidence from Norway.Current Issues in Tourism 2021, 24(21), 3021-3039. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2020.1857714
• Nguyen, L. T. M., Le, D., Vu, K. T., & Tran, T. K. The role of capital structure management in maintaining the financial stability of hotel firms during the pandemic—A global investigation.International journal of hospitality management 2023, 109, 103366.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103366
• Situm, M. Financial distress in the Austrian tourism industry: hotels and restaurants analysis.European Journal of Tourism Research 2023, 34, 3411-3411. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4535-2240
• El Alaoui, M. H., Ibrahim, M. D., Daneshvar, S., Alola, U. V., & Alola, A. A. A two-stage data envelopment analysis approach to productivity, efficiency and their sustainability in the hotel industry of Tunisia.Quality & Quantity 2023, 57(1), 955-972.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01389-7
• Kumar, S., Yadav, M., & Kumar, D. Viability of Man and Machine as Co-Workers in the Hotel Industry. InBuilding Smart and Sustainable Businesses With Transformative Technologies 2024, (pp. 189-204). IGI Global.
• Lucas, A., & Ramires, A. Directions for management in small and medium hotels and restaurants companies. Geo Journal of Tourism and Geosites 2022, 40(1), 210-217.
• Lima Santos, L., Gomes, C., Malheiros, C., & Lucas, A. Impact factors on Portuguese hotels’ liquidity.Journal of Risk and Financial Management 2021, 14(4), 144. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm14040144

H5:

• Pimić, M.; Marković, Z.; Dinić, G.; Radivojević, N., Determinants of success in hotel industry: Case study of the Republic of Serbia. Economics: theory and practice 2023, 26(2), 151-176. . http://doi:10.5937/etp2302151P
• Nguyen, L. T. M., Le, D., Vu, K. T., & Tran, T. K. The role of capital structure management in maintaining the financial stability of hotel firms during the pandemic—A global investigation.International journal of hospitality management 2023, 109, 103366.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103366
• Situm, M. Financial distress in the Austrian tourism industry: hotels and restaurants analysis.European Journal of Tourism Research 2023, 34, 3411-3411. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4535-2240

H6; H7

• El Alaoui, M. H., Ibrahim, M. D., Daneshvar, S., Alola, U. V., & Alola, A. A. A two-stage data envelopment analysis approach to productivity, efficiency and their sustainability in the hotel industry of Tunisia.Quality & Quantity 2023, 57(1), 955-972.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01389-7
• Kumar, S., Yadav, M., & Kumar, D. Viability of Man and Machine as Co-Workers in the Hotel Industry. InBuilding Smart and Sustainable Businesses With Transformative Technologies 2024, (pp. 189-204). IGI Global
• Tan, Y., & Despotis, D. (2021). Investigation of efficiency in the UK hotel industry: A network data envelopment analysis approach.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(3), 1080-1104. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-07-2020-0641

H8:

• Franco, S., Caroli, M. G., Cappa, F., & Del Chiappa, G. Are you good enough? CSR, quality management and corporate financial performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management 2020, 88, 102395.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102395
• Sarwar, H., Ishaq, M. I., & Franzoni, S. (2024). Influence of HRM on CSR and performance of upscale hotels in developed and developing countries.Environment, Development and Sustainability, 26(1), 335-357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02711-x
• Ferreira, F., Ferreira, F. A., & Haro-Aragú, M. Environmental CSR and Pricing Strategy in the Hospitality Industry. InInternational Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism, 2023, (pp. 471-484). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54338-8_26
• Isaac, R. K., Mzembe, A. N., & Andon, R. Customers’ perceptions and responses to hotels’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation: the case of Bethlehem hotels, Palestine.Current Issues in Tourism 2024, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2024.2376990
• Badar, S., Waheed, A., Tanveer, A., & Fayyaz, H. (2024). Hotel’s customer empowerment, environmental corporate social responsibility, and online customer value co-creation to attain sustainable development goals (SDGs).Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC. https://doi.org/1016/j.ijpe.2011.03.019. 
• Ferreira, F., Ferreira, F. A., & Haro-Aragú, M. (2023, August). Environmental CSR and Pricing Strategy in the Hospitality Industry. InInternational Conference of the International Association of Cultural and Digital Tourism (pp. 471-484). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.

H9.

• Štimac, M., Matković, M., & Karasalihović Sedlar, D. Correlations between Hotel Size and Gas Consumption with a Feasibility Analysis of a Fuel Switch—A Coastal Case Study Croatia Adriatic. Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8595. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118595
• MacAskill, S., Becken, S., & Coghlan, A. Engaging hotel guests to reduce energy and water consumption: A quantitative review of guest impact on resource use in tourist accommodation. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100156
• Becerra-Vicario, R., Ruiz-Palomo, D., Fernández-Miguélez, S. M., & Gutiérrez-Ruiz, A. M. Examining the effects of hotel reputation in the relationship between environmental performance and hotel financial performance. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 2022, 53, 10-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2022.08.012
• Akron, S.; Demir, E.; Díez-Esteban, J.M.; García-Gómez, C.D. Economic policy uncertainty and corporate investment: Evidence from the U.S. hospitality industry. Manag. 2020, 77, 104019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.104019
• Jiang, L.; Dalbor, M. Factors impacting capital expenditures in the quick service restaurant industry. Hosp. Financ. Manag. 2017, 25, 90–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/10913211.2017.1398946
• García-Gómez, C.D.; Demir, E.; Díez-Esteban, J.M.; Popesko, B. Investment inefficiency in the hospitality industry: The role of economic policy uncertainty. Hosp. Tour. Manag. 2023, 54, 383–391
• Shan, Y.; Ren, Z. Does tourism development and renewable energy consumption drive high-quality economic development? Policy 2023, 80, 103270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.103270
• Dong, K.; Hochman, G.; Zhang, Y.; Sun, R.; Li, H.; Liao, H. CO2 emissions, economic and population growth, and renewable energy: Empirical evidence across regions. Energy Econ. 2018, 75, 180–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2018.08.017
• Hailiang, Z.; Chau, K.Y.; Waqas, M. Does green finance and renewable energy promote tourism forsustainable development: Empirical evidence from China. Energy 2023, 207, 660–671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2023.03.032

H10:

• Xu, L.; Mohammad, S.J.; Nawaz, N.; Samad, S.; Ahmad, N.; Comite, U. The Role of CSR for De-Carbonization of Hospitality Sector through Employees: A Leadership Perspective. Sustainability 2022, 14, 5365. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095365
• Salehi, M.; Filimonau, V.; Asadzadeh, M.; Ghaderi, E. Strategies to improve energy and carbon efficiency of luxury hotels in Iran. Prod. Consum. 2020, 26, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.09.007

2. We added text where it is clearly visible what the shortcomings are in the existing literature, namely that there is no clear stance regarding the impact of these factors, i.e., that some findings deviate from theoretical implications, and why these factors were chosen for investigation. To avoid redundancy, the introductory section contains only general text related to these factors and their research findings, emphasizing their significance. The literature review section includes conflicting studies showing which authors obtained which findings and how they deviate from the RVB approach. We note that our hypotheses were defined not according to dominant findings but according to theoretical assumptions related to certain factors. This is best illustrated by the following passage:

The focus is on studying ten microeconomic factors that different authors have identified as crucial for hotel business success, but for which there are conflicting findings regarding the direction of their influence between authors or the findings are contrary to the dominant theoretical corpus. Specifically, the analysis examines the influence of hotel size, age, solvency, liquidity, leverage, productivity, CSR, energy consumption and CO2 emissions…. According to the resource-based view (RBV) [10], the selected factors possess characteristics that resources must possess to have the ability to improve hotel business [11].

State the research problem under consideration in very distinct terms.

Through the following paragraph, we wanted to indicate why we are conducting the research. The goal is to point out that there is no clear position on the issue of the influence of various factors that have been identified as key. From this reason, it is not possible to draw a universal conclusion that will be applicable to all hotels. For this reason, it is important to study their impact on a case-by-case basis:

The focus is on studying ten microeconomic factors that different authors have identified as crucial for hotel business success, but for which there are conflicting findings regarding the direction of their influence between authors or the findings are contrary to the dominant theoretical corpus. Specifically, the analysis examines the influence of hotel size, age, solvency, liquidity, leverage, productivity, CSR, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. To encompass all material and immaterial factors influencing hotel productivity, the impact of productivity is analyzed through labour productivity and capital productivity. According to the resource-based view (RBV) [10], the selected factors possess characteristics that resources must possess to have the ability to improve hotel business [11]. The absence of a unified position regarding the influence and importance of these factors makes it impossible to draw a universal conclusion and indicates the need to highlight them on a case-by-case basis. Since there were no similar findings on the example of the WBC, and the aspirations of the creators of social issues to try to economically revive rural areas and prevent migration through the process of tourism, these topics deserve attention.

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Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors recommended that the abstract should include a brief write-up of what was established by the research and its implications. At present, however, it is too general and does not sufficiently emphasize the unique findings of the research.

One of the major areas of weakness is that this study lacks a literature review section, and the sources that are cited in the present work are not updated. Include recent research to give a huge picture of the present direction of research focusing microeconomic aspects influencing rural hotel enterprises.

State the research problem under consideration in very distinct terms. When presenting an overview of related research findings, the paper refers to factors but does not clearly indicate which scopes of the existing literature this research tries to fill.

Be specific about all the questions of the study and the hypotheses.

As for the shortcomings, there is not enough detailed information about the research methodology section. Similarly, describe the sampling process in connection with the selection of the 115 hotels.

Enumerate the microeconomic factors taken into consideration and justified the proper choice of the factors.

Explain the procedures how the data was collected including any surveys or interviews and also the statistical analysis that was done on the data.

There is also weakness in the qualitative data analysis and the information presented therein can be considered superficial. It is advisable to elaborate the data used, the number of samples used, and any cleaning or preprocessing done on the data.

Talk about the case of multicollinearity and how it was handled. Multicollinearity must have led to the exclusion of CO2 emissions; there should be a better explanation for why this was the case.

Explain to what extent and in which ways does the findings of this study have a relevance to owners of hotels, to policy makers, and to other consumers and interested parties in the given field of rural tourism. In what ways can the above findings be useful to promote strategies to improve the success rate of hotel business?

Author Response

 

Dear reviewer,

we would like to thank you once again for your efforts and the opportunity which you given us to improve the paper. We have answered all your requests:

 

When presenting an overview of related research findings, the paper refers to factors but does not clearly indicate which scopes of the existing literature this research tries to fill.

Be specific about all the questions of the study and the hypotheses. 

As for the shortcomings, there is not enough detailed information about the research methodology section. Similarly, describe the sampling process in connection with the selection of the 115 hotels.

In the text, we stated how an adequate sample size was chosen, referring to an adequate source: Adequate sample size determined by the size of the population, the level of 95% confidence and the allowable sampling error 5%, which appears as standard in research in the field of tourism [33].

We described how the indicators were obtained, as well as why the GMM approach is useful. We also added that the hotels were chosen by a random sample, based on the principle that all hotels were sent a request for participation, but that only certain ones that entered the research responded to the inquiry.

Enumerate the microeconomic factors taken into consideration and justified the proper choice of the factors. 

                     We added:

The focus is on studying ten microeconomic factors that different authors have identified as crucial for hotel business success, but for which there are conflicting findings regarding the direction of their influence between authors or the findings are contrary to the dominant theoretical corpus. Specifically, the analysis examines the influence of hotel size, age, solvency, liquidity, leverage, productivity, CSR, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. To encompass all material and immaterial factors influencing hotel productivity, the impact of productivity is analyzed through labour productivity and capital productivity. According to the resource-based view (RBV) [10], the selected factors possess characteristics that resources must possess to have the ability to improve hotel business [11]. The absence of a unified position regarding the influence and importance of these factors makes it impossible to draw a universal conclusion and indicates the need to highlight them on a case-by-case basis. Since there were no similar findings on the example of the WBC, and the aspirations of the creators of social issues to try to economically revive rural areas and prevent migration through the process of tourism, these topics deserve attention.

 

Explain the procedures how the data was collected including any surveys or interviews and also the statistical analysis that was done on the data.

We put in the text:

Data was collected from the Amadeus database and chambers of commerce. The selected duration of the observation period covers a sufficient time interval to capture all heterogeneities in the structure of the observed units and their changes over time using a dynamic panel analysis model [34]. The choice of indicators used to describe the selected microeconomic factors of the hotel business is consistent with the previously analyzed literature (Table 1).

 

There is also weakness in the qualitative data analysis and the information presented therein can be considered superficial. It is advisable to elaborate the data used, the number of samples used, and any cleaning or preprocessing done on the data.

In the methodology part, we described the sample, why that quantity and how the data were collected and calculated as an indicator, while we referred to adequate sources regarding the validity and correctness of the application of those indicators.

Bearing in mind the scope of the work and the requirements of the journal, we had to reduce the qualitative analysis to a minimalist one.

Talk about the case of multicollinearity and how it was handled. Multicollinearity must have led to the exclusion of CO2 emissions; there should be a better explanation for why this was the case.

We added to the text:

This is a consequence of the limitation of this research regarding the way of expressing energy consumption and CO2 emissions in expressions 4 and 5. Namely, the same activities are included through these two expressions, only different units of measure are used. hence the high correlation between these two indicators.

Explain to what extent and in which ways does the findings of this study have a relevance to owners of hotels, to policy makers, and to other consumers and interested parties in the given field of rural tourism. In what ways can the above findings be useful to promote strategies to improve the success rate of hotel business?

In the final part, we pointed out two groups of concrete measures. The creators of social policies must work to ensure more favorable conditions under which hotels can borrow, as well as work to ensure adequate infrastructure, primarily of official institutions. Namely, high interest costs represent a significant problem, as well as the lack of educational staff.

On the other hand, taking into account the importance of liquidity and the size of the hotel, hotels must work on improving the strategy of maintaining liquidity in order not to expose themselves to high costs of short-term credit and implementation strategies for increase in size , in order to further use the effects of economies of scale.

In addition, a measure has been proposed that has theoretical implications in terms of the way of expressing productivity.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have revised the manuscript. The revised manuscript is fine. No issues.