Quality Management as a Tool to Ensure the Competitiveness of Tourism Service Providers

The presented paper deals with the topic of increasing the quality of services provided the in the field of tourism. It is especially focused on the Czech Service Quality System (CSQS), which represents such a quality management tool in the market environment of the Czech Republic. This system has been operating as a quality management tool for ensuring competitiveness in the conditions of the Czech Republic since 2010. After a 10 year period, it is therefore appropriate to verify and evaluate its current use in practice. The main goal of the paper is to analyse the current level of implementation of this tool and its practical use. The research verifies the use of the Czech system of service quality among the managers of the selected tourism organizations certified in the system. For this purpose, qualitative research is used, specifically the form of guided interviews with these leading representatives of selected certified organizations. Partial goals of the paper are the detailed description of the Czech Service Quality System, including the reasons that led to the implementation of this system and the description of its operation. To determine the current level of implementation of the system, a quantitative research and statistical evaluation of the total number of certified organizations was performed, including a detailed procedure in various stages of certification, as well as performing interregional analysis or compiling the structure of certified organizations. Furthermore, a comparison was made with analogous systems operating in Germany (ServiceQualität Deutschland) and in Switzerland (Quality Programme of Swiss Tourism). In the light of the findings, it turns out that certification in the system can be considered a positive and responsive step towards customers, as well as an effective tool for increasing competitiveness.