Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego. Service Management

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to discuss the significance of hotel promotion from the customer perspective. The research analyzed hotel promotional efforts from the perspective of hotel guests staying at randomly selected hotels in Poland. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of 21 questions on the determinants of hotel choice, hotel guest rating of hotel promotional efforts, role of the Internet in hotel promotion, and hotel recommendations. A total of 273 Polish hotel guests were surveyed about their hotel preferences. Findings Research has shown that key factors determining the choice of hotel include location, quality, and price. Eight percent of survey participants also noted that promotional efforts did make a difference in their choice of hotel in Poland. The research also confirmed the growing role of the Internet in promotional efforts. As much as 64.1% of survey participants indicated that the Internet is their primary source of information on hotels in Poland. The effect of hotel chains was also assessed in relation to the abovementioned parameters. The highest customer ratings of hotel promotional efforts were observed for domestic hotel chains and the lowest for international hotel chains.   Practical/social implications An understanding of customer perspective with respect to hotel promotions is useful in terms of developing the total offering for each given hotel in order to build competitive advantage Originality/value The papers presented some interesting issues about hotel promotion from theoretical and practical perspectives. This paper discusses the significance of hotel promotion from the customer perspective.