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The research used the SERVQUAL scale proposed by Parasuraman et al (1985 and 1988) to investigate the service quality of travel agents in Guangzhou, South China from a customer perspective. The instrument proved to be valid and reliable with the results of the survey showing that there is a gap between expected service and perceived service. The largest gap was in the dimension of reliability. The item scale within this dimension showed large negative gaps between expectation and perception in the ability of travel agents to perform the service right first time and complete their promised tasks. The gap in the dimensions and items of reliability are in line with SERVQUAL studies into other service industries in China. Further research is required to compare industries in this emerging market, particularly in the construct of reliability. The authors also believe there is a need for further research to compare differences within China bearing in mind the size, cultural and linguistic differences and geographical spread of this market.
INTRODUCTION
The Chinese tourism industry has witnessed an incredible boom in the past 20 years. According to statistics released by World Tourism Organization in 1999, China was ranked seventh in 1998 in terms of revenue generated by tourists (Zhang et al., 2000). However, the attention paid to service quality in the industry is questionable and the number of complaints made by customers has been increasing. For example, in 2004 alone, there were around 700 complaints about service in the travel industry1. Despite this, the research devoted to service quality in the industry in China is relatively small compared to those conducted in countries elsewhere. As an emerging market and potentially a very large one there is a gap in the literature and a need to investigate if constructs developed in North American and European markets are valid in a Chinese context.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Service Quality
Gronroos (1982) suggests that the perceived quality of a service will be the result of an evaluation process in which customers compare their perceptions of service quality delivery and its outcome against what they expected. Expectation provides a standard of comparison against which customers judge an organisation's performance (Lovelock, 2001). It is defined as the customer's frame of reference with respect to...