Managers Conference

For this project, I was required to research and make arrangements for my manager to travel to London and stay overnight in order to attend a conference on the last Thursday and Friday of this month, those dates being the 30th and 31st of January. The things I needed to research included; three different transport methods, three different hotel prices and the cost for a day pass on the London underground. The address the conference is being held at is as follows:

ExCel LondonOne Western GatewayRoyal Victoria DockLondonE16 1XL

Task 1 – Survey

To start off this project, I was required to carry out a short survey of others in ITeC, to find out what their preferred choice of transport to London would be.

The most popular answer given was to travel by car, and the least popular answer was to travel by bus.

After carrying out a survey on different transport methods, the results are shown in this graph.

Although nobody who was surveyed answered that they would travel by coach to London, I still think this would be the best option for my manager.

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Task 2 – Travel Options

Option 1 – By Car

The next thing for this project was to research the costs of different transport methods. One of the three included working out the fuel cost for two different cars. The cars we had to work out petrol for were; a 5 door Ford Mondeo and a 1.6 Peugeot 407 Saloon – both reg 2012.

In order to do this, I had to find the miles per gallon consumption for both cars and the distance from Swansea to London.  When Googled, I found that there are 4.54 litres in a gallon and it is 195 miles from Swansea to London. I chose to leave the amount of litres to 2 decimal points as it would make the calculations more accurate.For each car, I then divided the miles from Swansea to London by how many mpg each car was, e.g. Ford Mondeo (195 / 58 = 3.36 gallons). I then used that result (3.36 gallons) and multiplied it by how many litres are in a gallon, (3.36 gallons x 4.54 lpg = 15.25). This indicates that to travel to London from Swansea, a Ford Mondeo would need around 15.25 litres of petrol.

After that, I researched the average price for petrol and multiplied that by how many litres of petrol would be needed, e.g. Ford Mondeo (15.25 litres x £1.37 = £20.89), this then giving the total cost of petrol from Swansea to London. To complete this, I multiplied the final cost by two to find out how much it would be to return.

Ford Mondeo Peugeot saloon

Swansea to London

£17.04Rounded to £17.00

£20.89Rounded to £21.00

London to Swansea

£17.04Rounded to £17.00

£20.89Rounded to £21.00

Total £34.00 £42.00

Petrol Costs

One problem I encountered doing this, was the changing of the price for petrol each day. For this, I used Asda’s website which, on the day I did my research, averaged out the price for petrol of all the Asda garages in Swansea. This price being £1.37.

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After that, I went on to check the prices for a train or a bus to London. I decided that rather than travelling down very early on the Thursday morning, to just get there in time for the conference, my manager would catch whichever transport most suitable the day prior to the conference, this being Wednesday. The manager would also return to Swansea on the Saturday, rather than Friday night after the conference.

Option 2 – By Train

With the trainline, to travel from Swansea on the Wednesday and return on the Saturday from London is £63.30.

Option 3 – By Bus

For the last transport method, I looked at the National Express coach. This proved to be the cheapest option of them all, only costing a total of £23.98 for both journeys.

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then went on to research the price for a London underground pass. I used the Viator website to find out what it would cost. Originally, I planned on getting a two day London pass, costing £61.00. 3

This would then be used the Thursday and Friday he was attending the conference.

The hotel I have chosen is within walking distance of the conference centre, so spending £61.00 on a pass he won’t use seems like a waste of money, which could be spent on something more useful. Apart from travelling from the hotel to the conference, the only other journey he will make is from the train station to the hotel. I then thought about getting two separate day passes – for the Wednesday he arrives and the Saturday when he leaves. This, however, proved to be quite expensive. Overall, I decided not to get any day passes at all.

A taxi from the train station to the hotel on the Wednesday evening, will cost £37.00, and then on the Saturday morning will cost another £35.00. This may be quite expensive, but a two day pass on the London underground is £61 and he will barely use it. By getting a taxi he can travel more comfortably than on the underground.

He can then walk to the conference centre on both Thursday and Friday.

From the train station (Victoria Coach station - SW1W 9TP) to the hotel (The Ibis Hotel - E16 3BY) on Wednesday at 5:30pm will cost £37.00

From the hotel - (The Ibis Hotel - E16 3BY) to the train station (Victoria Coach station - SW1W 9TP) on Saturday at 12pm will cost £35.00`

Task 3 – Hotel Options

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The next thing to do was to find a suitable hotel for my manager to stay in. I looked at three alternative hotels relatively near to the conference centre. The website I used to find suitable hotels was called exhibitonshotels.com. By putting in the postcode of the conference, it gives the hotels closest to that address.

The prices for the hotels are bed and breakfast. The reason for this is that the company are giving the manager an allowance of £100 per day to cover all food expenses. This way, the manager can either stay in the hotel to eat or he can go out if he wishes.

The first hotel I looked at was The Aloft Hotel. It shows the different rates for each night you spend there.

This hotel was the closest of the three I looked at, being 0.32km away from the conference centre. However, it was also the most expensive of the three as well.

The second hotel I looked at was the Ibis Hotel. This hotel also gave information on what each night at the hotel would cost.

This hotel was not the closest of the three I looked at, being 0.37km away. On the other hand, it is the cheapest of the three.

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The last hotel I looked at was the Ramada Hotel. Just like the others, the screenshots provide information on what it would cost for staying each night here.

It is the furthest away, at 0.51km away, but is not the most expensive.

Hotel Price for 3 nights Distance from Conference (km)Aloft London ExCel £229.60 0.32

Ibis Hotel £154.00 0.37Ramada Hotel £186.90 0.51

● All hotels are within walking distance from the hotel, as shown in the table above

Conclusion

The choices I have made for my manager are as detailed:

The manager will travel to London from Swansea by coach. He will depart on Wednesday 29/01/14, making sure he is there the day before and not having to travel early in the morning. He will return on Saturday 01/02/14, not having to travel home throughout Friday night. Being there the day before the conference assures that he shouldn’t miss anything. Going by coach is the cheapest option of the three, at £24.00, and is the most benefiting to the manager.

He will travel from the train station to the hotel by taxi and then again from the hotel to the station. Getting a taxi may be more expensive than getting a pass on the London Underground, however when comparing prices, it isn’t that much more expensive. He will be able to get to the hotel sooner and will have more time to prepare for the conference the next day.

He will stay in the Ibis hotel for £154.00. The Ibis isn’t the closest of the three hotels, but it also isn’t the furthest away. It is however the cheapest of the three hotels I looked at. He won’t be staying bed and breakfast, instead just being booked in with a standard room. In this case he can have breakfast at the hotel or maybe go out and have something elsewhere. Booking just the room gives him the freedom to do what he wants, whether that be breakfast or dinner. The company is giving him an allowance of £100 per day to cover food, so this will cover breakfast and then whatever he wished to have for his evening meal each day.

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Total Costs for the Conference

Total Costs £

Coach Fare £24.00Taxi Fare £72.00

Accommodation £154.00Food Allowance £400 (£100 per day)

Total £650

Percentage costs

The above table and graph gives the breakdown of the total costs of the manager’s attendance at the conference. The allowance for food at £400 (61.6%) is the largest expense and travelling to London by bus the cheapest £24.00 (3.7%). The remaining costs are for accommodation and taxi fares.

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Peugeot Saloon

http://www.nextgreencar.com/view-car/11095/PEUGEOT-407-Saloon-1.6-HDi-FAP-110-bhp-Diesel-Manual-5-speed

Ford Mondeo

http://www.nextgreencar.com/view-car/47360/FORD-Mondeo-Hatch-1.6-Duratorq-TDCi-Graphite-Eco-115PS-Diesel-Manual-6-speed

Asda Petrol Prices

http://storelocator.asda.com/store/swansea

The Trainline - Train Prices

http://www.thetrainline.com/buytickets/combinedmatrix.aspx?Command=TimeTable#Journey/SWA/PAD/29/01/14/11/0/Dep/01/02/14/10/0/Dep/1/0//0;0;0

National Express - Coach Prices

http://coach.nationalexpress.com/nxbooking/journey-list

Viator – 2 Day London Pass

http://www.viator.com/booking/shoppingCart.jspa?code=3138LONDON&productType=SIC&promoCode=&xos=true

Hotels near Conference Centre

http://www.exhibitioncentrehotels.com/hotel-page.aspx?vid=3

Taxi Prices

https://www.taxiroute.co.uk/Home/Search

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