The Development of the Modern Travel and Tourism Industry

The development of the travel and tourism industry in the uk increased after the end of world war 2. Before World War 2 there was not much of a travel industry except when Billy Butlin opened his first holiday camp in Skegness. During the war no one would go abroad or visit other places apart from the richer people as they were the ones who could afford it.

The travel and tourism industry has developed as a direct result of technological developments. These technological developments have been in transport technology such as things like, jet aircraft; improve trains and more luxurious coaches. Also, there has been an improvement in information and communication technology such as the internet, computer reservation systems (CRS) and global distribution systems (GDS) as well as credit and debit cards allowing customers to pay for their travels in more convenient ways.

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The most significant development in air travel was when the jet aircraft was introduced in the 1950's especially the Boeing 707 in 1958. Air travel became more rapid, safe, comfortable and relative to past decades- cheap. The travel and tourism industry benefitted from the 'jumbo jet' boeing 747 that was introduced in 1969. With the jet it was possible to fly in less time making long haul flights more accessible, also the price to pay was reduced due to the increased capacity of the jumbo jet (400 seats). However, it is not just the air transport that has been revolutionised by technological developments. The channel tunnel was opened in 1995 and increased competition for the cross-channel ferry service.

The changing in socio-economic factors has added to the development of the modern travel and tourism industry. These factors include:

* Changes in car ownership

* Increasing leisure time

* An increase in disposable income

* The impact of the national economy

In the last 50 years, car ownership has increased dramatically. This is because peoples income has raised and the cost of cars are more affordable to buy and to run. In 1970 there were approximately 11 million cars on uk roads this is a huge increase compared with the 2.3 million in 1950. Statistics from the Department for Transport show that in 2002 there were over 25.5 million private cars in the UK. This suggests that car owners have an additional travel option, and that it is easier for them to reach destinations that are inaccessible or difficult to access with public transport.

A benefit of having your own car is that car owners can chose when to travel without a timetable restriction and they have a choice of their speed of travel. Car ownerships offer flexibility to travel. The rise is car ownership has resulted in the demand for public transport to drop, such as trains, coaches for holiday travel. The result of this leads to cuts in transport services. Another effect on the increase of car ownership in the uk has been the increase in associated environmental problems, such as pollution, congestion and the loss of land to road building programmes.

Over the years, the increase in leisure time has come about because of holiday pay entitlement. In the UK there are a number of one day bank holidays as well as annual leave. Holiday entitlement is partly responsible for the seasonality of travel and tourism as working parents take holidays in the school holidays to coincide with school holidays. The "working week" has also been made shorter to an average of 37 hours, compared to the 1950's when the working week was 50 hours a week. A great benefit to the travel and tourism industry is that many employers offer flexible working hours allowing employees to have long weekends and hence take short breaks. Labour saving household equipment such as dishwashers, washing machines, and microwaves mean that household chores are carried out quicker, increasing leisure time. People on average are also living longer and retiring earlier. The 'grey' market is important in travel and tourism, as retired people frequently have a lot of leisure time and money to spend on holidays and other leisure activities.

In travel and tourism the increase in product development is primarily due to package holidays. The origin on the package holiday has come from a man called Thomas Cook, who took his passengers by train Loughborough to Leicester in 1841. The modern package or also known as the inclusive tour was created by Vladimir Raitz, who in 1950 carried a party of thirty two holiday makers to Corsica. That particular package included return flights, transfers, tented accommodation and full board (fully catered). By filling every seat he managed to keep the price low. He then went on to establish Horizon Holidays and chartered planes to destination such as Palma, Malaga and other Mediterranean resorts, carrying 300 passengers in the first year of operating.

Package holidays have since increased with Thomson, Airtours and First Choice being the biggest outgoing tour operators in terms of the number of package holidays sold. The most favoured destination is the Mediterranean as this is the most popular with the British. However long-haul destinations including places like the Caribbean, the USA, the far east and Australia are growing to be increasing important holiday destinations as travel costs fall.

In the 1950's Club Med introduced all inclusive holidays. All inclusive's can now include all meals, drinks, sports and entertainment, for example, but what's covered in the packaged does vary depending on the operator. For example an all-inclusive package with First choice at the four start Occidental Grand Fuerteventura in Jandia included the following:

* Food- buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner; unlimited snacks 10 a.m to midnight; afternoon tea and cakes; picnics available on request; unlimited ice cream between 3pm and 6 pm

* Drink- unlimited locally produced alcoholic drinks between 10.30 am and midnigh5t for adults; unlimited soft drinks, tea, coffee and mineral water between 10 a.m and midnight.

Holiday camps are purpose sites providing family accommodation and a diversity of entertainment facilities on site for a relatively low all inclusive price. They were first

originated by Billy Butlin in the 1930s who opened his first holiday camp at Skegness on the Lincolnshire coast in 1936. Holiday camps worked on the principle and motive that if children were happy on holiday, then parents would be too. In this type of holiday Butlin's, Pontin's and Warner's became market leaders. In the recent years they have modified these camps to meet changing consumer needs and expectations. New types of holiday centres have evolved such as Centre Parcs.

Because of the huge growth in travel and tourism there has been a change in consumer needs and expectations. There have been significant changed due to cultural and social factors. We also now demand higher standards of quality and customer service. The simple sun sea and sand holidays in the 1960's seem less popular with people nowadays, and more flexibility is demanded. These days, customers prefer to choose the type of accommodation, the board basis, and the type of transport and the length of the holiday. Package holidays now offer this choice. Special-interest holidays have particularly been developed more to cater for a range of interests. Holidays that have become increasingly important are activity and adventure holidays, especially the ones that include activities such as white-water rafting or scuba diving.

The 'second holiday' has developed as leisure time increases and disposable income rise. Skiing became popular as a second (winter) holiday from the 1970s, and in the 1980s the short break market developed. The domestic travel and tourism industry has benefitted from this. Overseas city breaks are now very popular thanks to low-price air fares and other quick transport methods. We see the damage that can be done to popular holiday destinations and the travelling public is becoming more environmentally aware. Tour operators have responded to this and many brochures will make a statement about what they're doing to support local communities. The Travel Foundation is a charity that develops practical solutions to help protect and improve holiday destinations.

External factors in the travel and tourism industry include legislation.

The Holidays with Pact Act 1938 encouraged voluntary agreements by employers on paid holidays and generated the idea of a two week paid holiday for all workers. Although this ambition was not fulfilled untilled a few years after the end of the second world war, by 1939 some 11 million of the UK's 19 million workforce were entitled to paid holidays, a key factor in generating mass travel and tourism. Countryside and Rights of Way act 2000 made it legal for the public to enter area's and land that were previously restricted to the landowners. The right does not include cycling, horse riding, driving a vehicle or camping, and there are various other rules to protect the land and the interests of the landowners, such as farmers.

Development of Tourism Act 1968 established the British tourist authority which was set up to encourage incoming tourism from overseas visitors, as well as the four national tourist boards (NTB) of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which oversee tourism in their own areas. The BTA and the NTBs were given the power and authority to act in name of the government and to promote British Tourism. Since 2004 the BTA and the English tourism council have merged together into VisitBritain. Each NTB work within its own country to encourage and improve amenities for travel and tourism.

They offer a service for information, undertake research and provide grants for tourism-related projects. In order to extend their influence within their countries, each NTB sets up Regional Tourist Boards. EU Directive on Package Travel 1995 ensures that customers of package holiday providers have financial protection. For example, if a company fails, customers that have not yet travelled can re-claim their money back. For those who are on holiday at the time do not have to pay additional costs. The directive made a number of duties on the organisers of package holidays, which includes providing clear contract terms, giving emergency telephone numbers, providing a range of compensation options if the agreed services are not supplied, producing accurate promotional materials such as brochures, as well as providing proof that the organiser has security against insolvency.

Disability discrimination Act 1995 came about through public pressure to persuade people and businesses to remove any barriers facing people with disabilities. Travel and tourism organisations such as visitor attractions have to be accessible to those with restricted mobility or those in wheelchairs. Also public transport services have been advised to their vehicles with facilities to make it easier to use for people with disabilities, for example fitting low steps on busses. These adaptations have been successful as there are 10 million disabled people in the UK with a spending power of �48 million. This act requires travel agents to make reasonable adjustments to their shops to ensure that disabled people can have access to their facilities and services. If these adjustments are not made the travel agency can be sued and required to pay compensation. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 applies to workers in all areas of travel and tourism.

* Employers have general duty to provide for the health, safety and welfare of those they employ. Employers are also required to consult employees about health and safety arrangements and prepare written health and safety policy statement.

* Employers need to ensure that their operations do not put non-employees at risk.

* Adequate information about any work-related hazards and the precautions needed to contain them must be made available.

* All employees have to take reasonable care to ensure their own health and safety at work and that of other people who might be affected by their actions.

Each year The World Tourism Organisation produces a report on the long term prospects for tourism. The WTO predicts that worldwide international arrivals are expected to reach over 1.56 billion by the year 2020. 1.18 billion of that number will be between region and 337 million will be long haul travel. It is predicted that by 2020 the top 3 tourist receiving regions will be Europe (717 million tourists), East Asia and the pacific (379 million) and the Americas (282 million), followed by Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. However, it is impossible to make precise predictions in travel and tourism. The following examples may or may not happen. A development that is likely to take place over the next few years is space tourism; other developments in transport technology included the Airbus's 8380 'superjumbo' with 555 seats compared to the regular boeing 747 jumbo's with 415 seats.

The Chinese and Russian markets, with a population of 1.3 billion, are likely to attract many new tourists. VisitBritain is expecting a double in the number of tourists from China to the UK in the next 5 years to 130 000, and the number of visitors from Russia to increase by 50% in the same period to more than 200 000. These upcoming markets are targeted by travel companies. Russians see the UK as a desirable destination. Chinese consumers are cost and quality conscious and are less likely to buy on-line as they do not have credit cards. According to the WTO, china itself is expected to become the worlds leading tourism destination by 2020, with some 100 million outbound tourists and 130 million each year.

The conclude the development of the modern travel and tourism industry is primarily due to the changing socio-economic factors, technical developments, product development, external factors, the change in customer needs and expectations and the up-growing future trends in travel and tourism.

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