Investigating the hotel reception experience in a developing country context: a stakeholders’ perspective from Ghana : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University

Abstract

Globally, the hospitality industry has moved to an era of delivering unique experiences to consumers, and the hotel industry is no exception. Leisure and hospitality businesses provide their guest with customised travel and hospitality experiences. With the changing trends in the hospitality industry, hotels are now directing their efforts towards creating holistic experiential service events that connect individually with guests on an emotional and personal level to create memorable experiences. This study has been informed by theories of the experience economy, co-creation, and servicescapes. Experiences are co-created between service staff and guests within a servicescape. Co-creation requires both staff and guest to be active participants in the production and consumption of the experience.The literature on hotel studies has focused on hotels generally, such as the entire hotel experience, restaurants, housekeeping but not precisely the reception experiences at check-in. In a developing economy, there has been relatively limited empirical research related to the hotel experiences in Ghana, particularly from the perspective of the guests and hosts (receptionists and managers). There is also a lack of specific research using the three theories (co-creation, servicescapes, and experience economy) to study hotel reception experiences. The aim of this study was to explore the hotel reception experience–and the expectations, perceptions (and satisfaction) of different stakeholders in this experience–within a developing economy’s (Ghana) context. This study adopts a mixed-method approach, incorporating quantitative methods (361 guest surveys) and qualitative techniques (38 staff and managers interviews) to assess stakeholders’ perceptions of the hotel reception experience in 3-star to 5-star hotels.The findings of the study show that the front office setting of the hotel was key to the kind of atmosphere the hotel aimed at portraying. Elements that were used to create such atmosphere include artefacts, symbols, music, and dress code of receptionists. Artefacts carry messages and meanings about the destination, its history, values, and unique identity. Domestic hotels in this study were more likely to display these cultural elements. By contrast, the front office of international hotels align with the worldwide standards for each brand.This study found that the co-creation of the experience takes the form of guests having warm face-to-face interactions with staff. Receptionists, managers and guests stressed that the human element to the service experience makes a difference to the reception experience, with communication being key. Hotel reception experiences are co-created between the guest and the receptionist within the setting of the front office and the broader cultural context of the destination, Ghana. Receptionists put in considerable effort to co-construct successful hospitality experiences with the guests. However, the face-to-face contact of the receptionists with guests created cross-cultural challenges, such as language barriers between receptionists and international guests, abuse by the guests they serve and socio-economic inequality between guest and receptionists. This study also reveals that co-creation can go wrong.This study found that the intersection between co-creation and the demands of the job creates emotional labour for the receptionists. Emotional labour always requires staff to portray a feeling of cheerfulness, even if that is not how they feel. Interestingly, regardless of the above challenges, it was found that the most prominent reason a significant majority of receptionists gave for choosing their job is their love of human interaction and enjoyment of serving. Although many receptionists expressed a great desire to work in the hospitality industry because of their love of people and culture, the way the guests treated some of them proved frustrating and demotivating. A number of receptionists stated that, at some point, they planned to look for better opportunities and leave the industry. The findings of this research provide insights into hotel receptionists’ experiences for the relevant hotels and tourism stakeholders, including, academics, managers, the government, marketers, and policymakers.