Concepts of quality in leisure and tourism.

Abstract

This chapter examines the underlying theories of quality and service quality management as applicable to the tourism and leisure industry and attempts to develop a conceptual framework within which the service quality literature can be analysed. The service quality theory, which has its foundation in manufacturing; the original quality theories applied to the service context; and the service quality theories of the two main schools of service quality management - the Scandinavian or Nordic school, and the North American school - are examined. The main lessons that can be learnt from both the original quality theorists and the two service quality management schools is that an organization must take a holistic approach to quality management and that only appropriate target or goal is working towards continuous or continual improvement of the service.

Resorts, Resilience and Retention Ater the BP Oil Spill Disaster of 2010

“…Figure 6. Bed tax data from 2010 mportant antecedents which influence a visitor's intent to revisit an area satisfaction Oh et al, 1995;Petrick et , 2001), service quality (Morias et al, 2004;Williams & Buswell, 2003; ), and perceived value and past experiences (Petrick et al he strongest predictor of intent to return to a vacation rental was general attitude. Customers were able to control their choice , the price, the amenities offered, the spaciousness of the room, atmosphere.…”

Public leisure facilities: managing customer expectations

“…It is, however, possible to argue that continuing with this approach to meeting customer expectations will become less successful in the future as it is becoming increasingly evident that customer expectations of public leisure facilities are increasing. 4,17,18 It has been noted that "the expectations of citizens generally are shifting upwards, with a greater emphasis placed on the quality of service. Levels of service which may have been tolerated only a generation ago are now regarded as unacceptable."…”

Public leisure facilities: managing customer expectations

“…It is, however, possible to argue that continuing with this approach to meeting customer expectations will become less successful in the future as it is becoming increasingly evident that customer expectations of public leisure facilities are increasing. 4,17,18 It has been noted that "the expectations of citizens generally are shifting upwards, with a greater emphasis placed on the quality of service. Levels of service which may have been tolerated only a generation ago are now regarded as unacceptable."…”

“…Research with customers of public leisure facilities tends to focus on establishing the desired level of service and the lower, but acceptable levels of service are ignored. 17 Thus, it has been argued that by knowing what is considered acceptable, public leisure managers may be able to reduce levels of service, and costs and still provide services of an acceptable quality. 17,23 This is, however, a risky strategy for two reasons.…”

“…Unrealistic expectations cannot be met and these are the main A number of factors have been identified as having an influence on customer expectations of public leisure facilities. 4,17,24,12 Customer needs and wants of the service are the main influence on expectations and have a positive relationship, in that the stronger the want or need, the higher the expectation. Word of mouth communication and publicity material allows people to form expectations of a service they have yet to use and/or play a role in shaping existing expectations.…”