The objective of this study was to investigate the service quality expectations of the ecotourists by developing an adapted version of the SERVQUAL scale named ECOSERV. Factor analysis revealed six service dimensions: eco-tangibles, assurance, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and tangibles. Ecotourists showed a hierarchy of dimensions relating to ecotourist businesses, the most important being eco-tangibles and the least important tangibles. The findings revealed that ecotourists tend to expect businesses to be environmentally friendly and prefer services that are courteous, informative, and trustworthy. In addition, physical facilities that were environmentally appropriate and equipment that minimizes environmental degradation were found more important to the ecotourists.
Le but de cette etude etait d'examiner les attentes de qualite de service de la part des ecotouristes en developpant une version adaptee de l'echelle SERVQUAL appelee ECOSERV. L'analyse factorielle a revele six dimensions de service: ecotangibles, assurance, fiabilite, aptitude a reagir, empathie et tangibles, dont la plus importante est la dimension des ecotangibles et la moins importante est celle des tangibles. Les resultats ont revele que les ecotouristes ont tendance a s'attendre a ce que les entreprises respectent l'environnement et qu'ils preferent les services qui sont courtois, instructifs et dignes de confiance. En plus, les installations materielles qui etaient ecologiquement convenables et l'equipement qui minimisait la degradation de l'environnement avaient plus d'importance pour les ecotouristes.