COMPETENCY BASED LEARNING

MATERIAL

Sector: TOURISM

Qualification Title: TOURISM PROMOTION SERVICES

NC II

Unit of Competency: OPERATE TECHNOLOGY-BASED

INFORMATION SYSTEM

Module Title: OPERATING TECHNOLOGY-BASED

INFORMATION SYSTEM

NORTHERN SUMMIT TECHNICAL INSTITUTE, INC.

Hugos Walden Bldg., 2nd Floor, Bonifacio-Locsin Streets, Brgy. V, Silay
City, Negros Occidental

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HOW TO USE THIS COMPETENCY-BASED LEARNING
MATERIAL

The unit of competency, “Operate Technology Based Information

System”, is one of the competencies of TOURISM PROMOTION SERVICES
NC II, a course which comprises the knowledge, skills, and attitudes
required for a TVET trainee to process.
The module, “Operating Technology Based Information System”,
covers the knowledge, skills, behavior and motivations required to access
and use computer-based systems and internet sources to acquire tourism-
related information.
In this module, you are required to go through a series of learning
activities in order to complete each learning outcome. In each learning
outcome are Information Sheets, Self-checks, Operation Sheets, Task Sheets,
and Job Sheets. Follow and perform the activities on your own. If you have
questions, do not hesitate to ask for assistance from your facilitator.
Remember to:
 Read information sheet and complete the self-checks.
 Perform the Task Sheets, Operation Sheets, and Job Sheets until you
are confident that your outputs conform to the Performance Criteria
Checklists that follow the said work sheets.
 Submit outputs of the Task Sheets, Operation Sheets, and Job Sheets
to your facilitator for evaluation and recording in the Achievement
Chart. Outputs shall serve as your portfolio during the Institutional
Competency Evaluation. When you feel confident that you have had
sufficient practice, ask your trainer to evaluate you. The results of
your assessment will be recorded in your Achievement Chart and
Progress Chart.
You must pass the Institutional Competency Evaluation for this
competency before moving to another competency. A Certificate of
Achievement will be awarded to you after passing the evaluation.

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 TOURISM PROMOTION SERVICES NC II
COMPETENCY BASED LEARNING MATERIALS

LIST OF COMPETENCIES
No. Unit of Competency Module Title Code

1 Operate technology- Operating technology- TRS5113123

based information based information
system system

2 Provide information and Providing information and TRS5113124

advice on a destination, advice on a destination,
product or service product or service

3 Promote tourism products Promoting tourism TRS5113125

and services products and services

MODULE CONTENT

UNIT OF COMPETENCY: Operate Technology-Based

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 Information System

MODULE TITLE: Operating Technology-Based

Information System

MODULE DESCRIPTOR:

This unit deals with the knowledge, skills, behavior and motivations
required to access and use computer-based systems and internet resources
to acquire tourism-related information.

Nominal Duration: 7 Hours

At the end of this module, you MUST be able to:

1. Access information on an automated system

2. Check and download information

3. Interpret downloaded information

4. Organize information

COMPETENCY SUMMARY

Qualification Title : Tourism Promotion Services NC II

Unit of Competency : Operate Technology-Based

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 Information System

Module Title : Operating Technology-Based

Information System

Introduction

Developing and maintaining tourism knowledge is a very important element

of providing excellent levels of customer service in the tourism industry.
All tourism establishments will be expected to provide accurate tourism
product and services information to their customers.
The level and nature of the information will
differ between customers, however all tourism
staff must have a wide range of industry
knowledge at their disposal to meet the
informational needs of their customers.
Whilst no-one expects everyone to know
everything there is to know about all the
tourism options that may exist, all staff must have at least substantial
general tourism knowledge but also know where to source information in a
timely manner.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this module, you MUST be able to:

LO 1.1 Access information on an automated system

LO 1.2 Check and download information

LO 1.3 Interpret downloaded information

LO 1.4 Organize information

LEARNING OUTCOME 1.1

ACCESS INFORMATION ON AN AUTOMATED SYSTEM

CONTENTS:
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  Methods to obtain tourism product information
 Computerized information systems
 Hard copy publications
 Customers, colleagues, supervisors and managers
 Other sources of information

CONDITIONS:

The trainee/student must be provided with the following:

 Access to industry-current automated information system

 Computers, printers and information programs currently used within

the industry to store tourism-related information, such as the internet

ASSESSMENT METHOD:

 Demonstration with questioning

 Practical test

Learning Experiences

Learning Outcome 1.1 ACCESS INFORMATION ON AN AUTOMATED

SYSTEM

Learning Activities Special Instructions

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Read Information Sheet LO1.1-
1 to 1.1-5
Answer Activities 1.1-1 to 1.1-5
This Learning Outcome deals with the
development of the Institutional
Competency Evaluation Tool which
trainers use in evaluating their trainees
after finishing a competency of the
qualification.

Go through the learning activities outlined

for you on the left column to gain the
necessary information or knowledge
before doing the tasks to practice on
performing the requirements of the
evaluation tool.

The output of this LO is a complete

Institutional Competency Evaluation
Package for one Competency of Tourism
Promotion Services NC II. Your output
shall serve as one of your portfolio for
your Institutional Competency Evaluation
for Operating An Automated
Information System.

Feel free to show your outputs to your

trainer as you accomplish them for
guidance and evaluation.

After doing all the activities for this LO,

you are ready to proceed to the next LO:
Check And Download Information.

Information Sheet 1.1-1

METHODS TO OBTAIN TOURISM PRODUCT INFORMATION

The key to obtaining information is for you to be proactive. It is highly

unlikely most information will seek you out, so you have to go and find it.

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Depending on the nature of the information required, the method of it
information include, but are not limited to:
2 Internet and computer resources
3 Interrogation of the internal database
4 On-line industry magazines, newsletters, updates
5 Getting on Internet e-mail lists and receiving
newsletters and updates from the vast number of
relevant industry government agencies, suppliers
and support services.
There are many travel websites that provide online information, feedback
about travel experiences.
This feedback is very valuable in understanding the reality of a destination.
Companies such as Trip Advisor, an American travel website company,
provide useful reviews of travel-related content. It also includes interactive
travel forums which can also be beneficial tools for travel staff to accurately
gauge the popularity and services provided by different tourism product and
service providers.
Relevant websites providing comprehensive
customer and professional reviews of different
tourism destinations, supplies, products and
services include, but certainly not limited to:
www.tripadvisor.com
www.oyster.com
www.virtualtourist.com
www.fodors.com
www.raveable.com

ACTIVITY 1.1-1 - RESEARCH TRAVEL REVIEW WEBSITE

You are required to look at a different travel review websites and identify:
 Key features of the website
 The benefits of the website for customers and
travel staff
 Possible downfalls of the website

Website: ___________________________________

Key features of the website

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The benefits of the website for
customers and travel staff

Possible downfalls of the website

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 Information Sheet 1.1-2

COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION SYSTEMS

In some circumstances there may be an in-house data base that is managed

by your tourism organisation itself. More than likely it will be part of a
bigger system. This could be supported by the tourism commission or
purchased from a CRS provider. It will have various search functions to seek
information on various types of products, in
various locations at various costs. And most
will have a booking function.
The travel marketplace is a global arena where
millions of buyers and sellers work together to
exchange travel services. Among the “shelves”
on which buyers search for travel services are
world’s global distribution systems.
These systems have become electronic supermarkets linking buyers to
sellers and allowing reservations to be made quickly and easily. Nowadays,
more travel is sold over the Internet than any other consumer destination
A Global Distribution System (GDS) is a network operated by a company
that enables automated transactions between third parties and booking
agents in order to provide travel-related services to the end consumers. A
GDS can link services, rates and bookings consolidating destinations and
services across all three travel sectors: i.e., airline reservations, hotel
reservations, car rentals, and activities.
The major GDS systems include:
 Travelport (Galileo, & Apollo)
 Travelport (Worldspan)
 Amadeus
 Sabre.

ACTIVITY 1.1-2 - RESEARCH A GDS SYSTEM

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You are required to research one of the above mentioned GDS systems and
explain:

Purpose of this GDS

Destinations and service provided

Benefits for travel agents

Benefits for tourism suppliers

Benefits for customers

Information Sheet 1.1-3

HARD COPY PUBLICATIONS

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There are endless opportunities to update your knowledge of tourism
products and services through hard copy publications including:
 Picking and reading through the local and city newspapers –
especially those sections that carry articles on tourism
 Reading journals, publications and
magazines
 Reading books on the industry sector that
you are working in – you should aim to read
widely and include biographies of industry
people, management texts, practical hands-
on reference material and general literature
on diverse industry topics
 Reading brochures issued by various suppliers
 Most travel industry sectors subscribe to a number of travel
magazines which promote products, events and the latest industry
news.

ACTIVITY 1.1-3 - IDENTIFY TOURISM RELATED PUBLICATIONS

If you were a travel agent / tourism operator in your country, what are
examples of publications, either in hard copy or online, that you would
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register to access valuable industry and destination information that would
suit your organisation.

Reasons for
Name of Format of Key
researching Cost
publication publication features
publication

Information Sheet 1.1-4

CUSTOMERS, COLLEAGUES, SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS

These people are your first-line sources of information. You should feel free
to ask them questions whenever you need to find information. Get to know
them and actively seek out their opinions, experiences and views. They can
help you find out what is happening, where the business is heading, what
they think of the industry and its various stakeholders and what they intend
doing personally.

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Talking to these people demonstrates your interest in the industry and the
more you talk to them the easier it will become to ask subsequent questions.
 Meetings with staff
 Training and information sessions
 Briefing notes
 Direct questions from potential
customers
 Questions from potential customers
 Points raised by tourism staff requiring clarification
 Additional information regarding a location which is not detailed in
individual company's materials.

Representatives
Many suppliers have sales representatives who call on the business on a
regular basis.
Sales representatives, known also as ‘sales reps’ or just ‘reps’, visit the
business for public relations (PR) purposes or to introduce new products.
These PR calls are courtesy visits where they don’t actually ask for anything
but simply call in and ‘have a chat’.
This involves making telephone calls or sending e-mails to individual
suppliers.
This talk can be useful in finding out what is happening at other
businesses, trends in the industry, new products, blackout periods and
impending price rises.

Developing your own industry network

As a member of the tourism industry, it is vital to build your industry
network. This involves reaching out to all people in all aspects of the
industry and discussing industry happening, trends and current
information. The more people you meet and the more information you
accumulate provides you with a sound understanding of the industry and
will help your career progression.
To develop a useful and representative network of contacts you will need to
make deliberate attempts to target and talk to people you respect within the
industry including owners, managers and others.
Make yourself known and visible and keep yourself ‘in the loop’ which
means:
 You need to contact your network when you
find out something you think they might need
to know. This highlights the two-way nature of
the concept of networking
 You need to occasionally contact them just to
‘keep in touch’ even when there is nothing
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 specific to pass on to them. Often they remember something they need
to tell you and your call demonstrates you value them as a contact.

ACTIVITY 1.1-4 - CREATING AN INDUSTRY NETWORK

You are to identify four (4) possible contacts whom you would like to invite
to an industry network you would create.
This network can be used for whatever purpose you decide, including
seeking assistance and advice or to share ideas.

Desired contact Contact details Purpose of

inclusion in an
industry network

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 Information Sheet 1.1-5

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Networking with industry colleagues

It is very worthwhile to network with industry colleagues when you get the
opportunity to attend product launches, seminars, educationals and the
like. You are not only constantly learning but you are also mixing with other
tourism professionals, many of them having knowledge, experience and
skills that you do not have.
If you are not too sure of certain aspects of the travel industry or
destinations, most of them are only too happy to offer assistance and advice.
At seminars, product launches or when travelling on educationals, it is the
perfect opportunity to exchange business cards.

Conferences and seminars

You should attend these whenever possible and make an effort to attend a
major one at least every two years. Let your employer know you are
interested in attending and keep an eye in the media and trade publications
about events that are coming up.
Conferences and seminars are extremely useful
because they are:
 A great source of industry contacts. It is
beneficial to begin ‘networking’ as soon as
possible
 Good sources of new ideas, new products and
new industry thinking
 A good opportunity to share and test ideas.
If you can’t attend them, then make sure you read about them in the trade
magazines or make contact with someone who has attended.

Information services
Most information services are fee-for-service providers. This means it costs
money to use their services.
These services capture and analyse information from various industry areas.
For example, they may focus on issues such as gambling trends, sources of
inbound tourists, interpretation of other specific market data. The range of
topics is virtually limitless.
In addition, most government agencies provide information to employers and
these too can be regarded as information services. Most of these services are
free and available as:
 E-newsletters

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  Fact Sheets
 Updates
 Guides
 Information Sheets
 Over-the-phone advice from inspectors, field officers or other
appropriate personnel within the agency.
In many cases, authorised officers will often visit your premises to assist you
in addressing nominated issues.

Accommodation guides
Accommodation information can be obtained manually, on a CRS or an
automated information system or database.
Manually, you can check accommodation
directories such as the Official Hotel Guide
(OHG) which provides information on hotel and
resort options worldwide. Other local guides are
valuable resources for national accommodation
options. These give information on the property’s
location, facilities and standard. Individual
accommodation properties or chains have their own brochures or have
information available on their websites.
International accommodation options can be found again in wholesale tour
brochures, sourced individually (standalone brochures or the Internet), via
the CRS system or via major hotel chains and companies such as Utell
International.

TV programs
There are a variety of television programs that concentrate on different
holiday destinations.
There are various other lifestyle programs that have travel segments.

Personal observations
This is a valuable source of collecting information and includes:
 Getting out and having a look around to see what’s happening, what
people are doing, what the competition is doing, and what people are
doing and saying
 Visiting tourism destinations.

Educationals / familiarizations
Customers often prefer to talk to a customer service officer who has actually
been to a destination. Being there, experiencing and learning, is what
educationals and familiarisations are all about.
An educational or familiarization is a short working and learning experience
organized by a principal, wholesaler or government tourist bureau for
tourism staff.
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Educationals are usually offered to selected travel agencies or customer
information centres that continue to support that particular organization.
Sometimes the educational is free or there may be
a nominal participation fee.
Normally managers, after receiving an invitation
from the wholesaler, select staff who are likely to
benefit most from the experience. The officer who
is selected to participate in the educational is
expected to give a short presentation to other staff
members regarding the destination, when they return home.
Product launches

A product launch will allow the wholesaler to show a short promotional

video and give a short talk. They expect officers to ask questions and try to
find out as much about their product as they can
Invitations to attend product launches are usually sent to the supervisor or
manager who then asks the appropriate staff if they would like to attend.

Trade shows
Participants in a trade show are called exhibitors and they travel to a
number of major cities demonstrating products to the travel industry. A
trade show consists of a number of exhibitors who participate and share the
cost of the show. The main groups to hold trade shows are government
tourist commissions.
During a trade show the exhibitors may be asked to put together a short
presentation.

Local community information

The best ways to gather information about what the local community has to
offer can come from a variety of sources including:
 Visiting local businesses and finding out what they provide
 Talking to management and staff of local businesses
 Collecting and reading brochures
 Keeping up with local media including radio
stations, television, newsletters or newspapers
 Visiting the local Tourist Information Centre
 Attending town meetings
 Looking at notice boards in shopping centres.

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ACTIVITY 1.1-5 - IDENTIFY STRATEGY TO INCREASE YOUR TOURISM
INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE

You are required to identify five strategies for improving your tourism
knowledge, in general, or for a particular tourism sector.
1. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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 LEARNING OUTCOME 1.2

CHECK AND DOWNLOAD INFORMATION

CONTENTS:

 Sharing Product And Service Knowledge

CONDITIONS:

The trainee/student must be provided with the following:

 Access to industry-current automated information system

 Computers, printers and information programs currently used within

the industry to store tourism-related information, such as the internet

ASSESSMENT METHOD:

 Demonstration with questioning

 Practical test

Learning Experiences

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Learning Outcome 1.2 CHECK AND DOWNLOAD INFORMATION
Learning Activities
Read Information Sheet LO1.2-
1: Sharing Product And
Service Knowledge
Answer Activity 1.2-1
Information Sheet 1.2-1
Special Instructions
This Learning Outcome deals with the
development of the Institutional
Competency Evaluation Tool which
trainers use in evaluating their trainees
after finishing a competency of the
qualification.
Go through the learning activities outlined
for you on the left column to gain the
necessary information or knowledge
before doing the tasks to practice on
performing the requirements of the
evaluation tool.
The output of this LO is a complete
Institutional Competency Evaluation
Package for one Competency of Tourism
Promotion Services NC II. Your output
shall serve as one of your portfolio for
your Institutional Competency Evaluation
for Operating Technology-Based
Information System.
Feel free to show your outputs to your
trainer as you accomplish them for
guidance and evaluation.
After doing all the activities for this LO,
you are ready to proceed to the next LO:
Interpret Downloaded Information.
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 SHARING PRODUCT AND SERVICE KNOWLEDGE

Introduction
Given that your role is to collect and share tourism information, it is
essential that any information that you have collected, as previously
discussed, is shared with the people who may require that information.
This includes sharing updated destination information with colleagues.
This section will explore the importance and methods to share tourism
information with these important stakeholders.

Methods to share information with colleagues

Tourism information can be provided to colleagues in one of the following
ways:
 Provide verbal explanation
 Provide hard copy materials
 Provide electronic materials.

Verbal explanation
This involves verbally tell your colleagues about what
you have learned:
 On a one to one basis
 At staff briefings
 At staff meetings.
It can also involve arranging for a guest speaker from the venue or attraction
to come and talk to staff - explaining the venue or attractions, providing
sample items, bringing promotional materials

Benefits of providing a verbal explanation

 Identify the key features that need to be communicated to clients
 Explain in more detail the key pieces of information in them
 Answer any questions customers may have
 Explain any promotions
 Provide suggestions and recommendations to anticipated client
questions
 Outline the processes associated with confirming and organising
travel arrangements.

Providing hard copy materials

Another effective method of providing tourism information to staff is through
the distribution of hard copy materials. This method may be used as an

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individual activity or in conjunction with other information delivery methods
including:
 Developing paper-based information and data sheets for staff use
 Replace and replenish internal displays information points with new
or revised materials.

Benefits of providing hard copy materials

There are a number of benefits of distributing hard copy tourism
information to staff including:
 Utilises an additional learning method - as opposed to listening to a
presentation
 Provides comprehensive information
 Provides appealing images
 Provides information in its intended message
 Enables staff to review information at their
own time and at their own pace
 Enables information to be reviewed on
multiple purposes
 Enables staff to show other their clients information
 Enables audience to become familiar with content before subsequent
verbal presentations and meetings with clients.

Types of hard copy materials

There are endless hard copy materials that can be
provided including:
 Reports
 Brochures
 Quotations
 Invitations
 Travel itineraries
 Fact sheets
 Texts
 Media articles
 Photographs
 Posters
 Flyers
 Marketing materials.

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Providing electronic materials
Communicating electronically is the most common way of sending
information to staff.
This may involve:
 E-mailing co-workers with the information you have discovered
attaching relevant information as applicable
 Updating the internal systems such as CRS.

Benefits of distributing electronic materials

There are a number of benefits of distributing electronic tourism information
to staff including:
 Information can be shared instantaneously
 It guarantees staff receives the information, unlike mail which may go
missing
 It enables the sender to see who has received and read the
information
 Information can be sent to numerous people
 Information can be sent securely enabling
information to remain confidential
 It can be distributed to people around the
world, regardless of location
 It is a cost effective method of distributing
information
 It reduces storage space required for hard copy
documents
 It can be stored in shared 'cloud' systems for access by many people
 Information stored in electronic systems can be updated easily.

ACTIVITY 1.2-1 - IDENTIFY ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF

METHODS TO SHARE TOURISM INFORMATION WITH STAFF

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For each information sharing method, identify two advantages and
disadvantages of this method.

INFORMATION ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

SHARING METHOD

Verbal explanation

Provide hard copy

materials

Provide electronic
materials

LEARNING OUTCOME 1.3

INTERPRET DOWNLOADED INFORMATION

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CONTENTS:

 Sharing Product And Service Knowledge

CONDITIONS:

The trainee/student must be provided with the following:

 Access to industry-current automated information system

 Computers, printers and information programs currently used within

the industry to store tourism-related information, such as the internet

ASSESSMENT METHOD:

 Demonstration with questioning

 Practical test

Learning Experiences

Learning Outcome 1.3 INTERPRET DOWNLOADED INFORMATION

Learning Activities Special Instructions

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Read Information Sheet LO1.3-
1: How To Interpret Data The
Way They Are Presented
Answer Activity 1.3-1
This Learning Outcome deals with the
development of the Institutional
Competency Evaluation Tool which
trainers use in evaluating their trainees
after finishing a competency of the
qualification.
Go through the learning activities outlined
for you on the left column to gain the
necessary information or knowledge
before doing the tasks to practice on
performing the requirements of the
evaluation tool.
The output of this LO is a complete
Institutional Competency Evaluation
Package for one Competency of Tourism
Promotion Services NC II. Your output
shall serve as one of your portfolio for
your Institutional Competency Evaluation
for Operating Technology-Based
Information System.
Feel free to show your outputs to your
trainer as you accomplish them for
guidance and evaluation.
After doing all the activities for this LO,
you are ready to proceed to the next LO:
Organize Information.
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