Transport.
Ferries.
In the 19th century ferries were a lot different to what we have now, they had paddle steamers and didn’t travel very fast, they were also expensive to run. With the growth of car ownership people started wanting to take their cars on holiday with them. Captain Townsend was the first to discover this and was also the first to cater for the new market. After the Second World War ferries had been invented where you could drive your car on and off but before that a crane loaded the cars onto the ferries.
The Concorde.
In 1956 was when the research began for the Concorde over the airline in Europe. British airways were the first to give their passengers the option to fly on the Concorde in 1960. The Concorde had its first ever crash in just outside Paris in July so in august 2000 15 British airways stopped its Concorde flights, but the following year 2001, 7 of the British airways started its flights again going only to New York. On April 10th 2003 British airways had announced how they would be stopping all flights using Concorde and would retire its flights in October of the same year.
The channel tunnel.
1802 was when plans and designs had started to be made by a French man called Albert Mathieu but then a year later in 1803 Henri Mottray had made another design. Henri Mottray was an English man. Rail networks had been planned and had started to progress in Britain, this was when a tunnel had come in mind, Thome de Gamond was working on designs for this and had 7 different designs that he had spent 30 years designing. In 1880was when the first time an attempt had been made to make the tunnel. On the 15th December 1987 developing the tunnel had taken place in England and it wasn’t till February 1988 the French had started to dig the tunnel their side, in December 1990 the channel had been completed successfully and the channel tunnel break through was made a historic event.
Structure and characteristics of the present industry.
There are many different sectors of the present travel industry and they all have to link in together to make the tourism industry work, without one sector the other cant work so they are all closely linked.
There are many services in the tourism industry such as:
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Package holidays- these are packages that combine everything that you need for your holiday like accommodation, transport flights etc. it is made so that everything is included in the price.
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Flights- you can arrange to go somewhere just flying without any other services.
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Currency- money is needed everywhere and getting a different currency is easy, you can get change it in shops like marks and Spencer’s, in banks or at the bureau de change.
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Travel insurance- this is needed on travels to give you protection.
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Accommodation only- places to stay where ever you travel.
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Labour intensity- travel and tourism is a labour intensive industry. All Staff members have to be trained to do what ever job they are doing. There are jobs for everyone in this industry such as:
- Resort representatives.
- Air crew.
- Pilots.
- Drivers (coaches).
- Travel agents.
- Air Controllers.
Example: a hotel cant run just by the owner it needs others for it to run smoothly e.g. a chef so that the holidaymakers have a choice to eat, maids so that the rooms are up to a good standard and clean for the customer, receptionist to take all bookings of the hotel and a ground keeper that looks after the grounds of the hotel. All these people are needed to keep the hotel working in order.
Travel agents.
Travel agents belong to the private sector; the purpose of a travel agent is to make money. Travel agents provide you a holiday. Travel agents are everywhere from high streets, villages or even shopping centres. Agencies play a big role to the travel industry as nearly all of the population use them to book holidays, without agencies package deals wouldn’t be around. Travel agents need to be combined with accommodation as the agent cannot send a holidaymaker away without a destination for them to go to and a place for them to stay. A travel agent has to fine their customer a holiday that suits there need and they are commission paid. There are many different types of travel agencies and some specialise in different types of holidays for example some specialise in cruises, European holidays or safari holidays etc.
Tour operations.
Tour operators provide holiday makers with a package and then sell the package deals to selected travel agents to sell for them. They combine different services to make a holiday. They have to follow ABTAs rules and regulations in order for there operations to take place.
Transportation.
Transport takes you to each destination; without transport holidaymakers wouldn’t be able to go on holiday you can’t walk abroad you need something to take you there and back. Without transport travel agents wouldn’t be able to promote their holidays. Transport plays a major role to the structure of the tourism industry. Now a days people use transport to go everywhere there are 4 major ways to travel these are:
- Aeroplanes.
- Trains.
- Cars
- Ferries/ships.
Accommodation & catering.
When going on holiday you need somewhere to stay, travel agencies, travel agencies wouldn’t be needed if accommodation wasn’t around. Also you can’t stay without food during your holidays, many people go on holiday to relax and don’t want to cook so it’s so much easier just to order a meal and pay for it. Catering is very big abroad and takes in a lot of money. There are many types of accommodation such as hotels, motels, B&BS, inns and guest houses. Hotels and accommodation can be rated and they are from 1 to 7stars this is just to show how good the accommodation actually is (official rating).
Tourism development.
Promoting destinations, airlines or travel agents is the best way to get more customers. You can promote using radio, TV, billboards and signs etc it’s a great way to attract new customers as there interest first starts with what they see. Developing countries are on the increase with tourists, for example countries like China and Latvia are becoming popular tourist destinations.
Tourist attractions.
Tourist attractions are sometimes what attract a holidaymaker to go and visit somewhere. Tourists come to England for many reasons, but mainly to see the attractions that we have such as the millennium dome (which now is not open) in 2000, the London eye or in oxford there are the colleges and universities and other attractions such as Stonehenge and Warwick Castle. Other viewers/holidaymakers like to see the life style and culture of others. Visiting tourist attractions is a great way to find this out.
Products & services provided by organisations.
In the UK the tourism industry provides many products and services such as:
- Accommodation.
- Catering.
- Car hire.
Accommodation.
Accommodation is needed if you are travelling away from home, in the 1990s buying your own accommodation abroad became popular and is still popular now. In the UK there are many hotels, motels, B&BS and guest houses. You can find them everywhere as it is more convenient for the holidaymaker.
Catering.
Many hotels or accommodation are made so you can choose if you wan to eat or not at an extra cost. Catering is a big service as many people find it easier just to buy food. There are so many restaurants that there is a variety of food for everyone.
Car hire.
Car hire is used everywhere, it’s a good idea to have car hire as holidaymakers or even business people can travel more independently and freely. Hiring a car is a great way to explore the country in your own way. In the UK there are many ways you can travel around e.g. by coach you can go to Butlins and then get a coach back to your destination as there is a regular service. Car hire is the main way to travel but you can also use:
- Train.
- Bus/coach.
- Caravan/campervan.
- Motorcycle.
- Plane.
Factors affecting the travel & tourism industry today.
Factors affecting the industry are:
- Terrorism in 2001 changes the tourist industry there was a big decrease in the number of tourists going abroad and it affected everyone in the tourism industry.
- Internet/technology many people are now using internet instead of going through a travel agent as they find it more convenient because you can do it anywhere.
- Transport development- new transport is being developed and there are faster and quicker ways to get to places. Also plans for new transport are being made such as the airbus.
- Culture-china is now a major tourist destination as it has allowed tourists to enter the country it has attracted many people as everyone wants to see the sights that have been hidden for so long. In 2002 was when ticket sales were on the increase to visit china. Countries like Latvia and Estonia are becoming big tourist destinations.
- Eastern Europe countries joining the EU that are already popular destinations.
Internet.
Internet has grown so much all over the world and many businesses (not just travel and tourism business) are going out business. Now people can buy everything by using the internet like Tescos does an internet service you can buy food, holidays, cars, toys and so much more. Nearly every job now involves computers. Around 11.9 million households have the internet at home. Since 1998 the number of households that have internet has grown 5times more than in 1998.
So many people have the internet now and it is affecting the tourism industry. Travel agents are seeing fewer customers but their internet sites are gaining customers. There is no way you can stop people from using the internet so travel agents should make more internet sites so that holidaymakers can still use your services but in a different way.
Eastern Europe Countries.
Ten countries have recently become part of the European Union; some of the countries that have joined are popular destinations for holidaymakers. Latvia and Estonia are two countries that have just become part of the EU. Now that more countries have joined other countries want to be part of it. To be in the EU the countries have to abide by some rules so to prevent an overload of countries joining the rules should stay in place because not all countries want to comply with these rules.
