9. STRENGTH / POTENTIALS OF THE COMPANY
Every travel agency have their own strength in their industry. When we discuss about strength of the company, we are referring to a company’s competitive advantages and distinctive competencies that is what the company does really well. Same goes to our company that we choose which is KRS Travel. The strength of the KRS Travel is they get their own ‘Umrah’ visa. They also have many staff in Mecca and Madinah. It is because in their company have many ‘Mutawwif’ who can go to Mecca and Madinah all the time. The special about this KRS Travel their business package more to ‘Umrah’.
Besides, they also have benefit in flights which is they can chartered their own flights. KRS Travel also one of the company that listed on special ‘Umrah’ license (LKU). In KRS Travel they have direct Flight Malaysia Airlines and Saudi Airlines who can save travel time, so that customers are less tired when they get to Mecca and Madinah. Furthermore, when we get ‘Umrah’ package from KRS Travel, we can stay at Millenium Tower which is only 100 meter from ‘Dataran Masjid’.
Next, the strength of this company travel also is their price. Their price for the ‘Umrah’ package is start from as low as possible which is start with RM6290. This price is very comfortable and affordable to ‘muslim’ who want to perform ‘Umrah’. This price also more worth compared to the economic package. With this package also, they can get special services from ‘mutawwif’. It is because every group will be guided with one ‘mutawiff’ who have a lot of experiences, very responsible and take a good care of the customers.
In addition, in KRS Travel they have many good staff who can do and manage their work very well. The KRS Travel staff knows what the company are selling very well. So that, they can help the customer who come to their premise to make a right decisions for that particular trip. Their agent also is bringing value to the customer. KRS Travel also have a bulk deals with airlines and other suppliers for a particular trip. Such as, Malaysia Airlines and Saudi Airlines.
Furthermore, the strength of KRS Travel is they have a lot of benefits from online marketing. They get a lot of customers every month for ‘Umrah’ Package register in online booking. They have create online marketing and promote their travel agency. Such as, Facebook, Instagram and Website. With this social media they can have more advantages to promote their package and their travel agency.
The reason why they more focus on online marketing is because nowadays people more interest in online booking than walk in to the premise. So, they took the advantage by doing marketing in the social media. Any promotion or update about their package, they will upload in their social media and customer doesn’t need to come to their premise to booking or want to know about their package and information about their travel agency. They also provide information about the location of their company, which they are providing tickets and also informs about the rules and regulations when customer want to deals with them.
In conclusion, every company business have their own strength to maintain and build their company for a long time. It is important to have our own strength to maintain in this industry. It is because many travel agency are building up until now. Same goes to KRS Travel. They have their own strength to maintain their business until now. This strength have help them a lot to be a successful travel agency in the tourism industry and have a good look in their positioning in the tourism market.
10. CHALLENGES / CONSTRAINTS FACED BY THE COMPANY
When it comes to volatile industries, there are many that come to mind. The tourism industry is definitely one of them. For starters, tourism is far from being immune to economic, political, and social shifts.
There are challenges / constraints faced by KRS Travel & Tour Sdn. Bhd. The challenge that they faced is competing with other tourism companies. This can be seen when KRS Travel. confront other travel agencies who also know about the importance of the tourism sector to a country. Therefore, many companies promote their package tours and KRS Travel has to compete with other travel agencies to become a travel agency that is especially popular among muslims in choosing their ‘Umrah’ and ‘Haji’ packages. So, KRS Travel also needs to make good preparations to attract tourists using their services.
Next, the challenges from the views of KRS Travel from a service that provided by them, the ‘Haji’ and ‘Umrah’ packages, are the most at risk. This is because when there are pilgrims who die while performing pilgrimage & umrah at Mecca. In addition, the visa rates are high. A glance at the taxes paid on airline tickets and hotel rooms suggests that taxes can affect tourism. Therefore, it is imperative for the tourism industry to offer competitive pricing to offset the similarities.
Furthermore, the challenges faced by KRS Travel & Tour companies are technical challenges. They have to deal with customers / pilgrims who are dissatisfied with airline law. The way travelers find, book and organize travel changes. In an increasingly digital world, travel agencies need to accept seamless online deals. KRS Travel & Tour should be professional in solving problems which is about flight delays, schedule changes time and flight dates.
Last but not least, KRS Travel & Tour also said that the role of travel agencies is changing. Traditionally, an agent would be sorted between the two parties. Now, agents still provide the information, but travelers are free to take that knowledge elsewhere. That relationship has shifted, but it doesn’t mean that travel agent are obsolete. The world is changing and the political landscape is uneasy at best.
In conclusion, it’s agreed upon that most of these factors are outside the control of tourism boards and travel companies. However, staying aware can help the travel industry become more proactive and develop adaptive strategies quickly.
11. STRATEGIES/ APPROACH APPLIED BY THE COMPANY TO SURVIVE IN THIS INDUSTRY
The Strategies/Approach applied by KRS Travel and Tours to survive in this tourism industry is invest in content marketing. They have create and distribute valuable and consistent content to attract and retain target audience, driving sustainable growth in visitors, leads and customers. This marketing strategy requires KRS Travel a lot of elements to be done right such as quality content.
The second strategy is they use email marketing. Most of customers that come their travel agency for the first time will not make an immediate purchase. KRS Travel can get the customer to subscribe to their email list, so that they have ability to display their authority and credibility by providing valuable content to them via email. This approach encouraging the customers to buy their travel products. As for their previous customer, they will inspired to become KRS Travel regular customers by the weekly and daily time-sensitive updates on their product information. For instance, the customers may get informed when KRS Travel offering an attractive deal.
Next, the strategy that KRS Travel use to survive in this tourism industry is executing business rebrand. KRS Travel consider rebranding as an extra step to promote travel agencies, rebranding has prove to be an effective marketing strategy. For example, KRS Travel always changing slogan, modernizing their logo, update their package and always updating their website. This slight difference from what they always do will attract customers interest and make them want to learn more about their travel agency.
References
https://www.facebook.com/pg/KrsTravelSdnBhd/about/?ref=page_internal
https://krstravel.com.my/
http://krstravel.blogspot.com/
Interview ( Puan Nur Azmina binti Aziz) staff at KRS Travel Kota Bharu
