The Relationship Between Sales Success and Soft Success Factors in Travel Agencies

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 2, 301 - 321, 30.12.2022

Zennübe Işık Ahmet Çavuş

https://doi.org/10.26650/jot.2022.8.2.1076966

Öz

The fact that travel agencies, one of the intermediaries of the distribution channel in the tourism sector, were seen as a business line dating to the nineteenth century. The main aim of the study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between the soft success factors (competence, reliability, empathy, communication, and responsiveness) of the type of travel agency employees and product sales success. Another aim of the study is to determine whether these two factors differ according to demographic variables. For this purpose, frequency, correlation, independent t-test, and one-way variance is used in the analysis of the data. In addition, Structural Equation analysis is used to create a model because of the correlation analysis. It is concluded that there is a positive and significant relationship between the soft success factors of travel agency employees and their product sales success. It is determined that there is no significant difference between the gender of the employees and the soft success factors and product sales success. It has been observed that employees with soft success factors are more effective in sales success. No study has been found that addresses the relationship between soft success factors and sales success in travel agencies, therefore it is thought to be an original paper that will contribute to the literature in this regard.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Travel Agencies, Soft Success Factors, Product Sales Success, Istanbul

Kaynakça

• Bahçe, A. S. (1999). Examining the Success of Sales Staff Working in Travel Agencies in Personal Sales Process with the Example of Eskişehir Region A Group Travel Agencies, Unpublished Master's Thesis, Anadolu University, Institute of Social Sciences, Eskişehir.
• Baum, T. (2006). “Reflections On The Nature Of Skills In The Experience Economy: Challenging Traditional Skills Models In Hospitality”, Journal Of Hospitality And Tourism Management, 13 (2), 124-135.
• Baumgärtner, R. M. (2008). Beratungsqualität von Reisebüromitarbeitern als strategischer Erfolgsfaktor für den stationären Vertrieb Eine empirische Analyse zur Identifikation weicher Erfolgsfaktoren in Beratung und Verkauf touristischer Produkte als Erfolgskriterium der Zukunft von konzerneigenen, deutschen Reisebüros im Privatkundengeschäft, Von der Fakultät Wirtschafts-, Verhaltens- und Rechtswissenschaften der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Germany.
• Beer, M. (2009). High Commitment, High Performance: How To Build A Resilient Organization For Sustained. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
• Breene, R. T. S., & Nunes, P. F. (2011). Reinvent Your Business Before İt’s Too Late, Harvard Business Review, 89 (1-2), 80-87.
• Bona, P. & Lippert, R. (2015). The Effect Of Hard And Soft Factors On The Success Of A Company, Problems Of Management In The 21st Century 10 (1).
• Cisar, P. & Cisar, S. M. (2010). Skewness and Kurtosis in Function of Selection of Network Traffic Distribution, Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 7 (2).
• Cserháti, G., & Szabó, L. (2014). The Relationship Between Success Criteria And Success Factors İn Organisational Event Projects, International Journal of Project Management, 32 (4), 613-624.
• Dolnicar, S., and Laesser, (2007). C. Travel Agency Marketing Strategy: Insights from Switzerland. Journal of Travel Research 46 (2), 133-146.
• Elhaj, M.R. & Borakeh, M. (2015). The Impact of E-commerce on Travel Agencies Profitability in Respect of Size: Evidence from the U.S, Advances in Economics and Business, 3(10): 436-446.
• Evanschitzky, H., Sharma, A. & Prykop, C. (2012). The Role Of The Sales Employee In Securing Customer Satisfaction, European Journal of Marketing, 46 (3), 489 – 508.
• Fuentes, R. (2011). Efficiency Of Travel Agencies: A Case Study Of Alicante, Spain, Tourism Management, (32), 75-87.
• George, D. and Mallery, P. (2010). SPSS For Windows Step By Step. A Simple Study Guide And Reference, Boston: Pearson Education.
• Ghada Abd-Alla, M. (2006). Service Quality Of Travel Agents: The Vıew Point Of Tourists In Egypt, An Internatıonal Multıdıscıplınary Journal Of Tourism, 2 (1), 63-87.
• Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E., 2009. Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th ed. Pearson.
• Hsıeh, F. Y., Bloch, D. A. And Larsen, M. D. (1998). A Sample Method Of Sample Sıze Calculation For Linear And Logistic Regression, Statistics In Medicine, (17), 1623-1634.
• Işık, Z. (2019). Analysis of the Relationship Between Soft Success Factors and Product Sales Success of Personnel Working in a Travel Agency: The Case of Istanbul, Atatürk University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, Erzurum.
• Jones, E. & Hoven-Tang, C. (2005). Tourism SMEs, Service Quality and Destination Competitiveness, London, CABI.
• Kendra, S. and Vihar, P. (2016), Travel Agency and Tour Operations Business, Student Handbook, New Delhi: Central Board of Secondary Education.
• Kurtulay, Z. (2016). Personal Sales in Travel Agencies: An Application on Group A Travel Agencies in Istanbul, (Unpublished Master's Thesis), Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Istanbul.
• Lane, H. and Dupre, D. (1997). Hospitality World: An Introduction, Toronto.
• López-Bonilla, J. M. (2014). Holistic Competence Approach İn Tourism Higher Education: An Exploratory Study In Spain, Current Issues in Tourism, 17 (4), 312-326.
• Pantelescu, A.M., Tachiciu, L., Capuşneanu, S. & Topor, D. I. (2019). Role Of Tour Operators And Travel Agencies In Promotıng Sustaınable Tourism, Amfiteatru Economic, 21(52), 654-669.
• Pearson, J. B., Barker, H. H. & Elliott, R. D. (1957). Sales Success and Job Satisfaction, American Sociological Review, 22 (4), 424-427.
• Sajjad Kabir, S. M. (2016). Methods Of Data Collectıon, First Edition, Bangladesh: Book Zone Publication.
• Schober, P. & Boer, C. (2018). Correlation Coefficients: Appropriate Use and Interpretation, Anesthesia & Analgesia Special Article, 126 (5).
• Sparks, B. and Callan, V. 1992. Communication And The Service Encounter: The Value Of Convergence International Journal of Hospitality Management, 11(3), 213–224.
• Spitzer, D. R. (2007). Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking The Way We Measure And Drive Organizational Success. New York: Amacom.
• Stanciu, P. & Hapenciuc, C. V. (2009). Reliability and Flexibility in the Quality Management of Tourism Products, Amfiteatru Economic, 11 (26), 482-493.
• Tabachnick, B. & Fidell, L. (2015). Using Multivariate Statistic, (Çev. Ed. Mustafa Baloğlu), Ankara: Nobel Akademik Yayıncılık.
• Tang, T-W, Zhang, P. Ying, L., Wang, T-C & Tsai, C-L. (2020). The Effect Of Tourism Core Competence On Entrepreneurial Orientation And Service İnnovation Performance In Tourism Small And Medium Enterprises, Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 25 (2), 89-100.
• Tsang, C. & Lee, Y. C. (2013). Emotional İntelligence And Employee Creativity İn Travel Agencies, Current Issues in Tourism, 862-871.
• Ugoni, A. & Walker, B. (1995). The t-test, An Intorduction, Comsig Rewiev, 4 (2).
• Xiao, H. & Smith, S. L. J. (2010). Professional Communication In An Applied Tourism Research Community, Tourism Management, (31), 402–411.
• Yazıcıoğlu, Y., & Erdoğan, S. (2004). SPSS Applied Scientific Research Methods, Ankara: Detay Publishing.
• Zehrer, A. & Pechlaner, H. (2006) Response Quality of E-Mail Inquiries—A Driver for Knowledge Management in the Tourism Organization?, Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 7 (1-2), 53-73.