Service Diversification - a Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis in Mures County Hotels

Service diversification is one of the most important solutions to hotel management because it has a direct influence on the improvement of profitability and competitiveness. This study investigated how service diversification is included in hotels in Mures County (Romania) and analyzed factors typical of diversification through management decisions in the hotels comprised in the study. Therefore, this research focused on the following dimensions: determination of issues concerning hotel groups in Mures County related to service diversification; typological analysis of hotels in Mures County according to service diversification; analysis of correlations between factors that define service diversification in hotels and performance. The research features examination through total observation using a questionnaire and tests four hypothesis from international literature review. The results indicate that service diversification varies with the classification category of the hotels analyzed in the study. Factors related to diversification were grouped into three categories, which consisted of relaxation and leisure services, services related to business travel and subsidiary (auxiliary) services to accommodation services that complement existing business travel amenities. Also, the results show a positive correlation with performance indicators (respectively income and expenditure) with components of service diversification. The main findings offer valuable insights to both theoreticians and practitioners within the domestic and foreign hotel industry being the first study of this kind in Romania.