Measuring the service quality of holiday accommodation in the Limpopo province

Abstract

Service quality is, and has always been the backbone of the leisure and accomodation industry. Accommodation requires high standards of excellence.This study investigates the service quality of holiday accommodation at Mabalingwe Nature Reserve in the Limpopo province. Accordingly, it is essential that service providers recognise customer perceptions and expectations in addition to the factors that influence their satisfaction with the service provided. Over a five-week period a total of 265 questionnaires were distributed via the reception and check-out point. This resulted in a total of 123 usable questionnaires signifying a response rate of 46.4%. The SERVQUAL model was used as the theoretical framework to measure the service quality at Mabalingwe Nature Reserve. The five service quality antecedents tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance were used. The data was also subjected to exploratory factor analysis and five factors were identified which explained 62.5% of the variance. All the factors and antecedents showed satisfactory reliability as measured by Cronbach alpha. These factors are Ease of business, Quality of services, Staff performance, Entertainment areas for both children and family and the Key establishment features to improve customer satisfaction. The results of the study also revealed that the visitors are satisfied with the service quality they have received at Mabalingwe Nature Reserve. Although all the antecedents were regarded to be very important (exceeding 75%) the antecedents Assurance and Tangibles were ranked as the most important antecedents (exceeding 80%). The study finally constructed a two-level model that can be applied as a practical tool for managers of holiday accommodation venues (specifically at nature reserves) to measures their service quality and to adjust and improve the competitive customer service strategies accordingly. Conclusions and recommendations conclude the study. Managerial interventions are suggested to stay competitive in the holiday accommodation market.