Customer and employee satisfaction in hotels during COVID-19

Various academic studies have been conducted on customer and employee satisfaction in the service industries. This research focuses on the hotel sector, exploring 1) job satisfaction (intrinsic, extrinsic, and general) in departments whose employees most frequently come into contact with hotel customers (reception, housekeeping, bar and restaurant, kitchen, and entertainment); and 2) customer satisfaction for these departments. The research was carried out at the beginning of the 2021 summer season, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 1,488 individuals was analysed to find out if employee job satisfaction can predict customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction was minimally explained by the three dimensions of employee satisfaction (intrinsic, extrinsic, and general), although not in all departments. Extrinsic employee satisfaction achieved higher results than intrinsic employee satisfaction in the reception, kitchen, and bar and restaurant departments. The results show a clear difference between departments that are managed directly by the hotel and those that are outsourced (housekeeping and entertainment), which did not show a predictive relationship between employee and customer satisfaction.