台北市觀光巴士商業企劃 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學商學院國際經營管理英語碩士學位學程 International MBA Program College of Commerce National Chengchi University. 碩士論文政治. 大. 立Master’s Thesis. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. 台北市觀光巴士商業企劃 n. al. er. io. Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Student: Daniela Barragan Advisor: Professor Jason Tsai. 中華民國一○一年六月 June 2012.

(2) 台北市觀光巴士商業企劃 Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour. 研究生：貝彤寧. Student: Daniela Barragan. 指導教授：蔡政憲. Advisor: Jason Tsai. 政治大. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 國立政治大學. ‧. 商學院國際經營管理英語碩士學位學程碩士論文. sit. y. Nat. er. io. A Thesis. n. a l to International MBA Program Submitted iv n. C. i U e n g c hUniversity NationalhChengchi. in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master in Business Administration. 中華民國一○一年六月 June 2012.

(3) Acknowledgments. I would like to dedicate this thesis to all the people that has supported me through my IMBA career. First of all, to my parents who have always been there for me and have supported all of my decisions. Second, to my dear boyfriend who has been so patient and have always give me the best advices and the greatest ideas.. 政治大 through my whole career in NCCU. They have made things easier, I will always be thankful. 立. Next, I want to dedicate my thesis to Frank and Lichi that have helped me countless times. ‧ 國. 學. To my advisor Professor Tsai who dedicated his time to give me very good and useful advises to improve my thesis. Thanks for your dedication and for your calm and patient way of. ‧. teaching us.. n. al. er. io. sit. Daniel special thank to you two who helped me in this process.. y. Nat. Finally, to my friends who have made these two years of IMBA unforgettable. Gachouchi and. Ch. engchi. I. i Un. v.

(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1. Executive Summary …………………………………………………….1 1.1. Objectives ………………………………………………………………................2. 1.2. Mission Statement ………………………………………………………................2. 1.3. Keys to Success …………………………………………………………………....2. 1.4. Motivation ………………………………………………………………................3. 2. Market Analysis ………………………………………………………...4 2.1.1 2.1.2. 政治大 The tourism Industry in Taiwan …………………………………………………..5 立. The Tourism Industry ……………………………………………………………..4 Similar Services …………………………………………………………………...7. 學. ‧ 國. 2.1. Trends and Future Growth ………………………………………………………...7. 2.2. Business Opportunities ……………………………………………………………9. 2.3. Target Market Segmentation Strategy ..………………………………………….10. 2.4. Industry Current Participants in City Tours ……………………………………...12. 2.4.1. Participants Distribution Patterns ………………………………………………..13. 2.4.2. Main Competitors …..……………………………………………………………14. 3.1. Company Ownership ….…………………………………………………………17. 3.2. Company Locations and Facilities ….…………………………………...............17. 3.3. Hours of Operation ………………………………………………………………18. 3.4. Start-Up Summary ……………………………………………………………….18. ‧. 2.1.3. er. io. sit. y. Nat. n. al 3. The Company ….……………………………………………………....16 iv Ch. n engchi U. 4. Service Description ……………………………………………………19 4.1. Competitive Comparison ………………………………………………...............20. 4.2. Sales Literature …………………………………………………………………..21. 4.3. Sourcing and Fulfillment ………………………………………………...............22. 4.4. Technology ……………………………………………………………................23. 4.5. Further Services ………………………………………………………………….24. 5. Strategy Implementation and Summary ………………………….....24 II.

(5) 5.1. Value Proposition ………………………………………………………………...25. 5.2. Competitive Edge ………………………………………………………………...25. 5.3. Marketing Strategy ……………………………………………………………….26. 5.3.1. Positioning Statement ……………………………………………………………27. 5.3.2. Pricing Strategy ………………………………………………………………….27. 5.3.3. Promotion Strategy ………………………………………………………………29. 5.4. Sales and Distribution Strategy ………………………………………………….30. 5.4.1. Sales Forecast …………………………………………………………................31. 5.5. Strategic Alliances ……………………………………………………………….32. 6.2. 治政大 Organizational Structure …………………………………………….…………...34 立 Management Team ……………………………………………………………….34. 6.3. Personnel Plan (Chart)…………………………………………………................36. 6. Management Summary ……………………………………………….34. 學. ‧ 國. 6.1. 7. Financial Plan .………………………………………………………...36. ‧. Break - Even Analysis …………………………………………………...............37. 7.2. Projected Profit and Loss ………………………………………………………..38. 7.3. Projected Balance Sheet …………………………………………………………39. 7.4. Projected Cash Flows …………………………………………………................40. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 7.1. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Appendixes ……………………………………………………...................41 References …………………………………………………………………50. III.

(6) 1. Executive Summary The Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus has been a successful business for many years in the most important cities around the world like London, New York, Madrid, Paris, Mexico, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, etc. The special characteristics of the double-decker London style buses like the sky-view ceiling, the open deck, the multi-language audio-guides and the unique hop-on hop-off service it provides makes it very attractive for tourists, it enhance their traveling experience and offers them a convenient, fast and easy way of sightseeing. After analyzing the tourism industry and the market in Taiwan, we see favorable conditions to. 政治大 contributing with 9% of the global GDP. In Taiwan tourism is growing and is believed to 立 have the possibility of becoming one of the best and most competitive industries in the service Tourism is one of the largest and most important industries of the world. 學. ‧ 國. invest in it.. sector. The quantity of inbound tourist in Taiwan is increasing considerably every year and in the near future will continue to have a positive growth.. ‧. The following Business Plan main objective is to introduce the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing. Nat. sit. y. Tour Bus in Taipei and to demonstrate its feasibility and profitability. Our company, a new. io. er. travel agency located in Taipei, will provide a new, unique, fast and convenient way of sightseeing in Taipei City using our comfortable hop-on hop-off double-decker buses with. n. al. Ch. i Un. v. different features designed especially for tourists and their needs. Our service will cover a. engchi. pre-established three-hour route that will go around the most important sights of the city and will give our customers the possibility of hopping-on or hopping-off at any of our 15 stops to visit the sights they are most interested in. Our strategy is to grow business by nurturing our clients, attracting new customers and differentiating from our competitors focusing in 3 pillars: 1. Convenience offered to our customers in all of the steps of our services from purchasing to usage, e-ticketing, Free Wi-Fi on board, multi-language commentaries, competitive price, different schedules, various ticket sales point around the city, our website with complete and interesting information about Taipei, etc.. 1.

(7) 2. Uniqueness of our service and our double-decker buses. We are the first in the market and our double-decker buses are designed and equipped specially to satisfy the needs of our customers. 3. High quality and reliable services delivered to our customers with continuous training to our employees and high quality operations that will ensure them punctuality and security.. 1.1.. Objectives. 治政大 2. Sales of $1 million in three years. 立 3. Become the first option for tourists looking for city tours in Taipei City.. 1. Successful introduction of the Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus.. ‧ 國. 學. Mission Statement. ‧. 1.2.. Nat. sit. y. Our mission is to deliver convenience, uniqueness and a reliable service to our customers with. io. er. our Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus and our people. Our work is dedicated to enhance the tourists traveling experience in Taipei. We want them to experience and enjoy. n. al. Ch. i Un. v. the magic of this city in the fastest and best possible way while on board giving them the. engchi. possibility of hopping-on or hopping-off as many times they want to visit the different sights, shops or restaurants around.. 1.3.. Keys to Success. 1. First in the Market: We have the advantage of being the first in the market and unlike other companies that provide city tours in Taipei we offer a unique and different service with special double-decker buses with extraordinary features dedicated exclusively for tourists from all over the world.. 2.

(8) 2. High Quality Service and Team: Our team will be constantly and specially trained, including proficiency in language skills, first aid, service, etc. Our operations will be strictly controlled to ensure high quality service. Our business decisions will be taken considering our customers first, internal and external. We will leverage on our technology to provide convenience and security to our customers and to be able to improve our operations hence our service. 3. Solutions to different target customers: Our customers, coming from many countries around the world, have different needs. We are. 政治大 guides in our buses, Website and sales literature in different languages, tourist guides with 立. aware of their necessities and thus we provide different solutions like multi-language audio-. English proficiency, complete and interesting information about Taipei online and in our. ‧ 國. ‧. Motivation. sit. y. Nat. 1.4.. 學. brochures, etc.. al. er. io. Taiwan is a beautiful country and Taipei is an interesting, modern city worth visiting. The. v. n. island receives a good quantity of visitors every year with different purposes, mostly from. Ch. i Un. Japan and Mainland China but also from Europe, America, Australia and South East Asian. engchi. countries. One of the main purposes of tourists coming to Taiwan is recreational and leisure activities and in a lesser amount business and conferences. A good quantity of tourists, mainly from Mainland China, come to Taiwan with pre-arranged tour packages and often travel in double-decker buses accompanied by a tourist guide. However, there are also tourists that come without any pre-arranged tour, plan their trip by themselves and travel in any transportation available. For this type of tourists, transportation facilities and availability of information in different languages is very important to enhance their overall travel experience. After living in Taipei for almost two years, I believe that the city has lot of potential for tourism and a lot of opportunities for new businesses in this industry. I have also identified. 3.

(9) the need that many visitors have, of doing tourism in Taipei in a fast and convenient way. This Business Plan is a proposal to introduce the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus in Taipei and provide tourists with a better option to do sightseeing while learning about the city, especially those independent tourists that come without pre-arranged tour packages.. 2. Market Analysis 2.1.. The Tourism Industry. 政治大 Travel & Tourism continues to be one of the largest and most important industries in the 立 and manpower, maximizing economic benefits.. 學. ‧ 國. world. It is considered to be part of the service sector and as such, employs local resources. It provides jobs directly and indirectly,. generates prosperity, facilitates trade and investment, improves local infrastructure and. ‧. creates new business opportunities throughout the supply chain. According to the World. y. Nat. Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) in 2011 the total contribution of Travel & Tourism. io. sit. industry to GDP was 9% of global GDP (automotive industry accounted with 8.5% and. er. banking sector with 11% of global GDP), a value over US$6 trillion, generating 255 million. al. n. iv n C h eand US$1,972.8 billion, 2.8% of total GDP, h i Uto rise to 2.9% in 2012. n gis cexpected jobs (See Appendix 1).. The direct contribution of Travel and Tourism to GDP was. Although 2011 was a challenging year for Travel and Tourism due to the economic crisis, the uncertainty in Europe, instability in the Middle East and natural disasters, the industry direct contribution to GDP grew by 3% and generated 1.2 million new jobs [1]. For this year, 2012, the UNTWO World Tourism Barometer predicts a steady growth of 3% to 4% in international tourist arrivals.. The forecasts of the WTTC for the next ten years expect the industry to grow 4% annually, with a total contribution of 10% to GDP or US$10 trillion and generate 328 million jobs around the world.. 4.

(10) 2.1.1. The Tourism Industry in Taiwan The tourism industry of Taiwan can be divided into inbound visitors (international demand) and domestic tourism (local demand). Inbound visitors (international demand): According to the yearly statistics of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, the quantity of inbound visitors to Taiwan in 2011 was 6,087,484 visitors. November and December were the months with more influx, followed by April, October, August and March.. 治政大 were overseas Chinese, while the From the total of last year inbound visitors 41% of them 立 remaining 59% came from more than 30 different countries. By quantity of visitors to ‧ 國. 學. Taiwan the top 15 countries were: Mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong & Macao, U.S.A, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Canada, Australia, Germany,. ‧. U.K. and France (see Appendix 2). By age group, 38.91% belonged to the ages 20 to 39, 38.01% to the ages 40 to 59, 16.05% to the group of 60 years and older and 7.03% to the. y. Nat. er. io. sit. group under 19 years old.. The same statistics revealed that the main purposes of visiting Taiwan varied between regions. n. al. Ch. i Un. v. and countries. Tourists from other Asian countries and Oceania came mainly for sightseeing. engchi. and pleasure activities more than for business whereas most of the visitors from European and American countries came for business more than for sightseeing and pleasure activities. In general, last year 59.69% of the total of inbound visitors came for sightseeing and pleasure purposes, 16.18% came for business, 8.22% to visit relatives, 1.34% for conferences and exhibitions, 1.03% came to study, 9.42% for other reasons and 4.12% for unstated reasons (see Appendix 3) Inbound visitors behavior: In 2010 the Taiwan Tourism Bureau conducted the “Annual Survey Report on Visitors Expenditure and Trends in Taiwan” [2] to analyze some of the inbound visitors behavior. The survey focused in three main groups: the inbound visitors with sightseeing and pleasure 5.

(11) purposes, the ones with business purposes and the ones that came to attend international conferences and exhibitions. In general terms, the findings showed that the average length of stay of the inbound visitors to Taiwan was 7.06 nights and the average daily expenditure per visitor was US$221.84, which represented an increase of 2.5% from 2009. From the total of the survey respondents, 82% chose Taipei as the major city for sightseeing, whereas “Shilin Night Market” and “Kaohsiung Liouhe Night Market” were chosen as the major visited scenic spots followed by Taipei 101 and the National Palace Museum. For the inbound visitors to Taiwan with sightseeing and pleasure purposes, the average daily expenditures were US$242.39 per person an increase of 6.24% from 2009, and the main. 政治大. reasons for them to come to Taiwan was scenery, food and the Taiwanese culture. As for the. 立. way of traveling, 63.11% chose to come in a “group tour arranged through a travel agency”[2].. ‧ 國. 學. For the inbound visitors with business purposes, the average daily expenditures per person was US$209.86 a decrease of 9.9% from 2009 and the most length of stay was half a day to. ‧. one day. Although the length of stay is short, from their total, 52.81% said that they had. sit. y. Nat. spent their spare time on sightseeing in Taiwan.. al. er. io. As for the inbound visitors that came to Taiwan in 2010 to attend international conferences or. v. n. exhibitions, the most length of time they stayed were one to two days and 85.96% said they. Ch. had spent their spare time on sightseeing in Taiwan.. engchi. i Un. Domestic tourism (local demand): The domestic tourism in Taiwan is another important part of the tourism revenues. According to the 2011 Travel and Tourism Economic Impact Report of Taiwan issued by the WTTC the travel spending of the domestic tourism is expected to rise from US$15.45bn in 2011 to US$22.12bn in 2021. Domestic Tourism Traveling Behavior: The Taiwan Tourism Bureau conducted a study in 2010 about the traveling activities and behavior of the Taiwan citizens the “2010 Survey of Travel by R.O.C. citizens” [3]. The. 6.

(12) results revealed that 93.9% of the citizens took a domestic tourist travel in 2010, with no significant change from 2009. The average number of trips per person was 6.08 and the average days per trip were 1.49 days. Most of the domestic tourists traveled within the living region, especially the people living in the north region. The daily expenditure per person increased 7% from that in 2009 from US$38.12 to US$40.80. As for the way citizens planned their trips, 3.4% said they planned their trips with travel agencies because of convenience and to save time. The results also showed that 64.5% chose sightseeing, recreation and vacation as the main purpose of traveling within the country. The favorite activities in 2010 were natural scenery. 政治大. sightseeing, cultural experiencing activities, tasting local delicacies food activities and. 立. shopping.. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 2.1.2. Similar Services. sit. y. Nat. In August 2002 Taipei Tour Bus Company began operations of a service similar to our Hopon Hop-off Sightseeing Tour. The buses covered three different pre-established routes, a. io. n. al. er. cultural route, a shopping route and a night route. The service didn’t continue and today there. i Un. v. is not such service in Taipei City [4]. We believe that the business was not successful. Ch. engchi. because of uncontrollable external situations that affected the quantity of inbound visitors to Taiwan in 2003. At the end of 2002 the country received a total of 2,977,692 visitors (a small quantity compared to the quantity of tourists in 2011) but in 2003 the number decreased to 2,248,117 visitors due to the outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory System) [5]. We strongly believe the conditions in Taiwan for our service are better than in 2002.. 2.1.3. Trends and Future Growth In Taiwan, the tourism industry has been rising for the last years and the forecasts predict a continual positive growth trend. The statistics from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau revealed that for the last 8 years the quantity of inbound visitors to Taiwan has increased considerably. 7.

(13) From 2007 to 2011 the international visitor arrivals have grown from 3,845,187 to 6,087,484 with a growth rate of 9.34% from 2010 to 2011 (see Appendix 4). Furthermore, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that the country has already entered the service-oriented post-industrial era, since for the last five years the service sector has accounted for more than 70% of GDP [6] (see Appendix 5). The tourism industry, being part of the service sector, is consider by some as the country’s new powerhouse with the possibility of becoming one of the best and most competitive industries. For the future, we believe Taiwan tourism industry can be promising. Taiwan’s official. 政治大 arrivals to 10 million by 2016 [7]. However, the WTTC on its 2011 Report of Travel and 立. government, in his vision of the “Golden Decade” aims to expand the number of tourist. Tourism Economic Impact of Taiwan estimates the quantity of inbound visitors to Taiwan. ‧ 國. 學. will increase in a slow rate of 2.1% per annum, a big difference with the government’s vision. The good news is that the WTTC has underestimated the capability of Taiwan to attract. ‧. tourists several times before. So the future will depend on the government’s right policies,. y. sit. io. er. ambitious goal.. Nat. strategies and investments to improve the quality and boost the tourism industry to achieve its. al. n. iv n C h e nNT$30 First of all, the government is investing i U (US$1 billion) to generate NT$550 g c hbillion Some of the government’s strategies to boost the tourism industry have already taken place.. billion (US$19 billion) in tourism revenues [8] by the end of 2012 (NT$300 billion of foreign exchange income and NT$250 of domestic tourism) [9]. Second of all, for the 2012 National Development Plan, one of the major government policy measures is to upgrade the tourism and travel by promoting the transformation of the tourism industry with 2 slogans “TaiwanThe Heart of Asia” and “Time for Taiwan” [10] and by developing tourist attractions with unique features. Third, since 2008 with the KMT government, travel between Taiwan and Mainland China has boomed.. In June 2011 the historical ban of Mainland Chinese. independent travelers coming to Taiwan was lifted and recently the quota has doubled to allow up to 1,000 individual arrivals per day [11].. Finally, due to the big amount of. Taiwanese companies around the world, especially technology companies, Taiwan remains as. 8.

(14) an important hub for doing business. The number of International Trade Exhibitions grows every year increasing the business tourist arrivals to the island. Because of all the factors mentioned before, the tourism industry in Taiwan has upgrade its ranking from being 52nd in the world in 2008 to the 37th position in 2011 according to the “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Annual Report” by the World Economic Forum (WEF).. 2.2.. Business opportunities. 治政大 in this area and the positive future industry. There are clear opportunities for new businesses 立believe on the possibility of expansion and growth. Tourism is forecasts of the industry let us The analysis previously presented show favorable conditions to invest in Taiwan’s tourism. ‧ 國. 學. the most promising industry in the service sector that accounts for 70% of GDP. Therefore, several positive factors support the viability and profitability of our business idea, the Taipei. ‧. Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus.. sit. y. Nat. To start, there is a growing trend in quantity of inbound visitors in Taiwan and in the expenditure in tourism related activities, as well as a high percentage of domestic tourism.. io. n. al. er. The inbound tourists have increased in a rate of 9.34% last year and the domestic tourism has. i Un. v. maintained the rate of 93.9% of citizens that take a domestic travel from a total population of 23,248,087 [12] people.. Ch. engchi. Another positive factor is that the major purpose of traveling to or in Taiwan is sightseeing and pleasure. Even the majority of tourists who came for business, conferences or exhibitions spend their spare time in sightseeing activities. Besides, the industry analysis also shows that Taipei is the most visited city by international tourists; 82% of the inbound visitors with sightseeing, business and conference purposes came to Taipei in 2010. The city is also a hot spot to taste local delicacies and do shopping for domestic tourism. Finally, the improvement of the Cross-Strait relations with Mainland China, the rising living standards in emerging markets in South East Asia, the international promotion of Taiwan as a. 9.

(15) touristic country and the Taiwan government investments in tourism industry, let us believe that Taiwan will accomplish their goal of 10 million tourists by 2016. Consistently with the growth of the tourism industry in Taiwan we believe there will be a higher demand for tourist services including city tours. We will aim to satisfy a percentage of that demand with our Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus.. 2.3.. Target Market Segmentation Strategy. 治政大are looking for a convenient and fast local) that come to Taipei without a prearranged tour and way of doing sightseeing in 立 the city. With this in mind, we divided our target customers into The Hop-on Hop-off Tour Bus is designed to satisfy the needs of those tourists (foreign and. ‧ 國. 學. three big groups: foreign tourists (also divided into three smaller segments), domestic tourists and Taipei residents.. ‧. Foreign tourists - our most important customers are foreign tourists that come to Taipei for. sit. y. Nat. sightseeing and pleasure activities or tourists that come for other reasons but are willing to do. io. al. er. sightseeing in their free time. We divided them into three target customer segments:. v. n. 1. Tourists with 20+ years old that come to Taipei without any pre-arranged tour and. Ch. i Un. want to do sightseeing in a convenient, fast and exciting way.. engchi. 2. Tourists that come to Taipei for conferences or exhibitions and want to spend their free time doing sightseeing in Taipei but have limited time for a normal city tour so are looking for a fast and convenient way to get to know the city and visit the most important places. 3. Business tourists that spend or want to spend their free time doing sightseeing in Taipei by themselves and don't want to or can’t do a normal city tour because of time constrains. Domestic tourists - a big percentage of Taiwanese people travel in the country at least one time a year. Those that visit the north part of Taiwan are important potential customers too. The following are the characteristics of this target customer segment:. 10.

(16) Local tourists of ages 20 to 64, from the different regions of Taiwan (with exception of Taipei city and New Taipei city), that have graduated at least from high school, that take domestic trips at least one time in a year and like to visit the north region of Taiwan for sightseeing, recreation or vacation without a pre-arranged tour. Taipei residents - people that live in Taipei City and New Taipei City are always looking for new options of entertainment, especially for weekends. We want to target those active residents that enjoy doing different activities with family or friends during the weekends and are interested in trying new things. This target customer segment is compose by:. 政治大. Residents of Taipei City and New Taipei City of ages 20 to 64, that have graduated at least from high school and take domestic trips within their region for sightseeing, recreation or. 立. vacation purposes.. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 2.3.1. Market Size. sit. y. Nat. Using the above information, we estimated the market size in two possible scenarios. The optimistic scenario with a growth rate of 9.34% in quantity of inbound visitors according to. io. n. al. er. the historical trend and the expectation of the Taiwan government, and the conservative. i Un. v. scenario with a growth rate of 2.1% in quantity of inbound tourists predicted by the WTTC.. Ch. engchi. For the domestic tourists and the residents of Taipei City and New Taipei City we take as reference the annual population growth rate of Taiwan 0.171% [13]. 11.

(17) The optimistic scenario:. 政治大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. The conservative scenario:. ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. 2.4.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Industry Current Participants and Distribution Patterns. Taiwan has several participants that offer city tours in Taipei, from travel agencies or tour operators to local taxi companies.. 12.

(18) The well-established travel agencies or tour operators have international partnerships all around the world, and so focus their business in arranging tours for big groups of tourists before they come to Taiwan.. They also offer city tours to those independent tourists,. international or local, that come to the city without pre-arranged groups. The smaller travel agencies have fewer international partnerships but work in a similar way as their bigger counterparts. The local taxi companies offer arranged city tours inside Taipei or to nearby places. They don't have international presence or information in the Web, the city tours are an extra service they offer besides the normal transportation service.. 政治大. 立. 2.4.1. Participants Distribution Patterns. ‧ 國. 學. Tourists usually purchase city tours on a word-of-mouth basis, previous experience or brand. ‧. recognition regardless of where they buy them. There are some key players that influence the buying decision: family, friends and coworkers, hotel’s concierges, travel guides, travel blogs,. y. Nat. io. sit. social media and travel web pages.. n. al. er. The major travel agencies try to leverage these key players with different distribution and. i Un. v. marketing strategies like alliances with other major travel agencies around the world and the. Ch. engchi. best hotels in the country, presence in the Internet and travel guides, and offices in the best districts of the city. On the other hand, the taxi companies use word-of-mouth to increase customers. They utilize their taxi drivers to inform about their city tours to their clients and promote them. They also use their offices as sales points.. 13.

(19) 2.4.2. Main competitors We have identified three main competitors in Taipei City described below.. 1. Travel agencies and tour operators in Taiwan There are an extensive number of travel agencies and tour operators in Taiwan. Most of them provide city tours in Taipei, very similar between each other. They offer morning tours, night tours or tours around nearby places outside the city. The morning tour lasts between 3 to 4. 政治大. hours and has an approximately price of NT$900 (US$31) per person. It includes 5 touristic places, air-conditioning coach bus, an English, Japanese speaking tour guide, entrance ticket. 立. to Palace Museum NT$160 (US$5.5), hotel pickup and transfer and local travel insurance. A. ‧ 國. 學. night tour or a tour to nearby places outside the city, has an approximately price of NT$1,300 (US$44.5) per person, lasts around 4 hours and includes the same things as the morning tour. sit. y. Nat. Strengths:. ‧. but different places to visit.. al. er. io. Their strength relies in their extensive know how of the business, especially those well known. n. and big travel agencies like Lion Travel or Ez Travel. Their business model is well structured. Ch. i Un. v. and they have international alliances likewise alliances with different hotels in Taipei who. engchi. offer their city tours to the hotel guests. They also have several sales offices around the city strategically located for easy access and to attract more customers. Weaknesses: Their city tours are designed so that tourists are able to visit only four or five tourist places (the most important of Taipei) in four, five hours. They can’t be customized because they are made for groups. If a tourist wants a customized tour, the price is much higher. Said that, tourists are often limited to visit what the travel agency decides and the travel agencies usually don't operate unless there is more than one person for the city tour. Moreover, customers constantly complain about hiring city tours in Taipei that have provided tour guides with poor English language skills.. 14.

(20) 2. Tour Taxi In 2009 the Taiwan Government created the program “Tour Taxi” to help foreign tourists travel easily. The taxi city tours provide English or Japanese speaking drivers. The city tour in Taipei lasts about 4 hours and includes the visit to around 3 tourist spots. The price per taxi is of NT$2,500 (US$85.59) Strengths: Their biggest strength relies on the expertise of the taxi drivers when driving around the city, because of this and since the taxis don't need to follow a predetermined route, they can travel. 政治大 cooperation with the government and as such receives full support from them. 立. faster than the tour buses. Another strength is that the “Tour Taxi” program was created in The. government, for example, distributed a list of taxi drivers that offer this service to the hotels in. ‧ 國. 學. Taipei. In 2009 when the program started there were 111 certified “Tour Taxi” drivers, now the number has increased considerably [14].. ‧. Weaknesses:. y. Nat. sit. The major weakness of the “Tour Taxi” program is that is not well promoted; foreign tourists. er. io. coming to Taipei usually don't know about this service. Also, the “Tour Taxi” drivers are. al. n. iv n C h eorningcouples, For tourists that travel by themselves c h i Uthe price of the “Tour Taxi” is more only certified in English and Japanese not in other languages. Another weakness is the price.. expensive than the common city tour. 3. Taipei Metro (MRT) and public transportation A good way for tourists to travel around Taipei is using public transportation, especially the MRT. Tourists can visit most of the touristic places easily, with few exceptions like the National Palace Museum and the Martyr’s Shrine that are further away from the MRT station and have few bus stops nearby. The city government provides the option of one-day pass with unlimited rides on the MRT and public bus for the price of NT$180 (US$6.16) per person.. 15.

(21) Strengths: The biggest strength of the MRT and public transportation is its convenience. Tourists can travel to most of the places around Taipei in MRT and public bus for a very convenient price. Weaknesses: One of the major weaknesses is that neither the MRT nor the public buses are dedicated to tourists; besides transportation they don't offer them any other added value. Also, public buses stops have information available only in Chinese, for those tourists that don't know the language and come for first time to the city it can be difficult to understand the routes.. 政治大. Finally, tourists that use MRT can’t see the city landscape because most of the time they are. 立. traveling underground.. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 3. The company. y. Nat. The Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus service will be part of a new travel agency. sit. that will be located in Taipei, Taiwan. As mentioned before, this business idea has been. -. al. n. will focus on:. er. io. successful in several cities around the world but is new to Taipei. Therefore, the operation. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Providing a new, unique, convenient and fast way of sightseeing in Taipei city using double-decker buses London style with different features in a pre-established route of three hours with 15 stops. -. Give the opportunity to tourists to learn more of Taipei’s history and everyday life in a fun and interesting way using the multi-language audio-guides incorporated in the buses. -. Provide a friendlier image of Taipei and Taiwan to tourists. -. Be a more economic and high quality alternative to the city tours offered in Taipei.. 16.

(22) 3.1.. Company Ownership. The travel agency will be created as a private limited company and will be fully owned by its founder and principle investors. The reason behind is the belief that a total control of the company results in a better decision-making process. Also, establishing the agency as a limited company provides security to the shareholders and gives them the benefits of being a separate entity.. 3.2.. Company Locations and Facilities. The travel agency will operate in a small office in Taipei City area preferably in Datong. 政治大. District close to the initial point of the tour. This facility will be dedicated only to the. 立. administration and operations management of the Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour. ‧ 國. 學. Bus but not for ticket sales.. ‧. For the ticket sales, and with the purpose of having a broader presence and reducing our staffing costs, we will use the following facilities:. Nat. io. sit. Bureau. y. Service Center located in Taoyuan International Airport managed by the Tourism. er. -. 20 authorized hotels. -. 12 Information centers around the city managed by the Taipei City Government. -. The Hop-on Hop-off bus (customers will have the option of purchasing the ticket. n. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. directly in the bus) -. Our web page for online sales: www.taipeihoponhopoff.com. We will rent a parking lot for the buses in New Taipei City area near the initial point of the tour. The office and the parking lot will be rented on a year-by-year lease.. 17.

(23) 3.3.. Hours of Operation. The Hop-on Hop-off buses will operate from Tuesday to Sunday, six days a week. The first bus will start the tour route at 08h00 in the morning and the last shift will finish at 20h00 at night approximately.. 3.4.. Start-Up Summary. For the start-up operations we will need 4 investors and acquire a long-term loan that will be paid in 5 years. Investor 1 is “CONSEL Internacional”, a construction company located in Quito-Ecuador looking to do overseas investments; the other investors should be Taiwanese. 政治大. preferably. Additional from the investment required, we will need extra cash from our. 立. investors for the start-up expenses like the pre-opening event, the stop signs, etc.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. following is a detailed description of our start-up requirements:. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 18. i Un. v. The.

(24) 4. Service Description The Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Tour Bus will cover a pre-established circle route with three double-decker buses that allows our customers to start the tour and end it in the same location. The route will last 3 hours including 15 stops. The point of start will be close to Taipei Main Station area. The first bus will begin the tour at 08h00 in the morning, at 09h00 am the next bus will follow and at 10h00 am the last bus will start its route. We will have an extra bus that will be use in case one of the buses doesn’t return in time. This mechanism will ensure that the buses drive through all the stops every hour. Buses schedule. 立. Bus 4. 08h00 – 11h00. 09h00 – 12h00. 10h00 – 13h00. 11h00 – 14h00. 11h00. 12h00. 13h00. 14h00. 12h00 -15h00. 13h00 – 16h00. 14h00 – 17h00. 15h00 – 18h00. 15h00. 16h00. 17h00. 18h00. 17h00 – 20h00. Return Time. 19h00. 20h00. er. io. sit. 16h00 – 19h00. Tour Time. ‧. Tour Time. Return Time. Nat. Return Time. ‧ 國. Bus 3. 學. Tour Time. Bus 2. y. Bus 1. 政治大. al. n. iv n C U allow our customers to hop-on and h e nchosen The tour will have 15 stops strategically g c hthati will hop-off the bus as many times as they want and see the most of Taipei City. Along the route there will be around 25 or more tourist attractions including the most important, such as: Taipei 101, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, National Palace Museum, Longshan Temple, and more. The route will also include around 20 or more hotels and places to shop like the famous Xinyi district, Shilin night market, Ximending, and others (see Appendix 6). The stops signs will show the exact information of the schedules of the buses, a map of the route, a list of the 15 different stops and the ticket sales points. The final schedules, routes and stops, for the buses will be decided after a trial and error period in which the best option in term of times and costs will be chosen.. 19.

(25) Traveling in our Hop-on Hop-off buses will be an exciting and enriching experience for tourists because they will be designed with them in mind. Our double-decker buses will be disabled friendly and will have capacity for 60 to 70 people. The second floor will have a panoramic sky-view ceiling and a small open deck to enjoy the landscape (see Appendix 7). In the bus every passenger will have the opportunity to listen to an audio-guide with interesting and fun pre-recorded commentaries in 16 different languages about the history, places and everyday life in Taipei. A professional tour guide will always be in the bus providing live commentaries in Chinese and English and any extra information the customers may need. A plasma screen will show the bus stops and real time information about events,. 政治大. exhibitions, expos, etc., happening in Taipei. Finally, to enhance the tour experience, the bus will also offer free Wi-Fi service on board.. 立. To ensure quality and to be able to monitor and control our service in real time we will equip. ‧ 國. 學. our buses with technological solutions such as GPS system and barcode scanner for tickets. Also, every day after the last shift the buses will be cleaned and serviced to prevent. ‧. breakdowns.. In the morning the professional tour guide, in charge of the route, will. sit er. io. al Competitive Comparison n. 4.1.. y. Nat. personally inspect the bus to be presentable to our clients.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. As mentioned before in the market analysis, our competition comes in three forms: Normal city tours – Offered by local or international travel agencies are our direct competitors because tourists that buy city tours most certainly won’t use the Hop-on Hop-off Tour Bus. Due to their personalize service, including (pick-up and transfer from-to hotel) and a professional tour guide that is in charge of all the details, city tours are an attractive option for tourists looking for a comfortable way of doing sightseeing. However, one of their downsides is the quality of the tour guides; customers have complained about their foreign language level. Another of their disadvantages is that their service is not customized; tourists are subject to a fix schedule and a fixed quantity of places they visit. On the contrary, with the Hop-on Hop-off bus 20.

(26) tourists choose the quantity of places they visit and the time they want to spend at each place. Although our service only offers a professional tour guide on board, the buses are equipped with audio-guides that provide tourists with interesting and fun commentaries about the city and tourists sites in different languages. Tor Taxi – Although the “Tour Taxi” program created by the government is a good option for tourists, compared to the Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Tour Bus it has some disadvantages in comparison. First, it is easier to appreciate the landscape traveling in a double-decker bus than in a taxi.. 政治大. Second, the service they provide is not well known by tourists so they usually go unnoticed. Finally, as mentioned before the price is higher than the normal city tours.. 立. Taipei MRT and public bus –. ‧ 國. 學. Public transportation is very convenient in Taipei. Tourists that want to visit the city by. ‧. themselves use it to go from one tourist site to another. The one-day ticket pass allows the use of MRT or public buses unlimited times in one day at a very convenient price. The. y. Nat. sit. biggest disadvantage in comparison with the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus is that. al. er. io. they are not a service dedicated to tourists; besides transportation they don't offer them any. n. added value. On the contrary, our service is designed to satisfy the tourist’s different needs.. 4.2.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Sales Literature. To officially introduce the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus in Taipei city we will create a sales kit that will contain a special brochure with extensive information about the company and our services, a CD with an example of the commentaries of the audio-guides and two special free passes. They will be distributed to key government officials working in the tourism and transportation sector, media, airport managers, hotel managers, convenience store managers, celebrities, etc. We will also produce brochures in different languages, that will have detail information about our service, a map of the Hop-on Hop-off bus route and smaller maps of the areas near the. 21.

(27) bus stops with key information of the tourist sites, places to eat and shop. These brochures will be distributed to hotels, information service centers and to customers once they buy the ticket (see Appendix 8). Folded leaflets in English, Chinese and Japanese, containing general information about the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Bus service and the route map, will be produced and distributed to potential customers in airports and different parts of the city with high concentration of tourists. Our Website will be a key component of our sales literature (see Appendix 9). It will have. 政治大. detail information about our company, our service, the maps, pictures, tourist sites, places to eat and shop, links with our social media pages, online bus tracking, etc. We will create a. 立. Web page that will attract people looking not only for information about the Hop-on Hop-off. ‧ 國. ‧. 4.3.. 學. Sightseeing Tour but also looking for information about things to do in Taipei City.. Sourcing and Fulfillment. sit. y. Nat. io. be employed.. n. al. er. The primary issue regarding sourcing and fulfillment is the type and the source of the buses to. Ch. i Un. v. There are few companies that manufacture double-decker buses with the specifications. engchi. needed for this project in China and Malaysia. We will have to evaluate them and choose the best option for our company taking in consideration prices and characteristics of the bus, importing costs and fees and guarantees provided. Some of the manufacturing sources taken into consideration are: -. Sin Hock Leon Coach Works (Kuala Lumpur). -. Zhongda International Holding Co. (Mainland China). -. Yangzhou Down Import & Export Co.. 22.

(28) Our best option in terms of the buses design will be Sin Hock Leon Coach Works in Kuala Lumpur because they created a special bus, which will be adequate for Taipei’s weather, for the Kuala Lumpur Hop-on Hop-off sightseeing (see Appendix 10). Other important sourcing issues are related to the multi language audio guide, the Web platform hosting and software for security issues. For the audio guides we will evaluate various manufacturers in China, for the Web platform hosting we will choose a Taiwanese provider and for the security software we will evaluate the best providers around the world.. 立. Technology. 學. ‧ 國. 4.4.. 政治大. A cornerstone of our company and service is technology. The following are technological features that the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus will offer:. ‧. -. Online travel information: with our Web page we will provide a quick and easy access. y. Nat. sit. to information about our services and about Taipei City, visitors will be able to find e-. al. er. io. maps of the city and real time information about events, exhibitions, conferences,. v. n. concerts, etc.; our customers will be able to track the buses via online with the online tracking bus option. -. Ch. engchi. i Un. Online ticket sales (e-ticketing): will enable customers all around the world to obtain tickets for the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus in a secure, convenient and fast way even before arriving to Taipei.. To assure the highest level of safety, comfort, reliability and service punctuality to our customers we will incorporate additional technological features to the Hop-on Hop-off tour buses like GPS system, bar code system for tickets, Wi-Fi and electronic screens to show real time information of social, cultural and business events happening in Taipei. These features will also help us have a better quality control of our service.. 23.

(29) 4.5.. Further Services. In the short term, within the first year, we will offer night tours for special groups. Once the business expands we will purchase more buses to shorten the route time and also to offer different routes around the city, for example a tour dedicated for kids in weekends, or to offer the opportunity of renting the bus to schools or companies. After six months of operation we will open a B2B opportunity: our Hop-on Hop-off doubledecker buses will be available for advertising (bus advertisement media).. We will sell. advertising space only in the back of our buses to companies related to our service or to. 政治大 Also, we will provide different 立combinations of packages with the purchase of our tickets like companies that share our same corporate values.. ‧ 國. 學. discounts to tourist attractions, shows and shopping stores.. Finally, we will evaluate the possibility of offering guided tours in the different sights with. Nat. n. al. er. io. 5. Strategy Implementation and Summary. sit. y. ‧. professional tourist guides to provide a more complete service.. Ch. i Un. v. Our strategy is to grow business by nurturing our clients, attracting new customers and. engchi. differentiating from our competitors focusing in 3 pillars:. 1. Convenience: deliver convenience to our target customers through our Website (electronic tickets, electronic maps, key information about the city, etc), leveraging our technology (comfortable disabled friendly buses equipped with GPS, Wi-Fi, electronic screens, audio-guides with 16 different languages), with competitive ticket price, using different languages in all of our sales literature, having various ticket sales points around the city and with a strategic travel route with different schedules all day, 6 days a week. 2. Uniqueness: of our service (different from the normal city tours) and our doubledecker buses (attractive colorful double-decker buses with sky-view ceiling, open deck balcony, audio-guides, etc) 24.

(30) 3. High quality and reliable services: to ensure a high quality service we will give continuous and special training to our employees, including proficiency in language skills, first aid, service, etc. We will also establish a solid relationship with our sales partners visiting them continuously and having different promotions for them. To provide reliability we will have high quality operations and SOP that will ensure punctuality, security and will prevent buses breakdowns.. 5.1.. 政治大. Value Proposition. 立. ‧ 國. 學. Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus is a high quality city tour that delivers convenience, uniqueness and a reliable service to our customers at a lower price than other traditional city tours. Our service is dedicated to tourists looking for an exciting, convenient. ‧. and fast way to travel around Taipei, enjoying the magic of the city while listening to fun. sit. y. Nat. commentaries and interesting information about the sights, the history, the life, the traditions,. io. er. etc., and with the opportunity of hopping-off or hopping-on as many times they want to visit as many tourist places as they want.. n. al. 5.2.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Competitive Edge. Our company is able to have a competitive edge because is the first in the market and unlike other companies that provide city tours in Taipei we offer a different service with unique characteristics and double-decker buses with extraordinary features dedicated exclusively for tourists from all over the world. We are targeting a niche market with a special need that until now hasn't been satisfied; tourists need a fast way to get to know most of Taipei City in a short time with excellent quality and information in different languages. Our team will be constantly and specially trained, our buses regularly maintained and our staff eager to satisfy our customers.. 25.

(31) 5.3.. Marketing Strategy. Our company goal is to keep our target customers happy while showing them everything about Taipei City. We want to enhance their traveling experience delivering our three pillars mentioned before, convenience, uniqueness and reliability in every step our company is involved from the search, to the purchase, to the final experience. Our marketing strategy, communications messages and image will be consistent with the value proposition of our company. Our marketing strategies are:. 政治大 fast information about Taipei. 立It will be updated regularly and will provide useful traveling. Website- our Website will attract tourists from around the world looking for convenient and. ‧ 國. 學. information in the city. It will be created as a Web 2.0 to include social media (Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Youtube) and be able to interact with our customers (see Appendix 9).. ‧. Key Word Search- we will manage our Website continuously in different search browsers like Google and Yahoo to be in top of the list when potential customers look for words like:. y. Nat. io. sit. “travel in Taipei” “Taipei tourist sites” “city tours Taipei” “city tours Taiwan”, etc.. n. al. er. Public Relations- we will have a continuously public relations strategy to be able to appear in. i Un. v. the media, blogs and in important travel guides like the Lonely Planet as many times as. Ch. engchi. possible to avoid spending big quantities of money in traditional advertisement. Brochures - our brochures will be an important part of our service. Our customers will listen to information about Taipei while traveling in the bus but once they hop-off they need information as well.. We don't offer a personal tour guide but we provide convenient. brochures in different languages with complete information of the tourist sites, places to eat and shop and maps of the different areas.. The brochures will be self-funded with the. advertisement space that we will sell to different companies (see Appendix 8). Sales point - we will equip all the sales point with brochures, folded leaflets with general information about our services and the route map, flyers and posters and we will train our sales partners about our services, prices and promotions.. 26.

(32) Hop-on Hop-off buses - our buses are different from the normal double-decker buses that travel around the city, their uniqueness calls attention so we will design the exterior to build our image and advertise our service (see Appendix 7).. 5.3.1. Positioning Statement We will position ourselves as the new, exciting, most convenient and faster way of doing sightseeing in Taipei. As mentioned before our three pillars are convenience, uniqueness and reliable city tour service.. 5.3.2. Pricing Strategy. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. For our pricing strategy we will take into consideration various factors. First, the prices of our competition; second, the average daily expenditure in 2010 of inbound visitors and domestic tourists; third, the results of our survey conducted in April of this year to 127 people. ‧. that live in Taipei or have visited the city before; finally, the prices of other Hop-on Hop-off. sit. y. Nat. tour buses in other cities.. er. io. Prices of our competitors:. n. a lPrice (per person) v iSpecifications n Ch NT$900e n(US$31) g c h i Uto. Traditional city tours. NT$1,300 (US$44.5) Tour Taxi. NT$625 (US$21.4). Price with 4 people in the taxi, total price NT$2,500 (US$85.59). One-day pass for MRT NT$180 (US$6.16) and public bus. According to the “2010 Survey of Travel by R.O.C. citizens” and the “Annual Survey Report on Visitors Expenditure and Trends in Taiwan” conducted by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau the average daily expenditure of outbound visitors and domestic tourism was:. 27.

(33) Average daily expenditure 2010 Outbound visitors with sightseeing purpose. US$242.39. Outbound visitors with business purpose. US$209.86. Domestic Tourism. US$40.80. The prices of Hop-on Hop-off sightseeing tour bus in other cities are: Cities Adult. Kuala Lumpur. Child (5-12) Adult. Singapore. 立. 48 hours. US$12. US$20.5. 治 US$9.13 政US$5.35 大 US$20.17 US$11.33. Adult. US$44. Child (5-12). US$29. 學. ‧ 國. Child (5-12) Shanghai. 24 hours. ‧. Nat. sit. y. Our survey done to 127 people that live or have visited Taipei before, revealed that the. io. n. al. er. majority 47% said they are willing to pay for our service NT$300-399:. NT$300-399. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 47%. 24%. NT$400-499 20%. NT$500-599 2%. NT$600-699. 3%. NT$700-799. 2%. NT$800-899. 1%. NT$900-1000 0%. 10%. 20%. 30%. 28. 40%. 50%.

(34) Using the above information as reference, we will set our prices as the following: Services. Price. Normal City Tours Tour Adults. US$12. Tour Kids (5-12). US$6. Special Services Special Night Tours for (45 people or less). US$540. Advertisement. US$2400. For limited promotions we will give an especial price for groups of 10 people and families of 2 adults 3 children.. 立. 政治大. We will give 6% of each ticket sold to our sales partners of every distribution channel.. ‧ 國. 學. During the year we will have different promotions regarding the price of our tickets such us, buy 4 get the 5th for free.. ‧ er. io. sit. y. Nat 5.3.3. Promotion Strategy a. n. iv l C n h nofgbuzz i Uword-of-mouth. In our initial stage, we want to create aelot c h and. We will have a grand. opening to launch our services with a special ride around Xinyi area inviting key people from Taipei City like government officials working in the tourism and transportation sector, media, hotel managers, important people from the tourism industry like representatives of TAITRA, celebrities, etc. We will give them our sales kit containing a special brochure with extensive information about the company and our services, a CD with an example of the commentaries of the audio-guides and two special free passes. In special holidays like New Year, Chinese New Year and summer season when many locals have family or friends visiting, we will have promotions such as: “invite your family or friends to the Hop-on Hop-off, show them the magic of Taipei and travel with them for free or receive a special price” 29.

(35) We know that is important to have direct interaction with our customers to receive feedback, commentaries, etc., this is why we will keep continuous communication with them through social media like Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Youtube. During the year we will have several promotions and campaigns for our followers in social media like “film a video on top of the Hop-on Hop-off to be shown in our Website and let people around the world see the beauty of Taipei City.” (The winner receives X amount of money as the price). We will also keep a control over reviews done by our customers in different Websites with high traffic like TripAdvisor and different travel blogs.. For our company feedback is. important to improve our services and to maintain a good image of the company.. 政治大. As we want to be in top of the lists in the searching browsers like Google we will invest in the. 立. pay per click advertising campaign.. ‧ 國. 學. During the most important Trade Shows in Taipei like Computex, we will have a special booth for promotion and sales of the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus. We will work. ‧. with TAITRA to offer the business visitors special promotional prices of our service.. y. Nat. Sales and Distribution Strategy. io. sit. 5.4.. n. al. er. According to the “2010 Annual Survey Report on Visitors Expenditure and Trends in Taiwan”. i Un. v. done by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, the majority of visitors coming to the island plan their. Ch. engchi. vacations trip through the Internet and word-of-mouth recommendation. Once they arrive, the preferred locations to look for travel information, such as scenic spots, restaurants, routes and transportation, are hotels and airport arrival hall and to a lesser amount the Internet, travel agencies and visitor information centers. Based on this information and for the convenience of the tourists, we will have six different distribution channels (sales points) where we will sell the tickets, distribute our promotional materials (flyers, brochures and others) and offer information about our services.. Our. distribution channels will be: 1. Strategically designated hotels that are located along the bus route as well as the most important hotels in Taipei City.. 30.

(36) 2. The Service Center located in Taoyuan International Airport managed by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. This will be our strongest point of promotion. 3. On-line in our Web page www.taipeihoponhopoff.com 4. Information booths of the City Government - there are 12 Information Centers around Taipei managed by the City Government, we will use 11 located within Taipei City area: Taipei Main Station, Songshan Airport, East Metro Mall, Taipei City Hall Bus Station, MRT Ximen Station, Miramar Entertainment, MRT Jiantan Station, MRT Yuanshan Station, Gondola Taipei Zoo Station and Gondola Maokong Station. 5. The Hop-on Hop-off bus - customers that haven’t previously buy the ticket in any of. 政治大. the places mentioned before but want to use our service will be able to buy the tickets directly in the bus.. 立. 6. 7-Eleven convenience stores located along the route of the Hop-on Hop-off. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Sightseeing Tour Bus.. sit. y. Nat. io. al. er. 5.4.1. Sales Forecast. v. n. To determine our sales we did a benchmarking of the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour in the. Ch. i Un. city of Quito, capital of Ecuador, which started operations last year. The company owns 4. engchi. buses and operates from 09h00 to 16h00 in a 3-hour route. According to their manager, Diana Carrasco, from Monday to Friday they have an average occupation of 50% and in weekends an average occupation of 70-80%. For our sales forecasts we used the average occupation in Quito with a slightly decrease at the beginning of the first year and increasing every year up to year 5. We also increased the occupation in the months were Taiwan receives more tourists like March, April, August, October, November and December according to the statistics of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau and the months were Taiwanese are on vacation like June and July. Besides this we took into consideration the size of our target market and we also considered the differences between. 31.

(37) Ecuador and Taiwan; Ecuador only receives around 1,200,000 [15] tourists a year while Taiwan receives 6,087,484 and Quito is a chaotic city while Taipei is still manageable. We believe that the first months, until locals get to know the service and tourists get information the sales are not going to be high. Once the Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour is well positioned then the sales are going to increase. After two years we expect a decrease on sales specially because for the domestic tourists the service would not be unique anymore. This is why in year 3 we will increase our marketing expenditure. In year 5 we will have to invest in new buses to decrease the time of the route and be able to offer a better service.. 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 Sales by Year. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. $1,400,000.00 $1,200,000.00 $1,000,000.00 $800,000.00 $600,000.00 $400,000.00 $200,000.00 $-. 政治大. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Special Tours Bus Advertisement Tour Ticket. Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5. 5.5.. Strategic Alliances. An agreement or alliance with the City Government and the Tourism Bureau is crucial for the feasibility of this project. Besides the licenses needed to operate double-decker buses to 32.

(38) transport tourists, is necessary to have the approval of the City Government to use the same bus stops facilities of the public transportation buses. If that’s the case, the company will only have to invest in the development of the Hop-on Hop-off bus stop signs. Also, an alliance with the Tourism Bureau and the City Government is important for the promotion of the Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour, as well as for the sales and distribution of the tickets in the Service and Information Centers located around the city and the airports. Is important to form alliances with as many hotels in Taipei as possible for recommendations and ticket sales. We also need to work in cooperation with the different tourist sites around our route, the Taipei Trade Shows Organization (TAITRA) and the Tourism Bureau for. 政治大. recommendations and to have first hand information about events, trade shows, expos, etc.,. 立. happening in the city.. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 33. i Un. v.

(39) 6. Management Summary The initial management team depends on the founders of the company and the shareholders. The Taipei Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Bus will begin operations with 8 full-time positions, 4 drivers and 4 tour guides.. Organizational Structure. 政治大. 立. Logistics. ‧ 國. 學. IT. Operations Manager. ‧. Tour Guides. io. General Manager. n. al. Marketing and sales. Ch. Human Resources. engchi. sit. y. Nat. Drivers Web Master. er. 6.1.. i Un. v. Accounting. 6.2.. Management Team. General Manager – In charge of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the company. Also coordinates the staff activities overseeing the every day-to-day tasks. In addition is involved in the hiring, training and evaluation processes of staff members as well as the motivation. The manager should plan strategically to increase revenue growth and value for our shareholders. 34.

(40) Operations Manager – The operations manager will be responsible for driving an innovative travel operations strategy balancing operational efficiency with excellent service. Will be in charge of planning, directing and controlling the global operations of the company, specially the Hop-on Hop-off buses, routes, technology, drivers and tour guides. Will be also responsible of directing the staff activities overseeing the every day-to-day tasks. Under him is one person of logistics and one of IT who are in charge of collaborating with the operations manager to deliver a high quality service to our customers.. 立. Marketing and Sales Director –. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. The marketing and sales director will be responsible for establishing and directing the marketing and sales activities of the company, including the PR and social media, in order to. ‧. increase business and create brand image. This person has to control the everyday sales of all of our services and the availability of our buses. Also, has to develop and/or maintain and. y. Nat. sit. improve business relations with all of our customers including our sales partners. In addition. er. al. n. this position.. io. has to seek out and target new customers and sales opportunities. Innovation is important for. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Web Master – The Web Master position will be under the Marketing and Sales Director and will be in charge of the online service and the overall performance of our Web site. Will be also responsible of creating innovative strategies to maintain our Web site in the top of the list of search engines and keep control of our ratings in different travel websites and travel blogs. Has to work together with the Marketing and Sales Director seeking new opportunities to increase business while satisfying our customers’ needs.. 35.

(41) Human Resources Manager – The Human Resources Manager is responsible for managing the talents of the company. Has to organize our internal customers (our employees) and plan the future ventures and objectives involving our people. Is also in charge of involving our talents into different trainings to improve their competences and increase the value of our company. Accounting – Accounting is responsible of coordinating the accounting procedures, preparing the accounting reports and preparing budgets from the analysis of the accounting documents. Is. 政治大 important that the person in charge of accounting explains accounting policies to all our staff. 立. also responsible of interacting with internal and external auditors in completing audits. Is. ‧ 國. 學. 6.3.. Personnel Plan (Chart). ‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 7. Financial Plan Our financial plan overall is a conservative forecast based on estimations and assumptions. Our costs for initial operations are very high. To acquire the Hop-on Hop-off buses and for start-up costs we require a loan and initial investment. The Banks in Taiwan lend loans for small medium enterprises for 4% to 7% interest rate because is consider high risk. For our. 36.

(42) financial plan we consider the interest rate of 7% on the loan and 6% of interest on corporate income. The exchange rate used for this project is 1USD = 29.21 TWD (See Appendix 11). 7.1.. Break Even Analysis. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. We will need to sell 71,182 tickets to break-even. According to our sales forecast we will break even at the end of the first year of operations.. 37.

(43) Projected Profit and Loss. 立. 政治大. 學 ‧. ‧ 國 io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. 7.2.. Ch. engchi. 38. i Un. v.

(44) Projected Balance Sheet. 立. 政治大. 學 ‧. ‧ 國 io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. 7.3.. Ch. engchi. 39. i Un. v.

(45) Projected Cash Flows. 立. 政治大. 學 ‧. ‧ 國 io. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. 7.4.. Ch. engchi. 40. i Un. v.

(46) Appendixes. Appendix 1. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 41. i Un. v.

(47) Appendix 1 (continue). 立. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 y. sit. n. al. er. io. Mainland China Japan HongKong. Macao U.S.A. Malaysia Singapore Korea Indonesia Thailand Philippines Canada Australia Germany U.K. France. Nat. Appendix 2. 政治大. C412,617 hengchi U 307,898 817,944. 299,599 242,902 156,281 102,902 101,539 67,545 60,067 44,644 43,419 29,082. 42. v ni. 1,294,758. 1,784,185.

(48) Appendix 3. 1.03%. 4.12%. 9.42%. Sightseeing & Pleasure. 1.34% Business. 8.22%. Visit Relatives Conferences &Exhibitions. 59.69%. 16.18%. Study Others. 立. Unstated 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. Appendix 4. Total No. of Visitors 7,000,000 6,000,000. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 9.34% Growth Rate. 5,000,000. 26.67% Growth Rate. 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 0 2007. 2008. 2009. 2010. 43. 2011. 2012.