Evaluation of service quality at events: the 1998 Coca‐Cola Masters Surfing event at Margaret River, Western Australia

In stressing the importance of service quality to the events industry this paper seeks to investigate the conceptualisation and measurement of service quality and the relationships between service quality, customer satisfaction and repeat visitation at events. It reports the findings from a recently conducted study into service quality at an international event in Western Australia. A visitor survey and unobtrusive observation method were both applied to a surfing event in order to ascertain visitor perceptions of service quality at the event and assist management in a more comprehensive evaluation. In so doing it highlights those features deemed essential.