Abstract:
The purposes of this research were to examine the customers behaviour and needs of the hotels customers, to investigate factors affecting their choice regarding the Front Office personnel and to look for guidelines to improve the quality of the Front Office staff. The sample of subjects consisted of 400 guests who were staying at the Phuket J W Marriot Resort and Spa, and questionnaires were used to collect data for this study. The data was then analyzed by using an SPSS program and results shown as frequency, percentages, means, S.D., and Chi-Square. The results of the analysis were as follows: Most respondents were Americans, female, and aged 31-40 years. They held bachelors degrees, worked for business enterprises and earned 60 ,030-75,000 baht per month. Regarding the customers behaviour and needs for the quality of service of the Front Office personnel, it was found that most guests had stayed at the hotel for the first time. They came with their friends for vacation. Most customers contacted the Front Office staff once or twice during their stay during 12.01 hrs. 18.00 hrs. Most of the hotel guests paid by credit card. It was found that the level of satisfaction for the services was very high. They also found that the staff were polite, and friendly. However, many of the customers preferred the staff to have more information and be able to give them advice. Regarding the factors affecting the customers satisfaction of the Front Office personnels services, it was found that the most affective factor was the physical factor: hotels facilities - restaurants, conference rooms, fitness rooms, swimming pools, spa, and karaoke. The most affective personnel factor was found to be the friendliness and care for the guests ; the most affective process factor was found to be quality services. Suggestions proposed by the researcher for improving the services of the Front Officers in the hotel were as follows : Personnel factor: the hotel should train the staff in this department in the areas of general knowledge so that they can be able to give good advice to the hotel guests; Process of services: the staff should provide more effective services and should treat the guests equally. The hotel should prepare the counterpart to assist the new staff. The supervisors in this department should plan a training course to provide the new staff with appropriate knowledge and skills. They should also control and evaluate the new staffs performance. In addition, the supervisors should be able to identify both the good points and weak points of each member of staff, and provide them with suitable suggestions; Physical factor: the hotel should improve its lobby to be more spacious and comfortable, and make the signs in the hotel easy to be read. The most significant marketing strategy that is appropriate for the hotel is to maintain regular customers.