Abstract

In order to be successful in the market it is not sufficient to attract new customers managers must concentrate on
retaining existing customers implementing effective policies of customer satisfaction and loyalty. In hotel
industry customer satisfaction is largely hooked upon quality of service. A management approach focused on
customer satisfaction can improve customer loyalty, thus increasing the positive image of the touristic
destination. Hence, exploring the importance for customers of hotel attributes in hotel selection is indispensable.
Research on the topic of guest satisfaction, which translates into the consideration of whether or not customers
will return to a hotel or advise it to other tourists, is pivotal to the success of the hospitality business. Neglecting
to pay attention to those hotel attributes considered most important by guests, may lead to negative evaluation of
the hotel, thus restricting the chance of repeat patronage. We perform a qualitative analysis of a large hotel in
Sicily (IT), the Sporting Club Hotel in the town Cefalù, using the Critical Incident Approach (Hayes, 2008).
Through the analysis of this case we evaluate the overall customer satisfaction level for the hotel and for each
service supplied. We conclude discussing the result and proposing improvement in customer satisfaction
management of the hotel.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.