How do international tourists perceive hotel quality? An exploratory study of service quality in Antalya tourism region

The aim of this paper is to identify tourists' perceptions of services provided by hotels in Antalya/Turkey and to explore hotel service quality dimensions. Specifically, the objectives are as follows: to identify the dimensions of hotel service quality, and to determine the relative impact of those dimensions on customer satisfaction levels, on customer value and on customers' intentions to recommend or revisit a hotel.

The present study uses the framework which originally appeared in Juwaheer's study investigating international tourists' perceptions of hotels in Mauritius. In this framework ten hotel service quality dimensions were defined by factor analysis and then the most important dimensions for each component were determined using stepwise regression analysis.

Of the ten hotel service quality dimensions, “tangibles” and “food quality and reliability” influence the customer satisfaction level the most. Customer value is explained by five dimensions which generate 37.8 percent of the variance. “Hotel employees and problem solving”, “transportation”, “food quality and reliability”, “climate and hygiene”, “level of price”, “tangibles”, “interaction with Turkish culture” and “friendly, courteous and helpful employees” are the main dimensions which affect whether a guest will recommend a hotel. “Tangibles”, “interaction with Turkish culture”, and “level of price” are seen as the most influential dimensions in terms of customers' intentions to revisit a hotel.

The basic limitation of the study is the unexplained variance, which is the result of the regression analysis. Therefore, future research should aim to determine the factors explaining that variance.

In light of these findings, hotel managers in Antalya can better understand their guests' priorities and consequently, they can arrange their service encounter process accordingly to fulfill these priorities.

This study presents potentially valuable information for hotel managers in Antalya with regards to understanding customer value and satisfaction, which are the key elements in terms of guests revisiting a hotel and recommending it to others. As providing an opportunity for a comparative study of service quality searches, this study contributes to the field.