The Effects of Physical and Cultural Distance on Tourist Satisfaction: A Case Study of Local-Based Airlines, Public Transportation, and Government Services in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study examines the effects of distance decay (i.e., physical distance and cultural distance) on overall service satisfaction and evaluates individual service quality attributes across local-based airlines, public transportation, and government services in Hong Kong. Harnessing simple regression analysis on primary data collected via a SERVQUAL-based questionnaire, empirical results reveal that cultural distance negatively affects the overall service satisfaction level on public transportation as well as leisure and cultural services. Physical distance, on the other hand, is positively associated with overall tourist satisfaction toward local-based airline services, government services, and mass transit railway (MTR) services. Further findings from the paired sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and importance and performance analysis suggest that the three analyzed sectors suffer from negative disconfirmation, with the most problematic area in taxi drivers' communication skills.