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BUSINESS RESEARCH 2
Table of ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................................................5
Part I............................................................................................................................................................5
1.1. Questionnaire Development.........................................................................................................5
1.2. Questionnaire Distribution Methods............................................................................................5
1.3. Questionnaire Critical Evaluation................................................................................................6
Part II...........................................................................................................................................................8
2.1. Data Analysis, Findings and Managerial Implications.................................................................8
(i) Holidays.......................................................................................................................................8
(ii) Children.................................................................................................................................14
(iii) Ratings...................................................................................................................................15
(iv) Satisfaction............................................................................................................................18
(v) Regression Model..................................................................................................................21
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................23
List of References......................................................................................................................................25
Appendices................................................................................................................................................27
Appendix 1: Questionnaire Introduction....................................................................................................27
Appendix 2: Questions for the questionnaire.........................................................................................28
Appendix 3: Coding Plan for the Questionnaire....................................................................................31
Appendix 4: Variable List.....................................................................................................................33
Appendix 5: Tables................................................................................................................................34
BUSINESS RESEARCH 3
List of Figures
Figure 2: Number of holidays taken last year................................................................................10
Figure 3: Destination for the holiday.............................................................................................11
Figure 4: No. of previous holidays with the company...................................................................12
Figure 5: Satisfaction levels...........................................................................................................19
BUSINESS RESEARCH 4
List of Tables
Table 1: Holidays taken last year...................................................................................................10
Table 2: Destination of holiday.....................................................................................................10
Table 3: No. of previous holidays taken with the company..........................................................12
Table 4: Measures of association between destination and whether or not respondents travelled with children..................................................................................................................................14
Table 5: T-tests for equality of means...........................................................................................16
Table 6: Association between destination and accommodation rating..........................................16
Table 7: Association between destination and travel rating..........................................................17
Table 8: Overall satisfaction..........................................................................................................18
Table 9: Satisfaction-number of children correlation....................................................................20
Table 10: Regression Table A.......................................................................................................22
Table 11: Regression Table B........................................................................................................22
Table 12: Association between destination and accommodation rating, travel rating and resort rating..............................................................................................................................................35
Table 14: Cross tabs for grouped satisfaction and whether one had children or not.....................36
BUSINESS RESEARCH 5
Introduction
The travel and hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The
growth is enhanced, in present days, by modern forms of information and communications technology
such as the internet. Through internet, it has become possible for tour companies to easily connect with
their clients. However, there is a need to explore the level of satisfaction of clients. The purpose of this
research is to establish clients’ opinions towards the packages offered by the travel and hospitality
company. The other purpose of the survey is to get suggestions from both individual and corporate clients
on how the services of the company could be improved. In order to accomplish this, the research process
is divided into two parts. The first part deals with questionnaire development, distribution methods and
critical evaluation. In the second part, the findings are presented and data analyzed. The analysis also
addresses the implications of the findings in management practice.
Part I
1.1.Questionnaire Development
See Appendix 1.
1.2.Questionnaire Distribution Methods
Distribution of questionnaires is a critical stage in research. According to Armstrong and Fildes
(2006), questionnaire distribution depends on the sampling method that is used. In modern times, there
has been improved efficiency in the way documents are delivered. Berg (2009) applauds the role of
information and communications technology in research. However, this must be catered for in the
research design or methodology. Nevertheless, the rapid development and use of internet has helped the
BUSINESS RESEARCH 6
process of research. In this case, email will be a major distribution method of the questionnaires. They
will be sent as word documents such that the client fills with ease. Creswell (2008) and Patton (2002)
observe that PDF files discourage respondents from participation because they have to print, fill by hand,
scan and send again. The traditional mailing systems are also being phased out. As earlier noted
technology does not mar the research process but rather enhances it. This implies that before
questionnaires are distributed, consent is sought from the potential respondent. Seeking consent will be
done either through email or cell phone. This is what Franklin (2012) calls “online consent.” The
company has a huge database of clients.
Although technology assists in making work easier, it cannot be ignored that hard copies are also
important. There will also be physical distribution of questionnaires at the company’s physical office.
Target respondents are the ones defined in the sampling methods and procedures. These include return
clients who come to the offices of the company; as well as clients who came in the past but are followed
up for survey purposes. These two approaches are expected to optimize the entire process in a bid to
inform the management about policy areas to improve.
1.3.Questionnaire Critical Evaluation
Questionnaires are very important in any research. This is because the measure aspects being
studied (Armstrong & Soelberg, 1968). This is done through questions that are designed in a way that
actually measures what is supposed to be measured. According to Kara (2012), this is called validity. The
firs aspect in evaluating this questionnaire is looking at the construct of validity. According to Silverman
(2011), validity has to do with whether a tool, such as a questionnaire, measures what it is supposed to
measure. The development of this questionnaire was based on a wide range of principles; hence the belief
that it is a valid instrument. There are several examples that can illustrate this fact. For instance, one of
the key objectives of the study was to measure client’s opinions towards the services and packages
offered by the company. In order to achieve this, this question was asked, “How can you rate our
BUSINESS RESEARCH 7
packages?” The responses that are provided as based in principles of ordinal measurement. According to
Eisner (1981), ordinal measures have direction. This means that they can be ranked. However, they
cannot be quantified. For instance, very bad, bad, moderate, goo and very good follow each other in terms
of directionality. If a client, for example, say that the packages are very good; it implies that the company
did well in serving him or her.
The questionnaire used in this study has three sections. These include demographic information,
travel information and information regarding the services and packages of the company. Demographic
information is very essential because it offers an opportunity for the company to explore and profile the
characteristics of its customers. This is important for several reasons. The first one is that a company is
able to define its target market. For instance, if more young people are traveling with the company, then
the implication for management is to diversify products and services in that regard. In addition, studies
could be carried out to establish why other age groups are not as interested in the services of the company
as others. The question on nationality can be used to measure the representativeness of the sample.
According to Lesage (2009), samples that do not cover wide geographical areas are likely to be biased.
In the words of Herrman (2009), results obtained from such a sample cannot be generalized for the entire
population. Hence some test statistics such as Chi Square are used. Therefore, the first part is very
essential in capturing the characteristics of the participants as well as the sample.
Travel information helps a company to analyze the behavior of consumers in a market
(Armstrong & Fildes, 2006; Joubish, 2009). This is done by exploring the trends in purchase patterns
and decision making. For instance, question six that seeks to ask whether one travelled alone or in a group
is useful in measuring consumer behavior. For instance, if data is collected for a long time, it is possible
to realize patterns such as shift from individual to group tours. This kind of knowledge is importance in
the development of other aspects of a package. Another indicator of the need to develop other products is
the increase of, for instance, corporate travels as opposed to personal tours. This questionnaire appears to
BUSINESS RESEARCH 8
have covered very thematic areas in market research; yet in a simple outline and content. Furthermore, the
questionnaire is very easy to understand. It is not complicated nor is it long. In about 10 minutes, any
person would have completed it. Moreover, the researcher indicated that it could be filled in 15 minutes
as a way of taking into consideration those that a slow.
The questionnaire has several strengths. First, the questions in section B are able to give a rough
idea on return customers. The question seeks to enquire how many times the client ever traveled with the
company. The smaller the number, the more customers do not return. Thus the questionnaire has
succeeded in helping the analyst formulate a hypothesis about the services of the company. If most clients
report that they have travelled with the company for more than five times, it is expected that their
response to the question on how to rate the company would be “very good.” By asking questions about
children, spouses, the number of days spent of travel and the like, the questionnaire is able to assess
changes in preferences of consumers over time and across space (Alana, Slater & Bucknam, 2011).
However, the questionnaire may not fully get the differential in destination areas. The category “outside
Europe” is too general to cover all the areas that people from North East England visit. For instance, it is
expected that British visits to the East such as China and Japan are fewer than those to America and those
to Africa (Creswell, 2008). The questionnaire could have included these other categories as independent
categories without mixing them under a broad category.
Part II
2.1.Data Analysis, Findings and Managerial Implications
(i) Holidays
Number of holidays taken in the last year:
BUSINESS RESEARCH 9
Tests are carried out to test hypotheses for holidays taken in the last year. The research hypothesis
is that most people went for 2 holidays. The table below shows results for one sample t-test. From the
table, the mean number of holidays taken last year is 2.07. The second table shows that this difference is
not statistically significant (sig 0.359). The significance level is 0.05. The null hypothesis is that most
people did not take 2 holidays in the last year. Since 0.359>0.05, reject the null hypothesis.
One-Sample Statistics
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
Holidays last year 155 2.07 .961 .077
One-Sample Test
Test Value = 2 Decision
t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of
the Difference
Reject the null
hypothesis
Lower Upper
Holidays last year .919 154 .359 .071 -.08 .22
The number of holidays taken last year ranged from 1 to 5. Most respondents had traveled only
once; that is 53 out of 155. This represented a 34.2% of all respondents. There were also considerable
numbers of those respondents who traveled twice and thrice. The percentages were 31.0% and 30.3%
respectively. Hardly had any respondents travelled 5 times. As far as management is concerned, it implies
that more efforts should be directed towards marketing. Moreover, there are other reasons as to why
people do not travel a lot. These may include the cost of travel and busy schedules. If this is the case, the
management could carry out campaigns on the need to holiday. For instance, health benefits could be
used as a reason for travel. These results are also shown in the graph.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 10
Table 1: Holidays taken last year
Holidays last yearFrequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
1 53 34.2 34.2 34.22 48 31.0 31.0 65.23 47 30.3 30.3 95.54 4 2.6 2.6 98.15 3 1.9 1.9 100.0Total 155 100.0 100.0
Figure 1: Number of holidays taken last year
Holiday destination:
The summary statistics for holiday destination are presented below.
Table 2: Destination of holiday
Holiday destinationFrequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
UK 62 40.0 40.0 40.0Within Europe 30 19.4 19.4 59.4Outside Europe 63 40.6 40.6 100.0Total 155 100.0 100.0
BUSINESS RESEARCH 11
From the above frequency distribution table, it is clear that fewer respondents traveled
within Europe. Most of them, 63% traveled outside Europe. Contrastingly, while few people
travel within Europe, a huge percentage of 62% travel within UK. This implies that the UK is a
preferred destination as opposed to other European countries. For management purposes, there is
a need to increase marketing efforts in other European countries; this includes strengthening the
existing strategies for the UK. Notably, there is no significant difference between respondents
who traveled outside Europe and those who traveled within UK. This could pose an issue of
consumer behavior to the management. The underlying question is “why should British from
North Eastern prefer to go to other countries and the UK but not other European countries?” That
area requires additional research. This is also represented in the graph below.
Figure 2: Destination for the holiday
Number of previous holidays taken with the company:
The results show that most respondents have taken 4 to 6 previous trips with the
company. Since the first set of analysis on the number of holidays in the last year showed that
most respondents had had one visit, it implies that the 4 to 6 holidays may be spread in the past 4
BUSINESS RESEARCH 12
to 6 years. This is unhealthy trend as far as business is concerned. There is a need for marketing
managers to make clients travel more with the company. It is also important to point out that the
distribution of the number of previous did not form a perfect normal curve. As shown in the
corresponding graph below the table, those who previously travelled with the company 5 times
were unexpectedly low. In order to deal with these fluctuations it the number of return
customers, the company should reconsider its incentives.
Table 3: No. of previous holidays taken with the company
Previous holidays with companyFrequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid
1 19 12.3 12.3 12.32 17 11.0 11.0 23.23 24 15.5 15.5 38.74 32 20.6 20.6 59.45 17 11.0 11.0 70.36 32 20.6 20.6 91.07 14 9.0 9.0 100.0Total 155 100.0 100.0
Figure 3: No. of previous holidays with the company
BUSINESS RESEARCH 13
There is also a need to test whether the number of previous holidays taken with the company
differs significantly across gender divide. An independent t-test is carried out and the results
presented thus:
Group Statistics
Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Decision:
Reject null
hypothesisPrevious holidays with companyFemale 79 4.11 1.941 .218
Male 76 3.99 1.785 .205
Independent Samples Test
Levene's Test for
Equality of Variances
t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df Sig.
(2-
tailed)
Mean
Difference
Std. Error
Difference
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Previous
holidays
with
company
Equal
variances
assumed
1.592 .209 .424 153 .672 .127 .300 -.465 .720
Equal
variances
not
assumed
.424 152.692 .672 .127 .299 -.464 .719
The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between group means. The test shown in
the first table (sig 0,05) shows that there is a difference. Mean for males is 3.99 while for females
is 4.11. It means that more females than males have travelled with the company. For
management, it implies that more products are developed for women.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 14
(ii) ChildrenRecoding into different variable, those who traveled without children are assigned “0” and those
who had children are assigned “1”. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between those who
travelled with children and those who did. The Chi square value is 0.166 with 2 degrees of freedom
(p=0.921). Significance level used was 0.05. Since p>0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected.
Table 4: Measures of association between destination and whether or not respondents travelled with children
Chi-Square TestsValue df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .166a 2 .920Likelihood Ratio .166 2 .921Linear-by-Linear Association .156 1 .693N of Valid Cases 155a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 6.19.
The measures show that the null hypothesis is rejected. As can be seen in the table in
Appendix 6, 20.6% of respondents travelled without children while 79.4% traveled with
children. In other words, more travelers travel with children. This has some managerial
implications. It implies that among other things, the company should avail services that are in
tandem with children. This would greatly attract parents to travel with the company as opposed
to those companies that do not provide complimentary services. This is also shown in the graph
below.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 15
Among those who traveled with children, 40.7% went traveled within UK, 19.5% within Europe
and 39.8% outside Europe. As can be seen, there is not much difference between “within UK” and
“outside Europe.” This has far reaching implications for management. It implies that travel to other
European countries should not be promoted as much because it does not make much business sense. It
appears that there is some consumer behavior that is not needs to be addressed before investing more in
non-UK European market. Among those who traveled with children, 37.5% went to UK, 18.8% within
Europe and 43.8% traveled outside Europe. The latter could imply that the cost involved in traveling with
children may have deterred those who did not travel with them outside Europe to not to travel with them.
The company could consider giving more incentives in line with complementary services for family
travel.
(iii) RatingsThe null hypothesis is that accommodation rating is not below 50% which means more than 5.
From the second table, the results are significant (sig level at 0.05). A t-test is carried out and results presented below. Since all means are >5, accept null hypothesis.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 16
Table 5: T-tests for equality of means
One-Sample Statistics
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Decision
Accomm rating 155 6.03 2.118 .170 Accept null hypothesis
Resortrating 155 6.10 2.061 .166 Accept null hypothesis
Travel rating 155 5.79 2.488 .200 Accept null hypothesis
ANOVASum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Resortrating
Between Groups 8.415 2 4.208 .990 .374Within Groups 645.933 152 4.250
Total 654.348 154
Accomm ratingBetween Groups 18.542 2 9.271 2.096 .126Within Groups 672.297 152 4.423Total 690.839 154
Travel rating
Between Groups 172.382 2 86.191 16.774 .000Within Groups 781.011 152 5.138
Total 953.394 154
The above table shows that it is only travel rating mean which differs significantly from
destination. F value is 16.774 and p=0.000 (significance level is 0.05). The results show that the
means for destination and the other variables (accommodation rating and resort rating) do not
differ significant because p>0.05. The posthoc tests are shown in the appendix.
Null Hypothesis Test Significance DecisionDestination mean=Resort rating mean F-Test .374 Reject null hypothesisDestination mean=Accommodation rating mean F-Test .126 Reject null hypothesisDestination mean=Travel rating mean F-Test .000 Accept null hypothesis
BUSINESS RESEARCH 17
Table 6: Association between destination and accommodation rating
Directional Measures
Value
Nominal by Interval EtaHoliday destination Dependent .181
Accomm rating Dependent .164
There is a weak positive association between the accommodation rating and destination.
This is because Eta was 0.181 for destination and 0.164 for accommodation rating. Although the
relationship is weak, it is significant. It was established that Spearman’s correlation significance
was at 0.758 based on normal approximation. Generally, accommodation ratings in Europe are
less that in the other two destinations. The ratings for UK appear to be the best followed by
“outside Europe.” On a general sense, accommodation rating could be averaged at 5 and 6. These
results are shown in appendix 6.
The relationship between travel rating and destination is also weak. Moreover, it is in a
positive direction; and stronger than that of accommodation. This is because the value of Eta is
0.459 for destination and 0.425 for travel rating. It is also significant because Spearman
correlation is at 0.0000. Most ratings are between 4 and 6. In UK, travel did not receive any
“negative” rating until at option or level 4 of answers. Rating within Europe begins at score 3
and peaks at 5 while the respective scores for “outside Europe” were 0 and 5 respectively.
Appendix 6 and the table below show this fact.
Table 7: Association between destination and travel rating
Directional Measures
Value
Nominal by Interval EtaHoliday destination Dependent .459
Travel rating Dependent .425
BUSINESS RESEARCH 18
The table below shows summary statistics for the association between destination and
resort rating. The association is weaker than that of travel but stronger than that of
accommodation. Eta is 0.263 for destination and 0.113 for resort rating. Resort rating in the UK
is the highest followed by outside Europe than within Europe. Overall, compared to
accommodation and travel, resorts were higher rated. For management, this has an implication;
that travelers mind a lot about where they will spend their nights.
Directional Measures
Value
Nominal by Interval EtaHoliday destination Dependent .263
Resortrating Dependent .113
(iv) SatisfactionSatisfaction levels were out of 100. In this case, they were grouped into 6 classes whose interval
was 10. If least satisfaction is considered to be below 50%, then 25.2% of respondents were least
satisfied. Moderate satisfaction is considered between 50% and 70%. This implies that 45.8% of
respondents were moderately satisfied. If excellent satisfaction is that which is above 80%, the 21% of the
participants were excellently satisfied. This means that the satisfaction distribution is normal. In terms of
assigned 10-interval groups, it implies that most people reported satisfaction levels of between 50% and
59%: they formed the leading percentage of 25.8%. Further information is illustrated in the corresponding
graph below.
Table 8: Overall satisfaction
Grouped SatisfactionFrequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent
Valid 30-39 10 6.5 6.5 6.540-49 29 18.7 18.7 25.250-59 40 25.8 25.8 51.060-69 31 20.0 20.0 71.070-79 34 21.9 21.9 92.9
BUSINESS RESEARCH 19
80-89 11 7.1 7.1 100.0Total 155 100.0 100.0
Figure 4: Satisfaction levels
The table below summarizes the association between overall satisfaction and whether or not
travelers were with children:
Symmetric MeasuresValue Approx. Sig.
Nominal by NominalPhi .151 .617Cramer's V .151 .617
N of Valid Cases 155a. Not assuming the null hypothesis.b. Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.
From the table, it can clearly be seen that there is a strong positive relationship between
the two variables. The significance level is set at 0.05. This means that although the results
obtained showed strong association, they were not significant. This is because the value of Phi is
BUSINESS RESEARCH 20
0.151. Details of the variation of satisfaction with children are illustrated in the table (appendix
6).As the table shows, the level of satisfaction when the respondents had children was higher
than those who did not have children. For instance, for category 30-39, those who were satisfied
without children and with children were 3.1% and 7.3%. For 50-59, the percentages of
respondents were 28.1% and 25.2%; while for 80-89, the percentages of respondents were 6.2%
and 7.3%. In other words, children add satisfaction to the trip. For management, this implies that
complementary services must be increased. There should also be deliberate campaigns to
encourage clients to travel with children as they would be more satisfied. However, as shown in
the table below, correlations reveal negative relationship between satisfaction and “number” (not
whether or not) of children. This is because Pearson’s correlation co-efficient is -0.052.
Table 9: Satisfaction-number of children correlation
CorrelationsChildren number Satisfaction
Children numberPearson Correlation 1 -.052Sig. (2-tailed) .519N 155 155
SatisfactionPearson Correlation -.052 1Sig. (2-tailed) .519N 155 155
The relationship between satisfaction and whether or not the group had children can also
be tested by independent sample t-test. The table below shows results of the independent t-test.
Since standard deviations for the two groups are the same, 13.1 and 13.2, equal variances are
assumed and corresponding test used.
Group Statistics
With or without children N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean
SatisfactionWithout children 32 60.91 13.175 2.329
With children 123 59.43 13.323 1.201
BUSINESS RESEARCH 21
The results below show that there was no statistically significantly different means for those who
had and had no children (60.91 and 59.43; without children and with children respectively). This
is because t=0.781 with 153 degrees of freedom and p=.577.
Independent Samples TestLevene's Test for Equality of
Variances
t-test for Equality of Means
F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed)
Mean Difference
Std. Error Difference
95% Confidence Interval of the
DifferenceLower Upper
Satisfaction
Equal variances assumed
.078 .781 .559 153 .577 1.475 2.638 -3.736 6.687
Equal variances not assumed
.563 48.813 .576 1.475 2.621 -3.791 6.742
The table below shows analysis of variance between overall satisfactions rating and
destination chosen. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference between the two means.
However, according to the table, there was a statistically significant difference between the
means (F=7.832 and p=0.001).
ANOVA
Satisfaction
Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Between Groups 2531.134 2 1265.567 7.832 .001
Within Groups 24561.021 152 161.586
Total 27092.155 154
(v) Regression ModelThere are associations between overall satisfaction and each as well as all ratings: resort,
accommodation and travel. This is illustrated in the tables below:
BUSINESS RESEARCH 22
CorrelationsSatisfaction Travel rating
SatisfactionPearson Correlation 1 .427**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000N 155 155
Travel ratingPearson Correlation .427** 1Sig. (2-tailed) .000N 155 155
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Weak positive association at 0.01 significance level.
CorrelationsSatisfaction Accomm rating
SatisfactionPearson Correlation 1 .334**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000N 155 155
Accomm ratingPearson Correlation .334** 1Sig. (2-tailed) .000N 155 155
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The above table also shows weak positive association between satisfaction and accommodation
rating at 0.01 significance level.
CorrelationsSatisfaction Resortrating
SatisfactionPearson Correlation 1 .835**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000N 155 155
ResortratingPearson Correlation .835** 1Sig. (2-tailed) .000N 155 155
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
This is the highest correlation at the same significance level (.835 at 0.01).
Table 10: Regression Table A
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
BUSINESS RESEARCH 23
1 .988a .976 .975 2.089
a. Predictors: (Constant), Travel rating, Resortrating, Accomm ratingAs per the model summary table, the three variables can explain up to 97.5% of the
overall satisfaction (Adjusted R square). The co-efficients are as shown below:
Table 11: Regression Table B
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig.B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) 2.436 .809 3.010 .003Resortrating 5.226 .082 .812 63.569 .000Accomm rating 1.795 .080 .287 22.339 .000Travel rating 2.515 .068 .472 37.000 .000
a. Dependent Variable: Satisfaction
Based on the coefficients, the regression model is:
Satisfaction=2.436+5.226(Resort) +1.795(Accommodation) +2.515(Travel)
Thus:
For one who gives scores of 4, 5 and 10 for travel, accommodation and resort respectively,
satisfaction is given thus;
Satisfaction=2.436+5.226(10) +1.795(5) +2.515(4)
=73.841%
For one who gives scores of 1, 3 and 5 for travel, accommodation and resort respectively; satisfaction is given thus;
Satisfaction=2.436+5.226(1) +1.795(3) +2.515(5)
=25.732%From the above table of co-efficients, resort rating contributes most to satisfaction. A
high score such as 10 translates into greater satisfaction (first model). The management should
ensure that they take their clients to better hotels and restaurants. On the contrary, if resorts are
given low scores such as 1 in the second model, there is expected to be low satisfaction.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 24
ConclusionAs a matter of conclusion, this study aimed at establishing the opinions of clients towards
the services, packages and related aspects of the company. This was done through designing a
questionnaire that captured all the objectives. After carefully evaluating the questionnaire, it was
apparent that it had more strengths than weaknesses. In the first part of the report, it was evident
that development and critical analyses of the questionnaire were handled. In the second part of
the paper, data analysis and findings were presented. It was found out that type of resorts were
the greatest predictor of satisfaction among clients in North East England.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 25
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Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc.
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Franklin, M.I. (2012). Understanding Research: Coping with the Quantitative-Qualitative Divide. London and New York: Routledge.
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BUSINESS RESEARCH 26
Silverman, D. (Ed). (2011). Qualitative Research: Issues of Theory, Method and Practice, 3rd ed. London, Sage Publications.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 27
Appendices
Appendix 1: Questionnaire Introduction
Dear Customers,
We are carrying out an evaluation of our services and products. We wish to ask your opinion so that we can improve where necessary and make them more relevant for you. We assure you that this information will only be used for research purposes (Do not write your name anywhere in this questionnaire).
Filing the questionnaire will take about 15 minutes. Kindly tick or fill as is appropriate.
Thanking you in advance.
BUSINESS RESEARCH 28
Appendix 2: Questions for the questionnaire
Customers Satisfaction Survey2013
-Questionnaire-
Section A: Demographic Information
1. Gender
Male Female
2. Age
3. NationalityBritish French German
Spaniard Dutch Other (Specify)
Section B: Travel Information
4. How many times have you ever travelled with us?1 2 3 4 5 6
5. Was the last travel corporate or individual?
Official use only
Question…………
1…………
2…………
3…………
4…………
5…………
6…………
7…………
8…………
9…………
10…………
11…………
12…………
13…………
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Individual Corporate
6. Did you travel alone or as a group?Alone (Skip to no. 8) Group (Proceed to no. 7)
7. How many people were in the group?1 2 3 4 5 6 Other (specify)
8. Did you travel with children?Yes (Proceed to no. 9) No (Skip to no. 10)
9. How many children did you travel with? 10. Did you travel with spouse?
Yes No
11. How many days did you stay away from your family?
12. Which country did you visit?UK Europe Outside Europe
Section D: Information Regarding our Packages and Services
13. How can you rate our packages?Very Good Good Moderate Bad Very bad
14. Do you see the need for complementary services?Yes
14…………
15…………
16…………
17…………
18…………
BUSINESS RESEARCH 30
No
15. Which of our events have you attended before?Motor race Rugby Soccer Tennis Other
16. On a scale of 4, how would you rate our staff? Very effective Effective Ineffective Very ineffective
17. What do you think we should improve on?
.......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................
18. Any other comment?
Thank you very much for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.
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Appendix 3: Coding Plan for the Questionnaire
Question Label Code/Absolutes
1. Male
Female
1
2
2. Age
3. British
French
German
Spaniard
Dutch
Other (Specify)........
1
2
3
4
5
6
4. No. of times
5. Individual
Corporate
1
2
6. Alone
Group
1
2
7. No. of people
8. Yes
No
1
0
9. Yes _
10. Yes
No
1
2
11. No. of days away
12. UK
Europe
Outside Europe
1
2
3
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13. Very Good
Good
Moderate
Bad
Very bad
1
2
3
4
5
14. Yes
No
1
2
15. Motor race
Rugby
Soccer
Tennis
Other
1
2
3
4
5
16. Very effective
Effective
Ineffective
Very ineffective
1
2
3
4
17. _ _
18. _ _
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Appendix 4: Variable List1) Gender
2) Age
3) Holidays
4) Previous
5) Adults
6) Children
7) Seniors
8) Destination
9) Resort
10) Accommodation
11) Travel
12) Satisfaction
13) Childrenornot
14) Newsatisfaction
BUSINESS RESEARCH 34
Appendix 5: Tables
Holiday destination * With or without children CrosstabulationWith or without children Total
Without children With children
Holiday destination
UKCount 12 50 62Expected Count 12.8 49.2 62.0% within With or without children 37.5% 40.7% 40.0%
Within EuropeCount 6 24 30Expected Count 6.2 23.8 30.0% within With or without children 18.8% 19.5% 19.4%
Outside Europe
Count 14 49 63Expected Count 13.0 50.0 63.0% within With or without children 43.8% 39.8% 40.6%
TotalCount 32 123 155Expected Count 32.0 123.0 155.0% within With or without children 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
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Table 12: Association between destination and accommodation rating, travel rating and resort rating.
Multiple ComparisonsDependent Variable (I) Holiday
destination(J) Holiday destination
Mean Difference (I-J)
Std. Error
Sig. 95% Confidence Interval
Lower Bound
Upper Bound
Resortrating
Tukey HSD
UKWithin Europe .639 .458 .347 -.45 1.72Outside Europe .275 .369 .736 -.60 1.15
Within EuropeUK -.639 .458 .347 -1.72 .45Outside Europe -.363 .457 .707 -1.45 .72
Outside EuropeUK -.275 .369 .736 -1.15 .60Within Europe .363 .457 .707 -.72 1.45
Games-Howell
UKWithin Europe .639 .427 .300 -.38 1.66Outside Europe .275 .380 .750 -.63 1.18
Within EuropeUK -.639 .427 .300 -1.66 .38Outside Europe -.363 .412 .653 -1.35 .62
Outside EuropeUK -.275 .380 .750 -1.18 .63Within Europe .363 .412 .653 -.62 1.35
Accomm rating
Tukey HSD
UK Within Europe .812 .468 .195 -.30 1.92Outside Europe -.109 .376 .955 -1.00 .78
Within Europe UK -.812 .468 .195 -1.92 .30Outside Europe -.921 .467 .122 -2.02 .18
Outside Europe UK .109 .376 .955 -.78 1.00Within Europe .921 .467 .122 -.18 2.02
Games-Howell
UK Within Europe .812 .472 .206 -.32 1.95Outside Europe -.109 .376 .955 -1.00 .78
Within Europe UK -.812 .472 .206 -1.95 .32Outside Europe -.921 .464 .125 -2.04 .20
Outside Europe UK .109 .376 .955 -.78 1.00Within Europe .921 .464 .125 -.20 2.04
Travel rating
Tukey HSD
UKWithin Europe 1.981* .504 .000 .79 3.17Outside Europe 2.224* .406 .000 1.26 3.18
Within EuropeUK -1.981* .504 .000 -3.17 -.79Outside Europe .243 .503 .879 -.95 1.43
Outside EuropeUK -2.224* .406 .000 -3.18 -1.26Within Europe -.243 .503 .879 -1.43 .95
Games-Howell
UKWithin Europe 1.981* .354 .000 1.14 2.83Outside Europe 2.224* .434 .000 1.19 3.25
Within EuropeUK -1.981* .354 .000 -2.83 -1.14Outside Europe .243 .429 .839 -.78 1.27
Outside EuropeUK -2.224* .434 .000 -3.25 -1.19Within Europe -.243 .429 .839 -1.27 .78
*. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.
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Table 13: Cross tabs for grouped satisfaction and whether one had children or not
Grouped Satisfaction * With or without children Cross tabulationWith or without children Total
Without children With children
Grouped Satisfaction
30-39Count 1 9 10% within With or without children 3.1% 7.3% 6.5%
40-49Count 6 23 29% within With or without children 18.8% 18.7% 18.7%
50-59Count 9 31 40% within With or without children 28.1% 25.2% 25.8%
60-69Count 4 27 31% within With or without children 12.5% 22.0% 20.0%
70-79Count 10 24 34% within With or without children 31.2% 19.5% 21.9%
80-89Count 2 9 11% within With or without children 6.2% 7.3% 7.1%
TotalCount 32 123 155% within With or without children 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%