ijmss vol.04 issue-03 (march, 2016) issn: 2321-1784...

IJMSS Vol.04 Issue-03 (March, 2016) ISSN: 2321-1784 International Journal in Management and Social Science (Impact Factor- 5.276)

A Monthly Double-Blind Peer Reviewed Refereed Open Access International e-Journal - Included in the International Serial Directories

International Journal in Management and Social Science http://www.ijmr.net.in email id- [email protected] Page 445

The effect of Service Quality on Tourist Satisfaction/Loyalty at Gondar and its vicinity

Abebe Dires PhD Scholar, Scholl of Applied Management

Punjabi University, Patiala (India) 147002

Mesfin Anteneh

PhD Scholar, Geography and Environmental Studies Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar (Ethiopia)79

ABSTRACT

Tourism as an economic sector is dependent on tourists’ decisions to travel and use tourism resources. Tourists usually go to destinations with their own expectation and destination images. Tourists travel to attraction areas to meet their expectations and grab the maximum satisfaction that a destination can give. The quality of services at destinations determines tourists’ satisfaction and their intentions to come again and to recommend for friends and family. The purpose of this paper is to see the relations among destination service quality, tourist satisfaction and loyalty at Gondar and its surroundings.

A total of 150 self administered questionnaires were distributed to international tourists who took part in the 2015 epiphany celebration at Gondar and its surrounding. From the questionnaires dispatched 129 properly filled papers were used in the analysis. Principal Component Analysis was used to extract and reorganize the related variables of destination service quality attributes. As a result of the Principal Component Analysis, the 22 service quality items were regrouped in two three renamed as “modern services and facilities”, “care and empathy” and “safe transactions” based on the dominant characteristics they explain together. Tourists are found to be more attracted and satisfied with modern and up-to-date types of facilities and services for which they familiar at places of origins. Correlation analysis was again employed and the result revealed that service quality had a strong and direct bearing on tourist satisfaction and loyalty.

Keywords: Service quality, tourist loyalty, Gondar, Ethiopian tourism, tourist satisfaction.

Introduction

Tourism is a large global industry that is expanding rapidly and getting special attention particularly in developing countries. It comprises 11% of world GDP when tourism and travel related activities are included. Tourism is directly responsible for 5% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 30% of the world’s services exports and one in every twelve jobs, yet is often underestimated by decision-makers. This has resulted in a general lack of awareness of tourism’s immense potential to create jobs, stimulate economic growth and promote development, and a missed opportunity for political leaders to draw on the sector when facing economic and social challenges.

Recently, however, with its capacity for job creation and its role for poverty reduction, tourism was taken as an important economic activity and developing countries have been encouraged to do better by mainstreaming tourism. Tourism is also growing fast and its share of the global economy is increasing. Critically, from a development perspective, the market share of tourism in developing countries is also increasing significantly (UNWTO, Annual Report, 2009; UNWTO, Annual Report, 2011).

Although Africa is said to be one of the world most under-explored tourism terrains and, consequently, the next competitive frontier, its prospects and challenges are not well studied yet.




Tourism as a sector does not mature and the number of international tourists visiting Africa is insignificant in proportion to the global trend. For the first time in history, Africa could attract 53 million international tourists and grabbed 34 billion us dollars by 2012. The scientific study of tourism products, services and tourist motivation and behavior in Africa is a necessity prerequisite in policy formulations. In this globalized world, the African countries need to consider competition to each other and globally to take advantage of the maximum tourism potentials of nations (Owusu-Frimpong, Nwankwo, Blankson, & Tarnanidis, 2013).

In the last two decades or so, there have been significant progresses and policy formulations for tourism sector development in Africa. The political commitment of many African countries to take tourism development as a means of economic prosperity was appreciated by the 20th UNWTO Summit in August 2013. International tourist arrival showed a spring up with a 7% increase by 2010 following a 4% decline in 2009 globally. From 2010 to 2012, international tourist arrival has grown by 4%. Ethiopia’s international tourist arrival is found to increase by 12.6% between 2010 and 2012(UNWTO, Annual report, 2012).

Ethiopia is rich in natural and cultural heritages with one natural attraction and eight cultural properties inscribed on the World Heritage list. The eight UNESCO world tangible cultural heritages of the country are the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela(1978), the Castles of Gondar(1979), the Obelisks of Axum(1980), Tiya Carved Stones(1980), the Lower Valley of Awash(1980), the Lower Valley of Omo(1980), the fortified town of Harar(2006) and the Konso Cultural Landscape (2011)(http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ET/). The Northern Historic Route which includes the Obelisk of Axum, The rock Hewn Church of Lalibela, the Castle of Gondar and the Monasteries of Lake Tana (Bahir Dar Area) constitute the majority of the country’s cultural tourist attractions. These sites are the most frequently visited Christian cultural heritage of Ethiopia by domestic and foreign visitors.

Yet, the region is not benefiting from tourism sector as a result of structural and governance issues, lack of trained manpower and professionalism to maximize the sector’s contribution. Now a day destinations are in a highest level of competitions to attract tourists and develop reputations for quality services and diversified services. To secure tourist loyalty and successful destination marketing, positive image is essential. To get the maximum share of global tourist flow, destination managers must concentrate on meeting tourists’ needs and expectations. Destinations must have some type of credibility to win customers choices to travel.

The qualities of tourist services and tourists satisfactions are found to be the major factors for tourist loyalty. Tourists will come again to a destination and recommend for others to come if services are attractive and up to the expectations. Therefore, destination managers attempt to enhance the destination experience and create consistency in demand by effective management of attributes related to tourist services and products such as program content, food, souvenirs, staff, information, convenience, and facilities (Fenta & Mekonnen, 2009).

The purpose of this study is to assess the quality of tourist services at Gondar and the surrounding areas and its impact on tourist satisfaction and loyalty. Gondar and its vicinity attract many international tourists during festive and non festive seasons. The Castles of Fasil and its compound and many medieval churches are being visited by thousands of foreign tourists. The Amhara National Regional State, home of age-old monuments and other heritages situated on the Historic Route has the Lion's Share of the country's tourist attractions. Three of the nine world heritage sites of Ethiopia (the medieval castles of Gonder, the Simien Mountains National Park and the Rock Hewn Churches of Lalibela i.e. one of the eight wonders of the world) are housed here. The thunderous Blue Nile Falls, Ethiopia's largest lake, Lake Tana dotted with island monasteries, the endemic wild lives like Walia Ibex, Gelada Baboon, Simien Fox etc still adorn this gracious region (ANRSBCT, 2006).

http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ET/




The historical, cultural and natural tourist attraction in Gondar area includes the palace of emperor Fasiledes, Semien Mountain National Park, Qusquam Church and the ruined Palace of Empress Mintwab, The church of Debre-Birhan Silassie, the Royal Compound, the Bath of Emperor Fasiledes, Ras Gimb, the Felasha Village (Weleqa), Guzara Palace, and Emperor Susenyos Castle at Denkez(Shimelis, 2009). These historical and natural attractions made Gondar one of the most favorite destinations for both local and foreign tourists. Tourist flow to Amhara region and Gondar has increased progressively from 2006 to 2011. International tourists flow to Gndar and is surrounding for 6 years looks like the figures shown below.

Table 1: International Tourists flow to Gondar (2006-2011)

No Year International tourist arrival(annual)

1. 2006 12,969

2. 2007 20,095

3. 2008 17,975

4. 2009 19,204

5. 2010 20,335

6. 2011 25,596

Source: (ANRSBCTPD, Annual Bulletin, 2012)

Table 2: International Tourists flow to Gondar (2012-2014)

No Year International tourist arrival(annual)

1. 2012 25,018

2. 2013 32,942

3. 2014 42,162

Source: (ANRSBCTPD, Annual Bulletin, 2014)

The study of service quality and customer satisfaction is important to sustain the tourism sector and make viable economic output out of the cultural heritages we have at Gondar and the surrounding areas. Gondar and its surrounding area, as one of the major destinations for international tourists, the quality of tourist services and tourist satisfaction levels must be studied scientifically. The study of destination service quality, tourist satisfaction and tourist loyalty is very important for tourism planners and practitioners in the sector. Contemporary literature emphasizes the customized study of customer satisfaction and customer care as the competitors in the tourism sector are growing internationally. The present study laid its emphasis on two major gaps in the field. The first is that tourist service qualities and its effect on tourist satisfaction and loyalty has never been studied in Ethiopia and Amharra region. The second gap that initiates the researcher is that tourist satisfactions and determinants of satisfactions may considerably differ for people with different socio-cultural make up.

Objective of the study

The general objective of the study is to analyze the influence of tourist service qualities on tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty in Gondar Town and the surrounding area.

Specific objectives

In line with the above general objective, the study will attempt to address the following specific objectives:

1) To explain the relation between quality of tourist service and tourist satisfaction/ loyalty.



International Journal in Management and Social Science http://www.ijmr.net.in email id- [email protected] 48

2) To analyze the effect quality of tourist service on tourist satisfaction/ loyalty.

Significance of the study

The study will be helpful for the academia, tourism planners and tourism practitioners. It will contribute to the tourism industry by explaining the relationship among service quality, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the tourism industry. Hence, the study will offer the some benefits. First, it provides insight for the academics on the issues like customer care, service tourist satisfaction and tourist loyalty as well as the interactions of these variables. Second, it will give general direction for tourism planners on tourism marketing, service delivery, infrastructure in formulating policies and regulations with respect to tourism. Third, it will benefit practitioners of the sector in public and other private players by providing scientifically approved management of the sector to attract and retain tourists. And fourth, it may serve as a springboard for the coming researchers who want to carry out further studies similar to this work.

Literature Review

The service quality construct is mostly conceptualized in the context of service marketing literature. Therefore, it deals with the concept of perceived service quality. In many literatures, perceived service quality is the extent to which a firm successfully serves the purpose of customers (Teas, 1993).

Customers determine the perceived or cognitive value of service based on their experience with the service delivered. Customers’ expectations, service delivery process and service outcome have an impact on perceived service quality. Yoo and Park (2007) focused on the role employees as an integral part of the service process and declared employees to be a critical element in enhancing perceived service quality(Yoo & Park, 2007). On the other hand service quality perceptions are formed during the production, delivery and consumption process. Many writers agree that customers’ favorable and unfavorable experience, as well as their positive and negative emotions may have an important impact on perceived service quality. Similarly, O’Neill and Palmer (2003) have reported that customers’ perceptions of service quality may, to a large extent, be influenced by the degree of their prior experience with a particular service (O’Neil & Palme, 2003).

Service Quality and Tourist Satisfaction

Satisfaction has been defined in many ways from tourism point of view by different writers. Although there are many definitions of satisfaction, it is generally recognised as a post-purchase construct that is related to how much a consumer likes or dislikes a service or product after experiencing it. The wider body of literature place satisfaction as a multidimensional global judgment of the perceived quality of a place. Some studies look at the concept of satisfaction at the global level. Most recently, research has explored destination performance by analysing tourist satisfaction with particular attributes of the destination (Baker & Crompton, 2000). In the tourism literature, some authors show that attribute satisfaction has a significant and positive effect on global satisfaction (Valle, Mendes, Guerreiro, & Silva, 2011)

Among the widely accepted understanding of customer satisfaction is the expectancy disconfirmation theory. Expectancy-disconfirmation theory posits that customers form their satisfaction as a result of subjective comparisons between their expectations and perceptions related to a product or service. The expectancy-disconfirmation model embraces four components: expectations, perceived performance, disconfirmation, and satisfaction/dissatisfaction. If the perceived performance exceeds expectations, then it is accepted that satisfaction occurs. Conversely, dissatisfaction is a result of the discrepancy between performance and expectations. If the perceived expectations are met with performance, there are neither satisfaction nor dissatisfaction, in other words there is a zero disconfirmation (Ozdemir, et al., 2012).




Another interesting difference is between the first time and repeat visitors. As far as service quality/tourist satisfaction and loyalty is concerned, a different explanation is given for first time visitors. Tourists visiting a destination for the first time are found to be influenced by their first time impressions and satisfactions more than the repeaters in developing loyalty and shaping their future behaviors. First time visitors therefore, need to be given a best of the destination services if destination managers want to retain these customers as loyal to their services as possible (Chi, 2012).

Tourist satisfaction is considered one of the prime variables to sustain competitive business in the tourism industry because it affects the choice of destination, consumption of products and services (Kozak & Rimmington, 2000). Satisfaction can be defined as a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment. Although there are many definitions of satisfaction, it is generally recognized as a post purchase construct that is related to how much a consumer likes or dislikes a service or product after experiencing it (Fornell, 1992; Woodside & Lysonski, 1989).

There is ample evidence in tourism literature that destination loyalty is positively influenced by tourist satisfaction. Satisfied tourists are more likely to return to the same destination and are more disposed to share their positive travelling experience with friends and family(Bitner, 1990; Yoon & Uysal, 2005).

Destination Loyalty

Loyalty has gained a growing attention in recent years, since the importance of loyal customers has been recognized due to the increasing competition. Particularly, loyal customers are seen as more profitable to an organization than new customers. Consequently, the efforts made by marketing researchers resulted in the accumulation of a substantive body of knowledge on the topic. However, there is no general consensus among researchers and practitioners as to what exactly constitutes loyalty and how it is demonstrated. The behavioral interpretation of loyalty includes the act of a consumer who repeatedly buys the same brand. Taking this perspective, some researchers measure loyalty on the basis of the customer’s intention to recommend or to repurchase. The followers of the psychological attachment approach advocate that a loyal customer is not only a repeat buyer but also one who maintains a positive attitude towards the product, service, or provider of products or services (Oppermann, 2000).

Tourism researchers frequently has taken a behavioral approach to loyalty when conceptualizing and measuring the destination loyalty variable. Chen and Gursoy (2001) described destination loyalty as the level of tourists’ perceptions of a destination as a recommendable place. Consequently, post purchase behavioral intentions were seen to be at the heart of loyalty. Drawing on the arguments in the literature, it is argued that loyalty can be characterized by two dimensions (a) likelihood to repurchase and (b) likelihood to make favorable recommendations to others (Chen & Gursoy, 2001; Kozak & Rimmington, 2000).

Festival programs, adequate resting areas, adequate size of the festival area, pleasant atmosphere of the festival site, and numerous events in the festival are the attributes that enhance the satisfaction/loyalty level of the visitors. In the light of these results, it can be concluded that these attributes should be the focal points of festival planners and organizers in organizing a successful festival event. Therefore, efforts should be directed toward developing the souvenirs, food, festival area, the convenience and staff attributes of the festival product(Chen & Gursoy, 2001)(Chen, Mak, & McKercher, 2011).

Service quality measurement

One of the main research instruments for measuring quality in service industries is the servqual model (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985; 1988). The model contains 22 items for assessing




customer perceptions and expectations regarding the quality of service. A level of agreement or disagreement with a given item is rated on a seven point Likert-type scale. The level of service quality is represented by the gap between perceived and expected service. The servqual model is based on five service quality dimensions, namely tangibles (physical facilities, equipment and personnel appearance), reliability (ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately), responsiveness (willingness to help customers and provide prompt service), assurance (knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to gain trust and confidence) and empathy (providing individualized attention to the customers).

Research Model and Hypotheses

Based on previous studies gained from literature review, a modified proposed model and hypothesis are formulated.

Figure 1: A Modified Research Model

Quality attributes

Source: Authors’ Modified Research Model

Hypothesis: There is no relation between quality of tourist service and tourist satisfaction / loyalty in North Gondar and the surrounding area.

Methodology and scope

This research has limits in subjects of study, geography, and theme. This research studies only international tourists who visited Gondar and its surrounding. Its spatial limit restricted to Gondar Town and its environs namely palace of Fasiledes, Qusquam Church, Semein Mountain and Debrebirhan Sillassie. Thematically, the study is limited to service quality and customer satisfaction/loyalty in the tourism industry.

The research focuses on the relationship between service qualities, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. A random sampling is used to increase the representativeness of the respondents. Respondents were approached at their hotels through the help of hotel managers and reception desk workers responsible to customer handling. Questionnaires were distributed in 21 hotels, after hotel managers agreed to participate in the study. Reception desk employees were asked to administer the questionnaires to guests during their hotel stay, and to collect them after completion. In each hotel questionnaires were randomly distributed to the guests. Reception desk employees were strictly

Tangibles

Empathy

Assurance

Responsiven

ess Reliability

Visitors’

Satisfaction

Visitors’

Loyalty




warned not to distribute before the epiphany event at Gondar (19 January 2015). Field assistants and researchers monitored the proper filling of the questionnaires.

A self administered survey questionnaires was distributed to a total sample of 146 international tourists who have visited Gondar Town and its vicinities including Semen national Park. The survey questionnaire aims at measuring service qualities and visitors' satisfaction/loyalty. Questions related to the service qualities and those related to visitors' satisfaction and loyalty were taken from earlier studies. The questionnaire of the survey will contain three sections of questions: (1) destination service qualities, staff, facilities, transport, safety, food, souvenirs, convenience, and information; (2) visitors' satisfaction and loyalty; and (3) demographic profile of the visitors.

Results

In order to achieve the goals, descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and reliability analysis and linear regression were performed. The results are presented as follows. First, respondents’ demographic and traveling characteristics are provided. Next, the results of descriptive analysis of guests’ perceptions are presented. Third, the results of factor and reliability analyses are interpreted. Linear regression was employed to see the relation between service quality and tourist satisfaction and loyalty. The statistical analysis was conducted on 129 valid questionnaires. The demographic and traveling characteristics of the respondents are presented in table 3.

Table 3: Demographic profile of the respondents

Item Frequency

Gender Male 70 54.3%

Female 59 45.7%

Visit frequency Repeat visitors 88 68.2%

First Visitors 41 31.8%

Length of stay One night 13 10.1%

Two Nights 62 48.1%

Three Nights 33 25.6%

>Three Nights 21 16.3%

Age group 15 and younger 7 5.4%

20-29 16 12.4%

30-39 33 25.6%

40-49 50 38.8%

50 and above 23 17.9%

Travel decision time Less than a month ago 42 32.6%

1 to 3 months ago 56 43.4%

More than 3 months ago

31 24.0%

There were slightly more males (54.3per cent) than females (45.7percent), and more than half of the respondents (64.4 percent) are between the age of 30 and 50. Approximately half of the respondents (48.1percent of the respondents) stayed only for two nights only. One of the interesting aspects of the respondents is that 68.2 percents of them are repeat visitors. The results of the descriptive statistical analysis of guests’ perceptions in the hotel industry are shown in table 4.




Table 4: Average scores of service quality perceptions in Gondar

N Minimum Maximum

Mean Std. Deviation

Modern-looking equipment 129 1 6 3.55 1.505

Visually appealing physical facilities 129 1 6 4.53 1.250

Neat hotel staff 129 2 7 5.18 1.411

Visually appealing materials 129 1 7 4.29 1.706

Performing service in the promised time 129 1 7 4.52 2.016

Interest in solving guests’ problems 129 2 7 5.19 1.519

Performing services at right time 129 1 7 4.43 2.344

Service without delays 129 2 7 4.96 1.970

Error-free service 129 1 7 4.75 1.850

Knowing the exact time when service will be performed

129 1 7 5.09 1.551

Staff provides prompt service 129 2 7 5.35 1.614

Willingness to help guests 129 4 7 5.91 .775

Staff has time to answer guests’ questions 129 3 7 5.76 1.109

Courteous hotel staff 129 2 7 5.23 1.613

Feeling safe and secure 129 1 7 5.51 1.409

Staff instills confidence and respect 129 4 7 6.07 .868

Staff has knowledge to answer questions 129 3 7 5.51 1.370

Providing individual attention 129 5 7 5.98 .515

Convenient opening hours 129 4 7 5.67 .849

Staff provides personal attention 129 1 7 5.59 1.087

Guests’ best interests at heart 129 1 7 4.99 1.826

Understanding guests’ specific needs 129 1 7 5.34 1.444

Valid N (listwise) 129

The range of service quality perceptions items was from 1 (very low perceptions) to 7 (very high perceptions). The mean scores of guests’ perceptions ranged from 3.55 to 6.07. The lowest perception item was ‘modern looking facilities,’ which indicates that hotels do not provide up-to-date and modern facilities that could enhance hotel quality. On the other hand, hotel guests’ highest perceptions were regarding the ‘understanding of needs of tourists.’ The overall mean score for service quality perceptions items was 5.24. This score indicates rather high perceptions of hotel guests regarding service quality.

Principal component analysis was used to identify the major constructs of service qualities. The independent and dependent variables were entered in to a factor analysis; the result of the varimax- rotated analysis indicates the power of three significant factors with Eigen values greater than 1 that explained 87.4 % of the total variance.The service quality attribute factors were re-grouped in to three clusters. After factorial analysis, some items of the factors were cross-loaded. Then all items with factor loading above .649 were included and destination attribute factors were grouped together constituting a defining set of destination characteristics for consumer satisfaction.

These three groups were renamed “modern services and facilities”, “care and empathy” and “safe transactions” based on the dominant characteristics they explain together. With the application of Rotation Component Matrix, from a total of twenty two destination satisfaction factors, nine factors fall under modern services while the other two, safe transaction and care and empathy, received eight and five factors respectively. Internal consistency and reliability of factors in each sub groups were tested.




Table 5: Factorial Analysis output

Total Variance Explained

Component

Initial Eigen values Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total % of Variance

Cumulative %

Total % of Variance

Cumulative %

Total % of Variance

Cumulative %

1 14.633 66.514 66.514 14.633 66.514 66.514 7.627 34.666 34.666

2 2.727 12.398 78.912 2.727 12.398 78.912 6.554 29.793 64.459

3 1.870 8.501 87.413 1.870 8.501 87.413 5.050 22.954 87.413

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Table 6: Factor Analysis and Scale Reliabilities of Dependent and Independent Variables (n=129)

Variables Items

Factor Loading

Reliability Coefficient

Eigen values

Modern services and facilities ( 9 items)

Modern-looking equipment .826

.974 14.633

Visually appealing physical facilities .685

Performing service in the promised time .933

Performing services at right time .926

Service without delays .961

Knowing the exact time when service will be performed

.741

Courteous hotel staff .699

Staff has knowledge to answer questions .730

Convenient opening hours .812

Care and empathy ( 5 items)

Neat hotel staff .880

.691 2.727

Appealing service materials .841

Staff instills confidence and respect .742

Providing individual attention .732

Staff has time to answer guests’ questions .713

Safe transactions ( 8 items)

Interest in solving guests’ problems .947

.869 1.870

Error-free service .649

Staff provides prompt service .781

Willingness to help guests .740

Feeling safe and secure .728

Staff provides personal attention .911

Guests’ best interests at heart .701

Understanding guests’ specific needs .902

Once the service quality measure attributes are identified, regression analysis was made to see the relations between tourist service quality and tourist satisfaction/ tourist loyalty. In order to see the actual effects of service qualities at destinations on satisfaction/loyalty, demographic variables were taken under control one after another.




Table 7: Model Summary(Destination Service Quality Perceptions and Revisit

Intention)

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .682a .465 .461 .779

a. Predictors: (Constant), Service Quality Perceptions

b. Dependent Variable: Revisit intention

The independent variable service quality at destinations well explains the dependent variable as shown in the model summary table (Table 7). The total variance explained is 46.1percent which can be taken as an acceptable model fit.

Table 10: ANOVA of Destination Service Quality Perceptions and Revisit Intention

Model Sum of

Squares

df Mean Square F Sig.

1

Regression 67.034 1 67.034 110.523 .000b

Residual 77.028 127 .607

Total 144.062 128

a. Dependent Variable: Revisit intention

b. Predictors: (Constant), Service Quality Perceptions

As evident from the ANOVA table (Table 8), visitors’ revisit intention is influenced by the service

quality perceptions at destinations. The significant influence of tourist service quality on revisit

intention (sig. =000) enables to reject the null hypothesis that stated that here is no relation between

quality of tourist service and tourist satisfaction / loyalty. Revisit intention is one of the defining

tourist behaviors of tourist loyalty to a destination.

Table 9: Model Summary(Destination Service Quality Perceptions and Destination

Recommendation)

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate

1 .746a .556 .553 .607

a. Predictors: (Constant), Service Quality perception

b. Dependent Variable: Destination recommendation

The other most important indicator of tourist loyalty is recommendation of a destination for friends and for people around. In addition to personal revisit plans, tourists usually show their loyalty to a destination by recommending to others provided that they themselves get satisfied with the services and resources at destinations. The second regression analysis is made to see the effect of tourist quality on the intention of visitors to recommend for others as tourist destination. The result shows that the 55.3 percent of the intention of tourists to recommend for other potential visitors is induced by tourist service quality at destinations.




Table 10: ANOVA of Destination Service Quality Perceptions and Destination Recommendation

Model Sum of

Squares

df Mean Square F Sig.

1

Regression 58.720 1 58.720 159.246 .000b

Residual 46.830 127 .369

Total 105.550 128

a. Dependent Variable: Destination recommendation

b. Predictors: (Constant), Service Quality perception

Likewise, the significant influence of tourist service quality on recommendation of a destination (sig. =000) rejects the null hypothesis claiming the absence of relation between quality of tourist service and tourist satisfaction / loyalty. Revisit intention is one of the defining tourist behaviors of tourist loyalty to a destination. Revisit intention and destination recommendation intentions are important indicators of tourist loyalty as explained by many authors.

Concluding Remarks

As stated by many authoritative figures and confirmed by our research finding, the quality of tourist services at destinations highly matters to the two defining tourist behaviors: revisit plans and destination recommendations. In our study area, Gondar and its surrounding, tourist infrastructures and facilities are not as to the standard and to the expectations of international tourists coming from America, Europe, Asia , the Middle east and any other advanced region. The only way out for this problem is scientific planning and action from the government side to improve the infrastructure, private sector participation, tourism staff training and employees’ career development in tourism sector firms.

Modern services and facilities followed by care and empathy and safe transactions (in order of importance) are found to decide visitor’s satisfactions at destinations. All this defining factors of tourist satisfactions need rigorous endeavours from the public and private sector as it demands, leadership, governance, finance and technical expertise. Private entrepreneurs and public ventures must consider the needs of international tourists if the tourism sector is to benefit from the international market by attracting considerable number of tourists from all over the world in this era of fierce competition.

Scholars also need to study the gaps that tourism sector is facing in the region and in the country at large. The study of tourist behaviours and tourist activities at destinations’ helps tourism planners and entrepreneurs to maximize the satisfaction and get loyalty of tourists at destinations in many parts of the country. Tourists revisit plans and destination recommendations to people around them come when the tourism sector at public and private level employs scientific methods based o scientific research outputs. In this regard, there is a huge gap of scientific knowledge of localized and contextualized tourist needs and demands which may trigger researchers to focus for further studies.




Bibliography

ANRSBCT. (2006). A Tourist Guide to The Amhara Region of Ethiopia.

ANRSBCTPD. (2012). Annual Bulletin. Bahir dar: Amhara National Regional State Bureau of Tourism and Parks Development.

ANRSBCTPD. (2013). Annual Bulletin. Bahir Dar: Amhara National Regional State Bureau of Tourism and Parks Development.

ANRSBCTPD. (2014, July). Annual Bulletin. Tourism Resources Statistics. Bahir dar.

Arokianathan, A. (2009, March). Vailankanni as Tourist and Pilgrimage Centre. PhD Dissertation.

Baker, A. D., & Crompton, J. L. (2000). Quality, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(3), 785-804.

Bhatia, K. A. (1982). Tourism development: Principles and Practices. Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pv.Ltd.

Bitner, T. M. (1990). Evaluating service encounter: the effects of physical surroundings and employee responses. Journal of Marketing, 54, 69-82.

Blackwell, R. (2007). Motivation for Religious Tourism, Pilgrimage,Festival and Event. In R. Raj, & N. D. Morpeth, Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Management: An International Perspective (pp. 35-47). CAB International.

Campbell, K. (2006). Rhetoric from the Ruins of African Antiquity. Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric, 24(3), 255-274.

Chen, J., & Gursoy, D. (2001). An investigation of tourists’ destination loyalty and preferences. International Journal of Contemporary hospitality Management, 13, 79–86.

Chen, Y., Mak, B., & McKercher, B. (2011). What Drives People to Travel: Integrating the Tourist Motivation Paradigms. Journal of China Tourism Research, 7, 120–136.

Chi, C. G.-q. (2012). AN EXAMINATION OF DESTINATION LOYALTY: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FIRST-TIME AND REPEAT VISITORS. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 36(1), 3-24.

Cohen, S. A., Prayag, G., & Moital, M. (2014). Consumer behaviour in tourism: Concepts, influences and opportunities. Current Issues in Tourism, 17(10), 872–909.

Collins-Kreiner, N., & Kliot, N. (2000). Pilgrimage tourism in the Holy Land: The behavioural characteristics of Christian pilgrims. GeoJournal, 50(1), 55-67.

Fenta, M., & Mekonnen, G. (2009, July). A Baseline Study to Identify Potential for Sustainable Pro-Poor tourism Development in Amhara National Regional State. Bahir dar.

Finneran, N. (2007). The Archaology of Ethiopia. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

Fornell, C. (1992). A National Customer Satisfaction Barometer: The Swedish Experience. Journal of Marketing, 56(1), 6–21.

Gamst, F. C. (1970). Peasantries and Elites without Urbanism: The Civilization of Ethiopia. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 12(4), 373-392.

Gebreananya, G. (2011, June). A Study on Socio-Economic Impacts of Tourism in Axum. MA Thesis. Addis Ababa University.




Gray, M. (2000). The Political Economy of Tourism in North Africa: Comparative Perspectives. Thunderbird International Business Review, 42(4), 393–408.

Hotten, J. C. (1968). Abyssinia and its People. New York: Negro Universities Press.

Kozak, M., & Rimmington, M. (2000). Tourism satisfaction with Mallorca, Spain, as an off-season holiday destination. Journal of Travel Research, 38(3), 260-269.

Loker, L. E., & Perdue, R. R. (1992). A Benefit-based Segmentation of a Nonresident Summer Travel Market. Journal of Travel Research, 30-35.

Loveland, M. T. (2008). Pilgrimage, Religious Institutions, and the Construction of Orthodoxy. Sociology of Religion, 69(3), 317-334.

Mahlet, S. (2011, May). MA Thesis. The Role of Tour Operators in Ethiopian Tourism Development. Addis Ababa University.

Merid, W. A. (1984). Society and Technology in Ethiopia 1500-1800. Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 127-147.

Merwe, P. V., Slabbert, E., & Saayman, M. (2011). Travel Motivations of Tourists to Selected Marine Destinations. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, 13, 457–467.

Ministry of Culture and Tourism. (2009, August). Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Touriosm Development Policy. Addis Ababa

O’Nil, M., & Palme, A. (2003). An exploratory study of the effects of experience in consumer perceptions of the service quality construct. Managing Service Quality, 13(2), 187–196.

Oppermann, M. (2000). Tourism destination loyalty. Journal of Travel Research, 39, 78-84.

Owusu-Frimpong, N., Nwankwo, S., Blankson, C., & Tarnanidis, T. (2013). The effect of service quality and satisfaction on destination attractiveness of sub-Saharan African countries: the case of Ghana. Current Issues in Tourism, 16(7-8), 627–646.

Ozdemir, B., Aksu, A., Ehtiyar, R., Çizel, B., Çizel, R. B., & İçigen, E. T. (2012). Relationships Among Tourist Profile, Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty: Examining Empirical Evidences in Antalya Region of Turkey. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 21, 506–540.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, A. V., & Berry, L. L. (1988). SERVQUAL:A multiple-item scale for measuring customer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64, 2–40.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49, 41–50.

Pearce, P. L., & Lee, U.-I. (2005). Developing the Travel Career Approach to Tourist Motivation. Journal of Travel Research, 43, 226-237.

Perace, L. F. (2005). Tourist behavior, themes and conceptual schemes. Clevedon: Channel View.

Pourtaheri, M., Rahmani, K., & Ahmadi, H. (2012). Impacts of Religious and Pilgrimage Tourism in Rural Areas; The Case of Iran. Journal of Geography and Geology, 4(3), 122-129.

Rubenson, S. (1961). Some Aspects of the Survaival of Ethiopian independence in the Period of the Scramble for Africa. University College Review, 8-24.




Shimelis, A. (2009). Working Document. North Gondar Administrative Zone Tourist Attractions Highlights. Gondar.

Shinde, K. n. (2007). Pilgrimage and the Environment:Challenges in a Pilgrimage Centre. Current Issues in Tourism, 10(4), 343-365.

Singh, S. (2005). Secular pilgrimages and sacred tourism in the Indian Himalayas. GeoJournal, 64(3), 215-223.

Teas, R. K. (1993). Expectations, Performance Evaluation, and Consumers' Perceptions of Quality. Journal of Marketing, 57(4 ), 18-34.

Temesgen, K. (2013, September). HARMONIZING HERITAGE TOURISM AND CONSERVATION IN THE ROCK-HEWN CHURCHES OF LALIBELA, ETHIOPIA. PhD Dissertation.

Tosun, C., & Jenkins, C. L. (1998). The Evolution of Tourism Planning in Third-World Countries: A Critique. PROGRESS IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY RESEARCH, 4, 101–114.

Tourism, A. (2004). Mesehib. Magazine of Amhara Tourism Comission. Bahir dar, Ethiopia.

UNWTO. (2009). Annual Report.

UNWTO. (2011). Annual Report.

UNWTO. (2012). Annual report.

Valle, P. O., Mendes, J., Guerreiro, M., & Silva, J. A. (2011). Can welcoming residents increase tourist satisfaction? Anatolia: An International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, 22(2), 260–277.

Vanegas, M., & Croes, R. R. (2003). Growth, Development and Tourism in a Small Economy: Evidence from Aruba. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, 5, 315–330.

WB. (June 2006). Ethiopia: Towards a Strategy for Pro-Poor Tourism Development Prepared for the Government of Ethiopia by the World Bank.

Woodside, A., & Lysonski, S. (1989). A General model of traveller destination choice. Journal of Travel Research, 27(4), 8–14.

Yabibal, M. (2010, June ). Tourist Flows and Its Determinants in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Development Research Institute(EDRI Working Paper 001).

Yoo, K. D., & Park, J. (2007). Perceived service quality: Analyzing relationships among employees, customers and financial performance. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 21(9), 908–926.

Yoon, Y., & Uysal, M. (2005). An examination of the effects of motivation and satisfaction on destination loyalty: a structural model. Tourism Management, 26(1), 45-56.

Yuksel, A. (2003). Market Segmentation Based on Customers' Post-Purchase Performance Evaluation. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing.

ijmss vol.04 issue-03 (march, 2016) issn: 2321-1784...

Documents