About Baghirov Insights
From Research to Insight
Every year, a large number of academic studies, sector reports, research papers and data are published in the field of tourism and hospitality. However, a significant proportion of this information cannot be directly applied to operational decision-making processes.
This is where BHRI’s fundamental approach comes into play.
Our aim is not merely to convey ‘what is’, but to seek answers to the following questions:
What does this finding mean for a hotel?
How does it affect the guest experience?
How does it affect staff behaviour and the staff experience?
What changes might it require in operational processes?
How can a hotel manager utilise this information?
What are the potential impacts of this change on business performance?
For this reason, BHRI content is designed not merely to present information, but to support management decisions.
We strive to transform research, data and industry developments into meaningful insights for managers by evaluating them in the context of the realities of hotel operations.
Our Areas of Focus
Whilst BHRI’s research and publication areas cover various aspects of hotel management, they are centred on three key areas.
Hotel Management
We examine management approaches that can enable hotel businesses to be managed more effectively, efficiently and sustainably.
Leadership, organisational structure, operations management, service quality, performance management, technology, artificial intelligence, revenue management, innovation and evolving management models are among the key topics in this area.
The central question in our research is:
“How might this development influence a hotel manager’s decisions?”
Guest Experience
We do not view the guest experience as merely comprising satisfaction surveys or online review scores.
We examine the guest’s holistic journey, from the moment they begin researching the hotel through to booking, from arrival to the check-in experience, from the room to the restaurants, from interactions with staff to digital touchpoints, and beyond their stay.
Within the scope of BHRI,
areas such as the guest journey, service design, the physical environment, colour and spatial perception, the waiting experience, personalisation, service errors, complaint management, service recovery, the digital experience, behavioural science and customer psychology are researched.
Our aim is not merely to understand what the guest thinks, but also, as far as possible, why they think that way and which design or operational decisions have influenced this experience.
Employee Experience
We believe that the guest experience cannot be designed in isolation from the employee experience.
A hotel’s quality of service is directly linked to staff motivation, the quality of leadership, training standards, working conditions, organisational culture, inter-departmental communication and staff’s ability to deliver service.
For this reason, BHRI;
addresses topics such as employee engagement, employee experience, leadership, organisational culture, training and development, the employee journey, job design, staff turnover, motivation and service behaviour from a hospitality perspective.
Our fundamental approach is simple:
To design better guest experiences, we must understand how employees create these experiences.
How Do We Work?
BHRI is not tied to a single research method.
Depending on the subject under consideration, different data sources and research methods may be combined.
In our studies, we may utilise:
academic literature reviews, peer-reviewed research, sector reports, official statistics, company and organisational reports, market data, hospitality trends, field observations, survey research, staff and guest feedback, online guest reviews, case studies and independent research conducted by BHRI.
The aim is to create a more meaningful picture by evaluating as many different data points as possible in conjunction.
BHRI content is not prepared in the format of an academic journal.
Instead, whilst maintaining the discipline and sourcing standards of academic research, we aim to transform the content into an ‘insight’ format that managers can read, understand and utilise in their operational decision-making.
For this reason, our content follows a three-stage approach wherever possible:
Evidence → Insight → Action
First, we examine the available evidence.
We then interpret what this evidence means from a hospitality perspective.
Finally, we discuss how hotel managers can utilise this insight.
BHRI Research
BHRI does not aim to be merely a publishing platform that interprets existing research.
It also aims to establish itself as an independent hospitality research platform that generates its own data over time.
In this context, new data specific to the hospitality sector can be generated through surveys, observations and research carried out with guests, staff and industry professionals.
Our Publications
BHRI publications bring together a variety of information sources and perspectives.
Some studies are based on an analysis of academic literature and existing industry research.
Some assess a new trend or technology emerging within the sector.
Some share the results of surveys and research carried out by BHRI.
Others feature the perspectives of experienced managers, staff or industry professionals.
In addition, professional opinions and management insights developed by BHRI on specific topics may also be published.
However, regardless of the type of content, the fundamental principle remains the same:
Upon completing the content, the reader should not merely have learnt something new; they should also be able to understand why this information is important from a hotel management perspective.
Get to know us
BHRI – Baghirov Hospitality Research Insights – is an independent hospitality research and insights platform established to investigate and analyse the changing dynamics of the hospitality sector, and to translate these into actionable insights for hotel managers.
BHRI focuses on the two most critical elements of hotel operations: the guest experience and the employee experience.
We believe that a hotel’s performance cannot be explained solely by financial indicators such as occupancy, ADR or RevPAR. The experience a guest has from their first point of contact with the hotel until their departure is shaped by employees’ working conditions, leadership philosophy, service processes, the physical environment, technology, organisational culture and operational systems.
For this reason, BHRI approaches the hospitality sector not merely from the perspective of ‘service delivery’, but as a holistic system in which people, experience, operations and business performance influence one another.
Our aim is to bridge the gap between research and hotel operations, and to transform complex information into clear, understandable and actionable insights that hotel managers can utilise in their day-to-day decision-making.
Who is it for?
BHRI has been designed primarily for professionals in the hospitality sector who are involved in decision-making, service delivery or research.
General Managers, Deputy General Managers, department heads, Human Resources professionals, Guest Relations teams, Front Office managers, F&B managers, Revenue Management professionals, Sales & Marketing teams, hotel investors, consultants, tourism academics, students and future hotel managers are all part of BHRI’s target audience.
BHRI is specifically designed for professionals who ask the following question:
“What does this information mean for my hotel?”
Our Perspective
The hospitality industry is becoming an increasingly complex field of management.
Technology is changing.
Guest expectations are changing.
Employees’ expectations of their working lives are changing.
New generations are changing travel behaviour.
Artificial intelligence and automation are creating new service models.
Online platforms are making hotels’ reputations more visible.
Amidst all these changes, it is no longer sufficient for hotel managers to simply manage operations.
Managers must also be able to interpret change, analyse data and understand the behaviour of both guests and staff.
BHRI aims to bridge the gap between research and management practice in this regard.
Our mission
To produce clear, independent and actionable insights that will help hotel managers make more informed decisions by analysing reliable research, data and field observations relating to the hospitality sector.
Our vision
To contribute to the development of research-based thinking in the fields of hotel management, guest experience and employee experience; and to establish a reliable, internationally recognised hospitality insights platform that hospitality professionals turn to when making decisions.
