Individual Assignment

THE IT STRATEGY OF GEORGE STEUART TOURS

MBA/15/3833 Rajendran A
Sub Group No. :C–1

Course : MBA 510 Information Management

Instructor : Mr. Sisira Athuraliyage
Mr. Aruna Dayanatha
Mr. Channa De Silva
Mr. Lasitha Devendra
Mr. J M S K Jayasundara
Mr. Senaka Weerasooria
Term : October – December 2015

Postgraduate Institute of Management

University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Declaration

I am fully aware of the content under plagiarism stated in Chapter 6 of the PIM Student
Handbook and I hereby declare and affirm that I have strictly observed the law relating to
intellectual property, copyright and plagiarism in this exercise

Rajendran A 01 November 2015

……………………………...... ..................................................
Signature Date

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1. Introduction

With technology rapidly changing in the travel industry, the traditional travel market has
changed rapidly in great leaps and bounds. By not responding in time to these changes, travel
agents have made themselves redundant and a great portion of their market share has been lost
to the dotcom boom startups such as Agoda, Booking.com, Netrooms etc.

This report looks at how George Steuart Tours IT strategy aligns itself with its business
strategies, long term goals, its responses to emergent trends and technologies and how it
supports the organization as a whole to compete on a global scale. It supports its business
strategy and focuses on the strategic needs of its businesses by determining and implementing
the technology capabilities needed to support their strategic long-term goals by addressing
technology-related decisions and ensuring that their operating models are agile and effective.

2. about George Steuart Tours

Started off by Captain James Steuart in 1835 together with his brothers Joseph and George,
George Steuart was established initially as a merchant banker. As time went by, the company
become a large scale exporter of coffee and then converted its export interests to tea in 1870.
Today, over 180 years later, George Steuart & Co is one of Sri Lanka’s most dynamic
conglomerates and is involved in export, health, leisure, travel, real estate,
telecommunications, shipping, insurance, recruitment and higher education.

George Steuart Tours, the inbound tour operating arm came into existence in 1974 and is today,
Sri Lanka’s number one Sports Tour Operator surpassing other industry leaders such as Aitken
Spence, Walkers Tours, etc.

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3. George Steuart Tours IT Strategy

George Steuart Tours business strategy is looking at increasing its turnover from 200 million
to a massive two billion by the year 2020. Its strategies and business plan for this are:

a. Growth in market share by:

i. Increasing the number of agents that work with George Steuart Travel.
ii. Increase in the number of FIT travelers by means of a web based platform.
iii. Increase in the number of corporate events organized in Sri Lanka.
iv. And expansion into the Sri Lankan adventure market.
b. Maximizing revenues by automating of processes and eliminating human error.
c. Implementation of marketing strategies depending on geographic regions.

The organizations IT strategy is closely interwoven with the plans above and its driving factors
focus on developing its current technology and operating environment, addressing emerging
technologies and trends and catering to the global business trends. Its objectives in the strategy
in order to achieve the above is to:

A. Be constant and up to date in data services.

B. Provide the necessary backup in relation to technologies and processes that make
George Steuart Tours a customer centric organization.
C. Provide the needed IT infrastructure needed to carry out day to day operational
processes for operational excellence.
D. Provide services needed for generating business such as website, forums, social media
platforms, management of servers, etc.

Available and proven technologies is a must for George Steuart Tours and its IT Strategy
ensures that it achieves the technological sustainability by introducing new technologies and
adapting to them in an effective and efficient manner.

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The strategies define a few core areas that are imperative and time bound in order for them to
achieve their ambitious growth by 2020.

A. Development of a three phase web platform in order to engage and encourage travelers
to book with George Steuart Tours.
i. Phase one: A highly search engine optimized informational website which
promotes George Steuart Tours as a preferred tour operator for Sri Lanka
ii. Phase two: Add on of additional features enabling custom made holidays by clients
themselves using web based applications.
iii. Phase three: Integration of phase one and two along with a platform for hotels and
suppliers to confirm hotel bookings with a payment gateway enabling on the spot
confirmation for tours booked online.
B. Managing and overlooking the IT infrastructure at George Steuart Tours for better
performance.
C. Provision of advice on changing trends and technologies essential for George Steuart
Tours.

4. Conclusion
George Steuart Tours is highly dependent on its IT strategy and it business and operation
strategies being interwoven closely with each other. Without the synchronization of these
three, George Steuart Tours will not be able to achieve its very ambitious growth targets set
for the year 2020. Having recognized this, George Steuart Tours has invested heavily in IT
professionals, entrepreneurs specializing in web based travel platforms, new technologies and
infrastructure in order to cater to the business plan. Its continued growth will be assured by its
focus on the technologies needed and procurement of the same and its well on its way to
achieving its ultimate target.

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 References

The official website of George Steuart retreived from http://georgesteuart.lk/

Tourism in Sri Lanka retrieved from http://www.priu.gov.lk/Ministries/Min_Tourism.html

Statistical information Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) retrieved from

http://www.sltbstatistics.org

Sri Lanka Tourist Board (2014), Annual Statistical Report