Customers’ perceptions of value in relation to hotels in Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract: This study is based on the premise that the hospitality industry operates within a highly competitive business environment and that the creation of customer-perceived value is a business component that concerns the striving to gain competitive advantage in terms of financial success, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The aim of the study was to explore the hotel value attributes perceived as being most important by hotel customers. To achieve the objective, a quantitative study design was employed, in terms of which data were purposively and conveniently collected by means of a survey questionnaire that was administered to hotel guests staying in 3- to 5-star hotels. The findings revealed that hotel customers tend to attach a high degree of importance to the issue of value for money, whereas the appearance of the hotel was least important to them of the tourism-related characteristics about which they were asked. Overall, the study found that hotels in Gauteng generally provide service that is satisfactory to their customers, but that the remaining challenge for hoteliers lies in their ability to sustain such levels of satisfaction through continuous employee motivation and skills development