Table of Contents 1. Introduction......................................................................................................................2 2. Literature Review.............................................................................................................2 3. Methodology....................................................................................................................3 3i. Research Method........................................................................................................3 3ii. Sampling....................................................................................................................4 3iii. Data Collection.........................................................................................................4 4. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................

5 5. References........................................................................................................................6

Research Proposal on: Guest satisfaction with hotel or hotel chain's services for Aquarius Village Appartments 1. Introduction In this research study I have chosen to tackle the topic of guest satisfaction in a hotel. For this, I have selected the Aquarius Village Apartments in the city of Artistry in Greece as my subject of study. Basically, customer satisfaction is a business philosophy which tends to the creation of value for customers, foreseeing and managing their expectations, and demonstrating ability and responsibility to satisfy their needs. Thats the reason why, I have chosen to study this hotel as I have visited it in the past and felt astonished by the fact that all my needs were satisfied to the fullest, the food was of the best quality and the staff was very polite and eager to service us, in contrast to other hotels. Also, for this study I have selected to use the mixed research method as I will base my research on personal comments of the customers, via interviews, and questionnaires. This study can positively affect the hotel so as to maintain its current position and also gain new grounds in the market. 2. Literature Review Furthermore, this study is based on previous researches acquired through Emeralds website. The first study conducted a research on the role of customer satisfaction in customer loyalty in the hotel industry, which is of special interest as customer loyalty means competitive advantage for the hotel. Using a mixed method of research, generating new hypothesis based on known data and then testing them with the produced results, the authors collected data from 237 guests of five different chain hotels in Christchurch, New Zealand. They used a set of questionnaires accompanied by a covering letter and a chocolate bar incentive to convince the guests to fill them in. The questionnaires, of which 158 were returned and only 106 (45 per cent) were found useable, were delivered through the reception desk to the guests. In the second study, a research was conducted on the satisfaction levels of mainland Chinese travelers' expectations, perceptions and satisfaction levels towards the hotel services in Hong Kong. Mainly using a quantitative research method, 276 mainland Chinese travelers were approached, of whom 215 (78 per

cent) were interviewed and completed the questionnaires, which consisted of three different sections of data (respondents' traveling characteristics, hotel service attributes and demographic data). By evaluating these studies, I believe that both of them have achieved their goals at a good rate. However, the first study should have included a customer background filling form so as to create a more objective result dividing them in categories, while the second research should have made better use of the (e.g. demographic) data in hand so as to create a more complex and useful result. 3. Methodology The previously discussed surveys were conducted in a large scale based to the fact that the customers approached were many and that the hotels themselves were in a state to service many customers. However, the hotel to be researched, Aquarius Village Apartments, is a small hotel with only 13 independent, 2 roomed apartments. 3i. Research Method As the sample of customers varies and is small in size, I have chosen to use a mixed method. In this method, both interviews and questionnaires will be used. The guests will be asked to fill some questionnaires with some personal data about them (sex, country or city from where they visited us, how they learned about the hotel etc) and some comments of how satisfied they were of the hotels services in a scale of 1 to 5. The customers will be given the alternative of being interviewed either the period of time they stayed there or afterwards via the telephone they have registered. Also, this research will be both inductive and conductive, making new hypothesis along the research and using both numerical and non-numerical data. A mixed method is only feasible when there are no restrictions posed by the objectives of the study; in the research study there are no boundaries set which would limit the methodological approaches, rather a general overview of the satisfaction of guests in terms of quality. Furthermore, this method might be time and resource consuming, but the research will be conducted in more depth and detail than the other methods and isnt necessary to interview a large number of people at once as the sample of guests is already small.

3ii. Sampling The hotel is placed in the island of Artistry, known for its beautiful and clean sandy beaches. Also, its position attracts families and couples because it is near Athens only one hour from the port of Piraeus and is a cheap solution for luxurious vacations. The hotel is also a member of some of the most popular booking websites (http://touristorama.com/ , www.booking.com , etc) attracting many foreign visitors throughout the whole year and especially English tourists. The sample will be composed by Greek or English guests of both sexes, from 20 to 80 years of age. Based on this information the research study will consist of two groups. The first group will be those that are currently staying in the hotel and will be addresses with questionnaires in both languages, while the second group will be those guests that have visited the hotel in the past and will be asked to be interviewed via a phone call. The hotels management will be properly noticed with its consent the research will take place within its premises. The sample will be relatively small, 50 60 guests in total, with 30 of them currently staying there. The other part of the sample will be guests that have accepted to be informed of any offers or events concerning the hotel. The study will, also, include a proper document that will stress out the aim of this survey to the hotels management and to the guests, pointing out that their private information will not be uncovered to public and explaining them what is required for this survey to be conducted. 3iii. Data Collection In the survey to be carried out I have selected to use a combination of questionnaires and interviews. The quantitative part of this method will be based on structured questionnaires that will be given to the guests from the reception desk, in order to measure the level of guest satisfaction on the hotels services. So, the guests will be asked to grade in scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the lower) of how satisfied they felt from the staff and their service and politeness, the hygiene of the rooms and facilities, the room service, the food in the restaurant, the price of the rooms and in which level they felt they got the appropriate services for the amount of money they spent, which services felt that should be included in the original price etc. Also they will be asked to fill in some demographic data as age, sex and marital state. The questionnaires are the most appropriate data

collection instrument for numerical data, they are cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data. For the qualitative part of this method will be conducted through remote interviews, via telephone or skype, to former guests that have accepted to be notified or guests that are regular customers. These customers are more likely to answer sincerely and make true comments on the improvement of the services. These interviews will be semi-structured so as to make the customer more comfortable to answer the questions. This instrument might be more time consuming, but it offers direct answers, it is more probable to be answered properly in contrast to the questionnaires that might not be returned to the receptionist. Furthermore, the answers or comments from this interview might be written down by the questioner, or his/her assistant, or might be recorded if the guest is informed to be recorded and gives his/her permission to it. The recorded or written answers will then be analyzed and combined with the data of the questionnaires to produce a more concrete result. 4. Conclusion In conclusion, my assignment was based on conducting a research in a small hotel called Aquarius Village Appartments, placed in the Greek island of Artistry. The aim and central idea of this survey is to research the level of guest satisfaction by the hotels services. For the purpose of this assignment, I have used a mixed method of both qualitative and quantitative data collection instruments. For the quantitative approach questionnaires will be constructed to gain structured results, while for the qualitative approach interviews will be used as supplementary data to improve the final result. This method combines the best advantages of these methods, but can be time consuming. Finally, the staff involved will need to be properly instructed and the guests must be fully informed of the purpose of this research.

5. References Aquarius Village Appartments, http://www.aquarius-agistri.gr/ "Customer loyalty in the hotel industry: the role of customer satisfaction and image", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Jay Kandampully, Dwi Suhartanto, (2000), Vol. 12 Iss: 6, pp.346 - 351, http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=867348&show=html& "Satisfaction levels of mainland Chinese travelers with Hong Kong hotel services", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vincent C.S. Heung, (2000), Vol. 12 Iss: 5, pp.308 315, http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=867346&show=abstract http://touristorama.com/entryInfo.php?entryID=5285&language=greek http://www.booking.com/hotel/gr/aquariusvillage.el.html