A Systematic Review of Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Loyalty in Tourism Research

Abstract

The tourism and hospitality industry is inherently service-oriented, making service quality a critical determinant of customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty. Over the past two decades, an extensive body of empirical research has investigated the interrelationships between service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty across diverse tourism contexts. However, the rapid expansion of this literature has made it increasingly challenging to derive coherent and integrated insights from individual studies. This paper presents a systematic review of contemporary research on the service quality–satisfaction–loyalty nexus in tourism and hospitality. Drawing on peer-reviewed studies documented in the provided literature review, the paper synthesizes dominant theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and empirical findings. The review demonstrates that service quality exerts a strong indirect influence on customer loyalty through satisfaction, with the SERVQUAL framework remaining the most widely adopted model. Empathy, reliability, and tangibles emerge as particularly influential dimensions, although their relative importance varies across tourism sectors and cultural contexts. The paper concludes by outlining theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and directions for future research, thereby offering a comprehensive and publication-ready synthesis of the existing literature.

Keywords