Assessment of the Impact of Circulation Design on Guests’ Satisfaction with Hotel facilities in Port Harcourt, Nigeria
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Date
2016
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International Journal of Applied Engineering Research
Abstract
As is true for all service industries, achieving customer satisfaction is a critical component of the success of hotel business. Therefore, this study investigated the impact of guests’ satisfaction with circulation design overall satisfaction with hotel facilities in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. It was motivated by the dearth of published empirical literature on this subject from the Nigerian perspective. A questionnaire survey involving 103 guests drawn from three hotels was conducted between December 2015 and January 2016 in the study area. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor and categorical regression analyses. The result reveals that the guests were more satisfied with internal circulation than external circulation in the hotels. The main sources of dissatisfaction were poor usage of signage to direct pedestrian and vehicular traffic; the lack of pedestrian walkways; and poor access to outdoor recreational facilities within the premises of the hotels. The respondents understood the 35 variables used in assessing guests’ satisfaction with circulation in the hotels from five different dimensions of satisfaction with the location of circulation elements and ancillary facilities; satisfaction with access to ancillary facilities; satisfaction with access to circulation elements; satisfaction with the size and shape of circulation elements; and satisfaction with the use of signage and landscaping elements. However, satisfaction with the location of circulation elements and ancillary facilities, access to ancillary facilities and circulation elements; and the use of signage and landscaping elements emerged as the strongest predictors of satisfaction with hotel facilities. The study implies that to ensure improved customer satisfaction with hotel facilities, adequate attention should be given to the use of signage to direct human and vehicular traffic, provision of pedestrian walkways, and access to outdoor recreational facilities