Investigating Travel & Tourism

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Unit 1 – Investigating Travel & Tourism


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E1 FEATURES OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY


E1 Key Post-War Developments

Below is a quick summary on the key events from the present day back to 1936 and a brief description of what each one is about

1936 – Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp at Skegness with over 600 chalets included

1938 – Holidays with Pay Act introduced – People given time off work whilst still getting paid

1946 – Fred Pontin opens his first holiday camp near Weston-Super-Mare – Competition to the Butlins holiday camp

1950 – First packaged air holiday organized by Horizon – Advance in technology allowing this to happen

1952 – First jet airline passenger service – faster and more comfortable way of travel

1959 – First jet airline passenger service to Australia – transport and technology has allowed for this to happen

1960 – Number of domestic holidays exceeds 30 million for the first time and number of holidays rises to 3.5 million showing an increase of people taking holidays

Early 1960s – First global distribution systems developed by American airline companies

1968 – Worlds first commercial Hovercraft operated from Dover to Boulogne – Advance in Technology and meant people could get across quicker than with ferry

1969 – Development of Tourism Act introduced. Formation of the British, English, Scottish and Wales Tourist Boards – Government realized that they had to promote the country for tourism and for incoming and domestic tourists

1976 – Concorde goes into service – A “supersonic” transport plane built by Britain and France, begins passenger service

1981 – 60 per cent of households in the UK have regular use of at least one car – More money been made and another form of transport meaning that domestic tourism can expand with people been able to travel in the UK easier

1987 – Number of holidays abroad exceeds 20 million for the first time, whilst domestic holidays fall to 28.5 million, the lowest number since 1955 – Showing that the advance in flying and cheaper holidays abroad with sun are tempting people to go that way

1992 – EU Directive on package holidays introduced – EU has found it important to pass legislation

1992 – Department of National Heritage formed – For Culture, Media and sports

1995 – Le Shuttle and Eurostar carry first passengers through Channel Tunnel – New quicker way of getting across the channel

1997 – 70 per cent of all households in the UK have regular use of at least one car – Showing that more money is coming into the households

1998 – Number of holidays abroad exceeds 30 million for first time – Cheaper flights and cheaper accommodation abroad. More time

1998 – An estimated 1.4 million people purchased travel tickets on the internet – New cheaper way of getting tickets for travel and also quicker

1999 – The English Tourism Council replaced the English Tourist Board -

2000 – Air passenger duty reduced on economy flights – removes barrier to the growth of inbound tourism

2001 – September 11th and Foot and Mouth disease hits Britain meaning restrictions to people going into certain places – People afraid of flying after the 11th attacks.

2002 – Terrorist bomb in Bali – Effect on people wanting to travel, meaning there could be an increase in domestic tourism

2003 – SARS broke out and in March – Iraq war started – For both, People not wanting to travel abroad meaning there could be an increase in domestic tourism

The main reasons for the rapid growth in the industry since the end of the Second World War are:

  1. The changing social economic circumstances

  • Increase in leisure time
  • Increase in disposable income
  • Increased car owner ship

  1. Technological developments

  2. Product development and innovation

  1. Changing consumer needs and expectations and fashions

I will explain each of these reasons below      


E1        Changing Social Economic Circumstances

1. Increase in Leisure Time

There are a variety of reasons why there has been n increase in the leisure time.

Firstly there has been a decrease in working time since 1971. The table below shows the decrease in working time from 1971 to 2001.

This has resulted in an increase in free time for people and therefore more time to go away.

People have also been encouraged to take time off work and go on holidays because of the introduction of paid holidays. With the introduction of this it has encouraged people to take holidays because they can take time off work whilst still been paid. There has also been an increase in the amount of days that people have off from work and the annual hours or work per worker has also decreased. All of which equal to an increase in free and leisure time.

Another factor for the increase in leisure time is that of more people employed as just part time workers, as the table below shows.

This table shows a big increase in the amount of part time workers in 2001. This could mean that if someone only works 4 days a week they will have more leisure time and therefore more time to go on holidays.

There have also been changes in the age structure of the population

  • Decrease in birth rate
  • Population Getting Older
  • Increase in life expectancy

The decrease in birth rate means that people have more time on their hands and also more money because they don’t have young children to look after.

The growth of the population means that there are more people which can mean more holidays been sold

And finally the increase in the life expectancy means that there are more old aged pensioners and when they have retired from the working life they will have a lot more time to do leisure activities.

There has been an increase in ready meals. Whereas before the 1990’s people would have to go to different shops such as the groceries and the butchers and then preparing all the separate ingredients which were very time consuming. Now you can go to the local supermarket and buy meals already prepared which just need heating up and also they are significantly cheaper. Saving money and time can increase the leisure time.

Finally the introduction of household consumer goods means that cleaning up around the house is easier and a lot quicker than before which also saves time.

2. Disposable Income

Disposable Income is money that is left over after you have bought something. This money goes into a variety of things such as the following list:

  • Tax
  • National Insurance
  • Pension
  • Mortgage
  • Clothing
  • Council Tax
  • Power
  • Food

Individual disposable income has risen in the UK which has meant an increase on the consumer spending on travel and tourism

In the economy when there is a recession this means there is high unemployment, high interest rates and high inflation. When the economy circumstances are in recession the taking of holidays is usually one of the first items of household expenditure to be cut out.  An example is in the early 1990’s recession in the UK led to a decrease in the overseas holidays, with consumer confidence low due to the fears of unemployment and a fall in house prices.

When there is a boom in the economy though, this leads to high employment, low in interest rates and low in inflation. This means that there is confidence for the consumers because of the high employment and with extra money through disposable income more money is been spent in the travel and tourism industry.

The rate of inflation is another key factor in the UK economy. The rate of inflation is the rise in prices of products and can affect whether people buy certain products and when a holiday increases in price then consumers will look elsewhere if they feel the holiday is not value for money.

The exchange rate is also a key feature in the UK economy. When the English pound is strong against other currencies such as the euro and the dollar then people are more likely to travel abroad because they are getting more money for their pound and so outbound tourism is greater. However this affects inbound tourism to the UK because the exchange rate for foreign countries is not as good.

3. Car Ownership

Since 1945 there has been an increase in the car ownership that people now have. In 1997 70% of all households in the UK had regular use of at least one car and now there is an estimate of 20 million cars in the UK

The effect of households having access to cars is that it can encourage travel in the UK. It is a lot easier to go by car to places than other forms of transport around the UK and this will increase the domestic tourism.

In 1998 80% of trips were taken by cars with a ¾ of the population visiting the countryside at least once a year which shows how important the use of a car has been for the UK tourism

Another factor of the increase in car ownership is that the development of the road network has led to the rise in the visit to the countryside

E1 Technological Developments

Since the 1940’s there has been a steady increase in the technological developments with aircraft, ships and trains all been developed and carrying larger numbers

In the 1970’s there was the development of the jet engine which encouraged people to travel abroad and with prices falling in recent years and the introduction of cheap airlines such as easy jet it has encouraged people to fly abroad. This has also led to the further developments of package tour holidays with the transport and accommodation all been included.

In 1999 the most popular tourist destination abroad was Spain with more than a quarter of UK tourists going there. Below is a table showing the percentage of people going to certain European destinations

This table also shows the kinds of age groups that visit those countries. Another popular holiday destination outside of Europe is the USA. This is all related to the growth of technology because it has allowed people to travel around more and get to places which were before impossible.

  • www.statistics.gov.uk

Following the opening of the channel tunnel there has been more competition for the transport industry. The channel tunnel has offered a quick and cheap way of travel across to channel and into the rest of Europe. With flight prices also falling with the introduction of cheap airlines such as Easy Jet and Ryan Air, people have chosen to go this way because it is the fastest way of travel and with prices falling – the best option for many people.

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This has led to a problem for the ferries on the sea because people have chosen to use over forms of transport such as the airlines, the euro tunnel has also suffered because of this. Airlines can now be cheaper than the ferries and Euro tunnel with the introduction of low cost airlines and quicker. To compete therefore with other forms of transport, ferry has started making their holidays start from the ship with nightclubs, bars, cinemas and other entertainment. This to compete and keep ferry going.

2. Communication and information systems

The development in the ...

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A lot of topics and information covered through use of terminology and case studies and specific examples. Good use of stats- though more references and sources throughout would improve it overall. There are some opportunities for annotated images to be included to add another way in which to present info in an interesting way. Very clearly structured report with clear titles, sections and sub-sections. Good explanations which relate directly to the topic being written about. The conclusion has a good topic to it (fragility) but is a little weak in terms of its structure and wording.