UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

TOURISM, LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY STUDIES DEPARTMENT

BACHELOR OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT HONOUR’S
DEGREE
TOUR OPERATIONS (THM 412)

Contact Hours: 60

Time Allocated: Monday: 1400-1200hrs; Wednesday: 1000-1200hrs.

Lecturer: Dr. S.Nyaruwata

1. Purpose of course

The course is offered to 4th year students undertaking the Bachelor of Tourism and
Hospitality Management Honour’s Degree programme. The course gives the students the
opportunity to link the various components of their tourism courses as it enables them to
appreciate how the different elements of tourism are packaged into a saleable holiday
product.
2. Aims

 To enable the students to have an in-depth understanding of the role of tour operations in the
tourism industry
 To develop students skills for managing a tour operating enterprise

3. Objectives

By the end of the course the students should be able to:

 Define the role played by tour operators in the product distribution value chain
 Explain the historical development of tour operations
 Outline the nature and characteristics of the tour operations business
 Design and cost saleable holiday tour packages
 Be aware of the challenges being posed by new technologies to the traditional tour operator

4. Course content

I. Introduction (Time allocated: 3 weeks)

The introduction covers the definitions of terms commonly used in tour operations. Students are then
exposed to background to the subject covering the following:

 Organized travel-the GRAND TOUR

 Role of different modes of transport in tour operations development

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  Role of Thomas Cook in tour package development
 Role of Vladimir Raitz in development charter package tours
 Role of tour operators in mass tourism development
 Position of tour operator in the product distribution value chain
 New tourism
II. Air Transport(Time allocated: one week)
 Regulations
 Deregulation and its impact on tour operations
 Low cost airlines
III. Tour operator’s Product(Time allocated: three weeks)

The section will cover the following products and concepts:

 Local tour package

 Short haul tour package
 Long haul tour package
 Regulations
 Tour operators and the accommodation sector
 Market segmentation in tour operations
 Role of horizontal and vertical integration in tour operations
 Sustainable tour ism and tour operations
IV. Financial Planning (Time allocated: two weeks)

Students will be exposed to the following the terms and concepts:

 Tour planning
 Tour pricing
 Tour marketing
 Support services
 Tour guiding
V. The role of the travel agent (Time allocated: one week)

The section will cover the following:

 The independent agent

 Multiples
 Tour operator owned agencies
 Online travel agencies (OTAs)
VI. Challenges of technology in tour operations(Time Allocated: two weeks)

Students will be exposed to the following issues:

 E-mediaries
 E-tourism
 The internet
 The World Wide Web-growth of dotcoms
 Social Media in tour operations
 Tour operations in Southern Africa

5 .Methods

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Effective teaching of the subject will be accomplished through the following methods/strategies:

 Lectures
 Discussions
 Students undertaking group activities and come up with innovations that can be patented in
line with education 5.0
 Seminars
 Field visits

6 Student Assessments

Course work will constitute 30% of the total marks, involving the following:

 Individual Assignment -100%

Individual Assignment-100%

Final Examinations which will constitute 70% of the total marks

Students will sit for a three hour written paper and are expected to answer a total of four questions
each worth 25 marks.

The course will be evaluated by students, peers in the department and the chairperson of the
department.

7 References

Yale,T.(1995) The Business of Tour Operations Longmans Group Ltd London

Horner,P.(1996) Travel Agency Practice, Addison-Wesley Longman

Page,S.J.,Connel, J(2009) Tourism:A modern Synthesis.Third Edition Butterworth

Publications;London

Buhalis,D,Jun, S.H.(2010) E-Tourism Goodfellow Publishers Ltd

Nyaruwata, S.Kaseke,N. and Marunda, E. (2016) Challenges faced by tour operators in developing
countries in leveraging information communication technologies to improve business performance:
A case study of tour operators in Zimbabwe. Australian Journal of Business Management Research
pp14-23.ISSN1839-0846.

Nyaruwata, S.: (2018) Drivers and Deterrents of Information Communication Technologies

Adoption by Zimbabwean tour operators: International Journal of Digital Culture and
Electronic Tourism: vol. 2, No 4, 2018. ISSN:1753-5220

Goelder,C.R. and Richie, J.R.B(2012) Tourism: Principles, Practices,Philosophisies-12 th edition-

Wiley&Sons Inc. New Jersey. US

Sezgin, E. and Yolal, M. (2012) The golden age of mass tourism: its history and
development; www.intechopen.com

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www.tuitravelplc.com

www.americanexpresstravelresources.com

www.wildhorizons.co.zw