Foreign Travelers’ Perspective towards Service Quality of Railway Service in Sri Lanka; a Study Based on Kandy Railway Travelers

Abstract

Quality of the product or service is considered as a primary indicator of organizational performance. Every organization make an attempt to put their maximum effort to cater better goods and services which fulfills customer satisfaction by drawing attention towards quality of them. Thus it is need of the hour to identify the potential of generating income from the transport sector, especially in Railway transport sector. Satisfying foreign travellers’ travel experiences in positive way will make a win –win situation of both sectors, Travel and Tourism. The main objective of this study is to identify the Relationship prevailing between the Quality Dimension in foreigners’ satisfaction on railway transport in Sri Lanka. Sub objectives are 1.To Identify the mostly impact service Quality Dimension towards foreigners’ satisfaction on railway transport in Sri Lanka 2. To identify the service Quality Dimensions which should be developed in order to attract foreigners to the railway transport method in Sri Lanka. SERVQUAL model is used to identify the service quality dimensions towards customer’s satisfaction. Primary data are obtained from 50 foreign railway travellers drawn using Convenience Sampling method. Questionnaire was used as strategic tool to gather data. Descriptive statistics, linear regression model Karl Pearson’s correlation are used to analyze the data. Analyzed data revealed that there is a positive relationship between foreign traveler’s satisfaction on railway service and service quality dimensions other than Assurance and Empathy in SERVQUAL model. Tangibility, Reliability and Responsiveness dimensions have low level positive impact on their satisfaction. Assurance and Empathy are the service quality dimensions which should be developed in railway service in order to attract more foreign railway travelers to get generated the more tourists’ receipts as they indicates negative relationships towards their satisfaction on railway service.