Abstract
Tourism is one of the important sectors of the world economy, its direct contribution equates to US$2,155.4 billion (2.9% of total Gross Domestic Product) of total economy while its contribution to GDP was US $ 6990.3 billion (9.5% of GDP). Tourism directly supported 100,894,000 jobs (3.4% of total employment); the total contribution of the sector to employment, including jobs indirectly supported was 265,855,000 jobs (8.9% of total employment). The world tourism development corporation forecasts an annual growth of 3.1 per cent in direct tourism contribution to GDP and 10.3 per cent in the total contribution to GDP for the period from2014 t0 2024 (Andrej Alzbeta, 2014)1 The Maldives tourism plays an important role in the national economy. The tourism sector is a promising sector in Maldives due to its manmade and natural attraction. The service quality and tourism satisfaction is considered as the primary focus of the country. If the tourists‟ are satisfied, it generates not only destination loyalty but also contributes to the development of national economy. Hence the present study focuses on the measurement of service quality on tourists‟ satisfaction, its causes and consequences at Maldives. The empirical data was collected at the International Airport of Male‟ City. A total of 123 questionnaires were returned and the data were analyzed using A series of multiple regressions to determine the relationship between service quality and tourist satisfaction. The results supported the proposed model: (1) destination facilities and accessibility and attraction directly influenced tourist satisfaction; (2) there is a significant impact of the service quality on tourist satisfaction. The theoretical and managerial implications were drawn based on the study findings, and recommendations for future researchers were made.
Keywords: Destination attraction, destination quality, destination facilities, service quality, tourist satisfaction
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