Tourism being a service it is a process. So its selling is also a process. It is not 'give by one hand and receive by another hand'. Service is a process so it is a commitment made by seller to provide service. At the same time it is a commitment from the receiver to receive pre-agreed service.Selling service is an agreement between two parties. All these complications are due to the 'three basic nature of tourism. Due to the service nature, tourism is intangible, variability of quality, non-storable and service need to be provided in duration. Being intangible the transecting needs proof. Buyer wants to have 'right to use' mentioning the duration, date and type of service. Due to the nature of 'here and there' it creates time gap and space gap. The travel agency being a middleman it needs to reserve service from service agencies to guarantee that the guests will receive the service.
Tourism service being a process, sales is also a process. It is not one time one action. It is a continuous process. It involves different activities and different agencies. A salesman needs to continue his/her sales effort during the consumption also. A consumer must be satisfied from beginning to the end. A tourism sales involves the following process.
- Collect information and inform the guest
- Collect tariff from different service agencies
- Do costing of itinerary
- Reserve the service of different agencies
- Manage travel documents and complete travel formalities
- Collect payment and issue Service Order/ Service Voucher
- Monitor and coordinate the service agencies. Keep in touch with customer and check their satisfaction.
