Business Facilities Operations

Itinerary is known as a tour plan. It is related to the tour programs, timetable and the information of the places to be visited. A program includes only activities, whereas, an itinerary includes date, day, time duration and points of interests between the destinations, on the way to the destination, the special features of the tour and happenings at the destination etc. An itinerary is the combination of the different components of tourism to form a product ready for sale. So, it explains and shows how different components of tourism are joined together. Travel was there since a long time but there was no tourism. Hotels were there, transport or movements of the people were there but there was no tourism because there was no joint or coordinated effort. By the introduction of the travel agency, there came the concept of tourism. When there developed the joint effort then there came the concept of tourism. Travel agencies produce the tourism product, that is to produce itinerary. Now the tour is sold as a single product. Tourism is defined as sum of the total activities related to travel and stay and itinerary joins that travel and stay together to form a product. Itinerary is the commodification of tour.

Itinerary is developed to perform the sales process. It tries to solve the problems created by service nature, “here and there” nature and synchronized effort nature. Tangible products are weighted, measured but service is measured in duration. Itinerary is prepared to identify the duration of service, tangible and intangible nature of service, solves the problem of immovability of tourism products. The other interesting fact  of tourism is to have point of sales (POS) and point of service delivery (POSD) in different places. Itinerary solves the problems of joint efforts also. An itinerary is the combination of the different components of the tourism to form a product ready to sale. So, it explains how different components of tourism are joined together. The travel agencies produce the tourism product that is to produce the itinerary.  

Convenience tourism products are bought to satisfy immediate desire. These products are inexpensive items that require little shopping effort. Tourists buy convenience products usually without significant planning. Fast food, cold drinks, small souvenirs, a visit to museum are the examples of convenience tourism product. 

These tourism products are generally more expensive than convenience products and tourists buy these products only after comparing. Buying these products involves shopping efforts. Tourists want to compare quality, service agency. They are half-day tour, dinner program, etc. 

Specialty tourism products are expensive and involves high risk from tourist side. They spend sustainable time and effort to buy these type of products. In reality every tourism product involves certain element of specialty product. Buying a foreign tour, airline ticket, mountaineering and expedition are some examples of specialty tourism products. 

Unsought tourism products are unknown products to the tourists. Every tourism products include this element to provide pleasure of shopping. In terms of tourism buying is ‘ Shopping for pleasure’. They are the new destinations, resorts or activities.

These products are purchased for further processing or for use in conducting a business. The distinction between a consumer product and industrial product is based on the purpose for which the product is bought. A trekking needs hotel and city and transport. In the same way every resort is supported by transport.

These items support production or operation. They facilitate developing and managing the finished goods. It includes land and buildings, natural beauty, heritage, cultural hospitality, customer’s trust, image, goodwill, standardization of the service are the capital in tourism in business.

The tourism product may be defined as a bundle or package of tangible and intangible components based on activity at a destination. The package is perceived by the tourist as an experience available at a price. A tourism is made of 4 A’s, every tourism product should have 4 A’s i.e. attraction, accommodation, accessibility and amenities as follows:

Attractions are those elements, which determine the choice of tourists. Attraction creates desire to travel, motivate to travel. They should be able to attract and attach so tourists participates in the tourism activities. Attractions may be natural attractions, man-made attractions, event attractions, built-in attractions and cultural and social attractions.

These are elements within the destination or related to tour, that make it possible for visitors to stay overnight. For the purpose of classification, all tourist accommodations have been divided into two groups, service accommodation and supplementary accommodation. Service accommodations are the hotels, lodges, resorts, inns etc. operating as business enterprises and provide house-keeping facilities. Supplementary accommodations are not registered as tourism organization but provide accommodation facilities such as Dharmasalas, camping grounds, Youth hostels etc.

These are the elements that affect the time value and dollar value of a traveler. It is related to the possibility to  visit, to feel, to see or to acquire the experience. It is the time and money, and effort to fulfill the desire created by attraction. They include transport, government regulation, travel facilities. Accessibility is not to have any travel barriers.

Amenities are the services and facilities added with attraction, accommodation and accessibility to create tourism. It is the soul of tourism which gives life to tourism. Without amenities, a destination will be a place, accommodation will be a local hotel, a transport will be local transport etc.

Other component of a tourism is image or goodwill of a destination or organization. It strongly influence the customers’ buying decisions. Their expectations are closely linked with satisfaction because they are considered as part of the product.