Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of gastronomy, hospitality and travel (Online), cilt.5, sa.4, ss.1482-1494, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
Tour guides are one of the most important service providers in tourism industry, where human relations have a significant place.
The tour guides deal with and simultaneously witness all satisfactions/complaints of the tourists. Meeting the expectations and
satisfying the customers bring about customer loyalty, and they directly influence their tendencies to attend in future touristic
activities. Failing to satisfy the customers’ expectations may lead to dissatisfaction and complaints. The tour guide’s capability to
successfully manage and solve all complaints throughout the tour will have an influence on customer’s preferences and chose the
same travel agency and tour guide, and also on protecting the image and reputation of the destination. Thus, the purpose of this
study is to find out the complaints that the tour guides face during a package tour, and to reveal the process of managing these
complaints. A phenomenological approach was adopted, and the experiences of tour guides were used in this study. Within this
context, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 active tour guides, who work in various parts of Turkey. It was observed
that the customer complaints were mainly about the tour schedule, means of transport, hotels or restaurants, and the services rendered
by the tour guide. No studies were found about the up close and personal complaints encountered by the tour guides. Therefore, it
is believed that this study will significantly contribute to the literature. In this study, theoretical implications were made for tour
guiding literature, and practical implications were made for tour guiding profession.