DESIGNING NEW NORMAL SERVICES TO ENHANCE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE FOR LUXURY CHAIN BEACH HOTELS IN ANDAMAN COAST OF THAILAND: THE PERSPECTIVE OF HOTEL MANAGERS
The Novel Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the most severe economic disaster in the recent period since the world has confronted many pandemics, and has substantially altered the tourism and hospitality industry. Hotel business is among those most affected by the pandemic, especially luxury chain beach hotels, seen as one of the fastest growing type of hotels and until recently, popular among global tourists. New normal shifts the behavior of the guests demanding the service reposition to reduce an interaction between staff and guests. To revive the business, new normal services should be designed as per the needs of the guests, so that the hotels can provide memorable and impressive experiences. As a strategic challenge for hotel managers, this study aims to analyze the services currently undertaken by luxury chain beach hotels in Andaman Coast of Thailand in order to formulate new normal service experience model. The researcher adopted qualitative methodology using in-depth interview with 15 hotel managers of luxury chain beach hotels in Phuket, Phang-Nga, and Krabi on the side of Andaman Coast, where are considered as the popular beach destinations in Thailand and obviously attract both domestic and international tourists, , then analyzed into thematic content through the use of NVivo 12. The results have shown that new normal service design currently undertaken by luxury chain hotels in Andaman Coast of Thailand to create customer experience are Servicescape (S), Hygiene (H), Up-to-date information (U), Technology and innovation (T), and Staff awareness (S), which is hereby called “S-H-U-T-S Model”. The research contribution assists academics with variables to formulate a hotel strategy in other areas or contexts, while managerial contribution guidelines to help hotel managers to recuperate business when the effects of the pandemic lessen. Suggestions are also provided for future research.