OCR Applied Business Unit 9 - Ericas Eco Tours

We’re putting together our teacher and student revision toolkit for the OCR Applied Business Unit 9 case study. For June 2008, the case study is on specialist tour operating, a market that is brings the memories flooding back for me.

For two years I bought and sold specialist tour operating businesses during my time with what is now TUI (formerly Thomson Holidays). And the case study company for OCR Unit 9 (Ericas Eco Tours) operates in a market that I really admire - small group escorted tours with a environmentally-friendly approach to tourism. There are some tremendous businesses operating in this sector, most of which have enjoyed sustained periods of revenue growth without losing the essential specialist culture and focus that made them a success in the first place.

Of course the OCR case study is ficticious. However, the strategic issues raised are realistic and relevant. Here is a business with 15 year track record of sales growth, that has remained focused on its niche, building organically and not taking too many risks. I could name a couple of dozen such businesses in this sector - the so-called “specialist tour operator” market segment.

There are some useful websites of real tour operators that provide some good pointers to the strategic decisions faced by the case study company.

A good place to start is Holidaybreak plc, a quoted tour operator (one of the few remaining) which has grown through acquisition into two of the case study markets - escorted tours and educational trips.

Within the Holidaybreak business is a tremendous business called Explore, which is the UK market leader for small group escorted tours. Take a look on their website for some useful information on the recruitment issues faced by EETL.

Another is KE Adventure Travel - a specialist tour operator that has picked up several awards for its approach to responsible tourism - again a key theme in the case study.

I’ll add some more links as we complete the revision toolkit this weekend.