TRAVEL AND TOUR MANAGEMENT 1 TRAVEL AGENCIES Businesses

TRAVEL AND TOUR MANAGEMENT 1

TRAVEL 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 AGENT 1. A Travel Agent is more skilled at finding the best travel solution ü 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 AGENT 2. A Travel Agent can find the best deal üAgents are better at spotting genuine values. üEx. : hotels in Singapore üThe 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 AGENT 3. A Travel Agent saves time and trouble ü Most of us today lead highly busy lives, so, you can let a pro take over for youplanning and booking travel

REASONS WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO BOOK THROUGH A TRAVEL AGENT 4. A Travel Agent is accountable ü 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 AGENT 5. A Travel Agent knows suppliers better üTravel 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 AGENT 5. A Travel Agent knows suppliers better üIn 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 AGENT 6. A Travel Agent knows destinations better ü 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 AGENT 7. A Travel Agent is largely impartial üTravel Agencies usually have preferred relationships with multiple suppliers in each sector. üSuppliers 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 AGENCIES 1. CONVENTIONAL, FULL-SERVICE AGENCIES Ø These agencies sell it all: air, lodging, car rentals, rail travel, cruises, tours and most other forms of travel packages. Ø 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 Ø 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 FULLSERVICE AGENCY 1. a. They may be wholly owned by a large agency chain, or by a smaller regional or local chain. Ø Mega-Agency- large chains with thousand or more locations q. Ex. : American Express, Carlson Wagonlit Ø Regional Chains- with several hundred locations Ø Local Chains- with half-dozen or more locations

1 B. 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. q Example: Uniglobe- franchise operations

1 C. Travel Agencies may be affiliated with consortium ØCONSORTIUM- a group of agencies that works together to obtain and develop marketing tools, accounting systems, training programs, and higher commissions from selected, preferred suppliers. ØEx. : Ensemble Travel My Travel Vacation. Com Signature travel Network

1 D. Travel Agencies may simply be INDEPENDENT, with no affiliations Ø Often called “mom and pop” agencies

2. ONLINE AGENCIES ØThese agencies operate almost exclusively through their web sites. ØA great marketing strength is that online agencies are not bound by geography. They sell to people anywhere in the world. ØEx. : Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz Ø“ 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 ü Requires less office space and fewer resources ü Peer interaction is lost and plenty of selfdiscipline is required. ü 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. ØOutside Agents may have a full-time job in another field and sell travel to their circle of friends, relatives, and co -workers. ØHOST 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 ü 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 Respond to request Work almost exclusively by phone and email Often communicate through the traveler’s assistant, not the traveler Usually hear about how a trip went Just about every caller books travel shoppers, ” LEISURE AGENTS Inform and suggest Are more likely to meet with clients in-person Almost always deal directly with the traveler Hear about how a trip went if something went wrong Often deal with “phone 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 INTERNET 1. WEB SITES Ø World Wide Web • A system within the internet that organizes information, both text and visuals, into pages that can easily be retrieved and displayed Ø Internet • A global system of computer networks that enables people to access and communicate with any other computer connected to it.

Types of Sites 1. 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 ü You can find out almost anything on the net, with plenty about travelrelated issues

2. Its convenient ü You can research and buy from your home or office, 24/7, ü No need to wait, hold or go to the office

3. There’s no sales pressure ü You rarely feel that someone is manipulating you into buying ü The site is infinitely patient

4. Its interactive ü The give and take between the consumer and the site is quick, flexible and accurate

5. Its visual ü 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 ü Websites lend themselves to creative, flashy, and fun buying environments-useful when selling leisure travel

7. It communicates regularly ü 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 ü 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 ü Its hard to assemble a multicomponent trip on the internet

TRAVEL AND THE INTERNET 2. Its potentially time-consuming ü It can overload you with so many choices and so much data that you don’t know where to begin ü 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 ü 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. ü 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 ü 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 üAwkward 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 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 ü A traveler can pay in USD üA traveler can pay in the currency of the foreign country üA traveler can pay through credit card üA traveler through a traveler’s check.

CROSSING BORDERS 1. 2. 3. 4. SAFETY AND SECURITY Check travel advisories Be careful of theft Go with brands you know Health Concerns - Vaccinations, jet lag, motion sickness, food & drink