Abstract:

This research aims to identify the gaps between customer expectation and customer perception on service quality of the hotel industry in Bangladesh based on five dimensions of service quality, namely "reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles". This study surveyed 300 respondents from different tourist spots of Cox's Bazar and Saint Martin based on self-administered "modified SERVQUAL questionnaire". Data were analysed using "mean, reliability test, independent sample t-test and one –way ANOVA test and single analysis of variance (ANOVA)" via SPSS version 22. The study adopts a different statistical test based on the primary data. Results indicated that tourists' perceptions failed to light their demand on the service quality of hotel sectors in Bangladesh. Results also show that tourists' expectations and perceptions in the case of tangibles and empathy dimensions are not significant in an independent sample t-test based on Gender and nationality respectively. However, in one-way ANOVA t-tests based on age, educational background and occupation; there is a significant difference between customer expectations and perception in the case of only two dimensions, which is reliability and empathy. The outcomes are anticipated to provide necessary guidelines to the service entrepreneurs for boosting the customer satisfaction level by identifying the gaps of the hotel industry in Bangladesh.

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