Unit 1 - Introduction to Travel and Tourism

Hey Guys,
This is the first unit and it's basically what it says on the tin. 

In this assignment I investigate the different sectors of travel and tourism and how they interlink and operate.

Part A – Part 1 – P1

A tourist is a person who travels to and stays in places outside their usual surroundings for less than a consecutive year.

The 3 types of tourism are domestic, inbound and outbound.

Domestic tourism is when you visit destinations within your own country, i.e.: A group of women from Bristol visiting London for a shopping trip.

Inbound tourism is when tourists enter your country, i.e.: A couple from France visiting Scotland.

Outbound tourism is when a tourist will leave their own country to visit another, i.e.: A family leaving the UK to visit Spain for a holiday.

There are two types of accommodation, they are known as serviced and non-serviced.

Non-serviced accommodation doesn’t include services such as cleaning and food. So guests in non-serviced accommodation must provide their own meals and tidy up after themselves. Non-serviced accommodation would be campsites, self catering holidays, rented cottages, caravan sites etc.

Serviced accommodation has cleaning and meals included so there is no need for guests to provide their own. Serviced accommodation is usually found in hotels, bed and breakfasts and guesthouses.

Accommodation Type	Organisation examples
Serviced	Holiday Inn Duke of Cornwall Hilton London Kensington Hotel
Non-serviced	Haven Eurocamp River Dart Country Park

Transport Provision

The four main types of transport are road, rail, sea and air.

Road transport

Road transport is any transport which uses roads to ferry passengers or cargo around the country; this includes vehicles such as cars, coaches, buses, motorbikes, caravans and minibuses.

Coaches are a popular transport choice for tourists, whether they are inbound, outbound or domestic. Domestic tourists may decide to have a coach tour holiday; this is popular with elderly tourists. Coaches can also be used by inbound and outbound tourists for hotel to airport transfers and vice versa. Many trip providers’ will use coaches, should it be a tour of Barcelona or a day trip to the local theme park. Coach companies include Greyhound, National Express and Bakers Dolphin.

Rental cars are becoming increasingly popular, giving tourists the opportunity to make their own way round. This can be convenient for some tourists as their trips and activities don’t need to be planned around provider’s timetables. A popular rental company in Europe is Auto-Europe. This type of transport is more common in inbound tourism. Domestic tourists will normally use their own car, but may rent one if they do not own a car or if theirs is broken. Inbound tourists can rent cars at most airports and are then free to do whatever they like on their visit.

Arrival and departure points for outbound and inbound road transport are usually car and passenger ferries. The most used ferry ports are Fishguard, Hollyhead, Roscoff, Dover, Portsmouth, Harwich and Santander. The Eurostar is also a popular option.

Rail transport

Rail transport is trains. There are many rail companies such as First Great Western, Cross Country and Virgin Trains. The Eurostar is a popular way of transport for inbound and outbound tourism. The Eurostar is a high-speed railway service that connects London to Paris and Brussels. The London entrance is called St. Pancras station and there is another in Ashford. There are other entrances to the Eurostar all around the UK.

The British Government is funding a new train called the HS2; this train will be a high-speed railway service connecting parts of the UK. They estimate that this project could bring a boost of £15bn to the UK economy. The HS2 is hoping to raise the amount of domestic and inbound tourism as it should be easier and faster to get around. Arguments suggesting that the only people it will benefit are business people have surfaced as the HS2 route will only travel through the midlands and the south east, visiting the major business cities, such as London and Manchester.

Rail transport can be cheaper and quicker than road transport. It can also be better for the environment as many trains now run on electricity. Domestic tourists may use rail transport for day trips or short stays, so they don’t have to worry about finding parking and the fees. Inbound tourists may use railway services such as the Eurostar to visit our country, use trains as airport transfers or to visit different parts of the country. Outbound tourists may also use the Eurostar, or could use other railway lines to get to airports. The Eurostar may be beneficial for tourists who have fear of flying or water who wish to visit another country.

Air Transport

There are many types of airlines. I will describe 3; charter, scheduled and low-cost.

A charter airline is usually linked to holidays and will only leave if they are near 100% full. Some charter airlines are TUI, Thomson and Thomas Cook. The public cannot directly buy a ticket through the charter airline, but they will have to buy the ticket through the holiday companies that have hired the plane. A chartered airline doesn’t have to only be hired by a holiday company; they can be hired by groups, such members of a company or a sports team.

A scheduled airline will fly a particular route at a certain time on a regular basis. In theory a scheduled flight will fly even if there are no passengers. The price for a scheduled ticket will be calculated over the year because the airline doesn’t expects that they can’t fly with a full plane all year round so prices will be higher during quiet periods to pay for the empty seats. Scheduled airlines are the bigger airlines like Emirates and Virgin Atlantic. The most popular customer for these flights are business people.

Low cost airlines are described as having lower fares and fewer comforts. To make up for lost profit, these airlines may charge extra for food, baggage or priority boarding. Low cost airlines fly from minor hubs. Usually from small local/regional airports like Exeter or Newquay. Ryanair and Easyjet are known as low cost airlines. Low cost airlines also do internal flights, where passengers can fly from their local airport to the larger ones, such as Gatwick, London.

Heathrow and Gatwick are the UK’s busiest airports. Heathrow has the largest international passenger arrivals. These airports are the most common for inbound tourists to arrive into. These airports are also where most outbound tourists fly from. Most of the flights from Heathrow and Gatwick are scheduled. Regional airports usually have charter flights, as part of holidays. They also do internal flights such as Newquay to Bristol.

Travelling by aeroplane can be faster, cheaper and easier.

Sea Transport

Sea travel can involve travelling on ferries or cruise ships. It can also include narrow boats, riverboats etc.

A ferry company is Brittany Ferries; this is a French company which runs ships from UK, Ireland, France and Spain. This company has departure and arrival points all over Europe, including Belfast, Holyhead, Rosslare and Oslo. This mode of sea travel is used for outbound and inbound tourism. It can be beneficial for passengers that have a fear of flying.

Cruise ships have become a popular holiday around the world. Some cruise companies include Oceania Cruise, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises. Cruise ships can bring inbound tourism to port cities and provides outbound tourism to those leaving the UK.

Domestic tourists can get involved with narrow boats in the canals and rivers, such as the Norfolk Broads or can go on other boating holidays. Companies that provide these holidays are Blakes, Hoseasons and Waterways. Inbound tourists can also go on boating holidays and hire narrowboats.

Attractions

The four types of attractions are natural, heritage, purpose built and event.

Natural Attractions

A natural attraction is an attraction made by nature without any manmade influence. Natural attractions attract tourists to local towns and cities. As you can’t charge people for natural attractions, local towns/cities will find revenue in other ways. For example a seaside town will normally have arcades, ice cream shops, fish and chip shops etc, these bring in profits for the local towns. Natural attractions can be seasonal. Natural attractions include beaches, moorland and lakes/rivers. Popular natural attractions are Dartmoor, Scottish highlands, Lake District and many beaches. Cornwall is a popular place for natural attractions as it has coastline with outstanding beauty and lots of countryside.

Heritage Attractions

Heritage attractions attract tourists to the culture of the local area. Culture plays a big part in tourism as tourists usually want to experience the culture of the country they are visiting, if it’s trying the local cuisine or taking part in festivities. Heritage/culture attractions provide a lot of income to a country’s economy as it can attract a lot of tourism. Britain has a lot of culture because it has the most publicised royal family. Britain also was the birthplace of William Shakespeare and some people choose to visit his hometown as part of their visit. Britain also contains a part of America’s culture, with the mayflower steps, many Americans will visit the south west to visit the steps that their ancestors took and what helped build their country.

Purpose Built Attractions

Purpose built attractions is made to create a profit from inbound and domestic tourists. Many attractions are purpose built and provide income and they can boost the economy. Some of the UK’s purpose built attractions are theme parks, such as Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, Drayton Manor, waxwork museums, the most famous and popular is Madame Tussuads, adventure parks, like Woodlands or Creally or Brighton Pavilion.

Event Attractions

Event attractions can bring in lots of tourism, domestic and inbound. Sporting events such as the FA Cup bring people from around the country and people from other countries into a different city to support their team. Glastonbury is a big attraction for domestic tourism as people travel from all over the country to go to this festival. It is also a large attraction to inbound tourists as some visit the UK just for this festival. It is now the largest greenfield festival in the world, attracting around 175,000 people. Events such as the Olympics attract people from many different countries as well. Event attractions provide large boosts to the economy in a short space of time.

Tour Operations

A tour operator will put together holidays in different packages and sell them to customers at a cheaper price than if they were to assemble the holiday themselves. These packages can include flights, accommodation, meals, day trips and admission to different attractions all for one inclusive price. Tour operators organise the holidays with an itinerary.

Mass market tour operators will put together general holiday packages, for every type of holiday, to suit everybody’s needs. Whereas a specialist tour operator will arrange packages to suit their clients individual needs. The client can tailor the package to their interests which can cause these packages to be more expensive than a mass market package. Examples of a mass market tour operator would be Thomas Cook, Thomson and Avanti destinations. Specialist tour operator examples are Cazenove and Loyd, Audley travel and Greaves travel.

Travel Agents

A travel agency will organise your entire holiday. They advise you on holidays by informing you on the area’s attractions, weather/climate, hotels, history, culture/heritage and food, so you can make an informed choice about your holiday. They provide different holidays and packages to suit different people’s lifestyles and budgets. Popular travel agents are Thomas Cook, Thomson, STA travel and Co-Operative travel.

Tourism development and promotion

Tourism development and promotion is marketing tourist destinations to encourage more tourism. Developing tourism is important so tourists visit more, spend money and leave happy, this involves research into previous tourism.

Public sectors are the parts of the economy controlled by the Government, however, private sectors are the parts of the economy controlled by individuals or groups, often called the citizen sector.

Tourist boards gather information on tourism in their area then advise the travel industry on how to use their resources more effectively. A tourist board will produce advertising campaigns and carry out research to make the relationship between buyer and seller easier during high tourism periods. They will control the tourism revenue to make sure regional and seasonal objectives are met. Tourist boards promote tourism as being job creators and an opportunity to earn money. They will also advise private sectors on who would be the best choice to create partnerships with and the most appropriate contacts they should have.

The role of the DCMS to protect Britain’s heritage and culture. They invest in communities and businesses to promote innovation and to highlight the best of Britain. They also protect Britain’s beliefs of freedom and equality. Their goals are to ‘make Britain the world’s most creative and exciting place to visit’ and to give the UK an advantage in the ‘global race for economic success’.

This is a map of the UK, split into the different regions.  My region, the south west, is highlighted pink.

Looking at tourism in the south west

The south west was the most popular region for domestic trips in 2009; 20% of domestic tourists visited. Whilst tourists were visiting they were responsible for 24% of 2009’s national domestic tourist revenue.

However it is joint 3^rd, with the east of England and the north west of England, for inbound tourism, with only 8%. Inbound tourism in the south west only made up 6% in tourist revenue.

The most popular reason for domestic tourists visiting the south west was for leisure/holiday with a large percentage of 71%. Whereas for inbound tourism, leisure/holiday was still the most popular reason, the choices between business, VFR and other were almost evenly split.

France made up for most of the inbound tourists in the south west, Germany was 2^nd and USA 3^rd.

The table below show the most popular tourist attractions in the south west.

Top  10 free attractions 2009		Top 10 paid attractions 2009
Name of attraction	Visitors in 2009	Name of attraction	Visitors in 2009
Moors Valley Country Park	850,000	Eden Project	1,028,264
Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery	562,375	Stonehenge	990,705
Paignton Pier	548,903	Roman Baths	882,144
Durlston Country Park National Nature Reserve	252,000	Stourhead House and Garden	345,572
New Brewery Arts	250,000	National Marine Aquarium	265,000
Salisbury Cathedral	229,702	West Somerset Railway	250,000
The Donkey Sanctuary	202,550	St Michael's Mount	240,729
Our Glass	200,000	Lanhydrock House and Garden	214,274
Newcomen Engine House	160,000	Tate St Ives	214,189

Local authorities play an important role in tourism of their local area. They are responsible for economic development, land use, marketing and promotion, visitor information services, developing and managing attractions and events, working with private/public partnerships and research.

Trade Associations and Regulatory Bodies

Trade associations and regulatory bodies are to protect the needs of customers. If something were to go wrong whilst you were on holiday, these would make sure you got home safely and all you money is protected. Also, if the holiday provider goes bust whilst you are away you will be brought home and refunded.

The main trade associations and regulatory bodies are ABTA, ATOL and AITO.

Ancillary Services

Ancillary services are the extras that tourists may need alongside their holidays. Without ancillary services, many holidays wouldn't be complete. Most travel agencies offer these services and make commission on these products. These include things like travel insurance, foreign exchange, airport parking, car hire, luggage transportation, event tickets, tour guiding, equipment hire, luggage and passports/visas.

Examples of organisations that provide these services are Cosmos, Virgin Atlantic and First Great Western trains

Part A – Part 1 - P2

The roles of travel and tourism organisations are to meet key organisational aims, provide services and products, be responsible to stakeholders, be environmentally and ethically responsible and to contribute to international and UK economies.

Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook first commenced business in 1841. It is a profit organisation in the tour operator and travel agency component of the tourism and travel industry. They provide services such as flights, holidays, hotels, travel insurance and car hire. They have roughly 23 million customers, which are assisted by their 29,000 employees. Their goal is to ‘consistently meet and exceed the expectations of our customers and to be accessible for them however, whenever and, wherever they want’. They operate in 19 countries and had an annual income of £9.5 billion in September 2012. Thomas Cook encourages responsible tourism by doing many things to be environmentally and ethically friendly and sustainable. 4 of which are  to be Respecting of local cultures and the natural environment, buying local and giving fair economic returns to local families, recognising that water and energy are precious resources that we need to use carefully and helping to protect endangered wildlife.

Thomas Cook contributes to the UK economy because they offer domestic holidays, bring inbound tourists to the UK and finally, they do business in the UK so pay taxes. Employing their staff also contributes to the economy because the staff will be able to spend their wages in other sectors of the economy. It contributes to international economies because it offers outbound holidays to other countries, so UK tourists can visit and spend money in that country. Hiring staff in other countries also benefits the international countries, because like the UK, their staff can spend their wages in different sectors of the economy.

Visit Britain

Visit Britain is a non-profit organisation funded by the DCMS. A grant aid of £24.6 million was given to Visit Britain for the years 2012/2013. Visit Britain’s goal is to inspire the world to visit Britain, they are doing this with their website and by operating in 21 countries. They sell products such as tours, travel essentials and event tickets on their website. Their economic targets for 2011-2015 is to gain £1 billion in PR coverage, 4.7 million visitors from overseas, £2.3 billion visitor spend and to create around 60,000 new job opportunities. Visit Britain contributes to the economy by attracting inbound and domestic tourists to the country. It could also contribute to international economies because inbound tourists may have booked their visit to Britain through a travel agency in their country.

Carlson Companies

Carlson Companies is an American based company which operates in 150 countries. It was started in 1938 by Curtis L. Carlson. Carlson Companies owns other businesses in the travel and tourism industry. In total they hire 170,000 employees.

Their goals are to serve millions of guests and travellers in a way that positively influences their lives, provide tens of thousands of jobs and help our employees grow and achieve their potential, contribute to the common good through our commitment to social responsibility and to generate attractive financial returns for our shareholders and business partners.

They have won several awards in being environmentally and ethically responsible such as ‘Worldwide Hospitality Award for Environmental Protection’ and ‘2011 World's Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute (USA)’. They also won an award for being the ‘Best Travel Management Company in the United Kingdom’.

Despite being an American company they contribute to the UK’s company. TGI Friday has created £7.5 million in revenue and Carlson Wagonlit travel has generated £1.19 billion; Carlson Wagonlit is a business travel agency. Carlson Companies have around 15 hotels in the UK and 46 TGI Friday restaurants and they hope to invest $100 million into the UK’s TGI Friday restaurants.

Part A – Part 2 – P3

Different components interrelate and interlink with each other in the travel and tourism industry. Each component relies on each for success because they can’t be successful alone. There is a chain of distribution which shows how components integrating get the product to the consumer.

Components can either integrate vertically or horizontally.

Vertical integration (in the example of Thomson)

Horizontal integration (in the example of Thomas Cook)

The difference between horizontal and vertical integration

Vertical integration occurs when an organisation buys different levels of the whole product. Thomson has an airline, cruise ships, hotels, tour operator and travel agency so they have a complete product. Doing this means that the company has control over everything so they can have better quality assurance. They also will only need one human resources and marketing team because they are all part of the same organisation. Integrating vertically can also get economy of scale, meaning they save money because they have ordered mass amounts.

Horizontal integration happens when an organisation buys similar organisations on the same level. For example Thomas Cook buying several tour operators. This means Thomas Cook will increase their market share and appeal to bigger market.

LEGOLAND and Copthorne Hotel, Slough-Windsor

One example of components interrelating is LEGOLAND and Copthorne Hotel, Slough-Windsor. LEGOLAND is in the attraction sector of travel and tourism and Copthorne Hotel is in the accommodation sector. They interrelate by advertising each other on their websites and offering package deals.

The Copthorne Hotel offers a discount on LEGOLAND tickets when you book a stay. It also offers activities for children so parents can have some free time, it also lets children make their own pizza so parents don’t have to worry about food arrangements if their child is a fussy eater. They also have got an ‘Ask Alfred’ concierge package, which includes a teddy bear, backpack and ice-cream on arrival, to make children’s stays extra special.

LEGOLAND’s role is to provide a day out aimed at children aged 3-12 years old.

Help sheet for Thomas Cook

The Role of Thomas Cook Holidays

Is Thomas Cook a for profit or non for  profit organisation ?

Which component of travel and tourism does Thomas Cook fall into?

What sort of products and service do they provide ?

Thomas cook  Visit this Link and answer the following questions:-

1.    When did Thomas Cook first commence business?

2.    How many customers (a stakeholder) does Thomas Cook have ?

3.    What is the goal/aim  of Thomas Cook?

4.    How many employees (another stakeholder) does Thomas Cook have ?

5.    In how many countries does Thomas Cook operate ?

6.    How much money did Thomas cook generate as a group by the end of September 2012?

7.    Thomas Cook is a PLC what does this mean and what is the other type of stakeholder that  are involved Thomas Cook

8.    Sustainable Thomas Cook follow this link and list four ways in which Thomas Cook promote responsible tourism

9.    Analysis from the information you have gathered for questions 4  5 and 6 discuss the how Thomas Cookcontribute to international and UK economies

Help sheet for Visit Britain

The Role of Visit Britain

Is Visit Britain a for profit or non for  profit organisation ?

Non profit,

Which component of travel and tourism does Visit Britain fall into?

  Visit Britain  Visit this Link and answer the following questions:-

1.    How is Visit Britain funded

By the DCMS

2.    What is Visit Britain’s vision

To inspire the world to visit Britain

3.    Name four economic targets Visit Britain plans to achieve during the four year period between 2011 and 2015

£1 billion in PR coverage

4.7 million visitors from overseas

£2.3 billion visitor spend

Around 60,000 new job opportunities

4.    How much  was the grant aid given to Visit Britain 2012/13

£24.6 million

5.    How many overseas offices does Visit Britain have?

21

6.    What products do the on line shops sell?

Tours, travel essentials, tickets

7.    From the information you have gathered How do the activities of visit Britain contribute to the economy