The Tourism Industry Within The Service Sector

Report on the tourism industry in the service sector.

This report is going to focus upon the tourism industry within the service sector, looking at, the tourism product, the business operations cycle, the service concept, and then the idea of the service concept will be applied to the tourist attraction Alton towers.

Section 1 : The key differences between a tourism product and a manufactured product.

The tourism product is defined by many as an intangible product to the customer, a service/ experience the customer can only have once purchased this is stated in Middletons definition, the tourism product "may be defined as a bundle or package of tangible and intangible components, based on activity at a destination. The package is perceived by the tourist as an experience available at a price." (Middleton & Clarke, 2001) In the most basic form the tourism product is a service and not a typical tangible product, "the purchase of a package tour is a speculative investment, involving a high degree of trust on the part of the purchaser". (Holloway, 2002) This means that the tourism product is almost a promise of an experience to the consumer. The five characteristics of service sector industries are Intangibility, Perishability, Heterogeneity, Inseparability, and Lack of ownership. With the tourism product being a service the more tangible and the more personal to the customer the product is the more appealing the product is. If the customer feels that the tourism service is intangible and that the purchase has a lack of ownership then the purchase is not as attractive to the potential customer. However if the idea of the tourism product is portrayed correctly by the organisation then the potential customer will feel like the tourism product is almost as good as a manufactured product. What sets the tourism product aside from an everyday manufactured product purchased by a consumer is that when a customer purchases a tangible good they can see, touch, test, and try the product before its purchase. The consumer can't experience the "tourism product" until it has been purchased; they can't test the product, feel the product or even see the product that they are purchasing they only have the information that they have been told and the pictures in brochures etc. A manufactured product differs from that of the tourism product in the explanations above. This shows that tourism as a package can be sold as a product as even though it is not a tangible good it is an experience a service provided to the consumer and therefore can be made as tangible as possible by the supplier of the product.

Section 2: Ð''business operational cycle' and the various stages of the cycle.

The business operational cycle is the processes that each business must go through to keep the business alive and at a level that customers can appreciate. The operations cycle has five stages, the concept, planning, management, monitoring and control. The service concept of the project is the basis, what the project/product is about. How is the project going to be portrayed by potential customers, who are the potential customers and how will they be contacted and alerted about the project in question. The concept must be as straight forward, uncomplicated, and attractive for potential customers/target market. The planning of the proposed project is down to making the proposal as feasible as possible; this includes details such as the location of the proposal, the layout of the building, funding, projected cash flow, pricing strategies, employment and recruiting, outsourcing which is working with separate companies to carry out particular tasks as an alternative of having an extra department within the business, an example would be accounting and finance. Each of these characteristics must b taken into consideration in the planning of the proposed project. Management policies and issues related to the operations cycle within tourist destinations include demand and capacity of the venue/business visitor satisfaction, visitors must be at least satisfied to feed the reputation that the project is attempting to achieve. Potential crisis and disaster management, plans have to be in place for such potential crises. Operating systems such as stock control and ordering and other operating systems must be well managed to avoid any misunderstanding and to maximise profits and efficiency. Monitoring of the business must be constant and regular to ensure the efficiency of the business does not falter maintaining feedback from customers, obtaining information from potential customers, encouraging staff recommendations and improvements, and utilising all information gained to the advantage of the business/project. These all assist in maintaining the business and keeping it on track and as efficient as possible. Finally control of the project is a key aspect of the cycle which constitutes that measures must be taken so that targets are met and feedback received is appropriately considered to keep the control of the project constant.

Section 3: The concept stage of the cycle and the nature and characteristics of the Ð''service concept'.

The service concept is the preconceptions the potential consumer has about the product in question in this case the tourism product. The way in which the concept is portrayed towards the potential customer has a large influence on the expectations such customer may have about the product. For example if the concept of the tourism product is easily accessible and promoted well, highlighting the desires of the customer then the customer will have good pre-conception of the tourism product. The service concept has five main fundamentals firstly the organising idea, the service experience, the service outcome, the service operation and the value of the service. (Johnston & Clarke,2005) The organising idea,this is the service offered by the organisation, and it in turn being purchased or used by the customer. The oraganising idea must fit the requirements of the customer and be clear as to what the organisations concept is providing. The service experience, the actual experience of the service process, in the case of the tourism product this is the holiday itself and the services offered to the consumers throughout thewhole event. The service outcome, this is the result of the service for the customer. The service operation, the way the service is delivered to the customer. Finally the value of the service, the benefits the customer receives in relation to the cost of the product or service. (Johnston & Clarke, 2005)

A well defined service concept links operations and marketing to aid the organisations