course project topic - travel agency inc IT upgrade (network and communication management) - needed in couple hours ...

NETW600

Professor Kucheck

Contents Week 4 Draft: 3 Industry 3 Trends 4 Competitive Analysis 5 Projections 6 Problem Definition 7 Problem One: 7 Problem Two: 8 Problem Three: 9 References 10

Many people around the world will travel to different locations every year for adventure and relaxation. There are various resources for people to find information about the locations they wish to visit for their vacation. One of the resources they can use is finding a local travel agency.

A travel agency is an organization that consists of specialists that provide information on various tourism destinations around the world (Mdusm, 2016).

Travel agencies can also provide special promotions or packages that will further enhance their vacation experience. These promotions are available based on what they are looking for at a location and can also be based on their initial budget.

Not all travel agencies offer the same services as others can be specialize in different types of travel. For example, some agencies can specialize in cruise lines, geographic locations, or varied generation group travel. Others can specialize in foreign travel where agents must carefully plan an itinerary and explain to the customers how the experience will be memorable and enjoyable.

Travel agencies allow people to save time by allowing the agents to the work them. They are able to research different aspects of the customer’s trip based on their preferences (Clark, 2016). They also provide the necessary procedures before traveling to a particular country such as health insurance protection, passport & visa applications, or inoculation procedures (Ledbetter, 2015). When things don’t always go as planned, travel agents are able to help customers work through a solution. They are able to re-book flights, recover lost luggage, or if a passport is pilfered. (Levine, 2014). Most travel agencies offer 24/7 customer support when these problems occur. .

Current and future Consumers of the Travel Industry will be empowered by adapting to the ever-changing travel industry trends, giving them the power to choose how, where, when and who they do business with. The Travel Industry will continue to change as technology changes. This has been the case since its inception.

Looking at the travel industry from a historic point of view we see that the industry was more of a supplier controlled industry than it was a consumer controlled industry. The idea was to create the supply and make it available by placing it in hands of the travel agents, who controlled the access to the consumers. However, with the advancement of technology and more specifically the internet, that has since changed.

With the growth of commercial internet in the mid to late 90s we saw the development of websites, such as Expedia, Travelocity and Priceline that offered the do-it-yourself travelers the means to book car rentals, hotels and air online, which was a big blow to the traditional travel agencies.

Although travel agencies became less of a priority for consumers, they were still a better option when it came to providing recommendations and reviews on specific travel destinations, hotels and shopping. With the websites customers had to shop across multiple sites thus prompting the deployment of the metasearch model in 2004. Sites like with TripAdvisor, was developed to fill the gap by proving all this needed information from one website and is now responsible for millions of airfare, hotel and car rental bookings.

The travel agency industry took another blow with the successful deployment of the first iPhone in 2007. Due to Apple’s success, they made the iOS SDK open to third party developers which gave travel companies the ability to develop dedicated applications for their customers. Also in 2008 the first trend of peer to peer marketplaces like Airbnb were launched providing home owners and renters a website to list rooms available for rent. These trends put a significant dent into the travel agency market share.

Although technology has caused a shift in the travel industry by taking the power away from the travel agencies and putting it in the hands of the consumers, the Travel Weekly’s 2016 Travel Industry survey showed the number of people still using agents to book travel has jumped to 28%, up from 26% in 2015 and a full 10 percentage points higher that those who said they used travel professionals in 2104. According to the survey customers are mostly satisfied with the service they receive from agents and satisfaction rating has consistently increased yearly from 49% in 2012 to 66% in 20016 (Travel Weekly, 2016).

The internet is no doubt the biggest competition for agents and as such travel agencies must keep up with the trends by developing their own websites and applications along with maintaining relationships by human interaction with their customers, being there for them when things goes smooth and when things aren’t so smooth and proving them the best experience at an affordable cost.

The key component in benefit usage choices made at the organization's customer level is confide in the notoriety and unwavering quality of the firm. The most imperative factor in this market will be the idea of the organization and spots of trip. This is especially so considering the different interests of people and groups as they endeavor to see whatever number of places as could be expected under the circumstances. The very idea of the services edicts that the valuing of the services offered and will fluctuate as per traveled distance, as various clients select to visit distinctive zones and within indicated time frames. In the line of business, clients routinely investigate travel offices straightforwardly, scanning for, no less than two, possible organizations. In any case, they normally take after verbal proposals got from hotels, car hire companies, government offices, travel agencies and other such related organizations. (Gursoy, & Chen, 2000).

Competing or substitute products: There are numerous exercises and sorts of travel accessible to individuals considering a vacation. Amusement parks, RV excursions, and cruises are only a couple. Substitutes could incorporate more affordable, self-arranged treks, trips equipped towards delicate travel, enterprise trips including fishing or hunting as essential exercises, or restrictive experience outings, for example, individual submarine voyages through the Titanic or an excursion around the globe in a Leer Jet. Numerous exercises that happen outside and include some level of risk could be viewed as hard-adventure competition. (Suarez Alvarez, Díaz Martín, & Casielles, 2007).

Finally, Travel Agencies that offer higher-priced, more lavish bundles generally give a "delicate" or "soft" adventure. The exercises are more along the lines of low-risk alternatives and sightseeing. The points of interest these agencies have incorporate reputation, broad information of the business, and key work force and administration. Some have been in task for over twenty years. They know about neighborhood specialist organizations and have set up key connections. They can along these lines offer trips at a lower cost. (Dale, 2000).

The travel industry is expected to grow in the future; focus will be required in operational efficiency, sustainability initiatives, and new product development. These facets will be critical to the success of travel industry businesses who look to keep a competitive advantage in this crowded sector. As stated by Research and, M., mergers and acquisitions are expected to increase within the travel industry in future months. For example, emerging markets such as Russia, China, and India are forecast for substantial growth; moreover, businesses intend to increase their use of technology infrastructure to concentrate on internal operating cost reductions (Nickerson, N. P., & Wilton, J. J.). Not to mention, the procurement expenditures for travel and tourism organizations is projected to increase by an average of five percent as stated by Research and, M. So the key will not only be to maximize growth potential opportunities but to also minimize costs and keep operations running as efficiently as possible as the growth in the sector continues to occur.

The travel industry overall accounts for a substantial amount of net revenue. According to (Travel and Hospitality Industry Outlook) Travel and tourism now account for more than one-tenth of global GDP. The travel and tourism industry is one of world’s fastest growing sectors bringing in a whopping $1.6 trillion in 2017; this being directly related to an overall strengthening world economy (Travel and Hospitality Industry Outlook). Like the retail sector and many others, the travel industry relies heavily on positive consumer outlook and disposable income. When you break it down, it’s not just existing customers that drive this growth year after year, but it’s also new customers who are traveling for the first time. As stated by the by (Travel and Hospitality Industry Outlook) both emerging and developed market consumers with disposable income are able to experience the wonders of traveling. Not only having the income to spend, but also an overall feeling that the economy will continue to do will is critical in the psychological aspect of travel for consumers. These are key items that need to be taken into consideration when determining what the overall roadmap of the travel sector will be in the future.

A modern self-service web portal will allow customers to quickly and easily book their travel plans. The proposed site will provide a secure log in for customers while offering exclusive sales, promotions and discounts. To stay in line with their strategic business objectives TAI will have virtual employee offices that will allow employees to work from home, while still providing full service, customer oriented personal assistance. The site will accept updated payment options such as Google Checkout, PayPal, Amazon Payments and even cryptocurrencies.

This in turn, will help TAI to recapture market and increase end customers. The proposed framework will have a cloud based server host that can be accessed from all location through a VPN. thus, making the data synchronization between all location safe and secure. Also improving the confidentiality, security and availability of the services. We have also place a VOIP solution through a third party integration for all location to reduce the operational cost and improve the service also the client to site setup will help TAI to have a similar setup to work from home or any remote place .

Travel Agency Incorporated (TAI) is committed to cutting cost and will need to implement other telecommunication services that will bring savings to the organization. Here are two cost saving solutions that can be implemented. First, we propose that TAI implement a Lease Roll program for the replacement of computers every three years for Laptops and four years for desktops with a manufacturer of their choosing (HP, DELL, Apple). With this process the company wouldn’t be responsible for any outdated hardware and would simply turn them in for new computers avoiding the maintenance and disposal cost of the old equipment.

The next cost saving telecommunication solution we propose is to use VoIP as the main means of communication instead of wireline PBX phones. Using VoIP will eliminate the high cost of using the regular phone system. Making long distance and international calls using VoIP will be a lot cheaper. Once a broadband connection is available, you will be able to use your VoIP service while travelling regardless of location.

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