18. User ratings of the service quality in restaurants and entertainment places

Author: Ivanka Lulcheva

DOI: n/a

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Tourism development is a priority sector of the economy of Bulgaria and is directly related to the quality of catering and entertainment services. The present article presents the survey quality results of catering and entertainment services. The certain basic criteria for service quality assessing are defined. They are formalized in relevant indicator systems allowing element quantification of the service process. The present study is characterized by the following criteria: • service duration; • service culture; • comfort (type) of the commercial centre.
These criteria are formalized through the following indicators: Length of service: measured by indicators: 1. Contract duration; 2. Duration of obtaining food and drink; 3. Duration of serving and cleaning the table; 4. Duration in charge. Service culture: measured by indicators: 1. Appearance of staff; 2. Awareness of staff; 3. Attitudes / behavior of staff; 4. Vocational skills in services; 5. Correctness in payment. Comfort (type) of the commercial area: measured by indicators:1. Functionality of commercial indoor and outdoor areas; 2. Interior of the commercial area; 3. Type of furniture in the room / retail space; 4. Type of funds services; 5. Heating, lighting, ventilation, air conditioning, sound system in the commercial area; 6. Hygienic condition. On the basis of a survey conducted with 535 real users of the product and the restaurant by using the developed methods, assessment of the service quality in five types of catering and entertainment places was carried out: restaurants, fast foods, pubs, cafes, bars (according to the Regulation of Catering and Entertainment Classification, 2013) in Plovdiv, Hissar and Pamporovo. The following conclusions were formulated: Reception, accommo-dation and transfer are important moments in the service, especially in the restaurants; rapid execution of the contract is a special time of service, which depends not only on the waiter, but in some cases on the chefs in the kitchen or the bartender. This process chain maintenance is carried out in good coordination and integration of the work between the different units of the service staff; one of the duties of the staff – faithful, ethical conduct and fair customer treatment is a requirement in all surveyed establishments. Sometimes it is possible the check to be wrong, but it is totally unacceptable for these „mistakes“ to be intentional. The restaurant will lose the disappointed customer. The survey results can be interpreted and used by catering and entertainment managers for practical purposes. When the results indicate low quality of service, they can use them to remove the weaknesses, and when the results are good – they are considered good practice in the areas of distinction.