Contents Introduction 2 LO1. Understand the importance of cost, volume and profit for management decision making in the travel and tourism 2 1.1 Importance of Cost and Volume 2 1.2 Pricing Methods 4 1.3 Factors Affecting Profit 5 LO2. Understand the use of management accounting information as a decision making tool in travel and tourism businesses 7 2.1 Types of Management Accounting Information 7 2.2 Decision Making Tool 8 LO3. Be able to interpret financial accounts to assist decision making in travel and tourism businesses 10 3.1 Interpret Financial Accounts 10 LO4. Understand sources and distribution of funding for public and non-public tourism development 12 4.1 Sources of Funding 12 Conclusion 14 References 15

Figure 1: Costs Classification 3 Figure 2: Accounting for Travel Companies 7 Figure 3: Management Information for Decision Making 9 Figure 4: Financial Accounts 10 Figure 5: Sources of Finance 12

Introduction
Management decision making is a crucial part for not only regular companies but even for travel and tourism companies. The report here thus highlights and discusses different financial practices as observed and applied at the micro level, i.e. specifically in the travel and tourism industry. The company that has been chosen for analysis and reference study here, is Cox and Kings. Cox and Kings is one of the longest established travel companies around the world. Founded in 1758, the company is headquartered in India and has offices in multiple countries including UK, USA, Singapore and Dubai. Destination management, trade fairs, foreign exchange and business travel are some of the key services offered by the company (Cox & Kings, 2014).
LO1. Understand the importance of cost, volume and profit for management decision making in the travel and tourism
1.1 Importance of Cost and Volume
Costs are the overall expenses that are incurred during carrying out any given activity or task. A company operating in the travel and tourism sector, such as Cox & Kings incurs several costs, which include direct as well as indirect costs. These costs can be further classified as fixed or variable costs. Fixed costs are the costs that remain the same with the volume and variable costs are the costs that change with changes taking place in the volume (Lee and Cunningham, 2001). Costs and volume hence play an extremely important role in the financial management of the travel and tourism businesses because the companies can determine their break-even point on its basis. The costs help companies like Cox & Kings in ascertaining the costs they are incurring with each product and can determine the number of units that need to be sold to not make losses (Gillen and Morrison, 2003).

Figure 1: Costs Classification
For example, if Cox & Kings is organizing a tour, the total costs would be the fixed costs such as the fixed costs of hotels, transport vehicle etc. while the variable costs would change with the number of people using the tour. Hence, Cox & Kings needs to decide the minimum number of people it needs to take in the tour to not make losses or break even. Also, as the volume increases, overall costs go down because of economies of scale. Even the allocation and apportionment of costs need to be done, which help in ensuring that the finances of the company are easily managed (Alford, 2005). Hence, cost and volume are crucial for the financial management of the travel and tourism businesses because they help the organizations in managing their working capital, assts and overall profits and gains obtained from their operations.

1.2 Pricing Methods
There are several pricing methods that can be used in the travel and tourism sector. These pricing methods help in basing prices on different factors to ensure profits. Some of the commonly used pricing methods are discussed below. * Cost-Plus Pricing: Also known as mark-up costing, the pricing strategy calculates the cost of a particular product and adds a mark-up percentage to the costs to obtain the final price. The method is extremely simple to implement and makes sure that a company makes profits. Companies in the travel and tourism sector like Cox & Kings can calculate the per person cost of a tour and can add a percentage of mark up and offer the tour at that price to the customers (Middleton and Clark, 2012). * Penetration pricing: Penetration pricing is a special pricing strategy adopted by the companies in the travel and tourism sector, wherein the companies select a low entry price in order to attract larger number of customers. When Cox & Kings offers tour packages at lower rates, the volume of people buying these tour packages increases and hence the company makes profit because of economies of scale (Evans et al. 2003). * Market-Led pricing: Companies using this pricing strategy base their prices on the basis of the prices offered by the competitors. Cox & Kings can offer tour packages at the rates offered by its competitors, like Thomas Cook if it adopts the market led pricing strategy (Evans et al. 2003). * Marginal Cost Pricing: Marginal cost pricing is based on the additional costs incurred by the company due to addition of one unit. Companies in travel and tourism sector analyze the increase in costs due to the addition of one person or one unit and hence base their prices on these costs for effectively making profits (O’Connor, 2003).
Thus as observed there are multiple pricing strategies that can be used and adopted by the companies and businesses operating in the travel and tourism sector. It is important for a company to choose the most appropriate pricing strategy because that would allow it to attract more customers and increase its profits. The companies need to increase their volumes of sales while keeping their costs nominal because high sales mean that the costs for the company would go down. Hence, the choice of appropriate pricing strategy is crucial and extremely important for a company.
1.3 Factors Affecting Profit
The main aim of any business, irrespective of the sector it is operating in is to make profits. The profits of a company depend on various different factors. Some of the main factors that affect the profits made by companies in the travel and tourism sector are discussed below.
Seasonal and Periodic Changes
Tourism is one industry, which is highly seasonal in nature. While holiday seasons usually witness high demand, it is difficult to predict and forecast demand in other seasons. These seasonal and periodic changes have significant impact on the profits of tourism companies because the companies tend to increase their prices during the high demand seasons (de Freitas, 2003).
Political and social Environment
The political and social environment in different countries also affects the profits of companies. For example, Cox & Kings organizes tours for different parts of the world and the costs it incurs for different cities and countries would highly depend on the tariffs charged there according to the political and social scenarios in those countries. Hence, these costs would affect the final profits of the firm (Krippendorf, 1982).
Current Trends
The latest trends in the travel and tourism sector also have significant impacts on the profits made by the companies. Trends affect the destinations people chose to travel to and also affect the duration etc. and hence the profits of the company get affected (de Freitas, 2003).

Planning and Staff
Planning and staff of the companies in the travel and tourism sector also affect their profits. For example, Cox & Kings needs to plan its tours and trips well for making higher profits and the staff makes significant contribution towards the same (Wu, 2004).
Hence, these are some of the main factors that affect the profits of companies in travel and tourism sector.

LO2. Understand the use of management accounting information as a decision making tool in travel and tourism businesses
2.1 Types of Management Accounting Information
The travel and tourism businesses like Cox & Kings need to make several decisions regarding their day to day activities and overall business strategies and hence make use of different management accounting information to make these decisions. Different types of management accounting information used by the travel and tourism companies are discussed below.

Figure 2: Accounting for Travel Companies
Financial Statements
Financial statements are nothing but records that highlight and present the financial activities of a business entity as observed over a period of time. Financial statements are extremely useful for businesses like Cox & Kings because they provide details of the cash flows, income and assets of the company. Companies can make operational decisions based on these financial statements by identifying and improving weak areas for better income and higher profits (Cunningham, 1992).
Budgets
Budgets are the forecasted financial plans that express the targets that a company wishes or aims at achieving in a given time period. Budgets are extremely useful travel and tourism companies because they can set expectations and define goals and objectives for themselves and then modify their activities in order to achieve those targets. Controlling operations and managing effective communication in the organization are also some of the added advantages of using budgets (Harris and Brown, 1998).
Variance Analysis
The companies in the travel and tourism sector also make use of variance analysis information for making financial decisions. Variance analysis demonstrates the difference that exists in the actual and budgeted performance of the company. This helps the company in identifying problem areas and making improvements for the future (Harris and Brown, 1998).
Forecasts
Forecasts are the future estimates that are predicted on the basis of different current and historical factors. Travel companies like Cox and Kings use forecast information for not only determining the future demand for different products but can also use the same for estimating and forecasting the change in costs and prices. This helps in better planning and operational control and management of the firm (Cunningham, 1992).
2.2 Decision Making Tool
Management accounting is nothing but the process of providing relevant accounting and financial information to the managers to facilitate decision making regarding day to day businesses and overall strategies. The management accounting information obtained from different sources as discussed above can be used as decision making tool. The various ways in which this information can be used for making decisions are discussed below.

Figure 3: Management Information for Decision Making * The management accounting information helps companies in comparing trends and forecasting. Companies can compare trends observed in the future and the trends that are expected in the future and can plan their actions and operations accordingly (Evans et al. 2003). * The management accounting information can also help companies in raising capital because it would allow the company to determine if it needs additional capital and the time period for which it would require. * Decisions regarding the introduction of new products and services in the market also become simpler with the help of the management accounting information because the companies can identify the products and services that have given or can provide higher profits or benefits (Hansen et al. 2009). * The companies can also form strategies to overcome the current and existing issues if any and can select options that are financially and operationally more feasible (Evans et al. 2003). * The management accounting information obtained as discussed earlier also helps companies in meeting the decided budgets and objectives (Hansen et al. 2009).
Thus, it is evident that the management accounting information plays extremely crucial role for the companies operating in the travel and tourism sector. Cox & Kings can evaluate all the information and can then decide on the different strategies it aims at adopting with respect to the packages it wishes to offer to the customers and the budgets it needs to form for the future.
LO3. Be able to interpret financial accounts to assist decision making in travel and tourism businesses
3.1 Interpret Financial Accounts
Financial accounts refer to the statements that help in the classification, measurement and analysis of different financial information, as well as the transactions. Financial accounts are extremely important for all organizations because they help in providing a financial overview of the company (Bushman and Smith, 2001). Different financial accounts of a travel and tourism company that needs to be evaluated and interpreted are discussed below.

Figure 4: Financial Accounts
Profit and Loss account: The profit and loss account of a travel company provides an overview of the income made by the company in a given period of time. It records all the expenses and income of the company and shows how well a company has performed during a time period (Bushman and Smith, 2001).
Balance sheet: balance sheet is yet another important financial account of a travel company. It shows total worth of a company at a given time. The balance sheet of Cox and Kings for the year 2013 highlights that the company had total assets worth Rs. 202, 624 lacs as of 31st March 2013 (Annual Report, 2013).
Cash Flow statement: Cash flow statement highlights the total cash inflows as well as outflows as observed during a given time period. As cash is one of the most important assets of a company, the cash flow statements explain if the company has made positive or negative cash flows (Hung, 2000).
These accounts are generally presented in the annual reports prepared by the companies, which also contain special notes to the statements that explain the way different figures have been treated and calculated in the financial statements. Ratio analysis is one of the most commonly used methods of interpreting and analyzing these financial statements. Ratio analysis includes calculation of different ratios that highlight the liquidity, efficiency and even profitability of a company (Vogel, 2012). Ratio analysis also allows a company to compare its performance against its competitor and to compare its own performance over a period of time. Some of the commonly used ratios for interpreting financial statements are current ratio, return on capital employed, gross profit margin, capital gearing etc.

LO4. Understand sources and distribution of funding for public and non-public tourism development
4.1 Sources of Funding
Tourism companies require additional capital in order to fund its capital projects. There are several sources from where these companies can obtain funding. These sources can be either long term or short term in nature. The financing options can be classified according to the source, i.e. external and internal. Different financing options that can be used by a travel and tourism company like Cox & Kings are discussed below.

Figure 5: Sources of Finance
External Sources: These are the sources external to a company or business.
Long Term external sources: * Ordinary and Preference Shares: Companies can issue ordinary and preference shares to its shareholders and investors for raising finance. Ordinary shares pay dividends depending on company’s profits but preference shares pay fixed dividends. Though there are no costs involved in obtaining funds, dividends need to be paid to the investors (Vogel, 2012). * Term Loans: Companies can take term loans from banks or lenders at certain interest rate. Though it is easy to obtain, it requires additional interest costs, thus making the amount to be paid higher. It also adds to the debt side of the financial statements of the company (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001). * Hire Purchase: Hire purchase is used by a company while purchasing an asset. For example, if Cox and Kings wishes to purchase an aircraft, it can pay an initial deposit at the time of purchase and the rest of the money is paid in installments over a period of time (Vogel, 2012).
Short Term external Sources: * Overdrafts: Bank overdrafts are excellent way of obtaining short term financing from an external source. The companies can withdraw amount higher than its existing balance at a fixed interest rate. This source is suitable only for short term because the interest rates charged are very high (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001).
Internal Sources: These are the sources internal to a company.
Long Term Internal Sources: * Retained Profits: Retained profits refer to the part of the previous year’s profits that is used for funding a project. The biggest advantage of using retained profits is that there are no additional costs associated with it and does not increase debt side of company (Vogel, 2012).
Short Term Internal Sources: * Delayed Payments to Creditors: Companies can delay the payments to be made to their creditors, which helps them in retaining a part of the profits. Though there are no additional costs involved, this can spoil the reputation of a company if done regularly (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001). * Tighter conditions for Debtors: Companies can ensure that they receive money from their debtors in short period of time because that would give them higher liquidity for better operations. * Reduced stock levels: Travel companies must try to sell their products and packages as soon as possible because reduced stock levels would increase their profits and would allow them to earn higher profits (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001).

Conclusion
The report demonstrated the way travel and tourism companies need to manage their financial information and finances for improving their operations and overall profits. As observed, it has been shown that the financial statements and the factors affecting profits of the tour and travel companies slightly differ from other companies and hence it is extremely important for them to manage and plan their finances accordingly to ensure higher profits and lower costs.

References
Alford, P. (2005), a Framework for Mapping and Evaluating Business Process Costs in the Tourism Industry Supply Chain, Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism, 125-136
Annual Report (2013), Cox & Kings Annual Report [online] at http://www.coxandkings.com/downloads/investor-relations/annual-report-2013.pdf, accessed on June 10, 2014
Bushman, R.M. and Smith, A.J.(2001), Financial accounting information and corporate governance, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 32(1-3), 237-333
Cox and Kings (2014), About Us [Online] at http://www.coxandkings.com/about-us/index.shtml, accessed on June 10, 2014
Cunningham, G.M. (1992), Management Control and Accounting Systems under a Competitive Strategy, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 5 Iss: 2
De Freitas, C.R.(2003), Tourism climatology: evaluating environmental information for decision making and business planning in the recreation and tourism sector, International Journal of Biometeorology, 48(1), 45-54
Evans, N., Campbell, D. and Stonehouse, G. (2003), Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism, Elseiver Science
Gillen, D. and Morrison, W. (2003), Bundling, integration and the delivered price of air travel: are low cost carriers full service competitors?, Journal of Air Transport Management, 9(1), 15-23