Determination and constant control over the quality of the tourist product. Ensuring the quality of the tourism product. The price of a tourist product is influenced by a number of factors.

1.5 Quality assurance of the tourism product

IN modern world product quality assurance is universal. The very concept of quality, interpreted as a philosophical category that expresses the essential certainty of an object, due to which it is precisely this and no other, in relation to a product is defined as a measure of utility, a set of product properties, its ability to satisfy certain social and personal needs.

IN currently the concept of quality as a category is normalized and defined by standards. Standard - a normative document developed on the basis of the agreement of the majority of interested parties and adopted by a recognized body or approved by an enterprise, which establishes rules for general and repeated use, general principles, characteristics, requirements and methods relating to certain objects of standardization, and which aims to achieve an optimal degree of streamlining in a certain area.

According to the definition international organization according to standardization (ISO), quality is a set of properties and characteristics of a product that give it the ability to satisfy stipulated or implied needs. There is also a definition of product quality given in GOST 15467-79, according to which “product quality is a set of product properties that determine its suitability to satisfy certain needs in accordance with its purpose”

1.6 Requirements for the quality of the tourist product

Formally, the level of quality is defined as the compliance of the properties of products and services with the requirements of standards. A tourist product is a complex concept, consisting of many interrelated components - tourism services. According to GOST 28681-0-90 "tourist service is the result of the activities of a tourist enterprise to meet the relevant needs of tourists." The quality of the service is determined by the requirements of Article No. 4 of the Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights" The legal field for the development of standards in the field of tourism is indicated in the Law of the Russian Federation "On Standardization". The law defines standardization as the activity of establishing norms, rules and characteristics in order to ensure:

1.Product safety for environment, health and property;

2. The quality of products or services in accordance with the level of development of science, engineering and technology;

3. Unity of measurements;

4. Saving all kinds of resources;

The object of standardization is products, services or processes that are repeatedly reproduced or used. Requirements for tourist services are defined in GOST R 5069094 “Tourist and excursion services. General requirements". The fundamental standards in the field of production and consumption of the product are:

GOST 286810 “Standardization in the field of tourist and excursion services. Basic Provisions".

GOST 50646-94 "Services to the population. Terms and Definitions".

GOST R 50762-95 " Catering. Classification of public catering establishments.

GOST R 50935-96 “Public catering. Requirements for service personnel.

Standards for products and services of enterprises in the tourism sector establish requirements for ensuring the safety of life, health of tourists and sightseers, risk factors in tourism, classification of accommodation and food facilities. These standards include:

1) GOST 50644-94 “Tourist and excursion services. Requirements for ensuring the safety of tourists and sightseers.

2) GOST 50645-94 “Tourist and excursion services. Classification of hotels.

In the field tourism business there are also departmental regulations, regulating the requirements in the field of safety of consumption of travel services, which is also an integral characteristic of the quality of the tourism product. These are sanitary and hygienic requirements established Sanitary regulations and norms (SanPiN), approved by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, building codes and rules (SNiP) approved State Committee Russian Federation for construction.

1.7 Tourism product quality issues

It should, however, be noted that, despite the comprehensive legal framework designed to facilitate the creation of a tourism product quality system, in practice there are a wide variety of problems related to this issue.

The specificity of the tourism sector lies in the fact that the product produced is completely or partially intangible, and the effect of the service is evaluated by the consumer in a certain emotional state, depending on a huge number of factors, including such subjective characteristics of the tourist as:

Features of education;

Age;

Cultural traditions of the people whose representative is the guest;

The concept of comfort;

habits;

Well-being or psychological state at the time of receiving the service;

Physiological characteristics of the body and others.

All this makes the perception of the quality of the tourist product largely subjective, depending on individual characteristics every tourist. In addition, there are some other factors specific to the tourism sector that largely influence the creation of a quality tourism product. Let's consider some of them.

1. Discreteness (discontinuity) of the production of tourist services and the integrity of their consumption, manifested as a certain contradiction in solving the problems of managing the quality of a tourist product. This is really a huge problem. Small flaws attributable to humanitarian technologies, admitted by at least one employee of a hotel or restaurant, can cause dissatisfaction for the tourist as a whole. Travel business professionals often say: hospitality is the art of small things. The work of each employee in a hotel, restaurant, travel company is equally important. In ensuring the quality of a tourist product, it is impossible to single out a more important or less important service - they must all work equally clearly and efficiently. For the quality production of tourist services, both the work of the technical service responsible for the elevators, the serviceability of telephones, locks, furniture or plumbing, and the concierge, designed to solve the most incredible problems of the guest in the hotel and beyond, are equally important. The problem of discreteness of production and the integrity of the consumption of tourist services is very clearly manifested in a restaurant, where in a single technological process serving the guest from his arrival in the restaurant hall and until the moment when the head waiter utters the words of farewell and expresses hope for an early meeting, a huge number of staff are involved. And on how well the head waiter will meet the guest, the waiter will serve, the cook will prepare the dishes, on how well the dishwasher will wash the dishes, the cleaner will prepare the restaurant hall for service, and the worker will clean the table linen, depends on the quality of a single service - the provision of food. In a multifunctional hotel, there are dozens of such services, and the guest is their sole consumer, while each guest is an individual. For an administrator, waiter, head waiter, concierge, doorman, a tourist who has arrived at the hotel in the evening may be the hundredth per shift, but for a guest it is the first administrator, the first waiter, and so on.

2. Possibility of repeated production of tourism services at the same high level, or duration of quality. Solving this problem for many manufacturers of tourism products is an impossible task, which, in turn, often causes a sharp decrease in the competitiveness of the entire enterprise. There are many reasons for this. This can be either the poor quality of the means of labor of the personnel, the lack of ergonomics of workplaces, or the lack of timely and thoughtful motivation of employees or the failure of the entire system of interaction between the employees of the enterprise, which ensures uninterrupted work at the same high level for everyone.

For example, it is difficult to imagine high-quality employees who have not been paid for a long time. Or the impeccably accommodating receptionist throughout the 24-hour shift, who is never allowed to leave his workplace. Or an exemplary cleaning maid who, in addition to a bucket, a rag and a primitive detergent type "Whiteness" there are no other tools. And, finally, an accurate and fast working booking manager who has a telephone at his disposal, parallel to the accounting department. For all the absurdity of the examples given, they are all taken from the real life of the Russian tourist industry.

3. As already mentioned, the tourism sector refers to such a type of activity where the produced product, being intangible, is consumed simultaneously with its production. The staff of the enterprise working in the field of tourism does not have a chance to correct the marriage and, as a result (given the fierce competition in the tourism services market), there is no chance of returning the guest. At the same time, the guest, choosing another place of rest, advises the rest to do the same. Studies show that negative information spreads much faster than positive information. For example, Jacques Horowitz, professor at the International Institute of Management (Switzerland), in his study on the problems of creating quality systems in customer service, says that four out of a hundred customers who have expressed their dissatisfaction with the service can carry away almost three times as many potential customers than those who liked the service, lead.

The tourism industry is characterized by the fact that the main attention in it, when creating a product quality system, is drawn to the quality of service. Service quality is the key to commercial success. Hotels and restaurants, tour agencies and travel agencies, often with absolutely identical material base and orientation, differ from each other only in the quality of service, which for some is the main trump card in the competition.

World practice developed certain rules for organizing an effective service, the observance of which just allows the manager to apply, relatively to a specific tourist product, all the experience accumulated in the field of service.

RUSSIAN INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF TOURISM

MOSCOW BRANCH

course project

discipline: Strategic management

on the topic "Ensuring the competitiveness of a travel agency based on the quality of the tourist product"

Completed: 5th year student

Groups 061402MP

Timoshchenko M.S.

Checked: Ph.D.

Associate Professor Sinelnikova E.A.

Moscow, 2010

Introduction 3

1. Disclosure of basic concepts 5

1.1 Tourist product 5

1.2 Quality of the tourism product 8

1.3 Ensuring the competitiveness of the travel agency 12

2. State regulation of quality assurance of the tourist product 17

2.1 Standardization of tourism services 18

2.2 Certification 21

2.3 Licensing 22

3. Methods for ensuring the competitiveness of a travel agency based on the quality of the tourist product 24

Conclusion 28

Introduction

For each industry, product quality assurance is specific and has a different character. When ensuring the quality of a tourist product, it is necessary to take into account its characteristic features that distinguish it from a classic market product:

Intangibility;

Inseparability of production and consumption;

Variability;

Storage failure.

In Russia, there is the State Committee of the Russian Federation, which manages the activities of standardization. For the development of standards, there are technical committees that operate on the basis of enterprises that specialize in certain types of products and services and have the highest technical potential in this area. In world practice, certain rules for organizing an effective service have been developed, according to which a manager can apply all the experience to a specific tourist product.

As you know, tourism is one of the most highly profitable types of business; therefore, there is strong competition in the tourism services market. That is why the need for a clear strategy for the production and quality assurance of the tourism product is one of the main issues for workers in the tourism industry. This is what determines relevance this study. Due to this goal The proposed work is to analyze possible means of maintaining and improving the quality of the tourism product:

The study of the structure and specifics of the concept of "tourist product";

Studying the properties of tour services in order to ensure the required quality;

Consideration of state measures to regulate the quality of the tourist product;

Ensuring the competitiveness of the travel agency due to the quality of products.

Obviously, in order to implement these tasks, it is necessary to unite the efforts of state authorities, tourism enterprises, recreation and entertainment infrastructure, and all key organizations interested in increasing tourist visits to the resource.

The methodological and methodological basis of the course work are specialized literature, methodological manuals and recommendations for the production and promotion of tourism products, as well as legislative literature in the field of tourism.

Active and rational application in the activities of travel agencies of the appropriate methodology for improving the quality of the tourist product is economically feasible. This allows you to provide the required image of the travel agency, organize a streamlined and continuous process of bringing travel services to the market, and most importantly, increase the competitiveness of the travel agency in the market.

1. Disclosure of basic concepts

1.1 Tourist product

Tourism - covers the activities of persons who travel and stay in places outside their usual environment for a period not exceeding one year in a row for leisure, business and other purposes (definition of the UN Statistical Commission 1993).

According to the definition of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On the basics tourism activities» 1996 tourism - temporary departures (travels) of citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons ... from a permanent place of residence for recreational, educational, professional, business, sports, religious and other purposes without engaging in paid activities in the country (place) of temporary stay.

A tourism product is a service that satisfies the needs of tourists while traveling and is subject to payment by them. The success of any company in the market depends primarily on the attractiveness of the product. It forms the main part of the marketing mix, to which all other elements are tied: price, promotion and distribution.

Federal Law No. 132 “On the Fundamentals of Tourism in the Russian Federation” provides the following definition: “A tourist product is the right to a tour intended for sale to a tourist, and a tour is a set of services for accommodation, transportation, meals for tourists, excursion services, as well as services of guides-interpreters and other services provided depending on the purpose of the trip.

The tourist product is characterized by the following main properties:

Property	Characteristic
Validity	The provision of all services must be subject to the purpose of travel and related conditions based on the needs of the tourist.
Reliability	Compliance with the real content of the product in advertising, the reliability of information
Efficiency	Achieving the greatest effect for the tourist at the lowest cost on his part
Integrity	The completeness of the product, its ability to fully satisfy the tourist demand
	The consumption of the product, its direction should be clear to both the tourist and the service personnel.
Flexibility	The ability of a product and service system to adapt to a different type of customer and be receptive to changing service personnel
Utility	The ability to serve the achievement of one or more goals, to satisfy those other needs of tourists

The process of creating a tourism product begins with the development of common goals, the development of preliminary forecasts, based primarily on a study of consumer demand and competitors' offers. The development of a new product takes place in several stages. The tourism company must formulate a tourism product development strategy, which in turn includes product innovation, that is, establishing the type of product required, modifying existing products, and allocating resources to create a product.

When organizing a planned tour, first of all, it is necessary to determine the method of implementing the tourist product. The choice of how to implement the tour depends on the type of tour operator: on what type of tourism he prefers: domestic, inbound, outbound. The most difficult to implement is an exit tour.

Concept life cycle tourism product arises from the fact that the sales volume of the product follows a typical four-phase cycle pattern. The initial phase is the birth (emergence and formation) of the product, when the product is sold in a small volume. During a growth period, sales increase. During maturity, sales volume stabilizes and profits begin to decline. During periods of stagnation, volume and profits plummet.

The length of the product life cycle (tour, route, program), the length of each phase and the shape of the curve are different for each product. For example, stagnation occurs for three reasons:

1. The need and possibility of implementation disappear. This is what happened to domestic tourism in Russia when it lost the protectionism of the state.

2. A better and cheaper product has emerged to meet the needs of the market. Trips to nearby countries of Asia Minor (for example, Turkey), Southeast Asia (for example, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.).

3. Competitive product due to the best market strategy suddenly wins a decisive advantage. This happened with competing tourism products - trips to the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Cairo instead of Bulgaria, Crimea, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The cycle of product profitability is formed in different ways depending on the cycle of its sales. During the introduction, the product may not be profitable at all, as its initial advertising does not pay off.

During the growth period, before competition kicks in, profits peak. It then begins to fall, although overall profits may rise for some time as sales increase. In the tourism industry, for example, the increased volume expansion is the effect of price cuts in the growth phase.

In the last stage of growth and early maturity, competition increases, which cuts marginal income significantly, and it all comes down to making a total profit. For example, a sharp decline in prices for travel to Sochi for recreation, previously highly profitable, now has little return, as major companies such as MIBS (Moscow), Wind Rose (Moscow), Troika (Turkey) ) very quickly switched the tourist flow to Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and other countries. So, during a period of stagnation, a decrease in volume obviously pushes the value to the upper level, which nullifies the profit.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that quality is a key factor in prolonging the maturity phase of a tourism product. The travel agency should carefully monitor the products of competitors and always try to be no lower than their level, while this should not greatly affect the price.

1.2 Quality of the tourist product

Product quality is a critical assessment by the consumer of the degree of compliance of its properties, quality indicators, individual and social expectations, mandatory standards in accordance with its purpose.

Product quality is associated with the concepts of product property and product usefulness. The property determines the objective aspects of the object without assessing the importance of these properties for the consumer (for example, the technical level of the product), and the utility - the ability of the product to benefit and satisfy a particular consumer.

Thus, product quality is a set of product properties that determine its ability to satisfy certain needs in accordance with the purpose.

The quality of the tourism product is formed by various factors, since the tourism product is a set of complex elements that satisfy the needs of tourists during travel and is the result of the efforts of tourism industry enterprises.

The quality of a tourism product can be viewed as a set of properties of tourism services and service processes to meet the conditional or implied needs of tourists. The quality of a tourist product is characterized by the quality of the services included in it and the culture of service. The quality of service depends on subjective and objective factors. Objective factors include the level of preparedness of the tourist for the trip, awareness of the country. Subjective ones are connected with the personal characteristics of the tourist, the conditions of his daily life, force majeure circumstances.

There are 3 types of quality of tourist services:

1. technical quality (infrastructure condition);

2. social quality (level of service, staff professionalism);

3. quality of the environment (ecology, standard of living of the local population, housing and communal services).

Mandatory requirements for the quality of tourist services:

Safety of life and health;

Guarantee of the provision of services according to the voucher;

Safety of property of tourists;

Environmental protection.

The quality criterion is expressed through a system of indicators reflecting various types of tourist service activities. The quality of service is influenced by such factors as: natural-climatic, cultural-historical, psychological, specific needs of tourists, the culture of work and behavior of employees, the image of the enterprise.

The problem of product quality assurance is universal in the modern world. Much depends on how successfully it is solved in the development of any industry. However, quality indicators, as well as problems associated with the production of quality products, are specific to each industry, including the tourism industry.

The very concept of quality is defined as a measure of utility, a set of product properties, its ability to satisfy certain social and personal needs. Quality, as well as its concept, has gone through a centuries-old path of development, in fact, like the needs of people themselves.

At the moment, the concept of quality, as a category, is normalized and defined by standards. According to the definition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), quality is a set of properties and characteristics of a product that give it the ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. There is also a definition of product quality given in GOST 15467-79, according to which "product quality is a set of product properties that determine its suitability to satisfy certain needs in accordance with its purpose."

The specificity of the tourism industry lies in the fact that the product produced is completely or partially intangible, and the effect of the service is evaluated by the consumer in a certain emotional state, depending on a huge number of factors, including such subjective characteristics of the tourist as:

Features of education;

Age;

Cultural traditions of the people whose representative is the guest;

The concept of comfort;

habits;

Well-being or psychological state at the time of receiving the service;

Physiological characteristics of the body, etc.

All this makes the perception of the quality of the tourist product largely subjective, depending on the individual characteristics of each tourist.

In addition, in the field of tourism, the quality of the proposed tourist product largely depends on the efficiency of the staff. The main tool for stimulating the work of personnel can be an interconnected system of economic and social methods, which will improve the efficiency of using human resources, carry out professional and social development personnel, to avoid significant staff turnover within the enterprise due to their economic interest, to change the motivational characteristics of personnel. Each of the employees of the travel agency performs certain functions, guided by job descriptions. The corporate atmosphere should help motivate staff to work, improve the quality of customer service, increase professional excellence, and encourage them to make suggestions for various directions activities of the tourism enterprise, for example, the development and improvement of individual services.

1.3 Ensuring the competitiveness of the travel agency

The number of travel agencies in the Russian market is large, and fierce competition forces them to occupy their market niches. There are firms dealing with individual countries or destinations, there are firms that work only to receive tourists. There are those that work with groups, and those that organize trips on an individual order. There are tour operators who fully organize trips and offer ready-made routes to other travel agencies at a discount, there are travel agents who act as intermediaries between the tour operator and the client. Travel agents receive information about various tours, from which they select the right and most affordable for the client. Among such a variety, it is important not only to take your place in the right market segment, but also to match or exceed the level of your competitors. The competitive struggle among travel companies is extremely high, so it is necessary to ensure a win at the expense of the company's competitive advantages.

Competition is the mutual struggle of enterprises for the best position in the tourist market. The interaction of market elements leads to its cyclicity, that is, with an increase in demand, supply increases, which leads to higher prices, and this situation stimulates the production of a particular product on the market. Otherwise, if supply exceeds demand, there is a decrease in entrepreneurial activity in the production of the product. After a certain fluctuation in prices, a period of equilibrium between supply and demand begins, the market comes to an equilibrium state.

In this regard, there are three methods for pricing tourism services:

1. Cost-based or costly method (the total cost of the tourism product - used by travel agencies that seek to primarily profit from investments).

2. With a focus on the level of competitors - a method typical for tourism organizations. Prices are set below, above or at the market level, depending on the exactingness of customers, the service provided, the real or perceived reaction of competitors. A distinctive feature is the absence of a constant relationship between prices and costs. IN this case for a certain price, the average price level in the market is calculated on the basis of catalogs, brochures of travel agencies and hotels.

3. With a focus on demand - a method based on studying the desires of consumers and setting prices that are acceptable to the target market. Applies if the price is a decisive factor in the purchase of the product by customers.

When developing a pricing strategy, a travel agency must use three methods in conjunction, otherwise it may lead to indirect or direct losses, which will reduce its competitiveness in the market.

For many travel companies, as well as their products, you need your own image, different from similar companies of competitors. This is one of the requirements for a quality tourism product.

Travel agency - a collective concept. It means an entrepreneurial structure engaged on a commercial basis in intermediary operations in the field of purchase / sale of tourist services. The travel agency itself does not produce travel services, it does not have the necessary means of production for this, therefore it performs purely intermediary functions, namely, on behalf of the consumer, it purchases various travel services from manufacturers. The travel agency takes the place of an intermediary between the consumer and the producer of travel services. In the Russian Federation at the beginning of the XXI century. about 10 thousand travel agencies were registered. Approximately in the same figures, the tourism business of most foreign countries actively participating in international tourism exchange.

In practice, each travel agency chooses for itself one or more of the most accessible and profitable segments of market demand, forms prices and uses its own channels for promoting and selling tour packages. Thus, there is a segmentation of travel agencies depending on demographic, socio-economic factors.

There are many definitions of the concept of competitiveness. Let's consider several definitions: So, in the marketing textbook edited by A. N. Romanov, the following definition of competitiveness is proposed: “competitiveness is understood as a complex of consumer and cost (price) characteristics of an enterprise that determine its success, competitiveness as the possession of a manufacturer, enterprise, income.”

Meskon M.Kh. defines the competitiveness of an enterprise as a relative characteristic that expresses the differences in the development of a given company as a relative value of consumer and cost characteristics of an enterprise that create advantages over competing entities and allow it to steadily occupy a certain market share.

Travel agencies attach great importance to the analysis of their strengths and weaknesses in order to assess the real opportunities in the competition and develop measures and means by which the enterprise could increase its competitiveness and ensure its success.

In the process of marketing research, to assess the competitiveness of enterprises, they use some numerical indicators that indicate the degree of stability of the position of the tourist enterprise.

Organizational measures aimed at increasing the competitiveness of a tourist enterprise can be summarized as follows:

* ensuring quality indicators that create a priority for the company's tourism products on the market;

* identifying the advantages and disadvantages of analogous products manufactured by competitors, and the appropriate use of these results in your enterprise;

* studying the activities of competitors to improve similar products with which they are on the market, and the development of measures that provide advantages over competitors;

* determination of possible modifications of the tourist product by improving the quality characteristics, for example, such as reliability, improving the external design;

* identification and use of price factors for increasing the competitiveness of products, including those used by competing enterprises (price discounts, guarantees);

* differentiation of tourism products, providing a relatively stable preference for buyers given to certain types of interchangeable tourism products.

The value of price competition in these conditions is reduced, since buyers are guided by established preferences regarding the quality of tourist products, the reputation of the manufacturing enterprise, and others; as well as carrying out active promotional activities, providing money in particular, by installment payment.

2. State regulation of quality assurance of the tourist product

The experience of various countries shows that the success of tourism development directly depends on how this industry is perceived at the state level, how much it enjoys state support. Any civilized state, in order to receive budget revenues from the tourism industry, must invest in the study of its territories to assess the tourism potential, prepare tourism business development programs, projects for the necessary infrastructure of resort regions and tourist centers, and in information support and advertising.

The specificity of tourism is associated with the international character and a wide range of relationships that people have to enter into, one way or another involved in the organization of recreation and travel. The diversity of these relations gives rise to a certain complexity of legal regulation.

In any state, the relationship between the parties "tourist - travel agency", "tourist - state", "travel agency - state" are regulated by the relevant legislation. Depending on the degree of civilization of the state and with ever greater approximation to the concept of the rule of law, the legislation becomes more detailed and complete. Ideally, every element of the relationship of these parties should be covered.

To ensure the proper quality of the tourist product, one cannot do without state regulation. Mandatory requirements for the quality of tour services: safety of life and health; guarantee of the provision of services, according to the voucher; safety of property of tourists; environmental protection.

Tour service quality standards are determined by the system of standardization and certification. Standardization is essential tool state regulation of tourism activities and protection of the rights of consumers of tour services. Standardization is an activity aimed at developing and establishing requirements, norms, rules, characteristics, both mandatory and recommended, ensuring the right of the consumer to purchase services. good quality at an affordable price, as well as the right to safety and comfort at work.

Main legislative acts in the field of tourism are:

the federal law"On the basics of tourism activities in the Russian Federation";

Law of the Russian Federation "On Protection of Consumer Rights";

Law of the Russian Federation "On standardization";

Law of the Russian Federation "On certification of products and services";

"Rules of tourist service".

2.1 Standardization of tourism services

At the moment, the concept of quality, as a category, is normalized and defined by standards. Standard - a normative document developed on the basis of the agreement of the majority of interested parties and adopted by a recognized body or approved by an enterprise, which establishes for general and repeated use the rules, general principles, characteristics, requirements and methods relating to certain objects of standardization, and which is aimed at achieving optimal degree of order in a particular area.

Tourist service quality standards are primarily determined by state standardization and certification systems.

Standardization is a tool for state regulation of tourism activities and protection of the rights of consumers of services. Standardization is an activity aimed at developing and establishing requirements, norms, rules, characteristics, both mandatory and recommended, ensuring the right of the consumer to purchase services of adequate quality at an affordable price, as well as the right to safety and comfort at work. Formally, the level of quality is defined as the compliance of the properties of products and services with the requirements of standards.

The legal field for the development of standards in the field of tourism is indicated in the Law of the Russian Federation "On Standardization". The law defines standardization as an activity aimed at ensuring:

1. Product safety for the environment, health and property;

2. The quality of products or services in accordance with the level of development of science, engineering and technology;

3. Unity of measurements;

4. Saving all kinds of resources;

The fundamental standards in the field of production and consumption of the product are:

§ GOST 286810 “Standardization in the field of tourist and excursion services. Basic Provisions".

§ GOST 50646-94 “Services to the population. Terms and Definitions".

§ GOST R 50762-95 “Public catering. Classification of public catering establishments.

§ GOST R 50935-96 “Public catering. Requirements for service personnel.

1) GOST 50644-94 “Tourist and excursion services. Requirements for ensuring the safety of tourists and sightseers.

2) GOST 50645-94 “Tourist and excursion services. Classification of hotels.

In the field of tourism business, there are also departmental regulations governing the requirements for the safety of consumption of travel services, which is also an integral characteristic of the quality of the tourism product. These are sanitary and hygienic requirements established by the Sanitary Rules and Norms (SanPiN), approved by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Building Norms and Rules (SNiP), approved by the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Construction. If the standard provides for mandatory requirements for the safety and quality of the service, the seller (executor) is obliged to provide the consumer with a service that meets these requirements.

2.2 Certification

An important element of the system of state regulation of tourism, ensuring the safety of services and the most recognized way in the world of independent confirmation (assessment) of their compliance with established requirements is certification. Its use creates the prerequisites and conditions for the successful solution of a number of major socio-economic problems and tasks, and corresponds to the integration of individual states into the world economy. Certification is a set of activities and procedures for the purpose of confirming (through a certificate of conformity or mark of conformity) that a product or service conforms to certain standards or specifications.

Mandatory certification of a tourist product is carried out on a legislative and regulatory basis determined by the state, first of all, these are the laws of the Russian Federation “On certification of products and services”, “On consumer protection”, “On the basics of tourism activities”. The objects of mandatory certification are tourist services and services of accommodation facilities provided by organizations regardless of their organizational and legal form.

Voluntary certification is carried out at the initiative of legal entities or individuals on contractual terms between the applicant and the certification body. Voluntary certification of services cannot replace their mandatory certification.

For the certification of tourist services, the schemes recommended for certification are used. various services and types of tourism organizations. So, the first scheme provides for checking the skill of the service provider, it is recommended for excursions, weekend hikes, travel agencies. The second scheme provides for an assessment of the process of providing services, recommended for tourist travel routes and travel agencies. The third scheme provides for certification of tourist organizations, recommended for hotels, motels, campsites. The latter scheme provides for quality system certification, recommended for all types of tourism organizations.

2.3 Licensing

Previously, according to the federal law "On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities", in addition to the certificate of compliance of the provided tourist services with the requirements of safety for the life and health of tourists, the safety of their property and environmental protection, the tour operator and travel agent had to have a license to carry out tourism activities. The refusal of the tour operator or travel agent from the mandatory certification of the tourist product, the negative result of the certification of the tourist product, as well as the cancellation of the certificate of conformity entailed the suspension or termination of the license to carry out tourism activities. The purpose of licensing was to protect the rights and legitimate interests the state and consumers of tourist services, raising the level of tourist services, bringing it in line with international requirements.

However, in 2006, the Government Decree introduced the following changes to Article 18 of the Federal Law "On Licensing Certain Types of Activities":

"Article 1

Include in Article 18 of the Federal Law of August 8, 2001 N 128-FZ "On Licensing Certain Types of Activities" (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 2001, N 33, Art. 3430; 2002, N 11, Art. 1020; 2005, N 27 , article 2719; 2006, N 1, article 11) the following changes:

1) the third paragraph of clause 5.1 is recognized as invalid;

2) clause 6 shall be stated in the following wording:

"6. From January 1, 2007, the licensing of the following types of activities specified in paragraph 1 of Article 17 of this Federal Law is terminated:

paragraph is invalid. - Federal Law of December 29, 2006 N 252-FZ;

tour operator activity;

travel agency activities;

paragraphs six through eight are no longer valid. - Federal Law of December 29, 2006 N 252-FZ.

Now it is enough for a travel agency to obtain a Confirmation of compliance with GOST safety standards for tourist and excursion services and submit an Application for a Certificate of entry into the All-Russian General Register of Travel Agencies.

3. Methods for ensuring the competitiveness of a travel agency based on the quality of the tourist product

In order to ensure the leading position of the company in the tourism market, it is necessary to provide the product with competitive advantages. Competitive advantages are tangible and intangible assets, as well as areas of activity that are strategically important for a tourism enterprise and allow it to win in competition.

Tangible (tangible) assets are the physical and financial resources of an enterprise (fixed assets, cash, etc.).

Intangible (intangible) assets are, as a rule, the qualitative characteristics of an enterprise - such as prestige, the image of an enterprise, qualifications of personnel, etc.

Let's focus on intangible assets. First of all, it is the quality of products and services. These factors provide the company with prestige and recognition. If the firm already has positive image on the market, this allows it to reduce advertising costs, which will also affect the cost of the product. Having received a service that meets their expectations once, the client will contact this company again. Thus, the travel company will be able to have a permanent clientele that will increase over time, as there is a tendency to spread positive customer reviews among their friends, relatives, etc. You can also stimulate this trend by providing discounts to regular buyers of travel services, as well as customers who distribute information about the travel agency among their friends. For example, you can hold promotions under the slogan "Bring two friends to our company and get a 10% discount."

Many users of tourism services are willing to pay a little more for an improved service. Possessing an increased quality of products and services, the travel agency can afford to slightly increase prices. This applies, for example, to the sales department. The client will be ready to slightly overpay for a ticket if he is met by friendly staff at the reception, he will be offered a cup of coffee, etc.

Another strategy for creating competitive advantage is differentiation, i.e. giving a product or service a distinctive feature that would appeal to the buyer. The strategy is aimed at making the product different from what its competitors do. In this case, buyers view identical products from competing manufacturers as similar, but still not completely interchangeable. Therefore, the distinctive characteristics of the product should have maximum utility for the buyer. An important point is to focus on the interests of specific consumers. To do this, you need to know the following as initial information:

*who is the buyer and who makes the purchasing decision;

*consumer criteria by which the choice is made about the purchase of goods;

*factors that shape the buyer's perception of the product.

Differentiation can be expressed in giving the product unique properties, and this product can be of mass consumption. Another way to create differentiation is to serve the interests of a narrower circle of people.

Improving the performance of the company due to higher sales volumes and differentiation of the tourism product, continuous monitoring current position affairs in the market and prompt adjustment of plans is the key to success in the competitive struggle in the market.

Important in the success of a travel company is the high professional training of employees of a travel organization. That is, each employee of a travel company must be a highly qualified specialist in the field of tourism services; have all the necessary information that the client may need; be honest in providing information about the tour, company and possible risks; know what actions to take in an emergency (required for employees of a tourism organization accompanying / serving customers directly in the country of temporary residence).

Another important factor that allows you to build a policy for promoting a tourist product in a competitive environment, to increase its quality compared to competitors, is marketing research.

Marketing research of a tourism product is a process of developing, promoting and selling services, focused on identifying special needs in the market. It is designed to help customers evaluate the services of a service organization and make the right choice. For travel companies, market research allows them to better understand the needs of consumers and the level of quality of competitors' products.

IN general view marketing research is the collection, processing and analysis of data about the market, competitors, consumers, prices, the internal potential of the enterprise in order to reduce the uncertainty associated with making marketing decisions.

Without market research it is impossible to systematically compare all the information necessary to make important decisions related to market activity, market selection, determining sales volumes, forecasting and planning market activities for the provision of tourism services to consumers of a tourism product. The objects of research are the trend and process of development of the tourism services market, including an analysis of changes in economic, scientific, technical, legislative and other factors, as well as the structure and geography of the market, its capacity, sales dynamics, market barriers. The state of competition, the current market situation, opportunities and risks.

Methods for analyzing consumer assessments of various tourist services allows a tourist enterprise to develop various options for marketing activities. In one case, it will be necessary to improve the quality of the proposed tourist product, in the other, it will be necessary to try to change the attitude of customers towards their services, proving their advantages over competitors' offers.

Taking into account the above, it is possible to achieve not only the required quality of a particular service / product, but also to improve the quality of service as a whole, and hence increase the competitiveness of the organization.

Features of the tourist product

· Intangibility, i.e. they cannot be demonstrated, seen or tasted before receipt.

· Continuity production and consumption, i.e. You can only provide a service when an order arrives or a client appears. Direct service it is a process of relationship between service personnel and tourists, in which the creation, offer and consumption of most of the services and goods is carried out simultaneously.

· Variability, i.e. The quality of a tourist service depends on when and where it is provided. The quality of a service may change at each moment of its execution, i.e. the service may be of different quality even if it is homogeneous. Inability to store those. they cannot be stored, accumulated, it cannot be conserved for reuse.

The quality of the tourism product – a set of properties of tourism services and service processes to meet the conditional or implied needs of tourists.

The quality of a tourist product is characterized by the quality of services and culture of service.

Quality indicators tourist product: functionally consumer; aesthetic; comfort; manufacturability; reliability; environmental friendliness; exclusivity; safety.

Safety of life and health;

Guarantee of the provision of services, according to the voucher: compliance with the purpose; accuracy and timeliness of execution, ethics of service personnel;

Safety of property of tourists;

Environmental protection.

The following factors influence the quality of tour service:

Natural and climatic;

Cultural and historical;

Psychological;

Specific needs of tourists;

Work culture and behavior of employees;

Enterprise image.

The quality of service is largely determined by:

Tourism policy;

The level of capital investment in infrastructure development;

Competence of the personnel of the tour enterprise;

Flexibility of the control system;

Tour service quality standards are determined by the system of standardization and certification (GOST, introduced since 1995)

Types of tour packages:

1) package tours (in the USA) or inclusive tours (in Europe) - implemented on the basis of standard sets or packages of services with advance installed program services and a single price for the consumer, including accommodation, meals, excursion services, transport and other services, the cost of this tour is indicated in catalogs and price lists;

2)custom or exclusive - tour - individual tourist services: meals, accommodation, excursion services, transport - by choice.

Inclusive tour (IT - Inclusive Tour) - this is a tour with a rigid, pre-planned (before contact with the client) set of services, focused on a certain type of recreation or tourism, as well as on the social class of tourists and their age. Route tours can be called the most typical inclusive tours, when a group of tourists travel by bus to several cities and countries. The peculiarities of preparing and conducting such a tour (a single program for all, strictly linked to the timing and schedule of the trip) do not allow making it custom-made. Cruise tours, hobby tours are also inclusive.

Inclusive tours are organized and offered on popular routes (for example, "Classic Italy" or "Bus around Europe", etc.), to well-known tourist and recreational places that are in steady demand.

advantages:

A comprehensive tour is cheaper than a set of services purchased separately;

It is easier for TA to advise the client which route to take, since the program and prices of services are known in advance;

More opportunity to show the attractiveness of your product.

The disadvantages of inclusive tours include:

The presence in such a tour of services that are not of interest to the client;

Excessive saturation of the program. When ordering TO tours, it is necessary to constantly keep a quota of unconfirmed places in hotels;

By excluding certain services from the comprehensive service, the illusion of cheap trips is created. For example: flight, hotel accommodation along the entire route and transfer from the airport (train station) to the hotel and back. Rest necessary services tourists purchase for an additional fee already during the trip.

Exclusive - tour or customized- the formation of the program and the acquisition of the composition of services are carried out at will and with the direct participation of the tourist. He is offered a choice of different service options for each type of service in his intended place of rest:

accommodation - different in terms of level, type and location of the hotel;

Meals - different options (full, half board or no meals at all, buffet or "a la carte" with service, etc.);

Excursions, leisure and entertainment services to choose from;

Transport services- options for air travel, railway travel, car rental, etc.;

Sports and resort services - the use of such programs to choose from;

Visa services, as well as insurance services, etc.

Any product is a carrier of various specific properties that reflect its usefulness and meet certain needs and requirements. The usefulness of a product reflects its consumer value, which, in turn, must be evaluated, i.e. should be determined by its quality. In accordance with the definition of the International Organization for Standardization, quality is a set of properties and characteristics of a product that give it the ability to satisfy the determined needs.

A tourist product is a complex concept, consisting of many interrelated components - tourist services. According to GOST 28681.0-90 "tourist service is the result of the activities of a tourist enterprise to meet the relevant needs of tourists."

The quality of a tourism product is a set of properties of tourism services and service processes to meet the conditional or implied needs of tourists. The quality of a tourist product is characterized by the quality of services included in it and the culture of service.

The quality of the tourist product has 3 types:

1. Technical quality(state of the infrastructure)

2. Social quality (level of service, staff professionalism)

3. Quality of the environment (ecology, standard of living of the local population, housing and communal services).

Factors affecting the quality of the tourism product

The quality of service depends on subjective and objective factors. Objective - the level of preparedness of the tourist for the trip, awareness of the country. Subjective ones are related to the personal characteristics of the tourist:

- features of education;

- age;

- cultural traditions of the people whose representative is the tourist;

- the concept of comfort;

- habits;

– health or psychological state at the time of receiving the service;

- physiological characteristics of the body, etc.

Quality Assurance - planned and systematic activities carried out by the organization, creating confidence that the quality of the tourism product and services will meet certain requirements.

There are 2 types of quality assurance:

Internal - creates confidence in the proper quality of the tourist product among the management and employees of the organization.

External - at clients (consumers).

Conditions for ensuring a quality tourism product at a tourism enterprise

1. Compliance with the basic and most important principles of modern service for the tourism industry:

- maximum compliance of the services provided with the requirements of consumers and the nature of consumption;

- inseparable connection with marketing;

- the flexibility of the service, its focus on taking into account the changing requirements of the market, the preferences of consumers of travel services.

2. Creation of the necessary conditions for personnel designed to provide quality service:

– ergonomics of workplaces;

- a clear formulation of the rules that are mandatory for each employee;

– a clear system for evaluating the quality of work of each employee, which makes it possible to objectively measure the quantitatively and qualitatively the effectiveness of the service, especially such elements that are difficult to account for, such as goodwill and courtesy;

- motivation of the staff, their sincere interest in the prosperity of the entire enterprise, the desire and ability to do all the work as efficiently as possible, the mood for self-improvement;

– system of staff development.

3. Optimization of the organizational structure of the management of the enterprise providing travel services. The longer the chain of passage of the order, the greater the likelihood of an error. Optimal is such an organizational management structure, where the number of elements is extremely small.

4. Comprehensive, complete, objective and continuous control over the quality of service, involving:

– participation of the guest in quality assessment and control;

- creation of methods and criteria to correlate the requirements of the standards with the actual state of affairs;

– in the creation of personnel self-control systems;

– constant work with quality teams;

– application of clearly formulated quantitative criteria for the quality of services provided;

– participation of personnel in the creation of systems and quality criteria;

– application of technical means of quality control;

– creation of control services, which would include representatives of the directorate, financial department, personnel service, security department, managers or employees of all functional services.

Development of a quality service program

It involves the combined efforts of marketing and work organization. To improve the quality of service, the travel agency must follow certain principles.

There are 10 key principles for a quality service program:

1) Leadership. The management of the travel agency must have a clear idea of the purpose and future development of the company. In addition, the leadership team must convey this idea to their employees, convince them to believe and follow it. Good leaders see their goal as delivering quality service through actions that are visible to both employees and customers.

These leaders pay attention to every detail, spend a lot of time at work, talk to employees and customers, don't compromise on service quality, and prove it.

2) Implementation of the marketing approach in all departments of the organization. The concept of marketing stipulates that marketing should permeate the entire organization. The performance of the marketing function in a consumer service organization is the responsibility not only of the marketing department, but of all departments of the travel agency.

3) Understanding the needs of consumers. The client feels the quality. Companies with a high quality of service know what the market demands of them. The tourism product or service must be designed for the target market, and firms must understand the needs of the target markets.

4) Understanding the business. Providing quality service requires the coordinated work of the entire team. Employees need to understand how their work affects the performance of the rest of the team. Many firms train staff in "cross service" where an employee can perform different types of work. Such training gives employees the opportunity to master various professions and encourages them to understand the essence of the work of other specialties. They see how their work impacts the output of other employees, and how they collectively impact customer service reproduction. Thus, they begin to understand the essence of the business.

5) Application in the work of the basic organizational principles. The work of the organization must be well planned and well managed. This starts with the development of a draft management concept. At the same time, a special system is required to supply management information to the employees of the company and organize their good work.

Such systems include staff recruitment and training procedures, travel services purchasing procedures, management information systems, room reservation and check-in systems, equipment maintenance systems, quality control systems. Companies that provide quality service have well-established operational process systems.

6) Factor of freedom. In good hotels, travel agencies, guests expect to receive customer-oriented service. The system of providing tourist services should be flexible. Employees must have a certain freedom in their actions in order to serve the client according to his needs. It should not be strongly tied to strict regulations and rigid rules that prevent you from serving the client in the best possible way. Managers must support and guide the work of employees.

7) Use of appropriate technologies. Technology should be used to control the change in the marketing environment, help describe the system, develop customer databases, and improve methods of keeping in touch with them. In addition, the technological process requires daily collection of production information in all areas of work. These messages also serve as an alert system to help you identify problems that might be preventing you from providing good customer service.

Other information includes annual reports on preventive maintenance cycles for hotel rooms. Company with good quality The hotel makes effective use of cutting-edge technology, from automated building maintenance technology and security systems to computerized room reservation systems, to ensure a high level of guest satisfaction.

8) Good personnel management. Employees highly value work that is well organized, well managed and creates tourism services High Quality. Front desk workers don't like to receive complaints from customers. Employees must be capable of delivering the services promised to the client.

9) Setting standards, evaluating performance and introducing an incentive system. The most important way to improve the quality of service is to set service standards and goals, and then educate employees and managers about this. These standards must be continuously improved. Employees who provide good service should be rewarded.

10) Feedback from employees on the results of work. The results of the research should be communicated by top management to all employees when communicating with them or during a meeting in departments. Employees need to know what guests like and dislike, and what areas of service to improve.

The quality of a tourist product is a set of properties of tour services and service processes to meet the conditional or implied needs of tourists. The quality of a tourist product is characterized by the quality of services included in it and the culture of service. The quality of service depends on subjective and objective factors. Objective - the level of preparedness of the tourist for the trip, awareness of the country. Subjective ones are associated with the personal characteristics of the tourist, the conditions of his daily life, force majeure.

The quality of tour services has 3 levels:

1. Technical quality (infrastructure condition)

2. Social quality (level of service, staff professionalism)

3. Quality of the environment (ecology, standard of living of the local population, housing and communal services).

Mandatory requirements for the quality of tour services: safety of life and health; guarantee of the provision of services, according to the voucher; safety of property of tourists; environmental protection.

The quality criterion is expressed through a system of indicators reflecting different kinds tourist service activities. The quality of tour service is influenced by factors such as: natural-climatic, cultural-historical, psychological, specific needs of tourists, work culture and behavior of employees, the image of the enterprise.

Tour service quality standards are determined by the system of standardization and certification. Standardization is the most important tool for state regulation of tourism activities and protection of the rights of consumers of tour services. Standardization is an activity aimed at the development and establishment of requirements, norms, rules, characteristics, both mandatory and recommended, ensuring the right of the consumer to purchase services of adequate quality for acceptable price and the right to work safety and comfort.

Certification - a set of actions and procedures for the purpose of confirming (through a certificate of conformity or mark of conformity) that a product or service conforms to certain standards or specifications.

Mandatory certification of a tour product is carried out on a legislative and regulatory basis determined by the state - the laws of the Russian Federation "On Certification of Products and Services", "On Protection of Consumer Rights", "On the Basics of Tour Activities". The objects of mandatory certification are tourist services and services of accommodation facilities provided by organizations regardless of their organizational and legal form.

Voluntary certification is carried out at the initiative of legal or individuals on contractual terms between the applicant and the certification body. Voluntary certification of services cannot replace their mandatory certification.

For the certification of tourist services, the schemes recommended for the certification of various services and types of tourist organizations are used. So, the first scheme provides for checking the skill of the service provider, it is recommended for excursions, weekend hikes, travel agencies. The second scheme provides for an assessment of the process of providing services, recommended for tourist travel routes and travel agencies. The third scheme provides for certification of tourist organizations, recommended for hotels, motels, campsites. The latter scheme provides for quality system certification, recommended for all types of tourism organizations. "The tour operator and travel agent must have a license to carry out tourism activities and a certificate of compliance of the tourism services provided with the requirements for safety for the life and health of tourists, the safety of their property and environmental protection in accordance with applicable law." 1. "The refusal of the tour operator or travel agent from the mandatory certification of a tourist product, the negative result of the certification of a tourist product, as well as the cancellation of the certificate of conformity entail the suspension or termination of the license to carry out tourism activities" 2. The purpose of licensing is to ensure the protection of rights and legitimate interests the state and consumers of tourist services, raising the level of tourist services, bringing it in line with international requirements.

In the field of tourism, the quality of the proposed tourist product largely depends on the efficiency of the staff. From GOST R 50690-2000 (section "Basic requirements"): "Tourist organizations must be staffed by professionally trained personnel capable of carrying out activities in accordance with the requirements of this standard." In this area, the main tool to stimulate the work of personnel should be an interconnected system of economic and social methods, which will allow: to increase the efficiency of using personnel potential, to carry out professional and social development of personnel, to avoid significant staff turnover within the enterprise due to their economic interest, to change the motivational characteristics of personnel .

Each of the employees of the travel agency performs certain functions, guided by job descriptions. The corporate atmosphere should help motivate staff to work, improve the quality of customer service, and increase professional excellence, as well as encouragement to make proposals in various areas of activity of the tourist enterprise, for example, on the development and improvement of individual services.

Only taking into account all of the above, it is possible to achieve not only the required quality of a particular service, but also to improve the quality of service as a whole, and thus increase the competitiveness of the organization.