Good and bad customer service in tourism

Introduction

Imagine you are a mystery shopper working for a travel and tourism magazine. Your mission is to investigate real examples of excellent and terrible customer service across hotels, tourist attractions, and transport companies. Your findings will help travelers make informed choices and will be published in the next issue!

Task

Working in small groups, you will:

  1. Research three real examples of good customer service in travel/tourism

  2. Research three real examples of bad customer service in travel/tourism

  3. Analyze what made each experience positive or negative

  4. Present your findings to the class with recommendations for improvement

Process

Step 1: Warm-up Discussion

With your partner, discuss the four scenarios from the textbook:

  • Restaurant: long wait + poor food quality

  • Receptionist forgot restaurant reservation

  • Long-haul flight with no vegetarian meal

  • Dirty, smoke-smelling room

What "gesture of goodwill" would you offer in each situation?

Step 2: Research 

Use these resources to find real examples:

News Articles & Reports:

  • BBC News – search "airline compensation" or "hotel customer service"

  • The Guardian travel section

  • Which? Travel (consumer reviews)

Review Sites:

  • TripAdvisor – look for "Terrible" and "Excellent" reviews

  • Trustpilot – search for airlines, hotels, tour operators

  • Google Reviews

Industry Awards:

  • Skytrax World Airline Awards (best/worst airlines)

  • TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice Awards

  • Which? recommended providers

Suggested search terms:

  • "customer service disaster travel"

  • "hotel went above and beyond"

  • "airline compensation story"

  • "tourist attraction terrible service"

  • "exceptional hospitality example"

Step 3: Analyze 

For each example, answer:

Question Good Example Bad Example
What happened?    
How did the staff respond?    
What gesture of goodwill was offered?    
Could this have been prevented?    
What can others learn?    

Step 4: Prepare Presentation 

Create a short presentation (3-5 minutes) covering:

  • 2-3 good examples with photos/screenshots

  • 2-3 bad examples with photos/screenshots

  • Comparison: what made the difference?

  • Top 3 tips for travel businesses to improve service

Evaluation
Criteria Excellent Good  Satisfactory  Needs Work 
Examples 6+ detailed, relevant examples 4-5 examples with details 3 examples, basic details Fewer than 3 examples
Analysis Deep insight into causes & solutions Good understanding shown Basic analysis No real analysis
Presentation Clear, engaging, well-organized Clear and organized Understandable Unclear or disorganized
Teamwork All members contributed equally Most members contributed Some imbalance One person did all work

 

Conclusion

After completing this webquest, you should be able to:

  • Identify key factors that create positive/negative service experiences

  • Suggest appropriate gestures of goodwill for common complaints

  • Evaluate real-world customer service in travel and tourism

  • Apply these lessons to your own future roles in the industry

Credits

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Teacher Page

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