1. The manager needs to travel to London from Swansea to attend a conference from January 30th to 31st. Transportation, hotel, and travel costs were researched. 2. After surveying colleagues, the cheapest option for travel was found to be the National Express coach at £24 roundtrip. Taxis would transport the manager between the train station and hotel. 3. The Ibis Hotel, 0.37km from the conference site, was selected at £154 for 3 nights. With a £100 per day food allowance, total costs were estimated at £650, with transportation being the lowest cost.

1. 1
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 London
One Western Gateway
Royal Victoria Dock
London
E16 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.

2. 2
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
£17.04
Rounded to £17.00
£20.89
Rounded to £21.00
London to
Swansea
£17.04
Rounded to £17.00
£20.89
Rounded 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.

3. 3
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.

4. 4
I 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.
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`

5. 5
Task 3 – Hotel Options
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.

6. 6
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 0.37
Ramada 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.

7. 7
Total Costs for the Conference
Total Costs £
Coach Fare £24.00
Taxi Fare £72.00
Accommodation £154.00
Food 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.

8. 8
Sources
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#Journ
ey/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