Tour Operations Management: LCB Tours Assignment Report, HND

This assignment, prepared for a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Hospitality Management, focuses on tour operations management. It begins with a leaflet analyzing the effects of current trends on the domestic tour operator industry. The assignment then progresses to a group presentation, exploring the stages and timescales involved in developing holidays, the suitability of different contracting methods, and price comparisons. Finally, the assignment concludes with an individual report, which includes an analysis of tour operator brochures, the suitability of alternatives to traditional brochures, distribution methods, and a comparison of strategic and tactical decisions made by different tour operators. The report emphasizes the importance of market research, understanding customer needs, and adapting to industry trends, such as technological advancements and increased environmental awareness, to ensure successful tour operations within the UK tourism market.

TOUR OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

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Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Task 1: Leaflet.................................................................................................................................4
Task 2: Group presentation..............................................................................................................6
Introduction..................................................................................................................................6
AC2.1. Stages and timescales involved in developing holidays..................................................6
AC 2.2 Suitability of different methods of contracting...............................................................7
AC 2.3 Price details and comparison of other tours:...................................................................8
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................................9
Task 3: Individual report.................................................................................................................9
AC 3.1. Analysis of Brochures from different tour operators.....................................................9
AC 3.2.Suitability of alternatives to a traditional brochure.......................................................12
AC3.3. Methods of distribution to sell a holiday.......................................................................13
AC4.1. Strategic decision of different tour operators................................................................13
AC 4.2. Comparison of tactical decision...................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References:....................................................................................................................................16
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Travelling is a process of movements by people outside their own communities according to
their different purposes and needs. Hence, tourism industry must develop different parts to
provide appropriate supports to the travellers by fulfilling their essential needs within appropriate
time to satiate them in a mannered way. Developments must take place according to the currents
trend to match with current market conditions.
Task 1: Leaflet
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TASK 1: LEAFLET
AC1.1. Effects of current and recent trends on tour operators industry (Domestic Tour Operators)
In UK tourism most of the changes
have taken places in the part of
domestic tourism. Most of the
travelers in the country try to take
benefits of different latest trends and
developments made within tourism
industry. At the same time, it is
essential for different tour operators
to get a clear understanding of
different factors in the market. UK
tourism has started their journey in
the year 1800 and thus they were
able to improve awareness among
domestic customers in a mannered
way. According to Filby et al.
(2015), a market for tourism
industry is growing day by day and
hence it has improved opportunities
for different operators to improve
their market position according to
the expectations. Additionally, it is
essential to look after different
current/recent trends and
developments those can provide
direct impacts on domestic tourism
of the country.
1. Advancements in technology
Current trends of technology
advancements have provided with an
opportunity to the tour operators to
attract their customers and aware about
different possible benefits. As stated by
Li et al. (2017), it can help tour
operators to increase their market share
and grow in size according to the
expectations. Visits to travel agencies
have shown that they have developed
new technologies to quickly reach to
their customers and thus are able to
reduce their cost for advertisements to
aware domestic customers in UK. In
addition to that according to Frankel and
Gabriele (2017), development in
technology advancements has helped
tour operators in UK market to aware
people about origin and service quality
of their organisations. Hence it has
developed an opportunity to improve
brand image very quickly.
2. Rise and fall of inflation
Rise and fall in rate of inflation in UK
can reduce ability of tour operators to
deliver different financial benefits to their
customers as per the needs. Therefore as
criticized by Alim et al. (2016), a rise in
the inflation rate can increase chance of
fewer quality services to the customers.
Thus it can lead to low level of customer
satisfaction and force to change
ownership of different tour operators
according to the situation. Hence some of
the large-scale tour operators have
developed new strategic plan to match
with the current trends of a rise in the
inflation. On the other hand, a fall in
inflation rate can help tour operators to
attract and satiate customers with low
cost and high-quality services according
to the expectations of customers.
3. Increased environmental awareness:
Recent trend in the market is aware
customers about different environmental
factors that have helped to improve their
contribution in improvements of
environments and hence target a
particular segment of a domestic
market. Furthermore as suggested by
Qian and Law (2018), increase
environmental awareness among
domestic customers has increased
competition at a local market. That has
helped to develop an opportunity for tour
operators to take competitive advantages
from target market. At the same time, it
can help to improve living environments
around different tourist spots and hence
improve quality of living according to the
expectations of target segment of
customers.
Filby, N.E., Stockin, K.A. and Scarpaci, C., 2015. Social science as a vehicle to improve dolphin-swim tour operation
compliance?. Marine Policy, 51, pp.40-47.
Li, Y., Hu, C., Huang, C. and Duan, L., 2017. The concept of smart tourism in the context of tourism information
services. Tourism Management, 58, pp.293-300.
Frankel, A.S. and Gabriele, C.M., 2017. Predicting the acoustic exposure of humpback whales from cruise and tour
vessel noise in Glacier Bay, Alaska, under different management strategies. Endangered Species Research, 34, pp.397-
415.
Alim, M.A., Ray, R. and Hossain, M.E., 2016. Visitors’ Perception towards Tour Destinations: A Study on Padma
Garden. JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STUDIES, 9, p.95.

Task 2: Group presentation
Introduction
Tourism is a process of providing support to different types of travelers according to their needs
and hence improves their living condition by providing appropriate products and services
according to their needs. Tourism industry can help to improve current market conditions
according to the expectations. In the tourism industry customers always expect high-quality
products and services with a very low cost that can help them to stay for a long period of time.
AC2.1. Stages and timescales involved in developing holidays
From the market research, it is observed that identification of an appropriate solution is
essential to set a right price for a packaged holiday that can help to attract tourists effectively.
Therefore, it can help to satiate customers in a mannered way and maintain all the guidelines of
different regulatory bodies. Association of British Travel Agents has provided a strict
guideline for the tour operators to deliver accurate information to the customers about their
holiday packages. From viewpoints of Morakabati et al. (2017), it has helped tour operators to
provide different additional benefits to their target customers and hence improve level of
customer satisfaction. Federation of Tour Operators has developed a guideline for controlling
overseas holidays for the people of the country. Association of Independent Tour Operators
has helped to check quality of members and professional in the industry and hence evaluate
financial condition of the operator to set up appropriate price according to the needs. In
addition to that, guidelines of this regulatory body have helped to reduce ethical problems and
improve cooperation among members (Aito.com, 2018).
It aims the various aspects of travel and tourism in United Kingdom. Tourism is one of the rising
industries in UK and generates significant revenue that contributes to the nation’s economy. The
report highlights the best practices in travel and tourism industry in the country along with the
challenges and scopes. Moreover, the report consists of different aspects of travel and tourism
industry along with an analysis of several factors impacting the pace of the industry.
Furthermore, the report includes recommendations for the sustainability of tourism in the United
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Kingdom. In addition to that it can help to improve understanding about tourism industry in UK
and deliver a clear idea about travelling package and budget of tourism with help of different
tour operators. Therefore, this procedure has helped to provide all the details of a tour to the
target customers. Hence it is essential to deliver idea about itinerary according to the needs of
customers. Planning of a journey will help to provide an idea about a route of travelling like
Aeroplane, Ship, or four wheeler cars. In addition to that, it can help to get a clear idea about
dates and times for different parts of the journey and hence make some opportunity for
additional plan within the main destination.
In the first stage of developing holidays, it is essential to do a market research that can provide
a clear idea about price and availability of different products according to the demands of
customers. In the very next stage, the tour operators must plan for a destination and schedule
dates of journey according to the needs of customers, within one week of the plan generation.
In addition to that, as stated by Andergassen et al. (2017), appropriate knowledge of different
hotels and their capacity can help tourists to select a perfect one according to their requirements.
In addition to that, it has helped the tourism industry to improve negotiation between tour
operators and their suppliers. In the next stage, cost management can take place by tour
operators. According to Mariani et al. (2014), this control procedure can help to improve costing
for different holidays according to the requirements of target customers within 5 days of
planning. Therefore, in the next stage, it is essential to evaluate financial conditions and
pricing according to the needs of customers. This can help to provide different discounts to the
customers and satiate them in a mannered way. Thus, for tour operators, it is essential to create
an appropriate brochure that can help them to deliver all the details idea about different types
of tour packages. In addition to that advertising can be done by different tour operators in the
industry to attract their target market in a mannered way. In the next stage, it is essential to
execute the tour plan according to the expectation of customers that can help tour operators of
UK to complete the package according to the needs. According to Vitouladiti (2015), in the last
stage of developing holidays tour operators must provide associated facilities as a past of post-
tour management procedure that can help them to improve customer satisfaction level
effectively.
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AC 2.2 Suitability of different methods of contracting
It is essential in tourism industry to develop different types of suitable methods contracting that
can help them to improve a relationship with different types of stakeholders according to the
needs. A fixed contract with different types of customers has helped to improve market
condition and get a continuous supply chain according to the expectations. In addition to that
allocation contract helps to allocate tasks among different levels of employees in tourism
industry can help to improve service quality for the customers. Hence this type of contract can
help to negotiate in different sales of holiday packages. On the other hand, according to
Andergassen et al. (2017), ad-hoc contracts can be applied for domestic customers during their
small-scale travelling. That can be changed day to day and help to improve negotiation between
operator and customers.
For the travellers in the UK market, it is essential to get proper idea about different hotels in the
destinations. Different research has shown most of the tour operators in UK tourism industry try
to suggest their customers for Hilton hotel, UK. The main reason behind that, the hotel is able to
deliver high-quality products and services to their customers according to their expectations
within a reasonable price and hence rate of customer satisfaction is high in the hotel
(Hilton.com, 2018). At the same time, the organisation is able to maintain hygiene of foods and
drinking water for their customers.
AC 2.3 Price details and comparison of other tours:
Hilton hotel (Selected by
Cost savers and Topdeck)
Marriot hotel (Selected by
Globus and Cosmos)
Variable costs Low (Around £150) High (Around £230)
Direct and indirect costs Low (Around £90) Medium (Around £170)
Load factors High Medium
Markup price Medium (Around £120) High (Around £150)
Profit margins Low (Less than £50 per Medium (Less than £70 per
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customer) customer)
Seasonal flexing High Low
Competitive pricing Medium High
Price Skimming High (10 different types of
quality and price)
Medium (5 different types of
quality and price)
Special offers Always available according to
different seasons
Offers available only at
winter
Discounting strategies Provide up to 40% discount to
the customers according to
the seasonal offers
Provide only up to 20%
discount in winter.
Currency exchange Allow currency of other
countries like US$
Allow only UK pounds from
the customers.
Table 1: Comparison between tour operators and their choice of hotels
(Source: Created by author)
Conclusion:
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that proper planning and appropriate tour
package can help to improve travelling of different types of customers. Hence, it can help to
improve satisfaction level among customers and satiate them with different types of discounts.
Task 3: Individual report
AC 3.1. Analysis of Brochures from different tour operators
Cost saver organisation has spent around £50 for a design of their brochure whereas Topdeck has
spent £75 and Cosmos has spent £65 for same purpose. For improving distribution and quality of
print Cosmos has spent over £150 on the other hand Cost saver has spent more than £120 and
Topdeck has spent around £170. Using the given amounts of money Cost saver has developed
100,000 copies of brochures; on the other hand, Topdeck has developed around 98000 copies
and Cosmos around 120000 according to their spending. Booklet of Cosmos and Cost saver are
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of two folds whereas Topdeck booklet has three-fold design according to the needs. Target
market for Cost saver is the people aged between 5-80, whereas target market for Topdeck is
people aged between 18-39 and for Cosmos; it is 8-99 years. In addition to that, all these
brochures are full of proper information about a budget for a different tour package and thus it
can help to deliver a clear idea to the target customers.
Figure 1: Booklet of Costsaver
(Source: https://www.trafalgar.com/~/media/images/brochure-images/brochure-covers-2018/
costsaver_europe-and-britain-2018-can.jpg)
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Figure 2: Booklet of Topdeck
(Source: https://www.topdeck.travel/destinations/europe)
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Figure 3: Booklet of Cosmos
(Source: https://www.cosmostours.com.au/brochures)
Most of their booklets have a common tour destination that is UK, and all of these companies
have used colourful front pages and maintain size within A4 paper. Nature of destination at Cost
saver is related to different mountainous parts of the country whereas Topdeck destinations are
related to sea beaches and for Cosmos; it is different tourist spots and jungle tourism.
Every operator has specially designed booklets for every year hence they can be able to
distribute their booklets upto the end of November 2018. And from the month of December, they
try to distribute booklets for next year.
AC 3.2.Suitability of alternatives to a traditional brochure
E-brochures can be helpful for different organisations like Cosmos, and Topdeck who are able to
develop their business through online advertising and have an intention to spread awareness
through social media sites. On the other hand, Cost saver has used different government websites
and university website to distribute their E-brochures. Therefore, these E- brochures are easily
accessible from different platforms like Android mobiles and IPads. Thus according to Huertas‐
Garcia et al. (2014), it can improve acceptance of the brochure by different levels of people in
society in an easy way. Different outdoor media like a tube, billboards, and internet can be used
by these operators for spreading awareness and use these as an alternative to traditional
brochures. In addition to that, awareness can be spread through Radio/ TV Advertising and social
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