Tour Operation Management: A Comprehensive Guide to Planning, Marketing, and Strategic Decisions

This comprehensive guide delves into the intricacies of tour operation management, exploring key aspects such as recent developments in the travel and tourism industry, tour planning strategies, brochure design and distribution, and the evaluation of strategic and tactical decisions made by tour operators. Using Trailfinders as a case study, the assignment provides practical insights into the complexities of managing successful tour operations.

TOUR OPERATION MANAGEMENT

Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
IMPACT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 REPORT..................................................................................................................................5
2.2 SUITABILITY OF DIFFERENT TYPES CONTRACTS WITH THE TOUR OPERATORS....................8
2.3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF TOUR OPERATORS...............................................................................9
2.3 ESTIMATION OF SELLING PRICE OF THE STUDENT TRIP......................................................10
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................11
3.1 DECISIONS RELATED TO PLANNING TAKEN WHILE DESIGNING A BROCHURE....................11
3.2 APPROPRIATENESS OF ALTERNATIVES TO BROCHURES......................................................13
3.3 APPROPRIATENESS OF VARIOUS METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION..............................................14
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................16
4.1 EVALUATION OF THE STRATEGIC DECISIONS MADE BY THE TOUR OPERATORS IN
DIFFERENT SITUATIONS.............................................................................................................16
4.2 EVALUATION OF THE TACTIC DECISIONS MADE BY THE TOUR OPERATORS IN DIFFERENT
SITUATIONS................................................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................21
1

INTRODUCTION
This assignment is about tour operation management and studies various features related to it.
The assignment helps to understand various new trends and development in the tour operation
industry, their significance for the tour operator business, the assignment also highlights
various stages involved in tour planning such as market analysis, and tour cost calculation. It
also helps to study the stages of planning involved in brochure design and the effectiveness of
various alternatives to the brochure. Tactic and Strategic decisions related to tour operation
have also been studied in this assignment involved in the planning of tour. The company that is
taken for the study is Trailfinders.
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Task 1
1.1 IMPACT OF RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY
The travel industry is changing rapidly, and
the contribution of these changes goes to
the latest innovation and the internet age.
The customers have become more aware of
the products and service and they are
demanding the latest products from the
tour operators (Cook et al 2014). The
product development process at
Trailfinders must ensure that the all the
recent up-gradation are offered with the
products of the company. This is significant
for the company as they help to attract new
customers and improve the revenue
generated for the company. The recent
trends in the travel and tourism are as
follows:
Use of internet
Customers of travel and tourism demand
the online facility form the travel agency.
The customer must be able to see the travel
plan online and in addition to this any up
gradation in the travel plan must be added
to the online. The customers also demand
online payment and virtual site visit facility
(Al-allak, 2010). This enables them to make
the decision related to travel purchase
easily. In addition to this, the customer also
demands mobile application in which they
can get all the information related to the
travel. The product development team at
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Trailfinders must make sure that they
implement these changes in the product to
make it more internet friendly.
Integrated Communication Systems
The integrated communication systems that
are used by the travel agents help them to
communicate with everyone related to the
travel planning and management on a
single platform (Lala, 2011). This enables
the management and communication for
the customer easy and effective.
Insurance and Security
Customers of travel and tourism demand
that the insurance products such as
accidental insurance, travel medical
insurance and the personal belonging safety
insurance products are sold by the travel
agency. In Trailfinders, the product
development team must include these
products in the travel tour package to
attract more customers.
The customers also demand that the travel
agency that they are traveling with follows
all the legal rules and regulation, this
improves the feeling of security and
belongings in the tourist and they feel safe
to travel with family (Hristovska and
Mirceska, 2010).
Workshops
Many tourists find it very attractive if the
travel agency provides them with the
facility to learn about a specific skill that is
related to the culture of the travel
destination (Benckendorff et al 2010). The
product development team must make sure
that they add a workshop related to the
tourist place in the products of the
Trailfinders. This feature will improve the
profits for the company and help to
improve the reputation of the company.
4

Discounts and offers
Discounts and offers are the new trends in
the travel agency; the travel companies
provide discounts to its entire customer to
improve the volume of sales. The products
at the Trailfinders must be designed in such
a manner that the company is able to
provide discounts and offers to the
customers. The company can also
collaborate with airline and food companies
to add for an extra discount on the
purchase from Trailfinders.
Task 2
2.1 REPORT
INTRODUCTION
This report is written to format a travel package for a group of forty-two students traveling
from Brussels and Burgees. The students will start their journey from London and the theme of
the travel will be education travel. The total time that they will spend during the journey will be
five days, and Trailfinders will be responsible to make arrangements related to their
accommodation, breakfast, and site visits.
BODY
The stages that are related to planning to tour management are as follows:
Market Analysis
The first step of travel planning is market research; during this phase, we will identify various
factors that are likely to affect the tour (Cooper, 2012). The various factors that are considered
during the market research are the political condition, weather condition, availability of
facilities and feasibility of the tour. We will examine that during the time of travel the weather
condition must be likely for traveling there must not be an issue related to weather. We will
also identify if there is any kind of political instability in both the cities are this is likely to impact
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out travel. The availability of tickets to the places that the group is going to visit it is also
important to find that tour is economically feasible or not.
Tour Planning
During this stage, a detail tour plan will be made, which will elaborate all the places to visit in
Brussels and Burgees (Cooper, 2012). This touring plan will also include the time to visit the
place and identify the availability of the tickets to the place that are likely to visit.
Settlements
During this stage, Trailfinders will negotiate with the facility provides such as the ticket
provides, hotels and transporters to get discounts on the deal or to add some new feature to
the existing deal. This will help the company to save the cost and improve the profit; the final
stage in this step will be fixing the deal.
Cost Calculation
During this step, the final cost of the tour package will be considered by calculating the cost of
various utilities. In this step, the final traffic for the tour will also be made calculating the cost
per student.
Marketing
In this stage, the brochures and the other marketing material related to the tour will be
designed and printed, and this material will also consider all the information related to the tour.
With the help of this material, the reputation of the Trailfinders is likely to improve so that the
student prefer the service of the company event after the tour
Execution
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During this step all the facilities need for the tour will be arranged and the tour will be
conducted, during this stage, the tour manager will make sure that the students get the best
quality service and they do not have any issues with the tour.
Feedback and review
In this stage, the managers at Trailfinders will try to collect the feedback and review of the
students regarding the tour and service. This will help the company to improve the service and
in addition to this, the manager will provide the student with information about the company
so that they can avail the touring service in future.
7

TOUR PLANNING SCHEDULE
Activity 31 Jan 28 Feb 31
Mar
30
April
31
May
30
June
31
July
30
Aug
31
Nov
MARKET
ANALYSIS
TOUR
PLANNING
SETTLEMENTS
COST
CALCULATION
MARKETING
EXECUTION
FEEDBACK
AND REVIEW
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2.2 SUITABILITY OF DIFFERENT TYPES CONTRACTS WITH THE TOUR
OPERATORS
Contracts are defined as the travel agreements that are made by the tour operator to ensure
the availability of the bookings and reservation of its customers (Lima, 2013). Contrast play a
significant part during the peak season of the travel business, In addition to this, they also help
to save cost and ensure proper management. Generally, the duration of the contracts is before
twelve months before the travel, but it can be done anywhere between the range of one to
twelve months. The different types of travel contracts are as follows:
Fixed Travel Contract
In the fixed travel contract the amount of the travel booking is paid to another party, this
contract is benefited only when the sales are fixed for the travel business, this is also an
addition if refund in this contract but that is restricted with the terms of the agreement (Lima,
2013). This type of travel contract is done by Trailfinders only when they have a confirmed the
sale.
Allocation/Flexible Travel Contract
In this type of travel contract the travel agent books a slot with the hotel or flight service, if the
sales of the Trailfinders is fixed with than it ensures the purchase of the booking, this type of
contract is beneficial for both the parties (Lima, 2013).
Ad-Hoc Travel Contract
The ad-hoc travel contract is useful when there is overbooking of flights or hotels, the Ad-hoc
travel contract, this travel contract ensure the availability of all the facilities when there is a
booking is a travel group with Trailfinders.
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2.3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF TOUR OPERATORS
The different type of tour operators are as follows:
Mass-Market
The mass-market travel operators purchase the travels service from the distributors in high
volume and at reasonable rates, and then they sell it to the customers at lower rates. The
advantage of this type of tour operator is that they are reasonable to the tourist and their
quality is available in high volume for the group travels.
Exclusive tour operators
The specialist tour agency has provided exclusive service to the tourist, they generally deal with
luxury tours or adventure tours. They have an expertise in managing the needs of the special
tours.
Local tour operators
The local tour operators deal with arrangement of the tours at the national level, they plan and
arrange the facilities for the tourist in a limited area, such type of tour operators are very
common.
International tour operators
The international tour operators provide the facility such as Forex, currency exchange and
management of the international accommodation and transportation, such type of tour agency
has contacts at international locations and their offices are likely to be widely spread
throughout.
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2.3 ESTIMATION OF SELLING PRICE OF THE STUDENT TRIP
According to the question, the charges of the various faculties are given as follows:
Exchange rates are €1.12 per £1.
Cost of hotel is 92£ per room and double sharing
Luxury couch total costing for the trip is £7,350
Tour guide charges €1020
Total number of students is 42
Number of days to stay is 5 days
Total amount calculations
Room cost is (21*92) =€ 3864
Luxury couch cost= €8232
Tour Guide Cost= €1020
Total amount = €13116
Mark Up of 25%
Hence, the total amount is €16395
Therefore, cost per student will be equal to €16395/42
Hence, the cost required per student is €390.35
CONCLUSION
This report helps us perceive the concept of different types of tour contracts, tour operators,
and important aspects related to tour planning. This report also highlights the method of tour
cost calculation.
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Task 3
INTRODUCTION
This report is written as a part of the marketing distribution team of the Trailfinders, this report
focuses on planning related to brother decision and study an alternative to broacher and
highlights different types of distribution channels for the company.
3.1 DECISIONS RELATED TO PLANNING TAKEN WHILE DESIGNING A
BROCHURE
A Brochure is a marketing material that is used by the travel agency for improving the sales of
the products (Brito and Pratas 2015). A brochure is a brief booklet that contains images and the
designs that are related to the travel destination and along with this, it contains the information
about the travel plan and the facilities provided by the travel agency. The brochure is the most
important marketing material and the marketing team at the Trailfinders must make sure that
is designed properly. After studying the marketing broacher for the Trailfinders, travel Marvel
and Thomas cook the conclusion regarding the study of planning decision that is taken while
designing a brochure are derived.
Cost
Cost is the most important aspect that is should be planned while printing the brochure, the
marketing team at Trailfinders must make sure that a lot of costs is not engaged in the
brochure.
Formatting and Print Specification
Formatting lays the impression of the brochure and the marketing department must make sure
that it takes care of the cover page, fonts used and graphics used in the brochure are related to
the theme of the travel destination. Along with this, the team must also ensure that right paper
section and brochure fold are appropriates. This helps to lay an impression in the mind of the
customer (Brito and Pratas 2015). The marketing department must also make a careful
selection of the number of the brochure that is required for the company.
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Market Targeting and budget making
The market segment should be clear while launching the broacher in the market, the marketing
department can also design different broacher for different market segments and predicts of
the Trailfinders (Minazzi, 2015). While making the budget for the broacher the various factors
such as the number of broachers to be printed, cost of individual broacher and impact of
broacher must be taken into consideration.
Figure 01: Travel Broachers
Source: Travel marvel, 2018
Figure 02: Travel Broachers
Source: Thomas cook, 2018
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Figure 03: Travel Broachers
Source: Trailfinders, 2018
Timescale
The time scale defines the time required for the project of broacher marketing, the timeline
made by the marketing department must contain time required for design, the time required
for printing and time required for distribution of the broacher to the business centers
Trailfinders.
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3.2 APPROPRIATENESS OF ALTERNATIVES TO BROCHURES
After 1990's many new alternatives for marketing of travel industry have emerged, this
alternative is of lower cost and are likely to have a higher impact on the customers (Dolnicar
and Ring, 2014). Development times of some of the alternative are lower than their
effectiveness is also higher than travel broachers (Dolnicar and Ring, 2014). The alternative that
is available with respect to the travel broacher are as follows:
Social Media
The social media advertisements are cost-effective and have an impact on the larger audience,
Trailfinders can also launch the various competition on the social media to attract the number
of customers and improve the sales (Minazzi, 2015). The social media is used as an
advertisement medium for Thomas cook.
Application
Android or Apple mobile application are associated with development and maintenance cost
but the distribution of this marketing material is easy than broacher (Xiang and Fesenmaier,
2017). The marketing department at Trailfinders must launch the application to improve the
customer reach. The application is currently used as a marketing medium at Travel Marvel.
CD-ROM
The company can also use CD-ROM as a marketing material because they are easy to distribute
and less costly than the paper broachers. It is observed that through CD-ROM the marketing
message can be delivered in a more creative manner to the customers (Cox and Wray, 2011).
Radio and television advertisements
Trailfinders can also take help of radio and television advertisement, they are costly as
compared to another medium, but the number of customer impression is higher for the radio
and television ads, along with this they will also improve the brand awareness of Trailfinders.
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3.3 APPROPRIATENESS OF VARIOUS METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION
Distribution channels are the mediums through which the sale of the products of Trailfinders
takes place. They are very important because major revenue of the travel company such as
Trailfinders come from the distribution channels itself. The factors that are considered while
the selection of distribution channels is the control of the channel, the cost involved with the
channels with respect to profits delivered and the effectiveness of the distribution channel. The
types of the distribution channel used by Trailfinders are:
Social Media
Social media can be used as an effective distribution center for the Trailfinders, with the help of
social media the control in the sales and the products are direct with the company (Minazzi,
2015). Another advantage of the social media is that the customer subscription on this portal is
likely to increases with time, which improves the profits for the company. Trailfinders and
Thomas Cook use Social Media as a sales medium.
Online Travel Agency
The company can also take help of online travel agency for sales and support of the products, it
is seen that the traffic on this websites is higher and the cost of publication is also lower.
Nowadays, most of the customer is shifting towards online travel websites
Government travel Agency
Trailfinders can also take the support of the government travel agencies for promotion as the
government is acting in the development of the tourism at local and at international level. This
will also help to improve the reliability of the company (Tsiotsou and Goldsmith 2012). Travel
marvel takes the support of government travel agency for its promotion.
Voucher Sites
Trailfinders can also take the support of voucher sites for sale of its products, a large number of
customer visit this website in search of discounts and offers, Trailfinders can also avail benefits
16

from this websites by paying for the additional services (Visinescu and Harden, 2016). Voucher
Sites helps to carry the advertisement of Thomas Cook.
CONCLUSION
The report provides and detail understanding for an important topic for the marketing
department of Trailfinders, it also helps to study the effects of the alternative marketing and
sales channels for the company.
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Task 4
Introduction
Strategic and tactic decisions are significant for the tour operator industry, the strategic
decisions are taken to achieve long-term goals of the company, and the tactical decisions are
related to the short-term goal of the company. This report highlights the strategic and tactic
decisions taken by the Trailfinders in different situations.
Body
4.1 EVALUATION OF THE STRATEGIC DECISIONS MADE BY THE TOUR
OPERATORS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
Strategic decisions are taken keeping a vision of about more than five years for the company,
the strategic decisions are important because they help to improve the revenue collection and
the product reputation of the company (Moutinho and Vargas-Sanchez 2018). The various types
of strategic decisions taken by Trailfinders are as follows costing strategies, Surcharge policy,
Positioning and branding strategies, Product Choices strategies and Distribution decisions.
During the implementing the costing strategies in Trailfinders it is figured out to keep the cost
of the products of the company lowest or at the completive rate. This strategic decision is
significant as it helps to improve the sales of the products. The company also keep on updating
the price of the products with the travel seasons in the country. The Surcharge strategies that
apply the additional charges that are implemented by the company on the products and
service, this strategy helps to improve the profits for the company.
The position and branding strategy used by the company is significant in travel and tourism
business it helps the company to develop the image of its product and offerings in the mind of
the customer (Course, 2015). The positioning strategy helps the customer to understand the
difference between the products of the company and its competition. The product choice
strategies take by Trailfinders is depended on the product development team of the company,
it helps the company to develop unique products and offerings for the customers. The
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distribution strategies are taken to choose the distribution channels for the company product
on the basis of cost, effectiveness and the operational easefulness (Course, 2015). The various
distribution channels that the company partner help to improve the sale of the products of the
company and improve the customer know about the company.
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4.2 EVALUATION OF THE TACTIC DECISIONS MADE BY THE TOUR OPERATORS
IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
The main aim behind the tactic decision taken by the Trailfinders is to implement the strategic
decision of the company, they are taken by the middle-level management and are not involved
with uncertainty. The main aim behind the tactic decision is to keep on going the smooth
operation of the company and improve the sales of the company (Hjalager, 2010).
The various type of tactic decision taken by the company are as follows;
Response Decision
The response decision is taken with regard to change in internal or external factors. The
internal factors are organization structure, business strategy and the external factors are the
response to disasters, political emergency or while taking a competitive advantage (Tribe,
2010).
Pricing Decision
The tactic pricing decision taken in Trailfinders is to related to offering a better price to the
customer to get a business form him, this decision help to impose the profits of the
company(Tribe, 2010). The example of is strategy is the special discount given to a group of
tourist on airfare if the volume is high.
Marketing Decision
The tactical marketing is a more specific marketing plan that is done to improve the effeteness
of the marketing campaign of Trailfinders. For example is Trailfinders decides to promote a
product through social media, that the tactical marketing plan will involve the decision-related
images used, time of promotion and area wise differentiation in the marketing of the product.
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Planning Decision
The tactical planning includes involvement of 7p of marketing; the tactic planning is done for
two to three years of time span. The main aim of the tactical plan is to archive the desired
results of the strategic plan (Tribe, 2010). The tactical planning decisions are also taken by the
junior level marketing team to decide the team that will perform the task and then the method
they will follow to perform the task.
CONCLUSION
This report describes the tactical and strategic decision and their importance at ground level, it
also helps to describe their significant for the marketing and operational performance of the
company.
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CONCLUSION
This assignment helps to comprehend the concepts of tour operator industry in detail. It helps
to develop understanding about the topics such as up gradation in the tour operator industry
and the steps taken during the planning of the tour by the example of the student trip to
Brussels and Burgees. The knowledge gained during the assignment makes also helps to
understand the usefulness of different distribution channels and alternate methods that can be
used by tour operators for the marketing and promotion. Detail study of the information
related to tour operator industry is very useful for growing in the profession and it helps to
develop a vision about the subject.
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