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 communications and information technology systems has resulted in a significant impact on the travel and tourism industry. The computer reservation systems (CRS) and global distribution systems (GDS) has improved the sales of airline tickets, packaged holidays, hotel accommodation and other tourism products since the development in the late 1960’s in the USA.
The use of Global Distribution Systems has enabled companies such as Thomson to operate commercially in the world and develop partnerships with airlines; hotel groups; tour operators and so on
The internet has had a huge impact on the travel and tourism industry. Back in the 20th century people would go down to the travel agents and book their holidays through this all together with flights, accommodation and so on. However with the introduction of the internet people have found booking holidays through this is usually cheaper and quicker than going down to the travel agents. You can now book each aspect of the holiday separately and many people have recognized this and now you can easily book flights and accommodation on the internet for cheaper than going to the travel agents which have led to problems for the travel agents.
3. Product Development
There has been changing needs and expectations of the consumers such as people now expecting to have ensuite bathrooms which have now become a necessity rather than a luxury to people
There has also been a development of the mass market tourism industry with resorts such as Euro Disney becoming more and more popular for tourists because it is a holiday which there is something to do all the time.
Things like Innovative travel products, domestic tourism and the seaside resorts and holiday camps have all been developed since the 1950’s and these have been developed because they are popular and countries can make money and people have the time to go to them.
People started to travel abroad in the 1970’s because it was becoming possible to do so with the advance in technology such as the introduction of airplanes, people having more time on their hands with things such as paid holidays and as it has become cheaper and cheaper to get abroad people have left the UK as they are guaranteed sun more in other countries than here in the UK.
Even though the domestic tourism have fallen since its peak in 1974 of 40 million people the industry has thought back with the development of short breaks such as weekend breaks to major cities in the UK or to country places such as the Lake District for which has offered a cheap and relaxing way to get away for a short time.
Blackpool is an example of a 12th month holiday destination. This is because Blackpool has something to offer all year round such as the pleasure beach and the lights as well as concerts.
Tour operators, airlines, hotels and travel agents are consistently under pressure to develop their innovative products in order to meet consumer need and retain their market share in the competitive market. Tour operators have successfully developed innovative new products for specific markets such as families and single people. The industry is continuing developing new products and services to cater for all markets.
Examples for tour operators developing their products can be offering late deals for cheaper prices and given special offers. For example when a large group are going on a skiing holiday some tour operators will offer discounts on the party.
E1 Features of the Travel and Tourism Industry
Travel and Tourism can be split into two groups which are:
- Commercial (The Private Sector)
- Non-Commercial (Public and Voluntary Sectors)
The UK travel industry is dominated by the private sector with the majority been small and medium sized organizations. These private sector companies have the main to simply make a profit. The main activities in the private sector are:
- Sales
- Catering and Accommodation
- Travel Services
- Entertainment
Many are public limited companies which are owned by shareholders.
There is also the Public Sector in the travel and tourism industry. These are largely funded by central or local governments. These organizations include tourist boards and local authorities which run museums, art galleries and tourist information centres. Visit Britain and the National and Regional tourist boards are the key public sector organizations involved in supporting the UK industry.
Previously the Visit Britain was known as the BTA. Visit Britain markets Britain to the UK as well as the rest of the world to build on the value of tourism in Britain and throughout the year by creating world class destination brands and marketing campaigns. Its goal is to promote Britain to the rest of the country and the rest of the world. Visit Britain is funded by the Department for culture, media and sport.
Regional Tourist Boards support the work of the national tourist boards to promote the domestic tourism. There are 10 regional tourist boards in England and there are 3 in Wales. Even though the tourist boards receive money from the central government they still have get their income from commercial activities such as subscriptions from their members and revenue from advertisements.
Local authorities in the UK play an important role in developing, promoting and managing tourism in their area.
The funding for 2002/03 is £35.5 million. Partnership from sources such as the airlines, hotels, car rental companies, national and regional tourist boards and local authorities increase market resources by £15 million a year.
Research shows that in 2001. BTA’S activities generated 31% of overseas visitor’s expenditure in Britain for every £1 of public money it spent. BTA’S will be working towards generating £28 of overseas visitors spend for every £1 of public money spent. The figure has been reached following the outbreak of foot and mouth and the events on September 11th in 2001.
BTA concentrates on customer segments which will generate the greatest financial return for Britain. Marketing campaigns are designed to appeal to these segments.
Its expertise and overseas office network help the British tourism industry to reach overseas customers cost effectively.
BTA’S overseas offices work closely with the British diplomatic and cultural staff, the local travel trade and media to stimulate interest in Britain. In the UK it has partnerships with other organizations such as the British Council.
The National Tourist Boards (NTB’s)
These were established in 1969 when the Development of Tourism Act was passed. The English Tourism Council (ETC) replaced the English Tourism Board in 1999
These are responsible for promoting domestic tourism in their own countries. There are 4 main tourist boards. They all have similar objectives which include:
- Advising on matters of tourism
- Contribution to the economy by creating wealth and employment
- Making a good image for their countries as tourism destinations
- To help the sustainable tourism development
- And to research the consumer requirements in travel and tourism
The Voluntary Sector
These are usually non profitable or charity organizations and are done by volunteers. Examples include the Tourism Concern and the National Trust.
The national trust was founded in 1895 and their aims are to preserve historic places or natural beauty permanently for the nation.
The tourism concerns aim is to campaign for fair and ethically traded tourism.
New Technologies
Travel and Tourism is dependent on technology in the 21st century in order to keep up with consumer expectations and to be able to operate in an efficient way. Many use the Computer Reservations Systems (CRS) or the Global Distributions Systems (GDS) which are explained earlier in the project. The 4 main GDS are:
- Sabre
- Amadeus
- Galileo
- Worldspan
External Pressures
Travel and Tourism is also vulnerable against the external pressures for which it has no control over such as:
- Currency Fluctuation
- State of the Economy
- Government Legislation
- Climate Changes
- Natural Disasters
- War and Acts of Terrorism
Currency Fluctuation
The exchange rates are always changing. When the value of the pound increases this encourages the outbound tourism as the strength of the pound against the other currencies means holidaymakers get more for their money
Legislation
Tax revenue also has a big impact on the travel and tourism industry. When air passenger duty (APD) introduced in 1997 every flight from the UK to Europe has had £10 added on to them and outside of the EU £20.
EU Legislation has had a big impact as well. The EU directive on packaged holidays means that any company that is an organization must have a bond or other financial protection in place or they could be prosecuted.
Climate Change
When the UK has a poor summer it leads to a bad effect of tourism in the seaside destinations. With the use of the internet people can see what the weather can be like in advanced and if it is bad then those people are likely to looks elsewhere.
Natural Disasters
Natural Disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and floods all affect tourism. For example the hurricanes that hit Florida would have affected the tourism there in the summer months.
War, Acts of Terrorism
Travel and Tourism is vulnerable to war and terrorism acts. The Middle East and the events of September 11th in the USA has affected peoples confidence of flying and travelling to these parts of the world especially.
Impact on Host Communities
There can be usually a positive and negative impact on host communities. There are Economic, Social and Environmental impacts on tourism.
Economic
Travel and Tourism has a big impact on the UK economy in the income generated, numbers employed, and balance of payments. A lot of industries benefit from direct and indirect income generated by visitors to the area. Indirect income is brought in from the multiplier effect and this is when money spent by visitors is taken into the local economy. This can also be applied to numbers employed. The opposite to this is leakage
Social
The local communities can also benefit from public, private and voluntary sectors. Services such as restaurants, shopping complexes and transport services are all examples. Also areas that are neglected are usually done up in order to impress. However, the impact on tourism on host communities are often more negative than positive.
Environmental
There are big concerns about what tourism is having on the environmental side of tourism. This has led to big demanding of sustainable tourism.
E2 - Scale of the UK Industry and its Economic Significance
For E2 I am going to find out statistics on each of the sectors of the travel and tourism industry. I will try to find out the numbers employed in each of these components and the number of participants in these components as well as the consumer spending. I will also show the source from which I obtained these statistics from
Business Tourism
Another significant part of the travel and tourism industry is the business tourism.
The table below shows the amount of trips that were made by business tourism and the spending in this for the UK residents in the year of 2001.
Source: /
E2 – Scale of the UK Travel and Tourism Industry
Travel and Tourism is a multi-billion pound industry in the UK. Visit Britain estimates that domestic and overseas tourists spent a total of around £26 million in 1998. 60% of this spending was covered by the Accommodation and Catering sector.
The scale of the industry can be established by looking at:
- UK Travel and Tourism revenue and its contribution to the national economy
- Inbound, Outbound and Domestic tourist numbers within the UK
Travel and Tourism Revenue
- Inbound and Domestic tourism contributes to the national economy
- A wide range of industries benefit from direct and indirect income, this of which is generated by tourist
- The Travel and Tourism industry contributes to the economy by tourists paying VAT and taxes o products
- Local Travel and Tourism industries contribute to local government finances through payment of business rates
Contribution to the Balance of Payments
- The Balance of Payments refers to the difference in the nations economy between the income generated from exports and the cost of imports
- It is harder to measure in tourism as tourists are paying for services rather than products and therefore it is described as being invisible
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Inbound Tourism is seen as an export because overseas tourists are bringing money into the UK economy. They are buying British products and services
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Outbound Tourism is seen as an import because it is taking money out of the UK economy
- There is a deficit in the balance of payments when the cost of imports is greater than the income of exports. Outbound UK tourists spending more money abroad than the Inbound (overseas) visitors do in the UK
- There is a surplus in the balance of payments when the income of exports is greater than the cost of imports. Inbound tourists spending more money in the UK than the money taken out by outbound tourism
- More money is being spent by the British abroad than overseas visitors to the UK and therefore there is a deficit in the balance of payments
- The British Government is trying to resolve this by encouraging more overseas visitors to the UK.
E2 – Scale of the UK Industry and its Economic Significance
This is a multi billion pound industry and has a major influence on the economy in the terms of consumer spending and employment. Examples of organizations that produce statistics are:
- Government statistics
- British tourist authority
- National and regional tourist boards
- Industry bodies such as ABTA, Mintel and Keynote
To assess the scale of the UK industry and its economic significance we have to analyse the UK travel and tourism revenue and its contribution to the national economy and also look into employment statistics and research into inbound, outbound and domestic tourism in the UK
Visit England states that in the year of 1998 the UK industry was worth £61,201 million making the UK the fourth largest earner of foreign exchange. This is what the money was spent on
This information was taken from the Collins text book on Travel and Tourism
An example of a visitor attraction for which I have found statistics on is Flamingo Land. This visitor attraction employs about 375 staff a year and work either full time or part time from March to November.
Flamingo Land has been able to increase its employment as well because of the opening of a 26 bed roomed staff accommodation block and this has brought in staff from as far away as Wales and Scotland. Most of the staff who are employed at Flamingo Land though are from closer in and in the local areas of Scarborough, Malton, York, Whitby and Pickering
E3 A Full Explanation of the Present Structure of the Industry
In order to give a clear explanation of the industry I am going to describe the role of the 6 components within it using a case study for each to explain the components role. I am also going to explain the chain of distribution within the industry. The 6 components are:
- Accommodation and Catering
- Tour Operators
- Travel Agents
- Transport
- Visitor Attractions
- Tourism Promotion and Development
Accommodation and Catering
Accommodation can be either serviced or self-catering
Serviced Accommodation
Hotels and serviced accommodation are all different in terms of size, quality, turnover and facilities.
National tourist boards use classification systems for hotels, bed and breakfast’s and guest houses. They are awarded star ratings for the range of facilities and services provided
Examples of serviced accommodation are:
- Hotels
- Lodge
- Bed Only
- Bed and Breakfast
- Half Board
- Full Board
- All Inclusive
Self Serviced Accommodation (Self-Catering)
There is a wide range of self serviced accommodation available. Examples are:
- Camping
- Youth Hostels
- Apartments
- Villas/Chalets
- Boat
- Cottages
- Guest House
Especially popular are places with self catering accommodation combined with activities and entertainment. Examples of this are Center Parcs and Butlins
Catering
Examples of catering are:
- Fast Food Outlets – McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King
- Restaurants – Frankie and Bennies
- Café’s
- Pubs – Rose and Crown
- Takeaways – Dominos Pizza
- In-house Restaurants (Supermarkets) – Asda, Tesco’s
- Road-side Catering – Burger bars outside football grounds
Restaurant and takeaway markets have continued to grow partly down to the popularity in ethnic restaurants and takeaway shops. Pub meals have remained popular.
An example of accommodation and catering is the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) and this operates a network of over 227 youth hostels in the UK. It takes in groups and individuals. This is an example of a voluntary organization
Tour Operators
Tour operators arrange the following:
- Transport
- Accommodation
- Leisure Activities
Holiday packages are usually sold through travel operators and the travel agencies receive a commission for been the one who sells the product for them.
Tour operation markets provide products and services for three main categories of tourism which are:
- Outbound
- Inbound
- Domestic
Outbound Operators
The majority of outbound operators are situated in the UK and they organize packaged holidays. Examples of outbound operators are:
- Thomson Holidays
- First Choice Holidays
- Airtours
There are also specialist travel groups. For example winter snow holiday companies such as:
Inbound Operators
They provide inclusive holiday arrangements for overseas visitors to the UK. Examples of incoming operators are:
- Spectra
- Anglo-World
- See Britain
These products can range from fully inclusive holidays to transport and accommodation
Domestic Operators
Inclusive holidays within the UK for UK residents. Usually coach or rail holidays (inclusive)
There is also specialist, Mass Market, Direct Sell and Independent
Independent Tour Operators
Similar to specialist tour operators in that it is dealt with by the main tour operators.
Specialist Tour Operators
Specialist operators are tour operators that deals in one or more niche markets
Mass Market
These tour operators cater for the majority of the customers. They produce individual brochures/products to cater for specific customer needs.
Direct Sell
Sold directly through the tour operators by letter, phone etc.
An example of a tour operator is Thomson Holidays. Thomson is part of the largest tourism and service group in the world under TUI which owns about 16% of the world market. The Thomson Holidays tour operator also is linked in with the Britannia Airways airline and several travel agencies such as Lunn Poly.
The head office for Thomson Holidays is based in London but the majority of its 3000 employees work overseas. This is a private organization
Travel Agents
There are two different types of travel agencies. These are Retail and Business
Retail Travel Agencies sell a variety of leisure travel products and services to outgoing, incoming and domestic visitors. Usually located in main streets and in towns
They advice customers, suggest possible holidays, answer questions and make bookings with tour operators. They also make coach, flight, rail and ferry bookings for customers. They also provide services for business including travel car hire and accommodation.
Travel Agencies make money through commission of the tour operators; they usually make 10% to 35% of the sale.
Travel Agencies can be split into different sections:
-
Independent Outlets – One or two offices
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Multiples – National Chains
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Miniples – Medium sized travel agencies
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Multinational – Agencies in lots of different countries
An example of a travel agency is Going Places.
Going Places is one of the UK's leading high street travel agents. Whether you're planning a holiday with your family, friends, or just for yourself, Going Places offers you the chance to plan and choose from thousands of holidays to the world's best-loved places. This is a private organization
Transport
There are an increasing number of ways in which tourists can travel to their holiday destinations
The main types of transport are:
Going by car is useful when exploring a holiday destination; however, for long distance travel this isn’t usually the desirable way to travel
A coach provides alternate travel and offers extra services such as toilets and televisions. This is a popular form of mass transport
The advantages of using rail are that seats can be reserved, meals are available and sleeping accommodation can be arranged for long journeys. This has become a popular way of travel in Europe after the channel tunnel was open. This has provided a link between the UK and Europe. Also, travel time from London to Paris has been reduced to 3 hours
Traveling by sea includes cruising as well as using ferry pt hovercraft. On-board facilities can include:
- Restaurants
- Sundecks
- Children Entertainment
- Bars
- Arcade Machines
- Shopping
- Cinemas
There are three different types of cruise. They are:
-
Traditional – Mediterranean, Portugal, Africa
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Fly Cruise – America, Caribbean, Indonesia
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River Cruise – Nile, Rhine
However the most popular way of travel is by air. Going by air is quicker and more comfortable which encourages people to choose this type of travel.
Air flights can be split into Scheduled and Charter. An example of scheduled is a plane every hour all the time where as Charter flights tend to vary and Charter airlines include the likes of easy-jet.
Transport can be viewed into considering the following three points
- To the destination - flight
- Around the destination - car
- The transport itself could be the main feature of the holiday – cruise
Air Travel
British Airways is the UK’s largest international scheduled airline, flying to over 550 destinations at convenient times, to the best located airports.
Whether customers are in the air or on the ground, British Airways takes pride in providing a full service experience.
The British Airways group consists of British Airways Plc and a number of subsidiary companies including in particular British Airways Holidays Limited and British Airways Travel Shops Limited. This is an example of a private organization
Visitor Attractions
Destinations rely on visitor attraction to encourage people to come and visit their holiday destinations. There are several different kinds of destinations.
-
Purpose Built – Alton Towers
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Historic – Bath, Athens
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Coastal – Blackpool, Miami
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City – London, Madrid
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Countryside – Lake District, Alps
Leisure activities can also be classed as visitor attractions if the leisure activity brings tourists to the particular area
The climate also affects where people decide to go for their holidays and visitor attractions such as Alton Towers relies on decent enough weather because otherwise people won’t be as interested as coming as some rides can become unsafe.
Flamingo Land incorporates Theme Park, Zoo and Holiday resort in one.
Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo is one of the UK's top 20 attractions receiving over 1.1 millions visitors per year.
Flamingo Land offers 375 acres of fun-filled activities. This is one of the largest and most popular fun parks in the UK with more than 100 white-knuckle rides and slides, spectacular shows and wildlife from all over the world. It claims to hold Europe’s largest zoo and houses exotic birds, mammals, fish and reptiles with camels, lions, tigers, and polar bears. Top thrill rides include the Terroriser, Bullet, Wild Mouse, Top Gun, and Corkscrew. This is an example of a private organization
Tourist Development and Promotion
Tourist development is an on-going development of destinations and services to meet the needs of the consumer. It can involve different aspects of tourism growth such as improvement of existing facilities and the development of new products and services.
Central Government – DCMS
The aims of Visit Britain are to promote Britain as a tourist destination for overseas countries
To the domestic customer – To grow the value of Britain and get people to take longer breaks in Britain
To the government – advise on matters affecting the tourism industry
To work with the national and regional tourist boards to build the British Industry
The 4 national tourist boards are in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
The 6 regional tourist boards are East Midlands, East of England, Heart of England, London, North West, Northumbria, South East, South West and Yorkshire
Local Government – Economic Development Unit – Tourist Information Centers
Tourist development offers tourism support and promotional services. Local authorities have specific departments to support and develop tourism in their areas. National and regional tourist boards, together in local authorities play a key role.
Visit Britain has the responsibility for promoting the incoming tourism in Britain.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport offers good quality and services for tourists from the UK and overseas. The DCMS encourage and help the tourism industry to improve what it has to offer for all visitors and to promote a positive image abroad. This is an example of a public sector organization
The chain of distribution is the link between all of the factors of the travel and tourism industry. The relationship is between the producer which in this case is TUI, the wholesalers which are the tour operators such as Thomson’s and the retailers such as the travel agents, call centers and teletext. An example is the Lunn Poly travel agents
Notes
Airlines – Thomson (formerly Britannia) 31 aircraft and Thomsonfly 4 aircraft
Cruise – Thomson cruises two ships
Tour Operators – Thomson Holidays, Budget Travel, Portland Direct and Skytours are all examples
Travel Agents – Lunn Poly, The Travel House, Vallers-Pegasus, Sibbald Travel
Call Centre – Lunn Poly Direct, Team Lincoln, Thomson Direct, Portland Direct, Founders Club
Teletext/internet/digital TV – LunnPoly.com, Sky Deals, Thomson Flights, Budget Holidays, Villadeals.com, The First Resort
HI – Horizontal Integration
BVI – Backwards Vertical Integration
FVI – Forward Vertical Integration
E4 – A description of the range of commercial and non-commercial organisations in the industry
In the travel and tourism there are both commercial and non-commercial organisations.
- Commercial – These are organisations that make a profit from what they do. They have business objectives which could include profit or sales targets, customer service targets and/or expansion or development plans
- Non-commercial – An example of this is Visit Britain who don’t make profits but simply try to operate with a surplus or in the case of Visit Britain there aim is to promote the tourism in Britain and they do this without making profits. These organisations can also be voluntary ones such as the national trust who again do not operate to gain profits
Each component of the travel and tourism industry has commercial or non-commercial uses for it.
Accommodation & Catering
This is predominately a commercial travel component because both areas exist to make money. For example somebody staying in a hotel will pay for the room and somebody eating in a restaurant will pay for the food that they are eating
Even though it is predominately private, a youth hostel is a public form of accommodation and this is therefore a non-commercial example of accommodation because the youth hostels are not trying to make a profit
Tour Operators
This is also a commercial component of the travel and tourism industry because the tour operators are making money and making profits as when the travel agencies sell their holidays the tour operators gain commission from the sale.
Tour operators now also own airlines and travel agents and from that are also making money. Therefore tour operators are commercial organisations
An example of a tour operator is Thomson. Their aim is to make a profit on what they sell. Thomson sells packages to travel agents who buy the products. Thomson own airline, ferries, accommodation and coaches and are selling all of this as one to the travel agents
-
Travel Agencies
This is another commercial organisation because the travel agencies make a profit when they sell the holidays to customers
Travel Agencies also make a profit on what they sell. They buy the holidays from the tour operators and then add a commission rate to the holidays of around 10%. This means that they are making a profit upon the holiday they are selling and are selling the holiday for more money.
Transport
This falls into both sectors of the travel and tourism industry. It can be in the private sector because airlines such as British Airways are trying to make a profit but a public sector transport can be a bus because the government is supplying these buses.
An example of public would be the public buses which run. Even though the bus company is charging you to use the service, the buses are provided by the government and so therefore they fall into the public sector.
A private organisation would be an airline lie British Airways which is operating to make profits on the people who travel with them. The money they make will probably fill aspects such as re-fuelling and upgrading their services.
Visitor Attractions
This falls into Private, Public and the Voluntary sectors of the travel and tourism industry because there are a wide variety of attractions in the tourism industry. For example a theme park would fall into the private sector because organizations such as Alton Towers are there to make profits. A public sector visitor attraction would be museums as these are run by the governments. Finally an example of a voluntary organization would be the national trust as this organizes trips around the UK for people
An example of a Private visitor attraction would be Alton Towers because this makes a profit on people visiting the park. With the profit they make Alton Towers will continue to develop the theme park and also continue to make profit and therefore money.
Tourist Development and Promotion
This falls into the public and voluntary sectors of the travel and tourism industry. It can be classed as a public sector organization because
C3 – An evaluation of the key features of commercial and non commercial organizations to illustrate differences in their funding and their business objectives
Non-commercial organisations like tourist boards, Visit Britain and the National Trust do not gain to make a profit but they do operate with a surplus
In commercial organizations the objectives will be set out by the owner in the large organizations. The types of business objectives a commercial organization might include the following
- profit or sales targets
- customer service targets
- expansion or development plans
In a non-commercial organization the objectives will depend on whether it is a voluntary or public sector organization. In the public sector the objectives are likely to be set out by the government and then on to the regional officers or by local councils. The voluntary sector organizations structure is similar o the private sector organizations. Objectives in a non-commercial organization could include:
- getting grants and donations
- making sure the interests of the members are achieved
- getting sponsorship deals
- raising the public awareness about a project
The funding or revenue generation is the key difference. The commercial sector is dependent on sales of products and services to make a profit. This means that the commercial organizations have to be very aware of the profitability of what is sold and must increase the sales of those things that generate a higher profit
In the non-commercial sector, the need to maintain costs within the level of funding available can determine the success of a business. Once the money from grants and donations have been allocated, it is unlikely an organization will be able to generate additional funding. Occasionally fund raising activities and sponsorship might raise money to help with the cash flow or to fund specific events or activities.
The owners or stake holders of commercial and non-commercial organizations will have different expectations of how funding or profits are put to use. In the commercial sector, when a person has invested in a company, he or she expects to see a return on the investment, either annually or in an increase in the value of the shares. Whilst in the non-commercial sector, the stakeholder would expect to see that the interests of a group of people are being met and that their money is being used appropriately. They don’t expect to see a return on the money that they put into the organization. When a surplus is made, they would expect to see the money being used for reinvestment in the organization or for its members.
Commercial and non-commercial organizations do interact in the travel and tourism industry. For example, the local Tourist Information Centres are a public body which are run by the local authorities (70%). The TICs will work closely with commercial companies within the local area, for example promoting accommodation, restaurants, guide services and excursions. The TIC will also work with the voluntary organizations such as the National Trust as they preserve and maintain places of historic interest within the TIC will promote to the tourists through voluntary local groups.
There are 2 examples of interaction between commercial and non-commercial. I will look into it in the Lake District and also in TICs in general to show the commercial and non-commercial sides of certain groups.
Below are examples of the Lake Districts Stakeholder groups and what they do, I have also stated whether they are private (commercial), public or voluntary (both non-commercial)
The Lake District Stakeholders:
- Cumbria Tourist Board is Public but represents the private sector because it sells products as well
- National trust is voluntary because is does voluntary tasks but it also offers visitor attractions
- National Park is in the public sector
- Friends of the Lake District is voluntary
There are also commercial and non-commercial organisations within the Lake District. For example the tourist information centres in the Lake District are there to offer information on what there is to do in the Lake District, they are funded by local governments and are not out to make profit on giving this information, however tourist information centres do sell souvenirs such as cups, posters and postcards from which they make money from and can in this circumstance be seen as also making profits. Overall the TIC’s can be classed as both a commercial and non-commercial organisation.
Examples of commercial organisations in the Lake District could be numerous, the most obvious would be the renting out of water sport equipment which make money on renting out equipment such as jet skis and they are making profits so are classed as commercial.
Another example of a non-commercial organisation and which also fits into the voluntary sector would be the Friends of the Lake District because this group is simply looking out for the welfare of the national park and is not making a profit what so ever.
E5 Holiday Representative
I would have to look after groups of holidaymakers at resorts, usually abroad.
- I would meet holidaymakers at the airport and accompany them to their accommodation.
- Soon after arrival, I would have to hold welcome meetings to provide information and sell excursions.
- I would be able to meet holidaymakers regularly to answer questions, give advice and keep them up-to-date with information.
- Organizing and accompanying excursions may be part of my work.
- I would help with problems such as lost passports or illness.
I would be away from home for months at a time, and work long hours. The work is seasonal. Work is both indoor and outdoor. Conditions vary according to the location and climate of the resort.
Experienced holiday representatives would earn between £15,000 and £18,000 a year.
Being a holiday representative I should be:
- self-confident, with a pleasant, cheerful nature
- like dealing with a variety of people
- well-groomed
- good communicators
- Well organized.
I would be employed by tour operating companies, ranging from small, specialist firms, to large international companies.
There are no set requirements, but employers may prefer me to have GCSEs/S grades (A-C/1-3) in English, maths, geography and foreign languages. Travel and tourism courses may provide a useful background. Holiday representatives range from 18 to 65 years of age, and must be in good health.
Employers usually provide a short induction training programme for us in the UK. Once in the resort, experienced staff often provides training and support for an initial period.
In some large companies it is possible to gain promotion to senior posts, e.g. senior resort representative or regional manager.
Hours are long and variable. I might work from early morning to late evening, with a day off each week. I may be expected to work weekends. I may also be on call 24 hours a day, particularly if there is a crisis.
The work is seasonal, and summer is generally the peak season. However, winter sun and ski holidays are increasingly popular, so I can often find work from January to April in this sector.
Work is both indoor and outdoor. Conditions vary according to the location and climate of the resort.
If I was working a full season I can expect to be earning the equivalent of between £5,200 and £10,000 a year (i.e. £650+ a month).
With experience, working winter and summer, some can earn £15,000 or more in a year.
Senior managers may earn £10,000 to £18,000 or more.
I need:
- to be self-confident, with a pleasant, cheerful and outgoing nature
- to like dealing with a wide variety of people
- to be smart and well-groomed, with a good standard of personal behavior
- excellent listening and speaking skills
- to be able to explain and advise clearly and accurately
- to speak one or more foreign language
- to be patient, tactful and diplomatic
- a strong sense of responsibility
- to work well under pressure and be able to deal with problems
- good organizing skills
- to be in good health with plenty of energy and stamina
- to be able to work without supervision
- to work well in a team if the job demands it
- to be able to come up smiling after working 36 hours!
C4 - I am going to critically evaluate why my personal circumstances best match the job of resort representative
For this job there are no set requirements, however, employers would prefer applicants with GCSE grades A-C in English, maths, geography and foreign languages. At GCSE I achieved a C in both English and Maths and C’s in French and Spanish and so even though I didn’t take geography at GCSE I have the qualifications for all of the other courses. I also studied AVCE Travel and Tourism at Huddersfield New College and so have a qualification in this course as well which fits in well with the job of a resort representative because I have some knowledge of what the job entails.
The job also says that the holiday representatives range from 18-65 and that you must be in good health. I match the age profile and I am in good health by playing tennis a couple of times a week for a club and playing football with friends every week.
I obtained grade C’s in both Spanish and French and even though I can’t speak these fluently I have a good understanding from which to build on to and learn conversational Spanish in an enhancement activity in upper 6th. The job also requires being able to well work in a team as you will be working with other reps, I feel that I would be good at doing this because when I play football I am working in a team as well and for a lot of my courses that I studied at college such as ICT and travel & tourism I had to a lot of group work with other people in the group and so have worked with people like that.
This job also entails being able to work well with people and to be able to deal with customers. I feel that I am qualified for doing this because I worked in a golf shop as a part-time job which meant that I had to deal with customers. Good communication is important and for both the part-time job that I did and my work experience for which I had to answer he phone at a bus part company I had to use a variety of communication skills such as talking on the telephone and sending emails and faxes.
Being a holiday rep also involves having to work away from home for months at a time and even though I haven’t done this I feel that I would be willing to do this because this job interests me and so working long hours will also not bother me too much and I have also been away before with school on a French trip so I have some experience.
I also feel that I can work well under pressure because for two of the courses I did at college in e-Business and Travel and Tourism involved doing a lot of coursework and meeting deadlines so that involved working under pressure to meet deadlines and so I think that I would match this criteria well. I also match the need for responsibility because when I worked in a shop and also for my work experience I had to do a lot of tasks and duties on my own and deal with problems with no-one else there. I am also a keen skier and go every year with a large group of people and have been going for a number of years so I would be able to work in winter ski resorts and so therefore I would be able to be an all year round tour rep.
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Details
Name: Mark Jones
Address: 7A Taylor Lane
Golcar
Huddersfield
Postcode: HD7 4PQ
Tel. No.: 01484 646264
Date of Birth: 16th May 1988
Nationality: English
Status: Single
Education
Huddersfield New College 2004-2006
Salendine Nook High School 1999-2004
Qualifications
AVCE SA Travel and Tourism 2006
BTEC National Award (Applied) E-business 2006
AS ICT 2006
AS Modern History 2005
History A 2004
ICT A 2004
English Literature B 2004
Spanish B 2004
Design Technology B 2004
Maths C 2004
French C 2004
English Language C 2004
Jobs
Job Title: Partsource (Work Experience)
Employer: Hannah Shaw
Dates: February 2004 – March 2004
Main Duties: Packing, Invoicing, Accounts, Computer Work
Skills Gained: Answering the phone and dealing with customers, doing computer work such as invoices and sales orders
Job Title: Outlane Golf Course
Employer: David Chapman
Dates: March 2001 – September 2001
Main Duties: Selling Items, Cleaning, Talking to Customers, Answering the Phone
Skills Gained: Dealing with customers, answering the phone, Invoicing, Accounting, Computer Work and cleaning up
Hobbies/Interests
Football: Manchester United supporter. Played for West End Juniors when 9/10
Tennis: Play two times a week at Huddersfield Lawn Tennis Association. Been playing for over a year
Formula 1: McLaren Mercedes follower. Been to Spanish grand prix
Skiing: Been going every year since I was 10. Taken part it one junior ski race for which I finished third in and got a bronze medal.
Personal Statement
I feel that I am a positive person who has a good outlook on life. I also
feel that I am a good team player because I have done a lot of teamwork in various tasks. I also have good communication skills from experience from the jobs that I have done. I can work well with other people or independently as I get on with other people well. At high school I was also a prefect which entitled me to have certain responsibilities such as looking after a group of potential students for a day and helping out in form groups for the lower years as well as talking to parents about courses on occasions such as open day.
References
Hassan Rezaei Hannah Shaw
Huddersfield New College Partsource
New Hey Road 10 Dale Street
Salendine Nook Longwood
Huddersfield Huddersfield
HD3 4GL HD3 4TG
Mr. Reynolds
Salendine Nook
New Hey Road
Huddersfield
HD3 4GN
A1 - A thorough understanding of the reasons for the rapid growth of the industry and the factors that will affect its development in the future.
There are two opposing circumstances in the Travel and Tourism Industry. These are Transformed Growth and Conventional Success. Both of these aspects are important to the Travel and Tourism industry.
Conventional success is the tourism industry continuing in the way that it is doing at the present time whereas transformed growth is the opposite to conventional success and doing what it says in transforming the way the tourism industry currently operates in such examples of rethinking the priority of work given and total working hours falling significantly, the opposite to these would be conventional.
There are factors which could affect the future of the travel and tourism industry. There have been rises in real incomes which means more time being available leading to more holidays with short city breaks and weekend breaks gaining in popularity. If this continues then it will have a positive affect of the tourism industry.
However on the other side, the more traditional beach holidays are loosing out more to the countryside/mountain and the more adventurous holiday types which would signal that there is a transform in the way people are thinking about their holidays
(Euromonitor.com)
There is also a demand for ethical holidays. Tearfund, Christian relief and development agency (TravelMole) states that 52% people would prefer to book their holidays with a tour operator that has a written code guaranteeing good working conditions, protection of the environment and support of local charities.
All inclusive holidays can be split into leakage and multiplier effect holidays. Leakage is if companies abroad own companies in other countries. Multiplier effect is if companies in the same country own the companies.
Tour operators have a responsibility to supply customers with information so that they can make informed choices. Many of the large tour operators are not taking this issue seriously and leaving the Association of Independent Tour Operators to develop responsible tourism initiatives.
The impact of the internet on tourism (etourism) has led to huge implications for the configurations of the industries global structures.
Before the internet such a complicated arrangement as booking a holiday and all of its component parts required a travel agent. As long as the customer has the internet any tourism product is available. We have seen the growth in
- virtual tours
- call centres
- unpackaged holidays
Governments, tour operators, hotels, airlines, other transport operators and the tourist themselves are all seeing the development of the internet. Destinations can become more competitive by targeting the right markets, communicating directly saving costs and time and offering better prices.
In a competitive environment there will always be winners and losers. Repeat business is difficult to achieve and consumers are often looking for new and exciting destinations, where their ever changing needs and expectations are to be satisfied.
The internet has affected travel agents and online travel service providers by giving the tourists the ability to preview the destinations before they decide whether they want to go there and also to compare prices amongst the many millions of websites dedicated to internet booking. It has influenced flight bookings with the introduction of easyjet.co.uk and jet2.com for example where cheap flights are available and influenced how hotel rooms are booked.
The internets growth and influence on the tourism industry does rely though on the consumer’s confidence with the internet, for example the issue over online payment and whether the consumer believes that it is safe to give credit card details over the World Wide Web.
In order for the travel agents to keep up with these advancing technologies of the internet, they too are now setting up websites in which to sell holidays for cheaper. Usually the travel agents online will offer special deals that are only available if booked through their website online.
The continuing growing concentration and globalisation is another important trend.
Spain is no longer becoming the most popular holiday destination for UK residents. TTG March shows that First Choice and Thomas Cook are shifting their supply of holidays away from Spain to the now more popular Turkey. The reasons for this are:
- Souring prices
- Strength of the euro
- Emerging markets
- Rise in no-frill airlines
The introduction of no-frills airlines has forced the larger tour operators the change their business ideas. Ryanair now offer package tour type weekend breaks, focusing on golf, spa and leisure outdoor breaks and packages, themed around sport and music. The package though does not include the flight because under ATOL rules airlines are not allowed one full package but customers and directed to the Ryanair website for flights.
Tourism is fragile and will continue to be so. Organisations have to adapt and expect change.
The fear of terrorism, Sars and war in Iraq has led to some airlines reducing capacity. Other factors that have harmed the tourism in the UK foot and mouth disease and other trends.