Question:
In the context of tourism operations management what is meant by “quality “? Analyse the problems that service sector organisations face in maintaining quality in their operations. Refer to appropriate tourism examples to support your answer
As Atilgan,Akinci and Aksoy (2003) state : “Quality in tourism is an important factor and ultimately dictates the success of the tourism business. “ The nature of the tourism industry itself is service orientated and as the visit Scotland website highlights: “Service quality is fundamental to the entire tourism product.” This essay will aim to look into what is actually meant by Quality in tourism? Looking into what problems or issues the service sector face in maintaining this quality refer to appropriate tourism examples to highlight relevant points.
There are many variances when defining quality as different academics and organisations have different views. Cooper, Fletcher, Gilbert, Shepherd and Wanhill (1998, p.359) state: “Quality is the totality of relationships between service providers (functional aspects and the features of the product (technical aspects).” The world tourism organisation defines Quality more specifically to tourism:
“In it’s work programme WTO is guided by the understanding of quality in tourism as
the result of a process which implies the satisfaction of all the legitimate product and service needs, requirements and expectations of the consumer, at an acceptable price, in conformity with mutually accepted contractual conditions and the underlying quality determinants such as safety and security, hygiene, accessibility, transparency, authenticity and harmony of ...