Unit 9 - Retail Travel Operations
This is an example of an assignment which will help you to achieve P2.
You should describe retail travel operational practices
Unit 9 – Retail Travel Operations
P2 – Describe the retail operational practices
In this assignment I will be describing the retail operational practices, I will be looking at
working practices, technology, and legislation and trade associations and licensing.
Working Practices
All travel agents are different. Different travel agencies will organise their working practices
daily. How they organise will depend on the following factors; how many staff there are
working, how much experience the staff have, the type of IT systems they use and finally the
type of management. Most organisation will have a manager and an assistant manager, the
management style should professional. They should also treat their employees fairly. They
should make rotas for the staff as cleaning duties are required.
Retail agencies will have front and back office procedures. The front office is where retail
agencies will greet their customers. This is where they book holidays for customers, provide
customers with information and also sell other services such as currency exchange. Those
working on the front office will also handle cash, cheques and card. They also maintain
records and pass information to back office. Somebody working in front office must have
good admin skills. It also gains them experience in handling cash. In front office they will use
what’s called view data. This is the interactive screen system that travel agents use to access
the tour operators reservation systems. They also use what’s called CRS (computer
reservation system. Each tour operator, airline and cruise line will have a computer
reservation systems. This can be accessed from the view data system. Back office will be
where all the cash is kept along with details of a customer. It is important that client’s
information is kept safe and locked away so data protection isn’t breached. All the brochure
stock will be kept in the back office. It is somebodies job to check the brochure stock and to
order them offline. This will also be where staff training is done.
There are procedures and documentation for selling travel services. The documents are kept
for 5 years and are then destroyed. First the customers are asked to fill out an enquiry form,
a booking form, and a checklist. The next step is to create a customer file, then a payment
timetable, then to send a confirmation and then finally they will receive the customer’s
tickets.
Merchandising and displays. It is important for a travel agent to look neat and tidy on the
outside of their shop. This is so it looks good to the customer’s eye. Posters are used to
advertise different destinations both on the windows and in the shop. A common
merchandising tool known as late deals will attract people into the agency. These are usually
displayed in the windows. It is a retail agent’s job to constantly update the cards. If they
don’t update they can get in trouble.
Agencies will have racking policies and preferred operators. A racking policy is what
brochure an agency will put on their shelves. If an agent fails to put brochures on the shelf
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