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Quality Management in Tourism and Hospitality - An Exploratory Study Among Tourism Stakeholders PDF
Quality Management in Tourism and Hospitality - An Exploratory Study Among Tourism Stakeholders PDF
by
Soultana (Tania) Kapiki
Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki
tkapiki@tour.teithe.gr
Abstract. 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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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
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guests and employees become integral parts of experience that guests receive during their visits
the mission by participating in goal and to lodging operations (Hayes, Ninemeier &
objective setting (Walker, 2010). Miller, 2011).
Through their organization and management By creating value for the guest, the lodging
process, the tourism accommodations are called establishment can manage successfully to retain
to adjust to many changes in order to produce its guests. Managers must recognise the
and offer products and services suitable to importance of client retention, since the
satisfy their guests. It is expected the TQM attraction of a new customer is regarded to be
implementation in the tourism sector to inspire more expensive and time consuming (Reyad,
and motivate its human resources, as well as to 2005).
create a competitive advantage that will In an increasingly competitive market, the issue
enhance the property itself and the total tourism of quality has grown in significance for hotel
industry (Laloumis & Katsoni, 2010). businesses. This has been influenced by a
number of factors, such as the expansion of
2 The importance of quality in tourism and consumer rights and the alleged emergence of
hospitality ‘new’, quality conscious tourists. In addition,
greater competitiveness has caused hotel
Quality service is a management tool that companies to be increasingly aware of the
provides companies with a means of monitoring importance of quality as a source of competitive
service from the customers’ perspective. advantage (Soteriadis & Varvaressos, 2006).
Quality assurance refers to any planned and The components of quality in the hospitality
systematic activity directed towards providing industry that can be used to develop and
consumers with goods and services of implement a quality service system are the
appropriate quality, along with the confidence following:
that they meet consumers’ requirements. 1. Consider the guests being served
Quality assurance depends on excellence of two 2. Determine what the guests desire
important focal points in business: the design of 3. Develop procedures to deliver what guests
goods and services and the control of quality want
during execution of service delivery which is 4. Train and empower staff
often aided by some form of measurement and 5. Implement revised systems
inspection activity (Evans & Lindsay, 2010). 6. Evaluate and modify service delivery
A quality service management system is a result systems.
oriented approach. It deals with the service Source: Foundations of lodging management, p. 48,
characteristics that really matter to end-users; it Pearson Education (2011)
addresses service providers who have tangible
results to expose to end-users (consumers); it Quality self-evaluation by the hotel industry
guarantees the customers the high quality of (usually through comment cards in the guest
service they can receive during their stay in a rooms or online questionnaires) is very
lodging and it provides staff with methodology important so that the hoteliers can identify and
to show commitment to quality service (Reyad, solve problems.
2005). Regular and systematic analysis of the
The concept of quality is widely discussed in evaluation results may lead to a wide range of
the hospitality management. Quality in the advantages, amongst them:
hospitality industry is defined as “the consistent Measuring the matching degree of
delivery of products and guest services customers’ needs and expectations, and
according to expected standards”. Increasingly, comparing the results with perceived quality,
guests are willing to pay more when they visit Acting as a basis for the strategic process,
hospitality properties offering service that meets identifying improvement activities; and
or exceeds their service expectations. The level Controlling competitiveness in quality with
of quality service is an important factor in the the help of benchmarking (Soteriadis, 2006).
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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
www.ijept.org
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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
www.ijept.org
o Mystery guest/Mystery shopper (a technique as well as guest return rate and word of mouth
of secretly visiting companies/organisations recommendation (Kapiki & Tatari, 2006).
in question, to check the quality of services
provided and to prepare and submit feedback 4 Mechanisms for quality recognition in the
reports to management. tourism and hospitality services
o Market evaluations (market reports analysing
critical issues, such as competition and 4.1. Quality labels
pricing policy, useful for defining the
company’s strategic policies and marketing). There are various mechanisms aimed at
o Audit reports (inspection, correction and delivering quality in tourism services.
verification of business accounts audits, The two main reasons for establishing quality
conducted by independent auditors). labels for accommodation via some form of
o Complaints and incidences are oral or classification scheme are to: inform consumers,
written complaints in specific forms, enabling an informed choice to be made that is
indicating incidents in “moments of truth” based on some measure of quality; encourage
that led to guest’s dissatisfaction. investment and quality improvement by setting
o Self-assessments are the moments that a standard that owners seek to reach and
managers, staff or other stakeholders maintain. Two forms of measurement are
evaluate the present situation, taking into commonly used: physical measures (e.g. size of
consideration the market reports, complaint rooms) and quality of service (European
forms, “moments of truth” etc., for Parliament, 2007).
identifying the main source of malfunction, The existing quality standards and labels
in order for a solution to be found (Reyad, include:
2005). The star classification system (hotels are
o Benchmarking. It is a process of comparing rated from one to five stars). Another hotel
and measuring an organisation's business rating process is that of the American
processes against best-in-class operations to Automobile Association-the AAA Diamond
inspire improvement in the organisation’s program (hotels and restaurants are rated
performance. The insights gained from from 1 to 5 diamonds).
benchmarking provide organisations with a The tripadvisor.com, a travel website with
foundation for building operational plans to accommodation ratings that are based on
meet and surpass industry best practices consumer opinions as submitted to the site.
(Global Environmental Management The International Standards Organisation
Initiative, 1994). (ISO). There are several series of standards
Measuring quality service and quality assurance and some of them can be applied to the
is a long-term consistency, which also tourism sector.
represents a cost, but a welcomed and a lower Eco-labels have increasingly been
one than that of non-quality. The managers established. The first labels to be developed
should identify, record and weigh up the were originally “green labels”, aimed at
impacts of quality cost-profit. improving the environmental management of
The main categories of quality costs are: hotel establishments but have since extended
prevention (setting up) costs; assurance (staff to other sectors of the tourism and travel
time and administrative) costs; external costs industry (European Parliament, 2007).
(or failure costs), (Johns, 1997).
Considering all the above each manager will be 4.2. The European foundation for quality
in a position to prioritise towards a quality management (EFQM)
improvement process. The Cost-Benefit ratio of
quality could be achieved through an equation The European foundation for quality
of non-quality costs and of quality assurance management was created to promote a standard
towards the benefits of operational cost savings, approach to management for all organisations
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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
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People People
Management 9% Satisfaction 9%
The main characteristics of EFQM are that it The Baldrige Criteria apply equally to all
expresses a facilitator and advisor role, it does business sectors, including service
not deliver certification to companies and organizations, and are compatible with other
organisations, but it awards prizes to best performance improvement initiatives, such as
companies. The enabling factors (leadership, ISO 9000 and Six Sigma. These organizations
people management, policy and strategy, serve such diverse groups as luxury hotel
resources and process) are calculated based on patrons, the health care community, restaurant
introduced, systematic, measurable and on- goers, financial customers, the oil industry, etc.
going improvement system, while the results (National Institute of Standards & Technology,
(people satisfaction, customer satisfaction, 2011).
impact on society and operational results) are
evaluated based on trends, achieved objectives 4.4. The Leading Hotels of the World.
and comparison with other companies in the
sector. The Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) is
considered to be one of the most significant
4.3. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality quality awards (Laloumis & Katsoni, 2010).
Award The LHW is a prestigious luxury hospitality
organization representing the world’s finest
It is the highest level of national recognition for hotels and resorts. Headquartered in New York
quality that a U.S. company can receive. It is City, the company has more than 450 members
administered by the federal government in 80 countries and offers the largest collection
(National Institute of Standards and of luxury hotels, resorts and spas.
Technology, Commerce Department). The Leading Quality Assurance is an affiliate
award promotes an understanding of quality quality inspection company providing
excellence, greater awareness of quality as a assessment programs to improve the levels of
critical competitive element and the sharing of operating performance of organizations in
quality information and strategies (Walker, various industries. Incognito inspections are
2010).
conducted to assess the performance of the A comprehensive report that details the client’s
different departments within an organization. fulfilment of over 1.200 standard points has
proven to be an invaluable management tool for
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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
www.ijept.org
2. Do you believe that the hotels in your area service is much different than the expected one,
offer quality services? resulting in unsatisfied guests (50%)
The answers include the following opinions: Major differences between the hotel’s
Few hotels offer exceptional services. The services and the ones advertised on its website
majority of the hotels offer very good and good or brochure dissatisfy the guests (40%)
services and the quality of a small percentage I have no opinion (10%).
is very low (75% of the respondents)
It depends on the hotel class and room rates. 5.3. Analysis of the survey’s results
There are very good four and five star hotels
that charge high rates and offer quality • For the majority of respondents (60%)
services, yet some two or one star hotels quality service in a hotel means value for
charging low rates offer poor services (25% of money, a comfortable room, friendly staff and
the respondents). tasty food.
• 75% of the sample believes that most hotels
3. What should be done by the hotels in order in Thessaloniki and Chalkidiki offer good
to improve their quality service? services. Although this is an encouraging
finding, low class hotels in the area still have to
We received several answers and we cite the
do a lot in order to be upgraded.
most interesting ones:
• Application of total quality management
Apply total quality management process (35%), careful consideration of guests’
(35%)
comments (30%), assignment of management to
Take under consideration guests’ opinions an efficient manager (15%), employment and
and suggestions (30%) training of competent staff (10%) and hotel
Assign the hotel’s management to an renovation (5%) are the respondents’
efficient manager (15%) suggestions for improvement of service quality.
Employ and continuous train competent staff Given the fact that the sample consists of people
(10%) affiliated to tourism, their suggestions should be
Renovate the rooms and other facilities (5%) taken under consideration and be applied by the
Various other answers (5%). hoteliers for bettering their position.
• According to 45% of the sample, guest
4. How important is the guest satisfaction for satisfaction continuously measured, analysed
the hotel future? and enhanced is the most important factor for a
Answers: hotel’s future. Moreover, guest retention and
There is future only for those hotels that word of mouth advertising are other elements to
meet guests’ needs, measure their satisfaction, be seriously considered by the hotel managers.
analyse the results and make sure they proceed • Finally, the respondents believe that the
to improvements (45%) perceived quality service and the expected one
Guest retention is very important for the should not be different, otherwise the guests
hotel’s future, therefore the hotel managers will be dissatisfied. Therefore, hotels should not
should do everything in their power to have advertise attributes that they do not have or
their guests satisfied (30%) present them in an unrealistic way.
Satisfied guests return to the hotel in the The above research results are in line with the
future and they recommend it to others. In this theoretical concepts of the hospitality industry
way the hotel will not face any occupancy regarding quality service and confirm that
problems in the future (25%). quality plays an increasingly significant role in
both attracting and retaining hotel guests.
5. How can the quality service contribute to In-depth further research is required so as to
guest satisfaction? explore what hotel guests want, like, need and
For some hotel guests perceived quality expect, in order to suggest those mechanisms
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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
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leading to exellence in the delivery of quality educators and students) perceive quality
service in the tourism and hospitality sector. service in a hotel as value for money, a
comfortable room, friendly staff and tasty
6 Conclusions food. Moreover, the survey shows that the
majority of hotels in Thessaloniki and
Quality and high level services are concepts Chalkidiki offer good services. Despite this
indissolubly associated with the tourism and fact, there is always room for further
hospitality industry. improvement and excellence of the hospitality
Quality assurance is a long-term services. Other results of the survey reveal that
commitment which represents a cost, but a the most important factors for a hotel’s future
welcomed and a lower one than that of non- are guest satisfaction, guest retention and word
quality. The managers should identify, record of mouth advertising. It is suggested that
and weigh up the impacts of quality cost-profit hotels not advertise attributes they do not
and be in a position to prioritise towards possess or present their property in an
quality improvement processes. The cost- embellishing way, because these methods
benefit ratio of quality could be achieved might attract guests at the beginning, but when
through an equation of non-quality costs and the guests are on site they get very
of quality assurance towards the benefits of disappointed, since the perceived quality
operational cost savings, as well as guest service and the expected one is much different.
return rate and word of mouth Lodging managers should make quality
recommendation. service top priority both for them and their
There are various mechanisms aimed at staff. Recommendations for superior guest
delivering quality in tourism services. The two services towards successful and profitable
main reasons for establishing quality labels via results include: focus on quality service and
some form of classification scheme are to guest satisfaction; retention of existing guests
properly inform consumers, enabling an by exceeding their expectations; continuous
informed choice to be made that is based on quality improvement; employment, regular
some measure of quality, as well as encourage training and empowerment of service-oriented
investment and quality improvement by staff; search for best practices through
setting a standard that owners seek to reach benchmarking; pursuit of quality accreditation
and maintain. through the various schemes, such as the eco-
Our study has shown that people directly labels, ISO and the EFQM.
related to tourism (stakeholders, executives,
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International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2012 (April), e-ISSN 2247 – 7225
www.ijept.org
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Author description
Dr. Soultana (Tania) Kapiki is an Ass. Professor at the Tourism Management Department of the ATEI,
Thessaloniki. She has been the coordinator of the ALFA project "SUTTI" and steering committee
member of the LIFE-Environment project "ShMILE". Currently she is the coordinator of four Erasmus
Mundus for Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan projects (2007-today), as well as project manager in three
Erasmus Mundus Action 2 projects (for the Western Balkans, the Central Asian Republics and
Palestine). She is also the Department’s academic coordinator for the EU Erasmus programme and head
of the Hospitality Courses Sector. Her research interests include: green hotels and sustainable
management of hospitality services.
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