The table shown above shows how many tourists from the UK travel abroad and how many people come into the UK. The table also shows the amount of money spent.
Time for Travel and Tourism
In the recent years, the amount of leisure time available for the majority of people living the UK has increased also the facilities, products and services have increased to satisfy the demands of customers. People have gained more leisure time, for many reasons. One reason is that there has been an increase in paid holiday entitlement for those in employment. It was made a legal requirement in 1938 for employers to give their employees holiday entitlement. By 1951, 66% of manual workers were allowed every year two weeks paid holiday, 28% of workers still had only one week of holiday entitlement.
(www.rank.com)
By 1970, 52% of workers in the UK had three weeks or more, but by the early 1990s, UK working population had received an increasing four to five week’s paid holiday entitlement. So now, they have sufficient time and money to go on holidays.
The provision of paid holiday leave has inspired the very first holiday camps including Butlin’s and Pointin’s.
Billy Butlin opened his first holiday camp in Skegness in 1936 and Fred Pointin entered the business with his Brean Sands Camp in 1946. The two seaside camps made it accessible to the majority class families for the first time. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, holiday camps became very popular.
Not everyone in the UK is employed, so these people are left with a lot of leisure time. Not only the unemployed, but also the retired. The amount of numbers of retired people in the UK has increased, and demands for leisure activities to meet their needs. The company SAGA provide specialised holiday products for the over 50s market.
Improved Transport networks and personal Mobility
People in the UK now have efficient access of transport networks, which have made travel and tourism facilities, products and services much more readily accessible. Airports, ports and railway are able to handle millions of people each year, and the opening of the Channel Tunnel has increased cross- channel travel. The greatest single transport factor that has promoted increased demand for tourism has been the rise of car ownership in the UK. There was fivefold increase in the number of cars privately owned on the roads between 1951 and 1970, and another tenfold increase between 1951 and the mid 1990s. It is estimated that there are over 20 millions private cars in the UK and 70% of household have access to at least one car. Increasing car ownership has been a major factor in the rising popularity of visits to tourist’s destinations and attractions in the UK. The use of the car is the preferred mode of transport for domestic holidays in the UK.
In 1951 trains, buses and coaches were the main means of transport by domestic tourist and 1998 made 80% of all trips by car. Due to the improvement in road networks and the increasing numbers in car ownership has been a major factor in providing access to the countryside for leisure trips. For the residence living in towns and cities, the countryside is usually a short trip. The number of visitors visiting the countryside has significantly increased after the 1960’s. It is estimated that over three-quarters of the UK population visit is the rural areas at least once per year.
This Graph shows the Domestic UK Holiday Transport in 1998.
Developed Technology
Transport Technology: Improved transport technology has revolutionised passenger travel. Passengers can now travel by air, ships, trains to their chosen destinations. After the Second World War, the aircraft were available as a means of mass transport in the 1970s. The development of jet engine meant that air travel was much faster, more comfortable, and inexpensive compared to sea travel.
The Boeing 707 jet airlines services were introduced in 1958. The development of state and privately owned airline companies provided the capacity to transport large numbers of passengers on packages holidays. Overseas holidays did not emerge as a mass-market phenomenon until the 1980s. As aircraft become more technologically advanced, they can carry a larger number of passengers over long distances, faster. This has made air travel more affordable, convenient to the mass market in the UK, which increases the demands on both short-haul and long-haul flights and inclusive tours. Developing aircraft technology is not the only aspect that has influenced the Travel and Tourism industry. Other forms of transportation have developed rapidly in years; these include ferries, rail and cruise services.
Communication and in formation Technology: the development of communication and information technology systems has made a great impact on the travel and tourism industry globally. In the late 1960’s the Global Distribution Systems have revolutionised the sales of airline tickets, package holidays, accommodations and other products. GDS systems were developed from individual airline reservations, which was divided into four major global reservations systems: Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus and World Span. These distribution systems have caused multinational corporations who have operated commercially throughout the world and developed partnerships with airlines, hotels groups, travel agency and tour operators.
Due to the developments of Information Technology, customers can now buy travel products and access information from their homes via the internet.
The potential of on-line booking is recognised by airlines, tour operators, and travel agents. They are developing internet based operations.
Product Development
Product Development is continually developing products in order to meet the needs and expectations of the customers. The development of the market is due to the ability of the industry to introduce innovative travel products and services for domestic inbound and outbound tourists. In 1960’s and early 1970’s Domestic Tourism in the UK rose. These were large numbers of holidays to the seaside resorts such as Brighton and Blackpool. By late 1970s consumers expectations has changed and shifted towards travelling abroad.
In order to attract new and more visitors, UK’s traditional sea side resorts Blackpool and Brighton have attempted to improve their image by developing new attraction, exhibition and conference facilities to attract business visitors.
Outbound Tourism: outbound tourism is when UK residents take holidays outside the UK. In order to retain their target share in an increasingly competitive market, tour operators, airlines, and travel agents and hotels needs to constantly develop innovative products in order to meet the consumer’s demands. Nowadays, tour operators offer a wide range of holiday destinations to all types of tourists. This can show that since the introduction of packaged holidays in the 60s and 70s the industry has developed a lot. In these early years, tour operators only concentrated on trips going to Portugal, Spain and Greece, which made consumers choices limited.
All-inclusive Tours: The all inclusive tour concept has been established since the 80s and it revolves around elusive destinations in the Caribbean. All inclusive holidays market caters for consumers who want a holiday in an exotic destination and who are prepared to pay a premium for the indulgence of plenty food and drink supply and including entertainment. All-inclusive holidays are profitable for tour operators, because they are relatively expensive. These types of holidays are widely attracted to families, activities for people of different ages.
Long-haul Holidays: long-haul holidays have been identified in the past as being exotic destinations for those with a lot of leisure time. However, this image has changed in the recent years. In addition, this because many consumers who have previously holidayed in Europe are now travelling abroad and having long-haul holidays.
In 1998, at least 5 million holidays were taken to long-haul countries. Half were packaged holidays and half independent. Independent was very important in long-haul travel, but since the growth of packaged holidays to Florida and the Caribbean, the number of inclusive holidays has increased. The breakthrough of the USA as mass-market destinations was the most important change in the British pattern of holidays in the 1990’s. The Trans-Atlantic crossing is the focus of growth since holidays to Canada and the Caribbean are increasing.
Despite the growth of long-haul holidays, they are still less then 20% of the world holiday market, so they stress on countries to maintain their popularity. However in the future the traditional European short-haul destinations will have to compete with long haul destinations to retain their market share.
Long Haul holidays abroad in 1991-1998
This table shows the trend in long haul holidays
Needs and expectations
Catered holidays for customer’s needs such as mixing business with leisure, green holidays, and environmental friendly holidays due to concern and expectation we have of global warming. The travel and tourism industry must continue to develop their products as the needs and expectations of the customers are continually changing.
Today’s society has grown and is constantly looking for new leisure and tourism experiences. The more experiences provided the greater the expectation of the consumer.
Consumers’ expectations and fashions have brought about special and niche market holidays. Nowadays, most holidays are expected to be environmental friendly. Eco, adventure green, nature, village, community, tourism are all kinds of tourism, which is fashionable these days.
Features of the Travel and Tourism Industry
The travel and tourism industry is constantly developing in order to meet the demands of the consumers, which are always changing. The industry today is very diverse in the products and services that it provides for the customers. The UK tourism industry that has grown after the Second World War has a number of features that reflects the competitive nature of the Business.
- Private sector
- Made up of small and medium sized private sector
- Supported and promoted by the Public Sector
- Dependent on the use of technologies
- Vulnerable to external pressure
- Positive and negative impact on host communities
The travel and tourism industry can be divided into two groups: Commercial (private sector), Non-Commercial (Public and Voluntary Sector). These organisations differs in terms of
- Defining and meeting objectives
- Funding and revenue generation
- Shareholders expectations.
The industry is dominated by the private sector. The British Tourist Association estimated that the UK industry is made up of 200,000 businesses.
Private Sector Organisations is either directly or indirectly in private ownership. Their main aim is to gain profits from services and products they provide for customers. Their specific fields in the travel and tourism industry are retail sales, catering, accommodation, entertainment, travel services and tourism.
These companies are public limited companies and are owned by shareholders.
Their expectation is to get a financial return from their share holdings. Hotels, Theme parks, travel agencies and restaurants are facilities that are provided by the private sector. The Private Sector (commercial organisations) owns many of the largest tourist attractions in the UK. An example of these large tourist attractions is Chesington World of Adventures, Alton Towers, and Madam Tussaud’s. An important objective of the sector is profit maximisation. This is to do:
- In order to provide resources for further expansion of the business
- To reward risk taking
- To enable the business to respond to the need of its customers
- To encourage efficiency and innovation
Private sector attraction organisations have specific goals for their business. Bellow is just an example of a few they might have:
- To increase the overall number of customers
- To improve their customer service
- To attract new markets
- To reduce staff turnover
Profit maximisation is not the private sector tourist attraction’s only objective; it is just a primary aim. People who worked for larger companies, but became frustrated with the high level of bureaucracy that they encountered now own many of the smaller attractions.
The Public Sector
Public Sector organisations are funded by the Central or Local Government. Tourist’s boards and local authorities are apart of the public sector and they run facilities such as museums, art galleries and tourist information centres. The public sector supports and promotes the travel and tourism industry. There are key public sector organisations, which are involved in supporting the UK tourism industry. They are:
- The British Tourist Authority
BTA was the first piece of legislation specifically concerned with tourism. Its responsibility is promoting Britain as a destination for overseas tourists. The organisation was established under the development of tourism act in 1969.
- The National Tourist Board
Unlike BTA, the National Tourist Board was established in 1969 when the development of tourism act has passed. Its key responsibility is promoting domestic tourism in its own country. There are four main national tourists’ boards, with addition to the separate national tourist boards for Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.
- The Regional Tourist Board
The work of the National Tourist Board is supported by the Regional Tourist Board. There are ten regional tourist boards in England and three in Wales. The regional tourist board receive grants from central and local government. They have to raise a large proposition of their income from commercial activities. To achieve this they use subscription from their members and revenue from advertising in their regional publications.
Many local authorities in the UK play an important role for the travel and tourism industry. They assist in the developing promotion and management of tourism in their specific regions. For example, Darlington borough council produces a visitor’s guide that describes the attraction, accommodation in the countryside. A lot of the local authorities work in conjunction with the range of local agencies to provide websites that promotes tourism in their area.
The Voluntary sector
Voluntary Sector Organisations are non-profit organisations with charitable status. Volunteers manage these organisations. Travel clubs, countryside recreation and heritage pressure groups are among the range of voluntary organisations. Examples of voluntary sectors are Tourism concern and the National Trust.
Tourism concern is a membership network that was established in 1989 bringing people from the UK and worldwide together who are concerned about the impact that tourism has on the communities and the environment. The influence and informs the government, the industry and education. It is band independent voice for justice and sustainability in tourism.
Their main aim is working for a fairer tourism industry. They look at the way tourism affects the people and the environment of these destinations areas. Tourism concern raisers awareness of tourism’s impact with the public, with decision makers of the government and within the tourism industry. They also provide an information base for campaigners and tourism students.
External Pressure
External pressure is a key feature of the travel and tourism industry. It can be vulnerable to other external pressures such as natural disasters and government actions, which there is no control.
- Currency Fluctuation
- Legislation
- The EU Directive
- War, terrorism, civil unrest.
Use of new technology
We have now found out that the development of technology has helped in the rapid increase in the development of tourism worldwide. The industry’s key component now relies on Computer Reservation Systems or Global Distribution Systems. These systems can process the sales of airline ticket, package holidays, and hotel accommodation to car hire. There are four major global reservations systems; they are Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus and Worldspan. They enable multinational corporations to operate commercially throughout the world, and to develop global partnership with airlines, hotels, and other infrastructure.
Currency Fluctuation and the Economy
Exchange rates are very unpredictable and uncontrollable influence on the holiday demands. As the pound increases, it encourages outbound tourism and because of its strength against other currency, it allows British holidaymakers to get much more for their money. Because of the strong pounds, it encourages over 60% of holidaymakers to take it abroad. At the same time, it discourages other visitors to visit the UK because they have to pay more in contract their currency.
Legislation
Government rules are important to the travel and tourism industry, especially economic ones. The air passenger duty is the government main levy on the growth of travel. The government influences the operation and structure of the industry. The investigation that the Monopolies and Mergers Commissions carried out in 1997 stated that the foreign package holiday market is very competitive, and have a good customer service reputation. Nevertheless, despite this tree industry practices are stopped. They are:
- Discounts on holidays, which were conditional on buying travelling insurance related to that holiday, are now prohibited using an order under the Fair Trading Act 1973.
- Most favoured customer clauses in tour operators’ contract were stopped
- Lack of clarity about the ownership of travel agencies by major tour operators
European Union also affects the travel and tourism industry. It has had a significant impact on the industry in recent years. For example, their duty free was ended in 1999. This has increased the cost of holidays in two ways. Tour operators, airlines, and ferry companies had to increase their prices to cover the loss of profits from duty free sales. A directive in 1990 from the European Union legislation has changed the nature of package holidays.
The EU Directive on package travels
The aim of the EU Directive on package travel is to harmonise consumer protection across the whole community. ABTA has never been under any legal obligation because they had been operating their own system of financial protection for many years. The significance of this new law to the industry is unparalleled. There is an estimated sum of 30,000 tour organisers under the terms of the Directive. Tour organisers of packaged holidays must have financial protection in place.
War, Civil Unrest, Terrorism and Crime
The industry is always subjected to war, criminal violence, terrorism and political unrest. Since the 1990s, there are counties and regions that are affected and this reduce the number of tourist visiting these countries, the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, Cyprus, Morocco and Egypt. In 1997, the Luxor tourist massacre was severed set back for the tourism industry in Egypt and in the same year the Dominican Republic suffered similarly. The effect of the Luxor massacre was understandable; they were incidents involving the hygiene, which changed the market direction.
Economic Impact
The industry has a significant impact on the UK’s economy in terms of the income it generates. Income that is gained from tourism is vital to the economic well being of the host community, as it support local trade and provide jobs.
A wide range of industry benefit from both indirect and direct income generated by visitors in the area.
Indirect income is generated through a process known as the multiplier effect. This is when money spent by visitors is circulated in the local economy. The multiplier effect can also be applied as the number of people employed. It has been estimated that for every two jobs, a third one is created. The negative economic impact of the industry is that many of the jobs are seasonal and part time and does not provide the stability to support a family. The wealth that is generated by the industry may not be reinvested locally so the multiplier income is reduced.
Social Impact: Local communities benefit from the provision of public, private and voluntary sectors. Travel and Tourism services and products schemes that have been regenerated have led to improvements and increasing investments in many neglected areas. The positive social impact it has on the host community to meet other people from different parts of Britain and overseas and also to help preserve the local’s culture and traditions.
There are actually more negatives than positive where the social impact is concerned with the host communities. Tourism may generate wealth, but it raise the price of services, food and houses, which many locals may not be able to afford to continue in the area. Due to this, it can lead to resentment between the locals and the tourists residing in the area. The locals will have to put up with the disorderly behaviour, over crowdedness, traffic congestion, and increased violence during the peak holiday seasons.
Environmental Impact
Environmental impacts help the beautification of rundown areas. Tourism revenue restores old historic buildings and maintains run down site areas but despite the fact that tourism provides economic benefits, there is the concern about the impact it has on the environment. In cases where tourism development is badly managed have overthrow local cultures and permanently damages sites and landscapes.
Employment Statistics
The Travel and Tourism industry is one of the Britain’s largest industries with an estimated of 1.7 million people employed in it and 50,000 new jobs are created each year. This level of employment represents 7% of all UK employees, more than construction or transport. So basically, the industry is a major employment provider.
Below are figures obtained fro BTA (2002). This indicates employment number in the different sectors in the industry.
Working In Travel and Tourism
There is a large range of jobs opportunities in the travel and tourism industry, which reflects the diversity of the key industry components. These jobs can either be full time, part time, permanent or temporary.
There are jobs available in either travel services or transportation.
Leisure Travel Agents, Business travel Agents and Tour Operators are the three main work areas in which you can get a vast range of job opportunities. In the transportation area, there are coach companies, railways, airlines, airports, ferries, cruise liners and the general, which you find jobs.
In the hospitality sector, there are jobs in hotels, such as accountant, barmen, secretaries, cooks, etc and in the tourism support promotion. There are jobs in stately homes and historic houses, administration, tourist boards and tourist information centres, in marketing, in publication, research and standard officer. There are also numerous jobs in the attraction sectors, which cannot be fully listed. Lastly, jobs in catering and hospitality can also be noted.
In the travel services, employers look for the following:
- Methodical Working habits
- Accuracy
- Literacy and numeracy
- Knowledge of travel geography
- Ability to work with people
- Computer Skills
The working conditions are similar to working in any retail outlet, except the sales products are travel rather than selling goods. The jobs initially offer low wages and there is competition because travel is considered as glamorous. There are qualifications that are needed to obtain a job at any of the travel services. Below is just an example of some of the qualifications that can be obtained:
- ABTAC (ABTA Travel Agent’s Certificate)
- ABTOC (ABTA Tour Operator’s Certificate)
- Vocational A level Travel and Tourism
- NVQ’s in Travel Services
- GBTA Introductory Certificate in Business Travel
- Qualifications in languages, IT and Customer Care
The working condition in working transport requires that you are fit and has stamina and cannot suffer from motion sickness. The working hours are often unsociable hours and work shifts can be long. However most employers offers staff perks such as free or discounted travel. The employers are also looking for those who have:
- IT Skills
- Customer Service Skills
- Literacy and Numeracy
- Foreign Languages are also useful
There are many sources of information to assist in choosing a job in travel and tourism. Jobs can be found at career services, libraries job centres, employment agencies, professional associations and talking to people whom are already employed in the job.
Description and details of one job that best match my aspirations, skills and abilities
My chosen job is a Resort representative. This job matches my circumstances at the moment apart from my age. I am studying for my advanced level Travel and Tourism, which include a topic on Resort Representatives and we have to work and learn on it.
I will list my skills and qualities and say why I am the best candidate for this job.
Skills
- I pay attention to details
- I am a computer literate
- I can communicate clearly
- I have the ability to work with people
- I am a good team player and have an outgoing personality
- I am patient, friendly and like solving problems
- I like meeting new people
Qualities
- Customer care skills
- Willingness to work long hours when needed
- I have knowledge of travel geography
- Customer service experience
- I have selling skills experience
The job I chose specify qualities and skills needed such as dealing directly with the public, being friendly, and experience in the travel industry, an outgoing person a passionate about working in the travel industry. As you can see from my skills and qualifications above, I feel that I am the right person for the job and qualify for the job specification.
This matches my circumstances, as soon as I finish my AVCE Travel and Tourism two year course.
I hope to continue to complete my university degree then move up the ladder. I would have had ample experience in the industry.
Chain of distribution in the Travel and Tourism Industry
When the supply structure or chain of distribution is formed, the relationship is formed between producers, wholesalers and retailers.
Bibliography
To prove that I have done a full research on Investigating Travel and Tourism, I have used a number of resources to assist me in my investigation. All the resources that I have used are used for a different and specific areas.
All my statistics information were obtained from
These provided information about entertainment companies in the UK. Below is just a list of all the resources:
- Social trend 1999- a government research publication
- BTA forecast
- Outhart etcal 2001, Advanced Vocational Travel and Tourism, Collins
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for national statistics