Top 10 companies operating by management contract
3.8.4 Tour-operators
Tour-operators are the most important link in the entire tourist chain: they make the intimate connection which is established between a supplier of basic services and tourists which purchase these services, grouped as a whole. They organize packages of programs according to the desire of each tourist, with the support of the supplier; they answer from a juridical point of view for deficiencies which occur during the holiday, this is why they made up the “general terms” for working with clients and the “specific terms” which resulted as a collaboration with each of the
ents;
himself to ensure the transport of 540 people on the railroad from Leicester to ughb rough on a 22 mile distance. From this endeavor he gained no profit, but he saw the eans to remedy this: from discounts obtained for the large number of solicitors, he obtained rofits, bigger and bigger, and so he developed his business, so he quickly became an organizer of
ll trips. His enterprise remained a force in tourism industry, in spite of numerous changes of wnership. His main rival was and is American Express – the first company which issued traveling heques.
England is considered the country of origin for tour-operators. Here, they sell over 000000 voyages per year, and are characterized by a strong integration degree. So, the main perator, “Thomson-Holiday” has its own plane company (“Charter Britannia Airways”), more an 6000 places in hotels and a whole network of distribution agencies: a global system!
oreover, a price decrease after the 70s allowed them to capture all consumer starts by launching rivileged destinations at smaller prices: Balearic Islands, Malta and the Adriatic.
re made by two major giants: TUI and NUR. Unlike British operators, which started out as urism societies, German operators developed either from commercial networks of great shops or anks, whether from syndicates or enterprise committees. DETOUR, by exception, has Lufthansa apitals at the back.
In Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries, the market is haracterized by a deep penetration of tour-operators. For example, almost 40% of Sweden’s
urist population makes use of them. This increased demand for low international travels imposes lane usage for sunny holidays on short term (Scandinavia) and an own offer which is well dapted to the demand (Belgium, Holland).
North American tour-operators have a forfeiting production of voyages particularly riented towards American or Canadian destinations (70%): Florida, California, Hawaii, Canada r Puerto Rico. Actually, due to the geography and the increased number of leisure facilities, merica is a particular case in the tourism industry, because it satisfies most of its demand ternally.
The production of forfeiting voyages in Japan developed only at the end of the 60s, and low number of holiday days which the population had, and due to a low tensity of external voyages. This was also due to different traditions and time needed to ssimil
ag finally, they keep track of intermediaries in issues such as visas, different taxes, insurance, travel tickets, etc.
The first tour from a modern perspective was realized by Thomas Cook in 1841, when he took it upon
Germany is the main European market for low price voyage sales. More than 50% of these a
a ate American techniques, after which it knew a real explosion, becoming an industry of economic espionage, the Japanese tourist, with his camera tied around his neck, became a symbol.
Moreover, the trip, due to the Japanese paternalist system, is some form of a prize.
The last few years have brought forth major changes to tourism intermediaries. A recent study for a multinational corporation on the European market shows that the structure of the distribution, at least for Western Europe, has changed, and the tendency is more and more accentuated.
.8.5 Labor force 3
It is obvious that the labor force is essential to tourism. We give the example of the guide:
hundreds of people from various places where the tourist travels can work very hard give their best effort, yet the guide, who has the microphone in his hand and the tourists’ time, can ruin everything, or, on the contrary, may create a timeless memory. Many times, the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” is true in tourism. A small negligence, especially now, in this age of tourism, deletes the effort of all those involved. But tourism is an activity with a pronounced seasonal character, and, as we all know, poorly paid.
Problems need to be solved ever since the personnel are prepared. Here is the needed labor force and the forming offer on professional categories in Brazil, a similar situation with all developing countries:
Demand Offer
Professional categories according to number % Classes offered on professional categories %
Execution personnel 63 Entrepreneurs 86
Administrative personnel 8 Personnel with medium or high studies 57 Medium and superior personnel by
qualification 7 Specialized personnel
43
Maintenance personnel 6 Execution personnel 29
Specialized technical personnel 5 Maintenance personnel 14 Level of studies required Required level of studies
Secondary 12 Superior 8
Primary 50 Secondary 68
Elementary 25 Primary 24
No studies required 27
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(travel agency: secondary) 70
Source: Instituto de Hospitalidade: Demanda por capacicao profesional no sector de turismo - Salvador 2000
This situation leads to the need of forming employees on employment or as time moves on:
Source: IHARA: Training and employee development in the hotel sector in UK, 2000
Tourism personnel must accept labor flexibility: basically, in more and smaller size hotels
Formation type % beneficiary employees
Pre-employment preparation 82
Technical formation 14
Formation concerning labor protection
and health 64
Formation for client services 18
Formation other than job-bound 9
Formation for personnel 9
Other classes 18
the same people are receptionists as well as waiters and they also do other connected activities.
Multi-qualification is essential to overcome seasonal periods, seasonal meaning the fact that some jobs are less required from time to time. Usually, employees must be familiarized with all modern methods of management, with equipment and software which is employed: many times, a diploma is not the deciding factor, rather the certificate which makes him able to use certain technologies.
Tourism jobs bring several advantages which are not negligible: a pleasant environment, meals are usually assured, protective clothing, continuous perfection.
This is why the concept of career organizing was achieved. New technologies brought forth new professions, but moreover grouped them under the same roof: hotel chains opened tourism agencies, car rentals, casinos, stock sales, health services, etc. all of the above using information technology. Economic knowledge, although integrated in system software, remain a means for promotion, allowing for an optimization of the decision. Continuous preparation is required, as well as learning new skills. Theory says that large hotel chains have a tendency to invest in the careers of their employees. Classes are compulsory in order to understand, but also to better impregnate the philosophy of a respective group. This is why a brand changing basically means a new qualification. Perhaps the most important requirement of modern tourism is linguistic polyvalence. A receptionist, a guide, basically an employee in contact with tourism must know around 4-5 languages to be employed. Even a housekeeping lady must have minimum knowledge in several languages. Formation is thus a reality, for those who want to resist.
The educational system in developed countries has completely changed in the last 10-15 years. If, in Europe (the USA has a different system, according to its quality standards) there were 2-3 acknowledged tourism faculties, which provided required management and 4-5 superior schools which were assuring the required middle management positions (hotel manager, restaurant
anager, fun park manager, etc.) the rest of the personnel was formed in professional schools.
ow we are witnessing an educational integration. More and more formation institutes have a rger and larger number of students at professional studies (usually after completing compulsory rom where students are being recruited for +2 or 3 system), for the latter, another stage m
N la
education) – apprenticing basically disappeared – f iddle management or top management (the BAC m
being compulsory: croupier, oenologist, diet specialist, IT specialist, ticketing agent, etc. to obtain the required authorization certificate in order to practice. This is also the place where from most of the students for advanced studies are being recruited. It is remarkable that the number of tourism faculties is on the decrease, and that their graduates are forced to specialize in certain fields:
hospitality, leisure, tourist destination management, park organization, event management, etc.
Moreover, distance education is widespread, for jobs that allow this. One must underline the fact that there are jobs which require a big investment (like chef), where the cost of raw materials, practice time, etc. or maitre d’hotel, etc. Anyway, the practical exam is the sine qua non requisite.
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Free labor traveling (in the limits of established contingents) means not only recognition of diplomas but also their equivalence. Educational programs begin to be uniform. The same thing can not be said about developing countries, where, as is the case of Romania, large funds are being allocated, as compared to their economic force for preparing a capable labor force, which is usually incompatible with international requirements, graduates often accepting inferior jobs which are lower paid. Furthermore, there i a major lack in equilibrium between formation and s
rket
ry, in opposition to elaborate
aerial transports. Each aerial ompan
distribution system are the spine of tourism, being the main link between huge groups of suppliers and their travel agencies. These ainly ensure: a management of flight programs and lodging installations, information about ther travel products and their availability, car rentals and railway reservations, reservations and ales, ticketing, information management for users, management installations regarding tariffs and
oyage terms, management functions.
inated by American and European ompanies: Galileo International and United Airlines, British Airways, Alitalia, KLM and
lymp
adeus One by Air France, Lufthansa, Iberia and SAS. An important aspect in tourism ma demand, high costs, usually supported for the fashion and pride of attending certain studies, without informing themselves of real perspectives. Precisely to use this reserve, international structures have introduced distance education in order to obtain authorization certificates, which are organized and paid for separately, trough long distance classes guaranteed by their issuers.
Today we are used to meet personnel from all over the world in tourism agencies. But in great hotel chains, national identity vanishes in stead values promoted are those of chain philosophy. They also impose, by example and standards, in smaller units.
In Romania, the Formation Center in Park Complex Bucharest has been equipped for excellence and very well organized, with a high level of preparation during the 60s and 70s, and it remained that way.
Actually, this can be illustrated by Romanian cooking, which uses a lot of meat, manufactured with a relative uniform array throughout the count
cooking, with reduced raw materials, but of high quality and especially including a lot of labor, which leads to high prices and even higher profits.
Standards and rules regarding necessary knowledge of personnel are imposed by the great enterprises which also use most of the personnel, as we have seen in the case of hotels, restaurants and coffee shops in Europe.
.
3.8.6 Information and communication technology
IT reservation systems have been solved in the 70s for
c y has its own reservation system which is however connected to the world distribution system. Basically, to protect the company, only tapes for entry and exit data can enter. As long as these were accessible only to tourism agencies agreed upon by the system, it stayed simple. Once internet sales increased and were elaborated by special distributors, connected to the Intranet of global distribution, with an interface for public access. There is a large variety; competition is stiff in this field. The system extended to hotels, car rentals, cruises, products offered by travel agencies. Today, the complex IT system of reservations / a world
m o s v
Distribution systems at a global level are dom c
O ic Airways, Sable by American Airlines, Worldspan by Delta, TWA and Northwest, Abacus / Am
communication is ensuring access to global distribution systems. Access is not always favorable, costs are often high, small actors are unable to cover them. Large areas of Africa and South East Asia are lacking. Moreover, the infrastructure of developing countries is mediocre: old telephone lines, which don’t perform anymore, the lack of satellite coverage, telecommunication, etc. Also labor force resources are limited as well. In Romanian, in 1992, persons authorized to have access
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