Service quality and university students' satisfaction on the travel agencies

Purpose – There are international students studying in the universities of Northern Cyprus that come from more than 68 countries. Travel agencies are among those firms which are affected the most from these international students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how international students perceive travel agency services by using the SERVQUAL instrument. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 579 university students studying at the universities of Northern Cyprus responded to a revised version of the SERVQUAL instrument. After a descriptive analysis, a multivariate regression was used to estimate the impact of service quality dimensions on overall student satisfaction and positive word of mouth. Findings – Research results reveal that the expectations of university students are not met and that the largest gap was found in the “empathy” dimension. Results also reveal that the service quality perceptions of Turkish students coming from Turkey significantly differ from that of Turkish Cypriot and other overseas students. The “responsiveness” dimension has the largest influence on student satisfaction in the case of Turkish Cypriot and other overseas students, and the “empathy” dimension has the largest influence on the satisfaction of Turkish students coming from Turkey. Finally, overall satisfaction of all students has a positive and statistically significant impact on their word of mouth. Originality/value – Millions of students pursue their higher education abroad; therefore, they extensively benefit from travel agencies. The present study is the first of its kind that investigates service quality evaluations and satisfaction levels of international students for travel agencies in Northern Cyprus, a non‐recognized small island state that managed to attract international students from more than 69 different countries.