|
|
Tour Operators
Who they are, how they workand what they can do to make sure you have the vacation experience of a lifetime.
 It happened a few years ago, but it still amazes James Murphy every time he thinks about it: "I was in a deluxe hotel in Cairns, Australia and I was at the concierge desk, standing behind a couple," Murphy recalls. "They were taking so long that I got annoyed. Then I got interested."
Murphy is president of Brendan Tours, a Van Nuys, Calif.-based tour operator that organizes vacations to destinations as diverse as Ireland, Africa and Australia. A veteran with 28 years in the travel business, Murphy was surprised to hear that the couple was using the hotel's concierge to plan their local tours and activities.
Unfortunately, that scene is duplicated in hotels around the world. Rather than relying on the experience and expertise of dedicated travel professionals, many U.S. vacationers seem willing to invest much of their vacation time and money based on the random advice of a concierge, an airport information rep or even a cab driver.
The bottom-line belief here is that travelers save money if they "play it by ear" rather than buying their vacation through a tour operator, guided by the advice of a retail travel agent. That's a mistaken idea, rooted in some common misunderstandings about the role and function tour operators perform in the global business of fulfilling your vacation dreams.
To begin with, a lot of people are often turned off by their notions of what comprises a "tour." "There is an automatic aversion to it because of what they perceive it to be," says Robert Whitley, president of the United States Tour Operators Association. "They think they'll be crowded in like herds of cattle, moving all around, fast paced with a bunch of little old people. That's the image."
However, it is not the reality. The word "tour" encompasses a broad and varied array of products, ranging from highly structured escorted packages to a collection of independent componen ts travelers piece together themselves. Perhaps the best way to understand why you will have a better-and probably less expensivevacation if you buy a tour is to understand what tour operators actually do.
Tour operators plot out entire vacations made up of somewhat structured itineraries complete with hotels, most meals, sightseeing and admission to attractions for one all-inclusive price. Some even include roundtrip airfare. Vacationers usually travel in small, escorted groups.
"A tour operator puts together a vacation, packages it and sells it to consumers cheaper than if they put it together themselves," Murphy explains. He estimates that by traveling on their own, the couple in Cairns, Australia was paying rack rates, usually the most expensive price going for hotel stays. That's the equivalent of paying whatever the sticker price is on a new car with no deals, specials or discounts.
Some operators specialize in popular city, beach or resort destinations. Instead of packaging the vacations for small groups of travelers, they allow independent travelers and families to design their own holidays by selling the air transportation, hotel accommodations, car rental and sightseeing components separately.
That may sound expensive, but tour operators use their bulk buying power to provide these vacations at a reduced rate. "Our wholesale buying power and longevity in the industry (79 years) enable us to offer our customers the world of travel at an affordable price," says Daniel Sullivan of Rhode Island-based Collette Tours, a tour operator offering more than 100 tours to 50 countries.
In many cases, rates can be as much as 50 percent lower than regular prices. Operators package a variety of top hotels in every price range, including Hiltons, Sheratons and Holiday Inns, to meet a variety of travel budgets. By packaging them, the savings to consumers can be considerable.
"People have the wrong perception," says Peter Yeung, of Pacific Bestours. "They think that because we are the middleman, that will make the price higher." In most types of business, the middleman does raise prices. But in the travel industry, the opposite is usually true.
Brendan Tours, which carried some 10,000 people to Ireland last year, is a case in point. "In Ireland, we will give you a car in peak season, with accommodation and breakfast, for $52 a day," says Murphy. "If you were to go over there ?and try to do that yourself, it is going to be very, very hard to get close to $52."
Classic Custom Tours of San Jose, Calif., which packages Hawaii and the continental United States, is another example.
"In Hawaii, we guarantee that no component of a Classic vacation will ever be more expensive than booking that component directly with the airline or the hotel or the car rental company," says Ron Letterman, of Classic Custom Vacations. "Very often, our airline rates are 20 to 30 percent cheaper than if you were to book directly with the airline. Our hotel rates are 10 to 20 percent cheaper than if you booked directly with the hotel. Our car rental rates are 20 to 30 percent cheaper than if you booked the car directly. You can do it all with one phone call, and it will be exactly the way you want."
Savings and convenience are only two of the many benefits of booking a vacation with a tour operator. Their expertise and access also add rich dimensions and unique experiences to a vacationdimensions and experiences that are not readily available when you travel on your own.
?For example, New Yorkbased 1ST Cultural Tours are led by experts like historians and archeologists who provide fresh perspectives and a wealth of information to 1ST tour participants visiting museums, cathedrals and historical sites. "We offer museum-quality programs because we know we are able to give a product consumers are demanding," says 1ST's Suzanne Hall.
Cultural tours such as those offered by 1ST provide hands-on opportunities to experience the nuances of a country and get "the inside story as to how that country ticks," explains Hall.
Special Expeditions of New York prides itself on taking tour participants to otherwise inaccessible destinations. "People usually can't get to many of the destinations we go to," says Jan Cooper of Special Expeditions, a tour operator specializing in North America, Central and South America, Europe, Egypt and the Arctic. On its southeast Alaska excursions, Special Expeditions uses small yachts and gets national park permits that allow its groups to visit pristine areas.
Tour operators can also deliver once-in-a-lifetime experiences-such as a private jet tour around the world, an option offered by Travcoa, a California-based luxury tour operator with programs to Africa, South Pacific, Europe, Central and South America, Asia, India and the Middle East. Our "tour groups have limited membership, assuring the traveler of the utmost in personal attention and allowing special discoveries that are not possible with large groups," says Travcoa's William Dultz.
Then there's the issue of clout. Since operators and wholesalers represent millions of dollars of business to airlines, hotels, car rental firms and attractions, they carry a lot more clout than individual travelers-and that opens doors. "It is like walking into a restaurant for the first time and the place is packed," says Kevin Froemming of USAir Vacations in Orlando. "If I have been eating at the restaurant every day for the last five years, I am going to get a table before you are. It's the same concept."
Finally, assurance-or peace of mind-is another key benefit of buying your vacation from a tour operator. "If something goes wrong on the vacation, there is someone you can turn to," says Don Parsons of TNT Vacations in Boston.
Even something simple like picking a hotel you hate can become a vacation nightmare. "You're stuck. A hotel is not going to move you to another hotel," says Letterman. "But we represent many hotels in a single destination. If you booked it through an operator, you can change hotels."
That type of assurance can be a real comfort, especially in extraordinary situations. "When the hurricane hit Mexico, our staff was with our clients the whole time," says Tom Meyer of The Mark Travel Corp. "You don't get that when you are buying by yourself." Adds Parsons, "You can go to the operator and say 'I need help.' You have an ally. You have someone who is escorting you through the whole process versus, 'I hope when we get there that they actually have my reservation.' With a tour operator, you are guaranteed you will have a reservation."
By now it should be clear that tour operators are not travel agents. However, operators and agents do work handin-hand as experienced travel professionals in what is essentially a wholesaler-retailer business relationship. "The travel agent's responsibility is to qualify the customer and to help them narrow down their vacation choices," Letterman says. Most tour operators work exclusively through travel agents.
If you're still not convinced that using a tour operator is your best vacation bet because of the convenience, reliability and expertise they offer, "price out a vacation yourself," advises USTOA's Whitley. "Then go and have a travel agent ask an operator to price the same package. That will be proof enough."
|
|
This website is created and designed by Atlantis International, 2006
This is an unofficial website with educational purpose. All pictures, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and may not be reproduced for any reason whatsoever. If proper notation of owned material is not given please notify us so we can make adjustments. No copyright infringement is intended.
