The travel agencies exist on a market that is distinguished by increasing competition. A majority of the travel agencies offer different services that all satisfie the same customer need. However,one major difference in the market aspect is the service quality, this making it an important mean of competition. There are several acknowledged methods of measurement when it comes to service quality and it is important to use an instrument that takes into consideration the fact that charter tours is a complex merger of several services. The purpose of this essay is to establish if the SERVQUAL method is a suitable instrument for measuring service quality in the travelindustry.

Internet är idag en väletablerad kanal för såväl varor som tjänster och denna typ av försäljning ökar hela tiden i popularitet. Anledningarna att människor handlar via Internet istället för i vanliga butiker är att det är billigare samt att det går snabbt och enkelt att jämföra olika återförsäljares priser. En av de branscher där e-handel varit mycket framgångsrik är resebranschen. Den svenska Reseindustrin hade totalt 25 MdSEK i omsättning 2005, varav 10 Mdr kom från e-handel. 3 Mdr omsattes av rena nätaktörer.

The focus of this essay is set on a number of processes that affect the challenges of the tourist trade, to be more precise ? an analysis of the attitudes towards tourism and sustainability within this line of business ? from an ethical and moral as well as social view. These issues are examined with reference to the concept of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). Thus, acquaintance with theories of social constructivism, post colonialism, globalisation and global civil society is essential in order to understand the analysed material. The essay is mainly based on the outcome of qualitative interviews with various kinds of persons working with CSR related questions.