Title: The price of heritage: an investigation of hotel prices

Authors: Sameer Mathur; Prem Prakash Dewani

Addresses: Indian Institute of Management, Carnegie Mellon University, 222 Chintan, Lucknow 226013, India ' IIM Ahmedabad, Indian Institute of Management, 129 Chintan, Lucknow 226013, India

Abstract: This paper investigates the price premium charged by hotels to heritage tourists. A field study shows that heritage hotels in India command a sizable price premium over comparable, conventional hotels in India. Another field study finds that hotel rooms facing the Niagara Falls, USA, are more expensive than hotel rooms facing the city. A third study investigates the preferences of heritage tourists visiting India to see the Taj-Mahal. The study finds that heritage tourists indicate higher quality perception, purchase intentions, word-of-mouth likelihood and willingness-to-pay for a hotel room with an ethnic room decor and overlooking the Taj-Mahal compared to a hotel room with a modern decor and overlooking the city. Overall, this paper demonstrates a significant 'price of heritage'.

Keywords: heritage tourism; pricing; hotels; hotel services; hotel prices; price premium; cultural heritage; India; heritage tourists; quality perceptions; purchase intentions; word-of-mouth; WoM; willingness to pay; hotel rooms; ethnic decor; room view.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2016.078031

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2016 Vol.13 No.2, pp.127 - 153

Received: 28 Mar 2015
Accepted: 16 Jul 2015

Published online: 31 Jul 2016 *

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