A Study of Delegate’s Perceptions of Service Quality in Five Star Hotels and Convention Centers in Delhi NCR

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the delegate’s perception of quality of services provided by select five-star hotels and convention centers with respect to business tourism in Delhi NCR. Also, the paper seeks to analyze the socio-demographic profile of delegates participating in various MICE events hosted in these hotels and convention centers. Service quality is considered to be the key to organizational success, and insights in this regard can be useful for managers to compete for loyal customers and higher profitability.

Design / Methodology/ Approach: The present study is descriptive in nature and has a cross-sectional design. The data has been collected through structured questionnaires personally administered to 372 business delegates attending MICE events in 20 five-star hotels and 2 convention centres in Delhi NCR. The data has been analyzed using frequency distribution, descriptive analysis, reliability analysis, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using MS Excel, SPSS 21 and AMOS 20 software.

Findings: The results indicate the relative relevance of various service quality dimensions of Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy to business delegates and also highlight some important suggestions received from them that can be useful for strategic managers to design their offerings in the most optimal way.

Research limitations: The generalizability of the research is limited by its time scope and sample size. Future researches may be replicated for hotels in other geographical areas, or may analyze the relationship of service quality with delegate satisfaction or may consider using a longitudinal design.

Originality / value: The study is the first attempt to analyze service quality with special reference to business tourist, considering the SERVQUAL model in the Indian context.

Paper Type: Empirical research paper using servqual