Tourism Strategies and Operations Management

This assignment delves into the strategies employed by tourism companies to deliver quality services and attract customers. It examines various marketing techniques, the role of personal aircraft facilities, and alternative promotional methods beyond traditional brochures. The report also highlights how evolving trends influence the industry and necessitate adaptation for success.

Tour Operations
Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1...........................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Analysing the effects of current and recent trends and developments on the tour operators
industry...................................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Assessing the stages and timescales involved in developing holidays.............................2
2.2 Evaluating the suitability of different methods of contracting for holiday and tour
operators.................................................................................................................................3
2.3 Calculating the selling price of the holiday......................................................................4
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................5
3.1 Evaluating the planning decisions taken for the designing brochure...............................5
3.2 The alternatives to a traditional brochure foe different types of tour operators...............6
3.3 The suitability of different methods of distribution used to sell a holiday for different tour
operators.................................................................................................................................7
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 The strategic decisions made by different types of tour operator ...................................8
4.2 The tactical decisions that could be taken by a selected tour operator in different situations
................................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Tour operation industry is a very crucial element in tourism industry. It is a very
significant part in a perdon's luxurious life. It is the business that is growing faster than expected
generating the highest profits in the market. Trailfinders Ltd. is a travel company that belongs to
tourism and hospitality industry. It is a bigger organisation which provides many services that
are useful for the customers. This report states the effects of current trends and developments on
the tour operators industry. It also shows the stages involved in creating holidays including
different methods of contracting and calculating selling price of holiday. It also states the
planning decisions taken for designing a selected brochure. The study shows the alternative of
traditional brochures. Moreover, it also shows strategic and tactical decisions taken by tour
operator.
TASK 1
1.1 Analysing the effects of current and recent trends and developments on the tour operators
industry
As the trends are changing, the
demands of the customers are
changing with respect to
tourism industry. Earlier,
everything was done with
simple process. And all work
used to be done manually by
the employees of the
management but as the market
is changing and with growing
technology, everyone wants
work to be done quickly and
correctly. Nowadays, with
growing technology
everything has changed in the
business. Work has become
Easy Booking facilities
Due to growth in
technology, people need not to
go to ticket centres to book
tickets. Different facilities are
available for booking tickets
conveniently like internet,
online sites etc. It is the easiest
way that is low in cost
(Vongsaroj, 2018). It brings lot
of effect on tour operation
business as the customers
don’t depend on tour operators
for booking. They can book
tickets on their own or from
higher company agents so it is
Destination marketing
This refers to
promotion of a destination
with a purpose of increasing
the no. of visitors. It is
basically tourism advertising
of a specific place. Earlier,
advertising was done by
distributing pamphlets to every
person and that was the way to
attract tourist to various offers
given by the company (Shyju,
and Lama, 2015). But
nowadays, media is
encouraging tourism by
advertising and promoting
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faster than before. More
bookings or work is done
within a certain period of time.
Now, the changing trends have
a great effect on the industry.
giving a loss to some small
agencies. Tourists nowadays
are resorting more and these
services can be booked by
client themselves and it can be
a loss for travel agents.
destinations which helps the
tour operators gain large
amount of customers and more
attention is given to customer's
needs. So, destination
marketing is done via new
media.
Independent travellers
The more number of
independent travellers are
increasing in the market
nowadays. These are the
travellers who don’t use
services of travel agency and
do all the bookings
individually on their own. This
trend is increasing and giving a
loss in business for travel
agencies.
TASK 2
2.1 Assessing the stages and timescales involved in developing holidays
Holidays are the most vital and energetic part in a person's life so the process done in
making holiday brochures should keep every possibility in mind and then make the plan. There
are various stages involved in developing holidays:
Market research: This is the most important part that helps the organisation in developing the
growth and increasing popularity among the people. It plays an important role in planning for an
efficient holiday package that is up to the customer's satisfaction within a reasonable cost
including the profits of the company (Robinson, Fallon, and Crotts, 2016). Trailfinders Ltd.
conducts the market research and helps the employees find the customer's requirement and then
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developing a plan according to that. The company also research many other organisation and
create a view on various destinations.
Plan and scheduling: After the research of market is done, organisation executes their research
in the organisation to create a plan according to the demands of the clients. Scheduling is
basically the time when the holiday is going to be executed but the client according to their
conviniency. Scheduling helps the employees to plan holiday according to the customer's desire.
It is basically preparing an itinerary of the holiday package selected which includes full details of
the holiday from departure to arrival as per requirements of the customer.
Forecasting: This includes the part where the management takes care of the climatic condition
of the certain place chosen by the customer (Redjem and Marcon, 2016). If the time and place
chosen by the client does not suit the climatic condition, the management does not confirm the
booking and advice customers for some other holiday plans that suit their requirement.
Developing final cost: This involves finalising the price of the holiday plan which is selected by
the client. The common method that is used to calculate the price is calculating package cost and
then adding profit margin. The organisation must know certain factors while finalising the cost
of package: government policies, package cost of other organisation, tourist demands fulfilled,
exchange rates changes, etc.
Brochures: They play an important part in creating plan for a holiday package. It is the best way
to get interacted with the clients. It contains all the details about the destinations and holiday
packages. So, it becomes easy for the client to decide a place for the holiday. The brochures are
distributed among people via various centres. Also nowadays, e-brochure is available on the
company's website so client can also get it from there by downloading it.
Post tour evaluation: This is a general feedback on the performance of the operators .This helps
the management to improve the facilities of the package according to the feedback given by the
clients in order to get efficient and best in the market.
2.2 Evaluating the suitability of different methods of contracting for holiday and tour operators
There are different ways for an organisation to conract for different types of holidays and
operators. It is basically done to save the extra cost of the extra demands done by the customer
and give them best services in the desired cost.
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Fixed Contract: This type of contract includes a constant type of holiday package which is used
for the deployment of the capacity and increase profits at the time of off-season. It contains the
arrangements that are made on fixed contract by the airlines depending on expected customers.
The total space depends on the airlines and made as per deployed space (Medlik, 2016). A risk is
taken with the non-deployment of the space and the operators will pay for this but the package is
designed accordingly that when there is peak time for tourists, the space can be used and there
are less chances of unused space which results in high profit margins.
Sale only Contract: This type of contract is selected by the tour package for those consumer
segment who are interested in expensive travel package. This includes the hotels and
transportation services for the customer paid by the airlines. This reduces the risk of unused
capacity as it is done at the time of booking according to customer's needs. Thus, the risk of low
response is reduced.
Fixed contract gives various benefits to customer like offers, discounts, availability
confirmation as the booking is done in advance and profits can be calculated where as sales only
minimises the wastage by avoiding paying of unused capacity and reduces risks.
Different types of operators are:
Inbound Operators: These are the types of operators who arrange guide and facilities for the
foreign tourists who visit the resident country. They pay attention and take full care of the
tourists who visit the country for holiday.
Outbound Operators: They are the types of operators who take the country tourists to other
foreign destinations. Moreover, they are the tour and travels agents who arrange package for the
clients and take them to selected destinations of their own choice.
Ground operators: They are the local operators who remain till their locality and take the good
care of the people visiting (Hoyos, Morales, and Akhavan-Tabatabaei, 2015). They provide
better services within the local area. They contract with the tour operators so as to get the tourists
and serve them to various destinations.
2.3 Calculating the selling price of the holiday
The rooms will be shared, that is two students will occupy one room, so total rooms required will
be 40/2 =23 rooms. As per exchange rate € 1.15= £ 1, so
1 room will cost = € 90
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Cost of 20 rooms for 5 nights will be =20 *5*90 = € 9000
Cost of luxury coach= £ 7400 so 7400*1.15 = € 8510
Table 1 Calculation of selling price of a holiday
Expense Type Cost in
Euros
Luxury Coach 8510
local tour guide 920
Hotel cost 9000
Total Expense £ 18430
The profit margin is 30% i.e. £ 5529
So selling price of the tour package = 18430+5529 = £ 23959
Selling price per person = 23959/20= £ 1197.95
Task 3
3.1 Evaluating the planning decisions taken for the designing brochure
The planning of brochure involves innovation and creativity. It must include some sort of
unique designs to attract customers so that they get influences by the operators and do the
bookings from the company. Also providing best services as specified in brochure is necessary.
It is a marketing tools that combines colors,pictures,texts in a different and interesting way.
There are steps of planning the brochure:
Defining the brochure goals:
This shows the the objective of the brochure. Trailfinders Ltd. Company has the objective
to increase its customer base and gain profits by giving best quality services and packages to the
customer. It gives the picture of basic destination places where the company provides
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services.Also it tells about the offers it gives to the customers.Basically this step contains the
things which the company's brochure will show to customers.
Defining the market objectives:
The whole idea of this step is to develop an aim containing the research on needs of the
customer and to develop popularity amongst the customer. It also targets the new as well as old
customers. The main action is to attract customers via a well designed and creative brochure.
Collecting samples:
This is the step which involves collecting of sample brochures of other companies which
can be used to get an idea of the color combination,text fonts,alignments used in the brochure
and the brochure can be created uniquely by identifying these features. So studying other
company's brochure is a good idea (Robinson, Fallon and Crotts, 2016).
Eshtablishing a budget:
This step involves the making a rough plan of the budget involved in developing
brochures. Even if the exact cost of brochures cannot be decided but according to the design
selected the brochure's cost must be estimated. It should not increase the price which is not
affordable for the company. It must be designed accordingly.
Defining the vision :
The brochure's size,no. of pictures to be printed on it or other features to be included in
brochure is included in the vision of the brochure.The description must be accurate so that the
designer understands it well and develop a brochure according to the requirement of the
company within the budget.
3.2 The alternatives to a traditional brochure foe different types of tour operators
The brochure is a very important marketing tool for the tourism sector. The organisation
creates a brochure to attract new clients and reattain the old ones by making them aware aboit the
attractive offers of the company.Many alternatives are available for different kinds of tour
operators:
Email Brochure:
This is mostly useful for outbound operators who go to other countries with the clients
through the package. The brochure can be sent through mail and services can be provided to
them. In this they get the information about the cost and details of the destination(Medlik,
2016).It is the cheapest and easiest way to make strong customers for the company andpublish
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services provided by company. Also more customers can be aimed in a shord period of time.It
can be used as medium to communicate .
E-Brochure:
It is another way to promote the services of the firm in the market and make people
aware about the facilities provided. It is the best way to communicate with customers.The
manager just needs to upload the brochure on the company's website and the client can see the
brochure online on website anytime they want. This is called E-Brochure.
Video Brochure:
This is another attractive way to encourage customers to select the package and holiday
services from the organisation. In this, video of the company is there which shows the services
provided by the company,the pictures of various destinations that attracts the clients. This type of
brochure is more used by inbound operators who gives beneficiary services to the foreign tourists
coming to the native country. A holiday package must be the thing that must create the best
picture in the minds of clients so it must be videographed well so as to impress new clients. Now
a days customers are more impressed with the video brochures as they contain beautiful pictures
of different places and more details about the package and its facilities provided(Bamford,
Moxham and Dehe, 2015).
3.3 The suitability of different methods of distribution used to sell a holiday for different tour
operators
Earlier the selling holiday packages was a difficult task for the tour opeartors. They used
to provide leaflets to the clients or the common people passing by or some people would cometo
the office for an enquiry. Now a days technology has spread all around and it also increased
ways through which tour operators can connect to people and sell the packages and tell them
about different offers. The main objective is to create strength by getting more customers and
getting them again by maintaining quality of service (Medlik, 2016) Following methods are
adopted by Trailfinders Ltd. Tour operators to sell the holiday package to customers:
Internet: The fastest and the efficient way to sell the products and services to the clients is
internet. It is spread in wide range and it provides every information.It can be used in many ways
so the IT staff of the company create a post on the company's website to make the buyer know
about the offers of the company. It provides discount and several offers on the site to attract
customers.
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Direct Selling: It is the process in ehich company directly meet the clients for selling the
packages and sometimes comapny's outlets helps a lot in great sale(Redjem and Marcon, 2016).
Direct sale help the organisation to earn more profits and increase in sale.
Telephone: In this way,management calls the clients who approach them through websites or
other way and makes them uderstand the offers and details of the package. The company
Trailfinders Ltd. calls their regular clients even for short duration destination ehich are available
in low rates to know if they interested in buying the package.The company also views the
customer's profits and inform them accordingly whenever needed.
Task 4
4.1 The strategic decisions made by different types of tour operator
Various strategic decisions need to be taken by the organisation to provide quality facility
to the clients and make clients aware of the company and its services. The decisions are made for
continuous growth and maintaining constant position in market. The strategies are:
Segmenting, targeting and positioning - A policy is designed in which categorization of clients
as per cost of package can be done. It also deals in knowing the target customers in appropriate
wayand also postioning is needed which involves placing the products in front of customers in
such a wat that customers get influenced easily. The company tries to gather information about
the customer's lifestyle and behaviour and also they keep a record of the customer's locality.
Strategy for competitive pricing - This strategy provides an advantage for the tour operators by
aiming on the tour package cost which the other tour operators are offering to the consumers so
that it can be changed accordingly. For eg: Trailfinders Ltd. is following the pricing strategy that
depends on pricing of the competitors, product and pricing of the consumer (Vongsaroj, 2018).
Strategy for innovative promotion - This strategy includes promotional activities that helps in
increasing marketing of the company and its services. This kind of strategy helps the business
gain its position in the market and enhance profits of the organisation. Through this process the
client is aware about the holiday packages and the discounts and offers available on the package
selected.
4.2 The tactical decisions that could be taken by a selected tour operator in different situations
These are the smooth and easier decisions that the taken for the welfare of the company.
The tourism industry is a vast growing industry which create certain decisions to avoid any
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confusion related to certain package and to increast the profit margin of the company and to take
decisions that favor the company. The tactical decisions taken in the favour of the company are:
Increase in contracted beds: For the growth of organisation,the employees tries to raise
the amount of beds in the hotels with thom the contract is signed.It is one of the way to increase
the profits and customers.
Utilization of coach and aircraft seats:Another decision taken by the company
trailfinders Ltd. is to provide the facility of coach in flights and personal aircraft facility which is
not provided by any of the other organisation and is uniquely served by this company (Robinson,
Fallon and Crotts, 2016). This decision gave the highest revenues as the high class people who
use these services are surely attracted to the service and waiting to enjoy the facility provided. It
increases the popularity of the company in the market and among other people or clients.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the report that the tourism sector uses various techniques to provide
quality services to the clients ans make the client aware of the company's facilities. Also it shows
the strategic and tactic decision taken by tour operator for selling packages.Moreover it also
shows the different methods of contracting and alternatives for traditional brochure that can be
used in the development and promotion of the organisation. Also it can be stated from the report
that the current changing trends have a great impact on the tourism industry and it needs to adapt
the changes that are fluctuating the market so as to increase the customer base and company's
productivity and popularity.
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REFERENCES
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decisions of operations management in the hotel sector and their impact on organizational
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Hoyos, M. C., Morales, R. S. and Akhavan-Tabatabaei, R., 2015. OR models with stochastic
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Medlik, S. ed., 2016. Managing tourism. Elsevier.
Redjem, R. and Marcon, E., 2016. Operations management in the home care services: a heuristic
for the caregivers’ routing problem. Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal. 28(1-2).
pp.280-303.
Robinson, P., Fallon, P. and Crotts, J. C. eds., 2016. Operations management in the travel
industry. CABI.
Shyju, P. J. and Lama, R., 2015. An empirical study of new age employment in tour operations
and allied areas. International Journal of Tourism and Travel. 8(1/2). pp.20-31.
Vongsaroj, R., 2018. Business ethics of tour operators for supporting sustainable tourism
development and its determinants. AU Journal of Management. 11(1) pp.28-35.
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