The Opportunity and the Holiday Tour - Report Example

THE OPPORTUNITY AND THE HOLIDAY TOUR Introduction Indonesia is a country with lots and lots of adventure. Talk of scuba diving and surfing, beach parties that goes all night long, experience the adventurous jungle treks and volcano climbing, several places to unwind in and relax, any travelers dream come true. Having the world’s fourth largest population occupying the over 15,000 islands covering 5000 km, Indonesia is really a world of adventure on its own. Ever since explorers discovered its beauty, this heavenly island has been the ultimate destination for all tourists across Southeast Asia. There is a lot to explore in Indonesia and our group relishes the opportunity to travel and explore this incredible country and enjoy what nature has to offer. The priority for most people visiting Indonesia is the Kingdom of Thailand. Thailand is an independent place in Indonesia with several distinctive cultures and traditional lifestyles. In recent years, the country has seen major changes from its ancient nature towards becoming a 21st-century society. However, there remain traces of ancient culture and several weird and wonderful sceneries as you enjoy countless attractions of this great kingdom. Everything in Thailand is breath taking. Indeed, you can spend a lifetime just experiencing the amazing adventures and familiarizing with the many rich and exotic cultures that this country has to offer. For first-timers visiting this country, taking a walk through the ancient temples, attending the amazing spiritual ceremonies, spotting rare and beautiful wildlife as well as enjoying the beautiful scenery, leaves them no choice but to come back again and experience the incredible world that exists within its borders. We organized a 15-day trip that we believe will showcases the very best experiences that this country offers, but we can be sure that this adventure will only scratch the surface of our curiosity for this country as Indonesia has much more to offer. The Adventure Travel Experts Explore is one of the leading small group adventure holiday tour providers. They have run a small group adventure holidays since 1981 and are one of the most trusted tour operators in the UK. The have a diverse coverage around the world, across all the continents with over 500 tours available in over 120 countries. The main competitors are Exodus, Travelbag and Imaginative traveller. However, Explore has the largest market share as its services are of high quality and appealing to their customers. Explore are experienced in small group adventure offering a wide range of options for adventure travel options. These include cycling tours, family adventure holidays, polar voyages, and walking and trekking tours. One of the best tours they offer is the exhilarating and mind-blowing, tailor-made Thai Jungle Adventure. Unlike the bustling Bangkok, that entails noisy markets and its shining temples, the kingdom of Thailand, and its inhabitants offers a quiet daily life. It has beautiful scenery in the sandy beaches on Koh Samet that everyone will like. These two elements of varied adventure brought together make Thailand the ultimate destination that suits every family member, both the young and the old. At Explore, we offer several adventurous activities in this bespoke journey while travelling through the many favourite spots in Thailand. This journey along the west coast of southern Thailand takes you to some of the best beaches in South East Asia. There is time to relax and explore as you travel from island to island each time getting further away from the tourist crowds. It starts by travelling by train overnight, an amazing ride on an elephant and taking a trip on a long-tail boat before finishing the adventurous holiday enjoying the sparkling waters that the tropical Koh Samet island offers. This is a great place to meet locals, sample some local seafood and while away the day’s snorkeling and kayaking off the sandy shores. It all depends on what the traveller wants. We have destination experts and you can choose to abide by their recommendations and travel just as you see the itinerary they have recommended, or contact us to customize the holiday according to your specifications and add your own special touches. We aim at designing you perfect holiday so that you can come back again. This trip tends to work best from November to May due to Thai weather patterns and boat operations. Outside of these months, our “East Coast Explorer” tour may be more suitable. The 15-day holiday will involve several activities and in summary, it will be as follows: Day1: Join tour Bangkok Day2: In Bangkok Day3: In Bangkok; train to Chiang Mai Day4: Arrive Chiang Mai; visit Doi Suthep Day5: Drive to Pai; start Hilltribe trek to Red Lahu Village Day6: Trek to White Karen Village Day7: Morning trek; then boat cruise to Mae Hong Sorn Day8: In Mae Hong Sorn Day9: AM Drive to Chiang Mai; PM Optional Thai Cookery Day10: AM Lampang Elephant sanctuary; PM free; Overnight train to Bangkok Day11: Morning drive and ferry to Koh Samet; afternoon free Day12: On Koh Samet Day13: On Koh Samet Day14: Drive to Bangkok. PM Free Day15: In Bangkok. Tour end Bangkok Bangkok is one of the most busy cities with lots and lots of people that engages the city’s ancient beauty blending it the youthful cultures coming up and the ancient rituals. For first time travellers, the pace, friendliness, endless cacophony of the people there combined with the heavy traffic can shock you but once you blend in and start enjoying the spectacular views its amiable energy will soon capture you. The pavements are humming with hawkers, open-air kitchens, and clothes stalls, while backstreets are smothered in alluring aromas of the exotic dishes being prepared. In the end, what marks Bangkok out is its improved modernization of the 21st century blended in with the ancient traditions of the Thai culture. Chiang Mai Chiang Mai is the largest city in the north even after the north Thailand was united into the Thai nation. Chiang Mai has developed into a major tourist centre having an awesome infrastructure, including excellent hotels and restaurants, as well as an important transport hub. A walled center that attracts many visitors with its several sceneries including serene and ancient temples, excellent accommodation, and its bustling markets. It is full of rich and colourful history that can be noticed in its architecture, tradition crafting is in abundance and it a good place from which you can start trekking to visit the famous hill tribe villages such as Doi Suthep. Pai - Hilltribe trek to Red Lahu Village The Pai mountain ranges are a spectacular view giving travellers a panoramic view and a boutique escape from the bustling world behind. Apart from this, it also offers a rare, up-close and exciting interaction with one of the northern hill tribes, the Red Lahu. It is time to appreciate their different lifestyle and culture as you trek to the Red Lahu village. Forget the luxurious life you come from, immerse yourself in their lifestyle and be part of them. Mae Hong Sorn Mae Hong Sorn province is full of amazing sceneries with several beautiful forests and rivers that are there waiting for you to explore them. It is recommended that you trek the area through jungle, climb mountains and bathe in rivers and pools in the morning to have an unforgettable experience. There are many expert guides waiting to accompany you on your trek, who can ensure the highest levels of safety. Lampang Elephant sanctuary Thai Elephant Conservation Center located in Hang Chat District downsouth of Chiang Mai was founded in 1992. Its aim is to offer a home for Thai Elephants as well as provide treatment free to every sick elephants. The elephant sanctuary has accumulated over 50 elephants now, which are taken care by their mahouts and vets. A visit to the place includes an elephant show that points to the preservation and protection of the species, a chance to bathe the elephants, enjoy a ride on the elephant and a hospital visit. In addition, they offer meals, bottled water, and overnight accommodation. Koh Samet Koh Samet is famous for its amazing beaches and the further you go to the south it becomes less crowded and less developed but this does not mean that they bays get less beautiful. Start by taking a trip by boat to the north eastern side of the island to arrive at Na Dan Pier then go to Sai Kaew which is the most developed part of this island which is amazing if you love nightlife. After there you will head southwards starting from Ao Phai to Ao Tabtim, Ao Vong Duen, Ao Wai, Ao Kiu Na Nok and finally end your trip at the southeastern end called Ao Karang. The island boasts stunning beaches with azure water and the adventure through all these places will be a lifetime experience. Tour costs, pricing and break-even analysis In arriving at the total costs that will be incurred during the trip we calculated a cumulative total of all accommodation, internal travel, entrance fees, equipment hire and subsistence excluding outbound or return flights. We took into consideration the average age of travellers by destination, comparison between the number of travellers in each destination, number of tours in each destination and the tour value per person. This enabled us to calculate the tour prices for both the adults and children as follows: Adult Price From £ 1,791 Child Price From £ 1,599 Other additional fees likely to be incurred during this trip include: 10 nights Standard Hotel 2 nights Basic Overnight Train 2 nights Basic Village House 12 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners Chosen market segment We chose Thai Hilltribe Adventure as our preferred market segment after an analysis that entailed a consideration the average age of travellers by destination, comparison between the number of travellers in each destination, number of tours in each destination and the tour value per person. From the Explore data in the Learning Community BREO site containing all the historical bookings for six selected destinations and a pivot table to help analysis we came up with the following summary. Average age of travellers Number of tours Tour value per person 47.7 74 £1,950.00 This analysis in conjuction with the Explore data in the Learning Community BREO site which will helped us to determine Thai Hilltribe Adventure as the market segment we will target with your holiday tour. Group presentation We prepared a 10-minute presentation that focused on the key elements such as a justification for the holiday tour supported by analysis of the data, how the proposed holiday tour fits into the Explore portfolio, analysis of the costs, prices and breakeven point and the advantages that will emerge from a radio commercial for the holiday tour. We used slides in our presentation that were categorized to those slides that summarize the key aspects of the holiday tour and additional slides, which contain detailed information to support questions. My main area of presentation was to explain the cost benefit analysis that will arise from the implementation of a radio commercial for the holiday tour. I took 3 minutes in explaining how this project will be beneficial to Explore at large and the Explore management team was impressed by the presentation. In conclusion, it was an amazing experience working as an Explore employee and I learnt a lot from the various activities that I undertook as part of the group. From the experience I received I can now be able to work for any tours company as well as engage in activities that involve analysis of the existing projects and looking for ways of improving various market segment or specialize in a single market segment. Bibliography Krippendorf, Jost. The holiday makers: Understanding the impact of leisure and travel. Routledge, 1999. Read More