Thomas Cook India Ltd 2r6469
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INDUSTRIAL TRAINING PROJECT PRACTICUM ON
Submitted by Prabhnoor Singh (Roll No.104973268923) B.Sc (ATHM) 6th Semester Batch: 2010-2013
In the partial of fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Science (Airlines Tourism & Hospitality Management) Submitted to: Mr. Manish Kumar (H.O.D)
Punjab College of Technical Education
d to Punjab Technical University Jalandhar
DECLARATION I Prabhnoor Singh studying in Punjab College of Technical Education, Baddowal, Punjab do hereby declare that this Training Report related to Thomas Cook has been prepared by me after completing my Training in the same, as part of the requirements of the B.Sc. ATHM program of Punjab Technical University (Batch of 2010-2013). My guide for the same has been Mr. Manish Kumar
Prabhnoor Singh Roll No.104973268923
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT There is always a sense of gratitude one expresses to others for the helpful and need service they render during all phases of life. I have completed this training with the help of different personalities. I wish to express my gratitude towards all of them. It gives me immense pleasure to express my deep regards and sincere sense of gratitude to Mr. Manish Kumar (Head of Airlines, Tourism & Hospitality Department) for his guidance throughout the training. I would also like to thank sir for their which helped me throughout my training. I am highly reverential to them as our placement coordinator, for their efforts towards our training arrangement. I am also thankful to other staff of my dept for helping me to complete this report. I would like to thank Mr. Hardeep Singh Sodhi (Manager) for steering my confidence and capability for giving me insight into training by giving me exposure to the arena of competitive and real world. Lastly I would like to thank my parents and friends for their constant during the duration of my training. Prabhnoor Singh B.Sc. (Airlines, Tourism & Hospitality Management) 6th Semester
Title of Project Name of the Student University Roll No. Specialization Name of Major Advisor Degree to be awarded
Thomas Cook Prabhnoor Singh 104973268923 Telecalling, Sales and Marketing Mr. Manish Kumar (HOD) B.Sc. Airlines, Tourism &
Year of degree completion Name of College/ University
Hospitality Management 2010-2013 PCTE Ludhiana (Punjab Technical University), Jalandhar ABSTRACT
The following report gives the overview of the organization, its divisions, basic working and the work undertaken by me, which formed the industrial training components of the Bachelor of Science (Airlines, Tourism and Hospitability Management) degree. In particular, this report examines my involvement in particular instructions executed by my host Company Thomas Cook. This report encomes all the necessary details of the company and how the Holiday Packages division words and the work handled by me during the training period.
______________________ Signature of Project Advisor
______________________ Signature of Student
PREFACE This report is an overview of the analysis of Domestic Airline Strategies in Ticket Distribution. The project gives specific emphasis on the Indian domestic airlines, explaining the factor that pulls the consumer towards choosing the services of airlines. It is survey done explaining the likes of the engers while selecting an airline. As India's booming economy, and the deregulation of the aviation industry, has brought about a huge increase in the number of domestic airlines in India in recent years. engers can now choose from one government owned full service airline, three privately owned full service airlines, and five privately owned low cost carriers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER NO. UNIT 1. UNIT 2
UNIT 3. UNIT 4.
SR.
CONTENTS
PAGE NO.
INTRODUCTION TO TOURISM INDUSTRY SOME IMPORTANT FACT COMPANY PROFILE INTRODUCITON ORGANISATION STRUCTURE DEPARTMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION WORK HANDLED DURING THE TRAINING EMLOYEES OF THE COMPANY NUMBER OF THE BRANCHES OF THE
1-3
NO.
COMPANY SWOT ANALYSIS WEEKLY REPORT WORK EXPERIENCE DURING TRAINING
4-29
30-33 34
UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1
OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE
Travel and Tourism one of the world's largest foreign exchange earner among industries, provides employment directly to millions of people worldwide and indirectly through many associated service industries. A very wide industry, it includes Government
tourism departments, Immigration and customs services, travel agencies, airlines, tour operators, hotels etc and many associated service industries such as airline catering or laundry services, Guides, Interpreters, Tourism promotion and sales etc. Travel and Tourism enterprises include major internationals with a workforce of thousands, to the small private travel agent with a handful of employees. Work in the travel and tourism industry is essentially concerned with providing services for people who are away from home, on business or holiday. Travel can be leisure travel involving package tours, pilgrim travel, adventure travel etc or purely business. Work at every functional level in the industry involves dealing directly with people. Travel agents assess the needs of tourists and businessmen and help them make the best possible travel arrangements from the many travel options available. Also, many major cruise lines, resorts, and specialty travel groups use travel agents to promote travel packages to the millions of people who travel every year. Travel company personnel must be up-to-date on current rules and regulations and documentation required, in areas like cargo, ticketing and ports, visas etc. so as to correctly advise their clients, and to take care of the paperwork when necessary. Besides this, all tourism staff in marketing, counter sales, or guide services, should be knowledgeable about the places their clients visit, in of general background, how to get there connections by air, rail and road and the facilities available. In India, Travel and tourism, as an industry, has been somewhat slower to take off than in many other places. However, with increasing worldwide interest in travel, and with the Government's encouragement of its activities, it is undergoing massive expansion and improvement. This forecasts a bright future for all those who choose to make a career of travel and tourism. Young people with drive and a capacity for hard work can rise to top positions very quickly in travel and tourism or even head their own agencies. A job in the industry gives good returns as well as perks including opportunity to see many locales at low prices. 1.2 CURRENT UPDATES OF DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN INDIA
Travel agents threaten to stop selling airline tickets Major travel agents have threatened to stop selling domestic and international air tickets until airlines agreed to restore commissions that they had said they would scrap starting October 1, citing higher costs and slower growth. The decision was taken at a meeting in Mumbai by the country's three top travel associations — the Travel Agents Association of India, Travel Association Federation of India and Indian Association of Tour Operators — representing over 4,500 IATAaccredited international and domestic agents and more than 85 per cent of the total air ticketing business. The associations said they would stop selling tickets if a meeting between the agents and leading airlines scheduled for July 24 in Delhi did not come out with a solution. The move could impact air travelers, who may face problems booking or canceling tickets only through company-owned ticketing counters or through the internet, which is not a popular option for international travel. Airlines have been giving agents 5 per cent of their base fare on the tickets as commission, a recent reduction from the earlier 9 per cent. Last month, domestic airlines Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India unilaterally sent letters to travel agents saying no commissions would be given from October 1. Foreign carriers like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and British Airways, among others, did the same. Airlines say they will save over Rs 1,000 crore from the move. "This zero-commission is the question of our very existence," said Sunil Bijlani, a travel agent from Mumbai. Agents question the premise of doing away with the commission and cite examples of Australia and Japan, where the commission is still 9 per cent. "Airlines like British Airways and Singapore Airlines are profitable. Why do they not want to pay us?" questions Hari Devnani, a travel agent.
Airlines in Pakistan recently introduced zero-commission for the agents but reversed the decision within a week.
1.3 MARKET SHARE OF AIRLINES IN INDIA The total fleet size of commercial airlines in India is 439. In 1994 the Air Corporation Act of 1953 was repealed with a view to remove monopoly of air corporations on scheduled services, enable private airlines to operate scheduled service, convert Indian Airlines and Air India to limited company and enable private participation in the national carriers. However, beginning 1990 private airline companies were allowed to operate air taxi services, resulting in the establishment of Jet Airways and Air Sahara. These changes in the Indian aviation policies resulted in the increase of the share of private airline operators in domestic enger carriage to 68.5% in 2005 from 0.4 of 1991.
UNIT 2 2.1 PROFILE OF THE ORGANISATION Company Profile Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. is the largest integrated Travel and Travel related Financial Services Company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, Leisure Travel, and Insurance. The Company launched its Indian operations in 1881 and is celebrating its 127 years of world-class service in India. Thomas Cook (India) operates in the following areas of business, namely: Leisure Travel, Corporate Travel Management, MICE, Foreign Exchange, SWIFT Network, Travel Insurance, Credit Cards, Pre-Paid Cards, Life Insurance and E-Business. Post March 31st 2008, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) is a part of Thomas Cook Group plc UK (TCG). On March 7th 2008, TCG announced its decision to acquire TCIL from Dubai Investment Group. Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the largest travel groups in the world with a market capitalization of approximately US$6 Billion. In June 2006, Thomas Cook (India) acquired LKP Forex Limited and Travel Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. (TCI). TCIL presently operates in over 61 cities across almost 166 locations in the country. The company has overseas operations in Sri Lanka which is a branch of TCIL and Mauritius which is a subsidiary of Thomas Cook (India). The Company employs over 2,500 resources and is listed on both the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange. Thomas Cook (India), over the years has received several prestigious awards such as the Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Golden Award for Best Travel. Recently, the
Company won the Best Tour Operator at the CNBC Awaaz Travel Awards 2008 and was also accredited the P1 rating which is the highest financial rating given by Crisil. History of Thomas Cook In 1841, young Thomas Cook arranged an 11-mile train journey for a motley group of engers from Leicester to Loughborough. And it marked the beginning of a chapter in history. He went on to introduce a railway tour of Europe. But it wasn't until the early 1860s that he began the travel firm, Thomas Cook & Son, which included tours of the USA. The Company also started operations for military transport and postal services for England and Egypt during the 1880s. The world got around and by the early 1900s, the who's who of the era - kings, politicians, bishops and professors patronised Thomas Cook's travel itinerary. As the years ed by, the Company introduced the world to a whole new concept of leisure and business travel. Driving innovation in the business, it connected continents and presented the people an economic and state mode of travel across them. In 1881, Thomas Cook started its India operations, with its first office being set up in Kolkata. As it expanded its horizons across the subcontinent, the Company came to be known as Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd. And on 21st October 1978, it was christened Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, only to make its first public issue in February 1983. In the year 2000, the Group commenced its operations in Mauritius and also acquired the Sri Lanka business from Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd, UK.
Awards
Thomas Cook (India), over the years has received several prestigious awards such as the Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Golden Award for Best Travel. Recently, the Company also won the Best MICE Operator Award and was also accredited the P1 rating which is the highest financial rating given by Crisil. Apart from this Thomas Cook has won the following awards: •
Best Travel Agency Award 2004 given by TTG Asia - Part of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for the 5th year in succession.
•
The Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance, for the second time in a row. The Criteria for this award are transparency, excellence in conducting business, various levels
of
management,
social
and
environmental
responsibility, ethical business practice and Consistent creation of value for all the stakeholders.
•
The National Tourism Award for 2001-2002 & 2002-2003, winning the second rank in category 1 for the company that achieved the highest foreign exchange earnings from Ministry of Tourism.
•
National Tourism Award - Best MICE Operator 2006-07
•
National Tourism Award - 3rd prize Inbound Operator 2006-07
•
The Association of Business Communications of India (ABCI) where the company won the first prize for its website - www.thomascook.co.in
•
Awarded "The Best Outbound & Inbound Tour Operator of the Year" award at the Hospitality India Awards 2006 hosted by Hospitality India.
•
Recipient of the prestigious Government of India Ministry of Tourism award for "Excellence in Conference Tourism"
•
Best Travel Agency - India for the year 2008 by TTG Asia - Part of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
•
Best Tour Operator by CNBC Awaaz in 2008
•
Best Outbound Tour Operator in the 4th Hospitality India & Explore the world Annual International Awards - 2008
2.2 SERVICES
Holidays - Inbound Inbound Tourist refers to tourists/ travelers coming to India. Inbound tour operators promote India as a tourist destination. We organize tours for foreign tourist visiting India. We organize Individual tours, group tours and Conferences. Various services offered in inbound business are accommodation, ticketing, roundtrip, excursion, land arrangements, airport transfer etc. These services are procured from providers of these services like hotels, airlines, transporters, guides etc. within India. Customers are typically individuals and are sourced by overseas principals, tour operators or travel agents. TCI, one of the subsidiaries is among the leaders in inbound tourism and works closely with tour operators worldwide. TCI has a widely distributed network of travel agents and tour operators worldwide. It has around 20 offices in India and a total of 11 offices in USA, Canada, UK, , , Spain, China, Korea, Japan and Australia. We also act as a ground handling agent domestically for Charter flights coming from international destinations. We also offer customized individual holidays, group escorted
holidays,
MICE
(Meeting,
Incentive,
Conference
and
Exhibition)
arrangements and emergency medical assistance. Inbound travelers handled by our Company are primarily from Europe and USA. Our company enters into business arrangements with the foreign tour operators for servicing their customers when they arrive in India.
International Holidays Outbound tourist refers to Indian Nationals traveling out of India. Our Company offers outbound tour packages across approximately 50 Countries. Outbound packages include various services like air tickets, visa, travel insurance, airport transfer, hotel accommodation, sight seeing, etc.
International Holidays is further classified into following categories: 1. Group Escorted Holidays: These are ready made packages where a group of travelers is escorted by a Tour Manger. 2. Customised Individual Holidays: Tailor made packages based on individual requirements 3. MICE: Dealers/Employees are sent on tour by Corporates. 4. Sales agency amongst others for Star Cruise, Rail Europe, Globus, Cosmos Tours, Greyhound, Amtrak, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, Japan Rail and Costa Cruises Domestic Holidays Domestic Travel refers to Indian Nationals (Tourists, Business Travelers, Students, Leisure travelers) traveling within India. Various services offered are accommodation, ticketing, roundtrip, excursions, land arrangements, airport transfer, etc. These services are procured from service providers like hotels, airlines, transporters, guides, etc. TCI, one of our subsidiaries specializes in special interest and incentive tours, conferences and air charter / cruise ship ground operations. It operates its own Taj Mahal Tour and Delhi City Tour and is a General Sales Agent ("GSA") for the Palace on Wheels and the Deccan Odyssey. We are active of various industry and professional organizations.
Air Tickets
Book your Air Tickets for your travel with us either offline or online through the site www.thomascook.in. We offer a complete range for flights, right from Low Cost to Full service Airlines, to choose from. From time to time we have great deals to offer you on your flights, Please check out the latest deals and book your flight today on www.thomascook.in Corporate Travel Corporate Travel forms a dominant share of overall travel business of our Company. We manage the travel budgets of several large national and multinational companies. Our large scale of operations enables us to effectively manage travel budgets of several Multi National Companies, Blue-Chip companies and Multinational banks to their advantage. Our Company provides Integrated Travel Management / Advisory Services to more than 300 Corporates. Our Company provides customers a complete basket of products for all their travel needs:
Air Reservations
Hotel Reservations
Land arrangements which includes sight seeing, car rental, transfers etc.
port / Visa Service
Conference / Incentive tour arrangements
Foreign Exchange
Insurance
Our branches specialize in offering tailor-made Travel Policies for each corporate, thereby bringing savings on spend. Based on requirements and volumes of business, corporate are serviced either by having a dedicated relationship team visits client's office regularly or having a dedicated & expert travel consultant with Centralised Reservation System located at the client's site as an 'implant'.
Meetings, Incentives, Exhibitions & Conferences
One Stop Shop for all your travel needs i.e. air tickets, accommodation, event management, forex, visas, travel insurance etc. Hands on approach of senior management, including travelling along with the group Dedicated team in each hub providing specialised services Most experienced and cooperative Tour Managers in the industry Operations geared up to handle large groups. We have successfully handled several groups of over 300 pax in the year 2008 A specialised quality control department that would ensure smooth delivery of services at every stage. Experience: This refers to the experience of the travelers right from the time they board the airline to the foreign destination till the time they come back. The travel here is a REWARD for the dealers/employees of the company who have done well over a period of time. The company (as well as the employees) expects the trip to be an enjoyable, hassle free and fun filled "experience". We at Thomas Cook understand their concern and provide them this experience through our:•
Experienced, dependable and extensively traveled Tour Managers, who are available with the group 24 X 7, provide their personalized services to the group and at times, act
as crisis managers. In contrast, the other tour companies often send their ticketing person as the "tour manager". •
The requests for special Dietary requirements are taken care of completely. The Indians are very particular about the food they eat (e.g.) Jain food. We make sure that our clients get the same, irrespective of the location they are traveling to.
•
The sightseeings that we offer are often exotic and different from the rest of the tour operators.
Customer Focus/Customer Centric/Exceptional Service: This primarily refers to the experience of the corporate with our sales representatives. There is a huge extent of customization in case of a MICE trip in of destinations, hotel requirements, conference needs, sightseeings to be covered, gala dinner venue, team building activities etc. Our prime focus is always to cater to our customers’ specific needs and the intent is to delight the customer by always delivering more than promised by us/expected by them. Dependable: This comes out of the reputation of the company (TCIL) and the vast experience of handling a large number of MICE movements in the past. The fact that we have got trusted business partners (suppliers) for every destination and that there is always an experienced tour manager with the group ensures that the clients feel secure when they travel with us. Moreover, the reputation of the company ensures that there will be no let up in the service quality and there won’t be any trivial financial issues. Reservoir of Knowledge: The experienced employees of the MICE business make sure that they function as a "travel consultant" to the client rather than being a "travel agent" to them. We believe that with our expertise, we are in a position to provide multiple options to our customers. This is especially true in case of clients who have a budget constraint. Once the client is provided with multiple options along with the pros and cons for the same, they are in a much better position to take a decision regarding the destination as well as the services that they expect us to provide them. Value for Money/Cost Effective: We are committed to provide quality service to our clients and we do not believe in any compromise on the same (0% Compromise). We make sure that the experience that our clients get is of a greater value than the cost that they pay for it. If our cost is more than the competition, then there is ALWAYS a very strong reason for the same (which could be better quality of hotels, better airlines, EXTRA inclusions etc.). Our endeavour
is to have our customers delighted by our services so that at all times, they feel that they have got something EXTRA than the worth of the currency that has been spent on it. Product Innovation: Over the last decade or so, the MICE industry has been booming. Since then,
some
of
the
companies
have
been
traveling
each
year
(with
multiple
incentives/conference tours). They are always looking out for new destinations for the incentive trips. Our endeavour is to be ahead of the competition at all times and product innovation is one way of doing that. We have promoted new destinations at different points of times which have traditionally never been thought of for a MICE trip. E.g. Jordan, Japan, Macau, Canada. Moreover, within the same destinations, we have managed to change the product mix by changing the venues for Gala Dinner (at cruise, Desert Safari etc.) or including some exotic sightseeings or providing some out of the box team building activities or in any other way. Wide Reach: We are confident of providing our customers with the best of the services at any destination that they wish to visit. This is due to the vast resources of the company and due to the number of trusted business partners that we have all over the world. One Stop Shop for MICE needs/Integrated travel services: It’s our firm belief that once the customer enters one of our offices, all his travel needs will be catered to. We provide the customer with the forex services, insurance cover and a travel card. Moreover, we can service their visa requirements better than any other tour operator because of our goodwill and the relationships that we have with the various embassies/consulates. We have the ability to provide the customer with a 360 degree experience on a consistent basis. Work with Play: This is particularly true in case of the corporates who have an offsite for a conference/meeting. We ensure that after a hard day’s work, they have a relaxed and fun filled evening. This can be done by sending them on a night cruise or by treating them to a Gala Dinner with free flow of liquor and a Live DJ. In one of the cases, we had sent a couple of VJs and RJs (RJ Taraana) from India who made sure that everyone from the group was involved in the fun activities.
Foreign Exchange Thomas Cook has been granted an authorized dealers' license (category II) by RBI to deal in foreign exchange through its designated branches. Under this license, we have been, inter-alia, granted permission to undertake the following activities:
1. Retail purchases of foreign currencies and travelers cheques.
2. Bulk purchases/sales of foreign currencies from/to authorized dealers, money changers and franchisees. 3. Release / remittance of foreign exchange for the following activities: a. Private Visits b. Remittance by tour operators/travel agents to overseas agents/ principals/ hotels c. Business Travel (including for Central and State Government officials) d. Fee for participation in global conferences and specialized training e. Payment of crew wages f. Film Shooting g. Medical Treatment abroad h. Overseas Education i. Remittance under educational tie up arrangements with universities abroad j. Maintenance of close relatives abroad k. Stall rentals and participation fees in connection with participation in overseas exhibitions / fairs 4. Import and export of foreign currency and export of encashed Traveler's Cheques 5. Maintenance of foreign currency s with banks abroad and undertaking forex cover operations in India and abroad.
The activities permitted by RBI are carried out only at the specific locations permitted by RBI. As an Authorized Dealer, we are a member of the Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India. Our Company provides the foreign exchange and payment solutions for: •
Individual travelers
Foreign exchange for leisure outbound travelers
Foreign Exchange for migration, employment, medical treatment
Remittances for students studying abroad, gift remittances etc
Encashment services & inward remittances for inbound tourists visiting India, Non Resident / Resident Indians.
•
•
Corporates
Travel money and remittances for business travelers.
On site for inbound tour conferences.
Film production houses traveling for shoots abroad.
Remittances of tour proceeds for tour operators.
Institutions
Bulk purchases and sales of foreign currencies from Banks, Non Bank Retailers and Money Changers.
Our business model revolves around leveraging its position as an Authorized Dealer with systems, ability and experience of handling large volumes of forex transactions for both wholesale and retail customers in a highly cost-efficient manner.
Foreign Exchange - Products and Services As an Authorised Dealer, our services includes wholesale and retail purchase and sale of currency notes, Purchase and Sale of Traveler Cheques ("TC"), pre paid international cards, inbound and outbound remittances and Money Transfers ("MT"). Some of our products and services are: •
Purchase and Sale of currency notes in 26 destination currencies
•
Purchase and Sale of foreign currency denominated travelers cheques
•
Thomas Cook Global Money Card and Citibank World Money Card as prepaid cards, which is a convenient way to carry money overseas
•
Foreign Currency Drafts
•
Wire transfer of Funds
•
Remittance of money into India through MoneyGram
•
Cash Advances against International Credit Card
Network Our strong network enables us to attract large wholesale clients such as public and private sector banks, FFMC's and RMC's to use our services. We have a strong network of approximately 160 offices in 55 cities and 100 RMCs & Hotel Franchisee. Our Company has foreign exchange counters at the international airports of Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin and Trivandrum which are open 24 hours and 365 days a year to cater to the needs of the international travelers. Our Company also has a round-the clock Foreign Exchange counter at the New Delhi Railway Station.
Thomas Cook Credit Card
Our Company offers Thomas Cook credit card in association with ICICI Bank Limited. Our Company and ICICI Bank are marketing and issuing a co-branded credit card to the customers for using the same at various Master Card retail merchant establishments for availing benefits attached to the said card. The card has been devised as part of loyalty program for the products of the company with benefits attached to spend through the card at Thomas Cook outlets. Salient Features: Thomas Cook Titanium MasterCard features in brief: •
The card has been specially designed for frequent travelers.
•
Attractive 6 reward points for each spend of Rs.100 on the card on Thomas Cook products - Free Delivery of Foreign Exchange within city limits
•
Rs. 5,000 discount on any Thomas Cook GIT product
•
1 Free Air ticket to a domestic destination on the issuance of new card
•
Complimentary travel inconvenience insurance policy
•
Access to MasterCard travel lounges at Airports across the world
•
Redemption of reward points for Thomas Cook holiday packages, hotel stays, air tickets, airline upgrades, etc
•
Conversion of Thomas Cook reward points to frequent flyer miles - convert the reward points earned on card to frequent flyer miles on select domestic airlines.
•
Positioned as a comprehensive travel card
•
Assured gifts for the ing fees - free air ticket / discount voucher
•
Higher reward points for card swipes at Our Company's outlets
•
Redemption of reward points against Thomas Cook products encouraged
Travel Insurance Insurance business of being carried out through our 100% subsidiary - Thomas Cook Insurance Services (I) Ltd. ("TCISL"). TCISL is a corporate agent of Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited. TCISL entered insurance distribution in 2001 and offers the following products and services:
1. "TravelCare" (Overseas Travel Insurance) - Travel Care offers security for travelers which covers travel insurance, hospitalization, loss of documents, Repatriation of Remains, emergency Cash Advance or any other crises which requires assistance. 2. "FamilyCare" - An Overseas travel Insurance cover for entire family of 4-5 persons with single overall sum insured. 3. "ScholarCare" (Overseas Student Insurance) - A customized product for all students studying abroad which ensures timely assistance in case of unexpected surprises in a foreign land. 4. CorporateCare (Overseas Corporate Travel Insurance) - For Companies where employees travel abroad frequently on work, we have customized group policies. All foreign trips undertaken by employees in a year are covered under a single policy. TCISL provides all insurance products at all our outlets, leveraging on ability to cross sell insurance products to our Travel and Forex customers.
Logos Thomas Cook logo (4 colour, CMYK) Intended for use in full colour print applications, you can this logo here Thomas Cook logo (single colour) For use in one colour print applications, you can the single colour logo here Thomas Cook logo (black and white) For use in black and white print applications, you can this logo here
2.3
PROBLEMS OF THE ORGANISATION
.
Low capital investment by the partners
.
Costly as compared to services provided
.
No discount provided
.
No branches in different states
2.4 COMPETETION INFORMATION Name
Location
Specialists
J S World Travels Jay Janak Puri
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Ess World Travel
Domestic, Railway Ticketing Agents, Air Ticketing Agents For International
Sai G Travel N Forex Pvt Hauz Khas
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Ltd
Domestic, Money Exchanger, Tour Operator
Seven
Seas
Tours
& Connaught Place
Travels
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Domestic, Air Ticketing Home Delivery, Air Ticketing IATA
A 2 Z Travel Planners
Noida
Air
Ticketing
Domestic,
Air
Agents
For
Ticketing
Agents For International, Tour Operator
Nimbuss Incredible India
Pusa Road
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Domestic, Car Hire, Railway Ticketing Agents
2.5 TICKETING PROCESS OUTSOURCING
An Introduction It presents an approach towards outsourcing in the areas of back office processing of Ticketing Helpdesk and Fulfillment Services for the flight and/or holiday businesses of Travel Agencies. Travel Agencies today can avail of outsourcing options that provide enhanced efficiency, better quality of service and superior value. The document provides information on why outsourcing of ticketing operations is becoming a practical, viable and efficient option for Travel Agencies to cut down on operating costs. The document also details some typical processes that can be evaluated by mid-to-large sized Travel Agencies for outsourcing. Finally, it lists the essential steps towards structuring a commercial engagement for outsourcing. The Case for Outsourcing Ticketing processes For Travel Agencies, ticketing is a function that entails high process time, while being low as a value generating function. It is a function that adds to the agency‘s costs in of the time spent on query handling and ticket distribution, while the agency does not create additional value by handling this process on its own. Nor is there a significant Knowledge protection issue that necessitates this process being handled directly by the agency. Reducing Costs: On the contrary, agencies can drastically reduce distribution costs and improve the customer travel experience, by outsourcing the ticketing function. Outsourcing enables the agency to redirect staff to handling the real-time needs of it’s customers, whether those customers are calling from office, home or from an airport. Call center staff are thus freed up to deal with customer enquiries, rather than processing tickets. This enables the Travel agency to streamline its business processes and cut overheads through
outsourcing, and thus drive customer service and concentrate on core areas of its business. Relevant Experience: The ticketing processes outlined in this paper are predominantly fares related. Fares is an area where an Outsourcing partner with the relevant experience can bring superior value in of its fares expertise and trained and qualified fares experts. An outsourcing partner with fares experts having experience in fare loading, quality check of fares and rules, rules coding for both published as well as private fares, as well as working experience on GDS-based fares systems œ can provide the right resource base to take on a outsourced Ticketing operation. Such a partner can not only manage the processes efficiently, but also improve productivity levels once processes are stabilized after migration. Added to this, the cost advantages by virtue of off- shore location and a flexible pricing model, make outsourcing an ideal option for most mid-to-large Travel Agencies. Listed below some key differentiating factors that a Travel Agency should look for, while outsourcing its Ticketing operation: Travel domain knowledge, with in-depth knowledge of airline & tour operator processes Domain expertise in fares and ticketing Trained and experienced travel industry professionals especially fares & ticketing experts State-of-the-art BPO delivery centre well equipped with systems, links and security measures as required for any world-class operations
Ticketing Process Outsourcing the Benefits An outsourcing partner with the right expertise with fares and ticketing, coupled with strong process frameworks, can ensure that a client looking to outsource its ticketing functions stands to benefit in the following ways: •
Outsourced services with defined Service Level Agreements œ and often exceeding them.
•
Client Agency‘s core business requirements met without undue risk.
•
Painless Transition of the service delivery from the current provider using a realistic, phased, low-risk approach.
•
Guaranteed bi-directional delivery through SLA driven tie-ups with globally reputed courier companies.
•
Services delivered with price-predictability and scalability.
•
Break-even point for migration of services achieved within an agreed, specific timeframe.
•
Innovation in reducing cost of services and improving operational efficiencies.
•
Allowance for market load and price flexibility without compromising quality.
•
Practical, working mechanisms for management, communication, escalation, risk mitigation and service improvement
Outsourced Ticketing Operations Processes •
Outsourcing of the Ticketing function to an Outsourcing Partner (referred to hereon as ”Partner‘) can cover the following Operations Processes:
•
Help Desk Process – for Inter-branch Ticketing (IBT)
•
This process entails handling inbound calls only from Client Agency shops. Agents from the Client Agency shops would call up for queries related to Published fares (e.g. unable to obtain a fare quote of the itinerary or inability to attain the right fare etc).
•
To address these, the Partner accesses the Fares database to resolve agent issues:
•
The query shall mostly be resolved and thereafter updated in 1P.
•
If unresolved, the query shall be escalated to Client Agency through email/ phone and the caller shall be informed for the possible time of resolution.
•
Sat as per the Local Country Time of the Client Agency.
Ensuring Quality for the Help Desk Process Call monitoring takes place of calls handled by different agents by the supervisor of the team according to an assessment sheet with clear parameters .The supervisor shares the strengths & weaknesses of the agent coach and puts back the agent on refresher trainings if required. MIS of calls handled is tracked by the supervisor to check the average handling time of each agent. To ensure if a particular agent AHT is much higher than the prescribed time, the supervisor ascertains the reasons and addresses it. Queue Management & Resolution Process This process entails processing rejected PNR‘s to enable printing of tickets through Robots. The unresolved ticketing requests (PNRs) rejected from the ROBOT system land on specific 1P queues, which are attended (manually intervened) to sort the discrepancy.
•
The PNR‘s are assessed in order of their priority and allocated to associates. Agent have access to 1P, Fares database and intranet to investigate/ resolve the reason for reject.
•
The discrepancy is then rectified and the PNR forwarded for Ticketing through ROBOT ticketing system.
•
In case the discrepancy is out of scope the PNR is addressed to the originating agent for further clarification or escalated to product/ ticketing team.
The Queues Processing & Dispatch process can be operational on a 24 x 7 pattern. Ensuring Quality for the Queue Management Process •
Quality is ensured for this process through remote monitoring i.e. viewing the monitor of the agent from a remote location without his knowledge. A supervisor does the monitoring to ensure the accuracy of action and quantity of messages transacted and the quantum of calls escalated. This exercise is carried out randomly for all agents.
Dispatch Process for tickets & other documents to the Client Agency The process entails processing two separate types of documents: b) Scheduled air ticket/ e-ticketing quality check & dispatch – issued for a journey at least 21 days ahead. This process covers: •
Inter-branch ticketing and flight-savers (Client Agency shop published)
•
Flight direct œ receipt letters (Client Agency shop nets)
•
Flight direct œ ticket dispatch (Sales center bookings nets / pubs)
•
Flight direct œ invoice dispatch (Sales center bookings nets / pubs)
•
E-ticket itinerary dispatch
In this process, the Partner‘s operation would receive scheduled airline tickets / E-tickets (access from TIS) / invoices from the Client Agency‘s location for journeys commencing over 20 days ahead from the date of dispatch. There can be a combination of receipt letters received either through courier or printed by the Partner‘s local printers •
The documents namely, airline tickets, E-tickets, invoices and receipts are counted, sorted and recorded in a particular order and segregated according to specifications.
•
The documents go through a Quality Check to the details are correct and
•
In accordance with the information available in the system. If found in order, the system is accordingly updated.
•
In case the ticket does not the Quality Check, it is accordingly rectified or escalated. The escalated documents are packed separately.
•
The ing documents / labels required are printed from the system. The invoices are then scanned and stored.
•
The documents ing the set specifications are collated with other documents and put in envelopes and packed for dispatch after appropriately labeling them to the Client Agency‘s shops or customers.
•
All transactions are counted, recorded and sealed for dispatch to the Client Agency
This process shall be operational on a 24 x 7 pattern.
b)
Package holiday/ charter flight ticket/ invoice/ errata/ receipts dispatch (Travel Cat) issued for a journey at least 15 days ahead.
This process covers: •
Tour operator tickets
•
Tour operator errata
•
Receipt letters
•
Tour operator invoices
The transaction can include receiving documents / carrying out primary & secondary verification and quality checks followed by dispatching the documents to the Client Agency. The Objective of the process, thus, is not only to deliver well within prescribed SLA‘s but also offer value to the Client Agency to widen the scope of work. The Outsorucing Partner can receive chartered airline tickets / errata‘s/ invoices from the Client Agency for journeys commencing over 15 days ahead from the date of dispatch. •
Receipts and insurance letters from the Client Agency get printed by the Partner‘s local printer.
•
The documents are counted, sorted and recorded in a particular order and segregated according to specifications.
•
The documents shall go through a Quality Check to the details are correct and in accordance with the information available in the system. (Travel CAT). If found in order, the system is updated.
•
ing documents are printed from Travel Cat & invoices are scanned. In case the ticket does not the quality check it is accordingly rectified or escalated. The escalated documents are separately packed.
•
Documents ing the set specifications are collated with other documents; put in envelopes and packed for dispatch after appropriately labeling them to Client Agency shops/customers.
•
All transactions are counted, recorded & sealed for dispatch to the Client Agency. In both the above cases, the dispatch process is completed through a tieup with a global courier organization operating out of India as well as the Client Agency‘s location(s). The specifics of the courier process deliverables can be finalized with the Client Agency separately.
Ensuring Quality for the Dispatch Process •
A complete checklist is made for all the different jobs to be handled. The person handling the each job ensures the job once completed is checked against the checklist to complete the Quality Check. The supervisor on duty again does a random check to ensure all procedures are being followed.
•
Each staff handles only one document at a time to ensure no mixing of documents occurs at any level.
2.6 SWOT ANALYSIS Thomas Cook Group (TCG) is one of the leading leisure travel groups in the world. It offers package tours, holiday components and services. The group primarily operates in Europe and the Americas. TCG is headquartered in London, the UK and employed 31,097 people as of September 30, 2011. The group recorded revenues of ℑ9,808.9` million ($15,763.9 milion*) during the financial year ended September 2011 (FY 2011), an increase of 10.3% over FY 2010. The increase in revenue was primarily due to modest volume uplift, price increases and revenue contribution from the acquisitions during FY 2011. The operating loss of the group was ℑ266.6 million ($428.5 million*) in FY 2011, as compared with an operating profit of ℑ167 million ($836.8 million*) in FY 2011, as ompared with a net loss of ℑ2.6 million ($3.5 million*) in FY 2010.
Scope of the Report Data is supplemented with details on Thomas Cook Group ple subsidiaries as well as a list of products and services and the latest available statement from Thomas Cook Group plc. Provides all the crucial information on Thomas Cook Group plc required for business and competitor intelligence needs Contains a study of the major internal and external factors affecting Thomas Cook Group plc in the form of a SWOT analysis as well as a breakdown and examination of leading product revenue stream of Thomas Cook Group plc. Reason to Purchase •
sales activities by understanding your customers businesses better
•
Understand prospective partners and suppliers.
•
Keep fully up to date on your competitors’ business structure, strategy and prospects.
UNIT 3
WEEKLY REPORT
JANUARY REPORT 1st week
o I learnt about hotel plans o AP, EP, JP, MAP, and BP. o Learnt about Thomas Cook in brief. o Learn 26 Schengen countries
o Read International Holiday brochures of Europe & America. o What things are required in package o About hotel , no of pax , options about star hotel , no . of days , date of travel , inclusive , exclusive, extra service, sightseeing .
2nd Week o Attended the classes that were held by the office to learn the tour brouchers. o ed the tests held by tour manager Mr. Kuldeep Singh.
3rd Week o Attended Sales Call with Mr. Amritpal Singh Sidhu. o Met with Thomas cook Tour Managers Mr. Kuldeep Thakur & attended sales call with him.
o Learnt how to attend customers during sales call. o I learnt the proper selling techniques.
4th Week o I started sitting on front office and handled various queries of walk in customers. o Learnt how to receive and settle the payments given by customers.
FEBRUARY REPORT 1st Week o Studied the brouchers of Asia holidays. o Handled the queries of customers regarding Asian holidays. o I did 530 telephone calls to the customers for the selling tour packages.
2nd Week o Did Telephone calls for inviting the customers for Thomas Cook Road Show. o Handled walk in customers in Road Show. o I learnt how to fill USA VISA form & got expertise in it.
3rd Week o I was sent to G Chandigarh Office for 1 week to handle the pending USA VISA cases.
4th Week o I was sent to Mohali for finalizing the tour booking of EUROPE. o I learnt how to apply for port online. o I made appointments for the ports of various customers.
MARCH REPORT 1st Week o I made my first achievement by booking 8 engers for USA group tour n my own. o I learnt to operate Thomas Cook’s online Booking software (LTOB).
2nd Week o I started attending classes for airline booking software AMADEUS under supervision of Mr. Navjot Singh. o I learnt to operate AMADEUS. o This week I started filling VISA forms of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
3rd Week o This week brought another opportunity for me and I booked 2 engers for Europe tour.
o I was shifted from sales department to Service delivery department i.e. VISA department. o I started handling USA VISA cases of the whole Patiala channel bookings as well as office bookings.
4th Week o I was again sent to Chandigarh for handling 20 USA VISA cases. o I came back to Patiala office and learnt how to handle the UK VISA cases. o Made UK VISA cases of clients for submission in UK VFS.
5th Week o I did meetings with new travel agents for promotion of Thomas Cook. o Learnt how to make insurance of customers under the supervision of Mr. Navjot Singh.
APRIL REPORT 1st Week o Started handling Schengen VISA cases. o This month again I booked 2 engers for ASIA package.
2nd Week o I was given the responsibility to handle the Schengen VISA of whole Patiala bookings under supervision of Mr. Amritpal Singh Sidhu. o I handled USA VISA cases of Patiala.
o Made a sales call for Europe booking and waiting for client’s response till now.
3rd Week o Filled VISA forms of Dubai. o Handled Canada VISA cases of Patiala Bookings.
4th Week o Attend all Inquiry’s create by News paper ment. o Learnt to make the free individual tour packages. o Made a tour package of Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand.
WORK EXPERIENCE DURING MY TRAINING It was great experience during my training. I saw different tourist places in different states. I had done my job with full dedication. I had learned many new things during my training. Telephonic: Work experience during telephonic in different from marketing. In telephonic it is difficult to make undersigned to customer about their needs who are not well educated. Some mistakes are made by customers during the conversation. The main thing is the way of talking with customer it’s a sitting job in the office and it is different from marketing.
Marketing: I had got new work experience during my training I had learnt many think about my work in marketing. We met different types of people with different views and thinking.
Submitted by Prabhnoor Singh (Roll No.104973268923) B.Sc (ATHM) 6th Semester Batch: 2010-2013
In the partial of fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Science (Airlines Tourism & Hospitality Management) Submitted to: Mr. Manish Kumar (H.O.D)
Punjab College of Technical Education
d to Punjab Technical University Jalandhar
DECLARATION I Prabhnoor Singh studying in Punjab College of Technical Education, Baddowal, Punjab do hereby declare that this Training Report related to Thomas Cook has been prepared by me after completing my Training in the same, as part of the requirements of the B.Sc. ATHM program of Punjab Technical University (Batch of 2010-2013). My guide for the same has been Mr. Manish Kumar
Prabhnoor Singh Roll No.104973268923
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT There is always a sense of gratitude one expresses to others for the helpful and need service they render during all phases of life. I have completed this training with the help of different personalities. I wish to express my gratitude towards all of them. It gives me immense pleasure to express my deep regards and sincere sense of gratitude to Mr. Manish Kumar (Head of Airlines, Tourism & Hospitality Department) for his guidance throughout the training. I would also like to thank sir for their which helped me throughout my training. I am highly reverential to them as our placement coordinator, for their efforts towards our training arrangement. I am also thankful to other staff of my dept for helping me to complete this report. I would like to thank Mr. Hardeep Singh Sodhi (Manager) for steering my confidence and capability for giving me insight into training by giving me exposure to the arena of competitive and real world. Lastly I would like to thank my parents and friends for their constant during the duration of my training. Prabhnoor Singh B.Sc. (Airlines, Tourism & Hospitality Management) 6th Semester
Title of Project Name of the Student University Roll No. Specialization Name of Major Advisor Degree to be awarded
Thomas Cook Prabhnoor Singh 104973268923 Telecalling, Sales and Marketing Mr. Manish Kumar (HOD) B.Sc. Airlines, Tourism &
Year of degree completion Name of College/ University
Hospitality Management 2010-2013 PCTE Ludhiana (Punjab Technical University), Jalandhar ABSTRACT
The following report gives the overview of the organization, its divisions, basic working and the work undertaken by me, which formed the industrial training components of the Bachelor of Science (Airlines, Tourism and Hospitability Management) degree. In particular, this report examines my involvement in particular instructions executed by my host Company Thomas Cook. This report encomes all the necessary details of the company and how the Holiday Packages division words and the work handled by me during the training period.
______________________ Signature of Project Advisor
______________________ Signature of Student
PREFACE This report is an overview of the analysis of Domestic Airline Strategies in Ticket Distribution. The project gives specific emphasis on the Indian domestic airlines, explaining the factor that pulls the consumer towards choosing the services of airlines. It is survey done explaining the likes of the engers while selecting an airline. As India's booming economy, and the deregulation of the aviation industry, has brought about a huge increase in the number of domestic airlines in India in recent years. engers can now choose from one government owned full service airline, three privately owned full service airlines, and five privately owned low cost carriers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER NO. UNIT 1. UNIT 2
UNIT 3. UNIT 4.
SR.
CONTENTS
PAGE NO.
INTRODUCTION TO TOURISM INDUSTRY SOME IMPORTANT FACT COMPANY PROFILE INTRODUCITON ORGANISATION STRUCTURE DEPARTMENT OF THE ORGANIZATION WORK HANDLED DURING THE TRAINING EMLOYEES OF THE COMPANY NUMBER OF THE BRANCHES OF THE
1-3
NO.
COMPANY SWOT ANALYSIS WEEKLY REPORT WORK EXPERIENCE DURING TRAINING
4-29
30-33 34
UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1
OVERVIEW OF INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE
Travel and Tourism one of the world's largest foreign exchange earner among industries, provides employment directly to millions of people worldwide and indirectly through many associated service industries. A very wide industry, it includes Government
tourism departments, Immigration and customs services, travel agencies, airlines, tour operators, hotels etc and many associated service industries such as airline catering or laundry services, Guides, Interpreters, Tourism promotion and sales etc. Travel and Tourism enterprises include major internationals with a workforce of thousands, to the small private travel agent with a handful of employees. Work in the travel and tourism industry is essentially concerned with providing services for people who are away from home, on business or holiday. Travel can be leisure travel involving package tours, pilgrim travel, adventure travel etc or purely business. Work at every functional level in the industry involves dealing directly with people. Travel agents assess the needs of tourists and businessmen and help them make the best possible travel arrangements from the many travel options available. Also, many major cruise lines, resorts, and specialty travel groups use travel agents to promote travel packages to the millions of people who travel every year. Travel company personnel must be up-to-date on current rules and regulations and documentation required, in areas like cargo, ticketing and ports, visas etc. so as to correctly advise their clients, and to take care of the paperwork when necessary. Besides this, all tourism staff in marketing, counter sales, or guide services, should be knowledgeable about the places their clients visit, in of general background, how to get there connections by air, rail and road and the facilities available. In India, Travel and tourism, as an industry, has been somewhat slower to take off than in many other places. However, with increasing worldwide interest in travel, and with the Government's encouragement of its activities, it is undergoing massive expansion and improvement. This forecasts a bright future for all those who choose to make a career of travel and tourism. Young people with drive and a capacity for hard work can rise to top positions very quickly in travel and tourism or even head their own agencies. A job in the industry gives good returns as well as perks including opportunity to see many locales at low prices. 1.2 CURRENT UPDATES OF DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN INDIA
Travel agents threaten to stop selling airline tickets Major travel agents have threatened to stop selling domestic and international air tickets until airlines agreed to restore commissions that they had said they would scrap starting October 1, citing higher costs and slower growth. The decision was taken at a meeting in Mumbai by the country's three top travel associations — the Travel Agents Association of India, Travel Association Federation of India and Indian Association of Tour Operators — representing over 4,500 IATAaccredited international and domestic agents and more than 85 per cent of the total air ticketing business. The associations said they would stop selling tickets if a meeting between the agents and leading airlines scheduled for July 24 in Delhi did not come out with a solution. The move could impact air travelers, who may face problems booking or canceling tickets only through company-owned ticketing counters or through the internet, which is not a popular option for international travel. Airlines have been giving agents 5 per cent of their base fare on the tickets as commission, a recent reduction from the earlier 9 per cent. Last month, domestic airlines Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India unilaterally sent letters to travel agents saying no commissions would be given from October 1. Foreign carriers like Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and British Airways, among others, did the same. Airlines say they will save over Rs 1,000 crore from the move. "This zero-commission is the question of our very existence," said Sunil Bijlani, a travel agent from Mumbai. Agents question the premise of doing away with the commission and cite examples of Australia and Japan, where the commission is still 9 per cent. "Airlines like British Airways and Singapore Airlines are profitable. Why do they not want to pay us?" questions Hari Devnani, a travel agent.
Airlines in Pakistan recently introduced zero-commission for the agents but reversed the decision within a week.
1.3 MARKET SHARE OF AIRLINES IN INDIA The total fleet size of commercial airlines in India is 439. In 1994 the Air Corporation Act of 1953 was repealed with a view to remove monopoly of air corporations on scheduled services, enable private airlines to operate scheduled service, convert Indian Airlines and Air India to limited company and enable private participation in the national carriers. However, beginning 1990 private airline companies were allowed to operate air taxi services, resulting in the establishment of Jet Airways and Air Sahara. These changes in the Indian aviation policies resulted in the increase of the share of private airline operators in domestic enger carriage to 68.5% in 2005 from 0.4 of 1991.
UNIT 2 2.1 PROFILE OF THE ORGANISATION Company Profile Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. is the largest integrated Travel and Travel related Financial Services Company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, Leisure Travel, and Insurance. The Company launched its Indian operations in 1881 and is celebrating its 127 years of world-class service in India. Thomas Cook (India) operates in the following areas of business, namely: Leisure Travel, Corporate Travel Management, MICE, Foreign Exchange, SWIFT Network, Travel Insurance, Credit Cards, Pre-Paid Cards, Life Insurance and E-Business. Post March 31st 2008, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) is a part of Thomas Cook Group plc UK (TCG). On March 7th 2008, TCG announced its decision to acquire TCIL from Dubai Investment Group. Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the largest travel groups in the world with a market capitalization of approximately US$6 Billion. In June 2006, Thomas Cook (India) acquired LKP Forex Limited and Travel Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. (TCI). TCIL presently operates in over 61 cities across almost 166 locations in the country. The company has overseas operations in Sri Lanka which is a branch of TCIL and Mauritius which is a subsidiary of Thomas Cook (India). The Company employs over 2,500 resources and is listed on both the Bombay Stock Exchange as well as the National Stock Exchange. Thomas Cook (India), over the years has received several prestigious awards such as the Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Golden Award for Best Travel. Recently, the
Company won the Best Tour Operator at the CNBC Awaaz Travel Awards 2008 and was also accredited the P1 rating which is the highest financial rating given by Crisil. History of Thomas Cook In 1841, young Thomas Cook arranged an 11-mile train journey for a motley group of engers from Leicester to Loughborough. And it marked the beginning of a chapter in history. He went on to introduce a railway tour of Europe. But it wasn't until the early 1860s that he began the travel firm, Thomas Cook & Son, which included tours of the USA. The Company also started operations for military transport and postal services for England and Egypt during the 1880s. The world got around and by the early 1900s, the who's who of the era - kings, politicians, bishops and professors patronised Thomas Cook's travel itinerary. As the years ed by, the Company introduced the world to a whole new concept of leisure and business travel. Driving innovation in the business, it connected continents and presented the people an economic and state mode of travel across them. In 1881, Thomas Cook started its India operations, with its first office being set up in Kolkata. As it expanded its horizons across the subcontinent, the Company came to be known as Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd. And on 21st October 1978, it was christened Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, only to make its first public issue in February 1983. In the year 2000, the Group commenced its operations in Mauritius and also acquired the Sri Lanka business from Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd, UK.
Awards
Thomas Cook (India), over the years has received several prestigious awards such as the Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Golden Award for Best Travel. Recently, the Company also won the Best MICE Operator Award and was also accredited the P1 rating which is the highest financial rating given by Crisil. Apart from this Thomas Cook has won the following awards: •
Best Travel Agency Award 2004 given by TTG Asia - Part of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for the 5th year in succession.
•
The Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Governance, for the second time in a row. The Criteria for this award are transparency, excellence in conducting business, various levels
of
management,
social
and
environmental
responsibility, ethical business practice and Consistent creation of value for all the stakeholders.
•
The National Tourism Award for 2001-2002 & 2002-2003, winning the second rank in category 1 for the company that achieved the highest foreign exchange earnings from Ministry of Tourism.
•
National Tourism Award - Best MICE Operator 2006-07
•
National Tourism Award - 3rd prize Inbound Operator 2006-07
•
The Association of Business Communications of India (ABCI) where the company won the first prize for its website - www.thomascook.co.in
•
Awarded "The Best Outbound & Inbound Tour Operator of the Year" award at the Hospitality India Awards 2006 hosted by Hospitality India.
•
Recipient of the prestigious Government of India Ministry of Tourism award for "Excellence in Conference Tourism"
•
Best Travel Agency - India for the year 2008 by TTG Asia - Part of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
•
Best Tour Operator by CNBC Awaaz in 2008
•
Best Outbound Tour Operator in the 4th Hospitality India & Explore the world Annual International Awards - 2008
2.2 SERVICES
Holidays - Inbound Inbound Tourist refers to tourists/ travelers coming to India. Inbound tour operators promote India as a tourist destination. We organize tours for foreign tourist visiting India. We organize Individual tours, group tours and Conferences. Various services offered in inbound business are accommodation, ticketing, roundtrip, excursion, land arrangements, airport transfer etc. These services are procured from providers of these services like hotels, airlines, transporters, guides etc. within India. Customers are typically individuals and are sourced by overseas principals, tour operators or travel agents. TCI, one of the subsidiaries is among the leaders in inbound tourism and works closely with tour operators worldwide. TCI has a widely distributed network of travel agents and tour operators worldwide. It has around 20 offices in India and a total of 11 offices in USA, Canada, UK, , , Spain, China, Korea, Japan and Australia. We also act as a ground handling agent domestically for Charter flights coming from international destinations. We also offer customized individual holidays, group escorted
holidays,
MICE
(Meeting,
Incentive,
Conference
and
Exhibition)
arrangements and emergency medical assistance. Inbound travelers handled by our Company are primarily from Europe and USA. Our company enters into business arrangements with the foreign tour operators for servicing their customers when they arrive in India.
International Holidays Outbound tourist refers to Indian Nationals traveling out of India. Our Company offers outbound tour packages across approximately 50 Countries. Outbound packages include various services like air tickets, visa, travel insurance, airport transfer, hotel accommodation, sight seeing, etc.
International Holidays is further classified into following categories: 1. Group Escorted Holidays: These are ready made packages where a group of travelers is escorted by a Tour Manger. 2. Customised Individual Holidays: Tailor made packages based on individual requirements 3. MICE: Dealers/Employees are sent on tour by Corporates. 4. Sales agency amongst others for Star Cruise, Rail Europe, Globus, Cosmos Tours, Greyhound, Amtrak, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, Japan Rail and Costa Cruises Domestic Holidays Domestic Travel refers to Indian Nationals (Tourists, Business Travelers, Students, Leisure travelers) traveling within India. Various services offered are accommodation, ticketing, roundtrip, excursions, land arrangements, airport transfer, etc. These services are procured from service providers like hotels, airlines, transporters, guides, etc. TCI, one of our subsidiaries specializes in special interest and incentive tours, conferences and air charter / cruise ship ground operations. It operates its own Taj Mahal Tour and Delhi City Tour and is a General Sales Agent ("GSA") for the Palace on Wheels and the Deccan Odyssey. We are active of various industry and professional organizations.
Air Tickets
Book your Air Tickets for your travel with us either offline or online through the site www.thomascook.in. We offer a complete range for flights, right from Low Cost to Full service Airlines, to choose from. From time to time we have great deals to offer you on your flights, Please check out the latest deals and book your flight today on www.thomascook.in Corporate Travel Corporate Travel forms a dominant share of overall travel business of our Company. We manage the travel budgets of several large national and multinational companies. Our large scale of operations enables us to effectively manage travel budgets of several Multi National Companies, Blue-Chip companies and Multinational banks to their advantage. Our Company provides Integrated Travel Management / Advisory Services to more than 300 Corporates. Our Company provides customers a complete basket of products for all their travel needs:
Air Reservations
Hotel Reservations
Land arrangements which includes sight seeing, car rental, transfers etc.
port / Visa Service
Conference / Incentive tour arrangements
Foreign Exchange
Insurance
Our branches specialize in offering tailor-made Travel Policies for each corporate, thereby bringing savings on spend. Based on requirements and volumes of business, corporate are serviced either by having a dedicated relationship team visits client's office regularly or having a dedicated & expert travel consultant with Centralised Reservation System located at the client's site as an 'implant'.
Meetings, Incentives, Exhibitions & Conferences
One Stop Shop for all your travel needs i.e. air tickets, accommodation, event management, forex, visas, travel insurance etc. Hands on approach of senior management, including travelling along with the group Dedicated team in each hub providing specialised services Most experienced and cooperative Tour Managers in the industry Operations geared up to handle large groups. We have successfully handled several groups of over 300 pax in the year 2008 A specialised quality control department that would ensure smooth delivery of services at every stage. Experience: This refers to the experience of the travelers right from the time they board the airline to the foreign destination till the time they come back. The travel here is a REWARD for the dealers/employees of the company who have done well over a period of time. The company (as well as the employees) expects the trip to be an enjoyable, hassle free and fun filled "experience". We at Thomas Cook understand their concern and provide them this experience through our:•
Experienced, dependable and extensively traveled Tour Managers, who are available with the group 24 X 7, provide their personalized services to the group and at times, act
as crisis managers. In contrast, the other tour companies often send their ticketing person as the "tour manager". •
The requests for special Dietary requirements are taken care of completely. The Indians are very particular about the food they eat (e.g.) Jain food. We make sure that our clients get the same, irrespective of the location they are traveling to.
•
The sightseeings that we offer are often exotic and different from the rest of the tour operators.
Customer Focus/Customer Centric/Exceptional Service: This primarily refers to the experience of the corporate with our sales representatives. There is a huge extent of customization in case of a MICE trip in of destinations, hotel requirements, conference needs, sightseeings to be covered, gala dinner venue, team building activities etc. Our prime focus is always to cater to our customers’ specific needs and the intent is to delight the customer by always delivering more than promised by us/expected by them. Dependable: This comes out of the reputation of the company (TCIL) and the vast experience of handling a large number of MICE movements in the past. The fact that we have got trusted business partners (suppliers) for every destination and that there is always an experienced tour manager with the group ensures that the clients feel secure when they travel with us. Moreover, the reputation of the company ensures that there will be no let up in the service quality and there won’t be any trivial financial issues. Reservoir of Knowledge: The experienced employees of the MICE business make sure that they function as a "travel consultant" to the client rather than being a "travel agent" to them. We believe that with our expertise, we are in a position to provide multiple options to our customers. This is especially true in case of clients who have a budget constraint. Once the client is provided with multiple options along with the pros and cons for the same, they are in a much better position to take a decision regarding the destination as well as the services that they expect us to provide them. Value for Money/Cost Effective: We are committed to provide quality service to our clients and we do not believe in any compromise on the same (0% Compromise). We make sure that the experience that our clients get is of a greater value than the cost that they pay for it. If our cost is more than the competition, then there is ALWAYS a very strong reason for the same (which could be better quality of hotels, better airlines, EXTRA inclusions etc.). Our endeavour
is to have our customers delighted by our services so that at all times, they feel that they have got something EXTRA than the worth of the currency that has been spent on it. Product Innovation: Over the last decade or so, the MICE industry has been booming. Since then,
some
of
the
companies
have
been
traveling
each
year
(with
multiple
incentives/conference tours). They are always looking out for new destinations for the incentive trips. Our endeavour is to be ahead of the competition at all times and product innovation is one way of doing that. We have promoted new destinations at different points of times which have traditionally never been thought of for a MICE trip. E.g. Jordan, Japan, Macau, Canada. Moreover, within the same destinations, we have managed to change the product mix by changing the venues for Gala Dinner (at cruise, Desert Safari etc.) or including some exotic sightseeings or providing some out of the box team building activities or in any other way. Wide Reach: We are confident of providing our customers with the best of the services at any destination that they wish to visit. This is due to the vast resources of the company and due to the number of trusted business partners that we have all over the world. One Stop Shop for MICE needs/Integrated travel services: It’s our firm belief that once the customer enters one of our offices, all his travel needs will be catered to. We provide the customer with the forex services, insurance cover and a travel card. Moreover, we can service their visa requirements better than any other tour operator because of our goodwill and the relationships that we have with the various embassies/consulates. We have the ability to provide the customer with a 360 degree experience on a consistent basis. Work with Play: This is particularly true in case of the corporates who have an offsite for a conference/meeting. We ensure that after a hard day’s work, they have a relaxed and fun filled evening. This can be done by sending them on a night cruise or by treating them to a Gala Dinner with free flow of liquor and a Live DJ. In one of the cases, we had sent a couple of VJs and RJs (RJ Taraana) from India who made sure that everyone from the group was involved in the fun activities.
Foreign Exchange Thomas Cook has been granted an authorized dealers' license (category II) by RBI to deal in foreign exchange through its designated branches. Under this license, we have been, inter-alia, granted permission to undertake the following activities:
1. Retail purchases of foreign currencies and travelers cheques.
2. Bulk purchases/sales of foreign currencies from/to authorized dealers, money changers and franchisees. 3. Release / remittance of foreign exchange for the following activities: a. Private Visits b. Remittance by tour operators/travel agents to overseas agents/ principals/ hotels c. Business Travel (including for Central and State Government officials) d. Fee for participation in global conferences and specialized training e. Payment of crew wages f. Film Shooting g. Medical Treatment abroad h. Overseas Education i. Remittance under educational tie up arrangements with universities abroad j. Maintenance of close relatives abroad k. Stall rentals and participation fees in connection with participation in overseas exhibitions / fairs 4. Import and export of foreign currency and export of encashed Traveler's Cheques 5. Maintenance of foreign currency s with banks abroad and undertaking forex cover operations in India and abroad.
The activities permitted by RBI are carried out only at the specific locations permitted by RBI. As an Authorized Dealer, we are a member of the Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India. Our Company provides the foreign exchange and payment solutions for: •
Individual travelers
Foreign exchange for leisure outbound travelers
Foreign Exchange for migration, employment, medical treatment
Remittances for students studying abroad, gift remittances etc
Encashment services & inward remittances for inbound tourists visiting India, Non Resident / Resident Indians.
•
•
Corporates
Travel money and remittances for business travelers.
On site for inbound tour conferences.
Film production houses traveling for shoots abroad.
Remittances of tour proceeds for tour operators.
Institutions
Bulk purchases and sales of foreign currencies from Banks, Non Bank Retailers and Money Changers.
Our business model revolves around leveraging its position as an Authorized Dealer with systems, ability and experience of handling large volumes of forex transactions for both wholesale and retail customers in a highly cost-efficient manner.
Foreign Exchange - Products and Services As an Authorised Dealer, our services includes wholesale and retail purchase and sale of currency notes, Purchase and Sale of Traveler Cheques ("TC"), pre paid international cards, inbound and outbound remittances and Money Transfers ("MT"). Some of our products and services are: •
Purchase and Sale of currency notes in 26 destination currencies
•
Purchase and Sale of foreign currency denominated travelers cheques
•
Thomas Cook Global Money Card and Citibank World Money Card as prepaid cards, which is a convenient way to carry money overseas
•
Foreign Currency Drafts
•
Wire transfer of Funds
•
Remittance of money into India through MoneyGram
•
Cash Advances against International Credit Card
Network Our strong network enables us to attract large wholesale clients such as public and private sector banks, FFMC's and RMC's to use our services. We have a strong network of approximately 160 offices in 55 cities and 100 RMCs & Hotel Franchisee. Our Company has foreign exchange counters at the international airports of Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin and Trivandrum which are open 24 hours and 365 days a year to cater to the needs of the international travelers. Our Company also has a round-the clock Foreign Exchange counter at the New Delhi Railway Station.
Thomas Cook Credit Card
Our Company offers Thomas Cook credit card in association with ICICI Bank Limited. Our Company and ICICI Bank are marketing and issuing a co-branded credit card to the customers for using the same at various Master Card retail merchant establishments for availing benefits attached to the said card. The card has been devised as part of loyalty program for the products of the company with benefits attached to spend through the card at Thomas Cook outlets. Salient Features: Thomas Cook Titanium MasterCard features in brief: •
The card has been specially designed for frequent travelers.
•
Attractive 6 reward points for each spend of Rs.100 on the card on Thomas Cook products - Free Delivery of Foreign Exchange within city limits
•
Rs. 5,000 discount on any Thomas Cook GIT product
•
1 Free Air ticket to a domestic destination on the issuance of new card
•
Complimentary travel inconvenience insurance policy
•
Access to MasterCard travel lounges at Airports across the world
•
Redemption of reward points for Thomas Cook holiday packages, hotel stays, air tickets, airline upgrades, etc
•
Conversion of Thomas Cook reward points to frequent flyer miles - convert the reward points earned on card to frequent flyer miles on select domestic airlines.
•
Positioned as a comprehensive travel card
•
Assured gifts for the ing fees - free air ticket / discount voucher
•
Higher reward points for card swipes at Our Company's outlets
•
Redemption of reward points against Thomas Cook products encouraged
Travel Insurance Insurance business of being carried out through our 100% subsidiary - Thomas Cook Insurance Services (I) Ltd. ("TCISL"). TCISL is a corporate agent of Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited. TCISL entered insurance distribution in 2001 and offers the following products and services:
1. "TravelCare" (Overseas Travel Insurance) - Travel Care offers security for travelers which covers travel insurance, hospitalization, loss of documents, Repatriation of Remains, emergency Cash Advance or any other crises which requires assistance. 2. "FamilyCare" - An Overseas travel Insurance cover for entire family of 4-5 persons with single overall sum insured. 3. "ScholarCare" (Overseas Student Insurance) - A customized product for all students studying abroad which ensures timely assistance in case of unexpected surprises in a foreign land. 4. CorporateCare (Overseas Corporate Travel Insurance) - For Companies where employees travel abroad frequently on work, we have customized group policies. All foreign trips undertaken by employees in a year are covered under a single policy. TCISL provides all insurance products at all our outlets, leveraging on ability to cross sell insurance products to our Travel and Forex customers.
Logos Thomas Cook logo (4 colour, CMYK) Intended for use in full colour print applications, you can this logo here Thomas Cook logo (single colour) For use in one colour print applications, you can the single colour logo here Thomas Cook logo (black and white) For use in black and white print applications, you can this logo here
2.3
PROBLEMS OF THE ORGANISATION
.
Low capital investment by the partners
.
Costly as compared to services provided
.
No discount provided
.
No branches in different states
2.4 COMPETETION INFORMATION Name
Location
Specialists
J S World Travels Jay Janak Puri
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Ess World Travel
Domestic, Railway Ticketing Agents, Air Ticketing Agents For International
Sai G Travel N Forex Pvt Hauz Khas
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Ltd
Domestic, Money Exchanger, Tour Operator
Seven
Seas
Tours
& Connaught Place
Travels
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Domestic, Air Ticketing Home Delivery, Air Ticketing IATA
A 2 Z Travel Planners
Noida
Air
Ticketing
Domestic,
Air
Agents
For
Ticketing
Agents For International, Tour Operator
Nimbuss Incredible India
Pusa Road
Air
Ticketing
Agents
For
Domestic, Car Hire, Railway Ticketing Agents
2.5 TICKETING PROCESS OUTSOURCING
An Introduction It presents an approach towards outsourcing in the areas of back office processing of Ticketing Helpdesk and Fulfillment Services for the flight and/or holiday businesses of Travel Agencies. Travel Agencies today can avail of outsourcing options that provide enhanced efficiency, better quality of service and superior value. The document provides information on why outsourcing of ticketing operations is becoming a practical, viable and efficient option for Travel Agencies to cut down on operating costs. The document also details some typical processes that can be evaluated by mid-to-large sized Travel Agencies for outsourcing. Finally, it lists the essential steps towards structuring a commercial engagement for outsourcing. The Case for Outsourcing Ticketing processes For Travel Agencies, ticketing is a function that entails high process time, while being low as a value generating function. It is a function that adds to the agency‘s costs in of the time spent on query handling and ticket distribution, while the agency does not create additional value by handling this process on its own. Nor is there a significant Knowledge protection issue that necessitates this process being handled directly by the agency. Reducing Costs: On the contrary, agencies can drastically reduce distribution costs and improve the customer travel experience, by outsourcing the ticketing function. Outsourcing enables the agency to redirect staff to handling the real-time needs of it’s customers, whether those customers are calling from office, home or from an airport. Call center staff are thus freed up to deal with customer enquiries, rather than processing tickets. This enables the Travel agency to streamline its business processes and cut overheads through
outsourcing, and thus drive customer service and concentrate on core areas of its business. Relevant Experience: The ticketing processes outlined in this paper are predominantly fares related. Fares is an area where an Outsourcing partner with the relevant experience can bring superior value in of its fares expertise and trained and qualified fares experts. An outsourcing partner with fares experts having experience in fare loading, quality check of fares and rules, rules coding for both published as well as private fares, as well as working experience on GDS-based fares systems œ can provide the right resource base to take on a outsourced Ticketing operation. Such a partner can not only manage the processes efficiently, but also improve productivity levels once processes are stabilized after migration. Added to this, the cost advantages by virtue of off- shore location and a flexible pricing model, make outsourcing an ideal option for most mid-to-large Travel Agencies. Listed below some key differentiating factors that a Travel Agency should look for, while outsourcing its Ticketing operation: Travel domain knowledge, with in-depth knowledge of airline & tour operator processes Domain expertise in fares and ticketing Trained and experienced travel industry professionals especially fares & ticketing experts State-of-the-art BPO delivery centre well equipped with systems, links and security measures as required for any world-class operations
Ticketing Process Outsourcing the Benefits An outsourcing partner with the right expertise with fares and ticketing, coupled with strong process frameworks, can ensure that a client looking to outsource its ticketing functions stands to benefit in the following ways: •
Outsourced services with defined Service Level Agreements œ and often exceeding them.
•
Client Agency‘s core business requirements met without undue risk.
•
Painless Transition of the service delivery from the current provider using a realistic, phased, low-risk approach.
•
Guaranteed bi-directional delivery through SLA driven tie-ups with globally reputed courier companies.
•
Services delivered with price-predictability and scalability.
•
Break-even point for migration of services achieved within an agreed, specific timeframe.
•
Innovation in reducing cost of services and improving operational efficiencies.
•
Allowance for market load and price flexibility without compromising quality.
•
Practical, working mechanisms for management, communication, escalation, risk mitigation and service improvement
Outsourced Ticketing Operations Processes •
Outsourcing of the Ticketing function to an Outsourcing Partner (referred to hereon as ”Partner‘) can cover the following Operations Processes:
•
Help Desk Process – for Inter-branch Ticketing (IBT)
•
This process entails handling inbound calls only from Client Agency shops. Agents from the Client Agency shops would call up for queries related to Published fares (e.g. unable to obtain a fare quote of the itinerary or inability to attain the right fare etc).
•
To address these, the Partner accesses the Fares database to resolve agent issues:
•
The query shall mostly be resolved and thereafter updated in 1P.
•
If unresolved, the query shall be escalated to Client Agency through email/ phone and the caller shall be informed for the possible time of resolution.
•
Sat as per the Local Country Time of the Client Agency.
Ensuring Quality for the Help Desk Process Call monitoring takes place of calls handled by different agents by the supervisor of the team according to an assessment sheet with clear parameters .The supervisor shares the strengths & weaknesses of the agent coach and puts back the agent on refresher trainings if required. MIS of calls handled is tracked by the supervisor to check the average handling time of each agent. To ensure if a particular agent AHT is much higher than the prescribed time, the supervisor ascertains the reasons and addresses it. Queue Management & Resolution Process This process entails processing rejected PNR‘s to enable printing of tickets through Robots. The unresolved ticketing requests (PNRs) rejected from the ROBOT system land on specific 1P queues, which are attended (manually intervened) to sort the discrepancy.
•
The PNR‘s are assessed in order of their priority and allocated to associates. Agent have access to 1P, Fares database and intranet to investigate/ resolve the reason for reject.
•
The discrepancy is then rectified and the PNR forwarded for Ticketing through ROBOT ticketing system.
•
In case the discrepancy is out of scope the PNR is addressed to the originating agent for further clarification or escalated to product/ ticketing team.
The Queues Processing & Dispatch process can be operational on a 24 x 7 pattern. Ensuring Quality for the Queue Management Process •
Quality is ensured for this process through remote monitoring i.e. viewing the monitor of the agent from a remote location without his knowledge. A supervisor does the monitoring to ensure the accuracy of action and quantity of messages transacted and the quantum of calls escalated. This exercise is carried out randomly for all agents.
Dispatch Process for tickets & other documents to the Client Agency The process entails processing two separate types of documents: b) Scheduled air ticket/ e-ticketing quality check & dispatch – issued for a journey at least 21 days ahead. This process covers: •
Inter-branch ticketing and flight-savers (Client Agency shop published)
•
Flight direct œ receipt letters (Client Agency shop nets)
•
Flight direct œ ticket dispatch (Sales center bookings nets / pubs)
•
Flight direct œ invoice dispatch (Sales center bookings nets / pubs)
•
E-ticket itinerary dispatch
In this process, the Partner‘s operation would receive scheduled airline tickets / E-tickets (access from TIS) / invoices from the Client Agency‘s location for journeys commencing over 20 days ahead from the date of dispatch. There can be a combination of receipt letters received either through courier or printed by the Partner‘s local printers •
The documents namely, airline tickets, E-tickets, invoices and receipts are counted, sorted and recorded in a particular order and segregated according to specifications.
•
The documents go through a Quality Check to the details are correct and
•
In accordance with the information available in the system. If found in order, the system is accordingly updated.
•
In case the ticket does not the Quality Check, it is accordingly rectified or escalated. The escalated documents are packed separately.
•
The ing documents / labels required are printed from the system. The invoices are then scanned and stored.
•
The documents ing the set specifications are collated with other documents and put in envelopes and packed for dispatch after appropriately labeling them to the Client Agency‘s shops or customers.
•
All transactions are counted, recorded and sealed for dispatch to the Client Agency
This process shall be operational on a 24 x 7 pattern.
b)
Package holiday/ charter flight ticket/ invoice/ errata/ receipts dispatch (Travel Cat) issued for a journey at least 15 days ahead.
This process covers: •
Tour operator tickets
•
Tour operator errata
•
Receipt letters
•
Tour operator invoices
The transaction can include receiving documents / carrying out primary & secondary verification and quality checks followed by dispatching the documents to the Client Agency. The Objective of the process, thus, is not only to deliver well within prescribed SLA‘s but also offer value to the Client Agency to widen the scope of work. The Outsorucing Partner can receive chartered airline tickets / errata‘s/ invoices from the Client Agency for journeys commencing over 15 days ahead from the date of dispatch. •
Receipts and insurance letters from the Client Agency get printed by the Partner‘s local printer.
•
The documents are counted, sorted and recorded in a particular order and segregated according to specifications.
•
The documents shall go through a Quality Check to the details are correct and in accordance with the information available in the system. (Travel CAT). If found in order, the system is updated.
•
ing documents are printed from Travel Cat & invoices are scanned. In case the ticket does not the quality check it is accordingly rectified or escalated. The escalated documents are separately packed.
•
Documents ing the set specifications are collated with other documents; put in envelopes and packed for dispatch after appropriately labeling them to Client Agency shops/customers.
•
All transactions are counted, recorded & sealed for dispatch to the Client Agency. In both the above cases, the dispatch process is completed through a tieup with a global courier organization operating out of India as well as the Client Agency‘s location(s). The specifics of the courier process deliverables can be finalized with the Client Agency separately.
Ensuring Quality for the Dispatch Process •
A complete checklist is made for all the different jobs to be handled. The person handling the each job ensures the job once completed is checked against the checklist to complete the Quality Check. The supervisor on duty again does a random check to ensure all procedures are being followed.
•
Each staff handles only one document at a time to ensure no mixing of documents occurs at any level.
2.6 SWOT ANALYSIS Thomas Cook Group (TCG) is one of the leading leisure travel groups in the world. It offers package tours, holiday components and services. The group primarily operates in Europe and the Americas. TCG is headquartered in London, the UK and employed 31,097 people as of September 30, 2011. The group recorded revenues of ℑ9,808.9` million ($15,763.9 milion*) during the financial year ended September 2011 (FY 2011), an increase of 10.3% over FY 2010. The increase in revenue was primarily due to modest volume uplift, price increases and revenue contribution from the acquisitions during FY 2011. The operating loss of the group was ℑ266.6 million ($428.5 million*) in FY 2011, as compared with an operating profit of ℑ167 million ($836.8 million*) in FY 2011, as ompared with a net loss of ℑ2.6 million ($3.5 million*) in FY 2010.
Scope of the Report Data is supplemented with details on Thomas Cook Group ple subsidiaries as well as a list of products and services and the latest available statement from Thomas Cook Group plc. Provides all the crucial information on Thomas Cook Group plc required for business and competitor intelligence needs Contains a study of the major internal and external factors affecting Thomas Cook Group plc in the form of a SWOT analysis as well as a breakdown and examination of leading product revenue stream of Thomas Cook Group plc. Reason to Purchase •
sales activities by understanding your customers businesses better
•
Understand prospective partners and suppliers.
•
Keep fully up to date on your competitors’ business structure, strategy and prospects.
UNIT 3
WEEKLY REPORT
JANUARY REPORT 1st week
o I learnt about hotel plans o AP, EP, JP, MAP, and BP. o Learnt about Thomas Cook in brief. o Learn 26 Schengen countries
o Read International Holiday brochures of Europe & America. o What things are required in package o About hotel , no of pax , options about star hotel , no . of days , date of travel , inclusive , exclusive, extra service, sightseeing .
2nd Week o Attended the classes that were held by the office to learn the tour brouchers. o ed the tests held by tour manager Mr. Kuldeep Singh.
3rd Week o Attended Sales Call with Mr. Amritpal Singh Sidhu. o Met with Thomas cook Tour Managers Mr. Kuldeep Thakur & attended sales call with him.
o Learnt how to attend customers during sales call. o I learnt the proper selling techniques.
4th Week o I started sitting on front office and handled various queries of walk in customers. o Learnt how to receive and settle the payments given by customers.
FEBRUARY REPORT 1st Week o Studied the brouchers of Asia holidays. o Handled the queries of customers regarding Asian holidays. o I did 530 telephone calls to the customers for the selling tour packages.
2nd Week o Did Telephone calls for inviting the customers for Thomas Cook Road Show. o Handled walk in customers in Road Show. o I learnt how to fill USA VISA form & got expertise in it.
3rd Week o I was sent to G Chandigarh Office for 1 week to handle the pending USA VISA cases.
4th Week o I was sent to Mohali for finalizing the tour booking of EUROPE. o I learnt how to apply for port online. o I made appointments for the ports of various customers.
MARCH REPORT 1st Week o I made my first achievement by booking 8 engers for USA group tour n my own. o I learnt to operate Thomas Cook’s online Booking software (LTOB).
2nd Week o I started attending classes for airline booking software AMADEUS under supervision of Mr. Navjot Singh. o I learnt to operate AMADEUS. o This week I started filling VISA forms of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.
3rd Week o This week brought another opportunity for me and I booked 2 engers for Europe tour.
o I was shifted from sales department to Service delivery department i.e. VISA department. o I started handling USA VISA cases of the whole Patiala channel bookings as well as office bookings.
4th Week o I was again sent to Chandigarh for handling 20 USA VISA cases. o I came back to Patiala office and learnt how to handle the UK VISA cases. o Made UK VISA cases of clients for submission in UK VFS.
5th Week o I did meetings with new travel agents for promotion of Thomas Cook. o Learnt how to make insurance of customers under the supervision of Mr. Navjot Singh.
APRIL REPORT 1st Week o Started handling Schengen VISA cases. o This month again I booked 2 engers for ASIA package.
2nd Week o I was given the responsibility to handle the Schengen VISA of whole Patiala bookings under supervision of Mr. Amritpal Singh Sidhu. o I handled USA VISA cases of Patiala.
o Made a sales call for Europe booking and waiting for client’s response till now.
3rd Week o Filled VISA forms of Dubai. o Handled Canada VISA cases of Patiala Bookings.
4th Week o Attend all Inquiry’s create by News paper ment. o Learnt to make the free individual tour packages. o Made a tour package of Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand.
WORK EXPERIENCE DURING MY TRAINING It was great experience during my training. I saw different tourist places in different states. I had done my job with full dedication. I had learned many new things during my training. Telephonic: Work experience during telephonic in different from marketing. In telephonic it is difficult to make undersigned to customer about their needs who are not well educated. Some mistakes are made by customers during the conversation. The main thing is the way of talking with customer it’s a sitting job in the office and it is different from marketing.
Marketing: I had got new work experience during my training I had learnt many think about my work in marketing. We met different types of people with different views and thinking.
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