SWOT MATRIX
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 S1. The agency has a wide product
portfolio that can promote brand
awareness, as opposed to their
competitors that are merely engaged in
providing tours and travel.
 S2. The firm strategizes well due to its
ability to adapt to changes, such as the
implementation of their virtual
internship and OJT offers that has
prevented them from permanently
closing operations amid the COVID-
19 crisis.
 S3. J8 Travel is accredited and a
member of travel related well-known
agencies and organizations, adding to
the legitimacy and credibility of its
business, and inviting networking
opportunities that it can use to work
on its brand awareness, including the
exploration of ongoing training
opportunities in the travel industry
that their organizations and agencies
provide exclusively for members only.
S4. The agency’s strong partnership
and solid collaboration with their
suppliers enlarge their customer base
which gives them a competitive
advantage since they can obtain
exclusive deals, group rate pricing,
discounts and booking incentives
provided exclusively to the firm.
 S4. The agency’s strong partnership
and solid collaboration with their
suppliers enlarge their customer base
which gives them a competitive
advantage since they can obtain
exclusive deals, group rate pricing,
discounts and booking incentives
provided exclusively to the firm.
 W1. Research, development, and
curating services for the firm are often
solely exercised by the managing
director alone instead of having a
designated research/marketing staff to
further develop, improve, expedite the
research process for itineraries and
deals, and include better additional
packages for the agency's services.
 W2. The firm’s information system is
not well-secured. Hence, they are
prone to risks of having an unsecured
information system that could cause a
breach in its information system, to
the detriment of the company and its
clients.
 W3. The agency does not strategize
about how they can gain a competitive
advantage among their competitors,
since they do not totally consider their
competitors as threats.
 W4. The firm's office is understaffed
which causes overloading of tasks in a
single employee that decreases
productivity in the firm as regards
paper work and clerical duties.
 W5. Besides being understaffed, the
nature of employment of their
personnel designated to be on the field
are not regular nor seasonal permanent
employees, thus, inviting problems
such as lack of manpower during peak
season of travel.
 S5. The agency’s payable accounts
system is maintained in an excellent
condition. Thus, they can utilize their
profits more as part of their capital
instead of using it to pay off debts.

 S6. Awarded for its quality service for

being able to expand its market both
locally and internationally by
establishing a brand image of
excellence and integrity, which can set
the firm's reputation better among
other travel agencies, giving it a
competitive advantage as well as to
invite more customers that can
increase the firm's sales.

 S7. The firm has adequate financial

resources and good debt standing;
hence, they avoid the risks of
borrowing money or obtaining loans
to fund their business operations that
could result in the depreciation of the
firm's assets.

OPPORTUNITIES
 O1. The emergence of advanced
technology and other digital platforms
adapted and used by the tourism sector
facilitates and innovates transactions
between agencies and prospective
clients.
 O2. “Virtual Field Trips” amid
COVID-19 crisis to complement
remote learning despite these
challenging times.
 O3. Preference for a tropical climate,
such as in the Philippines, are also
considered by tourists and travelers to
ensure the convenience and comfort of
their travels.
THREATS
 T1. Lay-off or reduced employment in
the tourism sector affects the ability of
travel agencies to earn profits.
 T2. Travel bans and restrictions due to
COVID-19 limit the business of travel
agencies to generate profit because of
few and reduced customers.
 T3. Strict quarantine measures and the
inability to undergo mandatory testing
before travelling within or outside the
Philippines due to its costs results in
the decrease of potential clients that
may wish to travel.
 T4. The Department of Education
banned the conduct of off-campus
 O4. Wonderful destinations such as
beaches, islands, and historical and
cultural heritages known all-over the
world located in the Philippines entice
people to travel and explore, giving
travel agencies an opportunity to
generate profits.
 O5. The marked identity of Filipinos
being hospitable and entertaining
attracts tourists, thereby inciting a fun
travelling experience within the
Philippines.
 O6. Ability to continue operations
despite the current pandemic situation
by providing virtual internships and
OJT offers as part of their wide
product portfolio.
 O7. The firm has offices in Manila,
Batangas City and Phuket, Thailand
for their customers to be able to reach
them easily and acquire more clients
based on its geographical location.
 O8. Marketing capacity of competitors
are weak and their ability to generate
profit declined due to the effects of the
pandemic.
activities after several incidents which
caused the death of students from
different schools and Universities
during their respective field trips.
 T5 The ban on foreigners to enter the
Philippines and vice-versa also affects
business for it limits the area of
business that may be made the subject
of transactions arranged between
travelling agencies and clients.
 T6 Customers and clients’ surging
demand for refunds for their canceled
tour packages brings travel agencies
and airline companies close to
bankruptcy.
 T7 People nowadays, especially
millennials, one of the target
customers of the company, prefer do-
it-your-own and spontaneous trips and
travel rather than booking services of
travel agencies because they find it
cheaper and they are free to choose
their preferred itineraries for a specific
day.
 T8 with the rise of modern and high-
tech applications, anyone has the
convenience of booking their own
trips, flights, accommodations and
plan their itineraries even without the
help and expense of paying travel
agencies.
T9 Freelance travel agents likewise
tend to expand the nature of their job
by offering and curating their services
similar to those of travel agencies with
comparatively low prices than the
usual market price.
SO STRATEGIES
 SO1 Affiliate more with schools and
universities so they can publicize their
services and enlarge their customer
base.
 SO2 Promote their virtual internship
and OJT offers to diversify their
business operations and use this as an
advantage against their competitors
that do not offer similar services.
 SO3 Provide cheaper deals and
discounts in its travel packages,
specifically stay-cation packages to
entice potential customers, like
families, that are feeling cooped up
during the pandemic and wish to
travel.
 SO4 Add additional services such as
infusing health and wellness tourism
in their travel packages to widen their
target market and profitability.
 SO5 Promote the firm's business
operations in Thailand such as
partnering with established enterprises
and sponsoring events therein since
Thailand has less travel restrictions
than the Philippines and the agency
would be able to generate more profit
than in the latter country.
ST STRATEGIES
 ST1 Develop unique packages such as
"travel like a local package" in order
to cater to travelers that would want to
immerse themselves in the country's
way of life and culture, such as
picking destinations that are less
popular and less crowded, and
including opportunities for them to
experience the food, way of life, and
culture of these destinations.
 ST2 Market and cover as much as
WO STRATEGIES
 WO1 Hire employees that would
focus on the firm's research and
development and marketing aspects.
 WO2 Hire additional staff and
employees designated on the field.
 WO3 Offer more flights to different
countries to attract more customers
and increase the areas where they can
generate profit.
 WO4 Build a strong and powerful
marketing tool to greatly increase its
sales and create extraordinary profits.
 WO5 Hire their own chief information
officer to manage and secure the firm's
information system.
WT STRATEGIES
 WT1 Organize a certain division/staff
for the research and development
aspect of the agency, so that the
managers of the firm would be able to
concentrate more on their specific
managerial roles.
 WT2 Capitalize on valuable and
international network resources
through managing directors’
conferences, international exploration
delegation and exchange activities
 possible more areas in the Philippines
that they have not yet covered and also
in Thailand taking into consideration
the lifestyle, wants and need in terms
of travel, and type of customers that
they are targeting.
 ST3 Create and market alternatives for
field activities by coordinating and
collaborating with government
agencies and well-known agencies
that are in the travel industry.
held multiple times a year.
 WT3 Research about their competitive
landscape, particularly information
about their competitors, and from
those information, develop strategic
plans on how to always keep ahead of
their competitors whether it be
towards providing better services, or
promoting their brand image.

 ST4 Develop a system of rewards and

points to its customers which they can
collect and ultimately use for their
expenses in availing the travel services
of the firm in the form of discounts
and exclusive package deals so they
would be more enticed to avail of the
services of the firm for their tour,
education, travel and visa-assistance
related needs. This will also promote
customer loyalty.

 ST5 Review the firm's cancellation fee

policies and properly enforce it in
order to avoid the risks brought by
sudden cancellations of customers and
suppliers and the damage it would
bring to the firm's revenues.

 ST6 Include ecotourism in their travel

packages, focusing on unique natural
locations, to allow visitors to learn
more about the environment and
promote its protection.

Conclusion
Based on the results of the SWOT Analysis, J8 Travel Services has a leverage with
respect to their wide product portfolio and good financial standing. An analysis of the firm's
external environment also gives rise to various opportunities, notwithstanding the lockdown
requirements imposed throughout the country by the use of technology and other digital
platforms more than ever by travel agencies and the general public, which the firm can use to
efficiently utilize its virtual internship and OJT offers. The weakened marketing capacity of other
travel agencies due to the difficulties of garnering clients willing to travel also opens up an
opportunity for the agency since competition in the travel industry have resultantly decreased.
On the other hand, the firm's identified weaknesses mainly revolve on the issue of being
understaffed that causes the slowdown of their productivity levels, while its surrounding threat
factors involve the lack of strategies being formed by the firm against their competitors and the
overall economic effects brought by the pandemic, such as travelling restrictions that
consequently decrease the ability of the firm to gain revenue. Considering these SWOT factors,
the resultant strategies applying market penetration, product development, and related
diversification are deemed to be the most applicable and appropriate for J8 Travel Services.