Travel and Tourism Report: Revenue, HR, and Legal Aspects

This report delves into the UK's travel and tourism industry, emphasizing its economic contributions and growth. It analyzes revenue management principles, exploring price-based and duration-based strategies to maximize profits, and examines the application of revenue management tools like PMS, booking engines, channel managers, and rate shoppers. The report further outlines the HR life cycle, focusing on the job role of a travel agent within Thomas Cook, and details a performance management plan. It then covers specific legislations, including the Package Travel Regulations 1992, and the impact of contract law. Finally, the report addresses the application of financial statements and the importance of budgets in controlling business performance.

TRAVEL AND TOURISM
ORGANISATION

TASK 1 ........................................................................................................................................4
P1 Rationale and principle of revenue management...............................................................4
P2 Application of revenue management tools on specific sectors of travel and tourism.........5
TASK 2 ........................................................................................................................................6
P3 Different stages of HR life cycle.........................................................................................6
P4 Performance management plan for specific job role..........................................................7
TASK 3.........................................................................................................................................8
P5 Specific legislations in travel and tourism industry.............................................................8
P6 Impact of contract law and company employment on decision making.............................9
TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................10
P7 Application of different types of financial statements ......................................................10
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Travel and tourism industry of UK contributes more than 80 % in the economy, creates
employment opportunities for the people and contributes to the GDP of the country and leads
to economic development. Travel and tourism industry is growing rapidly and it deals with
providing tour packages along with accommodation, food and other services to its customers.
To understand the topic better the report will analyze the case of Thomas Cook and will include
the principles and reason of revenue management to maximize profit. The report will further
talk about revenue management tools and different stages of HR life cycle under tour and
travel industry. The report will include performance management plan on specific job role that
the company needs and specific legislation and rules and regulations that company needs to
follow while operating under travel and tourism in UK. The report further depicts impact of
contract law on decision making of the company. At last it concludes application of different
financial statements and the importance and value of budgets for controlling business
performance and identifies different variables.
TASK 1
Rationale and principle of revenue management
The prediction of behavior of consumer to efficiently plan the availability and price of
the products for increased revenue in known as revenue management. In the tourism industry
optimum revenue management is determined by offering the perfect service to the perfect
client at the perfect time. It also helps in increasing the efficiency of the company and it also
plays an important role in improvement of predicting future consumer behavior forecasts and
helps to take best decisions. In the tourism industry revenue management plays crucial role to
generate optimum level of profits, the forecasting using past data analysis helps in keeping
inventory of perishable items and to create pricing strategies (Boniface, 2016).
The principles of revenue management help the company to generate more revenue by
helping it in forecasting the demand and changing the prices accordingly with the flow of
consumers. Analyzing past demands helps in accurately predicting the future behaviour of
consumers. There are two types of revenue management paths; price based and duration
based, and the company can control both accordingly for more efficiency (Vellas, 2016). During
high demand season the company tends to vary the pricing for different customers differently

and the company can charge different prices for the same services to generate more revenue.
While the company can control price it needs to choose the pricing according to the customer it
is dealing with, as in tourism industry, if it is a business client, with regular visits and their
charges are covered by their companies. These clients are considered very important as
compared to other travelling clients who are required to be attracted by discounts to gain more
and more clients. The rooms in hotels can be higher or lower depending on the duration of
stay. Clients who tend to book during peak season are more likely to be charged high prices as
compared to the clients who tend to book during normal days (Eugenio-Martin, 2016). For the
generation of maximum revenue the company can use combination of peak days (usually
weekends or holidays) and normal days (usually weekdays). Also the hotel can charge
different rates depending on the occupancy which makes prices of rooms in hotels highly
volatile. In order to identify and distinguish different types of customers, predictions can be
made based on the dates of booking. For example, business clients usually expected on
weekdays where as leisure traveler visit during holidays and weekends (Thomas cook UK,
2019).
Application of revenue management tools on specific sectors of travel and tourism.
There are four major tools for revenue management.
PMS (Property management system) :- It is one of the major tools required
essentially in the tourism industry. It is a software application which provides centralized
computer system to perform various day to day business activities which include organizing
and scheduling, also managing transactions and record keeping (Xiang, 2017). A hassle free
workflow can create a smooth experience for the guest creating bookings. The PMS must be
chosen carefully to fit with the needs and requirements of the business.
Booking engine :- Every tourism company requires a secure system to handle the
bookings of the customers, this is where the booking engine software application helps. The
booking engine handles bookings directly without human interference, it is also required to
handle internationally bookings for which it is also required to perform currency conversions
and the complete system is required to be synchronized and connected with the central
computer system which is the PMS (Property management system) which updates the
availability and pricing with the system.

Channel Manager :- It is a single monitoring and managing system which is required
for efficient management of the inventories and pricing. It eliminates the need to manage from
different portals and organizes everything in a single real time updated system. It is also
required to be synchronized with the PMS(Property management system) as if there is an
offline booking it can be updated on the system in real time.
Rate shopper: - It is a key tool which compares prices of competitors with prices of the
company in various segments. The prices are compared between different criterias as required
by the client. The prices can be compared according to the type of booking, date of booking
and prices between competitors.
Carefully selected revenue management tools can turn out to be extremely vital and
profitable to the company as well as whole industry.
TASK 2
Different stages of HR life cycle
Job role of Travel Agent in Thomas cook for retaining employees through HR life cycle
Outreach – The first stage is to reach to the potential employees with the help of
campus interviews, employment exchange services, online sites etc so that the
coampny can have potential employees who can incerease the productivity of the
company.
Recruitment : The second step would be selecting the perfect candidate for the role
who is eligible for it. The recruitment can be internal or external, with both processes
having its merits and demerits the choice should be based on requirement. The
candidates must be interviewed and their profiles must be analysed to identify the one
which would be efficient in that position. A travel agent required to deal with the
customers therefore it is necessary for the candidate to have pleasant attitude with
profound communication skills. Other skills which should be considered are education
qualification, management and marketing knowledge, sales experience. After analysis
of all aspects a candidate must be hired for the role.

Orientation and career planning :- The hired employee is required to be introduced to
its duties and responsibilities as an employee in that role. He is also required to be
introduced within the company and establish relationships as a member of the
company. The supervisors of the company will be required to determine the career
goals within the company.
Performance management and recognition- At this stage the employee need to be
recognized for the perfrmance and contribution in the company. High performance goas
and rotational assignment need to be givenn to the employees so that their creartivity
can increase. Different leadership programs need to be done so that leadership quality
can be developed among the employeesand at last need to be given awards and
bonuses for best performance.
Career Development :- At this stage the employee’s performance within the company
can be further analyzed and career opportunities are required to be presented to the
deserving employee which can help him in achieving his career goals. Promotional
opportunities are to be presented which can help in utilizing the complete potential of
the hired employee who have grown in his career and performed up to the expectations
of the employers. Opportunities are necessary for the loyalty and hard work of
employees.
Termination and transaction :- Every hired employee leaves the company either after
finishing his work period or for pursuing growth opportunities. Human resources is
required to handle the transition procedure within the norms of the policies of the
company. An exit interview of the departing employee may be considered for analysis
of his serving period.
Performance management plan for specific job role.
Performance development plan is a tool used to improve performance of employees. It
helps in identify new ways in which employees can contribute in meeting the requirements of
company. The Thomas Cook Company to manage the performance of its traveler agents can
use the following performance development plan (Ronen, 2017).
The first step that can be used by the company is to review and assess the results of
earlier goals of the company which will provide measure of success. This will help the company
in assessing the previous performance of travel agents and will solve the question of how the

performance can be improved. The next step would be forward looking means it will contain
relevant information and will define new goals need to be achieved by travel agent whether it is
increasing sale, retaining customers etc. and also it will deal with how to achieve it (Moutinho,
2018).
Success of this plan would depend upon how much resources are available with the
company, what is the external environment in which travel agent is working and attitude and
beliefs of customers. Combining all these elements of performance management plan helps in
creating clear, rational and achievable goals for the travel agent. Reviewing past and seeing
future performance will help the company in improving the performance of travel agents which
will increase the reach and sales of customers and will retain its staff. Individual performance
need focus and to realize the potential of employees the experts of the company needs to
combined with resources, opportunities and motivation to its employees. The company need to
identify the resources to improve performance and need to evaluate the opportunities that exist
which will improve their performance (Kim, 2017).
To improve the performance understand the program management and set
expectations of cost and communicate to the employees that what is important to the company.
To enhance and retain staff the development of talent is necessary so company officials need
to provide them with honest feedbacks so that can employees will develop their skills. To retain
staff company needs to keep motivating them and delegate the power and authority to them so
that they can feel trusted and confident by making decisions.
The performance devalopment for employees :
Skills need to develop Activities Time frame
Communication skills Seminas, team building
activities
4 weeeks
Training Training & devlopment
programme, on job training
etc
6 weeks
Leadership Leadership development
programes, role play etc.
4 weeks
Mananging performance Feedbacks and suggestions
from employees.
Every week

TASK 3
Specific legislations in travel and tourism industry
There are rules and regulations imposed by government of UK on organizations that
carry on business of tour and travel. The organizations need to follow Package travel
regulations 1992. It states that every company who is offering package need to include
transport, accommodation and other servicers that make the package appealing. The package
needs to be sold at price that is inclusive of all the services provided by the company to avoid
chaos and confusion. In case company providing brochure to the customers it needs to contain
full information about the travel destination, category of transport, meals included with their
price, passport and visa requirements, arrangements if delay occurs and amount that need to
be paid as deposit. The tour and travel agency is liable for any injury to the customers and
need to hold Air travel Organizer’s license. The other rules and regulations company needs to
follow is the data privacy of customers which means that company needs to be very careful
about keeping the personal information safe (Ronen, 2017).
The Thomas cook group follows all the legislations implemented by the government of
UK and understands the importance of safeguarding the personal data of customers. This
information is collected by them through websites, retail stores, mobile apps etc. and be aware
about the privacy policy and treats it securely. The other legislation rules followed by this
company are on services as flight is delayed then the refreshment and meals will be allotted to
the customers at reasonable waiting time.
According to jurisdiction of European court the customer has right to get compensated
in the form of cash cheque and electronic bank transfer and the payment amount is determined
by distance of flight. The compensation amount varies from €250 to €600 for flights range
between 1.500 km to 3.500 km. Compensation is not given in case of delay which is caused by
natural calamities like earthquakes, volcano eruption, floods etc. Also, in case of cancellation
of flight for confirmed reservation the customer can cancel the booking 2 weeks before the
scheduled time of departure else no compensation will be allotted.

Impact of contract law and company employment on decision making
Contract law is a legal law deals with legal document that governs agreements
associated with exchange of goods and services, money etc either in written or oral. It is a way
that helps business in securing themselves for uncertain events. It affects the business
decision making as every business provide goods and services which means they will have to
perform various functions like selling buying and distributing (Battiston, and et.al., 2016). For
this purpose there need to be a contract with legal identity. If any company perform illegal
activity the other party can file a case against that company.
The contract law in tour and travel industry plays an important role as customer opt for
holiday package by stating demands and tour operator ensure that the demand will be met by
the company. Under package act it is mentioned that a holiday package must consists of at
least two services to the consumer. For example - customer paid for holiday package which
include flight and accommodation. It is very important to know that the contract is between
customer and tour operator whereas travel agent act as a bridge between them therefore in
case of breach of contract tour operator would be liable except in cases like currency
exchange, travel insurance etc. travel agent would be liable. The contract law affect decision of
the company as under this if services are not how it was mentioned in the contract the
customer can sue the company and can also seek solution in consumer protection act 1987
which enable them to claim for the damages and compensation (Wu, and et.al., 2016).
The company employment law refers to the name of employer, job title, hours of work
etc. it consists of salary details which need to be paid in 12 equal installments. The salary need
to be awarded in context to labor law as mentioned by UK government. The other rule is that id
employee is sick for 4 or more days they are entitled to statutory sick pay. The tour and travel
company need to provide 28 working holidays as minimum legal requirement
TASK 4
Application of different types of financial statements
Financial statements are reports created by the company to display the financial status
of the company, these reports include cash flow, liquidity, balance sheets, assets and liabilities.
In the tourism and travel industry. This reports not only show financial status but also helps
forecasting and planning future strategies by analyzing these reports (Thomas cook UK 2019).
It can determine the high peak season when the company has the highest potential to generate

revenue and the company can plan and strategize accordingly. Here are some of the financial
reports :
Balance sheet :- This report shows the true financial status of the company. It includes
assets, liabilities, creditors, debtors and all other important financial aspects of a company.
Income statement :- True financial performance of the company is revealed by the
income statement of that company. It includes the total sales from which the expenses are
deducted and net profit or loss is revealed (Kim, 2017). It is one of the major financial
statements.
Cash Flow statement :- This report as the name suggests shows the flow of liquid
funds in the company. Cash flows can be segregated into 3 major activities: operating,
investment, financing.
Financial reporting mechanisms are the concepts which help in the preparation
of financial statements in the company. It includes all the financial statements
mentioned above. These reporting help the company to identify its financial condition
which can be evaluated by analyzing the financial reports. These reports play crucial
role in functioning of any company including the travel and tourism industry.
These reports when analyzed reveal very important financial data which when
further analyzed shows the status and positioning of the company but also helps in
preparation of planning for the future goals and growth opportunities which can be
deduced by carefully analyzing these reports to determine the strengths and
weaknesses of the company. It helps the company in knowing its true and fair position
which gives clear idea to the company in investing in future projects and trend to attract
customers in tour and travel industry.
Explaining the importance and value of budgets for controlling business performance and
identification of variance
For the purpose of sustainable growth and development, it is important to develop an
effective management of the performance of overall business organisation. By adopting
budgetary control techniques and variance analysis, Thomos cook can have an effective
control over the management of overall company's performance.
Importance of budgets
Budgets are being prepared on the basis of past performance and future gaols of the
country. Managers analyses past performance of the Thomos cook company for the purpose of
detecting uits change in efficiency and productivity (Bruni, Cassia and Magno, 2017). Further,

by comparing it with the future goals, they prepare various budgets like financial budget, cost
budget, cash budget, inventory budget, etc. it helps them, in detecting the requirements of
company in near future.
Further, with the help of these budgets, company can also detect the areas from which
it could gain the resources for its organisational operations. Moreover, with the help of budgets,
they also enable to forecast the need of funds in the company. It helps them in maintaining
sufficiency of the resources in the business through which it can perform its various activities
smoothly and in the most effective way as well.
In addition, by comparing budgets with the actual performance of Thomos cook, its
managers can also detect the areas of inefficiency within the firm. It can help them in
developing effective strategies for the business as to enhance its performance of performing
various business activities.
Importance of variance analysis
Variance analysis refers to comparison of actual performance of the business with its
planned performance. By adopting variance analysis techniques, the Thomos cook can easily
analyse its performance so that its managers can develop effective plans and procedures for
the company.
Through variance analysis technique of management accounting system, the company
can easily compare each activity of the business organisation (Pai and Ananthakumar, 2017).
Further, this technique also helps the Thomos cook in detecting specific areas of inefficiency in
the business. It enables managers in detecting reasons behind the inefficiency so that they
could develop the most effective strategies and plans for the business as to elimination those
inefficiencies.
In this order, the variance analysis technique also helps the Thomos cook in enhancing
its performance of each activities of business organisation.
CONCLUSIONS
From the analysis of above study it can be concluded that Thomos cook one of
the leading company in the tours and travels industry. It has developed effective principles as
to manage various activities of the business. It has analysed impact of various pricing
strategies on its revenue management. It has helped it in developing the most effective
strategies for revenue generation of the business organisation. The company has also
developed various stages of human resource management cycle as to provide maximum job
satisfaction to the employees. The company complies with each legislations applicable to it as
to avoid the legal penalties over it. It has also analysed various financial statements and
reporting that is needed to be prepared by a tours and travelling agencies. It has helped it to
maintain proper records of books of accounts.

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Performance management plan 2018. [Online]. Available through :
<https://performancemanager.successfactors.com/doc/po/develop_employee/perfplan.html>
Thomas cook UK, 2019. [Online]. Available through : <https://www.thomascook.in/?
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