Travel and Tourism Team Decision Making

The setting

A coastal town's visitor bureau has done its job well and summer arrivals have climbed for years. Residents have begun campaigning against tourism, and the council is considering limits the bureau would have to work within.

Your role

You and your partner are to assume the roles of associates at the visitor bureau.

Your task

A small coastal town has seen summer visitor numbers grow steadily for several years, thanks in part to the visitor bureau's successful marketing campaigns. Local businesses have benefited, and new restaurants and shops have opened.

Many residents, however, say the town has become overcrowded in summer, with traffic, crowded beaches and rising rents. A residents' group is campaigning against tourism, and the town council is considering limits on visitor numbers that would directly affect the bureau's work.

The chair (judge) wants you to recommend what the bureau does next. Describe the concept of promotion in this industry when the problem is too much success, explain the promotional methods available that would change who comes rather than how many, explain the factors that motivate people to choose this town, describe the services the industry would have to grow to support them, and discuss the role of ethics in promoting a place its residents live in.

Performance indicators

• Describe the concept of promotion in the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Explain promotional methods used by the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Explain factors that motivate people to choose a hospitality and tourism site.
• Describe services offered by the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Discuss the role of ethics in hospitality and tourism.

The judge will ask

1. 1.Should the bureau promote the town less? Defend it.
2. 2.What would you say at the next residents' meeting?

The setting

NORTHLIGHT TOURS runs whale watching trips and has cancelled far more departures than usual this season. Most of the affected customers travelled specifically for the trip and cannot easily come back.

Your role

You and your partner are to assume the roles of associates at NORTHLIGHT TOURS.

Your task

NORTHLIGHT TOURS runs whale watching boat trips from a coastal town and has a strong reputation. This season, unusually rough weather has forced it to cancel many more departures than normal.

Most customers who booked had travelled to the town specifically for the trip, often from far away, and cannot easily come back another day. Reviews mentioning cancellations are beginning to appear online, and the owner is worried about the company's reputation.

The owner (judge) wants you to recommend how cancellations are handled from here. Explain how you would resolve the conflicts a cancellation creates, explain the nature of guest recovery for someone who flew in for a trip that did not sail, explain how you would accommodate the specific requests they make instead, identify the strategies you would use to manage their experience of the day, and explain the guarantees the company is making when it sells a ticket.

Performance indicators

• Resolve hospitality and tourism related conflicts for customers.
• Explain the nature of guest recovery.
• Accommodate special needs/specific requests of customers.
• Identify strategies to manage customer experience during peaks in demand.
• Explain guarantees in hospitality and tourism.

The judge will ask

1. 1.What would you offer a customer who travelled for a trip you cancelled?
2. 2.What should the company promise when it sells a ticket?

The setting

A mountain region's tourism board is planning next season's campaign after wildfires closed several of its main trails. The trails will reopen, and the coverage of the fires is what people remember.

Your role

You and your partner are to assume the roles of associates at the tourism board.

Your task

A mountain region known for its hiking trails was affected by wildfires last summer, which closed several of its most popular trails for months. The fires were widely reported in national news.

The trails have now been repaired and will reopen for the coming season, but surveys suggest that many potential visitors still believe the region is closed or damaged. The regional tourism board is planning its campaign for next season.

The executive director (judge) wants you to recommend the campaign. Describe the concept of promotion in this industry when recent news is working against you, explain the promotional methods you would use, explain the types of promotion available and which this calls for, explain what motivates someone to choose a place that has recently been in the news, and explain the relationship between what you promise and what a visitor finds when they arrive.

Performance indicators

• Describe the concept of promotion in the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Explain promotional methods used by the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Explain the types of promotion (i.e., institutional, product).
• Explain factors that motivate people to choose a hospitality and tourism site.
• Explain the relationship between promotion and brand.

The judge will ask

1. 1.Do you mention the fires in the campaign? How?
2. 2.What would you do differently if the trails were still closed?

The setting

MERIDIAN TRAVEL built a long cultural tour that almost nobody books, while its shorter version sells out every departure and customers keep asking for something shorter still.

Your role

You and your partner are to assume the roles of associates at MERIDIAN TRAVEL.

Your task

MERIDIAN TRAVEL designed a long cultural tour of a historic region, which the company's founders are particularly proud of. Almost nobody books it.

A shorter version covering the highlights of the same region sells out every departure, and customers regularly ask whether an even shorter option is available. The founders are reluctant to abandon the long tour, which they see as the company's signature product.

The director of product (judge) wants you to recommend what the range becomes. Describe the services the industry offers and which of them these tours actually provide, explain the concept of product in this industry, explain the concept of product mix across the range, describe the role of the customer voice in shaping it, and explain how you would recommend the right service to a traveller who is choosing between lengths.

Performance indicators

• Describe services offered by the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Explain the concept of product in the hospitality and tourism industry.
• Explain the concept of product mix.
• Describe the role of customer voice in hospitality and tourism branding.
• Recommend hospitality and tourism services.

The judge will ask

1. 1.Do you retire the long tour? Defend the answer.
2. 2.How would you decide what a shorter version should include?