Travel agent’s tour selection and sightseeing bus schedule for group package tour planning

Two problems plague the tourism industry: (1) a scheduled group package tour (GPT) can be canceled if the number of reserved passengers does not reach a minimum number and (2) a customer’s request for a scheduled GPT will be denied once the number of reserved passengers has reached its maximum. Neither instance is desirable, because of both results in lost sales. To generate higher profit over the course of a sightseeing season, travel agent managers must schedule GPTs on suitable dates and determine the number of sightseeing buses needed. Viewing this as a portfolio selection problem, this research develops an integer programming model to arrive at an equitable solution. We offer several numerical examples to illustrate the model’s performance and the problem’s characteristics. The results show that the proposed model significantly increases revenues.