Tour Operations Cycle

Tour Operations Cycle

• Tour planning
• Itinerary development
• Contracting rates
• Costing and pricing
• Quotations and proposals
• Reservations and confirmations
• Field operations
• Billings and accountings
• Evaluation

 

Tour Operations

• Is defined as the cycle of preparing and implementing (or delivering) all the activities comprising a tour package as detailed in the itinerary, within a given time frame, within the estimated costs, generating the projected revenues in order to meet the expectations of the paying client and attain set objectives

 

Types of Tour Packages

• Ground arrangements
• Land arrangements
• Inclusive tour packages
• Inclusive escorted tour package

 

Classification of Tour Packages

• Regular tour packages
• Ad Hoc tour packages

 

 

OFFICE OPERATIONS

FIELD OPERATIONS

Tour Planning – entails setting the objectives: guest-focused, destination-oriented, financial or corporate by the Tour Operator. Itinerary Development – builds-up a schedule of destination and activities and identifies and selects the suppliers best suited to provide the components of the itinerary Contracting Rates – negotiations with the identified suppliers for the most competitive rates, concessions and terms and conditions available to Tour Operators Costing and Pricing – calculating the costs and determining the desired profits, of the various activities or services included in the itinerary, depending on the number of projected travelers availing of the tour package This activity may also involve construction and compilation of a Confidential Tariff for regular services Quotations and Proposals – involves the presentations of the services to be provided in a clear and direct fashion, and providing fair terms and conditions for the prospective client to accept. Reservations and Confirmations – processing the advance requests for space or services with the suppliers and obtaining confirmations or finding suitable alternatives Billing and Accounting – entails the preparation of billings for deposit payments and balance dues and the collection of these from the client and the payments due to suppliers Evaluation – is the assessment of the clients’ satisfaction in the package or product and evaluation of results vis-à-vis the objectives set in the planning stage.

Passage (by air, sea, land) from an origin to a destination and back)   Transfers (arrival, departure or to any other location within the destination   Tours (sightseeing tours or packaged tours) Accommodations and meals Cruises, Attractions, Activities, & Ancillary Services

 

TOUR PLANNING

• Tour planning is the process of determining the objectives to be achieved, whether these involve guest satisfaction, destination and community endorsement, organizational promotions or financial gain.
• Client-focused tour package
  • Client profile
  • Destinations requested or proposed
  • Duration
  • Category of accommodations
  • Meal plan
  • Sightseeing or activities requested or suggested
  • Mode and class of transportation
  • Ancillary services
  • Guide and/or tour escort services
  • Number of FOC
• Destination-oriented objectives
  • How accessible and what is the cost to reach the destination? How convenient is the mobility within the destination? Are there transportation modes alternatives?
  • What is the quantity and quality of accommodation and other facilities at the destination? What sort of food and beverage variety outlets are there? Are there support industries, such as the retail sale of souvenir and handicraft items?
  • What is the degree of development of basic infrastructure, such as road conditions, water, electricity, sewage and drainage? How reliable are mobile communications? Is there an ATM?
  • What are the best suited attractions, sights to view and admire or activities to participate in and experience? Are these public-sector owned or owned by private entities? Do they fit the client profile?
  • How positive is the local community’s attitude towards visitors? Are there acute cultural differences that need to be considered?
• Corporate-goals objectives
  • To retain existing clients by offering alternatives and to attract new clients
  • To establish a reputation as a market leader and stand out among competitors
  • To enhance the image of a pro-active organization abreast of perceived market trends
  • To engage in public relations and thus generate word-of-mouth endorsement and
  • To increase returns and thus improve revenues

 

ITINERARY DEVELOPMENT

• Building-up the destination/s and activities and conveniently arranging these in a chronological order
  • How developed are the destinations short-listed and the destination to be finally selected?
  • To what degree is the development of basic infrastructure at the destination/s?
  • How convenient is the connectivity between the origin and the various destinations
  • What is the best transportation mode to use and which is the supplier that best fits the needs and expectations of the clients?
  • What is the basis for selection mode, cost or convenience?
  • What supplier is the first choice? Second choice?
  • What accommodation supplier at the selected destination/s best fits the client’s profile in terms of location, facilities and amenities?
  • Who is the alternative supplier?
  • Are there variety of food and beverage outlets and other support industries?
  • Are the tourist attractions, sights to view and admire available year-round?
  • Are there activity-participation enablers at the destination? How reliable is the staff and equipment of these enablers?
  • Does the local language require translators or interpreters for the visitors? Are service attitudes and the quality of the service staff up to acceptable standards?

 

CONTRACTING RATES AND SERVICES

• Emerging trends in contracting
• Basic inclusions in contracting rates, terms and conditions
• Class and/or type of service and category and/or type of room
• Taxes, insurance fees, service charges
• Applicable concessions
  • Suppliers normally grant concessions to tour operators. Tour operators in turn, pass these on to their clients.  Transportation companies would normally grant a free ticket for a specified number of full-paying tickets issued, is these are traveling together on the same sector, flight and date.  Concessions when chartering transportation equipment may extend to one hour of usage free, for every five full hours of usage.

In the lodging industry concessions range from one (1) free bed for every fifteen (15) paying beds, up to maximum four (4) beds, to free welcome drink or breakfast included in room rate.  Hotel meals are never complimentary as a rule of thumb.  Supplier will grant room concessions in accordance to the perceived potential or actual track record of the tour operator.

• Validity of contracted rates
• Booking and reservation procedures and conditions
• Free sale and cut-off date
  • Some suppliers grant tour operators free sale facilities. Free sale means that a number of seats, beds, rooms and the like are allocated to a particular operator to sell within a period of time leading to a cut-off date.  Upon reaching the cut-off date, the unsold seats, beds, rooms and the like automatically revert to the control of the supplier.  The tour operator may no longer sell these after the cut-off date.  Unlike an option date/time that is given at the time of booking, the cut-off date is preset when the negotiations for free sale allocations are undertaken.
• Deposit payments
• Form of payment and credit line

COSTING AND PRICING

Components of Tour Costing

• Transportation
• Transfer
• Accommodation
• Sight seeing
• Tour escort

Approaches of Tour Escorting

• Simple Mark Up: consists of identifying the general and individual costs and adding a standard mark up
• Concession: identifying the cost of a tour package depending on the incentive due to other tour operators and based on projected number of passengers