Change Management in T&T Organizations

This assignment analyzes the impact of change on the Travel & Tourism (T&T) industry. It explores contemporary issues facing T&T organizations, focusing on the role of social media in shaping consumer behavior and the influence of global events like the SARS outbreak on tourism patterns. The report delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by technological advancements in the industry and assesses various change management strategies adopted by T&T organizations. Finally, it evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies and their impact on organizational performance within the dynamic T&T landscape.

Contemporary Issues
in Travel & Tourism

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 and 1.2 Analysing different issues that are currently driving change in the travel and
tourism sector using appropriate methods and resources............................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Evaluating current trends influencing change in the T&T sector..........................................4
2.2 Poster presentation ................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Analysing the way in which International Airlines Group (IAG) could respond to change. 6
3.2- Developing strategies in which British Airways (BA) and Aer Lingus could respond to
change..........................................................................................................................................7
3.3 Justifying strategies................................................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
4.1 Analysing the impact of issues and trends that drive change in T&T sector with reference
to Thomas Cook...........................................................................................................................9
4.2 Discussing the likely consequences of businesses failing to respond to market change with
reference to Thomas Cook.........................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Travel and tourism (T&T) is referred to have the most significant contribution in increasing the economic status of the nations. It is
thereby important for the concerned officials of the country to always maintain a dignified state of the tourist’s locations that will more actively
support their concern of bringing prosperity in the state. However, their together exists some leading concerns with an increasing rate of T&T
(Contemporary issues in hospitality and tourism, 2013). This also necessitates the governmental bodies to look into resolution of such existing
issues and solve them on a due period of time. The present report is based on a similar consideration of such contemporary issues that are often
faced by the associated bodies of T&T along with the tourists and tour operators. Beside this, the local residents of the nation with a propagating
tourism are also evident to face some common number of problems due to such intensifying state of tourism in the country. For this purpose, a
renowned tour operator of UK named Thomson has been selected.
TASK 1
1.1 Analysing different issues that are currently driving change in the travel and tourism sector using appropriate methods and resources
T&T business consists of several numbers of aspects where it tends to provide both leisure and work-related experience to the tourists.
This is mainly on considering different type of tours where business tour is also reflected as today’s modernised agenda of many people.
Considering the same, they are together known to have several numbers of expectations from their planned trips (Smith, 2014). One such
location has been chosen to address this section of the report called Costa Rica that is famously known for its natural surroundings, giving a
sense of peace to the travellers. Apart from this, it is also known to promote a green business tour with an equal consideration of fetching the
interest of both type of tourists looking for a leisure and work trip. However, it is apparent to get affected from today’s contemporary issues
influencing the basis of today’s T&T industry. Some such common problems with their analysis are as defined below-
 Terrorism- This is referred to be one of the most concerning issues that largely impacts upon the incoming ratio of tourists in a
nation. It is hereby with a correspondent sense of travelling into a nation that is not safe for the tourers and they thus start avoiding
making plans to such unsafe locations. Considering a similar situation in Costa Rica, it is popularly known for its ferocious law-
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breaking trend with a high rate of crime in the tourist areas (Smith, 2014). It is specially at the time of visiting during vacations,
there exists more such illegal acts of robbery, human trafficking and home thefts. On analysing this issue, it can be said that such
type of activities is apparent to decline the T&T sector of Costa Rica with less or no incoming of tourists over here.
 Severe weather- This is mainly in context to any environmental concern pertaining in the nation that could also make a negative
impact on the T&T industry of the elected tour location. It is together on considering the fact where distinct type of natural
calamities has severely impacted upon the natural serenity of Costa Rica by together creating a sense of fear in the mind of those
who are considering visiting this place (Wilder-Smith, 2006). This is for instance to state about frequently occurring earthquakes
and volcanic adversities in Costa Rica that in turn persuades people to avoid risking their lives. This in turn is affecting the tour
operators like Thomson in an undesirable manner where they are no more able to attract tourists to travel these areas by staking
their life’s.
 Technology- Technology is stated to be an utmost requirement of all individuals to manage their day to day activities in an
effective manner. It is therefore required to be consistent at the time of travelling as well. Beside this, technology is together
known to add value in the growth of T&T industry. It is specifically due to a prime assistance of e-commerce services that in turn
assist the tourists in booking online tickets (Felfernig and et. al., 2007). It is thus with no such concern of queuing in the front of
outlets and ticket counters of tour operators of Thomson, etc. However, it tends to leak many of their personal information and
payment related details, etc. This in turn creates a sense of fear in the tourists and necessitates the tour operators like Thomson to
use verified sites for accepting payment. They should together maintain an ethical approach of serving the users by upholding the
confidentiality of their information.
1.2 There are various issues faced by tourism sector. It is described below:-
By analyzing data from internet and different websites the different issues in travel and tourism can be found. Also, by reading different case
studies and newspaper articles the current issues in this industry can be identified. With all these data and information it will be easy to know
what factors are affecting this sector and to how much extent.
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BREXIT – This is the major issue that is highly affecting the tourism sector. Due to Exit of UK from European Union there has been decline in
tourism sector in Europe. Also, EU and UK have implemented several polices regarding visa that is restricting people to travel in Europe.
Moreover, the security issues and relationship of different countries is affecting tourism and other sectors.
Political unrest in middle east and North America- The political condition of middle east countries is creating disturbances in entire world. It
has lead to some terrible conditions that is been faced by world. This has created fear among people to travel from one country to another thus
decreasing tourism sector growth. Moreover, situation in north America and Mexico has resulted in rising of various issues affecting tourism
industry. US has implemented some strict restrictions in visa.
Security- it is the major factor faced by this sector as tourists find it difficult to travel to those country where there are certain issues regarding
security. These issues occur due to instability in political conditions or environment problem. These issues consist of various problems relating
to terrorism, people, etc. It restricts tourist to travel from one place to another. Due to this people develop a negative thinking in their mind and
do not prefer to travel. This has reduced tourism sector from all around the world.
Poor travel conditions- it is due to increasing cost of air tickets. They have restricted certain people from traveling to other countries.
Moreover, this industry suffers poor customer service due to lack of personnel. This includes poor climate condition, low economic growth, etc.
This is due to poor living standards of people that affects tourism sector industry. Also, due to non availability of proper transport facilities it
becomes difficult for people to go at that place.
Health and safety- There are many health issues due to which people do not travel. It is because of poor health facilities available in that country.
Conditions are worst in regions like Africa where a lot of disease are arising due lack of availability of resource or poor drinking water.
Taxation- The increasing taxation rate all over the world is reducing the income of people and this is leading them to save money rather than
traveling. Also, due to higher tax rates in developed countries it is preventing people to travel abroad. The increasing price of ticket and other
things is having a great impact on travel and tourism sector.
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There are various method through which different issues in tourism industry can be found out. This includes primary and secondary resources.
Primary means by conducting surveys or observation techniques. Secondary resources include collecting data and information from books,
surveys, online, etc.
Surveys can be done with various methods such as questionnaires, research reports, etc. it can also be done online by using various social
networking sites.
Secondary information can be collected from past research, books, reading journal or from blogs that are created to discuss certain issues.
TASK 2
2.1 Evaluating current trends influencing change in the T&T sector
This is on considering the current trends that are directly impacting upon the T&T industry to bring some change in their existing
proposals, people are nowadays found to prefer experiencing new locations to discover something new as well as meaningful. Learning is a part
of everyone’s life today where all prefers to learn something new each day (Blanke and Chiesa, 2013). Also, people’s changing mindset with
altering needs and a transforming income level is bringing significant revolution in the T&T industry. With a similar consideration of such
changing demands, Costa Rica is equally influenced from some below specified trends, emerging to a great extent- Green tourism- This type of tourism is greatly influenced by the recent concern of protecting environment. Costa Rica can constructively
focus on this particular trend due to its naturally green serenity (Evans, Stonehouse and Campbell, 2012). A leading purpose of eco-
tourism is to instruct visitors to contribute in developing the society as well as nation’s economy by preserving the surrounding. It is
since the year 1990’s, 34% rise in eco- tourism has been seen.
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 Sports tourism- It is referred to be yet another emerging trend affecting the growth of T&T sector where Costa Rica is also popular for a
well-known sport called Football (Gössling, 2013). As a result, to which, Costa Rica has enough scope of promoting the growth of sports
tourism as a way of increasing the number of both its national and international tourists to greater number. Agro tourism- This is in context of agricultural tourism where Costa Rica is referred to have a farm culture with a major scope of coffee
plantation for being one of the biggest coffee grown area (Lew, Hall and Timothy, 2008). It in turn indicates a rising scope of Agro-
tourism in Costa- Rica.
 Faith Tourism: It is a type of tourism that is viewed as religious point of view. It includes various religious trips of different religion. Its
example is Hajj pilgrimage of Muslims. This has influenced tourism sector as many people wants to travel to another country just for
these kind of trips.
Reason for growth:-
The reason for growth of tourism sector in Costa Rica is due to their heritage look. This has increased people attraction towards cost Rica.
Moreover, the markets of Costa Rica is very good and attractive. This allows people to travel to that country. Besides this, the culture of people
in Costa Rica is very different. Furthermore, the tradition of the country is effective enough to attract visitors to travel
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TASK 3
3.1 Analysing the way in which International Airlines Group (IAG) could respond to change
In today’s contemporary world, its only due to the individuals, the organizations are together required to have a modern outlook for
serving them. Considering the same, change is referred to be a significant aspect of everyone’s life and is thus required to be managed in proper
way. It is therefore on referring to the aspect of change management, IAG is strategically required to respond towards it. This needs them to
primarily conduct an external analysis of their market by comparing its results with that to the outcomes acquired from internal analysis
(Miguéns and Mendes, 2008). IAG is an internal airline ownership firm that is operationally headquartered in London, UK. It provisions services
related to transportation and air freight at a global level and is operating with nearly 61000 personnel. It is therefore on analyzing the ways in
which IAG will consider responding to change, both internal and external strategies are referred to be two considerate measures for doing so and
are thus expected to produce effective outcomes. IAG can develop new strategies that focus on market segmentation and identifying needs of
each market. It will help them to analyze what changes are occurring in each segment and what strategy must be adopt and implemented to
survive in the industry. Also, they can develop policies and procedures to respond to any change.
IAG can provide extra value to their customers by providing better services. They can change their services technologically to increase its
quality. Also, by cutting the cost will help in competing in the market. Moreover, long hold can be reduced to reach the destination in less time.
IAG can use shorter routes to reach the destination, this will help them to improve their service quality. Furthermore, they can implement new
techniques in providing better services to people. This will enable them to compete in the market. Also, by developing new strategies will help
them to adopt change easily and improving employees efficiency. IAG can connect with regional airports so that it becomes easy to for them to
cover major route with more customers. Apart from this International airlines groups can introduce new services to people. Also, they can start
providing various offers and discounts like seasonal discount, festive offers, etc. It will be helpful go them to attract new customers. Moreover,
by marketing their services in more effective way they can gain competitive advantage in the market.
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PEST and SWOT analysis-
Hereby, the strategies that will be used by both IAG and Aer Lingus is to carry out a market research for firstly assessing the current state
of their market and then conduct an internal analysis for comparing the acquired results of both (Moutinho, 2011). For this purpose, an external
analysis will be carried out with the help of an analytical model called PEST, as specified below- Political- It is after an active existence of Brexit, IAG like other airline organisations is likely to lose the impact over the improvement
of the legal framework proposed by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Economic- Lowered process of fuel has enhanced the profitability status of organisations like IAG in a very short time (Sharpley, 2006). Social- There exists a growing insight of the consumers about IAG where it is mostly addressed as a low-cost carrier.
 Technological- More investments in technical advancements is expected to enhance the experience of IAG’s consumers by together
dropping their expenses (TheoIAGld, 2005).
Once after carrying out an external analysis, another strategic approach of IAG and Aer Lingus is to carry out a SWOT analysis to
acknowledge their existent position, as mentioned below-
 Strengths- A foremost strength of IAG is its worldwide brand identity where it is also leading in the UK market due to its huge fleet
size (Williams and IAGláž, 2013).
 Weaknesses- Its huge dependency on European and UK markets is specified to be a huge matter of concern.
 Opportunities- Focussing on rigorous policies of marketing is a vital opportunity for IAG where it has a scope of becoming a
customer centric entity (Mills and Law, 2013).
 Threats- An intensifying competition all across the world is referred to be a major threat for IAG where inflation can pressurize it
more from a raised labour and fuel cost.
3.2- Developing strategies in which British Airways (BA) and Aer Lingus could respond to change
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It is after assessing both external and internal position of BA, proposing effective strategies of marketing is the most recommendable
measure where they can refer to use yet another efficient model of marketing mix with its 4 vital constituents, as referred below- Product- It is in context to the services offered by BA where they can hereby refer to offer a top- notch dine in for its travellers with a
special menu for kids and people who are on diet (Murphy, 2013). Price- Here, they can choose to apply market based strategy of pricing to charge an affordable cost of the above proposed services. Place- This is mainly in context to the booking of the above offered service where the passengers should not be forced to pre-book it
and BA can avail it to them on instant booking as well (Smith, 2014).
 Promotion- Social media tools along with the official website of BA are referred to be some best possible measures for advertising the
newly offered service and attract customers towards it.
Product Life Cycle- It is a concept that is used in marketing to analyses the stages of product from when it comes to market till it is removed. It
consists of four stages that is introduction, growth, maturity and decline.
Introduction- It is a stage in which product is launched or introduced in the market. This is done by researching and analyzing the data. A
product becomes
Growth- In this stage product slowly starts growing in the market. The sales starts increasing and more customers are attracted towards it.
Business develop strategies to promote their product in new areas. This helps in increasing their revenue.
Maturity- In this the product has reached its highest stage to growth. Product growth slowly starts declining. There is no chance that product can
grow. This happens due to new products entering in markets.
Decline- It is a stage where product starts declining due to introduction of new products. Here, business focus on developing strategies on how to
make product survive in the market.
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Along with this British airways can provide extra services to people such as short hauls services. It means adding extra value services such as
providing breakfast, snacks, etc. to customers. This will help BA to retain their customers. Besides this, lower cost can be charged from middle
class customers, it will help in increasing customer base.
3.3 Justifying strategies
It is on justifying the above proposed strategy after considering both internal and external position of BA. The chosen approach of
applying marketing mix to design its services is one of the best possible way (Euromonitor international, 2014). This is due to its tactical
assistance that is in turn apparent to help BA in designing an effective plan that fulfil the requirement of their targeted users.
Further, in marketing mix the strategy of market development must be followed so that it will help BA to provide their services in countries
other than EU. This will expand their operations in other regions and they will be able to generate more profits. Along with this product
development can be implemented in air services so that it will increase customer satisfaction and retaining them.
The strategy of market development can be implemented by British Airways.. It will help in business expansion and increasing profits.
Moreover, it can develop product according to customer needs so that it will be easy for them to cover every market segment. It is because it
serves only high class people so this has affected their growth in the industry. Along with this various offers or packages can also be provided
by British Airways to attract people. Also, they can offer discounts on festive seasons which will help them to gain more customers. Apart from
this they can provide service of online booking in which they can offer discounts to people. It will be very beneficial for Britsih airways in
gaining larger market share. BA can place benefits for customers it means that providing affordable services to customers. By maintaining
government policies BA can improves its brand image. Also, different strategies can be placed in the services. This will help BA to generate
more revenues. Besides this, they can offer discounts on specific services that will enable airlines to retain their customers. Apart from this BA
can use technology to enhance their quality of service. They can provide various offers and benefits to loyal customers to retain them. This will
helps them to build a strong customer base in existing market. It will increase their sales and profits. Hence, it will give them a competitive
advantage over their rivals.
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TASK 4
4.1 Analysing the impact of issues and trends that drive change in T&T sector with reference to Thomas Cook
Below is the assessed impact of several issues and trends that drives change in organisations like Thomas Cook operating in T&T sector- Impact on business- This is in context to one such emerging trend of environmental awareness where the organisations like Thomas
Cook are largely affected from it. They are hereby required to follow some clear set of guidelines regarding the dumping of wastage in a
suitable way (Travel, 2015). Beside this, pollution measures are also of an utmost importance for Thomas Cook. It thereby necessities
the cited firm to undertake effective measures for adhering the policies related to it in a directional manner.
 Impact on product and services- It is on considering an increased concern of the consumers towards getting quality services with
diversified range of products. Also, there exists various security related concerns that results in diminishing the interest level of the
customers (Witt, Brooke and Buckley, 2013). This in turn necessitates the quoted entity to provide an easy access to the customers
where they can resolve any of their pertaining queries on internet, without queuing at the reservation counters, etc.
 Safety and security- They are the most important issues in this sector. Considering these issues UK government has implemented
different policies. These policies ensured the safety of people. Also, various tour operators have to follow them to provide services to
people.
 Technology- Various tour operators are effectively using technology to expand their business and improving their services. E-
commerce has been highly used by Thomas cook to increases their range of service and customer base. With this they are able to grow
and develop in different countries.
Impact of merger and acquisition and liquidations on products and services and employment levels- Due to mergers of companies in this sector,
there is improvement in services and development of new products. It has increased the range of services and provided new methods of payment.
Also, competition in the industry has increased due to acquiring of small companies by big firms. This has resulted in giving better options to
people at low cost. Also, it has improved the quality of services. This has allowed local tour operators to get merge with national or international
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tour operators. This will result in stiff competition among them in the market. Also, they will develop new strategies to attract more customers. It
will reduce cost of service generating more profits. Another impact of merger on this industry is the potential unification of brand standards,
including IT standards. Such unification will apply to entire sector within the portfolio of the merged companies, regardless of whether any
particular tour operator is repositioned, changed or retired, following the merger.
4.2 Discussing the likely consequences of businesses failing to respond to market change with reference to Thomas Cook
It is mainly on considering the above discoursed trending issues that are required to be handled in a proper manner. This is basically to
maintain a sustainable business in the long run where any failed approach could directly lead to unproductive consequences at the end (Wilder-
Smith, 2006). This is for instance if Thomas Cook fails in a proper use of technical advancements in the industry, they might face severe issues
in serving quality services to its customers and fulfill their identified demands of getting exceptional facilities from the enterprise and feel
deceived. Further, if there is any change in taste and preference of customers and Thomas cook remains on providing high quality services to
people. Thus, it will directly affect their business productivity.
Thomson have to adopt changes to attract more customers and earn more profits. It must have proper knowledge to adopt changes in
current trends. It will help in analyzing risk before offering services to customers in the market. Also, a proper risk assessment plan can be
prepared by Thomson by analyzing political condition of any country. The company can fail if it is not able to respond to market change. This
creates huge losses to them. Thompson can conduct PESTEL analyses in order to identify potential changes that can occur in the market. This
will help them to develop strategies accordingly. Also, merging with competitors can help Thomson to grow and expand its business.
Therefore, it is necessary for to create a strong brand image in the market to survive for long run. Also, Thomas cook have to develop new
marketing strategies to attract customers. This will be helpful for them maintain competitive advantage over its rivals. Moreover, they can
provide a feedback option on their website that will help customers to give their suggestions. With this Thomas cook can improve its services.
This enables them to maintain their brand image in the market.
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Reduced sales and profitability- If Thomas cook is not able to respond to change then it can result in declining of their profits and sales. This
will have a negative impact on their brand image in the market. It reduces business efficiency and its operations. It creates a risk of getting
dissolved from the market. Also, it creates a negative image in the mind of customers.
Profit margins- Due to not responding to change their profit margins can reduced. It will allow them to provide extra service to customers in
order to earn more profits. Decreasing profits margins means fear of going into loss. Also, Thomas cook have to cut down its expenses in order
to maintain stable profits. The trust of customers, employees and stakeholders will be highly affected.
Change in attitudes- Customer attitude towards Thomas Cook will go in negative way. They will prefer to use another company services
instead of Thomas cook. Change in customer attitude will affect companies image leading to decline in market share. Moreover, they will not
prefer to engage with company. Due to this the CRM of company will be affected and they will not be able to retain their customers.
CONCLUSION
The above report has summarised the contemporary trend of T&T industry with a specific consideration of assessing the issues pertaining
over here. It has firstly analysed the current issues in T&T sector along with the current trends affecting the businesses associated with it.
Following this, the report has together evaluated the change management strategies adopted by T&T organisations by lastly demonstrating the
influence of change on them.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Blanke, J. and Chiesa, T., 2013. The travel & tourism competitiveness report 2013: reducing barriers to economic growth and job creation.
World Economic Forum.
Evans, N., Stonehouse, G., and Campbell, D., 2012. Strategic management for travel and tourism. Taylor & Francis.
Gössling, S., 2013. National emissions from tourism: An overlooked policy challenge?. Energy Policy. 59. pp 433-442.
Lew, A. A., Hall, C. M., and Timothy, D. J., 2008. World geography of travel and tourism: A regional approach (p. 363p). Oxford,, UK:
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Miguéns, J. I. L., and Mendes, J. F. F. 2008. Travel and tourism: Into a complex network. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications.
387(12). pp. 2963-2971.
Mills, J. and Law, R., 2013. Handbook of consumer behavior, tourism, and the Internet. Routledge.
Moutinho, L., 2011. Strategic management in tourism. CABI.
Murphy, P. E., 2013. Tourism: A Community Approach (RLE Tourism). Routledge.
Sharpley, R., 2006. Travel and tourism. Sage.
Smith, S. L. 2014. Tourism analysis: A handbook. Routledge.
Theobald, W. F., 2005. Global tourism. Routledge.
Wilder-Smith, A., 2006. The severe acute respiratory syndrome: impact on travel and tourism. Travel medicine and infectious disease. 4(2). pp.
53-60.
Williams, A. M. and Baláž, V., 2013. Tourism, risk tolerance and competences: Travel organization and tourism hazards. Tourism Management.
35. pp. 209-221.
Witt, S. F., Brooke, M. Z., and Buckley, P. J., 2013. The management of international tourism. Routledge.
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Online
Contemporary issues in hospitality and tourism. 2013. [Online] Available through:
<http://tourismcontemporaryissues.tumblr.com/post/101027443882/do-affluent-travelers-use-social-media-when>.
Euromonitor international. 2014. [Online]. Available through <http://www.euromonitor.com/travel-and-tourism-in-the-united-kingdom/report>.
Travel. 2015. [Online]. Available through <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/>.
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