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Understanding emerging trends in the hospitality industry is essential to provide exceptional guest experiences, as guest preferences and needs are constantly evolving. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these trends and how experts perceive and observe them in the post-pandemic era remain relatively underexplored. This study employed a webinar analysis to examine expert insights on post-COVID-19 trends in the hospitality industry. Findings show that the pandemic has reshaped guest decision-making, with conscious business travel becoming a prominent consideration. Guests now prioritise informed choices and seek high-touch experiences. To remain relevant, hospitality operators must comprehend the evolving landscape and adapt to these changes. Through a new approach of webinar analysis, four publicly available webinars featuring industry experts were screened and analysed. This research contributes to the industry by identifying emerging trends and their implications for customer satisfaction. By understanding these trends, hospitality operators can enhance their services and foster resilient customer-focused strategies to withstand future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer satisfaction is essential to a hotel's revenue, including Muslim-friendly hotels (MFHs). Amidst a plethora of studies that investigated customer satisfaction based on just customer perceptions, this study approaches the topic from a different angle. It examines both employee and customer perceptions of MFHs, particularly the relationship between service climate, service behaviour, and service quality on customer satisfaction. The integration of two theories known as the Social Exchange Theory (SET) and the extended Service Performance (SERVPERF) model resulted in 55 questionnaire items. Two sets of surveys were designed to gather data from employees working at MFHs (organisational service climate and service behaviour) and customers who visited MFHs (service quality and customer satisfaction). A hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) software was used to analyse the collected data from 120 employees and 120 customers at 24 MFHs. The study found that most employees feel that they work in a favourable service climate in MFHs. In addition, customers rated service quality in MFHs positively and a significant relationship between sevice quality and customer satisfaction was established. These findings offer new insights into MFH management, based on responses obtained from two critical parties involved in service delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]