An insightful study on Homestay tourist satisfaction based on destination attribute’s performance with reference to Darjeeling hills (India)

Abstract

Blessed with a plethora of scenic bountiful natural attractions with the grandeur of mighty Himalayan peaks, waterfalls, flora and faunas, the ‘Queen of Hills’-Darjeeling being one of highly googled hill-destinations has been witnessing a burgeoning growth of homestay based tourism in offbeat rural parts in and around Darjeeling-hills resulting equitable & inclusive socio-economic growth, prosperity and a holistic development in remote hilly locations. The present study attempts to ventilate an insightful understanding of homestay tourist satisfaction & dissatisfaction with a three-phased analysis, initially with Kano’s-model to evaluate tourist-satisfaction based on identified destination parameters under 5 broad themes of attraction, accommodation, amenities, activities and accessibility. Penalty-Reward-Contrast-Analysis was applied to assess the texture of relationship between tourist-satisfaction and homestay-host’s service-quality and finally Asymmetric-Impact-Performance-Analysis was used to validate findings of Kano’s-model and also to identify homestay parameters' priority in generating homestay guest’s satisfaction considering nonlinearity and impact of attribute’s performance on tourist’s mindset.