BUSINESS EVENT EVENTQUAL PERCEPTION AMONG DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS: GENERATION Z PERSPECTIVE

The interest in business events, as a special type of tourism event rapidly evolved amid the COVID pandemic. Due to the COVID pandemic, visitors’ attendance preferences have changed dramatically, and acknowledging which event service quality factors have given importance amid and post-COVID reality was paramount for their future organization. In this regard, particular attention was given to the Generation Z (Zoomers) attendees, as a segment that will definitively drive this sector in the future. Travel fairs (shows) were perceived as one of the most distinctive business events, attracting professional and wider audiences. Taking into account the preferences of this lucrative event market towards service quality is seen as essential for the long-term sustainability of these events. Since a positive attitude towards the service quality at the event was recognized to be a prerequisite for the visit, this study used EVENTQUAL as a framework for the assessment of each of its dimensions by different age groups, focusing in particular on generation Z particularities. The research aims to determine the differences in the perception of certain dimensions of service quality between business event visitors of different ages better to grasp the service quality preferences of Generation Z travel fair attendees. The survey was distributed to visitors of the 42nd Tourism Fair event in Belgrade and analyzed with the help of SPSS. By deploying exploratory factor analysis EVENTQUAL model items were rotated differently to its distribution in the initial sporting event research, showing particularities of service quality perception for this type of event. Moreover, findings of the post-hoc oneway-ANOVA test indicated that there are significant differences in the perception of the three dimensions of quality depending on the age of the visitors, particularly between Generation Z attendees and other generational cohorts. The implemented research highlighted the peculiarities of Generation Z attendees of travel fairs and further advanced the generational gap between younger and older travel fair attendees. The practical contribution of the work is reflected in the knowledge that enables managers to improve service quality per the requirements of Generation Z as the most prominent future attendees of these business events