Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2008.

Hotel rating refers to the process where the comfort and services of a hotel are assessed and classified, usually in five categories, using stars as symbols. Conventional hotel rating systems are generally operated by governments or independent parties. However, with the growth of social media and customer-review sites, guest review platforms became an important source of information. The main aim of this study is to establish whether guest feedback can determine hotel ratings more accurately than conventional methods and whether a social media platform such as TripAdvisor can provide the necessary data to do so. The customer-review website, TripAdvisor, has grown rapidly and made a strong impact on the tourism and hotel industry. This study identifies the nature of TripAdvisor, its reliability, how its ratings compare with conventional ratings, and what criteria are used in guest reviews on TripAdvisor when assessing the quality of a hotel. These findings were triangulated with findings from the conventional rating systems of the 11 destinations that were sampled for this study to identify the value of TripAdvisor. Two samples were taken from TripAdvisor of 110 and 33 hotels, respectively. From the latter, ten guest reviews were gathered and analysed per hotel, resulting in a total of 330 reviews that were analysed. The study’s findings indicate that TripAdvisor is the largest guest feedback platform for hotels and its data can be considered to be reliable. The TripAdvisor ratings were not connected to the conventional ratings of the sampled hotels. The criteria used in TripAdvisor reviews focused more on service delivery than on the objective tangible elements used in most hotel rating systems. The rich context found in most guest reviews makes the information presented on TripAdvisor valuable. There is no evidence that conventionalrating system controls are linked to the comments found in TripAdvisor reviews. The results facilitated the identification of the delight and frustration factors in services marketing for the hotel industry. A new theory to include guest feedback in hotel ratings is developed and proposed. The study further presents two future scenarios, the most likely one of which predicts the demise of conventional rating systems as a result of the success of guest feedback platforms such as TripAdvisor.

This study investigated demographic characteristics of 240 Chamber of Commerce members in terms of their expectations for customer service in hotels. Subjects reported their age, gender, marital status, race, educational level, income level and ethnicity, and completed a 26-item questionnaire which measured expectations for customer service. Principal components analysis was used to reduce the 26 items to five dimensions of service quality, and multivariate analysis of variance was used to evaluate the effect of the demographic variables on those dimensions. Gender of the customer was found to have a significant effect on the combined dimensions of service quality; other variables were not significant.

The tourism and hospitality industry has made a meaningful contribution to the development of the South African economy. Not only the hotels, but also the demand for self-catering holiday properties such as guest houses and bed-and-breakfast (B&B) establishments is increasing which could boost the tourist industry. Moreover, the prospect of the self-catering holiday properties in South Africa is extremely positive, particularly when the country is given the opportunity to hold the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Thus, expectations and perceptions are significantly shaped and transformed by the prosperous environment. The self-catering holiday properties should provide the best possible service to international and domestic tourists and ensure that their needs are fully met. The general purpose of this study was to evaluate the service quality of guest houses and B&Bs in the Nelson Mandela Bay by comparing guests’ expectations and perceptions. The results of this study could assist the managers of guest house and B&B in improving its service performance to more effectively fulfil the needs of dynamic tourist market. The literature study provided an overview of tourism industry from the management and marketing perspectives, services marketing and a detailed discussion of service quality focusing on the nature of services, determinants of service quality and techniques for measuring service quality. The SERVQUAL model and its derivative, Lodging Quality Index (LQI), were adapted for measuring the guests’ perceived service quality in this research. ii The empirical data was collected by means of a survey, using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to guests who were staying at guest houses or B&Bs in the Nelson Mandela Bay identified in terms of convenience sampling. One hundred and five useable questionnaires were received. The empirical findings based on the perception-minus-expectation (P-E) gap analysis showed that the perception mean scores were consistently lower than the expectation mean scores. This implies that guests perceived service quality of guest house and B&B to be relatively low. It is recommended that the managers of guest houses and B&Bs should: {u10007A} uniform the employees; {u10007A} use every tool to figure out what the guest wants; {u10007A} establish specific working procedures and help employees to understand their job responsibilities and mangers’ expectations; {u10007A} invite suggestions of existing located facilities from guests, and move the inconvenient facilities if possible; {u10007A} employ a communication audit to evaluate the overall quality of the communication system by comparing communication objectives to actual performance; {u10007A} combine useful destination information from different sources and update them on the website frequently; and {u10007A} apply an attracting layout to build positive image.

The purpose of the study was to investigate cultural aspects that influence customer perception of service quality in the hotel industry, specifically those that influence Eastern and Western respondents. A questionnaire was developed to assess cultural differences on perceptions, which included a modified version of the SERVQUAL scales, an instrument used to measure service quality. The convenience sample consisted of students enrolled in the MBA program at a Western university (N=152; Eastern=57.9%, Western=34.9%, Other=7.2%). Findings indicated that there were no significant differences between Eastern and Western cultures in perceptions of service quality. A sample questionnaire is included.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to determine approaches to CRM within the luxury hotel sector in Cape Town in order to add value not only to guests, but to all stakeholders of the hotel. This was done by conducting a literature review, supported by a sound base of primary research. The findings proved that CRM theory holds true for most luxury hotels and the notion that luxury hotels in modern times cannot afford to be without a CRM initiative, was underpinned. Furthermore, the concept of an aligned strategy and vision in terms of a hotel's CRM approach was found to be integral. Staff buy-in and co-operation are of utmost importance for any hotel property implementing a CRM initiative. Additionally, training and education on the importance of CRM was highlighted as an important factor to get all staff on board. Management needs to become customer relationship management experts themselves in order to inspire and motivate staff to excel at building relationships with guests. Moreover, the common mistake of hotels to place greater impetus on CRM technology than training and lack of leveraging CRM investments was examined as some of the main reasons for the failure of CRM initiatives. Although CRM technologies are extremely powerful tools and may facilitate a hotel's CRM strategy, they cannot be viewed in isolation and made responsible for the success of such a programme. Training is vital to enable staff to use these systems optimally and to turn guest data into gold. The importance of people was also emphasised in the light of personalisation of service; having the correct staff with an aptitude for guest service and hospitality is imperative. Lastly, the concept of customer-centric processes and systems was stressed. Everything a hotel does in terms of CRM efforts should be derived from the notion of guest satisfaction. Guest satisfaction is the one essential element that will enable a hotel to flourish and enjoy a firm base of repeat business. Repeat business is the most rewarding type of business for a hotel as it means that guests are satisfied with their service and will promote the hotel to others at no additional cost to the hotel. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie navorsingstuk was om die houding van luukse hotelle in Kaapstad teenoor kliënte verhoudingsbestuur (KVB) te bepaal en vas te stel hoe alle aandeelhouers van die hotel voordeel kan trek uit KVB. Die doelwit was bereik met behulp van primêre en sekondêre navorsing. Die bevindinge het bewys dat KVB teoreties waarde toevoeg tot meeste luukse hotelle. Die feit is geboekstaaf dat luukse hotelle nie sonder KVB kan oorleef nie. Dit was ook gevind dat 'n geintegreerde strategie en visie van uiterste belang is in KVB in hotelle. Personeel samewerking en entoesiasme is ook uitgelig as belangrike elemente wat die sukses van KVB bepaal. In hierdie opsig, was opleiding 'n integrale faktor tot die bevordering van personeel deelname. Die bestuur van hotelle moet self kundiges raak op die gebied van KVB om sodoende personeel te inspireer en motiveer om ook waardevolle kliënteverhoudinge te bou. Algemene foute wat hotelle begaan in terme van KVB is die feit dat meer klem gelê word op KVB tegnologie as op opleiding en dat die opbrengs op die inisiële belegging in KVB nie in ag geneem word nie. Alhoewel KVB tegnologie van onskatbare waarde is om 'n hotel se KVB strategie suksesvol te maak, kan die sukses van so 'n strategie nie alleenlik daaraan toegeskryf word nie. Ten einde die personeel te bemagtig om hierdie sisteme optimaal te benut, moet opleiding weereens as 'n area van belang beklemtoon word. Nog 'n prioriteit is die kwaliteit van personeel wat aangestel word; personeel moet 'n natuurlike aanvoeling hê vir kliënte diens en persoonlike interaksie.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree: Doctor of Technology: Quality, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / There is extensive focus on the practical performance of ecotourism in respect of environmentally invasive activities and the satisfaction of ecotourists in South Africa. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of quality management practices on service quality in the accommodation sector serving ecotourism destinations in KwaZulu-Natal. The study was conducted at 58 hotels within a 50 kilometre proximity to ecotourism development regions of KwaZulu-Natal province. Two separate self-administered questionnaires were designed for the hotel managers and for their guests. A quantitative approach and a census of 58 managers were conducted and the guest response of 587 was obtained using convenience sampling. The results revealed that there are mismatches in guests’ actual experience on the variables of interest for customer service quality and the importance they attach to each variable. The experience-importance findings show that most guests rated their experiences above the importance they attach to those experiences. Little attention has been paid to hotel service quality research pertaining specifically to quality-related performance. This study fills this gap by identifying congruent hotel service quality attributes and relating these to management performance by analysing the importance of these attributes for hotel-guests seeking experiences of the natural environment. The results of the study offer measures for ecotourism service quality enhancement for the ecotourists experience at the hotels and a starting point for hotel managers to optimise the service quality growth and development while protecting the resources on which they are based. Quality function deployment has emerged as a significant tool to guide hotel managers in ecotourism destinations to attain planned levels of guest service quality and formulate a well-informed and systematic framework that will advance strategies for service quality enhancement.

The basic purpose of this study was to examine the influence of service quality on customer satisfaction, perceived customer value and behavioral intentions, in three, four and five star hotels in Ethiopia. Additionally, an attempt was made to assess the differences pertaining to these constructs across customer profile (e.g., gender, nationality etc.) and hotel characteristics (e.g., star ratings etc.). A quantitative survey approach was used to obtain primary data from the respondents (hotels’ guests/customers) by administering the structured questionnaire. The original SERVPERF dimensions and related items were modified to best fit with hotel sector, by using desk review and preliminary interviews with manager, consultants and corporate clients of the hotels. A pilot study was carried out with 35 hotel customers to test the initial reliability and validity of the instrument. The final questionnaire was distributed to 440 respondents from 44 hotels (under three, four and five star categories), by using stratified (proportionate) random sampling. Of the distributed questionnaires, 435 were collected back (over 98% return rate), as completely filled, and used for the purpose of analysis. Descriptive statistics (mean score and standard deviation) were used to examine the customers’ perceptions of service quality, customer value, satisfaction and behavioral intentions. To identify the key service quality dimensions in the Ethiopian hotel sector, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed. The results revealed six underlying factors, namely: Assurance, Reliability, Responsiveness, Empathy, Room Tangibles and Food & Beverage Tangibles. Regression analysis was carried out to examine the relationship between the study constructs, whereby perceived service quality was found to be maintaining significantly (p<0.05) positive influence on customer value, satisfaction and behavioral intentions (measured as customer revisits and word-of-mouth recommendations) in the Ethiopian hotel sector. Moreover, both customer value and satisfaction were observed to be partially mediating the influence of service quality on behavioral intentions, with higher contribution from satisfaction than perceived value. Finally, the respondents’ nationality, gender, visit purpose, length of stay, hotel location and star category were found to be determining their perceptions of overall service quality. However, further research is needed before generalizing these relationships to other sectors/contexts. / Business Management / D.B.L.