Assessment of Indoor Environmental Quality in Budget Hotels Using Text-Mining Method: Case Study of Top Five Brands in China

Zhifeng Shen, Xirui Yang, Chunlu Liu and Junjie Li
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Zhifeng Shen: School of Management Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Xirui Yang: School of Management Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Chunlu Liu: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
Junjie Li: School of Management Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-24

Abstract: Guests’ evaluation of indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is important for identifying environment quality problems in hotels and improving service quality. This paper aims to identify IEQ problems in budget hotels in China and improve them. Specifically, 2.06 million online reviews of budget hotels were used to assess IEQ issues in China’s budget hotels in four areas: acoustic environment, luminous environment, indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal environment. The influences of the season, region and type of customers on the IEQ evaluation were also explored, and the main causes of IEQ problems were also identified. The research results show that the IEQ complaint rates of budget hotels are relatively high. In particular, complaints about the acoustic environment are more common. Differences in seasons and climate zones have significant effects on complaints about the acoustic environment, thermal environment and IAQ. Different types of customers have different concerns about hotel IEQ, among which solo travelers and traveling couples have higher requirements for IEQ. The occurrence of IEQ problems significantly reduces a hotel’s online rating, with IAQ and the thermal environment having the greatest impacts, but the causal factors that trigger IEQ problems are relatively concentrated. The findings of this paper can provide a reference for assessing IEQ problems in hotel buildings and guide hotel managers to adopt targeted IEQ improvement programs to promote sustainable development in the hotel industry.

Keywords: budget hotel; hotel sustainability; environmental assessment; indoor environmental quality; text mining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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