CHAPTER 6

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS,
CONCLUSION & SUGGESTIONS
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CHAPTER 6

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this chapter is to present the summary, findings and

suggestions of the study. The chapter consists of three sections. The first section gives

the summary of all the chapters of the Study. The summary includes a brief inference

of the Study. The second section gives the findings of the Study of the secondary and

primary data collected, analyzed and interpreted and some important findings are

enlisted. The last section gives some suggestions to overcome problems that have

been identified from the Study.

Summary of findings

Summary – Focus

The Hotel Marketing is regarded as the pivotal force behind strategic planning

and business operations. The firm must be suitably staffed to enable it to perform

Marketing analysis, Planning and Implementation. The Marketing Effectiveness is

contingent upon the adeptness of managers to deliver profitable strategies from its

philosophy, organization and information resources. The issue of Marketing

Effectiveness is particularly significant to those associated with the management of

financial services. The marketing service organization, should study the market,

recognize the numerous opportunities, select the most appropriate market segments,

to offer superior value and meet the selected customers' needs and wants.
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The research that links ‘customer satisfaction’ to other business measures

usually defines ‘satisfaction’ as a Customer’s overall evaluation of the consumption

experience. The Customer Satisfaction research demonstrates a positive impact of

Satisfaction on both market value and accounting returns. With a 'front loading" of

customer costs and a 'back loading" of revenues over the course of one's relationship

with customers, satisfied and loyal customers are more profitable. This predicts the

framework of the relationship from Customer Satisfaction to Business Results. The

Research was carried out mainly to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of

marketing over the business performance.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The present Study under the Title, “A Study on Customer Satisfaction With

reference to service quality of hotels in Chennai city” is an attempt to understand

the various factors influencing the satisfaction level of the customers with regard to

the various dimensions of service quality such as Tangibility, Reliability,

Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy. A perfect parity between the services

offered by the Hotelier and the services expected by the customers is vital to make the

transaction smooth and hassle-free. So the services offered become an integral part of

the marketing strategy of the firm. In this context it is imperative to make a study on

the quality of service offered by hospitably service in Chennai city and the present

research work has tremendous relevance to the Hoteliers in formulating their

marketing strategies in this regard.

Objectives of the Study

The following were the objectives of this study

To trace the growth of the Hospitality Industry with specific reference to the

Hotel Industry.

To identify the general demographic profile and service response of the

customers for Hospitality services in Chennai city.

To analyze the gap between the Customers’ Expectation and Perception level

by using SERVQUAL measures to improve the service quality and growth of

the Hotel Industry based on the Study.

To measure the Satisfaction Level of the customers with regard to the various

dimensions of services offered by the hoteliers.

To identify the reasons for switching over from the existing hotel to the other

new hotels.

To suggest suitable measures to augment the Service Quality of the

Hospitality Services.

Source of Data

The study is mainly based on the Primary Data collected from the field survey

using pre-tested questionnaire. The Secondary data were collected from various

sources such as Journals, Magazines, Publications and various Websites including the

official Websites of Five star, Middle level, Low level Hotels. The published research

reports and market studies also helped the researcher to probe into the problem.
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Instrument Reliability

To study the reliability of the data collected from the respondents with the

help of the instrument Cronbach’s alpha was used. Cronbach’s alpha measures how

well a set of items (or variables) measures a single one-dimensional latent construct.

The values of was sufficiently larger than critical minimum value of =0.906. It

indicated the reliability of the instrument used.

Review of literature:

An in depth review of the literature from various sources as Reference Books,

Journals, Magazines, Online Library, Internet has been done on Customer satisfaction

in the hotel Industry. A limitation of latest data and literature in the field of training

and development in hospitality industry was realized during literature review. The

Present study is an attempt to bring about the status report on the Customer

Satisfaction in Hospitality Industry.

Major Findings of the Study

Opinion on customers on Customers Satisfaction towards five dimensions of

Service Quality of Hotels in Chennai.

The SERVQUAL instrument was used to measure the Service Quality in

terms of the discrepancy between Customers Expectation regarding services offered

and the perception of the service received.

Tangibility

Customers are satisfied and the service offered under the tangible dimension

met the Customers Expectation, therefore service quality is related to tangible

behaviour and appearance of the Hotel employees.

Reliability

The Staff service performance is not up to the needs and expectations of the

customers and they also failed to accomplish the task on time.

Responsiveness

The hotel staffs are very responsible and willing to help their customers and

the customers also received the good help when it is needed. Thus it resulted in better

customer satisfaction.

Assurance

The hotel employees have good competence, product knowledge of the hotel

and courtesy behaviour towards customers. Therefore the customers are inspired and

impressed.

Empathy

The Employees are showing good care and concern to the customers and they

are effectively communicating to their guests.

Among the five dimension of the service quality, the customers are highly

satisfied with service offered under the Tangibility and Assurance dimension in

comparison with other dimensions. Moreover the study indicates that the hotel

employees are in need to improve and hone their service performance skill.
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SERVQUAL Gap between Customers’ Expectations and their Perceptions

towards the overall dimensions of the Service Quality.

There is a Positive Gap between the overall dimensions of the service quality.

It is obvious that most of the customers felt satisfied with the service quality of the

hotels in Chennai.

Opinion of customers on Customer satisfaction

With regard to the service offered by the hoteliers such as service quality of

the Front Office staff, Equipment level in the hotel room, the Location of the buffer

restaurant, Spread of Dishes, Quality of food and service, Internet facilities, Room

service, Laundry service and Car parking facilities the customers are highly satisfied.

The customers are not very much happy with reference to Front office staff

appearance, Friendliness, Cleanliness and Interior décor in the hotel rooms, menu

card provided by the restaurant , Telephone facilities, Power back-up and Doctor on

call.

The customers prefer with regard to the Front office service, the Staff

Friendliness, Staff Appearance and Staff Skills of service quality in selecting the hotel

in Chennai among the three different levels of the hotel industry. The overall Room

Cleanliness also plays a major role in selecting the hotel among the three different

levels of the hotel industry. The factors under the Restaurant have an influence on the

selection of hotels in Chennai among the three different levels of the hotel industry. In

particular Quality of Food, Clarity of Menu Card, Spread of Dishes and Waitress’s

appearance are highly influencing factors in the selection of hotels in Chennai. The
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Other convenience services of the hotel such as Internet facilities, Doctor on Call,

Power back –up, Room Service, Telephone facility, fitness Club, Swimming pool,

Car parking, Banking Facilities and Laundry Services also have an influence on the

selection of hotels in Chennai.

Dress code of employees, Cleanliness in their uniforms, Staff appearance,

Staff service and their Trustworthiness influence the Customers Satisfaction to a great

extent. The Customers are not happy in the Staff skill and Knowledge and also their

communication level.

The Major reasons for the customers to switch over from the existing hotel to

new hotels are Taste, Quality, Price and Ambience of food, Room Cleanliness, and

Room service offered by the hoteliers. The other reason to switch over from existing

hotel to new hotel includes the hoteliers given lesser importance to the Cost of the

Room, Cost of the Food and Location where the hotels are situated.

On the whole Majority of the Customers’ are happy and satisfied the services

provided by all the three level of Hotels.

Impact of demographic variable on customers Satisfaction.

The Majority of the customers who visited the hotels are Business class men,

in the age group of 25-35 years. Majority of the customers who travelled to Chennai

prefer to stay in the three star hotels and the Cost of Accommodation is affordable at

their own cost. The customers like tourists and Government officials feel a pinch in

the cost of accommodation. Majority of t the Indian customers are satisfied with

services of the hoteliers rather than the Non – Indians due to their high expectations

on hotel ambience and the services.

Internet plays a main source of information about the hotels and provides

relevant information to the customers. Legal status of the hotels has an adverse impact

on the customer satisfaction. In particular the Private sector hotels pay more attention

on the major areas like Room Cleanliness, Food quality and cost of the Room and

Food rather than the Government sector. Maximum number of customers had a

pleasant experience on the hotels in Chennai. So they strongly recommend the hotel

service effectiveness to others.

SUGGESTIONS

Based on the various findings noted above, the following remedial measures are

suggested for a careful and systematic implementation. This is likely to go a long way

in fostering the development of Service Quality in Hotels in Chennai city.

The following business practices should be followed by all the hotels in

Chennai. So as to decrease the Customers’ grievances and enhance the Customer’s

satisfaction.

The hotel management and employees should regularly meet their Guests and

receive their reactions and responses towards the services and respond to their

individual requirements.

The hotel management should create a Customer Complaint desk where

customers can register their complaints and grievances.

The hotel managers should issue Guest Comment Card to their guests and

collect the opinions from their guests. These responses are regarded as helpful

in gaining an awareness of general problems and repeated complaints.

The Management should meet frequently and obtain the suggestions from the

loyal customers while designing the customer care service policies so that a

wide number of customer complaints are addressed and aware of the needs of

the customers.

Regulatory set- up should be strengthened and monitor or supervise the

services offered at the various areas like Front office, Hotel rooms, Restaurant,

Room service, Car parking and Laundry services) in the hotels. This kind of

regulation and supervision would foster positive attitudes amongst the hotel

customers, potential customers nationwide.

Besides promoting Hotel service quality, the hotels need to invest in

enhancing resources to maintain and improve upon such services. In this

process hotels should allocate sufficient resources on staff orientation

programmes and training. This might create positive attitude among the

employees and encourage them to provide a prompt service to the customers.

Front line staff should give a good impression of the hotel by demonstrating a

friendly and willingness to admit their guests, Thus making first impression to

last in guest’ s memories. The Challenge is more acute in the Front office and

Food and Beverage sections. Therefore the Hotel management should take

efforts to generate healthy and enjoyable work environment starting right from

induction program with activities like giving them a conversion, team building

and work culture oriented events.

There is a talent war in the Hotel Industry, so the hoteliers should introduce

multiple policies and competitive remuneration to retain talent among the

workforce.
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The hotel staff should be equipped with the good working conditions like

sufficient availability of rooms, Bell boys and make use of modern technology

(Information technology, online reservations) in order to deliver excellent

services.

Loyal customer should be given privileges in order to retain customers from

competitors.

Good infrastructure facilities like Interior décor, Painting resembles like the

Historical monuments in the Reception ,sufficient availability of water,

cleanliness in the rest room ,Ambience in the Hotel rooms and Restaurant, Bar

must be located separately and not near to the hotel rooms and restaurant . The

above mentioned facilities should be properly provided and maintained by the

Hotel Management for intensive growth and development of the hotels.

Consumer awareness is a major challenge. Therefore the hotel management

should design the Websites with regard to their Location, Staff service

performance, facilities available in the hotel rooms and restaurant and cost of

the food and cost of the room. In particular the hotel should emphasis any

special features like Availability of Multicusine restaurant and convenient

Location etc., in their websites. It would differ the service quality from other

competitors and motivate the customers to visit more frequently to the same

hotel.

The hotel management should arrange a proper tour package. This would

continuously strive to improve and add value to their services and to meet the

growing demands of the customers.

Hotel industry must take aggressive marketing effort. The marketing efforts

made to promote hotel services have to be done continuously and aggressively

in different media channels like television, internet, newspapers and journals.

Marketing is a question of demand (customers) and supply customer services

through various delivery channels. Both demand and supply have to be

understood in the context of geographic locations and competitors analysis to

undertake focused marketing (advertising) efforts. Focusing on region –

specific campaign rather than national media campaigns would be a better

strategy for a diverse country like India.

Since the customers are Cost-oriented and service-oriented, so the hotel may

employ various strategies in their operation level to provide perfect services to

the customers. They should revamp their cost planning method to bring down

the cost of their services.

Hotel Industry must place importance on the aspect of saving costs. So they

should implement the Energy conservation strategy and also to invest in the

right technology.

The Hotel management should give more important in the selection of

Location. The Location plays a significant role in the selection of hotel and

influences the customers to revisit to the existing hotel. So the Location must

be convenient to the customers, it might be near to the airport, business

centers and tourist places and also the shopping places.

Government Sector hotels also should be encouraged for enhancing

performance and development.

Government help should be sought, so that it could come forward to enhance

the suitable environment by providing better infrastructure in the form of

uninterrupted power supply and good telecom support which in turn will

promote better growth and development of hotel services.

Last but not least, a customer centered organization has to be built up whose

ultimate goal is to “Own” a customer. The interface with the customer’s needs

to be improved and the hotels must try to achieve great clientele base.

Achieving this goal is key success factors in the development of hospitality

sector.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

Service business has been growing rapidly in recent decades, while customer

demand for high quality service is increasing. To remain competitive, the hotels needs

to analyze the customers expectation and perception towards the service quality of

hotels in Chennai City

In this research the SERVQUAL instrument has been used in designing the

questionnaire by using five dimensions of Service Quality Tangibility, Reliability,

Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy.

The Questionnaire aim to determine the level of Customer’s expectations and

their perceptions with reference to the Service Quality of the hotels in Chennai City.

The results revealed that the Assurance dimension raised the highest level of

expectation, where as the tangibility dimension fulfilled the highest level of

perception.
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This study focused further on the gap between Customer’s expectation and

their perception of the Service Quality of the hotels in Chennai. The results showed

that the overall mean score of perception was higher than expectation in all

dimensions, yielding a positive SERVQUAL GAP. Hence Customers were satisfied

with all dimensions of the Service Quality.

In this study, the findings showed that most of the respondents identified

Tangibility as the important factor in determining satisfaction.

SCOPE FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

There are many different opportunities to extent this study. Further studies on

Service Quality measurements can focus on issues how different socio

demographic variables, culture and religion impact on service quality

dimension.

Another opportunity may also look out whether the perceived quality levels

differ by Stated in the India.

A further avenue to extend this research is to study the different or lower rated

hotels to enhance the understanding of guest’s perception of expectation

domestically or internationally.

A further study can be extended to other Cities and towns of Tamilnadu.

A comparison can be made between customers satisfaction between public

sector hotels and private sector hotels or between the five star hotels, middle

level hotels.
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CONCLUSION

Service business have been growing rapidly in recent decades, while customer

demand for high quality service is increasing to remain competitive, the hotels needs

to analyze customers expectations and their perceptions of the services offered by the

hoteliers.

In order to reduce the gap to satisfy the guests, managers have to conduct

survey at least two to three times in a year. The main aspect of providing quality

service is to meet the consumer’s expectations and thereby making the consumer feel

that they can influence the service. In general satisfied guests may disseminate

positive word of mouth and thereby act as an unpaid brand ambassador. To strengthen

their relationship with their customers, hotels need to gain greater insight in to the

drivers of future customer behaviour and link their operations and processes to the

goal of maximizing customer satisfaction and increasing profits.

To conclude, the opportunity zones in service markets are contracting

somewhere and at the same time, it is expanding elsewhere. Both change and pace of

change in the service markets would be different tomorrow. Continuous exploration

of scopes and exploitation of values would endure a brilliant focus on emerging

opportunities, competence building, strategies for the leadership position in the

opportunity zones and principles centered business practices. Therefore there is a

need to create a culture, which embraces change to move ahead.