THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN TOURISM MARKETING. IMPACTS ON THE EVALUATION OF THE TOURISM PRODUCT.

Human resources in tourism, in the form of service personnel, are vital for the success of a business, operate as a critical factor for the creation of a destination's image and affect its selection from potential visitors. Human resources and image are crucial issues in tourism and travel marketing. However, research connecting them is limited. Taking into consideration these points this paper tries to assess the tourism personnel's images held by tourists, prior and after the visit, in an attempt to reveal deviations from their expectations concerning the personnel's performance. The fact that there is limited evidence and research on the personnel as an element of the destination image renders the approach of the current study interesting and can offer suggestions for managerial and marketing actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]