Thesis (MTech (Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / Within the hospitality industry, where revenues are driven by guest satisfaction, service is a key to success. Internal communication plays a role that should be examined on how its performance affects guest satisfaction within hospitality. The purpose of this study is to determine if internal communication plays a role in guest satisfaction within hospitality establishments in Cape Town. The study found that sources (such as newsletters, magazines, books, journals and peers) emphasised importance of internal communication in hospitality organizations. This internal communication serves as a nerve centre of an organization. If one does not have a functioning internal communication system, one may lose guests. In addition, advanced internal communication solution forms a backbone of a wide range of guest services, and increases the guests’ motivation to stay. Cape Town, where hospitality and tourism is increasingly competitive and diverse, human resource management becomes more problematic. There should be channels of internal communication, which transmit messages across the organization’s structure. The guest’s review demonstrated that growth of hospitality organisation will be determined by its ability to deliver superior guest value and importance of understanding guest needs and expectation. The reason for growing emphasis on guest satisfaction is that satisfied guests lead to a stronger competitive positioning, resulting ultimately in loyal guests, increased market profitability. Management teams in Cape Town and hotel industry sectors are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their services are guest-focused and that continuous performance improvement is being delivered. Internal communication research generates principles and strategies, which improve managerial performance, as internal communication acumen is essential to render success in a wide range of activities. Language proficiency, as well as what a manager says, and what a manager does, contributes to individual effectiveness. Furthermore, words and actions should be consistent and aligned so that they have maximum impact. Selected research findings regarding verbal internal communication and non-verbal internal communication as well as electronically are presented to demonstrate how wise internal communication choices can further managerial goals. In addition to using words effectively, managers in all functional areas can also increase their effect and improve their performance by applying results of research that are focused on internal communication. A self-administered questionnaire was compiled to collect data, and the study was based on 10 selected hotels within Cape Town and a great value is given to Cape Town business centre where most of tourism businesses held. Information was supplied by senior and junior managers from 4-5 star hotels and the final report combined results from the question about the role that internal communication plays in guest satisfaction within hospitality establishments in Cape Town by using an SPSS Program, while recommendations are also based on these findings. At this period of twenty one century, the technology is challenging organisational internal communication, it take major part in marketing and marketing research. The management are busy straggling with internal communication which they will never know exactly how much they perform without guest concert. They run to the Internet to research what the guests comment about their satisfaction of service they received. The guest reviews about hotel service industry emphasized the quality of service received within the hotel organization even if most of the hotels in Cape Town were too expensive as guest review recommended.

This study is set out to assess the effectiveness of customer relationship management (CRM) in the hotel industry. Relying on the integration of several CRM scholars, the study seeks to answer questions about the relationship between CRM and performance. A mixed research method approach was adopted. The research targeted 106 hotels in Pretoria. 47 responses were received from the hotel personnel who answered the questionnaire. The findings of the survey clearly indicate that hotel performance is dependent on CRM, as shown in the variance of performance levels in line with the level of CRM practised by a specific, named hotel. The study further suggests that hotels’ management should continuously embark on various CRM practices in order to improve their performance. Responses will be captured and analysed using the SPSS computer software. The results will be subjected to quantitative data analysis. It is expected that the findings will highlight important implications for hotels and other hospitality and tourism stakeholders in Pretoria and beyond. Stakeholders wishing to improve their understanding of the effectiveness of CRM in hotels will find this study helpful. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

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.

This study is set out to assess the effectiveness of customer relationship management (CRM) in the hotel industry. Relying on the integration of several CRM scholars, the study seeks to answer questions about the relationship between CRM and performance. A mixed research method approach was adopted. The research targeted 106 hotels in Pretoria. 47 responses were received from the hotel personnel who answered the questionnaire. The findings of the survey clearly indicate that hotel performance is dependent on CRM, as shown in the variance of performance levels in line with the level of CRM practised by a specific, named hotel. The study further suggests that hotels’ management should continuously embark on various CRM practices in order to improve their performance. Responses will be captured and analysed using the SPSS computer software. The results will be subjected to quantitative data analysis. It is expected that the findings will highlight important implications for hotels and other hospitality and tourism stakeholders in Pretoria and beyond. Stakeholders wishing to improve their understanding of the effectiveness of CRM in hotels will find this study helpful. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)