Significance or importance of itinerary can be expressed as follows:
1. Compound Product
A tourism product is not made of a single element but it is a compound product. It is made of 4 As- Accessibility, Accommodation, Attraction and Amenities. Two or more than two tourism elements are joined together to form a tourism product. The joining of these elements is possible with the help of an itinerary. Only transport or hotel room or attraction is not tourism. The attraction was there since long time, transport was there, but there was no tourism because there was not any mix product. So, we can say that modern tourism is a result of itineraries. Without itineraries, there may be hotel, transport or attraction but no tourism.
2. Tangible
The tourism product that we are selling is an intangible product. So, it cannot be seen or inspected by a customer prior to purchase or consumption. Those intangible products are converted into tangible, invisible to visible by the help of an itinerary as it contains all the information. Thus, tourism product produced by a travel agency is the itinerary.
3. Sales-kit
As tourism product is intangible, buying and selling of the tourism product is very difficult. In this situation an itinerary is of great help to the salesperson as it includes detailed information of the tour, timetable, special features and events. It has mentioned the place to visit, activities, place to stay etc. An itinerary is helpful to the salesperson for costing purpose. It solves the problem of sales because the product is intangible and immovable.
4. Flow Of Information
Point of sale and point of service delivery are in different places. Itinerary helps as an flow of information between two points.
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5. Legal Document
Itinerary is sold and bought as a product so it provides consumers right. An itinerary has to be developed as a legal document. It includes commitments and either party should fulfill them. As in tourism we are dealing with intangible items, ownership of which is non-transferable and where middlemen are involved, there is always a possibility of misunderstanding and misrepresentation. The itinerary is the agreed document between the buyer and seller. It is the proof of the document that one agrees to buy and other agrees to sell. It helps to settle the legal disputes.
6. Ready-made Package
In this modern age of tourism, it is always a big problem fir the buyers to select and decide the right product and right seller. The multiplicity of the manufacturers and multiplicity of the distribution channel create a big problem of make the right choice. An itinerary answers all questions and confusions regarding the tour package and makes a bundle of travel activities.
