Improving service quality in small communities: The Bahamas as a model

Service quality is a topic that permeates every facet of the tourism industry. In small communities such as The Bahamas, where tourism is the driving factor for economic stability, service quality is paramount. In 2001, the Bahamian Ministry of Tourism set customer satisfaction goals for the country and is continually striving to improve the country\u27s visitor satisfaction ratings through market research; This qualitative exploratory study investigates service quality in Bahamian hotels and was inspired by Ministry of Tourism customer service research. The project was tailored to identify service quality gaps within the Bahamian hotel industry by applying the Conceptual Gap Model. In-depth face-to-face interviews with customer contact staff at two leisure hotels in The Bahamas revealed service quality gaps that stemmed from a limited job enrichment and job rotation for customer contact employees, inaccurate marketing communications, and inadequate resources. Suggestions for closing these gaps are also provided