Impact of service quality on competitiveness and profitability: The hotel industry in the Catalan coast

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between perceived quality by customers for accommodations and financial results of the hotels. It is whether the perception of higher quality by users translates into better financial economic performance. Design/methodology: The empirical study focuses on a sample of 88 hotels in the two most important coastal areas of Catalonia, Costa Brava and Costa Daurada. Variables for determining the perceived quality are based on evaluations expressed in TRIPADVISOR. The economic and financial information is obtained from the analysis of the annual reports for the years 2010-2012. The existence of a relationship between these variables has been studied through structural equations. Findings: According to the results of statistical analysis, no significant relationship between perceived quality by users and financial economic performance. The results are similar to others from similar previous studies and there are some possible causes like the bias in the response observed in the website or the lack of internal reasons for implementing quality systems in the organization. Research limitations/implications: One possible limitation is the size of the sample. However the sample refers to a concrete area of the Spanish coast that represents an important share of the tourism GDP in the Spanish economy. Originality/value: Academic work so far analyzed the hotel quality based on the existence of an external quality certificate. This study used as a measure of quality assessments directly expressed by customers on websites specialized channels of information that is of growing importance due to the increasing use of social networks and specific websites as a main source of information.