Abstract:
This study aims at measuring and evaluating the service quality of hotels and the
tourism industry in the Trincomalee district in light of the international SERVQUAL
Model. It also tackles the extent to which these hotels cover model dimensions.
Moreover, it aims at figuring out the main gaps difference between expectations and
perceptions in order to provide the ways of solutions to develop the level of quality at
hotels operating in the Trincomalee district. The researcher used the descriptive
statistical analysis methodology by conducting a questionnaire by using SPSS. The
sample of the study is a random sampling which is the complete list of random including
hotel's customers and guests, consisting of 200 participants from 25 top hotels in
Trincomalee district. It is noted that the number of valid questionnaires amounts to 200
where the researcher recovered 154 questionnaires; 46 out often are dropped due to
their invalid responses.
Moreover, the questionnaire consists of five dimensions. After the interpretation of the
analyzed data, the study concluded the following: First, there are gaps between
expectation and perception by varying percentages where the total mean of the model
dropped by 1.064 represented by 22.81Yo. Second, there is considerable and significant
weakness regarding the administrative and operational side which led to the existence
of such gaps. Third, there is a lack of a quality control unit to monitor and evaluate the
quality of the hotels operating in the Trincomalee.
This study recommended the importance of conducting training courses for the
administrative and operational departments as a way to improve their skills and ,
capabilities. The study recommended activating the role of the Ministry of Tourism in
establisher and developing rules and regulations to maintain and monitor the level of
quality at the hotels operating in the Trincomalee. In addition, it is recommended to
develop a quality control unit inside hotel institutions in the Trincomalee to monitor
and evaluate the provided quality or allocate a qualified person to be responsible for
quality control. Finally, it is recommended to apply the (SQ) Model (SERVQUAL)
which supports measures and evaluates service quality in the hotel and tourism industry.
Keywords: Service Quality, Hotel and tourism industry, SERVQUAL model,
Trincomalee District