Introduction
Many strategists in the travel and tour industry are facing a challenge today as competition continues to go up. It is important to ponder the importance of being unique if a business has to attract any attention in the market. A tour and travel business today has to offer outstanding products and services and establish a profound relationship with its customers. The industry is faced with arguably the most volatile and uncertain markets today (Campbell, Nigel, and George, 2002). The recent global economic crisis left many global tour and travel businesses fragile and many didn’t survive. The industry’s volatility is a result of the fact it is very dependent on global economies. The consequences of one region’s wounded economy affect travelers’ and tourists’ activities in many other different countries.
Our business offers holiday and tour packages including hotels and tickets booking. Our mission is to become the leading tour and travel company in the globe by means of excellence, personal attention to our clients, and innovative refreshing products. Our vision statement is to offer safe, reliable, affordable as well as fun-filled tour activities by ensuring our customers enjoy a diverse experience in every destination they are headed to.
The business’ products are classified into three categories. There are executive tours for business tours and trips. It includes packages to companies on team-building tours or market survey trips. For this category, the business concentrates on building convenience, comfort, and efficiency rather than focusing on price. The second category is students and school trips, a clientele that is more cautious of prices. This product is built more on fun and educational experiences. The third product is individuals, families, friends, and group tours. In this category, comfort, convenience and fun are key. The company also has special packages for special groups such as lovers, sportspeople and even religious groups which are personalized and tailor-made to suit their needs.
Strategic objectives
The tour and travel business landscape face wrenching and radical changes (Middleton, Alan, and Michael, 2009). It, therefore, calls for strategic objectives which allow flexibility. Our first strategic objective is to establish a company which is known for specific products, in this case, tour and travel. This objective is important since it allows the business to be specific in its operations, master good skills, and develop excellence. The business operations are not limited to a specific location and can organize and plan tour events in any part of the world. This is made possible by partnering with other tour and travel companies in different regions.
The second strategic objective of the business is to establish a professional, growth-oriented and customer-driven business. Today, any business which is not customer-driven may find it hard to cope with the ever-changing customer demands and preferences (Bolles and Darrel, 2006). This the business does by investing in market research to understand current customer trends.
Another strategic objective at the top of the company’s list is working out and implementing a working marketing strategy. The biggest challenge for a tour business is establishing a presence in the market and acquiring a stable market share (Marsh, 2004). This objective enables the business to achieve its target of attracting customers for up to 85% of its products at any particular time. The objective sets the pace at which the business grows its market presence and how much market share it acquires. Identifying and creating networks with other stakeholders in the industry is another important strategic objective for the business. Important networks include those with event organizers, transport providers, the tourism department in the country and other investors in the industry. This keeps the business in touch with the markets.
Among the most important strategies for the business is hiring qualified and experienced personnel. “Hiring top sales personnel and a quality marketing staff is essential in sustaining a company’s growth in the marketplace.” (Jackson, Randall and Steve, 2009) A company offering products such as tour and travel must establish a strong and well-defined marketing plan to help them achieve their potential since there are high levels of competition. Identifying strong and well-qualified staff as well as constantly developing them by training has been imperative for the business.
As part of staying unique and attracting attention, another important strategic objective has been being different and standing out from the rest. The tour and travel business is growing at a very fast rate and so is the competition. Ordinary products and packages easily go unnoticed. It has therefore been important for the business to create products that get people’s attention. An example is ensuring that business clients have executive small office spaces, internet and communication services in the travel vans as they travel.
A very important strategic objective in gaining loyalty among customers is building relationships with customers. Establishing a strong, healthy and long-term relationship with the customers is important in ensuring that the products are constantly updated are up to the customers’ demands and preferences (Murphy and Ann, 2004). The business has achieved this by continually updating the customers on the progressive quality of the company’s products and services making them feel valued and appreciated. In return, they easily air their complaints instead of moving on to another company when they are dissatisfied.
The last strategic objective for the business has been creating and maintaining good habits in the business. “It is said a happy customer tells one person while an angry one tells as many as are willing to listen” (Eisner and Gregory, 2010). Good habits include good service to the customers, excellent products and appreciating loyal customers. Such measures have been very effective and significant in ensuring that customers don’t have a reason to look around for the same products elsewhere. In the wake of staggering levels of competition, consumers have a wide range of options and will easily move on any time a business starts being inconsistent (Montgomery and Michael, 2002).
Conclusion
A business in the tour and travel industry today requires strategy, flexibility and accurate market information to be successful. Its volatile and competitive nature means that only the best can survive locally and globally. Information is key in this type of business as consumers’ preferences are as volatile as the industry itself (Chadwick and John, 2005). The company accesses market information and up-to-date customer preference information by investing heavily in research. It also achieves this by staying as close as possible to its customers since customer feedback is the most reliable source of information and is cost-effective.
Other strategic objectives which the company has put place are those aimed at improving sales. They include aggressive and effective advertisement campaigns, working with organizations such as schools, sports and religious groups to promote itself, participation in events organized by other stakeholders in the industry, offering discounts and rewarding loyal customers among many others. Among the business’ priorities include ensuring safety and comfort for its customers, hiring experienced professionals and training them where necessary, minimizing operational costs and constantly researching potential markets.
Reference list
Bolles, D. and Darrel, G., 2006. The power of enterprise-wide project management. New York: American Management Association.
Campbell, D. Nigel, E. and George, S., 2002. Strategic management for travel and tourism. Oxford: Butterworth-Heineman.
Chadwick, S. and John, G.B., 2005. The business of tourism management. New York: Financial Times/ Prentice Hall.
Eisner, A. and Gregory, G., 2010. Strategic management: Creating competitive advantages. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Jackson, S. Randall, S. and Steve W., 2009. Managing human resources. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Marsh, M., 2004. Design for achieving strategic business objectives. Washington, D.C.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Middleton, V. Alan, F. and Michael, M., 2009. Marketing in travel and tourism. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heineman.
Montgomery, C. and Michael, E.P., 2002. Strategic choices: Seeking and securing competitive advantage. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Murphy, P. and Ann, M., 2004. Strategic management for tourism communities: Bridging the gaps. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.