Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 38 ANALYSIS OF SERVICE QUALITY OF FRONT OFFICE DEPARTMENT AT HOTEL BALI MANDIRA RESORT & SPA I Putu Edi Hendra Badrianta 1 , Made Sudiarta 2 , Ni Putu Somawati 1,2,3 Politeknik Negeri Bali edihendrabadrianta@gmail.com 1 , sudiartamade@yahoo.co.id 2 ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to examine the quality of service and to identify the service attributes which are well provided and the attributes that need improvement at the front office department at Hotel Bali Mandira Resort and Spa. The survey used 110 samples that were selected using incidental sampling. The analysis methods used are Servqual Analysis and Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) in the Cartesian diagram. The results of this research showed that the average value of ‘customer’s satisfaction’ which is expressed by ‘service performance’ is above 4 which is within the range value of 1 (least satisfy) and 5 (most satisfy). The Servqual analysis results show 9 attributes have slightly negative gap and 13 have positive gap; which show the quality of most attributes exceed customers’ expectation with some still below; nonetheless, the mean values of customer satisfaction for all variables are above 4. The results of the IPA analysis show, there are 2 attributes need improvement, the majority of attributes are well provided. Keywords: service quality, front office department, servqual, importance performance analysis. INTRODUCTION The purpose of traveling is to obtain satisfaction and enjoyment either in sports and relaxation, perform duties, pilgrimage and others. Tourist destinations develop their attraction theme to satisfy these needs and based on the characteristics of their market segment. Indonesia has many tourist destinations that are very attractive to tourists, these such destinations as: Jakarta, Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, Bali and others. Bali Island is the best tourist destination in Indonesian, and well known throughout the world for its unique culture and beautiful panorama. In addition, Bali is also well supported by infrastructure and facilities such as restaurants, travel agencies, shopping centers, and various standard of accommodation. Accommodation means to provide lodging services which are equipped with food and drink facilities and supported by other additional facilities and services required by travelers. One of the hotels in Bali is Bali Mandira Resort & Spa which is one of a four star hotel in Bali which has beach located in Legian area. Hotel Bali Mandira Resort & Spa has various facilities such as swimming pool, bar & restaurant, drug store, lounge, kids club, and tourist information. mailto:edihendrabadrianta@gmail.com mailto:sudiartamade@yahoo.co.id Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 39 Hotel is one type of accommodation that uses part or all of the buildings to serve as lodging services in which to provide food and beverage services, as well as other commercially managed support services (Sambodo & Bagyono, 2006). Front Office is one of the departments which is the gateway of a hotel. The main role and function of the front office section of the hotel is as a center of: problem solving, reservation, information, check in & check out point and lastly the billing process (Soenarno, Adi.2006; Nursitia & Nahida, 2014). To assist the execution of the function of the front office section of the hotel is divided into several sub-sections that each sub-section has a different service function. Guest experience in a hotel is shaped by the performance of all departments in the hotel, and quality service will ensure guest satisfaction, thus, creating repeat customers (Sambodo and Bagyono, 2006; Normasari and Kumaji; 2013). It is vital for Hotel staff to meet the needs and desires of customers and provide quality service to create customer satisfaction and loyalty. Quality of service is the best service provided to the guests by optimizing the entire service. Good service quality is the responsibility of the business that must be given to every guest or costumer. The delivery of good service quality will bring short and long term benefits to hotels and incurred costumers’ or guests loyalty in return. High quality service results in happy and satisfied customers. Measuring customer satisfaction which reflects the quality of the products is essential for businesses (Rangkuti and Freedy, 2002; Normasari and Kumaji, 2013; Moha, 2016), as it will provides feedback for management in improving service quality and maintaining performance of the attributes that have already delivered in high quality standard. A model of service quality that is popularly used and becomes a reference for researchers is the SERVQUAL Model (service quality model) developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988). These authors measure service quality from 5 dimensions using 22 indicators that are used as a base in this research. The dimensions include: 1. Tangibles (physical facilities, room design, and employees) 2. Reliability (deliver the products as promised) 3. Responsiveness (readiness to serve) 4. Assurance (trustworthy, and courteous) 5. Empathy (place oneself at the customers’ shoes) Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 40 Timmerman and Yu (2014) stated that the sustainability of hotel business depends on the repeat customer. They are the guests who are satisfied with the hotel service and become loyal customers (Daryanto and Ismanto Setyobudi, 2014). Guest experience in a hotel is shaped by the performance of all departments in the hotel, including the front office department (FO department) (Sambodo and Bagyono, 2006; Normasari and Kumaji; 2013). FO is the hotel hub for guests, and is usually referred to as the representative of the hotel management. Weighing the importance role of the front office, it is interesting to conduct a study on the service quality of the front office department at the Bali Mandira Resort & Spa, where the writer conducted an internship as a part of the requirement needed to be completed the study at the Tourism Department at Politeknik Negeri Bali. The purpose of the study is to examine the quality of service and to identify the service attributes which are well provided and the attributes that need improvement at the front office department at Hotel Bali Mandira Resort and Spa. The benefits of this research are to increase knowledge about service quality and can be used as a reference for students who are interested in research on service quality especially in hotel business. For the hotel, this research result can be used as feedback to improve service quality at the related department. METHODOLOGY This research is a quantitative study, using survey as data collection methods. Respondents are guests who stay at Hotel Bali Mandira Resort and Spa and obtained services by front office department. The number of sample was 110 respondents selected using incidental sampling; the respondents profile is presented in Table 1. The questionnaire is composed based on the model developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry (1988). The dependent variabel (Y) is service quality which is measured using the service quality dimensions: (X1) Tangibles, (X2) Reliability, (X3) Responsiveness, (X4) Assurance, (X5) Empathy. Number of the questions in questionnaire is 22 questions adapted from service quality dimensions. Data analyses technic used are Servqual and Importance Performance Analysis in Cartesian diagram. Importance performance analysis is analysis method that rank every attribute into every degree of importance. In cartesian diagram there are four quadrant, quadrant A, quadrant B, quadrant C and quadrant D. Quadrant A where the attribute Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 41 is important but the management has not done it as the guest expectation. Quadrant B where the attribute is important and worth to keep it. Quadrant C where the attribute are less important to the guest and the implementation is normal. And quadrant D where the attribute are less important to the guest and the implementation is over performed. Table 1 Respondent profile FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Servqual analysis The results of the Servqual analysis are presented in Table 2. Comparing the customer’s expectation (harapan) and the perception (kenyataan), among 22 variables, 13 attributes show positif gap and 9 attributes show negatif gap. It is interesting to observe that, Attribute X3.4 ‘front office staff gives a fast money exchange service’ gives a high negative gap value with a score difference of 0,155. In reality the front offise staff always try to give the best service; however, as, the money exchange service staff also provide check in and check out service, which makes the guests who want to exchange money should wait. Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 42 Table 2 Servqual analysis results Atribut Kenyataan Harapan Skor Servqual/ Gap keterangan X1.1 4.554 4.682 -0.128 Negatif X1.2 4.445 4.527 -0.082 Negatif X1.3 4.472 4.436 0.036 Positif X1.4 4.809 4.564 0.245 Positif X1.5 4.564 4.527 0.037 Positif X2.1 4.536 4.545 -0.009 Negatif X2.2 4.154 4.291 -0.137 Negatif X2.3 4.209 4.118 0.091 Positif X2.4 4.454 4.436 0.018 Positif X2.5 4.827 4.655 0.172 Positif X3.1 4.245 4.355 -0.11 Negatif X3.2 4.536 4.409 0.127 Positif X3.3 4.5 4.491 0.009 Positif X3.4 4.145 4.3 -0.155 Negatif X3.5 4.445 4.382 0.063 Positif X4.1 4.809 4.636 0.173 Positif X4.2 4.29 4.264 0.026 Positif X4.3 4.527 4.518 0.009 Positif X4.4 4.481 4.518 -0.037 Negatif X5.1 4.236 4.336 -0.1 Negatif X5.2 4.472 4.473 -0.001 Negatif X5.3 4.836 4.664 0.172 Positif The highest positive servqual value is obtained from Attribute X1.4 ‘The welcome drink is tasteful’ with a score difference 0,245. Welcome drink is a very important aspect that can build the image of the hotel. The welcome drink that served in Bali Mandira Resort & Spa is ginger ice tea, freshly prepared by the staff of bell service assistant and served to the guest during the check in process. The guest who just arrived from airport or moved from other hotel will feel tired, the welcome drink will make the guests feel refresh. Importance performance analysis The IPA analysis results are presented in Graph 1, presenting the average of customer’s expectation (harapan) and the perception (kenyataan) of the 22 variables. Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 43 Graph 1: IPA analysis results The IPA analysis results are as followed: 1. Quadrant A – Focus here  2(X1.2) - All the equipment that used support the operational.  21(X5.2) - Front office staff provide a clear information of emergency case procedure. 2. Quadrant B - Keep up the good work  1(X1.1) - Lobby area neat and clean.  4(X1.4) - The wellcome drink is tasteful.  5(X1.5) - The lobby has a strategic location and easily could be acces by the guest.  6(X2.1) - Front office staff know well about all the product of hotel.  10(X2.5) - All the information given by front office staff can be assured.  13(X3.3) - Front office staff helpful in finding means of trasportation for the guest.  16(X4.1) - Front office staff ensure the information provided about facilities and compliment is right. Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 44  18(X4.3) - Front office staff ensure that all guest important belonging is secure.  19(X4.4) - Front office staff ensure that all guest needs during stay fulfilled.  22(X5.3) - Front office staff communicate well and polite. 3. Quadrant C – Low priority  3(X1.3) - Front office staff are neat.  7(X2.2) - Front office staff gives a fast respon to every incoming call.  8(X2.3) - Front office staff provide clear information the resort facilities.  9(X2.4) - Porter service is fast and friendly.  11(X3.1) - Fast service of check in and check out provided by front office staff.  14(X3.4) - Front office staff gives a fast money exchange service.  17(X4.2) - Front office staff ensure that all guest luggage is secure.  20(X5.1) - Front office staff always provid individual attention to every customer and offer help. 4. Quadrant D – Possible overkill  12(X3.2) - All guest request is provided quickly. The importance performance analysis the dimensions which very influential and very well done on service quality are atribute 1(X1.1) which is the statement of lobby area neat and clean, atribute 4(X1.4) which is the statement of the welcome drink is tasteful, atribute 5(X1.5) which is the statement of the lobby has a strategic location and easily could be acces by the guest, atribute 6(X2.1) which is the statement of front office staff know well about all the product of hotel, atribute 10(X2.5) which is the statement of all the information given by front office staff can be assured, atribute 13(X3.3) which is the statement of front office staff helpful in finding means of transportation for the guest, atribute 16(X4.1) which is the statement of front office staff ensure the information provided about facilities and compliment is right, atribute 18(X4.3) which is the statement of front office staff ensure that all guest important belonging is secure, atribute 19(X4.4) which is the statement of front office staff ensure that all guest needs during stay fulfilled, and atribute 22(X5.3) which is the statement of front office staff communicate well and polite. Journal of Applied Sciences in Travel and Hospitality Volume 2, Number 1, March 2019 45 There are 2 variables located in Quadrat A – Focus here, the attributes that need to be addressed, these are: ‘All the equipment that used support the operational’. And ‘Front office staff provides clear information of emergency case procedure’. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION The results of this research regarding the service quality of front office department at Hotel Bali Mandira Resort & Spa are satisfied as the average quality of service for all indicators is 4 – very well. Nonetheless among those, there are some attributes that have lower scores which are the area need to be improved, this is the identification of the weak area and the opportunity for the hotel to improve the service provided to the guests. There are 10 attributes that are very well provided on the service quality by the front office department. The largest negative servqual value in the attribute number X3.4 – ‘front office staff gives a fast money exchange service’ with a score difference 0,155; the money changer service needs to be evaluated and improved for a better customer satisfaction. The highest positive servqual value is in the attribute number X1.4 – ‘the welcome drink is tasteful’ with a score difference 0,245 this show the area that has been well provided. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bagyono. 2012. Teori dan Praktik Hotel Front Office, Bandung: Alfabeta. Daryanto dan Ismanto Setyobudi, 2014. Konsumen dan Pelayanan Prima, Yogyakarta: Penerbit Gava Media. Malhotra. 2005. Metode Penelitian. Jakarta: Gramedia Moha. Sartika, 2016.Analisis Kualitas Pelayanan dengan dan Fasilitas Terhadap Kepuasan Konsumen Pada Hotel Yuta Di Kota Manado. Dalam Jurnal Emba. Diakses pada 30 Januari 2018 Normasari dan Kumaji. 2013. 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