Post-War Developments of Travel and Tourism

2841 Words6 Pages

Post-War Developments of Travel and Tourism

Since the Second World War, which ended in 1945, the worldwide travel

and tourism industry had grown so much that it is considered as the

largest industry in the world. In the past 40 years the developments

of the industry has been shaped by a number of factors. These factors

can be divided into four categories, which are:

* Changing socio-economic conditions

* Developing technology

* Product technology

* Changing consumer needs

Changing Socio-economic conditions

This is the term given to the combination of social and economic

factors. These factors have contributed to the growth of the travel

and tourism industry since the Second World War. Leisure time has

increased greatly in the past amount of years for people in the UK.

One of the reasons it has increased is because of the introduction of

paid holidays. Now people feel at ease to go on holiday without of

being short for money when they come home. Theses paid holydays have

increased seaside holidays significantly such as Brighton, Blackpool

or Benidorm.

The entitlement of four to five weeks paid holidays has helped UK

domestic tourism industry by encouraging consumers to take a short

holiday breaks in addition to their main holiday. The length of the

working week has also been reduced largely. In the 1950's the average

working week in the UK was 50 hours. The typical working week in the

UK range 37-40 hours. Many workers have greater choice now about the

pattern of their working week. The unemployed and the increased number

of retired people in recent years has seen the demand for leisure

activitie...

... middle of paper ...

... terms of consumer spending and

employment. However, because the industry is so varied and uneven, it

is often difficult to assess its exact contribution to the national

economy.

The British Tourist Authority and the English Tourism council estimate

that the value of tourism to the UK in 1998 was £61,201 million,

making the industry the fourth largest earner of foreign exchange.

It is now worth approx £74 billion in 2001 and has created about 2.1

million jobs.

In 1998, 25.7 million overseas

[IMAGE]

This table shows the total spending of overseas tourist spending in

the UK

The English Tourism Council and the British Tourist Authority both

produce data that highlight the importance of tourism to the national

economy.

The UK domestic tourism expenditure in 2001 was more than £59 billion.

More about Post-War Developments of Travel and Tourism

Open Document