COMPARISON OF SERVICE QUALITY EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF TOURISTS IN NORTH CYPRUS ACCOMMODATION ESTABLISHMENTS INTERMS OF DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS

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1 COMPARISON OF SERVICE QUALITY EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF TOURISTS IN NORTH CYPRUS ACCOMMODATION ESTABLISHMENTS INTERMS OF DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS TURGAY AVCI, Ph.D. assistant professor of management, School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Eastern Mediterranean University. P.O. Box 95 Gazi Magosa, Mersin 10 Turkey. Tel.: avci@jasmine.emu.edu.tr HALIL NADIRI, Ph.D. assistant professor of marketing Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University. P.O. Box 95 Gazi Magosa, Mersin 10 Turkey. Tel.: halil@benet.emu.edu.tr Key Words: Service, Quality, Expectations, Perceptions Abstract Service industry has grown steadily over the last several years and has been playing an extremely important role in the overall economy of the world. Number of service industries have increased, and it brought with it the concept of having better delivered services. Even the services delivered in manufacturing companies are extremely important, and it is what consumers are seeking now. Service quality is a must and crucial in improving organizations image, surviving in a competitive market at both national and global levels. Reasons for this rapid improvement are technological changes, work patterns, affluence and attitudes of people. Finding out the expectations and perceptions of tourists visiting North Cyprus with respect to their demographic factors is required to increase the service quality in the hotels. Understanding the different expectations levels of tourists will help increase the number of guests which will be substantial benefit to North Cyprus economy. Introduction There has been many changes in the way we live, as we have progressed through the 21 st century. Fundamental structures of our environment has been changing constantly and therefore the desires and needs have been changing. As years have passed the societies have become more and more service oriented. Wharton School management professor Russel 766

2 Achoff has argued, This shift toward a service-centered economy does not mean that fewer foods will be produced and consumed any more than the end of the agricultural era, what it does mean is that fewer people will be required to produce manufactured goods. To us, that implies the gold and the growth are in services. That is where the jobs are; that is where the energy is; that is where the opportunities will continue to be (Albrecht and Zembe, 1985). Since 1970, the number of employees in the service sector has increased by 60% in the USA, and by 40% in Japan. Today about 70% of the GNP is coming from the service sector in the USA and several of the EC countries (Bergman and Klefsjö, 1994). The importance of quality in a competitive world market can not be denied. Continuous quality improvement has to be applied in all organizations for their survival, and to keep and increase their market shares. Measuring the service quality and aiming at delivering higher levels of service has to be the prime concern of service providers. TRNC economy is based mainly on tourism, and therefore quality of service in hotels have to be increased for survival in such a global competitive market. Managing Service Industries The service sector is in a state of rapid change reflecting a variety of factors from regulatory changes to globalization and use of new technologies. The net effect is increased competition. A clear understating of the distinctive characteristics of service management, free of traditional misconceptions, is needed if service businesses are to succeed in the future (Lovelock, 1992). Services are ideas and concepts, products are things. One of the most important distinction from which all other differences arise is the property of intangibility. Service industries create economic value without creating a tangible product, they have no product with exact specifications. Services are performance rather, than objects. It is very difficult for the supplier, to describe, explain and specify how the consumers perceive their services, and how to evaluate service quality and even assure quality. Productivity is much more difficult to measure in service operations, because of its intangibility and difficulty in output measurements. One other thing of intangibility is that, the client does not become the owner of something when he purchases a service. Service producing firms have difficulties in protecting their ideas and concepts. Where as tangible products can be patented and licensed, the services can recently be protected through copyrights, trademarks and franchising. The customer of a service firm can only rely and depend on the reputation of the firm in purchasing service, while the product can be tested, counted, felt and seen before purchase. Therefore service firms must be very conscious and careful of keeping a good reputation. It is very difficult to standardize the intangible performance of services, and therefore evaluating service is a very subjective process. Professional services, specially those with a high labor intensity (doctors, architects, lawyers) are non homogenous. Quality standards are very difficult to establish as a result of heterogeneous characteristic of services. This is even more difficult in non profit organizations where profit measurement is not valid in measuring the output efficiency and productivity. This characteristic of services is the reason why reputation of the supplier and word-of month advertising is extremely important in marketing services. The focus of the service is on the customer because he/she often takes part directly in the service process. Service providers usually get in contact with the clients; whereas the product manufacturers seldomly see the customers. Goods are first produced, sold and then consumed any time; whereas services are first sold, then produced and consumed at the same 767

3 time. This can be expressed as the characteristic of inseparability of production and consumption of service. Production of tangible good may be at a dirty, inconvenient, and unacceptable place, but as long as the customer gets in contact with the product at another place which looks good there is no problem. The client is satisfied, because he has not seen, and even maybe, does not care how and where it was produced as long as he has a good, nice looking satisfactory product. The client is very important for service producers, and the client is the purpose of the work. On the other hand, service providers have to be prepared to deliver the service infront of the customer at the moment of consumption. The physical surrounding, the employees, the service providers, the conditions of service facilities must all be prepared to satisfy and please the customer. The moment when service supplier and clients meet face to face is the moment of truth (Norman, 1984), which the client will be satisfied or not, and interior design furnitures, color sound will all play an important role in this perception. The fourth distinguishing characteristic is that services are produced and consumed at the same time which causes elimination of inventory. This characteristic is called perishability of service. Manufacturing operations can easily increase or decrease their inventory, especially those standard products. Products can be piled up before the peak season, or sold out cheaper at the end of the season. However the service industries unfortunately can not pile services, can not have inventories to overcome the peak demand. Manufacturing firms can operate at most efficient production level where inventory is a buffer between supply and demand. Services can not be saved or inventoried which gives management a hard time in adjusting demand and supply. Services can not be transported, therefore either the client will go to the service delivery system or the system to the consumer. This is because the service customer and service supplier must physically meet. Services must be purchased when offered, otherwise it is lost forever and that is why quality service can not be mass produced. Quality control is also different and difficult in service industries, because it can not be inspected or tested before delivery. More of quality in service industries are discussed in chapter 5. Since service does not have inventory, it must have a concept and a solution to the problem of unsatisfied demand. This is where capacity in service replaces the inventory of manufacturing. Service industries have to plan very well to overcome the idle capacity in slack times, and overcapacity in peak demands. Tourism In North Cyprus Individual freedom to travel is the fundamental basis of tourism. Tourism is one of the challenging and rapidly growing sector in the world. Tourism management is very challenging because of the complex and unique characteristics. The tourism sector is a part of service sector that provides economical development. Tourism contributes to the balance of payments of a country. Tourism is considered like an export activity, because it contributes to the national product, provides resources to budget, increases employment and production ancillary sectors which support and produce for tourism organizations. People feel happy and relaxed as they satisfy their curiosity about other places, cultures, traditions and lifestyles. Tourism offers various benefits and satisfaction to people. The organizations that are involved in tourism industry are operating in a rapid and extensively changing environment. Survival and profitability in tourism business is very important, and all depend on doing the right thing and making the right response to the customer. Cyprus, which is situated at the eastern part of Mediterranean Sea, is the third biggest island after Sicily and Sardinia. The island which is 224 km long and 96 km wide, with 768 km of coastline is very rich in terms of history, landscape, and cultural heritage. Cyprus is at the crossroads of three continents - Europe, Asia, and Africa - and neighbored by countries 768

4 such as Turkey (64 km), Syria (96 km), and Egypt (400 km). Tourism sector has always been the most important and money generating activity within North Cyprus economy. The obstacles faced has not precluded the development of the sector. Although the contribution of the sector to Gross Domestic Product and employment is low (compare to other sectors in the economy) its contribution to foreign currency income is considerably high. As seen in Table 1 tourism net earnings have reached million US$ in 1998 with an increase since Tourism has the top value in balance of payments. As seen in Table 2, tourism income was twice the export income in 1988 whereas this ratio has reached more than 370% in Table 1 Net Tourism Income By Years (Million U.S. Dollar) YEARS NET TOURISM INCOME Source: North Cyprus, State Planning Organization, Economic and Social Indicators, October Table 2 Comparison Of Tourism And Export Income YEARS EXPORT INCOME (million U.S. $) NET TOURISM INCOME (million U.S. $) RATIO WITH RESPECT TO EXPORTS (%) Source: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Prime Ministry State Planning Organization. 769

5 North Cyprus is blessed with clean coastline, unpolluted air, historical heritage, and beautiful nature. If carefully planned and well marketed, North Cyprus could attract more tourist not only in summer but all year round. There are one to five star hotels in TRNC. There are bungalows, apartment-hotels that serve tourists. As seen in Table 3 an increase in international tourist took place between rising from in 1988 to in 1998 which is an increase of more than hundred percent. Table 4 shows the occupancy rate which is around 37.3% and the main reason is seasonality. Stratified sampling has been used in deciding the numbers of tourists from different nationalities. Seven main nationalities that have the highest tourist number were sampled. Table 3 Number Of Arrivals And Number Of Tourists Who Stay In Tourist Accommodation Establishments According To Years And County Total Number of Arrivals Number of Tourists Staying In Tourists Accommodation Establishments YEARS Turkey Other Countries Total Turkey Other Countries Total Source: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Tourism Planning Office. Table 4 Occupancy Rate Of Tourism Establishments According To Years 770 YEARS OCCUPANCY RATE (%) Source: Tourism Statistical Year Book, TRNC Ministry of State And Deputy Prime Ministry, 1998, p. 73.

6 Research Objectives And Methodology of the Survey The purpose of the study is to find out the expectations and perceptions of different demographic factors such as gender, age, education, and purpose of trip. The aim is to provide high quality service to hotel guests and have them come back again to help increase number of tourists, attract continuous customers with an increased service quality. Four hundred tourists from seven nationalities have been surveyed in sixteen hotels. The data was collected by face to face questionnaires and analyzed. The result of this research will be used in determining the expectations and perceptions of different demographic factors. As a result of financial, human resources and technical restrictions 16 hotels were chosen for research. At the time of survey there were 3020 tourists in these hotels. Total of 400 questionnaires have been distributed which is 13.2% sampling ratio. The return rate has been extremely high. Among the 400 questionnaires distributed, 41 were not correctly or completely answered, and therefore have been rejected. Thus the return rate has been 90% which is perfectly accepted as a survey return rate. The SERVQUAL system, developed by Parasuraman, et al., has been designed for service quality assessment. They have studied a 22 item instrument for measuring customers expectations and perceptions of service quality in service retailing and other service organization. The SERVQUAL assessment scheme which contained 22 pair of items. Each pair of item asked the customers about expectation and their perception of the delivered service. A seven-point Likert scale was used ranging from strongly agree = 7 to strongly disagree = 1 that a service should have or had concerning each expression. Research Findings As seen in Table 5 tourists were divided into strata. They have been randomly surveyed and there were 187 males (51.2%) and 172 females (47.9%). The scores in different column demonstrates which gender has higher expectations. Analyzing the mean scores 6.46 and 6.44 it is seen that there is no significant difference between males and females concerning hotels service expectations. Table 6 is representing the same variable, gender and has analyzed it from perception view. The mean scores are 5.52 and there is no significant difference between males and females concerning hotel service perceptions. Another aspect to be analyzed is that perceptions are lower than expectations ( and ) meaning that service quality is not at the level expected by both males and females. Table 5 Comparison Of Expectations By Tourists Gender N = Item X X SD SD Male Female Male Female Difference 1. Up-to-date Equipment Physical Facilities are visually appealing Employees dress neat and clean Physical facilities satisfy tourists needs Keeping the promise Solving customers problems sincerely Hotel is dependable Provide service on time

7 N = Item X X SD SD Male Female Male Female Difference 9. Keep records and accounts accurate Informing customers effectively of service Giving customers prompt service Employees are willing to help Employees respond to requests promptly Customers trusts employees Customers feel safe with hotel employees Employees are polite, friendly and courteous Employees get adequate support from the mgmt Hotel gives customers individual attention Employees give customers personal attention Employees know the needs of their customers Hotel has customers best interest at heart Hotel has convenient operating hours Averages Table 6 Comparison Of Perceptions By Tourists Gender N = Item X X SD SD M F M F Difference 1. Up-to-date Equipment Physical Facilities are visually appealing Employees dress neat and clean Physical facilities satisfy tourists needs Keeping the promise Solving customers problems sincerely Hotel is dependable Provide service on time Keep records and accounts accurate Informing customers effectively of service Giving customers prompt service Employees are willing to help Employees respond to requests promptly Customers trusts employees Customers feel safe with hotel employees Employees are polite, friendly and courteous Employees get adequate support from the mgmt Hotel gives customers individual attention Employees give customers personal attention Employees know the needs of their customers Hotel has customers best interest at heart Hotel has convenient operating hours Average

8 It is obvious from Table 7 that 20.1% of respondents is between 18 24, 25.9% between 45 54, is 7% between and only 1.7% above 65 years old. It can be realized that the lowest expectation is at the ages and highest at 65. This is consistent with service quality assessment criterias where past experience and word of mouth creates expectations. In Table 8 highest perception is also at ages 65 and lowest perception is at ages This clearly shows that North Cyprus satisfies older tourists and does not have enough facilities for younger tourists. Perceptions at all ages are lower than expectations and that service quality is low. Table 7 Comparison Of Expectations By Tourists Ages N = Item X X X X X X Age Age Age Age Age Age Up-to-date Equipment Physical Facilities are visually appealing Employees dress neat and clean Physical facilities satisfy tourists needs Keeping the promise Solving customers problems sincerely Hotel is dependable Provide service on time Keep records and accounts accurate Informing customers effectively of service Giving customers prompt service Employees are willing to help Employees respond to requests promptly Customers trusts employees Customers feel safe with hotel employees Employees are polite, friendly and courteous Employees get adequate support from the mgmt Hotel gives customers individual attention Employees give customers personal attention Employees know the needs of their customers Hotel has customers best interest at heart Hotel has convenient operating hours AVERAGE Table 8 Comparison Of Perceptions By Tourists Ages N = Item X X X X X X Age Age Age Age Age Age Up-to-date Equipment Physical Facilities are visually appealing Employees dress neat and clean Physical facilities satisfy tourists needs Keeping the promise Solving customers problems sincerely Hotel is dependable Provide service on time Keep records and accounts accurate

9 N = Item X X X X X X Age Age Age Age Age Age Informing customers effectively of service Giving customers prompt service Employees are willing to help Employees respond to requests promptly Customers trusts employees Customers feel safe with hotel employees Employees are polite, friendly and courteous Employees get adequate support from the mgmt Hotel gives customers individual attention Employees give customers personal attention Employees know the needs of their customers Hotel has customers best interest at heart Hotel has convenient operating hours AVERAGE Table 9 shows the comparison of expectations by tourists education. The highest expectation is 6.52 by university graduates. This is again consistent with relationship between expectation and past experience. Looking at Table 10 where comparison of perception by tourists education is made it is obvious that highest perception is This highest perception is by high school graduates. Table 9 Comparison Of Expectations By Tourists Education N = Item High School Technical College University 1. Up-to-date Equipment Physical Facilities are visually appealing Employees dress neat and clean Physical facilities satisfy tourists needs Keeping the promise Solving customers problems sincerely Hotel is dependable Provide service on time Keep records and accounts accurate Informing customers effectively of service Giving customers prompt service Employees are willing to help Employees respond to requests promptly Customers trusts employees Customers feel safe with hotel employees Employees are polite, friendly and courteous Employees get adequate support from the mgmt Hotel gives customers individual attention Employees give customers personal attention Employees know the needs of their customers Hotel has customers best interest at heart Hotel has convenient operating hours AVERAGE

10 Table 10 Comparison Of Perceptions By Tourists Education N = Item Highlyl School Technical College University 1. Up-to-date Equipment Physical Facilities are visually appealing Employees dress neat and clean Physical facilities satisfy tourists needs Keeping the promise Solving customers problems sincerely Hotel is dependable Provide service on time Keep records and accounts accurate Informing customers effectively of service Giving customers prompt service Employees are willing to help Employees respond to requests promptly Customers trusts employees Customers feel safe with hotel employees Employees are polite, friendly and courteous Employees get adequate support from the mgmt Hotel gives customers individual attention Employees give customers personal attention Employees know the needs of their customers Hotel has customers best interest at heart Hotel has convenient operating hours AVERAGE Table 11 compares the perceptions and expectations by tourists purpose of trip. It is clearly seen that tourists coming for business have higher (6.53) expectations but tourists who are in North Cyprus for leisure have resulted with higher perceptions. This clearly explains the possibilities for tourist who are in North Cyprus for leisure. Table 11 Comparison Of Perceptions And Expectations By Tourists Purpose Of Trip N = Item Perceptions Expectations Business Leisure Business Leisure 1. Up-to-date Equipment Physical Facilities are visually appealing Employees dress neat and clean Physical facilities satisfy tourists needs Keeping the promise Solving customers problems sincerely Hotel is dependable Provide service on time Keep records and accounts accurate Informing customers effectively of service

11 N = Item Perceptions Expectations Business Leisure Business Leisure 11. Giving customers prompt service Employees are willing to help Employees respond to requests promptly Customers trusts employees Customers feel safe with hotel employees Employees are polite, friendly and courteous Employees get adequate support from the mgmt Hotel gives customers individual attention Employees give customers personal attention Employees know the needs of their customers Hotel has customers best interest at heart Hotel has convenient operating hours Averages: Conclusion The purpose of this research was to measure the expectations and perceptions of different demographic factors. Tourists expectations have to be met and exceeded in order to have them come back and bring others with them. Quality is a very important issue in the hotel industry and it is used in their advertisements and expectations of communications. The attitudes and expectations of consumers are very important and have to be followed continuously. The factors that will affect the customers attractions are economic change, social change and technology. The tourists of the future will be very selective about the types of service delivered, attractions and quality. Travelers will be visiting with a reason and purpose, they will seek something special, different and of particular interest. Managers have to grasp this changes in tourists needs and offer different types of attractions. In the 21 st century, the changing factors will create new challenges for leisure and tourism industry. As discussed in the research findings, the expectations and perceptions of gender, age, education and purpose of trip have been analyzed. It has been observed that there is no difference between males and females expectations as well as their perceptions. The most important result from this analysis is that the expectations are higher than perception meaning that the service quality was not at expected level. The next result obviously shows that the lowest expectation is between the ages and highest at 65 and above. This is consistent with the expectation criterias. The highest perception is also at ages 65 and above which clearly shows that facilities in North Cyprus are suitable for older ages and there is need for entertainment and activities for younger ages. The expectations with respect to education shows that the highest is with university graduates which is again consistent with theories. The highest perception is with high school graduates. The last aspect was the analysis of expectation and perception by tourists purpose of trip guests coming for business who have higher expectations where as leisure oriented guests have higher perceptions. This shows that North Cyprus with its present facilities are more suitable for leisure tourism. To improve the service quality and satisfy expectations continuos research have to be done all through the year. 776

12 Bibliography [1] Albrecht, K., and Zembe R., (1985). Service America; Doing Business in the New Economy., Dow Jones-Irwin. [2] Albrecht, K., and Zembe R., (1985 ). Service America; Their message is an important one for all companies. Warner Books. [3] Bergman, and Klefsjö, (1994). Quality from Customer Needs [4] Lovelock, C. H., managing services; Marketing, Operations and Human Resources. Prentice Hall. [5] Norman R. (1984). Service Management, Wiley. [6] Parasuraman, A., Zeitheml, V. A. Berry LL., (1988). SERQUAL; A Multiple-item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 64, NO: 1 Springs, pp