Sherly Travel Group: Environment and Strategy

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Executive summary

Sherly Travel Group (SGT) is a newly formed company that specializes in offering tour and travel services to both individuals and corporate clients. The company has its headquarters situated in Singapore, but it has diversified its services to other parts of the world to meet the needs and the expectation of the customers.

The SGT prides itself for having employees with vast experience in the tour and travel industry and have the passion of serving their customers to satisfaction. Customers’ satisfaction that SGT practices has seen increase in the number of customers in the recent past and thus a competitive edge to the company (Clemons et al, 2007).

SGT will not only focus on the offering of luxury travel to its customers, but also the company will focus on budget travel. The target customers of the company are couples, affinity groups or individuals who go for holiday at least once per year. The customers will definitely compare their experiences with the tour companies before they make their purchase decisions.

This is the reason as to why the SGT is committed in offering the first-class tour services at the prices of budget travel. To achieve the competitive edge over its competitors, SGT has customized its services to meet the individual needs of the customers.

SGT has identified the channels that it is going to use in order to reach the potential customers. These channels include advertising its services in the media such as magazines, newspapers and television. The company will also use tour agents to reach the target market.

SGT is also committed in offering strong brand name by offering its services at a lower price as compared to the other companies in the same industry. The company has made its services accessible by offering online services to the customers.

The customers can book for their holiday destinations without having to walk to the offices and thus the services offered to the customers are convenient (Clemons et al, 2007).

Business description

Sherly Tour Group is meant to offer tour and travel services to group and individual who want to travel for leisure. Some of the services offered by STG include travel consultation, pre-arranged tours, hotels booking and custom packages among others.

The aim of the STG is to position itself as the leading tour and travel company in the country (Murphy & Tan 2009). The company is expected to grow over a period of time and thus venture in related services and markets. The company will endeavor in maintaining close business relationship with other related company.

Business environment analysis (analysis and trends)

Sherly Travel Group is situated in urban settings of Singapore. The company offers the opportunity for its customers to visit superb places at affordable prices. The estimated population of the city is about 1 million people.

Singapore is a commercial city and thus people tend to go for short holiday in order to relieve stresses and avoid the hassles that comes with urban life. Singapore for instance has islands on its proximity that offer superb places for those who love to go for holidays.

Industry background (target market)

Tour and travel industry is characterized by many companies who offer similar products to the market. The companies thus differentiate the products they offer in the market in order to gain competitive edge over their competitors.

It is in this consideration therefore that Sherly Travel Group has differentiated its products in such a way that they address the individualized needs of a specific customer. Leisure travel in Singapore has fully matured as shown by the amount of the revenue the industry generates.

Leisure travel for instance generates over $400 million per year. Adventurer travel is a sub group in the tour and travel industry. Adventure travel can further be divided into two; hard and soft adventure travel (Singapore Toursm Board, 2010).

Competition

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There is a cut throat competition in the tour and travel industry. STG is faced with competition from both the traditional competitors and the new entrants into the market. The tour and travel industry is a competitive market that is characterized by the free entry of the players in the market.

In order for the firms to beat this stiff competition brought about by the large number of players in the market, the companies are differentiating their services to appear different from those offered by the competitors. The STG for instance is offering its services at lower prices than those offered by the competitors and thus creating a strong brand name in Singapore and across the borders (Porter, 2010).

The STG is offering high quality services as compared to the rival companies since both the owners and the employees of the company have wide experience in the tour and travel industries.

Strategic Position and risk assessment

Due to increased competition in the environment in which STG operates, the company is committed to strategically position itself in the market in order to gain the competitive advantage. In order to foster competitive advantage in the industry in which STG operates, the company has considered forming strategic alliances with organization that offers related services (Porter, 2010).

In doing so, the market size of STG increases considerably. Some of the strategic alliances that the STG has forged in the recent past include forming alliances with airlines companies, hotels, restaurants, lodges and tour and travel agencies.

As a strategic move, the company has invested in the human resources. Human resource is the most valuable asset available to the organization and when utilized optimally can lead to the company gaining competitive edge over competitors in the market.

The owners and the employees at the STG have a wealth of knowledge in the travel industry having served in that industry for a long period of time.

There are risks that face travel industry that definitely affects the operations of STG. The government regulations are some of the risks that affect that affect travel company. Deregulation of the airfares by the government has reduced costs of travel and thus increasing the number of people who opt to travel by air.

Economic conditions are also risks that are faced by the travel industry (Drury, 2009). Mostly those who demand for the tour and travel services are those who seek pleasure and thus in difficult economic times they tend to demand less of the service and thus low income to the tour companies.

Travel advisories given by the government also affect business in tour and travel industries (Chand, 2002). The government may advice her citizens that some destinations are not safe and thus they should be more vigilant when touring those destinations and reducing the number of people demanding for the services offered by the travel companies (Department of Travel ,2009).

Marketing plan

STG has invested a lot of resources in training and marketing and thus positioning itself as the best travel company in the region (Hirsch, 2009). The professionalism in offering services by staff employed at the STG is paramount and thus the staff are engaged in training to offer services of the highest standard possible.

The company also engages in marketing to grow its market share and at the same time create a strong brand name that will in turn create loyal customers for the company (Bratton & Gold, 2007).

Pricing strategy

The company will offer the fast class-luxurious services at the cost of budget travel. This will ensure that the company creates a strong brand. The company wants to identify itself with the customers who are looking for quality services yet are mindful of the costs of the services offered.

Operations plan

The tour and travel industry has expanded rapidly over the last two decades (Office for National Statistics, 2009). To enjoy the benefits accrued from the expansion of the industry, SGT has position itself as the market leader through offering quality services and reduced costs. The company has over the period engaged in advertising and thus creating a strong brand name in the market in which it operates.

Technology plan

SGT has embraced technology to ensure that it delivers its services to its customers both efficiently and effectively. The customer will be able to book for their tickets and hotels online therefore saving time on the side of the customers.

Management summary and organization

The management team at SGT will include the general manager, development manager, marketing and sales directors, travel director, travel agent and office manager. The management team will be required to make decisions in the company. Instruction will flow in a straight line from top to bottom and reporting will be from bottom to top.

Financial plan

The start-up cost will mainly go into purchasing of office equipment such as computers, desks and stationeries such as pens and writing materials. Some amount will be required to lease the office space. Significant amount will be used on marketing and paying salaries to the employees of the company.

Reference List

Bratton, J. & Gold, J., 2007, Human Resource Management – Theory and practice 4th ed. Basingstoke; Palgrave Macmillan

Chand, M., 2002, Travel Agency Management: An Introductory Text, New Delhi: Anmol publication PVT. LTD.

Clemons, K., Hann H. & Hitt M., 2007, Price Dispersion and Differentiation in Online Travel: An Empirical Investigation. A Journal of Marketing Science, 4(3).

Department of Travel. 2009, Aviation Safety. Web.

Drury, I.,2009, Ration Holiday Flights to Cut Pollution, says Brown’s Adviser. Web.

Hirsch, A.,2009, A reverse for the ‘secrecy creep’. Web.

Murphy, J. & Tan, I., Journey to nowhere? E-mail customer service by travel agents in Singapore, a Journal on Tourism Management 24 (5), 543-550. Web.

Office for National Statistics.,2009, National Statistics Online. Web.

Porter, M, 2010, Competitive Advantage, New York: The Free Press Singapore Toursm Board, 2010, Planning and Developement. Web

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