Evaluation of service quality of tourism industry based on SERVQUAL model–a comparative study between Istanbul and Barcelona

This study deals with the concept of service quality and has demonstrated the model of service quality dimensions; it aims to compare the tourists' satisfaction between Barcelona and Istanbul. For this purpose a questionnaire with five-point Likert scale is applied to measure tourist's satisfaction. Data was obtained from 50 respondents in Barcelona and 50 in Istanbul. Data was analyzed using SPSS 18 software by employing correlation, stepwise regression and t-test analysis. Results indicate that there are significant differences between overall satisfaction levels of tourists between two cities. It is worth noting that in Barcelona the average rating significantly is higher than the average rating in "Assurance" dimension, in other word in some variables such as "Knowledge of staff", "Level of safety and security", and "Level of English language of people" Barcelona is better than Istanbul. The study contains material relevant to the tourism industry, and implementable solutions are sufficiently suggested. The research contains relevant materials to the tourist's satisfaction, and implications are discussed and recommendations are offered for improving touristic services quality.