On the research of tourism service, foreign countries attach great importance to the empirical research on the perception and satisfaction of tourism service from the perspective of tourists, while domestic countries pay more attention to the psychology, attitude and skills of tourism service personnel. Tourism service trade is also one of the hot spots studied by domestic scholars, which is consistent with the characteristics that China's tourism development pays more attention to economic orientation.
Keywords: tourism service; Tourism service foundation; Tourism service quality; Tourism e-commerce
China Library Classification Number: F590 Document Identification Number: A Document Number:1001-778x (2004) 05-0133-05 *
A Summary and Comment on Tourism Service Research at Home and Abroad
(Department of Tourism, Business School, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China)
Abstract: The research on tourism service abroad mostly focuses on the tourists' feelings and satisfaction with the service. However, China's research focuses on the psychology, attitude and skills of tourism service personnel towards tourists. Another hot issue for researchers in China is tourism service trade, which is very consistent with the economic direction of tourism development in China.
Keywords: tourism service; Tourism service foundation; Tourism service quality; Travel e2com2 merce
Tourism service is a comprehensive service phenomenon at a certain stage of economic development, and it is an invisible interaction between tourism service providers and recipients. The supply and demand sides of tourism services have realized their respective interests in the exchange, but this interactive process does not involve the transfer of ownership. [1] (P 13$ 55) The World Tourism Organization defines tourism services as all services provided by tourism enterprises to meet the needs of tourists, including 12 tourism and tourism-related services, entertainment, cultural and sports services, financial services and transportation services. [2 ]
This paper summarizes the research on tourism service at home and abroad, analyzes the present situation and development trend of tourism service theory at home and abroad, and summarizes the problems that need further research in China.
A summary of foreign tourism service research
Since the middle and late 20th century, foreign scholars have begun to use the theories of service management, service marketing, service economics and experience economy to study many aspects of tourism services. Throughout their research results, it can be summarized as the following four aspects:
(a) Basic research on tourism services
Study the characteristics and functions of tourism services from different industries and departments and different angles. Colin C Wilhemlms (1997) emphasized the role of customer service, including tourism service, retail service and cultural service, in the local economic development, and pointed out that the development strategies of these industries should be changed from producer-oriented to consumer-oriented. [3] (page 5-30) and J anet D. Neal et al. (1999) put forward a model to measure the satisfaction of leisure tourism services on the basis of the hierarchical structure of life satisfaction model. Through the investigation of 373 tourists and the analysis of L ISREL, the conclusion that "tourism satisfaction has a direct impact on life satisfaction" is drawn. [4 ]
(B) Research on Tourism Service Perception
This is a focus of research by foreign scholars. The basic idea is to analyze the tourists' expectations for the quality of tourism services, their satisfaction with tourism services, and the factors that affect their perception of tourism services, so as to provide suggestions for tourism enterprises to improve their services accordingly. Eric Laws (1998) used the service blueprint method to study the service design concept of Leeds Castle in England and the relationship between tourist experience and satisfaction management. [5] Victor B Teye et al. (1998) studied passengers' satisfaction with a series of cruise products and service delivery elements, and came to the conclusion that in addition to meeting or exceeding passengers' expectations as a whole, it is necessary to provide key product and service delivery areas to maximize the satisfaction of cruise passengers. [6] Klaus Weiermair et al. (1999) studied the tourists' quality judgments on different tourism activities and different service contents of alpine ski resorts, and quantified the overall service quality of the resorts. The results of linear regression and Sirgy's customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction model show that there is a linear relationship between the overall quality and tourists' judgment on various fields or aspects. [7] Sheena westwood et al. (2000) studied the concerns of female business travelers about the low comfort and safety in aviation services and the sexist attitude of employees, and pointed out that the aviation industry should change the current male-dominated service attitude and facilities supply to meet the needs of professional women. [8] Kevin Nield et al. (2000) investigated the role and importance of catering service in tourists' satisfaction. The results show that tourists from Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Romania have great differences in judging factors such as price, food quality, catering quantity, catering service standard, catering color, food appearance and service speed. Food quality, price, catering color, catering environment and food appearance are the most influential factors in Romania's catering service experience. [9] Beverly A. Sparks et al. (200 1) studied the different effects of various service recovery strategies on customer satisfaction in the hotel industry, and discussed the significance of this for managers and scholars. [10] Yuksel Ekinci et al. (2003) used SERVQUAL model to measure the service quality of accommodation facilities in Crete, England. The results show that British tourists pay more attention to intangible elements in service, and the overall satisfaction of tourists with service is marginal. In addition, different genders of tourists and different types of accommodation facilities will also lead to different perceptions of service quality. [11] Maryam Khan (2003) proposed the ECOSERV model to investigate the service quality expectations of eco-tourists. Factor analysis shows that eco-tourists care about service quality in six aspects: ecological display, self-confidence, reliability, response, investment and tangible display. [12] Under the influence of western social experience and experience economy, some scholars have studied tourists' tourism service experience from different angles such as sociology, anthropology, psychology and service marketing, and given many suggestions from the perspective of management. Julie e otto et al. (1996) also used factor analysis to discuss the experience degree of tourism service. [ 13 ]
(c) Study on the quality of tourism services.
Foreign scholars have studied the quality of tourism service from many different angles, and put forward methods to measure and improve the quality of service. Is2abelle Frochot (2000) introduced the method of measuring the service quality in historical buildings by using the HISTOQUAL model which is more in line with the new service economics framework, and provided a tool for managers to discover the advantages and disadvantages of services. [14] Arie Reichel (2000) conducted an empirical study on 206 tourists and 23 entrepreneurs by using Gronroos' perceived service quality model on the basis of in-depth investigation on the quality and orientation of tourism services in rural areas of Israel, revealed the gap between the expected value of tourism services and the actual perception, and put forward some management suggestions and marketing suggestions to improve the quality of tourism services. [15] Jay candanpli (200 1) discussed the quality management of tourism services in hotel industry, tourism industry and leisure industry. [16] (p 21-160) Richard Sharpley et al. (2003), in view of the fact that people generally pay attention to the development strategy of quality tourism and ignore the role of tourism professionals, especially hotel service personnel in quality management, conducted a survey on hotel service personnel in Cyprus and found many factors that support and limit service quality. [ 17 ]
(D) E-tourism services and tourism e-commerce research
The main research contents include the factors affecting the development of e-tourism service, the actual and potential impact of technological progress on tourism service, the development trend of online tourism service and e-tourism information system, etc. For example, L. Rayman2Bacchus (200 1) points out some factors affecting the future development of online travel services and predicts the future development trend of online travel services in Europe on the basis of evaluating the development status of online travel services and studying 50 top travel websites. [18] Joconnell (1999) probes into the influence of technological progress on tourist information centers, and points out that tourist information centers must be transformed into sales-oriented and service-oriented, so as to keep up with the changes in consumer demand. [19] Aleksander Zgrzywa (1998) studied the service waiting time in the travel agency service system, obtained the average waiting time through modeling, divided the working degree of the system into seven grades, and put forward some suggestions on improving the system performance. [20 ]
A summary of domestic tourism service research
Domestic scholars have used foreign research results for reference, supplemented and summarized them accordingly, and combined with the development reality of China's tourism services, they have made more in-depth exploration than foreign scholars in some aspects. The main content focuses on the following six aspects:
(a) Basic research on tourism services
This paper mainly studies the concept, classification, characteristics and development trend of tourism service. For example, Zhang Guangrui (1999) introduced the international classification methods of tourism services, including the classification of tourism-related services by service departments, the subdivision of tourism-related services by the United Nations Interim CPC, and the classification of tourism-related services by the secretariat of the Council for Trade in Services of the World Trade Organization according to the international classification standards of tourism activities of the World Tourism Organization. [2 1] Zhu Guifeng (1999) divided tourism services into functional services and psychological services from a psychological perspective, and also divided tourism services into paid services and free services from a value-oriented perspective. [22] Zhuang Zhimin (1999) pointed out eight cultural trends in the future development of tourism services from the aspects of service marketing, service function, service ontology, service management, service mode, service concept, service benefit and service skill training. [23] Zhang Wenjian (2003) systematically expounded the concept, characteristics and classification of tourism services in his book Tourism Service Marketing, which helps us to understand the basic connotation of tourism services from multiple angles and levels.
(B) Tourism service quality research
This paper mainly studies the quality standards, satisfaction and standards of tourism services.
Problems and methods of improving service quality. He Jianmin (1995) introduced the international standards of tourism service from four aspects: attitude, language of behavior, meeting customers' needs and criteria, and put forward some suggestions to improve the quality of China's tourism service in line with international standards. [24] Li (1999) put forward the quality standards of tourism services from the perspective of tourists' requirements for tourism services, and pointed out the economic significance of improving the quality of tourism services. [25] Chen Shujun et al. (2003) emphasized the importance of customer satisfaction and gave six measures to improve the satisfaction of tourism services. [26] Wang Dawu (1997) systematically discussed the standardization of China's tourism service, gave five principles for establishing the tourism service quality system, the service quality system structure and 20 elements for its operation, finally discussed the relationship between standardized service and personalized service, and pointed out the advantages of personalized service. [27] On the way to improve the quality of tourism services, scholars have conducted extensive research from different angles by using a variety of theories and methods, such as using the service blueprint design method to ensure the quality of tourism services (Ma Yajun, 200 1)[28], [29] using social exchange theory to manage the quality of tourism services from the perspective of social psychology (Zou Tongqian,199 [30 ]
(C) Research on tourism service trade
Like the concern about the quality of tourism services, the trade in tourism services is one of the issues that domestic scholars have studied more. The main contents of the study focus on the relationship with tourism service trade (,200 1), [3 1] barriers to tourism service trade (,2003), [32] the development of international tourism service trade in China (Jin, 2001; Lin Meiying, 2000; Tian Xizhou, 2003), [33-35] The relationship between tourism service trade and culture (Jiang Zhou, 2000), etc. [36 ]
(d) Study on tourism service skills
Mainly from the perspective of psychology and aesthetics, this paper studies the application of professional skills such as nonverbal communication, language art, induction strategy and body language in tourism service, so as to improve the service skills of tourism service personnel (Xu Xiumin,1998; Liu, 2002; Qin Yuanhao, 2000; Deng Fenglian, 1999). [37-40] Xue Qunhui (2000) proposed that the following psychological strategies should be used in the process of tourism promotion: perceptual strategy, imitation and suggestion strategy, perceptual and rational strategy. Using the combination principle of perceptual objects, such as the law of proximity and the law of locking, the effectiveness of tourism advertisements can be enhanced. At the same time, tourism advertisements should pay attention to subjective factors that affect tourism perception, such as tourists' interests, needs, motives, emotions, expectations, personality and other psychological factors, as well as objective factors that affect tourism perception, such as various characteristics, colors, sounds and shapes of tourism advertisements, and the relationship between the object and background of tourism advertisements and the advertising information itself. [4 1] Lou Xiaohuan (2003) also expounded the connotation, function and role of public tourism service consciousness, and took Zhoushan as an example to analyze the defects of public tourism service consciousness and put forward corresponding strengthening measures. [42 ]
Research on e-tourism service
Xin Wang (2000), based on a detailed analysis of the definition and characteristics of tourism e-commerce, proposed that tourism e-commerce has brought a revolutionary impact on the inherent market barriers of China's tourism market, which has always been divided by administrative divisions, and new market concerns will continue to emerge. [43] Yuan Bin (2000) introduced the functions, advantages and successful cases of HP's E @ Travel service solution, believing that it can help enterprises to realize the electronization and networking of travel services quickly, increase their income and improve customer satisfaction. [44] Zheng Dong (200 1) discussed the necessity, possibility, content and methods of credit card cooperation between business travel enterprises and banks. [45] Hu Jingchun (2003) studied the convenience brought by the Internet to the teaching of tourism service management and the online travel services that students can obtain by using the Internet. [46] Yin Ji (2003) believes that tourism should strengthen the construction of information systems, and tourism enterprises should also enhance their information sensitivity and improve their ability to make rational decisions by using information; At the same time, it is necessary to implement all-round marketing, that is, multi-level and multi-mode marketing including traditional network and internet, establish an e-commerce system in the industry, and create a big environment conducive to the healthy development of tourism e-commerce. [47] Yang (2004) believes that e-commerce has the characteristics of wide coverage and low sales cost for tourism consumption, which makes up for the shortage that offline tourism cannot meet the requirements of a large number of retail tourists. The low-cost advantage of e-commerce for tourism consumption is largely their realization and utilization in economies of scale and scope. E-commerce of tourism consumption will be the main consumption form in the future, and self-made itinerary and self-help price will also be the main characteristics of future tourism. With the deepening and application of e-commerce, major travel agencies have gradually changed from simple service centers to multiple identities of related information processing and management centers. This requires its decision-makers to have advanced management concepts, the quality of managers to meet the needs of information dissemination, to realize the effective integration of e-commerce websites and traditional professional resources of travel agencies, to complete the generation of non-interactive communication and the fundamental change of communication mode, to establish an effective information chain, service chain and value chain with office automation and information management as the core, to realize the multipolar growth of travel agencies and to make tourism consumption move towards e-commerce. [48 ]
(VI) Research on tourism service system
There is little research on tourism service system in China, among which Zou Huiping (1996) discussed the necessity, feasibility and conception of establishing a flexible and quick-response tourism service system, [49] Lang Fuping (2002) analyzed the existing problems and reasons of Hangzhou tourism service from the perspective of tourism service quality system, and put forward the ways to improve it. Zhao Jie (2002) built a tourism service system TSS based on browser/server, and analyzed its functions, characteristics, network structure, software structure and key technologies. [5 1] Zhang Wenjian (200 1, 2003) proposed a tourism service system model and a tourism service provision system from the perspectives of tourism and service respectively. [ 52 ]
Analysis and evaluation
(A) Comparison of domestic and foreign tourism service research
Scholars at home and abroad have the same research on tourism services in some aspects, but they also have their own emphasis. Understanding these similarities and differences will help us understand the angle, depth, methods and weaknesses of tourism service research and continue related research.
The research hotspots of tourism services at home and abroad are the same: (1) In terms of research contents, the basic research of tourism services, the quality of tourism services and e-tourism services are the hot spots concerned by scholars at home and abroad. However, most of these contents talk about the problems existing in the service from the perspective of service, which is not macro enough, and less systematically diagnose the defects of the tourism service system or tourism industry from the perspective of service; (2) From the research point of view, everyone pays attention to analyzing tourism services from other disciplines, such as service management, service marketing and psychology. (3) In terms of research methods, it mainly applies the theories, viewpoints and methods of other disciplines to tourism services. For example, foreign scholars usually apply life satisfaction rating model, SERVQUAL model, Sirgy's customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction model, Gronroos' perceived service quality model and service blueprint method to the research of general service industry or directly or after modification to the research of tourism service. Domestic scholars also put forward that it is suitable to study tourism services on the basis of management theories and methods. From this point of view, tourism service research has not yet formed its own mature research method system; (4) From the research results, the number of monographs and papers related to tourism services at home and abroad is not rich, and the research content has not formed a system. The research on tourism service is still in a scattered state, and tourism service is far from forming its own unique, mature and systematic theory.
Differences: (1) From the research content, foreign countries attach great importance to the empirical research on the perception and satisfaction of tourism services from the perspective of tourists, while domestic countries pay more attention to the psychology, attitude and skills of tourism service personnel. In addition, tourism service trade is also one of the hot spots studied by domestic scholars, which is consistent with the characteristics that China's tourism development pays more attention to economic orientation; (2) From the research point of view, foreign scholars have a broader vision than domestic scholars, involving sociology, anthropology, experience economy and many other aspects, with a solid theoretical foundation and rigorous academic attitude; (3) From the perspective of research methods, foreign scholars prefer to select representative regions, industries or enterprises for case analysis, attach importance to and be good at on-the-spot investigation of tourists and tourism service personnel, pay attention to establishing models for mathematical analysis and quantitative analysis, and have various technical means. On the contrary, domestic research often uses words to describe or infer reasoning, and less mathematical analysis; (4) From the choice of research objects, foreign scholars like to choose a specific industry or field in the tourism industry, while domestic scholars like to pay attention to the tourism industry as a whole, and generally do not subdivide the tourism services of specific industries in the tourism industry; (5) From the usability of the research results, the suggestions made by foreign scholars are more operable, because they pay attention to specific fields and attach importance to the opinions of final consumers and service providers such as tourists and tourism service personnel. In contrast, the countermeasures and suggestions put forward by domestic scholars are more macro and less micro. This is also the difficulty of tourism service research. How to apply the theoretical results to practice well and bring industrial value is an important problem that puzzles scholars.
(B) Problems to be further studied in China
The above analysis clearly outlines the research status and development trend of tourism service theory. Compared with the vigorous research abroad, domestic tourism service research needs to be further explored in the following four aspects to accelerate the development of China's tourism service industry.
1. In terms of research content, on the one hand, it is still necessary to make a micro-analysis of tourism services, but the depth and breadth of research need to be strengthened. On the other hand, it is more necessary to apply the service concept, strengthen macro-analysis from the perspective of serving tourists, and carry out relevant research on tourism service system and tourism service industry from the perspective of promoting the extension of service chain.
2. From the research point of view, on the one hand, the subject angle should be broader, and we should pay attention to absorbing the strengths of many disciplines to study tourism services, and use the existing subject knowledge and methods to lay the foundation for the formation of our own system theory for tourism services. But at the same time, we should avoid the phenomenon of not digesting and absorbing theoretical methods and directly eating them alive.
3. In terms of research methods, on the one hand, we should strengthen the investigation and research on the opinions of tourists and tourism service personnel, strive to understand the actual situation objectively, conduct quantitative, qualitative and inferential analysis, and avoid subjective assumptions. On the other hand, we should master the scale of case analysis. Case analysis is necessary, but this kind of analysis is often based on the investigation of specific regions, specific industries and specific personnel, so it is inevitably special and lacks universality and regularity.
4. In the application of research results, on the one hand, we should pay attention to the close combination of tourism service theory and tourism industry practice, and establish a coordination system of tourism service development and application combining politics, production and learning; On the other hand, priority should be given to the development of tourism service content, marketing methods, tourism e-commerce and other fields with convenient application and high practical value, so as to realize the overall value-added of China's tourism service industry.
With the gradual transition from industrial economy era to service economy era in China, the importance of service has become increasingly prominent. As a typical service industry, tourism has higher requirements on service quality, service function and service function. Moreover, after more than 20 years of development in China, the growth mode of tourism should also change from extensive to intensive, and from traditional tourism service industry to modern tourism service industry. In this process, how the tourism service industry can provide high-quality, distinctive and all-round tourism services, keep up with the development of other mature domestic service industries and integrate with the process of modern tourism service industry in the world is an important issue worthy of our close attention and in-depth study. Author: Feng
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