BTEC HND Tour Operation Management Report: Trailfinder's Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of tour operation management, focusing on the UK-based travel operator, Trailfinder. It examines the impact of current and recent trade and development on the tour industry, including political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. The report details the stages and time scales involved in developing holiday packages, from market research and planning to contracting, costing, and advertising. It explores different alternatives for contracting holiday packages and various types of tour operators, including specialist and mass market operators. The report further discusses planning decisions for brochure design, alternative marketing methods, and the suitability of different distribution methods. It also analyzes strategic and tactical decisions made by tour operators in various situations, providing insights into the complexities of the tour operation industry. The report concludes with an overview of the tour package development, highlighting the steps taken in planning and execution, and the importance of post-tour management.

Tour Operation
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Effect of current and recent trade and development on tour industry..............................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Stages and time scale in developing holidays..................................................................2
2.2 Different alternatives of contracting for holiday packages and different types of tour
operators.................................................................................................................................3
2.3 Selling price of holiday....................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
3.1 Planning decision to design brochure...............................................................................5
3.2 Alternative method to traditional brochure for different operator....................................6
3.3 Suitability of different method of distribution for selling tour packages.........................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Strategic decision made by different tour operator..........................................................8
4.2 Tactical decision taken in different situation by tour operator.........................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Travelling includes various activities such as lodging, transportation. This is the part of
tourism industry. Travel and tourism business has boom in current era. These days people travel
different places for various reasons such as vacations, educational tour, business purpose, etc.
Hence this provides revenue and trade at national level as well (Aoyama and et. al., 2013). There
are many activities which are included in tour business such as accommodation, travelling,
transportation, proper communication, etc. Hence tour operations industry is one of the largest
sector in industry. There are different people travelling from one place to another so it is
responsibility of tour operator to frame policies according. This report is based on Trailfinder
which is a travel operator in UK and Ireland. It has headquarter in London, UK. This report
covers current and recent trend in our industry, stages for creating holidays, brochure and
methods of distribution, strategic and tactical decision for tour operator.
TASK 1
1.1 Effect of current and recent trade and development on tour industry
Tour business is one of the growing industry in UK economy. In 2016 the industry made
a total contribution of approximately approx 217 billion British pounds to GDP in the UK. In
UK, there are different places such as Glasgow, Bath, Edinburgh, etc. In current market trend,
people visit different places for different reasons such as family vacations, educational trips,
business purpose, etc. Hence there are many changes taking place in travel and tourism sector.
These days, government also take acre of business operations of travel and tourism
operators,hence managers of Trailfinder has to take actions according to external market. Recent
trends which are taking place in tour operations industry as under-
Political factor- Brexit is a process under where Britain exit themself from European
Nation. This affects tourism business of UK. But after Brexit, small scale business and trade gets
promoted. This builds good image of UK in industry and people prefer to visit it because of its
culture. So after Brexit, there is more trade in term of tourism industry.
Economical factor- Tourism business includes different activities such as transportation,
accommodation, etc. is done by consumers of some other country (Chand and Katou, 2012).
There is inter change of different currencies between nation. Hence inflation rate affects
purchasing power of consumer. These days, people purchase things from foreign country, so
inflation rate affects tourism business in current market.
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Social factor- In this factor, culture, religion differences, etc. are considered. There are
many changes which are taking place in social factor. There id difference in visiting reasons
which differs from earlier years.
Technological factor- In travel and tourism business, technology is changing with rapid
speed. Such as- use of WiFi in cars, online bookings with price quotations, online payment, etc.
are part of advancement technology.
Legal factor- There is change in legal factors also of legal procedure. This includes
different aspects which includes different laws such as safety and security act, fair treatment to
consumers, etc. are not relevant in earlier years.
Environmental awareness- Tourist prefer to visit different places because of nature,
vegetation, culture of some country. As comparison to old days, in current scenario, government
policies are more strict in respect to environmental concept. Hence managers of Trailfinder has
to consider environmental concept at priority as comparison to past years.
TASK 2
2.1 Stages and time scale in developing holidays
There are many activities which has to be planned by managers of Trailfinder for planning tour
package. In travel business consumer want prompt services so tour operator sets specific time for
every activity. These activities are as under-
Market research- first step in planning tour plan is market research. In this step
managers analyse current market such as climate analysis, various types of consumer's queries,
etc. This analyse helps to about trend which consumer prefer (Deresky, 2017.). This stage needs
time of 2 months. For instance; while planning for wildlife managers of Trailfinder use different
wildlife magazines, heritage and beaches can be known with the help of personal visits and
online sources
Planning and scheduling- After market research, planning is done related to current
trends. This helps to make coordination in tour operator’s activities. There is different in demand
of consumer so actions are done to satisfy it. This activities will be completed in 15 days.
Planning and scheduling by organizers of Trailfinder for visiting wildlife and beaches is in
morning time. While heritage places will be visited at noon time. At heritage planning is done for
fair of ticket, policies for proper cleanliness, etc.
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Contracting- After planning, managers of Trailfinder contact with different agents such
as accommodation. This activity will be take time of 20 days. There is requirement of contract
with heritage palace, wildlife sanctuaries for visiting such places. Managers of Trailfinder has to
take permission regarded to it (Guo and He, 2012).
Costing the holiday- After dealing with different operators and agents, managers of
Trailfinder finalize cost for the tour package. This costing will completed within 10 days. Cost
related to ticket fair of wildlife place, heritage palaces, etc. so all these has to be considered in
tourism plan by Trailfinder's managers.
Financial Evaluation and Pricing- Finance is one of the crucial aspect for tour business.
Managers analyse requirement of funds and then make planning for its source. This activity
requires time of 1 month. As per planning for visiting wildlife, beaches, heritage palace cost for
per individual is £3500. While after adding profit it will become £4200.
Creating the brochure-After finalizing financial need, brochure is created. There is
planning related to outlay of brochure. This requires time of 10 days. Managers of Trailfinder
use different sources such as e- brochure, online sites, etc. for marketing services
(Kanlayanasukho and Pearce, 2016).
Advertising- After printing brochure, advertisement for tour package is done. There is
requirement of good and attractive brochure hence regular change in brochure has to be done.
This activity requires time of 2 months and regular alterations has to be done. Advertisement is
planned with social media sites with good visualize related to wildlife, beach life, heritage
places. This attracts consumers.
Operation and Execution- This is the stage of operations. This is the stage, where
regular actions are taken in order to implement planned actions in appropriate manner. This is the
stages when managers of Trailfinder take consumer for visiting Wild life sanctuaries, beaches,
heritage palaces.
Post Tour Management- At last, post actions are taken. In this stage, managers of
Trailfinder has to analyses which actions are appropriate taken and which are lacking. Feedback
are taken from consumer to know whether services are good or not. In case of negative comment
corrective measures has to taken. In this step feedback is taken from consumer related to
experience at wildlife, heritage culture, wildlife by Trailfinder's managers.
Stages and time scale in developing holidays package-
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A tour is planned for a group of consumers for tropical region of Asia, Africa. Trip starts
from South America. This trip is planned for 7 days which is discussed as below-
Date/ day Location Itinerary Remarks
Day 1 Departure from
South America at
7:00 a.m.
Reached at East Siberia.
Lands here at 4:00 p.m.
Check in at hotels. After
refreshment of 1 hour
different places will visit.
Day 2 East Siberia.
Morning tea at 9: 00
a.m.
After wildlife parks, sunny
beaches will visited.
At 7:00 a.m. After 1 hour.
Will move to Tundra
Region.
Day 3 Morning check in at
hotel in Tundra
Region.
After lunch will visit
natural places.
At evening 8:00 p.m. Will
reach back to hotel.
Day 4 After breakfast will
move to sunny
beaches of Tundra
Region.
After after noon, will check
out from hotel and
departure to Morocco.
This takes travelling time
for the whole night.
Day 5 Early morning will
reach to Morocco.
In afternoon, after lunch
different destinations will
be visited.
Will reach hotel back at
night.
Day 6 Next day morning
will departure to
Egypt.
Will check in to hotel at
Egypt. After rest of 1 hour
will go to visit places of
wildlife.
At night will reach back to
hotel. Departure will done
for Libya.
Day 7 Will reach Libya
early morning.
For the whole day different
places will be visited such
as sunny beaches, heritage
monuments, etc.
At 7:00 will departure for
South America again.
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2.2 Different alternatives of contracting for holiday packages and different types of tour
operators
Holiday packages are based on contracts. In tour contract there are different aspects
which has to be considered such as days of accommodation, mode of transportation, facilities,
etc. There are some clients which need extra or customised services, so as per requirement and
demand travel package is costed by managers of Trailfinder (Khairat and Maher, 2017). There
are different types of contracts between tour operator and consumers which are discussed as
under-
Fixed contract- This is the contract in which services, days of tour, etc. are fixed. This
contract is acceptable by consumers as it as with no alterations. For instance: For Trailfinder
business tours, college trips, etc. are examples of fixed contract. This contract provides moderate
profits to tour operators.
Allocation contract- This tour is also known as customised contract. In this contract,
needs and desires of consumers are at main priority. Tour operators manager analyse demand of
consumers and then fix price by charging according to their services. This contract has more
profits as compared to fixed contract. For instance: vacations with family are example of this
contract planned by Trailfinder (Ling and et. al., 2015).
Ad- hoc- These are the contract under which customers are not sure regarding services
they are planned. This contract is highly priced and risky. For instance: managers of Trailfinder
signed this contract but still they are not sure regarding days of accommodation.
Apart from this there are different types of tour operator which operates travel business.
Tour operators are the organisations which provides travelling services to customer with
accommodation, transportation facilities. In order to finalise these contracts there are some
elements which has top considered such as sales within specified time period, profits of
particular period, brand image of organisation, etc. As there are many changes taking place in
travel business, so it is relevant and significant to work according to external market. Some tour
operators are as under-
Specialist operator- These are the tour operators which has knowledge, information
about specific place or destination. These are the tour operator which gives good and in depth
experience related to places. These days, specialist our operators are more relevant because
customer want expertise in case of traveling.
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Mass market tour operator- Mass market tour operator are the operators who provides
travel packages for different destinations. These operators have different tour packages which
satisfies demand of different consumers (Ronen, Pliskin and Pass, 2012). Hence these operators
are known as one place solution.
UK outbound tour operators- Outbound tour operators promotes home nation in other
countries. They agent as promoters of their country in foreign in countries. They have different
attractive tour policies to visit their country. This promote home country's places, destinations,
etc. to make client visit home country.
Domestic tour operators- These are the tour operators which provides travel package for
specific country. They have familiar with culture, nation, religion, food, climates, etc. are
specific destination. If consumer wants to visit with UK, then such type of travel operators are
best. But in current environment such operators does not exist.
2.3 Selling price of holiday
Selling price means cost of all the components which are associated with planning
tourism package plus profit margin. As there are many services demanded by consumer such as
accommodation, transportation, food facility, etc. Hence cost for it is calculated by managers of
Trailfinder (Tejada and Moreno, 2013). At last profit margin on total cost will be added. Selling
price calculated by managers of Trailfinder is as under-
For an example- There is a college trip from England to Paris. In this trip, 20 students
and 3 faculties are going. This trip is planned for 5 nights and 6 days. This trip was based on
fixed price contract, so client cannot ask for additional services and they are liable to pay
specified amount.
Accommodation cost:
cost of room for one days is £ 500
cost of room for 6 days= 500*6= £3000
Details Price(in £)
Accommodation cost 3000
Convenience cost 200
Commission of tour guide 300
Total cost 3500
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Add: Profit margin @ 20% 700
Sale price 4200
Above table shows cost for per candidate i.e. £4200. Hence total selling price of tour
package is £4200*20= £84000.
From the above discussion, it is clear that different cost will be implemented. In this
expenses, some are fixed while some are variable. Convince cost is fixed. While convince cost
and commission of tour guide is variable.
TASK 3
3.1 Planning decision to design brochure
Brochure is the legal and written document which provides knowledge about price,
facilities, services offered by tour operator. In travel business, there are many demands of
consumer as per occasion of travelling. Hence with the help of brochure, managers of Trailfinder
can market services to consumer. This approach is easy and relevant because in case client wants
any more services, then it can be added otherwise ready travel package can be sorted. Managers
of Trailfinder has to consider following designsa while designing brochure-
Cost- there is requirement of cost in printing and designing brochure. This cost depends
on quality of ppr, printing style, number of brochures, etc. So while planning to launch new
brochure cost must be considered. Cost of brochure must not be more because this is not fixed
cost. There are many consumers which has different demands, such as honey moon package,
pilgrimage, educational trip, etc. so there must be different brochures so it is easy for consumer
to select best package.
Deciding the format- Format of brochure must be attractive and applying to consumers.
Format of brochure can be two fold, four fold, colour combination, etc. When good colour
combination is used for thrilling trip, then it attracts consumers. These planning must be done by
managers of Trailfinder so more consumers can be attracted.
Target market and budget- There are different consumers having various demand., so it
is essential to analyse who are targeted consumers. Hence brochure must be planned. There is
requirement of cost in designing, hence according to consumer size budget for brochure must be
finalised.
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These are some factors which has to be considered by managers of Trailfinder while
designing brochure. This helps to maintain cost as well profits and attracts consumers to avail
services.
3.2 Alternative method to traditional brochure for different operator
Paper based brochure is the best and traditional method for marketing different types of
tour packages. These days, as trend for travelling increases with the same time, new and
innovative methods are used which helps in delivering fast information. Some new and
innovative methods are as under-
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E- brochure- Traditional brochure is in paper form and printed. But alternative to it,
electronic brochure is published. This is the brochure which can be check on official site of
Trailfinder. This method is used by specialist tour operator because they have specialised
services.
Advantage of E- brochure is that it can be easily edited.
Disadvantage is that in case of weak internet connection it is not easy to use.
Internet- These days there is more use off internet tools such as Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, etc. with which information related top tour package can be delivered to consumers.
This marketing is easy because people are using more and more source of internet. Mass
marketing tour operator use this source of marketing because they provide varieties of services.
Advantage- It can be easily assessed 24*7 and anywhere.
Disadvantage- This provides information to competitors which affects business growth
and development.
Radio/ TV Advertisement- Radio and Television are also used to market services. In peak
season, Trailfinder can use television advertisement which can be shown with discount offers.
Radio advertisement can also be used by this is less effective as compared to television because
in TV visualisation is also there which is more effective. Outbound tour operator use this
approach so they can create awareness about home country in foreign country (Vellas, 2016).
Advantage- This advertisement is beneficial for consumers who are not techno- friendly.
Disadvantage- this method is cost consuming because television advertisement agencies
charge some specific commission in regard to advertisement.
Social media- Social media plays important role in current scenario. This is the way
through which managers of Trailfinder can communicate with numbers of customers at the time.
Trailfinder must register themself on different social media applications such as Facebook,
Instagram, Linked In, etc.
Advantage- This helps to grab large number of consumer at the same time. This can be
assessed by anyone at anytime.
Disadvantage- Possibilities of hacking are bright with use of social media application.
Direct mail- Direct mail is also method of marketing in which organisation mail
regarding offers, festive greetings, etc. on personal mail id of customers. This makes some
personalised feel to consumers and they feel important part of Trailfinder.
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Advantage- This helps to increase consumer base because consumer gets personalised
feeling.
Disadvantage- Sometimes consumers feels this method as irrelevant and hence
information gets diluted.
Press- Newspaper, magazine is used as press media. People rad newspaper, travel
magazines through which they can know about different services provided by Trailfinder. In
newspaper, it is easy to market service related to some specific place. Domestic tour operator
mostly use this approach for marketing services.
Advantage- this is the way through which appropriate and update information is delivered
to consumer.
Disadvantage- This is time and cost consuming process which affects revenues and
profits of Trailfinder.
3.3 Suitability of different method of distribution for selling tour packages
Tour operators makes different strategies in order to sell their travelling packages. In on
season for travel business, it is easy to get consumer, while in off season, it is not easy. There are
different methods for selling touring business such as review sites, online travel agencies,
voucher sites, etc. some of the used by managers of Trailfinder are as under-
Direct distribution- As per this method, managers of Trailfinder directly contact with
consumer. There is direct contact between consumer and travel operator, they tries to analyse
their demand and then take actions to satisfy it. This is the most favourable situation because in
this total profits are earned by Trailfinder and it is easy to take feedbacks.
Online travel agencies- There are many travel agencies which work to build gap between
tour operator and consumers. Managers of Trailfinder register themselves under online travel
agencies and then these agencies charge commission of sales. In this method, travel agencies
provides business to tour operator and in lieu of it charge commission.
Social network sites- Social networking sites are most favourable and relevant method of
increasing sales. As per this method, there is use of different sites such as Facebook, Instagram,
You Tube, etc. These are ways through which advertise about to package information, discounts,
etc. Hence this is the way through which it is easy to contact more number of consumers at a
time (Chand and Katou, 2012).
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