EXPLORING RELATIONSHIP QUALITY IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Purpose – The focus on building and developing partner relationships can help hotels to improve their business. Consequently, relationships with partners like: suppliers, hotel guests, tourist agencies, tourist offices and employees are developed as they react to environmental changes and consequently influence perceived financial and non-financial hotel performance. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore partner relationships and their influence on perceived hotel performance. Design/Methodology/Approach – Based on previous literature, a conceptual model has been developed and empirically tested through a questionnaire applied on a sample of hotel managers in Croatia. Scales from previous literature were used. The sample consists of 266 managers in hotels. The results were analysed using multiple regression analysis and these constructs have been tested for their reliability and validity through confirmatory factor analysis. Findings – Research findings indicate that relationship quality elements contribute to the development of perceived hotel financial and non-financial performance. Commitment and satisfaction influence perceived hotel performance while trust is found to have no effect. Moreover, commitment has more influence on perceived non-financial performance and satisfaction, than perceived financial performance. Originality of the research – The study demonstrates different influences that relationship quality elements have over perceived financial and non-financial hotel performance