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tourism represents over 10 per cent of the world's
GDP, it has a major part to play in the global
economy. Second, the service encounter theme
focuses on the interaction between the customer
and the service provider and the ways in which this
can best be managed. Service encounters play a
significant part in the customer's overall perception
of the quality of the tourism experience, and yet are
probably the most difficult and variable elements of
the package the customer receives. Topics here
would include considering the service encounter
from a sociopsychological perspective, the role of
boundary-spanning employees, queuing, communication
and control, and the detail of individual
verbal and non-verbal exchanges. Third, the
service operations theme focuses on explaining
the ways in which managing a service operation is
different from managing a manufacturing operation
and, over the past twenty-five years, has
become a major branch of operations management.
Fourth, in a similar way to the operations
perspective above, the service marketing theme
focuses on development from the mainstream of
marketing; service marketing is now considered to
be a significant area of study in its own right.
Finally, the service management theme focuses on
providing an integrating framework that can
provide a link between all disciplines as they are
applied in the service context.
Tourism is a complex amalgam of a range of
different service operations that link together to
provide the complete experience. Understanding
the ways in which service is delivered and the ways
in which service operations are managed are of
fundamental importance to ensuring the continuing
success of the tourism industry.
See also: service quality; service delivery system
Further reading
Fitzsimmons, J.A., and Fitzsimmons, M.J. �1994)
Service Management for Competitive Advantage, New
York: McGraw-Hill. �One of a growing number
of texts on service operations that is easily
accessible but well grounded in theory.)
Glynn, W.J. and Barnes, J.G. �eds) �1985) Understanding
Services Management, Chichester: Wiley. �A
collection of chapters from eminent writers in
the field of service management.)
Johnston, R. �1994) `Operations from factory to
service management' International Journal of Service
Industry Management, 5�1): 49±63. �Traces the
development of operations management and
the emergence of interest in service operations
management.)
Silvestro, R., Fitzgerald, L., Johnston, R. and Voss,
C. �1992) `Towards a classification of service
processes' International Journal of Service Industry
Management 3�3): 62±75. �Examines the manufacturing
process typology and, following a
critique of existing service process types, proposes
three service archetypes.)
service delivery system
service delivery system 529
ANDREW LOCKWOOD, UK
A unique aspect of any service industry, to which
tourism belongs, is the service delivery system. This
term covers those aspects of the operation which
take place at the time that a customer or client
comes to the service point and requests a specific
service. The delivery system is designed to
provide the customer with the required variety of
services and with the minimum delay. A common
feature of delivery systems is the customer line or
queue. A key aspect of any system is to control the
length of queues.
Hospitality and tourism services, among
others, can be differentiated on the basis of variety
offered and the volume of customers processed.
This can vary from a high-volume operation
offering a very restricted range of products and
services to a lower volume operation where every
customer receives a unique or highly customised
service. Another key variable in any service
operation is the nature of the service contact. High
contact has an extra level of social interaction
associated with staff, while a low-contact service
requires the staff to perform largely technical skills.
Each requires a different approach, with a high
level of contact requiring sophisticated social skills
training, together with a good level of product
knowledge, whereas a low level of contact requires
simpler customer care and technical training. A