Before selling a travel package, a tour operator is the person who produces it or contributes to its production.

Tour operators are manufacturers or "manufacturers" of fixed-rate travel. Their presence is more widespread in Europe, especially in England and Germany, but more dynamic in other European countries and Japan. Tour operators, unlike travel agencies, are large enterprises that are highly concentrated at the national and international levels, both horizontally and vertically.

The specialization of tour operators in the production of tourist or fixed rates distinguishes them from travel agencies that only market travel products. Thus, tour operators have the legal status of a travel agent, but also of an association that produces and sells comprehensive fixed-rate travel products. As a result, "tour operators are commercial travel companies specializing in fixed-rate travel"

In the field of tourism, tour operators may be considered by some experts as wholesalers. Unlike travel agencies, tour operators "are large enterprises that are highly concentrated at the national and international levels, both horizontally and vertically."

A tour operator is a travel organizer that transforms into an office of a travel industry manufacturer. The production process in this case covers a period of 12 to 13 months.

Tour operators vary depending on the level of integration of travel products and their offering capabilities. In addition, they can be differentiated by positioning, by destination, by the socio-Geographical profile of the clientele, and by the types of activities offered.

In the organizational structure of a travel producer, the production department plays an important role, and the task of the tour operator, depending on the goals and strategy applied, is to develop and create travel products. It performs four functions:

market research and forecasting function;
product research function;
technical function for the production of tourist products;
an economic function related to setting prices.
The number and structure of tour operators depend on the degree of integration of the products they provide and the capabilities they have. They can be divided into three main categories:

generalists (universal) who create and make available to beneficiaries various categories of products;
specialized, focused on one type of tourism;
punctual people who are profiled on products offered to order by customer groups.
The rapid development of tour operators has led to changes in the management of companies and their ways of working, which has become an absolutely necessary solid financial base for paying the cost of charter flights. As a result, some small tour operators were absorbed by large corporations with diversified activities, others became partners of airlines or hotel chains, and others participated in the development of tourist resorts. Understand the importance of financial education in this guide .

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