Privately Provided Accommodation Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction

Abstract

Privately provided accommodation is a growing service in Uganda’s higher education sector due to education liberalization and demand for education. This research took a case study of Nsamizi Training Institute of Social Development (NTISD) to determine the relationship between privately provided accommodation service quality and customer satisfaction. Specifically, the objectives of the study were (a) to find out the relationship between security and NTISD students’ satisfaction with privately provided accommodation, and (b) to find out the hierarchical level of importance of NTISD student satisfaction of the three service quality dimensions (reliability, security, and tangibles) with privately provided accommodation. Using quantitative and qualitative modes of data analysis and a sample of 300 students from 20 private hostels, this study established a strong positive significant relationship between security and satisfaction regarding privately provided accommodation. This implies that accommodation service providers should increase the quality of security so as to increase the satisfaction of students regarding privately provided accommodation. The study established the hierarchical order of importance from the most important service quality dimension, respectively, as follows: reliability, security, and tangibles. Therefore, private accommodation service managers should pay extra attention to the dimensions in the same order.