Inns and Resorts Essays

Customer Satisfaction in the Practices in the Hotels/Inns and Resorts Essays Customer Satisfaction in the Practices in the Hotels/Inns and Resorts Paper Customer Satisfaction in the Practices in the Hotels/Inns and Resorts Paper CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON THE PRACTICES OF THE HOTELS/INNS AND RESORTS IN THE FIRST DISTRICT OF ILOCOS SUR A Thesis Proposal Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School University of Northern Philippines Vigan City In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Business Administration By: VIVENCIO C. PERALTA JR. 2011-2012 CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM Introduction Throughout history, people have always travelled, whether it is to conquer worlds, discover new places, for business pleasure. This need of man has consequently led to the development of accommodation. Travelling is a significant part of the tourism industry worldwide and its employees play a key role in delivering the service product, its customers. All of the service businesses are trying their best to improve their service quality in order to make customers satisfied with their services, especially the hospitality industry. Inns are the outgrowth of man’s desire to travel for pleasure or for business. When man had to travel, he felt a great need for dining and lodging out of his own home and town (chauhan, 1981). Hotels/Inns and Resorts are provide room accommodation, food and beverages and recreational facilities. Hotels/Inns and Resorts have been established in the different parts of the country especially in cities and some major towns Today, in Ilocos Sur the potential growth and industrialization and its program to promote local and foreign tourism led to the growth of the hotels/inns and resorts that are serving the province. At present, they were continues the greater number of tourist due to the beautification of our natural resources that gives the real essence of life of the Ilocano’s and preserved the rich/cultural heritage like the ancestral house that depicts the historical landmark of the country, being a surviving colonial provinces during the Spanish regime. Locals and experts describe that the Ilocos Sur as a place like no other because of its uniqueness his in its historical townscape for which it is an architectural blend of Asian, European and Latin American influences. At present, Hotels/Inns and Resorts in Ilocos Sur have increased their competition and now instead of having only a nice room to draw customer in, they offer-high quality staff as an amenity as well. Guest satisfaction is the highest priority for the owners and managers competing with hundreds of others, and personal service is at the top of the travelers and list of the most important things when considering a hotels/inns and resorts to stay in (Wipoosattaya, 2001). In the hotels/inns and resorts, the personnel are ranging from the top management (i. e housekeeping, restaurant, front office and kitchen). The personnel are considered a supporting factor in determining customer satisfaction when deciding to return, to recommend the hotels/inns and resorts, or in demonstrating loyalty to a particular hotels/inn and resorts (Kandampully and Suhartanto, 2000). In addition, Watt (2007), stated that the important function of the hotels/inn and resorts is the front office because customer deals with it as a the center of the hotels/inns and resorts. They provide assistance to guest, fulfil their needs, and meet their wants. The study of Suwannakun and Siriteerajad (2002) emphasized that the aspects of practices regarding the level of customer satisfaction. As mention above, Service quality was determined as the subjective comparison that customer make between their expectation about the service and the perception of the way the service has been run. Parasuraman et. Al (1985) defined service quality as function of the differences between expectations and performance along ten major dimensions. In later research, Parasuraman et. Al (1988) revised and defined the service quality in terms of five dimension; Tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. For example, Min and Min (1997) presented the idea hat hotels/inns and resorts services have attributes that are considered most important particularly in forming the following impression of service quality such as; quality; tangibility; In the Mauritius Hotels (Juwaheer and Ross, 2003), assurance factors and such as security and safety of guest determined by the first , secondly; reliability factors and such as hotels perform task that have been promised to guest on reso lving problems encountered by the guests. Juwaheer and Ross found that by focusing on these factors, hotels in Mauritius would be able to achieve high levels of satisfaction. As Reisig and Chandek (2001) discussed the expectation is formed in order to identify the factors of service satisfaction, based on their knowledge of a product or service. This can be implied that a customer may estimate what the service performance will be or may think what the performance ought to be. If the service performance meets or exceeds customers’ expectation, the customers are more likely to be dissatisfied. On the other hand, customers are more likely if the service performance is less than what they have expected. As mentioned earlier, a greater number of satisfied customers will make the hotels/inns and resorts business more successful and more profitable. Statement of the Problem This study will aim to determine the level of customer satisfaction on the practices of the hotels/ inns and resorts of the first district of Ilocos Sur. Specifically, it will seek to answer for the following questions: 1. What is the profile of the hotels/inns and resorts with the aforementioned business related factors in terms of the following variables; a. Type of ownership b. Number of rooms . Number of Employees d. Capital e. Years of existence f. Service offered 2. What is the level of customers satisfaction with the aforementioned practices of the hotels/inns and resorts in terms of the following: a. Tangibility b. Reliability c. Responsiveness d. Assurance e. Empathy 3. Is there a significant relationship between the profiles of the hotels/inns and resorts with the aforementioned business related factors an d the level of customer satisfaction with the aforementioned marketing practices of the hotels/inns and resorts? . What are the problems issues encountered by the hotels/inns and resorts? Scope and Delimitation The study focused on the Level of Customer Satisfaction on the Practices applied and adopted by the Hotels/Inns and Resorts on the first district of Ilocos Sur as perceived by the owners/managers. This practice was limited to the level of customer satisfaction in the aforementioned marketing practices of hotels/ inns and resorts on the first district of Ilocos Sur in terms of the following: tangibility, responsiveness, reliability, assurance, empathy. Twenty-Six (26) hotels/inns and resorts constituted in the study which 41 owners/managers were taken as respondents. Purposive sampling for the customer respondents was taken which consists of 318 customers to evaluate the level of customer satisfaction on the practices of the hotels and resorts only the customers who checked-in in the hotels/inns and resorts during the data gathering period comprised the customers respondent. The data analysis was limited only to the use of the following statistical tools: frequency and percentages, mean and chi square. Theoretical Framework The researcher will be guided by the following concepts and studies that provided relevant ideas that will be in this study. On Customer Satisfaction In a business organization it is their primarily concerned in satisfying customers. The existence of one business establishment will also depend on how the costumers are satisfied with the products / services offered to them. To completely satisfy customers needs and wants the management should look the variety of their products, its quality, the ffordability and the benefits derived from the products / services offered. Most researcher agree that satisfaction is an attitude or evaluation that is formed by the customer comparing their pre-purchase expectation of what they would receive from the product to their subjective perceptions of the performance they actually did receive (Oliver, 1980). As Kotler (2,000, p. 36) defined that satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting fr om comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectation. Additionally, Yi (1990) also stated that customer satisfaction is a collective outcome of perception, evaluation and psychological reactions to the consumption experience with a product / service. In conclusion, customer satisfaction is defined as a result of customer’s evaluation to the consumption experience with the services. However, the customers have different levels of satisfaction as they have different attitudes and perceived performance from the product / service. Customer satisfaction is an important topic for both researchers and managers, because a high level of customer satisfaction leads to an increase in repeat patronage among current customers and aids customer recruitment by enhancing an organization marker reputation. Being able to successfully judge customer’s satisfaction levels and to apply that knowledge are critical starting points to establishing and maintaining long term customer retention and long term competitiveness (Yuskel and Yuskel, 2002). Customer satisfaction brings many benefits. Satisfaction is an â€Å"overall customer attitude towards a service provider†, or an emotional reaction to the difference between what customers anticipate and what they receive ( Zineldrin, 2000), regarding the fulfilment of some need, goal or desire. Kano, Bentler and Li-tze (1984) developed a model to categorize the attributes of a product or service based on how well they are able to satisfy customer needs. Considering Kano’s Model, are sees how it may not be enough to merely satisfy customer by meeting only their basic and performance needs. Customer satisfaction refers to either a discrete, time-limited event or the entire time the service is experienced. Service-encounter satisfaction is how much a customer likes or dislikes an actual service encounter. Overall service satisfaction is the customers feeling of satisfaction/dissatisfaction based on all the customers experiences with the service organization. 1994) found the two satisfaction constructs differed from each other and from service quality. In a highly competitive marketplace, organizations needs to adopt strategies and to create product attributes targeted specifically at exciting customer’s and over – satisfying them ( Tan and Panitra, 2001). In real estate to excite or over satisfy customers, an agent would need to have a through and want knowledge of all listing in the local area. It is also the people in direct contact with customer who determine who the retained and satisfied customers are, and their experience determines how they treat the customers (Hansemark and Albinson, 2004), thus impacting on the service quality delivered. Lewis and Mitchell (1990) define service quality as they extent to which a service meets customer’s need and expectation. On Service Quality Service quality is the rivet of the comparison that customer’s make between their expectation about a service and their perception of the way the service has been performed (Germoso, 1984; Parasuraman et a1. 1980-1988. ) define it, as the difference between customer’s expectation of services and their perceived service. Benny, Parasuraman and Zeithaml (1985) write a service quality as perceived by consumers stems from a comparison of what they feel service firms should offer (i. e. from their expectations) with their perception of the performance of the firm providing the s ervice. If the expectation is greater than the service performance, perceived quality is less than satisfactory and hence, customer dissatisfaction occurs. Lewis and Mitchell (1990). Service quality refers to customers appraisals of the service core, the provider, or the entire service organization. According to and  (1985), perceived quality is a global judgment relating to the superiority of a product. However, defining service quality as a measure of excellence in terms of perceptions is not sufficient according to   (1988). He states that it is obvious that understanding customer expectations and meeting customer needs is the single most critical issue and determinant of service quality ( 1988). In addition,  (1989) and   (1983) defined both service quality and customer satisfaction as matching the expectation of the service with that which is actually experienced by the customer. Therefore, when customers experiences meet or exceed their expectations, the service is viewed as a quality service and the recipients are typically satisfied customers. On the other hand, when the service experienced by consumers is less than their expectations, the perception of service quality is diminished and customers are generally not satisfied. However, (1996b) in their book Services Marketing stated that the concept of service quality is different from the concept of customer satisfaction. According to, service quality is only one of the variables determining customer satisfaction. Besides service quality, there are other variables affecting the level of customer satisfaction, namely: price, situation, and personal factors. Dotchin and Oakland (1994), and Avubonteng et a1. (1996) define service quality and the extent to which a service meets customer’s need and expectation. On Customer Expectation In this part, the definition of Customer’s expectation and Discrimination theory are revealed. In addition, the significance of Customer’s expectation which has influenced customer’s satisfaction in discussed. Daviddon and Uttal (1989) proposed that customer’s expectation is formed by many uncontrollable factors which include previous experience with other companies, and their advertising, customer’s psychological condition at the same of service delivery, customer background and values and the images of the purchased product. In addition Zeithaml et al. (1990) stated that customer service expectation related to different levels of satisfaction. It may based on previous product experiences, learning from advertisement and Word-of-Mouth Communications. Moreover, these expectations are likely to be based, in total or in part, on past relevant experiences, including those gathered vicariously (1989). (1990) identify some specific factors which can influence the consumers expectations. These are: word of mouth communications (what consumers hear from other consumers); personal needs (determined by individual characteristics and circumstances); past experience of a service (or a related service); external communications from the service provider (for example, printed advertisements, television commercials, brochures, and oral promises from service provider employees); and price. Customer expectation is what the customer wish to receive from the diversity f expectation definition can be concluded that expectation is uncontrollable factors which including past experiences, advertising, customers perception at the time or purchase, background, attitude and product image. Furthermore, the influence of customer’s expectation is pre-purchase belief, word of mouth, communications, individual needs, customer experiences, and other personal attitudes. Different customers have different expectations based on the customer’s knowledge by a product service. The Ser vqual Approach The Servqual approach has been applied in service and retailing organizations (Parasuraman et al. 1988; Parasuraman et. al. , 1991). Service quality is a function of pre-purchase customer’s expectation, perceived process quality, and perceived output quality. Parasuraman et. al (1988) define service quality as the gap between customer’s expectation of service and their perception of the service experience. Based on Parasuraman et al. (1988) conceptualization of service quality, the original servqual instrument included 22 items. The data on the 22 attributes were grouped into five dimensions: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Numerous studies have attempt to apply the SERVQUAL. This is because it has generic service applications and is a practical approach to the area. This instrument has been made to measure service quality in a variety of services such as hospitals (Babalure and Glymn 1992), hotels(Salen and Rylan 1991), travel and tourism(Fick and Ritchies 1991), a telephone Company, two insurance companies and two researcher uses SERVQUAL approach as an instrument to explore customer’s expectations and perception levels of service quality towards the hotel and resorts. The Servqual Dimension Previously, Parasuraman et al. (1985) identify ten determinants for measuring service quality which are tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, communication, access, competence, courtesy, credibility, security and understanding knowledge of customers. Later these ten dimensions were further purified and developed into five dimensions i. e. Tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy to measure service quality, servqual (Parasuraman et al. 1988). These five dimension identified as follows: 1. Tangibility – the physical evidence of the Hotel/Inns and Resorts staff is including a personality and appearance of personnel, tools, and equipment used to provide the service. For example, some hotel chains (e. g Hilton, Mandarin, Sheraton, and Hyatt) consciously ensure that their properties are conformed to global standards of facilities wherever they are located (Nankervis, 1995). However, the researcher, in this study, is forming on how well-dresses the Hotel/Inns and Resorts personnel are. 2. Reliability – the ability involves to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. It includes â€Å"Doing it right the first time,† which is one of the most important service components for customers. Reliability also extends to provide services when promised and maintain error 1: The staffs perform tasks that have been promised to guest and resolve problems encountered by guests. Example 2: The Customers are sensitive to issue such as the telephone being packed-up within five rings and their reservation being correct. 3. Responsiveness – the Hotels/Inns and Resorts are willing to help customers and provide prompt service to customers such as quick service, professionalism in handling and recovering from mistakes. It has been said that â€Å"Today luxury is time†. Consequently, service providers’ ability to provide services in timely manner is a critical component of service quality for many guests. The examples of responsiveness are as follows: Example 1: The staff is asking for customers, name, address, post code and Telephone number during the telephone booking. Example 2: The customers are asked to guarantee their booking, the different rates that they are offered and which ones they accept. Example 3: The customers are offered alternative accommodation at a sister hotel and how efficiently that is arranged and reservation cards being ready to sign upon arrival. 4. Assurance refers to the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence including competence, courtesy, credibility and security. A. Competence means possession of the required skills and knowledge to perform the services. It involves knowledge and skill of the contact personnel, knowledge and skill of operational support personnel, research capability of the organization. B. Courtesy involves politeness, respect, consideration, and friendliness of contact personnel. C. Credibility involves trust worthiness, believability, honesty; it involves having the customer’s best interest at heart. Contributing to credibility is company reputations, personal characteristics of the contact personnel. The degree of hard sell involved in interaction with the customer. D. Security refers to the freedom from danger, risk or doubt. It involves physical safety, financial security and confidentiality. Below are some examples: Example 1: The guests expect to feel safe during their stay at hotel from the staff. Example 2: The staff can handle effectively complaints and problems from the guests. 5. Empathy refers to the provision of caring and individualized attention to customers including access, communication and understanding the customers. A. Access involves approach, ability and ease of contact. It means the service is easily accessible by telephone, waiting time to receive service is not extensive, hours of operation are convenient and location of service facility is convenient. B. Communication means keeping customers informed in language they can understand. It means listening to customers, adjusting its language for different consumers and speaking simply and plainly with a novice. It also involves explaining the service itself, explaining how much the service will cost, and assuring the customer that a problem will be handled. C. Understanding the customers means making the effort to understand the customer’s need. It includes learning the customer’s specific requirements, providing individualized attention, recognizing the regular custom. For example: Example 1: The staff acknowledge the presence of customers at the reception and with a verbal greeting. Example 2: The staff are keeping eye contact, using customers, names and asking customers to return their key upon departure. It is clear from the above results that customers like to be given enough individualized attention and treated with care. It thus allows the customers to easily approach and spell out their needs regarding the service being provided. The importance of empathy may be the root of the statement, . If one looks at who is winning, it tends to be companies that see the guest as an individual1. Due to guests, desires that staff see things from their point of view, the hotel staff are piloting an empathy training program intended to help employees relate to their guests in a more empathic manner. In conclusion, SERVQUAL instrument is an invaluable tool for organizations to better understand what customers’ value and how well their current organizations are meeting the needs and expectations of customers. SERVQUAL provides a benchmark based on customer opinions of an excellent company, on your company, on the importance ranking of key attributes, and on a comparison to what your employees believe customers feel. The SERVQUAL instrument can also be applied to the front office staff of a hotel, and in this case, other major gaps could be closed in the service quality gaps model. Disconfirmation Theory In marketing literature (Churchill and Surprenant, 1982; Oliver,1980) as well as in recent information system studies (McKinney et al. , 2002), the disconfirmation theory emerges as the primary foundation for satisfaction models. According to this theory, satisfaction is determined by the discrepancy between perceived performance and cognitive standards such as expectation and desires (Khalifa and Liu, 2003). Customers expectation can be defined as customers’ partial beliefs about a product (McKinney, Yoon and Zahedi, 2002). Expectations are viewed as predictions made by consumers about what is likely to happen during impending transaction or exchange (Zeithmal and Berry,1988). Perceived performance is defined as customers’ perception of how product performance fulfills their needs, wants and desire (Cadotte et al. 1987). Perceived quality is the consumers’ judgment about an entities overall excellence or superiority (Zeithmal, 1988). Disconfirmation is defined as consumer subjective judgments resulting from comparing their expectations and their perceptions of performance received (McKinney et al. , 2002, Spreng et al. , 1996). Disconfirmation theory was declared that satisfaction is mai nly defined by the gap between perceived performance, expectations and desires which is a promising approach to explain satisfaction. This theory was proposed that satisfaction is affected by the intensity (or size) and direction (positive or negative) of the gap (disconfirmation) between expectations and perceived performance (Figure 2) Figure 2 Expectation disconfirmation theory Khalifa and Liu (2003) Expectation disconfirmation occurs in three forms: 1) Positive disconfirmation: occurs when perceived performance exceeds expectations. 2) Confirmation: occurs when perceived performance meets expectations. 3) Negative disconfirmation: occurs when perceived performance does not meet and is less than the expectations. It is more probable for customers to be satisfied if the service performance meets (confirmation) or exceeds (positive disconfirmation) their expectations. On the contrary, customers are more likely to be dissatisfied if the service performance is less than what they expected (negative disconfirmation). Khalifa Liu (2003) discussed that taking expectation disconfirmation as the only determinant of satisfaction; this theory does not cause the fact that if high expectations are confirmed, it would much more lead to satisfaction than confirmation of low expectations. To resolve this drawback perceived performance is included as an additional determinant of satisfaction. In other words the only way to ensure satisfaction is to empirically create disconfirmation by manipulating expectations and performance. Related Studies Many previous researchers have studied customer satisfaction towards service quality in service businesses such as spa, tourism, and hotel. Kitisuda (2006) studied a survey of customer satisfaction with spa services at Sivalai Spa. Both first-time and repeated customers were satisfied with the spa services on a high level. They were satisfied with the following service dimensions: responsiveness, empathy, reliability, assurance, and tangibility of the service quality at Sivalai Spa. Most customers agreed that the location of the spa was the most important factor for the spa. They suggested that the food and beverage facilities should be improved. Moreover, the study showed that there were four demographic factors that influenced the service quality at Sivalai Spa which were gender, age, nationality, and Income. Markovic (2004) studied service quality measurement in the Croatian Hotel Industry. She showed that a SERVQUAL instrument is a useful and reliable method to measure service quality of Croations hotels, for managers to identify differences in terms of expectations and perceptions. This method will lead to a better allocation of resources and a more effective design of marketing strategies, such as communications mix and pricing components, to ensure a proper level of service quality in hotels. Phenphun (2003) studied International tourist, satisfaction with the quality of service in accommodation in Thailand and the factors related to satisfaction, problems and the requirements of international tourists. The research revealed the satisfaction of international tourists towards quality of service was at a high level. However, the most common problems were lack of employees’ knowledge and English skill, therefore, tourists suggested language and convenient facility improvement. Therefore, Government Policy suggests that the TAT and related organizations should create and develop a curriculum and training. Accordingly, they also have to focus on language skills. In the 2001 study tour of Taiwan, Yu (2001) indicated that it might be possible to create service quality evaluations that are more accurate instruments for measuring the quality of service in the various service sectors, as Crompton et al. ,(1991) suggested. For the best indicators of service quality in the tourism sector, the tourist’s experience might be the key indicator for evaluating tourism quality because the tourism industry is essential people serving people. Therefore, Otto and Ritchie (1996) stated that future studies of tourism quality should evaluate the tourist’s experience, instead of the five dimensions used in previous evaluation tools. All of these previous studies used the SERVQUAL approach to measure service quality in hotel and other service industries. This study will explore customers, expectation and perception levels towards service quality which is focusing on the front office staff at the hotel. Conceptual Framework The paradigm presents the research problem in a more comprehensible manner. It is conceptualized that the dependent variables which is the level of customer satisfaction practices that can affected by independent variables which is the profiles of the hotels/inns and resorts of the first district of Ilocos Sur. This study therefore, is guided by the research paradigm shown in the figured 1. Independent VariablesDependent Variables Figure 1. Research Paradigm In the figure 1. It is hypothesizes that the level of customer satisfaction practices along tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy dependent on the type of ownership, capital, number of employees, years of existence, number of rooms. Meanwhile, the problem encountered by the hotels/inns and resorts Operational Definition of Terms Customer satisfaction. is the result of customers evaluation to the consumption experience with the services. Service quality. means the difference between the customer’s expectation of service and their perceived service. Tangibility. The physical evidence of the hotels/inns and resorts staff including a personality and appearance of personnel’s, tools and equipment use to provide the service. Reliability. The ability involves performing the promised service dependably and accurately. It includes â€Å"Doing it right the first time,† which is one of the most important services components for customers. Responsiveness. The Hotels/Inns and Resorts are willing to help customers and provide prompt service to customers such as quick service, professionalism in handling and recovering from mistakes. It has been said that â€Å"Today luxury is time†. Assurance. Refers to the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence including competence, courtesy, credibility and security Empathy. Refers to the provision of caring and individualized attention to customers including access, communication and understanding the customers. Business Related Factors. It is a term used to show the business related factors such as: type of ownership, capital, number of employees, number of rooms and year of existence. Type of ownership. His refers on the type of organizational set-up of the business such as single proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. Capital. This refers to the total amount of money invested before and after the operation process. Years of existence. This refers to the total number of years from the time of the establishment open for business up to present years. Number of employees. This refer to the total number of people working for an organizational establishment which include front desk agent, reservation officer, guest relation officer, chef, room attendant and bell boy. Number of rooms. The total number of rooms available in hotels/inns and resorts similar businesses to accommodate visitors to a particular place. Hotels/Inns. A business establishment that provides paid for accommodation food and beverage for the short term period of time. Resorts. A place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns or sometimes commercial establishment operated by a single company. Assumptions It will be assumed in this study that: 1. The Hotels/Inns and Resorts owner/manager apply the customer satisfaction on the practices functions improving on their business operation. 2. The respondents will answer the questionnaires designed for this study sincerely and truthfully. 3. The questionnaire to be used in conducting the study is valid and reliable Hypotheses Based on the problems of the study, it was hypothesized that: There is a significant relationship between the customer satisfaction on the practices of the hotels/inns and resorts of the First District of Ilocos Sur and the aforementioned business related factors. Methodology This portion presents a description of the method of research, population and sample, data gathering instrument, data gathering procedure, and statistical treatment of data. Research Design. This study was made to use of the descriptive method of research. This method was determined the profile of the hotels/inns and resorts business of the first district in Ilocos Sur together with the level of customer satisfaction with the aforementioned marketing practices. The correalational method, was to find out whether the profile of the hotels/inns and resorts with the aforementioned business related factors have to do something with the level of customer satisfaction with the aforementioned marketing practices and whether the problems, issues and comments regarding the operation of the hotels/inns and resorts is dependent on the level on the level of customer satisfaction with the aforementioned marketing practices. Population and Sample. The respondent of the study were the owners/managers and customers of the 26 hotels/inns and resorts located at the first district in Ilocos Sur is considered s a served on the study. Therefore, this selection of this service business was based on the service offered. Purposive sampling was utilized to gather data from the customers. There were 318 customers who check-in in the hotels/inns and resorts during the gathering period. Table 1 shows the respondents from the hotels/inns and resorts involve with the study. Table 1. Distribution of the Population Hotels/Inns and Resorts |Owners/Managers |  Customers |  Totals |  % | |Hotels/Inns | | | | | |  Cordillera Inn |1 |  15 |16   |4. 45 | |Cordillera Family Inn |1 |  10 |11   |  3. 06 | |Hotel Salcedo |16 |20   |36   |  10. 2 | |  Vigan Plaza Hotel |  1 |  15 |16   |4. 45 | |  Grandpas Inn |  1 |  15 |  16 |4. 45   | |Luzon Inn |1 |4 | 5 |1. 39 | |  Gordion Hotel |  1 |  20 |21   |5. 5    | |  Vigan Heritage Mansion |  1 |  15 |  16 |4. 45   | |  Rf Aniceto Mansion |  1 |  14 |15   |4. 18   | |  Villa Angela Pension House |  1 |  15 |  16 |4. 45   | |  Green R Hotel |  1 |  10 |  11 |3. 06   | |  Jaja Hotel |  1 1 |  14 |  15 |4. 8   | |  Mel Sol’s Tourist Inn |1   |  10 |  11 |  3. 06 | |  Mom’s Courtyard |  1 |  8 |   9 |  2. 51 | |Casa Teofila Lodge |  1 |  10 |  11 |3. 06   | |  El Juliana Hotel |  1 |12 |  13 |3. 2   | |Resorts | | | | | |Heritage Resort of Caoayan |1 |12 |13 |3. 62 | |Aplaya Mindoro Beach Resort |  1 |12 |  13 |  3. 62 | |Paraiso ni Don Juan Beach Resort |1 |12 |13 |3. 2 | |  Ponce Del Mar Beach Resorts |  1 |  10 |11   |3. 06   | |  Cabugao Beach Resort |  1 |  8 |  9 |  2. 51 | |Taj Resort |1 |12 |13 |3. 62 | |Ovemar Hotel and Resorts |1 |10 |11 |3. 6 | |  Teppeng Cove Beach Resort |  1 |  12 |13   |3. 62à ‚   | |Katib Beach Resort |1 |11 |12 |3. 34 | |Dayvee Hotel and Resorts |1 |12 |13 |3. 62 | |Totals |41 |318 |359 | | |Frequency (%) |11. 2 |88. 58 | |100 | Data Gathering Instruments The study will use a questionnaire to gather the necessary data. It consists of the following parts: Part I. This part will elicit information on the profile of the hotels/inns and resorts of the First District of Ilocos Sur. Part II. Provided the Level of Customer Satisfaction in the aforementioned marketing practices of the hotels/inns and resorts on the first district of Ilocos Sur. This items included in the questionnaires were adopted from the used by parasuraman et. Al (1998). However, to determined the customer satisfaction on the practices of the hotels/inns and resorts, a questionnaires was constructed and validated. In addition, the translation of level ranking was analyzed follow the criteria of customer’s satisfaction designed by Best (1977:174) The following norm for interpretation will be used to describe the following: On the Level of Customer Satisfaction on the practices of the hotels/inns and resorts Statistical RangeItem Descriptive Rating Overall Descriptive Rating 4. 2-5. 00Very much satisfiedVery High 3. 42-4. 21Much satisfiedHigh [H] 2. 62-3. 41SatisfiedFair [F] 1. 81-2. 61Moderately satisfiedLow (L) 1. 00-1. 80Not satisfiedVery Low [VL] Part III. Chi- Square will be test the significant relationship between the level of customer satisfaction with the aforementioned marketing practices and the profiles of the hotels/inns and resorts associated with the aforementioned business related factors. Part IV. It will include are the problems, issues comments regarding the operation of the hotels/inns and resorts. Data Gathering Procedure The following activities will be done for the conduct of the study: Prior to the survey, the questionnaire was piloted with the owners/managers, personnel and customers of the hotels/inns and resorts of the first district of ilocos sur to examined the first draft of the questionnaire and any misunderstanding over term and questions. The results of the piloted test showed that some sentences in the question were unclear and ambiguous. To realize the objectives of the study, the researcher will seek the assistance of the different experts for the validation of the questionnaire. After the validation, the researcher will ask permission from the different owners/ managers of the hotels/inns and resorts of first district of Ilocos Sur to conduct the study and for the endorsement of the study to the management. The management also suggested that the researcher should give an example in each questions in order to make the questions easy to understand. The results of the pilot study provided the correct information and the suitable design of questionnaire Upon approval of the management, the researcher will personally distribute and retrieved questionnaires to/from the respondents. The researcher will also look into documents for verification and acquisition of more data. Statistical Treatment of Data In the analysis and interpretation of the data, the following statistical tools will be utilized: 1. Frequency count, percentages will be used to determine the profile of the hotels/inns and resorts. 2. Mean will be applied to describe the level of customer satisfaction on the practices of the hotels/inns and resorts on the first district of Ilocos Sur. 3. Chi- Square will be utilized to determined the level of customer satisfaction on the practices of the hotels/inns and resorts associated with the aforementioned business related factors. Dummy Tables Table 2. Profiles of the Hotels/Inns and Resorts in terms of the some selected variables |Variables |f | % | |Type of Ownership | | | |Single proprietorship | | | | Partnership | | | | Corporation | | | |Totals | | | |Capital |f |% | |less than P2,000,000 | | |2,000,001 less than 5,000,000 | | | |5,000,001 less than 8,000,000 | | | |8,000,000 less than 10,000,000 | | | |10,000,001 and above | | | |Totals | | | |Number of Employees |f |% | | less than10 | | | |11 less than 14 | | | |15 less than 18 | | | |19 less than 21 | | | |Above 22 | | | |Totals | | | |Years of Existence |f |% | |1 4 Years | | | |5 8 Year | | | |9 12 Years | | | |13- 16 Years | | | |17 above | | | |Totals | | | |Number of Rooms | |% | |Less than 10 rooms | | |11-15 rooms | | | | 16- 20 rooms | | | |21-24 rooms | | | | 25- 29 rooms | | | | 30 and above | | | |Totals | | | |Services offered | |% | |Sleeping Accomodation | | | |Car rental/Service | | | |Food and Beverages | | | |Special offer for tour guidin g | | | |Recreational Facilities | | | |Cottage | | | |Firing Range | | | |Other forms of service offered | | | |Totals | | | Table 3. Level of Customer Satisfaction in the aforementioned Marketing Practices of the Hotels/Inns and Resorts on the First District of Ilocos Sur |Customer satisfaction |Mean |Dr | |Tangibility | | |The service personnel are suitably dressed and are professional in appearance. | | | |The make-up quality of hotel rooms is sufficiently clean. | | | |Visually appealing materials associated with the service. | | | |The hotels/inns and resorts provides sufficient dining facilities and services. | | | |Convenient hotels/inns and resorts business hours. | | | |The hotels/inns and resorts have a modern equipment. | | |Overall mean score | | | |Reliability | | | | The service personnel can correctly provide service | | | | The service personnel completed services in the time | | | | The service personnel is capable of resolving customer service | | | |The servi ce personnel can quickly provide required of the guest | | | |Overall mean score | | | |Responsiveness | | | |Fast treatment of customer complaint issues in the hotels/inns and resorts | | | |Stay operational speed in providing services | | | | You are not concerned about hotel payment methods | | | Hotel provides stated services | | | |Overall mean score | | | |Assurance | | | |You feel safe regarding the hardware and | | | |software of the hotel | | | |The staff have product knowledge of the hotels/inns and resorts e. g. describing all rooms type and | | | |the restaurants. | | | |Hotel service personnel are professional | | | |The service personnel provides individual services based on your needs. | | |The service personnel actively provide services and polite | | | |The behaviour of employees instill confidence in customers | | | |Customers feel safe in their transactions with the employees | | | |Employees are polite to customers | | | |Employees have knowledge to answer cu stomers’ questions. | | |Overall mean score | | | |Empathy | | | |The hotel/inns and resorts has sufficient leisure facilities | | | |The hotel/inns and resorts provides sufficient leisure activities (such as events in the evenings) | | | |Grocery stores give customers individual attention. | | | |Operating of the business in the hotels/inns and resorts are convenient to customers. | | | |Employees of hotel/inns and resorts give customers personal service. | | | |Employees in the hotels/inns and resorts have their customers’ interest at heart. | | |Employees of hotels/inns and resorts understand the specific needs of their customers. | | | |Overall mean score | | | |General Mean | | | Table 4. Chi Square test showing the significant relationship between the level of customer satisfaction and the profiles of the hotels/inns and resorts in the aforementioned business related factors. Business Related factors |Level of Customer Satisfaction | | |Tangibility |Reliabilit y |Responsiveness |Assurance |Empathy |   | |Type of ownership |  x2 |  x2crit | |The hotels/inns and resorts is difficult to get in on his room accommodation | | | |Complaints about the staff or not satisfied on their service performance | | | |Complaints about the food | | | |There are few guests | | | |Guests are bored | | | Theft | | | |Many things are broken such as: ambiance/facilities | | | |Customers | | | |No booking on arrival | | | |Unhelpful staff | | | |Next to a lift shaft | | | |Noisy room | | | |Overcharged | | | |Poor room service | | | |Cancellation costs | | | |Others | | | A. Bibliography Asubonteng, P. Mccleary, K. J. , Swan, J. E. (1996). 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