Operations Best Practices model for Tourism Industry

The value chain of any business is vital in identifying, creating and delivering the desired value to the customer. The service providers in tourism industry must be vigilant about changing tourist expectations and volatile competitive environment. Currently less structured business processes in this industry which makes most of traditional controls and measurements weak. However, good supply chain model can lead the industry towards improved competitiveness and thus boost the economic contribution. Such model should enhance communication links between stakeholders, promote good coordination, lead in the competition and facilitate collective growth. Even though business process modeling and usage of supply chain reference models are well established management practices, currently Sri Lankan tourism industry is lagging behind in applying them. In this research, applicability of alternative reference models in the tourism domain have been critically compared in a comprehensive literature survey for the purpose of developing a fitting reference model for the industry as current best of breed management practices. The theoretical framework of supply chain management has been enriched with validated strategic best practices model and strategies are proposed for addressing problematic areas in the industry .The study prioritizes best practices model and proposes complementary strategic framework for field of operations .