Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Know the dif erent types of organisations
operating in the travel and tourism
business environment
SECTION 1
Icebreaker
This unit is all about running travel and tourism organisations,
a
nd
the factors needed to ensure success in business.
Working by yourself, or in small groups under the dire
c
tio
n
of your tutor, see how you get on with the following
tasks to help you make a start on this unit:
•
What do we mean by the 'public sector'
a
nd
the 'private sector' in travel and tourism?
•
Where do you think a person could
get
fi nance to start a new travel and tourism business?
•
What do the initials plc stand for?
•
What is 'cash fl ow' in a trave
l
and tourism business?
•
Make a list of the w
a
ys
t
hat a tourist attraction could try to gain a competitive advantage over other attractions
nearby;
•
What's the role
of a board of directors in a company?
•
How coul
d
a travel and tourism business get extra fi nance to expand?
When y
o
u've fi nished, show your answers to your tutor and compare your answers with what other groups in your
cl
a
ss
h
ave written.
Travel and tourism business
environment
Public sector
The term 'public sector' refers to services provided for
the population that are fi nanced from public money,
such as education, the police, libraries, refuse collection
and leisure/tourism facilities. Public sector travel and
tourism organisations play an important role in helping
to promote destinations and provide a range of services
to encourage tourism development, such as grants to
start new businesses and advice on marketing, fi nance,
IT, etc. Unlike the private sector, public sector bodies
are not primarily concerned with making a profi t, but
have wider social and economic aims, such as creating
jobs through tourism and improving tourist facilities for
visitors and local people. As we saw in Unit 1, public
sector travel and tourism organisations in the UK exist
at different levels:
Travel and tourism organisations operate in a very
dynamic business environment. Every day new travel
companies are set up, new holiday products launched
and new destinations promoted to visitors. Unit 1
demonstrated that travel and tourism is a very wide-
ranging sector, made up of many different component
industries. In the fi rst section of this unit we investigate
the different types of organisations operating in the
travel and tourism business environment, starting with
public sector bodies.
