Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tour operators
Tourism
organisations
Transport
providers
Travel agencies
Accommodation
suppliers
Entertainment
sector
Ancillary services
Fig 9.2 - Working with other industries
Relationships in retail travel
•
Ancillary service providers - such as travel insurance,
airport parking, luggage transfer, guiding, foreign
currency, etc;
Retail travel operates in a dynamic, fast-moving business
environment where companies of all sizes are constantly
trying to maximise their income, keep costs to a minimum
and increase their share of the market. In the following
sections of this unit, we investigate important aspects
of this environment, including integration, agency
agreements, preferred agents and commission levels.
•
Entertainment industry - including theatres, events,
ticket agents, festivals, conferences, etc;
•
Tourism organisations - such as tourist boards,
which supply brochures and posters on destinations
in the UK and overseas.
Travel agents earn commission from these suppliers
whose products they sell.
Integration
Integration occurs when organisations own or control
a number of different linked business enterprises. It
can be either vertical or horizontal. Vertical integration
occurs in the retail travel industry when a company
controls more than one level of the distribution chain
for products and services, in order to gain a competitive
advantage. For example, each of the 'big two' multiple
travel agency companies mentioned earlier in this
unit are part of much larger travel groups. Thomas
Cook retail agencies are part of Thomas Cook plc and
Thomson holiday shops are owned and operated by
Thomson/TUI. These two companies also have their
own tour operating companies under many different
brand names and operate their own airlines.
Activity 9.4
Using a local travel agency with which you are familiar,
describe how it works with other industries in the
travel and tourism sector. Explain the importance of
these links and relationships it has developed within
the retail travel environment.
This activity is designed to provide evidence for P1 and
M1.
