Exploring international tourists' perceptions of hotel operations by using a modified SERVQUAL approach – a case study of Mauritius

Managing Service QualityEmerald Article: Exploring international tourists' perceptions of hotel operations by using a modified SERVQUAL approach - a case study of MauritiusThanika Devi Juwaheer

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To cite this document: Thanika Devi Juwaheer, (2004),"Exploring international tourists' perceptions of hotel operations by using a modified SERVQUAL approach - a case study of Mauritius", Managing Service Quality, Vol. 14 Iss: 5 pp. 350 - 364

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Thanika Devi Juwaheer, Darren Lee Ross, (2003),"A study of hotel guest perceptions in Mauritius", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 15 Iss: 2 pp. 105 - 115http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596110310462959

Riadh Ladhari, (2009),"Service quality, emotional satisfaction, and behavioural intentions: A study in the hotel industry", Managing Service Quality, Vol. 19 Iss: 3 pp. 308 - 331http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09604520910955320

Jiju Antony, Frenie Jiju Antony, Sid Ghosh, (2004),"Evaluating service quality in a UK hotel chain: a case study", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 16 Iss: 6 pp. 380 - 384http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09596110410550833

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Exploring internationaltourists’ perceptions ofhotel operations byusing a modifiedSERVQUAL approach – acase study of Mauritius

Thanika Devi Juwaheer

The author

Thanika Devi Juwaheer is based at the Faculty of Law andManagement, University of Mauritius, Mauritius.

Keywords

Hotels, Regression analysis, Customer satisfaction, SERVQUAL,Service quality assurance, Mauritius

Abstract

Given the strategic importance of service quality in hotels ofMauritius, this paper investigates the perceptions ofinternational tourists in hotels of Mauritius by employing amodified SERVQUAL approach Using a principal componentfactor analysis with a Varimax rotation technique, this studyidentifies nine hotel factors out of 39 hotel attributes anddetermines the levels of satisfaction among international touristsand their overall evaluation of service quality prevailing in thehotels. The results from the regression analysis suggest that theoverall level of service quality is primarily derived from the“Reliability” factor. This study is strategically and manageriallyimportant to the hotel industry in Mauritius. From the results ofthe study, hotel managers can focus their efforts to providequality service and facilities that international tourists perceiveas being important in determining their overall service quality ofthe hotels.

Electronic access

The Emerald Research Register for this journal isavailable atwww.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

The current issue and full text archive of this journal isavailable atwww.emeraldinsight.com/0960-4529.htm

Introduction

Mauritius has emerged as the most important

tourist destination in the Indian Ocean. In 1980,

the number of tourist arrivals was recorded at

166,600 with tourists spending around US $110

million (Bank of Mauritius Statistics, 2000). In the

year 2000, 20 years later, tourist arrivals increased

by 560 per cent, to 656, 453, and foreign exchange

earnings increased by 430 per cent, amounting to

US$475 million. According to the estimates of the

Central Statistical office (2001) estimates,

Mauritius will attract around 700,000 tourists by

December 2002, thus generating a total of US $0.5

billion. Not only the number of tourists has

increased rapidly, but the profile of international

tourists coming to Mauritius has also changed. In

1991, 44.7 per cent of total tourists coming to

Mauritius were of European origin whereas in

2000, this figure has risen to 67 per cent. Tourists

from African countries accounted for 46.4 per cent

of tourists in 1991, whereas in 2000, this figure has

fallen to 25 per cent (Ministry of Tourism and

Leisure, Mauritius, 2000). The rapid increase in

the number of tourist arrivals from Europe has also

had a significant impact on the foreign exchange

earnings of the country. As tourism becomes an

important foreign currency earner for Mauritius,

improving the service quality gaps will become a

critical issue to the success of the hotel industry in

Mauritius in the new millennium. In the service

industry, definitions of service quality focus on

meeting customers’ needs and requirements, and

how well the service delivered meets customers’

expectations (Lewis and Booms, 1983).

Hotels in Mauritius have acknowledged the

importance of the customer and placed greater

emphasis on marketing activities and the delivery

of service quality (Marriott, 1995). However,

despite the rhetoric, anecdotal evidence suggests

that tourists staying in different grades of hotels in

Mauritius have experienced shortfalls in the

quality of service offered during the 1990s.

International tourists have also understandably

expressed varied needs and expectations during

their hotel stay but hotels in Mauritius have not

responded adequately to these requirements

(Ministry of Tourism, Mauritius, 1988). In line

with these complaints from tourists, the Ministry

of Tourism and Leisure (1999) conducted a survey

of outgoing tourists and results obtained further

revealed the need to improve the service quality in

hotels of Mauritius. Complaints pertained to the

high level of prices of food and drinks in hotels, the

low quality and limited variety of food served and

the poor language ability and communication skills

of staff. It is therefore, necessary for hotel

managers to know how guests perceive their hotel

Managing Service Quality

Volume 14 · Number 5 · 2004 · pp. 350–364

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0960-4529

DOI 10.1108/09604520410557967

350

www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

www.emeraldinsight.com/0960-4529.htm

and what they can do to satisfy what their guests

expect.

Since 1990s, hotels in Mauritius have faced a

difficult environment due to changing customer

demands and internal competition. In response

there has been an expansion in the construction of

coastal hotels in Mauritius to cope with increasing

customer demand. Together with this expansion,

hotels are now focusing upon issues of service

quality to maintain their ethos in the country’s

image as a “high-quality” holiday destination (Sun

International, 1998). Increasing competition is

also emerging from other tourist destinations like

Seychelles, the Pacific and Caribbean islands. The

country’s hospitality and tourism sectors are trying

to augment and offer more than the traditional

“sea, sun and sand” concept which until recently

has formed the core of the tourism product. In this

context the hospitality industry is faced with the

challenge of achieving high levels of service, and

hotel managers have to do their best to make their

organisations claim successful management

practices within the hotel industry. Hotels have

also not responded satisfactorily to the demands of

customers owing to lack of management and staff

training in service quality. The purpose of this

study was to assess customers’ expectations and

perceptions of service provided by hotels of

Mauritius and to highlight how the service factors

were related to customer satisfaction. In addition

to judging services on the basis of image, service

encounters and price, customers also evaluate

them on the basis of customer satisfaction.

Much of the recent research into service quality

in hotels of Mauritius assessed the relative

contribution of various attributes in determining

consumers’ perceptions of overall satisfaction or

their evaluation of service quality in the lodging

industry. However only a few studies, aimed to

determine which service quality dimensions have

the greatest impact on lodging choice intentions

(likeliness to return to the same hotel). As

Sundaram and Richard (1993) stated, to improve

service quality, the lodging industry needs to know

which service attributes might influence choice

intention. Failure to give due attention to the likely

attributes can result in a customer’s negative

evaluation of the hotel service and may refrain the

chance of that guest returning to the hotel. Since a

customer’s satisfaction is influenced by the

availability of customer services, the provision of

quality customer service has become a major

concern of all businesses (Berry and Parasuraman,

1991). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to

examine the needs of international tourists by

identifying their perceptions and levels of

satisfaction with the service sand facility attributes

provided by hotels of Mauritius.

Objectives of the study

Specifically the study aimed to address the

following objectives:

(1) to develop the underlying dimensions of hotel

service quality or hotel service factors;

(2) to examine the relative impact of the derived

hotel factors in influencing the overall level of

service quality and customer satisfaction; and

(3) to determine the specific dimensions of service

quality which have the greatest impact on the

choice intentions (probability of returning) in

hotels of Mauritius.

Theoretical perspectives on servicequality

Researchers have defined quality in different ways.

This quality construct has been variously defined

as value (Feigenbaum, 1951), conformance to

requirements (Crosby, 1979), fitness for use

( Juran et al., 1974) and meeting customers’

expectations (Parasuraman et al., 1985). However

because of increased importance from the service

sector, researchers are defining quality from a

customer’s perspective. Among services marketing

literature, the widely used definition of service

quality is to meet customers’ expectations defined

by Parasuraman et al. (1985). In their review of

service quality, Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988,

1991), found that service quality could neither be

conceptualised nor evaluated by traditional

methods of goods quality because services possess

three characteristics: intangibility, heterogeneity

and inseparability. For this reason, they have

defined and conceptualised service quality as a

form of attitude, which results from a comparison

of customers’ expectations with perceptions of

performance. They have also developed an

instrument called SERVQUAL to measure service

quality.

The SERVQUAL scale is based on a gap model

(Parasuraman et al., 1985), which suggests the gap

between customers’ expectations and their

perceptions of actual performance drives the

perception of service quality. Both the original

version of SERVQUAL (Parasuraman et al., 1988)

and its revised version (Parasuraman et al., 1991,

1994) contain five dimensions of service quality

namely tangibles, reliability, responsiveness,

assurance and empathy.

Tangibles represent the physical facilities,

equipment, and appearance of personnel and

presence of users. Tangibles can create an

atmosphere. The tangible aspect of a service is one

of the few dimensions that a potential service

patron can know and evaluate in advance of

participation.

Exploring international tourists’ perceptions of hotel operations



Volume 14 · Number 5 · 2004 · 350–364

351

Reliability refers to the ability to perform the

promised service dependably and accurately.

Promises made to an organisation’s promotional

efforts can contribute to participant expectations.

Consistency of performance at the highest

standard is crucial to reliability.

Responsiveness is the willingness to help

participants and provide prompt attention. Hotel

patrons expect their requests to be handled quickly

and accurately.

Assurance indicates courteous and

knowledgeable employees who convey trust and

confidence. Assurance contains elements of the

organisation’s credibility, competence and

security.

The empathy dimension includes caring and

individual attention to users. Empathy expresses

an understanding of the participants’ needs.

These five dimensions were derived from ten

overlapping dimensions, which were regarded as

an essential to service quality by Parasuraman

et al.’s, (1985) exploratory study. Although the

SERVQUAL instrument has been criticised by

some researchers (e.g. Carman, 1990; Cronin and

Taylor, 1992; Teas, 1993), it is still regarded as a

leading measure of service quality (Lam and Woo,

1997; Mittal and Lassar, 1996).

Research into hotel selection criteria has

focused on the relationship between customer

satisfaction and service quality or services and

facilities. Because of the intangibility,

inseparability, variability and perishability of

services, consumers’ perceptions of satisfaction

criteria may include contextual clues that they use

to evaluate the service quality and to make

decisions about future patronage, whether or not

they have experienced the hotel’s products and

services before (Bitner, 1990; Parasuraman et al.,

1985).Alpert (1971) and Kivela (1996) viewed

consumer products and services as a bundle of

attributes, or features, and benefits: and stated that

those attributes that directly influence consumer

choice are termed “determinant” attributes. These

attributes which could be different from those of

competitors’ offerings, may be vital factors in

determining consumers’ intentions regarding

future purchases Wuest et al. (1996) defined

perceptions of hotel attributes as the degree to

which travellers find various services and facilities

important in promoting their satisfaction with

hotel stays. There have been many studies

reviewing the needs and characteristics of

travellers. Reviews of the literature suggest that

most travellers would consider the following hotel

attributes when making a hotel choice decision:

cleanliness, location, room rate. Security, service

quality and the reputation of the hotel or chain

(Ananth et al., 1992; Atkinson, 1988; Clow et al.,

1994; Le Blanc and Nguhen, 1996; Mc Cleary

et al., 1993; Rivers et al., 1991; Weaver and Heung,

1993; Wilensky and Buttle, 1998). Atkinson found

that cleanliness of accommodation, followed by

safety and security, courtesy and helpfulness of

staff were the top attributes for travellers in hotel

choice selection. Rivers et al. (1991) examined the

hotel selection decision of members and non-

members of frequent guest programmes. Their

results show that convenience of location and

overall service received the highest ratings.

Le Blanc and Nguhen (1996) in particular

examined the five hotel factors that may signal a

hotel’s image to travellers: physical environment,

corporate identity, service personnel, quality of

services and accessibility. They suggested that

marketing efforts should be directed to highlight

the environmental cues to attract new customers.

Methodology used

The instrument

The data collection instrument consisted of a two

part self–administered questionnaire. The first

section of the questionnaire was to measure the

hotel guests’ perceptions of service quality in the

hotel of their stay. Respondents were asked to

indicate the level of perceptions based on a Likert

scale from one (very low expectation) to five (very

high expectation). The second part comprised

questions pertaining to the overall level of service

quality in the hotel, level of customer satisfaction

and the choice intentions of the tourists. The third

part of the questionnaire was designed to capture

the demographic and travelling characteristics of

respondents’. A pilot test was conducted with

30 tourists in different categories of hotels of

Mauritius. The results of the pilot test provided

valuable information on the design and wording of

the questionnaire and validity of the measurement

scale used.

The sample population

The target population of the study consisted of

all the international tourists ðn ¼ 410Þ who stayed

in the different categories of beach hotels of

Mauritius In Mauritian norms a “tourist” is

defined as a non resident staying in the island for

more than 24 h but less than a year and is not

involved in any gainful occupation during his stay

(Ministry of Tourism, 1988). For the present

study, tourists are those non residents coming from

countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania

countries.

The sampling procedure

A disproportionate stratified sampling method was

used during the period from December 2000 to




Volume 14 · Number 5 · 2004 · 350–364

352

April 2001. 600 questionnaires were sent to hotel

guests and 423 responded positively.

410 questionnaires were found to be usable in the

study representing a response rate of 68 per cent.

Data analysis

Data collected from the questionnaires were

analysed by using factor analysis and multivariate

techniques like multiple regression. The 39 service

quality variables in relation to their gap scores

(perceptions minus expectations) were factor

analysed to determine whether there existed

underlying dimensions of service quality.

A principal component analysis with VARIMAX

rotation was conducted on the 39 items measuring

the service quality of hotels in Mauritius.

The objective of the analysis was to:

(1) summarise the information contained in the

original 39 variables measuring service quality

of hotels in Mauritius into smaller sets of

newly correlated composite dimensions or

factors;

(2) apply the derived factor score in subsequent

multiple regression analysis.

Only factors with eigenvalue equal to or greater

than one were considered significant and chosen

for interpretation. A variable with factor loadings

of 0.40 was considered, that is, items with less than

0.4 were excluded. Regression analysis was the

applied to derive the orthogonal hotel service

quality factors which determine the overall

evaluation of service quality, customer satisfaction,

and willingness to return to the same hotel and

recommend the hotel to others in future. For the

sample of hotel guests in Mauritius, four multiple

regression models, using a stepwise procedure

(SPSS 8.0) were developed. To identify key areas

of importance to the consumer, multiple

regression analysis was used because it allows for

taking into account the explanatory power of more

than one independent variable simultaneously.

The dependent variables were:

(1) hotel guests’ perceptions of the overall level of

service quality in the hotel;

(2) hotel guests’ overall level of satisfaction with

the hotel of their stay;

(3) hotel guests’ likeliness to return to the

same hotel in future/upon next visit; and

(4) hotel guests’ likeliness to recommend the hotel

to other individuals.

The standardised factor scores generated of the

nine orthogonal factors were used as independent

variables in explaining the hotel guests’ overall

evaluation of service quality, customer satisfaction

and choice intentions with hotels of Mauritius.

The factors with various degrees of significance

resulting from the regression analysis were then

shown in order of importance based on their

b co-efficients. For example a factor with a high

b co-efficient is more likely to suggest that the

factor itself carries a heavier weight in explaining

the overall evaluation of service quality of

international tourists.

Results

Demographic and traveling profile of

respondents

The sample of international tourists included more

women (50.4 per cent) than men (49.6 per cent)

among which 59.3 per cent of tourists had a

tertiary education. As for the age group

classification (Table I), the majority of tourists

(32.4 per cent) were between the age group of

25-34 years of age. Regarding the purpose of visit

to Mauritius (Table I), about 67 per cent of

Table I Characteristics of respondents

Percentage

Purpose of travelAll business 4.7

All leisure 67.7

Mostly leisure 17.4

Mostly business 4.4

Half business half leisure 5.7

GenderFemale 50.4

Male 49.6

Age18-24 12.1

25-34 32.4

35-44 15.7

45-54 27.0

Above 54 12.9

First visitYes 63.3

No 36.7

Accompanied by childrenYes 29.5

No 70.5

Number of visitsLimited (1-2 times) 30.5

Moderate (4-5 times) 59.6

Frequent (3 times or more) 9.9

EducationPrimary 2.1

Secondary 35.4

Tertiary 59.3

Others 3.2




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353

tourists were essentially on an all leisure trip. It has

also been observed that 63.3 per centof tourists

surveyed had come to Mauritius for the first time.

Amongst the 36.7 per cent who had visited

Mauritius before (frequency of visit), 59.6 per cent

(Table I) had visited the country on a moderate

basis, which is they have come to the country 3-4

times. Lastly respondents were also required to

state if they were accompanied by children. It was

found that (Table I) only 29.5 per cent of them

were accompanied by children.

Identification of nine hotel service quality

factors

The difference score between perceptions and

expectations were factor analysed, using Principal

Components Analysis with orthogonal Varimax

rotation, to identify the underlying dimensions or

service quality variables that explained the

variance in the attributes. From the varimax

rotated factor matrix, nine factors representing

61.76 per cent of the explained variance were

extracted from the original 39 variables. Nine

factors with 36 variables were defined by the

original 39 variables that loaded most heavily

(loading.0.40) on them. There are no hard and fast

rules for choosing the cut off rate of 0.4 but the 0.4

criterion level appears most commonly used in

judging factor loadings as meaningful. The

VARIMAX process produced a clear factor

structure with relatively higher loadings on the

appropriate factors. Reliability analysis

(Cronbach’s alpha) was calculated to test the

reliability and internal consistency of each factor.

The results showed that alpha co-efficients of the

factors ranged from 0.60-0.75, well above the

minimum value of 0.50 considered acceptable as

an indication of reliability for basic research

(Nunally, 1967). The structure shown in Table II

explains 61.76 per cent of the variance in service

quality with “Reliability Factors” (Factor 1)

accounting for 22.754 per cent of the total variance

and contains six of the 39 items from the scale.

In the present research study, after several trial

rotations, nine factors were regarded as

theoretically appropriate, corresponding to the

“Tangibles”, “Responsiveness”, “Reliability”,

“Assurance”, and “Empathy” identified by

Parasuraman et al. (1988) plus the emergence of

new factors such as “Food and Service Related

Factors”, “Extra Room Amenities Factors”, “Staff

Communication Skills and Additional Factors”,

“Room Attraction and Decor Factors”, “Staff

Outlook and Accuracy Factors” and “Hotel

Surroundings and Environmental Factors”.

A scree test, which plots the number of factors

against the eigenvalue, has been used for visual

presentation of the total amount of variance

explained. The scree plot shows a logical

breakpoint where the optimum number of factors

to retain is designated by cutting above the

“elbow”. By cutting above the elbow, nine factors

with eigenvalue greater than one were identified;

the proportion of variance explained by these

factors was mainly 61.7 per cent. Characteristics

with loadings of 0.40 were retained. Figure 1

depicts the scree plot, which emerged from the

factor analysis and illustrates where the eigenvalue

begin to level off to form a horizontal line.

Table II shows the results of the factor analysis

that reveals the following:. the hotel attributes loaded on each factor;. the factor name;. factor loadings;. eigenvalues;. the variance explained by each factor;. cronbach’s reliability factor; and. interpreting the factors of service quality.

Data from 401 questionnaires were analysed for

hotel guests after the elimination of nine, unusable

ones. Factor analysis of the results of the Likert

Scale questions ranging from 1-7 (where

1 ¼ strongly Agree) produced nine factors, which

between them accounted for 61.7 per cent of the

variation in the data with the first two accounting

for around half of the variance. These nine factors

were identified in descending order of impact and

were labelled as follows:-

Factor 1 – reliability factors

These statements that load high on this factor are

on the helpful suggestions, which hotel employees

make to guests and how the hotel solves guests’

problems effectively. This factor accounted for

22.7 per cent of the variation in the data. Hence

the loadings of factors closely resembled the

reliability factors in the SERVQUAL instrument

(Parasuraman et al., 1988).

Factor 2 – assurance factors

This factor includes the high factor loading of

statements about knowledgeable staff who can

answer questions on local events and shopping, the

hotel having the guests’ interests best at heart

closely followed by the security of the guests and

the safety aspect of the hotel environment. This

factor accounted for 8.5 per cent of the variance

and somewhat combines the assurance factors of

the original SERVQUAL study.

Factor 3 – extra room benefits sought

High factor loadings occurred on the statements

concerning the spaciousness of the bedrooms, the

provision of utmost privacy to guests, and

appealing promotional brochures, the availability

of tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms

closely following by the provision of non-smoking




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354

Table II Factor analysis results with Varimax rotation of international tourists perceptions of hotel service quality attributes

Factors items Loading Eigenvalues

Percentage of

explained variance

Factor schedule for overall quality (Q) ratings of service quality in hotels of Mauritius

Factor 1 – reliability factors (a 5 0.63) 8.874 22.754

The hotel has staff never too busy to respond 0.511

The hotel completes tasks of what has been promised to guests 0.533

The employees of the hotels make helpful suggestions to guests 0.779

The employees of the hotel show consistent courtesy 0.664

The hotel solves guests problems effectively 0.777

The hotel performs the right service first time 0.755

Factor 2 – assurance factors (a 5 0.67) 3.325 8.526

The hotel has a safe environment 0.669

The hotel ensures the security of the guests 0.701

The hotel has guests’ interest best at heart 0.707

The hotel has knowledgeable staff who can answer questions about local events 0.760

In the hotel complaints and problems are handled graciously 0.461

Factor 3 – extra room amenities factors (a 5 0.71) 2.354 6.037

The hotel has non-smoking rooms 0.533

The hotel has tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms 0.621

The hotel provides utmost privacy to guests 0.735

The hotel has visually appealing promotional brochures 0.707

The hotel has spacious bedrooms 0.776

Factor 4 – staff communication and additional amenities sought factors (a 5 0.64) 1.983 5.085

The hotel has good seating arrangement in restaurants and bars 0.662

The hotel ensures regular maintenance of hotel lawn and green space 0.683

The hotel has staff who communicate in a friendly and personal manner 0.799

The hotel has staff who are ever willing to Help 0.524

The hotel has promotional strategies to project the image of the hotel 0.516

Factor 5 – room attractiveness and decor factors (a 5 0.75) 1.909 4.894

The hotel has clean and hygienic bedrooms 0.545

The hotel has an appealing decor 0.686

The hotel has clean beaches 0.456

The hotel has attractive bedrooms 0.713

The hotel has clean and comfortable bathrooms 0.519

Factor 6 – empathy factors (a 5 0.66) 1.604 4.112

The hotel has staff who instill confidence in the guests 0.726

The employees of the hotel have in depth knowledge of the hotel 0.420

The hotel provides menu for diet conscious guests 0.712

The hotel projects a quality service image 0.778

Factor 7 – staff outlook and accuracy Factors (a 5 0.60) 1.459 3.742

The hotel has error-free bills 0.642

The hotel has neat-looking staff 0.777

Factor 8 – Food and Service Related Factors (a 5 0.62) 1.213 3.110

The hotel provides healthy menus 0.543

The hotel has sufficient resources to offer good service 0.432

Factor 9 – hotel surroundings and environmental Factors (a 5 0.67) 1.164 2.985

The hotel has proximity to events and attractions 0.586

The hotel respects environment norms

Total scale reliability alpha (a 5 0.72) 0.680

Total percentage of explained variance 61.76 per cent




Volume 14 · Number 5 · 2004 · 350–364

355

rooms. This factor explained 6 per cent of the

variance.

Factor 4 – staff communication skills and additional

benefits

This variance explained by this factor is 5 per cent

and includes high factor loadings of statements

about hotel staff communicating in a friendly and

personal manner, the regular maintenance of lawn

and green space buy the hotel, the provision of

good seating arrangements in restaurants and bars,

hotel staff who are ever willing to help and

promotional strategies to project the image of the

hotel.

Factor 5 – room attractiveness and decor

The statements that load high on this factor are the

attractiveness of rooms, appealing decor,

cleanliness and hygiene of rooms, cleanliness and

comfort of bathrooms and beaches. This factor

accounted for 4.9 per cent of variation in the data

and combines the “Tangibles” dimensions of the

original SERVQUAL study.

Factor 6 – empathy

This includes the high factor loading of statements

like quality service image, hotel staff who instill

confidence in the guests, the provision of menus

for diet-conscious guests and in-depth knowledge

of hotel by employees. This factor accounted for

4.1 per cent of variation in the data and combines

some of the empathy dimensions of the original

SERVQUAL study.

Factor 7 – staff outlook and accuracy factors

This factor accounted for 3.7 per cent of the

variation in the data and had high factors loadings

on items relating to the neatness of staff and

provision of error-free bills by the hotel.

Factor 8 – food and service related factors

High factor loadings occurred on factors like the

hotel having sufficient resources to offer service

and the provision of healthy menus. The variance

explained here is 3.1 per cent.

Factor 9 – hotel surroundings and environmental

factors

The statements that load high on the factors are

the hotel’s proximity to events and attractions and

the compliance and respect of environmental

norms by the hotel. This factor accounted for 2.98

per cent of variation in the data.

Relative importance of hotel service factors

to international tourists’ overall evaluation of

service quality

The nine service quality factors were then entered

into regression analysis to determine their relative

importance in contributing to overall evaluation of

service quality by international tourists. Table III

reports the results of the stepwise regression model

using respondents’ overall judgement of service

quality as the dependent variable, this variable

being measured on a seven-point Likert scale type

and the nine orthogonal factors presented above as

the independent variables. It is interesting to note

that several dimensions are operant in defining the

quality of service in hotels of Mauritius. Table III

presents the results of stepwise regression. The

significant factors that remained in the equation

explain perceived service quality and are shown in

order of their importance based on b co-efficients.

The higher the co-efficient the more the factor

contributes to explaining service quality.

As it can be seen, there are four factors which

explain 27.3 per cent of variance in hotel guests

rating of overall service quality received from the

hotel. Based on the findings of the service quality

dimensions, which influence the level of service

quality in hotels of Mauritius, a regression model

was developed using the standardised factor scores

for each respondent.

The F statistic for the regression model was

21.972 with a p value less than 0.0000. The R2 was

Figure 1 Scree Plot of variables




Volume 14 · Number 5 · 2004 · 350–364

356

0.273, which indicated that 27.3 per cent of the

overall service quality is explained by the model.

The model also indicates that 72.7 per cent of the

variance can be explained by other factors and

indicates that further research is needed to identify

the additional factors that influence the level of

service quality in hotels of Mauritius.

The factor which had the greatest impact on the

overall service quality in hotels of Mauritius has

been reliability factors with a co-efficient (b of

0.305) such as hotel staff making helpful

suggestions to guests, never too busy to respond

and showing consistent courtesy at all times,

effective solution to guest’s problems by the hotel,

completion of tasks of what has been promised to

guests and performance of the right service first

time only. Staff outlook and accuracy factors with a

(b co-efficient of 0.279) also appear to play an

important role in hotel guests’ evaluation of overall

service quality rating of the hotel and relate to

aspects such as neatness of hotel staff and the

provision of error-free bills by the hotel.

Perceptions engendered by “room

attractiveness and decor factors” with a

(b co-efficient of 0.259) such as cleanliness,

attractiveness, hygiene bedrooms, appealing

decor, cleanliness and comfort in bathrooms and

cleanliness of beaches have also been significant in

the overall rating of service quality. As hotel guests

have become very environmental conscious due to

the degradation of the ecological and aqua-marine

environment in Mauritius it was also interesting to

note that factor Hotel surroundings and

environmental norms with a (b coefficient of

0.187) have also been significant in explaining

overall rating of service quality in hotels of

Mauritius. Hotel guests have also shown that

aspects like the hotel having good proximity to

events and attractions as significant in determining

the overall level of service quality rating in hotels of

Mauritius.

Results reveal that the service quality in hotels is

derived principally from the following factors:. reliability;. staff outlook and accuracy;. room attractiveness and decor; and. hotel surroundings and environmental norms.

Current satisfaction in hotels

In the Table IV below, the international tourists’

overall satisfaction level is used as a dependent

variable which explained the relationship between

the dependent satisfaction levels and the nine

orthogonal service quality dimensions. Table IV

reports on the results of the stepwise multiple

regression models with the overall level of

satisfaction with the hotel stay as the dependent

variable and the nine service quality dimensions.

Correlation analysis was also performed

between the dimensions of service quality and the

dependent variables of the model. The results

show that correlation exists between the

independent variables. This phenomenon can be

explained by the degree of overlap between the

dimensions of service quality. Using linear

combinations such as these reduces, but cannot

eliminate, a potential multi-collinearity problem.

As can be seen from the table above for hotel

guests, 21.6 per cent of the variance in the rating of

customer satisfaction is attributable to five service

dimensions: room attractiveness factors with a

b coefficient of 0.269, staff outlook and accuracy

factors ðb ¼ 0:241Þ, reliability factors ðb ¼ 0:234Þ,

hotel surroundings and environmental factors

ðb ¼ 0:130Þ and Food and service related factors

ðb ¼ 0:115Þ: Though staff attractiveness and decor

factors, staff outlook and accuracy factors,

reliability and hotel surroundings factors, just like

in the rating of hotel service quality have been

significant in contributing to the hotel guests rating

of overall service quality, it is however important to

note the contribution of food and service related

factors with a b co-efficient of 0.115.These pertain

to aspects like provision of healthy menus and the

hotel having sufficient resources to offer good

service.

The room attractiveness and decor factors

appear to be a core service dimension crucial to

engendering a sense of hotel guests’ satisfaction in

the hotels of the stay ðb ¼ 0:269Þ: The results also

imply that “room attractiveness and decor factors”

and “staff outlook and accuracy” factors, which

explain almost 21.6 per cent of the variance in

overall satisfaction with the hotel, represent the

Table III Service dimensions affecting perceptions of service quality in hotels of Mauritius

Sample R2/Sig Dimensions B b T Sig T

Hotel guests 0.273/0.000 Reliability 0.348 0.305 5.479 0.000

Staff outlook and accuracy 0.317 0.279 4.997 0.000

Room attractiveness and decor 0.295 0.259 4.653 0.000

Hotel surroundings environmental factors 0.213 0.187 3.355 0.000

Notes: Constant: 5.916; Total explained variance (R2)¼ 0.273 (2.73 per cent); t ¼ 93.454 (sig ¼ 0.0000); Dependent variable:service quality




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“core of the core” factors for satisfaction with

hotels in Mauritius. Hotel guests attribute room

related factors such as cleanliness, hygiene,

attractiveness in bedrooms, appealing decor, clean

beaches and also cleanliness and comfort of

bathrooms as important.

The F statistic for the regression model was


0.216, which indicated that 21.6 per cent of overall

service quality is explained by the model.

The model also indicates that 78.4 per cent of the

variance can be explained by other factors and

indicates that further research is needed to identify

the additional factors that influence the level of

service quality in hotels of Mauritius. As it can be

seen, there are four factors which explain

21.6 per cent of variance in hotel guests rating of

overall service quality received from the hotel.

Based on the findings of the service quality

dimensions, which influence the level of customer

satisfaction in hotels of Mauritius a regression

model was developed using the standardised factor

scores for each respondent.

Willingness to recommend the hotel

As shown in Table V, a hotel guest’s willingness to

recommend the hotel where he/she has stayed to a

friend appears to hinge upon four factors namely

“room attractiveness and decor factors”

ðb ¼ 0:255Þ; reliability factors ðb ¼ 0:234Þ; hotel

surroundings and environmental factors

ðb ¼ 0:155Þ and food and service related factors

ðb ¼ 0:140Þ:These four dimensions explain 16 per cent of

the variance in the hotel guest’s recommendation

decision.

The F statistic for the regression model was 11.072

with a p value less than 0.0000. The R2 was 0.16,

which indicated that 16 per cent of overall service

quality is explained by the model. The model also

indicates that 84 per cent of the variance can be

explained by other factors and indicates that

further research is needed to identify the additional

factors that influence the level of service quality in

hotels of Mauritius. As it can be seen, there are

four factors which explain 16 per cent of variance

in hotel guests rating of overall service quality

received from the hotel.

Likeliness to return to the same hotel in

future

To investigate the importance of the nine service

quality dimensions (predictor variables) in

influencing the choice intention (likeliness to

return to the same hotel in future), a stepwise

Multiple Regression analysis was also conducted

on the likeliness to return to the same hotel in

future (dependent variable) and the nine

dimensions of service quality in hotels of

Mauritius. The results are shown in Table VI.

As it can be seen 34.2 per cent of the variance in

a hotel guest’s likelihood to return to the same

hotel in future can be explained by six factors

mainly reliability ðb ¼ 0:292Þ; extra room

amenities sough factors ðb ¼ 0:163Þ; room

attractiveness and decor ðb ¼ 0:304Þ; staff outlook

and accuracy factors ðb ¼ 0:130Þ; food and service

related factors ðb ¼ 0:163Þ and Hotel

surroundings and Environmental factors

ðb ¼ 0:203Þ:The F statistic for the regression model was


Table IV Service dimensions affecting perceptions of hotel guests’ satisfaction in hotels of Mauritius

Sample R2/Sig Dimensions B b T Sig T

Hotel guests 0.216/0.0000 Room attractiveness and decor 0.324 0.269 0.000 4.642

Staff outlook and accuracy 0.290 0.241 0.000 4.153

Reliability factors 0.282 0.234 0.000 4.042


Food and related factors 0.139 0.115 0.048 1.987

Notes: Total explained variance (R2)¼ 0.216 (21.6 per cent), Adjusted R2¼ 0.241; Dependent variable: level of satisfaction;Constant ¼ 5.883; T ¼ 84.433 (Significance ¼ 0.000)

Table V Service dimensions affecting recommendation decisions of hotel

Sample N 5 401 R2/Sig Dimensions B b T Sig T

Hotel guests 0.16/0.0000 Room attractiveness and decor 0.191 0.255 4.240 0.000

Reliability factors 0.177 0.2343 3.891 0.000


Food and related factors 0.105 0.140 2.323 0.21

Notes: Total explained variance (R2)¼ 0.16 (16 per cent); Dependent variable: likely to recommend the hotel; Constant ¼ 3.253;T ¼ 69.034 (Significance ¼ 0.000)




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0.342, which indicated that 34.2 per cent of

overall service quality is explained by the model.

The model also indicates that 65.8 per cent of

the variance can be explained by other factors

and indicates that further research is needed

to identify the additional factors that influence

the level of service quality in hotels of Mauritius.

As it can be seen, there are four factors which

explain 34.2 per cent of variance in hotel guests

rating of overall service quality received from

the hotel.

Managerial implications

The results reveal that international tourists assign

different levels of importance to service quality

dimensions when evaluating service quality in a

hotel. It can be seen that service quality in hotels is

derived by four main dimensions of service quality.

The multiple regression analysis has been used to

explore the underlying dimensions that are used by

international tourists in evaluating the service

quality in the hotel industry in Mauritius and in

identifying the dimensions that influence the

choice of the tourists’ to return to the same hotel in

future. Successful service companies are

characterised by focus on the customers. They

map and understand their customers articulated

and unarticulated needs and the factors, which

steer the customers’ desires, or adequate services,

respectively.

The findings suggest that these four factors

explain 27.3 per cent of the variance in hotel

guests’ rating of overall service quality received

from the hotels (Table IV). The analysis indicates

that the large unexplained variance of 72.7 per cent

means that the factors influencing perceived

service quality are not yet completely answered.

Earlier researchers have identified factors, which

account for at least part of the unexplained

variance. These factors include value (Holbrook,

1994; Rust and Oliver, 1994; Zeithaml, 1988),

attributions and equity (Bolton and Drew, 1994),

information availability and atmosphere (Peyrot

et al., 1993).

The results F ¼ ð21:972 with p,0.000), are

significant with the largest Tand b value found for

reliability, followed by staff outlook and accuracy

and room attractiveness and decor and finally by

hotel surroundings and environmental norms

factors. Therefore, the best predictor of overall

service quality consists essentially of the Reliability

factors as they relate to due completion of tasks

promised to guests, consistent courtesy of hotel

staff, helpful suggestions to guests’ problems and

effective solution to guests’ problems and

provision of the right service first time. These

findings suggest that among the four dimensions of

service quality, “Reliability” has emerged as the

best predictor of overall service quality similar to

Parasuraman et al. (1988) research on service

quality. Additionally these findings have

demonstrated that the adapted version of

SERVQUAL is suitable for use by managers in the

hospitality industry so that they can confidently

design service strategies that meet guests’

expectations.

The importance of having satisfied customer is

unquestionable. Overall satisfaction of the

international tourists with their hotel stay was

determined largely by the two “core of the core”

factors namely “Staff outlook and accuracy”

factors like error-free bills and neatness of staff

and “Room attractiveness and decor” such as

attractive features in the bedrooms, appealing

decor clean beaches and hygienic rooms and

bathrooms. The reported results on overall

satisfaction in a hotel also add emphasis to the

need to closely monitor factors like provision

healthy menus by the hotel, consistent courtesy

and helpful suggestions by staff, the hotel’s

proximity to events and attractions and respect

for environmental norms. In this context it is

imperative for hotel organizations to manage

their service encounter, which involves the

direct interaction between a service operation

and its customers. Service encounters, in

Table VI Service dimensions affecting likeliness to return to the same hotel in future

Sample N 5 401 R2/Sig Dimensions B b T Sig T

Hotel guests 0.342/0.000 Reliability factors 0.219 0.294 0.000 5.484

Extra room amenities sought factor 0.103 -0.141 0.009 -2.630

Room attractiveness and decor 0.224 0.304 0.000 5.687

Assurance 0.193 0.262 0.000 4.904

Staff outlook and accuracy factors 9.590 0.131 0.015 2.451

Food and service related factors 0.121 0.164 0.007 3.064

Hotel surroundings and environmental factors 0.149 0.203 0.000 3.802

Notes: Total explained variance (R2)¼ 0.342 (34.2 per cent); Dependent variable: likeliness to return to the same hotel in future;Constant = 3.197; T ¼ 77.580 (Significance ¼ 0.000)




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particular those involving front line staff

typically have a high “impact” on consumers,

and the quality of the service encounter is thus

part of the overall service quality perceived

and experienced by the customer. As the

“core of the core” factors explain a significant

amount of variation in customer satisfaction

(21.6 per cent of explained variance) and

service quality (27.3 per cent of explained

variance) in the current research study, it is not

likely that efforts to improve other aspects will

influence satisfaction of hotel stay and overall

service quality in the hotels. Thus efforts to

ensure maximum quality in all parts of the

delivery process without paying specific attention

to the key factors may be a costly approach to

quality management.

But the overall satisfaction of the international

tourists in the hotels has been largely determined

by factors relating to the physical environment of

the service encounter. Because hotel services are

intangible and incapable of being sampled before

purchase, they present higher perceived financial

risks to consumers than do most goods. One set of

factors in the consumers’ risk reducing process has

been shown to be “situational” factors including

the various dimensions of the physical

environment of the hotel and intangible factors of

“corporate image” and “service atmosphere”.

The role of physical design and the need for hotel

organizations to be sensitive to the effects that they

can have on both customers and staff perceptions,

attitudes and behaviour have also to be considered.

In the present context, physical evidence such as

environmental design, room attractiveness,

appealing decor and neatness of staff send

messages that can help to establish the hotel’s

image and influence the customer’s expectations.

The Room attractiveness and Decor factors similar

to the tangibles dimensions of the original

SERVQUAL is also a significant predictor of

overall service quality and this implies that

managers of hotels in Mauritius should ensure that

their hotels are appealing in decor with attractive

bedrooms, clean and comfortable rooms and

bathrooms and clean beaches. Furthermore it

should reflect the image and price range of the

property. This implication is supported by

Knutson et al. (1992), Mei et al. (1999) which

found that guests expect up to date equipment

such as key cards, computerised accounting and

fast, efficient elevations.

Conclusions

As concluding note to the study it is observed that

by analysing perceptions about service quality with

respect to different customer segments, hotel

organisations can develop and formulate

marketing strategies to meet the needs of each

specific market segment more effectively.

Using the results of the study, hotel providers

can plan effective marketing strategies to target

international tourists to Mauritius, satisfying

them when they first visit and then developing

customer loyalty of the hotel’s services and

facilities afterwards. In the quest for improved

service quality it is derived important for hotel

service providers to determine what aspects

the guests consider to be significant when

evaluating the hotel experience. The findings

of the study are interesting in the context of

service quality research and should lead

management to investigate on the

investment needed to fulfill customers’

expectations and thus ensure customers

satisfaction.

It is argued that this finding has major

implications for management of hotel operations

and perhaps also for other types of service

operations. More importantly, it deviates from the

“zero defects” approach frequently advocated in

the Total Quality Management literature. Instead

of giving all aspects of the service operations the

same attention, managers need to identify the “key

factors” and concentrate resources on these, which

for long have been recognised in the rather

extensive literature as critical success factors. At the

same time the findings illuminate that it is only by

focusing on these factors, that a hotel organization

can achieve high levels of satisfaction and service

quality.

Managers should aim equally at reaching the

“good enough” level of quality for the non-core

aspects and concentrate attention and resources on

those areas that have the highest importance for

overall satisfaction and service quality ratings in

hotels of Mauritius. The implications of the above

result suggest that managers of hotels in Mauritius

should concentrate their efforts on improving the

items in Reliability, which consists more of the

functional aspects of service quality (how it is

done) rather than the technical aspects (what is

done) (Mei et al., 1999). In doing so, the hotel

should allocate resources to the training of their

employees, so that employees will feel confident

and able to provide prompts/personalised and

caring service to guests (Mei et al., 1999). Another

important aspect is the provision of error free bills

and neat appearance of staff.

The results obtained from the multiple

regression analysis are derived important in that

hotel managers will get more useful data if they

base their assessment of service quality more

explicitly on dimensions scores, rather than a




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general overall score where results are aggregated.

Service quality dimensions scores and the

items within those dimensions must be tailored

to the key items for a particular dimension by

hotels, rather than on strategies being broadly

applied across the whole service quality

dimension.

Limitations of the study and directions for

future research

Several limitations of the foregoing study are to be

noted. First this was a quantitative study with

generalisability and reliability as its core objectives.

Such investigations, especially those made into

essentially phenomenological topic areas, are

bound to sacrifice depth in favour of breath. It is

recommended that both applied and theoretical

survey research into the service experience of

hotels in Mauritius be complemented with

qualitative research to uncover the service quality

nuances related to each hotel organisation.

Further research is needed to improve the

measuring instrument for service quality.

Limitations also arise regarding the nature of

statistical tool used in the study. For example,

the use of factor analysis to underline nine

dimensions of service quality in the hospitality

industry should be regarded simply as an

additional tool for investigating the structure of

multivariate observation and is essentially

exploratory in nature. Repetitive studies

within the same industry, i.e. the same product

and target group should be conducted to

examine the stability of the findings in hotels

of Mauritius.

The present research examined nine factors

determining service quality in hotels of Mauritius.

The nine service quality dimensions were then

examined in terms of their impact on hotel guests’

overall evaluation of service quality, their level of

satisfaction with their hotel stay, their willingness

to recommend the hotel to others and their

likeliness to return to the same hotel in future.

The results of the study open many avenues for

additional research.

Sultan and Simpson (2000) argue that

differences may exist in consumer perceptions

and expectations based on nationality and studies

by Choi and Chu (2000) have identified

differences in the needs of Western and Asian

travellers in so far as hotel service quality attributes

are concerned. Cross-cultural comparisons of

service quality perceptions in hotels of Mauritius

will also provide rewarding research. Do different

cultural groups have different expectations and

perceptions of service quality in hotels of

Mauritius? Are the dimensions of service quality

equally important to these different groups? But

future research should likewise ensure that sample

sizes within such cultural groups are sufficiently

large enough to suggest their subsequent

interpretative validity.

This study has been limited to one service sector

only namely hotels. Future research should

examine similar research objectives across

different sectors of hospitality namely restaurants,

tour operators, car hire services, travel agencies,

clubs and so on. But careful exercise has to effect in

sampling and sampling sizes within any socio-

demographic variable so as to be sufficiently large

to have predictive validity.

It is also suggested that similar studies on

service quality be conducted to identify specific

quality issues affecting other sectors of the

hospitality industry, as this study concentrated on

hotels only. As future growth of tourism and

competition are likely to emerge from the Indian

Ocean islands namely Seychelles and Reunion

Island, studies of service quality issues in those

islands would appear appropriate. However in

examining service quality in the Indian Ocean

Region setting, one also needs to take into account

whether the understanding of underlying

dimensions of service quality, e.g. demographic

differences remain the same. Future research

could also consider whether the factor

structure proposed in this study is valid in other

classes of accommodation such as guesthouses

and private bungalows in Mauritius. Other

research may also look out whether the perceived

quality levels differ by countries in the Indian

Ocean region, e.g. Seychelles, Comores,

Reunion and Rodrigues.

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Air Mauritius (1999), Islander, Vol. 25, pp. 14-16.Atkinson, P. and Murray, B. (1988), “Striving for excellence of the

service sector”, in Chase, R.L. (Ed.), TQM: an IFS ExecutiveBriefing, IFS Publications, Springer-Verlag, London.

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Bielenberg, C. (1992), “Winning the customer service war”,Managing Service Quality, pp. 411-5.

Bloemer, J., Ruyter, K. and Wetzels, M. (1999), “Linkingperceived service quality and service loyalty: a multi-dimensional perspective”, European Journal of Marketing,Vol. 33 Nos 11/12, pp. 1082-106.

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Appendix. Correlations of linearcombinations of independent anddependent variables

Prior to performing regression analysis, it is

important to determine the degree of correlation

between the dependent and independent variables.

High correlation between the independent

variables may limit the conclusions that can be

drawn from regression since the effect of

collinearity is to reduce the accuracy of coefficient

determination. Table AI shows the results of the

correlation analysis between linear combinations

of service quality. A check of Table AI (Factor

Correlation Matrix) indicates several of the

dimensions are correlated and a certain amount of

overlap among the dimensions would be expected.

Too much intercorrelation of the independent

measures can affect the relative explanatory

contribution of the dependent measure because

the b weights (indicators of relative explanatory

power) may be over or under estimated.

Accordingly, the importance of the individual

dimensions must be interpreted with care.




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Table AI Correlations of linear combinations of independent and dependent variables

Service quality

dimensions Reliability Assurance Extraroom Staff com Room attracs Empathy Staffout Foodser Hote sur

Independent variablesReliability

Assurance 0.627**

Extra room 0.461** 0.450**

Staff com 0.459** 0.448** 0.488**

Room attracts 0.539** 0.591** 0.537** 0.403**

Empathy 0.263** 0.220** 0.146** 0.219** 0.100**

Staff out 0.307** 0.286** 0.296** 0.159** 0.409** -0.53

Fodder 0.500** 0.692** 0.442** 0.375** 0.557** 0.143** 0.272**

Hotel sur 0.478** 0.430** 0.359** 0.433** 0.447** 0.174** 0.078 0.374**

Dependent variablesOverall service quality 0.566** 0.501** 0.362** 0.334** 0.548** 0.245** 0.261** 0.419** 0.365**

Level of satisfaction 0.541** 0.522** 0.354** 0.329** 0.558** 0.158** 0.237** 0.470** 0.364**

Likely to recommend

the hotel 0.463** 0.457** 0.281** 0.251** 0.511** 0.165** 0.197** 0.405** 0.283**

Likely to return to

the hotel 0.516** 0.463** 0.344** 0.281** 0.565** 0.120** 0.241** 0.412** 0.391**

Note: **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)




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Documents

Exploring international tourists' perceptions of hotel operations by using a modified SERVQUAL approach – a case study of Mauritius