TRAVEL AND TOUR MANAGEMENT1

TRAVEL AGENCIESTRAVEL AGENCIES- Businesses that help the public with

their travel plans and needs- Mostly operate offices that consumers

can visit or call- Some are “virtual agencies” that sell

through internet web sites- Can target their sales to leisure or

business travelers, or to both.

TRAVEL AGENCIES

TRAVEL AGENTS- Also called travel advisor, travel

consultant, travel counselor or travel planner

- A professional who analyzes, recommends, arranges, and sell one or more components of a person’s trip

TRAVEL AGENCIES

TRAVEL AGENTS

- 35-40% of consumers regularly use travel agents to help plan or book their trips.

- 80% of all travel agents are women

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT1. A Travel Agent is more skilled at

finding the best travel solution

The average person spends only a handful of hours each year planning and booking travel. Travel Agents do this sort of things all day, every week, all year. They’re professionals who know what they’re doing.

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT2. A Travel Agent can find the best deal

Agents are better at spotting genuine values.

Ex.: hotels in SingaporeThe price maybe a bargain, but what a

traveler gets for it is a poor value compared to its competitors.

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT3. A Travel Agent saves time and trouble

Most of us today lead highly busy lives, so, you can let a pro take over for you- planning and booking travel

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT4. A Travel Agent is accountable

If something goes wrong with a trip you bought, the travel agency will do all it can to solve the problem

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT5. A Travel Agent knows suppliers better

Travel Agents know suppliers well and that such knowledge is reflected in the high trust the public places in their recommendations of subtly complex, experience-like products such as tours, cruises and complicated itineraries.

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT5. A Travel Agent knows suppliers better

In fact, more than 90% of people on tours/cruises bought their vacations through travel agents

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT6. A Travel Agent knows destinations

better

Travel Agents almost always have a much better sense of geography than their clients do.

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A

TRAVEL AGENT7. A Travel Agent is largely impartial

Travel Agencies usually have preferred relationships with multiple suppliers in each sector.

Suppliers are presumably chosen for an agency’s portfolio of preferred products because they have demonstrated a high degree of reliability, value, service, and overall excellence.

KINDS OF TRAVEL AGENCIES1. CONVENTIONAL, FULL-SERVICE

AGENCIES

These agencies sell it all: air, lodging, car rentals, rail travel, cruises, tours and most other forms of travel packages.

Customers can book travel and receive advice by phone, via e-mail, or by visiting the agency in person

KINDS OF TRAVEL AGENCIES

1. CONVENTIONAL, FULL-SERVICE AGENCIES

Tend to sell mostly to people in their own geographic community. Their neighborhood presence often makes them a comfortable choice for locals.

SUBDIVISIONS OF A FULL-SERVICE AGENCY

1.a. They may be wholly owned by a large agency chain, or by a smaller regional or local chain.

Mega-Agency- large chains with thousand or more locations

Ex.: American Express, Carlson WagonlitRegional Chains- with several hundred

locationsLocal Chains- with half-dozen or more

locations

1B. Travel Agencies may be FRANCHISES that are owned by individuals or families but are affiliated with a large brand, to whom the owners pay an annual franchise fee and/or percentage of profits.

Example: Uniglobe- franchise operations

1C. Travel Agencies may be affiliated with consortium

CONSORTIUM- a group of agencies that works together to obtain and develop marketing tools, accounting systems, training programs, and higher commissions from selected, preferred suppliers.

Ex.: Ensemble Travel My Travel Vacation. Com

Signature travel Network

1D. Travel Agencies may simply be INDEPENDENT, with no affiliations

Often called “mom and pop” agencies

2. ONLINE AGENCIESThese agencies operate almost

exclusively through their web sites.A great marketing strength is that

online agencies are not bound by geography. They sell to people anywhere in the world.

Ex.: Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz

“ BRICK-AND-CLICK” AGENCIES- Agencies that sell

conventionally as well as on the web

3. SPECIALIZED AGENCIES

- An agency may be focused on its specialty that it doesn’t need to be a full-service business

- Ex.: A cruise-only Agency

4. HOME-BASED AGENCIES- An agency’s full-time employee may find

that its easier to work from a home office than at the agency’s physical location

Requires less office space and fewer resources

Peer interaction is lost and plenty of self-discipline is required.

Many skilled agents have relocated their workspaces to their homes and as home offices in all fields.

4. HOME-BASED AGENCIES

- An agency may have a part-time seller of travel who prefers to work out of his home.

Outside Agents may have a full-time job in another field and sell travel to their circle of friends, relatives, and co-workers.

HOST AGENCY- The agency with which the outside agent is affiliated

CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGER

- A person employed by a company to arrange travel for its employees.

- Paid better than travel agents because of additional responsibilities

ROLES OF A CORPORATE TRAVEL MANAGER

- Arrange travel for the employees- Set corporate travel policy (Ex.: must book

in advance)- Plan meetings, conferences, and

convention programs- Negotiate with suppliers- Manage travel budgets- Arrange personnel relocation and housing- Communicate with management in other

departments

TRAVEL AGENT: SALES- OR SERVICE PERSON?

Business Agents- PRIMARILY service providers

Leisure Agents- PRIMARILY sales people

Of course, A Leisure Agents must also provide great service, and Corporate Agents sometimes practice certain sales strategies.

TRAVEL AGENT: SALES- OR SERVICE PERSON?

CORPORATE AGENTS LEISURE AGENTSRespond to request Inform and suggestWork almost exclusively Are more likely to meet with by phone and email clients in-personOften communicate through Almost always deal directly

with the traveler’s assistant, not the traveler the travelerUsually hear about how a Hear about how a trip went if trip went something went wrongJust about every caller books travelOften deal with “phone shoppers,”

so a majority of callers don’t book

STEPS THAT A GOOD TRAVEL AGENT TAKE

1. They provide a warm and cheery greeting.

2. They ask questions to determine the client’s needs. This process is usually called qualifying.

3. They do research, if necessary, to find the right products and services for the client.

4. They make recommendations that meet the client’s needs.

5. They overcome objections that the client might have to the recommendations.

6. They enhance the sale by recommending additional products or services (cross-selling) or perhaps better options than the client had in mind (upselling)

7. They close the sale by getting agreement and payment from the client.

8. They follow-up to make sure the trip went well.

TRAVEL AND THE INTERNET1. WEB SITES World Wide Web• A system within the internet that

organizes information, both text and visuals, into pages that can easily be retrieved and displayed

Internet• A global system of computer networks

that enables people to access and communicate with any other computer connected to it.

Types of Sites1. Information Sites• These provide you with details on

places, products and data, almost always with links to other relevant sites

2. Opinion Sites• Self-proclaimed experts giving views

on everything about destinations and products

3. Supplier Booking Sites• Suppliers recognize that the NET

provides a cost-efficient, easily updated way to distribute their products

4. Travel Agency Sites• Most agencies allow bookings both

online and through phone or in a traditional walk-in office

5. Auction Sites

• These companies permit consumers to bid on travel

• Enter a price you’re willing to pay for a certain generic travel product and the site then tells you if your bid has been accepted and with which supplier.

• Ex: www.priceline.com

Strengths of Web-based technology

1. It gives access to vast storehouses of knowledge

You can find out almost anything on the net, with plenty about travel-related issues

2. Its convenient

You can research and buy from your home or office, 24/7,

No need to wait, hold or go to the office

3. There’s no sales pressure

You rarely feel that someone is manipulating you into buying

The site is infinitely patient

4. Its interactive

The give and take between the consumer and the site is quick, flexible and accurate

5. Its visual

It can provide virtual tours of hotels, live broadcast from cruise ships, and all sorts of other visuals- the kind that motivate consumers to buy

6. It can be entertaining

Websites lend themselves to creative, flashy, and fun buying environments-useful when selling leisure travel

7. It communicates regularly

If you agree to be included on a supplier’s email list, you’ll receive special announcements, newsletter, and alerts on special offers

8. It can customize

If you volunteer information about yourself to a company’s database, it can create a profile that will permit notifications to you of product offers tailored to your taste.

Weaknesses of Web-Based Technology

1. It can’t solve complex trips very well

Its hard to assemble a multi-component trip on the internet

TRAVEL AND THE INTERNET

2. Its potentially time-consuming

It can overload you with so many choices and so much data that you don’t know where to begin

Buying travel via an inefficiently designed booking engine may take longer than a phone call to a supplier or a travel agent

3. Privacy and Security are still an issue

Many people continue to feel uncomfortable with giving personal information and/or a credit card number to a “faceless”, impersonal system

4. Information is often dated.

From a supplier point of view, one of the internet’s strengths is that information can be easily updated. This makes it superior to printed brochures. BUT IN REALITY, many suppliers fail to keep their sites current

5. It deals poorly with after-purchase problems

If something goes wrong, there’s often no one to call- or at least its difficult to find information on how to get a live person for help

6. It transacts superbly, but counsels poorly

Awkward when asking and processing open-ended questions, the kind that good travel agents handle quite well.

CROSSING BORDERS

PASSPORT

- A document that a nation’s government issues to one of its citizens to establish that person’s identity and nationality

- All countries require a traveler to show a passport to enter and exit their borders

VISA- Stamp, imprint, or piece of paper inserted

into a traveler’s passport, placed there by a foreign government, which indicates that the passport’s owner may enter and pass through the country that issued it

- It is an extra form of revenue to the issuing country

- For security purposes, some governments wish to do a background check in advance of everyone who crosses their borders

- Not a guarantee to enter a country

INTERNATIONAL DRIVERS PERMIT (IDP)

- A version of your own driver’s license translated into multiple languages

IMMIGRATION

- The process by which a government official controls movement of people across its borders

- Verifies a person’s citizenship through a passport, visa or other documents

CUSTOMS

- The procedure by which government agents inspect luggage and other goods entering a country to check for forbidden or restricted items.

CURRENCY

- Money that each country prints

AIRLINE RATE

- Exchange rate/conversion rate used in the airline and travel industry

HOTEL RATE

- Exchange /conversion rate used in the Hotel Industry

CROSSING BORDERS

A traveler can pay in USD A traveler can pay in the currency of

the foreign countryA traveler can pay through credit cardA traveler through a traveler’s check.

CROSSING BORDERS

SAFETY AND SECURITY

1. Check travel advisories

2. Be careful of theft

3. Go with brands you know

4. Health Concerns

- Vaccinations, jet lag, motion sickness, food & drink

SALES AND REVENUES

1. COMMISSIONS

Travel insurance, airlines, hotels, car rental companies, souvenir shops

SALES AND REVENUES

2. MARK-UP ON A NET FARE

Airlines, transportation companies, hotels

SALES AND REVENUES

3. SERVICE FEES

Travel documentation and assistance

SALES AND REVENUES

4. PRODUCTION INCENTIVES AND REBATES

Suppliers-tour operators and airlines