Ayesha

World Journal of Social Sciences
Vol. 2. No. 4. July 2012. Pp. 44 64

Assessment of Service Quality in Tourist Hotels of Coxs
Bazaar in Terms of Demographic Characteristics of
Tourists

Ayesha Tabassum*, Tasnuva Rahman** and Kursia Jahan***

Tourism is adopted in many developing countries to ensure economic growth. It can
reduce the gap between rich and poor nations by promoting the development of the
country by using natural and cultural attractions. Service quality of tourist hotel is an
important concern for such nations, i.e. Bangladesh, as the inflow of the tourists
depends on the hospitality they get from a nation. Thus the study purports to assess
the service quality in tourist hotels of Coxs Bazaar, the worlds longest sea beach. A
sample of 50 local tourists is surveyed through structured questionnaire and the
evaluation is made in terms of the differences in tourists demographic
characteristics. Everyday tourists from diversified background visit the hotels in Coxs
Bazaar. The preferences for service may vary among the tourists based on the
differences in gender, age, education, occupation, etc. The study employs the
SERVQUAL model for identifying both the expected and actual service quality in the
tourist hotels of Coxs Bazaar. A series of hypotheses tests are conducted to explore
service gap and to know whether the perception of service quality varies among
different groups of tourists. The result reveals a significant service gap in terms of all
the components of service quality including Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance,
Empathy, and Tangibility according to the SERVQUAL model. It is also prevalent that
perception about service quality varies significantly among the tourists visited in the
hotels of Coxs Bazaar based on the differences in their gender and education. The
service quality of tourist hotels varies among tourists from different occupation in
terms of Reliability, Responsiveness, and Empathy. The service quality also varies
among tourists from different age group in terms of Reliability.

Field of Research: Marketing.

Keywords: Service quality, tourist hotels, SERVQUAL model, demographic
characteristics of tourists.

1. Introduction

Tourism has become one of the major international trade categories as it is the
worlds largest, rapid growing and profitable industry (Tuhin & Majumder 2011).
Travel & tourism continues to be a leading employer as it employs around 235
million people that accounts for more than 8% of global employment. Besides, travel
& tourism contributes over 9% of global GDP (WTTC 2010). Thus tourism has
become an important sector for economic growth in Bangladesh like other
developing countries in the world (Islam 2009). Bangladesh, a South Asian country,
has become the attraction of the tourists as the country is filled with natural wonders
and variety of unique and magnificent creatures (Tuhin & Majumder 2011).
___________________________
* Ayesha Tabassum, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University,
House No. 15/2, Road No. 3, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1215. E-mail: [email protected]
**Tasnuva Rahman, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University,
House No. 15/2, Road No. 3, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1215. E-mail: [email protected]
***Kursia Jahan, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, Eastern University, House
No. 15/2, Road No. 3, Dhanmondi, Dhaka 1215. E-mail: [email protected]
Tabassum, Rahman & Jahan
45

Moreover, Bangladesh has archaeological, ecological, cultural and other tourism
products to attract tourists (Tuhin & Majumder 2011). Apart from a countrys beautiful
natural environment, the warmth welcome of local population and tourists
memorable souvenirs are deeply influenced by the type of service they receive from
the hotel where they lodge (Fowdar 2007). Therefore tourist hotels should strive for
delivering quality services to ensure customer satisfaction, which by turn ensures
survival and profitability of these hotels (Fowdar 2007). In recent years, customers
have become increasingly more sensitive to service quality (Lee & Hing 1995). Thus
satisfying these quality conscious customers can be possible by providing quality
services. There has been evidence that when customers perceptions of service
quality are positive, the behavioral intentions are favorable; this strengthens their
relationship with the organization (Zeithaml & Bitner 2003). On the other hand, when
service quality assessments are negative, the customers behavioral intentions are
unfavorable (Kouthouris & Alexandris 2005). Thus quality is becoming critical in the
service organizations as services are becoming more commodity-like (Chowdhury,
Iqbal & Miah 2010). Through quality services, the organizations can differentiate in
the market and satisfy the customer needs (Ozment & Morash 1994). Moreover,
research has demonstrated the strategic benefits of quality in contributing to market
share and ROI, as well as lowering manufacturing costs and improving productivity
(Anderson & Zeithaml 1984; Garvin 1982). Thats why delivering superior service
quality is a prerequisite for success and survival in todays competitive business
environment (Gilbert & Wong 2006).

The service managers and academic researchers are trying to understand how
customers perceive the quality of service, as the service industry has become
competitive. The tourist hotel is a typical service industry, offering individual services
for tourists (Tsaur, Chang & Wu 2004). Like any other service industry, customer
satisfaction and loyalty are secured through high quality services in this industry.
Tourists usually judge their accommodation based on the evaluation of interactions,
hotel environment and the value associated with staying at the place of
accommodation (Haghkhah, Nosratpour, Ebrahimpour & Hamid 2011). This paper
takes a first step towards exploring the service quality of tourist hotels in Coxs
Bazaar. Even, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, the official authority of tourism
industry did not take any interest in measuring the service quality. The reason behind
such scenario may be the fact that Bangladesh has recently realized the contribution
of service sector in economic development. Thus like other service industries, no
research initiative is taken so far to explore the service quality of these tourist hotels
in terms of customer expectation and actual service quality in Bangladesh. Besides
lack of research interests, as the necessary supportive requirements for researches
are not adequate in the country, very few service industries are explored in terms of
service quality.

This research paper focuses on the link between tourist expectations and service
quality, and demonstrates the measure of different tourists expectations as a
diagnostic tool in managing its service quality. It is found in previous researches that
the customer expectations construct has been viewed as playing a key role in the
evaluation of service quality (Gronroos 1994; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry 1985,
1988). Such approaches have been previously researched in different fields of
business (Gilbert & Wong 2006; Gustafsson & Johnson 2004; Bebko 2000). Besides
demographic characteristics is one of the major determinants of consumer buying
behavior and it plays a noteworthy role in shaping customer needs (Aksoy, Atilgan &
46

Akinci 2003). In fact differences in the demographic profile of the customers can lead
to variances in the expectations regarding service quality (Bebko 2000). Thats why
in this study the attempt was made to extract the root causes affecting the service
quality of the tourist hotels of Bangladesh and the expectations of different types of
tourists based on their demographic differences towards the improvement of quality
of hotel services that will offer them a competitive edge.

2. Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to assess the service quality of the tourist hotels in
Coxs Bazaar of Bangladesh based on the differences in demographic
characteristics of the tourists. More specifically the objectives of the study are:

To find out the expectations of tourists regarding service quality and
perceptions about the actual service quality in the tourist hotels of
Bangladesh.
To identify the gap between the expected and actual service quality in the
tourist hotels of Bangladesh.
To find out whether the tourists perceptions vary across gender or not.
To find out whether the tourists perceptions vary across their different levels
of age or not.
To find out whether the tourists perceptions vary across the different types of
occupations or not.
To find out whether the tourists perceptions vary across their different levels
of education or not.

3. Literature Review

3.1 Tourism Industry and Tourist Hotels in Bangladesh

Now-a-days tourism is considered as the largest and rapid growing industry of
modern business world. Today tourism is the most advantageous and up-to-date
business all over the world (Tuhin & Majumder 2011). For many developing
countries it is one of the main income sources. According to Bangladesh Bank
(2011), the foreign exchange earnings from tourism and other travels is 5562.70
million Tk. in 2010. Tourism, mostly a service industry, is more labor oriented than
other sectors of production. Thus, in view of the fact that Bangladesh has a labor-
intensive economy the creation of more employment opportunities for the growing
population is crucial. Therefore, tourism industry can create employment
opportunities and a productive labor force to a greater degree than other sectors
(Tuhin & Majumder 2011). For this purpose, Bangladesh tourism industry should
arrange its marketing mix elements in a way that attain positive attitudes of the
foreign tourists and ensure growth of the country (Hossain, Khan & Hasan 2005).
Tourism industry in Bangladesh still has not got a solid footing to taken off despite
all the efforts and measures from government and other private agencies (Ahmed
1986). This is because people have country specific attracting and repelling factors
which affect tourists choice and decision regarding their travel to a country (Tuhin &
Majumder 2011). So, promotion of tourism of a country is greatly dependent on the
magnitude of publicity. Therefore, it became imperative for the government to come
forward by promote tourism in Bangladesh (Talukder 1984).
47

Soon after the independence of Bangladesh, the government of the newborn state
realized the importance of tourism in its economic and social life. Therefore, the
government decided to reorganize the tourism sector by combining both the tourism
department and the private corporation into one organization, bringing it under
government responsibility for better coordination, promotion, development and
marketing (Hossain & Nazmin 2006). Consequently, the government established the
National Tourism Organization (NTO) in the name of Bangladesh Parjatan
Corporation under Presidential Order No. 143, declared in November 27, 1972. BPC
began in January 1973 with limited assets of the former Pakistan Tourism
Corporation and TK.10 million ($US147,059) sanctioned by the government. The
Corporation was entrusted with the dual responsibility of developing tourism
infrastructure and promoting Bangladesh as a tourist destination. Other
responsibilities of the Corporation included regulation and operation of tourism
activities in the country. Thus, Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation came into being as
the NTO in Bangladesh (MoCAT 2011). The major problems of tourism industry in
Bangladesh are over population, natural disasters, unemployment, and economic
underdevelopment (Hall & Page 2000). At present, there are a number of tourist
facilities and tourist hotels in Bangladesh. But in some cases information of these
facilities and hotels are not available to the tourists (Hasan 1992).

3.2 Service Quality and SERVQUAL Model

Quality refers to the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed
customer expectations (Stevenson 2002). Schoenberger (1990) found twelve
dimensions that customers associate with quality products and services, although all
the dimensions of quality are not relevant to all products and services. These
dimensions are: conformance to specification, performance, quick response, quick-
change expertise, features, reliability, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, perceived
quality, humanity, and value. Quality is considered as the cornerstone of success for
any business, as it is the key factor for the sustainable competitive advantages
(Hampton 1993). For the success of any service organization, quality is a critical and
of paramount importance to service providers (Bebko 2000), as services are the
intangible outcomes of a tangible or intangible process. Over the past several years,
there have been a variety of studies on different issues pertaining to service quality.
Traditionally service quality has been defined as the difference between the
customer expectations of the service to be received and perception of the service
actually received (Gronroos 1984; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry 1985, 1988).
These researchers posited that measuring service quality as disconfirmation that is
the difference between perceptions and expectations, is valid. Thus such a model
allows service providers to identify certain defined gaps in the service provided
(Wang, Lo & Hui 2003).

The instrument used to explore service quality in this study was adapted from
SERVQUAL model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1985, 1988). SERVQUAL
model is one of the first service quality models, measured service quality using the
expectancy disconfirmation framework on the five dimensions of tangibles,
responsiveness, reliability, assurance, and empathy (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and
Berry 1985, 1988). Parasuraman et al. (1988, 1991) found that the five-dimensional
format of SERVQUAL allows researchers to assess the level of service quality along
each dimension, as well as overall. The purpose of this model is to serve as a
48

diagnostic method for uncovering broad areas of weaknesses and strengths in the
quality of service an organization delivers.

The five dimensions of SERVQUAL model identified by Parasuraman et al. (1988)
are:

1. Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
2. Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service.
3. Assurance: Employees knowledge and courtesy and their ability to inspire trust
and confidence.
4. Empathy: Caring, individualized attention given to customer.
5. Tangibles: Appearance of physical facility, equipment, personnel and written
materials.

Parasuraman et al. (1988) define five gaps from their research data:

Gap 1. The discrepancy between customers expectations and managements
perceptions of these expectations.
Gap 2. The discrepancy between managements perceptions of customers
expectations and service quality specifications.
Gap 3. The discrepancy between service quality specifications and actual service
delivery.
Gap 4. The discrepancy between actual service delivery and what is communicated
to customers about it.
Gap 5. The discrepancy between customers expected service and perceived service
delivered.

The first four gaps contribute to Gap 5, that is, the gap between customer
expectations and customer perceptions of service received- and it is this last gap
which has been the main focus of this research. The figure of the gaps of
SERVQUAL Model is represented in Figure 1.

49

Figure 1: Model of service quality gaps (Parasuraman et al., 1985).
3.3 SERVQUAL Model in Research

Even though the SERVQUAL model was used widely in researches, the model has
come under extensive criticism by marketing researchers (see Babakus & Boller
1992; Carman 1990; Cronin & Taylor 1992; Brown et al. 1993; Cronin & Taylor 1992;
Carman 1990). According to Markovic and Raspor (2010), criticism was directed at
the conceptual and operational base of the model, mostly its validity, reliability,
operationalization of expectations, and dimensional structure. Though the
SERVQUAL model has such numerous limitations, the models framework has
guided numerous studies in the service sector that focus on banks, repair and
maintenance services, telephone companies, physicians, hospitals, hotels, academic
institutions and retail stores (Parasuraman et al. 1988; Carman 1990; Boulding et al.
1993; Kouthouris & Alexandris 2005). Several researchers have used SERVQUAL
model to measure service quality in tourism industry (Augustyn & Ho 1998; Fick &
Ritchie 1991; Avci & Nadiri 2000; Antilgan, Akinci & Aksoy 2003). In Bangladesh the
SERVQUAL model has been used to measure the service gap in different industries
such as, private universities (Chowdhury, Iqbal and Miah 2010), retail stores (Khan &
Jahan, 2011), advertisement agencies (Khan 2010), SME, retail banking (Siddiqi
2010), hospitals (Siddiqui & Khandaker 2007). No study was found on service quality
measurement of tourist hotels in Bangladesh. Khan (2008) took the attempt to
identify the service quality of the luxurious hotels of Khulna city in Bangladesh. He
found the hotel guests perceptions of service facility provided by the hotel industry
were lower that their expectations. Later on, Tabassum and Rahman (2011) tested
the service gap in the luxurious hotels of Bangladesh and explored significant
50

differences in terms of expected and actual service quality. Thus it can be said that
SERVQUAL model is still suitable as an assessment tool to measure the service
quality perceptions (Siddiqi 2010).

4. Conceptual Framework

The present research focuses on service quality provided by the tourist hotels in
terms of SERVQUAL models five dimensions of service quality measurement. So
here the variable service quality is dependent on the five dimensions of quality
measurement in service sector; reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and
tangibility. Service quality in terms of these dimensions is determined with the
measurement of service gap in each dimension. The service quality in each
dimension is again dependent on the customer demographic characteristics; i.e.
gender, age group, occupation, education, etc. These phenomenons are illustrated
through the following conceptual framework (see Figure 1).

Figure 2: Conceptual framework of the study based on SERVQUAL model

5. Hypotheses Development

Based on the above conceptual framework, the following hypotheses are developed.

H1
0
: There is no gap between expected and actual perception of tourists regarding
the service quality of the tourist hotels in Bangladesh.
51

This hypothesis can be broken further according to the SERVQUAL model.

H1a
0
the reliability of service in the tourist hotels of Bangladesh.
H1b
0
the responsiveness of service in the tourist hotels of Bangladesh.
H1c
0
the assurance of service in the tourist hotels of Bangladesh.
H1d
0
the empathy of service in the tourist hotels of Bangladesh.
H1e
0
the tangibility of service in the tourist hotels of Bangladesh.

The later hypotheses are developed based on demographic characteristics of the
tourists. The tourists perceptions regarding service quality frequently vary based on
sex, age group, occupation, etc. Thus the hypotheses are,

H2
0
: The service quality of tourist hotels in Bangladesh does not vary due to the
differences in gender of the tourists.

This hypothesis can be broken further according to the SERVQUAL model in terms
of gender differences.

H2a
0
differences in gender of the tourists in terms of reliability of service.
H2b
0
differences in gender of the tourists in terms of responsiveness of service.
H2c
0
differences in gender of the tourists in terms of assurance of service.
H2d
0
differences in gender of the tourists in terms of empathy of service.
H2e
0
differences in gender of the tourists in terms of tangibility of service.

H3
0
differences in age of the tourists.

This hypothesis also can be broken further according to the SERVQUAL model in
terms of difference age groups.

H3a
0
differences in age of the tourists in terms of reliability of service.
H3b
0
differences in age of the tourists in terms of responsiveness of service.
H3c
0
differences in age of the tourists in terms of assurance of service.
H3d
0
differences in age of the tourists in terms of empathy of service.
H3e
0
differences in age of the tourists in terms of tangibility of service.
52

H4
0
differences in occupation of the tourists.

terms of differences in occupation.

H4a
0
differences in occupation of the tourists in terms of reliability of service.
H4b
0
differences in occupation of the tourists in terms of responsiveness of service.
H4c
0
differences in occupation of the tourists in terms of assurance of service.
H4d
0
differences in occupation of the tourists in terms of empathy of service.
H4e
0
differences in occupation of the tourists in terms of tangibility of service.

H5
0
differences in education of the tourists.

terms of differences in education.

H5a
0
differences in education of the tourists in terms of reliability of service.
H5b
0
differences in education of the tourists in terms of responsiveness of service.
H5c
0
differences in education of the tourists in terms of assurance of service.
H5d
0
differences in education of the tourists in terms of empathy of service.
H5e
0
differences in education of the tourists in terms of tangibility of service.

6. Research Methodology

6.1 Sample Selection and Data Collection

According to Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC 2011), total 112,965 number of
tourists arrived in the year 2010 in Bangladesh. This study includes 50 local tourists
who visited the tourist hotels of Coxs Bazaar at the end of the year 2010. According
to Nunnally (1978), the ideal sample size for any exploratory research is within 40 to
60. Thus the current study with 50 samples meets the criteria of the sample size.
The hotels included in this study are selected based on convenience of the
researchers. According to Parjatanbd.Com (2011), there are around 29 tourist hotels
in Coxs Bazaar. Among these 5 hotels are considered and 10 tourists are included
from each hotel for questionnaire survey purpose.

The research assistants administered the survey in the hotel premises, during one
week period in December 2010. The first part of the questionnaire consists of the
53

general information of the respondent. Service quality attributes are used in the
second part, which are used to identify the service gap. Respondents were asked to
rate their level of agreement on each statement from 1 as strongly disagree to 5
as strongly agree for both the expected service quality and perceived service
quality. These statements are constructed based on the five components of
SERVQUAL model.

6.2 Operationalization of Variables

The service quality attributes consist of five components: Reliability,
Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy, and Tangibility, which are adopted based on
SERVQUAL model. This study uses multiple item scale items adapted from Markovi
and Raspor (2010), Grini (2007), and Avci and Nadiri (2000).

6.3 Validity and Reliability Issues

Validity is the degree which measures accurately represents what it is supposed to
(Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson & Tatham 2007). Validity is concerned with how well
the concept is defined by the measure(s). There are three types of validity: content
validity, predictive validity, and construct validity (Siddiqi 2010), Duggirala, Rajendran
and Anantharaman (2008) defined the content validity as the assessment of the
correspondence between the individual items and concept. Malhotra (2010) defines
the content validity as face validity. This study concentrates on content validity
through the review of literature and adapts instruments which are used in previous
research.

Reliability differs from validity in that it relates not to what should be measured, but
instead to how it is measured. Reliability is the extent to which a variable or set of
variables is consistent in what it is intended to measure (Hair et al. 2007). The
current study applies internal consistency method because multiple items in all
constructs are used here. The reliability is here measured with the help of Cronbach
Alpha value and the data is found as reliable (see Table 1).

6.4 Statistical Tools of Data Analysis

The study is based on the data collected to measure the tourist expectation and
observation of service quality to assess the service gap in tourist hotels. For this
purpose 5-point Likert scale is used that is a numerical and more specifically,
interval-scaled data. The corresponding probability distribution of this numerical data
point will be a continuous distribution but as the data is informing about the opinion
of the tourists through ranking, it is very likely that the parent distribution will not
follow a normal pattern. This pre-assumption has been further confirmed by
illustration of the Probability-Probability plot (P-P plot) of items. The central view and
the diversity among the views of the respondents have been observed in case of
each item individually. The distribution pattern of all the components as a whole
expressing all the basic features have been observed along with Box-plot diagram.

Lastly, Test of Hypothesis has been performed to draw a final conclusion about
identifying the gap between the tourists expectation and observation about the
service quality of tourist hotels. In the present study, each of the respondents has
been asked about his or her expectation and also observation. As the same person
54

has been chosen for both measurements, the samples are related or dependent.
Because of the subjective nature of the scores, it is assured that the data does not
follow the normal distribution and in consequence the non-parametric Wilcoxon
signed-rank test has been decided to use. Dissimilarity between the ratings of
expectations and also the ratings of observation pattern across different gender, age,
education and occupation of the customers has been focused through non-
parametric Mann-Whitney Test (for independent two sample) and non-parametric
Kruskal-Wallis Test ( for independent many samples).

7. Data Analysis

7.1 Respondents Profile

Among the 50 hotel customers, the percentages of male and female respondents are
80 and 20 respectively. In the whole sample, 22% of the respondents fall in the age
range of 21-30 years, 38% fall in the 31-40 range, and 40% fall in the 41-50 range. In
terms of occupation, 58% respondents are service holders, and 42% respondents
are business. In terms of education, 14% respondents are below graduate, 32% are
graduates, and 54% are post-graduates.

7.2 Inference on the Basic Features of Service Quality Components

Table 1: Inference on the basic features of all the components of service quality
Mean Median Mode Standard
Deviation
Reliability Analysis
(Alpha value)
E* O** E* O** E* O** E* O** E* O**
Reliability 4.49 4.04 4.67 4.17 5.00 4.33 0.63 0.75 0.8433 0.9033
Responsiveness 4.39 3.79 4.67 3.83 5.00 4.00 0.66 0.70 0.8908 0.9228
Assurance 4.54 4.12 4.67 4.00 5.00 4.50 0.52 0.76 0.8335 0.9079
Empathy 4.49 4.15 4.50 4.16 5.00 5.00 0.56 0.73 0.8529 0.9014
Tangibles 4.60 4.30 5.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 0.67 0.76 0.8749 0.9306

* E = Expected service
** O = Observed service

From Table 1, it is easily observable that the average level of expectation of the
tourists regarding the service provided by the tourist hotels has always been greater
than that of the actual phenomenon have been observed. Among all the component,
Responsiveness has been received the least observed score. The middle-most
ranking of expectation and observation have achieved at least 4, reflecting the
positive view about the component except the earlier stated component. The modal
response of expectation has shown its extreme feature as usual whereas those for
most realistic facts could not reach that peak. The level of observation is more
spread and diverse compare to the expectation of the tourists for all the components.

55

Figure 3: Box-plot diagram for expected and actual perception about all the
components of service quality of the tourist hotels

The Box-plot diagram (Figure 3) also suggests this contrast of the distributions of the
expectation and observation of tourists. In all cases, expected median are clearly
shown above than that of the observed one. Most interestingly, for Tangibles, almost
all expected frequency is clearly sited below the median whereas those of actual
frequency are above the median.

Table 1 also represents the reliability analysis in terms of all the components of
service quality. Reliability is measured for both the expected and observed
perception with Cronbach Alpha value. The Cronbach Alpha with acceptable cut off
56

point 0.70 demonstrates that all attributes are internally consistent (Fujun,
Hutchinson, Li & Bai 2007). As the Cronbach Alpha values for all the components
meet the criteria of this cut off point. Thus all the attributes of the study are reliable.

7.3 Hypotheses Testing

7.3.1 Test of Hypotheses regarding Service Gap
The following table (Table 2) shows that the p-values for the components of service
quality are less than the significance level of the test that 0.01 or just 1%. Thus
comparing with the level of significance, 0.01, it can be concluded that H1a
0
, H1b
0
,
H1c
0
, H1d
0
, and H1e
0
are rejected, which indicates a significant gap between the
tourists expectations and observations regarding the service quality of the tourist
hotels.

Table 2: Statistical Testing of Hypothesis regarding the Service Gap

Ranks
Wilcoxon Signed
Ranks Test Statistics

N
Mean
Rank
Sum of
Ranks
Z P-value
(2-tailed)
Reliability
Negative Ranks 33
a
23.61 779.00 -4.539
d
0.000*
Positive Ranks 8
b
10.25 82.00
Ties 9
c

Total 50
Responsiveness
Negative Ranks 33
a
18.48 610.00 -4.857
d
0.001*
Positive Ranks 2
b
10.00 20.00
Ties 15
c

Total 50
Assurance
Negative Ranks 28
a
15.96 447.00 -4.435
d
0.000*
Positive Ranks 2
b
9.00 18.00
Ties 20
c

Total 50
Empathy
Negative Ranks 28
a
16.77 469.50 -3.865
a
0.000*
Positive Ranks 4
b
14.63 58.50
Ties 18
c

Total 50
Tangibles
Negative Ranks 18
a
11.61 209.00 -3.000
d
0.003*
Positive Ranks 4
b
11.00 44.00
Ties 28
c

Total 50
a. Actual Perception < Expected perception
b. Actual Perception > Expected perception
c. Actual Perception = Expected perception
d. Based on positive ranks. * Significant at 0.01 level

7.3.2 Test of Hypotheses regarding Service Quality in terms of Gender
Differences

A Mann-Whitney U test is performed on the ratings of male tourists and female
tourists about their evaluation of actual service quality in the tourist hotels. The
results of this test are presented in Table 3. Considering the level of significance at
5%, it is clearly revealed that there is an obvious difference between the ranking
(observed) of male and female tourists as the p-value is steadily less than the
considered significance level for each and every component of service. Thus H2a
0
,
H2b
0
, H2c
0
, H2d
0
, and H2e
0
are rejected. Based on this result H2
0
is also rejected as
57

significant differences are found in terms of gender differences among the tourists
perception about provided service quality of the tourist hotels in Coxs Bazaar.

Table 3: Testing the Difference in service quality in terms of gender

Test Statistics
P-value (2-tailed) Decisions
Mann-Whitney U
Statistic*
Reliability
98.500 0.013**
H
2ao
rejected
Responsiveness 94.500 0.010**
H
2bo
rejected
Assurance 106.500 0.020**
H
2co
rejected
Empathy 77.500 0.005**
H
2do
rejected
Tangibles 107.500 0.014**
H
2eo
rejected
* Mann-Whitney U Statistic has been used for independent two samples
**Median Difference is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

7.3.3 Test of Hypotheses regarding Service Quality in terms of Age Differences

Kruskal-Wallis test is conducted to test the differences in the tourists perception
regarding the provided services by the tourist hotels. The result presented at Table 4
shows that only one hypothesis H3
ao
is rejected as the p-value is less than the
considered significance level that is 5%. Thus it indicates differences among tourists
of different age groups regarding the Reliability component of service quality.

Table 4: Testing the Difference in service quality in terms of age group

Test Statistics
P-value (2-
tailed)
Decisions
Kruskal-Wallis
Test Statistic
2
*
Reliability 6.201 0.045** H3
ao
rejected
Responsiveness
3.353 0.187 H3
bo
not rejected
Assurance
2.394 0.302 H3
co
not rejected
Empathy
0.417 0.812 H3
do
not rejected
Tangibles
0.650 0.723 H3
eo
not rejected
* Kruskal-Wallis Test has been used for independent many samples
**Median Difference is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

As no significant difference was found in terms of the rest of the components, H3
o
is
not rejected.

7.3.4 Test of Hypotheses regarding Service Quality in terms of Occupation
Differences

Again a Mann-Whitney U test is performed on the ratings of tourists from different
occupational background about their evaluation of actual service quality in the tourist
hotels. The results of this test are presented in Table 5. Considering the level of
significance at 5%, no significant differences are found between the rankings
58

(observed) of different types of tourists based on occupational differences as the p-
value is greater than the considered significance level for all the components of
service quality. Thus H4a
0
, H4b
0
, H4c
0
, H4d
0,
and H4e
0
cannot be rejected. Based
on this result H4
0
cannot be rejected as significant differences are not found for each
and every component of service quality in terms of occupation differences among the
tourists.

Table 5: Testing the Difference in service quality in terms of occupation

Test Statistics
P-value (2-tailed) Decisions
Mann-Whitney U
Statistic*
Reliability
253.000 0.305
H4
ao
not rejected
Responsiveness 259.500 0.370
H4
bo
not rejected
Assurance 273.000 0.525
H4
co
not rejected
Empathy 295.000 0.849
H4
do
not rejected
Tangibles 275.000 0.526
H4
eo
not rejected
* Mann-Whitney U Statistic has been used for independent two samples

7.3.5 Test of Hypotheses regarding Service Quality in terms of Education
Differences
Table 6: Testing the Difference in service quality in terms of education

Test Statistics
P-value (2-
tailed)
Decisions
Kruskal-Wallis
Test Statistic
2
*
Reliability
6.605 0.037**
H5
ao
rejected
Responsiveness 6.670 0.036**
H5
bo
rejected
Assurance 2.349 0.309
H5
co
not rejected
Empathy 5.577 0.062**
H5
do
rejected
Tangibles 4.184 0.123
H5
eo
not rejected
* Kruskal-Wallis Test has been used for independent many samples
**Median Difference is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Again a Kruskal-Wallis test is performed on the ratings of tourists from different
educational background about their evaluation of actual service quality in the tourist
hotels. The results of this test are presented in Table 6. Considering the level of
significance at 5%, it is found that there is a significant difference between the
rankings (observed) of different types of tourists based on education differences as
the p-value is less than the considered significance level for the Reliability,
Responsiveness, and Empathy component of service quality. Thus H5a
0
, H5b
0
, and
H5d
0
are rejected. Based on this result H5
0
is rejected as significant differences are
found for three components of service quality in terms of occupation differences
among the tourists.

59

8. Discussion

The hypotheses tests confirm that there is a significant gap between the tourists
expectation and actual perception regarding all the dimensions of service quality of
the tourist hotels according to the SERVQUAL model. According to the study, a
significant gap exists in the Reliability dimension in the tourist hotels of Coxs
Bazaar. Reliability is the extent to which the service is delivered to the standards
expected and promised. In essence, it represents the customer getting what they
feel they have paid for (Siddiqi 2010). Zaimrry, Bayyurt and Zaim (2010) pointed out
that reliability is one of the important factors to guarantee customer satisfaction.

A significant gap also exists in the Responsiveness dimension of SERVQUAL model.
Responsiveness refers to the willingness and ability of the service provider to meet
and adapt to customers needs. The study indicates that the employees of tourist
hotels do not give prompt service and willing to help the customers. Responsiveness
is similarly important as Reliability as Mengi (2009) indicated that tangibility has a
positive relation with customer satisfaction.

A significant gap exists in Assurance dimension as well. Assurance is the degree of
trust and confidence that the customer feels that the service provider is competent to
supply the service. Mostly, this stems from the degree of confidence that the
customer has in the service providers staff. The customer will not be satisfied if
he/she does not feel assured about the competence of the service provider (Siddiqi,
2010). The current study shows that the tourist hotels in Bangladesh could not instill
confidence in the customers and the employees are not enough courteous according
to their expectations. Kumar, Kee and Manshor (2009) pointed out that assurance is
one of determining factors for customer satisfaction.

Service customers often have expectations with regard to the extent to which the
service provider appears to understand and be concerned about their individual
needs and wants. The more the service provider can see things from the customers
point of view, the better (Siddiqi 2010). Thus the core concept of Empathy is to
understand the needs of customers and provide individual attention. Employee and
customer interactions are reflected through the empathy dimensions. Data shows
that the tourist hotels in Coxs Bazaar are not enough sincere to provide individual
attention and customer needs. Ladhari (2009) found that empathy is the strongest
predictor of customer satisfaction.

According to the current study, a significant gap also exists in the Tangibles
dimension of service quality. This indicates that the tourist hotels do not have
enough modern complementary equipment. Also the hotels lack in the visual
aesthetics and in terms of employee appearance. Lai (2004) and Siddiqi (2010)
found that tangibility is positively related with customer satisfaction and retention.

This current study explored that perception about service quality varies among the
tourists in terms of gender differences. This result is consistent with some previous
studies as Lacobucci and Ostrom (1993), Mattila, Grandey and Fisk (2003), and
Snipes, Thomson and Oswald (2006) argued that there can be gender differences in
customers perception about customer service and service quality. The study also
explored significant differences in perception about service quality based on the
differences in educational background of the tourists. This result is found as
60

consistent with Siu and Mou (2005), and Lee and Chen (2009)s studies. Tourists
perceptions do not vary based on the differences in age, which tally with Samezs
(2011) study and tourists perceptions also do not vary based on the differences
occupation, which is similar with the findings of Lee and Chen (2009)s study.

9. Managerial Implications

The study confirms significant gap in all the dimensions of service quality according
to the SERVQUAL model in the tourist hotels of Coxs Bazaar. The study also
suggests that SERVQUAL model is a suitable instrument for measuring the service
quality in the tourism industry of Bangladesh. Therefore, the hotel management can
use this instrument for measuring service quality in Bangladesh. Moreover, because
significant service gap exists in all the dimensions of service quality, Bangladeshi
tourist hotel managers should emphasize all the service quality dimensions including
Reliability, Responsiveness, Empathy, Assurance, and Tangibility in maintaining and
improving the service quality that they provide. Results regarding the relationship of
demographic profile of tourists and service quality also can be a valuable source of
information for generating the strategies recognizing differences in consumer groups.

10. Limitations and Future Research Directions

Although there are notable contributions from this study especially for customer
retention strategies, the results of this study need to be viewed and acknowledged in
lights of its limitations. First, the sample size was considerably low. Moreover, the
study considers only the tourist hotels of Coxs Bazaar. Therefore, future research
should be conducted on a larger scale by considering a large sample size from
allover Bangladesh to authenticate the differences between the customer
expectation and perception about tourist hotel services. In future, other variables i.e.
customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer retention should be included and
related with service quality to validate the importance of service quality in the hotel
industry of Bangladesh.

11. Conclusion

The study assessed the service quality in terms of demographic differences of the
tourists and also explored the service gap in the tourist hotels of Coxs Bazaar by
using SERVQUAL model. The study revealed considerable difference between the
service expectation and service perception of the customers in the tourist hotels in
terms of reliability, assurance, empathy, tangibility, and responsiveness dimensions
of service quality. So the hotel management should try to improve these aspects of
service quality to eliminate the gap that is evident in the tourist hotels of Coxs
Bazaar. Besides, it is also apparent that the tourists evaluation about service quality
varies based on the differences in gender and education of the tourists. So the hotels
should formulate their strategies in such a way so that each and every group of
tourists becomes satisfied about the service quality. Many organizations in the world
have focused on the differences among the customer groups and became
successful by meeting the needs and requirements of different customer groups. As
the businesses are getting more globalize, these advances are particularly significant
because a high level of service quality is associated with several key organizational
outcomes, including high market share (Buzzell & Gale 1987), improved profitability
61

relative to competitors (Kearns & David 1992), enhanced customer loyalty, the
realization of a competitive price premium, and an increased probability of purchase
(Zeithaml, Berry & Parasuraman 1996). With this the tourist hotels will be able to
attract more tourists of different demographic profiles in every season throughout the
year and the tourism sector of Bangladesh will be blessed with growth and
development.

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