The travel and tourism sector - Coursework Example

?The Travel and Tourism Sector Examine the historic developments in the field of travel and tourism with reference to the contribution of technological and economic developments, including the industrial revolution over the last two years Leisure tourism was a common thing even in the Egyptian and Babylonian empires. Most of the travelling had to do with visiting religious temples. In those days most people travelled by foot, with only the wealthy being borne in litters from place to place. Many centuries later, in the fourth century, even had advertisements posted on city walls which informed people travelling to religious festivals about the available inns in the towns of Sparta, Athens and Troy. During the era of the Roman Empire, Roman soldier patrols allowed Roman citizens to be able to travel in relative safety within the empire’s jurisdiction. The Roman Empire also built high quality roads to places like Rhodes and Sicily- thus easing the travelling expeditions of its citizens. From 300 AD, many people from all over the world would travel to the Holy Land on spiritual pilgrimages. The Romans were the first civilization to use (itineraria) guidebooks which had lists of inns and different marks indicating varying quality. The areas near the city, Rome, even had homes that were constructed to house the multitudes of visitors who came to the city in springtime to enjoy the entertainments that were common at this time. The tourist resorts around ‘Naples’ were mainly favoured by Roman intellectuals as well as retired wealthy citizens. The region of ‘Baiae’ was more frequented by the lower elements of Roman society and was notorious for all- night singing. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, travel became much more dangerous for people as there were no patrols to keep the roads safe. The Pre-Industrial Age Between the 16th to 18th centuries in Europe, the citizens of many nations were more mobile than was the case during the Middle Ages (Veal 2006). The Northern European landed gentry often sent their sons to places like Greece and Italy to learn more about different cultures as part of the "Grand Tour". For the most part, people still walked to different places; it is only the wealthy who used carriages to travel. When travelling longer distances, citizens from different nations would also use horses and ships. The ships did not have motors, but used the wind’s power. Due to the fact that the speed of travel was limited most governments authorized the building of cities near the major waterways so as to make trade easier. The Industrial Revolution started in the 1700s in England and subsequently spread North America and Europe. Nations in Western Europe stopped being cantered around agricultural activities began to identify as industrial societies. When manufacturing facilities began to engage in mass production many citizens moved into the cities. To facilitate this, canals were developed to ease water travel and railways were created to speed travel into the main cities. These alterations made it easier for people to be able to travel over long distances. The subsequent creation of the combustible engine, the automobile, and the airplane further enabled more effective and faster travel across both water and land, while also increasing the number of regions in which people could engage in trade. While this increased the incidences of tourism, it is not until the 1950s when commercial jets became affordable for ordinary citizens that masses of people were able to visit tourist destination that they had only previously read about. The 1960s so the beginning of a new trend- backpacking- in Europe and America. Hippies would travel to areas of interest such as Morocco, Guatemala, Bali, and, most often, India. Backpackers wanted to experience life as citizens of different nations and so did not want to be secluded from the populations of the citizens they travelled through. The 1980s saw other nations outside Europe and America start to take a keen interest in travelling for leisure. Today, all nations have citizens that regularly visit other nations for business or leisure purposes. Mass tourism has actually begun to cause numerous problems for the most popular tourist destinations. Even though increased fuel prices have made long-distance travel a more costly undertaking, tourist numbers are still on the rise all over the world. b) Explain the various components of the travel and tourism sector businesses and discuss the industry structure in which the travel and tourism businesses operate. The tourism and travel industry has voluntary, public, and private sectors. Public services in the tourist industry are mainly paid for by the national government. Local councils that are elected by the government oversee the spending of government-sponsored finances. The funds provided by government provide funds for art galleries, community centres, information centres, museums, leisure clubs, libraries, public halls, catering services, and playing fields. In tourism, the private sector is involved in realizing profits by proffering different products and services to tourists in the fields of accommodation, entertainment facilities like health clubs and golf courses, travel services, and sales. In the voluntary sector, there are non-profit organizations such as sport clubs that give some type of financial benefit to the tourism industry like VAT relief. Travel and Tourism Chain of Distribution The tourism and travel chain of distribution is the system involved in providing products for end consumers. There is the producer of goods, the wholesaler, the trader, and lastly the consumer. In most cases, a producer will deliver the created goods to the consumer-base, however, in the tourism sector has a different system. In the travel and tourism business, there are principals such as airlines, hotels, tour operators, transport companies, travel agencies, and, finally, customers. There are even tour operators that have procured travel agencies, airlines, and hotels so as to acquire market position as well as considerable commercial growth. This merger or procuring procedure can be identified as a form of horizontal or vertical integration (Plog 2003). In some regions, in the chain of tourism and travel, there are firms that own entire elements in the distribution chain. This also happens in places where there is stiff competition as the tour firms that do not do this may be rendered irrelevant. The use of horizontal or vertical integration can significantly influence the choices made by tourist customers because the customers have the chance to procure entire packages at practical price instead of procuring different services at costly prices. Vertical integration makes it easier for tourist consumers to return to the tour firm repeatedly due to efficiency. Moreover, horizontal integration can also reinforce the position of the tour firm while serving consumers efficiently. Both horizontal and vertical integration allows tourist consumers to have a wider selection to pick from. Tour industries also benefit because they can offer tourists more choices at moderate prices. Many tour operators, for instance, offer packages that include hotel accommodation such as guest homes or self-catering villas, as well as touring vehicles, Tour agencies that are mass-market operators usually sell holidays in high volume. Tour agencies that are specialist operators offer distinct experiences for their clients, such as tours for Amazon adventures. Domestic tour operators, on the other hand, concentrate on creating holiday packages that are designed for tourists from the home market. There are, in addition, incoming tour operators that are focused on creating idyllic experiences for foreign tourists. Travel Agents are also a vital group in the tourism industry as they provide services for domestic, outgoing, and incoming tourists. There are varied categories of travel agencies. These include independent, multiple, e-agents, and holiday hypermarkets. Travel agents basically function as connectors between tourists, accommodation and entertainment facilities like hotels. TASK 2: a) Discuss the role of national and local authority governments in the development of tourism and analyze the functions of the government sponsored bodies and international agencies in the development and promotion of travel and tourism. National governments usually create policies that improve tourism within their jurisdiction in various ways. In most developing nations where tourism is still a new phenomenon, there are ministries created to specifically cater for the improvement of tourism. Such ministries are responsible for the licensing or entertainment facilities for tourists, funding the construction of accommodation facilities such as hotels, and encouraging the development of free markets. In most developed nations, however, the private sector is responsible for most functions related with tourism. For the most part, the public sector only interferes when there are serious problems plaguing the industry. National governments also create policies that maximize opportunities for the entertainment of tourists. They also create good roads and provide electricity to and from tourist facilities. International agencies such as the United Nations (UN) are responsible for fostering collaboration in terms of security in different world regions, international law, human rights, social progress, and maintaining world peace. Peace is essential if tourism is to prosper. The UNWTO - United Nations World Tourism Organization is another UN institution which encourages tourism activities. It plays a significant function in promoting responsible, and sustainable tourism, particularly where the concerns of developing nations are concerned. It seeks to support the realization of the international Code of Ethics in matters concerning tourism. This makes sure that the positive social, financial, and cultural results of tourism in tourist destinations, member countries, and establishments are exploited, while its negative environmental as well as social effects are reduced. Another influential international organization where tourism is concerned is the ‘World Travel and Tourism Council’. The WTTC is responsible for raising awareness for the tourism industry being recognized as one of the most financially beneficial industries. b) Explain the link between national economic policy & development and the travel & tourism sector development. Examine how political changes in different countries affect the travel and tourism sector. Sustainable tourism development can only be attained when tourism stakeholders as well as national governments seek to ensure that the continuing prosperity of future generations is preserved. The notion of sustainable development calls for a basic reviewing of economic development. It questions the traditional economic development’s capacity to afford better living conditions in the short term while endangering longer-term affluence where future generations are concerned. Managing sustainable tourism has to do with coordinating, leading, and controlling so as to accumulate the resources that will assist in putting together and implementing the state’s tourism regulations. Administrative matters are also important to consider as they have to do with creating the structure of a tourism establishments as well as defining their roles and responsibilities. It may be necessary to create committees at the different levels of government to foster commitment to preserve policies that will ensure continued tourism development. This type of coordination may also necessitate teaming with different stakeholders at local as well as national levels in order to determine priorities while also generating consensus for action (Holloway 2004). The management of different tourism organizations in the tourism industry might also be made more effective if underpinned by reliable information about the available opportunities for cooperation between sub-regional as well as regional tourism institutions. Economic problems are not as troublesome for the tourist industry as political changes. When nations undergo political instability, most tourists will fear to visit it because they may assume that their safety will be jeopardized. Such an issue is not easy to solve even after the nation has regained stability because tourists will then have to be convinced again about the reasons why it is beneficial for them to visit it. TASK 3: a) Explain tourism demand and critically examine the factors that influence demand for travel and tourism products and services. For the most part, tourism demand is dependent on a nation’s political stability, different seasons, and the size of the tourist’s income. Political instability will result in massive cancellations of hotel bookings in any nation, developed or undeveloped as tourists fear for their safety (Holloway, Davidson, and Humphreys 2009). Where seasons are concerned, most tourists tend to visit other places of interest during religious seasons such as the Christmas seasons and around Easter. On each of these holidays, the birthplace of Christianity, Jerusalem, sees a hike in the number of tourists seeking to visit the place where Jesus Christ was borne. The income of tourists also affects where they choose to tour. Tourists who do not have very large incomes may visit neighbouring nations or places of interest within their own nations. Wealthy tourists are more likely to charter planes to visit locations in different geographical areas of the world. The quality of the tourism destinations is also a factor that is always considered by tourists. For instance, many people around the world may want to visit the Pyramids in Egypt (Mullins 2005). However, today, the place is surrounded by so many aggressive traders that tourists can hardly concentrate on studying the famous pyramids, and so tend to keep away. Moreover, well-heeled tourists can pay to be taken to areas around the pyramids that have no vendors. Other minor factors that may be taken into consideration by tourists include a nation’s socio-cultural aspects, holidays as well as the climate in the tourist destination, and government regulations. Many people might want to visit the Middle East but find the culture more than stifling. In addition, they are aware that they might be expected to visit places of interest swathed in stifling robes in an area that has a hot climate. This is a socio-cultural aspect that discourages many tourists from visiting Saudi Arabia. In as far as holidays are concerned, when these days of celebration are marketed extensively, they can attract large numbers of tourists. For instance, the ‘Holi’ festival in India has in the recent past attracted many tourists (Cooper, Fletcher, Fyall, Gilbert and Wanhill 2008). Tourists may also take into consideration the transport technology available in the destination being considered. b) Discuss how the suppliers of tourism products and services respond to the changing demand in travel and tourism. For most tourism destinations, the current international competition in the tourism industry is always something that they have to consider. For the most part, tour and travel agencies require practical objectives which take into consideration the resources and other options that are available to potential clients. Given the current realties of demand and prospective trends, it is no longer enough for tour agencies to offer good services. The destinations have to be in the tourist consumer’s preferred set, and to be perceived as a more than acceptable option even in this set. Travel and tour agencies can actually capitalize on the existing information overload to win more consumers. They can function as guides or informed directors in the information jungle and, therefore, offer a different type of convenience for tourists. They also have to carefully analyze how the tourism market conditions are changing and determine how the tourists are likely to pick destinations under these conditions. TASK 4: a) Examine the impacts of travel and tourism (positive and negative) and evaluate the key economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism in specific destination. There are many advantages that are brought about by tourism. First, the creation of hotels, golf parks, casinos, and other such entertainment facilities provide a lot of employment opportunities for the local populations (BTEC 2012). Almost all such opportunities require relatively low-skilled workers. This also contributes to the continued economic development of the nation in question. Tourism income is also used to improve a nation’s infrastructure, enhance the education system, and sponsor conservation programmes which are tasked with preserving tourist destinations. Moreover, tourism has several negative effects on destinations. Some of the consequences of tourism include the strain on environmental resources like food, water, energy, and natural habitat areas (Beech and Chadwick 2005). Furthermore, unrestricted tourism development results in increased pollution, soil erosion and discharges into the waterways as well as seas in most tourist destinations. It also brings about increased vulnerability to deforestation, more pressure on endangered species and, sometimes, the loss of biodiversity. Mass tourism also wear away the significance of traditional values of the communities residing around the tourist destinations due to the constant introduction of foreign elements that clash with the community’s historical, cultural, and religious values. b) Discuss how destinations can overcome and mitigate the negative impacts of tourism while enhancing the positive impacts. There are different ways through which tourism destinations can team with national governments to reduce the negative aspects of mass tourism from affecting communities as well as favored destinations. One way is by introducing a diversity of tourist destinations so that destinations are not constantly swamped, as is the case with the Egyptian pyramids, by large numbers of tourists on a constant basis. Governments can also introduce restrictions as to the number of tourists allowed to visit different areas at any one time. This need not be by only introducing quotas per year. Governments can address the issue by doubling entry fees into popular destination areas. Governments can also support the segregation of wildlife so that wild animals do not come into contact, on a regular basis, with people. This has to do with preserving wild animals in regions where the human population’s expansion has resulted in civilians encroaching on woodlands to eke out a living. Governments can also engage in programmes that seek to preserve and sustain local cultures as well as crafts. Marine environments can also be managed more effectively so as to reduce environmental effects on mangroves, coral reefs, and other threatened habitats. References Beech, J. & Chadwick, S. (2005) The business of tourism management, Financial Times Prentice Hall, New York BTEC. (2012) Travel and tourism management – study guide, Edexcel (Pearson Group), London. Cooper, C., Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D. & Wanhill, S. (2008) Tourism: principles and practice, Financial Times Prentice Hall, New York. Holloway, C., Davidson, R. & Humphreys, C. (2009) The business of tourism, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall, New York. Holloway, J.C. (2004) Marketing for tourism, Financial Times Management, New York. Mullins, L. (2005) Management and organizational behavior, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall, New York. Plog, S.C. (2003) Leisure travel: a marketing handbook, Prentice Hall, London. Veal, A.J. (2006) Research methods for leisure and tourism: a practical guide, Financial Times/ Prentice Hall, New York. Read More