It is essential that we design quality, implement quality, and continuously improve quality, so that we can gradually improve the competitiveness of domestic enterprises.
One of the main opportunities, as a country, that must be exploited and strengthened to the maximum, for the improvement of the economy and quality of life, is tourism. Bolivia has a rich geographical and cultural diversity, which is and can make Bolivia even more an attractive place to visit for national and international tourists, thus bringing a set of multiplier benefits such as economic, among others. The path to take advantage of and strengthen this opportunity is based on different pillars, in which the national government and the private entrepreneur must intervene, the first with the construction and improvement of roads and accesses throughout the national territory, as well as maintaining security legal and social peace,and the second through the improvement of the quality of the services offered to tourists. What we will deal with this time is the second point, which has to do with improving the quality of tourist services, at the hands of private entrepreneurs. For this it is important that total quality is fully known, and above all, definitively eliminate the prejudice that it is only applicable in its entirety to industrial companies.
The concept of quality, as an administrative management tool, seeks customer satisfaction and continuous improvement of the services and products provided to the customer. The concept of total quality, in tourist service companies, responds to the full satisfaction of users in terms of care, quality of service, well-being, safety and, in turn, responds to continuous improvement of the image and business consolidation. To achieve the aforementioned, tourist service companies must seek change as a start for the implementation of a new way of working, quality work.
This change must begin with the commitment and change of attitude of the Senior Management. If we want company officials to modify their behavior and attitude in their way of working, we must start by changing their heads, so that there is a contagious chain effect throughout the organization; quality begins with a change in attitude, a change in the way of seeing the work that is done. The first pre-concept that we must change is that total quality is not synonymous with luxury, but rather satisfaction of requirements, which implies that whatever the level and origin of the tourist, the service must be provided according to their needs without therefore, the prices of care have to be increased.Total quality implies increasing quality costs by preventing negative defects in the tourist service and eliminating, on the contrary, poor service costs, which result in a negative multiplier effect that goes against the profitability of the company.
Organizational culture, which is another fundamental point to touch, is not yet studied, analyzed or given due importance by national managers; Organizations are social entities, that is, they are made up of people, which is why it is important for all managers to study their behavior and the reasons for it, so that they can apply a change strategy that adjusts to the characteristics of the company.
It is important that the company is structured according to the needs of the tourist, and not subjecting the needs of the tourist to the structure of the company.
Quality, as a concept, is applicable in the same way for service and industrial companies, that is, regardless of the activity that each performs. The tourist service, because it is intangible, lends itself to a rather complex evaluation of its quality and whose criteria are difficult to establish in certain situations, since each tourist has a different perception, for which tourism entrepreneurs should consider very seriously the tourist segments that meet its characteristics and requirements.
Another aspect regarding the concept of quality is the fact that total quality increases the productivity, utility and profitability of tourism companies through the search for efficiency. This means that large profits should not be sought in the short term, but on the contrary, the consolidation of the organization in the competitive market and its survival through quality, for which profitability is achieved in the medium and long term.
It is important to conclude that what is necessary is for Bolivia to enhance one of its opportunities, such as tourism, in a world where change is constant and the level of competitiveness in the tourism industry is increasing, therefore the need to Innovation in terms of systems and procedures leads us to think that total quality, as a concept, as a management tool, as a procedure and as a philosophy of attention to tourism companies cannot remain isolated from the management objectives, as well as the application of new technologies that apply to companies in other sectors. Since tourism is a tertiary activity, purely of services and constituting for the moment one of the great productive and economic sectors with great potential at the national and international level,Total quality as a work philosophy, more than a challenge, is an urgent need that all tourism entrepreneurs must face, taking into account that any change initially brings resistance and problems of adjustments, claims and investments, but that once the quality system based on commitment and knowledge of its scope, we can be convinced that the safety and profitability in the medium and long term of tourism companies can be very likely to be successful.but that once the quality system is structured based on the commitment and knowledge of its scope, we can be convinced that the safety and profitability in the medium and long term of tourism companies can be very likely to be successful.but that once the quality system is structured based on the commitment and knowledge of its scope, we can be convinced that the safety and profitability in the medium and long term of tourism companies can be very likely to be successful.
