HOA SEN UNIVERSITY

Faculty Of Tourism


 CUSTOMER SERVICE

GROUP REPORT

TRAVEL AGENCY AND NEW CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

DURING LOCKDOWN

Lecturer : Dinh Van Ngoc Ha

Students : 22012396 - Trang Tuyet Nhi

: 22012518 – Tran Phuong Thuy

: 22014485 – Nguyen Thanh Truc

: 22014651 – Le Nguyen Cam Ly

: 22011807 – Tran Pham Anh Thy

Class : Hoa Sen Elite

December, 2021
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To complete this report, we would like to thank our lecturer Mrs. Dinh Van Ngoc Ha
for teaching us many useful lessons and always make us feel comfortable while study.
Moreover, she also gives us more information and offers feedbacks to help our group
complete the report. Thank you Hoa Sen University for providing us a friendly learning
environment for us to study better.

The subject Customer Service is an important subject for hospitality student bacause it
provides the basic definition about hospitality, service and help us understand about different
aspect of tourism. Therefore, we can gain more knowledge and apply it in the future. We hope
every student will enjoy this class and gain more knowledge after finish the course to apply in
the hospitality industry.

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 INTRODUCTION

Our presentation and report include four main parts:

 Part 1: Description of the business before lockdown

 Part 2: How Covid 19 has affected the business

 Part 3: Description of the new customer experience

 Part 4: Identify the potentials, threats, and solutions

Though the presentation, our group want to introduce a new form of service for travel
agency to apply during the pandemic and this can be a potential business in the future. The
main purpose of this is to provide the customer the best and memmorable experience, help
them relax and fulfill their wish to travel during lockdown.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................2

TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................3

PART 1: DESCRIPTION OF YOUR BUSINESS BEFORE LOCKDOWN..........4

1. The products, the service environment, the people............................................4

1.1 The products......................................................................................................4

1.2 Service environment..........................................................................................5

1.3 Delivery system..................................................................................................5

2. Your customers and their normal experience.....................................................5

3. Value propositions/ unique selling points your customers receive when using
your service............................................................................................................................6

PART 2: HOW COVID-19 HAS AFFECTED YOUR BUSINESS..........................6

PART 3: DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW CREATION OF CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE..........................................................................................................................7

1. Describe change in customer experience with three components (service

products/ service environment/ service delivery system)...................................................7

1.1 Service product..................................................................................................7

1.2 Service environment..........................................................................................7

1.3 Service delivery system......................................................................................7

2. Customer value chain from new experience.......................................................8

2.1 Before visit.........................................................................................................8

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 2.2 During visit........................................................................................................8

2.3 After visit............................................................................................................9

3. New value propositions and old values need to keep........................................10

3.1 New value propositions...................................................................................10

3.2 Old values need to keep...................................................................................10

PART 4: POTENTIALS, THREATS, SOLUTIONS..............................................10

1. Potential................................................................................................................10

2. Threats..................................................................................................................11

3. Solution.................................................................................................................11

REFERENCES............................................................................................................12

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PART 1: DESCRIPTION OF YOUR BUSINESS BEFORE LOCKDOWN

1. The products, the service environment, the people

1.1 The products

Main product: Package tour program (both domestic and overseas tour)

Intermediary products: Intermediary products provided by tour operators: in this

activity, agents do not directly produce products, but act as a sales representatives of other
manufacturers' travel products. Intermediate products include: agency reservations, ticketing
planes and other means of transport, registration, reservation and sale of travel programs;
registration, reservation in the hotel, tour.

1.2 Service environment

Bamboo Tourist has a representative office located in District 1. Located in the city
center where many foreigners visit, our office will be the place for staff to work as well as to
provide a place where customer and staff can interact, therefore the staff can advise and
introduce the customer to the best service and tour.

1.3 Delivery system

The people: The staff working here are well-trained and have good knowledge about
tourism so that they can advise and introduce the customer to a suitable tour. Moreover, the
staff here are enthusiastic and friendly which makes them interact with customer easily and be
able to communicate well with foreigners.

Technology: using some management software and OTA to promote and manage the
business. Using various platforms, we can always maintain the system, popularize the
business and attract more customers.

2. Your customers and their normal experience

Customer target: companies that often organize tours for employees, inbound and
outbound customers (families, large groups).

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 Normal experience: provide a safe trip and the best service for customers so that they
can have an enjoyable and memorable experience while traveling.

3. Value propositions/ unique selling points your customers receive when using your
service

Unique selling points

- Provide various tours and services with affordable prices, give promotions and
discounts on special occasions.
- Arrange the travel schedule on time, put the guest needs as the priority.
- Well-trained staff with good knowledge and attitude.

PART 2: HOW COVID-19 HAS AFFECTED YOUR BUSINESS

In 2020, Viet Nam’s tourism suffered extremely heavy losses due to the impact of the
Covid-19 epidemic. After many years of continuous impressive growth, in 2020, for the first
time, Viet Nam recorded a sharp decline in the number of domestic and international tourists
due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The total number of tourists served by accommodation, food,
and beverage service establishments in 2020 reached 97.3 million VND, a decrease of 44%
over the previous year; the number of tourists served by travel agencies was 3.7 million, down
80.1%. International arrival to Viet Nam decreased 78.7% year on year, gained only 3.8
million arrivals. The sharp decline in the number of domestic and international tourists has led
to a significant decline in revenue for accommodation, food and beverage service, estimated
at 61.8 trillion VND, down by 43.2 percent. Therefore, the business is affected havily as we
loss a huge number of customers, especially foreigners and have to change the business plan
[CITATION Gen \l 1033 ].

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PART 3: DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW CREATION OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

1. Describe change in customer experience with three components (service products/

service environment/ service delivery system)

1.1 Service product

Organize an online tour by watching a video to create 360 degrees experience that is
realistic and makes people feel like they are actually traveling. For the video contents, besides
filming at popular tourist destinations, we also introduce local and unique places that only
local people know and let the locals become the tour guide to provide more information,
making the tour more memorable.

1.2 Service environment

Because of the lockdown, all activities have to conduct online and for the online tour,
our main service environment is everyone home. For the staff, all employees will work from
home to manage the system, some will go out to film the video and they cooperate with each
other to maintain the business despite the pandemic. For customer, they can stay at home and
enjoy the tour through wathcing videos through different online platforms. This not only
ensure their safety during Covid but also provide them a new experience.

1.3 Service delivery system

People: All the staff will work from home during the lockdown. For the filming
process, the tour guide and the cameraman will travel around and try to visit many unique
places so that they can produce many videos and new tours to attract many customers.
Especially, people in the IT department have an important role as they have to make the tour
and support the customer with all the technical issues.

Technology: Use online platforms like Zoom and Google Meet to have a meeting with
a small group and show the video to the guest. This way, we can make the experience more
private and suitable for each type of customer. Moreover, our agency uses various
management systems to maintain the technical system and try to cooperate with information
technology to create a new experience for customers.

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2. Customer value chain from new experience

2.1 Before visit

In order to promote the business, we will post on social media like Instagram,
Facebook and have a fanpage. When the customer sees the information and is interested in a
tour, they can call the hotline or chat with the employee through a message. We make sure
that all the guest messages are replied to within 30 minutes. To chat with the customer better
and give them recommendations, we will ask them some basic information such as their
purposes (whether they want to travel online in a group or individual), the destination for the
tour, and deal the price. While listening to the guest answer, the employee will always be
willing to answer if the guest wants to ask for some further information. After analyzing those
data, the staff will suggest suitable tours and give recommendations for the customers.
Specifically, the staff will recommend various tours based on the guest's preference to give
them a variety of choices. We will also add Zalo of those who call through the hotline and
send through message the brchures, tour plans for the guest to choose. When they decided, the
agency will organize the tour, plan the schedule and send the information for the guest to
confirm. All the plans and schedules will be sent to the customers from 3 to 5 days before,
which will make the customer feel more reliable

2.2 During visit

When conducting an online tour, all the staff and the customer will stay at home and
contact through the screen. Therefore to adapt to the new situation, we will train all the
employees, especially the tour guides and the technical staff in order to provide the
knowledge and have the right attitude when working with the customer. Before the day of the
tour, we will send the guidance video to help the guest know how to enter if they are not good
at technology. On the day of the tour, the customer will join in a meeting room through
Google Meet or Zoom. They only need to have a smartphone or a laptop to access the site.
They can watch the recorded video or watch Livestream based on their options. The number
of guests in a room is different based on the tour they choose and their purpose. In the room,
there will always be a tour guide who will answer the customer's questions about the
destinations and provide them some tips for their next traveling. To make the experience more
lively and exciting, the tour guide will organize games and quizzes throughout the tour to

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make the guest concentrate and enjoyable. Furthermore, there will be a staff working in the IT
department stay in the Zoom room to assist the customer when a technological issue happens.
For those lacking equipment or who need help, we will have a technological staff come to
their house and help them get access to the room. They will stay with the customer throughout
the tour to help whenever they need it. We make sure that the staff are negative with Covid
and be vaccinated before letting them come to the guest house. We make sure that the content
of the video is special as it shows the destination from a local perspective and tries to make
the online tour experience is interesting with people. When joining the room together, the
customer can interact and chat through the trip, which makes them feel less lonely during the
lockdown. The experience can fulfill people's wish to travel during the pandemic and create a
new type of business to develop in the future.

2.3 After visit

After the tour ended, we will send the customer the survey form and ask them to do it.
Those who finish the survey will receive a gift from the company. We will collect the survey
result and have a meeting with the staff every month to improve the service quality. For those
who have a complaint or feel dissatisfied with the experience, the employee will connect them
and ask about the issue so that the guest feels satisfied and in order to improve the business.
We will also send the customer coupon and discount code to make them come back and
experience the next time. For those who are happy with the experience, the employee can
suggest and give recommendations about other tours to encourage their experience more.
Moreover, to keep the loyal customer, we will hold mini-games on the website and the prize
is a coupon or one free tour to attract many people to join. This is a good way to promote the
business, as well as attract new customers and introducing them with a new form of traveling.

3. New value propositions and old values need to keep

3.1 New value propositions

- Introduce a new form of travel that is suitable for the current situation that ensures
guest safety, convenience, and cost-effective.
- Provide an opportunity for customers to entertain and relax during lockdown.

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 - A chance to promote unique local places to attract new customers and introduce
special places in Vietnam to foreigners.

3.2 Old values need to keep

- Maintain the quality of the tour and services despite changing the tour format.
- The staff have a professional attitude, good knowledge to understand the customers
and support them when needed.
- Keep the tour price affordable and cost effective to attract new customers and keep the
loyal customers to the brand.

PART 4: POTENTIALS, THREATS, SOLUTIONS

1. Potential

- With the development of information technology, there will be more platforms to

develop this new type of service. Especially, during the pandemic and lockdown, this
new service will be a new form of entertainment that helps the customer relax and fulfill
their wish to travel during lockdown.
- Create new services and promote unique local places to attract more customers, both
inbound and outbound customers as they always can watch the video anywhere,
anytime.
- Reduce expenses and opearting costs.
- Can maintain this type of service during the lockdown, which helps maintain the
business and create job opportunities for employees.

2. Threats

- The pandemic affects the tourism and hospitality industry, which brings many
challenges to travel agency.
- Traveling online through watching videos may seems boring with many people and
they think it a waste of money since those videos and films can be watch free on other
platforms.

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 - Have to compete with other competitors and large travel agencies.
- Traveling online may lack human interaction.

3. Solution

- Invest more in inviting local and experienced tourguide, improve the video content to
make the experiece different from other brands.
- Organize more interactive activities in the meeting to connect people and make the
experience more realistic.

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 REFERENCES

Anon., 2021. General Statistics Office Of Vietnam. [Online]

Available at: https://www.gso.gov.vn/en/data-and-statistics/2021/03/vietnam-tourism-2021-needs-
determination-and-effort-to-overcome-difficulties/?
fbclid=IwAR1QViFDHS9OavkASYPSfBiOBYbIq8G1JRQFhjLz10kVTWc-Rkg1YDGJm_k

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