Syllabus

TOURISM AGENCIES

3.1 Historical development of travel agencies

3.2 Thomas Cook, Cox & Kings, American Express

3.3 Profile of a Travel agency

3.4 Legislative requirements

3.5 Organization of a Travel agency and functions

3.6 Travel agencies in India – SITA, Mercury Travels, TCI, TAAI and their functions

3.7 Airlines

3.8 Need for a National Airline; International Airlines coming to India

3.9 Freedom of Air

3.10 Charters – Types of Charters

3.1 Historical development of travel agencies:
Travel agency
A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that
provides tourism related services to the public on behalf of
suppliers such as airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels,
railways, and package tours . In addition to dealing with
ordinary tourists most travel agencies have a separate
department devoted to making travel arrangements for
business travelers and some travel agencies specialize in
commercial and business travel only.
Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook (22

November 1808 – 18
July 1892)
of Melbourne,
Derbyshire, England
founded the travel
agency that in 2007
became Thomas Cook
Group.

[Link]
 Thomas Cook
• A Baptist preacher

• In connection with Midland Counties railway

• First organized trip between Leicester to

Loughborough with 540 travellers
• In 1846 he took 350 peoples from Leicester to
Scotland
• He arranged tours for nearly 1,65,000 peoples
to attend Grand exhibition in London.
 Thomas Cook
• In 1860 he extended travel to Switzerland,
Italy, Egypt and United States.
• 1872, joined with his son John Mason cook
and became as domestic and International
agent for travel.
• 1866 – Introduced detachable hotel coupons
which can be used for meals
• 1888 – Established offices around the world.

• 1890 – sold around 3.25 million tickets

 American
Express

[Link]
Henry Wells
(December 12,
1805 –
December 10,
1878) was
an American busi
nessman
 American Express
• American Express Company sometimes known as
"AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial
services company headquartered in New York City.
• The company is best known for its credit card, charge
card, and traveler's cheque businesses. Amex cards
account for approximately 24% of the total dollar volume
of credit card transactions in the US, the highest of any
card issuer.
 American Express

• Founded 1850
• Founded by Henry Wells, William Fargo,John Warren
Butterfield
• Headquarters New York City, New York, United States
• Key people Kenneth Chenault(Chairman & CEO)
• Products Financial ,Travel services, Insurance
• Employees 67,701 (2008)
Cox & Kings

Richard Cox –
(1718 –
1803) Born
in
Yorkshire,
England.
[Link]
 Cox & Kings
1758 – Started Cox and Kings as appointed
as regimental agent by Lord Ligonier.

Duty to Handle higher officers from army

and also from Royal Navy, Royal flying crops

1918 - Duty extended to serve newly

formed Royal air force
 Cox & Kings
1851 - Tour arranged from India to London
for the great exhibition

1918 - Became an international corporation

1922 - Merged with Henry S. Kings a

banking concern

1923 - Banking business sold to Lloyds

Bank
 Profile of a travel Agency

Journey Cruise
Tickets Lines
Travel
Accommo Agency Car Rental
dation

Local Sight Food Package

Seeing Tours
 Legislative requirements
• Sell tickets allowing another person to travel,
or arrange approval for another person to
travel
• Sell, arrange or make available the right for
another person to travel to a place and be
accommodated at that place
• Purchase for the purpose of reselling the right
of passage on a conveyance.
 Organization of a Travel agency and functions

• Provision of Travel Information

• Preparation of Itineraries

• Liaison with provider of services

• Planning and Costing Tours

• Ticketing

• Provision of Foreign Currency

• Insurance
 Travel agencies in India – SITA, Mercury Travels, TCI, TAAI and their
functions

[Link]
SITA World Travel - Inbound Division is a part of Kuoni
Travel India Ltd. The leading Destination Management
Company in India, SITA has been handling incoming
tourists to India from all over the world through a
network of 30 offices in the region including associate
offices in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
 Mercury Travels
[Link]

Mercury Travels is a one-stop shop that offers the complete

range of travel related services. Mercury Travels has
around 300 employees who are skilled in the travel
business. As members of the extended Oberoi Hotel family,
our people have been indoctrinated in the service quality
mindset and the organization is one of the best customer
service oriented companies in the travel services domain.
The company enjoys a reputation for providing reliable,
personalized and professional travel services.
 TAAI – Travel Agent Association of India
The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) was formed towards the end of
the year 1951 by a group of twelve leading travel agents, who felt the time
had come to create an Association to regulate the travel industry in India
along organized lines and in accordance with sound business principles.

The primary purpose was to protect the interests of those engaged in the
industry, to promote its orderly growth and development and to safeguard
the travelling public from exploitation by unscrupulous and unreliable
operators.
In the following years, the Association's membership has swelled steadily
from the original 12 to approximately 2500 members consisting of Active,
Associate, Allied, Government and Non-Resident.

[Link]
 What is TAAI
• TAAI is a professional coordinating body of different
segments of the travel and tourism industry.
• TAAI is the Nodal Association of India.

• TAAI is non-political, non-commercial and a non-

profit making organization.
• TAAI is recognized as the main representative body
of the travel and tourism industry. The symbol

TAAI is an enforcement of reliable and professional

service.
 Aims and Objectives
• TAAI is conscious of the interest of the travelling public and
maintains high ethical standards within the travel trade.
• TAAI aims at the development of the travel and tourism
industry in India by constantly improving the standard of
service and professionalism in the industry so as to cater to
the needs of the travelers and tourists from within India
and overseas.
• TAAI is engaged in promoting mutual co-operation among
the different segments of the travel and tourism industry,
among TAAI members, by contributing to the sound
progress and growth of the industry as a whole.
 Activities of TAAI
• TAAI functions as a powerful platform for interaction of
thoughts and experiences.
• TAAI helps promote, maintain and stimulate the
growth of travel and tourism in the industry.
• TAAI educates and equips the members to meet the
challenges of tomorrow through conventions and
seminars.
• TAAI draws the attention of the controlling and
regulatory authorities in the country and discusses
with them the problems of the industry and works for
the survival and betterment of its members.
 Activities of TAAI
• TAAI maintains close contact with world bodies and
represents matters affecting the travel and tourism industry
of the country.
• TAAI gathers useful information on travel and tourism and
disseminates the same to its members for their guidance.
• TAAI helps develop better understanding among the different
segments of the travel industry and brings them into its fold
by offering membership under different categories.
• TAAI fosters fraternity among its members.

TAAI has signed several MOU's with various Travel Agents

Associations in neighboring countries and around the globe.
 TAAI's objectives are to work
towards:
• A committed national membership.

• Widening its area of influence by judiciously delegating

authority and responsibility to Regions, Chapters and
City Committees.
• Professional management of its affairs at all levels.

• A responsive and well equipped Secretariat, which

benefits all members.
• The manner in which TAAI conducts itself on issues of
trade principles and practice, will determine its
contribution to our industry.

TAAI welcomes this responsibility.

 TCI – Travel Corporation of India
TCI is India's leading travel organisation with
12 offices in India and 07 worldwide,
providing integrated tour and travel services.
When it comes to discovering destinations
and planning holidays TCI's experience and
expertise can make your vacation truly
memorable.

[Link]
 TCI

India's leading Destination Management Company with an

impeccable record in all aspects of inbound business in
India, Sri Lanka, Nepal & Mauritius. For over 50 years,
TCI has perfected the art of making the entire travel
experience memorable. Maintaining its position as the
"Best Inbound Tour Operator", TCI has further
consolidated its presence in the inbound industry with
offices across 12 cities in India and 7 marketing offices
overseas at New York, London, Frankfurt, Madrid,
Barcelona, Tokyo and Kathmandu.
 Travel Agents in India

[Link]
[Link]?Name=Travel
%20Trade&TCID=Travel%20Agent
 Travel Websites

Expedia, Voyages- [Link],

Travelocity, Orbitz, CheapTickets,
Priceline, CheapOair, Webjet,
[Link]. [Link], TripAdvisor,
SideStep, yatra, makemytrip,
travelguru, cleartrip, ixigo, cleartrip,
travelzoo, travelpod, mobissimo
 Airlines
Airlines vary from those with a
single aircraft
carrying mail or cargo,
through full-service
international airlines
operating hundreds of
aircraft. Airline services can
be categorized as being
intercontinental, intra-
continental, domestic,
regional, or international, and
may be operated as scheduled
services or charters.
 Need for a National Airline;
International Airlines coming to India
Many countries have national airlines that
the government owns and operates.
Indian, formerly Indian
Airlines (Indian Airlines Limited from
1993 and Indian Airlines Corporation
from 1953 to 1993) was a major Indian
airline based in Delhi and focused
primarily on domestic routes, along with
several international services to
neighbouring countries in Asia. It was
state-owned, and was administered by
the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It was one
of the two flag carriers of India, the
other being Air India. The airline
officially merged into Air India on 27
February 2011.
 International Airlines coming to India
Aeroflot - Russia
Airchina - China http://
[Link]
Air Arabia - UAE m/international-
Austrian - Austria flight-schedule/
airlines/
British Airways - England
Cathay Pacific - Hong
Kong
Continental - USA
Delta Airlines - USA
Emirates - UAE
Etihad Airways - UAE
 International Airlines coming to India
Finn Air - Finland
KLM - Netherlands
Kuwait - Kuwait
Malaysia Airlines- Malaysia
Oman Air - Oman
Qantaas Airways - Australia
Qatar Airlines - Qatar
Jazeera Airways - Kuwait
Royal Jordanian - Jordan
 International Airlines coming to India
Srilankan Airlines - Srilanka
Thai Airways - Thailand
Tiger Airways - Singapore
 Freedom of Air
[Link] Freedom Description

1 1st The right to fly over a foreign country, without

landing there

2 2nd The right to refuel or carry out maintenance in a

foreign country on the way to another country

3 3rd The right to fly from one's own country to another

4 4th The right to fly from another country to one's own

5 5th The right to fly between two foreign countries during

flights while the flight originates or ends in one's own
country
 Freedom of Air
S.N Freedo Description
o m

6 6th The right to fly from a foreign country to

another one while stopping in one's own
country for non-technical reasons

7 7th The right to fly between two foreign

countries while not offering flights to one's
own country

8 8th The right to fly between two or more

airports in a foreign country while
continuing service to one's own country
Freedom of Air
 Charters
• Air charter is the business of renting an
entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to
individual aircraft seats. These air charter
companies offer a large variety of aircraft,
such as helicopters, and business jets; This
includes light jets, mid-size jets, super mid
size jets, heavy jets, and airliners. Package
holiday companies often charter aircraft
specifically for the holidays they sell.
Types of Charters
 Piston Powered – Speed:
200 MPH
A piston engine
powered aircraft (most
are non-pressurized)
designed for up to 6
passengers flying 500
miles or less. Piston
engine aircraft are less
expensive to charter
than jet-props or jets.
Small Turbo-prop - Speed: 230 MPH
A small jet powered
pressurized turbo-prop
aircraft that can fly over
most types of weather.
These aircraft usually
have a curtained potty to
insure comfort. These
aircraft are well suited
for up to 6 passengers
flying trips up to 700
miles.
 Medium Turbo-prop - Speed: 275 MPH
A more spacious jet
powered turbo-prop
pressurized aircraft
that can fly over most
types of weather.
Most have curtained
potties. Well suited
for up to 9
passengers on trips
up to 800 miles.
Large Turbo-prop - Speed: 330 MPH
A large jet powered turbo-prop
pressurized aircraft that can
fly over most types of
weather. This category of
aircraft has stand-up cabins
and lavatories and is well
suited for 10 to 50
passengers for trips up to
1,000 miles.
 Light Jet - Speed: 500 MPH
A small jet aircraft with seating for up to 8 passengers (5 to 7
comfortably) with most having a curtained lavatory. These
aircraft normally have a non-stop range of 1,200 to 2,300
miles.
 Midsize Jet - Speed: 500 MPH
A jet aircraft that has a
stand-up cabin, a meal
galley and an enclosed
lavatory. Midsize jets
have seats for up to 9
passengers (generally
more comfortable for 7
to 8 passengers). Most
have a non-stop range
of 1,800 to 3,000 miles.
Large Corporate Jet - Speed: 500 MPH
A large corporate jet with
maximum seating for up
to 19 passengers with
average seating for 12 to
14. All have standup
cabins, enclosed
lavatories, full galley's
and flight attendant
quarters. The non-stop
range is 3,200 to 7,000
miles.
 Airline Type Jet - Speed: 525 MPH
An airliner (from a DC-9 to a
B-747). They range in
seating for as few as 25 to
as many as 500. They often
are customized with
appointments such as
bedrooms, bars, offices,
etc. The non-stop range
varies from 2,000 to 12,000
miles.