CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Explore the impact of contemporary issues on the travel and tourism industry, including technological advancements, political influences, and economic factors. Learn how companies like Titan Travel, Whitbread Plc, and Trailfinders Ltd respond to market changes and trends.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
LO1...................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 ISSUES CURRENTLY DRIVING CHANGES IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY................4
1.2 DIFFERENT CURRENT ISSUES IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY.....................................6
LO2...................................................................................................................................................8
2.1 CURRENT TRENDS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY.............8
2.2 TREND OF ADVENTURE TOURISM IN UK.............................................................................10
LO3.................................................................................................................................................12
3.1 RESPOND TO CHANGE.........................................................................................................12
3.2 STRATEGIES FOR PREMIER INN & RESTAURANTS AND COSTA TO RESPOND THE CHANGES
...................................................................................................................................................16
3.3 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STRATEGIES FOR RESPONDING THE CHANGE................................18
LO4.................................................................................................................................................19
4.1 IMPACT OF TRENDS AND ISSUES THAT DRIVE CHANGES IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM
INDUSTRY...................................................................................................................................19
4.2 CONSEQUENCES OF BUSINESS FALLING TO RESPOND MARKET CHANGE..........................21
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................22
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................23
1

INTRODUCTION
Travel and tourism industry is making continual growth. It contributes significantly to the
nation's economy. It plays an important role in the improvement of country's infrastructure,
employment rate other such areas which are crucial for the growth and development of a
nation. There are different issues which are hindering the growth of this industry. This report
probes all those contemporary issues which are affecting this industry. It demonstrates the
different issues which are driving changes in travel and tourism industry. It also elaborates
different trends and niche markets and their impact on the travel and tourism industry. The
response of organization to change in travel and tourism industry is also described in this
assignment It further covers the consequence of business failing to respond effectively to travel
and tourism industry.
The case study of different companies such as Titan travel, Whitbread and Trailfinders Ltd is
adopted in this work to make a deep and clear understanding of the topic. Various features
associated with travel and tourism industry is described with respect to this organization.
2

LO1
1.1 ISSUES CURRENTLY DRIVING CHANGES IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM
INDUSTRY
There are various changes in occurring in Travel and tourism industry. Travel and tourism
industry is changing continuously due to a different kind of the issues. There are contemporary
issues which are changing this industry significantly (Sharpley and Telfer, 2014).
Titan Travel is one of the leading tour operators in the UK. It is imperative for Titan travel to
consider all the issues which are driving changes in travel and tourism. Chief issues that are
driving changes in travel and tourism industries are:
 Technological advancement
 Political issues
 Economic issues
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT
Technology plays a crucial role in the field of travel and tourism. Technological advancement
delivers different benefits to travel and tourism industry. Technological Improvement in areas
of transportation is one of the favourable factors for tourism industry (Cook, 2015). The
Internet is a main technological factor which plays an important role in boosting tourism by
making it fast and easily accessible by tourism. The improvement in the technology has changed
significantly to the travel and tourism industry. It is imperative for Titan Travel to focus on the
changes derived be technology in order to make it advantageous for the business (Molz,2012).
POLITICAL ISSUES
There are various political factors which are influencing the travel and tourism industry and
changing to its great extent. The key political factors which affecting this industry are
government's laws and legislation. The changes in visa policy and transportation policy change
the tourism. Brexit is also a major political factor that can have changed this industry. After
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separation of UK from European Union rules and regulation associated with tourism also
changed.
ECONOMIC ISSUES
The economic condition of a nation also reflects significantly on the growth and development of
the travel and tourism industry. There are various economic factors such as recession, inflation
and exchange rate that are responsible for changes in travel and tourism industry (Kim, 2012).
Titan travel should focus on the all the above-mentioned factors in order to understand and
analyse the changes and their impact on the business. Titan travel should consider these factors
to build effectual strategies.
4

1.2 DIFFERENT CURRENT ISSUES IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY
There are various issues which are affecting the travel and tourism to a great extent. It is
imperative to identify all the issues and to develop effective strategies to overcome them. Key
current issues which are influencing the business of travel and tourism industries are outlined
below –
 Terrorism
 Environmental concern
 Political and economic factors
TERRORISM
Terrorism is a great challenge for the travel and tourism industry. It reflects adversely on the
growth and development of this industry. The enhancement in the terrorist attack is a major
threat to this industry which leads to signification reduction in the number of the tourists. It is
essential for government or responsible authority to develop effective strategies to overcome
this issue (Baker, 2014)
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN
Tourism delivers different benefits which are essential for the significant growth and
development of a nation still there are few negative impact of this industry. It possesses
adverse impact on the environment as it gives rise to various factors which damage the
environment. Overcrowding, pollution and misuse of the natural resources are key factors that
affect the travel and tourism industry (Briassoulis and Van der Straaten, 2013).
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
Political unrest and instability of the economic factors are also important factors which give rise
to different issues. Change in different political factors such as the political relationship
between two countries, visa policy, and other such factors reflects on the tourism. Economic
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factors such as recession, exchange rate, taxation rate, interest rate influence the volume of the
tourists. In case of travel and tourism industry of UK, Brexit is one of the major factors that have
changed this industry to a great extent. It is very important for a company associated with the
tourism industry to consider all these political and economic factors which affect the travel and
tourism industry.
It is imperative for Titan Travel to focus on the issues associated with travel and tourism
industry. The company should build effective plans by considering the difference in order to
respond these issues (Sharpley and Telfer, 2014).
6

LO2
2.1 CURRENT TRENDS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM
INDUSTRY
Travel and tourism industry is changing by every passing day. There are different trends which
are influencing the tourism industry. Titan travel should focus on the all the different new
trends which are changing this industry (Mariani, et al. 2013).Key current trends that attract the
large volume of tourists from different countries of the world are:
Key current trends which are influencing the travel and tourism industries are:
 Adventure tourism
 Gastro-tourism
 Medical tourism
 Sport tourism
 Rural tourism
ADVENTURE TOURISM
Adventure tourism refers to tourism which involves the exploration of the different risky places
or things which need extra skills or physical exertion. People visit the different place and take
parts in different risky and thrilling sports or activities such as mountain biking, bungee
jumping, rafting, rock climbing etc. The large volume of the youth tourists are attracting
towards this tourism. The popularity of adventure tourism is increasing as it provides new,
thrilling and memorable experience to the tourists. Titan tourism should focus on this tourism
to meet the need of the tourists. It should develop its plan by considering different adventurous
places and activities to attract the adventure tourist (Beard, et al. 2012).
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GASTRO TOURISM
In gastro-tourism tourists, tourists visit different countries to taste the unique and delicious
food. Gastro-tourists are foodies who visit another place to taste the local and regional food.
They also have interest in learning different cooking styles and to gain knowledge of ingredients
used in food. A nation should develop effective tactics to develop the food regions to attract
the food loving tourists (Sidali, et al. 2015).
Figure 2: Gastro Tourism
[Source: http://ukspainlife.com/gastro-casa-candidate-coming-valencian-tourism-award/]
MEDICAL TOURISM
Medical tourism refers to tourism in which tourists visit other countries to receive better
medical treatment. One of the reasons behind the enhancement of the popularity of medical
tourism is that the availability of better and low-cost medical treatment in other countries.
Advancement in medical science is also an important reason which attracts the patients
suffering from fatal diseases.
SPORT TOURISM
8

In sport tourism people travels to different countries for watching any sport or to participate in
a sport event. A large volume of the fan or audience attends the sports events such as football
matches or cricket tournament. The UK hosts many major sports events which attract a large
number of the fans or audience. More than 9 million tickets were sold in London Olympic 2012
which reflect positively on the tourism industry of UK. Many countries are focusing on the
organization of big sports events in order to appeal the large volume of the tourists.
RURAL TOURISM
Rural tourism is a popular emerging tourism trend which is attracting the large volume of the
tourists. Rural tourists visit the rural areas of a nation to explore the lifestyle of the rural people
and to understand and experience their traditions, customs and culture. Visit Britain is focusing
on developing this niche market in order to attract the rural tourism.
Figure 1: Rural tourism
[Source: http://rural-tourism.purzuit.com/]
Titan Travel should focus on the all the above mentioned current trends to enhance the sale
and profitability. The enhancement in the popularity of all the above-mentioned niche market
is a great opportunity to achieve the significant growth and development in business.
9

2.2 TREND OF ADVENTURE TOURISM IN UK
The craze of the adventure tourism is enhancing day by day in tourists. Youngsters are
attracting toward adventurous tourism to a great extent. The main reason behind the
popularity of adventure tourism is that it allows tourists to enjoy the thrill and risky experience.
The volume of the tourists belong to adventure tourism is growing significantly. The countries
like Spain, France, Germany and Iceland are the most popular adventure tourism destinations
for the international tourists. Europe dominates the adventure tourism market and contributes
40% to total market share. The most popular adventure sports that attract tourists are hiking,
paragliding, kite surfing, rafting, skydiving etc. It is imperative a country focus on the
development of adventure destinations or sites in order to appeal adventure tourists (Buckley,
2012).
POSTER
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LO3
3.1 RESPOND TO CHANGE
The changes in travel and tourism industry affect significantly to the business of a company It is
crucial for a company to identify and analyse the different changes and their impact on the
business operation. Evaluation of the impact of all these factors helps an organization in the
identification of different issues which can affect its business operations so that appropriate
strategies can be developed to avoid them. An organization should respond effectively to all
the changes in order to avoid to resolve the issues and to utilize them as a competitive
advantage (Evans, et al. 2012).
Whitbread Plc. Is the largest hotel, restaurant and coffee shop operator in the UK. Whitbread
operates its business in two divisions Premier Inn & Restaurants and costa. Changes in travel
and tourism industry affect the business of the Whitbread Plc, therefore it is imperative for the
company to develop effective business strategies to respond all the changes in an effective
manner (Becker, 2016).
It is important to analyse the impact of all the changes in the tourism industry in order to
respond them. There are various tools which can be adopted to analyse the impact of different
changes. SWOT and PESTLE analyse effective and most widely used tools to examine the
different internal and external factors which can influence the business operation of a
company.
11

SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT analysis is an effective tool to understand and analyse all the internal and external
factors associated with an organization.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
Strong brand image
Holds significant market share
UK’s largest and popular chain
with more than 700 hotels
Expensive products and service
Lack of brand awareness
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
Strong tie-ups
Business expansion
Competition from the rival companies
such as Travelodge
Uncertain market expansion process
Table1: SWOT analysis of Whitbread Plc.
Whitbread should consider all the factors associated with its strengths, weakness, opportunities
and threats. It should focus on the improvement of its strengths to overcome the weakness and
threats in order to grab the different opportunities (Evans, et al. 2012).
PESTLE ANALYSIS
PESTLE analysis of Whitbread Plc can be done to understand the impact of various political
factors on its business operations.
POLITICAL FACTORS
Political factors give rise to different changes in travel and tourism industry which reflects on
the business of Whitbread plc. The political factors such as government rules and regulations,
changes in legislation associated with the tourism or hospitality sector and global changes
influence the business of Premier Inn & Restaurants and costa to a great extent.
ECONOMIC FACTORS
12

Economic factors such as inflation, recession, exchange rates, interest rates and other such
factors associated with the economy affect the business operations of Whitbread. All these
economic factors give rise to different changes such as increase or decrease of the volume of
tourists and charges of transportation which influences the business of Premier Inn &
Restaurants and costa. These economic factors or changes reflect on the sales and profitability
of the company (Kim, 2012).
SOCIAL FACTORS
Changes in social factors such as lifestyle or perception of the people are one of the main social
factors which influence the business of Premier Inn & Restaurants and costa. Occupation,
education and income of the people are the factors which are giving rise to different changes.
The social changes are giving rise to a different niche market such as rural tourism, adventure
tourism, gastro-tourism and medical tourism. Enhancement in the popularity of these trends is
a favourable factor for the business of Whitbread.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
In modern scenario, technology is playing an important role in boosting up the growth and
development of the travel and tourism industry. Technology has changed the tourism industry
to a great extent. Improvement in the transportation facilities has made the travelling faster
and comfortable for the tourists. Advancement in the Internet is also a favourable factor for the
growth of the tourism industry. Premier Inn & Restaurants and costa utilize the different
technological tools in order to enhance its efficiency and profitability (Standing, et al. 2013).
LEGAL FACTORS
In travel and tourism industry, tourist travel from one country to another country therefore
legal laws and legislation of both the countries can influence this industry. The difference in
legal laws and legalisations of the countries is the main issue for the business of a company.
Anti-Discrimination Act, Health and Safety Act, employment law and different legal laws and
legislation associated with the tourism and hospitality sector influence the business of Premier
Inn & Restaurants and costa.
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ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
There are various environmental factors which are changing gradually and are affecting the
business operations of the company. Climate and Weather of a nation play an important role in
attracting the tourists, therefore, changes in these factors reflect significantly on the business of
a company. The Environmental laws and legislation developed by a nation also influence the
business operations of Premier Inn & Restaurants and costa (Briassoulis and Van der Straaten,
2013).
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3.2 STRATEGIES FOR PREMIER INN & RESTAURANTS AND COSTA TO RESPOND
THE CHANGES
As already discussed in the above section of this report that the changes influence the business
of Premier Inn & Restaurants and costa to a great extent, therefore, it is imperative to develop
effective strategies to respond all the changes effectively.
It is imperative for the Whitbread to consider all the different factors in order to develop
effective strategies. The marketing mix is an important tool which helps in understanding the
different important elements which are important for responding changes effectively. Premier
Inn & Restaurants and costa should focus on the improvement of different elements of the
marketing mix that are Product, price, promotion are place (Goodall and Ashworth, 2013). The
company should consider all these factors to develop effective strategies to respond the
changes.
PRODUCT
The product or service of a company is the main element that attracts the customers. The
product and service of both Premier Inn & Restaurants and costa are different from each other.
Premier Inn & Restaurants focus on providing better services in order to satisfy its guests. It
provides high-quality food and accommodation facilities according to demand of the guests.
Costa is a famous for its delicious coffee but it also provides other products such as sandwiches,
cold drinks, chocolates and ice blends to attract the customers (Evans, et al. 2012).
PRICE
Customers concerns about the price of a product or service, therefore, it is very important for
an organisation to develop effective pricing strategies to attract them. The premier Inn
provides good quality services at affordable price. It can provide attractive offers and discounts
are such as group discount and festive discount to attract the tourists. The price of costa
Products is relatively high as compared to other rival organisations. The target customers of
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costa are businessman and young people belongs to a higher middle-class family. The company
should focus on the enhancement of the sales by providing offers and discounts.
PLACE
Premier Inn and restaurants are largest hotel brand in the UK with more than 750 hotels in
different countries of the world. The location of the hotels is good and easily accessible by the
people. The company also adopts online platform such as apps or websites to for the booking
purpose. Costa has over 1000 stores in the UK which are located in different locations such as
malls, airport or other premium places (Bowie, 2018).
PROMOTION
Promotion is very important element to enhance the sales and profitability of a company.
Premier Inn and restaurants adopt different print, electronic and digital promotional tools to
attract the customers. Costa also adopts the different promotional strategies to promote its
products. Both the company should adopt advertisement mediums which reach its target
customers. For example, a company can promote its products in travelling and lifestyle
magazines to reach its target customers.
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3.3 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STRATEGIES FOR RESPONDING THE CHANGE
The impact of strategies developed to respond the changes should be analysed in order to
achieve better results. The strategies of both the companies revolve around the satisfying the
need and demand of the customers. A company should understand and analyse the different
needs and demands of the customers in order to make the certain and required improvement
in its business strategies.
Premier Inn and restaurants and Costa should focus on the market segmentation, target and
positioning in order to identify the target customers and to meet their needs. The market of
Premier Inn and restaurants can be divided on the basis of different behavioural, demographic,
psychographic and geographic factors. The behavioural factors such as loyalty status, readiness
to purchase and benefits sought are the key behavioural factors which should be considered by
the Premier Inn and restaurants and Costa. Demographic factors include age, gender,
occupation are the key factors that influence that influence the business operations of the
company. Psychographic factors such as lifestyle, personality, attitude and class influence the
business operations of the company. Geographic factors such as location of the shops in urban
and rural area the important factors which should be considered by the Whitbread Plc (Hall, et
al. 2014). The evaluation of these factors indicates that the target customers for Premier Inn
and restaurants belong to middle and high-income class people. It should focus on attracting
the people belong to this category by considering their need and demands.
Both Premier inn and restaurants and Costa should focus on the improvement in price, product,
place and promotion to respond the different changes. Premier Inn and restaurants can include
the famous and unique food to attract the gastro-tourists. Costa can also focus on opening new
coffee stores in rural area to attract rural tourists. It can also focus on opening the stores in
different adventures spots to attract the adventure tourists (Li, et al. 2017).
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LO4
4.1 IMPACT OF TRENDS AND ISSUES THAT DRIVE CHANGES IN TRAVEL AND
TOURISM INDUSTRY
The trends and issues in travel and tourism industry have influenced the tourism industry to a
great extent. The business operation of the Trailfinders Ltd is also gets affected due to changes
in travel and tourism industry. Trailfinders Ltd is privately owned tour operator with 32 travel
centre established (Goeldner, et al. 2012).
The key impact of these factors that have changed the travel and tourism are:
 Employment level
 Sector structure
 Business
EMPLOYMENT LEVEL
The changes in travel and tourism industry have influenced the employment level of the nation.
It provides job opportunities to a large volume of the people. It has benefited the local people
by delivering them lucrative job opportunities. The rise of niche tourism markets also delivers
the job to people. One of the issues which have risen is the unavailability of the cheap labours
for big tourism companies. It has resulted in the enhancement of the charges of the companies
associated with travel and tourism companies (Page, 2014)
SECTOR STRUCTURE
Travel and tourism is a large industry which can be broken up into different sectors such as
transportation, accommodation, information and coordination, tour operators and whole sales,
travel agents etc. All these sectors are changing by every passing day to different issues and
trends in travel and tourism sector. Advancement in transportation services such as
introduction of new airlines companies, changes in visa policy has made the transportation easy
and affordable for the tourists. The hospitality sector is also changing significantly due to
changes in psychographic and behavioural factors such as lifestyle and attitude of the people.
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BUSINESS
The issues and trends in tourism industries are also influencing the business of organization.
Organizations have changed their business strategies in order to respond the different changes.
Companies are merging with each in order to enhance the sales and maximizing the profits
(Page, 2014)
Trailfinders Ltd should consider all the above-mentioned impact of changes and issues on its
business operations and should develop effective strategies in order to respond the changes
effectively.
19

4.2 CONSEQUENCES OF BUSINESS FALLING TO RESPOND MARKET CHANGE
A business that fails to respond the market changes has to face the different negative or
unfavourable consequence. Poor strategies for responding to market change give rise to
different issues that can influence the business adversely (Goeldner, et al. 2012).
Main consequences of failing to respond the market change are:
 Declination of sales
 Reduction in profit margin
DECLINATION OF THE SALES
A company that fails to respond the changes has to face certain issues in which falling of the
sales of the company is a major issue. It is imperative for a company to understand and analyse
the need of the customers and should fulfil them to enhance the sales (Page, 2014)
REDUCTION OF PROFIT MARGIN
Travel and tourism is a lucrative industry, as a result, the competition is enhancing to a great
extent. The profit margin of the company also decreases due to enhancement n the
competition (Page, 2014)
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CONCLUSION
There are various contemporary issues which affect the business operations of a company. It is
imperative for a company to identify and analyse all the changes and trends in tourism industry
in order to develop effective strategies to overcome the issues and to grab the new
opportunities. Evaluation of the impact of all the issues and trends helps an organization in the
identification of different changes which can affect its business operations so that appropriate
strategies can be developed to respond them effectively. It may be concluded that a company
should respond effectively to all the changes to achieve significant and sustainable business
growth.
21

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