Title: Measuring service quality in Macau luxury hotels using the QFD method: a case study

Authors: Chen-Kuo Pai; Shun-Hsing Chen; David Hinds

Addresses: Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau SAR, China ' Department of Marketing and Distribution Management, Oriental Institute of Technology, No. 58, Sec. 2, Sih-Chuan Rd., Pan-Chiao District, New Taipei City 22061, Taiwan ' Department of Decision Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida 33314, USA

Abstract: With the vigorous development of its gaming industry, Macau has become a very popular tourist destination and many well-known brands in the hospitality industry have entered this highly competitive market. In order to improve service quality and maximise customer satisfaction, it is critical for hotels in this region to clearly understand the true needs of their customers. This study applied the quality function deployment (QFD) method to empirical data collected from 280 Macau customers at three hotels, four Macau hospitality managers, and one academic expert. The resulting customer requirement weights and improvement priorities can be used by hotel administrators to assess their current service offerings and to make adjustments as needed to achieve service quality assurance. Further, the study shows how the QFD method, with some modifications, can be applied more generally by tourism and economic development agencies in creating programs which support improvement priorities across an entire region.

Keywords: service quality; quality function deployment; QFD; customer satisfaction; tourism development; economic development; quality measurement; Macau; luxury hotels; case study; hospitality industry; quality assurance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2016.077668

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2016 Vol.22 No.1/2, pp.106 - 119

Accepted: 11 Feb 2016
Published online: 12 Jul 2016 *

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