Role of Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry

This report examines the role of service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. It includes a literature review on service quality, the impact of COVID-19 on service quality, and the importance of service quality in the hospitality industry. The report also discusses Ledbury's online presence and the evaluation of service quality through online reviews. Recommendations are provided to improve service quality in the industry.

Consultancy
Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
(1) Literature Review on Service Quality..............................................................................3
(2) Ledbury's Online Presence...............................................................................................6
(3) Evaluation of Service Quality through online reviews.....................................................7
(4) Recommendation..............................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality and Tourism plays a massive role in providing business related services.
Hospitality industry is one of the part of service industry. It provides essential services for
travellers, lodging services etc. The main aim is to attain customer satisfaction effectively.
Whereas Tourism sector is vital as it helps in boosting the economies by encouraging
employment, infrastructure development and maintaining local culture (Kant and Jaiswal, 2017).
Further the hotels, restaurants, theme parks and many comes under the hospitality industry.
Tourism is another segment of service industry and offers services for people who want
to travel to explore places for business or any other purposes. The sector is bifurcated into further
industry groups including food and beverages services, travel services, accommodation and
lodging etc. Hospitality and Tourism sector focuses on generating local economies which
ultimate stimulate the development of infrastructure and public amenities. This report examines
the role of service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. Further the
Ledbury Company is chosen to review service quality and customer satisfaction effectively.
MAIN BODY
(1) Literature Review on Service Quality
During the past year service quality has become a major goal which need to be attained in
order to meet organisational objectives. As the pandemic year caused phenomenal changes in the
service industry. Numerous researchers analysed the term service quality and many formed the
instrument to measure service quality (Palese and Usai, 2018). There are multiple factors
affecting the service industry such as mind set of customers, demands, increased competition.
The Objectives of Review are, firstly the key dimensions of service quality, secondly is
the service quality amid pandemic situation and lastly the importance of service quality in the
service industry of hospitality including restaurant services.
Gronoroos (1982) referred service quality as the perception of customer in relation to the
expected service and service attained. On the other hand, Gefan (2002) addressed service quality
as the difference between what quality customers expect and what they actually receives. High
quality of services can be achieved by possessing proper knowledge of operational process along
with the effective way of addressing issues. Sometimes dissatisfied customers blame themselves
for attaining bad services. The organisation is required to identify and resolve the issue which are

not complained so as to achieve customer satisfaction. Perceptions and exception of customers
plays a vital role in service industry. These two components help the organisation to derive
comparison between what they expect with what they actually provide. Further helps to make
their actual service quality effective by taking appropriate measure. According to Lovelock and
Wirtz (2011) the service industry derives a lot of employment opportunities form new jobs. The
competitive spirit among the companies led service quality as a strategic tool and tactic to meet
their objectives (Lee and Cheng, 2018).
The review further specifies the dimensions which are required to understand in order to
achieve service quality. The key dimensions are, Reliability refers as the expected result derived
by the firm. Responsiveness is the effective services offered by the employees. Competence for
service quality means key skills and knowledge to provide services. Accessibility is another
dimension which requires easy approach. Further communication skills is required to properly
understand and listen the customers. Credibility is also to be involved in order to gain customer
loyalty and trust. Understanding is the customer need is the base to prove high quality services.
Also the tangible refers to the physical evidence of the services offered.
The service quality was adversely affected during the course of COVID-19. The services
industry especially the hospitality industry faced major challenges amid pandemic situation.
Despite the hindrances the industry is now maintaining its resources and devising its ways to
aboard back efficiently. The Service quality need to be determined keeping in view the changing
environment. Nowadays, e-quality services are becoming trendy. Maintaining e-services became
important with the pace of technology. The review addresses the challenges faced by the
industry in former year. Further describes what lessons are taken from the current scenario. The
continuous effect of pandemic is becoming a serious problem on tourism and hospitality in
United Kingdom. It is essential for the industry to develop confidence among the travellers by
addressing their needs in pandemic situation. Hygiene and cleanliness is considered as important
in attaining high quality of services. Service Quality led to customer satisfaction and thus, lack of
quality influences the customer behaviour (Prentice and Kadan, 2019).
Moreover, according to Wen and et. al. (2020) good health will be considered as key
component in the service industry after the recovery from COVID-19 as people will fear in
respect of diseases similar to current pandemic. The outbreak of pandemic situation increased the
customers demand for hotels, restaurants, cafe adhering the precautions and norms to prevent the

spread of virus. Customer needs and lifestyles are updated in the last year. They became more
health conscious and thus, needs are to be personalised by the industry in order to enhance
customers by offering high quality services. Accordingly the industry is required to update their
strategies in order to sustain in the market (Famiyeh, Asante-Darko and Kwarteng, 2018).
Strategies such as eco-friendly concept accompanied by good service quality will help to attract
customers during such outbreak. The pandemic has adversely affected the survival of many
hotels. The Ledbury company is one of the examples of closed restaurants in London which
failed to survive amid lockdown. Some of the reasons were company not able to adhere norms,
out of money and others. The company's business model is unviable to survive in the
marketplace.
Service Quality is now considered as strategic tool which need to be adapted effectively
in order to gain sustainability and competitive advantage in the market. If this factors is adopted
effectively and efficiently by the industry it can create the advantage of differentiation among its
competitors. On providing high quality services along with customer satisfaction led to achieve
competitive advantage in the industry. The experiences and quality attained by the customers
creates a major imprint in their minds. Many researchers like Knuston and Nauman proved that
the cheapest source of marketing activity is the satisfaction of customers through quality service.
Further it is of great help to the organisation in profits increment. According to the recent trend
of rating online as well as offline encourages to improve their service quality. Also the feedback
helps them to formulate new measures to achieve success and growth. Thus, service quality need
to be entertained effectively by the organisation in order to meet its organisational goal of
customer satisfaction effectively.
Hospitality industry generally uses the benchmarking strategies to achieve their goal of
customer satisfaction. This strategy helps in knowing the competitor's competitive advantage.
Many new strategies such as innovation is opt by the company to enhance competitive
advantage. One of the theory which is developed by the Oliver is that the level of satisfaction is
the outcome of prediction and supposed performance (Arcand and et. al., 2017). Importance of
service quality led to Customer Loyalty, the effective company is the resultant of loyal and
happy customers. Not only trends need to be updated but also they required to furnish with
quality services. Making special discounts to regular customers or providing assistance services
are some example of keeping track of customers. Customer satisfaction can be achieved if the

company provides positive ambience. Also service quality can be maintained by providing
safety needs as the customers are paying to be served properly. At last the customers must feel
that they are receiving a valuable experience in exchange of money. These includes, vouchers,
discounts, free refreshments etc.
(2) Ledbury's Online Presence
It is important for business to have online presence as it helps the company or
organisation to build its goodwill and image in the minds of segmented customers. It helps to
gain credibility in order to attract customers. Generally those business who hold on verified
listings on Google imprints good impression in the minds of the customers who make use of
google frequently. Such reliable information will help to build trust and loyalty among
customers. The company can reach large audience by listing its activities online such as google,
social sites etc. Hospitality sector allows their online presence so as to attract large number of
audience by providing them with discount rates, vouchers, free refreshment on first bookings and
others. The effective website accompanied by search engine optimization will led an increase in
revenue. The online presence acts an marketing tool for the industry (Mugion and et. al., 2018).
As it will also attract those customers who are unknown to their services. Internet sensation helps
in generating revenues of the industry.
Most common internet sources which can be used in the industry are Websites,
nowadays hospitality industry has their websites on which they regulate business activities.
These websites are considered as path which led to booking, customer reviews, effectiveness of
business. Provides offers such as discount rates led to customer attraction. Further the customers
gets satisfied and rely on the reviews and ratings given to the company. Another is the Social
Media Websites, the hospitality industry generally has a keen knowledge in promoting their
services via social media websites. Social media marketing is a trendy marketing tool which the
company need to opt to survive in the competitive environment. Nowadays all the customers and
travellers use smart phones and thus, it is easy for them to book just by one click accompanied
by offers rather than waiting in a queue for hours. They are recognised as a booking or
reservation tool used to attract potential customers (Al-Ababneh, 2017). Further helps in
reducing cost related to human interaction and makes the transactions easier. For example Easy
to book via affiliated payment modes such as Google Pay.

The name of Ledbury company was on verified listings viewed on Google. Provides
relevant information of the company such as address, their closing and opening hours, a link
directing customers towards company's official website where booking and other activities can
be done effectively. Also it provides the information in respect of reviews achieved by the
company. The google shows 275 reviews in respect of Ledbury Company. Google My Business
further facilitate customer with the directions on google map. Further the company has 2984
unbiased review on Pinterest. The images on google review helps the customers to attract with
beautiful ambience and food posts. Also its online presence led the customer know about its
amenities and reviews. The social sites like Facebook helped the company to attain its large
targeted audience. The images and tags made by the customers formed brand image of the
restaurant which ultimately led to achieve the desired goals (Eid and Abdelkader, 2017).
(3) Evaluation of Service Quality through online reviews
Online reviews led the customer know about the reputation of the company. This
provides a great help to the company in increasing its revenue. The unbiased reviews on
company's sites creates golden opportunity to attract potential customers. These are considered
as motivating tool which motivates the customers to book quickly without any hesitation. It also
helps in securing returns for business. Online review is a mouth promotion via digitally which
helps to build positive image of the company. The youth generation rely on the recommendation
and reviews before taking any further step. Nowadays the search engine has a history where
customers search directly as “the hotel having excellent or best reviews”. The industry focuses
on gaining good online reviews.
These reviews help the customers in evaluating the quality of service provided by the
company. Such unbiased reviews causes both positive as well as negative impact on the
company. The positive impact increases the power of influencing potential customers whereas
negative impact causes vice-versa effect. The online reviews causes a great impact on the
customer's decisions. Further the reviews are beneficial for the company in improving their
strategies. The negative review will help the company to update their strategies according to the
customer needs and wants. The online reviews are further updated from long lengthy reviews to
the rating system. This system allows the customers to rate without any delay of time. For
example Ratings 1 to 5 includes review from bad to excellent. Some online reviews also provides
short surveys in respect of service quality offered by the company.

The Ledbury company has its review on google which enable the users of google to
attract towards the restaurant. The reviews caused positive image of the company. The experts
evaluated the quality of services offered by the company. Further these reviews helped the
company to improve their services and other strategies. The ambiance review along with posts of
delicious food enable the customers to try the restaurant. The suggestions provides great help in
order to achieve the desired goals effectively and efficiently. The strong review caused strong
influence on the revenue of the company. During the outbreak of COVID-19, the customers gave
their feedbacks and suggestions to facilitate the services rather than closing. Thus, the company
is required to be updated with online reviews so that they can take measures to meet its
objectives along with new strategies according to trendy needs of the customers.
(4) Recommendation
The recommendations in respect to improve service quality are discussed below:-
Effective Mission Statement
Once the mission is determined the company need to bifurcate its goals into short and
long term in order to implement its strategies effectively (Sipe and Testa, 2018). This will help
the company in reviewing their progress and also help to keep a track of its customers.
Open for Feedback
The feedback of customer is vital to achieve success and growth. The company should
devise innovative ways for its customers to deliver feedback and suggestions. Such can be done
by sending surveys on their mail addresses, giving stars. This approach will not only led to
customer satisfaction but also improve the operations of the business.
Sharing of Experiences
The company shall provide the customers to share their experience on their social sites.
This will help the company to attract potential customers. The positive and negative experience
will create the brand image accordingly. For example customers tag the restaurant or cafe in their
photos. Thus, helps in promoting the brand.
Offer value-add services
Every company recruits the customer service representatives to achieve its objective of
customer satisfaction effectively. They not only resolve the customer grievances but also shares
the information in respect of services or new services, if evolved to them. The company takes the
help of social media or other internet sources to furnish relevant information to their clients.

Referral Strategy
Nowadays company allows offer such as “refer the link app to others and win 100 points
in your account” such strategy helps the company to attract potential customers and thus,
motivates them to improve their quality services. As number of attracted customers motivates the
company to provide high quality of services. Further service quality led customer satisfaction
and loyalty towards the company.
Effective training of representatives
Customer service play a crucial role in maintaining the quality of the organisation. The
are the ones who interact and attract the potential customers. Being the face of the company,
training is required to achieve the desired goals. Good customer service led to customer
satisfaction and ultimately the service quality (Ju and et. al., 2019). The customer service reviews
the feedback and respond them accordingly.
Responsibility
The head of the company generally gives directions and approaches to team and
responsible for bad performance. The question raised on the quality of service need to be
answered by the head in an effective manner. It shows an unethical practice when a company
shifts its responsibility on someone else. Further review need to be entertained rather ignoring
them. Such practices cause negative image of the company.
Innovative ways to create impression
The service quality is improved when company tries innovative ways to create good
impression on their customers. For example discounts or free refreshment for regular customer.
It is important for maintain consistency in hospitality industry.
Benchmarking Method
The approach helps the organisation to understand the changing environment and
competition (Huang, Lee and Chen, 2019). Further helps to formulate strategies in accordance
with it. This method led to achieve the organisational goal of customer satisfaction efficiently.
And this goal ultimately provides high quality of services.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that the service industry not only focus to achieve
economy goals but also aims to achieve customer satisfaction by providing effective quality of
service. The company meet its objectives effectively and efficiently by maintaining its service
quality. Service quality is treated as strategic tool by many organisations. According they
formulate strategies in providing high quality of services. The last year made a caution for every
industry especially the hospitality industry to deliver good quality of service. The above report
examined the importance of service quality and customer satisfaction in respect of company.
Also the importance of online presence of the service industry is discussed above to create
positive image of the company. Further the report evaluated the importance of online reviews to
attract potential customer. At last the report suggested the recommendations for the organisation
to improve service quality and customer satisfaction in the service industry. Thus, overall the
report was made to encourage the role of service quality and customer satisfaction in the
hospitality industry.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al-Ababneh, M., 2017. Service quality in the hospitality industry. Available at SSRN 3633089.
Arcand, M., and et. al., 2017. Mobile banking service quality and customer
relationships. International Journal of Bank Marketing.
Eid, R. and Abdelkader, A.A., 2017. Muslim service quality dimensions in the tourism and
hospitality industry: construct development and measurement validation. International
Journal of Islamic Marketing and Branding. 2(3). pp.215-231.
Famiyeh, S., Asante-Darko, D. and Kwarteng, A., 2018. Service quality, customer satisfaction,
and loyalty in the banking sector. International Journal of Quality & Reliability
Management.
Huang, P.L., Lee, B.C. and Chen, C.C., 2019. The influence of service quality on customer
satisfaction and loyalty in B2B technology service industry. Total Quality Management
& Business Excellence. 30(13-14). pp.1449-1465.
Ju, Y., and et. al., 2019. Exploring Airbnb service quality attributes and their asymmetric effects
on customer satisfaction. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 77. pp.342-
352.
Kant, R. and Jaiswal, D., 2017. The impact of perceived service quality dimensions on customer
satisfaction. International Journal of Bank Marketing.
Lee, W.H. and Cheng, C.C., 2018. Less is more: A new insight for measuring service quality of
green hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 68. pp.32-40.
Mugion, R.G., and et. al., 2018. Does the service quality of urban public transport enhance
sustainable mobility?. Journal of Cleaner Production. 174. pp.1566-1587.
Palese, B. and Usai, A., 2018. The relative importance of service quality dimensions in E-
commerce experiences. International Journal of Information Management. 40. pp.132-
140.
Prentice, C. and Kadan, M., 2019. The role of airport service quality in airport and destination
choice. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. 47. pp.40-48.
Sipe, L.J. and Testa, M.R., 2018. From satisfied to memorable: An empirical study of service and
experience dimensions on guest outcomes in the hospitality industry. Journal of
Hospitality Marketing & Management. 27(2). pp.178-195.