Abstract

The objectives of this study were to analyze the Chinese tourists' expectation and perception gaps of service quality in southern Thailand's seaside resorts, to study the items of service quality that are satisfied by Chinese tourists in southern Thailand's seaside resorts, to study the items of service quality that are dissatisfied by Chinese tourists in southern Thailand's seaside resorts. The researcher used the survey questionnaire to collect data from 400 Chinese tourists who visited seaside resort areas in the southern region of Thailand and used descriptive statistics.

The results found that Chinese tourists think some perceptions exceed their expectations, such as supporting online bookings in seaside areas, the staffs provide personalized service, the staffs are respectful, use polite language, smile service towards Chinese tourists, the seaside resorts have technical support. However, Chinese tourists think some perceptions can't reach their expectations, as for the price, it doesn’t have a reasonable price for food items, accommodation, traffic, commodity, and entertainment. As for the staff, it doesn’t have a first-class ability to handle emergencies, they can’t provide fast services. As for the managers of resort areas, it doesn’t have enough legal frameworks in protecting Chinese tourists.

The study recommends that the managers of seaside resort areas in southern Thailand need control of the cost of accommodation, food, transportation, commodities to be more rationalized. Additionally, managers should introduce laws and policies to protect the rights and interests of Chinese tourists, improve the ability of staff to handle emergencies and provide fast service for Chinese tourists.

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