Tourists Satisfaction Levels - Report Example

Tourist Satisfaction An Analysis of Tourists’ satisfaction levels and the Likelihood of Recommending a Tourist Destination to others with a special emphasis on college students. Name Abstract Studies on consumer behaviour have shown that at the core of any purchase is customer satisfaction (Westbrook and Oliver, 1991). A tourist is also a customer who is in the middle of making purchases which in this case is the tourist destination. On his side, Anton (1996) explained customer satisfaction from a contemporary point of view, where he defined it as a state of mind where an individual’s needs, wants and their expectations which they have formed for a product or service are met or even exceeded resulting to a repurchase and royalty. This means that satisfaction can only be achieved if only the customer gets what they wanted to get. In tourism this is achieved when the customer interacts with the tourist destination and the tourist experience. This means that it matters a lot what the customer expected and how the destination was unveiled to the tourist. For his reason one tourist may feel dissatisfied from the destination while another one is fully satisfied. Similarly, the same destination may be visited by the same tourist and end up having different satisfaction levels for the two visits may be due to how the tourist were handled in the two visits or having different expectations for the two different visits. While students may be considered as general tourist, they have specific needs that need to be addressed in a unique manner to ensure that they are satisfied. May are times that they have been left out of the main plans by tourist destinations. However, as Pizam et al. (1978) notes, satisfying one group of customer does not lead to automatic satisfaction of all the others. For this reason as a highly potential group, there is a need to ensure that they are also focused while determining the satisfaction levels are they mainly represent the youths. Introduction Travel and tourism is considered one of the globe’s largest industries. The fact that it has even greater potential makes the industry of higher interest. With the removal of certain strict policies in the airline industry, together with advancement in technology, the emergence of online business/ e-commerce and demographic transitions the industry is even set for a better future. It continues to provide numerous job opportunities as well as for millions of people as well as support many governments a main source of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In 2011 according to the World Tourism Organization UNWTO (2011), the International tourism receipts surpassed US$ 1.2 trillion with the largest share going to Europe at 45 percent of that. The benefits of this industry are not only limited to this exacting industry, but also its effects would be felt in the retail, transportation and building industries. Tourist satisfaction has become an increasing trending topic in destination management. With the continued larger demand of quality service offer from tourists and the immense competition that hits most travel destinations, there is need for tourists to be given value for their money in order to sustain this development. Therefore, most tourists are adopting a general trend of relying more on information about tourist destination when making the decision or planning where to visit. Since tourist satisfaction is generally considered by a person’s feelings, or attitude after he/she has been purchased, tourists need to be remaining satisfied during their vocation before they would decide revisiting a tourist destination or recommending it to others (Hui, Wan, Ho, 2006). Improving tourist satisfaction levels are helpful to enhanced reputation for the destination. It is very necessary that an assessment is done on how much satisfaction each troop of tourists gain from their tour (Vincent et,al, 2000). Problem Statement Many previous researchers and scholars have examined tourist satisfaction. However, there is not much research done about college students’ satisfaction in relation to the various tourist destinations. The studies conducted in other groups of customers cannot be applied directly to the unique characteristics posed by college student, largely because it’s totally different between social structure and environment. Retaining tourists is as important as attracting new tourist, it is necessary to understand college students’ satisfaction to attract and retain tourists. The college student market is a unique market that has unique characteristics some of which other demographic groups do not possess. Their potential both currently and in the future will make them a unique market. It is for such potential that have made other service provider, such as the banks not ignore the students as they tend to remain loyal to the business that walked with them through their student days even when they get employed and have much to spend. Tourists Satisfaction Tourist satisfaction within a tourist attraction scenery or to the inhabitants of a touring site is a very important tool that can be used in determining or doing successful destination marketing, because it influences the choice of destination for the tourists, the consumption of goods and services and finally the decision on whether a revisit would be necessary to that same site or not (Bongkosh et al, 2002). In the last few years, there are researches that have been done to come up with possible definitions of what tourist attraction is. In line with Woodside, Frey and Daly (1989), tourists, just like other customers, establish their tourism satisfaction by generally recognizing it as a post-purchase contract. This contract’s sole obligation is determined by whether the customers served like or dislike a particular good or service after having used or experienced it, in cases of services. In relation to tourism, this particular contract, the post-purchase contract plays a vital role in determining the pre-travel expectations of tourists intending to visit an area and the travelling experiences that they may have during the journey or tour. In a similar thread of thought, Pizam, Neumann and Reichel (1978) in their literature on “Dimensions of tourist satisfaction with a destination area”, indicated that the satisfaction of tourists visiting a particular site would be derived from a general comparison in identifying the disparity between the expectations held by the tourists for the site they are planning to visit, vis-à-vis the encounters or the experiences actually had in the site. Further, it can be inferred that if the experiences met at the site fully satisfy or meet the expectation or te needs of the tourists after their visit, then it would be imperative to note that they are satisfied. However, a contrary opinion to this would mean dissatisfaction. While doing their research, the authors of the above sentiments noted with keen interest that there were researchers who had initially used certain theories in relation to specific tourist attraction sites to help explain how tourist satisfaction could be measured (Hui, Wan & Ho, 2007). Travel attributes influence Tourists satisfaction Research that has been done in relation to tourist satisfaction initially examined the relationship between tourist satisfaction and the factors that facilitates satisfaction that include, but not limited to, motivation and satisfaction (Meng, Tepanon, & Uysal, 2007). A general conclusion was arrived at after satisfaction and motivation were studied independently that tourist satisfaction not only depends on motivation but also to destination attributes. These attributes include factors that are very critical to evaluation of the level of satisfaction such as the image and satisfaction of special or particular tour destination (Meng, Tepanon, & Uysal, 2007). Um (1987) defined travel attributes as the set of attributes which, when aggregated together, describe a place as a travel destination. The above mentioned attributes include all the factors that relate to a particular destination and similarly what is experienced or encountered while travelling to the place of interest. These factors are physical and cultural traits or characteristics that are experienced in the destination (Um,1987; quoted in Heung, 2000). Pizam et al., (1978) arrived at a conclusion that the dissatisfaction of a tourist or a consumer with a given attribute associated with the area or region of the visit will affect the overall response of the tourist in relation to his or her evaluation of the tourist destination. Similarly, Kozak and Rimington (2000) also came up with an exactly the same finding that the destination attributes and the quality of service obtained or experienced at the tourist destination will act as a determinant of the overall level of satisfaction of the consumer or tourist with the visit and its environments, together with any other factor associated with it. Detecting the travel attributes for tourists’ satisfaction According to the previous researches that are mentioned above, it is concrete to arrive at a general assumption based on the sentiments that what they considered most as being vital to satisfaction of tourists during a visit are motivations and travelling attributes which they were all in agreement that influenced or directly affected the tourists (Meng, Tepanon, & Uysal, 2007). In a general sense, it can be deduced that the quality of products and services has a major influence in overall tourists’ evaluation of satisfaction in a tourist destination (Taylor & Baker, 1994; Anderson et al., 1994). Goodrich (1977) gave a report that there are four main factors that should be considered whenever the plan of improving the travelling attributes and tourist attraction sites for a tourist is being drawn. These factors include; Entertainment, purchase or buying opportunities, the climate that ensures their comfort and finally the cost of operating or staying in that region where the site is located (Goodrich, 1977; cited in Heung & Qu, 2000). Whenever tourists are set to travel out, what they need is safety, reasonable and affordable prices of basic commodities, comfortable and up to date accommodation services, and a vacation that would be considered a relaxed one away from hustles in busy streets. Such factors are major to ensuring a successful project aimed at satisfying tourists (Meng, Tepanon, & Uysal, 2006). In addition, Som,et.al (2011) put is that the satisfaction of a tourist in a destination can mainly be affected by availability of accommodation services (lodging), availability of affordable food, availability of shops for buying basic commodities, sites that attract them, activities and events that they find unique, unique environments, accessibility of such areas, the price or cost of living at the destination, the unique cultures, the favorable climate such as an overhead sun during winter for a tourist from the Scandinavian countries, images portrayed by the inhabitants of destinations, unique nature, for instance lions and preserved natural forests, different lifestyles, a rich history, availability of services, for instance tour guides, tourist facilities, availability of proper sanitation, nightlife, language barrier or ability to communicate, and value for money in the stock markets (Chi & Qu, 2008; Heung & Cheng, 2000; Heung & Qu, 2000; Kozak & Rimmington, 2000; quoted in Song & Cheung, 2010). Tourists Satisfaction amongst college students The college student proof to be a major catch while it comes to determining the future of any business. They are the future of any business as they determine who will be the customer in the next five years. It is for this reason that many business are quick not to ignore this fact and in turn provides some very sweet and enticing packages for them. They are a unique market niche for any organization. Lounsbury, Saudargas, Gibson, and Leong (2005), noted that what the students become in the future is to a large extent determined by how the become while in college. Determining how they are satisfied with the various tourist destinations within a region determine how they will behave towards the same in future. This means that if they feel appreciated while in college, they develop loyalty. Such is an asset that no business should be willing to lose. Taylor and Baker (1994) noted that a satisfied customer comes back again and again. They become free brand ambassadors wherever they go and they are so strong that at times they bring in more business than even the paid ambassadors. This means, therefore, bringing the students closer to any business is a plus for it. Through this the business is assured of a future. Their needs are unique, but not very different from the normal needs that the tourist has to satisfy with the other customers. Their only special needs is room for them. Most of the tourist destinations have activities for adults and those for kids. To be able to meet the needs of college students well and have them satisfied, the site organizers have to develop plans that accommodate the college students. This means that there is needs to have an intermediary allocation for them. This means providing for them them with facilities that are not so mature and yet not very kids’ oriented. 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