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Tourism Product Marketing

Discuss the main issues of Service Quality Management in Tourism Marketing with Reference to Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry's (1985) "SERVQUAL Model"

Introduction
It is well known nowadays, that markets and businesses operate very differently than in past eras. During the last two decades, technology has undergone an explosive growth. Deregulation of markets has made competition become more intense and consumers more demanding.

Additionally, the major importance of the manufacturing industries that existed in past eras has been decreased significantly and is has been replaced by the services sector. Indeed, according to Ingram and Daskalakis (1999:24), ‘the dominance of manufacturing industries has waned…and has been replaced by a buoyant services sector in which the hospitality industry has become one of the world's largest industries with an international identity'.

Furthermore, Akan (1995:39) refers to the importance of the services sector in the global economy stating that ‘the economic share of services…accounts for more than half the sum of all GNPs worldwide' , while according to the World Travel and Tourism Council, ‘tourism industry constitutes 11 per cent of global GDP…and…. by 2010, the tourism economy contribution is estimated to grow to 12 per cent of global GDP, and will support 250 million jobs, 9 per cent of total employment (stated in Rita, 2000:434).

Therefore, the hospitality/tourism sector constitutes a very important service sector that can contribute to the auxesis of the economic and social welfare. Furthermore, many tourism academics and practitioners predict that the tourism and hospitality industry is set to continue beyond the millennium.

Generally, some of the elements that best depict the current era in terms of the hospitality and tourism sector are the following:

• Dominance of the services sector over the manufacturing sector
• Global recognition of the significance of the tourism sector (Akan, 1995; Rita,...