The Effect of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction During Covid-19 Pandamic: Evidence From Hotels in Debre Markos Town

The main aim of this study was to identify the effect of service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction during Covid-19: evidence from selected hotels of Debre Markos town. In this study, the customer’s perceptions level of the service quality dimensions and customers’ satisfaction in the selected hotels were determined. To achieve the objectives of this study, the data were collected from 305 sample respondents using self- administered standardized questionnaire from five purposively selected hotels in Debre Markos town. The data was collected using convenience sampling method that was available to the researchers by virtue of its accessibility. In this study, both descriptive and explanatory research design were used. The result of this study indicates that the five service quality dimensions (tangibility, assurance, responsiveness, core hotel benefits and corporate image) have positive and significant relationship with customer satisfaction except empathy and reliability. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended that hotels should hire self-motivated, enthusiastic employees who are capable of handling customers and solve complaints in an effective manner, provide continuous training to the employees on ways of rendering service in hotels, give due attention for their employees by providing the required uniforms, develop their core competencies and prepare service quality standard plans, and full fill covid-19 protocols.