Report Three: SWOT Analysis of VSA
Voyager
Study Abroad (VSA) is a budding student travel company that was started three
years ago by a long time serving accounting professor; Dr. Michael Tyler. It is
a provider of multicity, multi-country, summer study abroad programs. VSA
specializes in study-abroad programs that concentrate more on education and
development and focus less on unstructured fun. VSA has enjoyed its share in
the student travel industry with its pillars being its strengths over
competition and available opportunities that can be seized for the better.
However, it has also experienced multiple weaknesses and threats in the past
two years of operation. This report will provide a comparative analysis of VSA
against its competitors, including its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats.
For
the last two summers, 2015 and 2016, Voyager Study Abroad has operated a single
program – Voyager Europe (VE) that runs for one month starting June.
Participants traveled to Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, and Paris among
other noteworthy cities.
·
Quality
and unique high-end service offering is considered to be VSA’s greatest
strength. The unparalleled treatment is meant to induce satisfaction and
loyalty among participants who will also promote the company by word of mouth.
Other strengths include the following;
·
Participants
traveled between cities by high-speed train or by plane and the accommodations
used were either four or five-star city-center hotels that were highly-rated.
·
VE also included a full daily itinerary of
professional and cultural activities, unlike competitors.
·
The
people running the program are also professionals with much experience in the
industry. Moreover, this program offers much more than competitors at a
rock-bottom price.
VSA’s major weaknesses
include;
·
It has
not been operating for long, something that might give some competitors an
upper hand.
·
Finding
more professional employees who possess a client-centric attitude and necessary
skills might also be a challenge. Other than Mike, VSA relies on a marketing
professor; Dr. Reccia Charles for management and a part-time graphic designer
who resides in Madrid.
·
The struggle to constantly provide new trips
which are exciting while maintaining the quality already established can also
prove to be quite a daunting task.
Main opportunities include;
·
Exploiting
potential to the fullest in the 2017 summer that will include more to offer in
the two programs; Voyager Europe (VE) and Voyager Spain (VS).
·
The
unique learning experience that inculcates cultural immersion activities that
enhance the curriculum and excellent professors who travel with the program is
also a niche.
·
VSA is a growing company with potential
clients and participants that need to be addressed.
·
VSA also enjoys numerous partnerships and
sponsorships that can help it go mainstream.
Threats
to VSA include;
·
Terrorist
attacks i.e. the November 2015 Paris attacks remain a huge threat to anything
related to travel.
·
A slump
in the economy also adversely affects the industry.
·
Competitors
who have stayed long in this sector are also intimidating
Nevertheless,
VSA can exploit the opportunities at hand and their strengths to counter
competition by working towards being the best there is and achieving set
objectives and goals that are clearly defined, specific, measurable,
attainable, and realistic yet time-bound (SMART).
Work cited
"Travel Agency Sample Marketing
Plan - Situation Analysis - Mplans". Mplans.com. N.p., 2016. Web.
22 Oct. 2016.
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