Types of channels - Indirects

Types of channels - Indirects

The large number of companies offering tourist services, the geographical distance between them and tourists, is the cause of the appeareance of intermediaries (indirect channels) in the tourism sector.
Intermediaries operate in outbound markets providing access to destinations and products / services locally.  But also it is frequent to have intermediaries at destination to provide local knowledge.

Indirect channels are those where there are intermediaries between suppliers and customer. 

It may include a single intermediary (short channel), two intermediaries (long channel), or more than two (very long channel). 

The image below shows some of the most common intermediaries in indirect distribution channels: 

• Tour operators /Wholesale agencies (do not sell services directly to the public). Mayoristas.

• Retail agencies (distribute and sell tourist products like packages between the final consumer). Minoristas. In Spain many agencies are a mixed (Mayoristas-minoristas).

• GDS and booking centers (contain features of both and are computerized systems)

TOUROPERATOR or WHOLESALERS

A tour operator is a person or company that offers holiday or vacation packages, primarily through reserving travel and accommodation arrangements for people.The most common example of a tour operator package would be a flight on a charter airline plus a transfer from the airport to a hotel and the services of a local representative, all for a price inferior to de addiction of each individual service.

Catai Tours is one of the most important touroperators in Spain.

CLASSIFICATION OF TOURISM TOUROPERATORS:

1.  According to the way of marketing their products:

a).Travel agencies that organize and sell packages through their own channels exclusively , wholesaler - retailer. Ex : El Corte Ingles Travel

b). Travel agencies that plan and sell its own sales channels such as retail agencies both , using them in cities that do not have branches .

c). Operators have only the character of wholesalers. Organize trips , but leave the final distribution to the public in the hands of retail agencies. Eg : Cathay Tours


2.  According to its geographycal scope

a).  Outbound agencies (Emisoras), operating in the country of origin of the tourists. Eg Tui, Thomas Cook.

b).Incoming agencies and DMCs (Receptoras o 'de Receptivo') are those operators that deal with travel arrangements within the country of destination in tourist areas ( Spain , Italy, Greece , etc). The services offered are related to the organization of complementary activities in destinations (excursions, talks to road transport , airport reception ... ) .


3.  Depending on the strategy they develop:

a. General agents - are the most common and linked to leisure travel and 'sun and beach' destinations.
b. Specialized Agents - specializing in market segments or types of travel. Multiple specializations are presented and , therefore , the operators in the world. The most common are specialized in:

( 1) a country or geographic area ( Cuba , Italy ... )
( 2) an age group ( young or elderly market - Imserso)
( 3) a type of vacation (weekend breaks, bank holidays...)
(4) An accommodation ( small hotels, villas, luxury hotels... )
(5) transport type ( train , coach lines, cruise lines ... )
(6 ) a specific motivation ( MICE, hiking , cruises ...), etc. .

TUI (Germany ) , Orbitz, Thomson, Thomas Cook, Condor & Neckerman , First Choice and Kuomi : Among the best known international tour operators are found tran ¬ . Nationally find Cathay Iberojet , Mundicolor , Travelplan , Soltour , El Corte Ingles, among others.



TRAVEL AGENCIES 

A travel agency is a private retailer company or public service that  provides travel and 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 specialized in commercial and business travel only. There are also agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are located.

They are responsible for bringing the client tourism products developed by wholesale partners (who cannot sell directly to end customer).

E.g.: In the travel agency "El Corte Inglés" you can look for a Disney cruise.

Travel agencies have 3 main functions:


1.   Mediation, between suppliers and travellers. 

2 . Producer, creating holiday packages. 

3 . Information advisors / consultants, about destinations and tourist companies.


Classification of Travel agencies:

a. Wholesalers Agencies (drawn tour packages sold through retail agencies)

b. Retail partners (tourism products marketed directly to consumers)

c. Wholesale-retail (can develop the two previous activities).


Depending on the place where they sell their services:

a. Travel shops and offices, agencies in cities, in companies (in-plants), in shopping centers… Halcon viajes, Carrefour, etc...

b. Virtual agencies, Rumbo.com, Destinia, etc.

CRS (computerized reservation systems) and GDS (Global Distribution Systems)

CRS: databases of individual tourist services that are updated regularly. Travel agencies and final customers can access their information. Users can receive information, book, and change, cancel reservations. E.g.: Ruralandalus.com, Keytel, Hotusa…

GDS: system enabling online access to large databases of tourism service providers of all types like accommodation, car-rental, airlines, excursions, etc. Their use is restricted to retail agencies and companies. Though Amadeus has created its own retail agency online: amadeus.net.

Example: Amadeus, Sabre, Galileo.

METASEARCH 

There are other online brokers that work performing multiple searches on the web through different providers and comparing prices and features of the same face to the customer. Although it is a tool primarily focused search airline tickets, are now beginning to emerge metasearch hotels, are now beginning to emerge metasearch sites for hotels and other services

Example: TripAdvisor released their own metasearch hotels.