HND Travel & Tourism: Entrepreneurial Skills & Business Development

This report evaluates entrepreneurial traits and skills required for success in the travel and tourism industry, including discipline, self-motivation, innovation, risk-taking, open-mindedness, determination, and passion. It includes a self-appraisal of these traits. The report analyzes the successful travel and tourism entrepreneur Tom Merchant and his company, Black Tomato, discussing their business development strategy, online marketing, and innovation. It also presents a business plan outlining strategies for a new travel business to overcome competition, including a market assessment and profit/loss forecast. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding and meeting customer needs, as well as offering pre- and post-trip services for customer retention. Desklib offers similar solved assignments and resources for students.

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ENTREPRENEUR TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Student’s Name
Course Name
Professor’s Name
University Name
City, State
Date

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Introduction
Tourism is one of the largest industries in, the world today. The industry is still
one of the industries with the highest growth rate in the world. The growth of the
tourism industry can be pinned down to the increase in disposable income by many
people globally. There are different cultural, political and economic factors which
affects the tourism industry across the world (Camilleri, 2016). At the same time,
there are various opportunities which exist in the tourism and travel industry
(Sharpley, 2011). This report begins with an evaluation of the entrepreneurial traits
and skills required to succeed in the travel and tourism industry. The report also
contains a self-appraisal on the entrepreneurial traits and skills possessed which are
useful in establishing a travel and tourism business. The second section analyses a
successful travel and tourism entrepreneur and discusses their business development
strategy and the entrepreneurial process they followed in the journey to success. The
theories on entrepreneurial skills are presented in this report. The third section of the
report contains a business plan. This section of the report discusses a successful travel
and tourism entrepreneur. The report discusses the story of the entrepreneur from
where they began until when their business became a hit. The success factors and the
challenges experienced by the entrepreneur are also discussed in this section.The
business plan explains the strategies that a new business in the travel and hospitality
industry will use to overcome competition and gain a significant market share within
the niche. The business strategy and a market assessment of the new business is
discussed in this paper. The final section of the paper contains a profit/loss forecast as
well as cash flow projection for the business.
Task 1

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A
To be a successful entrepreneur, there are some characteristics that an individual
needs to possess. Some of these traits are achieved through training, and others are
just natural. An entrepreneur in the travel and tourism industry needs to focus on
customer satisfaction because it is the critical indicator for performance in this
industry. This section, therefore, discusses the traits that an entrepreneur should
posses to be successful in the travel and tourism industry.
Discipline- Discipline is the characteristic of being strict to rules and timelines
that are set by yourself without being prevailed upon by anyone (Shinde,
2010).Discipline helps in making sure that everything happens correctly and at the
right time. It is therefore essential that an entrepreneur in the travel and tourism
industry is very disciplined since starting a new business is a difficult task, and hence
it requires someone to be highly disciplined to become successful.
Self-motivation- this is one of the most important traits for an entrepreneur in
the travel and hospitality industry. An entrepreneur does not have any boss to answer
to and hence they have to be answerable to themselves.An entrepreneur needs to be
dedicated to their vision and their plan and to keep moving on no matter the
challenges that they may face on their way (Balmford, Beresford, Green, Naidoo,
Walpole and Manica, 2009).
Innovative- an entrepreneur in the travel and tourism industry needs to be
precise about what they want to offer customers. An entrepreneur needs to think
differently from others in the industry. This will help them to develop products and
services that are differentiated from others in the industry and hence gain competitive
advantage (Sharma, 2013). For example, an entrepreneur who wants to invest in tours
must understand what customers want and hence design a service that will meet the

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needs of consumers.
Risk taking-The word of business is full of risks. More so, the travel and
tourism industry is very risky because, there is stiff competition from both local and
international companies which have a huge financial and human resource (Mohamad,
Ibrahim, Muda and Moklis, 2011). Therefore, to be successful in the hospitality
industry, an entrepreneur must be ready and willing to take risks. This is because
starting the business may result in the entrepreneur losing all the money that they have
invested n the businesses. Companies with higher risks have greater returns, and
hence it is essential that an entrepreneur be a risk taker.
Open-minded-this attribute helps entrepreneurs to be ready to listen to advice
and opinions which could help the business to grow (Thomas, Shaw and Page 2011).
An open-minded person is not fixed on one thing and is always ready for positive
change.
Determination and persistence-an entrepreneur should not readily accept defeat
or failure. Business in the travel and tourism industry is very challenging, especially
during off-seasons. It is therefore critical that an entrepreneur does not give up when
they face challenges.
Passion-A successful entrepreneur must be passionate. Passion is a deep feeling
towards something or a particular thing. Passion gives an entrepreneur fuel which
motivates them and pushes them to work extremely hard to achieve their objectives.
An entrepreneur who is passionate about what they undertake has a high chance of
becoming successful since they enjoy what they do.
An entrepreneur who possesses the above-listed characteristics is likely to
succeed in the travel and tourism business
B) Self-assessment of entrepreneurial characteristics

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Skill/ trait Rating on a 1-10 scale Evidence
Discipline 9 Everything I do is
planned meticulously and I
always ensure that I stick
to my plans no matter how
difficult it may appear to. I
I am also a perfectionist
who is very strict with the
people I work with as well
as myself. Am goal
oriented
Self motivation 9 Even in most difficult
circumstance, I always
believe in myself and
whatever am doing.
Innovative 7 Am a person who is
always studying the
environment in order to
come up with new ways of
doing things. I always try
to innovate new ideas
which could improve
customer experience.
Risk taking 7 I am a person who is
always ready to take a

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calculated risk. Although I
take risks, am always very
careful and hence I always
make sure I evaluated the
degree of risk involved in
any project. Before taking
a risk, I also consider the
amount of investment I
stand to lose in case the
worst scenario happens. I
therefore cannot rank
myself is a person who
takes extreme risks.
Open mindedness 9 I am a person who is
always ready to listen to
suggestions and ideas from
different people. I also
greatly encourage my team
to be involved in decision
making processes. Am a
flexible person and hence
am always ready for
positive ideas and change
which can help me grow in
business.

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Determination and
persistence
9 I am a person who is
always determined to and I
never lose hope easily. Am
always optimistic that the
future is bright and I never
lose hope no matter the
challenges that I face. I
always make sure that I
achieve everything every
goal that I set to achieve.
Passion 9 I am extremely passionate
about everything that I do.
Every business I start is always
very close to my heart. I have
great passion in travel and
tourism and I therefore I believe
I can transform the passion to a
great business opportunities
which I can harness to make
profits.
Task 2
Business development is a process which is used to identify, nurture and recruit
new customers and identify new business opportunities which can drive the growth
and profitability for a business (Schanzel, Schänzel, Yeoman and Backer, 2012). A
business development strategy is a set of tactics that a business uses to achieve its end
goal (Sharma, 2013). This section of the report discusses a successful travel and
tourism entrepreneur. The report discusses the story of the entrepreneur from where
they began until when their business became a hit. The success factors and the
challenges experienced by the entrepreneur are also discussed in this section.

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Black tomato is one of the leading luxury travel and tours company globally. The
company was started by an entrepreneur named Tom Merchant in the year 2000
(Hamid and Isa, 2015). The company specializes and emphasizes on tailor-made
unique experiences for its clients throughout the globe. Tom Merchant started the
travel and tourism company when he met his two business partners while at the
University of Newcastle in Northeast England (Hamid and Isa, 2015). The business
partners shared the ambition of starting a business together, and hence they decided to
start a business in travel. Travel is a passion which was shared by all the business
partners. After graduating from University, Tom and his partner travelled to various
countries in South America (Middleton et al.,2009). One of the countries which they
visited is Brazil where they visited a region with extensive swamps and desert. They
spent an entire day fishing and grilling fish by the lake and this in a way fueled their
desire to begin a business in travel and tourism (Yeoman, 2009). They, therefore,
decided to start a travel business where they would send customers to unique
destinations and hence offer them experiences they could not find in guidebooks or
travel guide websites.
One of the factors that contributed significantly to the success of Black Tomatoes
is it`s online marketing strategy. The partners officially registered the company in the
year 2005 (Moutinho and Vargas-Sanchez, 2018). They knew that they needed a great
website with a unique and consistent message which would attract customers who
wish to travel to unique destinations globally. Marchant needed help in building a
website for the company, and therefore he sent an email to a person in Conde Nast.
The person replied to the email requesting further information about Black tomato.
After approximately two months, Conde Nast Traveler published a full-page referring
to the company as the future of travel. This significantly promoted the company both

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in the UK and globally (Uygun and Ekiz, 2016). The website of the company has
helped the company to grow a great deal. This is because majority of customers
access most of the services through the companies` website. Most of the customers
who heard of the company could search for the company online, and hence it became
a strong point which contributed to the growth of the company. The website offered
customers so many conveniences, and it enabled customers to view photos and videos
of the locations which they could visit. This helped to grow customer numbers and
profitability of the company.
Another factor that significantly contributed to the success of black tomatoes is
its innovation and ability of the entrepreneur to meet the needs of consumers.
Marchant is a very innovative entrepreneur, and this is the reason he was able to
develop a tourism business which is unique to the needs of the customers (Musa,
Saidon and Ismail, 2017). Marchant realized that most customers had a desire to
travel and explore but did not know which places to visit. He, therefore, came up with
an idea where he identified unique locations which were not familiar with many
people. This is the factor which mainly attracted customers to book their travels with
black tomatoes. Marchant was also able to create a successful business in the travel
and tourism industry because he understands the needs of customers and hence its
easy to meet their needs. Black tomatoes also began offering pre and post trip
services. Customers booking to travel with the company, therefore, had a hint of what
to expect from the trip thanks to Black tomatoes pre-trip services (Sachin, 2017).
Post-trip services offered to customers by black tomato also helped greatly in
retaining customers. This is because the company would come across to customers as
a caring company which was thinking beyond profitability and was more concerned
about customer experience.

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Networking and referrals also contributed greatly to the growth of black tomatoes
especially in its early years of operations. The company did not carry out any
advertisements on TV, magazines or newspapers when it launched. The growth of the
company’s customer base can be attributed to the referrals by the first few customers
who experienced services offered by black tomatoes. Due to the unique customer
experience, the customers referred others to the company, and through this, the
company became more and more famous (Boniface, Cooper and Cooper, 2016).
Merchant and his partners also created strong networks which aided the growth of
Black Tomatoes.
Task 3
Development of a brief business plan
The business plan is based on a travel agency business which focuses on
organizing travel and tours for customers at affordable rates. The business will offer
travel arrangement services for air, land as well as sea transport. The business will
partner with different companies in air travel and sea travel to facilitate cheap unique
trips to different locations globally (Theobald, 2012).. This will help in offering
customers who were discouraged from going to holidays due to the high prices being
charged by many travel agents (Saayman, Douglas and De Klerk, 2009). According to
the business plan, the business will rely on third-party investments to finance the start
of the business as well as operations until the business begins making profits. The
business plan also contains marketing strategies for the company as well as duties and
responsibilities performed by different people working in the company. The strategy
of the business is offering cheap travel arrangements to customers. The business,
therefore, has to be keen on the price of competitors when setting the price to ensure
that it has a competitive advantage over rivals and hence grow to achieve short term

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and long term objectives.
Market assessment
The travel and tourism industry is very diverse and is growing at a very fast rate
(Costa,Panyik and Buhalis, 2013). The market has enormous potential, and the profits
are very high. To gain market share and grow as projected. The business has to offer
unique products and services to customers. Despite the huge potential of the market,
there is very stiff competition from established local and international travel agents
(Johnson,2016). These agents have huge networks, and they have operated for many
years and hence giving them an edge over a business which is just about to begin. The
use of technology has become very common in the travel industry. Most customers
prefer booking online because it is convenient for them (Pianzin10, 2009). The
security of customers is also very critical in this market since there are many security
issues which have arisen in the previous few years. The business will target youths
and low-income earners who are not capable of paying for luxury trips, but they still
desire to tour and experience different locations globally. The business will ensure
that it brings on board highly experienced staff who will help in providing high
quality services to customers (Williams and Shaw, 2009). The business will also offer
tailor-made services to customers as well as post-travel services.
Financial projection and cash flow analysis
Financial projection is a very important aspect of a business plan since it gives a
picture of the company’s financial position in future (Mamaghani, 2009). The
following is the projected profit/loss for the business for the first five years of
operation.
Year Profitability ($)
Year 1 69,500

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Year 2 111,000
Year 3 181, 0000
Year 4 287,900
Year 5 513,900
The projected cash flow of the business shows that during the first year of
operation, the business will make a profit of only 69,500. The business, however,
expects to grow its profits steadily every year until its fifth year where it will attain
profits of above $500,000.
Projected cash flow
Year Cash inflow ($) Cash out ($)
Year 1 500,000 440,000
Year 2 700,000 540,000
Year 3 881,000 612,000
Year 4 1,100,000 913,500
Year 5 1,345,000 812,600
The business projects good growth in its revenues after the first year of operation.
Conclusion
The first section of this paper discusses the entrepreneurial traits and skills which
are required to become successful in the travel and tourism industry. Some of the
traits that are important in becoming a successful entrepreneur include; self-
motivation, discipline, innovation and persistence. The paper also contains a self-
appraisal of the characteristics discussed in the report. In addition to this, the report
also identifies a successful entrepreneur and considers the factors which contributed
to the success of the said entrepreneur. The report discusses the story of the
entrepreneur from where they began until when their business became a hit. The main