Selcuk University, Konya Measuring Tourist Satisfaction Of Holiday: Practice On The Hotel Business With The Holsat Scale Safak Unuvar Seda Ozdemir Akgul Selcuk University, Konya safakunuvar@gmail.com

Measuring Tourist Satisfaction Of Holiday: Practice On The Hotel Business With The Holsat Scale The purpose of this study is to measure the vacation satisfaction levels of the customers’ accomodating at 4 and 5 star Hotels in Konya using the HOLSAT (Holiday Satisfaction) scale that is developed by Tribe and Snaith (1998) for comparison of vacation experiences’ negative and positive parts and expectations of vacationers.

1. CONSEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Tourist contentment is a function between expectation and experience. Tourists will be disappointed when expectations are higher than experience when vice versus happens tourists will feel happy. Tourist satisfaction happens when their assessment degree of the destination are higher than their experiences (Tribe and Snaith, 1998). For the satisfaction procedure tourism is known as a challenging sector. The other strand of HOLSAT is that of researching consumer satisfaction with a holiday. This is clearly a logically distinct service experience from say, a restaurant, airline, hotel experience. In this case, the holiday experience provides that reference point around which she or he bases a judgment regarding actual holiday satisfaction.  

2. METHODS Using the HOLSAT (Holiday Satisfaction) scale, which is a model developed to compare the negative and positive aspects of vacation experiences with the expectations of the researchers, to measure the holiday satisfaction of the 4 and 5 star (n =200). It is aimed to show whether they are perceived differently according to their characteristics. HOLSAT scale developed by Tribe and Snaith (1998) was used as measuring tool. Sampling method, population and sample, data collection tool, analysis of data and information about the reliability and validity of the scales used in the research take place in the method part of the research in terms of this aim.

Dimensions of the Holsat Scale Social Life Physical assets Ambiance Accommodation Heritage and Culture Transfers There are six subdimensions in the scale used in the research. Holsat scale’s dimensions consist of Transfers, Social Life, Physical assets, Ambiance, Accommodation, Heritage and Culture.

In the structured questionnaire there are 56 questions in total In the structured questionnaire there are 56 questions in total. Likert type scale (1= totally disagree, 5= totally agree) was used. The questionnaire consists of three parts. In the first part, there are information about participants (gender, age, education, marital status, income status, income region) and in the second and third part there are HOLSAT scale items. The questionnaires were filled in by hotel visitors in person or were filled in with face-to-face interviews in the research. 210 questionnaires were filled in but 10 of them were removed from the application because they were incomplete.

Reliability and Validity of Scales Factor structure of the scale was assessed with Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Analyses were completed in two main phases. The suitability of data for EFA was evaluated with Kaiser Meyer Olkin (KMO) and Barlett Sphericity test. It was determined that the sample size of the data as the result of the KMO test was sufficient for sample size. The KMO value for this sample calculated as (KMO=0.893) and Barlett Spherecity test assumption, an assumption necessary for the factor analysis, was also provided as (p<0.05). These results indicate that data set is suitable for analysis.

3. FINDINGS AND RESULTS A total of 200 people participated in the research. Demographic variables belonging to participants are given in Table 2. 88.5% of the participants are women, 80.5% are in the age range of 18-25 years, 47% of them are high school graduates, 68% of them have middle level and 74% of them are living in the Central Anatolia region.

Kruskal Wallis Test Results According to the Education of the Participants According to the results of the Kruskal Wallis Test given in Table for determining the difference between the educational status and the Holsat scale dimensions; It seems that there is a difference between the High School degree, Associate Degree and Postgraduate Degree in Transfers dimension.   Primary and Secondary (n=3) High School (n=94) Associate Degree (n=20) Undergraduate Degree (n=72) Postgraduate Degree (n=11) Mean SD P Heritage and Culture 3.94 0.54 4.16 0.62 4.22 0.53 4.10 0.56 3.64 1.23 0.731 Accommodation 4.37 0.25 4.51 0.59 4.54 0.38 4.19 1.12 0.522 Physical Assets 4.77 4.35 0.82 0.75 4.33 0.88 4.60 0.744 Transfers 3.76 0.05 4.15a 3.93b 0.37 3.94b 3.75 0.94 0.015* Ambiance 0.57 4.32 0.65 4.20 0.34 0.60 3.97 1.05 0.198 Social Life 4.13 3.95 0.90 4.15 0.80 3.50 1.04 0.217 Total 4.24 0.43 4.23 0.31 0.40 0.87 0.726 *: shows intergroup significant difference statistically. (p<0.05), Test: Kruskal Wallis test

Kruskal Wallis Test Results According to the Region of Arrival of the Participants   Mediterranean (n=24) Aegean (n=17) Southeastern Anatolia (n=3) Central Anatolia (n=152) Black Sea (n=4) Mean SD P Heritage and Culture 4.14 0.57 3.88 0.84 3.35 1.42 4.15 0.61 4.17 0.34 0.727 Accommodation 4.37 0.82 4.43 0.95 4.33 0.48 4.53 0.51 4.41 0.35 0.604 Physical Assets 0.83 4.60 4.88 0.19 4.32 0.85 4.50 0.79 0.426 Transfers 3.85a 3.55a 0.77 4.06 0.25 4.10b 0.50 0.12 0.006* Ambiance 0.64 0.96 4.42 0.49 4.29 0.60 4.46 0.21 0.970 Social Life 3.90 0.88 4.21 1.04 3.66 1.15 4.01 4.45 0.10 0.408 Total 4.16 0.71 4.12 4.23 0.40 4.36 0.27 0.900 According to the results of the Kruskal Wallis test given in Table for determining the difference between the region where the participants come from and the dimensions of the Holsat Scale; It is seen that there is a difference in Transfer dimension of Aegean region and Central Anatolia region. *: shows intergroup significant difference statistically. (p<0.05), Test: Kruskal Wallis test

4. CONCLUSION There is no difference according to the results of Mann Whitney-U test for determining the difference of participants' gender and marital status and Holsat Scale dimensions. There is also no difference according to the results of the Kruskal Wallis test to determine the differences in age and Holsat scale of the participants.

There are statistically significant differences between the region where the participants come from and the dimensions of the Holsat Scale. It is seen that there is a difference in Transfer dimension of Aegean region and Central Anatolia region. Another dimension in which there are significant differences were obtained is availability. In this dimension, there are significant differences among the degree of High School degree, Associate Degree and Postgraduate Degree levels in transfers dimension about education status.

As a result of the expectation and experience of visiting 4 and 5 star hotels in Konya, Physical Assets and Social Life dimensions have been determined to be significant in holiday satisfaction. This research can be considered as a guide for the experience and satisfaction measurements.

Thank you for your attention! Safak Unuvar Organization details E-mail: safakunuvar@gmail.com