A study on the strategy development of rural tourism using customer satisfaction and service quality

Abstract

quotIn tourism industry, customer satisfaction is the key factor for sustenance. Apart from site attractions, accommodation facilities, accessibility also plays a pivotal role in the selection of a tourist spot. This study focuses on customer satisfaction in terms of all the three components Attraction, Accessibility and Accommodation in rural West Bengal. The objective of the study is to create a customer satisfaction model and validate it with respect to 3 components. In the study, five rural tourist spots were identified in the state of West Bengal and customer survey was undertaken with the help of structured questionnaire. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed for initial knowledge development on the constructs of Attraction, Accessibility and Accommodation. newlineSatisfaction rests on two broad dimensions of service quality for Attraction, one is Local Culture of a place and the other is Natural Richness of Place. Similarly, Satisfaction rests on two broad dimensions of service quality for Accessibility, one is Accessibility to the Site and the other is Accessibility to Basic Services. Furthermore, Satisfaction rests on two broad dimensions of service quality for Accommodation, one is Basic Services and Facilities and the other is Premium Services. After this 12 variables were discovered for which Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed which justified my three components and thus labelled the factors as Attraction, Accessibility and Accommodation? With the help of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structured Equation Modelling (SEM), it has emerged from the study that overall satisfaction level of the constructs Attraction, Accessibility and Accommodation has a greater impact. newlineAttraction, Accessibility and Accommodation will have a positive influence on customer satisfaction. Attraction has an impact of 0.67, Accessibility has an impact of 0.54 and Accommodation has an impact of 0.49. Thus, it may be hypothesised that people in general consider choosing the destination with Attra