SERVICES MANAGEMENT PROJECT

TOURS AND TRAVEL INDUSTRYCOMPANY-SOTC

GROUP MEMBERS:08-706 Akash Arora08-715 Harsh Chauhan08-716 Bhaven Chheda08-717 Anuj Choudhary08-718 Bhavna Daswani08-726 Pramod Iyer08-728 Dipesh Jain08-739 Zececa Mehta

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

• 10.8mn Indians travel abroad

• Growth rate of 10-12%

• South-east Asia is the most preferred area

• Reasonable hotel rates and weak dollar are the key drivers

• Establishment

• Kuoni India

• Best Outbound Tour Operator

COMPANY OVERVIEW

MARKETING MIX (7P’s)

TARGET MARKET

PRICE

PEOPLE

PROCESSPHYSICAL EVIDENCE

THE EXTENDED

MARKETING MIX

Product

Services they offer• Escorted tours

• Customized holidays

• Trade fairs

• SOTC sports

• Corporate tours

• Special tours – Marathi tours, Gujarati tours, Monalisa Tours

Price

• Cost Plus

• Competitive Pricing

• Perceived Value Pricing

Place

• FranchiseesOffices in all major cities of India

347 offices in India

• Internet

Promotion

• Print

• Electronic Ads

• Sales Promotion- EMIs

• Publicity/PR

• Word of mouth, personal selling, telemarketing

• Exhibitions/Trade Fairs

People

• Includes travel agents, tour operators, tour guides et al

• Locals are employed

• Exhaustive training is provided

• 2900 employees

Customer Enquiry/Reaching

the customer

Negotiating the

Terms

Explaining the details

Completion of customer

formalities and document

submission

-------------------------------- Line of Interaction--------------------------------

Air, hotel reservations as per needs

ItineraryArrange-

ments

Travel/Journeyto destination

Maintaining records and follow up through CRM

Itinerary

Confirmation

-----------------------------------Line of Internal Control/Records--------------------

Process

Contingency provisions

Walking the Talk

Return Journey

Physical Evidence

• Sales Ambience/website Brochures, photos Pens, files, caps etc.

• Consumption Facilities like flat beds Ambience of hotels Experience

SERVICES MARKETING TRIANGLE

Company

Employees Customers

TrainingMotivatingImbibing the values

4Ps

Employee skills

KNOWLEDGE GAP

• Feedback system exists for namesake

• Customers require hotels near the airports during travelling

• In case of evening flights, they need lunch which is not provided

• Inadequate response to customers

SERVICE DESIGN & STANDARD GAP

• Vague Itineraries

• SOTC does not always adhere to itineraries

• Travelling days are included in the tour and are not clearly communicated to the customer

• No proper contingency planning

SERVICE PERFORMANCE GAP

• No single tour guide

• Difficulty in coordinating with channel members

• Language barriers

SERVICE DELIVERY AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION GAPS

• Promises of hotels are not kept

• “All inclusive” cost

CUSTOMER GAP

• Free days perceived as cost saving measures by the company