CONTENTS

TRAINING REPORT

CHAPTER – I
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER – II
TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

CHAPTER – III
COX & KINGS

CHAPTER – IV
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COX & KINGS AND SOTC

CHAPTER –V
COMPARISON OF PACKAGES

CHAPTER – VI
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

CHAPTER – VII

SEEMA SAXENA 1 PGDM (IB-B)

I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me the
possibility to complete this reprort. I want to thank the Department
of Tourism I have furthermore to thank the Mrs.Geeta Mishra.

I am deeply indebted to my Trainer Mr. Sheeraz whose help,

stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped me in all the
time of tour and support in follow up.

My former colleagues from the PGDM(IB) supported me in my

tour report. I want to thank them for all their help, support, interest
and valuable hints.. My sister Riya help difficult times. My special
thanks to Ms Parul Kanchan without her guidance completion of
this report will not be possible

At last I would like to thanks all the staff members of Cox & Kings
named as Miss Deepshikha Srivastava , Mr. S.M . Faham and
Mr.Athar who gave me proper support in completion of my
training.

THANKYOU

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 Executive Summary

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India’s tourism industry is experiencing a strong period of growth,
driven by the burgeoning Indian middle class, growth in high
spending foreign tourists, and coordinated government campaigns
to promote ‘Incredible India’.

India’s governmental bodies have also made a significant impact in

tourism by requiring that each and every state of India have a
corporation to administer support issues related to tourism.
A new growth sector is medical tourism. It is currently growing at
around 30% per annum. Medical tourist arrivals are expected to
reach one million soon.
The tourism industry of India is based on certain core nationalistic
ideals and standards which are: Swaagat or welcome, Sahyog or
cooperation, Soochanaa or information, Sanrachanaa or
infrastructure, Suvidha or facilitation, Safaai or cleanliness and
Surakshaa or security

The tourism industry in India is substantial and vibrant, and the

country is fast becoming a major global destination. India’s travel
and tourism industry is one of them most profitable industries in
the country, and also credited with contributing a substantial
amount of foreign exchange. This is illustrated by the fact that
during 2006, four million tourists visited India and spent US $8.9
billion.
Several reasons are cited for the growth and prosperity of India’s
travel and tourism industry. Economic growth has added millions
annually to the ranks of India’s middle class, a group that is
driving domestic tourism growth. Disposable income in India has

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grown by 10.11% annually from 2001-2006, and much of that is
being spent ontravel.

Thanks in part to its booming IT and outsourcing industry a

growing number of business trips are made by foreigners to India,
who will often add a weekend break or longer holiday to their trip.
Foreign tourists spend more in India than almost any other country
worldwide. Tourist arrivals are projected to increase by over 22%
per year through till 2010, with a 33% increase in foreign exchange
earnings recorded in 2004.

The Tourism Ministry has also played an important role in the

development of the industry, initiating advertising campaigns such
as the “Incredible India” campaign, which promoted India’s
culture and tourist attractions in a fresh and memorable way. The
campaign helped create a colorful image of India in the minds of
consumers all over the world, and has directly led to an increase in
the interest among tourists.

The tourism industry has helped growth in other sectors as diverse

as horticulture, handicrafts, agriculture, construction and even
poultry.

Both directly and indirectly, increased tourism in India has created

jobs in a variety of related sectors. The numbers tell the story:
almost 20 million people are now working in the India’s tourism
industry.

CERTAIN FACTS;-

India attracted about 4 million foreign tourists in 2006 who spent

US$8.9 billion The tourism industry in India generated about

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US$100 billion in 2008 and that is expected to increase to
US$275.5 billion by 2018 at a 9.4% annual growth rate.

According to World Travel and Tourism, tourism in India had the

highest 10-year growth potential. he Travel & Tourism
Competitiveness Report 2007 ranked tourism in India 6th in terms
of price competitiveness and 39th in terms in terms of safety and
security.

However, India's tourism sector currently lags behind less

endowed countries and faces serious challenges including shortage
of hotel rooms. In 2007, there were only 25,000 tourist-class hotel
rooms in the whole of India. Among other factors hindering the
growth of the tourism industry in India are stringent visa
requirements and congested airports. Tourism has also suffered
due to recent terror attacks in Mumbai but there were early signs of
regaining lost momentum. Despite short- and medium-term
setbacks, tourism revenues are expected to surge by 42% from
2007 to 2017.

India has a growing medical tourism sector.

Indian Tourism industry is one of the most important export

industries of the country. Although the international tourist inflow
is relatively low, India has found tourism emerging as an important
sector of its economy.

Recent statistics have revealed that during the first quarter of 2006,
the performance of the tourism industry has been very encouraging
which has registered an 11% increase in foreign tourist arrivals.

India Tourism office at Tokyo won two International Awards in

Tour Expo held at Daegu in Korea for excellent tourism
promotion. Indian Pavilion won the Best Booth Design Award as
well as Best Folklore Performance Award competing with major

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players in tourism such as China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and
Canada.

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A travel agency is a retail business, that sells travel related
products and services to customers, on behalf of suppliers, such as
airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours
and package holidays that combine several products. In addition to
dealing with ordinary tourists, most travel agencies have a separate
department devoted to making travel arrangements for business
travelers and some travel agencies specialize in commercial and
business travel only. There are also travel agencies that serve as
general sales agents for foreign travel companies, allowing them to
have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are
located.

Origins

The British company, Cox & Kings,is sometimes said to be the

oldest travel agency in the world, but this rests upon the services
that the original bank, established in 1758, supplied to its wealthy
clients. The modern travel agency first appeared in the second half
of the 19th century. Thomas Cook, in addition to developing the
package tour, established a chain of agencies in the last quarter of
the 19th century, in association with the Midland Railway. They
not only sold their own tours to the public, but in addition,
represented other tour companies. Other British pioneer travel
agencies were Dean and Dawson, the Polytechnic Touring
Association and the Co-operative Wholesale Society. The oldest
travel agency in North America is Brownell Travel; on July 4,
1887, Walter T. Brownell led ten travelers on a European tour,
setting sail from New York on the SS Devonia.

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Travel agencies became more commonplace with the development
of commercial aviation, starting in the 1920s. Originally, travel
agencies largely catered to middle and upper class customers, but
the post-war boom in mass-market package holidays resulted in
travel agencies on the main streets of most British towns, catering
to a working class clientèle, looking for a convenient way to book
overseas beach holidays.

Operations

As the name implies, a travel agency's main function is to act as an

agent, that is to say, selling travel products and services on behalf
of a supplier. Consequently, unlike other retail businesses, they do
not keep a stock in hand. A package holiday or a ticket is not
purchased from a supplier unless a customer requests that
purchase. The holiday or ticket is supplied to them at a discount.
The profit is therefore the difference between the advertised price
which the customer pays and the discounted price at which it is
supplied to the agent. This is known as the commission. A British
travel agent would consider a 10-12% commission as a good
arrangement.

In some countries, airlines have stopped giving commission to

travel agencies. Therefore, travel agencies are now forced to
charge a percentage premium or a standard flat fee, per sale.
However, some companies still give them a set percentage for
selling their product. Major tour companies can afford to do this,
because if they were to sell a thousand trips at a cheaper rate, they
still come out better than if they sell a hundred trips at a higher
rate. This process benefits both parties.

Other commercial operations are undertaken, especially by the

larger chains. These can include the sale of in-house insurance,
travel guide books and timetables, car rentals, and the services of
an on-site Bureau de change, dealing in the most popular holiday
currencies.

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The majority of travel agents have felt the need to protect
themselves and their clients against the possibilities of commercial
failure, either their own or a supplier's. They will advertise the fact
that they are surety bonded, meaning in the case of a failure, the
customers are guaranteed either an equivalent holiday to that
which they have lost or if they prefer, a refund. Many British and
American agencies and tour operators are bonded with the
International Air Transport Association (IATA), for those who
issue air tickets, Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) for
those who order tickets in, the Association of British Travel
Agents (ABTA) or the American Society of Travel Agents
(ASTA), for those who sell package holidays on behalf of a tour
company.

A travel agent is supposed to offer impartial travel advice to the

customer. However, this function almost disappeared with the
mass-market package holiday and some agency chains seemed to
develop a 'holiday supermarket' concept, in which customers
choose their holiday from brochures on racks and then book it
from a counter. Again, a variety of social and economic changes
have now contrived to bring this aspect to the fore once more,
particularly with the advent of multiple, no-frills, low-cost airlines.

Commissions

Most travel agencies operate on a commission-basis, meaning that

the compensation from the airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels,
railways, sightseeing tours and tour operators, etc., is expected in
form of a commission from their bookings. Most often, the
commission consists of a set percentage of the sale.

In the United States, most airlines pay no commission at all to

travel agencies. In this case, an agency usually adds a service fee to
the net price.

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Types of agencies

There are three different types of agencies in the UK: Multiples,

Miniples and Independent Agencies. The former comprises of a
number of national chains, often owned by international
conglomerates, like Thomson Holidays, now a subsidiary of TUI
AG, the German multinational. It is now quite common for the
large mass-market tour companies to purchase a controlling
interest in a chain of travel agencies, in order to control the
distribution of their product. (This is an example of vertical
integration.) The smaller chains are often based in particular
regions or districts.

In the United States, there are four different types of agencies:

Mega, Regional, Consortium and Independent Agencies. American
Express and the American Automobile Association (AAA) are
examples of mega travel agencies.

Independent Agencies usually cater to a special or niche market,

such as the needs of residents in an upmarket commuter town or
suburb or a particular group interested in a similar activity, such as
sporting events, like football, golf or tennis.

There are two approaches of travel agencies. One is the traditional,

multi-destination, out-bound travel agency, based in the originating
location of the traveler and the other is the destination focused, in-
bound travel agency, that is based in the destination and delivers an
expertise on that location. At present, the former is usually a larger
operator like Thomas Cook, while the latter is often a smaller,
independent operator.

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Consolidators

Travel consolidators or wholesalers are high volume sales

companies that specialize in selling to niche markets. They may or
may not offer various types of services, at a single point of access.
These can be hotel reservations, flights or car-rentals, for example.
Sometimes the services are combined into vacation packages, that
include transfers to the location and lodging. These companies do
not usually sell directly to the public, but act as wholesalers to
retail travel agencies. Commonly, the sole purpose of consolidators
is to sell to ethnic niches in the travel industry. Usually, no
consolidator offers everything, they may only have contracted rates
to specific destinations. Today, there are no domestic
consolidators, with some exceptions for business class contracts.

Careers

With the many people switching to self-service internet websites,

the number of available jobs as travel agents is decreasing. Most
jobs that become available are from older travel agents retiring.
Counteracting the decrease in jobs due to internet services is the
increase in the number of people travelling. Since 1995, many
travel agents have exited the industry, and relatively few young
people have entered the field due to less competitive salaries.
However, others have abandoned the 'brick and mortar' agency for
a home-based business to reduce overheads and those who remain
have managed to survive by promoting other travel products such
as cruise lines and train excursions or by promoting their ability to
aggressively research .

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Company Profile :

COX & KINGS - A PROFILE

Cox & Kings LTD. (CKL), IS THE LONGEST ESTABLISHED

TRAVEL COMPANY IN THE WORLD SINCE 1758 AND IN
DECEMBER 2009 SUCCESSFULLY LISTED ON THE STOCK
EXCHANGE IN INDIA. ITS distinguished history began when it
was appointed as general agents to the regiment of Foot Guards in
India under the command of Lord Ligonier and handled the Royal
Cavalry, Artillery and Infantry, Royal Wagon Train, the
Household Brigade, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force came
under its wings.
Today, it is a premium brand in all travel related services,
employing over 1,400 professionals and headquartered in India.
The business can be broadly categorised as Leisure Travel,
Corporate Travel, MICE, Trade Fairs, Visa Processing and foreign
exchange.

OFFICES & REPRESENTATIONS:

The company is networked through a mix of branch sales offices,
franchised sales shops, General Sales Agents (GSAs), and
Preferred Sales Agents (PSAs). The company has 14 branch sales
offices located in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata,
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Pune, Nagpur
and Goa. The company has appointed 94 franchisees across 20
states covering 70 cities. The company‟s extensive network of 185
GSAs and PSAs covering all major towns and cities of India
enhances its reach.

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It has subsidiaries in UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, US,
UAE and Singapore and operates from Moscow (Russia),
Maldives and Tahiti through branch offices and Spain, Sweden,
Germany, Italy, France, South America and South Africa through
representative offices.
The company owns Tempo Holidays Australia, East India Travel
Company in North America, ETN in the UK and Quoprro Global
Services Pvt Ltd,(visa processing). In December 2009 it also
acquired MyPlanet Australia Pty Ltd and Bentours International
Pty Ltd in Australia.

PRINCIPAL SERVICES OFFERED BY THE COMPANY:

1)Leisure

 Domestic Tourism

Cox & Kings is amongst the first travel organisations to brand

domestic holidays - 'Bharat Deko'. Under this brand we market
exclusive products that range from religious pilgrimage tours,
education tours, weekend breaks, activity holidays, spa holidays,
budget holidays, summer and beach retreats, train vacations,
coaching and touring holidays.

 Inbound Tourism

Inbound Travel business promotes India as a tourist destination.

The company caters primarily to the high-end segment of the
inbound market and conducts a range of group and individual tours
throughout India for its clients from across the world. We provide
destination management services and cover all aspects of ground
tour management such as hotel bookings, air/ rail ticketing,
roundtrip, airport transfer, land arrangements, excursion planning,

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meet and greet services, event planning, meetings and
appointments, conference management, private air charter, etc.
We also provide specialised services to foreign participants visiting
India for international meetings, conferences, ad hoc incentives
and exhibitions and cater to domestic conferences and corporate
incentives as well. Additionally, we provide ground related
services to international cruise companies touching Indian shores
with a provision for shore excursions. This segment is growing at
close to 25 per cent.

 Outbound Tourism

Cox & Kings is amongst the largest players with its range of
specialist options. Innovative packaging, pricing and marketing
have been the hallmarks of its success over the years. Among its
many products are:

a) Duniya Dekho
They design and market escorted tours to group travellers under
one of our flagship brand “Duniya Dekho”. These are ready made
packages where a group of travellers is escorted by a tour manager.
The customer chooses a specific tour from the array of choices
offered to suit his budget and preferences. These group tours cover
some of the world's most enchanting places such as Australia, New
Zealand, Europe, U.S.A., Canada, Far-East, Middle East, South
Africa and Mauritius. These are specially designed for the „value
traveller‟.
“Duniya Dekho” recently launched a series of premium group
holidays – “Luxury Escapades” with travel destinations like
Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Far East and Africa.

b) FlexiHols

These are targeted at the more discerning Free Individual Traveller

(FIT), where every holiday is customized as per the convenience of

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the traveller. FIT can make its “FlexiHol” travel plans by selecting
its travel destination and holiday option (ranging from romantic
holidays, exotic cruises, family vacations, etc.), identifying travel
interest (i.e. explorer, family, romance or explorer) and sharing his
preference of sightseeing, airline and hotels.
The destinations range from Europe, Australia and New Zealand,

c) Luxury Escapades

This innovative niche caters to the crème de la crème and this

concept in holidaying unveils one destination after another, laced
with sinful indulgences and fine living. One can experience the
finest luxury hotels and the most exclusive entertainment avenues
of the world.

d) NRI Division

Indians across the world have always yearned to travel with a

quality tour operator that understands its diverse needs be it
culinary preferences or holiday options. The NRI division caters to
such travellers primarily from the Middle East, Europe, USA,
Australia, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong.

2)Business Travel

The Corporate or Business Travel has witnessed a change from the

traditional travel agency mode to total travel management mode. In
this mode, the objective is to minimize the total travel budget for
the corporate while maintaining the service standards.
The Corporate Travel market is a highly competitive market with
presence of both domestic and international travel companies. We
believe our brand recall is very high amongst over 200 corporate
clients, including major domestic and multinational companies.
It is affiliated with Radius Inc., the world's largest conglomerate in
business travel, as their Indian partner. Leveraging the partnership

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with Radius, Cox & Kings can offer travel fulfilment services to
corporate clients in India and overseas.

3)Trade Fairs

Cox & Kings Trade Fairs ensures that you make the most of your
business trip and that the smallest of details are taken care of, right
from confirmed accommodation, city centre hotels during the fair
period, and city tours to technical add-ons such as factory visits,
buyer-seller meets and much more, all at the most attractive prices.
Backed by a phenomenal trail of awards and expertise, Cox &
Kings offers outbound tour management facilities and an array of
value-added services that can arrange and handle the most complex
and exacting business trips anywhere in the world.

4)Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (“MICE”)

Leisure travel is increasingly being used as an incentive tool by

many organizations to convey appreciation for
recognizing achievers. It has dual benefits, one by providing a
holiday that enables an executive to unwind and recharge and the
other serving as a reward for excellence that inspires the team.
We cater to all aspects of conference organizing, business
meetings, event management, seminars, exhibitions, product
launches and incentives. Every event is designed to meet specific
requirements right from the pre-event preparations, during the
event itself and through to post-event settlements.
We have been constantly introducing innovative events and
making suggestions to make every conference eventful and
memorable like elephant polo matches, gala dinners in fairy tale
castles and steam train journeys in princely carriages amongst
others.

5)Forex

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Cox & Kings is amongst the leading retail forex dealers in the
country. We were one of the first travel companies to be granted
the license as the Authorised Dealer - Category II under the new
licensing regime.
The enhancement of status from FFMC to Authorised Dealer -
Category II opened a wide spectrum of activities which we can
undertake; foremost among them is the ability to transact outward
remittance requirements. The remittances or other exchange
facilities for students pursuing studies abroad, medical treatment
overseas, migrant travellers, salary and wages to crews on ships
visiting in India, subscriptions for overseas publications, seminars,
organization‟s membership are some of the new businesses which
we can undertake in addition to providing foreign exchange service
to Leisure Travellers and Corporate / Business Travellers.
This places Cox & Kings in league with Authorized Dealers like
Foreign Exchange Nominated Banks to cater to the requirements
of a whole host of customers. It works with more than 100
corporate clients and caters to its large leisure base.

6)Cox & Kings Online

Cox & Kings has developed an online portal, which is a web

enabled dynamic system that includes holidays, sightseeing, cars,
hotels, transfers, insurance and other ancillary travel services. Most
of the products and services are available on a real time basis and
is backed by a 24x7 call centre. With the company's online access
system, one can complete all processes using just one window, just
one simple booking system.

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AWARDS & RECOGNITION:

Cox & Kings have won several awards and recognition.

• "Most admired tour operator 2010" awarded by SATTE
(2010)
• “First Runner Up” in the Best Large Tour Operator category
awarded by the Telegraph Ultra Travel luxury survey UK
2010.
• “First Runner Up” in the Favourite Tour Operator category
awarded by Condé Nast Traveller Readers‟ Choice Awards
(2010).
• “Best Domestic Tour Operator” awarded by the Abacus
TAFI TravelBiz Monitor Awards (2009).
• “Best Inbound Tour Operator” awarded by the Abacus TAFI
TravelBiz Monitor Awards (2009).
• “Most Innovative Product Launch” awarded by the Abacus
TAFI TravelBiz Monitor Awards (2009).

• “India‟s Top Rated Tour Operator – Outbound 2009”

awarded by The Economic Times, India‟s largest business
daily.
• “Most Innovative Travel Company of 2009” awarded by
Today‟s Traveller Platinum Award.
• “The Number One Brand in India” based on a survey
conducted by research agency, TNS and co-funded by Media
magazine, ranking it 152 amongst the top 1,000 brands in the
Asia Pacific region - Australia, China, India, Japan, Hong
Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
• “Best Domestic Tour Operator” awarded by Galileo Express
Travel World Awards (2008)

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 • “Best Visual Advertising Campaign” awarded by Galileo
Express Travel World Awards (2008)
• “WTM Global Award” to Mr. Peter Kerkar, Global CEO,
Cox and Kings for his remarkable contribution to the travel
and tourism industry (2008)
• “One of the top 15 travel companies in the world” by Conde
Nast Traveller Awards (2008)
• “One of the top 10 travel companies in the world” by Conde
Nast Traveller Awards (2003)
• “Best Self Drive Brochure” by Tourism New Zealand Asia
Awards (2008)
• “Most Preferred Tour Operator Award” by CNBC Travel
Awards (2007)
• TAFI-Abacus Award for the “Best Outbound Tour
Operator” (2007)
• TAFI-Abacus Award for the “Best Domestic Tour Operator”
(2007)
• 3 Awards for being the "Best Domestic Tour Operator"
awarded by Galileo Express Travel World Awards (2005-
2006, 2004-2005, 2003-2004)
• “Best Technology” Award By Galileo Express Travel
Awards (2005-2006)
• "Best Outbound Tour Operator“ by Galileo Express Travel
(2003 – 2004)
• 3 National Tourism Awards for being the “Best Domestic
Tour Operator" awarded by Government of India,
Department of Tourism (2005 – 2006, 2004 – 2005, 2003 –
2004)

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 • 7 National Tourism Awards for being the “Best Conference
Agency" awarded by Government of India, Department of
Tourism (2004-2005, 2003-2004, 2002-2003, 2001-2002,
2000-2001) 1999-2000.

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SHEERAZ TOURS is PSA of COX & KINGS. A great idea born
at the right time is not just bound to succeed but it also becomes a
trend - setting revolution of sorts. SheerazTours.com began as a
great idea and has gone on to pioneer the online travel industry in
India. The SheerazTours.com story serves as an inspiring case for
us and for our partners. We are a corporate and leisure based travel
management company located in Lucknow, and currently service a
wide range of business and holiday clientele for their specific
travel requirements. We are swift to respond to customer needs,
skilled in our job performance and presentations, charming and
courteous to our existing and potential customers, friendly in our
approach to one and all, and most of all gentle in all that we do.
We do not narrowly focus on the narrow streams below, but
instead on the oceans of opportunities ahead.

PACKAGES OFFERED BY SHEERAZ TOURS:-

•AdventureIndia Package
Bike Safari , Camping , Climbing , Cycling
Desert Safari , Diving , Elephant Safari
Jeep Safari , Mountaineering , Paragliding
Parasailing , Rappeling , Skiing , Trekking
Water Rafting , Water Skee

• Call of the wild Packages

Bharatpur Wildlife , Corbett National Park
Kanha National Park , Ranthambore National Park

• Discover India Package

Agra , Almora , Coorg, Delhi , Kasauni, Karnatka

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 Kodaikanal, Kolkata, Jaipur , Mount Abu , Mussoorie ,
Mysore Nainital, Ooty, Udaipur Ranikhet

• Himachal Packages
Dalhousie , Dharamshala , Manali , Shimla

• Honeymoon Packages
Darjeeling, Gangtok, Goa , Himachal , Kashmir
Kerala , Uttarakhand

• Kashmir Packages
Gulmarg , Ladakh , Leh Pahalgam , Patnitop

• Pilgrimage Packages
Amritsar, Chardham, Haridwar , Rishikesh, Vaishno Devi

DEPARTMENTS IN SHEERAZ TOURS

• AIR LINE TICKETING

• ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT
• SALE & MARKETING DEPARTMENT

CONTACT INFORMATION

SHEERAZ TOURS (PSA) COX & KINGS

3 Tilak Marg Near Hotel Arif Castle,
Lucknow - 226001 (UP) INDIA

Tel.: +91-522-2200678, 3262749, 2200578

Mob.: +91-9935324732, 93352239442
+91-9336820432, 9336820433

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 Fax : +91-522-2200678
E-Mail:asheeraz28@rediffmail.com
lucknow@sheeraztours.com

Tourism service is the combination of tangible and intangible

elements. The tourism product, which is mainly the destination,
can only be experienced. The views of the location travel to the
destination, the accommodation and facility as well as the
entertainment at the destination all form the tourism product.

Components of Tours as a Product.

WITH RESPECT
TO THE TRAVEL
Sr.No. BENEFIT MEANING
AND TOURISM
INDUSTRY
The fundamental
CORE benefit or service
1 Traveling.
BENEFIT that the customer is
buying.
BASIC Basic, functionalTicketing, hotel
2
PRODUCT attributes. reservation.
Set of
Customer
EXPECTED attributes/conditions
3 friendliness, good
PRODUCT the buyer normally
food.
expects.
4 AUGMENTED That meets thePrompt services,
PRODUCT customer’s desirescomfortable and
beyond convenient trip,

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 spectacular sights,
expectations.
and music.
The possibleTotally customized
POTENTIAL evolution totour packages, A
5
PRODUCT distinguish thegrade service at
offer. every stage.

SOTC

SOTC offers a variety of tours which includes tours for families

with kids, tours for senior citizens, theme vacations like beaches
and also special packages for pure vegetarian and jains.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS also offers a variety of tours which include

tours for families with kids, tours for senior citizens, tours for
Marathi people, and tours for Gujarati people.

Pricing in tourism is a complex process. Pricing includes the prices

of other services like Air travel, Bus, Railways, Hotels, etc. All are
included in tourism package. Pricing also depends on the
Geographic location of the destination.

Pricing also depends on Seasonality. Seasonality is the most

important factor in pricing. To match demand and supply tourist
managers try to get either discount

SOTC

SOTC offers price sensitive tours like cost saver and premium
tours which can be afforded by all classes.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS does not believe that the customer should pay
a premium for excellent service and outstanding holidays. It is

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their policy to keep the prices as low as possible that is they follow
“Low Price Policy”.

Different distribution strategies are selected to reflect the

company’s overall objectives. Tours as a product is distributed as a
travel. Internet is also used widely. The middleman may be tour
operators, who buy tours in bulk and make them available to travel
agents who are retailers.

SOTC

Different distribution strategies are selected for Tours marketing

by SOTC. There are also small agents (who have taken franchise
of SOTC) spread all over the town/country who also play a role of
place. SOTC act as wholesalers and also act as a retailer. The latest
mode of reaching the customers is through Internet that is SOTC
has its own website from where information on the tours can be
procured, direct booking can be done for which the payment can be
made through the credit card. SOTC also has its own offices from
where booking can be done.

COX AND KINGS

Almost same distribution strategies are used by COX AND

KINGS also. They too have wide spread offices all over the
country and their own website from where direct booking can be
done.

Advertising and sales promotion in Tourism is very effective when

supplemented by publicity and personal selling. Public or PR

SEEMA SAXENA 26 PGDM (IB-B)

(Public Relation) plays an important role in tourism. It is also
through recommendation of friends and relatives which is itself a
biggest promotion.

Word-of-mouth is a very important tool of promotion in tourism.

Research shows that about 80% of the tourist visited different
places on the persuasion of their friends and relatives and also their
own judgments.

One can see a clear domination by global and Multi-National tour

operators. Kuoni Travel (India) was the top advertiser in this
category commanding a 10% share.

SOTC

SOTC uses electronic, print and all sorts of media as tourism is a

highly promoted industry. SOTC gives printed ads in “The Times
of India” mentioning the special tours in it with the special prices
offered by them. Brochures are another form of communication

SEEMA SAXENA 27 PGDM (IB-B)

provided by SOTC to stimulate customers and motivate them to
buy. They are used to demonstrate in pictures and words the
images and positioning of the product and the organizations.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS also advertises in newspapers. It also has a tie

up with leading publications for features on travel, which appear
once a week.

It plays a most important part in tourism. In people, local people

are very important, that how they treat tourist. The travel agents,
guides, staff, sales staff, etc of company they are the people. Travel
Company also like Railways, Air, etc. is included in people.

SOTC

Kuoni group (India) employs 2900 employees through its 347

offices and caters to 3 million customers. SITA alone enjoys
loyalty of its 2, 00,000 Indian customers.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS employs 2600 employees it has 13 offices in

India and a network of over 500 GSAs across the country (general
sales agent).

SEEMA SAXENA 28 PGDM (IB-B)

The operation process of the SOTC and COX AND KINGS is
given in the form of sequential steps involved in the delivery of the
tours as a product.

Provision of travel information — The information regarding the

travel is provided at a convenient location where the potential
tourist seeks clarification about their proposed tour.

SOTC

SOTC provides information through its website, newspaper ads

and in SOTC branches in the form of pamphlets.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS also provides information through its website,

newspaper ads and in SOTC branches in the form of pamphlets.

Preparation of itineraries — It is a composition of series of

operations that are required to plan a tour.

SOTC

The itineraries in SOTC are customized that is if the customer

doesn’t wish to visit a particular place that place can be replaced
with a place the customer wants to visit.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS has fixed itineraries the customer can cancel
the visit but it will not be replaced by any other place.

Liaison with providers of services— Before any form of travel is

sold over the counter to a customer; contracts have to be entered
with the providers of various services including transportation

SEEMA SAXENA 29 PGDM (IB-B)

companies, hotel accommodation, coaches for local sightseeing
etc.

SOTC

SOTC has its contracts with many of the Indian companies like
Hilton, etc.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS also has tie-ups with various 5-star hotels
across the country.

Planning and costing tours— Once the contracts and arrangements

are entered into, then the task of planning and costing the tour, this
will depend on the tour selected as well as individual requirements.

SOTC

In SOTC the tours are customized that is if customer can’t afford

the premium holiday he will be given the same tour but the cost
will be reduced by offering him a deluxe hotel instead of a five star
hotel or by offering him a non ac bus instead of a ac coach.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS follows a low price policy that is they fix the
tour price as low as possible.

Ticketing— The computerized reservation system has in recent

years revolutionized the reservation system for both rail and air
travel.

SOTC

In SOTC the tours, air and rail tickets are booked online.

SEEMA SAXENA 30 PGDM (IB-B)

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS also book tours, air and rail tickets through
their online access system.

Provision of foreign currency and insurance—In case of foreign

travel the final task provide foreign currency as well as insurance.

SOTC

SOTC provides its customers with foreign currency and visa

services.

COX AND KINGS

COX AND KINGS provides its customers with foreign currency

and travel insurance.

ü The tourist attraction, which is an expensive for the customer

must be tangibilized with the help of tangible items like,
comfortable seats while traveling, layout, and design of the resort,
natural service, etc. the sign posts that indicate directions, route
maps, information regarding rules and regulations of the tourist
spot and the sign regarding the public utilities like toilets,
telephone booth also form a part of the physical evidence. Printed
matters such as brochures also play an important role in the
development of tourism. As the product, in tourism is intangible.

SOTC provides its customers with a detailed brochure of the

tour they have selected, a list of things to be done before going for
a holiday e.g. cooking gas switch to be turned off etc and if the
customer is going for foreign tour then a list of basic words like
hello, water etc in the foreign country’s language which will make
it easy for the customer, this establishes value for money, product
image and status, which must be matched when the product is
delivered.

SEEMA SAXENA 31 PGDM (IB-B)

ü COX AND KINGSü COX AND KINGS also provides its
customers with a detailed brochure of the tour

ü To conclude, the above facts and figures draw a clear picture that
SOTC is the best company in comparison with COX and
KINGS.SOTC is reasonable in price, offers best customer service
which results into customer satisfaction. SOTC is the market leader
in outbound tourism as COX and KINGS is the market follower.

COST SAVER PACKAGE OF MALAYSIA AND

SINGAPORE

SEEMA SAXENA 32 PGDM (IB-B)

 COX & KINGS SOTC -
SERVICES /
COUNTRIES COST SAVER COST
SIGHTSEEINGS
2009 SAVERS 2009
FASCINATING
MALAYSIAN
Name of the MALAYSIA
WITH
Tour AND
SINGAPORE
SINGAPORE
Duration of Tour 6 Days
7 Days
in Days 5 Nights
Duration of Tour Air India /
6 Nights
in Nights Srilankan
Airline 5 - Buffet
Number of 6 - Buffet Breakfasts
Breakfasts Breakfasts NO
4 - Indian Veg / LUNCHES
Number of
Non Veg 5 - Indian
Lunches
Lunches Veg / Non Veg
Number of 6- Indian Veg / Dinners
Dinners Non Veg Dinners Kuala Lumpur
Genting Singapore
Tour Commences
Highlands
1 Night
Tour Ends Singapore
Theme Park - 3
No of Nights 1 Night Star
Theme Park - 3 YES
Hotel
Star
GENTING YES
HIGHLANDS Genting Outdoor
YES 2 Nights
Theme Park
Casino De Hotel Pearl
YES Int'l - 3 star
Genting
No of Nights 2 Nights YES
Hotel Grand X
SEEMA SAXENA 33 PGDM (IB-B)
NOTES:-

1. Comparison is done on the basis of the closest matching

itineraries in terms of duration, and taken from SOTC
Summer 2009 Website as on 06 March 2009
2. For the Comparison, we have included all the optionals (if
any) into the tour.

A survey of 25 people having different age group, occupation,

interest has been conducted for the comparison of services of COX
& KINGS and SOTC. There are different types of prospective that
can be analyzed. There are following points to justify the
statement:-

• The persons who are aged usually prefer COX & KINGS
packages as it is comparatively old than SOTC. They think
the services offered by COX & KINGS are more liable and
authentic as compare to SOTC.
• For European packages customers prefer COX & KINGS
packages as compare to SOTC because the services offered
by them are comparatively good and at cheaper rates.
• SOTC offers a variety of tours which includes tours for
families with kids, tours for senior citizens, theme vacations

SEEMA SAXENA 34 PGDM (IB-B)

 like beaches and also special packages for pure vegetarian
and jains
• COX AND KINGS also offers a variety of tours which
include tours for families with kids, tours for senior citizens,
tours for Marathi people, and tours for Gujarati people.
• Far East packages of COX & KINGS are generally lijked by
the people and Eupean packages of SOTC.
• SOTC is more famous in local people as compared to COX
& KINGS because of advertisements in various medias.
• Majority of people think that both SOTC and COX &
KINGS should minimise the cost of their packages or
upgrade the services of packages to increase the sale.
• The persons who belongs to economy class generally
purchase Far East packages on the other hand business class
prefer European and other packages.
• SOTC commenced with aggressive consumer roadshow
advertisng Austraililan packages. Offers free or upgraded or
experiences Austrailia as a part of their Austrailian campaign.
• The largest age group of indian overnight visitors to NSW
were from 25 to 34 years.
• Students traffic to Australia is also booming and this has led
to increasing VFR visitation.

SEEMA SAXENA 35 PGDM (IB-B)

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness,
and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things can not
be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all
one's lifetime."
Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869

• There can be following things to suggest while planning a

tour and one can overview the following points:-

SEEMA SAXENA 36 PGDM (IB-B)

 • There are many travel agencies that offers holiday packages
contact them and explain them your desire the place that you
wish to travel.
• Collect the information and compare the services and prices
offered by them and choose the best alternatives.
• For travel agencies they should properly advertise the
packages and services that they are offering to aware the
public of their updates and different aspects of their presence.
• The staff should be well qualified and trained and should
know the detail informations regarding the packages and
other services that the company is availing so that they can
communicate apt information to consumers.
• Travel agency should be located at the prime location so that
it should be easily accessible.
• Customers should be treated politely by providing accurate
informations so they get satisfied.
• There should be the process of taking feedback so that what
things are lacking in tour should not be repeated again.

SEEMA SAXENA 37 PGDM (IB-B)

In concluding statement I would like to mention certain elements
that travel agencies have made travel easy and people can spent
their leisure time as well as solve their business purposes
conveniently. Travel agents plan, organize, and conduct long
distance cruises, tours and expeditions for individuals or groups.
The responsibility of the travel agent is to assist travelers with the
constantly changing airfares and schedules, thousands of available
vacation packages, and a vast amount of travel information on the
internet.

To sort out the many travel options, tourists and business people
often turn to travel agents, who assess their needs and help them
make the best possible travel arrangements. Also, many major
cruise ships, resorts, and specialty travel groups use travel agents
to promote travel packages to millions of people every year.

In general, travel agents give advice on destinations and make

arrangements for transportation, hotel accommodations, car
rentals, tours, and recreation. They also may advise on weather
conditions, restaurants, tourist attractions, and recreation. For
international travel, agents also provide information on customs
regulations, required papers (passports, visas, and certificates of
vaccination), and currency exchange rates.

Travel agents consult a variety of published and computer-based

sources for information on departure and arrival times, fares, and
hotel ratings and accommodations. They may visit hotels, resorts,
and restaurants to evaluate their comfort, cleanliness, and the
quality of food and service so that they can base recommendations
on their own travel experiences or those of colleagues or clients.

SEEMA SAXENA 38 PGDM (IB-B)

Sales and marketing skills are important to promote their services.
Travel agents make presentations to social and special-interest
groups, arrange advertising displays, and suggest company-
sponsored trips to business managers. Depending on the size of
the travel agency, an agent may specialize by type of travel, such
as leisure or business, or destination, such as Europe or Africa

My experience of training in Cox & kings was unique. I learned a

lot in my two months training. The things that I learned was how to
deal with the customers airline ticketing, costing of packages,
countries that are most generating tourist traffic.

LEARNINGS

AIRLINE TICKETING

TOUR PACKAGES

PACKAGE COSTING

SALES/MARKETING

SEEMA SAXENA 39 PGDM (IB-B)

SEEMA SAXENA 40 PGDM (IB-B)
SUBMITTED TO:-
MRS. ANUPAMA SRIVASTAVA

SUBMITTED BY:-
SEEMA SAXENA
BBA(T) VI SEM
ROLL NO.-:62050

SEEMA SAXENA 41 PGDM (IB-B)

SEEMA SAXENA 42 PGDM (IB-B)