Cruise Operations Management: Hospitality Perspectives

This assignment focuses on the management of cruise operations from a hospitality perspective. It covers key topics such as the impact of supply chain on core competencies and knowledge management, the practice of environmental and social responsibility in supply chains, ISO certification in the tour operator sector, visitor management practices for operational sustainability, and big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management. The assignment also introduces a conceptual framework of sustainable hospitality supply chain management.

TOURS AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
1.1Influence of current and recent trends on travel industry .....................................................3
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................5
2.1Timescale and stages involved in developing holidays ........................................................5
2.2 Methods of contracting holidays and different types of tour operator .................................6
2.3 Calculating the cost of entire holiday plan ..........................................................................7
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Evaluate Planning Decision related with designing of selected brochure............................9
3.3 Different methods of distribution used in order to sell tour package ...............................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Strategic decision made by different tour operator.............................................................12
4.2 Compare the Tactical Decision...........................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................16
.........................................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Tour operations are methods and procedures which give different packages of travel and
tours to customers. Through this people can visit various places and destinations. These have 5
sectors such as beverages,food,retail,tourism lodgings and transport (Afshar and Haghani, 2012)
They use latest and modern techniques through which customers gets satisfied and happy. This
helps in improving the performance of company. This leads to success and growth of the firm.
The assignment is about Trail finders firm is a travel and tourism firm operates in United
Kingdom which provides various packages to customers in nation and outside the nation. Thus
Consumers gets contended and feels happy. Kuoni is a tourism firm which is operated in
Switzerland. Company provides various services such as airlines,package holidays and hotels.
Report talks about the recent and new trends and developments on the industry,evaluate
the timescale and stages in developing the holidays. Assignment also discusses about the
suitability of various methods of contracting for different components of holidays and types of
tour operators. Project evaluates the selling price of holiday. Report discusses the planning
design of selected brochure and the suitability of alternatives to brochure for various operators
and give suggestions to select the appropriate option. It also talk about the suitability of different
methods of distribution which sell holidays for tour contractors.

TASK 1
1.1Influence of current and recent trends on travel industry
TASK 2
2.1Timescale and stages involved in developing holidays
Holidays are the plan for giving the pleasure and happiness to various customers. So
company has to make planning related to various activities and operations so that firm can take
best decision(Brown, Bessant and Lamming, 2013). Firm needs to evaluate various factors and
stages such as research,cost ,negotiation,marketing etc. Below are the explanation of stages of
Trail finder are -

Research for destination - Company has to research for places and destination where
people want to explore. Firm has to evaluate the needs and preferences of customers and
according selects the packages which suits to their demand. Various methods can be used
in exploration such as PESTEL analysis. Through this company can capture more
customers. Thus it leads to earning more profits and growth of the firm. Process ins
finished for two to four months.
Developing the tour Itinerary – Company can prepare a document which includes
information on various matters such as root, transportation, accommodation and various
places. It is a planned and organized method in which firm can make plans related to tour
packages. After selection of place by visitor firm prepare itinerary according to needs and
wants of customers. This reduces the hurdles and problems in the process. It results in
efficient and effective working of the travel company. It is completed within three
months.
Negotiation - Trail finders deal with many vendors and distributors. Firm negotiates with
many suppliers to reduced the cost in travel operations. So company take group holidays
related with airlines,transportation and accommodation. So thus organization can reduces
the prices in various activities and they can work efficiently and effectively(Berkoune,
and et. al., 2012). Thus firm can earn more profits and can increase their market share.
This process is completed within 3 months.
Price determination – Company fix the price of holiday packages. It depends on various
factors such as taxation rate,cost of fuel, exchange rate etc. After negotiation process is
completed this process is started immediately. This helps the company in managing other
activities and operations very efficiently and effectively. Thus leads to increasing sales
of the firm.
 Marketing of tour packages – Marketing is the method to sell the goods and services of
the company. Trail finders create various methods such as print media (brochures ,
posters) and social sites (Facebook, Instagram) etc. to promote their products. Thus it

increases the awareness level of targeted consumers and can gather more consumers.
This leads to earning of more profits and market share(Casadesus, Marimon and Alonso
2010). Company can maintain unique position in the market and can give tough
competition to other firms. This process is completed in 5 -7 months.
 Execution of tour – It is the last process of planning the holidays. In this way trail
finders evaluates all activities and tasks so that operations can run successfully. If there
any deviations from standard firm can improve the methods and procedures. This leads to
effective and efficient functioning of tourism company. Thus it can fulfil needs and
preferences of customers.. It results in growth and success of the firm.
2.2 Methods of contracting holidays and different types of tour operator
Travel and tour companies create and design holiday packages through various
methods .It includes two system such as contract and fixed. They are used be airline and flight
industries. Distributors and suppliers give suitable price to the firm so that they can effectively
manage the operations and can fulfil the needs and preferences of customers. Below are the 2
methods used by Trail finder are -
 Fixed contract – In this contract Trail finder emphasis on the increasing the sales figures.
Company give huge discounts and incentives to the customers in off season. This helps in
giving favourable and positive image of firm in minds of customers. Thus firm can
increase their sales and profits.. Organization pays remaining amount to contractor.
This method has high risk. Company through generating of more revenue can increase
the market share and can give strong competition to other firms. It helps trail finder to
maintain unique image in industry(Chon and Yu, 2012). It leads to development of the
company.
 Sales only contract – In this method Trail finder sets high prices for their holidays
packages. They charge fees according to season and needs, preferences of potential
consumers(del Mar Alonso-Almeida and Rodríguez-Antón 2011). Firm do not give
heavy discounts and incentives to the travellers. It has less risk as compared to fixed
contract. Organization can earn more revenues in the seasonal time period. This helps the

firm to increase their market share and can expand their business. Thus it leads to long
term growth and success of the company. Firm can maintain distinct position in the
market.
Through evaluating both the methods firm can increase their sales and can generate more
profits. In fixed contract there are high discounts and incentives with more risk associated with
it. In sales only contract there is high price and low risk. By adopting both methods company
can expand and diversify the business. It leads to growth and success of firm in the long run.
Tour operator are the contractors who make planning of holiday packages and helps in
promotion of products and services of travel company. There are various types of tour operators.
They are -
 Inbound tour operator - They are the tourist operators who provide different services
such as accommodation,transportation,entertainment and currency etc. They focuses on
arrival of the foreign tourists and accordingly provides the facilities. Outbound tourists – They mainly focuses on the promotional activities such as
advertising etc. They sell the tourism packages to the people of host country.
 Domestic tour operator – These operators mainly focuses on the niche market. They
control the activities and operations of entire market area.
2.3 Calculating the cost of entire holiday plan
According to the information mentioned in the assignment it has been found that project
of Trail finders has to create splendours education tour of adult students(more than 18 years).
Tour states from UK to Brugge and Brussels Belgium and London(Dietz, 2011). So firm has to
calculate the per person cost and the overall tour package cost. Grand Casselbergh in
Bruges had set a budget for the travel and tours packages. They had calculated the cost of per
person in twin room which includes breakfast also. It provides the relevant data including the
price of luxury coach which is £11,200 which includes the cost of fuels, road taxes, two drivers
and ferry. Other information is related to cost of local tour guide which is £945 and exchange
rate €1.12 per £1. So Trail finders has to prepare package of 5 nights of 42 students per group
through understanding the information.

Calculation of the accommodation cost –
In this twins rooms are divided by two people which costs 96 EUROS per person. Hotel
takes additional cost of extra beds(Gibson, 2012). There are 42 students which can be allocated
to the eight groups and other two students can be accommodated by spending for extra bed to
hotel. Thus it can be concluded that 40 students can be accommodated in twin sharing room that
costs 96 euro per person.
Calculation of transportation cost – It is the cost of luxury coach which includes road
taxes,cost of fuel, two drivers and ferry taxes. It costs about £11, 200.
€96/1.12= £8571
£8571*42=3599.82(1 Night)
3599.82*5=17.991(5 nights)
accommodation=17,999.1
Transport=11,200
Tour Guide=945
Total=30144.1
33%=99471.55
Sale Price=40,091.65
40,091,65/42=£95456 / person holiday
It includes the total cost which includes sum of all accommodation,transport and tour guide. Ten
find 33% of total cost. Finally sales price is calculated.
TASK 3
3.1 Evaluate Planning Decision related with designing of selected brochure
In travelling sector, it is necessary to give information about the products and services of
the certain industry. Company provide Boucher to the customers which are concern with the
information of various touring package(Halley and et. al., 2010) Kyuoni use this strategies for

promotion and advertisement of products and services. It help the company to attract large
number of customers which aid to increase in demand of the product and services which are
related to tourism. . The expenditure related to this technique is relatively low compare to other
promotional techniques .Customers can be attracted by online and offline medium of
promotional techniques simultaneously. Due to advancement in technology and digitalisation it
relatively increase the range of Brochure. There are various key factor which are taken into
consideration regarding designing the brochure are as follows: Identification of issue for developing the Brochure: It is very essential for Kuoni Plc to
identify the issues concerned with the products and services before the designing the
brochures. There are different types of issues which are concerned with segmentation of
market, formate of Boucher use in advertisement,technique used in promotion and
execution of all processes involve in particular tourism plan. In order to evaluate and
compare all the possible options and choose the best one among them. The Marketing
manager of Kuoni are require to implement some strategic decision.
Formate of Brochure: Business enterprises use these paper document in order to
advertise the product and services by giving authentic information to the customer. It is
related to different section of Boucher used for advertisement which aid to attract
customers and help in making Boucher more understandable and attractive(Hoyos
Morales and Akhavan-Tabatabaei, 2015). It is basically designing as per the scenario of
target market. The authentic information must be in systematic order:
 Company's name or operator's name.
 Mode of Transportation
 Travel Destination
 Provided itinerary
 Meal and Accommodation facilities
 Price estimation with distribution information
 Acknowledge other charge and applicable condition. Fulfil all legal requirements. Budgeting and Selecting Target Market: When final brochure ready to publish it is very
important to analyse the cost related to the target market. Segmentation of market can

determine the needs and desire of different consumers. It help in segmentation of market
and aid in maximising the profits.
 Time Scale for completion of stages: The design of brochure must be completed in
stipulated time frame. It is considered as an important document for marketing related to
the tourism industries.
3.2 Suitability of alternatives related with traditional brochures
The traditional printed brochures were used earlier for advertisement of product and
services in the market place(Kogg and Mont 2012). These are printed document form which
contain all relevant information related to travelling trip. They are not effective enough to attract
the large number of customer. Due to progress in technology and digitalization,company has
different option to print the attractive Boucher to attract large number of customer for travelling.
There are different choices given below:
 Websites
 Call centres
 Direct sell
 E-brochures
 Visual Brochures
 Travel agents and retailers
 social media
 Mobile Application
Online brochure are categorise as Electronic Brochures. These are determined as better
alternative among the traditional one(Mak, 2011). The expenditure is comparatively low and
have lots of scope as the company uses it to attract large number of customer. Audio -Visual and
Optic Brochures are determine as the most impressive way for increasing the interest of
customers leads to maximise the profitability and level of demand of Tourism industry. By help
of videos and pictures aids to increase the disposition of customer to acquire such product or
services. Company use the level of social sites and commercial website for advertisement as
they are trending nowadays(Medlik, 2016). Marketing manager can develop their own Facebook
page or Instagram page by which more customer can be easily attracted as they spend most of
the time on social media sites. Company marketing manger consider these modern method of
promotional tools as they are less costlier and give positive impact to result. The E- Brochure,

Visual and Audio-Visual Brochure are determined as the most relevant choice of Traditional
Brochures. There should be appropriate plan to determine the design of brochure for the
adventurous holiday package determining the relevant information which able to fascinate and
convince the customers.
Company should provide information brochure to school going student,
college going girls and boys for convincing them to take part in adventitious tour programme.
Marketing manager appoint the vendors for designing of such brochure, it considered the
design of brochure as per the requirement of the students who wants to go for the adventitious
trip(Moutinho, 2011). A adventurous tour voucher plays an important role in effective
marketing among the school going students. They are design in relevant way according to the
taste and desire of the boys and girls which help in maximise the profit level .Modern method of
designing used in brochure design leads to attract large number of student who ease to go for the
adventitious trip provided by the company.
3.3 Different methods of distribution used in order to sell tour package
Every company use wide range of distribution channel for better collaboration in
demand and supply. Traditional brochure are used on vast extent in earlier days to attract the
customers. As time changes advancement in technology and effective method of distribution are
used by the marketing manager to enhance the distribution channel of tourism industries.
Company takes help from the different sources websites , online marketing retailers, travel agent,
social media which influence the whole distribution channel of tourism company(Sanders,
Zacharia and Fugate, 2013). Company can enhance the distribution process by taking help from
these tools and maximise the profitability of the and also increase the efficiency of company.
These applications are cost efficient and less time consuming helps to satisfy the needs ad desire
of the customer in effective manner. Various type of strategic decision taken and appropriate
implementation of tools and techniques are considered by Marketing manager of Kyoni, which
directly and indirectly influence the distribution channel. There are various important element of
distribution channel are given below:
Direct sale: It is related to direct selling of product or services to the customer without any
channels like through e-mail order or through online. Company usually sells their products
directly to the customer.

Agents hiring: Kuoni recruits new people by organising interviews who have knowledge of
selling products in marketplace on lieu of company(Scherrer, Smith and Dowling, 2011) The
contract signed between the tour operator and newly recruited members of the Kuoni to increase
high revenues of company. These agent have to guide and assist the visitors which further aids
in maximising the level of profits for the company.
Online sales services: Marketing manager of the company focus on selling of products or
services by help of online channel which can be done by advertisement of product and services
using social networking sites. In present scenario these are highly in trend among the young
population. This leads to attract large figure of customer in efficient manner. This help the firm
to assess the detailed information of desire of customer and their preferences.
Niche target segments: The present tourism sector is well organise. It refer to association with
different niche target segments according to the interest of the customer. The company focus on
the honeymoon couples, family consumers, business travellers college going students. The newly
wedded couple are the mainly targeted by the Kuoni in present scenario. The tour operator
basically concentrate on the certain target segment to provide improve the amenities according to
the desire of the customers. Kuoni ensure the customer about the spending certain amount of
money as per the activities involved in tourism.
TASK 4
4.1 Strategic decision made by different tour operator
In order to attain enterprises goals and objectives in effective manner. It is essential for
the marketing manger to take strategic decision for accomplishment of of goal and objectives of
company(Wang, and et. al., 2016). To enhance the productivity and capability company precede
strategic management for increase the profitability and enables the company to face the future
uncertainty in proper manner. There are some strategic decision taken by the Kuoni.

Illustration 1: Tour Operations Management
(SOURCE: Tour Operations Management, 2014)
Demand forecasting: This is one of most essential approach which is made by Kuoni. Basically
it is concerned with artistic movement approach by which company estimate the uncertainty of
future, which affects the operations and functions of the concern business(Xu and Gursoy,
2015). By this approach Kuoni can do assessment of future demand for the products and or
services in the market. It leads to collaborate between demand and supply.
Market segmentation, targeting ad positioning: Company segment the customers as per their
characteristics of products. This help the company to choose their target customers to whom
they are going to sell their products and services. The firms deal with the positioning of the
product in the market by use of different promotional instrument and application.
Discount pricing strategies: In tourism sector the role of offering discount is very important. It
helps to assess the entire cost of package. It is basically of two types like fixed and other is sales.
Fixed contract offers high level of discounts to its customers whereas the sales contract do not
offer high discount to their customers.
Risk management: It is essential for the marketing manager to take the decisions which is as
per the strategies of company to inculcate with uncertainty and risk which are accompanied with
tourism sector. These are concerned with fixed contract in which they are applicable to pay the
rest amount concern with insufficient sale of products and services.
Pricing and promotional strategies: The marketing manager of the kuoin take relevant
decision in setting price and cost of overall travelling package. So it is essential to determine all

the factors which give impact on whole budget of travelling package. Kuoni company promote
their travelling package with help of different medium of promotional channels like social
media, sending mails, via Facebook, Instagram, and also by digital mean etc.
4.2 Compare the Tactical Decision
It is very important to take tactical decision by the managers for managing all activities
involve in tourism plan in effective manner. These decision based on the issues concern on daily
basis activities or requirement. While taking such decision it is important to considered the
various factor like transportation, accommodation and other concern factors . It is essential to
take effective decision which assure the growth and maximise the level of profitability. Tourism
industry takes tactical decision to maintain the relationship with different stakeholder that helps
to provide the financial resource to them: There are database of factors through which the Kuoni
have to take tactical decision which are given below:
 Tactical decision concerned with the strategies of promotion and pricing.
 Taking decision which are related to use of innovative and advance technology.
 Taking tactical decision by considering the laws and regulation which indirectly affect
the cost of overall travelling package.
 Recession and growth emphasis the impact while taking tactical decision of the business
firm because they are set to consideration of their rate of exchange. So if there is any
nominal changes it leads to redesign the whole Travel plan.
 Tactical decision made according to the customer's pattern for demography, company
takes decision according to demographical change of customers for satisfy the desire of
the customers.
 Tactical decision were made as per the scenario of the market place. If sudden changes
occurs then marketing manager liable to change the strategies as per the scenario of
market place.
 Consideration of tactical decision in pricing strategies to compete its rivals present in the
market place. Like giving discounts during the festive season, launching new offers to
attract the customers. Give preferences to the loyal customers Kuoni company.
 Tactical decision are made to ensure the proper coordination to their customer for
deprive the outcome to maximise the profit of the company and attract large number of
customers.

CONCLUSION
Assignment talks about the activities and tasks in tours and operations management.
Project discusses about the recent trends which affects travel and tourism industry. It talks about
the stages of various stages of planning holiday packages,assess the suitability of various
methods of different components, types of tour operators and selling price of holidays. It talks
about the planning decisions for design of brochures, evaluate the suitability of them for tour
operators and give suggestions to select the appropriate option and select the suitability of
distribution to sell holidays and give suggestions to tour operator to select best alternative.
Report talks about strategic decisions and comparison of tactical decisions for tour operator in
different situation.

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Wang, G. and et. al., 2016. Big data analytics in logistics and supply chain management: Certain
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ONLINE
Tour Operations Management. 2014. [Online]. Available Through: <http://somo.co.ke/bachelor-
of-travel-and-tour-operations-management-at-moi-university-sm2-493.html>. .

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