A tour operator typically combines components to create a holiday. The most common example of a tour operator’s product would be a flight on a charter airline plus a transfer from the airport to a hotel and the services of a local representative, all for one price.

Niche tour operators may specialise in destinations e.g. Italy, activities e.g. skiing, or a combination. The original raison d’etre of tour operating was the difficulty of making arrangements in far-flung places, with problems of language, currency and communication.

The advent of the internet has lead to a rapid increase in self-packaging of holidays, many believe[citation needed] that this trend created serious problems for many tour operators.

However, tour operators still have their competence in arranging tours for those who do not have time to do DIY holidays, and specialize in large group events and meetings such as conferences or seminars.

A travel agency is a business that sells travel related products and services, particularly package tours, to end-user customers on behalf of third party travel suppliers, such as airlines, hotels, tour companies, and cruise lines.

In addition to dealing with ordinary tourists, most travel agents have a special department devoted to travel arrangements for business travellers. Indeed, some agencies specialise in that work.

Some agencies also serve as general service agents for foreign travel companies in different countries.

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Summer is here and it is time to take the family off on holidays. Depending on what you want to do, this is still the time for families to bond together through travel and tour. More often than not, taking a road trip within your country is a great activity to do with everyone doing their bit.

Here are some things that the family can help out before taking that summer vacation:

- Plan with the family where you want to go. Have a family meeting a few months before the holiday season starts and brainstorm on what you all would want to do as a family. Especially if you have teenagers with you, get them involved with the preparation. That way you let them know that you value their opinion and input on this trip. Make it known to them that they will have responsibilities as well in this trip. If you have a son or daughter that does drive, plan to share the driving duties with them. If you have pre teens, then ask them what kind of vacation do they want to have? Do they want to go to the seaside or the mountains or do both? Doing this will also teach them how to negotiate and compromise. It is a good life lesson for them to learn when they are involved in the planning process.

- Make sure that the vehicle is road worthy. If you plan to go to a particular place, go online and search for auto repair shops and air con repair centres in that place or better yet, assign one of your children this task. Make sure that your child does write it down just in case something happens. More often than not, there may be a need to add HCFC gas to your compressor. HCFC is the environmentally gas that has replaced Freon, which is used to make the air conditioned cool. This can be done in an air con repair shop and should not be too expensive. Also check the tires to see if they are roadworthy for travel. If they are too worn, replace them right away. Check your odometer to see if you need to replace motor oil. A good rule of thumb is to replace motor oil every 5000 kilometres. Check to see if the level of brake fluid is enough for the journey. Also check if you need to replace the transmission fluid. If it has lost its viscosity, then there will be some difficulty in the gear shifting which you will notice, especially with automatic cars. Have the automatic transmission fluid changed. Lastly check to see if your car registration and insurance is up to date. Getting your vehicle prepared leads to a vacation less filled with car break downs.