Analyzing service quality in Thai hotel industry: An application of the SERVQUAL model

Abstract

This paper has been conducted with the aim to focus on hotel service quality based on 29-characteristic indicators applied from SERVQUAL model by comparing two hotel types namely, (1) the boutique hotel and (2) the business hotel in Thailand. This paper also aims to study the expectation, perception and gaps between customers' expectation and perception on hotel services quality. The key findings from our study are: first, service quality of hotels in Thailand was moderately low; hotels were not able to deliver services as expected; second, customer expectation on services of the boutique hotels was higher than that on the business hotels. The management is able to apply research findings in designing and prioritizing hotel strategies, and to recognize weaknesses of service quality to improve service quality in hotel business.