The Tourism Sector as a Multi-Choice Sector with a Wide Range of Clients - Case Study Example

The Tourism Business name: Course: Tutor: Date: Introduction Tourist travel agents play a pivotal role in guiding tourists in a given situation. Travel agents are supposed to offer information that the tourists pose in the course of their stay. They are assumed to have a lot of information concerning the area and the environment they operate in. The success of any visit by tourists whether local tourists or international lies on the quality of information they get from the travel agents. This paper will look at the services that were offered by two travel agents in a visit that we made to Bali Beach in Australia when we had a university break. The paper will look at the services and the experience we had with travel agents that are discussed in the sections that follow. Harvey World Travel Harvey World Travel agency is one of the leading retail travel agents in Australia and a member of Australian Federation of travel agencies; they have a wide range of tours for active travelers. The agency combines most of the popular and exciting tours in each region into packages hence providing exciting experiences at affordable prices. Most importantly, they adequately cater for student adventures and private charter groups. Harvey World Travel offer incentives in form of discounts to its clients (Harvey World Travel, 2011). Some of the notable discounts and incentives include the membership rewards that are offered to its members. Points can be accumulated through credits cards and eventually redeemed from the agency. Some of the notable service offered by the agency include but not limited to cruises both for small and large group organizations, coach tours, and car hire services, hotel booking ad accommodation arrangement for clients, insurance cover for travelers and other services that the traveler might require in their tour. Due to the need to gather more information with regard to favorite destination in the area, the agency was helpful in identification of Kuta, located in the neck of Peninsula, next to Jimbaran; it is the bustling tourism heart of Bali. Some notable Villas and resorts that whose knowledge was made available to us include Dusan Seminyak, De Duan, and Villas Bali Hotel & Spa among others. The prices charged in all of these hotels were also brought to our knowledge by the agents in charge. Escape Travel Agency The other preferred retail travel agent is The Escape travel agency; also, a member of the Australian Federation of Travel Agencies and offers a wide range of holiday packages and tourist destinations to Bali with no bias on any particular product or service. Their destination guide is a rich source of information for accommodation, travel, tours to different destinations in Bali. The agency offered adequate information about Bali, its climatic aspects with its warmth and tropical delights, the peace and political stability of the country despite its previous misfortunes and their strength to utilize its gifts of physical and natural beauty hence portraying it as the ideal tourist destination. Analysis The two tourist travel agencies visited provided rich and valuable information. The agents were keen to ensure that questions asked were answered with utmost clarity. It is with no doubt that travel agencies realizes that the depth of knowledge they portray to their clients will directly translate to the level of confidence they will receive (Bowen, 1996). Escape Travel Agencies provided more information than asked. The agent went along way in explaining the cultural value depicted in the Bali region by the friendly and welcoming society. It can be said with certainty that the agents tried as much as possible to display firsthand knowledge of the region. The group was able to get extra information regarding to health and safety while touring the region. The Harvey World Travel advised that the region is characterized by a number health risks in some destinations. Although malaria is not common in Jakarta or Bali, use however, it was recommended that effective insect repellent with suitable clothing. Sanitary and hygiene conditions in many areas are very poor; so, in addition to routine background immunizations, some other recommended vaccinations include hepatitis A, Typhoid and Rabies. Tourism agencies are obliged to provide correct information at any particular time. Though seeking to have clients, it was realised that part of their duty is to warn them of any impending dangers that might be faced in the toured areas. The quality and quantity of information obtained therefore from these agencies is of high standard. Though most of the information learned can be found online, the manner in which information is expressed makes the difference. A warning by a travel agent comes with a conviction that is much more realistic than one obtained on the Internet. Due to the quantity of information that the agency deal with daily, it is paramount that the Internet is used as a source of information. When asked about the effect of inflation and the foreign exchange of the local currency to the US dollar, it was realised that the agents had to consult before giving a definite answer. It is with this regard that argument can be placed forth that travel agencies rely on the Internet to sometimes get non industry specific information. In a subjective assessment, it cannot be concluded with utmost certainty that no agency was trying to push forth the preference of any particular item. However, both agencies were in the forefront advising on the variations in prices for products and services offered in the region. Advice on hotels’ classes, their services and their costs were at hand and readily available. It can be argued that the agencies tried to offer unbiased advice in relation to a particular product or service in order to ensure that clients choose for themselves the choice that suits their value (Blanton, 1981). Advising a client to choose a particular product or service might give the company a bad reputation especially if the client is not satisfied with the service thereafter. Therefore, in order to ensure that no liability is placed on them, the agencies makes clear the options available for the client and let him/her choose the best option. Overall advice offered by the agencies included issues to deal with Visas, foreign exchange and value as well as health and safety concerns. Advice regarding to the local money was given. It was learned that the Indonesian currency is the Rupia (IDR) and Banknotes come in denominations of 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 and 100,000 IDR. Coins come in denominations of 25, 50, 100, 200, 500 IDR. Singapore and US dollars are also accepted in most places. The exchange rate fluctuates from time to time with an average of 1,070.6 IDR to US$1, a high of 1, 2853.5 and a low of IDT 9082.6. The Internet has brought profound impact on the nature of operation of the agency. They are able to gather and pass information on products and services all over the world; they are also able to make advertisement about their products and services and be able to reach a wider scope of clients (Mill, 2005). They too get a lot of information from the Internet about external non-industry information such as culture and traditions, political profiles, current customer trends and dynamics, economic changes and much more information that is vital to the industry (Becton, & Graetz, 2001). Overall assessment The agencies provide specialised and efficient services to travel clients. The information obtained is invaluable to anyone planning to take a trip anywhere in the region. It was noted that escape travel provide their clients with a customised holiday travel package. Tourists, therefore, need not conform to the packages offered. The packages offered, however, can be tailored to suit the requirements of the client. Travel agencies are therefore important in organisation of tours (Beaver, 1999). The consultation process in both agencies was marked with high sense of hospitality and value. The agents offered first class treatment and answered the questions asked in a polite and respectful manner. It was realised that the same agency had tons of information regarding the station of preference. Therefore, in general, the agencies provided valuable high quality information in large quantity. A brochure was given in escape travel agency. The brochure was useful in supplementing information, which was not asked. Some of the information in the brochure include travel destinations that the agency facilitate travel to, also notable was the price plans and travel advice offered by the company. Harvey World Travel was the preferred agency due to the diversity of services it offers. It is also a well-established agency with many years of experience in the industry, therefore offering more confidence when it comes to service delivery. Business structure Escape Travel Agency is a large agency established in Australia in 1994. The company boasts of over 100 stores worldwide with more than a thousand staff and agents (Escape Travel, 2011). Harvey World Travel, on the other part, is a local tour travel agency specialising in small group nature-based tours for travelers. The company operates mostly in Australia and the northern territory. The current company directors who form the top management of the agency (Harvey World Travel, 2011) established Harvey World Travel in 1992. Due to advancement and proliferation of technology, both companies have adopted a Web presence approach to ensure that clients are able to get valuable information concerning their services at any particular time. They provide organised tours to places of interest to clients saving the client the hustle of information-gathering and other preparations needed for a tour. Their information and wide knowledge of most tourist destinations are invaluable to clients who might not have had a chance to visit the areas (Airey, 1999). Conclusion The tourism sector is a multi-choice sector with a wide range of clients from different works of life and with various tastes and preferences (Mill, & Morrison, 1985); a travel agency should thus be as dynamic as possible to be able to meet the requirements of all the clients. This requires proper structuring of the agencies’ profile including its staff, technology, and machinery, management, among others, in order to enhance efficiency in customer relationship and consultation process. Reference Harvey World Travel 2011, Harvey World Travel, Viewed on 16th august 2011 Airey, D. 1999, Education for tourism - East meets West, International Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1, 7-18. Airey, D. and Tribe, J. 2000, Hospitality education, in C. Lashley and A. Morrison (eds.) In Search of Hospitality: Theoretical Perspectives and Debates, Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann. Beaver, A. 1999, Travel Intermediaries - signposts towards the education and training required, paper presented at the 2nd Tourism Education Exchange, University of Westminster, 10th February Becton, S. and Graetz, B. 2001, Small business - small minded? Training attitudes and needs of the tourism and hospitality industry, International Journal of Tourism Research, 3(2), pp.105-113. Blanton, D. 1981, Tourism training in developing countries, Annals of Tourism Research, 8:116-133 Bowen, D. 1996, Tourism education, issues and perspectives: A UK case study, in G. Richards (ed.) Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe: Educating for quality, Tilberg, Tilberg University Press pp. 113-122 Dredge, D. Jenkins, J. 2007 Tourism Planning and Policy, John Wiley and Sons Brisbane. Escape Travel 2011, Escape Travel, Viewed on 17th august 2011 Goeldner, C. and Brent Ritchie, J.R., 2006 Tourism: Principles, Practices and Philosophies, (10th. ed.) Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Hall, C. Michael, 2007, Introduction to Tourism in Australia, (5th ed.), Longman, Melbourne. Medlik, S., 1999, Understanding Tourism, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK. Mill, R. & Morrison, A. 1985, The Tourism System, Prentice Hall, New York. Pearce, D. 1989, Tourist Development, (2nd. ed.) Longman, London. Mills, J., Law R., 2005, Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Tourism and the Internet, Haworth, Binghamton, NY. 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