Strategic Elements and Design in Tourism Services for Trailfinders

The report delves into the strategic processes essential for creating successful tourism packages, with a focus on Trailfinders. It covers initial research phases such as analyzing competitors and understanding target demographics. Key design stages include brochure creation and pricing strategy development, crucial for effective communication and market positioning. The analysis extends to the incorporation of strategic elements like customer attraction methods, product development, distribution strategies, and promotional activities. Additionally, it explores Trailfinders' internal operational dynamics, emphasizing employee management and organizational structure. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of adapting to changing tourism trends and maintaining a competitive edge through strategic planning.

Tour operators management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Effect of recent and current trends as well as development on the tour operators industry.
.....................................................................................................................................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Various stages in developing a holiday.................................................................................4
2.2 Suitability of various methods of contracting for different elements of the holiday ...........5
2.3 Selling price of a holiday as per the given information........................................................6
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Evaluation of the planning decisions taken for the design of a selected brochure................7
3.2 Suitability of alternatives to a traditional brochure for various types of tour operators.......8
3.3 Various methods of distribution used to sell holiday for different types of tour operators. 9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Strategic decisions developed by different types of tour operators. ..................................10
4.2 Compare the tactical decisions that could be taken by a selected tour operator in different
situations...................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
This Tour operations management report will provide impressive insight on the idea of
travel and tourism management. The report will include an effective analysis to identify the
recent and current trends as well as development on the various tour operators industry. The
study will also determine the various stages and time-scales involved In developing holidays. It
will also include a brief evaluation of the suitability of various methods used to contract different
elements of holidays and types of tour operators. Furthermore, The report will be in context of
Trailfinders Ltd., well known tour operating company in the UK. The Trailfinders ltd. Implement
various strategies for making effective decisions regarding the tour and tourism. Furthermore, the
report will analyse and determine the various methods of distribution used by the tour operators
for selling a holiday to the customers
TASK 1
1.1 Effect of recent and current trends as well as development on the tour operators industry.
Travel and tourism industry is
the fastest expanding industry
in the present or current
market and offers various
comfortable as well as
luxurious facilities to the
customers or tourists to attract
them. The tourism industry has
been achieving a great
attention by the people and
government as it is a most
important source of generating
revenue in an economy.
According to the current or
recent trends and development
within the tourism industry,
every tour operator needs
According to the growth and
increase in the demand of tour
and travel services Trailfinders
makes suitable changes in their
tour packages and gets
affected with respect to the
services offered by them. The
various effect of current or
recent trends on the tour
operators such as Trailfinders
are as described below -
Flexible Booking Options –
With the help of advancement
in the technology, the
customers can now book the
tickets of their trip with
various methods or ways such
Independent travellers – The
number of independent
travellers is increasing all
around the world. The major
reason for this is the easy
availability of cheap holidays
and tour packages online. Due
to this independent travelling
is in trend which is negatively
affecting the tour operators.

focus on new and innovative
technologies in order to attract
huge number of tourists or
customers in a
marketplace(Chopra and
Sodhi,2014). Therefore, it is
very important for a tour
operator such as the
Trailfinders to create various
types of attractive tour
packages or services according
ton the needs and wants of the
tourists.
It will help in the achievement
of growth and objectives of the
organisation or business.
as call centres, internet etc. A
Traveller or tourists can easily
book the tickets according to
their needs, time and budget.
Along with ease is it
comparatively quicker and
cheaper, this have affected the
tour operators in the industry
as they are loosing a lot of
income. People are shifting to
online agents nowadays,
therefore the companies like
Trailfinders are focusing on
closing their offline agencies
and developing their online
existence in order reach more
and more customers.
The people started booking
tickets, accommodation etc
themselves by using internet,
applications etc. Trailfinders
has also affected by this trend
in the market as their sales
have been decreased(Kuo,Wu
and Deng,2015).
Technology – The technology
has developed a lot and is a
most effective trend currently
affective the market. The
various technological
development in today's world
has greatly affected each and
every business in the market.
The Trailfinders Ltd. Also,
adopted new and innovative
technologies such as online
portal, online marketing or
promotions etc to attract
customers.
Task 2
2.1 Various stages in developing a holiday
The Trailfinders Ltd. offers various types of attractive tourism services to their customers
which helped them to achieve an impressive position within the tourism industry in UK. The
company focuses on offering luxurious and effective services to the customers so that they can
develop loyalty and trust for the company. This helps in provide a level of satisfaction to the

tourists and customers. The Trailfinders focus on offering effective packages and wide range of
services to the customers to ensure that they are satisfied and happy with the package or trip
developed by the company. The Trailfinders ltd needs to plan and develop a luxury summer
vacation for an adult students group of 42 students per group for 5 days. The tour will be from
London and the destination is Paris. The package includes various services such as transport,
accommodation, sightseeing etc. In order to develop an effective tour package the Trailfinders
follows various methods as described below -
 Market Research – It is very important for Trailfinders ltd to practice a deep market
research which can be helpful to cover each and every area in the provided tour package.
The market research can help the company to include various services and facilities
within the tour package which can satisfy as well as entertain the students. The market
research is essential to ensure that the company provides facilities according to the
current trends in the tourism industry.
 Planning and Scheduling – Proper planning and scheduling of activities in the tour
package is very important for the Trailfinders to provide most effective and efficient
tourism services to the students or customers. The market research help in collecting most
appropriate data such as the trends, demands and preferences of the tourists which can be
very helpful in customizing, planning and managing various tourism activities needs to
provide to the customers(Khuong and Nhu,2015).
 Forecasting – The Trailfinders needs to forecast or predict various aspects of the tour and
travel package in order to determine and identify demand or other elements that can
affect the tour or trip. The forecasting of a tour package is important to manage the plan
as designed, it also includes the budgeting, activities, climate forecasting etc which get
greatly effect the tourism services provided to the customers. This also helps in reducing
the risk of various uncertainties that can arise in the tour plan or package.
 Contracting – The Trailfinders ltd needs to develop and maintain effective relationships
with other agencies and suppliers of tourism services. This helps the company to provide
different types of services within the tour plan, the suppliers and agencies assist the tour
operators to plan and offer unique and memorable activities or facilities to the customers
or tourists.

2.2 Suitability of various methods of contracting for different elements of the holiday
The suitability of various methods of contracting for different elements of a holiday used
by Trailfinders are as described below -
 Accommodation – According to the present world, it is observed that people focus on
spending a memorable and quality time with their family or friends while exploring
various places or tourist destinations all over the world. Thus, the hotel or
accommodation services plays an important role in popularizing a destination for the
travellers or tourists. The company needs to make sure that they provide comfortable
accommodation facilities according to the budget and financial background of various
customers(Jovanović and Njeguš,2013).
 Attractions – A destination or place of tourist attraction plays an important role as
component of a holiday. The tourist attraction helps in attracting more and more
customers which generate revenue for the economy, provides employment, contribute to
the growth of the local economies and stimulate the investment with regards to
infrastructure.
 Transport – It is also an important component of the holiday, there may be no tourism
without effective transportation services. The development in the transportation service
also boost up tourism industry, various policies related to the transportation facilities and
the decisions of the government helps in making destinations available for the tourists or
travellers.
 The Trailfinders ltd focus on utilising various resources in the most appropriate and
effective manner in order to make sure satisfaction, comfort and memorable tourism
services are provided to the customers.
2.3 Selling price of a holiday as per the given information
The Trailfinders focus on offering effective, fascinating and attractive services or
facilities to the customers. The company have recently designed a luxury tour package for a
group of students from London to Paris. The company will make sure that the service provided
to the students be memorable and can encourage them in using the service in the coming future.
In order to plan an impressive and proper tour package the Trailfinders needs to analyse and
identify various elements of the holiday such as transportation, accommodation, food and
destinations in the tour package(Connell,2013).

The Grand Casselbergh hotel in Bruges have proposed a plan with special rates to the
group of students for offering various services and facilities, the range of prices for different
services are as mentioned below -
 Price of a twin room(2 adults sharing) is 96 euros per person including breakfast
 There will be additional charges for extra mattress or bed per person.
 For a 48 seater luxury coach the company will charge 11,200 euros which will include
two drivers, a tour manager and all the taxes.
 The cost of a tour guide is 945 euros for the complete tour.
The tour operators needs to add certain profit to the over all tour expense, the Trailfinders
will add 33% profit margin to the price of the tour package provided to the students.
Services Price per student Price for 42 students
Ticket bookings £120 £5040
Accommodation services £96 £4032
Food and beverages services £100 £4200
Transportation services £266 £11200
Tour guide fees £22 £945
Total price (Paris package) £605 £25417
The total cost for the tour package to Paris as provided by Trailfinders is £25417, the
company will add 33% margin to this cost which is £8387. Therefore, the price rendered to the
group of students is £33804. The per person price for the package is £805 including the
transportation, food and beverage, accommodation and the tour guide charges.
Task 3
3.1 Evaluation of the planning decisions taken for the design of a selected brochure
There are various planning stages and decisions involved for designing a selected
brochure which are as described below -

 Stage 1: Strategy or Research – This stage includes the importance of collecting all the
relevant the information available. It consists background material, written brief and
study related to the exiting issues of the brand by specific research. The customers
expectations and preferences must be identified and understood by various surveys and
questions that are asked to the clients which helps in solving the main purpose of
brochure design. It also includes the planning of format of the brochure which includes
color, images, designs, contents and structure that attracts the customers(Cheng and et.al.,
2011).
 Stage 2 : Concepts of Design – After the acceptance of the first process, the next stage
consist the primary design ideas. This is a creative step in the planning of the brochure
design. The various important elements to be considered in this step are typography,
technology, keywords, graphic style and color combinations. The concept which seems to
be most effective or suitable are analysed and developed further. As a feedback the client
choose a particular concept which is considered to be the final result.
 Stage 3 : Development of Detailed Design – The chosen concept is developed further
with the implementation of various important details and information. A particular logo is
developed with different colors, variations and many pages of the websites are properly
accumulated by various software such as Photoshop as well as sample pages are
developed on HTML(Carmody,2013).
 Stage 4 : Implementation – After the development of the design the next step is to
implement the decided factors and a finished artwork is produced. The professional
programmers help in converting effective designs into HTML codes for the websites.
 Stage 5 : Supervision of the production – In is very important to control the quality of the
production, therefore the supervision of the production process is essential. For example
– a design is for a particular website, the most effective way of choosing a name for
website must be suggested. The application of search engine optimization is necessary
and must be implemented correctly in the design.
3.2 Suitability of alternatives to a traditional brochure for various types of tour operators.
The Brochure which is developed is needed to be promoted among the various students in
order to help them gain and collect the most appropriate data as well as information regarding
various destinations or places. It also assists in covering detail information about the tourists

attractions where a specific tour is planned. Along with this, there are various methods that the
students can use in order to collect relevant information regarding the tour package such as social
media, mobile messaging, notice methods emails etc. According to the present market conditions
all these methods are effective and useful. On the other hand traditional brochure is a category
which consist important information related the tour along with a leaflet which includes prices of
various services within the tour package. Nowadays the companies have started using modern
technologies in developing brochures, the traditional brochure has been evolved to e-brochure
according to the growth and development in the technology. The Trailfinders have also adopted
new and innovative methods of developing brochure, in order to attract youth and young
travelers the company started focusing on e-brochures as it is an easy and cost effective method
which can be used to reach a huge number of audience(Carlsen and Andersson,2011).
Traditional brochure includes a very length and time consuming process such as planning
designing and production of the brochures. Therefore, the tour operators are switching towards
effective, efficient, cheap and easy way of designing as well as promoting the brochures, the
most common brochure designing method chosen by the current tour operators is the E-brochure
which are developed and created by the use of internet. These methods have positively impacted
the tour operators in promoting their tourism services among the young travelers within the
market or industry.
3.3 Various methods of distribution used to sell holiday for different types of tour operators.
The tour operators such as Trailfinders ltd. can use various methods for promotion and
distribution of the tour packages. The customer are attracted to a tour operator which offers most
effective and best tourism services at reasonable prices. The various tools used by Trailfinders
for selling their holiday or tour packages are as follows -
 Direct selling – It is a common method which is generally used by Trailfinders to sell
holiday or tour packages in the market. This method is practiced by the company through
sending package information and discounts directly on the customers email id. This is
also known as promotional emails which also helps in keeping in touch with the existing
customers. This is a most effective and one of the best by which a tour operator can reach
to potential buyers as well as promote their products or services to a huge number of
customers or people(Dickinson,Lumsdon and Robbins,2011).

 Adopting online methods – There is an intense competition in the market place or the
tourism industry, thus is very important for a tour operator such as Trailfinders to reach
large audience in order to attract them and sell the recessives or products. The company
uses various online websites such as twitter, Facebook etc in order to promote their tour
packages, offer discounts etc which assist them to increase their visibility as well as
popularity among the people or travelers.
Brochure is also considered as a most effective way in selling the tour and holiday packages
which are designed for various types of tourists and customers by different tour operators.
TASK 4
4.1 Strategic decisions developed by different types of tour operators.
The Trailfinders needs to consider the following elements while making a strategic
decisions -
 Pricing strategies – In order to attract more and more customers it is important for the
Trailfinders to focus on their pricing decisions, by reducing the cost of the tour packages
the company lower the price of packages offered to the customers. The destinations
within a tour package also affect the overall price of the package. Therefore, the company
should focus on all these elements to provide an impressive tour or holiday package with
ta reasonable price in order to gain popularity and customer loyalty.
 Distribution channel decisions – Tour operators develops and manage various distribution
channels which assist them to offer relevant and detailed information to the customers
online as well as book their tour package. The various distribution channels helps in
providing information through various mediums such as transportation, accommodation
and visitor information center etc. which helps in developing most effective and
impressive tour package.
 Adding values in services or products – The another element which is important in
making strategic decisions is to add value within products or services offered to the
customers or travelers. This refers to adding attractions, activities or entertainment factors
within the tour packages.It also includes various services such as discount coupons, spa
and other services(Brandon-Jones and et.al., 2016).

4.2 Compare the tactical decisions that could be taken by a selected tour operator in different
situations
In the Trailfinders, different tactical decisions taken in their competitive environment. In
this regard, business need to take and perform decisions to maintain positive business results at
workplace. It will help to target different market in proper manner. They are as follows:
 Price of the services: In respect to assess the price of services, it is essential to
Trailfinders determines and set their own services prices. With the help of the setting of
best prices, services could be provides in proper manner. On the other hand, pricing
structure helps to make competitive business in the market. It is the systematic
perspective which make competitive results at workplace. Therefore, best practices
influence to the customers of the chosen business. Beside this, the company need to set
their services prices in different perspective so that they can easily attract people at
workplace.
 Focus on the market conditions: Along with this, for Trailfinders it is important to take
proper amount of fund to perform several activities. In this context, innovative business
activities will be performed that helps to attain systematic results at workplace. It also
provides proper attention in the internal business activities(Dezdar,2012).Therefore, tour
operators can provide their own contribution for long period. It is also useful activity to
make sure that diverse strategies and techniques to considered different practices at
workplace. Distribution strategies also implementing in this consideration. Therefore,
products and services will be deliver in systematic manner at workplace. Furthermore, it
is also important to make several changes that could be influence to the large audience.
 From the above discussion, it can be interpret that in the business, there are different
tactical decisions implemented at workplace of Trailfinders. In this way, the company
also make several kinds of changes that are helpful to utilize resources in proper manner.
In addition to this, it could be influence to the large number of audience to develop
effective decisions. Identifying cost and planning also minimize and take different
decisions. Business could also face different challenges to attain desired results. In this
context, decisions considered relations to improves travel and tourism activities at
workplace. However, different range of activities has been designed that helps to promote
creative results at workplace(Beritelli,Bieger and Laesser,2014). As results, targets and

aims will be attain in systematic manner. Along with this, customer satisfaction level also
increasing that assists to attained desired results and considered booking facilities.
CONCLUSION
The above report concluded that the tour and travel industry is growing with a high rate
contributing to the growth and development of the economy. The development in the tourism
industry helps in providing luxury and most appropriate tourism services to the customers or
tourists. The various stages involved in designing a holiday have been described in the report
along with the methods of selling them to the people. The designing of brochure for the
Trailfinders has been included in the report which helps in attracting more customers.
Furthermore, the various elements needed to be considered by the Trailfinders in making
strategic decisions have been identified and described in the above report.