Tourism Industry in Arizona - Essay Example

TOURISM INDUSTRY IN ARIZONA Introduction Tourism is one of the rapidly growing industries in the world. In the recent past, tourism and hospitalityhave been shown to be the rapidly growth industry in the world. This is due tot the increased wave of globalization which have seen many people travelling to various areas in the world for various activities. The revolution in transport and communication means has been one of the most import factors that have contributed to the immense growth of the industry. There has been diversification of tourism activities in the world. Increased opening of the market has led to increased movement of people and capital with a revolution in business which has been having positive effects on the performance of the tourism industry. But overall the tradition leisure and recreation tourism activities have remained core to the growth of the industry. Tourism has been one of the growing industries in Tucson, Arizona. It is one of the rapidly growing industries in the state having been ranked third in revenue. Tucson metropolitan attracts more that 3.5 million tourists every year which is one of the highest tourism numbers in the region. There are diversified tourism activities that attract tourism to Tucson from all parts of the world. The region has a good climate and the Sononarn Desert and the majestic mounts that ring the city continue to attract more and more tourist. This has contributed to the robustness of the industry. With an annual 300 days of sunny weather Condition and the natural ability to attract winter tourism from cold climates, Tucson makes one of the bets tourism destinations in Arizona. (Tucson, 2008a) Tourist attraction in Tucson include Saguaro National Park, Arizon-Sonoar Desert Mesuem, Reid Park Zoo, Pima County Fairgrounds, Kino Sport Complex, Old Tucson Studios, Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley, Arizona Historical Society, Tucson Botanical Gardens, Biosphere 2 Center, and others. There are other attraction sites in Tucson but these are the major leading attractions . Source: Tucson, (2008b). Tourism industry Data. Retrieved from http://www.visittucson.org/media/research/tourismdata/ on 23rd May 2008 Tourism companies operating in Tucson The growth of the industry in Tucson has corresponded with increased number of operation and hospitality companies. There are more that 289 local tourist companies in Tucson which absorbs a workforce of more that 44,200 employees. These companies have been contributing to more that $2 billion in revenue which has been a major boost for the economy of Tucson and the larger Arizona state. There are many companies which operate in Tucson offering tourism services. The major companies in the industry include Canyon Ranch Health Resort which employs 855 employees, Metro Restaurant Inc. with a workforce of more that 750, JW Marriot Starr Pass Resort & Spa employs about 696, Loew Ventana Canyon Resort which employs about 589 people, Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort employing 555 employees, and The Westin La Panaloma Resort & Spa with a workforce of more that 436 employee. These are the major operators in the industry. However there are other small operators providing the same services but the above are the major players who have been offering stiff competition to one another. Most of them have an international operation. These companies produce various tourism packages. Most of them offer travel services where they take their visitors from one tourism attraction to another. In this case they have the transport section which is concerned with arranging travel series from one area to another. They also offer accommodation services. This is one of the most important functions of the operators in the industry. They offer room accommodations and camp sites where accommodation is offered in cottages and tents. An accommodation service also comes with other in room services including meals, laundry services, and other. Although accommodation service can be listed as a part of hospitality industry, most of the companies have tried to fuse the two industries in order to offer competitive packages to their customers. These companies like Hilton also offer sport facilities. This is one of the major tourism attractions to region. Hilton has been originations successful golf tournament which has been instrument in promoting sports tourism which is one of the growing tourist activities. Most of the companies have been benefiting from the economies of scope. They have successfully taken various strategies which evidence factors of economies of scope for example most of them have been taking various steps towards ensuring that there is product bundling in order to ensure that they rip maximum profit from the package that is offered from one customer. There has been an increasing trend of fusing the services offered. For example there has been fusion of tourism operation and hospitality services at the same time. There has also been increased product lining in the industry and branding which has been aimed at attracting customer. There has been family branding of tourism packages which is expected to give certain special packages to a certain segment which attracts them more. These companies have been utilizing vertical structure of production which is evident the managerial levels. It is evident that the there has been transfer of intangible inputs like managerial oversight rather than physical ones. This has reflected an effective vertical integration of the production process. Market interaction Market intergrt5ion in the industry is relatively flexible. Due to the dynamism nature of the industry there are fewer barriers that are put in order to determine the entry of new player in the industry. The industry has been liberalized and therefore the entry or exit from the industry is dependant on the level of competition in the market. in this regard it is the competitive edge that a company can make that determine whether it will be able to stay in the industry or not. There are not fixed cost which is set except for the operating license that is obtained from the government. In this case the licenses is not put as way of regulate the industry but it is meant to provide revenue for the government and also as a way of assessing the ability of the new company to meet the standards of services that have been set for the industry. It is only the license cost which is paid to the government that is fixed. Other costs of operation in the industry are flexible and depend on the size of the operation of the firm. This means the cost of operation like electricity costs, fuel cost, telephone charges, and others are all variable depending on the size of operation of the industry. Market structure The market can be described as a perfect competition. The market can be described as liberalized market in which the force of the market as determined by demand and supply are prevalent. In this case it is the competitiveness of the firms in the industry that determining whether it is going to survive the competition or not. It is the growth strategies that a firm takes that determines how it is going to perform in the industry. With more than 289 operators, in the same industry, it can be considered to be one a perfect competitive market. The government has not been putting restrictions on the entry and exit of the industry. This has been upheld with the fact that tourism industry is quiet dynamic and prone to some factors like government control. With the need to achieve homogeneity in tourism culture and service in the hospitality industry, the government has removed major barriers in order to try and attract international operators like Hilton and others which have been able to achieve some form of homogeneity in industry in the world and therefore they are likely to attract more customers. Competition Like in other regions where tourism is becoming an important activity, there has been intense competition in the industry. With about 298 operators there have to a highly level of competition in order to attract the 3.5 million tourist who comes to the country. In this case there have been various ways that have been used in order to attract tourist to the company. These include discounts on the packages and rooms service. However there have not been intense price wars that have been witnessed in the industry which could turn out to be detrimental to the survival of the industry. According to my view, firms in the industry are actually competing and not colluding. This is because they have been offering different packages at different prices in a bid to attract more tourism to a firm and not setting the same price for the industry. I believe that there is perfect competition between the firms in the industry. Conclusion Tourism industry has grown to be one of the most important industries in Tucson. There have been massive growth of the tourism in the past although the number of tourists coming to visit the country varying from year to year. There are about 289 firms which are operating in the industry. This means that there is intense competition in the industry. With low government regulation of the industry, the industry has been liberalized and therefore opens to competition. With such level of competition and lack of regulation for entry and exit, it means that the survival of a firm depends on the competitive edge that it can create. Firms in the industry are actually competing and not colluding. This is because they have been carrying out market strategies like discounts and other which are aimed at attracting tourist to their own firms. In this case this cannot be referred as a collusion rather it is a health completion. In the future the survival of any firm in the industry will depend on the way it is able to create a competitive edge based on the cost and the quality of services it is offering. With the increased homogenization of tourism service, this may be another factor that is likely to affect how firms will survive in the industry. References Tucson, (2008a). Tourism. Retrieved from http://www.treoaz.com/Industry-Strengths-Tourism.aspxon 23rd May 2008 Tucson, (2008b). Tourism industry Data. Retrieved from http://www.visittucson.org/media/research/tourismdata/ on 23rd May 2008 Read More