Managing Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Managing Strategy - Essay Example Introduction PESTEL is a model that considers the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental as well as legal aspect (Thomson & Strickland, 1998). It is considered as one of the models that can be successfully used particular for groups that are considered to be more private focused. Such groups may be victims of being oblivious to the effect of the external forces since their focus is laid on the internal forces. In studying the European Tour operation, PESTEL had been exhaustively practiced to arrive at the current status of the industry. Discussion According to the study, Political factors such as Government policies and trading policies were central to the growth. A case in point is the outcome of the competition authority clearance which witnessed the merger between Thomas Cook and the British Competitor MyTravel, an integrated international group. The economic situations and trends were also awakened the industry, where players like TUI responded to the actions o f Thomas Cook by the acquisition and merger with First Choice. These home economic situations and trends tighten the competition in the European Tour and Operation Industry. The economic situation was also concerned with the Industry specific factors where the Thomas Cook adopted flights that gave the customers choices of chartering plans rather than DO It-Yourself and thus assured security and good value for the vacationers. Economic factors such as interest rates also influenced the operations of players like TUI. This was witnessed where an anticipation of a sustained weakness of the pound against the Euro and the expected increase in unemployment made TUI to cut summer capacity by 27% to the British travelers in 2009. These economic factors also saw Thomas Cook undergo reorganization after experiencing continuing decrease in revenue. On consideration of the social factors, TUI got involved in low cost airline which was expected to get to the average families as well. TUI also go t itself different brands all over Europe and world at large to present different images in different environment, which they successfully did through travel agents as well as having there different brands of Tour operator selling not only fully packaged tours but also individual travels components. Competing Technological Development also shaped the tours operations in Europe. The observation that call centers and online bookings combined, in 2005 accounted for 25% of the sale gave an indication that technology had given the business of Tour operation a new face all together. This is also observed when online Travel Agencies are noted to have been moving quicker than the traditional Tour Operators who were seen to be going down the hill. The Literature also elaborates that tours operators no longer competes exclusively amongst themselves but face competition from online channels. The maturity of technology seemed to have played a very significant role in the development of tour ope ration in Europe. When it comes to environmental factors, clearly, Consumer buying patterns played a role in the determination of the progress of the industry the fact that a number of structural changes between US and UK. This was grounded on the understanding of the differences between the US markets and the European markets. The study notes that the Europeans take more vacations than Americans and that US travelers tend to be more independent and