Development of Tourism Sector in Turkey
The years of 1980, where structural changes in the economy came to the fore, have created fundamental changes in the economic and social life of our country. One of the prominent sectors in the change is tourism. Many incentives have been provided in the tourism sector and the tourism sector has gained a very different character and operation than before the 1980s. The tourism sector has not only grown in numbers but also has a positive impact on people's quality of life and living conditions. This sector, which employs more than one million people, affects the lives of five million people on average, considering the relatives of the employees. In fact, the second sector that provides the most employment with the lowest investment is tourism in the economy.
In the first years of the establishment of the Republic, only about five thousand foreign visitors came to our country, while today the number of visitors increased to over 40 million annually and our country is the sixth destination that attracts the most tourists. The tourism sector has developed not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. The most important note is that the tourism sector, which now purchases goods and services from the main sector close to 60, is the sector with the lowest dependence on imports in providing services. At the same time, as the use of technology in tourism is low, it is a dynamic sector in closing trade deficits of other sectors where technology use is high. According to the calculations, one unit demand increase in tourism revives the economy by two units. One unit of revival in the economy creates one unit of revival in tourism.
As a result of the increase in international competition with the phenomenon of globalization and the incredibly rapid development of communication technology, the world has now become a single market. This situation forces the tourism sector to do something in terms of the marketing strategies they will apply in domestic and foreign markets. The aim of marketing activities in the tourism sector is to meet consumer expectations at the right time and in the right direction.
Tourism is a dynamic and interactive service sector that is constantly developing and growing. Various economic, technological, sociocultural, demographic, political and geographical factors are constantly affected by tourism. Overall, the increase in tourism activities is an indicator of economic development in a society. Sociocultural factors are the expression of any social tendency that motivates people. For example, it is a sociocultural factor that people in the northern countries believe that sunbathing is beneficial, or that the idea that vacation is not a luxury but a need for people. Demographic factors that affect tourism are the increase in the level of education, the increase in the cost of having children, and the shrinking of families through urbanization. Increasing computer and internet usage and providing easier access to information are the technological factors affecting tourism. One of the most important factors in the development of tourism is the innovations in transportation.
Finally, one of the factors affecting tourism is political factors. Tourism depends on the freedom of people to travel within the country and abroad. The most vivid examples of this are the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the increase in the number of people who have the freedom to travel with more flexible policies in China.
What is ISO 18513 Tourism Services Management System?
However, despite these factors, the important point is that the hotels, holiday villages and touristic facilities operating in the tourism sector provide quality and reliable services. The tourism sector itself includes many services, such as banks, travel agencies, tour operators and shops, as well as services such as accommodation, transportation, food and beverage and entertainment.
ISO 2003 Tourism Services Management System standard was published in 18513 as a result of the efforts of International Standards Organization (ISO) to achieve a standard in the services provided in the tourism sector. In our country, this standard has been published by Turkish Standards Institute with the following title: TS EN ISO 18513 Tourism services - Hotels and other types of tourism accommodation - Terminology. This standard covers accommodation, eating and drinking, recreation (entertainment based on physical activity) and other services in the tourism sector.
The ISO 18513 standard is the only internationally recognized standard in the field of accommodation today. The design of this standard has taken a long time, because tourism activities are a set of events with significant social, cultural and economic consequences.
Prior to the publication of this standard, with the increasing national and international travels, many public and private institutions began to discuss the issue of how to classify hotels, and this became a worldwide problem. On these developments, the World Tourism Organization initiated a study on the classification of hotels in 2001. The preparation of the ISO 18513 standard is the result of these efforts.
The main principles adopted by the ISO 18513 standard can be explained as follows:
- In all touristic facilities housekeeping and front offices, signs, reservation rules and common language that have the same meaning and easily understood by customers must be established everywhere in the world. Warnings such as cold and hot water selection, telephone exchange, reception numbers and please do not disturb should be standard.
- All employees should have a common level of foreign language education.
- In touristic facilities, security systems such as fire safety, smoke detectors, fire extinguishing systems and signs indicating escape routes should be of a certain standard.
- Voltage and electrical plugs must be standard in all tourist facilities.
- Water and air quality in tourist facilities, hygiene of food and beverages, hygiene conditions of kitchens and restaurants, clothing and cleaning of employees should be standard. At the same time, the cleaning and hygiene conditions must be monitored continuously. In addition, employees in kitchens and restaurants should have a certain level of education. In addition, standards should be set for the procurement process and working conditions with suppliers.
- Finally, the product evaluation methods and standards indicating the performance of employees should be determined.
In short, quality standards, criteria, principles and hotel classification systems have been established in tourism sector with the cooperation of World Tourism Organization on the one hand and International Standards Organization on the other hand. The ISO 18513 standard eliminated elements that could create unfair competition in the tourism sector.
