1. Student's full name: Duong Mai Lan
2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: September 22, 1969
4. Place of birth: Hanoi
5. Decision on student admission No. 2948/2021/QD-XHNV dated December 28, 2021, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
6. Changes in the training process: None
7. Thesis title: “Assessing the quality of domestic tourism services due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic”
8. Major: Tourism; Code: 8810101.01
9. Scientific supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Pham Hung - Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
10. Summary of the thesis results:
Using qualitative research as the primary method, the author conducted a study and evaluation of the quality of domestic tourism services during the period when the tourism industry had just reopened from March 15, 2022. After conducting a comprehensive review and systematizing the theoretical foundations of evaluating tourism service quality, the author conducted in-depth interviews with state management leaders in the travel industry, tourism lecturers at universities, and leaders of reputable travel businesses in Hanoi. Simultaneously, the author consulted with leaders of service supply chains (transportation, hotels, restaurants) via phone calls and social media, and directly interviewed personnel working at travel businesses (sales staff, operations staff, tour guides).
Through data provided on the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism's electronic portal, by directing interview questions and collecting and analyzing primary and secondary data related to three periods: before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018-2019), during the pandemic, and at the time of tourism recovery (April-August 2022), and the current period (March 2023); Based on the tourism service quality assessment models of Parasuraman (1985) and Cronin & Taylor (1992), the author conducted a comparison and analysis to identify the factors affecting the quality of domestic tourism services after the impact of the pandemic, identified factors related to risk management and crisis management in tourism business, and most importantly, recognized the serious degradation of domestic tourism service quality due to the impact of the pandemic in Vietnam.
Based on the research findings, the author has put forward proposals to improve the quality of domestic tourism services in the short and long term, as well as recommendations to help tourism businesses equip themselves with the experience to cope with potential future crises.
11. Practical applications:
This is a timely and urgent topic to help tourism businesses in Hanoi in particular and the whole country in general understand the factors affecting the quality of domestic tourism services during the post-pandemic recovery period, and to see the reality of how the quality of domestic tourism services has been severely affected by the pandemic. From there, it will guide businesses to improve product quality, prevent risks, and equip themselves with crisis management skills to meet market demands, enhance business efficiency, and contribute to the overall sustainable development of Vietnamese tourism.
12. Future research directions:
Research on the consumer behavior of domestic tourists following the impacts of economic, political, and social crises, and their expectations regarding the quality of tourism services during these crises.
13. Articles related to the thesis:
Duong Mai Lan (2023),Discussing the quality of domestic tourism services., Vietnam Tourism Magazine, May issue, ISSN 0866-7373, pp. 61-62.
INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS
1. Full name: Duong Mai Lan 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: September 22nd, 1969 4. Place of birth: Hanoi City
5. Admission decision number: No. 2948/2021/QD-XHNV; Dated December 28, 2021 by the Rector of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University.
6. Changes in academic process: No
7. Official thesis title: “Assessing the quality of domestic tourism services due to the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic”
8. Major: Tourism; Code: 8810101.01
9. Supervisor: Associate Pro. Dr. Nguyen Pham Hung - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University
10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:
Based on the qualitative research method, the author has conducted researches and assessed the quality of domestic tourism services in the period when the Vietnam tourism industry has just been reopened from March 15, 2022. After conducting an overview study and systematizing the theoretical bases on the assessment of tourism service quality, the author conducted in-depth interviews directly with leaders of the State management of tourism, experts in the field of tourism at universities, leaders of reputable tour operators in Hanoi, and interviews with leaders of tourism service suppliers (transportation, hotels, restaurants…) and directly talked with personnel working at tourism businesses (sales staff, operating staff, tour guides….)
Based on the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT)'s reports, collections of relevant primary and secondary data in three periods: before the COVID-19 Pandemic (Pandemic) (2018 - 2019), during the Pandemic and at the time when the tourism is reopened (April - August 2022), and the current period (March 2023); as well as the evaluation model of tourism service quality of Parasuraman (1985) and Cronin & Taylor (1992), the author has compared, analyzed and identified the Pandemic factors affecting tourism service quality, factors related to risk and crisis management in tourism businesses, and most importantly the serious decrease of domestic tourism service quality due to the impacts of the Pandemic in Vietnam.
From the research results, the author has made suggestions to improve the quality of domestic tourism services in the immediate and long-term period, as well as made recommendations to help the tourism businesses can well be equipped with experiences to deal with possible crises in the future.
11. Practical applicability, if any:
This is a rather urgent and hot issue at the moment. The research is conducted to help tourism operators in Hanoi in particular and the whole country in general see the factors affecting the quality of domestic tourism services during the 'recovery' period after the Pandemic. At the same time, it can be seen that the quality of domestic tourism service quality has been seriously affected by the Pandemic. This supports tourism businesses improve their product quality, prevent risks, equip themselves with skills to overcome future crisis and be able to meet the requirements of the market, improve business efficiency, and contribute to the sustainable development of the tourism in Vietnam.
12. Further research directions:
Researches on consumer behavior of domestic tourists after the impacts of economic, political and social crisis ..... and their expectations about domestic tourism service quality at the time of the crisis.
13. Articles related to the thesis:
Duong Mai Lan (2023),Evaluation on the quality of Domestic tourism services, Vietnam Tourism Magazine, May issue, ISSN 0866-7373, pp.61-62.
