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Unlock This CourseYou've already explored what good and bad customer service looks like, how it affects reputation, loyalty and revenue and how different organisations deliver it. Now it's time to step back and evaluate that means making a judgement about how important customer service really is and why.
In your iGCSE exam, "evaluate" questions ask you to consider different sides of an argument and reach a supported conclusion. This lesson gives you the tools to do exactly that.
Key Definitions:
Here's a question worth thinking about: Is customer service the single most important factor for a travel and tourism business? The honest answer is it depends. But in most cases, customer service sits right at the heart of success. Let's explore why and also consider when other factors might compete with it.
So while customer service is not the only factor, it is often the factor that organisations have the most direct control over and the one that most consistently separates thriving businesses from struggling ones.
When we evaluate something, we look at its strategic value meaning, how much does it contribute to the long-term success of the organisation? Customer service scores highly here because it affects almost every other part of the business.
Think of customer service as the thread that runs through an entire organisation. It connects marketing, operations, finance and human resources. When service is strong, all these areas benefit. When it's weak, all of them suffer.
Good service = more repeat bookings, higher spend per customer, fewer refunds and complaints. Poor service = lost revenue, compensation costs, legal fees.
Happy customers become free marketers they post reviews, recommend to friends and share on social media. No advertising budget can match genuine word of mouth.
Businesses known for great service attract better staff. Good staff deliver better service. It's a cycle and it starts with the organisation's commitment to service culture.
Virgin Atlantic was founded in 1984 with a clear mission: to offer better customer service than British Airways. Sir Richard Branson built the entire brand around the customer experience from in-flight entertainment (a first at the time) to friendly, approachable cabin crew. Virgin consistently wins awards for service quality. Crucially, when Virgin has faced financial difficulty, its strong brand reputation built on service has helped it survive where competitors have not. This shows that customer service isn't just a "nice extra" it can be the foundation of an entire business model.
One of the most important things to consider when evaluating customer service is the time frame. Some impacts are immediate; others build up slowly over months and years. Understanding both is key to a strong exam answer.
These are the effects that happen quickly sometimes within hours or days of a customer interaction.
These are the effects that accumulate over time and they tend to be far more powerful in shaping an organisation's future.
Airbnb is a fascinating example because it doesn't own any hotels it's a platform connecting hosts and guests. Its entire business model depends on customer service and trust. Both hosts and guests rate each other after every stay. If hosts provide poor service, their listings drop in search rankings and they lose bookings. If guests behave badly, they're banned from the platform. Airbnb has invested heavily in its customer support team and resolution centre. By 2023, Airbnb had over 7 million listings worldwide proof that a business built entirely on service quality can scale to enormous size. Without its review and service system, Airbnb simply would not exist.
Not all travel and tourism organisations are the same. The importance of customer service and the way it's delivered varies depending on the type of organisation, its target market and its business model. A strong evaluation recognises these differences.
It might seem like customer service matters more in luxury travel after all, guests paying £500 a night expect perfection. But budget operators face just as much pressure, just in different ways.
For luxury hotels, airlines and cruise lines, exceptional service IS the product. Customers are paying a premium specifically for the experience. A single failure a rude waiter, a dirty room, a delayed transfer can destroy the entire perception of value. Luxury brands like The Savoy or Emirates invest enormous sums in staff training because they know their reputation depends on consistent perfection.
Budget operators like easyJet or Travelodge compete primarily on price. Customers accept fewer frills but they still expect basic standards: politeness, clear information and problems handled fairly. In fact, budget operators face a harder challenge: delivering acceptable service with fewer resources and tighter margins. Poor service hits them hard too a budget airline with a reputation for losing bags or rude staff will lose customers to equally cheap rivals.
Evaluation point: Customer service is important across all market segments but what "good service" looks like differs. The key is meeting or exceeding customer expectations, which vary by price point and context.
When evaluating importance, it's always stronger to use evidence and data rather than just opinion. Here are some key facts that demonstrate just how central customer service is to travel and tourism businesses.
Research consistently shows it costs 5 to 7 times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. In travel, where bookings are high-value, losing a loyal customer is extremely costly.
Over 90% of travellers read online reviews before booking. A one-star drop on TripAdvisor has been linked to a 5–9% drop in revenue for hotels. This makes every customer interaction a potential public event.
The World Travel and Tourism Council reports that tourism employs over 330 million people globally. The quality of those employees' customer service skills directly shapes the reputation of entire destinations, not just individual businesses.
Customer service isn't just good business in many cases, it's a legal requirement. This adds another layer to our evaluation: organisations don't just choose to provide good service, they are sometimes required to by law.
This means that for travel organisations, poor customer service can lead to fines, legal action and regulatory sanctions not just bad reviews. The stakes are high.
In March 2022, P&O Ferries (part of the same parent company as P&O Cruises) made 800 workers redundant without notice, replacing them with cheaper agency staff. While this was a labour relations issue, the customer service fallout was enormous. Passengers reported chaotic experiences, cancelled sailings and a complete breakdown in communication. The incident triggered a government inquiry, calls for boycotts and lasting damage to the P&O brand. It illustrated that customer service and staff welfare are deeply connected when you treat employees badly, customers suffer too. The long-term reputational damage far outweighed any short-term cost savings.
In your iGCSE exam, you may be asked to "evaluate the importance of customer service to a travel and tourism organisation." Here's how to structure a top-level answer:
Evaluate: Weigh up evidence and make a supported judgement.
Assess: Similar to evaluate consider the extent or significance of something.
Justify: Give reasons to support a view or decision.
To what extent: Agree or disagree with a statement, with evidence and a conclusion.
Discuss: Explore different viewpoints on an issue.