You will prepare and submit a term paper on Travel agents. Your paper should be a minimum of 500 words in length.

You will prepare and submit a term paper on Travel agents. Your paper should be a minimum of 500 words in length. 117137 This case study focuses on the operations and size of the three travel agency setups operating in different locations. They deal with different types of customers and in different ways.

The major focus of this case study is to explain and analyze the difference in their operations based on various factors.

The size of operation differs greatly among the three travel agents. First Choice is a multiple travel agent, dealing with bookings for multiple companies and airlines. It's a very large setup with 300 shops in 17 countries. Whereas Althams was a smaller one as compared to first choice, and PR World was even smaller than that. PR World was a very small setup with independent group ownership. First Choice is able to offer a greater discount to its customers because of its higher turnover and transaction rate. The number of customers using First Choice will be more than the others. In this way, First Choice can offer discounts, but at the same time they will try selling through their First Choice Brochures as it is offering a greater profit. On the other hand, Althams and PR World are smaller setups with their presence in smaller areas. Companies like PR World relies on repeat orders from satisfied customers. They offer a personalized and customized service to its customers to take repeat orders. In this way, the loyal customers will be there.

First Choice deals with tickets and bookings of various airlines and companies whereas PR World also deals with holiday package. In this way they are offering an additional service to its customers, giving them a higher value. Secondly, their service level and quality is better than the other two. This way, they can retain their customers.

The First Choice offices have a high street presence which attracts more customers. This way they can offer a wider range of products to a greater number of people. But, Althams and PR World can accommodate customers in their narrow vicinity only, thus they have a narrow customer base to cater to. This difference leads the agents to have different target markets and different set of customers to work for.

Ownership of business is another factor that contributes to the performance and working of the agency. If the business is independent and not owned by a big group, the agent can change its working and environment according to the tastes and preferences of the local customers easily, whereas for big setups like First Choice, its difficult to change in every location and to maintain a uniformity in operations, they can not afford to make every outlet different. Althams and PR World have an advantage that they can incorporate change easily and at branch level.

First choice will try to sell through their brochure as they are getting more commission from it and will not promote the other company's brochures that much. PR World also sells holiday product as they can diversify into various products and can get agreements with various companies easily. They can also form agreement with local companies for their business. This is easy in their case as compared to the situation faced by First Choice.

Company Policy also plays a vital role in the operations and selection of products for the company. Althams are specialized in holiday package and travel. First Choice also provides holidays for a list of companies on their panel. They are specialized in holidays and travel. PW World is an independent agent.

All the companies have their competitive advantages and their shortcomings which are always there but they have a different set of customers to cater to which is what makes their operations different from each other.