Title: Excellence in hotel businesses: the case of a European quality award-winning hotel

Authors: H.K. Şanlıöz-Özgen

Addresses: Hotel Management Department, School of Applied Sciences, Özyeğin University, Çekmeköy, TR 34794, İstanbul, Turkey

Abstract: The hotel industry is a useful domain to apply quality management systems given the structure of properties with numerous stakeholders and processes. The inclination of hotel businesses towards excellence models is low despite a high rate of usage of other quality management systems. This study therefore aims to showcase a European Quality Award-Winning hotel – AlpenResort Schwarz – and offer insights into the implementation of and results and benefits from the European Foundation for Quality Management Excellence Model (EFQM EM) to enable hotel businesses to become aware of the excellence concept and the model as a tool to improve their competitive advantage and sustainable performance. The major finding of the study is that the EFQM EM is effective for independent hotels, enabling small businesses to gain an international view when improving their managerial systems in accordance with sustainable development goals.

Keywords: EFQM Excellence Model; total quality management; TQM; business excellence; hotel industry; AlpenResort Schwarz; Austria.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2025.144524

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2025 Vol.35 No.1, pp.90 - 113

Received: 20 Nov 2020
Accepted: 19 Jun 2021
Published online: 18 Feb 2025 *

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