Evaluation of expectation and satisfaction levels of hotel customers in high and off season: A study in Belek, Antalya

Hotel enterprises which produce goods and services in tourism sector have a different position compared to other enterprises regarding both production and presentation conditions.In hotel enterprises goods and services are produced and this production underlies customers' expectations. Hotel enterprises are unable to store tourist products and this makes simultaneous production and consumption of goods or services a necessity. This can only be achieved by providing goods and services which meet the customer expectations and creating customer satisfaction. When all of these are taken into consideration, it is observed that hotel enterprises also struggle with seasonal demand fluctuations. Because of various reasons, customers travel in certain times of year which causes seasonal demand concentrations. In the months when there is less concentrationin demand, which are called off season months, hotel enterprises have customers in limited numbers to serve goods or services.The study aims to reveal hotel customers' level of service expectations and satisfaction in high and off season. Thus, the basis of the research comprises the evaluation of hotel customers' service expectations and satisfaction levels in high and off season. In the study, customer service expectations and satisfaction levels at functional and general services departments of five star hotel enterprises which is located in Belek, Antalya are measured.According to the results, there is a meaningful discrepancy between customers? expectation and satisfaction levels in regards to demographic questions. Besides, it is observed that the customers staying five-star hotels in Belek have higher satisfaction levels in high season than customers in off season.Key words: Hotel, High Season, Off Season, Customer, Expectation,Satisfaction, Belek.