CUSTOMER RELATIONS IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

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CUSTOMER RELATIONS IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
6.03 Explain the critical aspects of business
and destination image.
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The perception or belief that people have about a
business
BUSINESS IMAGE
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FACTORS THAT AFFECT BUSINESS IMAGE

• Products Services
• Customer mix
• Customer services
• Location
• Employees

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Product/Service Characteristics

• Tangible
• Intangible
• Price and quality
• Selection

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Customer Mix
Combination of customers that use or are
attracted to a particular hospitality and/or
travel organization or destination

• Types of customers influence image.
• Certain types of customers attract or repel other
  customers.
• Actions and behavior of some customers are
  offensive to others.
• Nice, friendly customers enhance experiences of
  other customers.
• Hospitality/travel organizations may target
  specific groups of customers.

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Customer Services
Service is the most important product of the
industry.

• Provide amenities
• Examples thick terry-cloth robes phones for
  in-flight use

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Customer Services

• Personal attention/interaction
• Recognize guest/visitor
• Positive first impression
• Fulfill visitors expectations
• Reduce effort required of customer
• Facilitate customer decision-making
• Create memories
• Expect customers to remember bad experiences
• Follow-up

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Customer Services
Service encounter The period of time in which a
customer directly interacts with hospitality
industry services, personnel, or physical
facilities

• Employees must respond favorably to customer
  complaints or disappointments.
• Employees must respond favorably to customer
  needs and requests.
• Employees actions must reflect favorably on the
  business.

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Location

• Convenience
• Comfort
• Attractiveness
• Safety

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Employees

• Well-trained
• Courteous
• Respectful
• Professional Behavior and Appearance

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Destination Image
The attitudes customers have towards destinations

• Major factor in determining travel location, as
  most people dont have firsthand knowledge of
  destinations
• Every destination has an image.
• Destination images differ from person to person.

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Sources of destination images

• Books
• Movies
• Television
• Postcards
• Songs
• Photographs
• News stories

Induced images Generated by promotions and
advertisements
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Destination image modification
The process of examining a tourists overall
travel experience

• Compares traveler expectations to actual
  experiences
• The tourist is satisfied when experiences live up
  to expectations.
• The tourist decides whether or not to return to a
  destination based on satisfaction or
  dissatisfaction.
• Travelers talk about experiences, which helps
  others form destination images.

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Functional image Image of a destination
associated with specific activities and
attractions at the destination. Symbolic image
Image of a destination which is related to the
personality of the area as perceived by the
visitor. Different destinations have different
personalities.
Both functional and symbolic images help
determine a travelers choice of destination.
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Overcoming a negative image

• Positive publicity
• Advertising campaigns designed to build positive
  images
• Incentives
• Tour packages
• Frequent flyer programs
• Frequent guest programs