Rail travel has become very popular and cheaper if booked in advanced so it is used a lot more for domestic travel for example Leeds to London on the East Coast is very cheap as a return ticket start from £18 and it’s only a 2 hour journey so it get you there quite fast compared to road travel. There is also a very big train link between London and France which is the Euro Tunnel and a high speed train service the Euro Star does many services a day to France and back.
Air Travel has become the most popular way to travel internationally as it is fast and comfortable. Especially now a day’s air Travel is very cheap because of all the budget airlines out there an example would be Ryanair as some of their fairs are cheap as £20 one way which is exceptionally cheap. There are also domestic flight which is expensive compared to the fares you can get for an international flight, a domestic flight from Leeds Bradford to Southampton will cost £89.99 booked in a month advance using Flybe.
Sea Travel includes ferries and ships, sea travel nowadays isn’t popular as it used to be because of budget airlines. Sea travel will be used for cruises or travelling to a nearby country, an outbound tourist from Europe might use sea travel to come to the UK or a domestic tourist might use it to travel within the country for example from England to northern Ireland. A very famous ferry company is P and O.
Attractions
The UK has many different attractions to offer to its visitors from natural to purpose built.
There are many Natural attractions in the UK some of them are Malham Cove and Lake District. The Lake District has stunning scenery which attracts many tourists because of its stunning mountains, forest and it Lake in which ships do a mini cruise of Lake District. There are lots of different types of tourists who visit the Lake District lots of inbound tourists visit it when visiting and a large number of domestic tourists.
Malham Cove is a natural limestone formation which is located in the Yorkshire dales and is a very popular beauty spot in England which is 250 foot tall and hall 400 steps to go to the top which has a stunning view and is a great hiking location that why it attracts the numerous of different tourist mostly during summer.
The UK also has many heritage attractions one of which is Stonehenge, Stonehenge is an ancient Monument located in Wiltshire England and is one the most well-known sites in the world. Many Tourists visit Stonehenge to see the history behind it and see the magnificent stones.
There are many purpose built attractions in the UK varying from theme parks to museums. Two very famous theme parks in the UK are Alton towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Alton towers is one of the biggest theme parks, Water Park and resort in the UK it has the world first freefall drop rollercoaster called the Th13teen , Blackpool Pleasure Beach use to hold a world record for the world’s tallest and steepest rollercoaster in the world and 74 mph top speed but now it is Europe’s tallest rollercoaster. So the rides the theme park has to offer attracts most of the tourists. These theme parks are mostly visited by domestic tourists for day out but also inbound tourists, especially those who are thrill seekers visit the UKs theme parks as they have unique rides to offer their visitors.
The has hosted many events a very famous event that UK hosted was the Olympic in 2012 which attracted hundred thousands of inbound tourists and put great pressure on the UKs tourist industry. The Olympic were a huge success for the UK.
Tour Operators
Tour operator’s role in the industry is to make a holiday package so for example organise accommodation, flight and transfers and then these tour operators sell the packages to Travel Agents or some big companies like Thomas Cook have their own Travel Agencies who sell the packages to the public these types of tour operators are known as ‘Mass Market’. Then there are specialist Tour operators like Cox and Kings who organise luxury tailor made holiday packages. The Tour Operators are the wholesalers in the chain. Most tour operators deal with outbound tourists and some domestic tourists.
Travel Agent
There are different categories of travel agents for example Retail, business trip specialist, call centre based and web based. A well known retail Travel Agent is STA Travels who sell flight, holiday packages etc directly to the public and have many branches nationwide and some internationally. A Business Travel Agent is CT Business Travel who specialise in organising business travel they basically negotiate prices with hotels and airlines on behalf of their client and also sort out everything required for the business trip for example visas. STA travels will most deal with outbound tourist however they might deal with some domestic tourists.
Most big Travel agents have designated call centres who talk to customer solve any issues or queries an example of this type would be co-op travel who just take bookings over the phone and are open 7 days a week. Co-op travel will also mostly deal with outbound customers and might deal with some domestic tourists.
Then there are web based Travel agents a well know one is who book flights, hotels, holiday packages, things to do etc. Expedia will book holiday packages for outbound tourists but might book domestic flights and hotels for domestic tourists.
The aim of all these travel agents is to make a profit and provide a service to their customers.
Tourism Development and Promotion
The roles of Tourism Development and Promotion is to promote a countries/attraction to attract tourists toward them, these tourist boards like Visit Britain promote the attractions Britain has to offer by advertising on TV internet and their website which has a lot of information on different thing like accommodation and things to do. Their aim is to attract inbound tourists mostly but also domestic tourists to go on holiday within Britain which is good for the economy.
Trade Associations and Regulatory bodies
Trade associations and regulatory bodies are set up to represent companies in a specific industry and listen to what companies in their sector have to say. In the travel and tourism industry there is the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), and the role of ABTA is to maintain high standard and give guidance on health and safety, provide financial protection and make sure that the industry and public get a fair deal. ABTA is a non-profit organisation.
ANCILLARY SERVICES
Ancillary services are a vital part of the travel and tourism industry as all holidaymaker need specific things to go on holiday whether it is a visa or a plug converter. Ancillary services includes things like car hire, travel insurance, currency exchange. These services provided by different companies these services are mostly for outbound and inbound tourists. An example is of ancillary service company is Hertz car rental, Hertz is an international company which rent out cars.
