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GCE Travel and Tourism

A2 Version 1.0

February 2006

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Copyright © 2006 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. COPYRIGHT AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered centres of AQA are permitted to copy material from this booklet for their own internal use, with the important following exception: AQA cannot give permission to centres to photocopy any material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre. Set and published by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance. The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales 3644723 and a registered charity number 1073334. Registered address AQA, Devas Street, Manchester M15 6EX. Dr Michael Cresswell Director General.

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Contents

Introduction A

Unit Title

TT08 Exemplar at a good standard B TT08 Good exemplar commentary and Assessment

Criteria grid C

TT08 Exemplar at a satisfactory standard D TT08 Satisfactory exemplar commentary and

Assessment Criteria grid E

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SECTION A

GCE TRAVEL AND TOURISM A2 EXEMPLARS

Introduction Two exemplars are included for unit TT08 – Travel and Tourism Project. This is a compulsory portfolio unit for the single GCE award. The material has been prepared before first teaching of the A2 units of specification and in the absence of any live work which has been awarded marks/grades. The first exemplar is judged to be at a “good” standard; the second exemplar is judged to be at a “satisfactory” standard. All Assessment Objectives are represented in both exemplars. These exemplars demonstrate the application of the Assessment Criteria to the two portfolios of work. Each exemplar consists of:

• Part of the work of the candidate. The shaded boxes indicate where the candidate produced further work, which has not been reproduced.

• A commentary, which explains how marks have been awarded for each Assessment Objective by referring to qualities evidenced in the candidate’s work. Suggestions as to how the work could be improved are also included.

• The requirements for each of the four Mark Bands for the Assessment Objectives represented.

These exemplars have not been annotated. For the first A2 teacher standardising meetings in autumn 2006 (when there will still be no “live” A2 material available), annotated hard copies of these exemplars will be provided. These will show teachers best practice for annotating work for internal and external moderation. Further guidance on annotation can be found in Travel and Tourism – A Teacher’s Guide, together with optional pro formas for use in guiding candidates and external moderators on how marks have been awarded. Guidance on applying the Unit Assessment Criteria General guidance on applying the Assessment Criteria for each unit is given in Section 26 of the specification, and is repeated below: When assessing candidates’ work, teachers/assessors should consider the level of attainment demonstrated in four broad areas within the demands and context of the specific unit being assessed:

• the depth and breadth of understanding • the level of skills • the level of synthesis, analysis and evaluation • the level of independence and originality.

In the Assessment Criteria for each unit, mark ranges are specified for each Assessment Objective. When assessing a candidate’s portfolio of work, teachers/assessors should use their professional judgement to identify, for each Assessment Objective, the mark band description within which that work falls and then the mark within that range that best describes the depth and quality of the work.

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To achieve the higher mark bands, candidates should show greater depth and breadth of understanding, higher level skills, higher levels of synthesis, analysis and evaluation and higher levels of independence and originality as required in the Assessment Criteria, to achieve the higher mark band descriptions. Work that clearly meets all the requirements of the mark band description should be awarded the maximum mark identified. Aspects of the work that might fall short of meeting, in full, the description but which do not, in the judgement of the teacher/assessor sufficiently influence the overall level of achievement to merit the work being assigned to a lower mark band, will reduce the mark awarded within the identified range available. This can be expressed as identifying the ‘best fit’ approach, where the areas of strength in the work submitted by the candidate can be allowed to compensate for weaknesses in other areas. In addition, it must be appreciated that work that is judged to meet the criteria for the highest mark bands will be expected, where appropriate, to demonstrate a high level of Quality of Written Communication, including the use of appropriate terminology, as identified in the Assessment Objectives. Further information and guidance on the application of the Assessment Criteria will be provided at annual standardisation meetings and in the Teacher’s Guide to accompany this specification.

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SECTION B

GCE TRAVEL AND TOURISM

EXEMPLAR COURSEWORK

A2 UNIT TT08

Travel And Tourism Project

Work at a “good” standard

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You need to produce evidence of your involvement in the management of a travel and tourism project. Your portfolio should include: A. a presentation of the elements to be included in your chosen travel and tourism project

business plan (AO1) B. a record of your involvement in managing your chosen travel and tourism project,

working as a member of a team (AO2) C. an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project (AO3) D. an evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of yourself and the other team

members, in undertaking the project, including the extent to which ICT was valuable. (AO4).

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CANDIDATE’S PORTFOLIO

Paris Trip

Contents Page

• Introduction into our event • The Business Plan for our trip • Diary/Logbook

• Feasibility Study • Evaluation of project and feedback (graphs)

• Appendix – documents used and produced during the project

Appendix 1 – Paying in book Appendix 2 – Weekend plan into trip Appendix 3 – Assembly speech Appendix 4 – Notice for 6th form registers Appendix 5 – Notice for those coming on the trip Appendix 6 & 7 - Meeting details Appendix 8 – List of names of those coming on the trip-how much they have paid Appendix 9 – Code of Conduct Appendix 10 All information of those coming on trip-database produced Appendix 11 Information I gathered from the internet about the company Appendix 12 & 13 Authorisation of Educational visits Appendix 14 Notification of Educational visits Appendix 15 Ideas for assembly speech Appendix 16 Travel Insurance information

The candidate attached each of the above appendices

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Introduction

The structure of a business plan The business plan is made up of many different elements and is a team plan written for a specific project. The following diagram shows this:-

Aims & Objectives (SMART)

Customers

Contingency plans

Legal aspects

Time Scales

Admin systems

Staffing

Finances & Resources, including ICT equipment

Marketing and

promotion

The

Business Plan!

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AO1 - a presentation of the elements to be included in your chosen travel and tourism project business plan

THE BUSINESS PLAN – OUR OWN FOR THE PARIS TRIP

Mission Statement:- ‘Our aim is to plan, arrange and provide an enjoyable, safe and fun weekend break in Paris for a group of 6th formers at an affordable price. It is a non-profit making scheme’. PowerPoint Presentation and Notes I have put together this presentation of what we did to organise the trip to Paris. Presenter Notes After the feasibility study in the summer, we chose the Paris trip idea. The reasons can be found in the feasibility analysis. Based on the feasibility study this was a good ides because 86% of the potential customers questioned in the market research exercise expressed an interest in going to Paris. The price we charged for the trip was 155 pounds, which was in the highest price bracket we researched (above 130 pounds) and the price limit most people said they had was 100 pounds. So this was a risky decision, but in the end was justified since enough people did pay up for the trip to run. I have designed this PowerPoint presentation of the elements in our business plan, which ran from September until March. The actual trip to Paris was in February.

Paris Trip

Business Plan

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Presenter Notes The aims of the project are the broad goals we are setting out to achieve. Our objectives are narrower, more specific and measurable targets. I will deal with those with my next slide. Most importantly we want the trip to actually happen which is why we did the market research feasibility exercise before the summer - to be confident that the market demand will be there. I dealt with that in the last slide. Safety is a paramount concern and part of our aims. Apart from our proper concern that our customers will be safe and leaving aside narrow legal considerations, the school management will only allow the trip to run if they are satisfied that safety is going to be assured. Also, it is unlikely that we will attract sufficient customers unless 6th Formers’ parents are happy about health, safety and security implications. For this reason we will hold a Parents’ Evening in January - to answer questions. This idea links with another element of the business plan - legal aspects. The school management require that parents sign parental consent forms to help protect the school from legal action parents may take because they will have put school staff in their place legally – this is called “in loco parentis”. However, it does still mean that if the school does not look after students as well as a reasonable parent would they can still be sued for compensation if there were damage or injury. So this is an aim we have to take very seriously for the trip to be allowed when the time comes. There is also a marketing element link, because it is part of successfully marketing the trip in September, when we need deposits to be paid for financial reasons (another link to another business plan element) to let parents know that there is going to be a Parents Evening in January.

Aims

• To plan, arrange and provide an enjoyable,safe and fun weekend in Paris for a group of6th formers at an affordable price.

• It is a non-profit making scheme but we aimto break even.

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Presenter Notes Objectives are the aims narrowed down to definite targets. These can be checked to see how well they have been hit. They can be evaluated. Aims, as I said for the last slide, are broader goals. You set aims first so that you know what you are doing and then set narrower testable targets (objectives) that you can evaluate to see how well a project runs.

• Good objectives are SMART objectives, which means that they are each of the things shown by the letter S M A R T in the slide. They are

• specific (it is clear what they are), • measurable (you can test if they were met), • achievable(can be done), • realistic (practical, given your resources) and • timed (workable, with a schedule worked out).

Objectives

SMART objectives:• S = specific• M = measurable• A = achievable• R = realistic• T = timed

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Presenter Notes

•All our objectives are SMART ones: [The candidate assessed each objective in SMART terms. Example]: Our first objective is to run the trip to Paris in February: Setting a clear date is a specific objective (S) and more than a broad aim, which is just to run a trip at all. That the objective is met can be measured by the calendar (M). It is far enough ahead from September to February for our team to plan and actually run the trip (A, for achievable) and realistic for our customers to pay and for us to organise a visit to a place we could sensibly get to(R). We have worked out a time-line to get us there (T), which is the next slide and also in my “Project Record”.

• The objectives link to other elements of the business plan. For example breaking even largely depends on our successful marketing and promotion of the trip so that enough people are happy with the price we charge and pay to come. Keeping the costs of the Paris trip down is also part of that (another link here with the financial aspects element of our business plan).

Our SMART Objectives

The trip to– take place in February– all the customers have fun– follow school trip policies– be financed only by customer payments– break-even

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Presenter Notes To break-even (one of our SMART objectives), and to run the trip at all (an aim), we need sufficient customers. So, marketing and promotion are crucial. We will need to pitch our campaign at the target market (6th Formers) and to make sure that the promotion is delivered in the right place at the right time. We have researched the right product (a trip to Paris), based on our market research feasibility study in the summer, and are taking a bit of a risk (which we hope will pay off in the end) with the price. These 4 Ps (product, price, promotion and place) make up the marketing mix. [The candidate assessed each of the elements in the promotional campaign in presenter notes. The following is an extract]: The assembly notices might not seem very exciting at first, but they are seen by the team as a potentially effective promotional element because there will be a “captive audience” listening, and they will cost us no money, keeping our financial costs down. They will be read by the Head of Year so that should give an “official” status that will make any potential customers, who may be unsure about the safety of a trip organised by students, more confident. The notices are timed right (in September) for our planning and for customers to have time to pay for the trip to run in February (one of our SMART objectives).

The candidate’s presentation went on to include, at a similar standard, the other elements of the

business plan identified in the introductory diagram, including their inter-relationships.

Marketing and promotion

• Posters - aimed at the 6th Form.• Assembly notices - supplied to the Head of Year for her to read out during September,

beginning 18th until bookings close (28th)• Information board• Parents’Evening

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AO2 - a record of your involvement in managing your chosen travel and tourism project, working as a member of a team

DIARY/LOGBOOK FOR PARIS TRIP 20XX 5 September – Wednesday:- - Banking - Liaison - Promotion - H........... – Research for Paris booklet and Presentation - Presentation Coach load going = 40 = 2 teachers and 38 students. Dates forthcoming: 12 September HSBC to organise an account for the trip. Begin to prepare for assembly. 18 September Assembly 28 September £30 deposit has to be paid by to book our places. 10 September –Monday A........ phoned the company up that we are going with - Travel Company X, to find out some more detailed information such as:

• Date Feb 22 – Feb 25 is OK? • When do they want paying by? • How much is it? • Do we need a teacher for every 10 students if we are aged between 16-18? • Where is the hotel - name surroundings? Can we easily get into the city? Is there

a metro station near by? • Meals – what is included? • Is it more expensive if we have our hotel in the centre of Paris? • Rooms – how many per room?

E.......... came up with some ideas for the posters/overheads that were going to be used in our assembly to promote the trip. 12 September – Wednesday – We began to start discussing the assembly and gathering the materials that are needed. A role play idea was decided upon as this might attract more people with us dressed up and given props which represented the lifestyle in Paris. This was thought to be more entertaining. The overheads that we used for the assembly are as follows:

• 6th form trip to Paris • Dates – February 22 - February 25 • Bed, breakfast and evening meal • Hotel in Central Paris • Day at Disneyland Paris • River Boat Cruise on the Seine • Free time to shop and sightsee • Stock up on duty free at Cite Europe in Calais • Free Travel • All this for …

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• £155.00 • Limited places available • Book now to avoid disappointment

17 September – Monday: N..........., J............... and A........ came up with ideas for the role play of what was going to be said including all the information that was needed. I was given the job as doing the overhead projector sheets to use fort the assembly. I then wrote up the role play on computer with A........ giving everyone a script of their own. We then ran through the presentation. The idea of dressing up was changed and Mickey Mouse ears to be worn were decided upon instead. N........... had written a letter to give out to those who ere interested in coming on the trip. 18 September – Tuesday: We did the assembly in the morning – I was in charge of changing the overheads so the audience could also see what was included in the trip and read it for themselves. N..........., J............... and A........ got up in front of the 6th form and did the role play wearing the Mickey Mouse ears that N........... had made. H........... and E.......... did not attend the assembly promoting the trip. After the assembly we had many people come up afterwards to get a form. 19 September = Wednesday: Posters were made to put up ion the Common Rom by N........... and A........ to alert more people of the trip and to advertise it more. I ran off some notices that would be put in the 6th form registers the following morning, again to promote the trip, reminding them how much deposit had to be paid and when it had to be paid by. We also all had to sort out our log books making sure we have included all the relevant information. N........... had a meeting with the bank at lunchtime to talk about setting up a bank account for the Paris trip. 20 September – Thursday: N........... received a letter through the school post about the bank account. It was a ‘mandate’ which had to be signed by both N........... and a teacher involved with the trip to be able to open the bank account and withdraw money. 21 September – Friday: N........... went to the HSBC bank to sort out an account for the trip so we could pay all the money separately into that account. She was given a paying in book so we good pay money in. 24 September – Monday: H........... arrived back from her holiday and she was given the job of researching for a Paris information booklet. A........ phoned up the company that we are travelling with Travel Company X. She was told to send a fax with the following information included to confirm the booking:

• Number of days we are going for • The price - £154 • The date in which we are going • The number of pupils we are taking.

With this they told A........ that they would send ‘parents letters’ to get the students parents/guardians to sign saying they give their permission.

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I have now taken over the promotion as E.......... had to leave the course due to medical reasons. I produced a ‘paying in book’ for everyone who is coming on the trip so we can keep a record of finances of who has paid what. I also typed up a notice for Mr D….., our head of year to read out in assembly again reminding the students that there are only 10 places remaining on the trip. 26 September – Wednesday: the paying in books which I had made were copied for those coming on the trip with their name and form group on the front. These would be signed by one of the T&T group which would state how much they had paid in. They had the choice to pay in full or in instalments. 27 September – Thursday: N........... delivered the paying in books to those coming on the trip. She also set up a database which had the names of the people coming which had a record of all the payments which had been paid. 1 October – Monday: Today we sat and discussed where we were up to in our trip. We decided it was time to come up with a mission statement for the trip, ours reads: ‘Our aim is to plan, arrange and provide an enjoyable, safe and fun weekend break in Paris for a group of 6th form students, at an affordable price. This is a non-profit making scheme.’ We also discussed other matters of arranging an assembly for the people coming so we can given them more information about the trip and tell them if they lose or get any valuables stolen then e are not responsible. We also talked about keeping a checklist of names of the people who are coming so when we’re there we can see if anyone is missing. 3 October - Wednesday: A........ and N........... completed the forms that were needed to book the trip. These forms included the booking forms which stated what teachers are coming on the trip and students stating their name, age and gender on it. We found out that 4 teachers were needed as they needed 1 teacher to every 10 students. A cheque as also sent off for the deposit on the trip. The forms were then sent off. 5 October – Friday: N........... sent of the cheque to Travel Company X LTD. 8 October – Monday: Today the group discussed ways in which we could start our business plan and we also talked about announcing a meeting in the morning for those who are coming on the trip. 10 October – Wednesday: N..........., J............... and A........ planed information to give out to those who are coming on the trip and decided to hold a meeting in the Common Room on Thursday to tell them all the relevant information that they will need to know about the trip, like needing E111 forms and copies of passports. 11 October – Thursday: We all gathered in the Common Room this morning to give a meeting on the Paris trip. N........... gave out some information to those who were at the meeting which explained basic facts about the trip and what was needed. They also had the chance to ask us any questions if they wanted to know something about the trip if it was not covered in the meeting.

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15 October – Monday: Today, N..........., A........ and myself went over the business plan again discussing in more depth on the aims and objectives for our own business plan and what we needed to include. 18 October – Thursday: N..........., J............... and I today made a Paris information board which we would put notices up for the students coming on the trip. The information we had given at the meeting was placed on our board as well as a map of the area we would be staying in. 29 October – Monday: More areas of the business plan were discussed and I began to start the business plan explaining each of the areas in general. 31 October – Wednesday: We had asked the travel company if we could have an extension on the payment deadline as it would be easier for us, as the date was originally for 28 December and all the students would be on their Christmas break. The date was extended to 15 January. N........... then sent the company thanking them for extending the payment deadline. 7 November – Wednesday: Today we all received a letter from Travel Company X, giving us the details of the room arrangements, and a leaflet about the hotel we will be staying at. However, this was not the original hotel we had chosen to stay in because it was fully booked. There was also a problem with the triples and quadruple rooms that we have been given so H........... and A........ sent a fax to the company asking if we could have more quadruple rooms. Photocopies were made for the Paris Information Board of the leaflet we were given on the hotel. 12 November – End of December/Beginning of January: during this time, N........... concentrated on getting all he final payments in and sending it off on time to the travel company. This was successfully done. The final deadline was 15 January, so N........... collected all by 11 January so it would reach the travel company in time. I put notices up on the Paris Information Board counting down the weeks they had left to pay, as well as reminders telling them to get their E111 forms and to bring in their passports so we could photocopy them Also during this time, 5 of those coming on the trip dropped out. We were again having to promote the trip and by doing this we put notices in the registers and had reminders in our assemblies. We managed to fill 3 spaces and they were all able to hand in the money on time. I was also concentrating on getting my Business plans finished, which was successfully done. We also had discussions about having a ‘Paris Parents Evening’, for the parents of those coming on the trip so that we could also give them the information about the trip and know what was going on. We planned to have this evening a month before we went – January 24, so this would give us plenty of time to get all the paper work back from all the students. We gave letters out to the parents asking how many would attend the evening with a slip at the bottom which they had to return.

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24 January – Thursday: Today was the ‘Paris Parents Evening. J..............., N..........., A........ and myself arrived back at school at 5.45 pm to get set up before the parents arrived at 6.30 pm. Day to Day account of Paris Trip Day one (Friday) – Everyone arrived at the school at 6.45am to depart at 7.00am. We got to the ferry port early and consequently got an earlier ferry at 11.15 am. When we arrived in Calais we began the journey to the hotel, with one stop on the way. We arrived to the hotel at about 7.00 pm and all gathered in the reception area to sort out the room arrangements. We had a problem with the room allocations, as we were not given what we were told we would have. So, we sorted it out in a professional manner and everyone was pleased with the outcome. Later that night, we all gathered in the reception area to take our walk to the restaurant where we would be having our evening meal every night. After the meal everyone was allowed to go off and have some free time to look round, but had to be back for the curfew at 11.45 pm. Day two (Saturday) We gathered in the morning for our breakfast and were to leave at 9.00am for our sight seeing tour. We were going to have the sight seeing tour on the Monday on our way back to the ferry, but it was thought by the coach driver that it would be too busy so we decided to have it today. We left the hotel at 9.00am and were taken by coach to different historical sights and were allowed time at each to stop off and have a look round. We were meant to go on the River Seine Cruise, but as it was raining hard the water level had risen too much and we were not able to go on it. So, instead we went and had a look round the Eiffel Tower. We got back to the hotel at lunch time, and was given free time to look round the streets of Paris. We then had our evening meal and had to go back to the hotel as the coach was going to take us to see the sights of Paris at night from the top of a building. After that, again there was more time for people to go out, but they had to be back before the curfew. Day three (Sunday) We gathered again in the morning to have our breakfast, and we had to leave the hotel at 9.00am as we were going to Disneyland Paris. We arrived to the park just before 10.00am when it opened, so the teachers went and got the tickets for us to get in. We had all day in the park, and had to meet up for 6.00 pm to get back to the hotel and go and have our evening meal. That night we again had free time. Day four (Monday) We again gathered in the morning to have our breakfast, but this time we were due to leave the hotel at 11.00am for our journey to Cite Europe. We got to Cite Europe at about 2.00pm and had to be back to the coach for 3.30 pm to leave for the final part of the journey back to the ferry port. We got there slightly early and thought there may be a chance that we could get an earlier ferry, but we did not. We eventually got the 5.30 pm ferry and arrived back in England for our final leg of the trip to get back to school. We had one stop on the way back, and we arrived back to school at about 10.30pm. Everyone got their luggage off the bus and went home for a well deserved rest!!

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COMMENTARY 1-Plan (before the summer holidays): * To decide on a destination. In order to do this we researched where people wanted to go, and set up a questionnaire based on brainstorming locations within our group. *Plan to market the trip to our chosen target audience. To do this we decided on 6th form students and presented the idea on mass to the 6th formers in assembly. 2-*Aims and objectives meeting as soon as term started: Arrange: * To arrange the trip. We decided on using a travel company as they offered the full package service at a price we couldn’t match by doing it ourselves. I.e. transport, accommodation, food and excursions. They also enabled us to do the activities that we wanted to do, such as a day in Disneyland Paris, free time and a City excursion. *A way to allow people to pay either in full or in instalments by setting up a bank account. Because the paying in date is before Christmas, we decided on making a paying in book so they could have the choice of paying in full or instalments. This account was specifically set up for the Paris trip alone. *To provide an opportunity of questioning for those going on the trip and their parents. We arranged an evening meeting at a time close to the trip. 3-Provide: *To provide an enjoyable trip. We provided the students with information on the places to go that we had researched into. We are going to provide an information booklet for those coming on the trip. *To provide a safe trip. We have brainstormed contingency plans to account for any problems that might happen in Paris. *To provide a fun trip. We have chosen specific activities that will be fun for our age group. Also, to provide free time for those who want to go shopping, sight seeing, etc. General Aims and Objectives *To complete the project on time and on budget. *To pass the unit and achieve at least a C grade. *To develop business skills-such as communicating with individuals and groups, and managing large finances. *To experience working with a team. *Working to time scales and deadline. *To provide a good service to customers.

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Finances and Resources Finance, does not really apply for this trip, as each person is paying for his or her own place on the trip. Everything is included in the package with the Travel Company. There is no sponsorship. Resources Once we got the Travel Company to agree to take us, that was the only main resource that we needed. We also had to provide for the students, such as photocopying the paying in books for each person, and photocopying other information that they needed. This was provided by using the school resources. We also needed access to the internet and travel brochures to find out the information for the guidebook. We also needed a venue to get all the 6th form together so we could sell the trip, so we have used our assembly hall and lecture theatre which we do not have to pay for. Staffing In the group, there are five members. There were six of us, but one of the members dropped out due to medical problems. We all have individual tasks within the group dealing with different aspects of the trip. I am in charge of promotion. I make sure that posters are made to put up to promote the trip and encourage the 6th form to sign up, as well as giving Mr. Davies, our year head notices to read out in assembly reminding how many spaces were left. I also made up a Paris Information board, which provided information about the trip, reminding those coming that they need a passport and an E111 form. I also put up a map, which shows where the hotel is that we are staying in. A paying book was also produced by myself so that we could keep a record of who has paid what and when, this also gave those coming the chance to pay in full or in instalments. To go along with this, I put up a weekly reminder on the board of how many weeks were left for them to pay the full amount for the trip. N........... was in charge of finance. Her job was to keep a record on the computer as to who has paid what and when, if a paying in book was lost. She did this by setting up a database and putting all the names on a spreadsheet. She also set up a separate bank account with HSBC so the money for the trip could be put in there. A........’s job was to liaison with the Travel Company, ‘Travel Company X’. She phoned up the company and found out more details about the trip such as sorting out the room arrangements and general queries about the excursions we were going on. J............... and H...........’s job was joined and they had to research about Paris and find out what other activities there were to do when free time was available.

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Admin. Systems Initially we set up a Critical Path Analysis (CPA), which is a technique for planning and setting out the master route or sequence for the main tasks that we have to do up until the trip was fully booked. 1-Plan Destination

6-Receive bookings

7-Confirm bookings

2-Info from companies

4-Prepare assembly

5-Assembly 10-Full Trip

3-Feasibility 8-Publiscise

last few places 9-Last

bookings

We had to plan everything in stages, firstly deciding to produce a questionnaire so that we could get an idea of the type of trip the 6th form would prefer to go on. After we had collected the results we would then look for different travel companies to see which one gave us the better the deal for us and for those going on the trip. One of the 1st issues that we had to look at is about the people who are involved in coming on the trip. It is important to keep records of those who are coming, and this can be done by setting up spreadsheets. Room allocations also have to be set up, so it is important that we find out from those coming who they want to share a room with. A Paris notice board was set up to give out information that the people coming would need to know, such as we need passport copies and they need to have an E111 form. The second issue that had to be thought about, was the finance. We had to collect £30 deposit from all those coming so we could send this off to the travel company and secure our places on the trip. So, in order to collect this money in time we set a date in which the deposit had to be paid by. So that we knew who had paid, a paying in book was set up so we could keep account of who has paid. We had to state at the beginning that this deposit was non-refundable and those who dropped out risked losing their deposit. However, any other money that was paid in after the deposit was refundable. A bank account was set up especially for the Paris trip money alone. Originally, we had set a date for the full payment of the trip to be paid for by the end of term, which was 20 December. We decided to change the final payment deadline to January 11, because we felt that people may want to use their Christmas money to pay for the trip, or may be getting the trip as part of their Christmas present. All this money was then put into the bank. The third issue that we have to consider is informing the parents about what’s going on when we’re on the trip. In order to do this, we planned a meeting and gave the parents of those coming on the trip the opportunity to attend a parents meeting in which we will give a short presentation. Afterwards the parents will have a chance to ask any questions about the trip and we will try to answer them. We decided to plan this meeting for January 24 as it is not far away from the date we go and thought it was best do it then as they won’t forget the information we have given them.

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Legal Aspects *Legal procedures-form to LEA. Parental consent forms have to be given, this will be done at the parents meeting. *Health and Safety. *A risk assessment was formed to take into account anything that could go wrong. *Insurance *Security. Legislation: * We will be taking photocopies of peoples passports, as this will help us if someone has lost or had their passport stolen. This brings us under the influence of the Data Protection Act. This Act is to protect people from having their ID stolen or copied. At the end of the trip any photocopies must be destroyed. *Travel Company X is run by ABTA. If they go bust the association still has to provide the trip as it is guaranteed. They cannot cancel anything without good reason. There is an act called the Consumer Protection Act, which makes sure we do not give misleading information and charge those coming for something that we are not providing without a good reason. *There is also a Children’s Act, which means there needs to be a certain number of adults to children coming 1:10 ratio. There needs to be both male and female teachers and there needs to be both male and female facilities. *A first aid kit must be available and any medication that needs to be taken but be brought with them. Those who suffer from asthma must bring their inhalers, but there will be two available if one is lost. *We conducted a risk assess exercise which enabled us to produce contingency plans so we were prepared for every situation that could go wrong. * Standard Travel Insurance was included in the price of the trip. The E111 form is for medical insurance and covers us on the NHS. *We advised those coming on the trip that they could take out their own insurance to insure their own possessions during the trip. We do not take any responsibility for anything that gets lost or stolen. Contingency Plans: *Someone not paying before the deadline – we will keep reminding those coming about the deadline set, and if they fail to pay we will look to our reserves list. *Forgotten passports – we will take photocopies of their passports in the case that they are stolen, lost or forgotten. *Illness or injury, before or during the holiday – this is where they can make their insurance claim providing they have an E111 form, which we will have a copy of.

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*Latecomers to the coach – they will all be given a contact number of one of the teachers so that they can inform us if there is a problem, we will also have a contact number of all the students going on the trip. *A teacher may be late or not able to come – we have a teacher that can fill the place at the last minute. *A student may not be able to come – if there is still time to fill the place when someone drops out, we can ask the people who are on our reserves list if they wish to fill the place. *Coach driver does not arrive on Friday morning – we get in touch with the coach company and complain. *Arguments amongst students – this must be sorted out as soon as possible between those involved so it does not spoil the trip for everyone else. *The hotel may be double booked – we will ring before hand and check that everything is sorted and that all rooms are correct. *It is raining all weekend – we will inform people to be prepared about the weather and explain it will be cold, to take suitable clothing and that it is not our fault. *Students may get lost in Paris – we will give everyone a street map of the area and make sure they have the contact number. *Students money/belongings may get lost or stolen – we will state this is not our responsibility and suggest emergency travellers cheques and not to take valuables and look after their own money. *Students may get bored during the trip – we will give them a list of places that they can visit that we have looked up. Review and Evaluation We will hand out four questionnaires to two boys and two girls so that we get a balanced opinion. We are choosing one girl and one boy from the lower and upper sixth form, so again we get different opinions from different age groups. We will also hand out questionnaires to two teachers on the trip. The questions that we give the teachers will be slightly different from those given to the students. This is because we want different opinions from them. Timeline:-

Assembly 18/9/20xx

Deposit is sent and final booking made 12/10/20xx

Rearranged settlement date 11/01.20xx

Deadline for deposit and

bookings 28/9/20xx Week commencing 1/10/20xx Paying in book

Initial payment date for final settlement 28/12/20xx

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Contingency Plans *If people get lost – make sure they have a mobile number which everyone can get in contact with, so they can get in touch with either the project team or the teachers. *It might take longer to get to Paris because of security, so we have to make sure we have explained this to the trippers. *If a member of the group is ill, then we need to make sure that they have their E111 form and how it might effect the rest of their trip. Also if someone is very ill we then need to think about sending them home and how we are going to do this. *Photocopies of passports in case they lose it, or forget to bring it and photocopies of the E111 forms for the same reason and also if they are ill. *If personal items are stolen we need to know where to report it. We also need to advise people on how to look after their property and stress that it is not our responsibility if belongings go missing – they bring them at their own risk. *If the weather is bad this may hold up the ferry as the sea may be too rough!! Also, if the weather is bad when we are in Paris (especially Disney Land) then we need to stress again that it is not our fault and make sure they still enjoy their trip. *If someone dies then we need to know how to bring them back *If those who are coming on the trip have paid the full amount for the trip then decide they don’t want to come anymore, we need to be able to sort it out and offer their money back. *We need to think about communication. We need to talk to those coming on the trip, rather than depending on their friends to give us the information as it can be wrong and this leads to lack of communication and the trip can be messed up.

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AO3 - an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project

We decided that we should produce a questionnaire for all the 6th form to see how many were interested and asked questions on how much they would be willing to pay, whether they wanted a day in Disney Land and we had other destinations they could choose from if they were not interested in going to Paris.

PARIS TRIP 200x

THE GCE TRAVEL AND TOURISM GROUP ARE PLANNING ON ORGANISING A GREAT TRIP TO PARIS EARLY NEXT YEAR.

WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED?

NAME:

TUTOR GROUP:

YES NO

1) WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN A WEEKEND BREAK IN PARIS?

2) HOW MUCH WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO PAY UP TO?

£50-£70 £70-£100 £100-£125 £130+

3) WOULD YOU BE INTERETED IN A DAY OUT AT EURODISNEY?

AMSTERDAM?

BRUSSELS?

INSTEAD OF PARIS, IS THERE ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO VISIT?

BRUGES?

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM AND HAND IT TO YOUR FORM TUTOR DURING REGISTRATION TODAY

CHEERS!

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When they were collected, we found that almost everyone was interested in coming on the trip and preferred the choice of Paris. The other place which came out on top was Amsterdam if the trip to Paris was not going ahead. I have shown this data from the questionnaire below:

Questionnaire results 1. Would you be interested in a trip to Paris? Yes 50 =86% No 8 =14% 2. How much would you be willing to pay? Up to £70 8 Up to £100 24 Up to £125 13 Above £130 5 3. Would you be interested in going to Disneyland Paris? Yes 35 No 15 4. Which of these places would you like to go if we do not go to Paris? Amsterdam 38 Brussels 7 Bruges 13

Candidate presented this information in the form of pie and bar charts

It was clear from the market research results that the vast majority of our potential customers favoured going to Paris. It is a renowned destination, not too far away that has a varied appeal. Even within a market of sixth formers there is a wide variety of tastes and interests and Paris would have something to appeal to everyone. As you can see it was very popular (86% wanted to go). That Amsterdam was (by a factor of three) the most popular second choice if we did not go to Paris bears out what I have said about Paris – again it is a world city destination, not too far and with appeal to a wide range of interests and tastes. Brussels does not have a very high profile as a destination and people may have picked it out of curiosity; Bruges is better known but is a smaller historic and artistic centre with a narrower market appeal than Paris or Amsterdam.

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70% of respondees favoured a trip to Disneyland and it was clear that we needed to include the opportunity to visit it if we were going to market out trip to Paris successfully. Since I believe that Paris appeals to a wide range of appeal and Disney appeals to many but not all 6th formers, then either choice (making Disneyland an optional excursion) or a limited time (perhaps 1 day, which is what we eventually decided on) was judged to be the best way forward. However, the feasibility of having an optional excursion would be doubtful given the small size of the group and our relative lack of experience in acting as tour operators, so that did not happen. Price is an important element of the marketing mix of product, place, price and promotion. More than 3 out of 4 of the people asked were prepared to pay a three figure price for the trip and that encouraged us to regard the Paris option as likely to be feasible and worth further investigation.

So, our final decision was to go for organising a weekend break in Paris. All the group were looking round for different companies we could go with and got brochures to se what deals they had for Paris. We then approached a company which had sent a leaflet to the school, who were offering a day in Disney Land and other excursions available that would go on over the weekend. We had lots of leaflets and brochures for Paris but decide on this particular company because of how cheap it was for what they offered.

We then approached the company and they sent us the information on the trip and choices of hotels where we could stay. We chose a hotel that was situated in the centre of Paris because the transport was good and this hotel looked better than the others we could choose from. Also, there is a cafe underneath which we thought would be a good meeting place. We chose half board at this hotel because we thought it was better value for money. It is £139 for just breakfast, so we thought for an extra £15 for an evening meal would save the expense of paying out for your own meal and thought £154 for half board was a better option.

Compared to the market research findings, however, this was relatively high. Taking informal soundings among our market (an advantage we had given that it was other students) we felt that people would be OK with this if it was promoted right, because they would see all that they were getting for their money. It was a good value deal and our judgement was that it could feasibly be sold. We went for it which might have been a bit risky, but at that stage we didn’t stand to actually lose any money and in the end we were proved right – it was feasible.

The candidate went on to produce a detailed analysis of the feasibility of the project. This was based on careful, detailed investigation of most of the business plan elements shown in the introductory diagram

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AO4 – an evaluation of the success of the project, and the roles of yourself and the other team members, in undertaking the project, including the extent to which ICT was valuable

EVALUATION

At the beginning of the course, there were 6 member of the Travel and Tourism group. We went through many ideas about what to do as an event for our unit. We came up with ideas like a long weekend in New York or Paris, or a car boot sale. Because of the attacks in New York, we eliminated that idea and decided to have a long weekend in Paris, as the sixth form did not get many trips. We had to decide on a date for the trip, and we decided to have it in February. This is because we had to have it after the half term as nobody would go in half term, and we had to have it before the exams. We made up a questionnaire for everyone in the sixth form which had questions asking them about how much they would be willing to pay and where they would prefer to go on a trip. When the questionnaires were handed back in, we found that 50 were interested in a trip to Paris and found the majority of those would be willing to pay up to £100. To begin with we had too many people wanting to go on the trip as the bus could only hold 40. So, we kept these other names on a reserves list and resorted back to then when we had people drop out. However, some of these people could not afford to pay for the trip too close to the deadline, as this was when the people had dropped out. We then had to look around different travel companies to see which had a better deal, as we had to make it affordable for the sixth form. We looked on internet sites and finally found the company ‘Travel Company X’ which provided us with 3 days and 4 nights accommodation in the centre of Paris, with breakfast and an evening meal included for only £154-which we thought would b e a reasonable price. This price also included excursions round Paris and a whole day in Disneyland Paris. However, by looking at our questionnaire results most people were willing to pay up to £100, so we took it upon ourselves to promote the trip for £154 and see what our response was. We knew that we would be able to resource this trip as we had the school resources to use such as the school hall for assemblies and the photocopier for copying information for students and ourselves. We also knew we had enough time to prepare for the trip as we started the major arrangements in September before we went in the following February.

We then had to sort out jobs for each of us to do. N........... dealt with the financial side of the trip, A........ was always in touch with the travel company, E.......... was in charge of promotion, J............... and H........... were in charge of research, and they also helped me with the presentation. However, when E.......... left the group due to medical reasons I took over his job as the promoter for the trip. The tasks that I was allocated were to set up a Paris Information Board, which I put notices on to remind people of the information that we needed and how many weeks were left to pay the full amount by. I also put a map up to show where our hotel was in relation to surrounding areas. I also put reminders and notices in our sixth form assemblies and in the registers if someone had dropped out we therefore needed to promote the available spaces left. When it came to the final few weeks before we were due to leave, I decided to set up a database which showed me who had given back the information we needed and who had not. From this I made lists of names and what information I needed back from them and chased these people right up to the day before we were due to leave.

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While I was doing this, I also made a note of any dietary requirements or medication they needed to take. The front office needed contact numbers from all who were coming on the trip, so I set up another database which had two different contact numbers. I made two copies of this so we could take one on the trip with us.

I produced a diary/logbook where I kept a detailed record of information showing what I had done and what other group members had done on certain dates, so I could see how much as individuals we had contributed towards to the trip;. When we had arranged meetings, either to promote the trip by having a sixth form assembly or give out more information to the students or parents, I made sure that I attended all of them as I thought it was important to show that I was part of the group who was running the trip. I also thought that it would look good if all the group members attended to show that we are taking it seriously. However, there was one member of the group who failed to attend most of these meetings, and the rest of the group took it upon ourselves to arrange details about the trip without them. Before we went on the trip, we had a problem with one person who was coming on the trip. This was because he had heard that a member of the Travel and Tourism group was going to share a room with her boyfriend and he then wanted to share a room with his girlfriend. I had to explain to him that it was strictly no mixed rooms and that she would not be sharing a room with her boyfriend. When we had sorted it out and spoken to the group member I then told him the situation and he seemed satisfied that she was not going to get special treatment because she was an organiser of the trip. A major problem that we faced was when people dropped out on coming on the trip. A couple of people got quite angry when we told them that they could not have their deposit back and we had to explain that they could not have it back as it was a deposit and this money went towards name changes we had to make because they had dropped out. All in all six people dropped out of the trip and we had to promote it again and managed to fill three of these places. We also had another person who dropped out only days before we were due to leave. She had paid all her money for the trip and said she could not go because of medical reasons. We told her that to get her money back, except the deposit, then she would have to get a medical note and claim it back through the insurance.

Another problem that arose was the final payment deadline. It was originally set for 28 December, but as the school was on Christmas break it was impossible to met this deadline and it was a bit pushed for people to pay the full amount so quickly. We also found out, that some people were getting the money for the trip as a Christmas present and we asked the Travel Company if the deadline could be changed for the beginning of January. We explained the situation to them and they agreed to a final payment date as the 15 January.

The main time deadlines that we had were to get the money for the trip collected and paid for. Firstly we had to collect all the deposit money by 28 September, so we could send it off to the Travel Company by 12 October-we managed to achieve this deadline. Then we had to collect all the final payments by 11 January to be able to send it off to the company by 15 January, again we managed to achieve this deadline. It was very important that we kept to these deadlines and we managed to achieve keeping to them by producing reminders in registers and I put a count down to the number of weeks left to pay on the Paris Information Board.

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We also had to make sure that we got The Business Plan and our own Business Plan completed before we went away to Paris. I got both of mine finished in December. When we arrived at the hotel, we were told that we did not have the room allocations we were promised. We needed two quadruple rooms for the girls and these were not available. This was a major problem as it was difficult for us to split these groups up as they were all friends and did not want to share with different people. However, one group was satisfied being split up into double rooms, and the other group which was mine just shared a triple room. All those involved seemed fine with the alternative arrangements, even though we were promised two quadruples for the girls. We had checked the room allocations only days before we went and were told we had all the rooms we asked for. Another problem that arose was that we were not able to go on the River Seine Cruise as it had been raining all day and the water level had risen too high under the bridges for the boats to fit through. This did not seem to affect anyone too badly as we resorted to our contingency plans by offering an alternative arrangement by being able to go up the Eiffel Tower. Not many people wanted to go up the Tower, but this was an idea to replace the Cruise excursion. While we had our walk up the Champs Elysee and arrived back to the bus we found that two members of the group were late arriving back. We gave it 5-10 minutes to se if they would turn up, but they did not. So we had their contact number and tried to get in touch with them but their mobiles were not connected in France. So, 2 teachers went off to look for them while the other 2 teachers stayed with the rest of the group on the bus. The teachers found them and we waited for about 30 minutes for them to finally arrive back at the bus. I think my overall role in the project has been very good. I think this because I have tried to do as much as I can to help make the trip successful. However, I did miss all the Wednesday lessons because of a timetable clash. I made up for this by gaining all the information from the others who were in the lesson and I also offered to do a lot of computer work to print off reminders for registers, to put notices up on the Paris Information Board. When planning this unit I think I helped make valuable contributions as to what type of event we should do. I think as the promoter for the trip I did well, I say this because I helped with the assembly at the beginning to advertise the trip and I also put up notices on the Paris Information Board and reminders in registers. Also, when we asked four students who came of the tri a number of questions, one of them was ‘how did you hear bout the trip’ and ‘what do you remember about the promotion of the trip’. The answer to both these questions was either the assembly, posters round the sixth form common room or reminders in registers. This shows that as my role of promoter, I managed to achieve promoting the trip and getting people to sign up and come. When the project was up and running we had to give out forms, such as a parental consent form, a month before we were going to Paris to all those who were coming and make sure that we got them back in time. I also made this my role to get these forms back in time and to set up a database with all their details so we had a record of contact numbers, dietary requirements and if they had any medical needs, and produced a copy for us to take on the trip and a copy fort the school office.

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Another idea that I came up with was to produce a paying in book for everyone coming on the trip. I thought this would give them the opportunity to pay for the trip in instalments if they could not afford to pay for it all at once. It was also a record for us to see how much people had paid. While we were on the trip, I think my performance was ok. I think this because while we were there I did not know a lot of information about what time we would be leaving for the excursions in the morning, or what time we would be eating our evening meal. As an organiser of the trip people would come and ask me questions, but I did not always know the answer. This made me feel that I was not doing my job properly as we were not given the information to answer their questions. However, I was able to provide some information as to what we would be going each day on the excursions. I think an improvement that I could make to my performance would be to make sure that I could answer all the questions correctly to the students who asked me. This could be done by having better contact with the teachers as this would help me communicate better with the students. I think that the team managed to achieve the project objectives. I say this, because I feel that the there main areas for our aims and objectives were met. Our first aim was to ‘plan’. The objectives were to decide on a destination and plan to market our trip to our chosen target audience, which was the sixth form students. We decided on Paris and we then promoted the trip to the sixth form in our own assembly. Our second aim was to ‘arrange’. These objectives were to find a travel company, we chose Travel Company X as it offered a full package service which we could not match by doing it ourselves. We then had to arrange a way for people to pay either in full or instalments. A bank account was set up and a paying in book was made for everyone coming on the trip so we could keep records of who had paid what.

The final objective was to provide an opportunity of questioning for those going on the trip and their parents. We achieved this by arranging a parents evening a month before we went to Paris, so we could give everyone the information about the trip. Our third aim was to ‘provide’. We wanted to provide an enjoyable and fun trip. This would be done by giving everyone an information booklet on where they could go in their free time, and we also had excursions planned.

The trip also needed to be safe. We had brainstormed contingency plans to account for any problems that might happen in Paris. The last objective was to provide a fun trip. Again, this was done by providing free time for the students and the excursions that we had arranged for them. From these three main aims and objectives, all of them were achieved. The effectiveness of the team achieved these objectives by working together to provide the students with the type of break that would appeal to them. As all the team members were the same age group 16-18, it was easy for us as a team to predict what type of break they would enjoy.

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The team’s performance throughout the project was excellent. I say this because we all did well with our own roles that we were allocated and did as much work towards our roles as we could. We also communicated well. This was a very important factor, because if we did not communicate then the trip would have been a disaster. The ways in which we communicated well was by organising assemblies and meeting up to have a run through for these assemblies. We took it upon ourselves to put up posters in our own time to update the students with more information, and we consistently informed one another of what we did individually. We also communicated well with the students coming on the trip, we did this by giving them all the relevant information that they needed to know about the trip either in the form of letters or by arranging to hold meetings with them. We also answered any questions that they had to ask us. However, there were two members of the group out of the final five who did not help much and missed a lot of the lessons when the three of us were arranging and planning vital details about the trip. At the beginning of this unit when we decided on where to go, there was again a member of the group who was not there for the first two weeks back at school. In that time, the rest of us had decided where to go and had begun to start planning on ways to promote it. One of these members finally left the group. From the four group members, the three main members who organised the trip helped each other with a lot of paper work. We also found that if we could not do a job that we were allocated because we were busy, another group member would help out. We found that we were very flexible and did not mind helping each other out. While we were on the trip, we still co-ordinated with each other to discuss events that had happened in the day, for example we could not go on the River Cruise. We talked about what we were going to do and decided we would contact the Travel Company to see what they had to say. While planning and running the project, the team did work well. However, there was some friction between the group as the majority of the team felt that one member was not pulling their weight as they rarely attended the lessons or helped out with the major planning. We made most of the decisions without them because we had to get on and plan the trip or we would be behind. Recommendations for improvements of the whole team would be that everyone contributed fairly to the organisation of the project. This could be improved by the one member of the group attending all the lessons.

Throughout the organisation of the trip, I think I have learnt many different skills. I have learnt how to plan an event and how we have to be in constant contact with the travel company to pass on the correct information to the students coming on the trip. I have also learnt that the Travel Industry can sometimes be a problem as arrangements can be changed at the last minute. I also found being a team player was not easy, but I learnt that you have to be able to communicate well with all the team players so everyone knows what is going on I also think this project helped me with my communication skills as I had to pass on information to people and answer their questions.

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We did a survey of our customers after the trip to check how they judged its success.

Questionnaire results Post Paris Students View

1 Did you enjoy the weekend? Yes 4 No 0

3 How did you hear about the trip? Assembly 4 Friends 2 Posters 0

6 Did you take advantage in paying in instalments?

Yes 2 No 2

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7 Did you think it was a lot of money to pay?`

Yes 0 No 4

8 Did you get enough information about the trip?

Yes 3 No 1

13 Do you think the trip was well organised?

Yes 4 No 0

15 Do you think the trip was value for money?

Yes 4 No 0

These results are from giving out questionnaires to 4 people who came on the trip. We thought these people would give us honest answers. This enabled me to plot my graphs and see what their opinion was of how the trip went.

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ICT The table below shows the uses we made of ICT and how important ICT was each time – I have used a scoring system of 1 to 5.

The candidate produced a table showing each use of ICT in the management of the project, its importance scored from 1 (little real use, could have been as easily done

without) to 5 (proved essential). Each of the items listed in the Contents page appendices was included

From my ICT scoring table I can see that the use I got out of the DTP package I used to design the promotional material like the posters was far and away the most valuable ICT application. Without this, promotional materials would have looked amateurish and that would not have attracted customers to pay over 150 pounds, not established the confidence of parents to part with the money or think were capable of organising the trip and being responsible about money and safety. As it was the materials were able to make were sufficiently professional looking to do the trick in the limited market place in which we were operating. If we were doing this professionally we might have made them better, but we would have more of a budget to work with and maybe better skills. Looking back on this I can see that I could have taken this opportunity to advance my DTP skills more – really I was just relying on doing what I already knew how to do. All this said, sometime high street travel agencies have posters in the window that are hand written in marker pen, usually special offers that are very limited in number.

The candidate went on to draw conclusions based on evaluation of the entire table

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SECTION C

GCE TRAVEL AND TOURISM

UNIT TT08 TRAVEL AND TOURISM PROJECT

EXEMPLAR COURSEWORK AT A GOOD STANDARD

PRINCIPAL MODERATOR’S COMMENTARY

NOTES: Words in italics show where the candidate has achieved the standards required by the Mark Bands in the grid of Assessment Criteria

A portfolio that includes evidence of involvement in the management of a travel and tourism project. The chosen project is a visit to Paris, including hotel accommodation and a day at Disneyland. The portfolio opens with a useful contents page that reflects the task structure of the unit. It is good practice to present the evidence one strand at a time in this way. The “Introduction” is a diagrammatic representation of the business plan elements that will guide the candidate through their work. This closely matches the list given in the Specification on page 69. AO1 – a presentation of the elements to be included in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan.

This candidate has chosen a PowerPoint format for their presentation. There are other valid forms of presentation.

After the initial “Mission Statement”, the candidate produces the PowerPoint slides they compiled, together with “Presenter Notes” for each slide. The presentation covers all of the business plan elements shown in the introductory diagram, and the slides and notes together constitute “evidence of a well developed presentation” (MB4) because of the range covered and the depth of consideration given to each slide which transcends the “detailed knowledge and understanding” required by the wording of Mark Band 3 because the candidate “critically assesses” not only “the elements involved”, but also “the inter-relationships between them”. For example, the slide entitled “ Aims” where critical assessment of, for instance, safety matters and linkages with objectives and the marketing element of the business plan are made. Taking the presentation as a whole, it is clear that the wording of Mark Band 4 is fully satisfied and a mark at its upper end is appropriate. 9 marks.

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AO2 – a record of the candidate’s involvement in managing the chosen travel and tourism project, working as a member of a team. The diary/logbook is a “detailed record”(MB3) of the candidate’s “involvement throughout the management of their chosen travel and tourism project” that is further bolstered by the subsequent commentary. Indeed the latter means that a sufficiently “well developed record and commentary” have been produced to allow access to the lower reaches of Mark Band 4. The addition of the commentary is a development to the already detailed record that further improves the quality of this section and allows access to the threshold of MB4. Experience has shown that in team-managed projects such as this, one or two key players are “drivers” emerge from the group and assume direction of the project. Clear evidence of such leadership is needed to score well at MB4 for AO2. It is suggested that the witness testimony of the teacher and of peers may be important evidence here. To reach the top end of MB4 the candidate would need to show critical application of the full range of business planning elements. 15 marks. AO3 – an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project The team had undertaken some initial market research during the preceding (summer) term as a first step of the feasibility study although this lacked much detail. The candidate presents a copy of the questionnaire used, the results in figures and graphical form, and a considered analysis leading to the conclusion “to go for organising the weekend break in Paris”. So far, there is “clear analysis” (MB2,) but there are also clear business plan element omissions, such as staffing and administrative systems. Of course, these were included in the commentary of the record of involvement by the candidate given for AO2, but not in the feasibility analysis form required for AO3. However, the candidate goes on to produce a detailed analysis of feasibility through demonstrating a “careful investigation that includes most of the listed business plan elements”, beginning with finance – the cost. The candidate has been able to “use expression with suitable specialist vocabulary” sufficiently to allow a mark at the top end of MB3., To move into MB4 candidates need to produce a critical analysis based on a more detailed study. There is a shortfall regarding evidence that they can “ analyse complex information.”. So, upper MB3, 12 marks. AO4 – Recommendations to potential customers based on an evaluation of the appeal of each destination and an evaluation of its likely future popularity. The final section of the portfolio constitutes a critical evaluation of the success of the project” (the survey of customers is good practice here) and that includes evaluating “the roles of themselves and other team members”. The use of both positive and negative comments is necessary to demonstrate that evaluation is critical, along with appropriate justification. The candidate has achieved this by writing a step-by-step consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of the event, and of the team, including himself or herself. The candidate’s evaluation is however, critical and not simply a pedestrian account of separate strengths and weaknesses. What lends it this critical quality is the candidate’s considered, weighed qualifications. Weaknesses are qualified as to how much of an issue they actually were, in the candidates view. For example, the problems that arose regarding the rooming and Seine cruise issues are respectively considered “major” though an acceptable outcome was achieved even for the disappointed girls), and “one that did not seem to affect everyone too badly.”

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Evaluation of “the extent to which ICT was valuable” is a required element of AO4 for this unit. The candidate has presented a table that assesses each of the uses to which ICT was put during the management of the project, scoring them on a scale of 1 to 5. This is then developed by “a justified balance between strengths and weaknesses”, for example in the use of desktop publishing to prepare promotional materials. To be a fully “comprehensive evaluation of the role of ICT”, there might have been more development of the use of new technology for a wider range of purposes than those listed in the Contents appendices, for example during the actual visit. A mid-range MB4 mark is fair. 16 marks. Total 52 marks.

THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA GRID FOR THE UNIT IS REPRODUCED ON THE FOLLOWING TWO PAGES

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Assessment Criteria Unit 8 – Travel and Tourism Project

You need to produce evidence of your involvement in the management of a travel and tourism project. Your portfolio should include:

A. a presentation of the elements to be included in your chosen travel and tourism project business plan B. a record of your involvement in managing your chosen travel and tourism project, working as a C. an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project (AO3) D. an evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of yourself and the other team members,

Mark Band 1 Mark Band 2 AO1 Evidence of a presentation which

demonstrates basic knowledge and understanding of the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan. There may be some omissions.

(1-2 marks)

Evidence of a presentation which demonstrates clear knowledge and understanding of the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan.

(3-5 marks)

AO2 Candidates produce a basic record of their involvement in their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the application of a limited range of business plan elements to the chosen project together with limited evidence of teamwork.

(1-4 marks)

Candidates produce a clear record of their involvement in managing their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the application of most of the business plan elements and some clear evidence of successful teamwork.

(5-9 marks)AO3 Candidates show basic evidence of

analysing the feasibility of their chosen project through an investigation of a limited range of business plan elements. Candidates use non-specialist expression to organise information adequately.

(1-4 marks)

Candidates show clear evidence of analysing the feasibility of their chosen project through an investigation including many of the listed business plan elements with a few omissions. Candidates use expression with some specialist vocabulary to organise information clearly and to draw some conclusions.

(5-8 marks)AO4 A basic consideration of the success of the

project, and of the roles of the candidate and of other team members. Any evaluation of the success of the project, or of the roles of themselves or of other team members may be vague or confused. ICT is referred to in a general way. Candidates use expression which is adequate to convey meaning.

(1-4 marks)

Candidates produce some evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of themselves and of other team members, though detail may be lacking on some of the elements. Clear insight into a few ways in which ICT was valuable to the project. A balance between strengths and weaknesses is shown. Candidates use expression which is coherent so that meaning is clear.

(5-9 marks)

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(AO1) member of a team (AO2) in undertaking the project, including the extent to which ICT was valuable. (AO4)

Mark Band 3 Mark Band 4 Evidence of a presentation which demonstrates detailed knowledge and understanding of the importance of the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan.

(6-7 marks)

Evidence of a well developed presentation which critically assesses the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan and the inter-relationships between them.

(8-9 marks)

Candidates produce a detailed record of their involvement throughout the management of their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the application of the full range of business planning elements and substantial and productive teamwork.

(10-14 marks)

Candidates produce a well developed record and commentary of their key involvement throughout the management of their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the critical application of the full range of business planning elements and leading to substantial and productive teamwork.

(15-18 marks)Candidates produce a detailed analysis of the feasibility of their chosen project through a careful investigation that includes most of the listed business plan elements. Candidates use expression with suitable specialist vocabulary to organise and interpret information, and to draw valid conclusions.

(9-12 marks)

Candidates produce a critical analysis of the feasibility of their chosen project gathered through a careful and detailed investigation that includes all the listed business plan elements. Candidates use expression with appropriate specialist vocabulary to analyse complex information, and to draw valid and substantiated conclusions.

(13-15 marks)Candidates produce a carefully detailed evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of themselves and other team members. A detailed evaluation of how ICT was valuable to the project. An appropriate balance between strengths and weaknesses is shown. Candidates use expression which is suitable in form and style to convey meaning.

(10-14 marks)

Candidates produce a critical evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of themselves and other team members. A comprehensive evaluation of the role of ICT in ensuring the success of the project. A justified balance between strengths and weaknesses is developed. Candidates use expression which conveys appropriate meaning within complex subject matter.

(15-18 marks)

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SECTION D

GCE TRAVEL AND TOURISM

EXAMPLAR COURSEWORK

A2 UNIT TT08 TRAVEL AND TOURISM PROJECT

Work at a “satisfactory” standard

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You need to produce evidence of your involvement in the management of a travel and tourism project. Your portfolio should include: AO1 a presentation of the elements to be included in your chosen travel and tourism project business plan AO2 a record of your involvement in managing your chosen travel and tourism project, working as a member of a team

AO3 an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project

AO4 an evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of yourself and other team members, in undertaking the project, including the extent to which ICT was valuable.

.

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CANDIDATE’S PORTFOLIO Contents

Topic Presentation Ideas for trip event Research into each activity Advantages & disadvantages for each activity Choosing the activity Step by step evaluation Market research Results of market research Over night stay & travelling costs Calculating the price Step by step evaluation Contacting the companies Step by step evaluation Health & safety Legal aspects Marketing Step by step evaluation Contingency plan Collecting payments Customer evaluation of trip Step by step evaluation Evaluation of trip Agendas, minutes & personal log

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AO1 a presentation of the elements to be included in your chosen travel and tourism project business plan

PRESENTATION

PRESENTER NOTES

The candidate provided copies of OHTs on each of the sections below

Unit 8, we have to organise a trip or event that will relate to the travel & tourism industry. The trip is to be carried out in a professional manner with proper research & evaluation. During this unit we will be working as a part of a group so it is important to make sure everyone gets along well & cooperation is involved. Aims Our aims for this project were to run a safe & enjoyable trip/event that will meet all of our customer needs. Objectives Our objectives for this trip are,

• Break even • Make sure every body enjoys them selves • Organise the trip safely effectively catering for everybody’s needs

The Team This project is a team organising event so each member of the team needs to be identified & given a title,

- Research & Development - Finance Manager - Marketing Manager

Weekly Meetings Weekly meetings will be carried out so we can all get together & discuss any progress that has been made & what else needs to be done etc. Copy of the meeting minutes & Agenda will be found at back of project. Time There is only a limited amount of time which we have available to us to organise & run the trip this consists of 11 weeks running from the 14.XX.XX until 25.03.XX. to make sure that we manage our time we have drawn up a weekly schedule which will need to be followed through out the project. (Copy of Weekly Schedule follows).

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AO2 a record of your involvement in managing your chosen travel and tourism project, working as a member of a team

WEEKLY SCHEDULE Travel and Tourism: ALTON TOWERS

Week Commencing (Mon)

TASK 14.01.XX.

21.01.XX 28.01.XX 04.02.XX 11.02.XX 18.02.XX 25.02.XX 04.03.XX 11.03.XX 18.03.XX 25.03.XX

Brainstorm trip ideas * *

Investigate 4 feasible ideas * *

Agree plan for chosen event * * Prepare and do market research

* *

Reserve coach * Reserve accommodation * Reserve group tickets * Confirmation letters * Collect payments * Book coach * Book accommodation * Reserve group tickets * Double check arrangements * EVENT * Gather and evaluate data * Every Monday morning at 11.30 am (period three) meetings will be held to discuss the weekly task. For each meeting there will be a written agenda followed up by minutes.

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Ideas For Trip/Event

We started off by having to sit down & brainstorm different ideas that we could do for our event that we had to run for either pupils of our college or people from out side the school.

List of ideas for event

Surfing weekend Day trip to Alton Towers

Car treasure hunt Murder mystery tour

Ghost tour Shopping trip

Music concert trip Skiing & snowboarding trip

Day & races Trip to a Football or Rugby match

Day trip to France

Who will our customers be? Before we could put these ideas into a short list we needed to decide who our customers were going to be so we needed to decide what types of customers there are. A list of the different types are below: *Our own 6th form community *Families out side school *Elderly members of the community *The youth of our area *Tourists on holiday in our area From the list above the best option for us would be the 6th form community because it will save on advertising costs, the school already has some insurance & we know the customers that we will be taking so their should be no problems with people that are not willing to cooperate.

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Short list of ideas for event From the list of ideas that we originally drew up we have decided that these would be best four ideas to look into doing because they are all things that people in the 6th Form would enjoy because they are activities that the youth community would enjoy doing.

Surfing weekend Day trip to Alton Towers

Skiing & snowboarding trip Day trip to France

AO1/ AO3 an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project

Research Into Each Activity

The candidate included copies of OHTs

Skiing & Snowboarding Trip The Snowdome in Tamworth was discovered as the best establishment for us to visit because it had good facilities & real snow. Which is different to facilities around this area. These different facilities should help sell the trip because it is not something that people will have the opportunity to do often. The prices of the snow dome are as follows, Learn to Ski Lessons - £25 for a 1 hour lesson with max number of 10 in a group. Learn to Snowboard - £26 for a 1 hour lesson with a max number of 6 in a group. There is a £4 charge for hire of clothing To use the slopes for recreational use it will cost £20 per hour All this information came from www.snowdome.co.uk Day Trip to Alton Towers The cost of entrance into Alton Towers Theme Park is £15.50 per head in-group booking. The min amount of people allowed in a group booking is 12 any less & the price will increase to paying full adult price.

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At the present moment the park is closed for the winter period but re-opens on Saturday 16 march. If we go payment is to be sent via mail in cheque form 1 week before your visit. To find this information I had to ring Alton Towers Theme Park. Surfing Weekend Big Blue Surf School was the cheapest surfing school found. Its situated in north Devon the prices do not include accommodation lessons only & are as follows, Half Day = 2 ½ to 3 hour morning or afternoon lessens £15 Full Day = Two, 2 ½ to 3 hour lessons can be booked as two half days £29 Weekend = One full day & one half day of surfing 3 lessons £43 Day Trip to France A day trip to France was found at a cheapest price of £19 on a special offer on a Sunday or Thursday. This is price valid until 15/03/XX & restricted to space & sailing’s. You have to return the same calendar day with latest departure from Calais at 23:15 & only hard luggage is allowed. This price does not include a cabin on the boat. Information from www.seafrance.com AO3

Advantages & Disadvantages for Each Activity

Skiing & Snowboarding Trip Advantages The positives to this trip is that it is something different & this activity has always been popular in outdoor pursuits trips that are run by the school to Plymouth ski centre. Disadvantages The problems are that it is a very expensive trip because you will want more than one hour on the slopes that is going to cost over £40 before travel costs have even been introduced. This could be a problem because people are not going to want to pay allot of money just to have one or two hours on the slopes.

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Day Trip to Alton Towers Advantages The positives of this trip is that Alton towers is always a fun day out & we will be some of the first people to go on the new ride which is currently being built. Also it is cheap compared to the other activities. Disadvantages Will have to include overnight stay but can be very cheap if we stay in a youth hostel. Is a fair distance to travel so will have to find cheep price for travel. Surfing Weekend Advantages Is an enjoyable activity which is close to home so not much travelling will be needed. It is along one of the best surfing coasts in England. Disadvantages It is not very nice weather for surfing & the water will be very cold. Also there will be a problem with insurance in case some one gets hurt. The price of £29 with out travel or accommodation again is a problem. Day Trip to France Advantages This trip is something very different and a great opportunity for people to go aboard. Disadvantages Once in France you will need transport around which will cost & if you decided to visit different places that will also cost again making it more than likely an expensive trip for just one day.

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AO3

Choosing The Activity

After a meeting we have decided to run a trip to Alton Towers. Our reasons for doing this are as follows,

• We felt that Alton Towers was a big enough tourist attraction to attract us enough interested customers.

• Because of Alton Towers being a long way to travel most people would like to go but have never had the chance

• Can be well advertised because we will be going on the 1st day of the reopening of the park & will be among the 1st group of people to ride the new attraction.

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AO4 Step By Step Evaluation

So far I feel that the group has worked well together, I feel that I came up with some good ideas about what we could do & the group has discussed them. We have all done well in looking into each idea we were given to look in depth to & have found some interesting information. There have only been a few disagreements on how big we should be looking to have our trip but they were resolved quickly & well. I don’t feel I would of changed anything we have done so far.

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AO3

The candidate included copies of OHTs

Market Research

Now we have chosen our destination for our trip we need to do some market research to find out just how much interest there is in the trip among the 6th form & how many people will be wanting to come & how much they will be willing to pay. To discover this we made a small questionnaire & distributed it around the 6th Form community to gather the information. A copy of the questionnaire follows,

Trip To Alton Towers!!!

Dear Student Every year vocational Travel & Tourism students have to arrange a trip or event as part of their course requirements. This year we are going to try & arrange a trip to Alton Towers. This trip will take place on 16 March 200X (opening day of the park 1sat day with new ride.) This trip will include bus there & back, entrance to the park & a over night stay. We need your co-operation to see just how many people would be interested in the trip & the price you would be willing to pay. We would be appreciated if you could fill out the form below & return it either to ………… or ………………. Thank you for your time, Vocational Travel & Tourism Class Yes No I would be interested in a trip to Alton Towers I will be willing to pay, £30 - £40 £40 - £50 £50 - £60

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AO3

Results Of Market Research

We carried out the Market research within the 6th form & asked 40 people their opinions about the Alton Towers excursion. This represents 24% of the people in 6th form. This gives us a significant amount of people hence we could come to the conclusion that we could run the trip successfully. Below are the results from the market research that was carried out.

Candidate included a bar graph to show the amount of people who would be interested in

a trip to Alton Towers (Yes – 30/ No – 10)

This graph shows that most people asked are interested in going to Alton Towers that gives us a good basis to run the trip because it shows there is interest from the sixth form community.

Candidate included a graph to show which price range is most popular –

£30-40/ £40-50/ £50-60

This graph shows the price range that people will be willing to pay for the trip to Alton Towers. This is a good guide line to work with so we can try & get the most interest from students by keeping with the price range they suggest.

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Over night stay

An over night stay was felt to be included in the trip for Health & Safety reasons as it will be a very long day of driving if we were to leave early in the morning & late at night, making it unsafe. Also we will not benefit from a whole day in the park we will only manage to get a half a day. When looking into our over night stay we decided that staying with the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) would be our cheapest option & the college was already a member so a membership fee would not have been included in the price. The Two youth Hostels we looked into were very close to Alton Towers. Alstonefield Alstonefield youth hostel was a 30 minute drive away from Alton Towers which was the second closest to the amusement park. The prices were £7.75 per head for under 18’s & £11.00 per head for over 18. The only problem is that Alstonefield was closed until March 22 which was too late for our project to run. Dimmingsdale Dimmingsdale was closest to Alton Towers at a distance of two miles away. The prices to stay were under 18’s £6.50 & over 18’s £9.20 this would of made Dimmingsdale our 1st choice of places to stay, unfortunately it was also closed for the winter period until March 28th. Hartington Hall Hartington Hall was the 3rd closest to Alton towers at 23 miles away. The prices of the youth hostel were £13.75 per head. The Youth Hostel is also open all year round making it the best choice for a place to stay during the trip.

Travelling Costs

On the school mini bus which will be the cheapest option because we will not have to pay for a driver or hire cost. The cost of the bus will be 48p for the first 200 miles & then 32p for every mile after.

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Calculating the trip price

Travelling cost To Alton Towers: We will travel 217.7 miles to Alton Towers. For the first 200 miles it costs 48p per mile, anything after that costs 32p per mile. 200x48p=£96 17.7x32p=£5.66 £96+£5.66=£101.66 £101.66x2=£203.32 Therefore the return travelling cost to Alton Towers is £203.32 To Hartington Hall: Hartington Hall is an extra 23 miles from Alton Towers at 32p per mile. 23x32p=£7.36 £7.36x2=£14.72 The return journey to Hartington Hall costs an extra £14.72. £14.72+£203.32=£218.04 The total travelling cost is £218.04. Park entrance costs. 16 people at £15.50 each plus 1 free entry (group discount). 16x£15.50=£248 The total entrance cost is £248. Accommodation costs. Price of an overnight stay at YHA is £13.75 per person. 17x£13.75=£233.75

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In addition to the three main costs we also need to cover the costs of planning and marketing the project. These costs include printing of leaflets, posters, letters etc. We estimated these costs to be a total of £100, which will also include emergency money in case anything goes wrong during the planning of the trip. To find the overall cost of the trip per person we added all of the costs and divided by the number people going. £218.04 Travel +£248.00 Entrance +£233.75 Accommodation +£100.00 Extra costs =£799.79 £799.79/17=£47.05 We rounded the trip price up to £48 per person to ensure that we cover all of our costs.

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AO4

Step By Step Evaluation

Over this last section I feel the group has not been working so well as a team & some people are not doing all they should be. In this section my personal performance I feel has been good. I have done some market research into the trip to see just how many people would be interested & looked into three possible over night stays then calculated the overall costs. The improvements I would have made over this section is to try & improve the team work & also I think more market research would of been good.

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AO2

Contacting The Companies

To book our trip with Alton Towers & Hartington Hall we contacted them on the phone. When booking with Alton Towers we spoke to them on the phone & made a provisional booking we then had to send them a fax confirming that we wanted to book the trip. After that we were sent a letter with the booking information which we needed to send back as soon as we had the numbers & the money, along with a copy of the park regulations. When we booked with Hartington Hall we had to give them some details of our trip which they filled out onto a booking form then send down to us so we could complete it & send back again as soon as we had the right amount of people & money available to us.

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Fax To: Alton Towers From Fax No: Pages: 1 Phone No: Date: Re: cc:

Urgent For Review Please Comment Please Reply Please Recycle To confirm that will be making a group booking of 17 people, including teacher. We will be arriving on 16th March 200X

Yours sincerely

(Candidate’s signature)

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The candidate included a copy of Alton Towers booking confirmation letter.

The candidate included a copy of Hartington Hall Youth Hostel booking confirmation letter.

The candidate included a copy of Hartington Hall Youth Hostel group booking form.

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AO4

Step By Step Evaluation

In this section I again do not feel that the group has been working as well as it should have or could do. My personal performance has been improved & I have done more towards the project by contacting the two companies & provisionally booking our trip with them. The performance of the group working as a team still needs to be improved as the project carries on & our work load should be split more evenly.

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AO1 Presenter notes

Health & Safety

Alton Towers Alton towers have there own health & safety guide lines which they advise you to follow when visiting the park these are as follows. *Check in the guest services upon arrival & give them the team leaders mobile number so if any problems occur they can be contacted *Make sure all members of the party know the coach company, Departure time & point of departure. *Make sure that organised meeting points are made through set time during the day. *Bags may not be taken onto certain rides but can be left on the platform at the owners own risk. Lockers are available for hire at customer services at £1.50 per day. Hartington Hall There are certain health & safety rules that have to be obeyed by when staying at Hartington hall these include. *Strictly no smoking in bedrooms & smoke detectors are present in all rooms. *Make sure you group know the nearest fire exit to their room & an fire drill can be done upon request. *There are trained first-aiders on the hostel staff if they are needed. *The group leader is responsible for the behaviour of the group while staying at the hostel please remember that there are other guests staying. On The Bus While travelling on the bus there are still health & safety issues to remember these are, *No more than 17 people may travel on the bus at any one time 16 passengers & 1 driver. *During the journeys you must remain seated at all times. *If safety belts are provided they must be used. *No talking or distracting the driver when the bus is in motion.

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Legal Aspects This trip needs to have insurance cover in case anything happens to go wrong during the trip or some one gets hurt information about the insurance is below. On The Bus All students of T….. school are covered on insurance when using bus as long as there is a trained member of staff driving the bus. People from out side the college will not be covered. Hartington Hall At Hartington Hall we will be covered by their insurance as the college are members of the YHA. Alton Towers Whilst in Alton Towers if any injury happens as a direct result of something within the park i.e. on a ride then Alton towers will be liable for that injury & compensation will be dealt with by the park.

Marketing Now the project is ready to run we needed to market the project to gain customer awareness. For this we did a series of things which are listed below, • Spoke out in assemblies to both year groups of the 6th Form • Wrote information about the trip on all the white boards in the 6th form including

the common room & refectory. • Placed letter by the signing out/in book in the 6th Form reception • Personal E-Mails were sent over the School E-Mailing system most members of

the 6th Form • Posters were placed around the college with all the necessary information on On all of these marketing strategies the following information was included, • Where the trip was running to • How much it would cost • What was included in the price • Where to get more information from • The date the trip was running (Copy of the poster follows)

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Alton Towers

£48

Fri 15th – Sat 16th March

INCLUDES ALL TRANSPORT, ENTRANCE TO THE PARK AND AN OVERNIGHT STAY.

1ST COME FIRST SERVED

LIMITED PLACES

FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE SEE

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AO4

Step By Step Evaluation

During this part of our project I feel that our group performance has been picking up slightly & work has started to be split between each person, but there is still more improvement that can be done. I feel that during the project I have still managed to keep my personal performance at a high level.

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AO1 Presenter notes

Contingency Plan If the trip for any reason is unsuccessful there has to be a back up plan already in place which we can act on straight away. For our contingency plan we have decided that we will design a letter of apology to the customers along with the return of their cheques. We will also include a letter/leaflet which hold information about the trip so if they would like to go they have all the necessary information. This means they can try & organise their own trip or go up by them selves. The contingency plan will need to take effect on the 1st of March which will be our cut off point to the project. This is because Alton Towers & Hartington Hall want to have the money by the 4th of March so if we do not have sufficient numbers by then it will be cancelled.

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Collecting Payments

Once a customer had paid the amount of money was put down onto a chart & the checks were kept in an envelope in the schools office until they were need & also it was a safer place to keep them. The customer was then given a receipt to prove they had paid. A copy of the receipt is below.

Receipt Date

Amount Received From…

£ p

Payment for Alton Towers trip.

1 @ £48

Total

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AO2 application and team work

Customer Evaluation Of Trip

Once the trip was run we need to get feed back from each customer to find out how successful they felt trip was. This will also help us to evaluate the trip & see what we could of done to improve it. We decided the best way to do this would be by handing out a questionnaire at the end of our journey asking them what they thought & how they would improve it. The questionnaire is below, Dear Customer Please could fill in this questionnaire below according to how you felt about the trip so we can evaluate it & improve it if we run the same trip again. Mark as 5=Good 1=Bad How do you rate the trip to Alton Towers? 1 2 3 4 5 How would you rate the Accommodation? 1 2 3 4 5 How would you rate value for money? 1 2 3 4 5 If you could improve on the trip what would you do?

Thank you for your time

6th Form Travel & Tourism Group

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AO4

Evaluation Of Project

My Own Performance Through out this project I feel that I put in a lot of work on the planing & practical side but I feel that to improve my performance there was more work I could of done on my writing up of the project. I also feel that I may be did not communicate with the rest of my team as much as I could have. Team Performance As a team I feel this project could of worked better than it did, although it was hard with only three in a team. I feel that the work load was split unfairly through out the team leaving some members doing more than others. Their was also not enough communication between us but it could have been improved. Also we did manage to sort out a what would of been enjoyable trip. What Would I Improve If I was to run the project again I would run something a little more down scale so more people could afford to do the activity. I would also carry out allot more market research into the amount of people that would like to come on our trip or event to make it more successful. If possible I feel that our trip would have been more successful if run earlier in the year because people had exams coming up & course work needed to be handed in meaning some people did not have the time or the money available to them to be able to go on the trip. I would also try & organise each member of the team better so we new our roles & what they involved.

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Contribution of ICT

ICT was quite important to us in organising the Alton Towers visit. I used it myself to write letters to Alton Towers and also to Hartington Hall Youth Hostel. The promotional poster was designed and printed off using ICT and so were the dockets we used to receipt customers’ money. We could have used but ICT to make the information leaflet, but this was done in a rush and I didn’t know how to do it using a desktop publisher programme. Next time I’d plan more time in to develop a skill like that in planning the project. I also realise that a database could have been used to keep customer records and maybe we could have communicated with suppliers like the youth hostel and Alton Towers more by e-mail instead of letter and fax, but I did still use ICT to prepare the fax and letters and sent an e-mail to Hartington Hall as well as to our potential customers (everyone in the 6th Form) anyway. I prepared my report using a word processing package and also used a computer to produce the graphs of the market research results. I think we could have learned to use Excel to keep track of payments and do some of the calculations to do with the money. Some of the research was done on the Internet, using a search engine and websites like www.yha.org.uk, which is another use of ICT. So, all in all, we did use ICT and that was important to give a professional touch to communications with outside bodies like Alton Towers and Hartington Hall, as well as to documents for our customers like the receipt dockets. I could have used the chance to develop my skills more in Excel and databases and in desktop publishing to make the administration of the project more efficient and to increase the professionalism of the finish that our customers and suppliers saw.

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AO2

Agendas, Minutes and Personal Log

During the project to make sure that it ran smoothly weekly meetings were held with agendas of the topics that needed to be discussed. A copy of these & the minutes are to follow along with my personal log, which is wall what I have done through out the project.

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AO2

Date Topic Contribution Action

7/01/XX Brain storming ideas

I helped to come up with a list of ideas that we could do for our trip/social event

This was then noted & written down

10/01/XX Where could we go?

I did research into the cost of Skiing/Snowboarding at the Snowdome. I also enquired the price of Alton towers, when the park opens & if we could get group or student discount.

I found the information to the Snowdome by going to www.snowdome.co.uk where I found price listings. Alton towers had no information on their web site as the park is closed so I had to call them & ask questions.

17/01/XX Place to stay! Information was needed on places we could stay near Alton towers.

I decided that the YHA would most probably be the cheapest place to stay so I found out if the school was already a member then went on to www.yha.org.uk to enquire about local YHA to Alton towers prices & how many beds it had.

21/01/XX Would anyone be interested?

I had to find out if any one would be interested in a trip to Alton towers.

We had to find out whether people would be interested so I wrote letters explaining about the trip. It then contained questions about if they would be interested & what price range they would spend.

24/01/XX Bus cost? Found out how much the bus will cost to Alton towers & back:

I went to the school office & found out the cost of the mini bus per mile & then worked out the over all cost.

28/01/XX Bookings I booked accommodation, bus & Alton towers

To book YHA I called there hotline number & made reservation they should be confirming it through the post shortly. I rang Alton Towers telling them I would like to make a group booking then send them a fax to confirm. I also booked mini bus with the school.

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Date Topic Contribution Action

30/01/XX Letters I drafted a letter about Alton Towers.

I drafted a letter about the Alton Towers trip including all the necessary information & I slip that needs to be returned if you want to come.

06/02/XX Posters Put up posters. After the posters were designed I put them up around the 6th Form in places where people mostly go to attract attention.

07/02/XX More Marketing Information on white boards I went around the 6th Form Writing information on all the white boards about the trip to increase public awareness about the project.

11/02/XX More Marketing E-Mail I went to the office & asked for a list of every student in the 6th form. With this I then had to E-mail each one seperately about the trip to try & draw more attention & help get the word out!

13/02/XX letters Gave more out I put out some more letters in the reception to 6th form & handed out some to students

14/02/XX Money Date More Posters I made up a poster about the trip telling people that their money is needed by the 1st of March or the trip will be cancelled to draw the money in. Then I put these up in different places around the 6th form.

14/02/XX Hartington Hall E-mail I sent a E-mail to Hartington Hall confirming if they were going to send us the booking information.

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Date Topic Contribution Action

15/02/XX Letters Registration I wrote letters & had them put out in every ones register asking the teacher to reed out the information about the Alton Towers trip.

25/02/XX Booking Forms Received Booking Forms from Alton Towers & Hartington Hall

Now Forms have been received I have read through them filled what I can out but have to wait until numbers & money are in before I can send forms off.

27/02/XX Money Handed checks I was handed checks by two pupils then sorted them in a safe place ready for use.

28/02/XX Gaining interest Went around talking to people about trip

I went around to different class rooms talking to people reminding them that there was only one day left to bring in their checks if they wanted to come to Alton Towers.

4/03/XX Trip go-ahead.

Talking to students and word processing letter

I informed the 6th Form that the trip was on and anybody who had paid would be going.

7/03/XX Obtain group tickets

Liasing with Alton Towers I made sure we got our group tickets

11/03/XX Double check arrangements

Checked through our records

I made sure we had everything we needed like tickets and booking confirmations

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TRAVEL & TOURISM To: Cc: From: 14th January 200X

Alton Towers meeting Monday 14th January

T&T room (L2)

AGENDA Complete:

• Allocate jobs • Brainstorm ideas • Decided on four feasible ideas

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Minutes taken Meeting attended by: (Names deleted) Date: Monday 14th January Time: 11:30 – 12:00 Points discussed

Allocated job roles for the project:

Job roles

Research and development Finance manager Marketing manager

Brainstormed ideas for the trip.

Decided on four feasible ideas - Day trip to France - Ski and snowboard trip - Alton towers trip - Surfing weekend

Things to be done for the next meeting – Monday 21st January: Individually investigate each idea and prepare suggestions for the final idea.

Prepare next weeks agenda Write up minutes of meeting

The candidate included similar Agenda and Minutes for meetings on 21 & 28 January, 4, 11 and 25 February

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TRAVEL & TOURISM To: Cc: From: 4th March 200X

Alton Towers meeting Monday 04th March

T&T room (L2)

AGENDA Complete:

• Possible cancellation • Discuss contingency plan

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Minutes taken Meeting attended by: Date: Monday 4th March Time: 11:30 – 12:00 Points discussed

Decided to go-ahead with the Alton towers trip due to just sufficient numbers.

Concluded that the contingency plan would not be needed. Things to be done for the next meeting – Monday 11th March: Candidate – Arrange to obtain group tickets Katie – Prepare next weeks agenda. Provide a letter to inform people of the trip going ahead. Lauren – Type up minutes of meeting.

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SECTION E GCE TRAVEL AND TOURISM

UNIT TT08

TRAVEL AND TOURISM PROJECT AO1 and AO2

EXEMPLAR COURSEWORK AT A SATISFACTORY STANDARD

PRINCIPAL MODERATOR’S COMMENTARY

NOTES: Words in italics show where the candidate has achieved the standards required by the Mark Bands in the grid of Assessment Criteria

A portfolio that includes evidence of involvement in the management of a travel and tourism project. The chosen project is a visit to Alton Towers theme park, combined with accommodation in Hartington Hall Youth Hostel and including transport. AO1 – a presentation of the elements to be included in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan After the title and the contents page, the candidate offers “Presenter Notes” to accompany an overhead slide presentation. It is good practice to actually make the presentation and to have Presenter Notes to work from and as part of the evidence submission since this helps support knowledge and understanding and their evidence base. The first set of slides cover each of the following business plan elements:

• Aims • Objectives • The team • Weekly meetings • Time • Ideas • Customers

This means that counting “the team” as “staffing” and “weekly meetings” as part of “the project’s time management, 4 of the 10 business plane elements listed on page 69 of the Specification have been included, so far. At this stage (up to the heading, “Research into each activity”. Mark Band 1 wording is the most applicable, “evidence of a presentation which demonstrates basic knowledge and understanding . . . some omissions.” Quite a lot of omissions, so not top MB1. Then, under the heading “Research into Each Activity”, the candidate presents evidence that supports both AO1 and AO3 (see later). The information here is also included in the overhead slide presentation and shows “clear knowledge and understanding” of “financial aspects of the project”. The level of understanding and knowledge is appropriate to MB2, but there is still a dearth of business plan elements at this stage. Sections on “Overnight stay” and “Travelling Costs” are included in the presentation along with “Research into Each Activity” (see above) in the second set of slides, and support the demonstration of “clear knowledge and understanding of the elements involved in the . . . business plan”. The scope has now widened slightly to include health and safety considerations. Further sections of the presentation are slides entitled “Health and Safety”, “Legal Aspects” and “Marketing”, the last supported by a copy of the team’s promotional poster (produced using ICT).

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These and “Contingency Plan” further broaden the range of business plan elements the candidate has presented. The presentation is insufficiently in-depth in assessing the significance of elements of the business plan to demonstrate “detailed knowledge and understanding of the importance of the elements involved” and so marks are confined within MB2. The second set of slides has ensured that the full descriptor wording is satisfied and so 5 marks can be given. AO2 – a record of the candidate’s involvement in managing the chosen travel and tourism project, working as a member of a team The “Weekly Schedule” that the candidate includes among the early “Presenter Notes” is not a record since it lays out what will happen rather than what did happen, nevertheless its inclusion is good practice in that it suggests a systematic and organised approach by the team. An indication of the individual candidate’s involvement is needed to differentiate their contribution. “Contacting the Companies” records what the team did but does not advance the candidate’s score since there is no clarification of individual contribution here. The subsequent fax however does show that the candidate was the contact point, as do the Alton Towers and Hartington Hall confirmation letters. The log of actions and minutes of meetings that follow later confirm the candidate’s individual involvement in these ways. These constitute good practice approaches to producing a record of involvement. The log itself records the candidate’s individual actions and shows a significant individual contribution to the planning and organisation of the event. This is sufficiently corroborated by the minutes though some candidate error means that there is not a perfect match of dates. Overall, the body of evidence presented does fully satisfy the MB2 descriptor. Referring to the MB3 descriptor some issues arise. The minutes in particular are not really “a detailed record”. In any case, the record is short of information about what happened during and after the visit, so it does not demonstrate candidate involvement “throughout the management of the . . . project” nor substantial and productive teamwork”. Upper MB2 marks are appropriate. Judging quality within that band, a score of 8 marks is fair. AO3 – an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project Under the headings, “ Research into Each Activity” and the subsequent “Advantages and Disadvantages for Each Activity”, the candidate considers the feasibility of four options for the project. There is little evidence of what research went into this, save for some brief statements including, “Information from seafrance.com” and the earlier, “To find this information I had to ring Alton Towers Theme Park.” The section entitled “Choosing the Activity” reaches a conclusion, but this far MB1 is the best descriptor since the work shows “basic evidence of analysing the feasibility”. The “Market Research” section that follows adds to the degree of investigation evidenced. The questionnaire is brief (two questions), but the target market (6th Form students) is quite legitimate (see Specification page 68). “Results of Market Research” shows investigation of two elements – customers (“who would go”) and the financial aspect of price. A breakdown of how the trip price is arrived at is given. This is not the “detailed analysis” required by the wording of Mark Band 3 descriptor. In any event, the Quality of Written Communication, in terms of grammar and spelling, is not MB3 level either. In deciding between MB1 and MB2 a judgement needs to be made about whether sufficient business plan elements have been investigated and analysed at the appropriate level of quality for MB2 marks to be given. In this case, the body of the work as a whole, as well as the sections enumerated above, mean that the MB2 descriptor is the one that better matches the work.

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Organising the “information clearly” for this section is not a strength of the evidence submitted for this AO, so a mid-MB2 mark is appropriate. Given that a “few omissions” are allowed, 6 marks are given. AO4 – an evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of the candidate and the other team members, in undertaking the project, including the extent to which ICT was valuable. Following the “Choosing the Activity” is the first short “Step by Step Evaluation” instalment. For an A2 candidate, this is at a basic level. It is vague and there is no mention of ICT’s contribution as yet. Instalment 2 follows the analysis if the trip price. Again it is brief and lacking in evidence-based justification. ICT contribution is still awaited. A third evaluative sub-section appears after the Hartington Hall Youth Hostel letter and booking form. Still brief, and with little or no justification given for comments such as “the group has not been working as well as it should have”, this remains a “basic consideration” (MB1) thus far, and there continues to be no mention of ICT. The promotional poster was produced using ICT and presents the candidate with one opportunity to evaluate the contribution of ICT. The 4th “Step by Step Evaluation” snippet does not, however, seize that opportunity and it is noticeable that the folding leaflet has not been ICT-generated. Conversely, the receipt docket apparently has, the same applying to the customer evaluation form. The section entitled “Evaluation of Project” is a little more detailed and the candidate begins to address the MB2 descriptor, by now having produced “some evaluation of the success . . . though detail may be lacking”. However, ICT contribution evaluation is absent from this section too. Fortunately, “Contribution of ICT” plugs the gap and so, given that a “balance between strengths and weaknesses” is not evident at this level and an upper MB2 score would not be fair, 6 marks are scored. Total 25 marks.

THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA GRID FOR THE UNIT IS REPRODUCED ON THE FOLLOWING TWO PAGES

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17.4 Assessment Criteria Unit 8 – Travel and Tourism Project

You need to produce evidence of your involvement in the management of a travel and tourism project. Your portfolio should include:

A. a presentation of the elements to be included in your chosen travel and tourism project business plan B. a record of your involvement in managing your chosen travel and tourism project, working as a C. an investigation to analyse the feasibility of the chosen travel and tourism project (AO3) D. an evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of yourself and the other team members,

Mark Band 1 Mark Band 2 AO1 Evidence of a presentation which

demonstrates basic knowledge and understanding of the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan. There may be some omissions.

(1-2 marks)

Evidence of a presentation which demonstrates clear knowledge and understanding of the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan.

(3-5 marks)

AO2 Candidates produce a basic record of their involvement in their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the application of a limited range of business plan elements to the chosen project together with limited evidence of teamwork.

(1-4 marks)

Candidates produce a clear record of their involvement in managing their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the application of most of the business plan elements and some clear evidence of successful teamwork.

(5-9 marks)

AO3 Candidates show basic evidence of analysing the feasibility of their chosen project through an investigation of a limited range of business plan elements. Candidates use non-specialist expression to organise information adequately.

(1-4 marks)

Candidates show clear evidence of analysing the feasibility of their chosen project through an investigation including many of the listed business plan elements with a few omissions. Candidates use expression with some specialist vocabulary to organise information clearly and to draw some conclusions.

(5-8 marks)AO4 A basic consideration of the success of

the project, and of the roles of the candidate and of other team members. Any evaluation of the success of the project, or of the roles of themselves or of other team members may be vague or confused. ICT is referred to in a general way. Candidates use expression which is adequate to convey meaning.

(1-4 marks)

Candidates produce some evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of themselves and of other team members, though detail may be lacking on some of the elements. Clear insight into a few ways in which ICT was valuable to the project. A balance between strengths and weaknesses is shown. Candidates use expression which is coherent so that meaning is clear.

(5-9 marks)

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(AO1) member of a team (AO2) in undertaking the project, including the extent to which ICT was valuable. (AO4)

Mark Band 3 Mark Band 4 Evidence of a presentation which demonstrates detailed knowledge and understanding of the importance of the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan.

(6-7 marks)

Evidence of a well developed presentation which critically assesses the elements involved in the chosen travel and tourism project business plan and the inter-relationships between them.

(8-9 marks)Candidates produce a detailed record of their involvement throughout the management of their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the application of the full range of business planning elements and substantial and productive teamwork.

(10-14 marks)

Candidates produce a well developed record and commentary of their key involvement throughout the management of their chosen travel and tourism project, demonstrating the critical application of the full range of business planning elements and leading to substantial and productive teamwork.

(15-18 marks)Candidates produce a detailed analysis of the feasibility of their chosen project through a careful investigation that includes most of the listed business plan elements. Candidates use expression with suitable specialist vocabulary to organise and interpret information, and to draw valid conclusions.

(9-12 marks)

Candidates produce a critical analysis of the feasibility of their chosen project gathered through a careful and detailed investigation that includes all the listed business plan elements. Candidates use expression with appropriate specialist vocabulary to analyse complex information, and to draw valid and substantiated conclusions.

(13-15 marks)Candidates produce a carefully detailed evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of themselves and other team members. A detailed evaluation of how ICT was valuable to the project. An appropriate balance between strengths and weaknesses is shown. Candidates use expression which is suitable in form and style to convey meaning.

(10-14 marks)

Candidates produce a critical evaluation of the success of the project, and of the roles of themselves and other team members. A comprehensive evaluation of the role of ICT in ensuring the success of the project. A justified balance between strengths and weaknesses is developed. Candidates use expression which conveys appropriate meaning within complex subject matter.

(15-18 marks)