Resumen de Impact of Group Package Tour Dimensions on Customer Satisfaction (an ANNs Application)

Luiz Mountinho, Meltem Caber, Manuela Silva, Tahir Albayrak

• This study examines the main dimensions of a traditional group package tour and their impacts on customer satisfaction by using artificial neural networks approach. Data obtained from the Russian tourists visiting Antalya, Turkey are analyzed for testing the neural network model. Five nodes at the input layer of the neural network model were: Airline (AL), Transfer (TRF), Hotel Guide (HG), Info (INF), and Hotel (H), which offered three hidden neurons related to single output layer of customer satisfaction (SAT). The optimal fit between inputs and output was achieved with a feedforward network with a single hidden layer of three neurons. The three hidden neurons: “Over Promises and Under Delivered,” “Home from Home,” and “Tourism-Built Environment,” were also examined by their influence on the SAT of two customer segments, who are named as the “positivists” and “negativists.”