Contents Introduction Chapter 1

1.3 Key trends and issues in travel services worldwide
A tour operator is the organization which puts the different elements of a holiday together. And the travel agent is the organization who sells it to the consumer.
Whilst this differentiation is pretty easy to comprehend, it is easy to understand why people get tour operators and travel agents confused. This is largely because many organizations will operate under the same company. For example, TUI has a tour operator and a travel agent (and an airline too). As a result, many people do not realize that in actual fact, there are two separate organizations doing two separate jobs.
What does a tour operator do?
Parked boat Photo by Asad Photo Maldives on Pexels.comUltimately, a tour operator is responsible for putting the different elements of a holiday together into a commodified package. To do this, there are a number of different roles and responsibilities that tour operator staff will have. This includes: Data analysis- which destinations will sell best, how many holidays should they sell etcAssessing suitability of accommodation, transfer and transport options
Liaising with stakeholders e.g. coach operators, airlines, hoteliers and resort representatives
Negotiating contracts
Confirming reservations with airlines/hotels
Managing and responding to customer feedback
Undertaking market research
Production of marketing material
Providing pricing information
Handling bookings, invoicing and issuing of tickets
Working with travel consultants from different travel agencies to put holiday packages together
Products and services sold by tour operators
Tour operators have a number of products and services that they sell, depending on their specific business model, business intentions and target market. A tour ¹³operator will typically package together two of more elements to form a packaged product, which is then sold at an inclusive price.
Examples include:

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  Package holidays
  
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  Accommodation
  
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  Transfers
  
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  Excursions
  
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  Information on destinations
  
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  Representative service in resorts
  

Types of tour operator;
Tour operators come in all shapes and sizes. Some are large, multinational organizations and other are small, independent business.
Different types of tour operators develop products for different types of tourism. This can include the mass market, niche tourism market, special interest tourism, the luxury market, tailor-made products and dynamic packages.
great wall of china
Photo by Johannes Plena on Pexels.com¹⁴
There are four different types of tour operators, which I will explain below.

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  Inbound Tour Operators
  

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  Outbound Tour Operators
  

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  Domestic Tour Operators
  
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  Ground Operators
  

The tour operator. types of tour operators.

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  Inbound tour operators
  

An inbound tour operator is one who facilitates inbound tourism.
The aim of an inbound tour operator is to bring tourists in to a particular country or countries.
Inbound tour operators will often collaborate with local travel agencies and transport operators to facilitate travel arrangements for their customers.
Inbound tour operator example: A group of German tourists conduct a tour of China, encompassing a visit to Shanghai, Hangzhou and the Yellow Mountains. The tour operator who organizes their travel is Chinese-based company China Highlights. This company is based locally in China and they offer local, Chinese tours.

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  Outbound tour operators
  

An outbound tour operator is one who facilitates outbound tourism.
The aim of an outbound tour operator is to send tourists out of a particular country or countries.
Outbound tour operators will often collaborate with foreign travel agencies and transport operators to facilitate travel arrangements for their customers.
Outbound tour operator example: A family of four from Liverpool, UK want to book an all-inclusive summer sun holiday in Alicante. They book through TUI, the largest tour operator in Britain, who specializes in outbound travel. They are based in the UK, but they work with foreign partners to facilitate holidays overseas.

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  Domestic tour operators
  

A domestic tour operator is one who facilitates domestic tourism.
The aim of a domestic tour operator is to organize travel within a particular country or countries.
Domestic tour operators will often collaborate with domestic travel agencies and transport operators to facilitate travel arrangements for their customers. Domestic tour operators will often also serve the inbound tourism market.
Domestic tour operator example: A group of twenty-something boys from Chicago want to travel to Florida for the spring break holiday. They want to do a tour of the local attractions in the area and have some time to relax on the beach. They organize their travel through the tour company, Trek America. Staff at this company are experts in domestic travel within the USA.

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  Ground tour operators
  

A ground tour operator is an organization who dopes the ground work as grass roots level.
Many tour operators do not have connections in all places around the world, therefore they build a network of connections to help them run their business.
Essentially, some of the work is passed on to a third party, known as a ground operator. This work may include negotiating local contracts, liaising with local suppliers and providing market data, amongst other things.
Ground tour operator example: A backpacker wants to ‘give something back’ and book a volunteer tourism holiday in Kerala. She wanted to use a known and trusted tour operator to book her trip so she booked it with Intrepid Travel. Intrepid Travel create and sell adventure holidays all over the world, and it is impossible for them to have contacts and every staff in every corner of the globe. Therefore, they work with local ground operators, who do the work on the ground. In this instance, the ground organization is Iris Travel– a tour operator based in Kerala, India.
The Association of Independent Tour Operators
The Association of Independent Tour Operators, abbreviated as AITO, is a travel industry trade group (like ABTA or ATOL) based in Britain. They launched in 1976.
The AITO represents around 120 independent tour operators across 200 countries.
These tour operators provide access to a huge range of activities including city breaks, safaris, luxury holidays and much more. The AITO is based in Tw Ickenham, south-west London.
The AITO does a variety of things. Most importantly, you can be reassured that your holiday is well-protected thanks to the Association of Independent Tour Operators.
They assess every member financially as well as by their own business practice code before granting membership; this means that you are guaranteed clear and accurate descriptions of holidays as well as tour standards that are consistently monitored.
The tour operator: To conclude
Tour operators are an important part of the tourism industry, and with AITO, you have added security when booking your travels through a tour operator. Hopefully after reading this article you are now confident with what a tour operator is, how these organizations work and the different types of tour operators operating the market.avel agent is, as well as the different types of tour operators.
Any travel agency that desires to expand its scope of services will
undoubtedly branch out to tour packaging and the operation of tours –
whether outbound, inbound, domestic or local tours.
In the Philippines, Tour Operators are travel agents who expand their product
range by setting up a tours department. This department is tasked to
assemble the various travel components into a tour package, and sell the
resulting package as one product. It develops and assembles well-made tour
packages that are offered to the travelers through other travel agencies.
In order to make these packages attractive to the travelers, a tour operator’s
product development sections, is constantly on the look-out for new
destinations, attractions and activities. It also conducts research on the
travel trends of the market, and often consults the travel agents for relevant
in-puts.
As an assembler of services, a tour operator acts as a middleman. It contact
transportation services, such as airlines, bus/car operators’, shipping lines;
hour for lodging and meals; restaurants and night clubs for entertainment;
and guides¹⁵.
“The tour operator is the “nut” that keeps all the “bolts”
(suppliers) together.”
A Tour Operator contacts the separate travel components of transportation,
accommodations and their other services, and combines these into a single
tour package.
A tour operator has three (3) main functions:
1. Plans and develops tour packages that meet the needs of the various
markets.
2. Assembles the various travel components as an integral part or
component of a single tour package.
3. Delivers the tour package by operating worry-free and secured
programs and/or itineraries that are cheaper than when each service is
purchased individually.