The name of the Proposed Business is the United Kingdom Sports Tour Operator, its activities and research would be identified and monitored through the analysis done in the following paper.
Background
A well-known fact is a relationship between Tourism and Sports in the United Kingdom. From having more than 80 world cups and providing a perfect location for low-budget tours, this region has become increasingly one of the most attractive tourists sites for any sporting event. The economic value of the event can be measured from the $1.5 billion per year economic earnings. The industry growth can be identified from the numerous tour operators’ and Tourism information centers which have opened up around the UK, about promoting and fostering sports and related events.
If one was to further study the future opportunities, it can be seen that the Olympics which would be held in London would bring a suitable amount of revenue for this region and this industry. The fact that one of the largest sporting events would be held in London is an indication of the promise that this region has in terms of its facilities and sporting potential. The training places, sports stadiums, centers, grounds all hint at the attraction that this location has for the development of sports tourism in this region. Koreans are sports enthusiasts and Korea has been recently recognized as a region of budding athletes
Korea has had the honor of becoming the first Asian nation to succeed in the FIFA world cup seven times; by opening its operations in London it would be able to capture some of a market that is steadily increasing in size and has great potential.
The competitors can be regions such as the USA, Russia, and even China which all boast of excellent sporting facilities. Korea’s operators would directly face competition from other sports operators who would be operating and the main competition would come from the local and any international tour operators in the region.
The major competition includes Burleigh travels, and Sports Options who all manage and organize major sporting events. The local operators would have firsthand knowledge about the local events taking place but the edge that the Korean operators would have been the common language factor, the ability to reach out more effectively to locals, etc.
The marketing and selling options would include targeting the younger generation who are more focused on sporting events rather than on sightseeing and recreational activities. In order to have a successful marketing strategy, it would be important for them to target effectively and efficiently the right target population. The selling options would include accommodation, traveling, recreational services provision and lastly access to any training grounds.
The above services would need to be created by analyzing the demand group, age group amongst some of the areas to focus on.
Research has been done so far and information gathered
The information that was gathered was done so after following extensive research regarding the different areas of the tourism, sports industry, and sports tourism industry in the United Kingdom, its potential and advantages, the reasons for it being so attractive to any Korean Sports operator etc. Tourism was illustrated as a source of immense revenue which shows a trend of rising even further with the future opportunities. The various sorts of Sports Tourism were outlined along with their respective potential facilities for future competitions etc. The research was done through in-depth research with interviews and collection of the statistics, along with research of the Burleigh travels in order to identify the competitor’s strengths etc.
The reasons for sports tourism being a source of revenue generation were attributed to the great demand and the existing support from sectors such as catering, accommodation, conference, recreational facilities etc. The tourist industry has been reported, according to the researched figures, to have increased by 3.4 percent annually. Some of the greatest events of sports take place in this region, hence making it even more profitable a region for any operator. The reasons for Korea aspiring to have a tour operator in this region were as a result of the recent sporting achievements by their athletes; outlined by the research.
The research was conducted by looking at the planning process involving facility identification, infrastructure development, event planning etc. The role of the sports tour operator and contract system was presented in the manner that highlighted the various demand groups, services, target market which were important for the analysis purposes of the Sports Tourism industry.
The research was done through primary research methods such as interviews, questionnaires (with one attached in the appendices).
Research still left to accomplish and its Aims
The business plan though included a significant amount of the researched data; certain areas were missing which had not been targeted by the research proposal. One significant area was the other international tour operators who would be operating in the region who should have been identified and compartmentalized along with the other competitors in order to allow the Korean operator an idea about how to operate etc.
Besides identifying significant competition, the services were not outlined properly as well. In order to target any audience, it is essential that the services profiling be done in extensive detail and in order to do secondary research would be required of the existing sports operators in order to identify the way they carry out their operations.
The aim of doing so would be the successful evaluation and identification of the operations, which would allow the Korean Operator an insight into the working and functionality of the tourist industry.
The external environment was studied in great detail but a greater focus was required on areas such as demand and supply, the marketing potential of the tour operators and the forecasted position of the tour operators. The extent to which the Korean market held promise needed greater attention as the aim was to target this particular market rather than the entire region of the United Kingdom.
Appraisal of methods used and still to try
The business plan template was lacking in certain aspects; the structure needed to be more clearly defined by including a proper outline, table of contents issues. The research, however, for the present model was sufficient to some extent that it allowed the tourism, UK’s sport’s tourism, and the international and domestic opportunities, the current market, the potential market and the services etc to be identified.
The various sectors that were outlined were done so with the idea of bringing forth the potential of the industry, the region, the market to the eyes of the consumers. The United Kingdom and Korea’s reasons for being such attractive tourist sites were brought forth through a pertinent connection to the business objectives. For any business plan to be successful, it needs to have its potential market identified properly along with the various particular sector outlined.
The access areas were also presented with regard to the research-the tourism industry, the tourists from Korea; all were highlighted but could have been presented in greater detail as well.
The information consisted of various statistics, analytical information which allowed the consumer etc to have an idea about the requirements from the proposal and what was being offered by the proposal as well.
Evaluation of Research Resources
The research now would be carried out by carrying out weekly interviews and questionnaires would be distributed amongst all the different users of tourist operators, tourist operators themselves, and people from Korea etc in order to get an idea about what is required and to build upon from that. The monthly meetings would be done in order to analyze what has been researched and which area has not been targeted at resent. Which area needs to be focused on more and which target market has to be researched as yet? All these questions would be evaluated by analyzing the data that would have been collected.
The resources that would be required would be not only the primary research’s findings but also the secondary research which would include reports regarding the tourist industry, the consumer demand for sporting events, and reports by sporting bodies etc which would allow the market information to be analyzed as well.
The primary data would be more available but its quality would be questionable than that of the secondary data so both would need careful reevaluation.
Questionanaire
- What is your age?
- 20-30.
- 30-50.
- Above 50.
- What is your relation to the sports business?
- Not Related to sports business.
- A consumer of the sports business.
- A supplier of the sports business.
- What according to you are the essential components of a sports tour operator?
- Which is the most popular Sports Operator?
- Which demand group does you fall into for sports?
- Recreational purpose-do did not follow use frequently.
- Avid fan.
- Not addicted but do follow sports regularly.
- What in your opinion is the potential of an international in the UK?
- Not much.
- does have some potential.
- Quite a lot of potential.
- Is UK a popular location for Sporting activities?
- Greatly.
- Highly.
- Not so much.
- Which sport has the greatest potential for a Sports Tour Operator?
- What is the potential for a Korean Sports Operator?
- Is sports and tourism highly related?
- Yes.
- No.
Bibliography
HIGHAM, James. (2005). [online]. Sports Tourism Destination. 20. 2008. Web.
HINCH, Thomas. and HIGHAM, James E S. (2003). Sports Tourism Markets. [online]. Sports Tourism Development. 43. 2008. Web.
London Water Sports: London-Boating, Canoeing, Diving, Sailing, Surfing, Yachting, Charter, RYA Courses, etc. (1997). [online]. Tourist Net UK: UK Holidays at Your Fingertips. 2008. Web.
London: The Mayor’s Plan for Tourism in London. (2002). [online]. London Development Agency. 2008. Web.
Overview. (2008). [online]. Korea.net: Gateway to Korea. Web.
Section 15: Tourism and Sporting Events. (2005). [online]. UK Sport. 2008. Web.
Sports Tourism to the UK. [online]. 2008. Web.
UK Tour Operators Online. [online]. Britain Express. 2008. Web.
Unit 16: The UK Tour Operating Sector (Level 3). [online]. OCR Level3 Nationals in Travel and Tourism. 2008. Web.