Holiday Package and Tour Operations

Task 1

1.1 Effect of current and recent trends in developing the tour operation industries

Tour and travel sector has gained importance in the arena of serving people by considering all their recent trends and demand. It is the most successful aspect by which an industry can largely and successfully meet its stated objectives of raising funds by gradually increasing its profits and revenues. Tourism is nowadays in high demand by many tourists who are tremendously attracted towards art and culture of different countries. Thus, it is equally important for the tourism businesses to enhance their services for effectively meeting forecasted demand of customer which clearly defines their interest in utilizing an advanced approach. Some major impacts of the latest trends and development are as mentioned below...

Technological development

Technical advancement has greatly and positively influenced the industry of tourism with a tremendous rise in its updated methods of serving the clients. Here, the internet has worked as an active source with its increasing demand among the users. Thomas Cook too operates its own websites by which the clients can easily schedule and manage their bookings. They can also provide an option of booking cancellation where the clients can make necessary changes, as and if required. Therefore, such ease and convenience in services to the users is largely responsible for the growth of tourism sector.

Cost effective packages

The cited firm also provides an overall holiday package which consists of tour destination with almost all other required services of travelling and accommodating clients. They too care for serving quality of food at the time of tour by using varied healthy and nutrient contents. For this purpose, the cited firm has contracted on the best cater service to work with them. Other than that, this methodology also help the users to select from a wide range of services which together serves them as a cost effective method by buying the services in bulk.

Measures of promoting services

It is yet another essential factor in which the cited firm is responsible to broadcast their varied services to its prospected users by together educating them about famous destinations to visit. The tour operators usually create relevant brochures and distribute among their agents for selling it to the customers. The organization is focused to provide an experience of grey tourism to its service users.

Task 2

2.1 Assessing stages and time scales involved in developing holidays

Below is an itinerary plan for an African tropical destination of Kenya. It comprises an overall holiday package for the service users of Thomson Cook. It is a one week plan that consists of a proper scheduling of time with total number of days and nights in the beaches and deserts of Kenya with some other arrangements of transportation and flight services. Kenya is an authentic place to spend holiday in major number of attractive beaches and safaris. Therefore, the traveller's to Kenya often plans to visit both combinations (Connell, 2013). Thomas Cook too considered similar aspect of creating the below stated travel plan for Kenya visitors.

2.2 Different methods of contracting for various components of the holiday by the tour operators

Different tour operators have different plans to build their packages for the customers. Below are the two main methods of contracting which includes-

1. Fixed contracts

Such contracts are being used by the Airtours company, where it will book for the total transportation service. However, it will charge the customer for only the utilized part of its service. This kind of facilities will undoubtedly attract many service users with a benefit of paying only for the consumed part of their service. Here at the seasonal time, the operators can generate a huge amount of profits. However, such type of contracts comprises certain risk where the operator has to bear a loss of non utilized service and receives a payment of only underutilized portion by customer.

2. Sale contracts

These contacts are useful for the operators at the lean season where the risk takers are generally associated to buyers. Here the firm's like Flight centres are responsible to sell their packages to the customers, whose cancellation does not affect the firm on a large basis. Mostly, the high end customers are targeted for such contracts.

Both the above discussed methods can be profoundly used by the selected tour operator, Thomas Cook. These methods will equally help the cited firm to balance out its applied costs and expenditures.

2.3 Selling price of a holiday

The price range of a holiday package by Thomas cook mainly refines the costing of overall acknowledged facilities to its service users. It comprises various fields which mainly include the cost of transportation facilities, accommodating charges, catering services, and ticket fares to check into the various places of attraction. The below mentioned table however concludes a total cost of 3,330.00 EUR for buying the above package of Kenya.

Task 3

3.1 Planning decisions taken for the design of a selected brochure

Selecting a prompt brochure is of vital importance where it works as the key element to attract a major number of customer's. Therefore, it is important for the tour operating company to opt a flaunting look of their brochures. It conducts various levels of planning to recognize the exact psychology of the recent trends and demands of the customers by determining the latest use of techniques and approaches. The planning procedure of designing a brochure initiates with its first impression by working towards the content in regard to audience, a prompt selection of colours and images, etc. The basic creation of a brochure is to provide the audience an overall overview of the purpose behind it. One doesn't require to be an affluent designer to build a prospective brochure. However, it just needs to be a vigilant consumer who knows about the ongoing market trends and opportunities to create a market friendly brochure. Thus, an effective planning of Thomas and Cook depends on the below mentioned points...

Fascinated theme

It is the foremost step where the cited firm aims to create a single effectual message that contains the overall story for its viewers. They ensure its content to be the most dignified one to indulge numerous audiences to go through the below points.

Objective of the brochure

It is the next step to plan the certified objectives that the cited firm is focusing upon. They mainly target the three different kind of objectives which are-

Learning objectives- It will help the readers to determine the benefits of the package with the available services and its costing, etc.
Emotional objectives- This will build a sense of feeling among the readers to whether accept to participate in it or not.
Behavioural objectives- These objectives will showcase the above resultant of emotional objectives which may be either positive or negative as per the total number of participants who took interest to be a part of the package circulated by the cited firm.

Targeting Audience

It this step, the cited firm is responsible to decide its targeted customer's which typically defines some segments of...

• Families with small children or couples,
• Old-age people's,
• Oversees visitors,
• Groups from schools and colleges, or
• Tourists with some special interest of sports activities and wildlife, etc.

Accordingly, the cited firm will be posting some pictures of attractive destination arenas to largely attract the customers.

3.2 Suitability of alternatives to a traditional brochure

A traditional brochure represents the paper format of a booklet where it is quite impossible to cover all the information of the destination that one wants to convey to its audiences. Thus, it comprises only of a certain amount of data in it which works just as an overview of the place. However, internet comes to the rescue of it and effectively cops up with this traditional form of designing a brochure. It together shows a very profound outcome with some expected boom of responses by the viewers. This is a resultant effect of e-brochures which are now thoroughly available at various sites of internet. Thomas Cook too owes its website which covers almost all famous destinations around the world.

A digital form thus helps the cited firm to intensify certain inner feelings of its audience to view the spell bound presentation of each and every corner that one dreams to visit at least once. It together prompts its services by mentioning all rendering facilities to the customers. It proves to be beneficial for both the firm and its customers where the cited firm will get a major number of active online customers with an ease of viewing the required data of both the place and its travelling costing. As a result, the cited firm will attain more participation of traveller's to gain a huge amount of income.

3.3 Suitability of different methods of distribution

The circulation of brochures highly reflect the sale of packages by a tour operator. Therefore, one should opt for an effective method of distribution that attain some fluent number of potential customers. Thomas Cook too uses several methods of distribution that mainly refers to either making a direct telephonic sale by operating a separate call centre for such specific purpose, by trading online or by making various promotional offers, etc. Direct sale by the cited firm involves selling through the means of online medium, or by making telephonic calls to its existing clients by acknowledging them about the current ongoing plan or package and asking them to give few references of certain prospected customers who are presently planning for a tour and interested in utilizing the services of a tour operator. It is a cost effective measure by approaching major number of service users.

Another methodology is email marketing in which the cited firm impersonally communicate the targeted consumers through mails to broadcast them about their recent tour packages. It too works as a low cost method where the prospected customer receives all required data specifying the features of their package which becomes together becomes easy for its audience to judge and decide. The cited firm also hires some certified agents in regard to sell the brochures among the targeted segment of customers. They are also responsible to conduct various promotional activities to enhance their sale that lastly effects the growth of the organization. Hence, Thomas Cook utilizes a combined form of all these approaches to successfully reach the stated objectives.

Task 4

4.1 Evaluation of strategic decisions

A strategic implementation is considered as an important element to attain a major outcome of positive results. Thus, Thomas Cook too believes in applying the similar approach of building a strategic plan of operating its business which mainly involves making decisions regarding the designing of its booklet, by identifying the targeted segment of customers, fixing a cost effective price to attract more number of people towards its services and choosing a prompt method to circulate or distribute its action plan by covering major number of audiences. Developing an effective strategic plan is often emerges a profitable firm with a dynamic nature of changing the plans by considering outside proposition of demand. However, the strategic decision of Thomas Cook relies on the below mentioned factors...

Segmentation followed by targeting and positioning

The firm starts with a particular segmentation of its targeted audiences where the cited firm focuses on building a demographic segmentation. It is done by determining the age, income and interest of its prospected customers on which the other factors are being framed. It mainly reflects the pricing strategy of the cited firm to competitively strike its major competitors.

Seasonality factor

It defines a pricing strategy of the cited firm at the peak time of travel and tourism when there are large number of prospected customers to focus upon. The seasonality highly states the firm's revenue and thus it is important to take a firm and effective decision of pricing by together selecting a sound area.

Promotional activities

This is a factor of broadcasting the services to its prospected users. It defines the process of selecting an appropriate channel of designing and distributing brochures to attract huge numbers of public. The cited firm also provides various discount offers at the peak season to pull more audiences.

4.2 Comparison of tactical decisions

Building a tactical decision involves the functionality of daily operations of Thomas cook where it is solely responsible to manage all its expenditures. Therefore, it is important for the cited firm to negotiate with its service providers of accommodation and transportation. There are various service providers for different facilities of transportation, accommodation, and catering, etc. The cited firm have to set a pre-defined budget of their own and build an effective proposal to invite those service providers. They then selects the most effective quotation out of the available options which is suiting the most to their pre planned budget. The main motive of the cited firm is to opt for a minimal cost of plan which together serves at its best to the clients. The most effective form of making negotiations to select the most suitable proposal is often done by personal meetings with the service providers. It also helps the cited firm to make a complete understanding of their policies and procedures by eliminating any existence of uncertainty. However, evaluating the experience of customers is also included in building a tactile decision that involves to rectify and resolving any issues or concerns of the service users.

Conclusion

The present report has effectively covered various aspects of a tourism operating firm by concluding all its major components to always lead a way ahead. It has showcased four major parts of understanding the formulation of this industry, identifying various stages it involves to create a profound holiday package for its service users, the comprehension of framing and distributing its brochures in the most needed form by using and considering all the latest means of techniques and lastly by making an appropriate decision of building its both strategic and tactical action plan that further reflects its day to day operations.

References

• Barker, A. D., 2014. Identity and Intercultural Exchange in Travel and Tourism (Vol. 42). Channel View Publications.
• Becker, E., 2013. Overbooked: the exploding business of travel and tourism. Simon and Schuster.
• Carmody, J., 2013. Intensive tour guide training in regional Australia: an analysis of the Savannah Guides organisation and professional development schools. Journal of Sustainable Tourism.
• Cheng, C. K. and et.al., 2011. An examination of tourism journal development. Tourism Management.
• Connell, J., 2013. Contemporary medical tourism: Conceptualisation, culture and commodification. Tourism Management.
• Dickinson, J. E., Lumsdon, L. M. and Robbins, D., 2011. Slow travel: Issues for tourism and climate change. Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

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