Abstract

Guest’s satisfaction in the hotel industry cannot be easily measured because these constructs depend on multiple intangible attributes that can be evaluated very differently by distinct market segments. In this paper, the satisfaction experienced by different market segments based on age and gender is evaluated by the use of a hybrid method built from the fuzzy logic and optimal solutions. Fuzzy set theory has become a standard technique to resolve in part the uncertain information provided by guests. The results show that age and gender affect the satisfaction experienced by the hotel guests, and that not all the attributes are equally important when satisfaction is studied. The analysis of the elasticities show that the guest satisfaction is quite inelastic with respect to the 32 attributes included in the study, but the elasticity is higher for these four attributes: (1) welcome gifts in the room; (2) furniture/decoration in restaurants and bars; (3) furniture/decoration in public areas; and (4) welcome gifts in the bathroom.

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