Roles and Responsibilities BTEC National Travel and Tourism

Introduction In the previous lesson we looked into the structure of the travel and tourism industry.This week’s focus is on: the types of travel and tourism organisations their roles and responsibilities But first let’s re-cap with an overview of the industry

Types of Organisation Tour operators Leisure travel agents Business travel agents Accommodation providers Airlines and airports Regulatory bodies Public sector organisations QUANGOs

Tour Operators Creating tours and travel activities Offering these to customers… Through travel agencies or Directly via the Web Four main firms dominate: TUI (Thomson) Thomas Cook MyTravel First Choice

Travel Agents Travel agents provide the link between tour operators and customers Range from large national chains to small independents Leisure travel agents provide services to holiday destinations Business travel agents provide services for commercial consumers

Accommodation Providers Hotel chains New trends, such as budget hotels Bed and breakfast Youth Hostel Association Villas and country houses

Airports BAA is the UK market’s leading airport group BAA owns seven UK airports Manchester Airport Group is the second largest airport owner

Airlines Charter airlines Scheduled airlines Budget or no-frills airlines See Biz/ed’s easyJet business profile (http://www.bized.ac.uk/compfact/easyjet/easyindex.htm) and our At Your Leisure feature on budget airlines for more

Regulatory Bodies Regulators exist to control an industry to ensure that public, business and consumers rights are protected The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is one of the travel and tourism industry’s main regulators

Public Sector Organisations Central government creates legislation and local government is involved in policing the laws Key travel and tourism government departments: Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)

QUANGOs Quasi Autonomous Non Governmental Organisations (see why their name is abbreviated !) Often consist of Government-appointed people but can set policy independent of the state English Heritage is key in this industry

Roles & Responsibilities Travel and tourism organisations have responsibilities to: Customers Other businesses that depend on them The whole industry

Customers Have expectations, such as: Good service Quality products and services Effective complaints procedures Protection from improper business practice

Other Businesses In the first session we saw how the travel and tourism industry has many examples of vertical integration: Travel firms own businesses above and below them in the ‘chain’ e.g. Tour operator Travel agent Airline

Other Businesses They may not be owned by the same company, though Firms can still be inter-dependent, even though they may compete with each other

Whole Industry Organisations in travel and tourism have a responsibility to the entire industry because: It is a highly valuable industry Consumers’ confidence is vital Many firms’ growth and survival are inter-linked

Where Next? Go to the Activity to find out more about how the responsibilities of organisations in the travel and tourism industry are met in real life.