Hotel

The number of traveling Muslims has increased substantially, and demands for Islamic facilities and services that adhere to their religious practices are growing exponentially. This creates business opportunities for service providers in Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike. Propelled by the growth of this new market segment, service providers such as airlines and hotels have customized aspects of their businesses to accommodate these niche demands. However, some industry players willfully ignore this market, either for fear of losing non-Muslim customers or lacking the know-how to tap into this lucrative new market. This research benchmarked some service providers (hotels) worldwide and conducted a content analysis of their websites to identify the services they provided for Muslims. The evidence shows that some hotels worldwide provide limited services to satisfy Muslim needs. Most of these hotels did not provide information about their Islamic facilities on their website, including some hotels in Islamic countries. This can be related to the social pressure (non-Muslim tourist markets), which prevents service providers from advertising their services. Lack of knowledge and research on the factors that prevent service providers from serving Muslim tourists and little information about their challenges make this area unexplored. Future research should test the research model proposed by this study and identify the factors influencing the service provider’s intention to serve the Muslim market and the barriers. This paper can serve as a guideline for industry players to partake in this growing and lucrative market.

The hotel industry in Qeshm Island is rapidly expanding. An important component in the hotel industry is the human resource. Tourists do not just come for the facilities and attractions, they want to be treated right and well and that is why a good command of the English language is always regarded as an asset for personnel in the tourism industry. This study was conducted to study and analyze the impact of one of the English skills, i.e., speaking of staff in hotels on attracting tourist in Qeshm Island. In order to so, data was collected from 25 foreign tourists in a hotel as Marina Hotel, regarding their expectations and perceptions of their stay about personal qualities of the hotels’ staff in different positions. The results obtained from the expectations of the guests indicated that the role and importance of the ‘English language proficiency’ in the tourism industry is relative to job function. ‘English language proficiency’ is more expected from those who often come into direct face-to-face contact with hotel guests such as the reception staff and it is more expected for the hotel management personnel as well. For other hotel staff, such as food & beverage and housekeeping staff, other qualities are expected more than ‘English language proficiency’ by hotel guests.

In an era where customer expectations are rapidly evolving, enhancing the efficiency of hotel reception services in Iran is crucial for the growth of the hospitality sector. Recent research highlights the importance of digital transformation in improving service delivery and operational efficiency in the hospitality industry. These studies indicate that technological advancements can significantly streamline operational processes, improve customer satisfaction, and foster a competitive advantage in the hospitality industry. This research presents a technological innovation model aimed at modernizing reception desk services, addressing the pressing need for improvement in this area. Using an interpretive paradigm and an inductive approach, we conducted a qualitative study that incorporated a systematic review. Subsequently, the structures and components were extracted from the studies through qualitative coding. Our findings, derived from a review of 54 studies, revealed 295 open codes distilled into 15 constructs and four main components. This study highlights the significant impact of technological innovation on reception services, emphasizing the roles of ease of use and perceived usefulness in the technology adoption process. These insights provide essential guidelines for advancing reception desk technologies within the Iranian hotel industry, ultimately contributing to enhanced service quality.