alamo thesis

8/12/2019 Alamo Thesis

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ABSTRACT

Tide:

QUALITY OF FRONT OFFICE SERVICES OF HOTELS IN TARLAC CITY

Researcher:CriseldaO.Alamo

Degree: Master of Bsi!ess Admi!istratio!

Adviser: Eli"a#et$ A. Amrao% &BA

The study made an in-depth assessment of the quality of front office services of

selected hotels in Tarlac City namely: Gran ri! "conotel# $a %a&a Rica 'otel# Central

ar( 'otel and TS) 'ostel from *oth the conceptual standpoint and that of service quality

measurement

The study identified the profile of the selected hotels as to location# num*er of

rooms# num*er of hotel employees# type of clientele and years in operation and the level of

hotel guests+ e!pectations and hotel guests,actual e!perience of the quality of front office

service performance across all five service quality dimensions tangi*ility# relia*ility#

responsiveness# assurance# empathy./ The e!istence of service quality gaps 0ere also

identified and the possi*le solutions and recommendations 0ere proposed/

1n general# the results of the study revealed that 2relia*ility3 dimension 0as sho0n

to *e the strongest service quality dimension for 'otel B# C and D and for 'otel A4

2tangi*ility3 dimension 0as the least important dimension/


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Chapter ,

1'" R5B$"% A6D 1T7 BAC8GR5)6D

1ntroduction

The *ottom line of a firm+s mar(eting strategies and tactics is to ma(e profits and

contri*ute to the gro0th of the company in order to adapt in this fast-paced and

increasingly competitive mar(et/ Customer satisfaction and quality in products or

services are some of the concerns affecting all organi9ations# *e it large or small# profit or

non-profit# glo*al or local/ %any companies are interested in studying# evaluating and

implementing mar(eting strategies that 0ould aim at improving customer retention and

ma!imi9ing share of customers in vie0 of the *eneficial effects on the financial

performance for the firm/ Glo*al competition in relation to customer retention is forcing

companies to turn to quality in order to survive/ erhaps the most important reason for

pursuing quality is that quality pays/

As many industrial sectors mature# competitive advantage through high quality

service is an increasingly important 0eapon in *usiness survival/ The hotel industry has

certainly not *een e!empted from increased competition or rising consumer e!pectations of

quality/ The hotel industry in Thailand is currently undergoing a dramatic transformation and

e!periencing heightened competition/ The Thai-*ased hotels have increased their competition

and no0 instead of having only a nice room to dra0 cuatomen in# they offer %high quality staff+

as an amenity/ Guest satisfaction is the hifhctfpriority foro0ners and managers competing

0ith hundreds of others# and oomiden1 a hotel to ftay in ipoosattaya# ;


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hotels+ front office staff/ or(ing as a front office staff offers a 0ide level of challenges and

opportunities to providers of services/ ith the onslaught of the information age# hotel

guests have *ecome (no0ledgea*le a*out 0hat to e!pect in terms of front office services/

'otels no0 need to adapt to the needs of the guests and should *nng innovative 0ays of

responding to the needs and demands of customers to achieve quality service/

Tarlac City# *eing one of the premiere tourist destinations in Central $u9on#

hilippines# is a culturally diverse hu* famous for its delicious food and large plantations/ 1t

has hotels that are in e!istence for many years/ This implies that the hotel industry in the city

is profita*le/ The yearly arrival of domestic and foreign tourists ma(es the hotel *usiness

via*le/ This fact presents a great necessity for hotel providers here in this locale to put more

emphasis on achieving high level of quality service at all times focusing more in the services

*eing provided *y the front office department

=ront office department of a hotel sets the first and last impression to the guests/ 1t is

the department that comes into contact 0ith clients/ They are responsi*le in 0elcoming

guests to the accommodation section> meeting and greeting them# ta(ing and organi9ing

reservations# allocating chec( in and chec(-out rooms# organi9ing porter service# issuing

(eys and other security arrangements# passing on messages to customers and settling the

accounts/ But still challenges in the delivery of front office services seem to *e inevita*le/

According to the study of eissinger ;


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some hotels tall short in meeting guests+ e!pectation/

revious researches e!plored customer satisfaction regarding the service quality

of all areas in the hotel so that the hotel can assess the customers+ e!pectations/ This

study utili9ed five factors of service quality namely: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness,

assurance and empathyfor the identification of the level of quality of front office services

only# and tried to e!plore the customers+ e!pectations of the quality of service and

customers3 perception of the actual quality of service performance provided at selected

hotels in Tarlac City/

The end goal of this underta(ing might provide some insights into ho0

customers rate the service quality and assess customers+ satisfaction 0hich 0ill

eventually contri*ute to the efforts directed to improving the quality of front office

services/

Statement of the ro*lem

The study aimed to loo( into the quality of front office services of hotels in

Tarlac

City/

Specifically# this study sought to ans0er the follo0ing questions:

,/ hat is the profile of the hotels in Tarlac City as to:

,/, $ocation

,/; 6um*er of Rooms

,/? 6um*er of 'otel "mployees

IAType of Clientele


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,/@ ears in 5peration 2hat is the level of hotel guests+ e!pectations and hotel guests+

perception of the actual quality of front office service performance of selected hotels in Tarlac City

identified in terms of:

;/, Tangi*ility

;/; Relia*ility

;/? Responsiveness

;/ Assurance

;/@ "mpathy

?/ 'o0 is the discrepancy *et0een hotel guests+ e!pectations and the hotel guests+ perception of the

actual quality of service performance e!plained

Significance of the Study

The study 0ill *e significant to the service industry as it 0ill contri*ute to further

understanding of important service quality attri*utes and may contri*ute to the understanding of

a specific hotel service specifically front office services and may provide recommendations for

the improvement of that service/

The findings of the study have a great value in helping the hotel administrators# hotel

managers# front office personnel# hotel guests# as 0ell as future researchers/

To the 'otel Administrators# it 0ould serve as a *asis on the (ind of programs and policies that

might *e complemented to improve the service quality of hotels/


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Chapter ?

%"T'5DS 5= ST)D A6D S5)RC"S 5= DATA

This chapter 0as devoted to the description of the methods and procedure that ere done in order to

o*tain the data# ho0 they have *een analy9ed# interpreted# and ho0 the conclusions 0ere made/ This section

&ustified the means in 0hich the study ha *een conducted/

Research Design

The descriptive method of research 0as used in this study/ Descriptive research method

is designed to gather information a*out the quality of front office services of selected hotels in

Tarlac City across all service quality dimensions/ 1n the hand*oo( of Tarlac State )niversity

Graduate School ;


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,

convenient accessi*ility and pro!imity to the researcher/ They 0ere selected *ecause they 0ere the easiest

to recruit for the study and the researcher did not consider selecting su*&ects that are representative of the

entire population/ The num*er of guests in different hotels in Tarlac City is &ust too large that it is

impossi*le to include every one of them/ The researcher chose to use this sampling technique *ecause it is

fast# ine!pensive# easy and the su*&ects 0ere readily availa*le/

Ta*le , revealed the frequency distri*ution of hotel respondents 0ho 0illingly participated in the

study/

Ta*le ,

=requency Distri*ution of 'otel Respondents 0ho 0illingly participated in the study

rfae nevefF8im of tach of the hotels as(ed ?< guesta to ans0er the lBpart of the ceooonaire

upon their arrival to e!plore the guests3 e!pectations to0ards the five > mcnsv58 of service quality

0ithout them (no0ing that there 0ould *e another set of fatttosiro 0ith same components that 0ould

*e given to them art ;./ The same poop of guests 0ere as(ed to ans0er art ; of the questionnaire

to e!plore the customers+ perception of the actual quality of service performance/ ;H guests of 'otel B

returned the completed questionnaire upon departure ;/,IJ. follo0ed *y 'otel A guests 0ho

returned ;E ;,/EIJ.# 'otel D guests returned ;@ ;


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returned *y the guests of 'otel C ,E/EIJ./ A total of ,


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?

guests 0hich includes the gender# age/ nationality# occupation# purpose of trip and frequency

of visits/

Before the distri*ution of the questionnaires for the respondents to ans0er# the

questionnaire has *een discussed first *y the researcher and the front office managerN

supervisor to e!amine the first draft of the questionnaire and any am*iguities over terms and

questions have *een corrected *efore the scheduled pilot test/ Any suggestions coining from

the management for the *etterment of the design of a suita*le questionnaire Oerved as a great

help for the researcher/

i8iinti0aliti0 Relia*ility

The instrumentation employed for this research 0as modeled after the S"RML)A$ scale

developed *y arasuraman# Peithaml & Berry ,HH


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voluntary *asis and all information provided 0ould *e (ept private and confidential/ Luestionnaires 0ere

distri*uted onh to those 0ho agreed to participate in the study/ The researcher then *riefly e!plained the

nature and requirement of the survey to the receptionistN front des( cler( of each of the fourparticipating

hotel# 0ho administered the questionnaires to the guests/


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Chapter @S)%%AR 5= =16D16GS# C56C$)S156S A6D R"C5%%"6DAT156S

All data gathered 0ere analy9ed# interpreted and 0ere synthesi9ed in this chapter/ The

findings *ased on the pro*lems identified 0ere presented including the conclusions dra0n and

the recommendations proposed *y the researcher/

This is a study that made a descriptive analysis of the service quality of the front office

services provided *y the selected hotels in Tarlac City/ 1t utili9ed five factors of service quality

namely: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy and made an effort to e!plore

the hotel guests e!pectations and hotel guests+ actual e!perience of the quality of hotel front

office services/

Summary of =indings

,/ rofile of the 'otels in Tarlac City as to $ocation# 6um*er of rooms/ 6um*er of

'otel "mployees# Type of Clientele# ears in 5peration.

The assured mar(et of 'otel A and 'otel B are usually coming from trav elers assing

*y the %ac Arthur 'igh0ay/ 'otel Cs close pro!imity to la9a $uisita Center# guarantees also

a potential mar(et/

'otel B3s ratio of the total num*er of rooms offered to its total num*er of BBployees is almost

,:,


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,


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,


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,


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,, i/. staff providing services 0ith XSmileX# ii/. employees 0illingness to help iii/.

safe feeling of customers in transaction# iv/. customer+s *est interests at heart and v/. employees

communicating effectively/

The findings sho0ed that the overall level of perception of hotel guests of 'otel C 0as

lo0er for all the five dimensions of service quality than e!pectation/ 'otel C guests e!pected a

lot in the +assurance3 dimension having the highest mean rating /,./ This study revealed that

employees 0ho are 0ell-(no0ledgea*le of the hotel+s product and service offerings and their

a*ility to convey trust and confidence to guests 0ill definitely yield customer satisfaction/

+Assurance3 dimension 0as the component that received the highest gap score of Y


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,,,

dimensions indicating hotel guests+ e!pectations e!ceeded *y front office service providers/

1mprovements are highly suggested for tangi*ility component 0hich received a negative service quality

gap of -0.08.

Condiuion

1n vie0 of the a*ove mentioned findings# the follo0ing conclusions 0ere therefore

dra0n:

1. The findings revealed that 2assurance3 dimension raised the highest level of e!pectation#

0hereas the 2responsiveness3 dimension fulfilled the highest level of perception/ The

respondents vie0 that hotel front office staff 0ho possess the required (no0ledge to

perform their assigned tas( and those 0ho are trust0orthy 0ill yield to customer

satisfaction/

2. Customer+s confidence on employees# safe feeling of customers in transaction and

courteous employees 0ere usually the concern of guests of 'otel A indicating the

no ciiy 'at propsK orientation *efore the performance of the assigned duties or

rapYWJihiliticB pi the hotel staffspecifically the front office personnel/ +Tangi*ility+

dimension for 'otel A 0as the least important dimension 0ith a negative gap #


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,,;

0illingness to help# iii/. safe feeling of customers in transaction# iv/. employees

communicating effectively and v/. customer3s *est interests at heart

Consistently delivering quality service covering all five dimensions should

al0ays *e in their top priority/ Dissatisfied guests 0ould for sure affect their re-

patronage intentions/

E/ 2 Relia*ility 0as sho0n to *e the strongest dimension of satisfaction for 'otel

B/

'otel C and 'otel D/ Therefore# it is highly suggested that the front office staff

ahould retain these helpful traits and s(ills li(e getting things right the first time#

*eing dependa*le# sincere in solving guest pro*lems# provide services as

promised md accurate records 0ith the vie0 of attaining quality services/8vrommvadaltans

Based on the conclusions of this study# the follo0ing recommendations are here*y

presented/

'otel A should consider investing on improving the equipments used in from office

services li(e the computer terminals 0ith hotel reservation systems installed for fester

transactions/ %ost importantly# the physical evidences 0ould *e the front office staff# to

possess good personality and are al0ays 0ell-dressed/

;/ To address the need to improve lo0 scored components li(e 2staff getting things

right at the same time# 2dependa*le and 2provide services as promised/ 'otel B#

'otel C and 'otel D3s front office management should address the need to assign 0ell-

trained# e!perienced# courteous and efficient front office staff 0ho 0ill man the (ey

posts or stations in their respective front office departments/

?/ 'otel B# 'otel C and 'otel D front office agents should al0ays ma(e the


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,,?

initiative to inform guests 0hen services 0ill *e performed/ The employees+ 0illingness

to help the guests is also highly suggested to *e practiced *y front office service

providers at all times/

/ Bottlenec(s in delivering quality front office services can *e avoided if there are

opportunities for training# education and seminars that are designed to enhance one3s

(no0ledge and s(ills in respect to one3s area of speciali9ation/

@/ Communication and customer service trainings 0ould greatly help front office

Sof 'otel B# C and D in meeting the e!pectations set *y their guests/

E/ =ront office management can systemati9e the delivery of front offioe service#

ma(ing ture that facilities and amenities are all availa*le and in good 0or(ing

XU

condition for*oth the service providers and guests+ convenience during transactions/

A guest feed*ac( form 0ould *e very helpful to front office management to assess the level of front

office services provided *y them and to *etter understand guests in a 0ider perspective/ This is 0ith

an end goal of providing some insights into ho0 customers rate the service quality 0hich 0ill

eventually contri*ute to the efforts directed to improving the quality of front office services/

7/ The focus of the front office manager and staff should al0ays *e in (no0ing and anticipating guests+

needs in order to meet their e!pectations and *e a*le to consistently carry out quality service not &ust

for first time guests *ut more importantly to their frequent guests/

Boo)s

Baidi/ 4ames A/ ;


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,,

Binham# hilip/# Ritta $ampola 4ames %urray ,H7;./ 'otel "nglish 5!fordergamon ress/

Blac(0ell# D/ Roger# %illiard# / aul "ngel# =/ 4ames ;


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,,@

Roldan# Amelia S/ ;


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Luality# Mol/ ,;# 6o/ @# pp/ ;I7-;H,

%ac8ay# 84// Crompton# 4/$/ ,HH

alamo thesis

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