The Development of the Travel and Tourism Industry and the Factors Affecting it Today



Contents

The development of the travel and tourism industry Page 3-4

Factors that have led to the growth in travel and tourism Page 4-6

Future developments in travel and tourism Page 6-7

Factors affecting the travel and tourism industry today Page 8-9

Bibliography Page 10

The Development of the Travel and Tourism Industry

Throughout history, people have travelled across Britain for purposes
of trade, education, religion and to fight in battles. It was not
until the eighteenth century, however, that the foundations of what we
now regard as the British tourist industry began to be laid.

Key Milestones in the Development of the UKtravel and tourism

DATE

MILESTONE

1936

Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp in Skegness

1938

Holidays with Pay Act introduced

1946

Fred Pontin opens his first holiday near Weston Super Mare

1950

First package air holiday organised by Horizon

1952

First Jet Airline passenger service

1959

First Jet Airline passenger service to Australia

1960

Number of domestic holidays taken exceeds 30 million for the first
time and number of foreign holidays rises to 3.5 million

Early

1960's

First global distribution systems developed by American Airlines

1968

Countryside Act passed to create national parks

1969

Development of Tourism Act introduced

1976

Concorde goes into service

1981

60 per cent of households in the UK have regular use of at least one
car

1983

77% of British Workers have 4/5 weeks holiday a year

1987

Number of holidays abroad exceeds 20 million for the first time,
whilst domestic holidays fall 28.5 million the lowest number since
1955

1989

Private car ownership reaches 20 million

1992

EU Directive on package holidays

1992

Department of National Heritage created now known as the Department of
Media, Culture and Sport

1995

Le shuttle and Eurostar carry first passengers through the Channel
Tunnel

1997

70 per cent of all households in the UK have regular use of at least
one car

1998

Number of holidays abroad exceeds 30 million

1998

An estimated 1.4 million people have purchased travel tickets on the
internet

1999

The English Tourism Council replaced the English Tourist Board

2001

EasyJet a No-Frills airline reports 71.6 million profit carrying 11.4
million passengers

2002

Three in ten packages holidaymakers have flown with a no-frills
airline

2003

English Tourism Council and British Tourist Authority merge to become
Visit Britain

Factors that have led to the growth in travel and tourism

The end of the Second World War in 1945 was a watershed in the history
of the world, also in the development of the travel and tourism
industry. The industry has grown rapidly since the 1950s, including:

* Changing socio-economic circumstances: increasing car ownership,
more leisure time and higher income levels have allowed people to
travel more often, particularly on overseas holidays.

* Developments in technology: developments in jet aircraft and
computer technology have contributed to the growth in domestic and
international travel and tourism.

* Product development and innovation: the development of seaside
resorts, introduction of holiday camps, package holidays,
long-haul destinations and all weather attractions have all been
introduced to meet growing demand for travel and tourism products
and services.

* Changing consumer needs, expectations and fashions: through
exposures to television and other mass media, people are looking
for more opportunities to travel in the UK and overseas.

The rise of seaside resorts

In 1752 Dr Richard Russell published Concerning the Use of Sea Water
which led to an increase in seaside resorts as doctors began to
realise that the healing and relaxing minerals that were present in
spa waters were also to be found in the sea. Resorts such as Southend,
Brighton and Blackpool began to increase in popularity. Accommodation,
catering and entertainment facilities were developed in the resorts,
some of which benefited from the introduction of steamboat services in
the early nineteenth century, a factor that led to the contribution of
many of the piers still seen at seaside resorts today.

The introduction of holiday camps

The first purpose-built holiday camp was opened by Billy Butlin in
1936 at Skegness. Holiday camps worked on the simple principle that if
the children were happy on holiday then the parents would be happy as
well. Holiday camps provided entertainment and activities for both
parents and children at a low, all-inclusive rate with the added bonus
of a child-minding service to allow the parents to enjoy themselves.
Butlin's and Warners became market leaders in this type of holiday
which still survives to this day.

Increasing car ownership

The increase of car ownership after the Second World War provided
individuals with greater freedom and flexibility in the use of their
leisure time. People travelled further, exploring new areas of the
British coast and countryside. The number of private cars on the roads
of Britain rose steeply from 2.3 million in 1950 to 11 million in
1970. In 1999 the figure exceeded 23 million vehicles.

The upward trend in the ownership has resulted in a drop in demand for
traditional types of public transport. The use of trains fell from 48
per cent of all journeys in 1952 to just 8 per cent in 1990. Coach
travel dropped from 28 per cent in 1951 to 9 per cent in 1990.

The growth in car ownership in the UK has led to an increase in
associated environmental problems, including pollution, congestion and
the loss of land to further road building.

The development of jet aircraft

One positive outcome of the Second World War was the rapid advance in
aircraft technology, which led to the growth of a viable commercial
aviation industry in Britain and the USA. The excess of aircraft in
the immediate post-war years, coupled with the business flair of
entrepreneurs including Harold Bamberg of Eagle Airways and Freddie
Laker, encouraged the development of holiday travel by air. Comet
aircraft were used in the 1950s, but it was not until the introduction
of the faster and more reliable Boeing 707 jets in 1958 that the
possibility of air travel becoming reality for the mass of the
population was seen. The 1960s saw a surge in demand for scheduled and
charter flights, the latter being combined with accommodation
transfers and courier services to form the overseas 'package tour'.

The growth of package tours

The 1960s saw the beginning of the rapid increase in the number of
package holidays sold. Destinations such as the costal area of
Southern Spain, the Balearic Islands and Greece were favourite
locations for British and other European travellers. Today in the
region of 15 million package holidays are sold to British tourists
each year.

Long-haul destinations

Long-haul destinations are generally considered to be those beyond
Europe, for example the USA, Australia, the Far East and India.
Advances in aircraft technology, coupled with low prices offered by
some of the mayor holiday companies, have open up many new long-haul
destinations in recent years. Places such as Florida, the Gambia, the
Caribbean, Goa, Hong Kong, South Africa and Australia have all become
popular with British tourists.

Call centres

A call centre is a customer service department that uses trained staff
available over telephone lines. A company or organisation may have
their own call centre or may hire out this function to a call centre
company. Ontario has more than 3,000 call centres providing service in
every industry from financial to government, tourism, travel,
manufacturing, technology and the arts, and over 30 service bureaus.
Call centre companies offer complete menus of business-to-business and
customer-driven services. The industry is growing at a rate of 20
percent per year.

Call centres have become one of the world's most important job
creators, and a critical resource for the travel and tourism industry.

Future developments in travel and tourism

The travel and tourism industry will continue to grow in different
ways. There will be a number of important influences on the way that
the industry develops in the future, including:

1. Social Factors: Demographic trends and social changes will have
important impacts on the future development of the industry in the new
millennium. The fact that people are living longer, the fall in the
number of young people, the increase in one parent households, more
couples choosing not to have children or to delay having children all
point to the fact that the type of travel and tourism products and
services will change radically.

2. Political and Economic factors: On a global scale, the late 1980s
saw historic world developments with countries emerging from State
control and embracing the Western 'market economy'. Event such as the
demolition of the Berlin Wall have had profound effects on travel and
tourism developments; tourists from Western countries are now more
able to visit the former Eastern bloc countries, while those from the
former East are curious to sample Western hospitality by travelling
further afield. The completion of the Single European Market in 1993,
with the easing of all the controls, has further increased travel
within European member countries.

3. Cultural and environmental factors: The 1980s saw the emergence in
Britain of a greater environmental awareness and a society that was
beginning too take its health and fitness seriously. These factors are
likely to remain important influences on travel and tourism
developments in the future with so-called 'green issues' high on the
agenda.

4. Technological factors: travel and tourism has always been an
industry that has made extensive use of new technology equipment.
Central reservation system (CRS), the use of computers in travel
agencies and sophisticated databases for marketing purposes are now
ordinary. Increase in competition within the industry will force
organisations to use new technology to the full. New developments in
transportation make extensive use of new technology, for example the
Channel Tunnel, the advances in aircraft design and opening up new
long-hall destinations.

The British Tourist Authority estimates that:

· Growth in overseas visitors to the UK is expected to average 4.4%
over the next five years, reaching 34.6 million visits in 2005.

· Spending by overseas tourists to Britain is forecast to rise by an
annual average of 7.4%, producing £21 billion in 2005.

· UK residences' tourism is expected to show an average 2.6% increase
in visits and 8% in spending between 1998 and 2003

Factors affecting the travel and tourism industry today

Current factors affecting the travel and tourism industry today
include:

* Destinations (e.g. changes, new destinations, re-established
destinations, re-vamped destinations, third world destinations)

* Customers (range of customer types e.g. age, social background,
families, independent etc)

* Time (e.g. change in pattern of taking holidays)

* Activities (e.g. new activities, change in activities)

* Technological (e.g. e-commerce, transport developments)

* Political (e.g. terrorism, war)

* Health and safety (e.g. natural disasters, epidemics)

Technological

The growth of the Internet has increased the collection of information
about travel and tourism products and services. There is an estimation
of 30 to 100 million worldwide users, this makes the Internet an
important part of the travel and tourism industry. Anybody can access
information on travel destinations, transport, accommodation and
attractions on the Internet; they can also make bookings direct with
travel and tourism companies using secure credit card facilities.

Customers can also get up to date information on a wide range of
services such as flight schedules, train timetables, compare costs of
similar products and find information about holiday destinations.

Since the Internet has given customers the ability to plan and book
their own travel there has been a decrease in business in travel
agents, therefore there is a decrease in business for tour operators.

Advantages of the Internet:

* Gives travel agents the opportunity to have their own sites and
greatly expands their contact.

* The Internet is an information and transaction source.

* The Internet can be used by anyone, therefore reaching a much
larger audience.

Disadvantages of the Internet:

* Direct sales channels reduce distribution costs by having the
consumer do the booking, therefore eliminating travel agency
commission and computer reservation fees.

* The Internet produces too much information therefore customers
will be put off.

* Customers sometimes question the privacy and security of the
Internet, therefore will not purchase.

Bookings in the period after the war were simple to take as airlines
and travel operators had charts on the walls of their offices and took
bookings by telephone or through written enquiries.

Computer reservation system:

The name given to a whole range of systems that enables agents to make
bookings with principals which have developed by the airlines.
Provided access to flight information, times, fares and seat
availability and passenger reservations.

Viewdata:

Is the main tool used by tour operators to sell their holidays. It is
a simple booking system which displays information transmitted by
public telephone lines.

Global distribution system:

This is a system that links up several CRS and presents information to
the travel agent.

Political

In recent years the strength of the pound against many other
currencies has made it expensive to travel to the UK. The fact that
Britain has remained outside the single currency (euro) has made it
costly for Europeans in particular to visit.

Inbound tourism has been affected by September 11th, Foot and Mouth in
2001 and the Iraq War of 2003. Recent figures show that British
tourism has weathered these storms.

While aftershock from September 11th touched nearly everyone and
everything across the U.S. and beyond, no industry has been more
affected than the travel and tourism industry. Images of commercial
airplanes piercing Manhattan's skyline, horror stories of airport
security, and accounts of nervous airline passengers subjected to a
gauntlet of persistent check-in procedures upset the traveling public.

Despite increased security, travellers remain wary. Although a number
of travel and tourism companies have reported a decrease in demand of
30% and more following the terrorist attacks, the long-term outlook
for travel and tourism demand is expected to slowly brighten as
consumer confidence about safety and security recover.

Customers

In the travel ad tourism industry there are different types of
customers, therefore making the industry meet different types of needs
for different customers

Greater use of segmentation in the travel and tourism industry has led
to focus on more varied customer groups:

- Leisure customers

- Business customers

- Independent travellers

- Package holiday makers

- Age-specific groups

Bibliography

Ray Youell Vocational- A-level Travel and Tourism

Tourism and Hospitality in the 21st century A. Lockwood and S. Medlik

www.google.com

www.yahoo.com

www.prospects.ac.uk