MKTG1030 Operational Itinerary Assignment

Assignment:    4 – Operational Itinerary  

Course:           MKTG 1030               

Instructor:        Morgan Westcott

Evaluation:      10% of final grade

You now ready to start planning the escorted group tour package. This next step will involve planning out every detail of the trip in what is called an “Operational Itinerary”. Most people find it helpful to ‘plunk in’ the big pieces first – what are the overnights, main meals, and main activities? Place these at the right times each day. Then fill in the blanks … what will your team need to do behind-the-scenes to make sure that your guests have a relaxing, seamless, and value-added experience? Leave no detail unexplored.

This is part 4: Operational Itinerary

Using the spreadsheet provided, or one similar, plan out each day of your tour from the arrival of guests at the airport to their final departure.

Note this is the operational itinerary, it’s an internal piece for you and your team. There are no fancy descriptions here, just the pieces of the trip you are pulling together. If you are using a free planning tool, you may be able to export a spreadsheet or you may have to create this manually.

The spreadsheet you’ve been provided is a canvas. Be sure to think about formatting using colour-coding, fonts and other design elements so that the reader (your staff) gets a legend of what they are seeing.

The next assignment (part 5) will be the “Pax Itinerary” and that will be the fancy version you use to promote your tour, get guests excited, and brand the experience.

Your spreadsheet will be marked out of 10 as follows:

/10       Criteria #1: Each day of tour has a tab with complete timeline.

/10       Criteria #2: All accommodations providers are listed with address; each day shows appropriate lodging.

/10       Criteria #3: All meal and refreshment stops are listed with address; each day shows appropriate food breaks with attention to target client meal rhythms, snacks, and value-adds.

/10       Criteria #4: All activity stops are listed with address and notes. These include pauses for photo ops, leg stretches, optional free time as well as ‘add-ons’ (bonus activities at an extra fee).       

/10       Criteria #5: All transportation details (flights, transfers) are detailed as well as additional time for parking/pickup, etc. Notes to staff about signage, gates, etc. are clear.

/10       Criteria #6: Spreadsheet is formatted using different fonts, colour-coding and other tools to make it easy for the ops team to follow (create your own formatting and use consistently).

/10       Criteria #7: Spreadsheet has been checked for spelling and grammar.

/10       Criteria #8: Content aligns with previous information and research (e.g. supplier criteria).

/10       Criteria #9: As a whole, trip makes sense and would appeal to the target customer from assignment #1.

/10       Criteria #10: Spreadsheet is handed in on time.