UK Eco-Tourism Business: Naturale Tour Case Study

Introduction - Launching a Green Tour Operator in the UK

Overview: UK’s tour and tourism industry 

Throughout the UK, there is a considerable sector of tourism and tourism-related activities. It boasts a wide range of businesses, jobs, businesses, and entrepreneurial endeavours that attract visitors from every part of the globe and present new opportunities for businesses to grow. However, the tourism sector suffered a decrease as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to 2019, travel spending in UK fell by 81% in 2021. Also, the number of outbound tourists was recorded as 19 million in 2021 which is the lowest in the last 10 years (Travel & Tourism in UK-Statistics and Facts, 2023). New businesses may be established in a variety of sectors, including housing, premium services, travel agency, entertainment, and food. In this line, starting can be done from entry-level jobs like serving drinks and ending with highly skilled jobs such as assisting in art exhibitions or museums. Touring directors, vacation planners, accommodation, tour operator managers, tourist info Centre’s and other kinds of business owners in the tourism industry are some of the additional careers.

Business idea

The smartest business move in this industry, based on data and facts, will be to launch a tour operator company. Customers can choose from various extravagant vacation packages and other reasonably priced amenities, excellent in quality, and low in cost. "Naturale Tour" is the company's name, and its headquarters will be in London. 

The reason behind choosing this idea is to promote nature travel and to make people aware of the concept called eco-tourism. Earlier customers prefer trips going to a city, but now they prefer going to a village. With Naturale Tour, customers will experience nature on a low budget without thinking of the money. 

As a tour operator at Naturale Tour will give consumers a relaxing tour which they need from their busy lives. The company will provide vacation of 5 to 6 days of duration which is also called micro vacation. Naturale Tour will give customers travel towards nature so that they can explore the cultural heritage, learn, and relax from their stress. To do this the business will cover all those places which are close to nature and are green. As the tourism industry in the UK is growing at a fast pace it will generate huge profits in future. Naturale Tour will provide a variety of services to travellers like trip planning, scheduling travel, visa application, accommodation, food, and a good affordable and customizable package. With Naturale Tour, the customers will get all leisure and travel-related services at their destination without doing much. 

A business is an organization that engages in commercial, professional, and industrial activity. Profit maximization, which is connected to the economic manufacture of goods and services, is the goal. Business research, on the other hand, refers to inquiries into a company that can be applied to the application of imaginative concepts and assisting with gathering related business knowledge as well as developments in the market. Naturale Tour can grow its relations within the industry and identify the services and goods that are in demand by conducting business research. Naturale Tour will need to conduct in-depth market research in order to operate if it wants to increase its popularity in London. 

The goals and objectives of the business plan are to create Naturale Tour a top firm for leisure touring in green cities and to earn enormous income (McKeever, 2018). The objective is to instill in consumers the meaning of eco-tour, improve their quality of life and provide the finest vacation experience in order to convince them to pick Naturale Tour for all future travel.

Stakeholder Analysis 

Conducting stakeholder analysis to ascertain potential conflicts 

Being their choices have an effect on the firm, stakeholders might be a group of people or a single person. Stakeholders might be internal or external. Workers, shareholders, and upper management are internal stakeholders, whereas clients, investors, and partners are external ones (Madura, 2007). 

Employees

Employees are internal stakeholders since they have a direct impact on the business. However, there are situations when workers quit their positions after realising how difficult things are at work. When the business is profitable, they benefit from bonuses or income increases. Their priorities are pay and job stability.

Owner

The top priority in a firm is profit maximization. The owner's job is connected to increasing profits. Founders work to boost employee retention and output as well as long-term strategy and organizational objectives.

Managers

Founders and workers are not the same as administrators. Instead of the long-term, they focus on the short-term segments. It is the duty of managers to inspire workers whenever they are having a difficult time at their jobs or in other areas of their everyday lives. Both earning cash and upholding the working environment are important to them.

Consumers

Stakeholders who are external in the business are the customers. The corporation must alter its offerings and services to better suit customers' desires and tastes. Trends in category behaviors, supply, prices, and spending habits all change over time, which leads to variations. The magnitude of quality and pricing are the three things that fascinate them. 

Investors

Investments are crucial to a corporation because investors rent their capital. Since individuals have already made a large investment in the company, financiers primarily focus on making money from their investments. They assist their employer in paying off any debt that has been incurred. 

Suppliers

A manufacturer or supplier is crucial to a company since they provide the initial components needed for ongoing manufacturing. Decent services and products from suppliers are essential for a firm. The interest of the supplier is to profit from revenues. 

Market Research

Overview 

Research into the market for tour operators includes an in-depth analysis of the clientele in order to better understand their needs and desires. Naturale Tour can create an additional tour itinerary for its clients with the help of study if it wants to offer them enhanced services.

Positive and Negative trends 

The positive trend first is that the ecotourism industry will be worth 172.4 billion dollars in 2022 and it will grow around 374.2 billion dollars in 2028 with a growth rate of 13.9 per cent (Statista, 2022). Second, the development of new tourism trends is taking place among the new generations. Third, the demand for sustainable tourism and eco-travel is rising and consumers want more such travelling options.

(Source: United Kingdom (UK) Sustainable Tourism Market Summary, Competitive Analysis and Forecast to 2027, 2023)

Three negative trends are first the local people can be exploited by the explorers in different ways like city people can influence them to come to their country and work for them. Second, locals’ traditional way of living life can be destroyed by the city people. Third, tourism can lead to environmental impact, soil erosion, and pollution in that country. 

Potential clients

Customers will be segmented on the basis of demographic and psychographic aspects. Accordingly, young age people, with middle-high income class, who prefer sustainable travel packages, will be targeted. Naturale Tour's potential clients are first customers who want to enjoy going to cities or counties which are away from well-developed areas (Saunders, et al., 2012). Second, they want to enjoy nature life, flora & fauna and want to live a village life. Third, consumers want to feel sustainability in nature and feel the obligations and support eco-tourism. Fourth, customers who want to relax for a few days from their work and want a trip into nature. Fifth, sustainable tourism also includes adventures like climbing, trekking, camping, wildlife safari, etc. so consumers who like adventures prefer eco-tourism. Sixth, consumers who care about the environment and do not want a carbon emission footprint prefer eco travel. 

(Source: United Kingdom (UK) Sustainable Tourism Market Summary, Competitive Analysis and Forecast to 2027, 2023)

Throughout Europe, the eco-tourism market is dominated by the UK with a market value of 20.1% in 2022.

The Need, Want and Demand

The need, want and demand for sustainable tourism are related to maintaining, creating and ensuring sustainability in tourism. It means preserving the wildlife, flora & fauna, culture, heritage, and economic & social advantage of the locals. Consumers prefer travelling as a part of leisure activity and enjoyment in this way the demand is raising for sustainable tourism. 

Naturale Tour will draw in more clients as a result of testimonials. Naturale Tour will post client feedback on its website so that consumers who intend on taking trips can read those reviews and make a decision about working with Naturale Tour. A further consideration is word-of-mouth; Naturale Tour can ask its current customers to tell others about their interactions with its staff while on vacation. The company will grow if knowledge about budgeting, easy traveling, recreational activities, etc. is shared with others.

Competitive Analysis

Competition analysis is crucial for the tour operator industry since it facilitates the creation of marketing strategies through observation of others (Tracy, 2014). Additionally, it aids with arranging and determining abilities and shortcomings. 

Business Strategy

Overview 

Organizations can expand more quickly and profitably with the aid of a business strategy. A plan for business is necessary to establish a position of strength in the sector, add benefit to the enterprise, and produce income (MarketLine Industry Profile, 2023). Sustainable firm performance depends on business strategy. In order to expand its clientele, Naturale Tour can use strategies like networking marketing, sustainable tourism promotion, client retention, brand attractiveness, etc.

Long term strategy

Naturale Tour will be able to create a perspective for the company with the aid of long-term initiatives. Naturale Tour will use a strategic approach to accomplish its organizational long-term goals as well as its eventual ambitions (Murray, 2008). In order to grow its firm, recruit investors and stakeholders, and review its profit maximization process, Naturale Tour can create a 4 to 6-year-ahead plan.

Naturale Tour will employ a strategy for promotion to expand over time. To increase customer feedback, promotional strategies will involve promoting the company on platforms such as Facebook and through email advertising campaigns, among other things. If the company intends to develop quickly in the near future, it must also expand its workforce and money. The organization can readily fund itself in times of need thanks to the rise in capital. Additional approaches include focusing on engine optimization so that the Naturale Tour web page appears at the top of search results (Gryphon, 2015). Keeping a list of potential customers to contact them via postings, messages, and email marketing.

Short term strategy

Advertising on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Google Ads, among others, is part of Naturale Tour's short-term marketing strategy. A different approach is offering additional savings on advance travel reservations, such as advance-purchase specials, and partnership discounts. Customers who are utilizing these products for the initial occasion may be given coupons and exclusive discounts. A recommendation can be created using indicates and multimedia settings, which will help Naturale Tour increase demand in the marketplace.

With the Naturale Tour, certain control techniques can be used to exert control. Naturale Tour can exercise command and accomplish its long-term objectives while monitoring developments and patterns in order to gauge its accomplishments (Fletcher et al., 2018). Naturale Tour will be able to determine all business risks with the aid of control measures.

The pay of suppliers, the use of rental cars, hotel commissions, cruise premises, income on guide fees, etc. all contribute to Naturale Tour's financial prosperity. There are many ways to make money.

Financial plan

Profitability statement

The above depicted evaluation shows that concerned business idea or plan is feasible in monetary terms. It can be stated from the assessment that in the upcoming period business entity will get positive and high return. 

SWOT And PESTLE Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• High-quality nature services provision
•  Inclusion of natural areas for city people like biosphere, natural reserve, wildlife sanctuary, etc.
• With Naturale Tour customers will experience the diversity of species and natural habitats. 
• Naturale Tour provides detailed tourism trips and customized itineraries to the customers.
• Providing medical care facilities to the clients in case of any emergency.
• Reviews received from happy customers will help Naturale Tour to grow.

Weaknesses

• Lack of transportation facilities is the weakness. Naturale Tour has no means of transportation into the jungle areas.
• Naturale Tour does not provide volunteers for guidance to the tourists.
• Lack of technological devices and other adequate GPS facilities for the customers. As technology is important in travelling.
• Longevity of duration is a weakness as Naturale Tour provides 5 to 6 days of duration but some customers want 10 to 12 days of duration.

Opportunities

• Customers' preference for adopting eco-travel is increasing these days. 
• Providing adventure, exploration, nature and village life tours is something which every tour operator cannot easily handle.
• Extreme profit earning in eco-tourism as consumers like the experience. Due to this the tourism market is on hype. 
• Investment in eco-travel gives chance to locals to show their talent and their culture.
• Employment generation among local residents. They get jobs as tour guides, drivers, food providers, etc.

Threats

• Protection rules and regulations by the local government of the green cities in order to protect that city from any destruction happening with tourism.
• Stiff competition, Naturale Tour faces competition because there are so many online travel agencies which do the same work. 
• Occurring natural disasters and calamities are very common in jungle and village areas. This is the biggest threat. 

PESTLE Analysis

Political factors

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Political factors consist of government policies like taxation, trade policy, workers' law, health and safety of the staff (Fullen and Podmoroff, 2006). With stability in policies, a business can flourish over time. With political stability, Naturale Tour can operate in countries around the world and can increase its growth in the tourist economy

Economic factors

Economic factors like economic growth, consumer income, purchasing power, interest rate, etc. help Naturale Tour to plan its short and long-run goals. Increases in the purchasing power of the consumer and more income in their hands have brought hype to travel sales. But an increase in variable cost has some disadvantages like it will lower the profit earned. An increase in the prices of travel materials will also contribute to less growth. 

Social factors 

Naturale Tour can implement its supply & demand model with social factors in place. It consists of culture, tradition, values, beliefs, etc. By implementing these factors Naturale Tour can gain a large consumer base. These days’ consumers believe in showing their concern towards the environment and want to express their social concern with this. 

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Technological factors

It includes innovation, advancement, technical adoption, automation, etc. Naturale Tour has to implement better transportation services for its clients. Also, it has to work on implementing GPS facilities for its clients while roaming in forest areas. Also, other things such as access to online booking, payment and account software will contribute to success. 

Environmental factors

It includes security in raw materials, natural calamities, pollution, carbon emissions, etc. which impact Naturale Tour’s business in a negative way. Naturale Tour has to implement waste management and recycling policies to maintain its reputation in green cities. Adopting cleanliness and proper waste disposal will help preserve the environment. With this Naturale Tour brand name will rise.

Legal factors

It includes health concerns, consumer rights, product safety, etc. Naturale Tour has to focus on the health and safety of its customers by giving proper training, setting rules, and giving health facilities to them (Altinay, et al., 2016). Naturale Tour has to give easy visa application facilities in order to save time for its consumers.

Digital Applications and Software 

Discussing digital applications and/or software that will help to manage projects and accounts

For managing the payments, Naturale Tour is using ‘Ezus’ which is cloud-based software. With Ezus, Naturale Tour can combine, plan, and implement its customer's travel series. The software helps tour operators manage and create customized travel proposals, centralize suppliers, and automate any event ((Altinay, et al., 2016). Ezus includes a payment management system for fast and secure payments. It also includes catalogue management, budget planning, finances, profits and tax maintenance. Another software is ‘WebReserv’ which is also a cloud-based software that helps the tour operator in payment processing, tracking customers, management their bookings and finances. With WebReserv, Naturale Tour can manage discounts, deals, reservations, the salary of employees, etc. 

For accounts and projects, Naturale Tour uses ‘Quickbooks’ which is the best accounting services software. Naturale Tour can easily practice its accounting activities with the integration and operations. With Quickbooks, the company can manage cash flow, and management, and can do a fast accounting process. Accounting software is ‘Odoo’ which Naturale Tour can use. With Odoo, the company can operate its accounting activities. It also gives support to the multi-currency transaction and makes transactions easy. Odoo also has quicker payment facilities with easy cash receivable.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Naturale Tour is going to have to preserve a high-quality experience for customers in every aspect of the products and amenities it offers in order to create a successful future. Travellers may utilize an extensive array of facilities from Naturale Tour, such as trip planning, airline schedules, application for visas, hotel, meals, and a respectable, fairly priced package, so the company will be prosperous. Consumers will have the ability to access all relaxation and tourist-related amenities through Naturale Tour and this will also provide sequential guidance. Key findings of the business are related to giving good transportation and communication facilities to the customers. As a sustainable tourism tour operator, Naturale Tour should plan, collaborate with other sustainable tourism promoters, and innovate on customer packages. In this manner, the business will expand and will address the improvement needed in the business. They require travel in case of emergency because they are travelling through rural and hamlet regions. Naturale Tour must concentrate on marketing and other management techniques to be productive in areas where it lags behind its rivals in order to establish itself from the other tour operators.

References

Books and Journals

Altinay, L., Paraskevas, A. and Jang, S. (2016) Planning research in hospitality and tourism. Second edition. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 

Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D., Wanhill, S. (2018) Tourism: principles and practice. Harlow: Person Education. 

Fullen, S.L. and Podmoroff, D. (2006) How to write a great business plan for your small business in 60 minutes or less. Ocala: Atlantic Publishing Company. 

Griffin, M.P. (2015) How to Write a Business Plan: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Plan That Gets Results: AMA Self-Study. 

Madura, J. (2007) Introduction to Business. 4th edn. Thomson Higher Education. Available in Additional Resources in Moodle. 

MarketLine Industry Profile: Travel & Tourism in United Kingdom’ (2023) Travel & Tourism Industry Profile: United Kingdom, pp. 1–80.

McKeever, M. (2018) How to Write a Business Plan. Berkeley, California: NOLO.

Murray, J.W. (2008). The Complete Guide to Writing Effective and Award-Winning Business Proposals: Step-by-Step Instructions. Ocala: Atlantic Publishing Company. 

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., Thornhill, A. (2012) Research methods for business students. 6th ed. Essex: Financial Times, Prentice Hall.

Tracy, B. (2014) Marketing. New York: AMACOM (Brian Tracy Success Library).

Online

Travel & Tourism in UK-Statistics and Facts. 2023. Online Available through: <https://www.statista.com/topics/3269/travel-and-tourism-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/>

United Kingdom (UK) Sustainable Tourism Market Summary, Competitive Analysis and Forecast to 2027. 2023. Online Available through: <https://www.globaldata.com/store/report/uk-sustainable-tourism-market-analysis/>