Structural Evolution Of The Travel And Tourism Industry

The Structure and History of the Travel and Tourism Industry

Introduction

According to Crampon (2003), tourism is one of the major industries in the world today. Furthermore, tourism makes more than 10% of the worldwide economic output and one in every ten jobs globally. Eadington (2002) asserted that tourism starts with the prestigious images of visits to the seaside spas and resorts, the wealthy, Grand Tours, and the business enterprises such as Thomas Cook. This paper will describe the structure and history of the travel and tourism industry, the influence of the international, national, and local agencies, national and local economic policy, the supply and demand effects on the travel and tourism industry, and the negative and positive tourism impacts.

Task 1

A)
Tourism historical development can be traced back to different periods; the Greeks in the roman empires in the B.C and early A.D, the middle age period and dark ages from 500 to 1400A.D, the Renaissance period from 1400 to 1700 A.D, the period of the industrial revolution of 1750 to 1850, the early 20th century and late 20th century from the period of 1945 to present.

The Greek and the Roman Empires (B.C to Early A.D)

Great Britain. (1991) pointed out that tourism development was seen in the people of Greece traveling to attend the Olympic Games. The roman coins facilitated travel in addition to the roman roads, which were good infrastructure for tourism. Other notable tourism features included the vacation villas on Naples Bay. According to Kerr (2003), the Romans traveled to Egypt, and sea trips were very common. Moreover, theatres and religious festivals attracted travelers, and people traveled long for health. The seven wonders o the world was also built with the purpose of tourist attraction

The Dark Ages (Middle Ages) 500 to 1400A.D

The cathedrals and churches were built and still act as tourist attractions today. Lickorish and Jenkins (1997) asserted that pilgrimages, such as to Canterbury, were organized in the 14th century. Furthermore, sea travel; flourished, and European cities prospered with the emergence of the middle class and the establishment of universities.

The Renaissance (1400 to 1700A.D)

This period created exploration desire and also encouraged scientific and historical investigations. The first passports, which were travel licenses, were designed during this period. Nash (2007) pointed out that the first grand tour guidebook for travelers was published in 1778. The emergence of trade fairs also stimulated business travel in Europe.

The Industrial Revolution (1750 to 1850)

This was the period that created the foundation for the mass tourism of today. It also brought immense social and economic changes as people moved from the lands to the towns. Furthermore, there was a rapid expansion of education and wealth of the middle classes. Similarly, there was an increased demand for leisure time and recreational travel. Spas were developed, and sea bathing became very popular. The seaside resorts and spas soon became recreation, entertainment, and gambling centers. The industrial revolution also saw the revolution of the transport industry, especially the steamboats and trains. Travel agents like Thomas cook also emerged (Richter, 1989).

The Early 20th Century (Circa 1900 to 1945)

International tourism was boosted after the world wars due to the gained foreign countries’ experiences during the wars. New forms of mass communication also emerged, such as cinema and radius. The motor car was also introduced, and the airline industry and long-distance train travel emerged.

Late 20th Century (1945 to Present Day)

The Second World War led to increased interest n travel. Furthermore, aircraft technology advancement led to the viable commercial aviation industry. Cruise shipping and short ferry services grew in addition to the emergence of flexible and cheap accommodation. This period also saw increased government involvement in tourism and business tourism growth. Furthermore, social patterns also changed, such as the emergence of special holidays and annual holidays (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2007).

The New Century

This century has embraced technology in tourism, such as the internet. There is also a budget airline increase and a boom in holiday buying of homes. The transport system has also increased with people taking short holidays. According to Vanhove (2011), the contributing factors to tourism development include socio-economic, technological, product innovation and development, changing consumer expectations and needs, and fashion trends. The changing socio-economic factors include increased leisure time, increased car ownership number, and disposable income. Lastly is the national economic impact. The technological developments include transport technology and ICT developments. The development and innovation of a product include the package holiday development, diversity in location and products, improved sales, and business class travel from tour operators. The changing consumer expectation and needs factors include demanding customers and the customers becoming knowledgeable. The development of holidays is also a changing consumer factor. Probably the future will be virtual travel. This is because people continue being geographical and socially mobile. There is also an ongoing transport system improvement. Furthermore, there are changes in the work patterns with a shift towards flexible working systems (WTO, 2012).

B)

According to WTO (2012), travel and tourism as an industry are one of the largest and most fragmented globally. It is made up of noncommercial and commercial organizations, with some of the organizations not serving only the tourism industry. The main development in the tourism industry is integration. The structure of the travel and tourism industry is divided into five main divisions: the principals or the producers, organizations for support services, wholesalers, retailers and tourists. According to Crampon et al (2003), the travel and tourism structure is complex and made up of variety of commercial and interrelated non commercial and commercial sectors. It is mainly a service industry, with many of the enterprises being medium and small sized. These organizations interact and work together to provide experience to the tourists.

The industry structure included the commercial organizations, the non commercial organizations and other agencies that deliver products and services of travel and tourism. The commercial organizations include the organizations in the private sector that make profit and are privately owned. These can be private or public limited companies or sole traders. The industry is mostly dominated by the private sector and funding is through profits and investments. Their financial success is used to judge them by their stakeholders (Eadington, 2002). The non commercial organizations include the voluntary and the public sectors. The organizations of the public sector are funded by the central or local governments with an aim of providing services. The stakeholders do not use financial success to judge these organizations. Their objectives are issues like environmental and quality issues and number of tourists.

Task 2

A)

The government position is multiple and essential side of the travel and tourism industry, involving policies. Involvement of state in the trade is a very recent practice for the central government. The state, in general, recognizes that the public sector duties must cover matters such as safety, health, consumer interest and fair trading and transport infrastructures like the ports, railways and roads. Nash (2007) pointed out that there is a jumbled record in the leisure facilities provision, protection and conservation of the environment which includes unique cultural heritage responsibility, a significant part of visitors’ attraction of Europe.

International organizations

There exist many international bodies, both nongovernmental and governmental, with interest in tourism. The government bodies mirror the interest of the national governments in, and the political will concern intervention of tourism. WTO (2012) indicated that in the industrialized countries, the priority of tourism tends to be low. Moreover, because of the wide range of activities of tourism, the number of organizations with some responsibility or concern is great, but cooperation and often coordination as at the national level is feeble.

Conclusion

Tourism is the most growing industry globally and it creates jobs and reduces unemployment. Tourism history is long punctuated with massive growths and periods of stagnation and recessions. The backbone of globalization is the international travel and tourism. It increases trade, promotes economic growth, creates income and propels development. Tourism also brings people together from different backgrounds and regions and strengthens communities, advances global understanding and peace goals.