Quality Performance and Delivery of Services in the Four- And Five-Star Hotel Industry in Rwanda

Abstract

The current attitude towards quality performance, which affects guest satisfaction in the hospitality industry, has important implications for business competitiveness and business development. Not only has the Africa continent been a priority because of its service delivery-based challenges, but population is also determined by culture believed basically in market demand where most of individual intention to purchase goods or services mostly depends on individual judgment related to quality performance (Osotimehin, Hassan & Abass, 2015). Rwanda is a small country, which is developing in different domains including economic, political, and social. Even if the development is increasing in an appreciated trend line, problems still exist in production, selling, and distribution service, more specifically in the hospitality industry. Some of these include poor quality of product or service due to limited capital, poor capabilities due to limited technical skills, and lack of both working experience and appropriate trainings of employees working in the hospitality industry. In addition, in Rwanda the hotel industry fails to be competitive due to poor planning and in some instance, they do not even have sufficient stock of raw materials of production to facilitate the delivery of quality service more efficiently. The product design and implementation are still needed in the Rwanda hotel industry to meet guest satisfaction. Therefore, the researcher intended to assess the performance of quality and delivery of service in the hotel industry in Rwanda. The specific objectives were to establish the relationship between guest expectations and delivery of service in the four- and five-star hotel industry in Rwanda; to establish the relationship between guest satisfaction and responsiveness on delivery of service in the four- and five-star hotel industry in Rwanda; to establish the relationship between product or service and delivery of service in the four- and five-star hotel industry in Rwanda; to establish the relationship between government policies, rules, or regulations, product or service design, and delivery of service in the four- and five-star hotel industry in Rwanda; and to establish the relationship between quality performance and delivery of services in the four- and five-star hotel industry in Rwanda. This research used descriptive research design in nature and involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The target population in this research covers guests of Marriott, Serena, and Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Kigali, their management teams, and the hotels’ service providers. In total they were 1410 from whom the sample of 312 were selected as representative. The determination of the sample was normally done by use of formula determined by Yamane (1967). Therefore, a simple random sampling technique was used to select representatives, and data were collected using questionnaires, interview guides, documents, and records. The analysis of data was done through statistical package for social science version 21. The study findings showed that average rating of quality-of-service delivery was 8.991 across a variety of areas including: expectations, satisfaction, responsiveness, and product or service delivery. An increase in unit of expectation led to a decrease in delivery of service by 0.066, a decrease in unit of satisfaction led to a decrease in delivery of service by 0.065, an increase in unit of responsiveness led to a decrease in delivery of service by 0.016 while an increase in unit of product or service led to an increase in delivery of service by 0.227. The recommendation of the study is that four-and five-star hotels should strive to maintain guests’ satisfaction through promotions, price reduction and proper product awareness through all Rwandan markets. Strengthening branding, design of products or services, and establishing proper plans may bring about strong positive associations between the quality of performance and the delivery of service. Keywords: Guest expectations, Guest satisfaction, Government policies, Quality performance, Performance, Delivery, Hospitality industry.