Fundamentals of Travel and Tourism-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Tourism. Answer: History of tourism The history of tourism is almost 2000 years old. The wealthy Roman people started this whole idea of tourism, when they started to spend their summers in the countryside or near the coast, far away from the city of Rome. To cater to their needs of accommodation and food, a tourism industry started to develop. However, with the fall of the Roman Empire and turbulence in the country, this business went kaput (Ghimire 2013). The trend of tourism again started in the medieval era due to the new interest on pilgrimage. Old English literatures such as Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, depict the culture of people of travelling to a holy shrine and relaxing and enjoying at the same time (Ringer 2013). Thus, they needed places to eat, sleep and relax while travelling. This way the tourism industry started to develop. People from all over the world, influenced by religion, started to travel for pilgrimage and this way, the concept of tourism started to develop. After another hundred years, people started to travel for health, education and culture. In the eighteenth century, travel for all these factors increased. People, who could afford, used to travel to famous places for higher education, for improving health conditions and for cultural development (Ashworth and Larkham 2013). The current development in travel and tourism is the increase in international travel. As the economies are getting stronger, disparities among the economies are decreasing, people have more money and the travel destinations are getting cheaper, the craze for international traveling has increased multiple times in the past decade (Horner and Swarbrooke 2016). Educational travel has also increased in recent times. Types of tourism and their characteristics Tourism is categorized in different categories. Some people travel for leisure and holiday, some travel for business, some travel for education, some for pilgrimage and some for medical purpose. However, the whole concept of tourism can be broadly divided into two categories; mass and special interest tourism (Hall and Page 2014). Mass tourism refers to the tourism activities organized for the mass. It is usually organized by travel companies for large groups of people to some specialized travel destinations. Sometimes people also organize group tours for themselves to a specialized location. This also falls under the category of mass tourism. For example, guided packaged tours conducted by the travel companies to some abroad cities for few days, cruise tours, bus tours, theme parks, tourist business district tours, resort towns, all inclusive resorts etc. (Page 2014). Special interest tourism refers to the travel interest of people for a specific purpose to specific locations. In other words, this type of tourism involves individuals or groups of people who want to travel for a specific purpose and to places related to the purpose. It is also known as niche tourism. It is opposite to the mass tourism in regards to the objectives. In this type of tourism, the particular interests, needs and motivation of people are taken care of. The leisure holidays and recreational experiences can also happen for special interest (Frechtling 2012). There are many people who would like to travel for a specific purpose, such as, to explore the historical places or natural wonders, to explore different cuisines, to participate in a cultural event like Mardi Gras, or just to relax. This can be classified as special interest tourism. It also includes activity tours such as, hiking, cycling, sailing, etc., educational tours, adventure tours like mountaineering, tours f or pursuing hobbies, like wine tasting, discovery of new places, social tours such as camping, clubbing, medical tourism and pilgrimage tours. Over the years, the characteristics of tourism have evolved. People are now more interested in special interest tourism than for mass tourism. Hence, the niche tourism has become a focus of the travel companies in the past decade (Peng, Song and Crouch 2014). Motivations for tourism Tourists visit a place for many reasons. These reasons generate due to variety of factors present in a tourist destination. This can be explained by the theories of tourism demand. The term tourism demand is a broad one. It covers the elements that influence the demand, the spatial features, different types and the motives behind the demand. This demand is generated by individuals, called tourists and the particular place for which this happens, is called the tourism destination. Time and seasons often influence the tourism demand. The demand for tourism services either changes or advances, and this is stimulated by the arrival of new tourists. When these tourists visit a place, they expect high quality service and value for money. Hence, the features and level of demand evolve with every set of tourists (Kim and Eves 2012). According to Wu and Pearce (2014), there are three major types of tourism demand, called actual demand, suppressed demand and the latent demand. Actual demand, also known as effective demand for tourism, is generated from the tourists actually in involved the process of travel and tourism. In other words, the tourists, who are actually travelling in a particular time, generate the actual demand for tourism. The second category includes people who want to travel but unable to do that due to unavoidable circumstances beyond control. The latent demand is related to the temporal and spatial demand at a particular site, such as, demand for accommodation or travel service etc. at a particular tourist destination. However, the general law of demand is applicable in this sector also, as when the price of a destination increases, the demand for the destination falls (Wong, Cheung and Wan 2013). Although, apart from price, there are many factors that influence the tourism demand, such as, hist orical importance, natural beauty, services, city landscape etc. The reasons for tourism demand can be explained through push and pull factors and impact of those on the psychology of people. This can be explained by the concepts that people go for travelling because they are pushed by the internal forces or the needs and wants, and they choose a destination because they are pulled by the features or attributes of the place (Chan and Quah 2012). According to Pesonen (2012), the push factors are those, which drive a person to go for travelling and pull factors are those, which attract a potential tourist towards a destination. Push factors are the socio-psychological elements, such as, the desire for taking a break from daily life, desire for pilgrimage, the habit of exploration or adventure, educational purpose and enhancement of cultural and social relationships. The pull factors are generated by a destination through its features. When a potential tourist chooses a destination, he is attracted by the social, cultural and environmental features, such as, natural beauty, tourist attractions, city life, special events, scope for higher education, etc. These factors need to be developed by the destination to pull the tourists (Kim and Eves 2012). The tourism demand can be identified in many ways, shaped by economic, geographic, psychological and political perspectives of people. These are categorized as the factors for motivation for travelling. People are motivated to travel due to many reasons and based on those, they are segmented by the travel companies into different categories. This segmentation of tourists is called tourist typologies. It helps the travel companies to understand their needs properly. There are many typologies created by experts, such as, Cohens Tourist Typology, Smiths Tourist Typology, Amexs Tourist Typology, and Plogs Tourist Typology. These authors have segmented the tourists into multiple categories based on their motivations and demand for destinations. For example, Cohen made four categories, namely, organized mass tourist, individual mass tourist, explorer and drifter. Smith classified them into 7 categories, namely, explorer, elite tourists, off beat tourists, unusual tourists, Incipient mass t ourists, mass tourists and charter tourists (Kim and Ritchie 2012). The factors influencing the motivations of tourists are divided into internal and external factors. Most of the push factors are intrinsic motivators and the pull factors are extrinsic motivators. The internal factors include attitude of the tourists, perception, beliefs or values and personality of the tourists. The external factors include the economic condition, family background, culture and social class, age, place of origin, and market for destinations, services of tourism (Hosany and Prayag 2013). Both of the internal and external factors influence the motivation of the tourists to travel significantly. A person, by nature, is motivated to travel, but it can so happen that he is not economically stable to travel for a leisure holiday. Thus, his motivation for travelling is negatively affected by his economic condition. Development of a new destination: Six As of a tourist destination Tourist destinations are not only the places, but a combination of various tourism products, services, intangible items offered for promotion and experience. Although the general idea of a tourist destination represents the concept of a geographical location only, the experiences of the tourists and services provides in that location are also included in the range of tourist destination. There are six components that define the features of a tourist destination. These six components are designed from the point of view of industry supply or from the perspective of consumers. Hence, a tourist destination is often an amalgam of the six As, namely, Available packages, Accessibility, Attractions, Amenities, Activities and Ancillary services. Those six As are explained below in the context of developing a new tourist destination (Hays, Page and Buhalis 2013). Attractions: These can be natural or man made. For example, the Arches National Park in the United States is full of arches, developed naturally for millions of years. On the other hand, the Empire State Building in New York City is one of the tallest buildings, and Brooklyn Bridge are man made tourist attractions. Accessibility: Mode of transportation, that is available for the tourists to reach their desired destinations. For developing a new tourist destination, it is important to see if it is accessible to all types of tourists, including those with physical disabilities. Hence, mode of transportation, to and from the destinations makes the scope for accessibility (Goeldner and Ritchie 2012). Amenities: The services that are provided to the tourists in the destinations, such as, the room services, breakfast facilities, free parking, free wifi, swimming pool, mini fridge and microwave in the room, smoking and non smoking rooms, fitness centers etc. The destinations that provide these kind of facilities are always preferred by the tourists. Available package: This refers to the guided tour packages or combined packages to help the tourists to travel hassle free. This takes off the burden of creating the itinerary by the tourists for themselves and the destination makes it for them as they know the local region better than the tourists. This is a preferable factor for the tourists with kids or elderly tourists (Goeldner and Ritchie 2012). Activities: The activities that can be done at the particular destinations are one of the major attraction points. The coastal areas provide activities on the sea, such as, sun bathing on the beach, sailing, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving etc. The mountain regions provide the scope for hiking, trekking, mountain climbing, camping into the woods etc. The destinations with such scopes for activities are always preferred by the tourists. Ancillary services: This refers to the development of marketing and coordinating activities in the destinations. For example, many destinations print tourism brochures and keep them on the front desk to help the tourists. The brochures include natural attractions, city or town attractions, theatre activities information, restaurant guides, transport guides etc. This is a part of marketing for the destination. For developing a new tourist destination, it is very essential to evaluate the six As of the destination. These factors cover all types of features such as, natural resources, general infrastructure, atmosphere and tourism infrastructure. Hence, a new destination must cover all these aspects to become a preferred one. Tourists in the modern world, have the access to the modern technologies, and therefore, can express their choices very quickly based on the components provided. Hence, while designing a new destination, it is important to see if there are natural or man made attractions, if the accessibility options are well developed, if the basic amenities are provided, if there is any available package, the number of activities available and if there is any ancillary services. These factors influence the motivation of the tourists and these can be categorized as pull factors of the destination (Hosany and Prayag 2013). Public, private and voluntary organizations in Tourism supply chain in UK Tourism supply chain refers to the network of the tourism organizations involved in various activities that cover the supply of various elements of the tourism products or services, such as, cars, flights, accommodation, and distribution and marketing of the end product or service of the tourism sector at a particular tourist destination (Guo and He 2012). Thus, it includes all the organizations that are actively involved in various steps of the tourism industry from supply to distribution to marketing. In simple words, the tourism supply chain is mostly comprised of accommodation services, transport services, travel agencies, recreational services, and food and beverage services. Figure 1: Tourism Supply Chain (Source: Goeldner and Ritchie 2012) In a country, like in other industries, the tourism industry is also made of three sectors, namely private, public and volunteers. It indicates that organizations from these three different affiliations can operate in this industry. In UK, majority of the travel and tourism organizations belong to the private sector. These private sectororganizations operate with a motive of profit making. In UK, 10% of the total population is employed in the tourism industry (Ons.gov.uk 2017). Some of the key organizations in the private sector are: Thomas Cook Alton Towers Holiday Inn British Airways London Eye Virgin Trains There are some public sector organizations operating in the tourism supply chain in UK. These are mostly funded by the government. The main purpose of these organizations is to provide education and increasing awareness (Lunt, Mannion and Exworthy 2013). Some key public sector organizations are: National gallery Museums Visitor Information Centers Regional development organizations Some voluntary organizations are also part of the tourism supply chain in UK. Those are mostly trusts or charities, and funded by the members and ticket prices of any event organized by them. They mostly work towards the sustainability and conservation of the heritage, environment and cultural history (Guo and He 2012). Some of the major organizations are: The National trust Tourism concern Friends of Williamson's The Sealed knot (stravelandtourism.weebly.com 2017) In the end it can be concluded, that the tourism sector in UK is a booming sector. Over the past centuries, this industry has passed several milestones. The development of tourism demand, tourist destinations, evaluation of motivations, and development of tourism supply chain have gone through a huge change and along with the introduction of technology, it has become more important to improve the factors that influence the tourism demand in UK. References Ashworth, G. and Larkham, P. eds., 2013.Building a new heritage (RLE Tourism). Routledge. Chan, J.K.L. and Quah, W.B., 2012. 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