【正文】 peg for the past few years, the relatively weaker Malaysian currency has bee a positive factor for inbound tourism, while making outbound tourism more expensive. At the same time, domestic tourism has been steadily increasing over the period, rising 11% in 2020 to million trips. This is because Tourism Malaysia by carrying out programmes such as Cuticuti Malaysia that are aimed at encouraging domestic travel has undoubtedly contributed to the increase (Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, 2020). However, the hospitality industry that was still experiencing severe oversupply and occupancy rates have been severely affected by the SARS and bird flu crisis. Industry sales grew in 2020 but experienced a drastic decrease in 2020. The industry was highly petitive especially with the opening of more hotels. The number of hotels supply has increased % and the number of hotel rooms supply has increased % from year 2020 to year 2020 (Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, 2020). However, the year 2020 began on an encouraging and positive note. In January, Malaysia saw the arrivals of million tourists, which was the highest monthly arrival in the history of the industry (The Star, 20 March 2020). Furthermore, hotels in Kuala Lumpur recorded an average occupancy of 61% for January 2020 (The Star, 25 March 2020) and tourist arrivals to Malaysia are expected to increase by % to million by 2020 (The Star, 20 March 2020). The main concern for the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) for year 2020 was the issue of recognition of hotel workers as professionals. The Malaysian Association of Hotels Training and Education Centre is now working towards promoting regular training and enhancing training programmes for hotel workers so that they would be recognized as professionals and increase the service quality (The Star, 25 March 2020). Hotel Classification Historically, hotel classification systems were formed to ensure safe and reliable lodging and food for travelers at a time when very few such trustworthy establishments existed. In the past fifty years, hospitality has reached the status of a mature industry with the unprecedented growth of international tourism. As a result, the focus of hotel classification systems has shifted from consumer protection to consumer information. Presently, standardization and petitive marketing of hotel services to foreign customers and tourist professionals have appeared as driving forces for instituting a local or national hotel classification system (WTO and IHamp。 and to identify the role of service quality towards customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry. LITERATURE REVIEW Concept of Service For the last two decades, economies have experienced an extensive social and economic transformation globally. One of the most significant of these changes is the increased rate of spending on services. Service industries are leading the economy. Services lie at the hub of the economic activity of society and are linked closely with many other sectors of the economy (Kandampully, 2020). Services are not limited to the service industries, for example, a manufacturer like IBM can be highly involved in the service business. Services are deeds, processes and performance. The broad definition of services suggested that intangibility as a key factor of deciding whether an offering is a service (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2020). Services are generally described in terms of four unique characteristics, namely intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, and perishability. Intangibility can be defined as something that cannot be touched, seen, tasted, heard, or felt in the