Managing Innovations in Travel Industry

The report discusses the innovations in the travel and tourism sector, particularly focusing on Thomas Cook. It highlights the company's history, its innovative practices, and the impact of technology on customer experience. The report also examines the industry's growth and the importance of responsible tourism. Through various technological advancements, Thomas Cook has enhanced its services, ensuring a competitive edge in the market. The conclusion emphasizes the ongoing innovations that are transforming the travel experience for customers.

MANAGING
INNOVATIONS
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The travel and tourism sector is becoming one the largest as well as fastest growing
economic sectors across the world. The travel industry in going through various innovation in the
year 2016. This are relating with online travel sector. This has been considered one of the best
way to reach the public in an effective manner. Such has never been the scenario of the industry
which exists at present. Development of integrated technology platform assist in offering value
to the users at every stage of their journey. In the present report Thomas Cook has been taken
into account. The company is a British global travel company listed on London stock exchange
and business was formed in the year 2007 by merger of Thomas cook AG. This group owns large
number of tour operators along with the charter airline based in United Kingdom. Organization
has introduced interactive and innovative tablet application so that sales volume of business can
be enhanced easily. Further, the entire tour operation market has been changed where in past
online systems were not present and at present all the operations are carried out through IT
systems. From maintaining the quality of services being provided through this application, the
content and information available in various sections has been extracted from authentic sources
and are also updated on a regular manner. The innovation is not just up to convenient booking as
well as ticketing but it is moving more in the direction of offering greater travel experience, that
is requires for solving issues in each and every stage of travel experience. The rationale behind
this trend could be the increasing awareness among the people who are preferring to opt for
Thomas Cook, owing to their responsible nature. Hence, this in a way has become a selling point
for the company. With all the technological advancement in various industries, Thomas Cook
has also partnered with Wex, which is a leading service provider of virtual payment solutions.
This association has enabled the entity to provide an integrated payment system which has been
highly applauded by the customers of Thomas Cook. Adoption of all the innovative practices has
aided the business of the company to experience enhancement and attain a competitive
advantage in the market. In consequence to this Thomas Cook has occupied the position of the a
leading brand among the tour operators of the world.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
Purpose of the report and structure .............................................................................................4
THE ORGANIZATION AND INDUSTRY OVERVIEW.............................................................4
Organization and its innovation history ......................................................................................4
Organizations Existing Innovation Performance and Capabilities..............................................5
The industry in 2016 ...................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Purpose of the report and structure
Managing innovation is referred to as the management of the innovation processes. It can
include both in the product as well as organizational innovation. Innovation management
involves set tools that provides opportunity to the business in cooperating with common
understanding relating to the processes as well as goals. In the present study management of
innovation has been discussed with respect to tour operator firm that is Thomas Cook. The
company is leading integrated travel company that offers wide spectrum of services that desires
to visit the different countries across the globe. The present report entails to understand the
innovation history of the firm and its existing innovation performance as well as capabilities.
THE ORGANIZATION AND INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Organization and its innovation history
Thomas cook group is a British global travel company listed on London stock exchange
and business was formed in the year 2007 by merger of Thomas cook AG. This group owns large
number of tour operators along with the charter airline based in United Kingdom. At present
business has employed 21,813 employees and has revenue of £7,834 million. Services offered by
organization are famous worldwide where every service matches with the requirement of target
market. Further, the range of products offered by company involves charter and scheduled
passenger airline, package holidays, cruise lines, hotel and resorts (History – Thomas Cook,
2016). Advanced tools have been employed by organization for serving its customers and due to
this reason customer base of organization is quite strong. Moreover, Thomas cook operates in
main five divisions which involve central Europe, UK, German airlines, west Europe and
northern Europe. Organization is main sponsor of Manchester city and Peterborough United
football clubs. With the introduction of new and advanced technology in the field of tour
operator company has enhanced its market share and holds capability to introduce new type of
services in the market. Apart from this, competition level is quite high due to which company
relies on innovative practices so that long term benefits can be obtained easily.
Thomas cook introduced its leisure trips in the summer of 1841 and during the next three
summers company arranged succession of trips where main target was on midland towns of
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Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Birmingham. As the time passed business added more
destinations and at present organization is regarded as second largest European travel company.
Thomas cook has 33 tour operating brand with 2400 travel agencies and 66 aircraft. Business is
having 50:50 owned by German retail group. Organization has introduced interactive and
innovative tablet application so that sales volume of business can be enhanced easily. Further,
the entire tour operation market has been changed where in past online systems were not present
and at present all the operations are carried out through IT systems. Online booking system has
been employed and all the kind of payments are done with the help of electronic systems.
Through this, Thomas cook has strengthened its relationship with those of its suppliers through
presence of effective payment system (Ronningen, 2010). Moreover, suppliers are granted proper
credit period as expected by them and due to this reason Thomas cook is able to offer services to
its target market on time and as per requirement of target market. Internet technology has
reduced the time frame which is required in transferring payment and it has brought fruitful
results for business in every possible manner. Apart from this, both company and its suppliers
can understand each other requirement. This has directly lead to rise in profitability level of the
business and the most effective areas have been identified where costs can be reduced upto
extent. Due to this reason services of Thomas cook are worldwide famous and majority of the
customers are brand loyalty. Innovation has allowed to serve stakeholders of business in better
manner and has supported to grab opportunities present in the business environment.
Organizations Existing Innovation Performance and Capabilities
A very instrumental role is played by the tour operators in determining the manner in
which tourism industry is functioning. The services provided by Thomas Cook in the present
competitive market of tourism is highly commendable and can be credited as innovative in a true
sense. In its initiative to maintain its competitive edge in the market, the management of the
company has constantly produced innovative and creative ideas which has been attracting the
attention of the customers all over the world. It has also been considered as a leading integrated
travel company as it is providing services related to foreign exchange, visas and passport,
insurance and so on.
In addition to being an integrated service provider, it can also be considered very
innovative and technologically advanced in its practices and policies. One such service which the
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company has been providing is that of a unique application which provides all the facilities in
relation to tourism (Andrea, 2012). This application is completely customer - centric and can also
be termed as path breaking move for the sales team of the enterprise. It is an influential
amalgamation of various available travel packages, vibrant images and maps of various
destinations, advice in relation to travel and many such services which personally cater to the
needs of every traveller. One of the most attractive feature of this application is that it offers a
virtual walk through all the destinations which are planned in the itinerary so made in the
application. In addition, the option to make comparisons between various holiday packages with
different itineraries are also provided to the customers. This has completely revolutionized the
process which was traditionally undertaken by the travelers to plan their trips and making the
suitable bookings. In essence, the a large enhancement has been brought about in the research
which is required to be done by the travelers and also the booking experience.
In order to maintain the quality of services being provided through this application, the
content and information available in various sections has been extracted from authentic sources
and are also updated on a regular manner. Another manner in which it is practicing innovations
is by offering special offers to the customers through the app and otherwise. These exciting
offers are displayed to the customers in the most attractive fashion (Innovating change at
Thomas Cook, 2010).
Another important initiative which has been introduced by the company is that of
encouraging and following the practice of responsible tourism. In its drive to become
responsible, all its tours are planned and managed so as to reduce the negative impact of tourism
on the local communities and the places which are visited by them. In addition, the introduction
of the eco - friendly application has furthered its initiative to become responsible by eliminating
the usage of voluminous brochures which sought to reduce the footprint of the company on the
environment. Along with benefiting the environment, the business of Thomas Cook has also
experienced a great response. The rationale behind this trend could be the increasing awareness
among the people who are preferring to opt for Thomas Cook, owing to their responsible nature.
Hence, this in a way has become a selling point for the company. Also, the responsible behaviour
of not exploiting the local communities, resources, heritage and so on has attracted the attention
of locals of various destinations, which have also started giving preferential treatment to the
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company. This in turn has conferred financial benefits to the company, along with an upliftment
in the brand name (Hjalager, 2010). Another practice which requires a mention is that of
contributing to the economy of the locals by providing them employment, planning the travelers
stay at local accommodation and so on. In consequence to this, the travelers are enabled to
receive an experience of the local life which further enhances the quality of their stay at each of
the destinations. This has further increased the popularity of Thomas Cook among the
adventurous travelers.
An important innovation which has been introduced by Thomas Cook and also by
various leading tour operators of the nation, is that related to payments. Traditionally the
payment system was not customer friendly and used to be via money transfer bank or other
means. However, with all the technological advancement in various industries, Thomas Cook has
also partnered with Wex, which is a leading service provider of virtual payment solutions. With
the assistance of this association, an integrated payment system has been introduced to the
customers of Thomas Cook. This has further enabled the company to provide a seamless end-to
end payment service to the customers, thereby, enhancing their relation with the customers as
well as the suppliers.
The industry in 2016
The travel and tourism sector is becoming one the largest as well as fastest growing
economic sectors across the world. It has greater contribution to the global Gross Domestic
Product. Further the employment has increased multi-fold. The travel industry in going through
various innovation in the year 2016. This are relating with online travel sector. The tourism
sector has evolved drastically over the past decades. In the modern era each person is online and
phenomenal adoptions are being made by the tour operators such as Thomas Cook in technology
in order to transform themselves within the sector. Cloud computing is regarded as one of the
natural evolution within the industry along with cloud servers that are physically located he
country. Another major innovation that is being made is in relation with the social media
marketing. This has been considered one of the best way to reach the public in an effective
manner. The firms are taking recommendations as well as carrying out campaigns in relation
with the social media for the purpose of developing rapport with the audience and widen their
reach.
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Another aspect under this is mobile innovation which is key of tour and travel sector. The
companies under travel and tourism sector on continuous basis are looking at innovative ways of
establishing interaction with the people by the means of their personal devices. Mobile has
become the most preferable choice of the customers that assist in accessing the online travel
services (Ellis, Henke and Kull, 2012). Further it would dominate the invention as well as
transaction space in the year 2016. It is offering medium for online travel businesses to develop
the services and engage with the customers. This has never been the scenario of the industry
which exists at present. Development of integrated technology platform assist in offering value
to the users at every stage of their journey. The innovation is not just upto convenient booking as
well as ticketing but it is moving more in the direction of offering greater travel experience, that
is requires for solving issues in each and every stage of travel experience. The means of payment
has been made much simpler that would increase the convenience of the customers to a greater
extent. The industry in 2016 would see drastic changes which would be beneficial in terms that it
will assist the organizations in providing best travel experience and more comfort. The
development of online applications of the organization would offer great deal of convenience to
the customers as they book ticket and can get wide range of other services as well. In addition to
this they can have a look at the image of the location where they are planning to visit. This will
develop a sense of trust among the customers with respect to the travel and tour operators such as
Thomas Cook. Thus this compels the visitors in making purchase of the services on repeat basis.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the study that travel and tourism sector is going through greater
innovations from the past decades. There is drastic changes bought in the services offered by the
companies which has offered greater convenience to the customers to a greater extent. It has
been inferred from the report that with the technological innovation in this sector large number
of customers are attracted towards experiencing the services which can acted as boon for the
industry. The industry in 2016 would offer services of cloud computing, mobile application
which would act as an aid in increasing interaction among both.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Andrea, N. A. G. Y., 2012. A review of tourism and hospitality innovation research. Annals of
Faculty of Economics. 1(2). pp.364-370.
Ellis, S. C., Henke, J. W. and Kull, T. J., 2012. The effect of buyer behaviors on preferred
customer status and access to supplier technological innovation: An empirical study of
supplier perceptions. Industrial Marketing Management. 41(8). pp.1259-1269.
Hjalager, A. M., 2010. A review of innovation research in tourism. Tourism management. 31(1).
pp.1-12.
Ronningen, M., 2010. Innovative Processes in a Nature‐Based Tourism Case: The Role of a
Tour‐operator as the Driver of Innovation. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and
Tourism. 10(3). pp.190-206.
Online
History, 2016. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.thomascookgroup.com/history/>.
[Accessed on 22nd October 2016].
Innovating change at Thomas Cook, 2010. [PDF]. Available through:
<https://www.google.co.in/url
sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjclI_gsO7
PAhVJrI8KHY_cAuIQFgg3MAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beltug.be%2Ffile
%2F720%2FThomas_Cook
%2F&usg=AFQjCNHjE9BSEQWxTzNdLvn4A7XM_Y0wLA&bvm=bv.136593572,d.c2I
>. [Accessed on 22nd October 2016].
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