An Evaluative Study of the Role of Front Office Standards in the Delivery of Customer Service

Abstract

Modern Tourism can be defined as the social phenomenon of people’s temporary transfer, from their permanent residence to somewhere else, in order to satisfy leisure or business desires and needs. According to its economic growth and activity, a tourist economic unit (hotel) provides to visitors short term shelter. Indicators of hotel service quality, vary based on relatively subjective criteria such as amenities and interpersonal relationships. Measuring quality in the hospitality sector, Front office (FO)employees play an important role in terms of understanding customer expectations and satisfaction. However, it is important to recognize that service quality specifications between different levels of staff differ to some extent. This paper aim is to identify and report customer service quality factors related to the standards attributed to front office employees by managers. A qualitative approach in the form of open questions and a quantitative one, regarding a perceptions’ scale (from one to ten),was adopted to understand the standards’ role, importance and challenges according to5 FO managers in the Greek hotel industry. Results indicated that standards are needed to deliver superior quality of customer services although other factors are also considered important.