Travel & Tourism Management

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CASE STUDY - 1

 A travel agency agency is a business business that retails travel travel related products products and services, services, particularly packaged tours to customers on behalf of third party travel suppliers such as airlines, hotels, tour companies and cruise liners. There are three different types of agencies-multiples, maniples and independent independent agencies. Multiples comprise a number of national travel agency chains often owned by an international: conglomerate. conglomerate. For example, Thompson Holidays a national chain is owned by TUI, the German multinational. It is quite common now for large mass-market tour  companies to purchase t controlling interests in a chain of travel agents in order to control the distribution of their products. This is called vertical integration. The maniples are smaller travel agency chains that serve particular regions or districts.  An Independent Independent Agency Agency is a single entrepreneur entrepreneur unit that usually usually caters to a special niche market or neighbourhood. Its most important role is to be the on-the-spot neighbourhood neighbourhood advisor on travel. As travel has become popular, we see independent travel agents in most neighbourhoods. neighbourhoods. They are recognized by the attractive posters of tourist destinations in their  show windows. They sell dreams and are important partners of different agencies in any travel plan. The diagram below illustrates the number of other agencies coordinated by a travel agent to give quality services to a particular market. ROLE OF A TRAVEL AGENT A GENT

The role of the travel agent is that of a retail agent that sells travel plans and services. Their  main function is to act as an agent for travel related products and services on behalf of the supplier who are the principals or tour operators. They do not keep stocks on hand but requisition them from the supplier on demand by the customer. They approach travel principals to get cheap rates for the facilities they offer. Principals would be those travel partners like the airlines, surface transporters, • hotels, etc. who provide essential services. Travel agents get better rates because of the volume of the business they give to each principal. The agent's profit is the difference between the supplier's price and the price that they quote to the customer. The difference is called the commission which may vary from 10-20%. They also provide access to the principals in those regions where the principals would have to make heavy investments to get access on their own. Travel Agents therefore provide the distribution network that the principals crave for.  A travel agent's agent's typical role would would be to:

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4. Negotiate with art centres for cultural entertainment. 5. Negotiate fares with domestic airlines and railways for inter-city travel by the most economical route. 6. Coordinate with various tourist centres for sightseeing tours. 7. Develop comprehensive local packages for tour operators and individual travellers. 8. Provide information on national and international tours. 9. Arrange international international and domestic airline, railway, bus, river boat, ocean liner tickets to the public consumer. 10. Arrange hotel accommodation. 11. Arrange city and inter-city tours. 12. Arrange surface transportation including limousines and coaches. 13. Organise local sight seeing tours. 14. Make arrangements for passports and Visas for foreign travel. Travel Agency chains may offer additional commercial services such as travel insurance, travel guides, timetables, car rental, on-site exchange bureau, etc. Travel agencies give confidence to their customers by enrolling as members of the national association (e.g. Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and IATA (International (International Air Traffic Association) who set their own standards of commercial proprietary. Travel Agency Revenue Travel agents make money through commissions from the various principals. Principals work with travel agents as partners. Such partnerships are formerly cemented in an agreement that covers the following:

1. The amount of commission. Travel agents get as much as 20% from the principals. 2. Discounted tariff that they can pass on to the traveller or keep as their profit. 3. Reservation quotas to freely confirm rooms, seats, berths etc. in hotels, airlines and boats etc. 4. Policy on cancellation of bookings with penalty clauses.

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holidays abroad with charter flights between Gatwick airport and Corsica in 1950. By the 1950s and  1960s, these package holidays, which combined chartered flights and accommodation, provided the first chance to the middle cl3SS in the UK to have affordable travel abroad. The package tour market is now in the hands of few large tour operators such as Thompson Holidays, Thomas Cook AG, My Travel and First Choice. Under these umbrella brands, there exists a whole range of different holiday operators catering to different markets such as Club 18-30 or Simply Travel. The changing profile of customers has led to another concept called Dynamic Packages. This involves  booking procedures that enable enable customers to build build their own package of flights, accommodation and  car rental instead of pre-defined packages. The advent of budget airlines, budget car-rental and  economy hotels have given the opportunity to all with a modicum of disposable income, to travel creating mass travel as never before. This type of customer is called the Free Individual Traveller ( FIT ). ).

INFLUENCE OF E-TRADE With the advent of the internet, the public has access to travel information directly. With airlines and  hotels linked to global distribution systems or with proactive websites, travellers do not need travel agents Principals too are dealing directly with travellers and saving on the commissions paid to the travel agents. Many pass on the benefit of discounted fares to customers which would have otherwise gone to the travel agent. Travel agents have responded by developing internet presence on the web with their own websites. Such sites are complex and require the assistance of outside travel technology solutions such as Travelocity, Patheo and Open Fares promoted by Global Distribution Systems like Sabre Holdings, Amadeus and Worldspan to provide up to the minute detailed data on tens of thousands of flights, hotel rooms and car rental availability.

Some travel sites allow travellers to compare hotel and flight rates with multiple companies for free. They may also allow travellers to sort the travel packages by amenities, price and proximity to a city or landmark. Travel agents have used dynamic packaging tools to provide fully bonded (full financial  protection) travel at prices equal to or lower lower than a member of the public public who can book online. Travel agents in busy districts also negotiate quotas of airline seats and hotel rooms in order to give instant confirmations to customers who visit their sites. Earlier, customers had to wait for the confirmation till the travel agent had secured the seat or hotel booking from the principal.

Question Question :

1) 2) 3) 4)

Explain the role of travel agent. agent. Explain the the concept concept of E-trade. List the types of agency. agency. What is WIT WIT and why it is called?

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CASE STUDY - 2 CUSTOMER SERVICE BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER A SALE Before a Sale The first point of contact for most customers is over the phone. A reservationist of a hotel is the first  point of contact for a hotel. hotel. 92% people feel their their call experience will will shape the image image of the company over the phone. In a Mobius Management Systems Systems Survey, the following were the results after the first call:

• 60% cancelled accounts with banks • 36% changed insurance providers • 40% changed telephone companies • 35% changed credit card providers • 37% changed internet service providers The question an organisation must ask is, "Am I one of those statistics?" A study done by Purdue University and BenchmarkPortal.com showed that younger people are more intolerant and likely to change their business to elsewhere. They need a 'Wow' experience to maintain their loyalty. People over 65 years were more demanding than middle-agers. Middle-aged people seem to have a better emotional account and are more likely to forgive. How can one know the age of  customers over the phone? It is not possible. Therefore, the best way to ensure good customer service is to have a uniform customer-centric approach to every interaction. Telephone Manners The telephone we see is the preferred instrument of contact. It becomes J powerful marketing tool and  therefore, needs some skills to be used effectively as a medium of providing good customer service. Here are some tips when answering telephone calls:

• Answer the telephone within three rings. A customer is impatient with a telephone that keeps on ringing. It suggests" that the organisation is unprofessional and laidback. • Identify the organisation by saying: "Good morning, Hotel XYZ, how may I help you?" Should an extension route through a telephone operator say, "Good morning, Reservation Department, how may I help you?" The Americans made such greetings more informal by saying, "Hi, Betty speaking, how may I help you?" The way one answers must be in keeping with local practices and sensitivities.

The phrase "How may I help you?" shows care. The first interaction is like a handshake

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excitable nor dull and boring. The server should try to conjure up an image of  professionalism and friendship. friendship. The best way to get the right tone is to smile while talking. The tone automatically shows warmth. • A customer does not like someone very chatty. The customer prefers prefers to do the talking and the server to do the listening. li stening. When responding responding to a customer's query, it is best to be short and to the point. Long statements can only confuse the customer. Often customers are too chatty themselves and speak about everything else but what they want. It is best, in such circumstances, to take control of the conversation by asking questions using the Ws and H What, Why, Who, Where, Which and How. Such questions immediately force the chatty customer to answer the question and get to the point. • Do not rush the customer to disconnect. It gives the impression that the customer is a nuisance. It is prudent to be patient and a courtesy to let the guest disconnect first. • Before disconnecting, thank the guest for calling and give any dates if required to call back. • Remember to callback. With the advent of cyberspace, most organisations have their own websites which give complete information and contact for future transactions. The websites must be attractive and motivational for a customer to pursue the transaction. Home delivery is a potent way to 'lock-in' the customer. Airlines deliver air tickets home. Passengers can download their tickets. Hotels have the same feature with room confirmations. Customers Customers can download their confirmations from the web. Restaurateurs have capitalized on this concept by delivering meals home thereby greatly enhancing their  reach to a faceless customer.  An important important step before before making any any sales is acquiring product knowledge. knowledge. A salesperson salesperson must be fully aware of every aspect of product and service features. A customer loses interest if the salesperson is unable to supply accurate information. Misleading a guest is also wrong. Sales persons must constantly update themselves on product and service information to be more effective. A hotel reservationist, for example, must know the features of all types of rooms, hotel facilities, rates of products and services, options, etc. Guests expect the person in the front to be knowledgeable knowledgeable and will not tolerate any ignorance. Should a situation arise that a server is unable to answer a specific question, she -should be honest but promise to call back with the required information. information. She must call back thereafter. During a sale

The above translates itself into i nto behaviour that promotes the best customer service. Such

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Employees give the non-physical dimension. People who provide service should be immaculately dressed. The service industry stresses on grooming and hygiene. They control this aspect by providing uniforms. People serving must be dressed with well-pressed clothes that are clean. Then are the next steps of first and continued impression. Prompt acknowledgement: As soon as the guest approaches a person for service, she

would like to be given attention immediately. immediately. This attention can be an eye contact, in the first instance, followed with a smile. Should the server be busy, it is best to say, "I will be with you shortly". This recognition and attention, as simple as it seems, gives the guest selfesteem and the emotional security that he is being attended to. A guest simply hates being ignored. If a guest is ignored i gnored then he or she will make a gesture to attract attention sometimes unpleasant. unpleasant. A smile cannot be underestimated_ A smile shows friendliness and puts the guest at ease. Friendly greeting: The server attends to the guest with a smile, saying. "Good day,

welcome to (name of company), how may I help you?" Here, the guest has shown courtesy by wishing him or her the time of the day. The server is i s also helpful by offering help. In a global world there is another problem- languages differ. An English greeting may be alien to Japanese. However, the smile and gesture shows the greeting. It is more emotive than the words. A non-English speaking guest may reply in his or her own language. It is the cue for  the receptionist to find someone on her team who speaks the language. Progressive Progressive organizations maintain a multi-lingual team in customer-end jobs based on the expected profile of guests. If the language-specific person is not in the team, then the future transactions would have to display warm emotion and helping gestures. Giving impo rtance: rtance: Nothing is more important and precious to a guest than his or her 

name. It is important for the server to get the name of the guest immediately by simply asking, "May I have your name please?" Thereafter, it is vital for the server to address the guest by the name. It breaks down communication barriers and makes future transactions more personal. It also enhances the customer's self-esteem. Another Another way to give importance is to give full attention to the customer during that transaction. transaction. Listen p atiently: atiently: This is a quality that needs to be developed in order to give good customer 

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time. Good customer service means keeping the customer informed about the progress of  that need and must fulfil it as soon as it is available. Take for instance, a receptionist who may not have a room readily available for a guest who has a confirmed' reservation. The server may expect a twenty minute delay for the next free room to be available. The receptionist should be honest about the status of the room and tell the guest to wait in the lobby. She should keep the guest appraised about the progress and allot the room as soon as the room is available. The guest should not be put in a position to follow-up with the receptionist. If a meal is promised in twenty minutes by the order-taker of room service then the meal" must be delivered to that guest room within the promised time. Guests dislike promises not kept.  Af ter a Sale

 A customer experience does does not end with a sale. The The after sale service is equally important important that seals the loyalty to a product or service. Organisations that sell physical products like televisions, cars, mobiles, etc have After Sales Service Centres. The service centres provide support for faulty products. The way they respond to service requests make the final difference between a good organisation and a bad one. As the name suggests, the service centre provides service and must embrace all the qualities of customer service. Service after  sales is the opportunity to rectify any bad feelings that a customer may have towards a product. How does the after sales concept apply to the service industry? A hairdresser may call his client to find out if she was satisfied with her hair style after she visited his salon last. He calls to find out if she needs any further modifications. A computer engineer may call the customer after a few days to find out if the computer was working to his satisfaction. The Guest Relations Executive may call a guest after he has checked out to find out if he had any suggestions to improve his stay. All these examples shows care even after a service has been provided. A customer would prefer to patronize those who care after a sale. CUSTOMER CUSTOMER SERVICE AND A ND TECHNOLOGY

Organisations are increasingly using technology to serve their customers better. They call the total process as Customer Relations Management (CRM). There are three aspects of  CRM each of which can be implemented in isolation:

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and improve service. For example, a: hotel guest needing baby-sitting services would contact the housekeeping desk. The attendant is immediately hooked up to a baby care company through the net with rates, times and schedules to be able to confirm the service to the guest. Similarly, a guest requiring a bouquet makes a request to the receptionist who gets hooked to an associate florist who delivers the order. Hotels have associate hotels in the area and may need to check-in a confirmed guest into that property because of their own high occupancy. The receptionist is able to call up the room status of the associate on her  computer to confirm a room there.  An alyti aly ti cal CRM

 Analytical CRM analyses customer customer data for a variety of purposes, including: • Design and execution of marketing campaigns to target markets. • Cross-selling, acquisition, up-selling and retention campaigns. • Analysis of customer behaviour for pricing decisions, new product development, development, etc. • Profitability analysis of past customer sources for management decision-making. decision-making. • Credit evaluation of customers • Predictive analysis of future customer behaviour. Question Question :

1) What are the service which which are given to the customer customer during the sale. sale. 2) List the various types of aspects aspects of Customer Customer Relation Management Management and explain explain any aspect. 3) Why it is said First impression impression is last last impression. 4) Explain the tips tips while answering answering telephonic telephonic calls.

CASE STUDY - 3 HOTELS IN MODERN TIMES

The advent of the industrial revolution in England brought ideas and progress in the

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HISTORY OF HOTELS IN AMERICA A MERICA

With the discovery of the new continent, inns soon proliferated into America. Samuel Cole is credited with the opening the first inn in 1634 A.D., in Boston, called Cole's Ordinary. Inns such as this provided beer and rum and plentiful cheap food. Taverns and Inns modeled themselves in the European style. While eateries were established, the hotels came much later. The real growth of the modern hotel industry took place in the USA, beginning with the opening of City Hotel in New York in 1794 A.D. New York then was a busy seaport with a population of 30,000 people. people. This was the first building especially erected for a hotel and had 73 guest rooms. This eventually led to great competition between different cities and resulted in frenzied hotel building activities. The Exchange Coffee House in Boston came first followed by the second City Hotel in Baltimore, then the Mansion House in Philadelphia Philadelphia and the Adelphi Hotel in New York. These soon became the centres of social activity in their  respective cities. At best these were ordinary lodgings for the middle class. In 1829, The Tremont House in Boston had the distinction of being the first luxury hotel i n America. It was the first to offer private rooms with locks, l ocks, a wash basin, pitcher and soap. It had a French restaurant and uniformed service personnel. This signalled the development of luxury hotels in the USA during the 1800s. The Grand Pacific in Chicago, The Palmer House and Sherman House in St. Louis and the Paxton in Omaha were such luxury prerunners in luxury hotel development. development. In 1874, William Chapman Ralston established a super luxury property called the Palace Hotel in California during the Gold Rush. It was built on the lines of a European palace with domed glass roof, marble floors, own water supply, fire sprinkler system and airconditioning. It had 800 plush rooms spread over seven floors. In 1908, Ellsworth M. Statler saw the need for providing accommodation for a new segment the business traveller. He created the Statler Hotel in Buffalo, New York, built specifically for  the commercial sector. It involved big investments, big profits and trained professionals to manage the business. The Statler Hotel provided private baths and full-length mirrors in each room. His engineering, architecture and service ideas became the standard for future

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first steam car in 1770 A.D., invented by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot of France followed by the car with the internal combustion engine by Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir of France in 1860. These cars were the privilege of a few then. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz of  Germany developed the petrol engine the forerunner of what we have today. The technology was brought to the US in 1890 by Charles and Frank Duryea. It was only Henry Ford and Eli Olds who created the concept of mass production of cars in 1908 that made automobiles automobiles a household possession possession.. People were now mobile for long distances because of the car. Initially Motor Inns served fishermen, hunters besides vacationers in remote areas in the early 1900s. The great increase in automobile travel in the 1940s and 1950s led to the development of motels (short form of Motor and Hotel) situated at busy interchanges and on highways. Motels are also called motor hotels, motor inns' or motor lodges. The United States alone has over 20000 motels. Motels provide free parking facilities from which the guests can reach their rooms directly. Some motels have garaging facilities, restaurants and swimming pools. Over the years motels became chain operations operations and in 1970, we saw the budget mote with rates half that of  regular motels. Budget motels have small rooms and provide fewer services. While most motels were 'mom and pop' shows with 50 to 100 rooms, a Memphis businessman Kemmons Wilson thought of standardizing motels into a chain c hain operation. He created the first Holiday Inn on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee, which remains the headquarters of the Holiday Inn chain. It {had 126 rooms, swimming pool, free ice, free parking and dog kennels. It became a standard for all Holiday Inn motels. Holiday Inns today has 315,000 guest rooms and is expanding at the rate of one every two and a half days. The Holiday Inns, 1982 onwards, built Embassy Suites, Crowne Plazas and Hampton Inns which are segmented chains within a chain. The holiday Inn is now a subsidiary of a British Hotel group, the Bass Company.  Another innovator innovator was Cecil Cecil 8. Day, who who in 1970, opened budget budget motels motels and saw an an opportunity with the construction of Disney World and Epcot Centre in Orlando, Florida. 8y establishing a chain of motels around the modern wonder he created one of the worlds largest motel chain - the Days Inns.  A modern motel will have the following standard features: features:

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Recreation Recreation and Food: Most motels are equipped with a swimming pool. A bar is an

essential feature and may have an optional contracted diner on premises. This may be essential in remote locations. In locations besides a town or city, the motel may have a tieup with local restaurants that provide a home-delivery service. The reception may keep a range of menus of local restaurants and permit food delivery to the rooms. Those with a captive food facility may have an all-purpose diner that closes by 8 p.m. Motels recognize that travellers, especially families will bring their own food which they will re-heat in the room microwave. independent access to the room. The guest will have to pay for  Check-in: Most motels have independent the room in advance at the reception and is given an access key to the floor where the room is located, and the room. The reception normally charge room bills to the guest credit card. Very few people in North America pay by cash. The process for check-in is simple with least fuss. There are ample parking facilities most often opposite the room itself in single storied structures. Initially motels provided garaging facilities because of car breakdowns of old cars. Modern cars are more dependable. Moreover, nowadays a petrol station may be found at shorter intervals down the road. Question Question :

1) How was the Hotel in modern times? 2) List and explain explain any two features features of modern modern Motel. Motel.

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SPACE TRAVEL Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson's space tourism venture, Virgin Galactic and the National Aemnautic Space Administration have announced plans to activate hypersonic travel between earth based cities. The The Cosmo Plane will be a successor to the Concorde and will. make make adventurous travellers to go further and faster.

Hypersonic speeds are five times the speed of sound. An aircraft flying that fast could theoretically reach London from New York in less than an hour. This will need the planes to fly at extreme altitudes necessary for hypersonic travel. A "budget rocket" is being developed by PayPal, founder of the internet financial services. The 68-foot booster rocket called Falcon has already blasted off from the Kwajalein Atoll in the

Marshall Islands and successfully arrived in space minutes later. This is the forerunner of a reusable launch vehicle that will take tourists into space by 2012. Constellation Services International International and Space Adventures Ltd. are working to send manned spacecraft on commercial circumlunar missions by 2008. Their offer would include a weeklong stay at their Space Hotel, the ISS and a trip around the moon. The initial price would be $100 million but will soon reduce as re-useable transport is developed. We have seen that space hotels are a reality in the future. They will be connected by Space bus for transporting tourists and supplies to and from space hotels.

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include an Asian-style spa, Gatsby-themes casino and Movies under the Stars on a 300 square foot outdoor outdoor screen above the the pool. It will also have a fitness centre, centre, jogging track and five-swimming pools. Liberty of t he Sea Seas s , a 160,000-ton ship with accommodation for 3643 passengers will be

the largest cruise ship in the world. It is longer than the height of the Chrysler Building, wider  than the White House and heavier than 32,000 adult elephants. It will offer a seven-day Caribbean Cruise. The ship will have a five-story theatre, two storey discotheque, and 20 restaurants. It will also have a climbing c limbing wall, boxing rink, indoor skating rink, and a Flowrider  surf park which uses a high-powered high-powered stream of water to create a continuous wave for ten surfers. While the above have been introduced in 2006, Royal Caribbean, a gargantuan 220,000 220,000 tons for 5400 passengers, is being planned for a launch in 2009. The cruise liners will only get bigger and more exotic holiday havens in the future.  AIR TRAVEL TRA VEL

The air travel industry is on the verge of a new era. Rising fuel costs, shrinking services, and a severely stressed air traffic system have called for a new solution. It comes in the form of   Airbus 380 and and Boeing 787 787 and microjets. microjets. The Airbus 380 is 80-feet high, 240-feet long and 260-feet wide from wing-tip to wing-tip. Like an airborne double-decker bus, the super jumbo jet will offer 50% more floor space than the largest plane today. It will carry 550-850 passengers passengers (based on the model) making it the