Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales
The paper considers a looming crisis for the important Malaysian tourism sector, namely, the lack of communication skills of hotel staff. There are a growing number of overseas visitors coming to this popular destination, yet hotel staff, polite as they may be, are increasingly unable to communicate...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Tourism Educators Association of Malaysia
2015
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15337/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15337/1/Using%20Apps%20to%20improve%20service%20delivery%20in%20Malaysian%20hotels%20guests%27%20and%20employees%27%20rationales.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848842648912134144 |
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| author | Selke, Raimond Ang, Lay Hoon Schaar, Torsten |
| author_facet | Selke, Raimond Ang, Lay Hoon Schaar, Torsten |
| author_sort | Selke, Raimond |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The paper considers a looming crisis for the important Malaysian tourism sector, namely, the lack of communication skills of hotel staff. There are a growing number of overseas visitors coming to this popular destination, yet hotel staff, polite as they may be, are increasingly unable to communicate effectively with them. Whilst this is acknowledged as being a worldwide phenomenon that ultimately leads to customer dissatisfaction, the authors believe it is exacerbated in Malaysia by governmental education policies that may seem biased in favour of Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction. In addition to other internal and external factors that currently put pressure on the hotel industry, Malaysia, unlike many other countries, permits foreigners to work in the hotel industry, and many of them arrive with a poor command of English. Hence the main objectives of the study are to improve understanding of both the communication problems within the hotel industry as well as the sentiment associated with using a technology based solution. The authors linked their aims to research questions which were formulated for both hotel staff and overseas visitors, and evidence was subsequently derived from the analysis of the responses received. As a solution to the communication problem, it is proposed that hotels should provide staff with hotel centred training in both English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as well as other key languages that are spoken by overseas visitors who are non-English speakers. In addition, a technological solution, in the form of an appropriate ‘App’, is proposed. Such an App could be used in a variety of ways to significantly improve communication, and ultimately, guest satisfaction. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T08:02:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-15337 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T08:02:29Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Tourism Educators Association of Malaysia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-153372016-10-10T03:32:56Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15337/ Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales Selke, Raimond Ang, Lay Hoon Schaar, Torsten The paper considers a looming crisis for the important Malaysian tourism sector, namely, the lack of communication skills of hotel staff. There are a growing number of overseas visitors coming to this popular destination, yet hotel staff, polite as they may be, are increasingly unable to communicate effectively with them. Whilst this is acknowledged as being a worldwide phenomenon that ultimately leads to customer dissatisfaction, the authors believe it is exacerbated in Malaysia by governmental education policies that may seem biased in favour of Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction. In addition to other internal and external factors that currently put pressure on the hotel industry, Malaysia, unlike many other countries, permits foreigners to work in the hotel industry, and many of them arrive with a poor command of English. Hence the main objectives of the study are to improve understanding of both the communication problems within the hotel industry as well as the sentiment associated with using a technology based solution. The authors linked their aims to research questions which were formulated for both hotel staff and overseas visitors, and evidence was subsequently derived from the analysis of the responses received. As a solution to the communication problem, it is proposed that hotels should provide staff with hotel centred training in both English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as well as other key languages that are spoken by overseas visitors who are non-English speakers. In addition, a technological solution, in the form of an appropriate ‘App’, is proposed. Such an App could be used in a variety of ways to significantly improve communication, and ultimately, guest satisfaction. Tourism Educators Association of Malaysia 2015 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15337/1/Using%20Apps%20to%20improve%20service%20delivery%20in%20Malaysian%20hotels%20guests%27%20and%20employees%27%20rationales.pdf Selke, Raimond and Ang, Lay Hoon and Schaar, Torsten (2015) Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales. TEAM Journal of Hospitality & Tourism, 12 (1). pp. 1-20. ISSN 1823-4003 https://teamjournalht.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/volume-12-issue-1-2015/ |
| spellingShingle | Selke, Raimond Ang, Lay Hoon Schaar, Torsten Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales |
| title | Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales |
| title_full | Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales |
| title_fullStr | Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales |
| title_short | Using Apps to improve service delivery in Malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales |
| title_sort | using apps to improve service delivery in malaysian hotels: guests' and employees' rationales |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15337/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15337/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15337/1/Using%20Apps%20to%20improve%20service%20delivery%20in%20Malaysian%20hotels%20guests%27%20and%20employees%27%20rationales.pdf |