Top 10 companies operating by management contract
3.14 Evolutions regarding the sphere of tourism services
could have had an official statistic of the auto tourism, both grey and black. These new methods, used in market economy, are too few known and far from finding financing and organization here.
Probably such data is available for special services, including the holiday capacity or houses built as secondary residences, but in practice such data is missing; how to base a decision about catering or a realistic insurance rate?
We may conclude that in order to face globalization criteria we must be able to use international statistics as well as being able to develop specialized databases which can allow for a decision to be taken ex ante. At the same time, the technique of using new international statistics models must be analyzed, such as the SSR or the TSA, which call for larger attention in comparing data from before and after the 9th decade, which are published.
3.14 Evolutions regarding the sphere of tourism services.
The total quality is defined by the ensemble of all the principles and methods applied in an enterprise, within an ensemble strategy regarding the permanent amelioration of product and service quality made by continuous improvement of the functioning of performances of that respective unit.160
It is very hard to tackle the “totality” of issues regarding the quality of tourism services.
The area is extremely vast: laundry quality means an application of norms regarding standards for each tourism unit: commencing with the purchase, depositing, manipulation, maintenance (washing, repairing, cleaning, etc.) and its destruction; cleaning spaces can be very complex, spaces such as kitchens or spas, usage of fuels must be in accordance with safety and pollution regulations in countries where the transport means are being used, but also some of those who are brought by clients; this considering maximum profits; quality is often connected with safety as is the case of aerial transportation or means of agreement, for instance, it can be hardly commensurate, as is the case for interpret guides, the windo
b
160 Petr cu I., Dragomir C., Cismaru G., Managementul afacerilor economice internaţionale în industria lemnului, Ed. Lux Libris, Braşov, 1998 p. 98 after Sava R. Componente manageriale în creşterea profitabilităţii firmei turistice – Ph.D. thesis, Universitatea “Lucian Blaga” Sibiu 2003
161 we are compelled to use this name, as Romanian equivalents for entertainment are not surprising enough. See annex 3 for the definition of the term.
162 Still, the ATLAS Conference (Association for Tourism and Leisure Education) of June 2003 had as a theme
“Quality of Life”. In the following we will support our exposition on communications by: Postuma, A. – Quality of Life: competing value perspective in leisure and tourism şi Marciszewska, A. – Leisure time use of the Internet and the Quality of Life.
es
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standar is the purpose of sustainable development. Life quality means, according to Max-Neef,
“the way in which we live our own lives163”, the way in which we satisfy the basic 9 human needs:
subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participating, fun, creativity, identity and freedom e more and more important: that of the consumption society, based on an unlimited usage of resources for a welfare society and that of the conservatory society, which desires to enrich the quality of life trough sustainable development.
he concept of life quality is a multidimensional, inter-disciplinary and holistic concept, concentrated on the entire society. Tourism and leisure must be regarded as an integral part of the actual (post-industrial) society and its organization. This is why they must be regarded as “tools”
which can be used for satisfying social needs. At the same time, they are a performing industry which can contribute to the wellbeing of a given region. Of course, the economic value of tourism can not be put into question, at least, not as we have show it, but we can question its over soliciting. But tourism also makes a “distribution” of knowledge about a region, community, raising the quality and experience of the tourist. Postma considers that the actual consumerist way of think
d
. Two concepts have becom T
ing must be stopped and we must take into account a multitude of values which will allow for a correct quantification of tourism and leisure – complexly integrated into today’s society. He defines “appropriate” tourism or the “quality of tourism” the tourism which tries to consider the needs and value orientations of its main actors, as an example: the tourist, industry and community and who cares about a just measurement of interests in a fair and democratic fashion. To highlight the three directions, he uses the following representation.
Quality
“of experiences”
quality
of opportunity
Quality of life Quality of tourism
Tourist Industry
Community
163 “the way we experience our lives”
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The nature of the western society is changing. In the post-industrial age, western society known demographical, technological, social and political changes. O’Sullivan & Spangler in Experience Marketing argue that the passage of western society from economic to psychical rewards. In a world of abundance the need for experiences becomes paramount. Consumption, in their vision, will not increase life standards, rather the quality of life. They divide suppliers into makers – supplier which create experiences as main elements of their services (leisure, traveling, hospitality and agreement) and “enhancers” – suppliers which use experiences to increase the degree of satisfaction for participants or which differentiate their services from the competition (person
y opportunity costs, to which one must add the res
ourism, tourism of “experiences”. It is clear that these values are limited to the society of the rich countries, but also destinations across the rest of the world must know them in order to answer requirements of tourists which come from rich countries, used to a new way of perceiving services.
he expression “sustainable development” officially appeared after the World Summit held in Rio in 1992 and wishes to basically cover all that men must do in order to maintain conditions of sustainability for the human society in the future, here on earth.
he first step in the tourism field (1996) may be considered “the 21st Agenda for the tourism and traveling industry: towards a sustainable environment development”, a sector plan launched by the WTO, WTTC and the Earth Council, although ever since 1992 the “Code for responsible environment tourism”164 was introduced by the PATA (The Pacific Asia Tourism Association) General Assembly. We also mention the “Code for child protection against sexual and labor exploitation in tourism”, as a private initiative or the “Sustainable tourism and cultural heritage” report published in 1999 by the World Bank. The prize for responsible capitalism was granted to Marilyn Carlson Nelson, the administrator and manager of the Carlson companies, to illustrate the importance of citizenship of multinational corporations, as recognition of the importance of the contribution that they can bring in countries where they operate.
en years later, at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development in Rio plus 10 from Johannesburg, an attempt to evaluate the progresses was made, as well as current emergencies. On the established pattern, the Commission for Sustainable Development created the
“Industry as a partner for Sustainable Development” report, by the WTTC, IFTO (International Federation of Tourism Operators), IH & RA, the ICCL (International Council of Cruise Lines), which tried to present the perspectives of tourism as well, moreover considering that 2002 was the year of ecotourism as well. The report presents the daily status of tourism, and as a separate perspec ve, its issues from an economic point of view, from its social perspective, the one garding the environment, to see how the tourism industry answers the development of sustain , future objectives, and a proposition for the continuation of the process which already had begun. As a separate perspective, the evolutions of the sustainability of tourism in tour-op tivity was presenting itself, the hospitability industry, of cruises and terrestrial transports by coach or rent a car, in order to finish with a plea for dialog.
mit. There is now lenty of literature on the subject. We do not want to insist as Romania is not at all able to sustain such a
alized segments of the service industry, such as hospitals, airlines, supermarkets, churches).
They underline the fact that an experience includes: the client, the supplier, other participants to the experience, it’s interaction with his as it is.
From the point of view of the community, the potential contribution which tourism can offer to the host community must be counterbalanced b
triction that profits can be maintained on a long term basis. Tourism quality is one of the elements, but an important one, of the larger concept of tourist destination.
The theory which will develop around this concept will be based on a new form of t
T
A couple of conferences, meetings and events have accompanied the Sum p
kind of tourism. At a matter of fact, the Johannesburg Summit has clear showed that Rio
164 Code for Environmentally Responsible Tourism
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process has failed, as long as the big economic powers (including in tourism) avoid to involved themselves, even “forgetting” to sign the agreement.
Tourism is a synthesis activity and gathers the whole economy and the cultural, social etc.
areas and is a real barometer of life standards. So it might have a major effect on influencing the human life. But, providing that it acquire people problems it can not offer something else.
PART II
n the glob tion: t e e es
Romania, a te th athi ll ith the Holy
he co whe k an y r ive
37 qua met d o o
language of international traffic, which can make them known.