Term Paper 7 Ps of Travel Planners

TERM PAPER ON 7Ps OF TRAVEL PLANNERS

Prepared for:

SSM Sadrul Huda

Assistant Professor

Department of Business Administration

East West University.Prepared by:

Name Id

Asif Sadat 2011-1-10-121

Md. Wasek Rashid Choudhury 2009-1-10-171

Md. Saydur Rahman 2010-2-10-166

Morshed Alam Shuva 2010-2-10-043

Md. Mamun Rahman 2010-2-10-126

Arafat Rahman Tarafdar 2009-1-10-240

Sec: 01

Course Code: MKT412

Course Name: Service Marketing

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

December 06, 2013SSM Sadrul Huda

Assistant Professor

Department of Business Administration

East West University.

Subject: Solicitation for acceptance of the report

Dear Sir,

With great pleasure we are submitting this report. This report contains the 7Ps analysis of Travel Planners. This report may do not reflect the whole picture of Travel Planners but it may reflect the main scenarios of Travel Planners.

We are really grateful to you for giving us such an important assignment which helped us to understand marketing activities of a service oriented company, it will be helpful for our careers. This report is authentically based on our true effort.

Sincerely YoursAsif SadatMd. Wasek Rashid Choudhury

Md. Saydur Rahman

Morshed Alam ShuvaMd. Mamun RahmanArafat Rahman Tarafdar EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Travel Planners is one of the most leading Tour Operator and Travel Agency in Bangladesh. It is an ideal company for 7Ps analysis in service industry because of the nature of the service they offer. From the analysis of 7Ps of marketing activities, Travel Planners has created a good mix of all the Ps. History of Travel Planners is that, since 2001 Travel Planners has been providing tourism and travel related services in Bangladesh and the South-East Asia region to individuals and corporate clients. Travel Planners offers these clients two type of product, one is package tour and another is logistics. The organization gave more focus on E-commerce due its international market. Travel Planners wants to build long term relationship with customers through relationship pricing strategy. They also use different forms of promotion to pursue and remind their customers. Also Travel Planners process blue print is a two-sided blue print where both employees and customers participated in making the blue print. People are the main component in Travel Planners services. Both customers and employees are handled with care. All the components are covered by the organization management with lots of enthusiasms. So that one day Travel Planners can be the number one tour operator and travel agency in Bangladesh. TABLE OF CONTENTS Topic Name Page Number

Introduction, Mission, Vision 06

Product 07-10

Place 11

Price 12

Physical Evidence 13-14

Promotion 15-17

Process 18-20

People 20-23

Conclusion 24

Reference 25

Travel Planners is one of the most leading Tour Operator and Travel Agency as well as a Destination Management Company (DMC) in the private sector located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Travel Planners is a group of tourism professionals, who constitute the Travel Planners and committed to extend their best assistance to their clients, coming from all over the world and from the local market. Since 2001 Travel Planners has been providing tourism and travel related services in Bangladesh and the South-East Asia region to individuals and corporate clients.Within this short span of time, Travel Planners earned remarkable impetus by way of providing various services to their clients. Employees are dedicated to providing the best tourism related service, including travel advice, transport, ticketing and permission related assistance. Travel Planners have developed their logistics in the form of transports, boats, resorts and branch offices. Presently, Travel Planners have English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, German & French Language guides and interpreter for potential tourists. Travel Planners have specialized particularly in Eco, Cultural and Heritage tourism in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has a strong background of these products which is unique in this part of the world. Travel Planners provide all kinds of logistic support for any research team, film maker or media.Travel Planners provide detailed and up to date travel information, tailor-made itineraries for a wide range of destinations in and around Bangladesh, and reliable logistical services including knowledgeable multi-lingual guides, transport & accommodation facilities. So, Travel Planners services and facilities are developed in collaboration with local communities and in harmony with the environment.MISSION:

Travel Planners mission is to be the number one Tour Operator and Travel Agency in the country.

VISION:

Travel Planners is working to make Bangladesh an incredible diversity of attractions for travelers.PRODUCT:

Travel Planners is keen to diversify their product from others. So they have developed their own line of product on the basis of customers demand. Travel Planners product offering can be divided into two major groups.

1) Package tours: Package tours are the bundle offer Travel Planners have developed over the year. These package tours are developed on the basis of benefit-driven pricing strategy.

a) Day Trips: This tour takes travelers to the heart of Dhaka & beyond. Travel Planners guide will lead trevelers to some of Dhakas treasures, including Shankharia Bazar (Hindu Street), Ahsan Manzil (Pink Palace), Sadarghat (River front), Armenian Church, Star Mosque, Dhakeswari Temple and Lalbagh Fort. On this highest 8-9 hours tour travelers will also get a glance of the Curzon Hall (Dhaka University campus) and the National Assembly Building etc. For small groups of travelers, guides can arrange a short rickshaw or boat ride upon request. Some diversification of Day trips product line is given below_i. OLD DHAKA HALF DAY CITY S/S TOUR OF 4 HOURSii. DHAKA & BEYOND FULL DAY S/S TOUR OF 8 HOURSiii. MUSEUMS - HALF / FULL DAY MUSEUM TOUR OF 4 / 8 HOURSiv. BAZAARS, BOUTIQUES & BARGAINS HALF/FULL DAY SHOPPING TOUR OF 4/8 HOURSv. SONARGAON TOUR & JATIYA SANGSAD BHABAN ASSEMBLY BUILDING VISITvi. JATIYA SANGSAD BHABAN VISIT OF 3 HOURSvii. RIVER CRUISE FULL DAY R/C TOUR OF 8 HOURSviii. DHAKA AT A GLANCE - FULL DAY S/S & R/C TOUR OF 8-10 HOURSix. SUNSET OVER SHITALAKHYA EVENING R/C TOUR OF 6-8 HOURSx. COMILLA-MOINAMOTI-SONARGAON FULL DAY EXCURSION TOUR OF 10-12 HOURSxi. ARTISANS OF BENGAL FULL DAY EXCURSION TRIP TO POTTERY VILLAGE OF 6-8 HOURSxii. PUBAIL RETREAT RURAL BANGLADESH UP CLOSE & PERSONALxiii. FULL DAY RETREAT TO PADMA RESORT OF 10-12 HOURSb) Overnight trips: The package offer includes one or two days accommodation at destination, all road journeys by reserved vehicle, local guide, and boat. Some diversified line of overnight trips_i. VILLAGE HOME-STAYii. OVERNIGHT TRIP TO PUBAILiii. SRIMANGAL TEA CENTRE OF BANGLADESH TRIP TO BIRISHIRI & DURGAPUR.iv. VISITING THE VERY OLD TRADITION OF OTTER FISHINGOVERNIGHT TRIP TO OTTER FISHING VILLAGEv. OVERNIGHT TRIP TO SRIMONGOL (TEA RESORT) BY TRAINvi. RAJSHAHI & PUTHIAOVERNIGHT TRIP TO RAJSHAHI & PUTHIA.vii. BIRISHIRI & DURGAPUR EXPLORING THE SCENIC NORTHERN BORDER AREA OVERNIGHT.c) Longer Package Tours: These packages are consists with all the Travel Planners offerings. These packages can be divided into five major offering_

i. Heritage trips

ii. Trekking

iii. Sundorban trips

iv. Tea estate trips

v. Boat rides.

d) Tailor made tours: To satisfy every type of customers, Travel Planners has developed tailor made tours.

e) Outbound Packages: Travel Planners vacation packages in Bhutan, Nepal, India, Malaysia & Thailand. These packages are co-produced with other companies.

2) Logistics: Travel Planners offers boats, vehicles, guides, fixer & interpreter, film & media support, consultation. There are some terms & conditions need to be fulfilled to get this offers.

a) Boats:

i. Tourist boat 52 pax (Hired), this tourist boat was especially built for cruises to the Sundarbans Forest and other areas of Bangladesh. It is your best choice for large groups, as it provides accommodation for 45 people.ii. Tourist boat 12 pax (Hired), this tourist boat With its spacious cabins and generous deck space, the boat caters particularly to the needs of small, private groups with high servide standard expectations. This vessel also offers the perfect platform for researchers, special interest groups, film crews as well exclusive private partiesiii. Tourist boat 20 pax (Hired), this tourist boat is the first vessel designed and built exclusively for tourism purpose in Bangladesh. While it mainly operates cruises to the Sundarban mangrove forest, other destinations around the country can be reached with the boat.iv. Tourist boat 30 pax (Hired) , these two boats both above and below are designed and built exclusively for tourism purpose in Bangladesh. Mainly operates cruises to the Sundarban mangrove forest, other destinations around the country.b) Vehicles: All Travel Planners vehicles are air-conditioned. They provide the vehicle with good and experienced driver, oil, fuel, parking fees and small ferry charges. For booking of our transports, normally they need 50% advance payment. c) Guides, fixer & interpreter, film & media support: Travel Planners provide experienced Fixers for assisting Film crews in the field. They will coordinate all logistics, time schedules, helpers and related persons in the field. If required, they will also act as translators (English/Bengali).For other language translators,Travel Plannerswill recruit suitable persons. Assistants for camera or sound can also be provided locally.PLACE:

Customers can get Travel Planners service from three different distribution channels. Travel Planners main focus is on their customers. So, achieve maximum customer satisfaction, it has developed online service and there is also traditional distributor system like personal selling and Travel Planner own office.

1) Travel Planner office: Travel Planners has built to different offices to be more convenience for the customers. These offices are developed as a way of conveying the quality of the service to the customers. Customers can get Travel Planners services from below addresses_

a) Head OfficeHouse # 27, Road # 05, Sector # 07, Uttara Model TownDhaka 1230, Bangladesh.

b) Coxsbazar OfficeBloc # B, Plot # 16, Hotel Sea Alif, Kolatoli Road, Coxsbazar, Bangladesh. 2) Travel Planners Website: To be more convenient for the International and local customers, Travel Planners built their own website. All of their service can be purchased from this website. For customers convenience Travel Planners named their website, www.travelplannersbd.com

3) Personal Selling: Personal selling includes direct sell, telemarketing, sending brochures to customers.

PRICE:Customers are more likely to use price as a quality cue, Travel Planners has made attracting price for their service. The price is depending on how many days they are on tour and where they are going. They have different types of package and different price range. Travel Planners has developed their pricing strategy in way that will encourage the customers to expand his/her business with Travel Planners. So, Travel Planners implemented relationship pricing strategy as price bundling. Some of the price bundle given below as example_

Packages Price

Sundarban:

In Sundarban they have 5 days tour. 3 days and 2 nights.

Sundarban:

It will cost around 12,000 tk per person.

Coxbazar & Saint Martin:

There is 1 night stay in Saint Martin and 2 Nights stay in Cox Bazar.

Coxbazar & Saint Martin:

In Cox Bazar and Saint Martin tour the cost will be 11,000 tk per person.

Rangamati:

Package includes Boga Lake, Nil Giri, Kaptai Hanging Bridge, Shuvhalang Water Fall. It is 5 Days Package.

Rangamati:

Travel Planners have package tour in Rangamati which will cost 8,000 tk per person.

Sylhet Tea Estate:

It is 5 days tour. In this tour the tourists will know about the Tea Garden and how they process the tea leaves. There is Bangladesh Tea Research Institute.

Sylhet Tea Estate:

In this package the cost per person will be 9,000 tk per person.

Tailor made package & Logistics: The package made by the customers instruction.Tailor Made Package & Logistics:The price is offered on the basis of customer demand.

PSYSICAL EVIDENCE:

Because the Travel Planners itself as a service is intangible in nature, Travel Planners needs to incorporate some tangible elements into the marketing mix. Physical evidence will have value to the customer and it builds up certain images in their heads, which they can talk about when going back home. Considering these factors, Travel Planners should made sure e.g. the car for picking up people from the airport is clean and proper, facilities are clean and well maintained, or there will be always fresh flowers it the breakfast table. Other physical evidence can be retreat brochures and business card. Within this short span of time, Travel Planners earned remarkable impetus by way of providing various services to their clients. Today, their employees are dedicated to providing the best tourism related service, including travel advice, transport, ticketing and permission related assistance. They have developed their logistics in the form of transports, boats, resorts and branch offices. Some of the physical evidence of Travel Planners is:1. Hotel: : Hotel reservation for customers anywhere in Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Bhutan, India, Malaysia

2. Air: Travel Planners provides service as an agent of purchasing airline tickets.

3. Bus: Travel Planners provides service as an agent of purchasing bus tickets.

4. Consultation: Travel Planners provides consultation for every type of customer.

5. Boats: Travel Planners provides service as an agent of purchasing boat tickets.

6. Guides, Fixer & Interpreter: Travel Planners provides guides for every type of customer and tour.

PROMOTION:

Promotion is the role of the marketing mix in tourism. It encompasses all of the ways that the company markets and advertises the business. This may include typical types of marketing, such as placing ads in tourist magazines and offering discount coupons in travel guides. It may also include going from hotel to hotel in the area and leaving a postcard or flier for the service at each hotel room door.

Travel Planners use some promotional method in order to adapt to and thrive in todays environment, in which travelers want personalized attention, good value, and the convenience of the internet. Some of the promotional method is:

1. Website: Travel Planners have websites that do them a disservice.

2. Specialized in online: Travel Planners Pick a few destinations or activities and resolve to be a better expert at them than anyone else. Consumers now have access to so much travel information, particularly at their fingertips via the Internet that they have themselves become generalist travel agents. When they seek help, theyre seeking a true specialist.3. Personalize in Magazine: Travel Planners differentiate themselves in magazine paper etc to give consumers highly personalized service, recommendations, etc.

4. Develop a repertoire of unique experiences and special access: Travel Planners they are more unique,they try more to get clients access to special events or people, in more differentiated way.

5. Work with net rates rather than take commission: Especially for custom tours, Travel Planners consider getting net rates from suppliers and marking them up rather than taking commission. This gives pricing flexibility and better cash flow, and reduces the hassle of collecting commission.

6. Travel Exhibitions: Travel Planners are held regularly Travel exhibitions and you should represent their company. These exhibitions are often several days long with the first day or two being for those in the trade and subsequently they open up to Joe Public.

7. Social Media: Travel Planners have a Facebook Page for travel business. Get their clients to be fans and to post reviews of your services. Engage them with insights and tips.

PROCESS: Service blueprint of Travel Planners:

------------------------------------------------- Line of visibility-----------------------------------------------

The above Travel Planners blueprint is a two-sided blueprint. So it is made with both point of view of customers and employees. The entire process can be divided into six general steps. The process in involved both visible and invisible activities can be seen by customers and employees. Travel Planners blueprint shows its volume-oriented positioning strategy. Travel Planners wants to provide service that satisfies every customer, so they try to provide tailor made services which makes the divergence high. Among physical evidence Travel Planners give more focus on their E-Commerce website because they want to attract more foreign customers.

From the above flowchart we can see the complex production process. It also shows the direction in which process flow, job conducted in each steps. This working process has increased Travel Planners efficiency.

The first step of the service process system involves customer and employees of Travel Planners in case of personnel selling. There is presence of Physical Evidence in this step. Physical Evidence plays an important role when customers visit Travel Planners office or website, because it provides informational cue of the organization to the customers. Travel Planners brochures, catalogs and photo albums helps customers in purchase decision. Travel Planners gives more focus on their website because of the foreign customers.

The second step is details of different services that Travel Planners provides which helps customer to pick the right one for them. Travel Planners tries to make tailor made services for their customers so employees have a high degree of freedom at this stage. Travel Planners Services -

Package Tours: Package tour of sundorban, coxs bazaar, hill tracks, eco agro tourism, tea estate and rivers.

Hotel Reservation: Hotel reservation for customers anywhere in Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Bhutan, India, Malaysia

Airport Transfer & Long Transfer: There is service for Airport transfer and long distance travel.

Air Ticketing: Travel Planners provides service as an agent of purchasing airline tickets.

Bus, Rail, Vessel Ticketing: Travel Planners provides service as an agent of purchasing bus, rail & vessel tickets.

Mice: Logistics is provided for different type of event, research.

Consultation: Travel Planners provides consultation for every type of customers.

Third step is selecting the best service suited for customer. Both Travel Planners employees play an advisor role in this step. Ultimately customers make the decision.

Forth step of the service production flow is the payment. Travel Planners takes 30% of the payment as advance payment for package tours. Consultation, mice, reservation payment is taken when conformation is delivered. Full payment is taken in case of transportation ticketing. Payment medium is electronic and cash.

Step five is after payment is complete, all the data is stored in Travel Planners mainframe. Travel Planners tries to maintain good data storage for their cliental.

The last step is the conformation of the service purchase. Conformation letters, mail or fax is send to the customers with needed information and details of the services.

The entire flowchart has high level of divergence because of the nature of the service but it has provided highly satisfied customer for Travel Planners. PEOPLE: Customer Segmentation: Travel Planners customers can be segmented into three major groups on the basis of the nature of service. Each group has their own unique attributes which is different from others. These segmentations are

a) Vacationers: Vacationers is the large part of Travel Planners market share. This segmentation can be further divided into two sub groups; those are domestic customers and foreign customers. During the winter season the amount of customers both foreign and domestic increases. During festival season domestic customers increases. Vacationers are mostly family people, they wants package tours to coxs bazaar or tea estate or sundorbon.

b) Adventure seekers: Adventure seekers customers are divided into bike riders and trekkers. These customers are young people, mostly university students. Tailor made services is more attracting to them instead of package tours. Experienced guides and logistics are involved in this segmentation.

c) Researchers & Corporate Clients: Researchers & Corporate Clients are consists of both domestic and foreign customers. Researchers & Corporate Clients mostly seek tailor made services. High amount of logistics for research is needed for this segment. It is the second most profitable segment for Travel Planners.

d) Others: Some of the customers use Travel Planners as an agent. Foreign and domestic hotel reservation, ticketing, consultation etc is main demand of this segment.

Categories of Uncooperative Customers: a) Egocentric Edgar: Travel Planners employees have to deal with egocentric edgar who place his/her needs above other. Travel Planners employees are instructed to be fair in their service delivery process.b) Bad-Mouth Betty: Customers are loud, crude and abusive are in this category. Travel Planners guides follow selective agreement to calm them down.c) Dictatorial Dick: This type of customers is regarded as control freak. Travel Planners put them in barnacles category of customers.

Employees of Travel Planners:

1) Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Chief Executive Officer is at top of the management. CEO gives direction the managers and receives feedback from them. 2) Executive Managers (Finance & Accounting): Managers responsible for financing of the organization and accounting.3) Executive Managers (Marketing): Managers responsible for communication mix of Travel Planners.4) Executive Managers (Management): Managers involved with strategic management decision.5) Executive Managers (Operation): Managers involved with the total operation process of Travel Planners. They are involved with the human factor of the organization. Under executive managers of operation are the boundary spanners of Travel Planners. Boundary spanners are divided into two major groups due their nature of job. Subordinate service roles are played by the contact personnel and sales personnels. Contact personnels directly interact with customers. They transfers information and they also represent Travel Planners to the customers. Professional service role is played by the consultants, guides, travel agents and crews of Travel Planners. These employees are considered as experts in the line of work.6) Contact Personnel: Contact personnels are the telephone operators, secretaries, receptionists of the organization who has subordinate service role.7) Sales Personnel: Sales personnel also play subordinate roles because customers purchase decisions are entirely discretionary.8) Consultants: Consultants are highly involved employees. They give effective advice to customers and influence their purchase decisions. Consultants are highly trained employees.9) Guides: Guides are expert in their own dimensions. They plays crucial role in satisfying the customers. Travel Planners gives specialized training to their guides.10) Travel Agents: Travel agent job is more technical than any other job in Travel Planners. Travel Agents are highly qualified customers.11) Crews: Crews of the Travel Planners are the logistics providers of the organization. They operate machineries which help to provide services. Drivers, cameraman, navigators etc are in this category.

Travel Planners believes in ecotourism, they want to introduce Bangladesh as land of natural beauty and exotic culture. Travel Planners ultimate goal is to make Bangladesh a travel destination for everyone. Keeping this in mind, Travel Planners is providing services to their customers and corporate clients. REFERCES:www.travelplannersbd.com

Services Marketing: Concepts, Strategies, & Cases by K.Douglas Hoffman and John E.G. Bateson Customer

Physical Evidence

Travel Planners Office

Travel Planners Website

Telephone

Travel Planners Services

Bus Rail Vessel Ticketing

Package Tours

Mice

Hotel Reservation

Consultation

Airport Transfer & Long Transfer

Air Ticketing

Physical Evidence

Selected service

Conformation mail or letter or fax of purchased service.

Payment (cash/check/credit card)

Travel Planners Data Storage

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