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A STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS HOTEL INDUSTRY IN

KASHMIR VALLEY

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 ISSN: 2249-7196
IJMRR/Dec. 2015/ Volume 5/Issue 12/Article No-1/1117-1123
Insha Amin et.al.,/ International Journal of Management Research & Review

A STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION TOWARDS HOTEL INDUSTRY IN

KASHMIR VALLEY
Dr. DilPazir1, Insha Amin*2
1
Assistant Professor,BGSBU Rajouri (J&K), India.
2
Research Scholar, BGSBU Rajouri (J&K), India.
ABSTRACT
Customer satisfaction is the key driver for any organisation to sustain in current competitive
era. Service providers need to understand their customers and design their services in such a
way that maximum possible satisfaction is attained by the customer. The purpose of the
present study is to measure customer satisfaction in the hotels of the Kashmir valley. The
study will also provide various suggestions to the customers so as to make their services more
efficient and effective. For conducting the survey a well structured Questionnaire is used to
collect primary data from the respondents. The sample size for the study is 150 Sample
variance and confidence methods are used for Determining sample size. Simple random
sampling technique has been adopted by the researcher to collect the data. On the basis of
results 40 % of the respondents are highly satisfied with safety and security of the hotel while
20 % are highly dissatisfied with the location of the hotel. With the every attribute the level
of satisfaction changes, thus making it clear that customers rate their satisfaction differently
with every single attribute .finally it has been proved that the customer satisfaction in the
hotels are high.
Keywords: Customer satisfaction, hotel industry, services
INTRODUCTION
Customer satisfaction is a growing concern within the hotel industry and a number of studies
have been carried out in the same context by different researchers. Customer satisfaction has
become ansignificant performance indicator for the hospitality industry/business, as it
indicates the strength of relationship between the customer and the service provider. With the
change in the lifestyles of the Customers, a significant shift has been observed in the demands
and expectations of the customers. From a number of years the hospitality industry has shown
a significant growth in its growth and diversification. As hospitality industry is a service
industry a direct interaction between the customer and service provider is very prominent.
therationale of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or
service fits him and sells itself.For successful operation of the firm a customer takes the
centre stage in the management policy. It is on this background that the effective approach to
customer retention is to ensure high level of customer satisfaction which is expected to yield
customer loyalty (Kotler and Armstrong, 2009). In hotel industry the personalised services
for the customers focus on Atleast three key elements: increased personalization, further
*Corresponding Author www.ijmrr.com 1117
 Insha Amin et.al.,/ International Journal of Management Research & Review

applications of technology and increased awareness of changing demographics. Customers in

the hospitality industry will no longer stand for being treated as one demographic category
and they will not tolerate a ‘one-size-fits all’ mentality. Thus the service organisations need
to customise their services as per the needs and requirement of the customers in order to have
a competitive advantage in the market.
The customers being aware of the market trends will look for individually designed products,
services and communication and only successful hotels will manage to communicate with
each customer as an individual with special needs and expectations. Hospitality industry
consists of all those business operators that provide for their customers any combination of
the three (3) core services of food, drink and accommodation, Foskett and Cesserani (2007).
As many modern economies are dominated by services, building and maintaining close
relationships with customers can evolve into rich and fulfilling partnerships. Customer
satisfaction revolves around giving the customers what they expect, it is essentially about
exceeding the customers’ expectations so that they become and remain loyal towards the
company brand.Business Essay (2013) defines customer satisfaction as a term used in
measuring how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer’s
expectations. Customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has
become a key element of business strategy.
As per the Previous studies it is put forth that customers in hotels will utilize and assess
service encounters in different departments, including reception, food and beverage and
housekeeping, as the basis of evaluating the service and the results of those evaluations will
have a major impact on the overall satisfaction with the hotel experience. In a competitive
environment as the hospitality industry, where the quality of service is vital and with the
increased access to information technology, customers have become more discerning and
knowledgeable; the demand for customer satisfaction measurement and its influence on
loyalty and retention is obvious. The difference between customer satisfaction and the
attitude construct is that while guests hold preconsumption attitudes or expectations,
consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction occurs only after the product/service has been
consumed. The guests that completed the questionnaires were present at that moment in the
hotel or visited the hotel at least once over the past three months. The present study is aimed
at studying customer satisfaction with respect to Hotels in Kashmir valley. The study has also
tried to come up with various suggestions for the service providers / managers in order to
enhance their products and services.
REVEIW OF LITERATURE
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction may be defined the extent to which a firm fulfils a customer’s needs
and desires in relation to his expectations, prior to receiving the products or service
(McCarthy and Perrault,2002). Thus customer expectation is the difference between the
expectations of the customers before receiving the services and perceptions of the customers
after receiving the services. Customer satisfaction mainly depends on the build-up of the
perceived value to which the customers have concerning a product or service (Kotler and
Armstrong, 2004; 2009). So customers’ satisfaction can reflect a person’s feeling of pleasure

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 Insha Amin et.al.,/ International Journal of Management Research & Review

or disappointment resulting from comparing a product’s perceived performance or outcome

in relation to the expectations. As per Liu and Yen (2010) Customer satisfaction is regarded
as customers can get more benefits than their cost. Customer satisfaction is attaining the
maximum out of the value invested for a product or a service.
Fourner and Glenmick (1991) concluded that the concept of satisfaction holds well only
when the expectation is positive. Expectations from the customer’s point of view are the
reference points on which a customer forms a judgement about a service or a product.
Customer satisfaction starts with the first contact an organization has with a customer and
continues throughout the entire lifetime of the relationship i.e. the guest cycle(Reicheld,
1996). Customer satisfaction plays the most important role in total quality management. In
comparison with other traditional performance measures, customer satisfaction is probably
less sensitive to seasonal fluctuations, changes in costs, or changes in accounting practices
(Kotler, 2006).So, for a hotel to carry on in business, it must ensure the satisfaction of needs
and wants of the customers continuously, which will eventually lead to a strong customer
base.
The hotel industry is a customer bound service and for hotel industries to market themselves
as brands it is very important to be customer centric and make sure that their customers get
the best of the values. The hospitality manager to ensure that their customers remain
continuously satisfied, they must ensure that customers feel welcomed, courteously and
efficiently served in a clean, safe and secured environment with the best quality of products
sold at a reasonable price(Jones and Newton, 1997).Customer satisfaction is a business
philosophy which tends to the creation of value for customers, anticipating and managing
their expectations, and demonstrating ability and responsibility to satisfy their needs.
Qualities of service and customer satisfaction are critical factors for success of any business
(Gronoos, 1990; Parasuraman etal., 1988). Chamayne (2013) enumerated the strategies that
can be used to improve customer satisfaction as listening ears, (i.e. proper customer
compliant handling procedure or technique) pricing (adequate and reasonable pricing policy),
provision of adequate security and proper satisfaction management, quality service delivery,
prompt service delivery courteous staff, employee training and retraining, etc.Hotels are
increasing their investments to improve service quality and the perceived value for guests so
as to achieve better customer satisfaction and loyalty, thus resulting in better relationships
with each customer (Jones et al., 2007).
As Valdani (2009) points out an enterprisesubsist only because they have customers to serve,
thus making it clear that an organisation exists only because of its customers. The key to
attain sustainable benefit lies in delivering high quality service that eventually leads to
satisfied customers (Shemwellet al, 1998). As per the various carried out the major
determinants of customer satisfaction vary from one individual to another. But many
individuals/customers have been discovered to prefer nearly the same thing. Among the top
three (3) determinants of customers satisfactions are: cleanliness, appearance and
price.Knutson (1988) publicized that room cleanliness and comfort, prompt service,
friendliness of employee’s convenience of location, safety and security, and are
important.Choi and Chu (2001) concluded that staff quality, room qualities and value are the

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 Insha Amin et.al.,/ International Journal of Management Research & Review

top three factorsfree breakfast, airport shuttle, car hire service, atmosphere, security and
friendly staff. Atkinson (1988) found out that cleanliness, security, value for money and
courtesy of staff.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For the conducting the study primary data was collected through an administered
questionnaire to collect the responses of the customers on the basis of various service
attributes provided to them. The study uses simple random technique for the survey. For the
study 200 questionnaires were distributed among the customers availing the hotel services
and 150 responses were found useable for the study.
OBJECTIVES
1. To study the level of customer satisfaction towards hotel industry in Kashmir.
2. To suggests the service providers with various strategies so as to enhance customer
services.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1: Demographic profile of the Respondents
Demographic Variables Respondents (%)
Gender Male 60
Female 40

Age Below 20 15
20 - 25 35
Above 25 50

Marital status Married 70

Unmarried 30

Family income Below 20000 25

20000- 25000 30
Above 25000 45

Length of stay Below 5 days 15

5- 10 days 40
Above 10 days 45
As per results revealed in table 1, 60 % of the respondents are males and 40% are females.
15% of the respondents fall in the age category of( below 20), 35% in (20- 25) and 50% of
the respondents fall in the age category of (above 25). 70% of the respondents are married
while as 30 % are unmarried. 25 % of the respondents fall in the income group of(
below20000), 30 % fall in (20000-25000) and 45 % of the respondents fall in the income
group (above 25000). 15% of the respondents has the length of stay for (below 5 days) , 40
% for (5 – 10 days) and 45% above 10 days.

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 Insha Amin et.al.,/ International Journal of Management Research & Review

Table 2: Opinion about service provided( expressed in percentages)

Description Highly Satisfied Neither Dissatisfied Highly
satisfied satisfied nor dissatisfied
dissatisfied
Cleanliness and 24 46 13 12 5
comfort
Safety and security 40 20 10 18 12
Staff performance 23 49 15 6 7
Prompt services 30 15 26 12 17
provided
Staff knowledge 16 41 17 11 15
Price charged by the 18 46 21 9 6
hotels
Ambience and 18 54 13 10 5
interior decoration of
the hotel
Parking facility 12 50 22 12 4
provided by the
hotel
Quality of the food 30 25 15 22 8
provided
Products and 22 34 15 18 11
services
Location of the hotel 18 25 15 22 20
RESULT AND INTERPRETATION
As per the results available in first segment 46% of the customers are satisfied with the
cleanliness and comfort provided by the hotel. 20 % of the respondents are satisfied with the
safety and security level provided by the hotels. 49% of the customers are satisfied with the
staff performance of the hotels. 30% of the total customers are satisfied with the prompt
services that are provided by the hotels. 41 % of the customers are satisfied with the staff
knowledge of the hotel .46 % of the customers are satisfied with the price charged by the
hotels. 54% of the hotels are satisfied with the ambience and interior decoration of the hotels.
50% of the customers are satisfied with the parking facility provided by the hotel. 34% of the
customers are satisfied with the products and services provided with the hotel and 25 % of the
customers are satisfied with the location of the hotel.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
The result through the analysis showed that the customers are very much sensitive towards
the various service segments and thus it is very much needed from the service provider’s end
that they should draft and present and their services in such a manner that maximum
customer satisfaction is attainted and a strong customer base is attained. The service
providers thus need to augment their services in such a way that they meet the expectations of
the customers at desired levels. The service providers need to enhance their services from
time to time to meet the changing global scenario. The mangers should make a provision for
customized services which should be customer centric and should focus on complaint

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 Insha Amin et.al.,/ International Journal of Management Research & Review

handling and addressing grievances of the customers. The accommodation service providers
must not forget this fact and must provide the services when asked for, so as to increase the
image in the eyes of customers and gain loyalty.Hospitality industry must pay attention to
potential failure points and service recovery procedures which becomes integral to employees
training. In other words, it amounts to empowering employees to exercise responsibility,
judgment and creativity in responding to guests‟ problems. Thus the service providers should
make business more customer centric so as to maximum customer satisfaction is attained
eventually.
The present study was taken so as to measure customer satisfaction in the hotels of the
Kashmir valley and the study has been clearly analyzed with appropriate methodology based
on the objectives. The study is an attempt to make the hotel industry more perfection towards
the customer satisfaction much more effective way. On the basis of data analysis it is proved
that the satisfaction level of the customers towards the hotel industry is good but certain
attempts should be made by the managers to make the services more efficient and sustainable
in the longer run.
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