Pre-purchase Stage and Destination Decision

Write your experience in the tourism industry during a holiday trip to an East African country. 

After saving up for over a year and a half, we finally had enough money to splurge on myself. Being a person who loves  being outdoors and  loves travelling, our  long-awaited opportunity had finally knocked on our door. We felt it necessary to take a holiday, however short, to reflect on our  life and redefine the direction to take in my early adulthood. This report explains our beautiful journey to an East African country for safari. It details an analysis of our experience from the pre-purchase stage, our destination decision, our expectations of the visit all through to the actual visit and experience of it. We take you through our expedition from the airport on arrival to the hotel destination for the two nights spent there. It could have been longer but unfortunately, that’s what our savings could afford me at the time but definitely worth it. We wind up by providing a satisfaction rating and value for money rating and also expound on why we would recommend the visit to friends and family.

Pre-purchase journey

It was by accident that we stumbled upon what was to become one of my greatest experiences in life. We were seated on the train on my way home, minding my business, when a couple came and sat by me. They were a nice couple all chatty and bubbly discussing a safari they took to Kenya. While we didn’t mean to eavesdrop, it was hard not to get drawn to the amazing story of their adventures. So we listened on. By the time, we were getting to my destination we were so curious about this ‘safari’ everyone keeps talking about. Good thing the Internet was partly developed to serve curiosity. As soon as got home we surfed the web. The more we surfed, the more we were intrigued. We landed on a page giving trip advice for destinations particularly listing those that host the Big Five. Though I had always wanted to travel to see the Big Five, we must say this was the first time the urge was more. A lot of information was provided on the web, and we Landed on Ol Pejeta Conservancy. A game conservancy that sit on 90,000 acres of land boasting an impressive variety of wildlife, and also home to the Big Five. This is actually, what you see on their website.

Experience at Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Further probing and we decided that this was a place we needed to go and get some experience. Our expectations were set high at that point. Wu (2008) states that customer expectation is the pre-purchase belief of the  customer that form the basis for the judgment of a product or service. While Zeithaml et al. (2009) identify two types of expectations: predictive expectations and the desired expectations. From these two concepts, it is likely that we had predictive expectations. This means that we had already conceptualized a belief of what we were to expect from the trip. Information gathered from the Internet got me to start saving.  One and a half years down the line we had enough to make the trip.

The Safari

We made my bookings and more than 15 hours later, we arrived in the country and were picked up by a tour guide from Ol- Pejeta Conservancy named Steven. It was a beautiful day. The sun’s warm morning rays penetrated through the car windows landing on our bare skin in the most amazing way. This coupled with Steven’s friendly, humorous, and lively character gave me so much peace as we headed to the conservancy. The surroundings all through to were green and as we neared the destination there was less building and more vegetation. He briefed us on short histories about the country and the conservancy. We arrived at the gate and were met by some very friendly game wardens, which after verification of documents, ushered us in. Steven drove must to my cottage. The cottages were beautiful, with a touch of wilderness and tradition yet presented elegance. Located, in fields surrounded by nature and occasionally you would see monkeys swing around in the trees. It was exquisite. Though tired from the trip, we only wanted to freshen up a little and head out to take up as much as time would allow in this short trip.

Steven picked me up an hour later and we headed out for the game drive. It was not long before we scouted giraffes. From where we were, it looked like the giraffes were at the edge of the horizon pulling on shrubs. It was a heavenly sight. We drove around some more, met buffalos, elephants, warthogs, the gravy zebra and the African wild dog. We made sure to take as many pictures as possible. As the sun began to set, we headed back. The day was not yet over; we went to see the late Sudan, the once only living male northern white Rhino. We were privileged to have lived to see it’s magnificent self. Sadly, early this year Sudan breathed his last breath at the age of 45 (Olpejetaconservancy.org, 2018). Steven suggested an early head start at daybreak the following day in order to spot for the lions at a time. Therefore, the next morning, the alluring sight of the lions graced our day. Additionally, we viewed a variety of other vulnerable species such as the black rhino and the chimpanzees. We were taken to the conservancies’ museum as the day ended and given a short history of the ranch, the pastoral communities staying in it, and other endangered species in the ranch. Steven explained that no one is ever lucky enough to see all the animals in such a short visit. He advised that we should plan another longer visit to reap all that Ol Pejeta Conservancy has to offer. We later joined other local and international tourists at one of the most famous restaurants at the ranch for local delicacies. Later on there was a bonfire and entertainment by local dancers. We made a few friends from the interactions at the bonfire. It was a happy yet sad night since it was my last in the country.

Customer Expectations and Satisfaction

An analysis and Recommendation of the Service Industry.

According to Hill, Roche, and Allen (2009), service providers ought to recognize the needs of their customers in order to fulfill their expectations and attain full customer satisfaction. Full awareness and management of expectations by the organization are paramount in enabling customer satisfaction (Hsieh, Yuan and Kuo 2011 p.121).

Customer Expectations Construct

When the service provider meets the dimensions of the customer expectation, this is likely to have a positive effect (Gures, Arslan, and Yucel Tun 2014 p.67).

These dimensions include:

• This is in term of the service provider being able to deliver the promised service efficiently and accurately. Ol Pejeta presented faultless facts about its Ranch on its website. All photos, reviews, and information were authentic, confirmed in my visit. What’s more, the guide assigned to me was dependable and not once did he disappoint.
• This refers to a company being focused on the customers. Ol Pejeta showed responsiveness during our interaction in the booking process, Safari tour, and checking out.
• Assurance and Customization. This pertains to the company’s alertness to the safety of customers as well as providing individualized service to the customer. The company demonstrated this by having a good number wardens patrol the vast lands. As for individualization, every product service at the conservancy is individualized.
• The entire workforce at the conservancy knowledgeable of the conservancy’s history and culture. They are friendly towards tourists’ hence easy trust and confidence in the destination.

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction as already explained is a measure by which a service meets the expectancy of the customers. By discerning the attributes that lead to satisfaction, a company is able to structure and deliver services more effectively. Customer satisfaction leads to a repeat clientele, good portfolio, and loyalty of customers, better acceptance of new services, enhanced reputation, more recommendations and consequently more revenue (Inghilleri and Solomon 2010, p.10). Ol Pejeta understands the benefits reaped from customer satisfaction and thus structures its services to meet the customer needs. The company provides a variety of accommodation options each price differently to cater for different classes of the society. As for game drive options, one has the freedom to select group game drives (which are more affordable) and individual game drives (for those who can afford it). Moreover, there is a provision for animal lovers to adopt animals and cater for them. This initiative creates a bond between tourists and the destination and they are bound to return.  Such flexibility and variety in services to cater for different types of customers give the conservancy a competitive advantage in the very competitive tourism industry. Loyalty of customers do not always mean that they are satisfied customers, however satisfied customers always lead to loyal customers. For repeat business, a company should aim at achieving customer satisfaction.

There are several reasons as to why a service provider should identify the customer expectations to achieve satisfaction (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 2009 p.12). These are:

• Customer expectations change from time to time
• It is not all features of a quality service that subjected to the expectations of customers
• Satisfaction of the customer is dependent upon their expectations being met.

Customer loyalty.

Customer loyalty is about the attitudes and behavior of customers after experiencing a service (Hill, Roche and Allen 2008, p. 2). A loyal customer benefits an enterprise by becoming a repeat client, generating revenue and making referrals. For instance, Ol Pejeta has achieved loyal customers due to the ability to the satisfy customer. It is one of the major tourist destinations in Kenya. Incentives such as adoption of animals breed emotional attachment hence loyalty. Loyalty is a measure of customer satisfaction.

Customer Loyalty and Maintenance of Satisfaction

Organizations need to make customer satisfaction a continuous process. It is a daunting task to steadily maintain and improve the satisfaction of customers (Hayes, 2010 p.36). Striking a balance between maintaining satisfaction while at the same time maintaining low cost has proved challenging for most organizations. Several ways are cost-effective enough in the measure and maintenance of customer satisfaction. Hayes (2010) argues that a company does not need to do surveys, as they are usually costly. Not only are surveys costly but also less long-lasting in their effects. Research indicated that surveys only tend to change attitudes and increase purchases that are one- off. Instead, the organization should opt to use information it already possesses. Analyzing complains, giving timely feedback, quick delivery, quick responses to calls and emails are some of the services that require little or no cost. Other than the cost benefits, these alternative methods are more permanent than the surveys. Ol Pejeta Conservative, in the brief interaction, displayed all this. The future behavior of customers will be highly contingent on their experience. This is not to say that one measure is enough. All measures, when used alone, will be incomplete and may not the desired purpose.

Conclusion

At the end of the trip, we were satisfied happy customers. Our perceptions of the trip aligned and even exceeded our expectations.  The level of satisfaction usually influences the future decision of whether to buy or recommend a product (Kotler 2010, p. 101). We would give a rating of 9/10 for my satisfaction and value for money. We certainly think that we got value for our money and would definitely recommend a trip to Ol pejeta to friends and family. It is a destination well fitting for them due to their love for animals and thirst for adventure. Beyond doubt, upcoming plans are already underway for a trip back as we feel that my time there was not enough. We plan to explore more Safari destinations in times ahead as well.

List of References

Gures, N., Arslan, S. and Yucel Tun, S. (2014). Customer Expectation, Satisfaction and Loyalty Relationship in Turkish Airline Industry. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 6(1).

Gures, N., Arslan, S. and Yucel Tun, S. (2014). Customer Expectation, Satisfaction and Loyalty Relationship in Turkish Airline Industry. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 6(1).

Hayes, B. (2010). Measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty. 2nd ed. New Delhi: New Age International Pvt Ltd Publishers, p.45.

Hill, N., Roche, G. and Allen, R. (2007). Customer satisfaction. London: Cogent, p.2.

Hill, N., Roche, G. and Allen, R. (2009). Customer satisfaction. London: Cogent.

Hsieh, Y., Yuan, S. and Kuo, R. (2011). A PSO-based intelligent service dispatching mechanism for customer expectation management. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(10), pp.12128-12141.

Inghilleri, L. and Solomon, M. (2010). Exceptional service, exceptional profit. New York: American Management Association, p.10.

Olpejetaconservancy.org. (2018). PRESS RELEASE | The last male northern white rhino dies | Ol Pejeta Conservancy. [online] Available at: https://www.olpejetaconservancy.org/the-last-male-northern-white-rhino-dies/ [Accessed 4 May 2018].

THAI, V. (2015). Determinants Of Customer Expectations Of Service: Implications For Fostering Customer Satisfaction. International Journal of Management and Applied Science,, [online] 1(4), pp.146-1550. Available at: https://www.iraj.in/journal/journal_file/journal_pdf/14-134-1431348440146-151.pdf [Accessed 4 May 2018].

Wu, C. (2008). The impact of customer-to-customer interaction and customer homogeneity on customer satisfaction in tourism service—The service encounter prospective. Tourism Management, 28(6), pp.1518-1528.

Zeithaml, V., Berry, L. and Parasuraman, A. (2009). The Nature and Determinants of Customer Expectations of Service. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 21(1), pp.1-12.