The role of travel agencies in tourism development in Alba county

Carmen Pastiu, Andreea Muntean, Claudia Moisa and Silvia Mihalache (Maican)

Tourism and Hospitality Industry from University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management

Abstract: The travel agencies play an important role in tourism development. Alba County can be considered an important touristic destination in Romania. Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to underline the role of travel agencies in sustaining tourism development in Alba County. Design – A survey was conducted to find the opinion of these companies managers regarding the role they plays in the valorisation of touristic potential. Methodology – The survey that was carried out was going to be a quantitative type of research. The means of communication with the investigated unit: interviews based on a questionnaire administered by the operators. The primary data was collected out of a sample of 16 travel agencies operating in Alba county, from a total number of 20s. The sample for the target group has been identified using purposive sampling method. Purposive sampling method was applied to travel agencies managers’ participants because this sample was considered to meet the objectives of the research, though it did not represent the whole population. The questionnaires were administered by face to face interviews with representatives of the participating travel agencies at the Albac Tourism Fair held between 6th-8th September 2013, but also at the agencies' headquarters. Approach – Travel agencies operating both locally as well as nationally and internationally, should be encouraged to provide tourism products in the county. It is necessary to find solutions to improve the quality of tourism services in Alba County. Findings – According to the acquired results, the most important factors affecting the implication of travel agencies in Alba County tourism development are the insufficient development of tourism resources in the area, lack of financial resources and poor general infrastructure. Less important are considered to be laws and excessive bureaucracy. Originality – The paper presents the results of the first research of this kind on the travel agencies from Alba County.

Keywords: travel agencies; tourism development; tourists (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-tur
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Published in 22nd Biennial International Congress Tourism & Hospitality Industry 2014, May 2014, pages 327-337

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