Title: Quality management systems in tourism companies: the case of travel agencies in Egypt

Authors: Mohammed I. Eraqi

Addresses: Tourism Studies Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Fayoum University, Fayoum Governorate, Egypt

Abstract: For best practices, a tourism company needs to establish its own quality management system to help in comparing (benchmarking) the tourism company to its competitors and, if necessary (in most cases), differentiate it from others. Quality Management Systems (QMSs) offer a unique and original experience to the visitor and ensure his satisfaction and loyalty. This paper tries to provide an overview of the importance of QMSs to the tourism business sector and examines the degree to which there is an approach for quality measurement in the Egyptian tourism companies/travel agencies. The data of the research has been collected through questionnaires distributed to tourism managers in the Egyptian tourism companies/travel agencies. Out of the 150 randomly selected tourism companies, 50 fully completed and returned the questionnaire forms yielding a relatively satisfied response rate of 33%. The paper findings explain that Egyptian tourism companies do not have any of Quality Management (QM) approach and they do not have a clear system for quality control and/or quality assurance.

Keywords: quality management systems; QMS; travel agents; quality assurance; quality control; performance improvement; Egyptian tourism; tourism companies; travel agencies; Egypt.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2008.017886

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2008 Vol.1 No.3, pp.337 - 352

Published online: 21 Apr 2008 *

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