Are you done checking into your hotel’s schedules and other bookings while you are planning your tour to Vietnam? No? Let’s state a simple question. Do you agree that traveling is easy with a manager behind your seamless itinerary? Think so! But wait, before you hire a travel company to manage your bookings, here’s one more interesting fact to note. There’s a significant difference between the one who creates and sells travel packages, often globally, and the one who provides specialized, on-the-ground services and local expertise within a specific destination. In simple words, in the maze of traveling lingo, "Tour Operator" and "Destination Management Company" are distinct from each other in several ways.
While both play a crucial role in understanding your travel requirements, the modus operandi of each differs in a noteworthy manner. Let’s dive into the technical world of travel and learn about each segment’s role, which might further help you when you book your trip to Vietnam.
Who or What is a Tour Operator?
A tour operator is a company that designs, organizes, and sells travel packages mainly globally. Think of them as the "packagers" of travel. They assemble your itinerary, including transportation by flights, buses, trains, accommodation places like hotels and resorts, meals, sightseeing activities, and at times even guides or local representatives, into a single, comprehensive product that is then offered to the end consumers.
The primary role of the tour operators offering tours to Vietnam is to create “packages” by contracting individual services from various suppliers. Tour operators' scope is broad in terms of services; for example, a tour operator sitting in Europe can offer packages for travel purposes to Vietnam, Thailand, or Myanmar. They can also sell their tours directly to the end consumer in a B2C setting or through dedicated travel agents as a B2B.
While the packages are sometimes available to be customized, tour operators prefer selling dedicated, pre-defined packages that could cover a broad audience. Moreover, a tour operator is responsible for the finances of the trip. It means that if something goes wrong with any part of the trip, the tour operator is in charge of it all. This often involves financial bonding or licensing to protect travelers. Furthermore, a tour operator might offer a "14 Days Footprints Of Vietnam History” package that includes flights from your home country, hotels in Hanoi, Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City, pre-arranged tours to Halong Bay and the Mekong Delta, and some meals.
What is a Destination Management Company (DMC)?
On the contrary, it can be easily said that a DMC is a “field personnel” who is deeply rooted in its knowledge about a specific destination. They possess extensive expertise and connections in that particular area or region of their operations to manage and coordinate all aspects of travel services for their clients.
Local expertise is in a DMC’s blood. They have an unparalleled knowledge of that region, its culture, traditions, sightseeing, and whatnot. For a tour to Vietnam, a DMC would be a company based in Vietnam itself. DMC also focuses on ground handling, like providing easy and smooth transfers, local transportation, guided tours, activities, event planning, and more. The primary collaborative nature of a Destination Management Company is B2B. They partner directly with resorts and hotels without a middleman, working directly with tour operators, travel agents, corporate clients, and event planners.
One singular factor in choosing a DMC over a tour operator is that a DMC offers a bespoke, customized itinerary catering to each client’s different requirements, crafting a tour personal to the travelers. One more factor that contributes to a DMC’s success is that they operate 24/7 and give support to their clients whenever they require it. With this, their local presence means a hassle-free and immediate problem-solving travel on the tour. For example, a tour operator selling a Vietnam package might partner with a Vietnam tour company DMC to handle all the in-country logistics.
Winding up, while both tour operators and Destination Management Companies are core to the travel industry, they serve different purposes. A tour operator creates and sells travel packages, often across multiple destinations all over the world. Whereas a DMC is the local specialist, providing on-the-ground expertise and services in a specific destination, ensuring a perfect, authentic, and memorable journey. So, what are you waiting for? To experience a tour to Vietnam, book your trip to the “Land of the Blue Dragon” with the best Vietnam tour company.
Comments