Houston Community College System
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Travel & Tourism
TRVM 1323 GROUP TOUR OPERATIONS(3 CREDITS)
COREQUISITES: None
PREREQUISITE:
COURSE GOALS:
None
At the completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Know the kinds of groups and how to find and/or create them.
2. Understand the importance of travel insurance as it relates to both the consumer and the travel agent.
3. Perform examinations and comparisons of a variety of tours and packages.
4. Perform examinations and comparisons of a variety of cruises.
5. Perform calculations of pricing of tours, cruises and packages on both an individual and basis.
6. Recognize external factors which could affect the success of any tour or cruise.
7. Understand what tour companies and cruise lines expect of travel agents.
8. Understand what travel agents can reasonably expect from tour companies and cruise lines.
9. Understand the parameters set by wholesalers that affect selections in creating special tours.
10. Develop a group tour; its itinerary, schedule of payments, insurance and penalties.
11. Price the group tour including air, land and complimentary guests.
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION:
Ms. Shouping Liu (713)718-6072-work (832)668-6828-cell
Email: shouping.liu@hccs.edu
or trvmhcc@yahoo.com
TEXTBOOK INFORMATION:
Conducting Tours 3 rd edition by Dr. Marc Mancini; Delmar Thomson Learning
(ISBN# 076681419X)
LAB REQUIREMENTS: None
STUDENT WITH DISABILITIES:
Students who require reasonable accommodations for disabilities are encouraged to call (713)718-6164 to make necessary arrangement. Faculty are only authorized to provide accommodations requested by the Disability Support
Services Office.
ACADEMIC HONESTY:
Students are responsible for conducting themselves with honor and integrity in fulfilling course requirement.
NOTICE: Students who repeat a course for a third or more times may soon face significant tuition/fee increases at HCC and other Texas public colleges and universities.
Please ask your instructor/counselor about opportunities for tutoring/other assistance prior to considering course withdrawal or if you are not receiving passing grades.

ATTENDENCE AND WITHDRAWAL POLICY:
1. Attendance:
A. Students are expected to attend all classes (see college catalog for attendance policy).
B. Students are responsible for all work missed during an absence, and it is the student's responsibility to consult with instructors for makeup assignments.
C. If a student misses 2 or more consecutive classes (12.5%, including lecture and laboratory time), he/she may be withdrawn from the course by the instructor. This policy will be strictly enforced for veterans.
2. Withdrawal:
It is the responsibility of the student to officially drop or withdraw from a course.
Failure to officially withdraw may result in the student receiving a grade of “F” in the course. A student may officially withdraw in any of the following ways:
A:
B.
Complete an official withdrawal form at the campus he or she is attending or any other HCCS campus.
Send a letter requesting withdrawal to:
Registrar
Houston Community College Systems
P. O. Box 667517
Houston, TX 77266-7517
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING POLICY:
A. Tests – To evaluate the student achievement for the stated objectives he/she will complete a comprehensive mid-term exam and a comprehensive final exam as well as one or two quizzes.
B.
C.
Grades:
A = 90 - 100
B = 80 - 89
C = 70 - 79
D = 60 - 69
F = 59 or below
Final Evaluation Criteria:
Attendance/Participation
Homework Assignments
Two Exams
Final Exam
Project
15%
20%
30%
15%
20%
TESTING:
Exam 1: Chapters 1 - 5
Exam 2: Chapters 6 - 10
Final Exam: Chapters 1 - 10

MAKE-UP POLICY:
Only under special circumstances which student could not control and with the instructor's approval make-up exam will be given.
PROJECTS, ASSIGNMENTS, PROTFOLIOS, SERVICE LEARNING, INTERNSHIPS, ETC.:
Work as a tour guide of a major U. S. city for a seven-day itinerary including transportation from Houston, daily activities, accommodations and cost/profit calculations
COURSE CONTENT:
This course is a study of the role of the group planner, selling to groups and planning itineraries, including qualifications. Since this course uses current publications, class participation, round-table discussions and student inputs are of primary importance. Discussions will be augmented by videotapes and outside speaker(s) if possible.
COURSE CALENDAR WITH READING ASSIGNMENTS:
Weeks Date Chapters Homework Assignments Due Date
Week 1: 01/19/2016 Introduction & course syllabi none
Week 2: 01/26/2016 Chapter 1 pages 1-13
Week 3: 02/02/2016 Chapter 2 pages 22-34
Week 4: 02/09/2016 Chapter 3 pages 42-63
Week 5: 02/16/2016 Chapter 4 pages 74-87 pages 14-17 pages 64-65 pages 35-36 & 39 pages 88-89 & 92-95
02/02/2016
02/09/2016
02/16/2016
02/23/2016
Week 6: 02/23/2016 Chapter 5 pages 98-111
Week 7: 03/01/2016 Exam I (chapters 1 - 5) pages 112-113 & 117
Week 8: 03/08/2016 Chapter 6 pages 120-132 pages 133-134
Week 9: 03/15/2016 Spring Break Week (03/14/2016 – 03/19/2016)
03/01/2016
1 tour news article (bonus)
03/15/2016
Week10: 03/22/2016 Chapter 7 pages 142-155
Week11: 03/29/2016 Chapter 8 pages 164-175
Week12: 04/05/2016
Week13: 04/12/2016
Chapter 9 pages 182-199
Chapter 10 pages 208-220 pages 156-157 pages 176-177
Week14: 04/19/2016 Exam II (chapters 6 - 10)
Week15: 04/26/2016 Review for final exam
Week16: 05/03/2016 Project presentation
Week17: 05/10/2016 Final Exam (chapters 1 – 10)
03/29/2016
04/05/2016 pages 200-201 & 203, 205 04/12/2016 pages 221-222 04/19/2016
1 tour news article (bonus)
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires that institutions have policies and procedures that protect students’ rights with regard to sex/gender discrimination. Information regarding these rights are on the HCC website under Students-Anti-discrimination. Students who are pregnant and require accommodations should contact any of the ADA Counselors for assistance.

It is important that every student understands and conforms to respectful behavior while at HCC.
Sexual misconduct is not condoned and will be addressed promptly. Know your rights and how to avoid these difficult situations.
Log in to: www.edurisksolutions.org
. Sign in using your HCC student e-mail account, then go to the button at the top right that says Login and enter your student number.