The Development of the Modern Travel and Tourism Industry

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The Development of the Modern Travel and Tourism Industry

The development of the travel and tourism industry in the uk increased after the end of world war 2. Before World War 2 there was not much of a travel industry except when Billy Butlin opened his first holiday camp in Skegness. During the war no one would go abroad or visit other places apart from the richer people as they were the ones who could afford it.

The travel and tourism industry has developed as a direct result of technological developments. These technological developments have been in transport technology such as things like, jet aircraft; improve trains and more luxurious coaches. Also, there has been an improvement in information and communication technology such as the internet, computer reservation systems (CRS) and global distribution systems (GDS) as well as credit and debit cards allowing customers to pay for their travels in more convenient ways. The most significant development in air travel was when the jet aircraft was introduced in the 1950’s especially the Boeing 707 in 1958. Air travel became more rapid, safe, comfortable and relative to past decades- cheap. The travel and tourism industry benefitted from the ‘jumbo jet’ boeing 747 that was introduced in 1969. With the jet it was possible to fly in less time making long haul flights more accessible, also the price to pay was reduced due to the increased capacity of the jumbo jet (400 seats). However, it is not just the air transport that has been revolutionised by technological developments. The channel tunnel was opened in 1995 and increased competition for the cross-channel ferry service.  

The changing in socio-economic factors has added to the development of the modern travel and tourism industry. These factors include:

  • Changes in car ownership
  • Increasing leisure time
  • An increase in disposable income
  • The impact of the national economy

In the last 50 years, car ownership has increased dramatically. This is because peoples income has raised and the cost of cars are more affordable to buy and to run. In 1970 there were approximately 11 million cars on uk roads this is a huge increase compared with the 2.3 million in 1950. Statistics from the Department for Transport show that in 2002 there were over 25.5 million private cars in the UK. This suggests that car owners have an additional travel option, and that it is easier for them to reach destinations that are inaccessible or difficult to access with public transport. A benefit of having your own car is that car owners can chose when to travel without a timetable restriction and they have a choice of their speed of travel. Car ownerships offer flexibility to travel. The rise is car ownership has resulted in the demand for public transport to drop, such as trains, coaches for holiday travel.  The result of this leads to cuts in transport services. Another effect on the increase of car ownership in the uk has been the increase in associated environmental problems, such as pollution, congestion and the loss of land to road building programmes.

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Over the years, the increase in leisure time has come about because of holiday pay entitlement. In the UK there are a number of one day bank holidays as well as annual leave. Holiday entitlement is partly responsible for the seasonality of travel and tourism as working parents take holidays in the school holidays to coincide with school holidays. The “working week” has also been made shorter to an average of 37 hours, compared to the 1950’s when the working week was 50 hours a week. A great benefit to the travel and tourism industry is that many employers offer ...

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