THE IMPACT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND POLITENESS ON TOURIST SATISFACTION: EVIDENCE FROM BATAM ISLAND HOTELS
Abstract: Communication skills, particularly digital competencies and polite behaviour, play a crucial role in enhancing tourists’ satisfaction and supporting tourism marketing, ultimately contributing to increased tourist arrivals and economic benefits. This study aimed to examine how tourists search for and select hotels, assess the level of politeness demonstrated by hotel staff, and evaluate the impact of communication skills and politeness on tourists’ satisfaction. The research was conducted among hotel guests who stayed in hotels on Batam Island, Indonesia, and focused on five dimensions of communication: written, oral, listening, digital, and non-verbal communication, together with perceived politeness. Data were collected through an online survey of 285 tourists in 2023, using a purposive sampling method. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were employed to analyse the data. The findings indicate that social media platforms and friends’ recommendations were the most frequently used methods for finding hotels. When choosing a hotel, tourists placed greater importance on cost, room and bed specifications, and cleanliness. Additional factors influencing tourist satisfaction included hotel scenery, enjoyable experiences, and the establishment of trust, honesty, credibility, and positive interactions with hotel staff. The results reveal significant correlations between communication skills, politeness, and tourist satisfaction. Satisfaction was found to be strongly associated with linguistic politeness and digital communication skills, both of which emerged as strong predictors of hotel guests’ satisfaction. Listening communication skills were also a significant predictor; however, they showed a negative relationship with satisfaction. These findings suggest that hospitality organisations should integrate digital communication and politeness training into staff development programmes and implement systematic feedback mechanisms to monitor service quality and guest satisfaction. Overall, this study provides practical insights that can assist hotel managers in developing effective marketing and service strategies to attract more tourists to Batam Island.
Keywords: Batam Island, Communication Skills, Hospitality, Politeness Strategies, Satisfaction