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The authors' approach to quality is in contrast to the usual view found in economics. They analyse the quality of tourism as a system which includes final consumption, product‐based market services, the natural environment and cultural resources at no cost, and the impact of the local society, all from the macroeconomic point of view. They point out that if optimal use is to be made of resources in the sense of achieving sustainable system quality, this use must be compatible with carrying capacity.

The aim of this paper is to identify reasons for current quality problems in tourism and possible ways of enhancing tourism quality. To attain this goal, recent initiatives directed at quality improvement in tourism are first presented. Primary and secondary data have been utilised to achieve this. Systems theory is utilised in order to recognise the reasons for current quality problems. Evaluation of quality management processes is based on Dale and Plunkett’s model of levels in the evolution of quality management. The SERVQUAL model and the benchmarking technique are critically evaluated. The existence and inability of closing the tourism quality perception gap and the tourism quality control gap have been identified as chief causes of private sector tourism quality systems ineffectiveness. Three conditions of tourism quality enhancement have been formulated and a new tourism quality system that complies with these requirements has been proposed. A need for establishing a Total Quality Tourism Consortium as a formal body is emphasised.

This research paper aims is to evaluate the customer's views related to tourism quality in Egypt. It attempts to measure the extent to which tourism business environment is creative and innovative as necessary conditions for internal customer satisfaction.

The objectives of this research have been achieved through reviewing a number of literatures in the fields of services quality management and tourism quality measurements. The paper's outcomes have been obtained through two surveys, one to measure the satisfaction of the internal customer (employees) and the second to measure the external customer satisfaction (tourists).

The main conclusions of this research paper are: quality can be considered as a philosophy for guiding tourism organization/destination when taking decisions related to tourism services; tourism business environment in Egypt does not support the internal customer satisfaction because the absence of a suitable system for encouraging people to be creative and innovative; and in the area of the external customer satisfaction there is still a need for things to be done such as the environmental conditions improvements, internal transport quality enhancement, increasing people awareness, and improving the level of safety and security conditions.

There is a number of limitations which faced this paper research they are: the sample size is small, compared with the size of total population, that was reflected on the level of reliability of the research results; and the limited time allowed to the respondents was reflected on the validity of the research outcomes, because they interviewed at the last time of their journey by the time they are ready for departure.

A useful source of information about total quality management (TQM) and how practitioners can measure it. It provides wide guidelines for improving the quality of tourism services in total manner in Egypt.

This paper provides useful information that are needed for tourism services quality improvement. It offers a practical help to tourism planners and marketers in Egypt to understand the concept of TQM and how they can improve their services continually.

The starting‐point of this article is that it will be essential to give quality a crucial function in the tourism policy of the future. The philosophy of quality management is known. However its application in the tourism sector is hampered by a number of particularities of this sector. This article proposes a possible approach at the level of a tourist municipality or region. Based on an extensive quality audit among tourists it must be possible to draw up a quality plan which should result into a considerable quality improvement of the tourism product.

Quality has been widely recognised as an important source of competitive edge in the tourism industry. Much of the focus of research to date has been on the individual firm. However, there has been a shift from interfirm competition to interdestination competition, resulting in a lacuna in the research and a need for more attention to be afforded to management of quality at the destination level. Given the fragmented and diverse nature of the tourism destination, many researchers have underlined the need for co-operation in any effort to improve quality at the destination. However, there is often a reluctance among tourism businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) to cooperate. This paper sheds light on the impact of training on interfirm dynamics within a destination quality management network. The findings revealed that training of network members influenced the development of a referral system, which in turn helped to create a tourism quality value chain for the visitor.

The paper is focused on the sports tourism offer giving the example of Croatia. Emphasis is placed on the quality of the sports tourism offer — that considered being the key of success on the tourism market. The aim of the paper is to stress the need for developing sports tourism offer required by the tourists of today. Sport is a part of the health tourism offer. Health, recreation, sport, fitness, beauty and leisure time are the elements of the quality of life. Sport is not adequately represented in the Croatian tourism offer. This paper suggests measures that need to be taken in order to increase the share of sports in the tourism offer. Such measures should lead to aligning the supply with the demand, and to increasing financial effects. Tourism plays a very important role in the economic development of Croatia, and it deserves high priority in the development strategy.

The main purpose of this research was to develop a universal model to evaluate the perceived value of tourism services and satisfaction with, and loyalty to, destinations from the consumers’ perspective and demonstrated the model’s applicability in this context.

Using the structural equation model, cause and effect relationships were identified between the proposed model’s constructs, and indices of quality, satisfaction and loyalty among tourists were estimated. This system was applied to a large set of data collected with a structured questionnaire distributed to tourists visiting the city of Seville through a non-probabilistic sampling by intentional quotas method. In total, 922 valid surveys were obtained.

The indices show that tourists who visit Seville report a high level of loyalty to, and satisfaction with, this place because of the perceived quality of a variety of services. It is observed that the perceived quality index is much higher (17.95 per cent) than the expected quality index, so the quality of the service received by the tourist during his/her visit to Seville is described as excellent.

Regarding this study’s limitations, other variables could have been included that influence tourist satisfaction, such as the climate, the effect of advertising medium, the prices and the emotional components. In addition, surveying tourists’ expectations before their visit is virtually impossible, as is surveying the same tourists again about their perceived value and satisfaction after their visit. Future lines of research could focus on the intersection of information between tourism offer and demand, providing information about an appropriate balance in specific markets. The proposed model can also be applied to other tourism places that are similar to Seville’s tourism offer, allowing useful comparisons and identification of critical points and ways to improve customer satisfaction continuously.

By establishing indices of expected and perceived quality and satisfaction and loyalty among tourists, tourism authorities and different economic agents involved in this sector can receive objective information about the results and quality of tourism services. Tourism managers, thus, can set objectives for improvements and competitiveness, as well as building and maintaining customer loyalty. At the same time, these indices allow comparisons with other organisations and places. By facilitating greater transparency in the measurement of quality and satisfaction, service providers connected to tourism can create a platform on which to articulate clearly their contributions to interested parties and local communities.

These results constitute strategies and findings that any tourism place has to consider in the planning and development of its products. Therefore the model can help to encourage a long-term market perspective among tourism sector regulators, investors and agencies. With the information obtained with this model, areas needing improvement can be identified and the appropriate procedures can be put into practice to improve the tourism offer, adjusting it to meet travellers’ needs according to their motivations to travel to the destination. Residents also can benefit from these measures, as their quality of life will improve through upgrades of the city’s tourism facilities.

The unique contribution of the present study lies in how the indices or indicators of quality of, satisfaction with and loyalty to destinations among tourists are easily measured by applying structural equation modelling. A new approach to measure satisfaction, loyalty and quality is used based on a scale from 0 to 100, and the index results are very useful for comparing different tourist places.

This study aims to explore the influencing factors of online tourism service quality to clarify the relationship between such factors and the degree of influence so that targeted and effective measures to improve service quality can be suggested.

A questionnaire is used to obtain original data, establish the fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) structure chart model and modify the model.

The results reveal that comprehensive service types, comprehensive information provided, true and accurate, upgrade and update, payment security, data and information security, customer rights and interests protection, service friendliness and evaluation processing are the key influencing factors in online tourism service quality. In addition, the FCM can also predict the improvement of service quality.

To establish an FCM model, this study establishes the evaluation framework of influencing factors of online tourism service quality and identifies the cause and effect of 26 indicators. The mechanism of influencing factors of online tourism service quality is explored through the iteration of the model.