Perceived service quality of tourists from former Soviet states and Western countries: a comparative study

This study investigates differences in customer satisfaction between post-Soviet and Western tourists' perceptions of hotel service quality. Because of the post-USSR split in tourists, the West has divergent experiences in developing their services. There has been little research on whether tourists from former Soviet nations perceive service quality similarly to Westerners. The study adopted a qualitative analysis to address this gap and examined online Booking.com reviews utilizing the HOLSERV Plus scale to measure perceived service quality with ten crucial quality attributes. The findings of this study suggest that tourists consider tangible aspects, such as rooms, facilities, and surroundings, as important to Western tourists. At the same time, they distinguish the intangible elements of hotel services, namely, employees and reliability. These results provide a foundation for further discussion on how tourists from former Soviet republics and Western countries form their perceptions of service quality, ultimately affecting hotel satisfaction.