Enhancing Customer Delight in Luxury Hotel/Resort Spa through Positive Emotions and Service Quality

Abstract

The main objective of this research was, therefore, to explore the impact of positive consumption emotions and service quality in creating a delightful spa experience in luxury hotels. For this purpose, a survey questionnaire was developed and used to gather data from resort and hotel spa located in 3 major tourist cities in Egypt: Cairo, Sharm El Shiekh, and Hurghada. This context is valuable as it tackles an under-researched region, which may further our understanding of spa delight in non-Western contexts. A total of 327 valid questionnaires were used to test the hypothesized relationships using a linear regression analysis. The results revealed that the positive consumption emotions of joy and relaxation were key predictors of spa-goers’ delight. Moreover, four (out of five) spa service quality dimensions significantly impacted the feeling of delight among the study participants. The study also provided valuable managerial implications, limitations and avenues for future research.