Tour Operator - Business Simulation

Overview of Simulation

In the TourOperator business simulation, students work in teams to manage their own online travel and tourism company. Acting as the management team, they decide which destinations to offer, which customer segments to target, the service levels they wish to provide, the hotel allotment agreements they negotiate, and the prices they charge.

Across multiple decision rounds, students analyse market data, evaluate the performance of their destination and hotel portfolio, and adapt their strategy in response to changing market conditions. Their objective is to improve overall business performance, increase market share, and outperform competing teams by achieving the highest score on the simulation's Balanced Scorecard, which measures both financial and strategic success.

Format of Tour Operator

The TourOperator business simulation is played over a number of decision rounds, with each round representing one year of business operations.

At the start of each round, student teams conduct a comprehensive internal and external analysis. They review key performance indicators such as market share (relative to competing student teams), customer segment performance, financial results, local representative performance, industry news and events, and their overall Balanced Scorecard results.

Based on this analysis, teams define or refine their strategic direction and translate this into a series of tactical decisions. They negotiate allotment agreements with hotel chains across a range of international destinations, determine package prices, select service levels, manage local representatives, and decide which excursions and value-added services to offer their customers.

Throughout the simulation, teams must continuously balance profitability, customer satisfaction, market positioning and long-term strategic objectives. Their goal is to outperform competing tour operators and achieve the highest overall score on the Balanced Scorecard.

Learning Objectives

• Demonstrate an understanding of the complexities of the tourism industry, identifying the numerous stakeholders involved.
• Assess and evaluate the role that each stakeholder plays in the development of tourism destinations.
• Analyse the importance of interrelated relationships between stakeholders.
• Make recommendations and provide solutions for effective tourism development.
  
  

ASSESSMENT ideas and examples

• Ask students to individually keep track of decisions in a logbook (possibly from their own management position’s perspective) about their tourism management strategy and operational decisions.
• Written group report in which the teams write down each round what decisions they have taken and what they think the outcomes will be. They reflect on the decisions made each new round and continue doing this throughout the management simulation.
• 360 Peer assessment in which students have to allocate a hundred points among their fellow team mates based on their contribution.
• Organize a “Dragon’s Den” elevator pitch, a presentation to ‘investors’, played by the other student teams or lectures.
• The stock exchange could become part of the assessment. Their share price or ranking position can be translated into 25% of their final mark.