The influence of the importance of event factors on meeting planner satisfaction: A case study of a theme park event business

Abstract

This paper presents data from a research project aimed at identifying how important the different event factors are to the visiting meeting planners and how this might influence guest satisfaction. The focus for the researchers was to get an overall picture of the meeting planners’ satisfaction and to identify the areas which needed more focus, in order to improve future business. This was done by sending an online survey to 25 regularly visiting meeting planners. This survey asked the meeting planners to rate event factors on their importance, and the satisfaction level regarding a certain planned event on service and physical factors. The event factors were derived from both the academic literature and the experience of the company. The survey was split into two parts. First, the factors needed to be rated in terms of importance, and second on satisfaction. Seven meeting planners filled out the survey. Nevertheless the findings showed that friendliness and politeness scored highest on importance of all factors. Also empathy, reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, and food quality scored high on importance. Improvement areas concerning satisfaction are “consultation” and “reachability” during the planning process, and “cleanliness of meeting rooms”. Further investigation is needed for the factors of “lighting, climate and soundproofing of meeting rooms”, “size and number of facilities”, “presentation, variety and quantity of food”. and why customers actually choose a theme park for their event.

Keywords: importance, satisfaction, meeting planner, theme park, MICE