Analyzing Hotel Innovation Behavior in the Balaton Region of Hungary to Identify Best Practices

Petra  Gyurácz-Németh; Nikolett Horn; Nóra Friedrich

Petra Gyurácz-Németh
Nikolett Horn
Nóra Friedrich

Keywords: innovation behavior, hotel type, best practice, Hungary

Abstract

The goal of the research is to investigate the hotel innovation behavior in one of the most important tourism regions of Hungary. The Lake Balaton Region is a very popular area of the country with quite a short season (from the middle of June to August 20). The region is the second most visited area based on the number of guests and guest nights in Hungary. The topic of innovation plays a growing role in the Hungarian hotel sector as well, because competition is very high and keeping guests and employees can be a great challenge. The study involved both qualitative and quantitative research. The qualitative research aimed to identify the best practices of the Hotel Európa Fit****superior which introduced an “innovation by inspiring” strategy and applies several types of innovation in a highly recommended way. The respondents of the questionnaire included 28 hotel general managers (52% of the 54-person sample). The results showed a strong relationship between the type of the hotel and the number of innovations as well as the type of the hotel and the frequency of innovation.

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Author Biographies

Petra Gyurácz-Németh

Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pannonia, Hungary
E-mail: nemeth@turizmus.uni-pannon.hu

Petra Gyurácz-Németh, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer at the Department of Tourism, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. Her main research field is hotel quality and innovation concentrating on the standardization and customization of hotel processes. She teaches subjects related to hotel operations and management as well as service quality. Petra gained practical experience when she was working in an international chain hotel in many departments, as a tour operator as an incoming agent, and in a touriform office. S

Nikolett Horn

Master Student at the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pannonia, Hungary
E-mail: hornniki@gmail.com

Nikolett Horn is a former student at the University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. She started her undergraduate studies in tourism and hospitality in 2008 and immediately continued with a master’s degree in tourism management. Her research topic is hotel project management and innovation. She took part in student scientific competitions, placing first twice and second once. In the national student scientific competition, she placed third and got a special award in the previous event. She has been working for the hotel chain Danubius Hotels Group as a sales representative.

Nóra Friedrich

Master Student at the Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pannonia, Hungary
E-mail: fnori89@gmail.com

Nóra Friedrich is a former BA and MA student at the University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. Her research topic is hotel innovation: types, behavior, and success. She has assisted on some projects at the Department of Tourism and made several presentations for students on different topics. She took part in student scientific competitions, placing first twice and second once. In the national student scientific competition, she placed third, second, and third again with different pieces of research.

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