Case Writeup

INTERVIEWER SHOULD READ THE CASE BEFORE THE CASE DISCUSSION. WE

RECOMMEND THAT INTERVIEWER SHOULD SPEND ATLEAST 30 MINUTES READING
THE CASE & GOING THROUGH THE MODEL SOLUTION, BEFORE THE INTERACTION
WITH PARTNER.

It is important to note that the interviewer may not be able to stick to the case script
entirely. It is okay if the interviewer deviates from the script a little bit.

BLUE CHAPTER HOLDS THE COPYRIGHTS FOR THIS CASE. ONLY FOR NETWORK
MEMBERS. NOT TO BE SHARED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

CASE 6B: HELPING A TOUR PLANNER WITH PLANNING A DAY TRIP IN LONDON

Step 1: The following statement should be read by the INTERVIEWER right at the start of
the case:

“Our client is a tour planner. He has been working in London for the past 6 years. He is planning
a one-day tour of London for a group of 4 people and wants your inputs in this regard.”

INSTRUCTIONS TO INTERVIEWER: (Share the below details with your case partner)

About the Client

1. Our client has been in this profession since the last 6 years and has got a good
reputation.
2. He is an experienced agent and has a strong network that backs him.
3. However, he does not belong to a company and operates individually.
4. He wants the planning to be done on a day in the next month.
5. The clients of the tour planner are actually on a tour of Europe. They are visiting London
for a day and they’ll depart subsequently after that. The group of 4 has 2 adults and 2
children.
6. The plan has to be crafted for a duration of 10 hours in the day (and can allocate an
additional 3 hours for travel). The clients of the tour manager don’t have any idea about
London or the places of interest in London.
7. The dining time is not to be considered and will be managed by the clients of the
manager.

QUESTION #1 FOR THE CANDIDATE: DISCUSS THE BASIC STRUCTURE THAT YOU
WOULD FOLLOW WHILE ANALYSING THIS PROBLEM.
INSTRUCTIONS TO INTERVIEWER:

● For such unconventional problem statements, there is no recommended or correct

approach to solve the cases. Thus, all the answers by the candidate should be
evaluated from a logical perspective rather than from a fixed set of answers.
● When the candidate talks about the objective of the case, mention that he/she needs to
come up with a set of objectives first.
● Encourage your case partner to discuss more factors.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

● An ideal approach would be as follows (This is only a high-level answer. Encourage the
interviewee to come up with a more detailed answer):
1. The tour planner should look at two broad buckets:
1. Maximize profits for the tour planner himself.
2. Better experience for clients.
2. The tour planners should analyze the limiting factors. For example:
1. Time required to visit places vs. time the clients have.
2. Places that could cater to both children and adults.
3. Any budget constraints.
3. Choose the best alternatives based on all the above constraints.
4. Devise a strategy for carrying out the plan with respect to the weekday vs. weekend, the
time allotted to each destination, etc.

QUESTION #2 FOR THE CANDIDATE: WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE TOUR

PLANNER?

INSTRUCTIONS TO INTERVIEWER:

● There is a high possibility that the candidate is not able to move forward and is stuck
with the problem statement itself, you should then ask the candidate to segment the
objectives in various broad buckets.
● There is no definite answer to segmentation, any list of buckets that is comprehensive
should be considered appropriate.
● Try to help the candidate to come up with the type of possible places of tourist attraction.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

● Possible objectives could be:

Better Financial Returns for the Planner

himself 1. Maximizing profit with careful
planning.

Better experience for clients

1. Maximize the number of visits.
2. Maximize the time at each tourist spot
chosen.

Cost savings on Transport

1. Hiring a taxi with a known agent.
2. Public Transport (minimize costs).

Diversifying Tourist Places

1. Historic Sites
2. Landmarks
3. Famous Market
4. Museum

QUESTION #3 FOR THE CANDIDATE: ANALYSE THE OPTIONS CONSIDERING THE

OBJECTIVES OF THE TOUR PLANNER.

INSTRUCTIONS TO INTERVIEWER:

● Share the following data with your partner.

● If the candidate is stuck, mention that in this case, it is ideal to evaluate the options on
the basis of costs involved and returns expected.
● The order of importance is
A. Ensuring at least one of each type of tourist attraction place.
B. The total time limit is 10 hours (excluding travel).
ANNEXURE A

Target Tourist Spots

Tourist Spots Type Time Profit Margin Profit Margin (Euros

Required (Euros per adult per children per
per hour) hour)

Buckingham Palace Historic 4 hours 9 6

Site

The British Museum Museum 1 hour 6 4

Big Ben and the Landmark 2 hours - -

Parliament

Piccadilly Circus and Landmark 3 hours - -

the Trafalgar Square

Covent Garden Market 2 hours - -

The Shard Landmark 3 hours 5 4

Westminster Abbey Historic 2 hours 5 4

Site

Churchill’s War Historic 2 hours 4 3

Rooms Site

London’s Eye Landmark 2 hours 4 3

Transportation Charges

Assume total travel time to be 3 hours in total (exclusive of the 10 hours of sight-seeing and
visits). Total Margin: 30 Euros/hour for all the clients together.

Base Charges

1000 Euros/day for all the clients together.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

It is appropriate to evaluate the alternatives in terms of time, type of tourist spot, and profit.
Idea: Choice of tourist place = f(Tourist Spot, Time Spent and Profit)

Spot Preference Time

Historic Site Buckingham Palace 4 hours

Landmark The Shard 3 hours

Museum The British Museum 1 hour

Market Covent Garden 2 hours

QUESTION #4 FOR THE CANDIDATE: CALCULATE THE PROFIT ACCUMULATED

FINALLY BECAUSE OF CHOOSING THE OPTIMAL OPTIONS.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

● The Profit of the analysis is as follows -

Profit at each tourist spot= {Profit/Adult*(Number of Adults) + Profit/Juvenile*(Number of
Juveniles)}*(Number of hours)

Vertical Time Profit/Adult Profit/Juvenile Total Profit

(Euros) (Euros) (Euros)

Buckingham 4 hours 9 6 =(9*2 + 6*2)*4

Palace =120

The Shard 3 hours 5 4 =(5*2 + 4*2)*3

=54

The British 1 hour 6 4 =(6*2 + 4*2)*1

Museum =20

Covent Garden 2 hours - - =0

Transportation 3 hours - - =30*3

=90

Total Time: 13 Total Profit: 284 Euros

hours

QUESTION #5 FOR THE CANDIDATE: SUMMARISE THE CASE AND GIVE SUGGESTIONS
TO THE CLIENT TO IMPLEMENT THE PLANNING.
INSTRUCTIONS TO INTERVIEWER:

1. The candidate should not take more than 2 minutes in summarising the case.
2. In case the candidate is stating irrelevant facts, correct him/her and mention that the
summary should only focus on what is important and what actually affects the final
decision.

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

1. Summary of the objectives of the tour manager and priority order while deciding the
tourist spots.
2. Choices of tourist spots and the reasoning in brief about the selection.
3. Net profit calculated.
4. From a diversity point of view, the manager can try and optimize the travel time (which
currently is nearly 3 hours) and maybe include another landmark for the tourists.
5. From a profit point of view, the client can do away with the location diversity and only
include those places of attraction which will fetch him the maximum profit.
6. Additionally, the manager can arrange for breakfast, lunch and dinner for his clients.
Given that he has a strong network in London and a lot of contacts, he can fetch a hefty
profit margin from that too.
7. For aiding the tourists to freshen themselves, he can yet again contact motels or hotels
and get a margin out of that too.

ANNEXURE A

Target Tourist Spots

Tourist Spots Type Time Profit Margin Profit Margin (Euros

Required (Euros per adult per juvenile per
per hour) hour)

Buckingham Palace Historic 4 hours 9 6

Site

The British Museum Museum 1 hour 6 4

Big Ben and the Landmark 2 hours - -

Parliament

Piccadilly Circus and Landmark 3 hours - -

the Trafalgar Square

Covent Garden Market 2 hours - -

 The Shard Landmark 3 hours 5 4

Westminster Abbey Historic 2 hours 5 4

Site

Churchill’s War Historic 2 hours 4 3

Rooms Site

London’s Eye Landmark 2 hours 4 3

Transportation Charges

Assume total travel time to be 3 hours in total (exclusive of the 10 hours of sight-seeing and
visits). Total Margin: 30 Euros/hour

Base Charges

1000 Euros/day