Service Quality in Restaurants Operating in a Rural Area: The Case of Slovenian Istria

Authors

  • Marko Kukanja UP FTŠ TURISTICA
  • Tanja Planinc UP FTS

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to investigate service quality in restaurants operating in the rural area of Slovenian Istria. The dineserv tool was used as a research instrument. The research sample consisted of 25 restaurant facilities and 250 valid questionnaires completed by domestic guests. Based on results of the exploratory factor analysis, twomain factor groups that best explain domestic guests’ quality perceptions in rural restaurant facilities were identified: (1) Empathy, Responsiveness, and Assurance (era) and (2) Tangibles. The results of our study are significantly different from those obtained in a previous study performed in the coastal area of Slovenian Istria (Kukanja & Planinc, 2015), as they indicate a relatively bipolar and homogeneous service quality structure. This study is of great managerial interest at the micro (restaurant) and macro (destination) levels. Research results indicate that restaurant managers should emphasise the importance of the two identified quality dimensions (era and Tangibles) and continuously measure the level of their offerings. Accordingly, research results may also be implemented in future destination quality and development strategies. In terms of future research, it would be of great interest to see if similarities in guests’ quality perceptions exist between Slovenian Istria and other competitive rural destinations.


Keywords: restaurant industry, service quality, dineserv, rural areas, Slovenian
Istria

References

Adil, M., Al Ghaswyneh, O. F. M., & Albkour, A. M. (2013). servqual and servperf: A review of measures in services marketing research. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 13(6), 65–76.

Ali, F., Hussain, K., Konar, R., & Jeon, H. M. (2017). The effect of technical and functional quality on guests’ perceived hotel service quality and satisfaction: A sem-pls analysis. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 18(3), 354–378.

Bellini, N., & Resnick, E. (2018). The luxury turn in wine tourism: Still good for local development? In N. Bellini, C. Clergeau,&O. Etcheverria (Eds.), Gastronomy and local development (pp. 262–267). London, England: Routledge.

Bojnec, Š., & Latruffe, L. (2013).Farmsize, agricultural subsidies and farm performance in Slovenia. Land Use Policy, 32, 207–217.

Bougoure, U. S.,&Neu, M. K. (2010). Service quality in the Malaysian fast food industry: An examination using di - neserv. Services Marketing Quarterly, 31(2), 194–212.

Candido, C. J.,&Morris,D. S. (2000). Charting service quality gaps. Total Quality Management, 11(4/6), 463–472.

Cawley, M., & Gillmor, D. A. (2008). Integrated rural tourism: Concepts and practice. Annals of Tourism Research, 35(2), 316–337.

Chen, C. T.,Cheng, C.C., & Hsu, F. S. (2015). grserv scale: An effective tool formeasuring consumer perceptions of service quality in green restaurants. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 26(3/4), 355–367.

Cronin Jr, J. J., & Taylor, S. A. (1994). servperf versus servqual: Reconciling performance-based and perceptions- minus-expectations measurement of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 58(1), 125–131.

Djekic, I., Kane, K., Tomic, N., Kalogianni, E., Rocha, A., Zamioudi, L., & Pacheco, R. (2016). Cross-cultural consumer perceptions of service quality in restaurants. Nutrition & Food Science, 46(6), 827–843.

Eid, R., & Abdelkader, A. A. (2017). Muslim service quality dimensions in the tourism and hospitality industry: Construct development and measurement validation. International Journal of Islamic Marketing and Branding, 2(3), 215–231.

Frochot, I. (2005). A benefit segmentation of tourists in rural areas: A Scottish perspective. Tourism Management, 26(3), 335–346.

Gačnik, A. (2012). Gastronomy heritage as a source of development for gastronomy tourism and as a means of increasing Slovenia’s tourism visibility. Academia Turistica, 5(2), 39–60.

Gričar, S., & Bojnec, Š. (2009).Dejavniki gibanja cen v gostinstvu. Koper, Slovenia: University of Primorska, Faculty of Management.

Grönroos, C. (1990). Relationship approach to marketing in service contexts: The marketing and organizational behavior interface. Journal of Business Research, 20(1), 3– 11.

Hanks, L., Line, N., & Kim, W. G. W. (2017). The impact of the social servicescape, density, and restaurant type on perceptions of interpersonal service quality. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 61(2017), 35–44.

Hansen, K. V. (2014). Development of servqual and dineserv for measuring meal experiences in eating establishments. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 14(2), 116–134.

Johns, N., & Tyas, P. (1996). Use of service quality gap theory to differentiate between foodservice outlets. Service Industries Journal, 16(3), 321–346.

Kerma, S., & Gačnik, A. (2015).Wine tourismas anopportunity for tourism development: Examples of good practice in Slovenia. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 27(4), 311–323.

Kim, H. J., McCahon, C., & Miller, J. (2003). Assessing service quality in Korean casual-dining restaurants using dineserv. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 6(1), 67–86.

Kim, W. G., Ng, C. Y. N., & Kim, Y. S. (2009). Influence of institutional dineserv on customer satisfaction, return intention, and word-of-mouth. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28(1), 10–17.

Knutson, B. J., Stevens, P., & Patton, M. (1996). dineserv: Measuring service quality in quick service, casual/theme, and fine dining restaurants. Journal of Hospitality & LeisureMarketing, 3(2), 35–44.

Knutson, B., Stevens, P., Wullaert, C., Patton, M., & Yokoyama, F. (1990). lodg serv: A service quality index for the lodging industry. Hospitality Research Journal, 14(2), 277–284.

Korez-Vide, R. (2017). Storytelling in sustainable tourism management: Challenges and opportunities for Slovenia. Journal of AdvancedManagement Science, 5(5), 380–386.

Križman Pavlović, D., & Živolić, S. (2008). Upravljanje marketingom turističke destinacije: stanje i perspektive u Republici Hrvatskoj. Economic Research, 21(2), 99–113.

Kukanja, M. (2016). Od beneškega bakalaja do sladke Istre: razvoj prehrambnega gostinstva na Slovenski obali. Koper, Slovenia: University of Primorska Press.

Kukanja, M. (2017). Quality measurement in restaurant industry from the marketing perspective: A comparison of guests’ andmanagers’ quality perceptions. Ekonomska misao i praksa, 26(1), 41–61.

Kukanja, M., & Planinc, T. (2015). Restaurant quality: A cross-national comparison between two neighbouring North Mediterranean tourist destinations – Portorož and Opatija; Domestic customers’ perspective. Academica Turistica, 8(2), 85–110.

Kukanja, M., & Planinc, T. (2018). Influence of managers’ perceptions of quality on restaurant operational profitability: Evidence fromSlovenian smes. Turizam, 66(2), 115–120.

Kukanja, M., Gomezelj Omerzel, D., & Kodrič, B. (2017). Ensuring restaurant quality and guests’ loyalty: An integrative model based on marketing (7p) approach. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 28(13/14), 1509–1525.

Lehtinen,U., & Lehtinen, J. R. (1991). Two approaches to service quality dimensions. Service Industries Journal, 11(3), 287–303.

Lin, S.P., Chan, Y.H., &Tsai,M. C. (2009). A transformation function corresponding to ipa and gap analysis. Total Quality Management, 20(8), 829–846.

Loureiro, S. M. C. (2012). Tourism in rural areas: Foundation, quality and experience. In M. Kasimoglu, (Ed.), Visions for global tourism industry: Creating and sustaining competitive strategies (pp. 441–460). Rijeka, Croatia: In- Tech.

Marković, S., Raspor, S., & Šegarić, K. (2010). Does restaurant performance meet customers’ expectations? An assessment of restaurant service quality using a modified dineserv approach. Tourism and Hospitality Management, 16(2), 181–195.

Mestna občina Koper. (2016). Strategija razvoja in trženja turizma v Mestni občini Koper do leta 2025. Retrieved from https://www.koper.si/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Strategija-turizma-v-MOK-do-2025.pdf

Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. (2019). The strategy for the sustainable growth of Slovenian tourism for 2017–2021. Ljubljana, Slovenia: Author.

Nikbin, D.,Marimuthu,M., &Hyun, S. S. (2016). Influence of perceived service fairness on relationship quality and switching intention:An empirical study of restaurant experiences. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(10), 1005– 1026.

Ohe, Y., & Kurihara, S. (2013). Evaluating the complementary relationship between local brand farm products and rural tourism: Evidence from Japan. Tourism Management, 35, 278–283.

Oliver, R. L. (1980).Acognitivemodel of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing Research, 17(4), 460–469.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1985). A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research. Journal of Marketing, 49(4), 41–50.

Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1988). Servqual: Amultiple-item scale formeasuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 12–40.

Park, J., & Jeong, E. (2019). Service quality in tourism: A systematic literature review and keyword network analysis. Sustainability, 11(13), 1–21.

Potočnik Slavič, I. (2014). Farm tourism in Slovenia: Mosaic structure and future prospects. Journal of Rural & Community Development, 9(3), 280–294.

Raajpoot, N. A. (2002). tangserv: A multiple item scale for measuring tangible quality in foodservice industry. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 5(2), 109–127.

Roberts, L., Hall, D., & Morag, M. (2017). New directions in rural tourism. London, England: Routledge.

Ryu, K., & Lee, J. S. (2017). Examination of restaurant quality, relationship benefits, and customer reciprocity from the perspective of relationship marketing investments. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 41(1), 66–92.

Saeida Ardakani, S., Nejatian, M., Farhangnejad, M. A., & Nejati, M. (2015).Afuzzy approach to service quality diagnosis. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 33(1), 103– 119.

Sanchez-Cañizares, S., & Castillo-Canalejo, A. M. (2015). A comparative study of tourist attitudes towards culinary tourism in Spain and Slovenia. British Food Journal, 117(9), 2387–2411.

Sharif, K., & Kassim, N. M. (2012). Non-academic service quality: Comparative analysis of students and faculty as users. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 22(1), 35–54.

Sharpley, R. (2002). Rural tourism and the challenge of tourism diversification: The case of Cyprus. Tourism management, 23(3), 233–244.

Stevens, P., Knutson, B., & Patton, M. (1995). dineserv: A tool for measuring service quality in restaurants. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 36(2), 5–60.

Sukiman,M.F.,Omar,S. I.,Muhibudin,M.,Yussof, I., & Mohamed, B. (2013). Tourist satisfaction as the key to destination survival in Pahang. Procedia: Social and Behavioral sciences, 91, 78–87.

Truong, T. H., & Foster, D. (2006). Using holsat to evaluate tourist satisfaction at destinations: The case of Australian holiday makers in Vietnam. Tourism Management, 27(5), 842–855.

Turistično združenje Portorož. (2019). Strategija razvoja turizma v občini Piran do leta 2025. Retrieved from https://www.portoroz.si/si/files/default/PDF/Partnerji/Strategija20rzavoja20turizma20obc48dine20Piran20do20leta202025.pdf

Unuvar, S., & Kaya, M. (2017). Measuring service quality by servperf method: A research on hospitality enterprises. Australian Academy of Accounting and Finance Review, 2(4), 354–362.

Wong Ooi Mei, A., Dean, A. M., & White, C. J. (1999). Analysing service quality in the hospitality industry. Managing Service Quality, 9(2), 136–143.

Downloads

Published

2020-01-15

How to Cite

Kukanja, M., & Planinc, T. (2020). Service Quality in Restaurants Operating in a Rural Area: The Case of Slovenian Istria. Academica Turistica - Tourism and Innovation Journal, 12(2). Retrieved from https://academica.turistica.si/index.php/AT-TIJ/article/view/188

Issue

Section

Articles