Policies for tourism quality continuous improvements
Quality is the perception by the tourist of the extent to which his expectations are met
by his experience of the product. Quality is not to be equated to luxury, and must not be
exclusive, but must be available to all tourists, including those who are with special
needs. The tourist product should be seen as the destination and process resulting in
the tourist’s overall experience. The key stakeholders are organisations fulfilling the
roles of: policy makers, destination management and quality control; suppliers of
tourist sub-products; commercial intermediaries; training suppliers; the guests, and the
host population.
The assessment of the contribution of relevant community policies and
programmes to quality in tourism revealed the following policy areas as particularly
relevant to quality development: structural policies; consumer protection; environmental
policies; transport and enterprise policies. Of these, the structural funds offered the most
potential to directly influence quality improvement in tourism.
There are four priority areas requiring specific efforts, they are:
(1) Indicators for the measurement of the quality improvement process. Quality
improvement is a cyclical and continuing process, and as such must be able to
be measured and evaluated. A list of appropriate indicators is regarded as a
management tool for use by those who are responsible for the different aspects
of quality improvement, e.g. destination management.
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(2) Benchmarking. Benchmarking of destinations will help to ensure quality
improvement and could benefit from common quality indicators. It should be a
voluntary exercise, led by the destinations, supported by information-exchange
procedures based on networking.
(3) Non-financial support for tourism SMEs implementing quality systems. E.g.
consultancy, business advice, flora and fauna, etc. should be improved to
encourage adoption of a quality approach, this in preference to direct financial
aid, which risks distorting local competition.
(4) More intensive use of structural funds to improve the quality of tourist
products. The structural funds should concentrate resources on creating the
framework for tourism business development, rather than supporting
individual enterprises or destinations, (e.g. through training, infrastructure
improvement, non-financial business support). Tourism authorities should be
actively integrated into the implementation and operation of structural fund
programmes. There is a need for better dissemination of information on the
operation of structural funds programmes throughout the tourism industry.