Quality Assurance at Hotel Management Tertiary Institutions in Australia: An Insight Into Factors Behind Domestic and International Student Satisfaction

ABSTRACT

Although numerous studies have investigated the importance of customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry, few studies have examined the role of customer satisfaction in education institutions. This research note applies service quality and emotional bonding theories to elucidate the perceived satisfaction of students in higher education institutions for hotel management in Australia. A mixed-methods technique was adopted in this study, which utilized a 67-item questionnaire followed by a focus group to understand elements underlying student satisfaction. Results revealed that academics-related reasons, such as school reputation and course of study, were the primary drivers of satisfaction. A greater number of Australian students (92.3%) reported higher satisfaction scores than international students (77.5%).

KEYWORDS:

• Domestic students
• emotional bond
• international students
• psychological contract
• student satisfaction