This study aimed to empirically test the factors that affect customers' revisit intention of hotels based on the importance of this promising sector to the Saudi economy.
The study adopted the S-O-R model to investigate how consumers' emotional reactions (O) were influenced by environmental stimuli (S), and how these emotional reactions affected customers' behavioral responses (R) by investigating how atmospheric variables and perceived quality trigger hotel customer satisfaction and in return affect their revisit intention.
A self-administered questionnaire was distributed on 5-star international hotels located in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, with 134 valid responses. The structural equation model was used to empirically test the proposed hypotheses with AMOS statistical package.
The research found that “assurance" as one of the service quality dimensions had a significant impact on the hotel customer satisfaction. In addition, “word-of mouth" and “customer satisfaction" had a direct and positive impact on customers' revisit intentions to the same hotels.
From a practical point of view, the study recommends that hotel managers ensure continuous training to their employees, even for part-timers, to ensure that their employees are knowledgeable and can make better decisions in the future, especially to handle guests' queries or complaints.