APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2014/2015

RLS 3588 Servicequality and Tourism - RE-SIT-EXAMINATION

Responsible for the course
Nina Ronæs

Department
Department of Innovation and Economic Organisation

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
7,5

Language of instruction
Norwegian

Introduction
The travel industry is in constant change and development. Competing enterprises are set up while new enterprises emerge, travel habits and trends change, the financial crisis restricts travellers’ travel and new technology affects everything from distribution and communication to travellers’ behaviour. People travel more than ever and have also become very demanding as regards service quality. In order for enterprises to be competitive the management must at all times monitor and ensure service quality to achieve customer satisfaction. Providing top service quality has therefore become an essential task for most tourist enterprises and increased knowledge in this area is therefore a success factor. The course focuses on the hotel and accommodation sector as the largest and most work-intensive sector in the travel industry.

Learning outcome
After having completed the course the students shall have achieved the following goals:

Acquired knowledge
After having completed the course student should be familiar with and be able to explain theories, tools and methods to perform effective quality management and operation of accommodation enterprises. They shall also develop an understanding of the value of service quality for these enterprises and the requirements for good quality management for the success of these enterprises.

Acquired skills
After having completed the course the students shall be able to apply relevant theories and models for meeting the quality-related challenges facing tourist enterprises. The students shall also be able to implement tools for quality management in the travel enterprise.

Reflection
The student shall develop an understanding of the importance of good service quality for the enterprise’s competitive situation. In addition, the student shall show an ability to reflect on the enterprise’s critical success factors through insight and application of the various theories of the course.

Prerequisites
The course Introduction to Tourism or an equivalent course.

Compulsory reading

Collection of articles:
Nina Ronæs. 2011. Artikkelsamling til RLS 3588 Servicekvalitet i reiselivsnæringen. Publiseres på Itslearning

Recommended reading

Course outline

• Introduction to tourism, theory, models and concepts
• Service quality, concepts and dimensions
• Influence of people, processes and physical surroundings
• The role of the service personnel and service quality
• Service quality and customer satisfaction
• Competitive advantages of service quality
• Standards and qualification systems
• Measuring service quality and customer satisfaction
• Handling of complaints
• Service guarantees
• Relationship management
• Service quality and the environment
• Service quality and technology

1. Learning process
   The course is carried out as process teaching with a combination of lectures, company presentations, group discussions, student presentations and individual assignments. The students shall compile a student portfolio in the course of the semester, consisting of five (5) written hand-in assignments that can be solved individually or in groups of up to three students. Each hand-in assignment is to be evaluated by the teacher but is not graded. A plenary review is conducted after each assignment with discussions and presentations. The students can continue to work on the assignments and improve them up to the final submission of the portfolio. The assignments are handed out regularly during the semester, the first one at around the start of the semester and the last towards the end of the semester. The students select four (of five) assignments to be included in the final portfolio. This form of process teaching will provide students with a positive learning process and improved learning outcome since they will be actively working on the subject both in the lectures and between the lectures.
   
   One of the assignments will be writing a self-evaluation report relating to the course and the assignments that have been completed and perhaps other elements that the student finds relevant. The purpose of the self-evaluation report is that the student shall become conscious of the learning outcome of the course for him/her, in addition to his/her reflection on the work and selection process. The portfolio is to be submitted both on paper and electronically via It’s learning.
   
2. Recommended student workload