Subtrack: Typology of tourism and hospitality enterprises and products

TYPOLOGY OF QUALITY IN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

ABSTRACT

This paper solely focuses on quality in tourism and hospitality. Hospitality is a subsidiary of
tourism yet both are heterogeneous consumption of tourism and hospitality service is of
repetitive nature. Service providers and customers actively participate in the process of tourist
and hotel services consumption hence; this makes the quality in tourism and hospitality of a
complex nature. The paper highlights the importance of hotel industry for the quality of
tourist destination product as well as the quality of market and measurable category. In this
paper it is highlighted that competence of employees is the most vital factor for the level of
quality in tourism and hospitality.

Key words – Quality, tourism, hospitality, satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION

Quality is a parameter, which is considered important as well as it, is a general feeling that
everyone knows what the quality means. The term quality is generally used in a day to day
language or conversation, and in written forms. Therefore, one can say that quality is a term
which has a broad meaning to it. Yet we can say that quality can be associated with a good or
acceptable thing. Furthermore, it can be added that there is no end to the level of quality
which can be taken to and there would always be a scope of improvisation in the existing
level of quality. As we advance in the research we reach to a neat level where in we try to
find out that what exactly the term “good” means. Understanding of good and bad is a matter
of individual (social culture and economic surroundings) belief. Quality of tourism and
hospitality service in forms of market and consumer world is a tourism product, which leads
to a chain of tourism related services. The vital link of the chain determines the hospitality
that forms the base of the tourist product. The heterogeneity and complex nature of tourism
and hotel products are its main features. Because of this the measurement of quality as well
as the destination requires an approach which analyses both commitment to enhance quality
and tried and tested techniques to measure it.

QUALITY AS A TOOL FOR MARKETING

Market functions on a clear-cut relationship between the supply and the demand. It means
what is the level of quality of the goods provided or offered and services being rendered. The
term “quality” when analyzed from marketing and management point of view seems enviable
in today’s era of cutthroat competition and the sky reaching expectations of the consumers.
Customer is undoubtedly important link in the production change. The study of customer
behavior and the after sale service are the important parameters to determine the success in
all the hospitality and tourism sectors. If these two factors are ignored it will lead to a fall and
eventually a collapse of the organization. When we start to find out a link between the quality
approaches, we have to analyze two viewpoints that is what the customer and the producer of
services. Firstly, when we look from the suppliers end, quality would be measured on certain
laid down parameters by the government and rules and set procedures of the producer.
Whereas when we try to analyze the customer’s side, quality in simple words means
“characteristics of the particular product which has the ability to satisfy explicit and implicit
needs”. When we enter a vast segment of providing quality and professional service, we
ought to understand that customer is ready to pay a reasonable amount only when he sees
value for money specially when we talk about tangible service. However as we move ahead
in this approach of defining quality from the consumers prospective where need is a key term,
we associate the quality of the product with the customers requirement. For example, Apple
Company takes into consideration both the corporate and the young generation while
designing the software and keeps on upgrading the features and applications with every new
model in the market. This not only helps the corporate segment to utilize the effective email
options provided in the I Phone but also provides a very good feature of attaching files in the
emails. Simultaneously it has also kept the young generation in the mind wherein the focus
on camera and rest of the applications is given. Hence, the quality is maintained and
enhanced in every model manufactured by this company satisfying the customers.

The level to which a product complies with the requirement of the customer is decided by its
ability to satisfy the customer needs. Quality is the degree which has no limit with every
upcoming year and it is a set o features which when compiled together satisfy the needs and
requirements of the customer. Without a second opinion, one can say that quality is a pure
marketing strategy. In other words it means, the quality of a product or a service which has a
utility value and his place in the market as a commodity at a specified price. The use to which
a particular product or a service can be put shows its essential feature that consists in its
ability to meet a particular customer need. When the service is rendered to a person , first it
meets the needs of its target but later on if it needs to survive it also has to take into
consideration the desires and expectations of a demanding consumer.

In other words, we can say that the preferences, choice and satisfaction level of the
consumers has to be monitored and analyzed in order to predict, suggest and meet their ever
modifying and changing tastes. This would be possible only when we set and maintain a
proper quality of products and services. One should take this factor into consideration that
quality is not a static feature but it is a process, which keeps on changing and developing with
the passage of time. Quality is an influential process, which covers all the stages right from
the production of products and services and internal components.

Now the question arises whether the quality can be measured or not? Well if we sought and
answer to this question a few decades back, we will not have an answer to this question but
the current era solution to this problem has been given by a European organization according
to which it is a zone of acceptability from the standpoint of meeting the needs of users i.e.,
the degree to which the product meets the needs of the customers. Hence when we take all the
mentioned explanation into consideration, we can say that quality is a market strategy which
revolves around the creation and accomplishment of tangible product and services.

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITY OF TOURIST AND HOTEL

Today's travel and tourism industry environment is more complex, volatile, and competitive
than ever before. Shifts in the world's demographics and tourists' psychographics, the
changing tourism economy and travelers' tourism consumption patterns create both new
challenges and opportunities to the world's tourism industry. Growing complexity in the
management infrastructure of the tourism industry, is evidenced by the fact that travel and
hospitality service providers establish various forms of strategic alliances and pursue non-
conventional strategies that are aimed at increasing their fair market shares.
A notable change occurring in the tourism industry is the consumer's growing orientation
towards an emphasis and demand for `quality of experience.' More than ever before,
operators in the tourism industry recognize that it is the `high quality service experience' that
makes a tourist patronise a particular establishment in the tourism business. Consequently,
the industry is becoming more competitive in the `race for a higher level of service.' As one
industry executive has put it forcefully;

`The race for service has no finish line. As the race progresses, the finish line moves further
away. Those who do not run fast enough will fall behind.'

This is clearly evidenced by a quick glance at the industry trends. According to an annual
survey of world's finest hotels polled by readers of Institutional Investment magazine, many
of the hotels listed among `World's Top 75' dropped in their rankings while their overall
scores improved during the same period. They improved their quality indexes and therefore
improved the scores, but their ranks dropped at the same time simply because their
competitors outperformed them.

Much has been written in recent years about quality service and customer satisfaction in the
tourism and hospitality industry. As previously mentioned, the race for quality service and
guest satisfaction will continue to intensify as the industry becomes more competitive and the
tourism end-users will have even a wider range of choices in their tourism purchase.

There are two types of service quality that concern hospitality and tourism industries. One
type of service quality has to do with the product features that enhance customer satisfaction
and the other type of service quality is related to freedom from deficiencies. It is the former
type of quality service in which we are mainly interested, because of its potential to influence
customer satisfaction. Guests perceive `value' only when they believe that the benefits
received are greater than the sacrifices made. So, the key to service quality enhancement is
how one can generate the maximum received value in the eyes of the customer. The sacrifices
of the guest (i.e. a visitor or a tourist) include money and time spent on the consumption of
the product.

In order to ensure the maximum customer value, there should be a service delivery system
that meets or exceeds customer expectations. The service delivery system created will thus, in
turn, create customer satisfaction. This means that hospitality and tourism operators must
develop service delivery systems that create value for their target markets.
Some of the economy lodging chains (e.g. La Quinta Inns and Hampton Inns) in the United
States realized that, when choosing a hotel, clean and safe guest rooms and an efficient
check-in and checkout are the most important considerations for their target customers. They
also realized that a majority of their clients are automobile travelers who spend the night and
take-off early the next morning for another day of journey.

MEASURING QUALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF COMPATILIBITY

Quality of tourism and hotel product must be considered from the point of the consumer. This
means measuring the degree of compliance with the customers’ requirements, and the level of
their satisfaction. According to the power of arguments, science more often succeeds in
imposing to tourism and hospitality industry, primarily to managerial structures, awareness of
the need for permanent research market. However, usually stays at that level, which indicates
the intellectual and financial inability to implement specific research projects. It is necessary
to find adequate answers to questions such as: Who are our customers? What are their needs?
What do they want and expect? What price they are willing to pay? It means to build and to
apply appropriate methodological instruments for the realization of this task. In other words,
the practical achievements of tourism and hotel management should not be reduced just to
findings of what to do, but also how to do it. Overcoming the disparity between “what” and
“how” is possible by using statistical methods. Statistical methods should be used for
forecasting, monitoring and interpretation of tourist hotel guest behaviuor. The research
results should point to errors and omissions and create space for their elimination in order to
improve the quality of services. Among the most famous techniques of objective customer
satisfaction measurement is ACSI - American Customer Satisfaction Index. ACSI model
determines the degree of customers’ satisfaction as a function of their expectations and
perceived (obtained) quality. Customer expectations are based on the perceived needs and
external stimuli. For example, the location, layout and equipment of tourist and hotel
facilities, or behaviour, professionalism, appearance of employees can have a very significant
impact on forming customer expectations. Perceived quality involves the customer’s
perception the value of realized services. The perceived value is the value that results from
the comparative analysis of the customer’s expectations and the perceived quality of realized
services. Customer’s complaints are measured in percentage of customers who have
complained directly to the company at a particular time. Customer’s loyalty entails the
probability that the customer will yet again seek and use services created by the same
company and to remain loyal in the future. Customer’s loyalty is a critical component of the
model because loyal customers are the greatest asset of any company. ACSI is located at the
intersection of three key issues: the overall contentment, unfulfilled or exceeded expectations
and comparison with the ideal. Thanks to the basic ACSI model companies create models and
methods to measure the level of customer satisfaction by criteria relevant to their business,
and the job they deal with (Kilibarda and Manojlović 2008).

MEASURING THE COMPETENCE OF EMPLOYEES AND ITS

When we analyze the word competence, we can say that it is the combination of knowledge
and experience, achieved skills as well as a personal approach of an individual when
combined together form the competence level of an individual. No professional is born with
the skills and it is a thing, which has to be shaped and polished over the years with a good
training and sharing experiences. Knowledge is not the only criteria, which are required to
measure the competence, but there are other factors like practical knowledge and use of
experiences and mistakes to develop a better and higher competency level. When we talk
about functional knowledge we cannot say that it is a thing, which can be applied universally,
as well as it would not change, whereas it is a thing, which is influenced by types of activities
and the demand of the ground zero level, which would defer from time to time and place to
place. For example, in a five star hotel there is no hard and fast rule to handle a particular
situation whereas it is the coherent of the individual which come into play and plays a
deceive role whereas the situation would be solved and the guest would be pacified or the
situation getting worse from bad. When we talk about star rated hotels in India , this rating is
done by Hotel and Restaurant Approval Classification Committee (HRACC) which has
certain parameters laid down which covers all the four core departments in a hotel that is
Housekeeping, Front Office, Food and Beverage Services and Food and Beverage Production
as well the ancillary departments which plays a key role in the smooth functioning of a hotel.

These parameters are changed and upgraded from time to time and based on these parameters
a hotel is given a star rating which starts from one star which is the lowest in this category
and the highest is the five star deluxe. From this, we can make out that a hotel which has been
rated as five star deluxe property would have the highest form of service and features for the
guest in all the areas. This rating of hotels is approved by the government of India and covers
all the hotels within the geographical boundaries of state of India.

When we talk about the four core departments of a hotel, the front office would include
activities like reservation, registration, welcoming of the guest, luggage handling, complaint
handing, guest requests, and check out formalities. Furthermore, when we speak about the
housekeeping department it would include the interior décor of the rooms, upkeep and
maintenance of the rooms, cleanliness of the public areas as well as laundry service.
Similarly, food and beverage department would be measured on the high quality of food and
beverage service, choice of menu, quality of crockery and cutlery and lastly food and
beverage production department would include the highest level of hygiene in the production
and storage of the food and beverage items adhering to the palette of the guest. All the
mentioned services provided by the core departments would be measured on a touchstone of
quality, which eventually would lead to the star category of a particular property.

MEASURING QUALITY AS PER THE TOURIST REQUIREMENTS

Consumer is the king judge whether the quality of the service or hotel product is acceptable
or not. With the development of science and technology sky is the limit for the level of luxury
offered to the guest at a certain price. Because of this advancement guest expects a lot every
time he avails a service or a product and expects it to get better each time. It is very important
to have answers to certain questions like who are our possible customers. What is their
expectation level? What are their wants and needs and the most important question how much
are they willing to shell out? Lastly we can say that if we are able to find out answers to these
questions we will certainly be able to reach the highest level of quality.

We should not ignore this fact that the guest is smart enough to decide the value for money
spent on these luxurious services and products. Now days the tourists or a guest expects to
take some memories along with him as a souvenir and if one were successful in giving
pleasing memories and experiences to the guest, this would be the fastest mode of the
advertisement that is mouth advertisement. For example, any guest or a tourist when visiting
a place or a hotel comes with a pre conceived notions or set of mind as he may have heard or
read about that place or hotel. Now it is very important here to meet the expectations of the
tourist to increase the guest satisfaction level in order to enhance the business and create
guests for life.

CONCLUSION

Managing quality of services represents a continuous process that can be demonstrated by the
set of several activities. These are applying a suitable system of quality management, for
example, then active participation of top management and all organization staff on managing
service quality and – last but not least – it is measuring the effects of the system selected for
managing service quality. The quality of services in hotel industry can be measured by
customer expectation and perception when the contradiction between these two features is
expressed by customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction. The paper shows the possibilities and
specifications of managing service quality in hotel industry.

Quality in the tourism and hospitality industry involves consistent delivery of products and
guest services according to expected standards. Delivering quality service is one of the major
challenges the hospitality managers will be facing in the following years as it is an essential
condition for success in the emerging, keenly competitive, global hospitality markets. There
are various tools that measure and improve quality service, as well as mechanisms for quality
recognition in the tourism and hospitality industry. The managers should identify, record and
weigh up the impacts of cost-profit and be in a position to prioritise towards a quality
improvement process for their own property. The present study shows that tourism
stakeholders perceive quality service in a hotel as value for money, a comfortable room,
friendly staff and tasty food. Moreover, the survey shows that there is always room for
further improvement of the hospitality services. Other results of the survey reveal that the
most important factors for a hotel’s future are guest satisfaction, guest retention and word of
mouth advertising. Aiming at excellence and profitability, the outcomes of the survey suggest
focus on quality service; retention of existing guests by exceeding their expectations;
continuous quality improvement; employment, regular training and empowerment of service-
oriented staff; search for best practices through benchmarking; and, finally, pursuit of quality
accreditation through the various schemes, such as the eco-labels, ISO and the EU
Foundation for Quality Management.
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