Perceived Quality of Hotels in Neuquen Province

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Perceived Quality of Hotels in Neuquen Province,

Argentina
a
Luca Tamagni PhD & Marina Zanfardini PhD
Department of Tourism Services , School of Tourism, National University of Comahue , Email:

b
Department of Tourism Services , National University of Comahue , E-mail:

Published online: 11 Oct 2008.
To cite this article: Luca Tamagni PhD & Marina Zanfardini PhD (2006) Perceived Quality of Hotels in Neuquen Province,
Argentina, Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 13:3-4, 79-102, DOI: 10.1300/J150v13n03_05
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Perceived Quality
of Hotels
in Neuquen Province, Argentina
Luca Tamagni
Marina Zanfardini
ABSTRACT. Although the Neuquen Province has experienced an important increase in hospitality demand since the Argentine currency was
devalued in 2001, no studies concerning hotel service quality have been
detected. This research deals with the perceived quality of high category
hotels in two locations in this province. Highly structured interviews
were held to measure levels of guests expectations and perceptions, using a scale adapted to the service context. The paired sample T-test was
used to analyse the resulting gaps of the three hotel quality dimensions
and their 23 items. Factors influencing expectations levels were also
analysed as well as behavioural consequences of perceived service quality. Finally, multi-item hotel quality scale reliability and validity assessment was also applied. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth
Document Delivery Service: 1-800- HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@
haworthpress.com> Website: <http:// www.HaworthPress.com> 2005 by The
Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
Luca Tamagni, PhD, is Regular Associate Professor, Department of Tourism Services, School of Tourism, National University of Comahue (E-mail: ltamagni@uncoma.
edu.ar).
Marina Zanfardini, PhD, is Regular Adjunto Professor, Department of Tourism Services, National University of Comahue (E-mail: mzanfard@uncoma.edu.ar).
Address correspondence to: Facultad de Turismo, U.N.C., Buenos Aires 1400,
(8300) Neuquen-Argentina.
Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, Vol. 13(3/4) 2005
Available online at http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JHLM
2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1300/J150v13n03_05
79
80
JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY & LEISURE MARKETING
KEYWORDS. Perceived quality hotels, SERVQUAL, quality measurement
INTRODUCTION
Tourism has become one of the major resources with high impacts on
the economy and social development of Argentina, especially during
the last three years. December 2001 set a milestone on the political and
economic stage of the country with the devaluation of the national currency. This event had vast repercussions on local tourist destinations,
which were soon crowded with visitors.
The favorable rate of exchange influenced both the number of tourists as well as their behaviour. One of the main changes detected was the
high increase in the number of foreign tourists. During the first semester
of 2003, their arrival through Ezeiza, the main Argentine international
airport, showed an increase of 39 percent, compared to the same period
the year before (Secretara de Turismo de la Nacin Argentina, 2003).
Visitors from the United States, Brazil, Chile, Spain and Italy were at
the top of the list. Furthermore, 64 percent of Argentine travellers who
used to spend their holidays abroad were now choosing to visit domestic
destinations (Rodrguez, 2003).
Strictly speaking about the demand levels of hotel industry, data on
the 2003 winter season are very encouraging. At the main winter holiday destinations in the country, including those in Neuquen Province,
the occupancy level was 90% in July (Secretara de Turismo de la
Nacin Argentina, 2003).
This context for the travel market poses an unprecedented challenge
to tourist destinations of Neuquen Province, which is the need to generate competitive advantages to preserve and increase the number of visitors. To reach this goal, however, one of the imperatives is to follow up
on levels of perceived quality by their hotels guests.
From a hotel availability point of view, most of the accommodation
service companies in Neuquen province are family businesses, with a
small number of lodgings related to hotel chains or franchises. It is not
frequent that these hotels measure the quality of their services from a
customer perspective. Some lodgings in the higher categories do
endeavour to measure their quality systematically and regularly, but
these are isolated initiatives, and they use a wide variety of questionnaire formats and styles. Such initiatives guarantee measurement of
those service aspects managers consider of interest. However, they usu-
Lucqa Tamagni and Marina Zanfardini
81
ally dont take into account those attributes a guest would include in a
quality assessment.
The present study aimed at delving deeper into these issues. It focuses on the measurement of guest perceived service quality in three
and four stars hotels in two destinations of Neuquen Province. These
objectives were outlines:
To measure the guest-perceived quality levels at the hotels.
To evaluate the influence of factors like previous experiences
and personal needs on the development of customer quality expectations.
To evaluate the influence of perceived service quality on future
guests behaviours regarding the hotels.
Perceived Service Quality
There has been intensive research work on the issue of service quality in the last two decades. Grnroos (1984) developed the first model
by approaching the perceived service quality construct that has
served as the basis for most research carried out on this matter. After
those studies, SERVQUAL scale (Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988,
1992) has been one of the most relevant approaches within the scientific community, and it has allowed the measurement of perceived
quality in various service sectors. SERVQUAL takes back the central
idea of Grnrooss model and proposes a measurement of service
quality through a comparison between customer expectations on service to be provided (E) and their perceptions of its actual performance
(P). Results of this comparison (P-E) lead to the detection of perceived
quality gaps.
A multidimensional approach points out that the measure of service
quality cannot result from a single variable, but is a construct that involves
several features. A discrepancy arises between the above mentioned authors in terms of the number and denomination of the dimensions that allow approaching the service quality concept.
Grnroos (1984, 1994) states that there are basically two dimensions to
quality: the technical dimension and the functional one, plus a third dimension, the corporate image, which influences the former two. In contrast, the authors of the SERVQUAL scale detect five dimensions of
service qualitytangibility, reliability, assurance, responsiveness, and empathythat operate through 22 generic items.
82
Because subsequent research has led to some criticism of the

SERVQUAL model, its authors recommend that the scales items be
adapted to a particular service context (Parasuraman et al., 1991).
Measuring Hotel Service Quality

Hotel service quality has received some attention from researchers for
the last decade. Nevertheless, actual research is isolated and dispersed.
Some studies have been carried out in different countries, showing cultural differences and inconclusive findings on the dimensions used.
Knutson et al. (1992, 1994) developed a system of 26 dimensions
adapted from the SERVQUAL model, designed for the lodging sector,
which allowed them to measure American guests service quality expectations. The authors only applied their ranking to the level of expectations
with a reliability coefficient of 0.92, suggesting hotel managers to give
continuity to the study by measuring the effective performance level, in
order to make comparisons and find quality gaps. Their research confirmed that in general, expectation levels for hotel quality are always very
high and pointed out that in this kind of service it is a big challenge to
reach the quality threshold, i.e., to achieve the hotel performance that
equals customers expectations.
They also made a study that aiming to develop an international tool,
adapting it and applying it in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and
the United Kingdom. Results showed that their LODGSERV model kept
its value in cultures different from that of the United States. The authors
suggested, however, that those findings were limited, as they understood
that the chosen countriesAsian and English speaking countriesdo not
represent the entire scope of cultural diversity.
Furthermore, a study made by Akan (1995) on service quality in Istanbul hotels analysed whether SERVQUAL dimensions were applicable in
an international environment, in particular in Turkey. This study also tried
to identify and measure any additional dimension suggested by hotel
guests. This research used 30 quality items adapted from SERVQUAL,
which involved three dimensions: the hotel, its personnel and the service
process. Results showed that the hotel personnel is one of the most important and influential attributes in quality perception. Four- and five-star hotel
guest expectations in Turkey focused on personnels friendliness and politeness, grooming, and expert service, leaving aside personalised or special attention.
Saleh and Ryan (1991) applied a survey with the purpose of measuring hotel service quality. Its scale consisted in 33 items, gathered from
83
an adaptation of SERVQUAL model to hotel service (particularly to

four-star category hotels) as well as questionnaires used in the evaluation of restaurant services. Its results provided a bi-dimensional factorial solution. The first dimension, with a high proportion of explained
variance, sociability and a second factor, related to hotel tangibles.
They suggested that at the hotel category studied, guests assume that
their expectations will be met in terms of tangible aspects; therefore
their evaluations focus on sociability. Likewise, they found that this dimension was more relevant to service quality than tangible factors.
They stated that SERVQUAL dimensions couldnt be confirmed in
their study because questions included did not represent them clearly.
Johns and Lee-Ross (1997), on the other hand, hold that there is a specific problem for the service tangible dimension within the hotel context.
They stress that services differ in terms of the tangibility proportion they
contain. They also assume that this dimension is more significant regarding hotel services with a high number of clearly differentiated tangible
components. There is also a linguistic problem with this dimension, as it
includes elements that the guest experiences by himself, but it says nothing about their quality and only refers to their availability. In addition,
there is a presumption that the elements of this dimension tend to be more
dissatisfactory than satisfactory to guests.
On account of the multiple observations made to the SERVQUAL
scale in terms of the generality or over-simplification of its dimensions and measurements, a specific scale for the hotel context of the
Argentine Patagonic region was generated (Tamagni, Michelli, &
Zanfardini, 2003). An exploratory research work was developed that
allowed establishing a content valid scale, including the opinions of
the various actors involved in the provision of hotel services. The research started with a list of 28 quality indicators. The list was generated from in-depth interviews with hotel managers and guest surveys
at different Patagonian destinations. Using structured interview assisted by cards, the research team found out the dimensionality that
grouped the hotel service quality items. Multidimensional scaling and
hierarchical cluster analysis were used to explore the items grouping
pattern and to define resulting quality dimensions.
They found out that users and managers of the lodging service had
mentally grouped quality attributes in just three dimensions. They called
the quality dimensions as physical support and hotel general services
quality, room quality and employees attention quality. The first
two dimensions included items similar to tangibility proposed by the
SERVQUAL model, while employees attention quality retrieved some
84
aspects of the responsiveness, assurance and empathy SERVQUAL

dimensions.
RESEARCH METHOD
Quality Scale
The research measured perceived quality following the SERVQUAL
model (Parasuraman et al., 1994), which compares between guest expectations and perceptions of hotel performance. It also followed the
propositions of Parasuraman et al. (1991) regarding the expectations
formation. In this sense, the influence of factors (such as previous experiences and personal needs on the development of customer expectations) was also studied. The experience with the service was measured
through the variables frequency of use and average duration of stay
while personal needs was operated through the reason for travelling
and travel group.
Hotel quality dimensions and items used were the ones proposed by
Tamagni et al. (2003) to measure lodging quality in the Argentine
Patagonia, presented in Table 1. It was considered the most suitable scale,
since it was built for the specific kinds of services and geographical contexts this research comprises. As Table 1 shows, the first two dimensions
of this scalephysical support and hotel general services quality and
rooms qualitycan be related with that by proposes Grnroos as technical quality. Their items are related to objective service results as well
as to technical solutions for the guest. On the other hand, the employees
attention quality dimension can be mainly linked with Grnroos functional quality, since employees are the principal implied in the way the
service is performed.
Interview
A highly structured personal interview assisted by cards was used to
gather data. This technique was employed taking into account several
factors (Malhotra, 1997: 205). First, personal interviews allow flexibility in data collection. In person encounters facilitate the use of complex
questionnaires, providing opportunities to clarify and explain difficult
questions to the respondent. Second, it makes possible the use of a long
questionnaire and physical stimuli (in this case, one card per item) to
simplify and make the compilation of information more agreeable.
85
TABLE 1. Dimensions and Items Used for the Measure of Perceived Hotel Service Quality
Dimension
Item
Physical support and Hotel external appearance.

hotel general services Decoration and atmosphere of the hotel.
quality
Availability of garage/parking.
Disabled guests accessibility.
Convenient location for the guest.
Security for the guest and his possessions.
Cleaning of the hotel.
Breakfast quality.
Food service diversity (restaurant, bar, room service).
Availability of communication services (fax, messenger, Internet).
Rooms quality
Dimension of the room.

Availability of TV in the room.
Heating/air conditioning control.
Cleaning and maintenance of sheets and towels.
Comfort of the bed.
Bathrooms with accessories for personal hygiene.
Sound isolated rooms.
Luminous rooms.
Employees attention
to quality
Employees appearance.
Employees friendliness.
Employee efficiency when completing their tasks.
Employee willing to solve passengers problems.
Precision of information provided by employee.
The interview had several sections. The first one was related to the
form identification, so it included the variables number of interviewees,
destination, date, hotel name, and interviewers name. The second section included variables related to the reasons the guests had to use the
hotel services. Two questions were included, one related to the reason
for travelling, the other linked to travelling group. The third section focused on the experience with the hotel services and it included two indi-
86
cators: annual frequency of hotel use and average duration of stay on

each use occasion.
The fourth and fifth sections aimed at measuring the perceived quality of hotels through a 5-point Likert scale. Items were written as opinions or emphatic statements for this type of technique and interviewees
were invited to state their degree of agreement or disagreement with
them. The interviewee must assign a value of 5 when he strongly agreed
with the statements, and a value of 1 when he strongly disagreed with
them. Each item of Table 1 was converted into two affirmations, one for
expectation and one for performance. Statements were arranged in the
questionnaire grouped under Expectations (fourth section) and Perceptions (fifth section). In order to make the task easier for the person answering the questions, cards were handed over to them with the
statements printed on them. As he read each card he expressed his
degree of agreement or disagreement with it.
Finally, the last three sections were: general evaluation of the hotel,
with three questions related to a general evaluation of service, an assessment of value for money and whether he/she had experienced any
problems with the service; predisposition toward the service, asking
whether he/she would stay at the same hotel again and whether he/she
would recommend it to others; and, finally, the socio-demographic profile, including indicators such as gender, residence, level of education
and age group.
Destinations Selection
Locations were intentionally selected so as to represent the major hotel
segments in the province: pleasure travellers (tourists) and work and
business travellers (businessmen), both of them with different personal
needs. Destinations included in the present study were the cities Neuquen
and San Martin de los Andes (SMA). Being the capital of the province,
Neuquen is the urban centre with greater economic, political and administrative activity, and with the largest population within the province. Its
hotel guests are basically businessmen. In contrast, SMA is one of the
tourist destinations of the province with the largest number of tourist arrivals and due to it, the most important concentration of lodging services
within the province, in terms of the amount of beds. The SMA hotel market consists mainly of vacation travellers. About three and four-star hotels existing offer (the highest categories available in both destinations), it
is of 634 beds in SMA, and 622 in Neuquen, which represent 11% and
35%, respectively, of the total amount of available beds.
87
Sample
The concluding nature of the research design and the large number of
measure variables required to propose a relatively big size target sample. Taking into account the extension of samples of hotel quality measurement studies [Tsang & Qu (2000): N = 270, Ingran & Daskalakis
(1999): N = 200, Johns & Lee-Ross (1997): N = 299, Knutson et al.
(1992): N = 201 and Kandampully & Suchartanto (2000): N = 237] and
the availability of economic resources and hotel managers willingness
to be interviewed, a minimum number of 200 interviews was decided to
be optimal.
A census of high category hotels (three and four-star) at both destinations was made. They summed up a total of eight hotels, five three-star
hotels (62%) and three four-star hotels (37%). Respondents were chosen randomly at each of them. Interviews were made to people over 18
who had spent at least one night at those hotels.
Response Rate
Interviews were carried out from September to November of 2002.
Out of all questionnaires, 216 were complete and valid for the analysis,
103 from Neuquen and 113 from SMA. This total of valid surveys was
distributed in 65% in three stars hotels and the remaining 35% in four
stars hotels.
RESULTS
Table 2 summarizes the socio-demographic characteristics of interviewees. Most of the people who answered were men (72%), with a high
level of education (95% of interviewees had completed high school studies) and the most widely represented age group was that between ages 31
to 45. Eighty percent of these people were habitual residents in Argentina.
The sample included practically the same proportion of guests whose
main reason for using the hotel was tourism and those on a business trip.
A cross analysis was made of this variable with the location where the
survey was made and a significant relationship between them was found.
The value of 0.625 contingency coefficient found allows confirming a
high direct relation between the reason tourism and SMA as destination, and the reason business and as Neuquen city destination.
88

TABLE 2. Interviewees Socio-Demographic Characteristics (N = 216)
Socio-demographic
Counts.
60
27.8
156
72.2
Primary (not completed)
0.5
Primary (complete)
1.9
Gender
Female
Male
Education
High school (not completed)
2.3
High school (completed)
38
17.6
College (not completed)
29
13.4
130
60.2
18 to 30
48
22.2
31 to 45
91
42.1
46 to 60
60
27.8
Over 60
17
7.9
173
80.1
42
19.4
College (completed)
Age Groups
Regular Residence
Argentina
Outside Argentina
The travel group of the sample was diversified, with a high percentage of guests who travelled alone (34%). This variable was strongly associated to the reason for travelling (contingency coefficient 0.675,
sing. degree 0.01). Chart 1 shows that the reasons tourists travel with
their families (42%) or only with their couple (40%). On the other hand,
business guests travelled predominantly alone (63%) and to a lesser degree with their colleagues (28%).
Concerning their experience with the hotel service, the variable annual frequency of use of hotel service showed great dispersal with values ranging from 1 to 60 times. However, 75 percent of respondents were
concentrated within the 1 and 13 times a year ranking. Concerning length
of time on each occasion, 75% of the answers ranged between 1 and 7
nights. Given that these two variables did not show symmetrical distributions that would have allowed a comparison of their averages, these were
89
CHART 1. Trip Group by Motivation (N = 216)

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Tourism
Family
Friends
Business
Couple
Alone
Other
Work mate
Other
obtained by comparing medians between reasons for travelling. Tourists

showed a median of use of hotel service of twice a year, while guests that
needed lodging services for business reasons showed a median of use of
12 times. Regarding the nights staying at the hotel, in general businessmen spent about 2 nights, while tourists showed a median of 5 nights.
Guest Expectations
Guests stated high levels of expectations on the 23 items of this study.
The column Expectation in Table 4, shows that their means ranged between 4.92 and 3.80, all values above the middle point in the measurement scale (3). Average values were estimated for the quality dimensions
and, as can be noticed in Chart 2, the highest levels of expectation were
related to the dimension employees attention quality, with room
quality next and finally with the physical support and hotel general services quality dimension.
To verify the influence of personal needs in the expectation levels, an
ANOVA analysis was carried out taking the 23 expectation items as dependable variables and reason for travelling and travel group as independent variables.
Table 3 shows the items with significant differences of expectation
means by the two most frequent motivations (tourism and business). Differences observed indicated that expectations tended to be higher toward
tourists, showing they were more demanding than business guests. Tourists
paid more attention to luminous rooms, hotel external appearance,
90
4.49
4.64
Employees
attention
4.34
Room
5.00
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
Physical
support and
hotel
general
services
CHART 2. Expectation Means by Quality Dimensions (N = 216)
TABLE 3. Expectation Means Comparison by Reason for Traveling: Significant

Values
Items
Employees appearance
Employees friendliness
Hotel external appearance

Employee efficiency when
doing their tasks
Luminous rooms
Reason
Mean
Standard
desv.
Tourism
4.74
0.62
Work/Business
4.56
0.77
Tourism
4.90
0.34
Work/Business
4.75
0.48
Tourism
4.35
0.82
Work/Business
4.15
0.87
Tourism
4.73
0.64
Work/Business
4.58
0.63
Tourism
4.24
0.81
Work/Business
3.95
0.92
Sig.
(bilateral)
Mean
difference
0.058
0.19 (*)
0.010
0.15 (*)
0.091
0.20 ()
0.088
0.15 (*)
0.021
0.28 ()
Note: (*) Equal variances not assumed. () Equal variances assumed.
employees appearance, employees friendliness and employee efficiency when performing their tasks.
Regarding the influence of factors such as travel group in the expectation levels, an ANOVA analysis carried out showed there were no
significant differences.
91
Cleaning of the hotel.

Breakfast quality.
Food service diversity (restaurant, bar, room service).
Availability of communication services (fax,
messenger, Internet).
1
1
1
1
Cleaning and maintenance of sheets and towels.

Comfort of the bed.
Bathrooms with accessories for the personal hygiene.
2
2
2
Heating/air conditioning control.
Security for the guest and his possessions.
Convenient location for the guest.
Dimension of the room.
Special guests accessibility.
Availability of TV in the room.
Availability of garage/parking.
Decoration and atmosphere of the hotel.
Hotel external appearance.
Item
Dimension
Performances
4.64
4.82
4.92
4.59
4.17
4.00
4.22
3.80
4.44
4.85
4.88
3.90
4.51
4.17
4.37
4.27
0.73
0.43
0.35
0.68
1.08
0.82
0.94
1.04
0.86
0.39
0.40
1.05
0.93
1.10
0.83
0.84
4.44
4.55
4.86
3.89
4.70
4.52
4.00
3.96
4.25
4.73
4.59
4.55
3.43
4.54
4.38
4.37
0.82
0.78
0.42
1.38
0.64
0.79
1.17
1.14
0.99
0.61
0.65
0.87
1.38
0.92
0.78
0.83
0.21
0.27
0.07
0.73
0.50
0.51
0.25
0.17
0.17
0.12
0.30
0.63
1.06
0.21
0.00
0.10
Mean Standard Mean Standard Mean

deviation
deviation
Expectations
TABLE 4. Expectations, Performances and Quality Gaps
3.279
4.500
1.954
6.831
5.950
7.309
2.355
1.694
2.203
2.558
5.710
7.546
7.523
1.886
0.067
1.422
t value
Gaps
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
92
Luminous rooms.
Employees appearance.
Employees friendliness.
Employee efficiency when completing their tasks.
Employee willing to solve passengers problems.
Precision of information provided by employee.
2
3
3
3
3
3
Performances
4.68
4.41
4.66
4.83
4.65
4.11
4.66
0.60
0.77
0.63
0.41
0.69
0.87
0.61
4.62
4.63
4.63
4.72
4.58
4.34
3.50
0.68
0.68
0.68
0.57
0.68
0.93
1.26
0.05
0.23
0.01
0.11
0.07
0.23
1.15
Mean Standard Mean Standard Mean

deviation
deviation
Expectations
Note: Dimension 1: Physical support and hotel general services quality. 2: Rooms quality. 3: Employees attention quality.
*bilateral t-test significant at 0.05; ** bilateral t-test significant at 0.01.
Sound isolated rooms.
Item
Dimension
TABLE 4 (continued)
0.976
3.574
0.152
2.412
1.100
2.769
11.677
t value
Gaps
**
**
**
93
Previous experience and level of expectation relationship was also

assessed. A new variable was generated for this purpose, called experience with hotel services, which brought together the variables frequency of travel and average stay for every time of use through the
following equation: Experience = (Frequency Length of Stay).
The analysis of the bi-varied correlation between the 23 expectation indicators and the new variable did not show significant relations. The present study did not ratify the assumption of the SERVQUAL theory that the
more experienced is the customer, the higher his level of expectations.
Guest Perceptions
As in the case of expectations, the levels of perceptions were high for the
23 items under consideration. Table 4 shows average and standard deviation
values in the Performance column. The main troubles detected relates to
special guests accessibility, sound isolated rooms, heating/air conditioning control and food service diversity.
In terms of dimensions, perceptions were stronger concerning employees attention quality, then followed rooms quality and finally,
the dimension on physical support and hotel general services quality.
By comparing Charts 2 and 3, it can be seen that dimensions with the
highest levels of expectations coincide with those with the highest performance levels.
CHART 3. Performance Means by Quality Dimensions (N = 216)
5.00
4.50
4.63
4.32
4.35
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
Employees
attention
1.00
Room
1.50
Physical
support and
hotel
general
services
94
Gaps Between Guest Expectations and Perceptions

In order to determine whether the average of comparison between expectations of items were different to zero (the threshold for quality), paired
sample T-tests were employed. Table 4 shows the results of this analysis.
Each item mean and standard deviation for expectations and for performance perceptions are indicated, as well as mean, T-value and degree of
significance for gaps found.
Of the 23 quality gaps, 10 of them obtained negative significant values and 4 of them got positive significant values. For the remaining
gaps, differences between expectations and perceptions did not result in
significance rates other than 0.
The most critical gaps can be seen in the same aspects that showed
weak perceptions. They relate to sound isolated rooms and disabled
guests accessibility. Hotels guests also perceived difficulties concerning heating/air conditioning control in the rooms.
As positive gaps, it can be said that convenient location for the guest,
dimension of the room and availability of TV in the room were the most
relevant.
Gap values for each centre were also compared, detecting five items
with significant mean differences shown in Table 5. It was observed that
TABLE 5. Gaps Means Comparison by Destination: Significant Values
Items
Destination
Mean
Special guests accessibility
Neuqun
0.53
1.23
SMA
1.45
1.71
Neuqun
0.42
1.31
SMA
0.83
1.08
Convenient location for the

guest
Standard
Sig.
Mean
desv.
(bilateral) difference
Food service diversity

Neuqun
(restaurant, bar, room service) SMA
0.46
1.19
0.13
1.55
Neuqun
0.13
.68
SMA
0.40
1.00
Neuqun
0.80
1.29
SMA
1.47
1.47
Comfort of the bed
Sound isolated rooms
0.001
0.92(*)
0.014
0.41()
0.004
0.59()
0.019
0.28(*)
0.001
0.67(*)
Note: Means value range from 4 to 4. (*) Equal variances not assumed. () Equal variances assumed.
95
quality in terms of disabled guests accessibility, sound isolated rooms

and comfort of the bed showed negative gap values in both destinations, but with SMA hotels showing the highest degree of difficulty. It
was also detected that Neuquen hotels provided a wider variety of food
services than those at SMA, while hotels in the latter destination showed
a relative more convenient localization in terms of guest needs.
Reliability of the Scale
Analysis of internal consistency was used as the strategy to assess reliability of the scale using Cronbachs Alpha coefficient. This approach
was selected following the reliability assessment analysis developed by
Parasuraman et al.
Possible values for alpha coefficient range between 0 and 1, and in
general, a 0.6 value or higher points to a satisfactory reliability level.
Table 6 shows the values of this coefficient for the quality dimensions
and the scale in general, and it also discriminates them in each sub-sample: SMA and Neuquen.
Alpha values obtained for the entire scale are highly satisfactory
(above 0.8) and they are consistent at the two locations. As to quality dimensions, alpha values are satisfactory (over 0.63) compared to other
studies that have shown higher scores (Patton, Stevens, and Knutson,
1994; Alexandris, Dimitriadis, and Markata, 2002; Khan, 2003).
Besides, when the coefficients in the various dimensions were compared, it was detected that physical support and hotel general services
quality showed higher values both at the SMA sub-sample and the total
sample. This difference may be owed to the fact that the alpha coefficient tends to increase with the number of items included in its computation. The first dimension includes the highest number of items (10).
TABLE 6. Internal Consistency Along Three Quality Dimensions
Dimension
Neuqun
SMA
Total of the sample
Physical support and hotel general

services quality (10 items)
0.6451 (45)
0.7446 (47)
0.7073 (92)
Rooms quality (8 items)
0.6367 (82)
0.6256 (94)
0.6336 (176)
Employees attention quality (5 items)
0.6566 (93)
0.6587 (97)
0.6568 (190)
Total of the scale (23 items)
0.8858 (38)
0.8288 (45)
0.8520 (82)
Note: Among parenthesis the number of cases is indicated.
96
Considering just the three Neuquen sub-samples, the three dimensions

showed similar Alpha coefficient values.
Validity of the Scale

A high reliability level does not imply that the scale is also valid.
Scale validity is the degree to which differences in the observed values
reflect actual differences between individuals in terms of the characteristics being measured, and not differences due to systematic or random
errors. In this case validity would be the degree to which variations of
gap values point to actual variations in the quality levels perceived by
guests, and not variations due to the previous referred type of error.
Construct validity of a scale answers the question on which construct
or characteristic it measures (Malhotra, 1997: 307). It is an attempt to
answer theoretical questions about why it works and what can be deducted, regarding the underlying theory of the scale. This validity can
be measured through different strategies, of which the validity of convergence that measures the scale correlation with other measurements
of the same construct was chosen.
The present study applied the witness variables overall evaluation
of the hotel and value for money as measurements related to the
construct perceived hotel quality. Both were measured in 5 categories (5 = Excellent, 4 = Good, 3 = Regular, 2 = Poor, 1 = Very Poor).
To assess the level of association, an ANOVA test was used. Witness
variables with only three categories (Excellent, Good and Regular,
Very Poor) instead of five were used on account of the low frequency
of available replies for the original categories 3, 2 and 1. In both analyses dependent variables were quality indices (gap averages) at the entire scale level and for each dimension.
Results obtained in Table 7 show a significant convergence validity
(p < 0.01 level) in both variables for the whole scale. Average values are
higher (positive gaps) in the excellent category and lower ones (negative gaps) as they move towards the regular to very poor category. It
must be noted, however, that average values are always lower for the
money for value variable.
At the quality dimensions level, all of them have a significant association to the overall evaluation variable. This cannot be said of value for
money which presents a significant association to the physical support and hotel general services quality and employees attention quality, while it is not the case of rooms quality.
97
TABLE 7. Significant Differences on Scale Mean ValuesSegmentation by

Overall Evaluation of the Hotel and Value for Money Variables
Overall Evaluation
Regular
Very
Poor
Good
Excellent
Sig
Physical support
and hotel general
services quality
0.76
0.16
0.15
0.000
0.66
0.09
0.04
0.001
Rooms quality
0.68
0.25
0.1
0.000
0.31
0.16
0.11
0.518
Employees
attention quality
0.49
0.16
0.19
0.000
0.42
0.14
0.14
0.000
0.68
0.19
0.10
0.000
0.48
0.12
0.01
0.006
Dimensions
of the scale
Value for Money
Total of the scale

(23 items)
Regular
Very Good Excellent
Poor
Sig
Note: Means value range from 4 to 4.
Yet, the strength and persistence of the relation between the two witness variables and the quality values obtained through the scale offer
valuable evidence in favour of its convergence validity.
So as to assess criteria validity of the scale, conceptually related variables were included in the interviews. Quality studies generally assume
that its measure scales have predictive capabilities regarding customer
future behaviours as repetition of use and willingness to recommend the
service. Due to this, the questions have you had any problem with the
service? would you stay at this hotel again? and would you recommend this hotel to a friend? were used to tests criteria validity. In other
words, people who replied yes to the last two questions would have
higher quality values in the scale than those who said no. On the contrary, it had been expected that people who had some kind of problem
with the service during their staying would show gap values below
those who had not had any.
To substantiate these suppositions, an ANOVA analysis was made for
the quality indices of the entire scale (an average of the 23 gaps) and of
the different dimensions, segmented by categories Yes/No of the mentioned variables above (Table 8).
The quality index of the entire scale showed significant differences
for the problems variable (lower index value if the guest answered
yes) and for the I would recommend variable (higher index value if
98
TABLE 8. Significant Differences on Scale Mean ValuesSegmentation by

Problems, Stay Again and Recommend Variables
Dimensions
of the scale
Problems
Yes
No
Stay Again
Sig
Yes
No
Recommend
Sig
No
Physical support
and hotel general
services quality
0.45
Rooms quality
0.42 0.09 0.005 0.12 0.38 0.174 0.11 0.69
Employees attention 0.42

quality
Total of the scale
(23 items)
0.03 0.000 0.02 0.31 0.157
Yes
0.06 0.000
0.01 0.22 0.174
0.00 0.62
Sig
0.006
0.006
0.04 0.80
0.000
0.43 0.01 0.000 0.05 0.31 0.115 0.04 0.69
0.000
Note: Means value range from 4 to 4.
the guest replied Yes). This same relation persisted at the dimension
level. Concerning the I would return variable, differences of the index
value both for the entire scale and the dimensions were non-significant.
The study did not reveal significant evidences that might allow predicting whether the guest will stay at the hotel again or not.
CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION
This research work sets out in measuring perceived quality at high category hotels at two destinations in Neuquen Province, Argentina, using the
comparison between guest expectations and perceptions methodology. It
also evaluates the influence of factors like previous experiences and personal needs on the development of customer expectations and the consequences of service quality in future hotel guests behaviour.
Research conclusions and the discussion of the most important findings are discussed below.
First, regarding guest expectations concerning hotels, interviewees
showed high levels on all items of the scale, therefore ratifying what
Knutson et al. suggests in relation to users demands about this kind of
service. In addition, the dimension that showed the highest levels of expectation and also kept the same levels of performance perception was
Employees attention quality, in agreement with Akan studies which
suggests that attributes related to personnel were the most influential in
the configuration of quality assessment.
99
Second, variations in the levels of expectations based on the needs that

led the guest to choose a hotel (tourism or business) were detected ratifying what the SERVQUAL theory proposes. However, SERVQUALs
postulates about previous experience with a service as an influential aspect at expectation level (Parasuraman et al., 1991) were not proved.
Third, dimensions with the lowest performance perception values
were related to tangible aspects (physical support and hotel general
services quality and rooms quality). At the gap level, items related
to sound isolation of bedrooms, hotel accessibility to special guests and
regulation of room temperature (heating/cooling system control) in the
rooms, showed the most negative and significant values. These results
would seem to ratify Johns and Lee-Rosss assumptions regarding the
tendency of tangible attributes to be dissatisfying. It must be pointed
out, however, that this is a partial confirmation because the highest and
positive gap values also turned out to be tangible (convenient location
of hotels, bedroom dimensions and availability of TV service in the
rooms).
Fourth, and concerning the evaluation of the scale used, results were
highly positive. It was not only reliable but also proved its construct and
criteria validity. However, the present study was unable to confirm the
predicting quality of the scale regarding recurrence in the use of the
hotel.
Finally, considering the particular service context and the geographical
region in which this study was applied, it can be considered as pioneer in
making use of SERVQUALs methodology, as well as an empiric contribution to existing published knowledge about service quality at South
American hotels.
Managerial Implications
Developing a context adapted, reliable and valid methodology to
measure service quality in hotels in a Pantagonian Provinces is an interesting scientific contribution for the actual hotel sector competitive
scenery. Measuring service quality through this kind of study allows
management to obtain specific information about directions and sizes of
the gaps, for each quality dimension and item. Consequently, managers
can realize key features that facilitate or obstruct the delivery of high
quality service at their hotels.
For instance, this study clearly shows that not all quality items of hotel
service are equally important to guests. Issues related to the dimension
employees attention quality are the most expected by customers allud-
100
ing to a managerial warning about the importance of choosing right strategies concerning human resources selection, training, motivation and
empowerment.
Another finding of this work is that some tangible items are particularly adversary when scoring global hotel quality in Neuquen Province
destinations. About this fact it must be pointed out that Argentinean hotels suffered a lack of inversions process during 90s. Attending the new
economic conditions they are actually facing, it is recommended to take
in mind the mentioned building problems in order to prioritize its investment effort in direction to quality enhancement.
Finally, service quality measurement cant be a static diagnostic. Applying a dynamic and systematically periodic process of quality assessment in order to supervise gap tendencies after applying managerial
enhancement actions is recommended to hotel managers.
Study Limitations
There were some limitations in this study that need to be recognized.
First, the number and choice of destinations included which were intentional. Despite the fact that Neuquen and SMA are two important destinations addressing the two most common hotel segments (work/business
and tourism), they represent just a portion of the whole hotel industry in
the province.
Second, the sample size (N = 216), although in line with similar research works, is not the big enough for a conclusive study. The research
teams lack of economic resource was a critical aspect in this matter. At
last, the time period when the study took place was SMAs low season
(September to November). Service quality may result differently between this period and peak season.
Directions for Further Researches
This work is the first step to measuring perceived service quality in
lodging services using SERVQUAL methodology within Argentina.
Therefore there is much work to be done and many research studies to
be developed.
Using the hotel service quality scale proposed in this study through
out other destinations of Argentina and South America is desirable.
This way its reliability and validity would be proved and adaptation for
specific geographical contexts suggested.
101
Other line for further research tasks is linked to its application to

other hotel categories (one and two stars hotels) as well as other type of
lodging offers (i.e., hotels, cottages, apart hotels, bed & breakfasts, inns,
guesthouses, etc.). There would be some specific considerations to take
into account in each case. The exploration of these particularities would
be very useful for developing specific service quality scales for each
type of lodge.
Finally, it is very desirable to continue investigating around the measurement of perceived service quality in other travel business. Travel
agencies, transportation as well as food & beverage satisfaction levels
still remain unexplored in Argentina.
REFERENCES
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Alexandris, K., Dimitriadis, N., and Markata, D. (2002). Can perceptions of service
quality predict behavioural intentions? An exploratory study in the hotel sector in
Greece. Managing Service Quality, 12: 224-231.
Garca Buades, E. (2001). La calidad del servicio en hoteles de Sol y Playa, Madrid:
Sntesis.
Grnroos, C. (1984). A service quality model and its marketing implications, European
Journal of Marketing, 18: 36-44.
1994 Marketing y gestin de servicios, Madrid: Daz de Santos.
Ingram, H., and Daskalakis, G. (1999). Measuring quality gaps in hotels: The case of
Crete, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 11: 24-30.
Johns, N., and Lee-Ross, D. (1997). A study of service quality in small hotels and
guesthouses, Progress in Tourism and Hospitality Research, 3: 351-366.
Kandampully, J., and Suhartanto, D. (2000). Customer loyalty in the hotel industry:
The role of customer satisfaction and image, International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, 12, 346-351.
Knutson, B., Stevens, P., Patton, M., and Thompson, C. (1992). Customers expectations for service quality in economy, mid-price and luxury hotels, Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 1: 27-43.
Malhotra, N.K. (1997). Investigacin de Mercados. Un enfoque prctico, Mxico:
Prentice Hall.
Parasuraman, A., Berry, L. and Zeithaml, V. (1988). SERVQUAL, A multiple-item scale
for measuring customer perceptions of service quality, Journal of Retailing, 64: 12-40.
1991 Understanding Customer Expectations Of Service, Sloan Management Review,
32: 39-48.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V., and Berry, L. (1985). A conceptual model of service
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Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V., and Berry, L. (1994). Alternative scales for measuring
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Saleh, F., and Ryan, C. (1991). Analyzing Service Quality in the Hospitality Industry
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Perceived Quality of Hotels in Neuquen Province

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This article was downloaded by: [Universidad Nacional Colombia]

On: 13 March 2015, At: 14:12

Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing

Perceived Quality of Hotels in Neuquen Province,

Luca Tamagni PhD & Marina Zanfardini PhD

Department of Tourism Services , School of Tourism, National University of Comahue , Email:

Department of Tourism Services , National University of Comahue , E-mail:

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JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY & LEISURE MARKETING

KEYWORDS. Perceived quality hotels, SERVQUAL, quality measurement

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Lucqa Tamagni and Marina Zanfardini

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JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY & LEISURE MARKETING

Because subsequent research has led to some criticism of the

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Measuring Hotel Service Quality

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Lucqa Tamagni and Marina Zanfardini

an adaptation of SERVQUAL model to hotel service (particularly to

JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY & LEISURE MARKETING

aspects of the responsiveness, assurance and empathy SERVQUAL

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Lucqa Tamagni and Marina Zanfardini

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Physical support and Hotel external appearance.

Dimension of the room.

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JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY & LEISURE MARKETING

cators: annual frequency of hotel use and average duration of stay on

Lucqa Tamagni and Marina Zanfardini

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JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY & LEISURE MARKETING

Primary (not completed)

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High school (not completed)

High school (completed)

College (not completed)

Lucqa Tamagni and Marina Zanfardini

CHART 1. Trip Group by Motivation (N = 216)

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obtained by comparing medians between reasons for travelling. Tourists

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CHART 2. Expectation Means by Quality Dimensions (N = 216)

TABLE 3. Expectation Means Comparison by Reason for Traveling: Significant

Hotel external appearance

Note: (*) Equal variances not assumed. () Equal variances assumed.

Cleaning of the hotel.

Cleaning and maintenance of sheets and towels.

Heating/air conditioning control.

Security for the guest and his possessions.

Convenient location for the guest.

Dimension of the room.

Special guests accessibility.

Availability of TV in the room.

Decoration and atmosphere of the hotel.

Hotel external appearance.

Mean Standard Mean Standard Mean

TABLE 4. Expectations, Performances and Quality Gaps

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Mean Standard Mean Standard Mean

Sound isolated rooms.