Product development
There are always going to be new products developing in the travel and tourism industry in order to meet consumer demands. The development of the tourism market has been mostly due to the ability to introduce travel products and services for domestic, inbound and outbound tourists.
Domestic Tourism
Domestic tourism is the travelling of people around their own country and staying within its boundaries. Domestic tourism was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Although the peak has fallen you will find it still to be popular among families. It is still popular because of the number of short stay holidays being taken in the UK, for reasons like business or visiting family. The domestic market has improved; people are offering things like new exciting attractions such as Blackpool.
The first Butlins camp was introduced in 1936 in Skegness. It went from success to success. There were many famous entertainers there. During the Second World War the Royal Navy used it. But all this success soon dropped when foreign package holidays were introduced, because of this Butlins organisation decided that it could do with a makeover. They put 150 million into it. Most places they changed were turned into theme parks like water world. This programme was finished in 1999. But as today carries on. More people tend to enjoy package holidays as their main holiday; they might stay locally for a short break. Tourism is one of the largest industries in the UK. The UK ranks seventh in the international tourism earnings league behind the USA, Spain, France, Italy China and Germany.
The top five overseas markets for the UK in 2001 were:
Inbound tourism
This is an important part to the UK economy. Inbound tourism to the UK is promoted overseas by the BTA who represent the four national boards at their overseas office.
This table shows tourism between the years of 1995 and 2001. The UK spending increased by more than 6,000 in 6 years. This shows that once again people has got more disposable income and can afford to go on holidays.
Outbound tourism
When you go to book a holiday you have a large range of them to choose from this is all about demands and expectations, these tend to change, as you get older. There are all different types of holidays from adventure to wine tasting. Some people when going on a lot of holidays to sundrenched resorts tend to get beach boredom, so they tend to go for something different. But then other people like to sit on a beach all day. To get a holiday to suit you they sub-divide into these categories:
- Season
- Transport
- Length
- Distance
This is how they get the right deal for you.
The most popular since 1970s is the inclusive tour by air, lasting more than four nights, taken in the summer to short haul destinations such as Spain. Also the industry is continually developing new products and services to cater for all markets.
Today’s travel and tourism industry has evolved over the relatively short period since the end of the Second World War has a number of features that reflect the highly dynamic and competitive nature of the business.
The industry can be divided into two groups
- Commercial
- Non-commercial
These differ in terms of:
- Defining and meeting objectives
- Funding or revenue generation
- Stakeholder or shareholder
The industry is dominated by the private sector. The British Tourist Authority estimates that it is made up of at least 200,000 businesses, these are mainly small and medium sized.
The private sectors aim is usually to generate profit from the service and products, which they provide for their customers, for the benefit of the owners or shareholders of the organisation. Many private sector travel and tourism organisations such as P&O and virgin are household names and make a major contribution to the wealth of the United Kingdom. Many of these companies are public limited companies.
The public sector is largely funded by central or local government, which also influences their strategies and policies. These organisations include tourist boards and local authorities, which run facilities such as museums and tourist information centres. The British Tourist Authority is one of the key public sector organisations involved in supporting the UK tourism industry.
July 25: The Development of Tourism Act 1969 receives Royal Assent and comes into force one month later, signalling the start of the British Tourist Authority (and the national boards for England, Scotland and Wales) sponsored by the Board of Trade
This was the first piece of legislation specifically concerned with tourism. It is responsible for promoting Britain as a destination for incoming tourists.
(Source: visitBritain.com)
The voluntary sector are usually non-profit making or charitable are managed and operated largely by volunteers. An example is travel clubs and a wide range of countryside recreation and heritage pressure groups.
Components of the travel and tourism industry
- Travel agents
- Tour operators
- Transportation
- Tourist attractions
- Tourism development
- Accommodation and catering
Travel agents
Travel and tourism providers are closely related and combine to provide facilities, products and services for people travelling away from their normal place of residence. A massive range of products and services is required to meet the travel needs of leisure and business tourist.
Retail Travel agents sell a range of leisure travel products and services to outgoing, incoming and domestic visitors. They are usually located in a prime unit on the high street. They act as a link between customers and tour operators. They give customers advice on the right holiday. The role of the travel agent is changing. This is simply because of the increasing demand on Internet bookings for half the price and also teletext. But high street travel agents can give you their advice on holidays and which ones to beware of, and also help with any other queries. Travel agencies range from independent outlets, multiples and miniples.
Business travel agencies specialise in the sale of travel related products to business clients. This can involve everything from arranging fights and accommodation to rapid delivery of passports and visas. Unlike the retail travel agencies they do not usually have a presents on the high street. The larger business travel agencies are members of the Guild of Business Travel Agents (GBTA), and together contract over 80% of business travel armaments through travel agencies.
Tour operations
There are around 700 tour operators in the UK provide a wide range of products and services for domestic, outgoing and incoming tourists. The role of tour operators is to arrange the transport, accommodation and leisure activities, which make up a holiday package. Although they specialise in fully inclusive packages, many tour operators offer more flexible options for their customer, such as fly only and multi centre holidays.
Holiday’s packages are usually sold to clients through travel agencies, which receive commission for acting as a link between the customer and the supplier. The standard commission for a package holiday that retail travel agents gets is around 10%. ABTA estimates that travel agents offering holiday products from the five largest UK tour operators sell around 70% of inclusive tours. Although some tour operators sell holidays over the phone such as Direct Holidays which are now called My Travel, which are operated by airtours. At the minute the shares for this has went down drastically to 13p and according to my source www.travelweekly.co.uk it is going Bankrupt. An increasing number of people are going to independents; they get the option of booking direct for a lower price.
Outbound tour operators
The majority of tour operators in the UK are outbound operators, which organize package holidays.
The overseas holiday market in the UK is dominated by four large vertically and horizontally integrated groups, which account for the dominant shares of inclusive tours.
The largest outbound tour operators have integrated operations involving the tree main elements:
- The creation and marketing of branded package holidays
- Ownership of chartered airlines
- Ownership of multiple travel agencies, usually trading under names different to the tour operator’s
Inbound tour operators
They provide inclusive holiday arrangements for overseas visitors to the UK. The product and services of these companies range from fully inclusive holiday tours of the UK, including transport, accommodation, meals and guiding services.
Domestic tour operators
They organise inclusive tours within the UK for UK residents. That is the simple explanation but the most effective. Most people drive to their destination so there isn’t a lot of work for the travel agent.
The most important commercial suppliers of holidays, or elements of holidays in the domestic market fall into two distinct categories:
- Accommodation suppliers
- Tour operators specialising in short break
Transport
The three main ways that people automatically think of when u say transport to them is:
- Land-Car, taxi, bus, bike, train and tube
- Air-Plane
- Sea-ferries, cruise and hovercrafts
The transport normally depends on where you’ve travelling and how long you’ve got to travel.
Two-thirds of international travel by both UK residents and overseas residence is made by air.
The Channel Tunnel
It has been operational since 1995 and in 1997 accounted for approximately 10% of all international travel by both residence and visitors. Since it opened I hasn’t affected air traffic, but it attracts a lot of illegal immigrants from eastern European countries trying to get into the UK. This problem seems to be under control now in 2002.
The transport system contains many terminals which people use at the beginning and end of their journeys. Bus and rail stations and ports and airports are therefore regarded as important facilities within the travel and tourism industry. In 1998 London Heathrow handled 60.4 million passengers domestic. In its terminal four for example it contains 22 high quality stores, seven bars and restaurants. It generated £783 million of revenue in 1997.
Accommodation
Without accommodation in this industry no one would have anywhere to stay, so that’s why it is an important part.
Accommodation can either be serviced, which includes meals and housekeeping, or self-catering.
I’m going to explain these in greater detail.
Serviced accommodation
Hotels and other serviced accommodation vary hugely in terms of their size, quality, turnover and the range of facilities and services they provide. They can be categorised in a number of ways, including by number of bedrooms:
- Small (ten rooms or fewer)
- Medium (11 to 50 rooms)
- Large (more than 50 rooms)
They can also be classified by turnover:
- Less than £100,000
- £100,000 - £499,999
- £500,000 - £999,999
- £1 million and over
There are several classifications schemes that categorise providers according to the range of facilities services and products they provide.
Hotel
The lodge Hotel
This hotel is in Northern Ireland; it is a 3 star hotel. It would be popular for the American tourist as it is close to all the famous attractions such as:
The Giants Causeway
Guesthouse
Gortin Glen
This is a guesthouse in Northern Ireland; it is situated in the countryside in Aghadowey.
Self serviced accommodation
Butlins
They are situated in places such as Bognor Regis, Skegness and Mine head.
Catering services
The list of catering establishments is endless. Some of them include:
- Restaurants
- Café
- Bistros and wine bars
- Fast food and takeaway outlets
- Pizza houses
- Snack bars
- Mobile snack bars
Both restaurants and takeaway markets continue to grow in the UK. It is all part of the increase in disposable income.
Tourism development
This bit of the industry includes tourism support and promotion services, tourist information centres and guiding services. As we have seen, many local authorities have specific departments to support and develop tourism in their areas. This support may include marketing the area.
Tourist attractions
Tourist attractions are vital components of the UK travel industry.
Paid admissions attractions
*Estimations
Free admissions attractions
Source: staruk.org
Visitor attractions are often cluttered in one area or destination.
Every one has been to some kind of visitor attraction in their life. When you go on holiday that is the main part of it is to experience the attractions.
It has a major impact on the economy in terms of consumer spending and employment. However, because the industry is so varied and uneven, it is often difficult to assess its exact contribution to the national economy.
The British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism council estimate that the value of tourism to the UK in 1998 was £61,201 million, making the industry the fourth largest earner of foreign exchange.
It is now worth approx £74 billion in 2001 and has created about 2.1 million jobs.
In 1998, 25.7 million overseas
This table shows the total spending of overseas tourist spending in the UK
The English Tourism Council and the British Tourist Authority both produce data that highlight the importance of tourism to the national economy.
The UK domestic tourism expenditure in 2001 was more than £59 billion.
