A study on International Tourist Satisfaction along with Service Quality Dimensions for Railway transport service (With special reference to Colombo- Kandy Railway transport service in Sri Lanka)

Abstract

Quality of any service is a very important factor of measuring Customer satisfaction. Foreign tourist’s satisfaction in the transport service in Sri Lanka especially in the Colombo- Kandy railway service is imporatnt to discuss, because if the quality of Sri Lanka Railway Transport Service is increased, its productivity, profitability would enhance. The SERVQUAL model including five dimensions; tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and assurance were used to measure the passenger satisfaction considering the services provided by the Sri Lanka Railway Transport Service (SLRTS) and ow it can be improved? Study was carried out based on two research questions, main question being “What are the influencing factors of the service quality which determines the tourist satisfaction in Sri Lanka railway transport service?” The other two subsidiary questions are, “What is the relationship between service quality and international tourist satisfaction based on Colombo Kandy Railway?” and “What are the current facilities, benefits of using SLRTS and how it can be developed? Findings indicated when considering the Service Quality dimensions separately the results showed that all Service Quality dimensions were significantly and positively correlated with customer satisfaction. Factors used to measure service quality are safety, physical quality of train, information about timetable, physical design of station, travel time/delay, frequency of departures, ticket system, price level, performance and reliability, connectivity, inquiries/complaints, appreciation of travel speed and time, accessibility, information and environmental impact.