Impact of Hotel Service Quality on Attracting Tourist and Achieving their Loyalty: A Case Study of Hotel Industry in Kurdistan Region

Abstract

The Kurdistan region of Iraq has great potential to attract a large number of tourists. In fact, five-star hotels in the Kurdistan attempts to get greater market share and maximizing hotels profits by attracting more tourists and achieving tourist loyalty, by providing high level and different types of services. The main objective of this study is to find out the impact of service quality on attracting tourists and tourist loyalty in the five-star hotels in Sulaimani province/Kurdistan Region-Iraq. To achieve this objective, the study adopts descriptive analytical method (DAM), and was based on the previous studies and literature review related to the subject of the study. Furthermore, the primary data are collected from a survey conducted during the period from 25/11/2016 to 25/12/2016, on (70) guests who stayed in five-star hotels. In alignment with the research objectives and methodology, this study developed the following hypothesis "there is a strong and significant relationship between the quality of service and attracting tourists and tourist loyalty in five-star hotels". Furthermore, the regression model interpretation ability for all service quality dimensions represented in (R²) coefficient was 0.85 which indicating that 85% of changes in attracting tourists and tourist loyalty are interpreted by service quality dimensions. To sum up, a set of necessary recommendations for hotels was formulated to attract more tourists through providing more and high quality of services.

Full text

Arab Journal of Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2020
323
Impact of Hotel Service Quality on
Attracting Tourist and Achieving their Loyalty:
A Case Study of Hotel Industry in Kurdistan Region
* This article was submitted in July 2018, accepted for publishing in October 2018 and published on December 2020.
© Arab Administrative Development Organization- League of Arab States, 2019, pp 323-336، DOI: 10.21608/aja.2020.131064
Dr. Walla Jawdat Ali Al-jaf
Assistant Professour
Faculty of Humanities and Social Science
Department of Management and Economics
University of Koya
Republic of Iraq
Dr.Younis A.Ahmed
Assistant Professour
College of Administration and Economics
Department of Economics
University of Sulaimani
Republic of Iraq
Dalia Khalid Faeq
Faculty of Humanities and Social Science
Department of Management and Economics
University of Koya
Republic of Iraq
Abstract
The Kurdistan region of Iraq has great potential to attract a large number of tourists. In fact, ve-star
hotels in the Kurdistan attempts to get greater market share and maximizing hotels prots by attracting more
tourists and achieving tourist loyalty, by providing high level and dierent types of services. The main ob-
jective of this study is to nd out the impact of service quality on attracting tourists and tourist loyalty in
the ve-star hotels in Sulaimani province/Kurdistan Region- Iraq. To achieve this objective, the study adopts
descriptive analytical method (DAM), and was based on the previous studies and literature review related
to the subject of the study. Furthermore, the primary data are collected from a survey conducted during the
period from 25/11/2016 to 25/12/2016, on (70) guests who stayed in ve-star hotels. In alignment with the
research objectives and methodology, this study developed the following hypothesis “there is a strong and
signicant relationship between the quality of service and attracting tourists and tourist loyalty in ve-star
hotels”. Furthermore, the regression model interpretation ability for all service quality dimensions represent-
ed in (R²) coecient was 0.85 which indicating that 85% of changes in attracting tourists and tourist loyalty
are interpreted by service quality dimensions. To sum up, a set of necessary recommendations for hotels was
formulated to attract more tourists through providing more and high quality of services.
Keywords: Service Quality, Attracting Tourist, Tourist Loyalty, Five-Star hotels, Sulaimani Province -
Kurdistan Region/ Iraq.
Introduction
Tourism is becoming one of the largest global export industries (Burns and Holden 1995). The trend of
world markets has changed noticeably from agricultural to service markets (Asian Development Outlook, 2007).
The Kurdistan region in Iraq has beautiful cities, the Annaba waters, towering mountains and caverns carrying
the story of Iraq since the earliest civilizations ,waterfalls, evergreen trees, moderate climate even during sum-

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Performance in Public Sector Organizations with Application...
324
mer, beautiful winters which snow falls on the mountains, and the emergence of green with the beginning of
spring (Ministry of Tourism- KRG, 2011). With customer’s loyalty, quality in service of hotel sector is an import-
ant factor and may lead to the success of the tourism business in north of Iraq. In 2011, National Geographic
selected the Kurdistan region of Iraq to be listed among the best tourist attractions in the world Moreover, the
New York Times also ranked the north of Iraq among the best tourist attractions in the world for the same year
(2011), when the region was ranked 34th among 41 dierent tourist destinations in the world (Ahmed, 2014).
Achieving high levels of provided hotel’s service quality to its guests is one of the most eective ways to
ensure attracting supplying hotels with loyal guests in the short term, and will persist to be loyal in the long
term .Hotels operators try to focus more on the quality standards for meeting the basic needs and expectations
of their guests. Many previous studies indicated that there is a positive relationship between customer percep-
tions of service quality and his loyalty level, represented by encouraging others to deal with service provider
and transfer positive news about him to others, and non-willing to switch to another competitor, which is re-
ected in consideration service provider as the rst choice for shopping and increasing the deal intention with
him in the coming period (Al.Bostanji & Bin Sau’d, 2013). Studies have proved that the cost of attracting new
customers(Guests - Tourists) is ve times the cost of current customer retention, and also low loss of customers
by 5% leads to increased prots from 25% to 85% (Kotler, 2003). Moreover, loyal customer’s recommendations
lead to new customer’s (Guests - Tourists) attraction without bearing any marketing cost by the organization
in attracting them, in addition to that loyal customer is willing to pay a higher price against the desired value.
Literature Review and tTheoretical Framework
Empirical Literature Review
There are a number of studies have examined the relationship between service quality, tourist attract and
tourist loyalty. The three elements are considered as the backbone for eciency and performance in many
hotels. For better understanding, this section provides an overview of the past studies which related this topic.
A (2006) demonstrated that the ve service quality dimensions identied in this study were named
as ‘‘tangibles’’, ‘‘adequacy in service supply’’, ‘‘understanding and caring’’, ‘‘assurance’’, and ‘‘conve-
nience’’. The result showed that business travellers had the highest expectations for the dimension of
‘‘convenience’’ followed by ‘‘assurance’’, ‘‘tangibles’’, adequacy in service supply’’, and ‘‘understanding
and caring’’. As well as conrmed that the SERVQUAL scale was a very useful tool as a concept, it needed
to be adapted for the specic service segments and for the cultural context within which it was used
(Kheng et al., 2010) research documented that the improvement in service quality dimensions can en-
hance customer loyalty of banks in Penang, Malaysia. The emergence of new forms of banking channels
such as Internet banking, Automated Teller Machines (ATM), phone banking and also maturing nancial
market and global competition has forced bankers to explore the importance of customer loyalty. The
underlying model of SERVQUAL (Parasuraman. et al., 1988) with ve dimensions was used.
Mosahab, R. et al. (2010) revealed that the customer satisfaction plays as a mediator in the eects of
service quality on service loyalty as well as in all aspects, customers’ expectation, are higher than their per-
ceptions of the Sepah Bank in Tehran, Iran Bank’s operation, and in fact the quality of oered services is low.
In this study, the service quality standard model has been used for evaluation of service quality, Gremler
and Brown (1996) model with some revision was used for evaluating the loyalty, and the instrument oered
by Bitner and Hubbert (1994) was used for evaluation of customer satisfaction. Al-Rousan, M. Ramzi & Mo-
hamed, B (2010) evaluated the service quality as a competitive policy in the present Jordan hotels scenario.
The results show that dimensions of service quality such as (empathy, reliability, responsiveness and tan-
gibility) signicantly predict customer loyalty. Specically, among the dimension of tourism service quality,
the most signicant predictor of customer loyalty is tangibility. Jahanshahi, A. et al. (2011) documented
that there are high positive correlation between the constructs of customer service and product quality to

Arab Journal of Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2020
325
customer satisfaction and loyalty in the automotive industry in India. Siddiqi, K. O. (2011) showed that
all the service quality attributes are positively related to customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction is
positively related to customer loyalty in the retail banking settings in Bangladesh.
Abu Elsamen & alsurideh, (2012) documented that there is a positive relationship between Internal
Marketing dimensions and perceived Internal Service Quality in varying magnitude. Service providers are
recommended to apply IM strategy in order to enhance perceived ISQ foster better external service quality.
Al. Bostanji, G. M. & Bin Sau’d, I. M.(2013) demonstrated that there is a positive impact of service quality
(quick responsiveness, empathy and tangibility) on customer loyalty in ve star hotels in Riyadh.
Poku, K. et al. (2013) reveals that customer satisfaction is not based solely on the rankings/classica-
tion of the hotels in Ghana, but on service quality that gives value for money which in turn produces cus-
tomer loyalty, however, “Tangibility” does not play any signicant role in developing customer loyalty for
all the hotels because the guests were least satised with it and are likely to take it for granted in their quest
for change. Khraim Hamza Salim (2013) study showed a signicant eect of Airline Image was observed
with regard to customers ‘behavioral intentions as well as a signicant eect of service quality was observed
with regard to customers’ behavioral in Jordan. Al Bassam, (2013) measured the Service Quality in Inter-
net-Based Services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The study proposes a revised and modied SERVQUAL
model which incorporates several variables that reects the industry-specic attributes of Internet bank-
ing services. A primary data with multiple regression analysis is employed to examine the inuence of the
adapted determinants on service quality. Focus-group interviews are also conducted as a follow-up to the
questionnaire study.
The ndings of both eldworks indicate that reliability, responsiveness, website design, and personal-
ization determine service quality in the Internet banking context. Geronikolas, (2012) reported that the ve
factors in the hotel industry that are most likely to drive customers away include untrained and perceived
rude sta; lack of cleanliness around the premises, in hotel rooms or within its restaurants; the guest’s desire
to experience new places (“need for change”);price, aordability, and value for money. Overall, hotel food
and beverage standards appear as the most important in hotel tangibles and seem to be becoming increas-
ingly signicant in creating both a loyal base of satised customers and driving dissatised customers away.
Saleem & Raja (2014) suggested that high quality of services boost up the customer satisfaction and then
afterward this satisfaction will strengthen the customer loyalty(5 and 8) star hotels of Pakistan.
Hossaini, S. et al., (2015)study investigated the eects of Service Performance of Hotel Customers on
Quality of Experience and Brand Loyalty in Iran. The present study obtained data from (302) international
and local customers in four and ve Star hotels in ve major cities in Iran. This study will signicantly con-
tribute to the Iranian tourism market in seeking improvement towards the eectiveness of hotel customers
and loyalty in Iran. Bagdare, Shilpa (2016) suggested that employee performance can be grouped into ve
factors, namely (reliability, customer orientation, responsiveness, respect, and relationship orientation). It is
also found that there is a signicant positive eect of employee performance on customer loyalty.
Jasinskas Edmundas, et al. (2016) Measured the Impact of the quality of hotel service quality on the
loyalty of customers. In this study the original created methodology SERQUALOYL is presented. The results
of study have revealed that the conformity of expected quality with the quality experienced has a signi-
cant inuence on the customer loyalty. The hotels, in order to increase the competitive ability and to obtain
a higher number of loyal customers, should rstly make the expectations of customers coincide with the
oered service quality.
From above present, despite dierences from activity to other, but we can conclude that the service
quality has high signicant relation with tourist attracts and tourist loyalty. Furthermore, current study conr-
tributes to the body of knowledge, because this study on hotel industry in Kurdistan region of Iraq and no
current international academic journals have published papers on the same subject.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Performance in Public Sector Organizations with Application...
326
Theoretical Framework
The main issue of the theoretical framework is to understand the basic fundamentals of the study.
Conclusion of the study would not be possible without presenting the theoretical framework. Thus, current
study tries to present main framework of the study as follow:
Service Quality
Process and Provides
Tangibility, Reliability
Responsiveness
Assurance, Empathy
Behavioral loyalty
Attitudinal loyalty
Composite loyalty
Tourist attract Tourist
Loyalty
Attracting Tourist
Shape 1: Theoretical Framework for Service Quality and Tourist Loyalty
“Source: prepared by researchers”
Shape (1) shows the relationship among service quality, tourist attracting and tourist loyalty. The inde-
pendent variable in this study is “service quality” that represented by ve dimensions (tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance, empathy). On the other hand, the dependent variable is “tourist loyalty”.
Service: Service is activity or perceives intangible benet to customer in a specic time.
Authors Denition
Zeithaml, V. A.,
2000
Service is act; operations, and achievements or actions, therefore, services include all economic activi-
ties that their outputs are not physical products.
Gronroos, C. , 2000 Service is a process consisting of a series of more or less intangible activities that normally, but not
necessarily always, takes place in interactions between the customer and service employees.
Kotler & Armstrong,
2004
Service is any activity or benet provided by one party to another party which is basically intangible
and does not lead to any ownership.
Service quality: According to (Garvin.1989) cited by (Poku,et al., 2013) being able to satisfy given
needs reects the value (or quality) of the product or service to the customer, including the economic value,
safety, reliability, and maintainability .
Authors Denition
Oliver, R. L. 1980 Service quality can be dened as global judgment for the received service that oered to the customer by
producer .
Gronroos, C.,
1984
Service quality is a result of evaluation process made by the customer between his expectations and
actual perceived service.
Parasuraman, et
al. (1985.1988)
Service quality is content ten keys: Reliability, Responsiveness, Competence, Access, Courtesy, Commu-
nication, Credibility, Security, Understanding, Tangibles.
Customer loyalty: customers may remain loyal due to high switching barriers or the lack of real sub-
stitutes, while others will continue to be loyal because they are satised with the services provided (Lam, R.
& Burton, S. ,2006).
Authors Denition
Bowen & Shoemaker, 1998 Customer loyalty is return or continues to use the same product or other products of the same
organization.
Baldinger& Rubinson, 1996 Customer loyalties that are not easily swayed by price inducement from competitors, and they
usually purchase more than those less loyal customers.
Benntt & Leonard, 2000 Customer loyalty is a replicate procurement process resulting from preference.
Kotler, 2003 Customer loyalty is a customer’s measure and his desire in exchange participation in organiza-
tion interactive activities.
Ziethmail, Berry, Parasuraman, (1996) there are a set of attempts that aimed to determine most im-
portant dimensions as follows:

Arab Journal of Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2020
327
1- The intention of re-dealing which reect frequent dealing with organization.
2- Non price sensitivity through willingness by customer to pay higher prices.
3- Word of mouth communication.
4- Complaint behavior.
Research Problem and Questions
Problem Statement: The Kurdistan region has huge potential of tourist destination and hotels to at-
tract tourists both domestic and international, however, despite the region’s many attractions the tourism
activity in the Kurdistan Region is confronted by a number of challenges because of the limited services
provided by the hotels and high price of accommodations in the ve star hotels. The hotels also has weak
supporting services, while there is much needed improvement to be made to hotels and entertainment
services. For explain and analysis the role of hotel quality services of attracting tourist and achieving their
loyalty; this study formulated two of questions relevant to the study:
1- What are the factors inuence attracting tourist to hotel sector in Kurdistan region of Iraq?
2- What are the specic service qualitiy attributes that inuence attracting tourist and achieving their
loyalty in hotel sector in Kurdistan region of Iraq?
Research Objectives
This study aims to achieve the following specic objectives:
1- Determine and analyze the impact of service quality on attracting tourist in the Kurdistan ve stars hotels.
2- Determine the level of relationship between service quality and tourist loyalty in the Kurdistan ve
stars hotels.
Research Hypotheses
Null hypothesis have been formulated, and the hypothesis are:
- H0: There is a negative correlation between service quality and attracting tourists in the Kurdistan
ve stars hotels..
- H1: There is a positive correlation between service quality and attracting tourists in the Kurdistan
ve stars hotels.
- H0: There is a negative correlation between service quality and tourist loyalty in the Kurdistan ve
stars hotels.
- H1: There is a positive correlation between service quality and tourist loyalty in the Kurdistan ve
stars hotels.
Research Justications
The Kurdistan region of Iraq can become an attractive destination for domestic and international tour-
ists when provide high level of service in hotel in general and in ve stars hotel specially. In addition, current
study highlight and explain how service quality dimensions has an important role of attracting tourists and
achieve their loyalty, as well as, this study provide some suggestion for ve-star hotel manager to increase
tourist’s loyalty in hotels and continuous improvement in those services level.
Structure of the Research
The research organized as follow section 1 include introduction of the study, whereas section 2 discuss-
es literature review and theoretical framework, while section 3 aords literature review. Section 4 presents
the methodology and data collection. Section 5 provides the main results and discussions. Section 6 aords
the main conclusion and recommendations, Limitation of the study and Future research are provided.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Performance in Public Sector Organizations with Application...
328
Research Design
Current section explains the data collection and the study sample. The major parts of this section are
the variables, population and sample, data collection as following:
1- Study Variables and Study Models: This study is based on the descriptive analytical method (DAM),
and the study model was basis on the previous studies and literature review which relate to subject of
the study. Moreover, the service quality (independent variable) and tourist loyalty (dependent variable).
2- Population and Study Sample: The number of ve stars hotels in Kurdistan(20 hotels), but the target
population selected for this study consists of all ve- star hotels (Shari jwan, Ramada, High creast and
Taitanic) in Sulaimani province - Kurdistan region/Iraq. While the study sample includes 70 guests
who stayed in all ve star hotels during the period (25 Nov. to 25 Dec. 2016), and 70 questionnaires
were distributed on guests, but only (62 response) was recovered and used as a basic of study.
3- Data Collection Procedures: After some appropriate adjustments, current study depends on scales
that have been used in previous study (Parasuraman, Berry,Ziethmail, 1988 and 1996) and (Al- Rou-
san and Mohammad, 2010). Questionnaire was used as an instrument for collecting primary data,
which has been distributed to tourist’s ve-star hotels in Sulaimani province.
Data Analysis:
The results of study were carried out
through applying various statistical techniques
such as factor analysis and multiple regressions.
1- Respondents Prole
Preliminary data was collected via eld
survey from 62 guests, Respondents are
asked to give answers of the questions related
to their personal information. The prole of a
respondent as shown in table (1).
The prole of a respondent shows the
majority of the respondents are male, (44%)
of them are in the age range of 45-55 years,
(68 %) are married, 47% their profession is
business, the majority are graduated, (42%) of
guests come from middle and south of Iraq,
while (32%) from out of Iraq and about length
of stay, the twice a year was highest level and
equal to (42%).
2- Scale Reliability
To determine instrument reliability1*
Cronbach’s alpha coecient was used to
check the internal consistency of the state-
ments used in questionnaire preparation.
Therefore Cronbach’s alpha coecient has
been calculated for all used scales.
1 * Scale validity means that questionnaire has to measure aspects that have been developed to measure,
but scale reliability means the extent of obtaining the same results in case of research repeating in similar
circumstances and using the same scale.
Table 1. Respondent Demographic Prole
Information Item
Number Percentage (%)
Gender Male 38 61
Female 24 39
Age 25-34 9 14
35-44 19 31
45-54 27 44
55-64 7 11
Marital
status Married 42 68
Single 16 26
Others 4 6
Profession Business 29 47
Service 26 42
Retired 4 6
Others 3 5
Qualication
Elementary 3 5
junior high school 3 5
high school 5 8
under graduate 11 18
Graduate 38 61
post graduate 2 3
Come from north of Iraq 16 26
middle and south of Iraq 26 42
Out Iraq 20 32
Length of
stay less than once a year 10 16
once a year 3 5
twice a year 23 37
more than twice a year 26 42
Total 62 100
Source: Prepared by researchers based on eld survey from 62 guests, 2016.

Arab Journal of Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2020
329
The questionnaire included six statements to measure tangibility, ve statements for reliability, four
statements for responsiveness and four for assurance and nally three for empathy. This means that the
original questionnaire included (22) statements which has been approved by (Parasuraman. et.al.1988)
and (Al- Rousan and Mohammad, 2010) to measure service quality through (SERVPERF) scale.
Results
Testing for reliability and factor analysis for service quality dimensions necessitates and important.
The results of the factor analysis and reliability for service quality dimensions are reported below.
Overall, as shown in Table (3), the results indicate the sample adequacy for the use of factor analysis to
clarify the factor structure, and all statements had included high downloads that exceed (0.5).
Table 3. Result of Factor Analysis and Reliability for Service Quality Dimensions
Service Quality Dimensions Factor Load
Tangibility
Furniture in this hotel is modern and comfortable .968
The interior and exterior decoration in this hotel is quite appealing .981
The employees have neat appearances .955
The hotel facilities are up-to-date .904
The brochures and pamphlets are visually presented .811
The hotel is clean .847
Reliability
The front-desk employee accurately veried the reservation requests .739
The time it took to check in or check out is not too long .669
The reservation system (e.g., telephone or internet reservation)is easy to use .803
Transport facilities are available .655
The employees provide error-free records .673
Responsiveness
The employees are courteous .754
The employees gave us special attention .764
The employees adapted services to our needs .796
The sta are willing to help guests .744
Assurance
The sta in the hotel are polite .762
The sta imparted condence to the guests .731
The sta are friendly .754
The sta had sucient support from the hotel to do their jobs .841
Empathy
The employees quickly apologized when service mistakes are made .881
The employees listened carefully when you complain .741
Employees understand the customer’s requirements .908
KMO 0.911 0.758 0.836 0.797 0.698
Eigen value 5.02 3.53 3.057 3.087 2.53
Note: Factor analysis results indicated that (KMO) regarding sample adequacy was (>0.5) and Eigen value >1 and factor load
>0.5 which is within the acceptable range and Bartlett signicant value was (sig = 0.000).
Source: Prepared by researchers based on SPSS.
Moreover, testing for reliability and factor analysis for tourist loyalty dimensions necessitates and im-
portant Factor analysis was used to convert and divide the items to several factors. However, some items
sometimes represent the same idea, thus these can be omitted if they are redundant or unnecessary. Also
the results of the factor analysis and reliability for tourist loyalty dimensions are shown in Table (4).
Table 2. Cronbach Alpha coecient
for Elements
Type of Variables Number of
questions
Cronbach’s
alpha
Tangibility 6 0.934
Reliably 5 0.891
Responsiveness 4 0.897
Assurances 4 0.901
Empathy 3 0.906
Loyalty 7 0.973
Note: All values exceed the minimum ac-
ceptable (0.8) which means the reliability of
scales used in the study.
Source: Prepared by researchers based on SPSS.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Performance in Public Sector Organizations with Application...
330
From table (4) shows the Fac-
tor analysis results for Loyalty Di-
mensions at signicance levels and
this indicates that (KMO) was > 0.5
,Eigen value > 1 and Factor load >
0.5 . Bartlett test signicant value
was (sig = 0.000) as indicated in
Table (4). The empirical results for
Factor analysis test and reliability
enable the estimated model.
1- Descriptive Statistics
This part indicates the level
of agreeableness and disagreeable-
ness of the respondents by seeing
the value of mean. The value of the Mean and Std. Deviation are presented in Table (5).
Table 5. Result of Mean and Std. Deviation for Service Quality
Statement Mean Std. Deviation
Service Quality Dimensions
Tangibility
Furniture in this hotel is modern and comfortable 4.9 0.39
The interior and exterior decoration in this hotel is quite appealing 4.88 0.44
The employees have neat appearances 3.91 0.32
The hotel facilities are up-to-date 3.95 0.52
The brochures and pamphlets are visually presented 4.35 0.74
The hotel is clean 3.93 0.56
Reliability
The front-desk employee accurately veried the reservation requests 4.33 0.69
The time it took to check in or check out is not too long 3.72 0.89
The reservation system (e.g., telephone or internet reservation)is easy to use 4.3 0.75
Transport facilities are available 4.59 0.61
The employees provide error-free records 4.12 0.81
Responsiveness
The employees are courteous 4.5 0.74
The employees gave us special attention 4.35 0.79
The employees adapted services to our needs 4.45 0.78
The sta are willing to help guests 4.41 0.73
Assurance
The sta in the hotel are polite 4.45 0.80
The sta imparted condence to the guests 4.25 0.82
The sta are friendly 4.27 0.83
The sta had sucient support from the hotel to do their jobs 4.51 0.84
Empathy
The employees quickly apologized when service mistakes are made 4.51 0.62
The employees listened carefully when you complain 4.38 0.61
Employees understand the customer’s requirements 4.56 0.61
Source: Prepared by researchers based on SPSS.
From table (5) in general the mean of all statements goes toward (4) which shows that majority of
the respondent surveyed are agree on the statement that hotel service quality has signicant impact on
tourist loyalty.
Table 4. Result of Factor Analysis and Reliability for Customer
Loyalty Dimensions
The Loyalty Dimensions Factor Load
I would recommend this hotel to other people .834
I would like to stay in this hotel next time .849
I would like repurchase many services in this hotel .889
I would encourage friends and relatives to visit this hotel .859
I consider the performance in this hotel strong .892
I would consider this hotel as my rst choice when I need service .898
I intend to continue using this hotel .845
KMO 0.925
Eigen value 6.066
Note: The original questionnaire included only seven statements to measure
the tourist loyalty.
Source: Prepared by researchers based on SPSS.

Arab Journal of Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2020
331
Table(6) indicates that the mean of all
statements goes toward (4) which shows
that majority of the respondent surveyed
are agree on the statement that hotel ser-
vice quality has signicant impact on all
tourist loyalty Dimensions .
2- Pearson Correlation: Current
study applying (Pearson Correlation
Checking) for testing study hypothe-
ses: H0“there is a negative correlation
of (Tangibility, Reliability, Respon-
siveness, Assurance, Empathy) on
(tourist’s loyalty) in ve star hotels in Sulaimani
province” and H1“there is a positive correlation
of (Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, As-
surance, Empathy) on (tourist’s loyalty) in ve
stars hotels in Sulaimani province”. Likewise, for
answering study question: “What is the specic
service quality attributes that inuence attracting
tourists and achieving their loyalty in ve- star
hotels in Sulaimani province- Kurdistan region/
Iraq? Analysis obtained for the ve intervals
scaled variables in the table (7).
Table (7) indicates that the p-value for all state-
ments is 0.000, which is less than 0.05, therefore, as a
whole, we reject the null hypothesis (H0) and accept
(H1). Thus, concluded that there are a strong positive re-
lationship between quality service dimensions (Tangi-
bles , Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy)
and tourist loyalty in the ve star hotels in Sulaimani
province. Such result is a line with the previous study
(AL-Aali .2011; AL-Bassam, 2013 ; Bin Sau’d Imam Mu-
hammad, 2013).
3- Regression Analysis: Model of the service qual-
ity and tourist Loyalty (Local and International
tourists) in ve star hotels in Sulaimani province.
The results of regression model are presented in
Table (8).
Table (8) clearly indicates that the model, as a
whole, is a signicant t to the data, because R² is close
to Adjusted R² as well as is too high (0.85) .The regres-
sion model interpretation ability for all service quality
dimensions represented in (R²) coecient was 0.85 indicating that 85% of changes in tourist loyalty level
are interpreted by service quality dimensions. Moreover, as shown in table(8) , and based on the (t- test and
p- value) all statements are signicant at the 5% signicance level, which is the result of study is consistent
Table 6. Result of Mean and Std. Deviation for Customer Loyalty
The Loyalty Dimensions Mean Std.
Deviation
I would recommend this hotel to other people 4 1.14
I would like to stay in this hotel next time 3.8 1.04
I would like repurchase many services in this hotel 3.7 0.96
I would encourage friends and relatives to visit this hotel
3.8 0.94
I consider the performance in this hotel strong 3.8 0.93
I would consider this hotel as my rst choice when
I need hotel service
3.7 0.85
I intend to continue using this hotel 3.8 0.93
Source: Prepared by researchers based on SPSS.
Table 7. Result of Pearson Correlation Coecient
Statement Pearson
correlation (r)
Signicant
level
Decision
Tangibility 0.79 0.000 RejectH0
Reliability 0.78 0.000 Reject H0
Responsiveness 0.84 0.000 Reject H0
Assurance 0.87 0.000 Reject H0
Empathy 0.51 0.000 Reject H0
Note: the following interpretation of r-value .This value
will indicate the strength of the relationship between
two variables.
A: r = .10 to .29 or r = -.10 to -.29 weak
B: r = .30 to .49 or r = -.30 to -.49 Medium
C: r = .50 to 1.0 or r = -.50 to -1.0 strong
Note: In the Pearson correlation analysis the number of
variables (dependent and independent) is two, and the
number of sample size (N) is 62.
Note: The signicant level is 0.05 (p_0.05).
Source: Prepared by researchers based on SPSS.
Table 8. Regression Result of Hotel Service
Quality and Customer Loyalty
Service Quality
t-value
Standardized
Coecients
Beta
Sig.
Decision
Tangibility 2.138 .184 .037 Reject H0
Reliability 2.305 .194 .025 Reject H0
Responsiveness 2.292 .250 .026 Reject H0
Assurance 2.524 .315 .014 Reject H0
Empathy 2.162 .128 .035 Reject H0
Durbin-Watson 1.674 Adjusted R² 0.838
R² 0.851 R² Change 0.013
Note: When t value is greater than 2 and p-value is less
than 0.05, null hypothesis is rejected.
Note: Reject all (H0) and Accept all (H1).
Source: Prepared by researchers based on SPSS.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Performance in Public Sector Organizations with Application...
332
with theoretical and previous studies (AL-Aali, 2011; AL-Bassam, 2013; Bin Sau’d Imam Muhammad, 2013).
Likewise, interpretation of the coecient of model estimation as follows:
- Tangibility (B1): The value of regression coecient of tangibility is 0.148 with p-value of 0.037,
which indicate that the increase in tangibility by one percent led to increase tourist’s loyalty by
0.184, keeping the other variable constant.
- Reliability (B2): The regression coecient for reliability is 0.149 with p-value 0.025, which indicate
that one percent led to increase tourist’s loyalty by 0.184, holding other variables constant.
- Responsiveness (B3): Holding other variables constant, the regression coecient of responsiveness
is 0.25 with p-value of 0.026, which indicate that the increase in responsiveness by one percent led
to increase tourist’s loyalty by 0.25 , keeping the other variable constant.
- Assurance (B4): The value of regression coecient of assurance is 0.315 with p-value of 0.014,
which indicate that the increase in assurance by one percent led to increase tourist’s loyalty by
0.315, holding other variables constant.
- Empathy (B5): keeping the other variable constant, the value of regression coecient of empathy
is 0.128 with p-value of 0.035, which indicate that the increase in empathy by one percent led to
increase tourist’s loyalty by 0.128, keeping the other variable constant.
From above interpretation, we can say all variables (statements) completely consistent with the Service
Quality and tourist loyalty theories, and all results basically the same nding which has previous study.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Monitoring tourist loyalty has become an important focus for all managers in the hotel industry. Fail-
ure to recognize the power of tourist satisfaction, especially their emotions, could aect the power of tourist
loyalty. This study identied ve service quality dimensions which are (tangibility, reliability, responsive-
ness; assurance and empathy), to evaluate service quality of ve star hotel. The main objective of the study
is to examine the impact of service quality on attracting tourists and tourist loyalty in the ve- stars hotel
in Sulaimani province – Kurdistan region/ Iraq. This study is based on the descriptive analytical method
(DAM), and the study model was basis on the previous studies and literature review which relate to subject
of the study. The 70 questionnaires were distributed on 70 tourists who stayed in ve star hotel. Based on
study hypotheses and examine of the Pearson correlation indicated strong positive signicant relationship
among service quality dimensions (Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy) and
tourist attract and tourist loyalty. Besides, the ndings of this study indicate that the most important factor
in hotel service quality evaluation was assurance, followed by, responsiveness. Based on the results the
researchers recommend the following:
1- The government should seriously consider tourism activities with sucient weight to re-plan the
tourism strategy in the Kurdistan region and adopt new policies on the behavior of domestic and
international tourists and how to attract new tourists to the Kurdistan Region.
2- Should hotel managers having knowledge about the dimension of service quality would help man-
agers meet the challenge of improving service quality in the hotel industry to attracting more tourists
(especially international one), and investigate loyalty and satisfaction for tourists by set plan in the
competitive hospitality market environment.
3- To attract more tourists to the Kurdistan region, the hotel management should provide more services.
Likewise, the tourism services need more promotion to reduce pressure on tourist budgets, both do-
mestic and international. The diversity of tourism products and the quality of services are also vital.

Arab Journal of Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2020
333
4- Should hotel managers develop its service quality, as well as including other factors aecting tourist
loyalty, such as a study of the impact of price that aect attracting tourists and achieving their loyalty.
5- To provide services that may increase tourist’s loyalty in hotels and continuous improvement in those
services level through attending the necessary employee training courses related to tourist service.
6- Further study is very essential in the matter. Research could be broadened to include other dimension
of service quality in ve stars hotel as well as other factors that aect tourist attracting.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Performance in Public Sector Organizations with Application...
334
References
- Ahmed, Y. A. (2014). “Role of the Tourism Sector in the Iraqi Economy”,
Unpublished PhD Thesis,
University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia.
- Akbaba, A. (2006). “Measuring Service Quality in the Hotel Industry: A Study in a Business Hotel in
Turkey”,
Hospitality Management
, 25, 170–192 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhosman
- Akbar, M. M. and Parvez, N. (2009). “Impact of Service Quality, Trust and Customer Satisfaction on
Customer Loyalty”,
ABAC Journal
, pp. 24-38.
- Al-Rousan, M. R. & Mohamed, B. (2010). “Customer Loyalty and the Impacts of sService Quality:
The Case of Five Star Hotels in Jordan”,
International Journal of Human and Social Sciences
, 5,
(13), 886-892.
- Al. Bostanji, G. M. and Bin Sau’d, I. M. (2013). “The Impact of Service Quality on Customers
Loyalty: A Study on Five Stars Hotel’s Customers in Riyadh, KSA.
European Journal of Business
and Management ,
pakacademicsearch. com/.../230-240%20Vol%205,%20No%2031%2
- Al Bassam, T. A. (2013). “A Model for Measuring Service Quality in Internet-Based Services”,
Doctoral Dissertation
, Brunel University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK).
- Babakus, E. & Boller, G. W. (1992). “An Empirical Assessment of the SERVQUAL Scale”,
Journal of
Business Research
, 24 (3), pp. 253-268.
- Bagdare, S. (2016). “Eect of Employees on Customers Loyalty in Hotel Industry”,
Imperial Journal
of Interdisciplinary Research
, 2 (5).
- Baldinger, A. L. and Rubinson, J. (1996). “Brand Loyalty: The Link between Attitude and Behavior”,
Journal of Advertizing Research
, 36, (6), 22-35.
- Benntt, R. and Leonard, V. (2000)
Trust Commitment and Attitudinal Brand Loyalty Key
Constructs in Business-to Business Relationships
, ANZMAC. Visinary Marketing for the 21st
Century, pp. 88-92.
- Boulding, W.; Kalra, A.; Staelin, R. and Zeithaml, V. A. (1993). “A Dynamic Process Model of Service
Quality: From Expectations to Behavioral Intentions”,
Journal of Marketing Research
, pp. 7-27.
- Bowen, J. T. & Shoemaker, S. (1998). “Loyalty: A Strategic Commitment”,
The Cornell Hotel and
Restaurant Administration Quarterly
, 39 (1), pp. 12-25.
- Burns, P. M. and Holden, A. (1995).
Tourism a New Perspective
. Prentice Hall, New York, NY.
- Carman, J. (1990). Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality: An Assessment of the SERVQUAL
Dimensions”,
Journal of Retailing
, 66 (1), 33.
- Carman, J. M. (1990). “Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality: An Assessment”,
Journal of
Retailing
, 66(1), 33.
- Cronin, J. Jr. and Taylor, S. A. (1994). “SERVPERF versus SERVQUAL; Reconciling Performance-Based
and Perception-Minus-Expectations: Measurement of Service Quality”,
Journal of Marketing
, pp.
125-31.
- Czepiel, John A. (1990). “Managing Relationships with Customers: A dierentiation Philosophy of
Marketing,” in
Service Management Eectiveness,
D. E. Bowen , R. B. Chase , and T. G. Cum-
mings , eds. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 299-323..
- Ekinci, Y. (2003). “An Investigation of the Determinants of Customer Satisfaction”,
Tourism
Analysis
, 8, (2), 193-196.

Arab Journal of Administration, Vol. 40, No. 4, December 2020
335
- Geronikolas, N. (2012).
Customer Defects in the Hotel Industry: The Five (5)
Most Com-
mon Factors Driving Business Away. USA: Hub Pages Inc. Retrieved, March 26, 2015, from:
http://nikgeronikolas.hubpages.com/hub/Customer-Defects-in-the-Hotel-Industry-
The-Five-5-most-important-factors-driving-business-away
.
- Goeldner, C. R. and Ritchie, J. R. B. (2003).
Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies
. 9thed.
Wiley, Hoboken.
- Gronroos, C. (1984). “A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications”,
European Journal
of Marketing
, pp. 36-44.
- Gronroos, C. (2000).
Service Management and Marketing
. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Geronikolas.
- Hosseini, R. S., Zainal, A. and Sumarjan, N. (2015).
The Eects of Service Performance of Hotel
Customers on Quality of Experience and Brand Loyalty in Iran
. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 201, 156-164.
- Hub Pages Inc. Grönroos, C. (2000). “Creating a Relationship Dialogue: Communication, Interac-
tion and Value”,
The Marketing Review
, 1 (1), 5-14.
- Jahanshahi, A. A.; Gashti, M. A. H.; Mirdamadi, S. A.; Nawaser, K. and Khaksar, S. M. S. (2011). “Study the
eEects of cCustomer Service and Product Quality on Customer Satisfaction and loyalty”,
International
Journal of Humanities and Social Science
, 1 (7), 253-260.
- Kheng, L. L.; Mahamad, O.; Ramayah, T. and Mosahab, R. (2010). “The iImpact of Service Quality
on Customer Loyalty: A Study of Banks in Penang, Malaysia”,
International Journal of Marketing
studies
, 2, (2), 57-66.
- Khraim, H. S. (2013). “Airline Image and Service Quality Eects on Traveling Customers’ Behavioral
Intentions in Jordan”,
European Journal of Business and Management
, 5 (22), 20-34.
- Ko, P. M. Z. and Riajara, S. (2013). “Impact of Service Quality on Customer Loyalty in the Hotel
Industry: An Empirical Study from Ghana”,
International Review of Management and Business
Research,
Vol. 2, Issue.2.
- Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2004).
Principles of Marketing
. 10th ed. Person Education Inc. Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey.
- Kotler , Philip. (2003).
Marketing Insights from A to z 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to
Know
. New Jersey.
- Lam, R. and Burton, S. (2006). “SME Banking Loyalty and Disloyalty: A Qualitative Study in Hong
Kong”,
International Journal of Bank Marketing
, 24 (1), 37-52.
- Leon-Ledesma, Miguel A., ed. (2007)
The Asian Development Outlook 2007: Growth amid
change.
Asian Development Outlook . Asian Development Bank, China.
- Lovelock, C. and Wirtz, J. (2004).
Services Marketing: People, Technology, Strategy
. 5th ed. Pren-
tice Hall.www.kau.edu.sa/GetFile.aspx?...Service%20MKG%20Lovelock%20
- Mosahab, R.; Mahamad, O. and Ramayah, T. (2010). “Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction and
Loyalty: A Test of Mediation”,
International Business Research
, 3 (4), 72.
- Nsour, I. A. (2013). “Examine the Relationship between Internal Marketing & Internal Service Qual-
ity in Saudi Public Hospitals”,
Hospitals
, 3 (19).
- Oliver, R. L. (1980). “A Cognitive Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction De-
cisions”,
Journal of Marketing Research
, 460-469.
- Osayawe, Ehigie, B. (2006). “Correlates of Customer Loyalty to Their Bank: A Case Study in Nigeria.
International Journal of Bank Marketing
, 24 (7), 494-508.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Performance in Public Sector Organizations with Application...
336
- Panda, T. K. (2003). Creating Customer Lifetime Value Through Eective CRM in Financial Services
Industry”,
Journal of Services Research,
Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, pp. 157-171.
- Parasuraman, A.; Zeithaml, V. A., Malhotra, and Arvind. (2005). “E-S-QUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale
for Assessing Electronic Service Quality”,
Journal of Service Research
, 7 (3), 213-233.
- Parasuraman, A.; Zeithaml, V. A. and Berry, L. L. (1985). “A Conceptual Model of Service Quality
and its Implications for Future Research”,
The Journal of Marketing
, 41-50.
- Parasuraman A.; Ziethmail, V. and Berry L. (1988) “SERVQUAL: A Multiple-item sScale for Measur-
ing Consumer Perception of Service Quality”,
Journal of Retailing
, Vol. 64, No.1, pp. 12- 49.
- Poku, K.; Zakari, M. and Soali, A. (2013). “Impact of Service Quality on Customer Loyalty in the Ho-
tel Industry: An Empirical Study from Ghana”,
International Review of Management and Busi-
ness Research
, 2, (2), 600-609.
- Saleem, H. and Raja, N. S. (2014). “The Impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction, Cus-
tomer Loyalty and Brand Image: Evidence from Hotel Industry of Pakistan”,
Middle-East Journal
of Scientic Research
, 19(5), 706-711.
- Siddiqi, K. O. (2011). “Interrelations between Service Quality Attributes: Customer Satisfaction and
Customer Loyalty in the Retail Banking Sector in Bangladesh”,
International Journal of Business
and Management
. Vol. 6, No. 3, 12-36..
- Spreng, R. A.; Mackenzie, S. B. and Olshavsky, R. W. (1996). “Are Examination of the Determinants
of Consumer Satisfaction”,
Journal of Marketing
. Vol. 60, March, 15-32..
- Weaver, D. and Oppermann, M. (2000).
Tourism Management
. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.
- WTO. (2003).
World Tourism Organization
, available at: www.world-tourism.org.
- Zeithaml, V.; Berry, L. and Parasuraman A. (1996) “The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quali-
ty”,
Journal of Marketing
, pp. 31-45.
- Zeithaml, V. A. (2000). “Service Quality, Protability and the Economic Worth of Customers: What
We Know and What We Need to Learn”,
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
, 28, (1),
67-85.
- Zeithaml, V. A.; Wilson, A. and Bitner, M. J. (2008).
Services Marketing
. 4th ed. New Delhi: The
McGraw-Hill Companies.