Research Article Open Access
Mehmet Yavuz Ccedil;etı̇nkaya*, Zafer Ouml;ter
Role of tour guides on tourist satisfaction level in guided tours and impact on re-visiting Intention: a research in Istanbul
DOI 10.1515/ejthr-2016-0005
received October 20, 2014; accepted February 22, 2015
Abstract: Travellerrsquo;s wishes, needs and expectations keep changing constantly as destinations vie with each other to increase their share from the international tourism pie. Destinations need to offer qualified service and renew themselves continuously. In this context, tour guides as key representatives of destinations play a significant role on tourist satisfaction and re-visit intention. This research aims to ascertain the role played by tour guides on the sat- isfaction level of tourists participating in guided tours in Istanbul. Another aim of this research is to determine the impact level of tour guides on the possible re-visit inten- tion of tourists to the same destination. Based on 530 com- pleted surveys from international tourists, the findings revealed a significant relationship between tourist sat- isfaction, re-visiting intention and tour guiding service. Following the evaluation of the findings, recommenda- tions were developed for the tourism industry.
Keywords: Tour guide, Customer satisfaction, Customer loyalty, Re-visit intention, Istanbul.
Introduction
Tourism is accepted as one of the worldrsquo;s largest service industries. With the de-regulation of the airline industry,
*Corresponding author: Mehmet Yavuz Ccedil;etı̇nkaya, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Faculty of Tourism, Department of Tourism Guidance, Balatccedil;ık Campus, Balatcik Yerleskesi, Cigli 35620, Cigli-Izmir, Tur- key, Phone: 0090-554 8217385, E-mail: myavuzcetinkaya@gmail. com
Zafer Ouml;ter, Izmir Katip Celebi University, Faculty of Tourism, Depart- ment of Tourism Guidance, Balatccedil;ık Campus, Cigli-Izmir, Turkey
coupled with technological advancements, the emergence of e-commerce and demographic changes, it will continue to generate GDP and jobs across the world economy (Hui, Wan amp; Ho, 2007). An ever-increasing number of desti- nations worldwide have opened up to, and invested in tourism, turning the tourism industry into a key driver of socio-economic progress through export revenues, the creation of jobs and enterprises and infrastructure devel- opment. Over the past six decades, tourism has experi- enced continued expansion and diversification, becoming one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world (UNWTO, 2014).
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organizationrsquo;s (UNWTO) long-term forecast lsquo;Tourism Towards 2030rsquo; in spite of the occasional shocks, there has been a virtually uninterrupted growth in the number of international tourist arrivals from 25 million in 1950 to 278 million in 1995, and 1087 million in 2013. In addition to this, international tourist arrivals worldwide are expected to increase by 3.3% a year from 2010 to 2030 to reach 1.8 billion by 2030. On the other hand, international tourism receipts in destinations in 2013 grew 5% in real terms (taking into account exchange rate fluctuations and infla- tion) around the world and reached $ 1159 billion.
Turkey has become one of the main tourist destina- tions in the Mediterranean rim, primarily because of its natural attractions, historical and cultural heritage and competitive prices, occupying the sixth place in the worldrsquo;s top tourism destinations in terms of hosting international tourists (34,910,098 million), and had a tourism receipt of
$32,308.098 billion (Yuuml;ksel, 2001; Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2014). One of the most popular tourism destina- tions in Turkey, Istanbul, is a world centre of great value in the past as well as in the present, embracing Asia, on the one hand, and Europe, on the other hand, with its histor- ical peninsula, numerous scenic and historical beauties. It is a magnificently unique city that hosted 10,474,867 million international tourists in 2013 (Go Turkey, 2014; Istanbul Directorate of Culture and Tourism, 2014).
copy; 2016 Mehmet Yavuz Ccedil;eti̇nkaya, Zafer Ouml;ter published by De Gruyter Open
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
Unauthenticated
The increased leisure time as well as economic welfare level has led people to travel wide and participate in tourism activities worldwide. As a result of the increase of the international tourism activities in recent years, tourism receipts in several countries has increased signifi- cantly and destinations are finding themselves in a harsh competitive atmosphere (Şahin, 2012). The competitive- ness of the market place and the increased expectations of customers have made tourism enterprises recognise the importance of customer service quality for future repeat and referral business (Bowie amp; Chang,2005). However, little or no attention has been paid to the role of tourism industry employees, particularly those in tour guiding business, in the success of quality management pro- grammes (Sharpley amp; Forster, 2003). In this context, tour guides who are regarded as one of the representatives of countries and destinations and one of the most important front-line staff in the tourism industry play a significant role on tourist satisfaction and re-visit intention as the success of the service quality in the tourism industry very much depends on the performance of tour guides (Huang, Hsu amp; Chan, 2010; Zhang amp; Chow, 2004).
The objective of this study is to investigate the role played by tour guides on the satisfaction level of tourists participating in guided tours in Istanbul. Another purpose of this research is to determine the impact level of tour guides on the possible re-visit intention of tourists to the same
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