This report provides a comprehensive analysis of tour operations management in the UK tourism industry. It covers recent trends, holiday package development, contracting methods, communication strategies, non-traditional distribution channels, emerging trends, and the difference between tactical and strategic decisions.
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TOUR OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1 A. Recent trends and developments in tour operations industry.................................................1 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2 Assessing the stages and timescales in developing holiday packages........................................2 B Different methods of contracting and their suitability............................................................3 C Calculation of selling price......................................................................................................4 TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5 3.1 Evaluating process and planning decision............................................................................5 3.2 Assessing suitability of alternative methods of communication and promotion for different type of tour operator....................................................................................................................6 3.3 Evaluating non-traditional method of distribution that can be used to sell holiday packages .....................................................................................................................................................7 TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7 A Emerging trends in tour operations of UK and compliance of Tour operators with emerging trends...........................................................................................................................................7 B Difference between tactical and strategic decision.................................................................8 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1 A. Recent trends and developments in tour operations industry.....................................................1 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2 A Assessing the stages and timescales in developing holiday packages.........................................2 B Different methods of contracting and their suitability.................................................................3 C Calculation of selling price..........................................................................................................4 TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5 3.1 Evaluating process and planning decision.................................................................................5 3.2 Assessing suitability of alternative methods of communication and promotion for different type of tour operator.........................................................................................................................6
3.3 Evaluating non-traditional method of distribution that can be used to sell holiday packages...7 TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7 A Emerging trends in tour operations of UK and compliance of Tour operators with emerging trends................................................................................................................................................7 B Difference between tactical and strategic decision......................................................................8 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
INTRODUCTION Tour Operations management is the business functions and tasks of organization which prepares holiday packages with detailed information regarding tour that attracts visitors and travellers across nations by enhancing sales turnover of tour operators. Tour Operators has a significant role in travel and tourism sector or industry as they arrange holiday packages and vacations, seeking new destinations and experiences for satisfying the changing needs and expectations of travellers. The operates in partnership with airlines, hotels, car hiring companies and other travel service suppliers for packaging their holiday products and services. The present paper will explore the tour operators industry in travel and tourism sector, examine stages of holiday creation by tour operators, reviewing of brochures and selling holidays. The assessment will be prepared on behalf of Thomas Cook Group which is aBritishglobal travel company listed on the London stock exchange that was founded in June 2007. TASK 1 A. Recent trends and developments in tour operations industry According to theUnion tourism reportthe development of domestic and international tourism sector will rise in future with a growth rate of 4%. With the help of advance technologies like e-commerce and development of internet international tourism is able to expand itself into several geographic locations and potential markets where the physical presence of tour operators were not possible. Some current trends in tour operations industry includes mass market, niche tourisms, customised holiday packages, changing demographic conditions, market research and PESTEL factors. Mass market tourism is the recent trend in tourism industry where people travel along on a tourism destination for leisure and this is gaining popularity in places that holds heritage locations, wildlife parks, sunny beaches etc. As large number of people travel together the overall cost for the tourist would reduce as a result of economies of scale. Another rising tourists interest are flora and fauna, artistic works, culture or heritage or other attractions becoming the reason for visiting the particular destination. Special tour packages are designed and offered to such tourists by the tour operators while keeping the preferences or interests for these special travellers in mind.Tourism industry of UK is considered the largest industry and is known as the biggest contributor to economy of country. The transportation infrastructure is the biggest supporter of tourism trends and increasing efficiency in tourism services. Heathrow Airport of London is the best example which reflect increasing international travellers in country. 1
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Further the proposal of group vis at 44 pounds is another offer of increasing tourism in UK which denotes developing trends of industry. Further, awareness about green issues to protect environment is another change which is encouraged by tourism industry with support of government. Increasing social event in UK is the supportive factor of economy for tourism because it is attracting people across globe to participate in domestic events of UK which is another factor which is encouraging trends of tourism industry. In accordance with Brexit it analysed that tourism industry is able to secure its contribution to UK economy only which led to tremendous change in contribution and growth of England. Technological innovation has boosted trends of tourism industry because it has created opportunity for the tour operators to connected with people across the globe vis social media platforms which is offers best advantage of gathering attention of travellers. Further, innovation of air planes which owns less efficiency of carbon emission. However, tourism industry of UK has compelled with al legal regulation like, environmental concerns, consumer protection, seeking permission to visit tourist attraction, proper licensing and many more regulation which assist in safe and secure tourism planning for economy as well as for travellers. Demographic changes are the current major trend in tourism industry as the young population of UK, are more interested in adventurous activities and solo travelling than being more attracted towards heritage and cultural aspects. Due to the shift in change places that holds historical values, culture, etc., are having more demand and research in this field of tourism have generated new trend where tour operators are conducting investigations and studies based on the historic data of trends for the visits of tourists to such destinations. Depending on these trends various holiday packages are being planned by tour operators that is leading to a change from existing market trend.South America is one of the emerging tourist destination for which Thomas Cook as planned heritage, beach and adventurous trip altogether which is discussed in itinerary. TASK 2 Assessing the stages and timescales in developing holiday packages Timescaleforcombined heritage,wildlifeandbeach holiday Marketresearch:InNthis focus of tour operator will be on studying climatic condition, Financialevaluationand pricing:In this Thomas cook evaluates prices factor that is 2
Nature of tour: Adventure tour Tour location: South America Dateofcommencementof tour: 12. 12. 20189 Duration of tour:7 days8 days 10 nights Number of travelers who will take for tour: 25 Nature of tourist: Students PlaceofVisiting:Galapagos islands, Ecuador. Further, the beaches will be explored that isSalinasandSantaCruz IslandCartagena is located on Colombia's Caribbean coast. Tour Cost: 230 pounds hotels, transport facilities and costumer expectation from the tourpackage.Inaccordance with market research focus of operator is on managing social, politicalandeconomic condition to set relevant price andappropriatetravel facilities. Planning and scheduling:In this the company will focus on aligning adventure destination, travelandhotelbooking according to tour package. In this focus of tour operator is onmanagingsystemictour plan with proper booking and availabilityoftransport facilities(Coles,Polandand Clifton, 2015). Contracting:In this contract will be made with suppliers, hotels, transport agencies and airlines.Inthisfocusof Thomascookwillbeon cost of entire tour for accessing fundwhichwillbeplanned and executed.It is based on prediction where firm analyses profits from tour package. Advertising:This is the final promotion of adventure trip to south America where the focus of Thomas Cook will be on socialmediaadvertisingin order to target potential group ofstudentsinterestin adventure plan for December. Itismostnecessarystepof tour plan and scaling because it isthestepofsharingtour package with buyers. It helps indeterminingrelevancyof plan which is most effective way of determining response of customers. Post tour management:It is based on follow up where the 3
negotiationwithsuppliers because it is the best of setting appropriate prices. Costing:Inthisfocusof Thomas Cook is on evaluating all the necessary cost involved in tour (Luebke, 2015). Cost compriseresearch,local arrangement,traveland accommodation. firmanalysesexperienceof travelers on the basis of their satisfaction (Enoch, 2016). It is theessaytoolandstepfor Thomas cook because it helps in outlining relevancy of tour packageandchangeswhich needs to be managed for future tour plans. B Different methods of contracting and their suitability There are various types of method of contracting which are used by researcher in different situation of tour planning. Some methods used by Thomas Cook are discussed below: Fixed contract:It is the type of contract which is rigid in nature and cannot be changes due to any fluctuation in tour planning. It is done with transportation, hoteliers, aviation, etc, In this there are very fewer chances of bargaining (Coles, Poland and Clifton, 2015).In this there are verylesschances of negotiation and therefore Thomas Cook will focus on prior booking in order to grasp certain seasonal package or schemes for booking. This is done to manage cost effectiveness in tour plan. This is managed to make affordable tour package by minimizing profits. Ad hoc contract:This contract is prepared for route collaboration with potential customer or suppliers (Types of Contracts,2018). It is done by Thomas Cook for some immediate purpose without pre planing. It is generally required for meeting travelers expectation duringtravelpackage.Likeincaseduringadventuretriptravelersaskformidnight entertainment like camp fire then in this case the arrangement by tour operator is done with the help of ad Hoc contract. Thus, It can be said that this is beneficial type of contract for the tour operators because it helps the business in managing customer expectations. Allocation contract:This is the most essential type of contract which is considered by Thomas Cook when planning a travel package. In this booking are done according to rooms, seats by making estimate on the basis of customer interest and buying response. It is estimated 4
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by Tour operator at the time of volume of sales, negotiation and estimation. In accordance it can be said that it is done for special purpose where distribution and allocation is done on the basis of planed travel trip (Lin, 2016). The best example of allocation contract is room allocation which is done on the basis of registration of customer and is done till end of closing of travel package. Thus, as per this, it can be said that travel package is schedules and planned in advanced for making appropriate bookings and reservation on the basis of allocationof accommodation and .transport. C. Calculation of selling price Selling price is value of services in which travel package will be offered by Thomas Cook. The focus of firm is on including all the charges including average profit in etch to make one specific price on which package will be offered to travelers (Wu, 2016). However, when setting selling price the focus of tour operator is on considering each and every expense and booking of trip with own earnings. This is set of exceptional price where there is margin of offering discounts and schemes in order to attract potential travelers. The travel package is specifically of student and therefore the price is affordable. ExpendituresPrice per person Airline chargesÂŁ 345 AccomodationÂŁ814 MealsÂŁ79 EntertainmentÂŁ189 GuideÂŁ49 Mark up21% Total cost1+2659.58= 2660 The selling price of travel package is set by Thomas cook according to competitive pricing in which the company is able to set relevant cost of every expenditure but little less according to competitors like TUI group, LCB tour operator, etc. Making little variation in selling price according to rivalries is the best strategy of attracting potential travellers. Further, the travel package is especially for students which are bothered about price and therefore it will be effective for gaining their attention. 5
D1Itinerary for the proposed package The trip will start from adventurous location which will comprise, Galapagos islands, Ecuador. Further, the beaches will be explored that is Salinasand Santa Cruz Island with this heritage location will be visited accordingly that is Cartagena is located on Colombia's Caribbean coast. The plan will go according to Itinerary description which is in table where trip will start from Ecuador. DaysTravel locationDurationType Day 1 and 2Galapagos islands, Ecuador1.5Adventure Day 2 and 3Salinas1.5Beach Day 4 and 5Santa Cruz Island2Beach Day 6 and 7Cartagena2Heritage TASK 3 3.1 Evaluating process and planning decision Many types of brochures are usedforevaluatingthe promotionaltacticsof companiesespeciallythatof touroperators.Thusthe planningprocessofall brochureswillbedepending upon availability of funds and thatwouldbedesigningthe first impression for customers in way of its content, photos, coloursand others. So there will be certain planning and process for the preparation of brochureswhichwillbe The planning decision will be that of who would be doing or takingtheresponsibilityof planning of brochures. The planning decision involves certainstepsthatwouldbe involves for planning process of the proposingbrochures: Generating idea- This is the first step that would include what is the proposed idea for the generation or formulating the brochures so that it could be good. Planning for resources- This would include searching and finding out the resources that 6
includingvarioustypesof websites,onlineapplications as well.Thomas Cook Group aswouldbeplanningfor launch of any sort of touring packages that they would be able to plan and forecast for thepurposeofgivingor providinginformationto people and customers as well. wouldberequiredandare important as well. Puttingplanintoaction- This will be the last step that involves putting all planning andresourcingintoclear action so that brochures could be ready for company to get it displacedinfrontofall customers. 3.2 Assessing suitability of alternative methods of communication and promotion for different type of tour operator The non- traditional methods of communication within the tour operator company would be including those which are not modern like that of telemarketing, direct mail and personal selling as well (Robinson, Cameron and Crotts, 2016). These are regarded to as green marketing methods which will be certainly more expensive for company like that of Thomas Cook. As this would be depending upon unorthodox marketing methods whose ultimate goal will be creating strikingadvertisingexperienceinwayofcapturinginterestwithwayofcreativityand unpredictably. These are also called to as alternative methods of communication and promotion which various type of tour operators are using other than that of traditional one. There are various types of non-traditional methods which are used for marketing and promotional purpose like that of: Museum and factory tours- These are done in way of gaining more clear information and knowledge about the products and service which are produced or manufactured so that customers are having knowledge about how the factory is working or producing products as well. Street marketing- Kinkos placed huge sculptures of Highlighters and White Out on city streets so that they looked like they were colouring in no parking zones and the lines in cross walks. Events- Harley Davidson sponsors large group rides and meet-ups for motorcycle enthusiasts to connect with each other.Event will be having merit that this is very much effective as people could be able to see in real what is happing while demerit include that all customers would not be 7
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able to gain knowledge. As the events are not widespread among larger people or customers so this is regarded to as disadvantage of events. Social media marketing- This is one is the most common form of marketing which will be helpful for company so that they could be reaching out to more customers into market. The merit of this type of marketing techniques is the cost effectiveness of the method which is used. While the demerit will be the negative publicity of company into market which is not allowing customers to use the products which firm is offering. Direct mail-This is also type of non-traditional marketing which includes mailing all sort of information and discount offer to customers so that they are able to clearly understand. The merit includes that company could be able to communicate number of people at particular point of time while demerit include that there are increased spam messages which are sent through mail and customers are not paying much attention on them. 3.3 Evaluating non-traditional method of distribution that can be used to sell holiday packages All the various types of non-traditional methods of distribution that are used for selling holiday packages are very good as they would be attracting more number of customers then the other traditional methods (Frost, Getz and Gordon, 2014). The travel agents are tend to sell out more number of products who are also called to as retail distributors who are selling and adopting to sell the products like that of holiday packages. For this they would be getting commission of about 10-15% for booking up of all product that would be putting it all together for selling the product to customers. While there will also be having direct distribution method that would be selling product for the tour operator operates with the customer directly by usingsmartphone,internet or may be with the help of social media. For number of operator’s distribution via travel agents have become less important and is in less demand when compared with the modern techniques of selling the product as internet,smartphone, etc (Hoyos, Morales, and Akhavan-Tabatabaei, 2015). As customer ownership is important for the operator so they put their efforts in selling the product directly.The internet is one of the most effective method of communication which is used by companies as this will be allowing them to interact with larger customer segment in single moment of time. This method could be used for distribution of selling the holiday packages by companies as they will be able to communicate with people and inform them about all data and information as well. Social media is the most effective tool to be used by companies 8
which will be helping them to get in touch with more number of people over certain specified period of time so that information could be distributed. With the help of social media company would be able to increase their customer base and revenue or profits of company as well. TASK 4 A Emerging trends in tour operations of UK and compliance of Tour operators with emerging trends In accordance with analysis, it is determined that trends of tourism industry have been revolutionized and has changed at great pace. Some of the highlighted trends of tourism industry of UK are as follows: Advanced technology:The tour operator of UK are make use of online advertising which owns attention of majority of travelers. With the help of which the firms are able to understand changing market expectation with one click which is the best way of managing changes in tour plans (Kavousi-Fard and et.al., 2014). Further, promotion via social media has made easy reach of tour operator to travelers which has increased scope of advertising. For example, Thomas Cook imply the use of Facebook and Instagram for promoting travel plans and taking follow up of customers. Urban and rural destination:There are tremendous development in urban and rural tourism in UK.There are various tourist attraction of regionwhere entertainment attactivities areorganizedtoattractdomesticvisitors(Luebke,2015).Thischangeandincreasing entertainment activities at tourist spots denotes the increase in inbound tourism. Seniors seeking adventure:In accordance with this, it is determined that there is tremendous change in preferences of travelers. Initially the adventure travel packages were planned and offered to only students and young people but due to increasing safety and need of exploring tour operators of UK have started offering travel packages to senior’s people and families. Globalization:Globalization is offering people opportunity to integrate and interact with people across the globe. This demonstrate increasing interest of people intheirothercountries which is the majorlysupportedfor emerging trends in outbound tourism of UK. B Difference between tactical and strategic decision BasesTacticalStrategic 9
ViewThis will be based on how and whowilltheprocessbe talkingabout(Espino- RodrĂguezandGil-Padilla, 2015). While this would be including what is the planning and decision all about DefinitionA plan for attaining particular goal To lead all resources, plan, methods. Or series of manoeuvres or stratagems for obtaining specified goal or results Organisational exampleStaff level auctioning, developing programs that teach civic responsibilities and leadershipin context with Thomas Cook Organisational level determiner fosters the growth of youth to be the strong leader of tomorrowfor Thomas Cook. As per all the trends and development which is shown in the above section it could be included that Thomas Cook was able to change their strategies and tactics regarding to adaption of trends. It was very much important that they are responding in positive manner with the changes and development which are coming into their market so that they could be able to adopt it in more effective manner. So they were planning so that they are able to identify these trend and then reacting according to it only. CONCLUSION From the above report on tour operator management it could analysed that there are many type of management which will be very much required so that company could be doing their work according to planning and process. it is very much essential that for developing holiday packages company like that of Thomas Cook is doing the proper planning which must be also including preparing of budgets and analysing recent trends and development. The tour operations industry should be following all trends and development so that they could be easily analysing types of holiday takers who are emerging within the popular tourist destination and impact of these trends. The report also concluded the stages and timescale within the developing holiday 10
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packages and then having the combined heritage, wildlife or beach holiday package. The different non-traditional methods were evaluated based on the distribution and communication purpose which would be used for selling up of goods. 11
REFERENCES Books and Journals Coles, T., HC Poland, R. and Clifton, J., 2015. Ecotourism in an Educational Context: Promoting Learning Opportunities Through Travel.Journal of Biological Education.49(2). pp.213- 217. Enoch, M., 2016.Sustainable transport, mobility management and travel plans. Routledge. Espino-RodrĂguez, T.F. and Gil-Padilla, A.M., 2015. The structural and infrastructural decisions ofoperationsmanagementinthehotelsectorandtheirimpactonorganizational performance.Tourism and Hospitality Research,15(1), pp.3-18. Frost, W., Getz, D. and Gordon, I., 2014. Noreen Breakey has worked in hotels, resorts, tour operations, travel agen-cies, restaurants and events in Australia and overseas. Dr Breakey has a national reputation for her research on tourism and hospitality educa-tion, and her current research interests focus on sustainable visitor usage of the world’s existing, developing and potential tourism destinations.Rainforest Tourism, Conservation and Management: Challenges for Sustainable Development. Hoyos, M.C., Morales, R.S. and Akhavan-Tabatabaei, R., 2015. OR models with stochastic componentsindisasteroperationsmanagement:Aliteraturesurvey.Computers& Industrial Engineering,82, pp.183-197. Kavousi-Fard, A. and et.al., 2014. Impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles charging demand on the optimal energy management of renewable micro-grids.Energy.78. pp.904-915. Lin, S. W., 2016. The critical success factors for a travel application service provider evaluation and selection by travel intermediaries.Tourism Management.56. pp.126-141. Robinson, P., Cameron, H. and Crotts, J.C. eds., 2016.Operations management in the travel industry. CABI. Wu, C.L., 2016.Airline operations and delay management: insights from airline economics, networks and strategic schedule planning. Routledge. Online Luebke, A., 2015.TOP 5 CURRENT TRENDS IN UK TOURISM.[Online]. Available through: <https://www.tourism-review.com/top-trends-in-uk-tourism-industry-news4410>. 12