Travel Agency

Operations
 The Philippine Tourism Industry

The tourism industry is recognized by the government as

an important contributor to the generation of foreign
exchange earnings, investments, revenue, and employment
and to the growth of the country be output. The inclusion of
tourism as a major pillar in the Medium Term Philippine
Development Plan (MTPDP) has given priority to the tourism
sector by promoting the Philippines as a premier tourist
destination and investment site. If developed in a sustainable
manner, indeed it can be a powerful economic growth engine
for the country.
What is a Travel Agency?

A commercial enterprise where a traveller can

secure information and expertise, get impartial
counseling, and make arrangements to travel by air, sea
or land to any point in the world.

Acts as an agent for different suppliers or providers

of products and services.
 Travel Agency ARTICLE OF THE TOURISM CODE
OF1980

DEFINES A TRAVEL AGENCY AS:

A Travel and Tour Agency is an entity engaged in the

business of extending to individuals or groups travel services
and assistance to include documentations, ticketing, booking
for transportation and/ or accommodation arrangements,
handling and/ or conduct of tours within or outside the
Philippines whether or not for a fee, commission or any form
of monetary consideration.
 History of Travel Agency

THOMAS COOK:
•Founded the agency by his name in November
1841.
•Cook established 'inclusive independent travel.
•With John A Mason Cook, he formed a partnership
and renamed the travel agency as Thomas Cook and
Son.
 Functions of a Travel Agency
1. Provide information and expertise.
2. Recommend destinations, products and
services best suited to the needs of the
client.
3. Provide assistance in securing travel
documents.
4. Process travel arrangement.
5. Assist in case of refunds and cancellations.
 Characteristics of a Travel
Management Company

1.Retailer
2.Counselor
3. Derives income from a pre-determined fixed
commission dictated by suppliers or a
professional fee negotiated with client.
4. Charges fees for ancillary services.
TOUR OPERATOR – an enterprise regularly engaged in the business
of inbound and/or local tour operation such as making online
reservations, arranging and booking for transportation and
accommodation, handling and/or conducting tours for a fee,
commission, or any form of remuneration.

TRAVEL AGENCY –is an enterprise regularly engaged in the

business of providing services such as reservations/bookings,
documentation of travel papers, sales and/or issuance of tickets
and selling of outbound tours for a fee, commission, or any form of
remuneration
Travel Agency: Table of Organization

Administration:
Deals with the day-to-day management activities
of the company.

Operations:
Core of the Travel Agency business.
Engaged in the efficient and effective delivery of
the organizations services.
1. The Travel Counselor
• Provides all necessary information requested by
prospective travellers
•Recommends products and services best suited to the
travellers needs
•Keep updated on new travel information and trends. •Fill
out all travel information in the booking card for travel.
•Relay all changes and confirmations to clients •Process
refunds and processing fees
•Monitor processing of travel documents and insure that
they are all in order prior to release to clients.
2. The Reservations Officer

• Place all required reservations with different suppliers

•Follow up on reservations placed until confirmed
•To change reservations when itineraries are amended
•Look for alternative suppliers in the same level of
service in case preferred supplier is not available
•Monitor issuance of travel vouchers and tickets
•Act as back up to the ticketing Officer
3. The Ticketing Officer

• Correctly source or calculate fares when the need

arises
•Issue air tickets manually or through the automated
ticketing system
•Correctly issue purchase orders in accordance to clients
itinerary
•Check the accuracy of travel documents
•Reissue tickets when required
•Act as a back up to the travel counselor
4. The Liaison Officer

•Determines what visas and other documents are

required for travel
•Check the authenticity of all documents submitted
•Checks all relevant support papers.
•Insures that documents filed are released on time
•Arranges and coordinates appointments and visits to the
various consulates and government offices
 Sales & Marketing:

•Sales: can either be walk-in or field sales

•Marketing: everything that is done in order to attract or
create awareness about the company.

• Lead by the sales and marketing manager

• Prepares annual marketing plans
• Sets annual sales goals and develops working plans to
carry out these goals
• Participate in the preparation of the organization’s
budget
• Decide on negotiated rates and concessions
• Prepare proposal letters and contracts
• Prepares and submits marketing and sales
reports In charge of all marketing activities
and attends tradeshows and fairs
• Maintain an updated clients and prospective
clients and performs regular sales calls on
major accounts and suppliers.
 Kinds of Travel Agencies
1. Conventional and Full Service Agencies

These agencies sell it all: Air, Lodging Car Rentals,

Rail Travel, Cruise Tour, Tours and most other forms of
travel packages. Customers can book and receive advise
by phone, email or visiting agency in person.
2. Online Agencies

Agencies Online agencies operate almost

excusively through their web sites. These agencies
concentrate on selling travel commodities such as air,
lodging and car rentals. They do also sell experiential
products such as cruises and tours. A travel agent who
works for the online travel agency can explain their
products thru phone or online chat.
 Fare Calculation

• Fare- is the amount charged by carrier of a passenger

and his allowable free baggage, and is the current fare
which a carrier in the publication it normally uses to
publish fares, holds out to the public as being
applicable to the class of service to be furnished.
Different Ways in Fare Calculation:
1. Rate sheets- provided by respective airlines
showing the different sectors.
2. Passenger Air Tariff
3. Fare Quotation Display
4. Rate Desk
Basic Fare Calculation Procedures:
1. Established the type of journey.
2. Established the category of air fares
3. Fare published with the direction codes
4. Establish the Neutral Unit of Construction
5. Note , read and act of the conditions provided in the
rule
The Outbound Booking Card
-It is the working form of the operations department
travel. It is complete record of all requirements of the
passenger and provides a history of actions taken,
confirmation, option dates, and relevant information.

The Booking Order or Reservation Request

It is the working paper of the reservations sections of
travel agencies and tour operators. It is a document from the
supplier. It goes hand in hand with tour voucher.
The Tour Voucher or Exchange Order
-It is a document issued by the travel counselor of a
travel agency or the reservations staff of a tour operator,
specifying services to be provided to the bearer. This is
surrendered to the supplier in exchange for the services
stipulated in the Tour Voucher.
 ISSUANCE OF AIR TICKET

• Ticket- is a very important travel document and as such it is essential that it

be completed with utmost care. Incorrect entries may result in the
passengers inconvenience and substantial financial loss to the travel agency
that issues it.

• Air ticket –it may also contain additional pages, such as terms and conditions
of contarct of carriage, limitations of carriers liability, general information
of check-in time, reconfirmation requirements, carriage of dangerous goods
and the like. International air tickets may also contain extracts from the
Warsaw Convention pertinent to International commercial air travel.
Composition of an Air Ticket
1. Audit Coupon- which contains the original details of the transsction. It is
detached after completion and validation of the ticket and attached to the
sales report and sent to the accounting department as its copy.

2. Flight Coupon- which are left in the ticket until the passenger checks in at
the airport.

3. Agent Coupon-which as removed at the time the ticket is completed and

validated: it is retained by issuing office as its copy.

4. Passenger Coupon- which is retained by the passenger after the trip. It

contains the details of the transaction and is similar to receipt for money paid.
Reminders before Issuing an Air Ticket:
1. Each passenger, including infants, must be issued a
separate ticket.
2. A separate coupon is required for:
• Change carrier
• Change of flight number
• Change of class service
• Stopover
3. Select the ticket from series-2 for two legs or series-4
for four sectors according to the number of flight coupons
required.
4. All conjuction tickets, must be of the ame series and have
consecutive numbers.
5. When issuing the ticket, write distinctively in block letters and
use a ballpoint pen.
6.Use only IATA approved codes.
7. Never write ditto marks.
8. Never alter ticket: any alteration or erasure voids the ticket .
9. Void unused ticket
10. Before delivering the ticket to the passenger detached the ff:
• Audit coupon
• Agents coupon
• Any voided coupon
Reminder Before Releasing an Air Ticket
1. Check the flight coupons against the passengers itinerary
in the Outbound Booking Card. Inform the passenger that
the coupons must be used in sequence.
2. Inform the passengers of the limitations of the ticket such
as limited validity, non-reroutable, non-endorsable and
the like.
3. Inform the passenger of the standard baggage allowance.
4. Inform the passenger of the check-in time, departure time
and aircraft type which will be utilized for the flight.
5. Double check the passengers required travel documents
and provide additional pertinent information.
6. Advise the passenger to check with the local handling
agent in the cities visited for further information.
7. remind the passenger to reconfirm the onward/return
booking, if any, in the next stoop, so that the reservation
will not be cancelled.
8. Thank the passenger for passenger patronizing the travel
agency and wish him/her a pleasant trip.
The Purchase Order
it is a document issued by a travel agency requesting an IATA-
accredited travel agency or an airline to issue air tickets in favor of
the passenger/s named in the document.

Documentation
it refers to the process of legally securing the necessary travel
papers for prospective passengers. These are divide as follows:
• Documents required for leaving the country of origin
• Documents required for transit countries
• Documents required for entry to, and exit from, destination country
• Documents required for re-entry to the country of origin
 Flight Reservations
A reservations is an advanced request for space or service sometime in
the future. The Reservation Officer is responsible for processing of
reservations.

Two ways of reservations:

1. Manual Reservation- processing requires phone-in contact with

the supplier airline for the initial request, regular follow up for
confirmation and finalization of the reservation by way of manual
issuance of the corresponding air ticket.
2. Automatic Reservations

-the airlines have developed computer software which provides instant

information on flight schedules, class of service and pricing.

These software systems are commonly known a Computerized Reservations

Systems (CRS). A CRS enables a travel agent who is on-line or connected to the

system, to access all the agent to make remote reservations on airlines by

feeding in the service appearing in the menu of the software package.

• GALILEO-first global CRS.

• APOLLO

• ABACUS-mostly used in the Asia-Pacific Region

• AMADEUS
Thank you!