Tour Operations Management Assignment: Trends and Holiday Development

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of tour operation management, focusing on LCB Tours. It begins by examining the impact of current trends and developments on tour operations, categorizing different types of tour operators such as inbound, domestic, UK outbound, and specialist operators. The report then delves into the stages involved in developing holiday packages, including market research, planning, forecasting, contracting, costing, and marketing. Various contracting methods, such as fixed contracts, allocation, and ad hoc contracts, are evaluated for their suitability. Furthermore, the report covers the computation of holiday selling prices, considering costs and profit margins, and assesses planning decisions related to brochure design, including cost considerations and the suitability of alternatives. The report also evaluates different distribution methods and strategic and tactical decision-making processes employed by tour operators. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations for effective tour operation management within the context of the travel and tourism sector.

Tour Operation Management
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Analysing the effect of current as well as present trends and development on tour operations.................................................................................................3
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Assessing the phases as well as timescales include in developing holidays..............................................................................................................................5
2.2 Evaluating the suitability of various methods of contracting.....................................................................................................................................................7
2.3 Computing the selling price of Holiday.....................................................................................................................................................................................8
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Evaluating the planning decisions taken for designing selecting brochure..............................................................................................................................9
3.2 Assessing the suitability of alternatives to travel brochure......................................................................................................................................................10
3.3 Evaluating the suitability of various methods of distribution which is utilised to sell a holiday for different types of tour operators...................................11
4.1 Evaluating the strategic decision made by different types of tour operator.............................................................................................................................12
4.2 Comparing the tactical decisions which can be taken by selected tour operator in different situations..................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................14
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INTRODUCTION
Operation management is considered to be as vital business activity especially in travel sector. The purpose of operational management is to support
firm in delivering the quality or products services to customers. An effective operational management helps an organisation in increasing working efficiency as
well as productivity. It supports firm in reducing cost and assist an organisation in increasing profitability. Operational management supports an enterprise in
providing an appropriate response to changes in internal as well as external business environment. It helps firm in gaining competitive advantage. Wide
varieties as well as ranges of products as well as services are provided by travel companies to visitors such as tour packages, accommodation, food etc. There
are many firms in tourism industry which have form strategic partnership with other sectors in order to provide additional facilities to travellers.
The purpose of report is to analyse the effect of trends on the operations of travel companies in Context of Lcb travel. It also emphasizes on identifying
the different phases involved in development of holiday packages by tour operators. Study will also include the evaluation of suitability of various contracting
method for different component of holiday.
TASK 1
1.1 Analysing the effect of current as well as present trends and development on tour operations
Types of tour operators
The changes in trends as well as development which has taken place in external business environment has direct as well as significant impact on
the overall tourism industry. Changes in legal, social, technological factors have direct as well as significant effect on business operation of travel
companies such as Lcb tour . Tourism industry is growing at very rapid rate. There are different types of tour operators these are:
Inbound tour operator: It includes those travel enterprises which provides local support or assistance to those travellers who arrive their nations.
Inbound tour operators offer international tour packages.
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Domestic tour operator: These types of tour companies have business operations within national boundaries. Domestic tour operator’s
organisation provides holiday packages to local people. In additions to this, these business entities provide transportation services to local people
those who want to travel from one region to other within national boundaries (Machuca, Größler and Morita, 2018). The different types of tour
offered by domestic tour operator are hiking, national tours, cruises etc. Domestic tour companies over various services such as accommodation,
food etc. to visitors.
UK outbound tour operators: These are those tour operators who provides transportation services to those domestic people who wants to travel
from one nation to other. UK outbound tour operators take local people to foreign countries for organized travel.
Specialist tour operators: This type of tour operator companies integrates tour and travel elements in order to formulate a package holiday.
advertise and produce brochures to promote their goods or services, holidays and tours.
Current and future trends
Integrations: Internet has played a significant
role in bringing positive as well as drastic
improvement in tourism sector. The integration
Advancement in technology:
Technological advancement has
supported travel companies such as Lcb
Rise or fall of inflations: This is
considered to be as the biggest factors
which has direct as well as significant
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as a latest trend or development in tourism
sector has direct as well as significant effect on
business models, traveller’s expectation. It also
has significant influence on services offered by
travel companies
in increasing productivity as well as
working efficiency. In addition to this, has
provided travel companies various
opportunities such as it has enabled
business entities to interact directly with
customers (Mwesiumo, Halpern and
Buvik,2017). Emergence of technology
has allowed enterprises to provide
additional services such as online booking
etc . to customers. At the same time
technology has given rise to stiff
competition in industry.:
effect on the profitability of travel
companies such as LCb. Changes in
economic factors have great impact on the
demands for the products or services
offered by travel companies. Many tour
operator organisations such as Lcb is
facing difficulty in maintaining the
balance between demand and supply.
TASK 2
2.1 Assessing the phases as well as timescales include in developing holidays
There are number if stages included in development of packages which assists travel organisation such as Lcb in delivering the quality services to
visitors or travellers. The method utilised by LCB for designing the quality holiday packages to customers. The different stages involved in developing
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the tour packages are:
Market research: It is considered to be as initial stage, where it is required by marketing manager in Lcb to execute market research. As this tactic will
assist an organisation in identifying the needs as well as demands of customers. Market research is considered to be as crucial activity while planning
holiday packages. Lcb makes huge investment on research activities. In addition to this, online market research has been executed by Lcb for analysing
the preferences of visitors.
Planning as well as scheduling: Planning is the next activity which is conducted by Lcb after executing market research. Scheduling helps enterprises
in scheduling the plan for holidays. Scheduling as the activities involves determining the time of holiday, season of holiday etc.
Forecasting: in forecasting, marketing manager in Lcb plans the holiday by taking the effective measures of the holiday packages. Forecasting activities
is executed by travel companies such as Lcb for assessing the climate of the specific tourist place and then implement the holiday packages. It supports
the management in identifying the current position of the selected location hence assist in designing the holiday package. For examples, if a visitor
wants to visit at tourist place whether there is heavy snow fall then in such situation tour operator will denied from providing such services to customers.
Contracting: Many travel companies such as Lcb either form strategic partnership or enter into contract with other supporting services such as
transportation or hotel industry just to deliver additional facilities or services to customers. Contracting strategy of Lcb has helped business entity in
making holiday package successful. The supporting industries such as hotel as well as transportation has supported LCb in promoting the holiday
packages (Holland and Leslie,2017).
Costing of tour packages: It is considered to be as an important activity. While determining the cost of holidays marketing manager in Lcb need to
consider the income level of target customer group, demand for packages, cost involved in designing a pacakge etc.
Marketing of tour packages: Lcb will use strategic positioning for marketing their holiday packages. The various factors such as trends, customers
demand, capability of vendors are considered by LCb before selecting as well as implementing marketing plan.
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Time scale for sight seen tour (From UK London to Paris and France)
Nature of tour: sight seen tour
Location: France and Paris
Date of beginning of tour: 1.12.2018
Duration of tour: 10 days
Number of tourists:18
Tourist destinations to be visited: Palace of Versailles, The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Musee Du Louvre, Pere Lachaise Cemetary
Type of Tourists: Students
Cost of the tour: 350 pounds including breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2.2 Evaluating the suitability of various methods of contracting
The contracts assist customers in eliminating needless cost which might be associated with fulfilling additional demands. It also enables visitors to get
their services according to their desire. Lcb can enter into different types of contracts for delivering the services to visitors or tourists. As this tactics help
business entity in delivering the products or services according to the demand of customers. It will also assist an enterprise in meeting the expectations of
visitors. Strategic as well as contracting strategy will help LCB in develop strong relationship with customers. There are basically three types of contract which
Lcb can enter into with another organisation these are:
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Fixed contracts: This method is considered to be as an appropriate, as it helps Lcb in delivering quality as well as timely services to customers. It is required by
Lcb to utilise this method for entering into a contract with suppliers or vendors. This strategy will assist an organisation in improving as well as maintaining
quality standards. Lcb has fixed contracts with caterers, event management companies etc. Fixed contracts with events management, hotels support has
supported business entity in expanding the scope of services. It has also assisted organisation in increasing profitability and sales.
Allocation: This is the method of contract in which one companies promises other to provide specific services for limited time period. . An allotment release
back period is also negotiated as part of the allotment contract. For instance, Lcb has used allocation contracting method for entering into a contract with hotel
company, after facilitating negotiation, manager of hotel has committed to provide specific number of rooms to the customer of Lcb at discount during the
particular season (Daniels, Park and Brayley, 2018.).
Ad hoc : This method of contracting has been utilised by LCb at the initial stage in order to prevent delay in deliveries of products ire series. Such method is
generally utilised by company’s fir entering into temporary agreement with other party. Ad hoc contracts methods is used by business entities providing cover
before moving onto a more appropriate contract. In this method of contracts, the services are provided by companies within the time span which is mentioned in
the agreement.
2.3 Computing the selling price of Holiday
Calculation of selling price of holiday for sightseeing tour of Chinese students. In given case scenario, there is need of designing in relation to tour
operation for Chinese students which consists of 15 individuals, those who have been travelling to Paris and France
SR.No. Information about package Price per person Price for 15 persons
1 Charges of Airline Euro 20 Euro 300
2 Charges of transportation Euro 1000 Euro 1000
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3 Charges of hotels Euro 60 Euro 480
4 Miscellaneous charges Euro 200
5 Total cost in Euros Euro 1080 Euro 1980
Total cots = !980
Profit =10 % Euro
Hence, total selling price is euro 1980+ euro 198 = Euro 2178
In addition to the above, fixed as well as variable costs are considered by manager in Lcb while determining the cost of holiday package. Lcb has adopted
discounting pricing strategy which has provided business entity in attracting more number of customers. Low cost pricing strategy has been adopted by an
enterprise for entering into the market (Celik, 2017.).
TASK 3
3.1 Evaluating the planning decisions taken for designing selecting brochure
There are several factors which are considered by manager in LCB these are :
Costs: This is considered to be important factor which is to be considered by manager in LCb before deciding to select specific brochure. As LCB has enough
funding a company is planning to hire designer for designing the brochure. Hiring the designer can be quite expensive expensive but they provide valuable
services. This decision is made by management in an enterprise considering the fact that designer are people, an enterprise can ensure good look. In addition to
this marketing manager in an organisation is also planning to utilise computer software as this is considered to be as less expensive as compared to hiring of
designer. It is required by finance manager in an enterprise to prepare budget for brochure.
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Deciding the format: at this stage the various activities takes place such as selection of brochure. During the designing of brochure the lots of creative ideas are
generated. The various other considerations which are taken by designers or marketing manager in an organisation includes graphics, technology, typography,
keywords etc. Before designing the format of brochure, Lcb can conduct market research or survey for obtaining the feedback from customers, as it will help
business entity in creating an attractive brochure (Grant, Wong and Trautrims, 2017. ). Brochure should include name of company. In addition to this manager
should be very choosy in context of selecting the colour, tenure and feature of brochure,
Target market and budget: It is very important for designer or marketing manager in organisation to considered the nature of target customer group before
planning the brochure.
Determining print specifications: n the case of print, creation of print ready pdfs is undertaken and detailed specifications are also created for the external
suppliers. With the help of a professional programmer, brochure design can be effectively converted into HTML code which can be utilised for publishing
brochure on websites. Before getting the copies of brochure, it is required by marketing manager in an organisation to review the sample brochure , as this
strategy will assist them in eliminating chances or mistakes in brochure (Bag, Anand and Pandey,2017).
3.2 Assessing the suitability of alternatives to travel brochure
Brochure plays important role in the sale of the packages that it gives complete description information about packages to the customers and help Lcb in
retaining them. Management designs the brochure in a way that attracts the new clients towards the organization and makes them aware about the services to
the organization. There are various alternatives available for the different kind of tour operators:
Email brochure:This types of brochure are utilized by the outbound tour operators for providing services to customers with the support of email. Under this
brochure tour operators mail the information to their customers about the packages and make them aware about the price as well as destination of the holiday
packages. E brochure is considered to be as cheapest as well as an effective way to providing services to clients and making the strong customer base for the
company. It enables tour operator to share information about holiday packages with large number of customer at the same time.
E-brochure:This is another way to promote the holiday packages or other services in the market and make the consumer aware about the services offered by an
enterprise. E-brochure is considered to be as the simplest way to communicate with the customers. Under this method manager add the brochure on the website
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of the LCB and whenever any client visits the website they can easily view the E-Brochures. It also enables them to analyze the services or holiday packages
that have been in constant demand by people as they are not having enough time to contact with the tour operators directly. Such brochures designed as the
ways to attract clients towards their holiday packages and towards choosing for their site to travel. brochure.
Video brochure: it is an attractive way to share the information about the holiday packages with the clients that is video brochure that brochure contains the
video of the products or services offered by business entity. It also consists of photos of the different destinations to attract the customers towards firm. This
type of brochure is considered to be as an appropriate for attracting new consumers. This kind of brochure is suitable for the inbound tour operators.
3.3 Evaluating the suitability of various methods of distribution which is utilised to sell a holiday for different types of tour operators.
There are different methods of distribution these are :
Direct distribution: Under this distribution method, workers in an enterprise caters the needs of customers by selling the packages. Lcb has its
subsidiaries and LCB has its retail stores located at different locations which enables business entity to make quick deliveries of products or services. Direct
sale may help the business to generate more revenue and to gain the competitive advantage. Direct distribution strategy also supports business entity in
developing the strong relationship with clients. This strategy has also provided firm an ease in influencing people to buy particular products or services.
Two level distribution: In this method, the manufacturer sell goods or services to retailer. In this method of distribution there is value addition in the price of
product at each phase. Earlier this distribution method is adopted by LCB due to which company was facing difficulty in reaching to the customers. Two level
distribution strategy adopted by the Lcb has lead to the high level of dissatisfaction in the customers .
Internet: It is the best and easiest way to sale the products in the market and generates more revenue in comparison to the direct sales (Yan and Ho,2017). The
IT department of the Thomas Cook put various posts in the website of the organization make the buyer aware about the tour packages. Management provides
discount on the web site and this may attract the new clients towards the organization.
4.1 Evaluating the strategic decision made by different types of tour operator
There are many strategic decisions which are required to be taken by tour operators such Lcb before launching planning to expand business. Most of the
strategic decisions are taken by the tour operator for delivering quality services to their clients. Marketing manager in Lcb also have to take strategic decision
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related to the selection of appropriate method or techniques for sharing information about holiday packages with customers. Some strategical decision includes
cost of tour package, design of brochure, selection of distribution channel, determining the target customer group as well as customer group. The success as
well as growth of an organisation is completely based on the strategical decision of manager.
Segmenting, positioning and targeting: It is required by manager in Lcb to select an appropriate strategy for targeting , segmenting and positioning
goods or services. The decisions are taken by an organisation in order to serve quality services to the client and retain them for long time. This is the most vital
decision that is taken by the LCB to serve desired services to their clients. Lcb can utilise demographic segmentation for segmenting the market. An
organisation can conduct market research as this tactic will assist management in identifying the appropriate market and will provide firm an ease in
determining the target customer group (Sheibani,2018.).
Promotional strategy: It is considered to be as crucial business activity on which the profit of the company is based, Selection of an appropriate
marketing technique is very much crucial as tis factor has direct as well as significant influence on customers decision making procedure. Seasonal discounts
can be offer by Lcb for attracting customers.
4.2 Comparing the tactical decisions which can be taken by selected tour operator in different situations
Tactical decisions provide assistance in confirming flexible as well as smooth business operations. It also helps in evading the prospect of any type of
confusion in context of routine functioning of business. Firm tactical decisions formulated by the tour operators. There are different factors which are
considered by tour operator before making tactical decisions these are the aspect of negotiation with the service providers, making various arrangements in
reverence of transportations in to maintain strong relationship with the customer as well by informing them about organisational behaviour. The crucial tactical
decision taken by tour operators in context of selection of an appropriate technique for ensuring effective coordination which is very much necessary in order
to produce desired outcome (Long and Shi, 2017). For instance, some tactical decisions which are taken by Lcb in context of services service processing are
associated with the allowance of the use of services related with high speed internet for providing instant and optimum services for the consumers.
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