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Business Plan

Tour Company

Current Situation

Metro Sun Tours (MST) is recently incorporated. One of its main resources will be Melba Rae who was previously at the helm of the very small but relatively successful Sun Island Tours (SIT).

SIT’s Background

SIT operated as a small, family owned tour company with very limited financial resources. As at the last reporting date, the company on revenues of just over ……….., made profits of ……………….

The company was starved of funding and employed a small staff of two full-time persons - the Founder of the company Melba Rae and an Assistant. The other members of the team included three part-time Tour Guides and a commissioned sales person. The business operated out of a small office in New Kingston.

The ability to make major in-roads in offering tours to the international tourist market had been difficult for SIT. So, too, had been the efforts to break into the local tour business. In effect, the company had not seen marked success neither in its scope of operations nor in making substantial financial gains. Its main achievement was in making a name for itself by focusing on offering tour packages to schools, mostly in the Kingston Metropolitan area.

SIT’s Operations in the Local Market

With its reputation, SIT was able to maintain a loyal customer base within the school system. Not only was it able to offer tours required to support the teaching curriculum; but it had also planned and implemented others that have proved quite relevant to the overall educational experience. One such event was the Annual Heroes’ Week tours to the National Heroes Shrine and Emancipation Square. Support came essentially from primary and preparatory schools inside and outside of the Kingston Metropolitan area.

SIT maintained an edge in the ability to always provide relevant and current information through research and study. The professionalism of its tour guides had been a constant source of pride for the company.

SIT’s Operations in the International Market

The majority of the work done with international tours was in conjunction with the Jamaica Tourist Board and TPDCO. This included the signing of a contractual agreement with Caymanas Track Limited to be the premier provider of tours to the racetrack in May 2002. This arrangement, however, was not exploited because of the lack of proper organization and adequate funding.

Purpose of the Business Plan

The local tours market holds significant opportunities. Schools are now mandated to enhance the educational experience by engaging in the study of local heritage, culture, geography, etc. this presents a market of over ………… students (primary to tertiary). Additionally, the business of offering tours to over one million annual visitors to Jamaica is largely unexplored and underdeveloped.

To explore the opportunities described above, Melba Rae, Tony Dee and others have collaborated to establish a new company – The Tour Company. The company’s goal is to offer Tour Guiding services offered by SIT on an expanded scale both in terms of market coverage and organization.

The new company – MST will benefit from the collaboration in the following ways:

• Adequate Capital funding (permanent and working capital support)
• Management and Organizational Support (Strategic, Operational, Business Development/Marketing)
• Financial and Investment Advice

The capital injected will be used in the following areas of the company’s operations:

1. Marketing – to launch awareness of the company and its products and to keep it in the public consciousness.

1. Training – to build a group of highly trained professionals to maintain the standards that are set.

1. Transportation – to acquire at least two tour buses that will allow for more competitive pricing of tours.

1. Liability Insurance – to secure adequate coverage in the event of an accident. The ability to move overseas visitors will be directly impacted by this.

1. Certification – To put the company in a better position to apply for and gain certification from various bodies in the industry; e.g. TPDCO.

Business Concept

To provide professional interactive, interpretive, tour-guiding services, which encompasses the expression of the contextual validity of information about any person, place or thing. To achieve this, the company will provide custom-designed and pre-packaged tours.

Strong emphasis will be placed on professional tour guides and their ability to present and deliver information about the history, culture and heritage of the Jamaican experience

Location

The registered address, mailing address, and the operations of the New Tour Company will be situated on premises at Luxury Lane, New Kingston

Shareholding Structure

That Capital Structure be arranged as outlined below (in %):

Tony Dee - 55

Melba Rae - 26

Tara New - 5

John Slew (or Nominee) - 4

Staff - 10

Allowance will be made for another 10% of issued Ordinary Shares to staff as follows:

Tony Dee - 4

Melba Rae - 6

Management

Tony Dee will perform the role of General Manager and will be in control of the day-to-day affairs of MST Limited.

Directorship

The Directorship of Jamaica Story Tours Limited will be Tony Dee and Melba Rae and 2 external Directors. The Board will meet once per month.

Vision Statement

To transform the tour guiding profession in Jamaica and create a professional unit of persons who study and present Jamaican landforms, history, culture and heritage, to Jamaicans and visitors to the Island.

MST’s goal is to properly interpret the information gathered for the particular audience to which the presentation is being made and to be reliable liaisons that will enhance the experience for their education and enjoyment.

The Company has a vision of bringing greater scope and depth to the way the tour industry in Jamaica is viewed and operated for both our local and overseas clientele.

The Target Market

The markets that will be the focus of MST’s attention are described below:

Domestic

The Educational Market This includes Basic through to the tertiary-level Students and essentially presents a pool of ……………. students. Reason: The new education system (including the CXC curriculum) in Jamaica has mandated the enhancement of the educational experience through exposure to local culture, history, heritage, geography, etc. This exposure to be gained from actual field trips. In many instances, students are required to complete written reports as a part of the overall assessment structure. Characteristics of Basic\Tertiary level Students: Students mandated to enhance the learning experience by taking part in field trips. Students mandated to complete projects/reports as a part of the assessment process. The Local Heritage Market (Standard) This includes Social, Family and Sporting groups essentially from the broad Jamaican populace. Reason: Offerings of attractive tour packages to local market in general are virtually non-existent. Characteristics of Social, Family and Sporting Groups: Adults and children who, on weekends or public holidays, are interested in increasing their awareness of local heritage, culture, etc. in a relaxed and friendly setting.

International

The International Heritage Tours Market The opportunity lies in offering these tours to a substantial portion of the entire tourism market. Reason: The International Tours market forms the entire pool of over one million tourists are largely unexplored. Characteristic of Heritage Tours Market The overseas tourist (adults and children) who are interested in local history, culture and heritage. The International Leisure Tours Market Like the Heritage Tours Market, the opportunity to offer leisure tours lies in a substantial portion of the entire tourism market. Reason The International Tours market from the entire pool of over one million tourists is largely unexplored. Characteristics of the International Leisure Tours Market: The overseas tourist (adults and children) who is interested in experiencing local attractions and events (sports, concerts, stage shows, etc) in friendly, relaxed setting.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Industry Overview – The International Tours Market

The major Tour Companies in Jamaica are located on the North Coast of the island in the tourist resort areas. MST Limited is the biggest of these as they bring in charter tours from several destinations, including North America and Europe. They, though, are still lacking in professional tour guides and only the imported language guides who still lack knowledge of the local product, are paid a reasonable salary for their efforts; thus, there is no encouragement for the local guides to develop in the system. Their tours are very basic and depend on the attractions that already exist.

Most of the other companies depend on selling tours out of hotel tour desk to the attractions, mostly just being transportation providers to these attractions. They are staffed by untrained guides who often deliver eschewed information.

The other groups are the tour marketing companies who organize tours for sale; but depend on the delivery of the entire product by contractors in tour guiding, transportation, etc.

The Local Market

There are no large dominant players offering tours to the local market. The primary to tertiary segment of the market is largely unexplored and are only serviced directly by a few small companies.

Nature of Competition

The major weakness of the existing company’s provision of tours to local and or international clientele is that it lacks trained tour guides to deliver a professionally guided tour that meet needs of the participants. This is how MST will gain a competitive edge over existing players, as it has the personnel to build on an existing core group of trained tour guiding professionals.

SWOT Analysis

Opportunities	Threats
The size of the tourism market and the projections for further growth (both the domestic and International tourism market is poised for double-digit growth) The tour market is largely unexplored Market growth projections for the tour industry are encouraging The competition lacks trained tour guiding professionals which presents an opportunity for JST to capture market share The general thrust of the tourism market to be more aggressive in promoting tours to the international traveler	The fragile nature of the local economy and the potential for destabilization which will affect the fortunes of the tourism market The level of crime and the potential for social unrest that could put a stranglehold on tourism An accident that could destroy the reputation of the company or cripple the company financially.
Key Competitive Capabilities	Key Competitive Weaknesses
Key resource personnel who can train and develop professional tour guides Existing core group pf trained professionals Young energetic management team	Lack of a large pool of trained tour guides that would allow the company to operate on a broader scale from the outset

PRODUCTS/SERVICES

MST’s Products/Services are offered according to the identified markets segments:

• The Heritage Tours Market

• The Educational Market
• The local Heritage Tours Market (Standard)
• The International Heritage Tours Market

• The Educational Market

• Leisure Tours Market

The International Leisure Tour Market

Other Products and Services

The company will also offer/deliver/sell:

Custom made tour packages according to the needs of local and international clientele.

Vacation packages to local properties including the booking of hotel room packages

Research capabilities for clients who want information about any facet of Jamaica’s history, culture and lifestyle.

Tour guiding services on a contractual basis through other players in the industry

Future Products/Services

The company will continue to research and developing new tours for the international and local tours markets.

Marketing and Sales

Through a well-developed marketing programme the following means and methods will be used to market and sell the company’s product s and services:

Web Site: this will be used to provide information on the company and on its products and services. Online bookings will be facilitated.

Fam Trips- designed for school teachers, travel agents local and international: this will serve the purpose of familiarizing the primary sellers of the product to give insight of the product based on first hand knowledge and experience.

Sponsored competition for clients:

Making in house presentations to Corporate Bodies, Churches, Service Clubs

Forming alliances with strong product brands.

Forming alliances with hotel tour desks .

GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

The company has significant growth opportunities. This can be realized by expanding contemplated product lines and diversifying its products offerings into other areas such as sports, entertainment, etc.

Sports

Cricket, for instance, holds tremendous potential. On an annual basis, competitions ranging from local to international level require the movement of teams between different points in Jamaica. Additionally, once teams visit the island, there is the largely unexplored possibility of structuring tours for players and visitors in their spare time. The year 2007, holds significant possibilities as the World Cup in one-day cricket is scheduled to be held in the Caribbean.

Other

The company has room to expand its offerings to the international market through offering Adventure Tours. Attractions such as the Blue Mountains, the Green Grotto Caves, the Cockpit Country, etc, offer possibilities for the company to develop and market these kinds of tours.

Organizational Structure

Financial Projections

See Appendix 1

Profit and Loss Account

Five Year Projections