Tourism is a service sector that is given importance all over the world as in our country and the gain from this sector is very serious. Tourism activities are one of the most important national values, which are given importance by countries in terms of social, cultural and economic terms. The foreign tourism created by visitors from foreign countries as well as the domestic tourism of our own citizens make important contributions to the economy. In the tourism sector, which had previously been experienced only in terms of sea, sun and holiday, today, tourism tourism, cultural tourism, sports tourism and tourism branches with different activities have emerged. However, tourism is a service sector activity and selling services is not as easy as it seems. Tourism activities As the activities increased, a systematic management of enterprises and the establishment of standards on accommodation, eating, entertainment and many other issues emerged.

ISO 18513 standard is a standard with international features in the field of tourism activities. During the preparation of this standard, a serious effort has been made by the Consumer Committee working under the International Organization for Standardization. In fact, prior to this work of the International Standards Organization, a meeting was held in 1995 in China on Services, International Standardization Difficulties. In this meeting, which is an idea generation meeting, studies have been carried out to establish an internationally recognized standard on services, and issues such as why standardization is required in enterprises operating in the service sector, whether it is possible to set a standard, and how applicable such a standard is internationally applicable .

In 1998, a number of initiatives have been taken on the standardization of tourism enterprises supported by the World Trade Organization.

The question of how tourism should be classified as an increasingly large sector in the national and international sectors throughout the world and how to compare these enterprises has become more important. The World Tourism Organization decided on the need for a study on classification and included this study in the 2001 year work calendar.

The last step of these efforts for achieving a standard of services in the tourism sector, which has lasted for many years, was taken by the International Organization for Standardization in 2003. ISO 18513: 2003 Tourism Services Management System standard has been published.

The basic principles of the ISO 18513: 2003 standard are as follows:

  • Housekeeping and front desk (signs, reservation, terminology)

The signs that customers from all over the world can easily understand should be used. Do not disturb warning, hot and cold water selection, telephone switchboard and reception numbers should be standard. The booking form used must be the same in all businesses. Employees should use a common language.

  • Training:

All employees should have a common level of foreign language.

  • Security

Safety systems such as smoke detectors or water sprinkler devices for fire safety must be of a certain standard. At the same time, signs showing the escape routes and the places where they are placed should be provided.

  • Voltage and electrical plugs

Standardization of voltage and electricity plugs should be ensured in all enterprises.

  • Health (food and beverage, security, education, purchase)

Air and water quality of the enterprises should be standard. Cleaning of food and beverages, kitchens and restaurants and employees must be in accordance with the standards. Employees' clothing should be common, health checks should be done regularly. Kitchen and restaurant areas should be suitable for safe and efficient work. Workers in kitchens and restaurants need to be at a certain level of education. A standard procurement process should be prepared. The standard should also be set for supplier companies.

  • Performance and product evaluation

Standards and product evaluation methods should be defined to determine the performance of their employees.

With the efforts of World Trade Organization, World Tourism Organization and International Standards Organization, criteria, principles, quality standards and hotel classification systems have been established in tourism in line with today's needs and expectations. Especially for small-scale enterprises in developing countries, it would be inevitable for these arrangements to be harmonized with the sending countries. ISO 18513: 2003 Tourism Services Management System standardWhile preparing the existing classification systems, the common qualifications which are based on similar classifications have been introduced and the international minimum criteria which can be accepted by rating of hotels and similar enterprises have been formed and the methods and rules for the classification of enterprises have been determined. In this way, the free marketing of tourism services and the factors that create unfair competition are eliminated.

As can be seen, the ISO 18513: 2003 standard is the only standard with international features for today's tourism activities, and a lot of time and effort have been spent for this standard to emerge. One feature of the ISO 18513 Tourism Management System is that it can easily be integrated with ISO 9001 Quality Management System.

 

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