COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF FORESTRY, GEOGRAPHICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES SCHOOL OF FORESTRY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY, BIODIVERSITY AND TOURISM RESEARCH REPORT IMPACT OF HOTEL RATING ON SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER CHOICE OF HOTEL: A CASE STUDY OF SPEKE RESORT HOTEL MUNYONYO BY NABUKEERA DIANA CHRISTINE REGISTRATION NO; 16/U/8167/EVE STUDENT NO; 216007336 SUPERVISOR DR. BRENDA BOONABAANA RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF FORESTRY, ENVIRONMENTAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BACHELOR OF TOURISM OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY OCTOBER, 2019 i ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to Mr. Semakula Samora and Professor Joseph Obua for the guidance during the conduct of this research. I am especially grateful to Dr. Brenda Boonabaana who helped me complete my research in time to beat the submission deadline.I am also thankful to the academic and non-academic staff of the school of forestry who have in one way or another created a conducive environment that enabled me conduct this research to completion. Appreciation also goes to Crane management for the permitted access to the various hotel premises of the Speke group of hotels where the research was conducted. Special thanks go to my parents for their sponsorship of my entire academic journey from start to date. In addition expressed appreciation for their continued support in all per takings from start to date. iii TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION ........................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................................................. iv LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1Background to the study ..................................................................................................... 1 1.2Problem statement .............................................................................................................. 5 1.3Objectives of study ............................................................................................................. 6 1.3.1General objective ......................................................................................................... 6 1.3.2Specific objectives ....................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research questions ............................................................................................................ 6 1.5Significance of study .......................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 8 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Hotel rating in Uganda ...................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Hotel attributes that matter ................................................................................................ 8 2.3 Relationship between hotel rating and service quality .................................................... 12 2.3.1Service quality dimensions ........................................................................................ 14 2.4 Relevance of traditional hotel rating system ................................................................... 17 2.5 Effectiveness of hotel rating and role of management .................................................... 18 2.6 Research Gap ................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 21 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS ............................................................................. 21 3.1 Study Area ....................................................................................................................... 21 3.2 Study design .................................................................................................................... 22 iv 3.3 Sampling and sample size ................................................................................................ 22 3.4 Data collection ................................................................................................................. 23 3.4.1 Questionnaires........................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Data analysis .................................................................................................................... 24 3.6 Ethical consideration ....................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 25 RESULTS AND INTEPRETATION .................................................................................... 25 4.1Demographic characteristics of respondents. ................................................................... 25 4.2 Factors that influence customer choice of hotel .............................................................. 26 4.3 Influence of hotel rating on choice of hotel. .................................................................... 28 4.4 Relationship between hotel rating customer satisfaction ................................................ 30 4.5 Respondent generated comments on hotel ................................................................. 33 CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................ 36 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................ 36 5.1 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 36 5.2 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 39 5.3 Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 40 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 42 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 47 QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................................... 47 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1Most frequently studied hotel attributes. ........................................................................... 9 Figure 2Service quality model ...................................................................................................... 15 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1Most frequently studied attributes in regards to factors of importance to hotel customers. ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 Table 2 Minimum requirement for an accommodation facility and stand-alone restaurant to qualify for classification ............................................................................................................... 11 Table 3 Star rated hotels in Uganda .............................................................................................. 14 Table 4Service quality dimensions. .............................................................................................. 16 Table 5Number of respondents selected for sample size .............................................................. 23 Table 6 Demographic characteristics of respondents ................................................................... 26 Table 7Factors that influence choice of hotel ............................................................................... 28 Table 8 Definition and understanding of concept of hotel rating ................................................. 29 Table 9 Results from respondents that understand concept of hotel rating .................................. 30 Table 10General view of the relationship between hotel rating and customer satisfaction .......... 31 Table 11 Detailed analysis of relationship between hotel rating and customer satisfaction.