CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MARKETING AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN SAGBAMA, BAYELSA STATE.

Abstract

The research examined the relationship between customer experience marketing and business performance in the hospitality industry, Sagbama LGA, Bayelsa State. In order to assess firm success in the hospitality industry, a more strategic and integrated approach is therefore required. The aim of this seminar paper is to evaluate the relationship between customer experience marketing with dimensions of; service quality, centricity, brand engagement and business performance. In order to achieve this aim, a population of twenty-one managers from six functional hotels operating in Sagbama and duly registered was selected for the study. The questionnaire was adopted as the research instrument for generating the data. The data was analysed descriptively with the use of the frequency, percentage, which for the test of hypotheses, the use of the spearman rank correlation coefficient with the aid of SPSS software was used. From the results, it was revealed that a positive and significant relationship exists between service quality, centricity, brand engagement and business performance. It was concluded that Hospitality businesses should focus on building strong emotional connections with their customers to drive repeat patronage, increase brand loyalty, and enhance overall business success. It was further recommended that should continuously respond proactively to customer concerns, and leverage data-driven insights to enhance customer satisfaction. Investment in digital tools for customer engagement and feedback analysis can further strengthen this approach.