Center Parcs, P&O Cruises and Premier Inn have emerged as clear industry leaders in customer satisfaction, according to new data.
The overall UK tourism sector experienced a slight decline in customer satisfaction, but it has climbed from sixth to third in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI).
The UKCSI, carried out by the Institute of Customer Service, involved more than 12,000 interviews with consumers about their customer experiences across 197 leading brands in 13 different sectors.
Tourism’s ranking in third place, with a drop of just 0.2 points between January and July, compared to a 0.8 point drop across all sectors.
It scored higher than the all-sector average in every one of the 28 metrics used to rate each industry.
Only two organisations scored lower than the all-sector average (79.8) for customer satisfaction and the tourism sector average was 3.5 points higher than that.
But the impressive performance of the top scoring organisations masks a diversity of performance throughout the sector.
While Center Parcs and P&O Cruises saw increases in their scores by 4.4 and 3.4 points respectively in the past six months, only three organisations in total improved their customer satisfaction scores by more than one point.
Seven saw their scores decline by more than one point and 10 organisations scored below 80 points, the level which is considered to represent excellent customer service.
Just over 7% of tourism customers experienced a problem compared to 13.4 % across all industries, while satisfaction with complaints handling and the outcome of complaints have both improved since January.
The sector is seen as relatively strong at preventing problems occurring but there is a high propensity for customers to report problems – 78.2% did so, compared to the national average 72.7% and more than half (52%) then reported having to escalate their problem.
Social media is used more often in tourism to report a problem than in most other sectors, with a score of 8.6% – 7.2% then used it to escalate the problem.
Institute of Customer Service chief executive, Jo Causon, said: “Tourism faces a unique set of challenges. Customer satisfaction with a holiday, for example, incorporates the whole experience from leaving my front door to returning after my break.
If I am delayed during my journey, have a bad experience at the airport, have a problem with a connection or the accommodation it will reflect on each of the other elements.
A problem which may appear to be unconnected to the organisation may be seen by the customer as part of the same thing.
If a complaint is to be resolved successfully it has to happen almost immediately if it is not to impact negatively on the overall experience.
As a result organisations in this sector must be adept at handling problems quickly and successfully, which is reflected in the impressive performance in the UKCSI.”