engleski

Investigating theme park service quality by using modified THEMEQUAL model

Purpose – Theme parks are an interesting segment of the tourism market. In today’s competitive environment, delivering a high- quality service to meet the visitors’ needs becomes an important way to create business success. Understanding this concept becomes a big part of the total success and a relevant issue even for theme parks. In modern tourism research, only a few studies have explored the service quality of theme parks and its potential for tourism development ; therefore, there is an obvious need for investigation of this matter. This paper aims to: (a) fill the current gap in research by using a modified THEMEQUAL model for measuring the perception of service quality in an adventure theme park ; (b) assess the perceived service quality attributes ; (c) investigate the relative importance of the service quality dimensions in influencing the overall satisfaction levels of visitors. Methodology – The study was conducted using a 27 characteristics self-administrated questionnaire in Glavani Park based on the modified THEMEQUAL model. The data was analysed using descriptive and multivariate statistical analysis. Findings – The results indicated that all 27 characteristics achieved very high scores indicating a good perception of service quality. A multiple regression analysis identified the dimensions “ambience” and “responsiveness access” as best predictors of visitor satisfaction. Contribution – The paper contributes to the existing literature of service quality in the context of theme parks with its theoretical presentation, empirical findings and practical input ; therefore the findings can be used both by managers in theme parks for improving quality and by the scientific community as an input to service quality literature and encouragement for further research

service quality ; THEMEQUAL ; multivariate statistical analysis ; theme park ; tourism ; Croatia

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