Travel Tour Operators

Travelling is one of those things that people do out of pure enjoyment or because they spend their lives moving from place to place. As the demand for jobs within the travel industry grows so do the demand for better travel services. As it happens the travel industry has opened up plenty of opportunities and applicants are making their stand by applying to whatever they see fit for their existing skills and attributes.

One of the more popular lines of employment is tour operator jobs where people work as a tour operator, travelling to various destinations accompanying groups in the UK or abroad and providing detailed information about the area. The work can take place on a coach, a minibus, ferry, cruise ship, river boat or nay mode of transportation that has a large group of tourists. With the transportation comes an itinerary list, laying out activities and information for people travelling. This is usually devised by the tour operator in advance.

Tour operator jobs may be varied in their location and in what is required of them, however, one thing that operators need to do is to have training and expert knowledge of the area that they are travelling in as well as excellent communication and customer service skills. This takes some years of training and work experience, making it a demanding yet insightful position to work in. The role of a tour operator can vary, as some may not have administrative duties whilst are required to deal with paperwork and travel documents.

Specialist knowledge in history, art, entertainment, music, fashion or any useful facts is a bonus for people looking to get a placement at a specific location. Having this knowledge will allow visitors to have a much more fulfilling experience when travelling and feel very well taken care of as they should do. It is the job of a tour operator to make sure that all tourists have their travel documents and tickets with them at all times.

Understanding other languages is not usually an essential requirement for most travel agencies, however it is desirable and will put you in a better position to successfully being appointed in the role. Normally the role requires plenty of initiative, lots of client interaction, dealing with problems quickly and making travel arrangements for customers. This may mean pick up and drop offs, hotel booking, site seeing arrangements, organising meals during and after excursions.

Most tour operators can work their way up to management positions and take their career further by working on larger travel projects.

Gino Hitshopi is an expert on tour operator jobs and understands the role they play for travellers all over the world. For more information visit http://www.newfrontiers.co.uk/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gino_Hitshopi

Labels: the duties involved with tour operator jobs

Tour Operators & travel Agents are different in Malaysia! And the public have had the wrong perception for long time. In Malaysia, Tour Operators and Travel Agents are different and play different roles. In a factory scenario, a Tour Operator is like the production department and the Travel Agent is like the Sales Department...

A Tour Operator is the organizer and provider of package holidays. It is often referred as the Ground Handler. The Tour Company will make contracts with hotels and resorts, airlines and ground transport companies like private cars, buses, vans, ferries and trains & etc. With all the necessary pricing and information compiled, the Tour Operator will draft detailed tour packages and distribute to Travel Agents in Travel Agent Directory in Malaysia and even overseas.

The roles & responsibilities of a Tour Operator are booking and arranging:

- Transportation: Chaffered Car, Chartered Bus & Van, Air Ticket, Train Ticket, Ferry Ticket, Cruise Ticket, other transit modes and even special vehicles like trishaw.

- Tour Guide: All Tour Guides must be licensed by the Ministry of Tourism Malaysia after attending and examined in a professional Tourist Guide Courses.

- Sight Seeing: Entrance for tourist destinations, eco-tour, adventures tour, jungle trekking, snorkeling & scuba diving, island hopping and even handicraft or cultural & living experiences.

- Food & Beverage: Breakfast, Tea Time or Tea Break, Lunch & Dinner, whether by set, buffet or packed food.

- Accommodation: Hotels, Resorts, Service Apartments, Camping Sites, Dormitories, Training Camps, Chalets, Tree Houses or traditional houses & habitats that accommodating travelers.

- Activities: Tele-match, treasure hunt, paint ball, team building, outside office meeting...

- Special Events: Company dinner, karaoke contest

On the other hand, Travel Agents do not operate tours. Travel agencies gives traveling advices to travelers, promote and sell the tour packages that they have from various Tour Operators, then administer the tour bookings. Travel Agents usually are set up in prime locations with heavy traffic such as beside the main roads, inside crowed shopping malls or at the ground floor of a landmark building.

The roles & responsibilities of a Travel Agent are:

- Selling ells travel related products and services, particularly package tours to end-user customers on behalf of third party travel suppliers, such as airlines, hotels, tour operator and tour companies, and cruise lines & etc.

- Most travel agents have a special department devoted to travel arrangements for business travelers, while some agencies specialize in commercial and business travelers.

- Some also serve as general service agents for foreign travel companies in different countries.

- Act as an agent for tour packages:

- Buy tour packages or tour services at discounts & sell with profits.

- Get commissions from suppliers & other tour companies.

- Act as a ticketing agent for transportation (e.g. airlines, ferry, bus, train & etc).

- Other commercial operations are undertaken: insurance, travel guides, car rental, Bureau de change, private tour guide & etc.

- Offer impartial travel advice to the customer.

Next time, if you traveling in small group less than 10 travelers, it is advisable to engage a Travel Agent. Do not try to find the best travel agent in Malaysia. There is no such myth! Just go with the travel agent that suit your traveling needs and budgets or the tour agent that you trusted the most. However, if you are organizing a group tour like company tour, a Tour Operator will be able to provide you a more suitable tailor-made service.

The above information are guidelines and advices that 88Holidays provided to its Corporate Clients in organizing group tour. It is simple but useful information to help organizing a successful company tour with many years experiences.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Ong

Labels: differences of tour operators and travel agents

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