The Effect of Length of Stay on Travelers' Perceived Satisfaction with Service Quality

Abstract

Consumer satisfaction related to service quality during the vacation experience is of paramount importance to the travel and tourism industry. This study tests empirically the effects the number of nights spent on a vacation have on the levels of satisfaction recent travelers report for three service aspects of the travel destination: perceived satisfaction with tourism service providers; perceived "freedom from defects" of tourism services; and perceived reasonableness of the cost of tourism services. Differentiation in satisfaction scores between "shortterm visitors" (i.e., those who stayed from one to six nights) and "longterm visitors" (i.e., those who stayed seven or more nights) were examined. Significant differences between the two groups of visitors were present for (1) perceived satisfaction with industry professionals delivering the service experience at the travel destination, (2) perceived satisfaction with "freedom from defects" of the actual services at the destination, and (3) perceived reasonableness of the cost of services at

Analysis of the impact of length of stay on the quality of service experience, satisfaction and loyalty

“…To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous evidence about this particular aspect. However, we could expect that sameday visitors with high satisfaction will also score high on loyalty as the tourism literature shows the positive link between satisfaction and loyalty (Cronin et al 2000; Neal 2003; Bigne and Andreu 2004; Petrick and Backman 2004 Consequently, the postpurchase behaviour of sameday visitors is indeed interesting as it suggests not only a repeat visit in future but also a recommendation to acquaintances. Thus, sameday visitors' direct impact on revenues at destination are lower than that of overnight tourists in the short term, but their intention to revisit the place and their positive word of mouth may produce revenues in future.…”

“…Few studies have considered length of stay when analysing behavioural factors such as motivation (Thrane 2012 ) and destination image (Machado 2010; Royo Vela 2012. The length of stay also affects the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction associated with various aspects of the trip and its impact on quality of life (Neal 2003 ). Indeed, tourists enjoying longer vacations are more likely to enhance their satisfaction with life in general (Neal 2003 ).…”

“…The length of stay also affects the degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction associated with various aspects of the trip and its impact on quality of life (Neal 2003 ). Indeed, tourists enjoying longer vacations are more likely to enhance their satisfaction with life in general (Neal 2003 ).…”

“…Sameday visitors have significant time constraints to see the main attractions in a destination. With so little time to enjoy the vacation experience, every minute counts for shortterm visitors (Neal 2003 ). Sameday visitors probably select the most interesting attractions and miss the others so that their experience may be more intense and memorable.…”

“…Conversely, sameday visitors may consider that there are further activities to be done in future so their intention to return increases. According to Neal ( 2003 ), the more satisfied tourists are with the destination services, the more they will demand that service, so highly satisfied sameday visitors will express higher intentions to repeat their visit. Consequently:…”