THE FACTORS OF SERVICE QUALITY IN SKI TOURISM ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the current models of service quality in ski tourism with a practical implication on the example of the Republic of Serbia. Nowadays, ski tourism has evolved into an important segment of the winter tourism industry in Europe. Its development was encouraged by the popularisation of skiing as a sport, as well as the growth of the number of people who ski professionally or recreationally.The studies from relevant publishers have been dealt with the concept of travellers’ motivation in ski tourism from different point of views such as, the aspect of sustainable development in tourism, quality management, marketing strategy and customer satisfaction. When defining the research scope, it was noted that service quality represents an important driver of motivation in sports tourism. However, there is a certain research gap in exploring the factors that affect the service quality in winter sports, and in particular models and instruments that could provide their better understanding. In accordance with this statement, the research question in the study was to analyse the main determinants of service quality in ski tourism in the Republic of Serbia and to compare their relevance among the respondents belonging to different countries of origin and gender. The theoretical research presented in this paper was based on the application of a systematic literature review that has included relevant studies dealing with the concept of service quality in winter sport tourism. In addition, empirical research was conducted to address the research question in finding the factors that influence the service quality in ski tourism. The research was based on a sample of 208 skiers who visited the Republic of Serbia during the winter seasons in years 2023 and 2024. In the analysis and interpretation of the data, descriptive statistics, compare means and factor analysis were used.