Tour Operations Management

Introduction to Tour Operations Management

A tour represents a journey that is a round trip, i.e., the act of
leaving and then returning to the original starting point, and
therefore, one who takes such a journey can be called a tourist.
According to UNWTO Tourism has been defined as the “activities
of persons travelling to and staying in places outside of their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure,
business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an
activity remunerated from within the place visited”
 Tourism is the movement of the tourists from one place to
another place.
 The movement can be in your country or the tourists can also
travel to the foreign destinations for the tourism purpose.
 It is the temporary short-term movement of people to
destinations outside the place.
 Tourism does not only mean traveling to a particular
destination but also includes all activities undertaken during
the stay.
 Person staying at least 24 hours in the country visited for the
purpose of recreation holiday, health, study etc.
Poyther (1993), defines, “tour operator is one who has the
responsibility of putting the tour ingredients together,
marketing it, making reservations and handling actual
operation”.
Tour operator is an organization, firm, or company who buys
individual travel components, separately from their suppliers
and combines them into a package tour, which is sold with their
own price tag to the public directly or through middlemen, is
called a Tour Operator.
Importance: Tour operators provide the best and competitive
price to the tourist. Tour operators negotiate with suppliers of
tourism products such as hotels, airlines and provide the best
possible price to the tourist. Tour operators buy tourist
products in bulk and get huge discounts from the suppliers.
 His duties and responsibilities include:
 Develop Tour Packages
 Modify Tour Packages
 Make Travel Arrangements
 Provide Tourist Assistance
 Coordinate Tour Leaders
 Manage Tour Budgets
His skills include:
 Good interpersonal skills
 Enthusiasm
 The ability to work well as part of a team
 Good IT skills
 Competent organizational skills
 Flexibility
 Confidence
 Good sales skills, both over the telephone and face-to-face
 A competent grasp of geography
 Good oral and written skills
Types of tour operators
 Inbound tour operator: These are also known as incoming
tour operators. Technically, the operators who receive guests,
clients/tourists, and handle arrangements in the host
country are called inbound tour operators. For example, a
group of American Tourists is coming through TCI Ltd. to
India and the company makes arrangements and handles the
group in India then TCI is called an inbound tour operator.
 Outbound tour operator: Tour operator who promote tours
for foreign destinations, maybe business tour or leisure tour
is called outbound tour operators. For example a group of
American tourists going to a trip of India and Thomas Cook
handle arrangement in America like as ticket reservation,
hotel booking etc. then Thomas Cook is called Outbound
Tour operators in the context of America.
 Domestic tour operator: Domestic tour operators are those
who assemble, combine tourist components into inclusive
tours and sell it to the domestic travelers. In general, these
 tour operators provide travel services within the tourist’s
native country. Like Kerala to Goa, etc.
 Ground tour operator: Also known and Destination
Management Company. Like domestic tour operators,
ground operators also work within their own country.
However, ground operators usually work on behalf of
inbound or outbound tour operators and are the ones
that provide the actual travel service in a destination,
helping to organise and assist tourists.

5 A’s
The 5 A’s consists of:
Attractions: It includes all those factors that attract a tourist. It
could be a place, nature, cruise, destination, etc.
Accessibility: It is how to access or reach to that place or
destination. Basically the ways to reach that destination like
cruise, car, plane, road, etc.
Accommodation: It is the place to stay and accommodate the
tourists while travelling for rest and overnight stays. Like rooms of
a hotel, motel, resort and even a cruise ship.
Amenities: It is all the other services that we require while
travelling for a good and comfortable stay while travelling. Like a
cruise provides amenities like food, good drinking water, sanitary,
etc.
Activities: It includes all activities which a place or attraction
holds. For example, Goa has water sports, cultural visits, agro-
tourism, etc. Similarly, a cruise has various activities like library,
shore excursions, health, childcare, deck activities, etc.
Without these the tour is incomplete. Therefore, the tour operator
needs to focus on these components or elements of marketing
management.
Tourism Geography of India
Tourism geography is that branch of human geography that deals
with the study of travel and its impact on places. Geography is
fundamental to the study of tourism because tourism is
geographical in nature.
Political: India has 28 states and 8 union territories.
Physical: India is divided into 7 geographic regions which include:
1. The northern mountains including the Himalayas and the
northeast mountain ranges.
2. Indo-Gangetic plains
3. Thar Desert
4. Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau
5. East Coast
6. West Coast
7. Bordering seas and islands
Mountains: Himalayan peaks in Sikkim, Aravalli range in
Rajasthan, Vindhyas in Central India
 The Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountains run along the
western edge of India's Deccan Plateau, and separate the
Deccan plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the
Arabian Sea.
 The range starts south of the Tapti River near the border of
Gujarat and Maharashtra, and runs approximately 1,600 km
(1,000 miles) through the states of Maharashtra, Goa,
Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, almost to the southern
tip of the Indian peninsula.
 The average elevation is around 1,000 m with the higher
peaks occurring in the southern section in Nilgiris and in
Kerala. The Anai Mudi in the Cardamom Hills at 2,695 m
(8,841 feet) in Kerala is the highest peak in the Western
Ghats.
 The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of mountains,
which have been eroded and cut through by the four major
rivers of southern India, the Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna,
and Kaveri.
  These mountain ranges extend from West Bengal in the
north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in
the south.
 They run parallel to the Bay of Bengal and are not as tall as
the Western Ghats, though some of its peaks are over 1000
m in height.
 The Eastern and Western Ghats meet at the Nilgiri or Malay
knot in Tamil Nadu. The Anai Mudi in the Cardamom Hills at
2,695 m (8,841 feet) in Kerala is the highest peak in the
Western Ghats. The Nilgiris are considered to be a part of the
Wester Ghats.

Indo –Gangetic plain: Indo-Gangetic Plain, also called North

Indian Plain, extensive north-central section of the Indian
subcontinent, stretching westward from (and including) the
combined delta of the Brahmaputra River valley and the Ganges
(Ganga) River to the Indus River valley. The region contains the
subcontinent’s richest and most densely populated areas. The
greater part of the plain is made up of alluvial soil, deposited by
the three main rivers and their tributaries. The eastern part of the
plain has light rains or drought in the winter, but in summer
rainfall is so heavy that vast areas become swamps or shallow
lakes. The plain becomes progressively drier toward the west where
it incorporates the Thar (Great Indian) Desert.

Thar dessert: aka great indian dessert- large arid region in the
northwest part of the indian subcontinent that covers an area of
200,000km2 and forms a natural boundary between india and
Pakistan. World 20th largest dessert and the worlds 9th largest hot
subtropical dessert.

Highlands: The northern central highlands of peninsular India

include the Aravallis, the Malwa Plateau, Satpura range,
Vidhyachal plateau, Chhotanagpur plateau, Karbi-Meghalaya
plateau and some parts of Vindhyan Range.
Eastern coast:
 The Eastern Coastal Plain is a wide stretch of land lying
between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. It
stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the
north. Deltas of many of India's rivers form a major portion
of these plains.
 The Mahanadi, Godavari, Kaveri and Krishna rivers drain
these plains.
 The region receives both the Northeast and Southwest
monsoon rains with its annual rainfall averaging between
1,000 mm (40 in) and 3,000 mm (120 in).
 The width of the plains varies between 100 to 130 km (62 to
80 miles).
 The plains are divided into six regions: The Mahanadi delta;
the southern Andhra Pradesh plain; the Krishna Godavari
deltas; the Kanyakumari coast; Coromandel Coast and sandy
littoral.

West coast:
 The Western Coastal Plain is a narrow strip of land
sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.
 The strip begins in Gujarat in the north and extends across
the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.
 The plains are narrow, and range from 50 to 100 km (30 to
60 miles) in width.
 Small rivers and numerous backwaters inundate the region.
 The rivers, which originate in the Western Ghats, are fast
flowing and are mostly perennial. The fast flowing nature of
the rivers results in the formation of estuaries rather than
deltas.
 Major rivers flowing into the sea are the Tapi, Narmada,
Mandovi and Zuari.
 The coast is divided into three regions. The northern region
of Maharashtra and Goa is known as the Konkan Coast, the
central region of Karnataka is known as the Kanara Coast
 and the southern coastline of Kerala is known as the Malabar
Coast.
 Vegetation in this region is mostly deciduous.
 The Malabar Coast has its own unique ecoregion known as
the Malabar Coast moist forests.

Islands:
 India has two major offshore island possessions: the
Lakshadweep islands and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Both these island groups are administered by the Union
government of India as Union Territories.
 The Lakshadweep islands lie 200 to 300 km (124 to 186
miles) off the coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea. It consists
of twelve coral atolls, three coral reefs, and five banks. Ten of
these islands are inhabited.
 The Andaman and Nicobar island chain lies in the Bay of
Bengal near the Myanmar coast. It is located 950 km (590
miles) from Kolkata (Calcutta) and 193 km (120 miles) from
Cape Negrais in Myanmar.

Rivers:
All major rivers of India originate from one of the three main
watersheds. They are:
 The Himalaya and the Karakoram ranges
 Vindhya and Satpura range in central India
 Sahyadri or Western Ghats in western India
 The Himalayan river networks are snow-fed and have a
continuous flow throughout the year. The other two networks
are dependent on the monsoons and shrink into rivulets
during the dry season.
 Twelve of India's rivers are classified as major, with the total
catchment area exceeding 2,528,000 km² (976,000 mile²).
7 major rivers- Indus, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapi, Godavari,
Krishna and Mahanadi
Water bodies in India: there are over 12,500 waterbodies n India
and some include, Ganges, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Indian
Ocean, Dal lake, etc.

Wetlands: Sunderbans wetland- largest in India

Renuka wetland- smallest in India and Gujarat has the
max amount of wetlands in India

Climate: tropical monsoon climate

Airports: 486 total airports, airstrips, flying schools and military

bases, 123 airports with scheduled commercial flights including
some with dual civilian and army use, 35 international airports.

Tour Package
Package holidays, popularly known as a tour package or simply
the word ‘tour’ in the travel and tourism industry refers either to a
package tour escorted or not escorted by the tourist guide. These
components are purchased by an individual, firm or company
called the ‘tour operator‘ and combines all the travel components
in a package and sells them at all-inclusive prices to the clients.
Tour package means a pre-arrangement, prepaid trip that
combines two or more travel components like airfare, airport
transfer, accommodation, and other services.
Holloway defines a tour package as “a total tourism product
consisting of transportation from the market area to the
destination, accommodation at the destination and recreational
activities promoted by the tourists.”

According to Gregorg, “a tour package is advertised journey

including specific features, arranged and promoted with tour
literature by a tour operator and paid for in full by the tourists
before starting the tour.”
Importance: Tour package is beneficial to travel companies,
travelers, destinations and other organizations which are directly
or indirectly involved in the tourism business. The main benefits
are: it saves time, increases the seasonality of a destination cost,
earn foreigin currency, better quality of products, professional
services, wide variety of the tour package and provide bulk
business to organisers

Types of tour package:

 Independent tours: an independent tour is a vacation
package designed for those travelling independently who
don’t want to be part of an organised group or itinerary. These
individuals take a tour package and travel around alone.
 Escorted tours: these are normally conducted by a tour
guide who takes care of all service from the beginning to the
end of the tour. These normally include the flights, hotels,
transportation, etc. for example, in Bhutan you need a guide
from there to travel around.
 Incentive travel/ tours: Corporate incentive travel programs
are initiatives that offer all-expenses paid trips and
experiences in exchange for extraordinary performance. For
example, a trip to Thailand or Mexico. These programs aim to
motivate employees and raise morale, loyalty, and
productivity.
 Hosted tours: this is when an agency utilizes the service of
another agency at a particular destination. Suppose a group
of Portuguese tourist are coming to India, when they arrive in
india, they are greeted at the airport by TCI which assists
them in clearing their baggage an transfer them to the hotel.
They get a commission for the same.
 Freedom tours: here the tourist is free to choose and plan
how they want to travel and enjoy their holidays. So they can
make their own itinerary and choose the places they would
like to travel.

 Destination tours: country, state, are, village, etc.

  Interest tours: cultural, cuisines, adventure, sports, etc.

Advantages Disadvantages
 Cost saving and  Package tours are
budgeting planned well in advance
 Responsibility of the  Inflexibility as they cannot
operator change the itinerary
 Convenience and time  Some tourists may not be
saving interested in visiting all
the places mentioned in
the packaged tours
 Quality of service  Controlled by the travel
agent or tour operator
 Agent/principle  No privacy
commission
 Wide variety of package
tour available

Factors affecting the tour package formulation:

I. Purpose of Tour
II. Choice of Destinations
III. Tourist Budget
IV. Legal Requirement
V. Types of Tourist Accommodation
VI. Tour Period
VII. Departure and stay information
VIII. Tour price; inflationary condition
IX. Tour Reference Tools
X. Tour Features – political stability
XI. The relationship between the host and tourist generating
nation

Developing and planning a tour package:

1. Research the destination and market as it is the main
object of the tour package
2. Development of the effective tour itinerary which shows the
sequence of various tour items.
 3. Negotiate with the tourism suppliers and vendors like
airlines, lodging companies, transport, etc. to get the best
reduced rate.
4. Costing of a tour package by determining the monetary
value of the tour package and checking the total cost
incurred.
5. Financial evaluation and pricing by determining the
exchange rates, estimate future selling price and finalise
tour prices. There are two ways- cost oriented tour pricing(
mark-up, total cost, production cost and rate of return)
and market oriented tour package( skimming, going,
differential, penetrating and backward)
6. Check on the administrative staff as you will require more
people during the season and hence recruit social and
friendly staff.
7. Marketing of a tour package to create demand that results
in satisfying customers and accomplishing corporate
objectives
8. Developing a tour marketing plan
9. Marketing inbound and outbound tours
10. Have the tour operators brochure as it the most vital
marketing tool which has proper information in-order to
convince the customer to purchase the tourist product or
service.
11. Operation and execution of a tour
12. Post tour management which reveals success of the
tours and here you need to prepare several reports and
their evaluation of the tour.

Tour Itinerary
 An itinerary is a plan of a journey showing the route and the
places that the visitor will visit.
 It is a schedule or timetable produced in association with a
package tour.
 It is designed to identify the route, day-by-day journey
format, origin, destination, and all the enroute halting points,
 period of halts along with accommodation, mode of travel,
activities and other services offered during a visitor’s tour.
 An itinerary is not just a piece of information but a selling
point aimed at convincing potential customers.
 The quality of a tour package is determined by the suitability,
nature and comprehensiveness of a tour itinerary and is
generally printed in the tour brochure.

Background info for preparing an itinerary:

1. Duration of the tour.
2. Minimum time for visiting each city.
3. Purpose of travel and special interest.
4. Selecting cities to be included in the itinerary.
5. Mode of intercity travel. (by road, rail, air)
6. Selection of any special air fare or rail fare.
7. Selecting the hotels to be used.
8. First arrival and last departure from international airport.
9. Inclusion of places requiring restricted area permits
10. Best time for visiting

Types of itinerary
 Tourist’s itinerary: it is given to a particular tourist for his
reference as part of the packaged tour.
 Tour manager’s itinerary: The role of tour manager is
crucial to any package tour as he/she has to perform
different duties from planning to actual operation of the tour
continuously on the spot. Tour manager’s itinerary includes
the complete details of the whole tour from day one to the last
day. This as other info as well for smooth control of the tour.
 Escort/guide itinerary: An escort or guide should know in
detail where the group is being taken to, what activities and
events are to be organised, time management of the tour and
other group details.
 Vendor’s itinerary: Vendors play a major role in delivering
what is mentioned in the clients itinerary. Hence it is
unavoidable but to be aware of the specific parts of the
 itinerary so as to make the necessary arrangements in
advance and delivery to the fullest satisfaction of the guests
when they arrive at their place. For instance, a hotel may
organise a surprise welcome event when the group arrives as
per the nature of the group and time of arrival, may offer
special services and enhance the service satisfaction and
value addition. It is possible only if the vendors know at least
the specific part of clients itinerary which is expected from
them.
 Coach drivers itinerary: A typical coach driver’s itinerary
includes group arrival point and time, pickup points and
time, turn around points, restricted areas of driving,
sightseeing activities, other entertainment activities, parking
spaces, entry points, drop-in points all with specific time. e.
For instance, it may be seen that at places a driver is asked
to drive slow which is mentioned in his itinerary so that
tourist may have a better view of a monument and take
photographs

You could also have a general (aimed at a wide variety of clients)

as well as personalised itinerary( specifically drawn for a specific
client according to their needs and interests).

Steps in developing a tour itinerary:

1. Research other tours in the market place
2. Name your tour
3. Map out the duration, frequency and departure point of your
tour
4. List the major locations and highlights of your tour
5. Research your tour content and commentary
6. List any third party activities and attractions and their
concerned entrance fees and inclusions
7. Obtain permission to access private and public properties
8. Give the accurate tor timing to ensure timely activity.
9. Do a try run test of your tour itinerary to ensure you get the
timing right.
 Do’s Don’ts
 Do not add all place  Don’t add too many
details
 Provide brief summary of  Don’t leave directions
city and sight unclear
 Provide name of hotel,  Don’t forget the type of
vehicle type and time of A group you are catering to
and D
 Include meal plans  Don’t go overboard on
hotel recommendations
 Give links for additional  Don’t include
info of place unregistered shops
 Give relevant maps  Don’t forget about
restaurant
recommendations
 Provide names and place
written in the local
language
 Provide unique info about
the destination

Itinerary for GIT and FIT:

GIT FIT
 Group inclusive tour  Foreign independent
traveller
 Cant modify as it will  Can modify
cause chaos in the
schedule
 Follows fixed itinerary and  Has good space for clients
schedule and hence any to do the activities of their
GIT package has no personal choice and
option but to follow it interest
 Immediate alternative  Can make immediate
changes are not possible changes like additions
as it may incur loss for all and deletions in the
participants in the schedule
process
 This works as cost  A lot of flexibility as it has
benefits to the groups an additional price.
with specific travel limits