Apply Quality Control

1. Introduction
1.1.Meaning and Importance
Present era is the ‘Era of Quality’. In this age of cutthroat competition and large scale
production, only that manufacturer can survive who supplies better quality goods and renders
service to-the consumers. Proper quality control ensures most effective utilization of available
resources and reduction in cost of production.
The word quality control comprises of two words viz., quality and control. It would be
appropriate to explain these two words separately to understand clearly the meaning of quality
control.
The quality of a product may be defined as the sum of a number of related characteristics such
as shape, dimension, composition, strength, workmanship, adjustment, finish and color. It is
clear from these definitions that quality refers to various characteristics of a product and their
excellence. Quality is a relative term and is never absolute depending upon the use of the product
and circumstances under which it is used.
It involves many steps to be undertaken
 Product must possess a minimum level of quality so that it could be easily sold in the
market.
 In order to measure quality, accurate standard measurements must be established.
 Reasonable deviation from the pre-determined standards must be determined.
 Satisfactory level of quality must be achieved with a minimum cost.
Control refers to the use of all the ways and means whereby quality standards could be
maintained. Control precisely aims at bringing the product up to predetermined standards by
minimizing deviations from established and present standards.
It consists in verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plan adopted, the
instructions issued and principles established. It has objected to point out weaknesses and errors
in order to rectify them and prevent recurrence. It operates on everything things, people, and
action.
Thus, it is clear that a good control system should be such which suggests corrective remedies so
that negative deviations may not re-occur in future. The scope of the term ‘control’ is wider,
including not only product to be produced but also extending to workmen and their methods of
operations.
In the absence of effective control over production operations, desired quality in products to be
produced cannot be achieved. In other words quality control is concerned with controlling those
negative variances which ultimately affect the excellence of a manufacturer in producing the
products. Hence, quality control means the recognition and removal of identifiable causes and
defects, and variables from the set standards.
Quality control (QC) is a procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a manufactured
product or performed service adheres to a defined set of quality criteria or meets the
requirements of the client or customer.
In order to implement an effective QC program an enterprise must:
 First decide which specific standards the product or service must meet
 Then the extent of QC actions must be determined (for example, the percentage of units to
be tested from each lot)
 Next, real-world data must be collected (for example, the percentage of units that fail) and
the results reported to management personnel
 After this, corrective action must be decided upon and taken (for example, defective units
must be repaired or rejected and poor service repeated at no charge until the customer is
satisfied). If too many unit failures or instances of poor service occur, a plan must be
devised to improve the production or service process and then that plan must be put into
action
 Finally, the QC process must be ongoing to ensure that remedial efforts, if required, have
produced satisfactory results and to immediately detect recurrences or new instances of
trouble

1.2. Objectives of quality control

Following are the important objectives of quality control:
 To establish the desired quality standards which are acceptable to the customers
 To discover flaws or variations in the processes in order to ensure smooth and
uninterrupted production and delivery.
  To evaluate the methods and processes of production and delivery and suggest further
improvements in their functioning.
 To study and determine the extent of quality deviation.
 To analyze in detail the causes responsible for such deviation.
 To undertake such steps which are helpful in achieving the desired quality of the product

2. Quality in hospitality industry

Quality in the tourism and hospitality industry involves consistent delivery of products and guest
services according to expected standards. Service quality in the hospitality industry becomes one
of the most important factors for gaining a sustainable competitive advantage and customers'
confidence in the highly competitive marketplace, and therefore service quality can give
the hospitality industry a great chance to create competitive differentiation for their business
entity.
Improve the overall quality of products and services within the tourism industry (all tourism-
related accommodation, restaurants, tour guides, tour operators, and other tourism-related service
providers); raise the levels of demand nationally, regionally and internationally; promote
competiveness within the industry.
Quality marks are awarded to those tourism establishments that apply good quality management
practices and provide improved service quality standards and facilities, over the legal
requirements of their specific official classification.

2.1.The 5 Service Dimensions All Customers Care About

Service providers want to know what customers (internal or external) care about. For instance
many findings have proved that, customers care most about service quality. There are five
dimensions customers use when evaluating service quality and if providers get these dimensions
right, customers will hand over the keys to their loyalty.
The five SERVQUAL dimensions are:
 Tangibles-Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication
materials. Even though this is the least important dimension, appearance matters. Service
providers will still want to make certain their employees appearance, uniforms,
equipment, and work areas on-site (closets, service offices, etc.) look good. The danger is
for providers to make everything look sharp, and then fall short on reliability or
responsiveness.
 Reliability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Do what you say
you’re going to do when you said you were going to do it.
 Responsiveness-Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Respond
quickly, promptly, rapidly, immediately, instantly. Waiting a day to return a call or email
doesn’t make it. Even if customers are chronically slow in getting back to providers,
responsiveness is more than 1/5th of their service quality assessment. Service providers
benefit by establishing internal Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for things like returning
phone calls, emails and responding on-site. Whether its 30 minutes, 4 hours, or 24 hours,
its important customers feel providers are responsive to their requests. Not just
emergencies, but everyday responses too.
 Assurance-Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and
confidence. Service providers are expected to be the experts of the service they’re
delivering. It’s a given. If a service provider is highly skilled, but customers don’t see that,
their confidence in that provider will be lower. And their assessment of that provider’s
service quality will be lower. Service providers must communicate their expertise and
competencies – before they do the work. This can be done in many ways that are
repeatedly seen by customers, such as:
 Display industry certifications on patches, badges or buttons worn by employees
 Include certification logos on emails, letters & reports
 Put certifications into posters, newsletters & handouts
 By communicating competencies, providers can help manage customer
expectations. And influence their service quality assessment in advance.
 Care about Customers as much as the Service
 Empathy-Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers. Services can be
performed completely to specifications. Yet customers may not feel provider employees
care about them during delivery. And this hurts customers’ assessments of providers’
service quality. For example, a day porter efficiently cleans up a spill in a lobby. However,
during the clean up doesn’t smile, make eye contact, or ask the customer if there is
anything else they could do for them. In this hypothetical the provider’s service was
performed fully. But the customer didn’t feel the provider employee cared. And it’s not
 necessarily the employees fault. They may not know how they’re being judged. They may
be overwhelmed, inadequately trained, or disinterested.
Service delivery matters- Providers’ service delivery can be as important as how it was done.
Provider employees should be trained how to interact with customers and their end-users. Even a
brief session during initial orientation helps.
But not all dimensions are equally important to customers, but some more than others. Service
providers need to work on all five, but emphasize them in order of importance.

3. Quality Certification for Tourism and Travel

Quality will be the most decisive feature of tourist products and services in the competing
markets. Quality certification is a means to show your partners and your clients that you care for
quality. A certification of quality management proves that business entities do something in this
way and that the response of your guests is important to you. Securing quality means securing
the future of your business.
“Quality in Travel” provides certificates that approve the excellence and customer-orientation of
travel-related products. By these certificates businesses can show their partner or customer that
they can rely on the quality of their products and services and that they permanently care about
quality. They can also use their certificate for purposes of marketing and public relations.
The certificate will get their product or service a wider publicity, as it can propagate by customer
or by them. By this they can assert their partners and customers of the reliable quality they offer.
Travel and Tourism products can be certified in the following categories:
 Tour Operator
 Accommodation
 Destination,
  CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
 Agent, Incoming/DMC
 Website

3.1.Quality Certification for Tour Operators

For a tour operator to become certified according to the “Quality in Travel” standards the
following criteria apply:
 registered business and licensed according to local regulations for a minimum of three years
 operation in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations
 comprehensive insurance according to the local requirements and law, sufficient to protect
clients, from a reputable insurance company
 Automatically provide customers with trip protection insurance
 communication of expertise, experience, qualifications and services of the company,
employees and partners to the public
 The tour operator handles a minimum of 20 packages and a minimum of 500 travelers per
year
 The staff engaged must be sufficient, in number and qualification, to meet the size of the jobs
that are offered and undertaken. The management should have at least 3 years of experience
 Permanent non-residential office and clear declaration of the means of contact (phone, email,
website form) and of office hours for enquiries etc. There should be also a public declaration
of the time frame for answering queries (normally not more than 24 hours on workdays)
 a good quality and updated website with all sufficient information and offers, email account/s
with a private domain, after certification the “Quality in Travel” logo featuring prominently
on the website
 procedure for agreements (contracts) with travel agents or clients (paper or electronically
accepted methods) stating, at a minimum, the services to be provided, fees and billing
procedures, the term and termination aspects of the contracts and the procedures in the event
of a complaint
 prepared responsibility for the quality of products and services of the subcontractors and
regular checks on the maintenance of these quality data
 the tour operator must prove that it is a financially sound company (Statement of its main
bank, or bank references for a year)
 if applying for the first time, the tour operator must provide a minimum of three recent client
references
 acknowledgement of proposal requests and complaints within 24 hours and provision of an
individual answer/proposal that meets the client’s demands and requirements within 72 hours
 The tour operator should introduce or have introduced some form of quality management in
which it should:
o define criteria of quality
o monitor these criteria, e.g. by customer feedback, and keep a written record on it
o maintain an effective feedback and complaint management system with clear
responsibilities
o persistently care for the improvements of products and services
o give your personnel the chance to learn about quality improvement
o clarify responsibilities for quality management and response to customer opinions

3.2.Quality Certification for Accommodation

The following points apply to the quality assurance and quality management in
hospitality/accommodation/hotel:
General (static criteria)
 All legal permissions and required insurances to run the hospitality object
 Compliance to the respective national star ratings
 Overall condition of the rooms/apartments/studios/surroundings in relation to the standards
and price
 Coherence of all details space/condition of toilets showers etc, reception area
 Qualification and competence of the staff
Communication:
 Public description of the offers (Internet, printed matters) in reasonable relation to reality
(print and online)
 Implementations of the regionally prescribed privacy guidelines for personal data
 Reaction to queries (Telephone, Internet)
 Reservation, check-in/check-out process
Quality management (dynamic criteria)
 General strategy, aims, unique selling propositions, image, quality demands
  Own quality criteria according to strategy and formulation of Key Quality
Indicators (KQI)
 Sources of the KQI (e.g. feedback of customers and partners, staff education programme,
staff satisfaction etc.)
 Clear structure of responsibilities and workflows of quality related issues in the company
 Evaluation of the KQI on a regular basis and written reports about them
 Written reports on quality relevant changes in the company

3.3.CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

The „Quality in Travel – CSR“ certifies your responsible behavior in the travel and tourism
market with regard to employees, your partners, the society and the environment.
General:
 Your company commits itself explicitly to the guiding principles of CSR and the Global Code
of Ethics for Tourism of UNWTO
 You name a representative of you company who is in charge of CSR and equipped with time

resources and competences

 Your company strives to follow the guidelines of ISO 26000 (social responsibility)
Employees:
 Child protection: the company has signed the Child Protection Code
 You do not employ children on a regular basis
 You pay least average wages for the employees
 There are clear overtime regulations
 Regular surveys of employee satisfaction
 Some form of representation of employee interests
Customers:
 Monitoring of customer satisfaction with special reference to responsibility and sustainability
 You inform the customer on the sustainability of your products
Sustainability
 You give preference to sustainable means of transport and accommodation
 The company prefers green energy, if available and monitors its energy consumption
 If you are able to demonstrate to your customers that your goods and/or services are produced
in an environmentally sustainable manner according to ISO 14001, the point “sustainability”
requires no more proof
Supply Chain/Co operations
 You monitor the CSR index and practice of your partners and suppliers
 You review the standard of sustainability of your partners and suppliers and you try to
influence them in the direction of sustainability and responsibility
Culture:
 The company protects the cultures of the respective destinations
 Your travel products are able to convey a fair picture of the regional cultures involved and do
not interfere more than necessary with the practice of those cultures
Quality management
 General strategy, aims, unique selling propositions, image, quality demands
 Own quality criteria according to strategy and formulation of Key Quality
Indicators (KQI)
 Sources of the KQI (e.g. feedback of customers and partners, staff education programme,
staff satisfaction etc.)
 Clear structure of responsibilities and workflows of quality related issues in the company
 Evaluation of the KQI on a regular basis and written reports about them
 Written reports on quality relevant changes in the company

3.4. Quality Certification for Destinations

The quality of a destination is rapidly becoming the decisive competitive instrument in
tourism and travel. In the last years it became obvious, that a range of new tourist destinations
are challenging the traditional places. It is almost self-evident that the quality of these
destinations, besides the price, will be the decisive factor of success.
A tourist destination is an area which is separately identified and promoted to tourists as a place
to visit. Usually one or more authorities, organizations, DMO or DMC are responsible for the
coordination or promotion of this destination as a tourist product. The destination management
authorities are usually also responsible for quality standards and quality monitoring of their
product and could as such be partners in the Quality in Travel“management and certification.
Quality of a destination does have many special aspects:
 Tourist and general infrastructure
 Availability of tourist services and facilities, above all hotels and other accommodations,
means of transport, eating and drinking, participation in cultural events and tourist activities,
means of tourist information
 A clear-cut image of the destination, in marketing and reality
 Local uniqueness of historical and tourist features and attractions
 Availability of accommodations fitting in character and quality to the destination
 Sustainability of the protection of cultural traditions and values to save the uniqueness of the
place
 Communication of the destination (PR, Advertising, Website, Social Media)
 Quality of the tourist natural environment: Water, Air, Forests, Mountains and other natural
resources
3.5.Quality Certification for DMC/ Incoming Agency
For a Destination Management Company (DMC) or Incoming Agency the following criteria
apply:
 Registered business and licensed according to local regulations for a minimum of three years.
 operation in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations
 comprehensive insurance according to the local requirements and law, sufficient to protect
clients, from a reputable insurance company
 Communication of expertise, experience, qualifications and services of the company,
employees and partners to the public.
 The DMC/incoming agency handles a minimum of 5 events per year and a minimum of 500
guests per year.
 The staff engaged must be sufficient, in number and qualification, to meet the size of the jobs

that are offered and undertaken

 permanent non-residential office and normal public office hours
 a good quality and updated website with all sufficient information and offers, email account/s
with a private domain, the “Quality in Travel” logo featuring on the website
 written agreements (contracts) with each client (paper or electronically accepted methods)
stating, at a minimum, the services to be provided, fees and billing procedures, the term and
termination aspects of the contracts and the procedures in the event of a complaint
 organized responsibility for the quality of products and services of the subcontractors and
regular checks on the maintenance of these quality data
 the DMC/incoming agency must prove that it is a financially sound company (Statement of its
main bank, or bank references for a year)
 if applying for the first time, the DMC/incoming agency must provide a minimum of three
recent client references
 acknowledgement of proposal requests and complaints within 24 hours and provision of an
individual answer/proposal that meets the client’s demands and requirements within 72 hours
 The DMC/incoming agency should introduce or have introduced some form of quality
management in which it should:
o define criteria of quality
o monitor these criteria, e.g. by customer feedback, and keep a written record on it
o maintain an effective complaint management system with clear responsibilities
o persistently care for the improvements of products and services
o give your personnel the chance to learn about quality improvement
o clarify responsibilities for quality management and response to customer opinions

3.6.Quality Certification for Trip/ Journey/ Package

We certify single trips or journeys. To be able to certify a package one of our experts hast to take
part in that journey. He/she will assess upon the
 communication: proper description of the journey in catalogues, websites promo materials
 consistency of the package,
 customer orientation
 integration of all parts, as transports, accommodation, program (if any)
 competency of the tour/travel guide (if applicable)
 quality management (defining of quality criteria and their monitoring )
 clear staff/management responsibilities for each element of the journey
 Legal framework, insurances etc.

3.7.Quality Certification for Travel Websites

For the certification of a travel website there are the main criteria:
Content
 Clarity and completeness of the description of the touristic offer (journey, means of transport,
accommodation, class of accommodation, additional services, insurances, lodging, catering
 Appropriate illustrations and photos
 Clear description of the destination
 Declaration of all involved costs (in the online offer and not in the checkout process)
 Operators declaration/accessibility of the T&C and further conditions of the purchase
 Declaration of the payment methods
 Contact and queries to the vendor/operator
 Clear distinction of internal/external offers, e.g. for advertisements, insurances
Design
 Usability of the website: navigation and search
 User experience
 Supported devices (screen, mobile etc.)
Techniques
 Valid HTML and CSS
 Page speed
 Accessibility
Security/Privacy
 Security of the website and of user data
 Declaration of the use of personal data
 Declaration of the use of cookies and tracking methods (e.g. Google Analytics)
Checkout Procedure
 Easy accessible information on the t & c and additional information (delivery, payment etc.)
 Delivery of the respective documents (online, offline)
 Checkout process should be simple and clear

Quality management
 Clear responsibilities for the persistent improvement of the website, specified for content,
design, usability, techniques
 Clear designation of the competency for user feedback
 Use of statistics to monitor accesses and to locate possible problems

4. Advantages of Quality Management

Quality management and certification can have many advantages. They will, in a longer
perspective, also save costs. We tell you why:

Management & Marketing:

 Quality performance makes destinations, products and services easier to market, both to
operators and tourists. Moreover, a high quality product markets itself, by word of mouth, trip
advisor, booking.com, or virtual tourist.
 Careful quality monitoring provides the tool for making better strategic and
tactic management decisions. Monitoring progress in quality improvement provides you with
the data that you will need to create a sustainable strategy.
 By monitoring customer satisfaction and other data you can quickly react on tendencies and
changes of the travel market.
 By quality management and you can proof that you are reliable to your partners: Most
probably, the European and American partners will ask you for the quality measures you take.
 The linking structure of the “Quality in Travel” website is optimized so that by SEO-Effects it
will lead more traffic to your site, if you are mentioned as certified here.
 For an effective quality management you have to develop an image of your products and
services and a vision. By this you can say how you differ from your competitors and what
your unique selling proposition is.
Company and Area:
 Quality is one of the most competitive features of a tourist offer or product.
 The quality of your products and services will trigger long-lasting customer loyalty.
 In the long run better quality means more revenue.
 Quality management leads to a stable tourism business for you, protects the jobs of your
employees and gives these jobs a clear-cut profile.
 Quality improvements in a destination also provide a better quality of life for local residents.

Finance:
 Quality management facilitates access to finance: When applying for a credit, the bank will
ask you what measures of quality management you take. If you can prove that you take
quality management seriously, the willingness to grant the credit will be higher and the
interest rates will be lower.
 Effective monitoring of quality improvements avoids the repetition of expensive mistakes and
helps you to give your quality efforts the right direction.
5. Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET) is a comprehensive set of principles designed
to guide key players in tourism development. Addressed to governments, the travel industry,
communities and tourists alike, it aims to help maximize the sector’s benefits while minimizing
its potentially negative impact on the environment, cultural heritage and societies across the
globe.
Adopted in 1999 by the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization, its
acknowledgement by the UN two years later expressly encouraged UNWTO to promote the
effective follow-up of its provisions. Although not legally binding, the Code features
a voluntary implementation mechanism through its recognition of the role of the World
Committee on Tourism Ethics (WCTE), to which stakeholders may refer matters concerning
the application and interpretation of the document.
The Code’s 10 principles amply cover the economic, social, cultural and environmental
components of travel and tourism:
Article 1: Tourism's contribution to mutual understanding and respect between peoples and
societies
Article 2: Tourism as a vehicle for individual and collective fulfillment.
Article 3: Tourism, a factor of sustainable development
Article 4: Tourism, a user of the cultural heritage of mankind and contributor to its enhancement
Article 5: Tourism, a beneficial activity for host countries and communities
Article 6: Obligations of stakeholders in tourism development
Article 7: Right to tourism
Article 8: Liberty of tourist movements
Article 9: Rights of the workers and entrepreneurs in the tourism industry
Article 10: Implementation of the principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
“To ensure that tourism has lasting positive effects, we need to build a more sustainable sector
among all actors. The companies that commit to the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
are leading by example in promoting ethical, responsible and sustainable tourism development.