Transcript What is a Travel Agency?

Introduction to the
Travel Industry
History of tourism
• Interest in exploration, tracing back the
history of the human race through famous
travelers such as Zheng He and Marco
Polo
• Travel took many forms :- travel on land by
foot, horseback, or camel, to travel on
water by ancient sailing ship
History of Tourism
• Modern modes of accommodation :Railroad, cruise ship, airplane, automobile
and motorcoach
• First travel agent was probably Thomas
Cook, who arranged the first organized
tour by rail in 1841 in England
History of Tourism
• “Cook’s Tours” of the continent in Europe,
personally escorted by Mr Cook himself,
soon became fashionable for the wealthy
• Modest beginning was the foundation of
Thomas Cook and Son, today one of the
largest travel organizations in the world
History of Tourism
• Mid-nineteenth century travel agency
focused on rail transportation and on
steamships for intercontinental travel
The Tourism Industry
• Operations of a travel agency encompass
the sale of wide variety of travel products
and services, and the travel agency plays
a major role in the tourism industry
The Tourism Industry
• Definitions :• Tourism :- Industry that includes
transportation, feeding, lodging and
entertainment of tourists
• Tourist :- Temporary visitor who travels to
a location other than where he or she
resides for a variety of reasons, including
leisure and recreation, study, business,
VFR, or to a convention
What is a Travel Agency?
• Sales office that sells to customers many
of the various components of travel
(transportation, accommodation,
sightseeing, car rentals, etc.) Offered to
the agent by travel suppliers in return for a
commission.
What is a travel agency?
Service business and relies on the following
factors for its success :• Travel agency reputation: word of mouth
advertising
• Conventional advertising: radio, television,
direct mail, newspaper ads
• Convenience of location/hours
What is a travel agency?
• Convenience of location/hours: the agency
may be selected because it is located
close to the client’s home or business, or
its hours of operation may be very
convenient for the client. Travel decisions
are often made in the evening or on
weekends, therefore location of the travel
agency is very important
Why use a Travel Agent?
Some reasons customer preferred to use
travel agents:
• Helps to get the most value of money
• Assures the highest quality
accommodation and other services
• Provides objective opinions
• Helps to ensure a trouble free trip
Why use a Travel Agent?
• Provides someone to call for when things
go wrong
Types of Travel Agencies
1) Small :
Owner/manager
operated with one or two staff; caters to
the independent traveler; operates base
on word-of-mouth with little or not
advertising
Types of Travel Agencies
2)
Medium : Staff of eight to ten; a blend
of commercial and vacation travelers,
small scale of advertising
Types of Travel Agencies
3)
Large
:
Either a single office
with dozens of staff, or various branch
offices; may employ specialists; has
more extensive advertising; often fully
equipped with in house computerized
accounting system, and fully
computerized reservation and ticketing
systems
Types of Travel Agencies
4)
Franchise
:
Manager operated,
using the name, reputation, advertising,
and promoting of the franchisor in
exchange for a royalty payment based
on sales volume, Franchisor also
assists in designing a marketing plan
and in negotiating rates with suppliers
Types of Travel Agencies
5)
Cooperative or Consortium :- Group of
fully independent agencies to obtain
benefits of large scale advertising and
increased sales volume. Agreements
with suppliers for a special rates or
higher levels of commission, may assist
in making arrangements with computer
companies, or air-tickets printing
Types of Travel Agencies
6)
Chains and associated offices :company with a large number of
agencies in several countries, using
standardized systems and sales
methods, and advertising extensively
on a national basis, relying on
reputation and buying
Categories of Agency Business
1)
Commercial or Corporate Travel :Tend to lead to repeat business and to
vacation travel for business staff, profit
depends on high volume, requires
frequent changes to travel plan,
requires more favorable credit terms
and additional services such as free
ticket delivery of after-sales services
Categories of Agency Business
2)
Pleasure or leisure travel :Arrangements for holiday travel,
requires more knowledge of the
destination product, competition for
leisure travel is fiercely
Categories of Agency Business
3)
Ethnic travel :- movement of specific
ethnic groups from and to their country
of origin; often dependent on an
individual consultant’s reputation within
that ethnic community
Categories of Agency Business
4)
Group travel :- Travel by a number
of people together is using the same
transportation, accommodation, and
other facilities; in order to obtain bulkbuying power.
Categories of Agency Business
a) Special interest : travel for a particular
interest or cultural events
b) Religious pilgrimages :- tours by a
religious group
c) Convention travel :- travel to a
destination for a common purpose e.g.
AGM of a professional
Categories of Agency Business
d)
Sales incentives: travel used to
increase sales as an incentive to the
staff of a business or to attract new
customers