Trip to Disneyland
1.0 Tourism Distribution Channels
1.1Introduction
Travel business and experience is one of the most dynamic sectors of the tourism industry. Visitors want to travel and have an experience of a lifetime. They have formed-perspectives of how they want their experience to be, putting stakeholders in this industry on the run as they endeavour to better performance and conform to the needs of their customers (Tran, Jeeva&Pourabedin, 2016). Customer perspective and the expectations they have is enough to make travel a reality that anyone can wish to engage in. Service delivery in the travel industry is varied before the final stage of the product or service which is its consumption (Goeldner& Ritchie, 2003). The travel industry, therefore, has a series to relay services to consumers (Buhalis, 2000).
Discussing travel business cannot leave out information technology. Information technology is a tool that makes travel complete and helps in understanding tourism as an entity of many things (Cantoni& Xian, 2013). It is with this in mind that we understand that without information technology, tourism cannot exist; IT is the channel through which tourism information is transmitted to the target market (Law, Fuchs & Ricci, 2011). The mention of IT brings in mind the integration of technology into the tourism world through the use of the internet (Xiang &Tussyadiah,n.d). Technology through the net has made it possible for travellers to make various transactions online e.g. flight booking and hotel reservations, air transfers just to mention a few (Information Technology in Tourism, 2002). This paper covers a wide range of work, but the common denominator is the provision of travel services and products to customers through the use different channels. It also draws in attention perspectives on the travel industry and its entities. The tourism distribution channels are discussed, and perspectives on them brought out. Customer perspectives on IT concepts are also tackled. Detailed information on a trip to Disneyland, Paris by two international students is also included in this paper so as to bring a different perspective of distribution channels. This paper thus revolves around tourism distribution channels in the travel business using discussions from varied angles.
1.2Travel and tourism distribution channels
Distribution in the tourism industry involves a series of processes of delivering travel and related services to the prospective customers (Pearce & Taniguchi, 2008). It is a connecting factor between service providers and customers. Service providers supply customers with adequate information on the services and products they offer. They diversify what customers need thus enabling customers to choose from the wide range of services and products offered (Buhalis&Dombey, 2001). Customers can choose services and products presented to them while looking at their income levels and their preferences. Distribution in the tourism industry enables customers to understand their needs and service providers' expectations and vice versa (Buhalis& Laws, 2001). Distribution channels in tourism involve intermediaries who work together to sell products and services to customers (Pearce, 2009). These channels vary and are sometimes a combination of more than one channel.
Distribution channels offer a link between service producers and consumers of tourism services. They provide information and are a mechanism for customers to make reservations and pay for them (Buhalis, 2003). A tourism product is a complex entity of different services each of which must be merged and supplied to consumers through various means in the travel industry. For distribution to become a reality in the travel business, demand for services and products are first developed then the satisfaction process where customers consume products through various efforts implemented by the service organizers (Carmen B, 2015). Suppliers, service providers, and consumers constitute the world of travel business thus the advent of distribution (Hudson, Snaith, Miller & Hudson, 2001).
Before a product reaches its final depot which is consumption by customers, there are some channels it undergoes; these are the distribution channels in tourism. Tourism distribution channels exist in four channels: manufacture-wholesaler-consumer channel, manufacture-wholesaler-retailer-consumer channel, manufacturer-retailer- consumer channel and manufacturer- consumer channel. These are explained below:
1.2.1Manufacturer-wholesaler-consumer channel
In this channel, the supplier does not sell travel products and services directly customers. Wholesalers are tour operators who buy tour products from suppliers and sell them to customers. In this context, tour operators buy hotel rooms, airline seats, insurance covers, etc. and sell them to customers at a fee that renders them getting a commission out of the whole process. Customers in this channel, channel their issues to tour operators and even how they want their services to be provided. Tour operators do the booking and reservations for customer and issue travel documents to them in place of the suppliers whom they buy these services and products from. They are thus seen are creators of a new product since they bundle products they buy from manufacturers and sell them as a single product (Koo, Mantin& O’Connor, 2011).
1.2.2Manufacturer-retailer-consumer channel
This is a channel that involves suppliers and travel agents. Travel suppliers sell their products to travel agents at a fee who in the same line sell to the customer. Travel agents buy these products as a bundle and sell them to customers as a package. Just as tour operators, travel agents book airlines and reserve hotel rooms for customers but sell to them at an additional fee which earns them a commission on the products they sell, usually garnering around 5% profit from the origin price they bought it with from suppliers. They buy products from suppliers according to the demands of customers. Retailers are thus considered as convenient links of sales for travellers (Buhalis, 2000).
1.2.3Manufacturer-wholesaler-retailer-consumer channel
This channel of distribution takes on a longer process that involves suppliers, tour operators, travel agents and finally customers. Tour operators buy products as a multiple from suppliers, they then sell these products to travel agents who in turn bundles them and sell them as a package to tourists (Buhalis, 2000).
1.2.4Manufacture-consumer channel
This channel is where customers are directly linked to customers. Producers design facilities e.g. recreational facilities, accommodation facilities, transport, and attractions sell them directly to customers without the involvement of any intermediary. This channel is widely usually in the airline industries where they consider this channel cheaper than the use of intermediaries (Buhalis, 2011).
1.3 E-travel distribution
The relationship between travel and information technology is inseparable as tourism cannot be without information. Tourism needs Information Technology to enhance and reach out to potential customers. Tourism and IT go beyond booking and ticketing, and concentrating on the value-addition is advised. For instance, re-organizing common channels of communication while considering the cultural diversity in tourism is important; the channel of communication must favour all parties and ensure that the targeted market is entirely reached out to. IT is used in different sectors of the industry e.g. airline industries, hotel industries; these sectors use Information Technology through the internet to make reservations and bookings for customers, communicate with customers and even market their products amongst others (Ali &Frew, 2014).
Technology has diversified distribution channels as service provision includes multiple layers of intermediation through the internet using cyber intermediaries, search engines and offline suppliers who are retail agents (Berbie, Garcia-GonzalezGarcia-Uceda&Mugica, 2015). The Web is becoming prevalent in the travel world and eased transactions in the industry. The internet is used in the travel industry to transmit information to customers about the services offered to them, the price and locations. It is also by service providers to keep track of their target market, this is made possible through constant communication with them and waivers on the price tags, and it also helps to carry out research on the market trends, price variation (Pease, Rowe & Cooper, 2007).
Also, the internet helps service providers to facilitate and provide access to tour products online and avail procedures for purchasing products. The internet through the search webs helps holidaymakers get adequate information and a wider choice of products to offer to customers. Service providers also offer guidance and consultation and pre-sale services to customers through the internet and issuing travel documents to their customers. This is what technology has brought in the travel industry (Prideaux, 2003).
1.4Perspectives on e-travel
The travel industry has evolved to embrace the internet for its activities. The emergence computerised reservation systems e.g. through Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo, World span, have eased access to booking and reservations by customers (Berné, García-González, García-UcedaMúgica, 2015). Suppliers have broken loose from the chain of intermediation and have resorted to dealing with customers directly through the Internet. They have thus integrated electronic distribution into their systems and relay information to customers through the Internet and enable them to perform transactions by themselves. Customers, on the other hand, consider e-travel distribution systems simpler, faster and convenient to use. Customers are at free will to choose the services they want and even make transactions at the time of their convenience since the internet is a 24-hour system. Intermediaries who are the travel agents and tour operators however, are negatively affected by this transformation (Orwoll, 2000).
Their market position has been greatly affected as suppliers have turned to the internet for service provision; intermediaries are no longer consulted by customers as they have easy access to suppliers (Hartmann, 2009). In an event where airlines and hotel owners use intermediaries, suppliers withdraw commissionable sales since they believe that agents show no particular loyalty to any supplier. It is, however, noticeable that the internet has brought major implications in the travel industry, and e-travel is soon taking the biggest share in the tourism market. Global Distribution Systems and CRS have set in, and travellers have all the information they require about their places of interest over the internet and even make reservations, and the stakeholders in the travel industry have embraced this technology for better performance (Information and communication technologies in tourism 2007, 2007).
1.5 Customer perspective on IT Concept
Information technology has swept the travel industry with a wave that has set a standard for the industry that other competing industries have to watch out for. Information has refurbished tourism and its activities (E-Business in the 21St Century, 2009). The use of the internet to carry out various activities in the industry has increased efficiency and convenience (Ali&Frew, 2014). The key beneficiaries of tourism product are usually the target market be it business, leisure or academic travellers; they are the reason tourism exists and stakeholders in this industry are ever at their service so as to satisfy them. Customers are ever seeking for psychic experiences, and when efficiency is assured, the possibility of satisfying them is high. This is to say that, customers who are travellers have welcomed with open arms IT in the travel industry; the internet is always pervasive, and they can use it anywhere they want to surf the net through different websites to make travel transactions anywhere in the world (March, 2000).
Communication can also not go unmentioned when talking about IT. It has enabled customers to communicate easily with suppliers about the way they want their services to be offered. It also facilitates feedback on how services were offered to them giving the supplier in question an opportunity to avoid mistakes in future in case a customer was not satisfied and implement necessary measures to better their performances. With the ever-changing business market, the incorporation of IT into the travel industry has simplified some tasks customers used to perform before the introduction of the system to the industry. It is thus an added advantage to customers even though it also comes with its own shortcomings e.g. poor network coverage in some areas, needs IT literacy, and few costs that come with its use. However, the benefits cannot be matched with the shortcomings (E-Bussiness in the 21st Century, 2009).
2.0 Trip to Disneyland
2.1Customer demographic information
For any travel to be complete there must be accompanying elements that a traveller engages in before, during and after his or her travel. These are known as a travel package (Davies and Downward, 2003). It is what makes travelling complete. Before a tourist decides to visit some place, he or she must consider the means to use to access the area, the travel requirements, and the place where he or she will reside at during his or her entire trip. The tourist should also consider insurance covers that guarantee safety in case of an emergency and the activities he or she would like to engage in during the trip and how much they would cost (Cobb, 2003). These are what make up a travel package. In this context, I will use an organised trip for two clients, Lily and Lucy, as an example to explain what a travel package entails and the characteristics. The trip to Disneyland in Paris will involve a lot of procedures, and each as tackled below represents the travel package for the students.
2.1.1Transportation
Transportation covers for travelling from one's country of residence to the final destination and back and also ferrying of the travellers to different places they would like to go to during their travel. When selecting a means of transport, one must consider the following: efficiency, cost, timeliness, safety and comfort and the distances to cover for the whole trip. Transport can be through air, road, water and even railway depending on the traveller's preference. To add on to this, transport either way requires a fulfilment of travel formalities. These formalities vary for domestic and international travellers. However the following are usually the most basic fulfilments one has to consider: travel visa and passport from the country of origin, travel tickets, transit permit, and health clearance certificate (Chiang & Chen, 2014).
These are the requirements that travellers must fulfil before they travel to a different destination. Using the example as mentioned earlier, our travellers are international travellers, and thus the above-listed formalities must be fulfilled before they travel to Paris. They will use air transport as the most convenient means of transport since it is fast, convenient, safe and comfortable given the long distance coverage. Since they intend to have a two-day tour in Paris, they will use road transport to the areas they would be visiting and transport to and from the hotel to the places they will tour, and back to the airport, this totals up to £292. 46. There will be no air transfers as they will use a direct flight to and from Paris.
2.1.2Travel Insurance
This is an insurance that covers for travel-related emergencies and expenses during one's travel to a given destination. Before one is issued with travel insurance, it is advisable to read all the conditions and review them to note the exclusions. The cover covers any cost that goes beyond the allocated budget. An insurance cover usually caters for both modest and great costs. In an event where one cannot pay for any extra expenses accrued during his or her travel, the company under which he or she is insured will send the necessary aid to clear the cost. However for modest costs, one can opt to pay from own pocket but keep the receipts to use in making a claim later after the trip. When seeking for insurance, one must make sure that details about name, age, are true and can be backed up (Cobb, 2003).
The number of travellers and their age usually determines the cost of insurance. Travel insurance covers a wide variety of areas for their clients. These areas include the following: medical expenses, trip cancellation, flight insurance, flight delays, ticket expiration, theft and loss of items. Nonetheless, the cover doesn't cater for client's mishandling of aspects such as meals, lodging, failing to arrive at the airport at the stipulated time and misses a flight, etc. A client in case of any emergency has the right to call the insurance company and explain the condition of the crisis so as to get the necessary assistance. With this in mind, the travellers, Lily, and Lucy are therefore mandated to get an insurance cover for the two days they will be in Disneyland for any emergency that may arise.
2.1.3Accommodation
Accommodation as a travel package entails the place or areas where one will reside at during his or her visit to a place. Accommodation ranges right from hotels, to lodges, to motels, camping sites to self-made accommodations facilities like sleeping bags (Davies and Downward, 2007). Accommodation must be convenient, accessible, cost effective, safe and hygienic to prevent health risks on boarders. Lily and Lucy, during their stay in Paris, will stay at Dream Castle Hotel for two nights where they will be sharing a room. Since they are students, the option of sharing a room would be convenient and cost effective. The hotel is near the places they would like to tour, that is, Park Hopper and Round trips for hotels in Disney. They, therefore, will not incur a lot of costs on transport.
2.1.4Paid sight-seeing activities
These are activities that render one complete and attesting that the trip or travel was worth the sacrifice. This is a package where visitors or travellers get to engage with the environment of the place of their visit. Sight-seeing activities vary basing on the traveller's choice of activities. Activities that one can engage in at a site include game drives, bird watching, diving, festivals and dance, swimming, skating, etc.(Tucker, 2007), according to our example of student travellers, this is the last package in their tour list. They would like to engage in two activities during their tour trip in Disneyland. Since the girls love relaxing, exploration and having fun, the chosen activities would match up to their quests. The site-seeing activities the students will engage in are: a tour around Disney hotel and a visit to the park.
2.2Customers’ profile
The customers who will be undertaking a trip to Disneyland are called Lucy and Lilly. These are international students who are from the UK. They are close friends who are 20 years old. They would travel to Disneyland in Paris for a weekend; that is a two-day trip. They like having fun but not luxurious activities in the name of fun, relaxing and exploring the world. These students during their visit to Paris will visit the park and have round trips for hotels in Disney. The students' budget when broken down results to the following: Flight and hotel; £292.46, taxes and fees; £139.42, ground transport; £79.38, savings £38.12, Total Due; £473.14, Due at Hotel; £ 6.60, on average. Both students are to pay 239.00 each for the two-day stay in Disneyland.
2.3 Evaluation Framework
Tourism distribution channels vary right from the initial step of production to the final step of consumption. As discussed earlier, tourism distribution channels act as links between suppliers of tourism products and consumers. Distribution in tourism has four passages, and they vary from one step to another. These channels are manufacture-wholesaler-consumer channel, manufacture-wholesaler-retailer-consumer channel, manufacturer-retailer- consumer channel and manufacturer- consumer channel. Whichever channel is used to provide travel products, customer standpoints count. Various assertions on customer perception on tourism distribution channels have been set in over the years. However, customer viewpoints vary basing on their experiences and how the service provision process was carried out (Peace, 2009).
Some customers prefer the manufacturer-wholesaler channel claiming that tour operators bring out a new package of products as a single unit from the origin one thus making the products appealing and pleasant for purchase. Others, however, prefer the long chain, manufacturer-wholesaler-retailer-customer channel claiming that this channel assures provision of better services as it has passed through different personalities who are skilled in service provision. Some, however, accredit manufacturer-retailer channel as the best means to use as travel agents are easy to work with and are reliable. Quite a good number of customers though are in support of manufacturer-consumer channel as it provides them with the opportunity to make bargains on products and even give direct feedbacks to them for quality improvement (Kwon & Lee, 2012).
2.4 Evaluation of the three distribution channels
The distribution channels that are provided for carrying out travel transactions for a trip to Disneyland are Expedia, direct channel and Thompson magic moments. Web search in the travel industries varies regarding speed and cost. The search process can sometimes be tedious given a situation where there is poor network coverages or tariff congestion causing delays at some points. Web search, however, is the fastest means to perform travel transactions since they are online (Zhou, 2004). These channels are evaluated concerning the search process, web efficiency, variations regarding price, procedures involved in booking and legal and security issues.
2.4.1 Expedia
This is the most popularly used website which provides users with a variety of activities to do over the internet. The website has navigation bars on top of the search pages that guide customers on accessing information and they can go back or move forward in using the site guides in the navigation bars. The content of the information in this site is tourism-related thus giving information on travel sales and products to clients. The page layout is clear in black and white though the colour scheme is not appealing. Also, it has a narrow number of pictures and provides pictures on the destinations to be visited only. The website is very popular and quite some visitors use it for travel transactions though no pertinent terms are shown in the URL. This website has custom-made features and uses ten different languages to reach out to their customers; they also perform reviews on their products that haven't been sold thus attracting many visitors and encouraging repeat visits. It's accessible and transactions are faster regarding speed. Payment for transactions is made through credit cards and SSL secures customers. It also has a logout bar where clients would use if they didn't find their travel products.
2.4.2 Principals
In evaluating principals these three different areas are used as examples:
2.4.2.1British Airways
It has relevant information on airline products. The colour schemes are appealing and affiliated to the brand image of British Airlines. It has a poor background of a white colour. Its main navigation bars can be found at the top of the web page. Accessibility of this website is, however, poor as it has 65 errors. The URL is found on the first page of the site. It has channels of communication to its users through social networking. The provide contact information for every division so that customers can know where to channel their complaints. They have an Executive Club where loyal customers are recruited. Users are assured of protection by SSL.
2.4.2.2 Apotek
This is a hotel industry offering travel services to customers in terms of accommodation. Presentation of Information on booking and reservation is appealing, however, less focus on indigenous attractions. The hotel's website has low accessibility rate of 30 seconds. Regarding communication, the website provides trip advisory services for customers thus impacting their decisions on the types of services. The URL is, however, difficult to remember due to affiliation conflicts. The payment process is confusing and long with many processes to follow.
2.4.2.3 Avis
It has relevant and succinct information. Its graphics are professionally designed though of low quality. It has only one error of accessibility. The URL has no relevant information thus knowledge of target market is dismal. It has security descriptions for its customers and keeps contacts of customers to keep contact with them thus maintaining their loyalty.
2.4.3 Thompson magic moments
This website contains information that is up-to-date and important that is relevant to tourism products. It uses images on its page that motivate customers and even fasten their transactions. The information, however, doesn't give the length of transactions and choice on dates of journeys. It has navigation bars where clients are provided with search engines which ease their search for travel products. It has price lists of all the services offered by the site and gives travel guides to clients. The colour schemes and presentation of information is appealing and attractive. It has no significant information on its URL, thus knowing its potential clients is difficult. Accessing the web page is, however, slow as it takes around 10 seconds to display information on the page. For frequent clients, they provide with brochures, information on travel events and new products introduced in the market. Information on transactions includes total price, VAT and discounts only.
2.4.4 Recommendations on the description channels
2.4.4.1 Recommendations for Expedia
The web page does not need any noticeable modifications; however it should eliminate accessibility errors and link with social schmoozing media as they help in communication with customers and get channels for accessing market.
2.4.4.2 Recommendations for Thompson
This web page can introduce information on indigenous culture and past so as to give an in-depth description of information. The texts designs should be revised and have their sizes reduced to simple images and text so as improve accessibility and limit time wastage. It should also increase its popularity and search engines through social networking.
2.4.4.3 Recommendations for Principals
British Airways has no noticeable weaknesses that need immediate attention. However, the remaining two need some basic improvement.
2.4.4.4.1 Avis
It has low-quality pictures which interfere with the general layout on information; this should be looked into and improve the images quality through a better design of quality image that are attractive. It should also have a search engine that will help provide relevant information.
2.4.4.4.2 Apotek
It should modify its web page so that it contains relevant information that enables users to get wide-ranging information. To increase its accessibility, it should use appealing colours, audio-visuals and language so as to reach out to all customers.
3.0 Travel and Tourism Organization Perspectives
3.1 Implications on my use of the Internet for travel services
The web gives me an opportunity to surf and look for information about travel products at my own comfort. However, this path sends a different message to travel principles and intermediaries. Taking the initiative to look for information by myself and making travel transactions individually devalues the role of intermediaries and most often renders them jobless as they have no duty to perform. The principals nonetheless have the bigger share of the cake as they consider this channel convenient as it gives them a chance to communicate with me and get pointers on their service provision and even asking for opinions on how to better their performance. The use of the internet for search on travel services is advantageous to producers but inconvenient to intermediaries.
Given the dynamism of the travel industry, key principals and intermediaries should incorporate Information Technology into their systems to increase efficiency and performance through the use of the internet for travel transactions. The world is changing into a computer –controlled globe and inculcating the spirit of embracing change would help the travel industry. The tourists should embrace technology as computer literacy is increasing among the target market to ease overwhelming duties such as dealing with the uncontrollable number of consumers every now and again. The introduction and incorporation of technology into the travel industry is worth the risk since the target market is becoming susceptible to internet transactions, and as customer satisfaction is the key aim of any travel company, there is a call to reach out to the customers more efficiently, directly and faster through the internet.
Even though travel managers can question the credibility of the internet due to hacking cases and inconveniences of having ghost customers in the market, they should consider this channel and implement security and customer protection through different web server protections. Additionally, they should develop and integrate the web and social schmoozing into the industry as it is the easiest and most convenient source of access to customers and even communicate to and with them behind the scenes or one on one through the internet. They, therefore, should open social networks e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc. where they can reach out to their current customers and prospective ones. They should also look into the avenues for establishing and implementing transnational strategies for quality improvement, networking and business relations and counsels. They must also implement strategies for managing their resources which can be through improvement of access to long and short term operational capital through credit banking and security.
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Appendix
Definition of terms
M-W-C Channel: This is the manufacturer- Wholesaler- Consumer channel where consumers purchase travel products from tour operators who package them into a single unit.
M-R-C Channel: This distribution channel involves Supplier-Travel Agents- Consumer where travellers purchase travel products and services through Travel Agents.
M-W-R-C Channel: In this channel, wholesaler package tour products, sell them to tour operators who in the end sell them to travellers with a surcharge fee.
M-C Channel: This is the simplest channel that involves the Supplier and Consumer, in this context; travellers buy travel products directly from providers.
Tour package: This are the products and services of a tour that have been bundled together to form one entity. It includes: Transport, Accommodation, Activities and Travel Insurance.
Customer perspective: This is the views and opinions a customer may have on a given product or service provided to him or her.
Intermediary Perspective: This entails standpoints of travel agents and tour operators on varied issues pertaining to travel and tourism.
Principal Perspectives: These are service producers’ viewpoints about different elements that encompass the travel business.
Customer Profile: This is a collection of information about a customer regarding their age, nationality, occupation, hobbies, travel interests etc.
