Operations management project: Tourism Export Council New Zealand

Executive Summary

The tourism sector of New Zealand is encountering an important growth and has grown to be a sector of priority for the Government of New Zealand. The vastness of the landscape of New Zealand and the scenic beauty of it has great contributions to the economy of New Zealand. Also because of these features there has been a significant growth in the employment opportunity of the country. For the past fifteen years, the tourism sector has experienced certain shortcomings which can be presented as follows-

• There has been growth of the top line revenues
• The mix of visitors has drifted to lower level of average visitors
• The part of international shares has declined.

Moreover, in the New Zealand sector there is a huge demand for the tourism sector. This helps the customer to indulge more in the tourism area. However, the company highly lacks their online booking system. These create a huge problem for the development of tourism sector. However, the company is increasing at a rapid pace at the time of tourism. In the project work, there is always a huge demand for the tourism sector among the people in New Zealand as well as other countries. The company performs a high amount of training programs for the employee in order to achieve proper success of the company.  The companies need to carry out new planning in the online booking systems. By improving this condition, the company can easily can succeed more and gain more customers, this helps in increasing huge profit. 

Introduction:

Tourism Export Council of New Zealand took its existence in the year 1971 and is representing the interest of Inbound Tourism since then. It is mainly a trade association which deals with the interests’ interest of the inbound tourism industry. Embers are mainly the tour operators, accommodation and transport suppliers. Tourism Export Council of New Zealand has been suffering from distinctive setbacks. The council suffers from problems which are to be executed in order to implement the changes for the betterment of the tourism industry. It suffers from accessibility to their visitors as there is need for more services to be provided. The council lacks from briefing their tourist plans to their visitors as the guides are not sound enough to tackle each and every visitors need, the council lacks in respect to its booking policies. They must introduce online booking apps in order to facilitate its business and build its customers base.

Aims and Objectives:

This project deals with the betterment of the travel industry.

• The aim of the Tourism Export Council of New Zealand is to provide a better service to its visitors.
• The council aims towards being aware of the facts or problems faced by its visitors. It also aim at improving its customer relation with the visitors.
• The council aims at improving its guides so as to meet its visitor’s expectations.
• It aims at its expansion and it can be solved by introducing net booking of their trips.
• There should be trip advisers set up so as to provide advices regarding trips to the visitors over phone call or video call with proper explanation (Mason & McBride, 2014).
• It also an aim at improving its marketing strategies and its objective is to this expands its business and travel areas.
• Its objective is to improve its quality standards and productivity in order to reach maximum revenue.
• It also looks forward to the setting up of procedures and taking steps to rectify its errors.
• The council works towards the setting up of proper websites where there would be proper description of the trips and trip advices.
• Provision of online support in order to guide the queries of the travelers.
• To provide cheaper deals in respect to trip. To provide great offers in order to attract new travelers.
• A brief description of its destination in its websites.
• To provide competitive rates for the trips as compared to the other travel agencies or councils (Howison, Finger & Hauschka, 2015). 

Problems statements:

• The council is facing a problem in the areas in which it should have sheer expertise. It should be aware of the fact that the council is lacking some great features which its competitors are aware of.
• The council should launch its new app through which it can reach to its customers. people should get into direct interaction or place their queries regarding any trips or offers prevailing at a certain time frame (Sun, Zhang & Ryan, 2015).The online application has its advantages in the field of building customer base at optimizing time increasing the booking amount resulting in  greater profit.
• Trip advisors should be appointed in order to guide its visitors and provide correct advices resulting in building customer base and increase its revenue (Albrecht, 2017).
• The online app provides great accessibility to the people who are looking for travel councils.
• The offers, rates should also be updated from time to time in order to compete with the competitors.
• Online transactions provide greater flexibility in respect to time optimization and customer’s accessibility.
• The council lacks in the presentation of its data representation in the websites; suitable information should be added. Destinations should be more elaborately described. 
• The launch of a new online app is required and appointment of experienced guides and trip advisors are required to compete with the other councils and agencies in this industry (Tarrant et al. 2014).

Project Methodology:

Introduction:

The main purpose of this topic is to properly carry out the operation management in the tourism sector. This would help the tourist to visit different places around the world. This topic is based on the tourism export of New Zealand. In this study, the company of Tourism Export Council is focused about the tourism among the customers (Flick, 2015). There are many customers that are found of the tourism sector. The proper approach helps to carry out the better research on the given topic that is operation management in the organization of Tourism Export Council.   

Project Approach: 

While carrying out the research, there is certain approach that helps to carry out the project successfully. The exact project approach depends on the marketing analysis, planning, marketing strategy.  The company Tourism Export Council lacks the problem of the online booking. In the operation of the tourism, there is a high demand for booking. The customers are having a huge problem of booking of their favourite destinations (Kerzner, 2013). There is a huge demand for the online booking systems that would be helpful for the customers in New Zealand as well as customers in other countries. The organization needs to focus on the operation based on the booking system .This helps the customers to save their precious time at the time of online booking. Online booking system plays a huge role for the company’s progress. This also helps to acquire many customers, who are found of tourism sector. Moreover, the firm might uses online booking a main approach for the company's rapid progress. 

This is based on the targets of various customers in New Zealand. In order to carry out this tourism operation successfully, highly skilled people are required. This helps the Tourism Export Council to succeed yearly based on cost and performance (Ilin & Levina, 2013). In order to carry out this success of the company, the management practices some effective training programs and skills. This training programs and skill helps to sharpen their performance based on the operation in the tourism management. Moreover, the management of the Tourism Export Council plays an important role for expanding the tourism sector. The organization has been focused on the training and needs to focus on the online booking system. This helps to gain more customers in the tourism areas and also helps to increase a high profit. Many customers try to book their favorite destination with the help of online booking system. The company needs to improve their approach for making new online booking system (Blank, Damjanovic, Da Silva & Weber, 2014). The company might use the exact monitoring and evaluation techniques to carry out the planning properly. The planning can be monitored by the management of the company and needs to improve their online booking process.  

Work Breakdown and Task Time Estimates:

Work breakdown structure helps in calculating the project management into small components. This structure can be based on the data, product and service required to carry out the project. This helps in providing the framework that helps in calculating the cost requirements. In the work breakdown process forms the framework of the required planning of the project. This process are involved with the three steps for completion of the project planning (Harrison,  Moses & Flanagan, 2014).  In the first process, it involves with the process planning that helps in generating new ideas, clearly stating of the main objectives,  getting of the timelines required at the time of planning, getting of the exact resources and finally getting the exact planning for the project. These includes with the financial resources required at the time of proper completion of the project, technical resources and employee recruitment process. Thirdly, it includes with execution of the project planning (Siami-Irdemoosa, Dindarloo & Sharifzadeh, 2015). This includes with the new planning introducing in the product, in this project it is online booking system. This also includes with the exact planning project that are required at the time of completion of project. Moreover, the exact deviation required at the time of implementing the project works.  

Task time estimates:

Task time estimation helps in carrying out the project properly keeping in mind about the required time (Lee, Song, Ryu Kim & Kwon, 2015). This required time helps to know the complete timing of the project. In order to carry out the research work, the exact estimation of time is highly required. The exact task time helps to know the exact time required to finish the project. Moreover, this is a vital part of the project to acknowledge the timing requirement at the time of project work (Hadjichristidis, Summers & Thomas, 2014). However, this helps to estimate each task on the particular based time. 

Project Deliverables:

The project deliverables depends on the service or products that are required to carry out the project. The project deliverables depends on the stakeholders that can be external or internal, intangible or tangible of the products or services.  

The project deliverables are based on the outcomes of the project that are based on the specification and the needs for completing the project (Wilson, 2015). Moreover, the project deliverables helps in carrying out the product and process properly. The project deliverables helps in making the exact planning of the project and also helps in properly execution. The project deliverables depends on certain factors. These factors are project budget, reviews of the project, schedules fixed for the projects, planning made while carrying out the project. In order to carry out the deliverables of project depends on the project development of the particular issues. The project deliverables helps to deliver the exact requirement to fulfill the project work. In this project the project deliverables depends on the starting of the online booking system that are helpful for the customers. Moreover, this helps to ensure the alignment that are based on technical and requirements based on the operation management of tourism. The proper project deliverables helps in clearly establishing of the news customers or stakeholders (Stefaniak, 2015). This also helps to secure the exact planning required to complete the project. Moreover, the exact project deliverables helps in bringing the new implementation of the strategy that are helpful for the planning. 

Contingency and Risk Management:

Risk Management plan:

The introduction of the application in respect to travel booking has its own risk factors. Risks mainly depend upon the use of the application. Online booking has its own risks which should be taken care of in order to safeguard from suffering a loss. Online app booking leads to online money transfers and it can be risky at times. In recent times hacking has emerged greatly in respect to online trade. The online payment system has its own flaws. These flaws are to be rectified in order to maintain a hack free transaction. The app designed should be highly secured so that it cannot be hacked easily. Online app contains its own information regarding the personal details of the clients and figures (Jolly, Keys, Procter, Deligne, 2014).  The app should be designed perfectly so that it can maintain the privacy of the clients and personal information should not leak. The bank transactions should be such that the statements declare all the facts and figures correctly. The app must be updated from time to time in order to avoid bugs. The facts stated in the app must be correct and should be   Travel advisors should have good knowledge in the field of travel and tourism and have the capability to manage visitors. The travel guides should be appointed based on their knowledge or else if the visitors are misguided then it will create a threat to the council as the visitors will have a negative mind set up. The credibility of the council will be affected and will suffer a loss. The council will be adversely affected if so happens. In order to minimize the risk factors all the required steps should be taken. Risks will prevail but if correct measures are taken at the correct time risk can be avoided (Kanwar, Bowden & Greenhalgh, 2015).             

Contingency Plan

Explanation of Contingency Plan-

Contingency plan can be explained as the preparation of actions done in advance for events that are unexpected and uncertain, which would otherwise have critical impacts on an organization on their occurrence. (Orchiston, 2013).

These type of planning include planning for natural calamities which is a critical situation because neither the tourists nor the organization have the expectations of it. So it is fully an unexpected and uncertain event. Contingency planning is related to other various techniques of project planning. The chances of deviation depend on the effectiveness of the planning. 

The process of contingency planning can be illustrated as below:

1. Identification of critical risks
2. Detection of possibility of the event.
3. Development of responses that is adaptive.
4. Identification of critical risks: the first step for making a contingency plan involves identification of the critical risks. In this step it is determined what type of risks is involved and also what are the risks. There are several risk factors that are considered by the event managers and these comes under many categories, which are, health and safety, environmental risks, alcohol and drugs, security etc. Out of all these, the risks that are related to the environment are the most common issue that is faced by the event managers (Becken, Becken, Wilson & Wilson, 2016). 
5. Detection of possibility of the event: the detection of the possibility of the risk events is the second step in contingency planning. Here the possibility of the occurrence of the events is detected and then its impacts on the events are assessed. Here a rating scale is used which ranges from ‘rare’ to ‘almost certain’.
6. Development of responses that are adaptive: Here in this step, responses that are adaptive to the events are developed. Immediate responsive steps are evaluated and obtained keeping in mind the intensity of the events. More legitimate examples of management of risks that are related to weather are the plans that are included in the phase of pre-planning (Yeoman, Schanzel & Smith, 2013). 

Project Cost: 

Project Budget: 

Estimated Budget Report of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand

Budget Notes:

Notes to Estimated Budget Report

Note 1

Overhead Expense:

The overheads of the estimated budget report include the following:

Note 2

Research & Development:

The Research & Development involves designing of a new mobile application and development of the website of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand. The UI (User Interface) will include an automated Planning tool which will prepare a schedule of activities for the tourists. The project will also include a new feature of Trip Advisor. This would help the tourists to obtain suggestions regarding their visit to New Zealand, recommendations of best tourism spots.

Note 3

Other Expenses includes:

Additional Financial Statements:

Profit & Loss Statement of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand

Balance Sheet of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand

Conclusion

This project dealt with the limitations which the council is facing. It also dealt with the needs and requirements to overcome its drawbacks. It portrays what the council is lacking in and what problems are being faced when these features are not introduced or actions are not taken. The council should include a new application for the booking of trips and schedule future trips. The application will be made available in all the platforms including mobiles and other gadgets. The application will feature the entire destination and its rates. There will be updating of the information featured in the application. Trip advisors will be able to guide about the tourist spots and provide information regarding the spots in New Zealand. The council after implementing these changes will receive a boost in its existence and well as in its revenue. It will also benefit in obtaining a rise in its customers or visitors. The council will gain its position back in the market and can lead in this sector if the standards are met perfectly and effectively. The rates should also be kept in mind after a thorough research in this field.

Appendices:

Estimated Budget Report of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand

Profit & Loss Statement of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand

Balance Sheet of Tourism Export Council of New Zealand