What is tourism service management?

Since the reform and opening up in 1978, my country's tourism industry has developed rapidly. As one of the three pillar industries of the tourism industry, travel agencies have also experienced a development process from few to many, and from small to large. Nowadays, the image of the tourism industry is becoming increasingly clear. With the rapid development of the country's social economy, the scale of the industry is also expanding. However, with the gradual development and growth of my country's tourism industry, the travel agency management system is facing many opportunities and a series of new problems have also emerged. Under the new form, travel agency managers are faced with changing traditional business management concepts. , improving comprehensive management adaptability and many other challenges. Especially after China joins the WTO, foreign travel agencies with strong economic strength, advanced management, high-quality services and rich market experience will enter the domestic tourism market, which will pose a huge challenge to the Chinese travel agency industry. .

A manifestation of the crisis in travel agency management

In the context of market competition, the current crisis in travel agency management is not its own demise, but the result of the increasing number of competitors. The gradual decline of market share and the gradual shrinking of customer sources; on the other hand, with the standardization of industry management, travel agencies are facing major changes in their own business forms, which leads to the problem of whether the management model and business philosophy can be effectively combined with the market. Emergence; with the gradual expansion of the scale of the travel agency industry and changes in consumer demand for services, there is the question of whether travel agency services can be accurately repositioned to meet market demand; after China's accession to the WTO, as foreign countries have abundant funds, technology, and excellent The entry of travel agencies with management talents and high-quality services will impact the dominance of domestic travel agencies in the domestic tourism market, etc. These phenomena are the problems that our country's travel agencies are encountering in the new development process. If our country's travel agency industry, faced with the emergence of such problems, lacks the spirit of innovation and the awareness of establishing a travel agency industry brand, and has no sense of crisis, then our country's travel agencies will The industry will face greater survival and development crises.

2. Categories of travel agency management crises

At present, the main categories of travel agency business management crises are:

(1) Crisis in product design

The design of travel agency products mainly depends on three aspects, namely facility configuration, resource endowment and tourism demand.

1. During the past two decades of great tourism development in our country, although the tourism infrastructure and service facilities have been greatly improved and perfected, the reception facilities in general are not the same as those in developed countries in the tourism industry. There is still a long way to go compared to the standards. This situation is directly related to the current level of national socio-economic development in our country. This makes it difficult for our country to develop products that attract tourists even though it has many rich tourism resources. It is difficult for travel agencies to make breakthroughs in product innovation, and product similarity is inevitable, resulting in hot spots being overheated and cold spots being too cold. The opened tourist routes bear more sales risks.

2. The current composition of travel agencies in my country is still dominated by small and medium-sized travel agencies, which determines that their capital, technology, and risk-taking capabilities are far inferior to those of large and famous brand travel agencies. In terms of product innovation, it is even less possible to quickly open up the situation and find new sales markets to slow down the too fierce market competition. Because of their small scale, they cannot put much effort into marketing and product design. Often, once a good line appears, everyone will imitate it, reuse products, compete at low prices, and product quality will be uneven. , and even poor product quality has occurred, which has seriously led to the emergence of product quality and price crises in the tourism market.

(2) Credibility crisis

The business reputation of a travel agency is an important condition related to the survival of a travel agency. The formation of its reputation stems from the quality of tourism services, which determines the quality of service. In terms of human resources, it depends on each specific staff member and manager who provides services in actual tourism reception activities. We can see from every year's tourism complaint report that complaints about tourism service quality account for a high proportion of all complaints, and they involve a wide range of people, such as tour guides, suppliers, Travel agency staff and managers. In recent years, a series of complaints have appeared in the tourism market, involving gangsters, out-of-scope operations, illegal and disguised transfer of licenses, zero and negative tour fees, false tourism business advertisements, black cars, wild guides, and private use. Private rebates and other phenomena have greatly damaged the public reputation of the travel agency industry, affecting all travel agencies. Even old and famous travel agencies are constantly being implicated.

(3) Talent crisis

1. A crisis characterized by the difficulty in improving the quality of tourism services due to the low overall quality of the tour guide team. In the management of travel agencies, the lack of talents will be another important factor that makes it difficult to realize the groupization and internationalization of tourism operations.

2. With the diversification of the market structure, the loss of some marketing talents, management talents and external liaison talents who have strong business capabilities, are proficient in the internal affairs of travel agencies and master the internal business secrets of travel agencies has caused problems in enterprise management. crisis.

(4) Financial crisis

1. The limitation of enterprise scale determines the limited ability to open up the market, and the resulting low-price competition brings financial crisis to enterprises.

As long as the management awareness of travel agencies remains unchanged and tourism infrastructure and service facilities are not improved, the crisis will still exist for a long time.

2. Due to the change of partners and the immaturity of international business, the emergence of triangular debt and the emergence of corporate bad debts and dead debts have brought financial crisis to the company.

(5) Emergency crisis

The emergency crisis that travel agencies face in the business process can be manifested as natural disasters, such as: earthquakes, floods, fires, etc. It can also manifest as man-made crises, such as: changes in itinerary plans, traffic accidents, disease casualties, property losses, etc. Because of its suddenness, urgency and importance, it is a comprehensive test of the travel agency staff's adaptability, coordination ability and leader's decision-making ability.

Three How to Face and Solve the Crisis in Travel Agency Management

As long as there is competition, there will be a crisis; as long as the business management concept is not improved, there will be a crisis; as long as there is no emphasis on tourism infrastructure and There will be a crisis in the improvement and perfection of service facilities; as long as practitioners cannot consider the overall situation and long-term interests, and only short-sightedly pursue the maximization of the temporary interests of industry practitioners, and do not put the overall interests of the industry above personal interests, there will be a crisis. etc. It can be said that crises are everywhere in the current development process of travel agencies in my country. But in the face of these challenges, we can definitely find effective measures and methods to alleviate and resolve the crisis.

Let us look again at the reasons for these crises. The intensification of industry competition is due to market saturation, and market saturation is caused by the low-level and disorderly expansion of the scale of the travel agency industry; the increase in complaints against the travel agency industry is due to the increasing awareness of tourism consumers of their own protection. , emerged with higher standard requirements for tourism service quality; people's higher requirements for tourism infrastructure and service facilities are due to the fact that people's living standards have entered a new level, and they have higher expectations for tourism quality. High standards, et cetera. The emergence of many crises is ultimately caused by changes in the needs of tourism consumers. Therefore, to alleviate the crisis and solve the crisis, the fundamental key is whether the travel agency's business management philosophy is consistent with the actual needs of consumers.

Methods and countermeasures to solve the crisis:

(1) Master the laws of market competition

Since the operation and management of travel agencies are within the laws of market competition , which undoubtedly makes us ask a question, have you really mastered the laws of market competition?

The application of the "advantage" law of "survival of the fittest" in travel agencies is reflected in high-quality service, high-quality management, high-quality prices, and high-quality unity and cooperation. It is necessary to combine market needs and do a good job in product positioning design. Whether it is a popular product for ordinary consumers or a specific product for high-consumption groups, the brand awareness of creating high-quality tourism products must be established. In view of my country's current level of social and economic development, in market competition, by strengthening internal management of enterprises, reducing industry operating costs, and realizing "high quality and low price" in the law of low-price competition to expand the market scale, it is the survival of the tourism industry that is suitable for my country's national conditions. and development path. In the product design that uses the law of high-price competition to attract consumer groups with specific needs, it should be fully reflected in whether the price and service are equivalent. It should truly achieve "value for money" in order to protect the interests of consumers and satisfy consumers. consumer demand.

In addition, market forecast analysis must be done well. Fully grasp the changes in consumer consumption, including changes in economic income, changes in holidays, changes in consumption patterns, changes in age, changes in education level, etc. This information is the basis for us to understand consumers' consumption psychology and needs. Only by fully considering the interests of consumers can we successfully occupy the tourism consumption market; only by expanding market share can we achieve corporate development and long-term corporate profitability. "Customer is God" should make us understand that only when service standards are well integrated with customer needs and satisfy the people being served can our products gain a place in the market competition.

(2) Scientific management and humanized management

“Scientific management” and “humanized management” are the focus of modern management. Having a positive, united and cooperative team is the goal that every human resources manager strives for. The products sold by travel agencies are comprehensive service products formed by the combination of services in the six major departments of travel, accommodation, food, tourism, shopping and entertainment. This determines that travel agencies have higher requirements for group collaboration capabilities. Therefore, "scientific management", "Humanized management" should be fully reflected in the daily management affairs of travel agencies, providing a shortcut for the successful establishment of enterprise management mechanisms and laying a solid foundation for the long-term management and development of enterprises.

(3) Strengthen the sensitivity of the travel agency’s internal reflection mechanism

1. Whether the travel agency manager’s awareness, sensitivity and decision-making of the market are accurate and in place is the key to whether the travel agency can Important factors in detecting, mitigating and resolving crises. Of course, the manager's own comprehensive management quality is the basis for successful management, but only through the joint efforts of all employees can management goals be achieved. This includes whether front-line staff can collect, organize, analyze and provide feedback on data in a timely manner. This requires the establishment of a crisis prediction and management team in the travel agency.

Based on the information obtained from the data, combine the characteristics of its own tourism products with market development changes and consumer demand, make timely and accurate crisis predictions, and propose corresponding preventive measures or plans according to the type of crisis, in order to When a crisis comes, respond calmly and resolve it appropriately. In the end, the travel agency management decision-makers will demonstrate and analyze the feasibility of the plan and make the best crisis response.

2. Strengthen the connection between travel agencies and the tourism market business environment. This includes studying national, provincial, and local policies and regulations and strengthening relevant contacts with tourism administration departments, public security, justice, customs and other relevant departments to increase the ability of enterprises to adapt to changes in the market environment.

(4) Strengthen the professional ideological and moral education and training and assessment of business capabilities of employees

1. To improve service quality and mitigate competitive crises, we must start from face-to-face interactions with consumers. It starts with personnel. In particular, improving the overall quality of the tour guide team is the core of our problem-solving.

2. Travel agencies should strengthen the professional ideological and moral education of employees by improving business literacy and cultivating professionalism. Among them, "applying what they learn and being consistent in words and deeds" should be the goal of professional ideological and moral education in the tourism industry. . Using humanistic care to achieve the goals of institutional management, and adopting a management approach that combines humanization and institutionalization may be more effective than pure institutional management.

3. Promote employees to improve tourism service levels by providing irregular business training and assessments for employees, and linking them with personal salaries, bonuses, and rewards, and also reduce the occurrence of tourism service quality crises. .

(5) The development of the travel agency industry in the future must be based on the groupization and scale of travel agencies, the networking of small and medium-sized travel agencies, and the mutual union of travel agencies

Because only in this way can we slow down the The crisis brought about by China's entry into the WTO is whether travel agency management standards are consistent with world standards. Modern travel agencies should not focus on immediate profits, but should take a long-term view, strictly implement quality management with high quality and high-standard service levels, establish a high-quality brand, and do basic work for the enterprise to expand and reproduce, and to achieve the long-term future of the enterprise. and make unremitting efforts to achieve strategic goals.

IV Conclusion

“Understanding the crisis, predicting the crisis, mitigating the crisis, and resolving the crisis” are the four steps to correctly face the crisis in the operation and management process of travel agencies. As long as we establish crisis awareness, view the emergence of travel agency crises with a correct attitude, and use scientific and effective measures and methods, we can enable travel agencies to avoid crises in the process of operation and management, maintain a normal development trend, and be in a winning position. Unbeaten position.