Service and Characteristics

1. Service Quality Management

2. Learning Outcomes
At the end of the module, the student will be able to:
LO-1 Describe the major components of a customer service environment.
LO-2 Describe prospective and social constructs of Quality Tourism Experiences.
LO-3 Differentiate between marketing of services and marketing goods and their facilitating services.
LO-4 Evaluate the effects of the external environment and internal culture on the design and delivery of customer
services.
LO-5 Identify the required elements for managing customer relationships and building loyalty by addressing
customer expectations, service quality, and customer satisfaction.
LO-6 Examine the motivations of internal and external customers in the service quality delivery system.
LO-7 Analyze and assess behaviors that create positive and negative customer service.
LO-8 Devise a strategy to position and segment a service organization relative to competitors using techniques to
differentiate the service offering.
LO-9 Identify and analyze the various components of the “services marketing mix” as well as key issues required in
managing service quality.
LO-10 Enumerate and evaluate the skills and competencies required of service employees.
LO-11 Design and administer a customer service survey, analyze the data, and present the findings.
LO-12 Demonstrate the techniques required to effectively handle customer complaints and challenges.
LO-13 Using case studies, examine specific service recovery systems.

4. Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure

5. Tourism
1. Two main elements:
(a) movement, which refers to the journey (travel) to and from a
destination (the dynamic element of tourism); and
(b) the overnight stay outside the permanent residence in various
destinations (the static element of tourism)
2. Movement to and from the destination is temporary (temporary
change of residence), short-term, with intention to return
3. Destinations are visited for purposes other than taking up
permanent residence or employment
4. The activities tourists engage in during their journey, and the stay
outside the normal place of residence and work, are distinct from
those of the local residents and working populations of the places
visited

6. Four groups of participants are involved and are influenced by tourism:
1. tourists,
2. businesses providing goods and services that the tourist market demands,
3. the government of the host community, and
4. the host community
Mcintosh, Goeldner, and Ritchie (1995) defined tourism as the sum of the
phenomena and relationships arising from the interaction of these four
groups in the process of attracting and hosting tourists and other visitors.
These groups cooperate to accomplish a set of goals at the micro and macro
levels within constantly changing legal, political, economic, social, and
technological environments.
It is generally agreed that tourism is fragmented. It is made up of various
sectors or subindustries such as transportation, accommodation, attractions,
amenities, catering, entertainment, eating and drinking establishments,
shops, activity facilities (leisure and recreation) and others.

7. Travel, Hospitality and Leisure
Travel refers to the spatial displacement of people and the
activities of people taking trips to places outside their
residence for any purpose except daily commuting to and
from work
Hospitality is concerned with the provision of accommodation
and catering (food and beverage) services for guests
Leisure is considered to be part of free time available to the
individual after necessary work and duties are accomplished,
to be spent at the discretion of the individual
Recreation refers to the experiences and activities (or in
activities) undertaken during leisure time to recreate
physically, psychologically, spiritually, and mentally after work
in order to prepare the individual for future work
Activity: Prepare an overview on Travel, Hospitality and; Leisure and Recreation
sectors in Sri Lanka (30 Mins)

8. Product, Service and Good
Kotler (1997) lists four distinct categories of products: (1) purely
tangible goods, (2) tangible goods with accompanying intangible
service, (3) a major intangible service with accompanying tangible
goods, and (4) a pure intangible service.
Services tend to be more intangible than manufactured products;
manufactured products tend to be more tangible than services. For
example: salt, soft drinks, detergents, or cars can be classified as very
tangible products. On the other hand, education and consulting can be
classified as very intangible products.
Service has been defined as "any activity or benefit one party can offer
to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the
ownership of anything. Production may or may not be tied to a
physical product" (Kotler et al., 1998).

9. Tourism Products and Services
• A tourism product is an amalgam of all goods,
activities, and services offered to tourists by different
sectors of the tourism industry in order to satisfy
tourist needs while they are away from home.
It includes the journey to and from a destination, transfer from and to
an airport, accommodation, transportation while at the destination,
and everything that a tourist does, sees, and uses on the way to and
from the destination, including purchases of food and drinks,
souvenirs, entertainment, amusement (French, Craig-Smith, and
Collier, 1995), and a very wide range of other services such as financial,
medical, insurance, etc.

11. Service Characteristics
Any activity or benefit one party can offer to another that is
essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership
of anything.
The extent of personal interaction between a provider and
a customer and the length of this interaction vary among
services.
Uncertainty in transactions.
Performance of the service providers, and their
competence and personality.
Activity: Discuss the characteristics of services with
tourism examples.

12. Tourism Services
• Direct – Core services, support services
• Indirect – Support services
Activity: Identify the Direct and Indirect Services in Tourism
Industry

13. Type of Visitors
1. First-time visitors – Travel within famous
locations
2. Traditionalist – Travel to famous and regional
locations
3. Explorer – Who wants to get to know the
country better
4. The Britophile – Who knows the country well
and has friends or contacts

14. Service Classification and Guidelines
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• Homestays
• Travel Agents
• Guides
• Tourist Shops
https://www.sltda.gov.lk/en/download

16. Service Quality
The difficulty of defining a service and its quality
is also increased by its subjective nature. The
perception of a service level varies according to
an individual's sociodemographic and cultural
grouping, needs and requirements, and previous
service experiences.
Service quality is determined by a subjective
customer perception of service.