Marketing Resort Hotel in Mauritius

Market Research on Customer Satisfaction Gold Beach Resort
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
The main aim in marketing and as marketers is definitely to build relatively strong
relationships with customers based on the fact that we should provide quality to our
customers and thus satisfying them. The final aim is a satisfied customer and the route
towards this is to provide quality either in service or product. To achieve this, it is
essential for marketers to know their main tool. Quality basically begins from the
customer needs and wants concluding on satisfaction.
For example when a customer is choosing a hotel to spend his vacation or holidays, s/he
looks for one which affordable according to his means and also that the chosen hotel can
offer quality, which will determine the level of satisfaction of guests. The notion of
quality is different from one and other and this aspect furthermore complicates the work
of marketers. Other factors like past experience of a customer will perceive quality.
1.1 The Problem Statement
Though Gold Beach is a small resort, it is always filled up with customers coming from
different countries such as France, Reunion, Germany and South Africa and also
including a large number of Mauritian people. The hotel is mainly appreciated by
tourists because of the very good facilities and services it provides. So this gives rise to
repeat visits.
The sole problem is that the hotel is a small one. There are too many customers who
make reservation at Gold Beach and in addition there are lots of walk-ins. Most of the
time, those who walk in are the loyal customers who have been staying in the hotel
before and it comprise mostly of the Mauritian. This problem mainly crops up because
after their first visit at Gold Beach, many guests want to choose the same hotel for their
accommodation.
Bsc(Hons) Tourism and Hospitality Management 1

Very often the management of the hotel has to face difficult situation with these people
who cannot be accommodated in the hotel. Thus, customers who like to repeat visits at
Gold Beach Resort get frustrated and even angry in such situations. As a result, to deal
with the problem, the management makes arrangements to shift them to other 3 star
hotels found in the surrounding until there are check outs from Gold Beach. The hotels
are Pearl Beach Hotel, Manisa Hotel and Klondyke Hotel. The fact that both Gold Crest
Hotel and Gold Nest hotel belong to the Bhunjun Group, the guests are also given the
choice to shift to those hotels upon their level of acceptance.
It is the process of being shifted that makes customers frustrated. Most of them do not
derive the satisfaction which they acquire from the Gold Beach hotel.
1.2 Objectives of Study
 To determine whether customers are satisfied when they are shifted to other hotels
because of limited rooms
 To examine if customers have encountered any particular problem to the hotel

they were shifted.
 To know about the hotels which guests did not appreciate and therefore stop
sending guests to that hotel
 To anticipate whether customers shall consider Gold Beach Resort for their next
booking after been shifted to other hotels.
 To know the perception of customers regarding the expansion of the hotel.

1.3 The Organisation’s Profile - The Gold Beach Resort
The Gold Beach Resort is one among the hotels which started to operate some three years
ago. This hotel is classified as a three star one since it is quite a small one. Though it is
classified as such, the resort accommodates enough amount of customers and it is known
to be always full. The hotel is situated on the western coastal village of Flic-en-Flac,
Wolmar. It is well located as it overlooks a beautiful white sandy beach and a wonderful
blue lagoon. The hotel consists of 31 rooms, including 15 double room cottages, 5 family
cottages and 11 standard rooms. These rooms are categorized according to the different
rooms they face. Some rooms face the amazing blue lagoon while others are situated in
the flourished garden. However, the rates of rooms differ according to its position.
Moreover, the rooms are equipped with facilities like television, air conditioning,
individual safe, telephone, toilet, bathroom along with its shower, hair dryer and other
amenities like shampoo, soap and so on. In addition, the hotel puts tea and coffee
facilities at customers’ disposition in their rooms. As the Gold Beach Hotel is small, it
has only one restaurant compared to other hotels. The restaurant has a seating capacity of
100 people. Food is served to customers on a half board basis, i.e. breakfast and dinner.
Breakfast time starts as from 06.00 to 10.00 and dinner starts as from 19.00 to 22.30. The
chef proposes a wide choice of cuisines such as European, Italian, Indian, Creole and
Chinese to satisfy the tastes of all customers.
Furthermore, the hotel provides various interesting services and facilities to maximise
customer satisfaction. Some services are payable, while other are free. When we talk of
chargeable services, these include excursion in cruises, deep sea fishing, diving in blue
safari scooter and a trip in the blue safari submarine. On the other hand the free facilities
involve glass bottom trips, which is done twice a week. A fitness centre is also available
for customers. A 24-hour laundry service, indoor games and night entertainment also
form part of the hotel activities.

1.4 Outline of Study
 Chapter 1 is about the introduction, profile of organization, problem statement

and objective of the study.
 Chapter 2 discusses the literature review based on customer satisfaction,

marketing mix, marketing strategy, marketing tool and promotional strategy.
 Chapter 3 deals with the methodology part
 Chapter 4 is the analysis of our research work
 Chapter 5 concludes the whole work and discusses the recommendations that
could be put forward based on the analysis made.

Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction can be defined as “the extent to which a product’s perceived

performances match a buyer’s expectation”. Satisfaction can be defined as an attitude like
judgment following a purchase act or series of consumer product interaction. Customer
satisfaction depends on a product’s perceived performance in delivering value relative to
a buyer’s expectation. Normally, when a buyer purchases a product and later finds that
what he expected from it is not the same, this leads to the dissatisfaction of the customer.
If ever the performance exceeds what was expected, hen there is customer satisfaction.
However, satisfied customers are those who repeat purchase and who even make other
people aware about the goods. If experiences are good, people will be interested to buy
goods in that particular firm.
Customer satisfaction became very popular in marketing and strategic thinking through
the whole world. The main objective of marketing has been to secure customer
satisfaction and this is a factor that plays a great role not only in the tourism and
hospitality management, but also in any type of companies. However, the management
of any company tends to do the maximum to satisfy its customers. Researchers have
found that normally, satisfied customers are loyal and the loyal customers are profitable.
However, in order to ensure that there is customer satisfaction, the organization has to lay
emphasis on the development of service quality and ensure that customers are really
happy with the services received after the purchase of the product. There are various
places where customer satisfaction plays a great role and these deals with banks, the
tourism and hospitality industry; that is the travel agencies, hotels, restaurants and so on.
Normally, it is the hospitality industry, which attracts the largest number of customers
and also the repeated guests, thus providing them with the best personal treatments.

However, what customers want in a hotel is one that provides excellent services and
products as far as nice food, good rooms at reasonable prices are concerned. Above all
these, what customers expect are a good attitude on behalf of the employees of the hotel.
Customer expectation involves a warm welcome from service providers, helpful and
sensitive employees who are bound to be respectful and not being treated abruptly, rudely
and indifferently. As for people who walk in, they are the ones who want to be well
treated as very often, they are not accepted in hotels due to the fact that there are no
vacant rooms. This creates frustration among the customers. Thus the management of
the hotel must deal with these customers in a very positive manner and try to solve their
problems by finding solutions for not making them get frustrated. Hence the appropriate
verbal skills are very important to be adopted by the service providers. The other skills
involve body language, good communication skills, facial expressions, proper grooming,
friendly approach and tone of voice. All these factors form part of customer expectation
along with the service provided to them. It a hospitality industry can provide all these to
its customers, it is obvious that there will be customer satisfaction and these will give rise
to a great amount of loyal customers to the hotel. On the other hand, the hotel will gain a
good reputation through guests who will talk to other people about the services and
products being provided by the hospitality operation. Hence, the number of customers
will increase and this will be very profitable to hotels.
Hence, highly satisfied customers make repeat purchasers and are fewer prices sensitive.
Customer satisfaction lies in the foundation of true loyalty. Having the right portfolio of
customer segments, attracting the right customers, tiring the service and delivering high
levels of satisfaction are a solid foundation of customer loyalty. The main job is to listen
to customer’s needs and issues and tries to address them with the key focus of retaining
the customers.
2.2 Managing Service Quality
One way for firms to differentiate itself to its competitors is through the service that it
provides to its customers. Many companies have found it necessary and advantageous to

provide and deliver outstanding service quality because it increase sales and maximize
profits as well.
Every customer before going to any company, firm or associations, do have some
expectations. People now believe that we should get value for money. Value for money
does not only mean a good product but a good service also. For a company to make good
sales, it should exceed the customers, service quality expectations. When we get a good
service, whether it is in terms of good service delivery, good welcome or even effective
communication with the service provider, the customer will tend to become a loyal
customer that is they will not hesitate to come back again.
“Service quality is harder to define and judge than product quality”.
Firms use two basic strategies to compete. One is to be a low cost provider of a particular
service and to focus on price competition while the other strategy is to focus on quality
and try to differentiate your service from those offered by your competitors. Firms that
are able to obtain high –quality images are able to charge higher prices.
Service quality is a perception resulting from attitude formed by customers’ long-term,

overall evaluations of performance. Maintaining high-quality service in the hospitality
and travel industry is difficult because of the variability in service delivery.
If one employee provides service that is below standard or fails to satisfy the customer, a
negative experience could result. Therefore it is important to understand the entire
process of service delivery that leads to consumer

2.3 Benefits of Service Quality
Customer retention
High quality will build loyal customer and create positive word of mouth. It is important
factor as far as purchase decision is concerned. It determines customer satisfaction which
affects repeat business and word of mouth. It has been shown that it costs four to six
times as much to create a customer as it does to maintain an existing one. It is more easier
and profitable to deal with existing customers because they already know what the hotel
is providing, they have faith in the hotel, they feel confident that they will get exactly
what to expect and may also feel reassured that the hotel is reliable.
Satisfied customers will spread recommendation by word of mouth. On average a

satisfied client will tell five others while an unsatisfied customer will tell ten or more
people. It is just to balance positive word of mouth with negative word of mouth; two or
more customers must leave feeling good about the service for every person who feels the
quality of service is poor.
Avoidance of price competition

In order to avoid price competition and help to maximize potential revenue high quality
service is important. A travel agent with a good quality service will be in a much
stronger competitive position than one with a reputation of poor quality. The travel agent
with a good image can count on positive word of mouth and repeat customer to bring in
new business. The customer with a poor reputation will get a fair share of repeat
customer and will receive more negative word of mouth. Therefore travel agent in that
situation will offer price discounting and other means.
However hospitality companies fail to concentrate on what the customer really want so
by differentiating products in this industry is sometimes as easy as simply asking guests
what they really want.

Retention of good employees

People like to work in businesses that produces quality products and they do not like to
receive customers complains. Absenteeism, turnover, and loss of employee morale are
listed as costs of poor quality. If there is good quality service then this will retain good
employees, recruitments become easy and training cost is reduced.
Reduction in costs
Costs associated with quality include internal and external costs and quality systems
costs. Internal costs are those associated with correcting problems discovering by the
firms before the product reach the customer whereas external cost are associated with
errors that customers experiences. They can be expensive when the customer decides not
to return because of service problem. A high quality service system does not come with
costs. These costs can be viewed as investments in the future of the company and help to
ensure that customer returns. Internal costs neither add nor detract from customer
satisfaction. They are simply money down drain. External costs associated with errors
are often high. A firm can go to any extent to maintain the goodwill of a customer who
received poor quality product.
2.4 Marketing mix
The marketing mix approach to marketing is a model of implementing marketing

strategies. It stresses the blending of various factors in such a way that both
organizational and consumer objectives are attained
When blending the mix elements, it is important for marketers to consider their target
market. They must understand the wants and needs of the market customer and then use
these mix elements in constructing and formulating an appropriate marketing strategies
and plans that will satisfy these wants. The mix must also meet or exceed the objectives
of the organization. When building a marketing program to fit the needs of his firm, the
marketing manager has to weigh the behavioral forces and then juggle marketing

elements in his mix with a keen eye on the resources with which he has to work.(Borden,
Normally a separate marketing mix is usually crafted for each product offering or for
each market segment, depending on the organizational structure of the firm. To develop a
marketing mix we need two sets of information; a list of important elements that go into
the mix, and a list of forces that influence these decision variables.
The most common variables used in constructing a marketing mix are price, promotion,
product and distribution. They are sometimes referred to as the four P's. Marketers have
essentially these four variables to use when crafting a marketing strategy and writing a
marketing plan. In the long term, all four of the mix variables can be changed, but in the
short term it is difficult to modify the product or the distribution channel. Therefore in the
short term, marketers are limited to working with only half their tool kit. This limitation
underscores the importance of long term strategic planning.
The four P's which looks at marketing from the perspective of the marketer describes
what variables marketers have to work with, and hence is sometimes referred to as a
marketing management perspective. Each of these variables should also be seen from a
consumer's perspective. This transformation is accomplished by converting Product into
"customer solution", Price into "cost to the customer", Place into "convenience", and
Promotion into "communication". Hence the four P’s can also be called the four C's.
Shortly the four P's were developed another model with twelve decision variables was
defined. They were product planning, pricing, branding, channels of distribution,
personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical
handling, and fact finding.
More recently, Bernard Booms and Mary Bitner built a model consisting of seven P's. In
addition to product, price, promotion, and place, they included people, physical evidence,
and process. "People" was added, to recognize the importance of the human element in
all aspects of marketing. They added "process" to reflect the fact that services, unlike
physical products, are experienced as a process at the time that they are purchased.
"Physical evidence" or "peripheral clues" reflects the physical surroundings associated
with a service encounter or retail location. Other marketing theorists include "partners" as
a mix variable because of the growing importance of collaborative channel relationships.
The marketing mix model is often expanded to include sub-mixes. For example, the
promotion variable can be further decomposed into a promotional mix consisting of

advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity, direct marketing, undercover
marketing, viral marketing, and e-marketing. Within the promotional mix, advertising can
be further broken down into an "advertising media mix" that specifies how much
emphasis is placed on television ads, radio ads, newspaper ads, internet ads, magazine
ads, etc.
Mix dynamics refers to how the mix must be adapted to a changing business environment,
to changes in the organization's resources, and to changes in the product life cycle.
In the hotel industry many professional marketers are confused or frustrated because they
are not getting the results they desire. Often, it's due to an inappropriate marketing mix.
Therefore it's essential to do research which must begin with the customers, both
prospective and existing. This customer research should be the first element of any
marketing mix and cannot be ignored.
2.5 Marketing strategy
A marketing strategy serves as the foundation of a marketing plan especially in the hotel
industry. A marketing plan contains a list of specific actions required to successfully
implement a specific marketing strategy. An example of marketing strategy is that a hotel
may use promotional rates to attract consumers. Once the organization, via the low cost
product, has established a relationship with consumers, it will sell additional, higher-
margin products and services that enhance the consumer's interaction with the low-cost
product or service.
A strategy is different than a tactic. While it is possible to write a tactical marketing plan
without a sound, well-considered strategy, it is not recommended. Without a sound
marketing strategy, a marketing plan has no foundation. Marketing strategies serve as the
fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to reach marketing objectives. It
is important that these objectives have measurable results.
A good marketing strategy must integrate an organization's marketing goals, policies, and
tactics. The objective of a marketing strategy is to provide a foundation from which a

tactical plan is developed. This allows the organization to carry out its mission effectively
and efficiently.
There are different types of marketing strategies. Every marketing strategy is unique, but
if we abstract from the individualizing details, each can be reduced into a generic
marketing strategy. There are a number of ways of categorizing these generic strategies.
A brief description of the most common categorizing schemes is market dominance,
Innovation strategies, Growth strategies, aggressiveness strategies and warfare based
strategies.
2.6 Promotional Strategy
Promotion can be defined as the process of informing existing customers about a firm’s
product. It is often defined as marketing communication and the promotional activities
can be divided into four broad categories, namely advertising, direct marketing, personal
selling and public relation.
However, in almost all companies, once all the objectives have been defined, it is very
important to devise the strategies in order to achieve them. There are two types of
promotional strategies and these are the push strategy and the pull strategy. There is a
difference between these two strategies. Firstly, when we talk of the push strategy, it
deals with “pushing” the product by distributing them through different channels to the
customers. Distribution is done through personal selling, which takes place through
personal communication in an exchange situation between the sellers and the potential
buyers. Personal selling is effective when buyers’ interests are aroused and are interested
to spare time to listen and respond.
Secondly, the pull strategy deals with “pulling” the customers towards the products.
However this is done through advertising in order to inform and convince customers as
well as the large public about the product and their benefits. Thus, if this strategy is
effective, that is if the ad really attracts customers, the latter will themselves feel
interested to purchase the product.

Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY
This part of the project consists of how we have collected data, mainly from primary
sources. From the existing research methods we have decided to use the Survey Research
method and we will use the Questionnaire as our main instrument to gather our primary
data. We are going to administer the questionnaires personally to most of the respondents
as this contact method is known to be the best one in terms of time and cost. However
some customers will be contacted through telephone. Moreover, compared to telephone
and mail, personal administration of the questionnaire is better when we consider
interviewer’s bias, opinion probing, response rate, identification of the respondent or the
element of trust between the interviewer and the respondent. The questionnaires will be
given to the respondents by us and given a delay of about one hour to answer the
questions. They may write the maximum answers for the open ended questions.
Afterwards we shall analyse the open ended answers and assemble wordings which are
similar. For those who will be interviewed by telephone, we will make all our possible to
receive proper answers and we will use telephone skills taught in our Business
Communication Module in the first semester of our course. We have chosen to administer
forty questionnaires, forty being the sample designed.
3.1 Sampling Frame
The sample, being a segment of the population selected for the research to represent the
population as a whole, is 35 respondents where 20 questionnaires will be allocated to
tourists and the remaining 15 to the Mauritians. As the hotel has 31 rooms (5 Family, 11
standard and 15 double rooms), we assume that it can accommodate around 70 customers
at one time. Since its three years of operation, the hotel has accommodated numerous
customers of different nationalities, namely Mauritian, South Africans, Germans and
customers from Reunion Island. So our target population is those customers who have

been shifted during their stay during these two years. Actually, it is very difficult for us to
interview those foreign customers who have already consumed the services of the hotel
and left, so our sample will consist of mainly the customers who are actually at the hotel
and who have experienced shifting from Gold Beach to some other hotel and of those
Mauritians who have been the customers of the hotel previously; we will contact them
through telephone.
3.2 The Sampling Plan
While designing our sample, we have taken into consideration the decisions required to
design the sample, namely who is to be surveyed (what sampling unit), how many people
are to be surveyed (what sample size) and how should the people in the sample be chosen
(what sampling procedure). Moreover, the type of sampling that will be implemented is
the Convenience Sampling which is a Non-Probability sampling method. A convenience
sample is one where the researcher selects the easiest population members from which to
obtain information. To relate this definition to our research, I would say that we have
chosen the easy route to interview our sample that is the people who are at the hotel for
the moment and Mauritians who had ever spent their vacations at the hotel. It will be
most convenient to us to interview these people.
3.3 The Research Instrument
In collecting data, marketing researchers have a choice of two main research instruments
– the questionnaire and mechanical devices. We have chosen the questionnaire because it
is the most common and the most reliable for our survey. Moreover, it is very flexible
that is many types of questions can be asked. The questionnaire that will be used for this
survey has been designed with lots of research and after doing a pre-test to check the
clarity and structure of the questions.

3.4 Questionnaire Design
The questionnaire is based on a 16 model questions, where questions are asked to obtain
the desired information. During the preparation of this questionnaire, considerable
amount of time was spent upon deciding what questions to ask, the form of questions,
wording and also ordering of questions. For this survey, much emphasis has been laid
upon simplicity and straight forwardness questions so that it is easily understood by
respondents. Moreover the questionnaire consists of only 16 precise questions so that
respondents do not feel bored to death while filling the questionnaire.
A checklist of relevant questions was prepared and each question was checked
scrupulously to see that it contributes to the research objectives.
It is important to ask the right questions to get the information that will benefit the
research. So each question needs to be worthwhile. Several rules had to be followed when
designing our questionnaire to suit our needs. They are:
• We always kept our survey concise and understandable.
We had to be certain to make the questions comprehensible to various types of

tourists. Long, drawn-out questions lead only to confusion. Confusing questions
breed confusing answers.
• We were direct when asking questions about our subject.
All the questions were easy to understand and direct.
• We made sure that our questions could be answered easily.
We don't want to stump the respondents and get an "I don't know" answer. We
tried to follow up YES and NO answers with a WHY?

• We avoided offending anyone.
People become sensitive when asked questions about income, age, occupation,
race and sex. We think we should only include these questions if they are
absolutely relevant.
• We did not lie about the intention of the questionnaire.
We told them it's a survey about customer satisfaction. Otherwise, we won't get
the customers real opinions.
• We did not answer the questions for them.
Prompting people for answers will only provide us with our own answers.
• We provided enough time for the respondents to give us an answer, and let them
finish what they are saying.
• We read back to them what they answered to be sure of accuracy. It is

important to understand everything they said.
• We did not react negatively to any answers.
If we were upset by the answers, we did not show it.
• We never forget to be courteous.
We always remembered that they are doing us a favour by filling the

questionnaire
The questionnaire consists of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-

ended questions would include all the possible answers and the respondents would be
required to make a choice among them. Closed-ended questions exist in a variety of

format, from which a few shall be used for the purpose of our survey. We shall therefore
make use of Dichotomous which offers only 2 answer choice, multiple choice questions
offering three or more choice and likert scale where there is a scale which rates some
attributes from ‘poor’ to ‘excellent’.
On the other hand, open-ended questions allow respondents to answer in their own words
and this type of questions is more helpful and favorable at times and also that respondents
are not limited in their answers.
3.5 Covering Letter
The term covering letter is the British term for what is known as "cover letters" stateside.
A cover letter will accompany our survey questionnaire on the top of the first page. The
well written covering letter will highlight selective aspects of our background which best
suits the respondents and moreover it will command the reader's attention. It stimulates
interest in the respondent as well as reflects and purpose of the study.
Content of the covering letter
Our covering letter will include only one paragraph because we do not want to bore the
guests with much reading. The paragraph states the purpose of the survey and
explains with whom we are conducting it. It was also stated on the covering letter
that they may rest assured that all the information collected would be used in strict
confidentiality and only for the purpose of the study. On our part we will tell the
customers the objectives why we are doing this job and we can also explain how
we intend to help them and contribute to the organization.
3.6 Explanation of each question
When preparing the questionnaire great care was taken in the wording of questions as
they should be simple, direct and unbiased wording. We tried to avoid difficult and much

personal questions the so the customers of Gold Beach Resort do not feel offensive. The
most important part is that it is essential to have a constant flow of the questions.
The 1st question is a multiple choice one, offering a wide number of choices. It looks at
the perspectives of the customer about their decision making process of choosing Gold
Beach Resort as destination. A variety of choice is provided in a grid and the respondent
has to tick the corresponding one. It also provides an approach where to target its
customers in the future and whether the hotel has to re consider its marketing campaign,
whether to increase it or keep it on the same trend.
Question 2 states the number of times that guests have ever been to Gold Beach Resort.
This questionnaire shall not be applicable to first time guests at the hotel. It considers
customers who have been at Gold Beach at least once in the past and they must have
experienced some shift to other hotels due to lack of room upon their next visit. This
question will also analyse the fact about the customers which Gold Beach can retain.
Question 3 is a multiple choice one where the respondents will need to tick the hotel/s
which they were shifted in the past. This part of the questionnaire will help to keep a
record about the various hotels where things may not seem to work well for the
customers of Gold Beach.
Question 4 is based on a likert rating scale question where the respondent has to encircle
their degree of acceptance measured by a four point scale from poor service to excellent
service that they view at the hotel they were shifted. This will enable the management to
know the level of satisfaction that the guests experienced by consumer the variety of
services. If the questionnaire sum up with poor service, Gold Beach need no longer shift
its customers to those particular hotels which were poorly rated.
Question 5 is a dichotomous question which indicates whether the shifting to the other
hotel has disrupted their holidays. So the respondents need to tick in the Yes or No box.

Question 6 & 7 is the continuity of question 5, where the respondent has to justify his/her
reason concerning the disruption. If the shift has disturbed his/her holiday, s/he shall give
the reason behind which affected him/her the most and therefore skip question 6.
If the answer is No, question 7 must be skipped and the respondent shall justify what
made his/her stay enjoyable to the hotel s/he was shifted.
From question 8, we will get to know what the customer prefers the most at Gold Beach
Resort when compared to the hotel, s/he was shifted. In other words, the management
will be able to acknowledge the positive aspects of his establishment and will therefore
know if there will continue to have customer retention.
Question 9 measures the reaction of customers of Gold Beach Resort when they call the
hotel for a reservation and they are told that it is house-full for that particular period.
Since reaction will vary from people to people, it will be measured on a liker scale where
some may be comprehensible, comprehensible and frustrated and frustrated. So from
this question we will get the degree of frustrated guests when they get to know that they
cannot be accommodated because of full capacity.
Question 10 examines whether there will be customer retention where they may both
postpone their booking and come to Gold Beach at a time when they can be
accommodated or whether they will look for another hotel. If more and more of its
customers seek to choose other hotels, the management and shareholders of Gold Beach
have to immediately look into the matter, look a remedy and sort out the problem as fast
as possible.
Question 11 studies the perception of guests concerning the expansion of the hotel and
whether it will lead to customer satisfaction.
Question 12 addresses the issue if whether the customers would continue to come to Gold
Beach Resort if it were to expand to another location. By answering by either Yes or No,
they must further support their answer in question number 13. In other words, they will

have to state why they will or will not come to Gold Beach Resort if it moves to another
location. Based on this answer the management can hence decide the next action.
The last three questions are based on whether there is mouth to mouth communication to
encourage or discourage other friends and relatives to stay at Gold Beach. If the guests
are likely to encourage more and more people to come, they have to state why and skip
question number 16. On the other hand if they want to discourage people from coming,
they are even asked to state the motive behind and skip question number 15.
Quantitative and Qualitative Data
We also designed the questionnaire so as to gather both quantitative and qualitative data.
The quantitative data will be tabulated, presented by pie charts or bar charts and further
analysed in the analysis and diccussion chapter. As for the qualitative data, there will be
obtained grom the open ended questions and they will be analysed in the analysis and
discussion chapter.
A copy of the questionnaire is found in the Appendix.
3.7 Pre testing
Before the questionnaires were made available to respondents, a pilot test was done
within a restricted sample of friends and after that we were informed about a few
corrections. As a result certain phrases were re formulated and amendments were also
made with the ordering of the questions.
Some modifications were as follows:
Question 1 In the previous questionnaire, there was only a multiple choice of only 5
answers where advertising was not explicit. So afterwards it was further elaborated and
consisted of internet advertisement, mass media and brochures in order to obtain precise
information

Previously the questionnaire consisted of more than 16 questions and it took our friends
more time to fill the questionnaire. So some of the questions were reformulated and
shortened. For example previously these two questions were present in the questionnaire.
2. Have you ever been to Gold Beach Resort previously?
Yes  No 
3. If yes, how many times?
In the new questionnaire both questions have been merged and Question 2 is as follows:
How many times have you ever been to Gold Beach?
Previously question 12 was too lengthy and also ambiguous.
It was set as:
Do you think that if Gold Beach Resort moves to another location, you would continue to
consider the same hotel for your stay?
Later it was reformulated as:
Would you come to Gold Beach Resort if it were to expand to another location?
3.8 Data Collection
We had to go to Gold Beach Resort in the evening so as we could meet everyone guests
to distribute our questionnaires. Of course we required the help of the Night Manager
because it was easy for him to identify the guests who ever had some shifts to other
hotels and also to correspond to our study. We gave them a delay of about one hour to

fill the questionnaires so that we don’t disrupt them. They could fill it during their free
time or when they were sitting at tables for their dinner.
On the other hand, the survey which was done by telephone to the local people took us a
few days to reach every one. We made use of secondary data to get the phones numbers
and shared it among our team.
3.9 Data Analysis
The data collected during the survey will be analysed in respect to the level of customer
satisfaction. All data have been computed in percentage and mean. Afterwards they
were represented by pie charts and bar charts. This was computed in the Excel
Spreadsheet. Questions that consist of pie charts and bar charts have been split into three
parts like the tourists’ point of view, Mauritian point of view and on overall. Some parts
of the questions were analysed thoroughly from these views mentioned while other were
based on the overall concept only.
3.10 Interview with Management
First of all, we had an indirect contact with the management of the hotel. One of our team
member’s relative is acquainted to an employee, the store manager precisely, and thus we
could establish a contact with the management. Then we took appointment with the
marketing manager of the hotel, with whom we had the interview. The face to face
interview was a successful one in the sense that we could get all the answers we were
looking for and we could then identify our objectives. The management proposed a
solution that they are working on, and this point will be further discussed in this report.
The interview will be illustrated below by a set of questions and answers that were
discussed. However, the wordings are not identical, but the main idea behind the
discussion is maintained.

3.11 Limitations of Study and Problems Encountered
When performing the survey, we have encountered some problems with the respondents.
The customers were not readily available during the day to meet them all because most of
them went for sight seeing and shopping. So we had to go to the hotel again in the
evening so that we could come into contact with everyone. A few customers were not
willing to participate. They refused to fill it and said that they did not have time to spend
on such a survey because they believed that it was time consuming.
Some people failed to understand the questions since they were in English. This became
a problem as there were potential respondents but they could not fill the surveys as they
did not understand English. Though the questions are quite straight forward enough for
anyone to fill but yet we encountered the language problem. It was not possible for us to
translate each question for the respondents because customers did not have enough time
to spare for us. It was more important for them to enjoy the atmosphere at the hotel.
Some questionnaires were left unfilled after it was distributed to tourists. Although they
accepted to fill the questionnaires, they did not respond to all the questions and also
comprised of two answers, where only one was required. Questionnaires which
comprised of two answers and those which were not filled completely were not taken into
consideration. The questions were left mainly because the respondents didn’t understand
the questions as they were in a hurry.
We had to make use of telephone as a means of communication tool to conduct our

survey in order to conduct the Mauritian people who had resided at Gold Beach.
Although they were chosen at random, it was quite difficult to get into contact with them
because in most of the week days we were in the university premises, hence unable to
phone them. Even when we called them from home, we got some after several attempts
because they were not readily available during the time we called them. So after major
difficulties we were able to conduct our survey with the fifteen Mauritian people.

Chapter 4
ANALYSIS & DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Analysis of Management Interview
The management interview was done in order to identify any problem at the Gold Beach
Hotel. Actually we formulated our question so that the respondent would not feel
awkward or resented to answer our questions. The first two questions dealt with an
overview about the hotel and the results have been used to construct the chapter on
company profile. The third question dealt with whether there was an increase in number
of customers and the response shows that the number of customers has indeed increased
but there are fluctuations at some times. It was then asked whether the hotel is facing any
problems while catering for its customers. The answer was negative. As we saw that the
hotel was a quite a small one, we asked whether the hotel is planning for expansion. Here
the manager revealed that the hotel is under expansion plan as there is lack of rooms and
customers are shifted to other hotels during high demands. Then we treated this as a
problem and even if the manager tried to hide facts, we could get the information we
required. The manager said that no survey has been done till now to know about the
seriousness of the problem. So we proposed to carry out a survey where we will
formulate objectives and questions so that we can get the answers we were requiring. We
were then allowed to carry out the survey, given that the information should remain
confidential.

4.2 Analysis & Discussion from Charts

1. Why did you choose Gold Beach Resort for your destination?
0%
5.60%
0% Location
16.70%
Price
Friends/Relatives
44.40%
Travel Agents
Brochures
22.20% Internet
Mass Media
11.10%
Fig 1.1 Tourists
0%
0%
0%
20% 0% Price
Location
Friends & Relatives
Travel Agent
Internet
20% 60%
Mass Media
Brochures
Fig 1.2 Mauritian
3%
0%
0%
9%
Location
34%
Price
Friends & Relatives
21%
Travel Agents
Mass Media
Brochures
Internet
33%
Question 1- Tourist point of view
Fig 1.3 Overall

About 44.4% of tourists have mostly chosen Gold Beach Resort once again or more than
twice because of its location as it overlooks a beautiful white sandy beach and a most
amazing blue lagoon. So location forms part among the main factors which tourists
consider before booking a hotel.
Very few tourists have based themselves on pricing strategy for choosing Gold Beach.
Since they are coming to enjoy their holidays, they also bring foreign currency along with
them. So hotel rates and price do not seem to affect the arrival of tourists to the hotel.
Only 11.1% of tourists have chosen the hotel due to its price. It may be that those tourists
come from countries where cost of living is high. So they choose 3 star hotels where
price is relatively lower than 4 and 5 star hotels.
22.2% of the customers have been to Gold Beach due to recommendation from friends
and relatives. The services at the hotels must have surely met their expectations and in
turn they recommended their close friends and relatives to that hotel to enjoy customer
satisfaction.
Recommendation from travel agents has been relatively low with only 16.7%. It may be
that travel agents have not promoted the hotel well enough in foreign countries or that
tourists may have not been interested to contact travel agents prior to their visits.
Only 5.6% of tourists have chosen brochures as a tool to go to Gold Beach. It indicates
very poor results and it may be because brochures are not in the proper hands of tourism
promotion authorities.
Internet and mass media has not influenced anyone to choose the hotel. This is because
the hotel may not have done any advertisement through mass media. As a result it cannot
expect tourists to come through mass media advertisement. On the other hand, tourists in
other countries may not have gone through the net to get an idea about the advertisement
of the hotel.

Mauritian
60% of Mauritian people have chosen the hotel because of its price factor. The hotel has
a special rate for Mauritian. Thus most of them have gone there because of the cheaper
price that Gold Beach offers. There is also a promotional basis where retained customers
get discount on their future visits especially the off peak season.
For Mauritian, location is not a major issue because they do not tend to go to hotels to
enjoy the sea and sun since many of them can have access to different public beaches. So
they choose hotels only as a means for relaxation. Only 20% have gone there because of
its location. Perhaps they these people have found the hotel situated in an extremely ideal
place.
Good mouth of mouth communication from local people indicates about 20%. In other
words it is a good indication because there is increase in the number of local people and
during the off peak period, the hotel will be at full capacity.
In Mauritius, Travel agents, internet, brochure and mass media has not seemed to
influence local people to visit hotels at all.
Overall
On overall location and price have been the major factors which have mostly influenced
customers to continuously visit Gold Beach Resort. They consist of 33.3% each.
Recommendation from friends and relatives follows with 21.2% which indicates quite a
good sign about customer satisfaction from the hotel. Arrival of tourists due to travel
agents and brochures has been relatively poor with 9.1% and 3.1% consequently. So
location and its price have been a determining factor to motivate customers to come to
Gold Beach Resort.

2. How many times have you ever been to Gold Beach?
11%
Once
28% 2 - 3 times
61% > 3 times
Fig 2.1 Tourists
26.70%
Once
2-3 times
More than 3
33.30%
40.00%
Fig 2.2 Mauritian
18%
Once
49% 2 to 3
>3
33%
Fig 2.3 Overall

Question 2- Overall
In general taking foreign and local into consideration, most of the customers of Gold
Beach have ever been to the hotel once and it is represented by 49%. It shows that the
hotel has been able to retain most of its customers. There exists a small gap between
customers who have already been to the hotel once and between those who have been
there two to three times. It is shown by 33%. It is even amazing to find that there is
18% of customers who have been there more than three times in the short span of time
the hotel has been in operation. So it is encouraging for the management since there has
been many repeat visits.

3. Which hotel were you shifted to during your current or previous visit due to lack
of room?
11.10%
22.20%
0%
Pearl Beach
Klondyke
27.80% Manisa
Gold Crest
Gold Nest
38.90%
Fig 3.1 Tourists
0%
6.70%
33% 20% Gold Nest Hotel

Klondyke Hotel
Manisa Hotel
Pearl Beach Hotel
Gold Crest Hotel
40.00%
Fig 3.2 Mauritian
6.00%
3.00% 27.40% Pearl Beach
Klondyke
33.30% Manisa
Gold Crest
Gold Nest
30.30%
Fig 3.3 Overall

Question 3
Overall
At times of house full both local and foreign customers were shifted to other hotels.
From our chosen sample of 33 people, most of them comprising of 33.3% were shifted to
Manisa Hotel. Some 30.3% were shifted to Klondyke Hotel and 27.4%were shifted to
the next door one, namely Pearl Beach Hotel. These were classified according to hotels
more or less similar to Gold Beach Resort. However, a few were sent to Gold Crest
Hotel and Gold Nest Hotel all depending upon their choice and it was consecutively as
3% and 6%. In other words these two hotels were not required by customers since they
are more business and city hotels.

4. How did you perceive the services offered in other hotels?
Question 4
Mean Rating on
2.38
likert scale 2.5 2.17
2
1.83 1.78
2 1.5
1.5 1.11
1
0.5 0
0
nt
ce
y
ce
s
re
r
a
Ba
dr
er
ra
Sp
ffi
isu
i
rv
un
th
au
tO
se
O
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La
t
es
on
m
R
Fr
oo
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Services
Fig 4.1
Question 4
Mean Rating on
3 2.53
likert scale
2.3 2.26
2.5 1.9
2 1.73 1.73 1.66
1.5
1
0.5 0
0
nt
ce
y
ce
s
e
r
a
Ba
dr
er
r
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Sp
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isu
i
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un
th
au
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Fig 4.2
Question 4
Mean Rating on
2.33
2.5 2.24
likert scale
1.89 1.97
2 1.75 1.67 1.56
1.5
1
0.5 0
0
nt
ce
y
ce
s
re
r
a
Ba
dr
er
Sp
ra
ffi
isu
i
rv
un
th
au
tO
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O
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La
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on
m
R
Fr
oo
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Services
Fig 4.3

Question 4
Tourists, Mauritian and Overall
This question shall analyse the perceptions of the services offered in the other hotels
viewed by the local and tourists. While calculating the mean score for the thirty three
questionnaires we have found that the result is more or less around 2. In other words
level of customer satisfaction in other hotels experienced by tourists has been only up to
2.38 which is quite near to average service. They have also experienced very poor
service from the laundry which provides a mean of 1.11%. The rest including bar,
restaurant, room service, leisure and others tend to vary between a mean of 1.5 to 2.17
which again gives a view that no service was been good or excellent.
On the other tendency has been a bit different with the Mauritian stay in the other hotels.
Their liking to Leisure has been approximate to good with a mean of 2.5. Rest
everything was rated as average service.
In overall maximum satisfaction of customers has been in the front office department of
the various hotels with a mean of 2.33. This is so because all hotels must have a very
good front office since it is the very first contact with customers. So most of them have
liked the behaviour provided the receptionists. There has been no great change among
the other services offered by other hotels. Most are them are based on a general analysis
of poor to average.

5. Did the shifting to the other hotel disrupt your holiday?
90.00%
77.80%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00% Yes
40.00% No
30.00%
22.80%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes No
Fig 5.1 Tourists
80.00%
66.70%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00% Yes
33.30%
30.00% No
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes No
Fig 5.2 Mauritian
80.00% 72.70%
70.00%
60.00%
% Response
50.00%
Yes
40.00%
27.30% No
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
1
Options
Fig 5.3 Overall

Question 5 – 7
Both tourists and local people have found that the shifting to other hotels have disrupted
their holidays while a few seemed to have enjoyed their holidays when they were shifted.
This is shown by a general view at the chart where 72.7% of respondents have stated that
their holiday has been disrupted. Several reasons were stated in the questionnaires and
they are as follows in the hotels where the customers spent a day or a few days prior to
their stay at Gold Beach.
For instance, the customers of Gold Beach were disrupted at Manisa hotel because there
was no sea view from the hotel. The beach was quite far and they had to pass through the
public beach to go for sun bathing. Some were not at ease on the beach because they
were surrounded by many other people. They did not have the same privacy which was
available at Gold Beach. Manisa hotel was also located on the main road. This upset
certain customers due to noise pollution from cars and a nearby pub. The change of
atmosphere seemed to be quite uncomfortable to them.
At Klondyke hotel, the customers were quite uncomfortable because the sea facing the
hotel is not suitable for swimming due to no coral beach. In other words there is no
lagoon there. They also made complaint that the price charged by that hotel was
relatively higher to a great extent compared to Gold Beach. It was also noted that the
service was different.
Although Pearl Beach hotel is located beside Gold Beach Resort, customers were not
completely satisfied with its service. Most of the respondents who were shifted to Pearl
Beach stated that the rooms of that hotel were not well maintained and it was limited in
terms of space. The rooms were not well designed and this was the main negative aspect
for the next door hotel. The services offered were also found to be slightly different.
Very few customers were shifted to Gold Crest and Gold Nest hotel because they are
business hotels and do not meet the requirements of these types of tourists. However

those who were shifted there were offered very cheap rate until they were again sent to
Gold Beach resort. They found it boring since there was lack of entertainment in those
hotels and also there limited choice of cuisines.
On the other hand, 27.3% of respondents revealed that their stay was enjoyable to the
other hotels they were shifted. This is so because those who were at Pearl Beach almost
enjoyed the same sea and beach. Some others have enjoyed the change of atmosphere
because they consumed new services. However this data represents a low proportion of
tourists since the majority of them have been disrupted. The main problem deals mainly
with the customers whose holidays have been disrupted.
Question 8
Overall
In this question, respondents were asked about the things that they mostly preferred at
Gold Beach compared to the hotels they were shifted. Many of them have qualified that
the present location of Gold Beach Resort is the most ideal place because the atmosphere
is very good and also peaceful. Professional staffs form part of the team of the hotel and
that the staffs are very friendly.
Furthermore, the rooms face the stunning west coast beach and are also nestled among
flourished gardens. The restaurant serves meal in a cozy atmosphere facing the beach
where the chef proposes European, Italian, Indian, Local and Chinese cuisine to satisfy
all tastes. They also view the price charged as excellent.
The customers have wholly appreciated the calm lagoon facing the beach

9. What would be your reaction if you are calling at Gold Beach Resort for a
reservation and you are told that it is house-full for that particular period?
6%
28%
Comprehensible
Comprehensible &
Frustrated
Frustrated
66%
6.1 Tourists
20%
33.30% Comprehensible
Comprehensible &
Frustrated
Frustrated
46.70%
6.2 Mauritian
18%
24% Comprehensible
Comprehensible
& Frustrated
Frustrated
58%
6.3 Overall

Question 9
Tourists
Further to the analysis of the results obtained from the questionnaires, we can see that a
large percentage (66%) of the tourists were both comprehensible and frustrated. This
means that these tourists can understand that the hotel is small and this type of problem
can happen. Nevertheless, they are frustrated in the sense that they had to pack their
luggage and move to some other hotel where perhaps they were not very satisfied about
the services offered, the location that the hotel is situated or perhaps the treatment of the
staff. Some 28% were completely frustrated and this may be perhaps because of the
location of the secondary hotel, the staff or the services offered and it is quite obvious
perhaps because every time they come to the hotel they had been shifted, and this is
really frustrating to pack again and move to a new atmosphere. Only 6% were completely
comprehensible and perhaps they fully understand the problem at the hotel and perhaps
because of the good service provided to them, the location of the hotel or the treatment of
the staff, they were quite satisfied and understood that they were being given an
opportunity to visit a new atmosphere.
Mauritian
Again for the Mauritian group also, we got a high percentage (46.7%) of respondents
who opted for “Comprehensible & Frustrated” option, as perhaps they were frustrated
because they had chosen a specific location for the facilities available such as near beach
or other services unique at Gold Beach Resort and they were comprehensible in the sense
that they could understand the problem and also got the opportunity to savour the delights
of some other hotel which perhaps they would never visit by themselves.33% of the
Mauritian sample opted for “Comprehensible” as perhaps they are a loyal client to the
hotel and also they got the opportunity to visit new atmospheres with different services
which made them to live a new experience. 20% of the sample were fully frustrated
perhaps because they wanted to spend all their time in the surroundings of Gold Beach or
they didn’t like the other hotel at all and their holiday was spoilt.

Overall
The overall 33 questionnaires revealed 58% of the sample who opted for
“Comprehensible & Frustrated” and this means that they were quite satisfied by the hotel
and they could understand that it was a limitation for the hotel to provide accommodation
for their complete stay. However, we have 24% who opted for complete frustration and
this means that many do not agree with the fact that they are shifted to another hotel
when they booked at Gold Beach. Finally 18% of the overall sample agreed to be
comprehensible, so we see that most of them are frustrated because of the shifting and
this might act negatively on the hotel in the near future if nothing is being done.

10. Would you either postpone your booking to Gold Beach or prefer to look for
another hotel?
55.60%
60.00%
50.00% 44.40%
40.00%
Postpone booking
30.00%
Look for another hotel
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Postpone booking Look for another
hotel Fig 7.1 Tourists
70%
60%
60%
50%
40%
40% Postpone Booking
30% Look for another hotel
20%
10%
0%
Fig 7.2 Mauritian
Postpone Booking Look for another hotel
52.00%
51.50%
51.50%
51.00%
% Response
50.50% Postpone
50.00%
49.50%
49.00% Look for another
48.50% 48.50% hotel
48.00%
47.50%
47.00%
Postpone Look for
another hotel Fig 7.3 Overall
Question 10
Tourists
The results from this question show clearly that a large percentage of tourists (56.60%),
more than half of the sample opted to postpone their booking at Gold Beach. This means
that the tourists like the hotel and they are ready to come at a later time. On the other
hand, 44.4% opted to choose another hotel for their accommodation. This can be because
of various reasons. Perhaps the tourists have their holidays on fixed date and they cannot
postpone their stay or they want to experience another hotel or even that they want to
change location and go to the other parts of the island, perhaps in the east, north or even
south.
Mauritian
Most of the Mauritian sample opted to look for another hotel (60%) as perhaps they are in
their motherland and have the choice from many places. Moreover, most Mauritians
cannot postpone their stay as their holidays are normally not long so they have to look for
another hotel. but it there was not the problem of the lack of rooms, most Mauritian s
would have chosen this hotel because of its calm location and for its price. 40% of the
sample opted to postpone their stay, because perhaps these are retired, housewives or
people who own their own business and are their own bosses. Perhaps they are very
acquainted to the hotel, that’s why they are ready to postpone their booking.
Overall
The overall result shows a very negative result for the hotel. More than half of the overall
sample (51.5%) opted to look for another hotel, thus if rooms are not available at Gold
Beach, gradually the hotel will perform its own de-marketing and thus lose most of its
loyal customers. The problem should be acted upon quickly else the hotel will face huge
losses in the near future. Only 48.5% of the sample opted to postpone their booking to
Gold Beach. If we compare the two results, we can see that there is not much difference

between the figures. So we can see that the rate opting to postpone their booking is not
too low, thus if management acts upon the problem of rooms quickly, the hotel will not
have such problem and its loyal customers may remain loyal.

11. Do you think that expansion of Gold Beach Resort will be a solution leading
to customer satisfaction?
120%
100% 100%
80%
Yes
60%
No
40%
20%
0% 0%
Fig 8.1 Tourists
Yes No
100.00%
86.70%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00% Yes
50.00%
No
40.00%
30.00%
13.30%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00% Fig 8.2 Mauritian
Yes No
100% 94%
80%
% Response
60% Yes
40% No
20%
6%
0%
Fig 8.3 Overall
Options
Question 11
Question 11
The tourist sample opted to expand the hotel (100%) thus enabling more people to be
accommodated and no shifting of customers in the future. This means that they want to
be at Gold Beach again and without being disturbed in their stay. Thus, expanding the
hotel will certainly bring about more satisfaction to them. On the other hand, the
Mauritian sample also opted for expansion of Gold Beach (86.7%), so that perhaps they
can stay at the hotel in larger numbers or for more days without being disturbed or shifted
to some other hotel. On the whole, 94% opted to expand the hotel and the 6% were
against, perhaps because they were quite satisfied by the actual service and also that they
got the opportunity to explore another atmosphere

12. Would you come to Gold beach if it were to expand to another location?
100.00% 94.40%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
Yes
50.00%
No
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00% 5.60%
0.00%
Fig 9.1 Tourists
Yes No
80.00%
66.70%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
Yes
40.00%
33.30% No
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes No Fig 9.2 Mauritian
90.00% 81.80%
80.00%
70.00%
% Response
60.00%
50.00% Yes
40.00% No
30.00% 18.20%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
1
Options
Fig 9.3 Overall

Question 12
Tourists
The tourist sample opted to still come at Gold Beach if it were to expand at some other
location (94.4%), perhaps because many of them did not choose the hotel for its location,
but rather for its service, price or other characteristics. They still want to come at the
hotel to savour the same services and almost the same atmosphere. So, if tourists are so
reluctant to come back at Gold Beach, management should think about it.
Mauritian
Here again, we see a high percentage of the sample who opted to still come on expansion
at another location (66.7%), which means that the locals also, similar to tourists, want to
savour the services of Gold Beach, even if it were to expand at some other location.
Again, with such high percentage of the sample willing for expansion, the hotel should
cater for it if wants to survive among fierce competition today.
Overall
An overall percentage of 81.8% of the sample opted to still come on expansion of the
hotel at some other location and 18.2% opted not to come perhaps because they like the
location of the hotel and they fear that the new location will not create the atmosphere
present now, also perhaps if it is not in Flic en Flac, they will not find themselves at ease,
for example if it is posted in the east where there is a lack of infrastructure and also no
night life outside the hotel.

Question 13
Analysis for Tourists, Mauritians and overall
The question 13 was a bit tricky in the sense that whatever is being answered in the
previous question, a justification must be given. So even if they answered “Yes” or “No”,
they had to answer this one. Many among both the tourists and locals answered that they
would return to Gold Beach even it were to expand at another location and they praised
the level of service, the friendly staff, they also said that the price was affordable, there
will be more rooms and there will be no shifting from one hotel to another, it will be a
new feeling, as a whole they said that they agree to expand the hotel at some other
location, given that the current standards of the hotel remains the same or upgraded if
possible. For those who answered negatively, they said that they think that there is a
problem at the management level that is why there has been shifting and perhaps other
types of problem will crop up at the other location, others said that they chose Gold
Beach for its location, so if the location is changed, they will no longer remain repeat
patrons. So we see that even if the hotel is being expanded at another location, there will
still be a considerable amount of repeat visits even there, given that the standards of the
hotel are kept constant or upgraded.

14. Would you recommend Gold Beach Resort to your friends/relatives?
100.00%
88.90%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
Yes
50.00%
No
40.00%
30.00%
20.00% 11.10%
10.00%
0.00%
Yes No Fig 10.1 Tourists
120%
100%
100%
80%
60% Yes
No
40%
20%
0%
0%
Fig 10.2 Mauritian
Yes No
100% 94%
90%
80%
70%
% Response
60%
Yes
50%
40% No
30%
20%
10% 6%
0% Fig 10.3 Overall
1

Question 14
Tourists, Mauritian and overall
Positive response for this question by the tourists gave a percentage of 88.9% and a
negative response of 11.1%. This means that the tourists like Gold Beach that is why they
will recommend it to their friends and relatives. The 11.1% negative response shows that
some tourists did not like the shifting from Gold Beach to another hotel, thus they are not
going to recommend the hotel to their friends and relatives. As for Mauritians, there was
a 100% positive response, and we believe that it is due to the competitive price the hotel
offers, the friendliness of the staff, and the good level of service. So the Mauritian market
is a promising one for the hotel. On the overall, we see a positive response of 94%, which
means that Gold Beach is really appreciated by its customers and many would
recommend the hotel to their close ones. Thus it will be a reduced cost for the marketing
department. As for the 6% negative response, it is without doubt that it is because of the
shifting from the hotel to other hotels, the customers are a bit disappointed and thus there
will be no recommendation from their part. But they can prove to be a de-marketing
agent and be harmful to the image of the hotel, so we believe that management should
take immediate action about the shifting problem.
Question 15 & 16
Tourists, Mauritian and overall
Again this is a tricky question where respondents had to justify their answer. Those who
answered positively for the previous question gave answers like that they like the hotel,
they enjoyed their stay, the price is affordable, it was a good experience, the level of
service is good, they had a nice time and they felt quite relaxed. For those who answered
negatively they gave these types of answers why they would discourage their friends and
relatives to come to Gold Beach; they said that the limited rooms is the largest problem,

they did not like their stay as they were disturbed, they had to pack their luggage again
and some said that the hotel should change location. So we see that the largest problem is
the shifting from Gold Beach to another hotel. Thus management should look into this
matter immediately.

Chapter 5
Conclusion & Recommendations
Further to the analyses of the data in the last chapter, we have been able to come to
certain conclusions. We have analysed each and every question so that we can make
recommendations to management to alleviate the problem of lack of rooms and shifting
of customers to other hotels. Referring to our objectives of the study, we have designed a
questionnaire such that all the questions relate to the objectives, and we have been
successful to gather information about how to overcome the present problem at Gold
Beach.
Moreover, in respect to the responses we received from the survey, we could conclude
that the Gold Beach Hotel is indeed suffering from the problem of lack of rooms and the
level of satisfaction is decreasing as long as the customers are being shifted. There are
many reasons because they are frustrated, for example some dislike the fact that they
have to pack their luggage once again to move to the new hotel, some were resentful
about the new location or the atmosphere of the new hotel. Some didn’t find the staff as
friendly as the staff at Gold Beach. Many complained because they were shifted to a city
hotel when they booked in a resort. We also assessed whether the customers, being repeat
visitors, will look for another hotel or will decide to postpone their booking so that they
come to Gold Beach itself. Many answered that they would look for another hotel, but a
larger percentage opted to postpone their booking to the hotel itself. This means that
these customers are quite satisfied with the hotel, only that the shifting from Gold Beach
to some other hotel disrupts them. Finally, the questions in the end of the questionnaire
dealt with whether the customers will return to Gold Beach if it were to expand at some
other location and whether it would lead to customer satisfaction. A large percentage of
the respondents said that they will return to Gold Beach even if it were to be expanded to
some other location and this would indeed lead to their satisfaction.

Furthermore, many agreed that they would recommend the hotel to their friends and
relatives and this shows that there is a considerable amount of customer satisfaction, even
if the hotel shifts its customers. However, there are some respondents who frankly
disclosed that they are not going to come back to Gold Beach hotel. In addition to this,
they also said that they are going to discourage their friends and relatives to come to the
hotel. This means that this will play against the hotel and further potential customers of
the hotel will be lost, which in turn means a loss of revenue in the future.
Further to the overall results and the discussions, there are some recommendations we
can make to the hotel. First of all, the hotel’s main problem can be tackled by expanding
the number of rooms. But, as a matter of fact, the area where the hotel is situated is very
compact. So, the hotel cannot be expanded on the land where the actual hotel premises
are found. So we can either expand at some other location and we noticed that many
respondents agree that this step is taken. However, we researched around the location and
we found that there was a plot of land just beside the hotel. It is a residential plot of land
where there is an old owner (90 years old) and she is the sole owner of that land. We
recommend that the hotel can make arrangements with the owner of that land and the
new premises can be bought to expand the hotel. Thus the new premises will be just
beside and there will be no change of location, thus the customers will be better satisfied.
Moreover, if the land owner agrees to sell the land to the hotel owner, and the hotel
decides to expand just besides, the marketing of the new premises should be started right
away as the shifting caused quite de-marketing of the hotel. Thus, an early marketing
through travel agents, brochures, internet, and mass media is recommended.
Finally, the hotel can thus target new markets like the European or Asian market as it can
accommodate more customers and it must be able to control the number of bookings so
that there will be no more shifting to other hotels, and most important to keep the
standard or even to rise the level of service at the hotel.

Reference:
• Hayes. J, Dredge F. (1998) Managing customer service, ISBN 056608005 2
• Kotler P, Bowen. J, and Makens. J (2003) Marketing for Hospitality and

Tourism, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall: New Jersey
• Kotler. P, Armstrong G. (1996) Principles of Marketing, 7th edition. Prentice Hall

of India. Private Ltd
Internet websites:
• http://en.wikipedia.org
• http://marketingteacher.com


Marketing Resort Hotel in Mauritius

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Marketing Resort Hotel in Mauritius

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Market Research on Customer Satisfaction Gold Beach Resort

1.1 The Problem Statement

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1.2 Objectives of Study

 To examine if customers have encountered any particular problem to the hotel

 To know the perception of customers regarding the expansion of the hotel.

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1.3 The Organisation’s Profile - The Gold Beach Resort

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1.4 Outline of Study

 Chapter 1 is about the introduction, profile of organization, problem statement

 Chapter 2 discusses the literature review based on customer satisfaction,

 Chapter 3 deals with the methodology part

 Chapter 4 is the analysis of our research work

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2.1 Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction can be defined as “the extent to which a product’s perceived

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2.2 Managing Service Quality

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“Service quality is harder to define and judge than product quality”.

Service quality is a perception resulting from attitude formed by customers’ long-term,

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2.3 Benefits of Service Quality

Satisfied customers will spread recommendation by word of mouth. On average a

Avoidance of price competition

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Retention of good employees

2.4 Marketing mix

The marketing mix approach to marketing is a model of implementing marketing

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promotion variable can be further decomposed into a promotional mix consisting of

2.5 Marketing strategy

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2.6 Promotional Strategy

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3.1 Sampling Frame

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3.2 The Sampling Plan

3.3 The Research Instrument

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3.4 Questionnaire Design

• We always kept our survey concise and understandable.

We had to be certain to make the questions comprehensible to various types of

• We were direct when asking questions about our subject.

All the questions were easy to understand and direct.

• We made sure that our questions could be answered easily.

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• We avoided offending anyone.

• We did not lie about the intention of the questionnaire.

• We did not answer the questions for them.

• We read back to them what they answered to be sure of accuracy. It is

• We did not react negatively to any answers.

If we were upset by the answers, we did not show it.

• We never forget to be courteous.

We always remembered that they are doing us a favour by filling the

The questionnaire consists of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Closed-

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3.5 Covering Letter

Content of the covering letter

3.6 Explanation of each question

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