ABSTRACT

 The study investigated the impact ofservice delivery on customer retention in hospitality industry in Ahia State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to; examine the effect offront desk service delivery on customer retention; examine the effect of speed in service delivery on customer retention; ascertain the effect ofservice quality on customer retention; and examine the effect of customer care on customer retention. To achieve the objectives of the study, survey research design was adopted. The researcher adoptedprimary data and used questionnaire as a tool in getting the required information. In testing the hypotheses, regression models was used The findingsshowedthatfront desk service delivery was statistically significant at the 1%probability level and a positive predictor ofcustomer retention in the hospitality industry. Findingsfurther revealed that speed in service delivery in the Hotelsplayssignificant role in determining the level ofcustomerretention. The study concludesthat aspects ofservice delivery in Hotels likefront desk service delivery, speed in service delivery, service quality and customer care all have significant andpositive effect ofon customer retention. The researcherrecommended that managers ofhotel need to determine optimal customer service effectiveness to prevent occurrence ofdissatisfaction among customers in order to increasingly lower retention rate. The researcher further recommended that Promptness ofservices offered, willingness expressed by the employees to help the guests, hiring slightly higher level of manpower to avoid the employees being over busy, maintaining a minimum response time for service delivery will also help Hotels in being more responsive towards the service offerings.