Case Study – University of the West Indies
Destination Perception: All-Inclusive vs. Conventional Hotels
Introduction
The University of the West Indies hypothesized that within the Caribbean visitors who stay at all-inclusive hotels generally hold a lower perception of the island as opposed to persons who stay at conventional hotels. This was found to the case in islands such as Jamaica and Antigua where the presence of all-inclusive hotel was eminent in the hotel accommodation stock. St. Lucia was thought to be an ideal candidate for this study due to the pronounced existence of all-inclusive hotels on the island.
Through testing this hypothesis, researchers determined:
-
Visitors general perception of the island
- Destination ratings by guaging the quality of the destination experience through the quality of restaurants, scenic beauty of the island, accommodation quality, environement, local persons
and other goods and services available to the tourists
- Demographics of the typical visitor
- Level of satisfaction derived from the destination experience
- Value for money of the vacation
- Willingness to return
- Value gained from visit to St.Lucia
Study Methodology
Two clearly defined control groups were established: all-inclusive and conventional properties. Surveys were distributed to an equal number of hotels and visitors within these two sets of accommodation establishments. Participants were chosen randomly within the hotels and were interviewed on a one-to-one basis. This method of sampling was chosen to reduce bias.
Results
The results of the survey proved to be conflicting to the results in past surveys executed in other islands. It was noted that persons within all-inclusive hotels had an equally high view of St. Lucia as those staying at conventional properites. Thus, St. Lucia was deemed a unique case and was praised with balancing the all-inclusive experience with the “St. Lucian experience”.
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