The Development of Package Tours and Long Haul Destinations.

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The Development of Package Tours and Long Haul Destinations:

    Package holidays have developed over time, these package holidays have grown with the increasing need of tourists. Package holidays include accommodation, transport and catering.

    After World War II in 1949, there was an appearance of the first jet airline. Entrepreneurs realised that there was a need for planes to transport passengers; this saw old military planes being transformed into charter flights. One of the first entrepreneurs was Vladimir Raitz, who in 1949 set up his own travel company called Horizon Holidays. He used a DC3 to carry thirty-two passengers to Corsica; this was the first package holiday, however, airfares were expensive, which meant that people continued to travel by steamship. Horizon Holidays in the meantime continued to grow by offering charter flights to Palma, Malaga and Tangiers. It was only in 1952 that airlines introduced the first tourist fares and in 1958 the first economy fares were offered.

    During the 1960’s there was a growth in the amount of people who were travelling. People were able to afford holidays and employers offered paid holiday leave. It was during this time that more people became involved in the travel and tourism industry, and it became harder for tour operators to make a profit. As tourists began to book holidays, both the hoteliers and the airlines began to demand money in advance. On the other hand, to attract more customers, more money was spent on brochures and publicity. This forced tour operators to turn to banks for loans to cover the time between holidays being planned and sold. Bigger tour operators were able to convince hoteliers to build ski scrappers to accommodate more people, it was at this time that tour operators realised that aircrafts had to be improved and safety records had to be increased in order to attract more customers and overcome their fear of flying.

    During the 1970’s more and more people were comfortable with flying, which saw the Transport Licensing Board receive more applications for route licences to transport their customers. It was in 1974 that there was a recession, which saw the price of oil double; the result of this was in the short term some countries saw a decrease in their visitor arrival figures but in the long run there was a rise in the number of inclusive tours sold.  This was a shift, away from hotels to cheaper self-catering accommodation.

    In the 1980’s there was a rise in exchange controls, which allowed tourists to travel for as long as they wanted without running out of money. Employers continued to give their employees paid holiday leave, which led to the expansion of winter sun and winter ski markets. There was also a growth in the city breaks market and long paid holidays and cheap airfares led to an increase in long haul package holidays.  

    In the 1990’s tourists had become more aware of package holidays and what was included, therefore they were expecting more e.g. quality hotels. People were also more conscious of environmental issues e.g. in May 2002; the Balearic Islands introduced a Euro per day eco-tax. There has also been an increase in eco-packages for tourists (World Tourism Association). Smaller specialist tour operators have found it difficult to compete with the bigger countries that offer cheaper prices.

    Long haul destinations are destinations that are more than five hours travelling time from the UK. Originally long haul holidays were considered a luxury, as it was expensive and time consuming to get to the destination and at this stage only wealthy tourists were able to experience long haul holidays. Over time, charter operators began to introduce scheduled flights on long haul routes and they used large modern aircrafts, which were capable of flying long distances without re-fuelling. With an introduction to these charter routes, they were able to offer cheaper airfares, which contributed to the growth of long haul holiday destinations. There was also a growth in self-catering resorts at the long haul holiday destinations.

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    As tourists are prepared to sit on longer flights and in some cases transfer flights, they are reaching out to different long haul destinations. Three key long haul destination holidays are:

  • North America (USA and Canada) 
  • Australasia (Australia and New Zealand)
  • Caribbean (Jamaica, St. Lucia and Barbados)

    They all have proved to be very popular with the British tourists. Kenya is another leading destination that offers safaris, beach holidays or a combination of both to tourists.

Technological Innovations in the Travel and Tourism Industry:

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