Chapter 1

Background
Significance of accommodation service
The Hotel Act of Thailand 1935(Section3) defines hotel as any places establish to serves travelers or
people who want a place to live or stay. It is also mentioned in section 25 that any residences used
as lodgings or as a place for at least an overnight stay with the owners of the residences not selling
food and drinks are not considered Hotel. It can thus be concluded that any accommodation call
Hotel needs to include food and drinks services for customers (Boonserm Hutapaet & Manoon
Kalapat, 1999 : 121). Also, Preecha Dangroj (1994 : 200) defines hotel industry as the conventional
and systematic business of service travelers or people who would like a place to stay with
accommodation like rooms, food and drinks.
Accommodation and tourism business have brought a lot of income to the country, creating a job
opportunity to many people and decentralize income and prosperity to the rural area. Hotels in other
provinces have greatly benefited from these two businesses. This bring about prosperity and
improvement of more convenient and secure communication and transportation. During the past ten
years, there have been a great number of foreign tourists coming to Thailand which brought a lot of
income to the country and enhanced economic progress. Nonetheless, the situation of
accommodation business are also dependent on many surrounding factors, for instance the political
situation in the country, the world economic state, or even the security state of some countries that
have influence upon world economic system.
The significance of accommodation services can be cited in two ways : the significance to the
economic , social and cultural systems, and the significance to guests (Boonserm Hutapaet &
Manoon Kalapat, 1999 : 121).

1.Significance to the economic, social and cultural systems

1.1Economic : The growth of accommodation and tourism businesses creates income and
employment in the country. Apart from expense on accommodation, income from tourists includes
food, sources of entertainment in the hotel. New kinds of services then emerge to serve customers
needs.
1.2Social : The fact that accommodation services bring about income and employment produces an
effect on the quality of life of people in society. Income has spread to different parts of the
community especially the one where there are many tourist sites through various ways like selling
foods, local products, or souvenirs. In terms of employment, it decrease the problem of
unemployment and migration to the urban areas.
1.3Cultural : Thai people are famous for their generosity and smile which create an impression to
tourists. Good service provider should process good Thai manners and traditional Thai shows like
theatricals, music, carvings should be presented as a means to preserve Thai culture.

2.Significance to Guests

Service delivery of accommodation varies according to price rate, different types of services, variety
of services. This is provided as an alternative for the recipients to choose the service that suit their
purpose. The significant is presented as follow ;
2.1Accommodation : Guests are currently able to choose a variety of services provided by the hotel
such as catering service, wedding venue, seminars, laundry service.
2.2Feel-like-home atmosphere : Many hotels provide home-like services to get rid of the guests
feeling of discomfort while they are away from their home. All kind of services aim at giving guests
an extreme satisfaction with hope that they would be attracted by services and comeback or
recommend them to others.
2.3Entertainment and relaxation : In almost all the hotels, there is an entertainment zone that
includes bar, club, or food and beverage corner. Besides, new relaxing kind of services like
massage, mineral bath are meant to satisfy the guests at most.
It can be said that as long as travelling to other places for different purposes is still going on,
accommodation services are always there to support and serve the travelers needs. Especially in
the globalization era, it is more sensible for people to travel and that makes accommodation services
enlarge and prompts service providers to improve better services that satisfy the customers the
most.
With an average over 300 billion baht (US$ 7 billion) in tourism revenue every year representing
about 6% of Thailand's GDP, the tourism industry has an important role at generating income and
growth to the country especially in the time of economic recovery. On an average nearly 12 million
tourists visited Thailand every year staying long for about 8 days on an average in one of the world's
most favorite tourist destination. A majority of tourist arrivals (about 46.06%) are from East Asia,
which up to now had been identified as the "new engine" of global travel and tourism, 34.85 percent
from Europe, 6.82 percent are Americans, 3.91 percent are South Asia, 5.01 percent are Oceania,
2.70 percent are Middle East and 0.63 percent from Africa.(Tourism Authority of Thailand, TAT) Asia
had a sizeable 17% share of the world tourism market with a strong 8% growth in 2007.( Fiscal
Policy Research Institute,2007)
The main marketing slogan for promoting Thailand internationally was "Amazing Thailand", but, in
reaction to the 2009 tourism crisis, it was relaunched as "Amazing Thailand, Amazing Value".
(http://issuu.com/iasiamagazine/docs/iasia_09_p01-64 page 34)
In 2007, Thailand was the 18th most visited country in the World Tourism rankings with 14.5 million
visitors. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, (http://www.tourismthailand.org/abouttat/about-tat-47-1.html ) 55% of the tourists in 2007 came from the Asia Pacific region, Japanese,
Korean, Chinese and Malaysians forming the biggest groups. The largest groups of Western tourists
come from the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the United States and Scandinavia. The
number of tourists arriving from the Middle East and Russia is on the
rise.(http://www2.tat.or.th/stat/web/static_download.php?Rpt=ita ) Around 55% of Thailand's tourists
are return visitors. The peak period is during the Christmas and New Year holidays when Western
tourists flee the cold conditions back home. Domestic tourism has also grown significantly in the past
decade. Revenues from domestic tourism have gone from 187,898 million baht in 1998 to 380,417
million baht (approximately 7.8 billion Euro) in 2007. (http://www2.tat.or.th/stat/web/static_index.php
)
Asian tourists primarily visit Thailand for Bangkok and the historical, natural and cultural sights in its
vicinity. Western tourists not only visit Bangkok and surroundings but in addition many travel down to
the southern beaches and islands. The North is the main region for trekking and adventure travel
with its diverse ethnic minority groups and forested mountains. The region receiving less tourists is
Isan in the north-east. To facilitate foreign visitors, the Thai government established a separate
tourism police with offices in the major tourist areas and its own central emergency telephone
number.( http://www.amazing-thailand.com/Police.html )
It can't be denied that sex tourism also contributes to arrival numbers. Although officially illegal,
prostitution in Thailand is monitored and regulated by the government to stem the spread of A
sexually transmitted disease and to prevent excesses. Prostitution catering to foreigners is believed

to be around 20% of the total prostitution scene in Thailand, and is concentrated in a few major redlight districts such as Pattaya, Patpong and Patong Beach.
Thailand has been receiving increased competition ever since Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam opened
up to international tourism in the 1980s and 90s. Destinations like Angkor Wat, Luang Prabang and
Halong Bay now contest Thailand's former monopoly in the Indochina region. To counter this,
Thailand is actively targeting niche markets such as golf holidays, or holidays combined with medical
treatment. Around 2 million foreigners visiting Thailand for medical treatment are expected in 2009,
more than 3 times the amount of tourist visiting for that purpose in 2002.
(http://amazingthailand.tourismthailand.org/thailand_tourism_update/090304f.html ) According to
Lonely Planet, Thailand ranks second of "Best-value destinations for 2010" after Iceland; the latter
having been hit very hard by the subprime mortgage crisis.
(http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/travelnews/158928/thailand-second-in-best-value )
Thailand offers a great variety of attractions. These include diving sites, sandy beaches, hundreds of
tropical islands, varied night-life, archaeological sites, museums, hill tribes, exceptional flora and bird
life, palaces, a huge amount of Buddhist temples and several World Heritage sites. Many tourists
follow courses during their stay in Thailand. Popular are classes in Thai cooking, Buddhism and
traditional Thai massage. Thai national festivals range from the fun-for-all water splashing Songkran
to the almost fairytale like quality of Loy Krathong. Many localities in Thailand also have their own
festivals. Famous are the "Elephant Round-up" in Surin, the "Rocket Festival" in Yasothon and the
curious "Phi Ta Khon" festival in Dan Sai.
Thai cuisine has become deservedly famous worldwide with its enthusiastic use of fresh herbs and
spices. From an inexpensive plate of delicious Som tam at a simple street stall upcountry to a
modern take on Thai cuisine in the gourmet restaurants of Bangkok, it's very difficult not to eat well
in Thailand.
Only the most austere ascetics can resist shopping when in Thailand. Bangkok is renowned for its
main shopping malls down town (with CentralWorld being the biggest shopping mall in South-east
Asia), offering an astounding variety of international and local brands. Towards the north of the city,
and easily reached by skytrain or underground, is "Chatuchak Weekend Market". It is possibly the
largest market in the world, selling everything from household items to live, and sometimes
endangered,( http://cms.iucn.org/index.cfm?uNewsID=850 ) animals. The "Pratunam Market"
downtown, is nearly totally specialized in fabrics and clothing. The night markets in the Silom area
and on Khaosan Road are mainly tourist orientated, selling items such as T-shirts, handicrafts,
counterfeit watches and sunglasses. In the vicinity of Bangkok one can find several visually stunning
floating markets such as the one in Damnoen Saduak. The hotels offer world-class hospitality and
include both luxury and budget accommodation options from 5 stars to 3 stars.
Thailand to be emphasized as the leader of tourist destination of Asia by gained the most popular
tourist destination in Asia award in December 2009 which given by more than 52000 tourists
feedback around the world through website call hotelclub.com which is the hotel reservation
service provider. It has more than 6 millions people client base (Thairath newspaper ,29 December
2009 )
According to Thailand Hotel Association(THA) it has 194 hotels who officially register with THA from
5 stars to 2 stars hotels all over Thailand. In Bangkok it has 53 hotels who registered with THA, 19
hotels are 5 stars, 25 hotels are 4 stars, 6 hotels are 3 stars and 3 hotels are 2 stars. But in fact in
Bangkok it has so many which not register with THA.
How the rate of quality and standard as Star will be given to hotel is also a critical issue in the hotel
industry.
The Thai tourism industry has long recognized the importance of setting a consistent standard for
hotels and resorts in Thailand. Hotels have contributed significantly the growth and development of
the Thai tourism industry and will continue to play a vital role. Hence in order to increase Thailand's
competitive potential on the international stage, the Thai hotel industry deemed it an important step
to raise overall standards by adopting internationally-recognized practices, such as the introduction
of a 'precise, accurate and reliable' hotel standard and certification process that would enable Thai
hotels to compete with world-class hotel properties on an equal footing. Prior to this, Thai hotels

have principally operated under the legislative framework and regulatory provisions of the Hotel Act
of BE 2478 (1935).
In 1999, the Thai Hotel Association (THA), supported by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)
and the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), embarked on a pilot project to establish a
comprehensive and credible "hotel standard" that defines the qualities and characteristics of a
particular hotel or resort property and sets it apart from properties in other levels, and is also
universally-recognized and internationally-accepted.
THA entrusted the responsibility for drafting the "Thailand Hotel Standard" to Mrs Piyaman
Kanathanavanich - a THA Member, Chairman of Membership and Chairman of the THA Western
Chapter - and a task force consisting of personnel from large and small properties in Bangkok and
other provinces.
The drafting process was governed by the following policy guidelines.
The classification of the standard has to be clear and accurate.
The criteria for verifying have to be transparent and verifiable.
Following certification of the standard, when re-evaluated, a consistent result must be achieved.
The standard offers equal protection to both the hotel and its customers/guests
The standard has to be open to all hotels and not only members of THA.
International models, particularly European, provided the conceptual framework for the formulation
of the current Thai Hotel Standard, which is based on the universally accepted 'star rating' concept.
During the information-gathering phase in 2002-2003, over 60 hotels were surveyed. To oversee the
administration of and certification process for the Thai Hotel Standards, a non-profit organization and
juristic person representing the private and public sector, named "The Foundation of Standard and
Human Resources Development in Service and Tourism Industry" has been established.

LEVELS OF THE THAILAND HOTEL STANDARD AND

SYMBOL
As the certification organization for the Thailand Hotel Standard, the Foundation awards the
internationally-recognized 'star rating' to a hotel or resort property.
The hotel standard is divided into 5 levels and arranged in ascending order with one star ( ) denoting
the lowest standard and five stars ( ) denoting the highest standard.
At participating hotel and resort properties, the star-rating symbol is presented in one of two formats.
In the form of a 21-by-30 sign on a gold background with the corresponding number of 'stars'
awarded featured on the sign.
The sign is displayed at the top right-hand corner of the main entrance sign at the front of the hotel.
In cases where it is not possible to place the sign at the main entrance to the hotel, the sign will
either be placed in the way-in to the hotel building or in the lobby.
A certificate awarded by the Foundation must be placed in the lobby.
By the end of the initial phase from 1 October 2003 - 30 September 2004, 110 Thai hotels had
applied for certification.

MAJOR FACTORS IN CONSIDERING THE HOTEL

STANDARD
The major factors taken into consideration in the assessment and certification of an individual hotel
and resort property are:
Physical aspects :
such as location and surroundings
Construction aspect :

ie. the physical structure of the hotel, systems in place, security system, etc.
Facilities for hotel guests :
taking into consideration guests who are resident at the hotel (in-house guests) as well as guests
who frequent the hotel and use the services provided
For example, the quantity of the facilities, d?cor, equipment, etc.
Quality of Service and the ability to maintain quality
includes such criteria as personality, the quality of services, cleanliness, hygiene, etc.
The maintenance of the hotel and the abovementioned facilities.
The Thai hotel standard covers three aspects
The standard of construction and facilities
The standard of maintenance
The standard of services

RAISING THE VISIBILITY AND AWARENESS OF

CERTIFIED HOTEL AND RESORT PROPERTIES
To ensure widespread awareness of the introduction of the Thailand Hotel Standard among local
and international travel and tour operators, individual travelers and tourists, as well as media, the
following is being undertaken.
A guide to the Thai hotels participating in the Thailand Hotel Standard program is being produced
and will be distributed worldwide and will help individual travelers and tourists, and travel and tour
operators in the selection of hotels and resorts to suit varying needs and budgets.
Certificates and plaques are displayed at the front entrance or in the lobby of each of the certified
hotels
Certified hotels will be promoted through press conferences, TAT media and travel-related
publications
Successful implementation of the certification program increases international confidence in
Thailand as a world-class travel and holiday destination, enhances the overall image of the Thai
tourism industry and reinforces Thailand's positioning as 'Tourism Capital of Asia'.
As a growing number of hotel and resort operators recognize the importance of having set standards
for the industry, it is expected that the program will attract increased participation from Thai hotels
and resorts.
To be eligible, a hotel or resort property applying for the standard must meet the following
requirements:
The hotel must operate in Thailand
The hotel must have a legal hotel license and must have been in full operation for at least one
year.
The hotel must accept the regulations for the Thai Hotel Standard certification process and must
have paid certification fees.
The certification of the hotel standard is valid for a period of three years from the date the
certification results are issued by the Committee, unless the certification awarded has been
cancelled or revoked for a specific reason prior to that date. Hotels are able to renew certification by
informing the Committee before the expiry date. For renewal and re-evaluation, hotels are required
to only pay an annual fee. With this gradual roll-out and growing acceptance of the Thai hotel
standards program, the number of complaints from tour operators, travelers and tourists is expected
to decrease. (News room, Tourism Authority of Thailand)

Five Service quality dimensions

1.Reliability : Delivering on Promises

Reliability is defined as ability to perform the promises service dependably and accurately, promises
are about delivery, service provision, problem solution and pricing.

2.Responsiveness : Being willing to help

Responsiveness is the willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service, emphasizes
attentiveness and promptness in dealing with customers requests, questions, complaints and
problems. Responsiveness is communicated to customers by length of time they have to wait for
assistance, answers to questions, or attention to problems and captures the notion of flexibility and
ability to customize the service to customer needs.

3.Assurance : Inspiring Trust and Confidence

Assurance is defined as employee knowledge and courtesy and the ability of the firm and its
employees to inspiring trust and confidence. It is important for service that customers perceive as
high risk or service which they feel uncertain about their ability to evaluate outcomes.

4.Empathy : Treating Customers as Individuals

Empathy is defined as the caring, individualized attention that the firm provide its customers. The
essence of empathy is conveying , through personalized and customized service, that customers are
unique and special and their needs are understood.

5.Tangible : Representing the Service Physically

Tangibles are defined as the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and
communication materials. Tangibles provide physical representations or images of the service that
customers, particularly new customers, will use to evaluate quality.
(Services Marketing. Zeithaml, Bitner, Gremler, Pandit. 2008, p.118-122.)

Problem statement
At present the prospect of Asian-tourism in becoming the "new engine" of global travel and tourism
so many competitors want to share pieces of cake in this industry. According to political problem
Thailand is likely to suffer more than neighbor countries from the downturn, as tourists choose to
visit less volatile countries such as Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India etc.
For Bangkok - While the tourism industry worldwide is being buffeted by the economic crisis and
swine flu, Thailand's hoteliers have their own special problems, such as persuading guests that
airports would stay open and protestors won't invade the premises.
Although statistics are hard to come by - tourist arrival s have been elusive in Thailand ever since
the Tourism Ministry took over the job of compiling them from the Tourism Authority of Thailand Thai hotels are definitely hurting this year.
First-quarter earnings of the hotel groups listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand were down by an
average of 70 per cent with some of them in the red.

According to Surapong, Thai hotel occupancy rates in May were down 50 per cent compared with
the same month last year.
Hotels are slashing prices and offering deals, making Thailand a cheap destination again after years
of rising prices and healthy profits for the industry.
(http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/features/article_1477080.php/Thai_hotel_industr
y_runs_into_perfect_storm_Feature#ixzz0fA4yFMKf)
The Tourist Authority of Thailand is expecting visitor arrivals of 14mn in 2009, representing a further
drop from 2008s level. This will imply a corresponding fall in tourist revenues, and a rise in
unemployment.
Another principal of service staffs in service business is the insufficiency in labor. The service
business is necessary to get knowing, skillful and experience workers. In these days, there is a study
project to arrange the developing program in tourism and service industry of the nation following the
national socioeconomic development plan, no.10, from the year 2007-2011. This operation needs to
meet to the nations doom and its tactic emphasizes onto upgrading of attribute and basis of the
nation. The measurement is establishment of quality assurances system, educational standard,
tourisms knowledge workshop, certain system of industrial standard, for instances, the stars given
for the hotels for the service standard.(Tourism Authority of Thailand,2001 : 5) Correspondingly, TAT
is encouraging the supporting project of long stay tourism project. This targeted through Japanese ,
American and Scandinavian tourists, over 55 years old. This project insists them to stay in Thailand
longer than general tourists. And the project is the long-term which plan to get 200,000 tourists to
stay in Thailand around ten months. It estimated that if tourists outgo is at bottommost of 50,000
baht, the national income will be utmost of 100,000 millions baht. TAT and networking organizations
has been working on the improving of facilities in most areas. For examples, the implementing of
accommodation and services standard, which is advantageous for the country.(Kanistha
Pondouam, Ed., 2001 : 25)
0n the point of significance and the declared problem, the researcher assume that the quality of
businesss service for tourist customers is very important. Though the standard quality of hotel
business is in pleasing level. But tourists still may compare the service to overseas service of
accommodation business since they traveled to many countries. It is suggested that the evaluation
of satisfaction from tourists toward the service is practicable. Since this is the assessment that
reflective the services outcome whether it has been served customers enough or less. The result
from the evaluation from tourists customers is rewarding since it reflects the performance of workers
by the observation of tourist customers. Moreover, this is another method that given a chance for
customers to evaluate the finished service so that other services requirement may be suggested.
This information is the advantageous to hotelier in accommodations business, in the form of giving
instruction, skill training and behavioral improvement of the staffs to meet the efficiency. The
evaluations program and system mechanic were accomplished if tourists indicated superlative
satisfaction to the quality of the service. On the contrary, if tourists reveal the general disappointment
of the service , this will be display the failing in accommodations service. The finding from study
can improve the service to become more effective.
The researcher emphasize on the study of the satisfaction of international tourists toward service
quality by hotels business in Bangkok, Thailand. I also investigate the satisfactory level and
relevant factor toward service quality. Determinants of problem and demand of tourists is also
analyzed in order to determine the implementation and recommendations for qualitys development
in the service of accommodation for tourists. Considering the survey result of hotels visitors in year
2001, it indicated that the total numbers of guests are 37.7 millions people. Bangkok is the city were
most tourists visited at 37.7 percent of total numbers. While tourists visited the south of Thailand at
secondly of 20.9 percent of total numbers. (The Prime Ministers Office,2001 : 13) most of
international tourists have experienced in traveling to many counties, thus they can see the opposite
sides of Thailands accommodation service when compare with others excellent.

Purpose of the study :

This study is an attempt at asses the tourists satisfaction toward the service quality of hotels in
Bangkok.

Objectives of Research :
1.To analyze the requirement for accommodation for tourists and problem faces by hotels
2.To examines the factors determining tourists choice of hotel
3.To assess the satisfaction level of tourists toward the service quality of hotels in Bangkok.

Research Questions
1.What is the requirement for tourists accommodation especially the hotels?
2.What are the problem faced by hotelier to accommodating tourists?
3.What factors that determine tourists choice of a particular hotel?
4.What are the satisfaction levels of tourists toward service quality of accommodation in Bangkok ?

Scope and Limitations

This research is exploration of international tourists satisfaction toward the service quality of hotels
in Bangkok. The research method is the survey of information from international tourists and
problem faces by hotelier. The survey questionnaire will be filled by hotelier and customer of the
hotels.
The study will have its limitations in the sense that the researcher could not derived the data from all
the tourists. The data were collected only from tourists who can speak English so might be we
missed out some information from the tourists who can not speak English. Some hotels do not like
any questionnaire to be filled by their customer because it kind of interrupt their customers. The
study is confined to Bangkok, Thailand and may not be applicable as a base study for others
countries.

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