Appendix Table 2. Expression 23 is neutral Table 1. The numbers in the tables correspond to the expression in table 1. Table 3. Table 4. Table 5. Table 6. stay in a hotel. Hotel's attributes such as cleanliness, price, location, security, personal service, physical attractiveness, opportunities for relaxation, standard of services, appealing image, and reputation are recognized as decisive by travelers to assess the quality of the hotel (Atkinsons, 1988; Ananth et al., 1992; Barsky \& Labagh, 1992; Cadotte \& Turgeon, 1988; Knutson, 1988; McCleary et al., 1993; Rivers et al., 1991; Wilensky \& Buttle, 1988). elements affecting customers' purchase experience and post-purchase behavior a customer oriented philosophy; administer a questionnaire to the director of the village to confirm the results of the interview; (Berkman \& Gilson, 1986; Choi \&Chu, 2001; Fornell, 1992; Halstead \& Page, administer questionnaires to 100 guests (on 122 we attempted to interview) of the hotel using the Critical Incident Approach (Hayes, 2008). McCleary et al., 1993; Rivers et al., 1991; Wilensky \& Buttle, 1988). According to a survey carried out by Barsky \& Nash in 2006 , regarding the at no cost for the enterprise and with effect and credibility that are superior to The Critical Incident Approach focuses on obtaining information from custhemers about the services and goods they encountered in the past. This loyalty programs for guest's decision on where to stay increased from 32% to 34%. al., 2008). WOM effect is approach can be used both for customers and staff. Although the search for new locations is certainly the most important factor For our analysis we submitted semi-structured interviews to guests. We prefor many tourists, several studies highlighted that there is a good portion of pared an interview guide based on the desk research regards the company webpage and their promotional material. customers that chose to repeat their holidays' destination, showing a certain A semi-structured interview is a flexible interview methodology, allowing degree of loyalty (Oppermann, 1998; Fyall et al., 2003). These studies on new questions to be brought up during the interview as a result of what the interviewee says. The flexibility given to answers by this interview methodtrip to the same tourist place: which may not have been perceived by the management. The incidents are then employed to create classes of satisfaction items based on shared common the desire to reduce the risk of making a mistake when words, used in the incident statement. These satisfaction items are then applied choosing an alternative destination; the chance to meet hotel selection and to systematically survey their level of satisfaction are to detect crucial customer quality requirements. the same people again ; into the consideration of whether or not customers will return to a hotel or Using the Critical Incident Approach, we interviewed 100 customers with the emotional affection to a specific advise it to other tourists, is pivotal to the success of the hospitality business. semi-structured interviews, asking each of them to describe 5 positive and 5 negative aspects of the overall service offered by the hotel. The 5 positive aspects are: organization; kids' club; number of services provided; family prices (for some excursions); beach tidiness; place to other people. of repeat patronage. 3. Methodology Hoteliers need to fully acknowledge which service attributes are most likely to Measuring customer satisfaction in the hotel industry is important in order to: influence customers' choice intentions (Richard \& Sundaram, 1993). Customer know guests' opinions. Each guest has different expectations about hospi- tality services, thus it is important to know their impressions not only by aggregated statistics but also singularly; determine the expectations, the needs and the requests of customers; overcome the gaps between customers' expec- tation and services offered; supervise the operations of the enterprise as a system. Guests' loyalty represents a homogeneous cluster which can be measured using behavioral and attitudinal variables. In our analysis we focus on a large hotel in Cefal on the Sicilian coast in the south of Italy. We performed the survey during the summer of 2008. In our survey we used both field and desk research methodology. We started with a "desk" analysis and then we administered a survey to both hotel managers and guests; then we cross checked the information obtained. In chronological order we proceeded to: analyze the corporate web-page and visit the location in order to verify the truthfulness of the information supplied to customers; interview the management of the hotel to verify the existence of Question: Make a description According to Italian regulation on research evaluation paragraphs 1,2 , and 3 and critical evaluation of the are attributed to dr. Gandolfo Dominici; paragraphs 4 and 5 to dr. Rosa Guzzo the probability of their return to the same hotel (Choi \& Chu, 2001). Hotels are increasing their investments to improve service quality and the perceived value for guests so as to achieve better customer satisfaction and loyalty, thus resulting in better relationships with each customer (Jones et al., 2007). types of data collection Customer satisfaction is a business philosophy which tends to the creation of Relationship quality has a remarkable positive effect on hotel guests' behavior: value for customers, anticipating and managing their expectations, and demonit creates positive word of mouth (WOM) and increments repeated guest rates strating ability and responsibility to satisfy their needs. Quality of service and (Kim et al., 2001). 1990; Parasuraman et al., 1988). As Valdani (2009) points out: enterprises exist because they have a customer to serve. The key to achieve sustainable advantage lies in delivering high quality service that results in satisfied custom- ers (Shemwell et al, 1998). Service quality and customer satisfaction are In this paper, after a review of the main literature on customer satisfaction and retention in the hotel industry, we confront a real case (Hotel Sporting Club of Cefal, Sicily, Italy) and analyze, using a qualitative methodology, whether Customer Satisfaction in the Hotel Industry: A there is a positive correlation between the customer oriented business philosZeithaml et al., 1990). In order to achieve customer satisfaction, it is important to recognize and to anticipate customers' needs and to be able to satisfy them. the combined use of different interview methodologies in order to evaluate the must concentrate on retaining existing customers implementing effective the hotel. policies of customer satisfaction and loyalty. This is especially true in the hotel 2. Literature overview industry. tween customers and the hotel is becoming progressively important because management approac. of the highly positive correlation between guests' overall satisfaction levels In this scenario, providing high quality services and improving customer telel selection is satisfaction are widely recognized as fundamental factors boosting the perindispensable. Research on the topic of guest satisfaction, which translates into formances of companies in the hotel and tourism industry (Barsky \& Labagh, to other tourists, is pivotal to the success of the hospitality business. Neglecting 1992; Le Blanc, 1992;; Le Blanc et al., 1996; Stevens et al., 1995, Opermann, to pay attention to those hotel attributes considered most important by guests, 1998). Hotels with good service quality will ultimately improve their profitamay lead to negative evaluation of the hotel, thus restricting the chance of bility (Oh \& Parks, 1997). In a competitive hospitality industry which offers repeat patronage. We perform a qualitative analysis of a large hotel in Sicily (IT), the Sporting Club Hotel in the town Cefal, using the Critical Incident homogeneous services, individual hoteliers must be able to satisfy costumers better then their counterparts (Choi \& Chou, 2001). Approach (Hayes, 2008). Through the analysis of this case we evaluate the To obtain loyalty and to outweigh other competitors, hotel providers must be overall customer satisfaction level for the hotel and for each service supplied. able to obtain high levels of customer satisfaction for the service supplied. We conclude discussing the result and There are several studies that analyze the needs and the desires of tourists. A satisfaction management of the hotel. research by Wuest et al. (1996) defined the perception of hotel attributes as the Keywords: Customer satisfaction, Hotel industry, Service marketing degree to which guests may find various services and facilities critical for their