SERVICE RECOVERY STRATEGIES AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS IN ENHANCING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN STAR RATED HOTELS IN MOMBASA COUNTY, KENYA: FRONT-LINE MANAGERS PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Service recovery is an integral part of any hotel to remain competitive. Due to the nature of services, offering first-time error-free service is not easy, thus the need for service recovery. Mombasa is one of the main tourism hubs in Kenya which has laid out various service recovery strategies, but it was not clear how effective these strategies were in enhancing customer experience. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the recovery approaches used in star-rated hotels in Mombasa County to establish their relationship to enhanced customer experience. The study evaluated the relationship between compensation, communication, and front-line employees’ action strategies in relation to customer experience. Census was adopted, and a descriptive research design used with the target population of frontline managers working in 17 rated hotels. Data were collected by an on-line questionnaire due to the prevailing COVID 19 pandemic. A pre-test was done on one of the hotels, and the results subjected to Cronbach formula. Data were analysed by inferential and descriptive statistics and the findings presented in tables, bar graphs, and pie charts. The descriptive analysis on customer experience indicated that front line managers in star-rated hotels in Mombasa County agreed and strongly agreed that whenever customers are pleased with their recovery effort, they receive referrals, they spend more money in their establishment, they show eagerness to return, they become more loyal, they share with others about the good services, and they trust that any offer given to them in the future will go right. Descriptive analysis on the three strategies (compensation, staff actions, and communication strategies) produced high means and low standard deviations, indicating that front-line managers in star-rated hotels often and always applied the three recovery strategies whenever a failure occurred. The regression analysis of the three hypotheses indicated that compensation, frontline staff actions, and communication strategies both have a statistically significant influence on customer experience if used effectively, and for this reason, the tourism regulatory authority should work with other hospitality and tourism bodies to come up with policies incorporating the recovery strategies to be adopted by all hotels, Kenya Utalii College and other institutions offering hospitality courses to review their syllabus and incorporate service recovery as a unit, and finally, hotels should come up with policies and systems that support service recovery with the aid of employee training and empowerment for promptness in service performance. The results are of benefit to: The Ministry of Tourism in Kenya as it will act as a guide in formulating policies on service recovery; service providers as it will minimise repeat failures; and, in case of any problems, the correct strategy may be adopted to improve the competitiveness of the hospitality industry in Kenya; and scholars in the hospitality industry as they will apply the information in advancing scholarly work in the line of service recovery. Finally, the findings are meant to bring awareness of service recovery to hospitality students and practitioners, which is a key component of service industry in the 21st century.