TQM - A Factor for Tourism Competitiveness.

In a more globalized world, with the rise of the importance of tourism in the global economy (its share in GDP) and the growing competition on the market of global tourism, providing quality tourist products represent a desideratum recognized by all the actors involved in activities in the field. In this context, the Total Quality Management (TQM) concept should be a very important tool to be used in this sector. The latest report published in 2017 by World Economic Forum was a valuable source of information for the level of quality of touristic services in Romania and a starting point for our research. The objectives of this paper are to examine the present quality of Romanian touristic services, the place of TQM in the business strategy of Romanian companies, the advantages of implementing TQM and the measures proposed to raise the quality of touristic services in Romania. The research methodology is based on a questionnaire applied to 300 employees from the tourism sector in Romania and the results demonstrate the role and importance of TQM in increasing the quality of touristic services in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]