ABSTRACT. Although some studies have been done on supplementary
services in the service industry, very little has been explicitly done in
the travel and tourism industry. This paper focuses on adding value to
core services in the travel and tourism industry, which Lovelock (1996)
referred to as ‘‘supplementary services.’’ Supplementary services can
be used as differentiation points in a highly competitive industry such
as tourism. Some researchers have developed models in an effort to
demonstrate how supplementary services can enhance the core services.
Shostack (1977) and Lovelock (1996) have developed models
specifically designed for the service industry. This research is based on
Lovelock’s (1996) ‘‘Flower of Service’’ model, focussing on the ‘‘Hospitality:
Taking Care of the Customer’’ cluster. This paper contends that
supplementary services add value to core services, which gives firms
competitive advantage over their competition. In the dynamic and challenging
environment of the travel and tourism industry, operators need
to differentiate themselves in order to be successful and continue to
offer superior performance. One of the strategies to differentiate from
the competition is to enhance the core services with supplementary
services. A major Midwestern City was selected to test Lovelock’s
model. Two conventions held in mid-February were chosen for this
study. Attendees of the first convention were provided specially trained