Strategic Decisions in Travel and Tourism Industry

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Task 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
LO1. Understand the tour operators industry within the travel and tourism sector..................................3
P1.1 Analyse the effects of current and recent trends and developments on the tour operators
industry................................................................................................................................................3
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................................5
LO2 Understand stages involved in creating holidays.............................................................................5
P 2.1Assess the stages and timescales involved in developing holidays..............................................5
2.2 Evaluate the suitability of different methods of contracting for different components of the
holiday and different types of tour operator.......................................................................................6
2.3 Calculate the selling price of a holiday from given information.....................................................7
Task 3..........................................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Evaluate the planning decisions taken for the design of a selected brochure...............................8
3.2 Assess the suitability of alternatives to a traditional brochure for different types of tour
operators and recommend the most appropriate for your tour package...........................................9
3.3 Evaluate the suitability of different methods of distribution used to sell a holiday for different
types of tour operator and recommend the most appropriate for your tour package......................10
Task 4........................................................................................................................................................11
LO4 Understand strategic and tactical decision making for tour operators............................................11
4.1 Evaluate the strategic decisions made by different types of tour operator.................................11
4.2 Compare the tactical decisions that could be taken by a selected tour operator in different
situations...........................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................13
References.................................................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
Today travel and tourism have become a very important sector as it contributes majorly towards
the economical development of country. This assignment also focuses on the various aspects of
the travel and tourism industry. Tour operators provide all the comfort to their customers in order
to make their trip comfortable. But with the changing environment, the requirements of
customers are also changing. Therefore, in order to meet these changing requirements, the tour
operators are required to identify measures. In this assignment, we will also look at the stages
involved in the creation of a holiday package by a tour operator as well as the various strategic
and tactical decisions made by them in order to carry out their activities. We will also identify
the various tactical decisions made by a selected tour operator.
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Task 1
LO1. Understand the tour operators industry within the travel and tourism sector
P1.1 Analyse the effects of current and recent trends and developments on the tour
operators industry.
Travel and tour industry is currently changing at a very high speed due to changing needs and
requirements of tourists. Therefore trends and developments are obvious. The recent trends and
developments in the tour operators industry are as follows:
 Flexible booking Options: Due to modern advancements in technology, people have a
variety of options to book their tickets to various destinations as per their comfort. They have
the options like internet booking, booking through call centers, tele-text etc. This has made
booking not easy but also comparatively cheap and quick. Companies like trail finders also
operate their business through various agencies.
 Independent Travelers: Due to the availability of cheap holidays online, the number of
independent travelers has increased. It does not require the services of tour operators and the
tourist makes his own bookings. Therefore tour operators don’t make money through this.
 Destination Marketing: The traditional tourist marketing has now been replaced by
destination marketing. In order to attract tourists towards particular destination, tour
operators hire various advertising agencies through the use of New Media (Conrady & Buck,
2011).
 Technology: The technology developments have totally changed the way of interaction of
the tour operators with the customers. Today tourists have become prosumer which means
that they want to customize their holidays according to their wish and comfort.
 Sustainable Tourism Development: In the present time, sustainable tourism development is
something that is the objective of almost every tour operator. There are many ways to
achieve this objective. One way to do it relates to the environment which means that the
activities of tourism should not affect the environment. Another way is to preserve the
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cultural heritage of the place. It also aims to provide jobs to the local people and therefore
providing economic benefit to the local government (Mowforth & Munt, 2015).
 Niche Tourism: Rise in the niche tourism is one of the most impressive developments in the
area of tourism today. In present times, tourists don’t just travel in order to take a break from
work and enjoy but they travel for the sake of their passion like doing adventurous activities
like climbing, trekking etc. Niche tourism is constantly in demand and the opportunities are
constantly increasing in this sector. For example: Wildlife Tourism, Golf Tourism, Wine
Tourism etc. (Nibusinessinfo, 2012).
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