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„p It is India¶s vastness that challenges the imagination: the sub-continent, 3200km (2000
miles) from the mountain fastness of the Himalayas in the north to the tropical lushness of
Kerala in the south, is home to one sixth of the world¶s population, a diverse culture and an
intoxicatingly richhistory.
„p che most frequently visited part of India is the Golden criangle ± Delhi and the magnificent
monuments of Agra and Jaipur, a legacy of centuries of Muslim rule ±but there is much
besides. che unfairly maligned great cities of Mumbai and Kolkata (Calcutta) have a
bustling, colourful charm, while the holy city of Varanasi or the awe-inspiring temples of
camil Nadu are worthy objects of pilgrimage. For those who prefer more sybaritic
pleasures, the palm-fringed beaches of Goa have a European charm all of their own.
„p Hinduism is practiced by 85 per cent of Indians, the religious rites and red-letter days
woven into the fabric of everyday life ± ritual washing in the Ganges and the ear-splitting
celebrations of the festival of Ganesh ± and the inequalities of the caste system are there for
all to see.
„p ‘ne of the fascinations of India is the juxtaposition of old and new; centuries of history ±
from the pre-historic Indus civilization to the British Raj ± rub shoulders with the computer
age; and Bangalore's µSilicon Valley¶ is as much a part of the world's largest democracy as
the remotest village is.Richard Hopton.
 

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„pInflexibility

che tourism industry is highly inflexible in terms of capacity. che number of beds in a hotel
or seats on a flight is fixed so it is not possible to meet sudden upsurges in demand similarly
restaurants tables, hotels beds and flights seats remain empty and unused in periods of low
demand.

„pInventory / Perishability

It is related to the fact that travel products are intended to be consumed as they are produced.
For example, an airline has seats to sell on each flight; a hotel has rooms to sell for each
night. If the airline is not able to sell all its seats on its flight, or a hotel is not able to sell its
rooms for the night then the opportunity to sell the product is lost forever. Service sector
cannot keep inventory like products. co overcome this problem, the travel industry has come
up with various marketing strategies. ‘ne is to overbook. An airline overbooks its seats to a
certain extent in anticipation that even though certain customers do not turn up but the flight
will be fully seated. Another strategy is multiple distributions. For example a customer can
buy an airline ticket from an airline, tour operator or from a travel agent. che chances of
perishability are reduced. If the tourist cannot visit the place, the opportunity is lost. Hence,
this becomes one of its important characteristics.

„pInconsistency

A general norm is that in cravel and courism industry the product or the package of the
tourism can be standardized i.e. for example of 2 days 3 night in so and so hotel, but the
actual experience of consuming this package is highly inconsistent. We hear a lot of travel
stories which becomes a portrayal of a lot of bad experiences for example the tourist guide
may not be good, the hotels lodging and boarding was bad etc. cherefore there is high level
of inconsistency prevailing.

„pIntangibility

cravel products cannot be touched as they include flight experience on an airplane, cruise on
an ocean liner, a night¶s rest in a hotel, view of the mountains, a visit to a museum, a good
time in a night club and much more. chese products are experiences. ‘nce they have taken
place they can only be recalled and relished. che tangible products on an airplane, a bed in a
hotel, food in a restaurant are used to create the experience but these are not what the
customer is seeking. che customer wants intangible experience like pleasure, excitement,
relaxation, etc. che tangible products that are purchased provide the access to intangibles.

„pInseparability

Most travel products are produced and consumed at the same place and at the same time. chis
is the opposite of the tangible products, which are produced at a different place and time and
consumed at a different place and time. In contrast, most travel products are sold first and
then, then simultaneously produced and consumed. For example, an airline passenger
consumes the flight as it is being produced, and a hotel guest uses a hotel room as it is being
made available for the night¶s sleep. chus there is simultaneous consumption and production.
chis creates certain interdependence between suppliers and customers as the interaction
between the supplier and customer takes place on the supplier¶s premises. che interaction
shapes the travel experience. For example, the customers could not take the cruise home with
them; in fact they have to leave their home.

„p-ixed location

courism destinations are fixed locations so effort must be taken in communicating the facility
to the potential consumer.

„pÊelatively large financial Investments

Every modern tourist establishment and facility requires large investment, frequently over a
long time scale. chis means that the level of risk and the rate of return are critically important
to tourism management.

„pPeople-oriented

courism Services are high contact services, as people interact with people at virtually
EVERY stage of the way. courism services are very people-oriented services, and the service
people are plenty and have high contact with the consumers. che consumer interacts with a
myriad of service people starting from when he books his ticket and throughout the course of
his holiday.
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|trengths

„pIndia¶s geographical location, a culmination of deserts, forests, mountains, and beaches.

„pA wealth of archeological sites and historical monuments.
„pManpower costs in the Indian hotel industry are one of the lowest in the world. chis
provides better margins for the industry.

Aeaknesses

„pXack of adequate infrastructure. che airlines in India, for example, are inefficient and do
not provide basic facilities at airports. che road condition in India is very bad.
„pNo proper marketing of India¶s tourism abroad. Foreigners still think of India is one of
poverty, superstition, and diseases.
„pche case of plague in Surat in 1994 led to decrease of 36% in arrival of foreign tourists in
India.

‘pportunities

„pMore proactive role from the government of India in terms of framing policies.
„pAllowing entry of more multinational companies into the country giving us a global
perspective.
„pGrowth of domestic tourism. che advantage here is that domestic tourism and international
tourism can be segregated easily owing to the different in the period of holidays.

chreats

„p*olitical turbulence within India in Kashmir and Gujarat has also reduced tourist traffic.
„pAggressive strategies adopted by other countries like Australia, Singapore in promoting
tourism.
  
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„pHoliday: Mass market, Individual market, and *opular market.

„pDemand: *rimary, Secondary, and ‘pportunity.
„pGeography: International, according to regions, etc.
„p*sychology: Xifestyle, *ersonal motive, and Knowledge.
„pDemography: Age, Sex, and religion.
„pSocioeconomic: Rich, poor, rural, urban, literate, illiterate.
„p*urpose: Business travel, Cultural courism, and common interest convention.
„pAge: ceens, kids, youth and senior citizen.

ºnother method of classifying users of tourism services is on the basis of the frequency of
usage of services.

„pNon-users: chey are not interested in using the services. chey lack the willingness, desire
and ability (income and leisure time).
„p*otential Users: chey are also called the prospects or the prospective users. chey have the
willingness but the marketing resources have not been used optimally to influence their
impulse. chey bear the efficacy and the marketing professionals are supposed to capitalize
on their potentials by using creative promotional measures.
„pActual Users: chey are already using the services generated by the tourist organizations.
„p‘ccasional Users: chey have not formatted the habit of traveling.
„pHabitual cravelers: chey have formed a habit of avail of the services regularly.

che variety of users makes it essential that professionals study and understand their changing
behavioral profile. chis would simplify the task of creating and stimulating demand. che
marketing decisions cannot be creative and proactive unless an in-depth knowledge of the
users is known. che individual specific behavior in the marketplace is affected by internal
factors such as needs, motivation, perception and attitudes as well as by external factors such
as family, social groups, culture, and economic and business influences. While studying the
behavioral profile the study of lifestyles is most important.
chus it can be said that arriving at sound marketing decision cannot be possible unless a
sound marketing plan and optimal marketing resources are developed.

Positioning the Product

„pche world is literally full of travel products. Not only the travelers offer a huge variety of
destinations, they also have many hotels, airlines, car rental companies attractions ad other
travel products from which to choose.
„pche perception of the consumer for a particular product is a critical variable in the
marketing process, one that has a great influence on purchasing decisions, especially
decisions among similar products.

|ervice Marketing criangle

Company (McDC, S‘cC, IcDC, etc.)

Enabling *romises Making *romises

*roviders Customers

(cravel Agents,Hoteliers, etc.)

*romises

Service marketing is unique in many ways in the travel and tourism industry. chere are 3
players in the transaction process:

Company: A travel and tourism company listens to the customers and evolves/develops the
travel/tour package and it communicates the attractiveness and the utility of that very tour
package directly to the customers. che company makes promises to the customers.

che company in the courism Sector can be the Central Government, the State courism
Corporations, cour ‘perators such as S‘cC, IcDC, etc. the company carries out µExternal
Marketing¶ as well as µInternal Marketing.¶
External Marketing: It makes promises to the customers, for e.g. the Malaysian government¶s
advertisement ³Malaysia, cruly Asia´ that promises a veritable cultural paradise to the
customer.

Internal Marketing: che Company enables the providers to fulfill the promises made by it to
the customers. For example, the Malaysian Government maintains the local transportation
within the country, maintains the tourist spots such as KX cowers, etc.

*roviders: chey are a travel company¶s internal customers constituting employees and agents.
che company does internal marketing with the providers educating and motivating them
about the idea of the particular tour package that they can offer to their customers. chis is
done to enable the providers to effectively carry out the survive transportation process. che
providers make provisions for office space, accessibility and connectivity. che company
enables promises to be kept by this infrastructure association.

che *roviders include all the entities that finally fulfill the Company¶s promise to the
Customers. chey undertake µInteractive Marketing¶, because they are in touch with the final
customer. chus in the case of the Malaysian government, this would include the
transportation providers (Malaysian Airlines, Air India, Xocal

Bus transportation, Xocal crains in Kuala Xumpur, Car and two-wheeler rentals), the
different hotels within Malaysia, souvenir outlets at tourist areas, tourist spots (KX cowers,
cwin cowers, etc.), restaurants (KFC Joints, Mary Brown, *izza Hut), etc.

Customer (cravelers): che customers are the reasons that the cravel Company exists and for
whom the company has designed the traveling and touring package as well as setup the
infrastructure facilities and spent money on employee developments programs. Here the
providers are the only ones who interact with the customers, like the travel agents interact
with the customers and not with the company. che agents perform interactive marketing that
is µon time, all time, every-time. chis is the most crucial of service marketing in the travel
and tourism sectors. chose agents have the responsibility of µkeeping promises¶ made and
enabled by the company. che providers (agents) are responsible for the perceived quality
level of the service transaction. chis underlines the uniqueness of service marketing.
 
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*R‘DUCc XEVEXS

In planning its market offering, the marketer needs to think through five levels of product.
Each level adds to the customer value, and the five constitute a customer value hierarchy.

che levels of the product that the travel and tourism industry offers to its customers are as
follows:

1) Core product

che core product offered by cravel and courism industry is the destination. It is core because
the main aim of the tourist is the destination where he has to reach or go.

2) Basic product

che basic products offered by cravel and courism industry are ticket booking, transport,
sight seeing, hotel booking.

3) Expected product

chese are the products that the customer expects the organization to offer. chese are
impeccable services, seat availability on needed time as it is critical to business travelers,
accurate information, quick check in for the senior manger of the company, authentic
information, information about various packages, different routes leading to a particular
destination.

4) Augmented product

chese are the products that are offered by the companies to distinguish itself from others.
chese products become expected products in the future. chose are flat beds in business class,
Wi-Fi connection in hotels, customized meals on board, tele checking 8hrs booking in hotels,
hotels providing laptops on request, internet access as complimentary for the corporate
packages.

5) *otential products
chese are the future products that the companies will offer to its customers. chese can be
underwater tourism, hovercraft for traveling. Also Virgin Atlantic airlines are thinking of
adding a casino and a shopping mall in the airline.

*R‘DUCc WIDcH AND *R‘DUCc XINE

*roduct width of the product mix refers to how many different product lines the company
carries. che width of the product mix refers to how many variants are offered of each product
in the product line.

che product length is the total number in the product lines.

RAcER

che well-known concept of five-quality dimension RAcER, we hereby relate them to 7¶s of
cravel and courism. So what do we mean by 7¶s cravel and courism Industry and what is its
significance in relation to RAcER.

1) REXIABIXIcY - Suchna - Information

che way and the kind of information, which is provided, by any cravel and courism
organization to its customers is the parameter of judging the Reliability of that organization.
Why do we make such a statement? co explain that let us take an example of cravel agency.
che various services provided by agency includes *lanning Itinerates, cicketing, Working
out travel routes , *roviding information on Destinations ,Arranging visas, Making stay
reservations. Here information plays a very dynamic role. Xet us assume that the customer
comes for booking a ticket. It is very important on the part of the service provider (travel
agency) to give accurate information on all types of flight available, their fairs, and new
schemes going on which would in turn help customers to choose most suitable product for
their traveling. Such repeated and accurate information creates of a reliable organization. I.e.
in future the customer would trust the organization for any information.

2) ASSURANCE - Suraksha - Safety

It is one of the prime factors considered when talking about this sector. A safe travel is the
top priority of any traveler. chus it is very important for cravel and courism organization to
consider the safety of the tour package. che safe travel will in turn ensure the customers
traveler.

3) cANGIBXES - Swagat ± Suvidha ± Safai.

chese are the backstage elements, which help in a great way for the customers to evaluate the
service. When we talk about tangible product in cravel and courism the 1st would include

a) Swagat

It means warm welcome. Everyone loves a warm welcome. It really gives a good start to the
whole holiday. chus keeping this tangible factor in mind the tourism agencies for example
chomas cook always keeps in mind the Swagat of their traveler. ‘ne good example of such is
in this package of chomas cook from Mumbai to Goa, wherein they give a welcome drink to
travelers and provide them with a fruit platter and famous cashew nuts of Goa.

b) Suvidha

It means facility. coday if you talk top any business traveler they want to be pampered silly
from flat beds in business class to Wi-Fi in hotels customize the needs. chese are the kind of
facilities they expect. chus if a cravel and courism organization is able to provide all such
demanding facilities then it adds value to its travel products and makes the product hike from
standard quality level to superior quality level.

c) Safai

It means cleanliness. Hygiene is also an important factor of a travel package. Clean hotel
rooms and lobby create a spik and span impression of the package and add to the quality
level.

4) EM*HAcY - Sahyog ± Cooperation.

A famous quote from Stephen Cowe book goes like this ±³Seek to understand and then to
understood´ is very important. chus theµs¶ that we relate to empathy is sahyog i.e. co-
operation i.e. listen to the customers understand them and co-operate with them to come
down to a solution this factor creates a very positive impression in the minds of the customers
and helps the service to get a tag of its excellent service quality.

5) RES*‘NSIVENESS-Sanrachna ± Information.
chis is the last element in the concept of RAcER. It is related to the lastµs¶ i.e. Sanrachna
which means infrastructure. Why do we relate4 infrastructure to responsiveness is because
how flexible is the infrastructure of cravel and courism organization affects the service
responsiveness. For example if you plan and book a Qualis car to travel from place A to place
B and if the car breaks down then how fast can you respond by replacing it with a new car
shows the flexibility of the infrastructure i.e. the no of cars.

C‘M*XAINc HANDXING

No matter how well prepared you are there is always the potential for something to go wrong.
che way you and your personnel handle complaints can be the determining factor in turning a
"disaster" into a "success." courism & More offers the following ideas on handling
complaints:

1. Xisten. When a visitor is angry or upset allows the person to know that he/she is being
heard. *repare your personnel to listen and to handle each complaint as if it were the most
important part of their day.

2. Understand. Make sure personnel have a full understanding of the complaint. *rior to
responding to the complaint they need to determine the exact nature of the complaint.
*ersonnel should try to focus in on the main context of the complaint, and not be diverted by
side issues.

3. cake Action. che visitor should see that he/she matters, and that you seriously consider
their complaint. Make sure the upset visitor knows exactly what can or cannot be done, and
what he/she may expect as a form of recompense. If the problem cannot be solved,
immediately tell the visitor approximately how long it will take to find a solution. ‘ften
something as simple as an inexpensive complimentary gift or some special attention from the
manager or boss can turn a negative situation into a positive one.

4. Xearn. Every complaint and/or complainer provides a the tourist professional with a
learning experience. Have your personnel share with colleagues what things went wrong, and
the steps they took to correct the situation. Keep records of past complaints, not only for in-
house training purposes, but also as a guide of future problems to prevent.
DEAXING WIcH DIFFICUXc *E‘*XE

Here are some suggestions to help your staff cope with the angry guest.

„pDo not fight to win every battle. ‘ften it is easier to simply say, "Yes Sir/Mam you are
right. Very few angry visitors are willing to listen to your side of the story.
„pcake the angry person out of a public area. Whenever an angry person decides to do battle
in front of other "guests" you lose. Invite the person into a private room, offer him/her a
drink and then listen.
„pMake sure that you know that the angry person knows that you will deal with the issue at
that moment. Your credibility with an angry tourist is very low; telling him/her that you
will get to the problem will only make the visitor even angrier. Start the repair process at
that moment. Xet the visitor see that you are doing something.
„pUse the person's right name and title. If the angry visitor introduces him/herself as "Dr.
Smith" don't say Mr. or Ms. Smith and don't use a first name unless given permission. che
misuse of names or titles only adds fuel to an already explosive situation.
„pMake sure that the person addressing the problem is competent to solve it. If a member of
your staff cannot solve a problem, then turning to someone who can help, is doing
something. Never just shrug one's shoulders and say "sorry!"
„p6. Rather than getting angry, try to think of something comical. For example, imagine
what this person would look like angry in his/her underwear, and then laugh to yourself.

*ARc II

„pDon't be defensive. cry to understand that people on vacation are often a bit irrational.
Instead of reacting in a negative way, coolly ask how you can make their situation better
„pIn a like manner, never argue, but rather apologize. ‘nce the apology is made the
upset/difficult person is more willing to listen. Win by losing!
„pIn a like manner, never argue, but rather apologize. ‘nce the apology is made the
upset/difficult person is more willing to listen. Win by losing!
„pDress in a professional manner. It is amazing how much more respect a well dressed
functionary receives. It is a lot easier to deal with a difficult person when dressed in a suit
rather than in jeans.
PÊICE MIX.

In pricing decisions, the product or the service mix of the tourist organization is important.
chey have to set prices in line with the quality of services to be made available to the
customers and the type of customers they are targeting. *ricing decisions are influenced by
internal factors like pricing policy of the company, and external factors like the destination
itself. chey are required to think in favor of discounting price. chese may include discounts
for cash payments, seasonal discounts, trade discounts etc. But while offering the discounts, it
is not to be forgotten that it may also create image problem since some of the value sensitive
tourists may doubt the quality.

PʑM‘cI‘ MIX.

Creation of awareness has a far-reaching impact. che tourist organizations bear the
responsibility of informing, persuading and sensing the potential tourists in a right fashion.
che marketers need to use the various components of promotion optimally so that they
succeed in increasing the number of habitual users. *romotion helps in maximizing the
duration of stay, frequency of visit by offering new tourist products in the same country to
areas, which have remained untapped or partially tapped. che various dimensions of tourism
promotion are as follows:

Advertising: Advertisement gives important information to the actual and potential tourists.
Its coverage is wide. Advertising is aimed at the public to create awareness of the travel
offers available on a resort and its attractions to influence their business decisions.
Intangibility can be compensated with the help of visual exposure of scenes and events. We
can project hotel bedrooms, well-arranged restaurants and cafeterias, swimming pools etc.

*ublicity: It focuses attention on strengthening the public relations measures by developing a

rapport with media people and getting their personalized support in publicizing the business.
It helps in projecting the positive image of tourist organizations since the prospects trust on
the news items publicized by the media people. che publicity program include regular
publicity stories and photographs to the newspapers, travel editors, contact with magazines on
stories etc. advertising is a part of publicity.

Sales promotions: Sales promotion measures are the short-term activities seeking to boost
sales at peak demand periods to ensure that the firms obtain its market share and are used to
help launch a new product or support an ailing or modified one. che tool of sales promotions
is designed to appeal particularly to those customers who are price-sensitive. chere are a
number of techniques to promote sale and the tourist professional need to use them in the face
of their requirements vis-à-vis the emerging trends in the business. Eg. In the tourism
industry, a travel company offers give-aways to their clients, such as flight bags, wallets for
tickets, Foreign Exchange (Forex) and covers of passport. che hotels offer a number of
facilities like shoe shine clothes, first aid sewing kits, shower caps and shampoo. Further, the
VI* clients also get fruits and flowers in their rooms.

Word-of-mouth *romotion: Most communication about tourism takes place by word-of-

mouth information, which in a true sense is word-of-recommendation. In the tourism industry
it is found that the word-of-mouth promoters play the role of a hidden sales force, which help
the process of selling. che high magnitude of effectiveness of this tool of promotion is due to
high credibility of the channel, especially in the eyes of the potential tourists. che sensitivity
of this tool makes it clear that tourist organizations need to concentrate on the quality of
services they promise and offer. che marketers or the tourist organizations need to keep their
eyes open, identify the vocal persons or the opinion leaders and take a special care of them so
that they keep on moving the process of stimulating and creating demand.

*ersonal Selling: *ersonal Selling is based on the personal skill of an individual. che travel
and hotel business depend considerably on the personal selling. che development of travel
and tourism has been possible due to well-educated and trained sales personnel. che
development of tourism business has been influenced by the services rendered by the travel
agents and travel guides since they work as information carriers. *ersonal selling is the
personal presentation of a tangible product or intangible services or ideas to the customers. It
is important to mention that in the tourism industry, the personnel who attend tourists form an
essential ingredient of the product, such as sales personnel are found responsible for dealing
with customers behind the counter, the resort representatives cater to the need of tourists
when they reach the destination etc. all of them play a vital role in ensuring that the tourism
products satisfy the tourists. che phrase- the customer is always right applies specifically to
the tourism industry. No reduction in price would compensate for impolite and indecent
travel guide, a solvent waiter and a surly or a haughty coach driver. chese facts are testimony
to the proposition that the travel business is linked with the performance and behavior of
sales personnel or travel staff.
celemarketing: It is a method of selling in which a professionally sound telemarketer markets
the business. che quality of technology and the communicative ability of the telemarketers
determine the magnitude of success of this component. In tourism, the travel agents, offices
of airways, receptionist, and secretaries can¶t work efficiently if the telephonic services are
not up to the mark. Also recruiting a person considered to be professionally sound,
personally-committed sales personnel having an in-built creativity, innovation and
imagination is very important.

Exhibitions che participants include state and national tourism promotion boards, travel
agents and tour operators, airlines, car rentals, cruise liners, holiday financiers, technology
providers, hotels and resorts, education institutions in the field of hospitality and tourism.
‘ver the years the participation of foreign tourism promotion boards like the Dubai courism
and the Mauritius courism, etc has increased in order to aggressively promote their respective
countries.

PLºCE MIX.

Most tour operators sell their services through travel agents, however some deal directly with
the consumers and eliminate middlemen. For example, chomas Cook has its own branches
situated throughout the country so they are easily accessible. che customer, in the travel and
tourism industry, has to go to the service provider. Hence strategic locations are very
important for chomas Cook. ‘ther companies may also utilize more than one method of
distribution.

Xocation:

cransport also plays a major role in the tourism industry. It makes the destinations accessible
to people from around the world. Also, in the case of tangible products in tourism such as
souvenirs and cuisine, transportation becomes a major logistical component.
EXcENDED 3 *¶S ‘F MARKEcING

PE‘PLE

Xike other industries, the tourism industry depends substantially on management of human
resources. che tourism industry is an amalgam of the services of a lot of people and hence
this industry cannot work efficiently if the travel agents, tour operators and travel guides lack
world class professional excellence. ‘f course the offices of travel agents depends on the new
technology but after all employees and the other staff contribute significantly to the process.
che travel guides need professional excellence since the projection of a positive image
regarding a destination in particular requires their due cooperation, failing which even the
world class services offered by the travel agents are found meaningless. che tour operators
also need to manage human resources efficiently.

In the management of people, the related organizations are required to think in favour of
developing an ongoing training program so that we find a close relation between the
development of technologies and the quality of personnel who are supposed to operate and
maintain the same. chey need a lot of credentials to fulfill the expectations of the customers.
che organization has to make the environmental conditions conducive and focus has to be
laid on the incentives to the employees for energizing the process of performance orientation.
Employee orientation requires due weightage to efficiency generation, value-orientation and
perfection.

In the tourism industry the travel agents and the travel guides are the two most important
people who speak a lot about the industry. Hence it is imperative that they have to be at their
best at all times. cravel guides especially, are expected to have a lot of patience, good sense
of humour, tact to transform the occasional tourists into habitual ones, thorough knowledge
of the places, linguistic skills etc.

che Government plays an important role in providing the right kind of people for this
industry. As such there are a lot of Govt. and *vt. Institutes which offer training for the
same.. che training courses run by the Institutes are designed to suit the needs of the various
target groups.

*E‘*XE - in service marketing includes

‡EM*X‘YEES
‡‘cHER CUSc‘MERS

EM*X‘YEES ± chey are the representatives of the company. cheir performance can create a
positive as well as negative impact of the service process and the image of the company.
Keeping µpeople¶ factor healthy is one of the prime concerns of the company. When we talk
about people in travel and tourism industry, they are really crucial part as at every stage they
play a role of the service provider on the stage of service encounter also known as moment of
truth.

SERVICE ENC‘UNcER ±

che so-called stage service encounter or moment of truth is the element of interaction
between those providing services and the customers. che instances of service encounter in
travel and tourism industry are ±

‡In the ticket booking process when the customer calls the service provider that is the front
line staff in order to book the tickets is the first service encounter incidence. It¶s the moment
of truth where, there is one to one interaction between the service provider who is booking
the ticket and the customer who wants the ticket booked. chis interaction takes place on the
phone.

‡In the itinerary planning process the service encounter takes place when the customer visits
the travel and tourism agency to purchase a holiday package and meets the travel manager.

‡When the customer is experiencing the holiday package there are numerous service
encounters that he goes through and one of them is his constant interaction with the tourist
guides.

chese were some examples of service encounter.

chis stage is a very crucial one where in the provider has to perform at the optimum level in
order to avoid the customer from having the experience of credence quality.

CREDECE QUAXIcY

Is the quality, which is difficult to evaluate, and when you ask the customer the question on
how was the service? He usually gives vague answers like µit was ok¶, µI don¶t know¶.
A very important concept in µpeople¶ is the ± service profit chain. In the service profit chain
the first step is to keep the internal customers happy and satisfied the internal customer being
the employees. co keep them following point have to be taken care of

‡Work place design

‡Job design

‡Employee selection and development

‡Employees rewards and recognition

‡cools for serving customers.

chese aspects in turn lead to employee satisfaction, which would result in to employee
retention and productivity, this would result in providing value services and that would yield
customer satisfaction. Which would lead to customer loyalty and finally revenue growth and
profitability through referral and repeat business.

PʑCE||

It is the way of undertaking transaction supplying information and providing services on a

way, which is acceptable to the consumer and the effective to the organization. Now to make
this definition of process true, it is necessary for the organization which provides services to
recognize the critical moments in the entire process which makes the service acceptable or
not acceptable to the customer depending on the zone of tolerance and effective or not
effective to the organization. Further to realize what are the critical moments in the
considered process a concept of blue printing is introduced.

PHY|ICºL EVIDE CE

It is a very important factor for the travel and tourism industry. chis marketing p is important
in 2 distinct ways:

1)as the environment in which the sales takes place

2)the environment where the product is consumed

Explanation of the first case

when the purchasing of the product is taking place, however the customer cannot be sure
whether they will enjoy the product or not. In the mean time their expectations and emotions
are influenced by factors like layout of the room, the furniture, noise level, temperature, lights
and other factors like the brochure of the company. In case of customers who by
electronically the appearance of the website is the physical evidence.

Explanation of the second case

In the travel industry where the product is being experienced s particularly important in
securing repeat business thus extensive facitilities that prove to be physical evidence are
provided to lure and woo the customer

che tangibles include flat beds in business class, Wi-Fi connection in hotels, customized
meals on board, tele checking 8hrs booking in hotels, hotels providing laptops on request,
internet access as complimentary for the corporate packages.

che critical incidences in this process are

‡Understanding the customers needs and expectations from the holiday or business tour
which ever he or she is opting for

‡Making an apt travel plan and route adhering to the requirements of the customer

Execution of the planned itinerary is the most critical one. As a company has committed
some thing and this is the time when the customer is actually experiencing the entire product
and if any one of the commitments don¶t materialize then the zone of tolerance is affected
and lot as it is already low because the customer on a tour whether leisure or business expects
perfection.