Skills for Travel and Tourism: A Comprehensive Report

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Skills for Travel and Tourism 1
Skills for Travel and Tourism

Skills for Travel and Tourism 2
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................4
(A) Evaluating the skills required to for establishing a tourism business:..................................4
(B) Personal assessment..........................................................................................................5
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................6
(A) Evaluating the entrepreneurial techniques of successful entrepreneurs:............................6
(B) Strategies behind the success of the entrepreneurial enterprises:......................................7
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................8
(A) Options available for collecting funds:..................................................................................9
(B) Development of Business Plan............................................................................................9
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................12
References..................................................................................................................................13

Skills for Travel and Tourism 3
Introduction
The report revolves around the travel and tourism sector. The report consists of three major
tasks which describe the different perspectives related with travel and tourism. First task
emphasizes upon the skills and traits required in an entrepreneur who is thinking of establishing
a business in tourism industry. It also includes the personal appraisal of the traits identified.
Second assessment is based upon the real example of two successful entrepreneurs. The
successful entrepreneurs selected are Thomas Cook and Richard Branson. This task describes
the qualities possessed by the entrepreneurs and the techniques used by them for making their
respective business successful. Third task is related with the development of business plan.

Skills for Travel and Tourism 4
TASK 1
(A) Evaluating the skills required to for establishing a tourism business:
The following skills and traits are necessary:
 Open mindedness: An entrepreneur is required to have open-mind so that innovative ideas
can be developed by observing the current marketing opportunities.
 Communication skills: Excellent communication skills are necessary for dealing with the
people of different countries and locations.
 Self-motivation: An entrepreneur needs to maintain self-confidence throughout the life
cycle of the business (Daniel, et. al., 2017). The travel and tourism business faces many up
and down during its life cycle. The intrinsic motivation of an entrepreneur needs not to be
influenced by the downfall in the business. The leaders are born with this trait. According to
Great man theory, intrinsic motivation is an in-built quality in a successful entrepreneur and
it cannot be learned with the passage of time.
 Disciplined nature: An entrepreneur needs to have the characteristic of disciplined nature.
He is required to manage multiple activities including financial management, achieving the
target of the enterprise, managing the human resources, assessing the customer’s
requirements and market conditions (Ahmad, et. al., 2018). For managing these activities,
an entrepreneur needs to be disciplined in his work.
 Planning trait: Planning is one of the crucial traits as required in a successful entrepreneur.
The services provided by travel and tourism entrepreneurs include the planning of trips from
one place to another and arranging for the accommodation facility also. For giving a
memorable experience to the customers, an entrepreneur is required to have the
characteristic of effective planning and carrying out each and every activity as per the
planning done.
 Leadership: Leadership is a trait which is mandatory in an entrepreneur (Piperopoulos and
Dimov, 2015). Entrepreneurship is all about setting a goal and guiding the employees
towards the achievement of the goal. It is the responsibility of an entrepreneur to put the
efforts of the human resources towards one direction.
 Competitive spirit: There are multiple small and medium enterprises which are entering the
market with innovative ideas. So, it is required to maintain a spirit of competitiveness to beat
the competition available in the market.
 Finance management: The management of the activities of travel and tourism requires a lot
of funds for arranging the trips to different destinations as per the demand by the customers.

Skills for Travel and Tourism 5
The entrepreneur needs to arrange the finance from different sources available in the
market. A successful entrepreneur is required to analyze the advantages and disadvantages
associated with each source of financing before opting for one source of collecting funds
(Esfandiar, et. al., 2019).
(B) Personal assessment
Trait/Skill Evidence Rating from 1 to 10
Communication
skills
I am good in communication and I am using this
strength in interacting personally with the clients
from different countries to give them a solution for
the tourism problems faced by them. My excellent
communication skills are also helpful for me in
entering different countries to expand my
business.
8
Self-motivation I am highly motivated about the decisions I will
take in the field of travel and tourism. I always
make decisions by analyzing its impact on the
tourism business and the customer satisfaction.
8
Planning trait Planning is like a threat for me. I can plan
effective but if things go wrong during the
implementation of the planned strategy then, it
becomes difficult for me to get the things into
place.
6
Disciplined nature Disciplined nature is my biggest strength. I am
very much sincere towards my work so that the
vision of customer satisfaction can be achieved by
doing every activity in perfect way.
9
Open mindedness I take the regular feedback from customers to get
creative ideas which can be implemented in the
tourism business for making effective tourism
packages.
7
Leadership I am good in leading a group of people for the
achievement of vision of the business. I have the
capability to influence the employees and
9

Skills for Travel and Tourism 6
channelize their efforts into one direction.
Competitive spirit The competition available in the market is my
biggest weakness as I got scared when new
tourism companies enter the market with
innovative tourism packages.
4
Finance
management
I can only trust banks as a source of collection of
funds. I do not prefer other sources of fund
generation as they demand the ownership in
business and I have to share the profit with the
investors if I take help from them. Due to this
mindset, I always approach the banks whenever I
need finance for my business.
7
TASK 2
(A) Evaluating the entrepreneurial techniques of successful entrepreneurs:
Every individual has multiple qualities and these qualities make him a successful entrepreneur.
Thomas Cook and Richard Branson both have a different personality but brought a tremendous
change in the tour and travel industry. Thomas Cook has converted his passion of travelling into
an enterprise whereas Richard Branson has converted his innovative tourism idea into a
successful airline named Virgin Atlantic.
Thomas Cook, the famous entrepreneur who has started his business due to his tremendous
qualities is considered as an example of a good entrepreneur. Qualities possessed by Thomas
Cook include:
 Passionate: Thomas cook is very passionate from his childhood. Thomas Cook was doing
the job of gardening which is completely opposite to his interest but still maintained his
passion towards travelling.
 Planning strategy: Thomas Cook is very good in planning the tours. For example: Before
starting his own company, he had arranged a tour to Loughborough with the help of a rail
company (Dalpiaz and Cavotta, 2019). He acted as an intermediary between the tourists
and the railway company.
 Risk taking strategy: Thomas Cook is an entrepreneur who is never afraid of taking risk.
Thomas Cook took a tour to different destinations in Scotland. At that time, he was not even

Skills for Travel and Tourism 7
having the knowledge about the places in Scotland and he has also faced some liabilities
due to lack of knowledge.
 Continuous learning: Thomas Cook has a quality that he is always eager to learn new
things by grabbing knowledge about the different destinations which can be utilized for
arranging tour. Thomas Cook has planned the tours in new destinations to enhance his
experience and to identify the impact of new location on the tourists (Kim and Kim, 2018).
Another successful entrepreneur in tourism sector is Mr. Richard Branson. The qualities which
make him a successful entrepreneur are:
 Fair dealing with the employees: Mr. Branson has always acted fairly with the employees.
The employees have always considered him as a leader who is trustworthy. Mr. Branson
has made same rules and regulations for every employee and has given equal opportunities
for growth to them. This quality of Mr. Branson has maintained a long-term relationship
between him as a leader and his employees (Goss and Sadler‐Smith, 2018).
 Work obsession: Mr. Branson is obsessed with his work. He always thinks about doing the
work at hand with full potential and it reduces the chances of failure.
 Leadership quality: Mr. Branson has given a new phase to leadership as he represented
that a leader cannot walk alone but values his entire staff. The Virgin Group is established
by Mr. Richard Branson represents the leadership quality of him as it has established a
number of chains in the hotel and tourism industry (Stroe, et. al., 2019). Whenever the
customer thinks of hotel and tourism then, Virgin group comes at the top of the list due to
the services provided by it.
(B) Strategies behind the success of the entrepreneurial enterprises:
The main strategy behind the success of the Thomas group is the focus given by the company
on fulfilling the expectations of the customers. Thomas Cook always plans the tours after
understanding the expectations of the customers. About 20 million customers are choosing
Thomas Group over other travel and tourism companies.
 Promotional strategy: The promotional strategies of the group involve the focus on the
offers given to the customers and the enterprise in giving the convenience of tour,
accommodation, currency exchange and luggage processing. The multiple services offered
by the company improve its entrepreneurial process and makes it the first preference for the
tourists. Electronic mails are used by the company to make the new customers aware about
the tourism offers given by the company (Walmsley, 2018). For the existing customers, the
company has stored their personal information so they are being communicated about the
upcoming tours over messages.

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 Direct communication with the customers: Thomas Cook directly communicates with the
customers to take their feedback once the tour gets completed. This is helpful for the
enterprise to improve its processes in accordance with the feedback given by the
customers. The company also communicates with those customers who are canceling the
midway bookings (Dhiman and Kumar, 2019). Thomas Cook connects with such customers
over phone calls and e-mail to get to know the exact reason behind the cancellation of
booking.
Strategies followed by Mr. Richard Branson for the success of their entrepreneurial process are
described as under:
 Joint venture: Mr. Richard Branson is using the strategy of joining hands with other hotels
and airlines with an objective to expand its business. A joint venture of Virgin airlines was
developed with Singapore and Malaysia airlines with an aim to expand its business. Virgin
Atlantic has also introduced an offer of providing the accommodation facility along with the
airlines ticket (Galloway, et. al., 2019).
 Innovation: Mr. Branson has always focused on the innovation strategy to retain the
existing customers and to attract new customers. Some of the innovative offers given by
Virgin Atlantic are giving one ticket free on the booking of two tickets, offering discounts on
the tickets for children etc. Virgin Atlantic is the only airline which is offering the facility of
sleeping seats in the business class of the airlines (Lerner, et. al., 2018).
These are the multiple strategies used by both the enterprises for making their business
successful. After evaluating the strategies, it can be analyzed that innovation is the major
component behind the success of every enterprise.
TASK 3
Niche travel and tourism business concept: This business concept relates with targeting a
particular market and offering services as per the needs of the customers of niche market. Here
for the business proposal, the niche market can be the customers above the age of 20 and
below 35. The age and income demographics need to be considered for starting up a tourism
company. The business needs to focus on the high income group between the age group as
mentioned above (Tsartsara, 2018). The objective behind targeting a niche market is that these
customers spend more on tourism as compared to the people above this age group and the
people earning less income. The needs of these customers are almost similar to each other so it
can be easier for the tourism organization to arrange a trip to one single destination for the
customers between the age group of 20-35. The expectations of aged people are completely
different from the customers as targeted for the new business. The niche market selected in this

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business proposal is more interested towards visiting adventurous places and people above this
age group are more interested towards historical places. During the initial stages, the business
cannot afford to arrange tours at different places as per the interest of customers of different
age group (St-Jean, et. al., 2018). This is the reason that a niche market is selected in which the
passengers are having the similar interests.
(A) Options available for collecting funds:
The options of collecting finance available in the market are banks and financial institutions,
equity financing, angel investors, partnership etc. The establishment of a new tourism venture is
risky. Banks can be the most feasible option to collect funds for starting up the tourism
business. Banks provide the funds to the start-up if they feel that the idea has a potential of
generating profit. The banks also do not want any ownership in the business and any share in
the profit. For approving the loan from banks, the business is required to identify those
destinations where the customers are frequently visiting so that the banks see the potential of
growth in the business idea. The business plan can be used as an approach for approving the
loan from banks. The business plan clearly defines the potential for the growth of the business
so the banks should find a valid evidence for lending the required funds to the business.
(B) Development of Business Plan
Objective: The objective behind the start up of travel and tourism enterprise is to become the
most preferable enterprise among the customers. Customer satisfaction will be the vision of the
business.
Mission: For the attainment of the objective, the mission statement is analyzing the needs of
the customers. It is the most important thing for a tourism business to assess the expectations
of the customers. The tourism company is required to identify those destinations which are
mostly visited by the customers.
Product/service characteristics: The services offered by the tourism business should include
the arrangement of trips, accommodation facilities, booking of tickets for the passengers. These
are the services a travel and tourism company needs to provide to its customers (Douglas, et.
al., 2018). The tourism company is required to offer these services at discounts as the strategy
of providing discounts attract the customers.
Business analysis: The tourism business requires more and more connection in the outside
world where the company is planning to arrange for the tour. This business has growth potential
in the market due to the increased interest of the people towards tourism. A tourism business
needs to arrange both domestic and international tours as per the expectations of the
customers. The potential of the business depends upon the places selected by the business for

Skills for Travel and Tourism 10
arranging tours. The business is required to select for adventurous places and beach region as
these are the places which the niche market love to visit (Crick, et. al., 2018). The potential of a
business depends upon the analysis of the market. The sales of the business can be assessed
after analyzing the demand in the market.
Market analysis: The business is required to understand the needs of the customers before
planning any of the tour. In depth knowledge about the market is required to be gathered before
setting up a business. The success of the business depends upon the information gathered
about the market. The business is requires to assess information regarding the places most
visited by the target customers, their choice of accommodation facilities and the time period in
which the target customers travel more in a year (Horner and Swarbrooke, 2016). The
assessment of these factors is helpful for the business in achieving the success by increasing
its sales.
Operational plan: The operational plan is the implementation of advanced technologies within
the business. Electronic methods should be used for doing the promotions of the business as it
costs less and reaches more people. The booking of hotels, cabs, and flight tickets should be
done through online technology to make it convenient for the customers (Dodds, et. al., 2018).
The security is the main matter of concern in the tourism business. Proper training needs to be
provided to the staff of the tourism company so that they can provide security and safety to the
passengers and they feel safe during the whole journey. This operational plan should be
achieved in the first year of setting up the business and for the next years, the company will
totally focus on providing unique offers on tourism to the target customers so as to create
differentiation in the market.
Financial projection: Financial projection is a crucial component for tourism business because
the whole business is about travelling and it costs more for arranging the trips through airlines
and providing accommodation facilities. The company needs to build joint ventures with the
airlines for the scheduling of tours and connections are also needed in the destination country or
place for the purpose of booking hotels. The business is also required to invest on hiring agents
in different countries or regions who provide the information regarding the hotels which are cost-
effective. The graphs given below show the increase in the sales of the company with the
passage of each year.

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(BPlans, 2019)
The graph given below shows the inflow and outflow of the cash during the period of first year
as the company needs to invest more during the initial stages of the business. The company
need to invest more on the marketing activities as the company is completely new in the market
and the customers are not aware about the services provided by it.
(BPlans, 2019)
After analysis the financial projection of the business and market, it can be identified that the
tourism business has the potential to succeed in the future as the niche market selected by the
company is youngsters who are crazy for travelling new adventurous destinations.

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Conclusion
It is identified that the interest of the people is continuously increasing towards travelling. In
travelling sector, an entrepreneur needs to be passionate about travelling, risk taker and
learning new things. It can be concluded that an entrepreneur is required to have that risk taking
trait to convert an idea into a successful business. It can also be concluded that the sales of the
tourism business are completely dependent upon the expectations of the customers. The
satisfaction of the customers is the core component for a tourism business.