P1, P2, P3, M1, D1 - Investigating the Travel and Tourism Sector

BTEC Travel and Tourism Level 3 - Unit 1 - Investigating the Travel and Tourism Sector. For P1, learners need to describe all of the travel and tourism component industries and identify one named organisation within each. Learners should ensure that they include all the items in brackets, eg transport provision (road, rail, sea, air). Learners should demonstrate knowledge of the nature of domestic, inbound and outbound tourism by ensuring that across all the named organisations they have included all three types of tourism. It is required that learners include a short definition of the different types of tourism within their evidence for P1. The examples they select, such as a named tour operator or a named travel agent, will need to be appropriate. Note that the criterion requires learners to ‘describe’ each of the component industries and ‘identify’ the organisations within them. Methods of assessment could involve learners in putting on a travel trade fair, making presentations, producing displays or an information file. It is not necessary to provide examples of each type of tourism for each of the component industries; it is sufficient to provide examples of each type of tourism across all the component industries. Edexcel BTEC Level 3 Nationals specification in Travel and Tourism – Issue 1 – June 2010 © Edexcel Limited 2010 10 Within P2, roles should be covered according to the unit content: to meet key organisational aims, to provide products and services, to be responsible to stakeholders, to be environmentally and ethically responsible, to contribute to international and UK economies. Learners should select three organisations each from a different component industry. At least one of these should be a medium to large organisation to enable learners to fully cover the range within the content. Descriptions should be comprehensive, covering all of the key roles of the organisations, summarised in the learner’s own words. For P3, learners need to review the different types of interrelationships, ie chains of distribution (how travel products are distributed through the levels), integration (including both horizontal and vertical) and interdependencies (how different organisations rely on each other, eg a tour operator has to contract rooms from a hotel). Learners can use a variety of diagrams to illustrate their review and should include relevant and up-to-date examples of each aspect of interrelation. To meet M1, the learner should select a minimum of two organisations, preferably each in a different component industry. The explanation needs to be detailed, showing a progression in understanding from the more basic description at pass level. Examples should be carefully selected for their relevance and in particular to provide sufficient coverage of all items in the range for roles and interrelationships; to do this it is expected that at least one of the organisations would be a medium to large company. Care should be taken if selecting one of the large integrated multinational companies, eg TUI Travel Group, as these organisations are complex. If learners select a large multinational company they should focus their evidence on the UK part of the company. For D1, learners can select one organisation. The work has to be analytical and it is important that the selected organisation will provide sufficient coverage of all aspects of interrelationships. For example, a large tour operator could have complex chains of distribution that may involve many levels, ie sales directly to the customer through their own call centres, via their own website, sales indirectly to customers via high street retail agents, via web-based agents. The tour operator may be integrated horizontally and vertically and they will have certain interdependencies such as retail travel agents, principals (flights and accommodation) and excursion providers. Learners will need to explore all these aspects of interrelationship and analyse their importance to the selected organisation and to the other organisations involved. All the criterias included.