Work Based Project Report: Ecotourism Project at Trafalgar, London

This report details a work-based project focused on ecotourism undertaken by a student at Trafalgar, a tourism company in London. The project aimed to establish a successful ecotourism sector, targeting up to 2,000 visitors annually within four to five years, focusing on unique natural locations, environmental awareness, and local cultural heritage. The report outlines the project lifecycle, including initiation, planning, execution, and closure phases, with a focus on meeting deadlines and achieving benefits, particularly during the global pandemic. It also includes a SWOT analysis to evaluate the learning and experience gained, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses encountered during the project. The report emphasizes the importance of planning, resource management, and effective communication in achieving project goals, especially in the context of eco-tourism.

Work Based Project
Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Project..........................................................................................................................................3
Aim..............................................................................................................................................3
Targets.........................................................................................................................................4
Objectives....................................................................................................................................4
Project Life cycle.........................................................................................................................4
Meeting of Deadlines and Achievements Benefits......................................................................6
Evaluation of learning and experience........................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
A project is described as a "temporary endeavour which is undertaken to produce a product,
service, or outcome which is one-of-a-kind." This simply means that a project should have a
component of change management and it shall enable the apprentice that will lead to a project
through different types of stages or milestones in order to meet the goals which are agreed-upon.
A project should not be any "business as usual," but rather it should involve the development or
production which includes new product, method, procedure, or understanding (Divine and
Zachry, 2018). Although precise outcomes and deliverables would obviously differ of each
project. The aim of this report is to help in planning and carrying out a work-based project. It
also aims to monitor and evaluate the work-based project's progress. The study also asks to focus
on and assess work experience and learning. The chosen tourism organisation, to complete this
report is ‘Trafalgar’, which is a well-known tourism company, situated in London, United
Kingdom.
MAIN BODY
Project
Ecotourism is one of the most popular type of a tour, maybe even more now. Even small tour
operators are now delivering very great and affordable packages to their customers. This type of
tourism focuses mainly upon the travel to unique natural locations which also allows visitors to
learn about the environment more and in depth while enjoying its beauty and promote its
protection. Ecological tours are much more popularize as now a day’s people are more focused
on nature and its beauty and also this type of tour is often marketed as educational tours. While
this is one of the niche market, but still tourists are searching for such tours and are willing to
pay for these eco-tours (Montes and Kafley, 2019). The project which has been planned is based
upon the “Ecotourism”.
Aim
The aim of this project is to set an example of a successful tourism sector. Within four to
five years, it is estimated that the innovations will be repeated by other members of the society,
and similar companies will be launched. The ecosystem is expected to benefit from increased
local knowledge and livelihood diversification, which will reduce the burden on the natural
resource base.

Targets
The initial target is to serve up to 2,000 visitors a year. This equates to 100 to 120 20-person
groups. Many of these people have expressed an interest in visiting the forest reserve and getting
a better understanding of the experiential activities taking place on the academic farm.
Professionals, tourists, and others who have heard about this fascinating natural location in and
around London from a variety of sources are among the visitors to site. Despite its ambitions, the
Trafalgar tourism corporation entertains tourists on a nearly daily basis, but after the global
pandemic, the businesses must adhere to a number of regulations.
Objectives
The following are the primary objectives of this project:
 Increased local residents' wages as well as extra earnings.
 Encourage local residents to participate in the tourism industry and create a welcoming
atmosphere for tourists (Markov and Rajaković, 2019).
 Introduce visitors to local cultural heritage and provide access to these products.
 Increase environmental consciousness by promoting eco-tourism.
Project Life cycle
Plan preparation and planning, approval, operation planning and execution, and completion
and final reporting are all phases of the project life cycle. The most important output of the
project management and planning stage is the creation of a written project concept. Participatory
preparation, which starts with a clear definition of the issue, is the foundation for successful
projects. Multilateral and bi-lateral donors, for example, have broader development goals and
priorities that direct the types of projects they seek and fund.

Figure 1: Mavenlink, 2021
1st Stage: Initiation stage
Upper management must identify a strategic need for the project or service before the
initial Phase can begin (Shariatfar, Beigi and Mortaheb, 2019).
In this step, as the manager of this project, I will:
 Create a job statement (SOW).
 Presenting a company concept.
 Make a legal commercial contract.
This stage will help in the presentation of the idea to the management and all the legal
formalities will be completed between me, the management and the investors if any who wishes
to be part of the project.
2nd Stage: Planning
The Planning Phase is the second phase of the project management life cycle (Allouh,
2020). Once management has provided the go-ahead to start a project, a more detailed set of
plans is created that specifies the project's initial objectives.
In this particular phase as a manager, I will:
 Be determining resource availability during this process.
 Making a budget for the project.
 Starting to assign tasks to specific resources.

In this particular stage of planning, I will make sure that all the basic and minute details are
taken care of to execute the plan. In this stage I will figure out the places, the number of people,
etc., that I will take on a eco-tour to. This will help me make budget planning and also how I will
be distributing the resources and time, to manage the tour.
3rd Stage: Execution
This is when the project's actual work is completed. To achieve the project's objectives,
necessary materials, equipment, and resources are transformed. Performance is continuously
assessed during this process to ensure the project's progress (He, Salem and Salman, 2021).
During this point, I'll:
 Make Strategic planning relating to the ecotourism project planned.
 Implementation of all the planning so made to fulfil all the requirements of the said
project.
This is the most crucial stage will be help me assess my progress. In this stage I will finally
be implementing my plans, taking tourists to the natural locations and letting them experience
what exactly was promised by the company.
4th Stage: Closure
Termination Phase, also known as Project Closure, is the fourth and final phase. When
the project is over, this process begins (Le, Le and David Jeong, 2018).
In this process, as the project manager, I will:
 Disbanded the workers and people part of the project, Personnel and equipment are
reassigned to new responsibilities.
 Resources will be returned to the investors i.e. profits, etc.
This is the last and final stage where the plan so made was executed. In this phase, the profits are
distributed to the investors, the workers are paid for their work, etc.
Meeting of Deadlines and Achievements Benefits
The project was a small but still beneficial project for the company. During this global
pandemic and lockdown in most of the places, people are deprived of going out and do not have
any other option like shopping malls, entertainment venues, cafes, etc. to chill and pass their
time. The ecotourism so started by the company is made in accordance to the guidelines provided
by the governments.

When I started to work on this project, it was very difficult for me to initially convince
people to travel with our company as we were providing all the required essentials to our
customers starting from the safety kits, masks, sanitizers, following the social distancing, etc. it
was difficult initially to convince people. But gradually when the presentation was given to the
customers, the convincing was done easily by me. To complete the said project, I had to:
 Made plans relating to the dates.
 Talked to the local authorities of all the places at which our tour was being planned.
 Permissions were taken by the authorities to enter tourist to the city in which the tour was
being planned.
 Contacted local markets to show case few of their exclusive items keeping in line with
social distancing norms. This was done so that the tourist can buy local and famous
things of the city.
 The hotels were contacted in which the tourist were supposed to stay.
 Flyers were made and the project was promoted online on various social media platforms,
so that more customers can be attracted and be part of it.
In order to meet deadlines for the various kinds of work I mentioned above relating to the
project, I:
 Made To-Do-List: Completing my project deadline I made a to-do list in which I
categorise all my work which I was supposed to do. This list help me to plan all my days
in a structured way.
 Mapped my days: This turned out to be the most important and beneficial for me as it
helped me in completion of my project. The to-do list which I made, helped me in
mapping my days in a structured way where I know what I am going to do on a particular
day. I was never clueless on any day of what all task I am about to pursue.
 Got the most difficult part done first: when I start my day I always used to do the most
difficult part of the project first. This really helped me relieve the pressure off of my
shoulder.
 Prioritise: The work prioritising helped me in privatising the goal. Larger goals that I
have planned for my project are too intimidating and this often leads to stress. So I
decided to finish them off first so that I can focus on other small work with more focus.

 Avoid multitasking: The skill of multitasking though is very useful in many of the things
but this is not the case where this happens always. Multitasking in a project may also
reduce productivity by up to 40% which is suggested by a resource. When I was
struggling to meet the deadline I usually avoided multitasking as it truly was not that
productive and it consumes lot of my time and the focus is also shifted to other various
works.
 Work delegation: Although the work can be done by a single person but then if a person
is travelling to meet a deadline it is very important to delegate the work so that the work
can or the project can be completed within a specific timeframe. When I was working on
my project I delegated few of the work to the workers of the company having skills and
specialisation on that particular part. This included: managing social media, promoting
the eco-tour being planned, etc.
From all of the above discussed ways, I was successful in achieving the deadlines of my
tourism project. I was benefitted from all the skills which I used to complete the work in the
given deadline. I easily managed the work although I faced many problems but after the
completion of the said project, I felt good and proud.
Evaluation of learning and experience
SWOT analysis is a method of analysing circumstances (Steffen, 2017). This is done by
determining:
 Strengths, or places where you have a competitive advantage over others, or other special
advantages to tap into.
 Weaknesses, or places where you or your organization can be weaker than others and
others may be able to do a better job.
 Opportunities, or possibilities, that you can use to further your objectives and ambitions.
 Threats or obstacles that can prevent you or your company from making a profit or
meeting your objectives (Rutti, Garcia and Helms, 2021).
SWOT analysis will help me in making an evaluation of all my learnings and the experiences
which I gained while working on the above said project. My personal SWOT analysis is
discussed below:
Strength Weaknesses

 I communicate very efficiently with
clients which makes that attracted
towards the offer and services being
provided to them. I use my creativity
skills while making communication
with them so that they are more
convinced with the plan and decides in
my favour.
 I have highly motivated and confident
in my work I present. Possessing this
skill help me to never give upon my
work or to face any short deadline. I do
not stress out much if hard work is
provided to me and I complete the
given task with full confidence.
 I am much organised in my work. To
meet the project requirements and
deadlines, I usually organise my work
to be done in such a way that I do not
have to face any problem in following
it.
 I try on doing a lot of work at the same
time i.e. multitasking. This really
creates lots of confusion in me when I
am working. This sometimes, ruin my
performance or work done. This habit
usually slow down the process of my
work to be done.
 When I have to deal with multiple
work, I often get confused and ruin the
work in which I am already good in. I
cannot keep my focus on one single
work when I have multiple work to be
completed.
 When it comes to the management of
time, I am very poor in it. To meet the
deadlines of the project, I sometimes
work recklessly and do not meet the
deadlines in given time frame just
because of the lack in my time
management skills.
Opportunities
 I have good learning environment at
work, which enables me to learn
various types of things at work which I
also implement into practice. This helps
me in my self-development.
 I have really good position at work,
which always boost my confidence at
work to achieve something big every
day. The company always motivates its
Threats
 The market condition due to global
pandemic is not favourable for anyone.
The industry of tourism is facing loss
and the exposure which I was
expecting, I am not getting it. People
are avoiding travel as the situation is
worse and no one is safe in the current
situation.
 There are many layoff in the industry

employees, due to which I often give
my 100% so to get bonus and
promotions.
 I am committed to study further in my
field, upon which my company is very
supportive. I know that studying further
in this field would enhance my
knowledge and provide me with
enhanced training which later I can use
at my work.
and people are not getting jobs. It is a
threat to me that someday when the
company loses its resources, even I
might lose my job.
 The current situation of pandemic,
many workers are not working and due
to which I have immense work pressure
which sometimes take lots of time due
to which I am not able to manage my
work life and my personal life.
It is important that one must analyse and evaluate their performance (Herliana, Lawiyah and
Aina, 2018). This will help an individual to know of the threats he possess. This will also be
beneficial to know of the weaknesses so that an individual may work upon them to grow more
and develop, personally.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it is concluded that, work based learning is very important and
also that such learning must be evaluated by an individual for their own self-assessment and
progress. This evaluation can be done either by using SWOT tool, PESTLE tool, etc. work based
projects are very beneficial for an individual as it helps in enhancing learning, knowledge and it
also enhances the experience which one possess. All these things together helps and individual to
grow more and develop themselves in such a way that they achieve great heights in future.

REFERENCES
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