Customers' perception of food service quality: the case of Cape Coast

Abstract

Providing quality food services has become one of the critical issues in the tourism industry and a lot of studies have focused on it. However, there seems to be paucity of data on service quality in Ghana's hospitality industry, making it difficult to fashion an appropriate management intervention. Also there has been very little attempt to relate customers’perception of service quality to their socio-demographic characteristics as well as the characteristics of organizations delivering the service. This study, therefore, analyzes customers' perception of service quality in the food service sector in Cape Coast Municipality, an important tourist destination in Ghana. A survey of 101 customers of food service facilities revealed that there was a negative service gap between customers' expectations and perception of service quality. The expectations of forty percent of the respondents were not met and this was attributed mainly to the attitude of employees and long waiting periods. The findings have serious managerial implications for training, marketing, motivation and provision of services and amenities. It also has implications for the grading of food service facilities by regulators of the industry.