Tour Operation Management: An Analysis of Trailfinders Ltd.

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TOUR OPERATION MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
P1.1 Analyse the effects of current and recent trends and developments on the tour operator
industry........................................................................................................................................2
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................4
P 2.1 Assess the stages and timescales involved in developing holidays....................................4
P 2.2 Evaluate the suitability of different methods of contracting for different components of
the holiday and different types of tour operator..........................................................................6
2.3 Calculate the selling price of a holiday from given information...........................................7
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Evaluate the planning decisions taken for the design of a selected brochure........................9
3.2 Assess the suitability of alternatives to a traditional brochure for different types of tour
operators and recommend the most appropriate for your tour package....................................10
3.3 Evaluate the suitability of different methods of distribution used to sell a holiday for
different types of the tour operator and recommend the most appropriate for a luxury tour
package......................................................................................................................................12
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Evaluate the strategic decisions made by different types of tour operator..........................15
4.2 Compare the tactical decisions that could be taken by a selected tour operator in different
situations....................................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................19

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: timescale for development of holiday package.................................................................5
Table 2: Holiday package calculation..............................................................................................7

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2: Audio Video brochures..................................................................................................11
Figure 3: hoe page of Trailfinders for requesting e- brochure.......................................................12
Figure 4: Scottish Travel agent shop of Trailfinders.....................................................................13

Introduction
The report has outline various current and future trends in the leisure and tourism market
according to which tour operators has to be updated to attain sustainable growth. Brochure is a
way of interaction through which Trailfinders can interact with the customers and communicate
the details about their holiday packages and other services. In this report, significance of
brochures is identified and various alternatives of marketing are discussed that facilitates tour
operators to market effectively their products. In this task, Trailfinders Ltd. is taken in different
tasks of the report which is a leading tour operator that deliver their leisure services across the
world.
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Current and Future Trends in Tourism
Industry
P1.1 Analyse the effects of current and recent trends and developments on the tour operator
industry
Different types of tour operators
are:
Outbound operators: These tour operators
sell tour plans to facilitate travel from one
country to another.
Domestic operators: These operators
provide local services relevant to the tourism
for the travellers visiting within the country,
services include, sightseeing,
accommodation, transportation, etc.
Incoming operators: It provides basic
services to the travellers during their
journey, for example, car rentals, hotel
transfer, etc. Incoming operators may
provide these services at negotiation rates to
other organisation so that they can sell at
retail rates (Senders et al., 2013).
Specialist operators: They specialise in
offering particular products at a particular
destination.
Direct sell operators: These tour operators
sell their holidays through travel agents at
affordable rates.
Expansion of the cruise market: There is a
high demand for cruise journey as a
comparison to land-based tourism,
nowadays. Tour operators are offering
different types of cruise services, like
cruises for singles, Disney cruises, etc.
Cruise market is expanding as it offers
quality oceanic tourism services to the
travellers at affordable rates.
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Budget airlines: Technology advancement
has made airline services cost-efficient and
ensures that travellers enjoy comfortable and
luxurious aircraft travel. This helps the tour
operators to provide tailor-made holidays to
the travellers including transportation
through aircraft at budgeted rates.
Responsible tourism: Travellers prefer to
choose those tour operators who are
accountable towards society and nearby
environment destination (Mihalic, 2016).
These ensure high economic benefits to the
host countries and contributes to the
maintenance of cultural and heritage beauty
of the destination.
Integration: Integration is the enhancement
of the current potential of the tour operator
through shared resources. Horizontal
integration relates to the covering of large
tourism market through availably of
diversified leisure products and services. At
the other side, vertical integration relates to
the consolidation of different stages of
providing tourism services. For example,
consolidation of all services in the one-
holiday package is vertical integration while
selling different hospitality services at
different parts of the country is horizontal
integration (Ruhanen et al., 2015).
Market segmentation and competition:
The rapid growth of the tourism market can
be seen with high competition. Every travel
organisation is striving excellence in their
services to beat the competition, and hence
market segmentation is an effective strategy.
For example, Trailfinders Ltd. covers the
market of middle-income Group and
therefore offer budgeted tourism plans.
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Task 2
Introduction
This task has presented different stages through which an effective holiday package can be
framed and presented in front of the customers. Holiday packages are required to be
customisable as per the preference of customers; however, different factors are required to be
considered that support profitable holidays. In this task, a case study is given according to which
selling price of holiday package is determined in which all the fixed and variable costs are
considered by the organisation.
P 2.1 Assess the stages and timescales involved in developing holidays
Trailfinders is required to follow different phases for the development of good holidays for their
customers.
Market Analysis
Analysis of the market refers to the identification of various factors that may impact the
purchasing power of the customers or sales of the hospitality products of Trailfinders in the near
future. The market includes the customers and hence, their expectations, and preference for a
particular destination is required to be analysed. This can be done through a survey, or feedback
received from the customers (Kärcher, 2013).
Planning
After analysing the market demand and supply forces, the manager of Trailfinders is required to
create a plan in which all the activities are set and prioritise. All the resources and assets are
allocated to different activities to get the desired outcome within the set timeframe.
Forecast
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The managers of Trailfinders is required to forecast the required rooms, transportation, and other
relevant services required for the customers during their travel. Forecasting reduces the risk of
uncertainty in the future and ensures the high profitability of the organisation.
Contracting
To develop a complete holiday package, all the services are required to be shared from different
contractors (Paquin et al., 2016). For example, Trailfinders have to identify the reliable supplier
of airline services, hotels, resorts, food, entertainment, local operators, etc. to ensure travellers
experience the best time during their leisure travel.
Costing
After designing the tour package, all the costs are required to be considered to calculate the final
pricing. Various costs include charges of the airline, rail, and other transportation, hotels, inns,
car rentals, entertainment, food, etc. The pricing strategy must consider various discounts and
offers provided by competitors.
Marketing & Advertisement
The last stage is to reach different types of customers through various marketing modes.
Brochures, internet marketing, social media interaction, etc. are effective marketing tools that
facilitate Trailfinders to connect different travellers across the different world (Lumsdon, 2016).
Timescale
Table 1: timescale for development of holiday package
Stage or activity Weeks/ Days
Market analysis 2 weeks
Planning 1 week
Forecasting 2 weeks
Contracting 3 weeks
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Costing 1.5 weeks
Marketing 15 Days
Post Actions 7 days
P 2.2 Evaluate the suitability of different methods of contracting for different components of the
holiday and different types of tour operator
Holiday packages include various services that assure customers all the leisure and comfort
during their travel. Hence, to include different services, in one package, Trailfinders is required
to consider the following components of holidays:
Transportation services
Trailfinders is required to sign ad hoc contracts with the local, national and international service
providers of airlines, taxi, bus, cars, etc. to facilitate the travellers to visit one place to another.
Ad hoc based contracts help the Trailfinders to manage urgent requirement of transportation
services for the customers (Önder and Treiblmaier, 2018).
Visitor attraction
According to the given information, the charges for visitor’s attraction are fixed and therefore
must be included in the final price of the holiday package. To facilitate travellers, Trailfinders is
required o enter into contracts with the service providers that ensure quality leisure services to
the customers.
Hotel facilities
To provide accommodation and food facilities to the travellers, Trailfinders is required to
negotiate with the suppliers of hotel and resort services so that comfortable rooms can be allotted
to the customers when they required. Also, Trailfinders is required to estimate the number of
rooms and advancement payment on the basis of reliable negotiations (Guo et al., 2013).
Meals
Travellers need to get hygienic and healthy food during their travel, and hence it is the
responsibility of Trailfinders to provide the same to ensure higher customer satisfaction. Various
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contracts are required to be made with different food suppliers that provide food and beverages
as per the preference, and tastes of the customers.
Tourist guide
The tourist guide is the local service provider that facilitates customers in enjoying sightseeing
and other entertainment programs. Trailfinders is required to negotiate with a knowledgeable
tour guide that effectively guides the travellers. This requires contracting with the tour guide that
charges a fixed commission for providing its services to the travellers which can be based on the
profitability of a specific tour package (Chathoth et al., 2016).
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2.3 Calculate the selling price of a holiday from given information
The final price of the holiday package can be identified with consideration of all the components
of holidays, like, coach charges, accommodation, tourist guide facility, etc. An educational tour
is planned for the summer vacation of 5 nights in July 2020.
According to the information, Current rate of currency: 1.14 EURO and therefore, accordingly, 1
euro= £0.88
Table 2: Holiday package calculation
Total selling price of holiday package in July 2020
Coach charges (transportation) = £6949
Room tariff (accommodation) =89* 25* 0.88*5 =£9790
Charges of Visitor attraction = €45.60*0.88*50 = £2006.4
Fee of tourist guide = €896*0.88 =£788.5
Total costing of holiday pack =£19,533.9
28% profit margin =£5469.5
Overall holiday price =£25,003.4
Cost per individual =25003.4/50 =£500.06 per student
Conclusion
This task has discussed various contracting methods that enable the Trailfinders to offer quality
services to the customers during their travel. Contracts help the tour operators to share the
limited resources and strengthen the financial constraints. This leads to creation of holiday
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