Customer Service During Peak (In Season) and Non-Peak (Off Season) Times: A Multi-Country (Austria, Switzerland, UK & USA) Examination of Entrepreneurial Tourist Focused Core Personnel‪.‬

ABSTRACT This study examines the customer service of front line core service personnel in entrepreneurial businesses service businesses that serve the tourist markets in four countries. We assess the influence that seasonality might have on the utility of a selection inventory for predicting levels of customer service. Subjects included 309 core employees servicing the tourist industries in San Francisco, United States; 257 in Vienna, Austria; 250 in Zurich, Switzerland; and 255 in London, United Kingdom. Subjects were surveyed and assessed along dimensions of customer service orientation by trained assessors while serving customers. Response rates exceeded 90 percent as the business owners saw the study as an opportunity to understand how to earn greater revenues from their businesses. The mean service orientation ratings ranged from 3.53 in Austria to 3.62 in Switzerland during off-season or the non-peak tourist time and from 3.92 in Austria to 3.99 in the United Kingdom during the peak tourist season. Results support the use of a biodata inventory as a cost-effective means for small businesses to develop and retain competitive advantage relative to their larger rivals.