Analysis of Trends and Changes in Travel and Tourism

This assignment requires a comprehensive analysis of trends and changes in the travel and tourism sector. It involves examining various types of tourism such as eco-tourism, food tourism, and sport tourism that are significantly impacting the industry. The report should also discuss how companies related to this sector must respond to these changes to gain competitive advantage by enhancing their functions and operations.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN TRAVEL
AND TOURISM

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................1
TASK – 1.......................................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Current issues driving change in the travel and tourism sector.....................................................1
1.2 Analysis of various issues using appropriate methods and resources............................................3
TASK – 2.......................................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Current trends inducing change in the travel and tourism sector...................................................4
2.2 Evaluating niche tourism market through techniques and resources.............................................5
TASK – 3.......................................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Investigating how Whitbread businesses could respond to change...............................................6
3.2 Developing strategies to respond to changes.................................................................................7
3.3 Justification of strategies................................................................................................................7
TASK – 4.......................................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Impacts of issues and trends driving change in the travel and tourism sector...............................8
4.2 Consequences of businesses weakening to respond to market changes........................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................10

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Food Tourism 2015..........................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION
Business operates in the environment full of issues and changing places that significantly
impacts each and every sector. The travel and tourism sector is that sector which has undertaken
changes at a very large scale. These changes influence the operation tour and travel companies.
Further, this sector is advancing at a high pace and has reflected high evolution in regards with
the product, profits, revenue and services. Nevertheless this sector is also facing the impact of
certain factors which are offering challenges to the firms belonging to this industry. In other
words, it is something that has a high level of relevance with technological and social changes
(Cohen, 2004). Here, concerning this the main consideration will be given on highlighting
current issues as well as trends that impacts the travel and tourism sector of United Kingdom.
Furthermore, the research report will also analyze the ways travel and tourism sector will
response to the upcoming changes, challenges and issues. The report consists of four parts and
each and every part is related with the specific scenario in the context of travel and tourism topic.
The later part of the report will highlight some of the important impacts of changes on travel and
tourism sector.
TASK – 1
“Titan Travel” a UK based tour operator, significantly focuses on inbound, outbound and
domestic tourism markets of UK. As an Assistant manager for the company focus will made on
evaluating different issues that are driving change in the travel and tourism sector and
information related to these trends and changes will be explored for taking appropriate decisions
as well as to support training of the new workers.
1.1 Current issues driving change in the travel and tourism sector
Talking in reference with UK, it is one of the major tourist destinations when compared
to other attractions of the world. The nation’s attractiveness is increasing by leaps and bounds
and the sector’s contribution in the economy of the country is also increasing (Cooper and Hall,
2008). But, there are many facets that are driving alteration in the travel and tourism sector and
influencing the business operations of many companies related to this sector. The significant
three issues are being described underneath:
 Technological and infrastructural development – Because of the advancement in
technology, the travel and tourism sector has influenced a lot. Through technology, each
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and every business has achieved the path of growth and success and has developed
connections between different countries of the world. Concerning this, people are now
aware about varied attractions and destinations of different parts of the world. In addition
to this, because of the rising online presence of the tour companies there has been
significant increase in the tourism ratio amid the tourist (Collins, Jones and Munday,
2008). Due to the rise in the globalization and current trends in the market, there is a
requirement of proper infrastructure, which is also developing at a reckless speed. The
United Kingdom government is also contributing in the improvement process and giving
helping hands in the development of resorts as well as their set-up for the purpose of
attracting visitors from varied parts of the globe especially from Western Europe and
America. In addition to this, the government is also planning for around 149 programs
related to transport amenities of around £100000.
 Taxation and deregulation of Airlines – The travel and tourism sector is the most taxed
sector and thus, the growth of this industry is significantly influenced by these high level
and number of taxes. All around the world, this sector is imposed by heavy burden of
taxes starting from tour operator, airline sector, transporters, hotels and many more. In
addition to this, the taxes also range from aviation, luxury, transportation, service and
other taxes (Coles and Hall, 2008). The amount of all these types of taxes varies from one
place to another. Furthermore, due to deregulation, the airline industry is standing in front
of a paradigm shift being showcased by the recent impact of deregulation. Moreover,
because of this deregulation, the flow of air travel has impacted a lot. The infrastructure
network is also related to the government and therefore, there was partial deregulation in
this industry. This has helped the airline firms in reconfiguring their air routes and
equipments and improved their capacity utilization effectively.
 Lack of differentiation – All across the world, the uniqueness in the products and services
always remains lost due to standardization. In the globalized market, products and
services with same features and attributes are being offered to the public all across the
world. This uniformity in the products and services is the biggest challenge being faced
by the companies in this industry. Firms are dealing in same products and thus, there is
high intense competition among the firms (Wachowiak, 2006). Clients have vast options
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to select from and can easily switch towards other firms pertaining to low cost being
involved.
1.2 Analysis of various issues using appropriate methods and resources
In the above paragraph, various trends driving changes in the travel and tourism has been
discussed. There are many current issues as well that impact the operation of the organizations
especially to those related with the travel and tourism sector such as political unrest, terrorism,
severe weather, BREXIT, rise and fall of the inflation as well as international laws. These
identified issues can be evaluated by making use of secondary research techniques like political
reports, UN’s report, financial report and world tourism report. For travel and tourism industry,
analysis of political report plays a crucial role. Politics as well as parties influence the country in
which the visitors travel (Burns, 2000). Talking about UK, politics has a vital role since it is
performed by the King and Queen in charge with the government. They all together act as a main
body and work together to sort out several problems. For instance, political unrest in North
Africa and Middle East impacts the tourism industry a lot. Further, the withdrawal of UK from
the European Union popularly termed as “BREXIT” has impacted UK in varied ways. There was
a positive impact on trade which in turned helped tourism the other way round. In addition to
this, by analyzing the United Nation’s report, it can be said that most of the tourists like to visit
UK because of the presence of variety of attractions and destinations holding leading position in
the world. Because of such popularity, the nation is also targeted by bomb blasting, terrorism and
terror attack etc. Finally, with the world tourism report, it states that United Kingdom is being
appreciated among the top destinations for vacation. According to the survey being performed, it
was publicized that in the last year UK was the only nation who is been visited by most of the
tourism. Therefore, it can be attributed that this destination is being followed by varied people
because of its popularity and mind-blowing attractions (Girardand Nijkamp, 2009).
TASK – 2
As Assistant product development manager for Thomas Cook, the main aim of this task
is to develop profitable tour packages. The manager will develop information pack and poster to
share with the new workers being appointed.
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2.1 Current trends inducing change in the travel and tourism sector
 Sports tourism – Sports tourism is set to emerge as one of the vital and lucrative trend in
the travel and tourism industry. This type of tourism increases with the popularity of
sports (Hall, 2008). For example, Brazil is quite famous for the game football and thus,
when in the year 2014, Brazil hosted the world cup, suddenly the number of visitors
visiting Brazil increased tremendously. People travelled to Brazil because of football and
thus, it is known as sports tourism.
 Eco-tourism – Talking in reference with the Eco-tourism, it is being defined as a tourism
which is founded on the experience of nature. It is quite vital tourism for developing
social structure as well as local economy. The main purpose behind eco-tourism is to
protect and save the natural environment by taking help of rigorous efforts. As per the
trip advisor survey 2012, 78 percent of the tourism and travel companies said that they
will make more eco-friendly choices in next one year (Holden, 2008). Further, as per the
Nielson Wire Survey, around 66 percent of the consumers were of the belief that they
always intends to be associated with those companies that have implemented some
programs to give back to the society.
 Food tourism – Food tourism is also being known as a culinary tourism and is gaining
popularity in recent years. People are getting insights about the food of varied nations and
experiencing their culinary world. Many countries like Canada, Iceland and Peru who are
investing in development of food tourism (Maitland and Ritchie, 2009).
Figure 1: Food Tourism 2015
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(Food tourism in 2015, 2015).
2.2 Evaluating niche tourism market through techniques and resources
Niche tourism market is nothing but a focus of a company on a particular tourism
market. In the current task, the firm wants to focus on sports tourism. Throwing light in relation
with the sports tourism, it is being defined as an international trip particularly taken to watch
sporting events such as World cup, Olympics, Formula 1 Grand Prix, tennis, golf, horse racing
etc. Sports tourism has brought a change in the travel and tourism sector (Creswell, 2003). By
seeking help from the market research, various trends, estimates of size of the market and
potential for growth can be ascertained.
Estimated global market size
There are many sports which are quite famous at the global level such as FIFA World
Cup, European Football Championships and Olympics. The popularity of all these sporting
events eventually helps in attracting large number of international visitors.
Sporting event Number of visitors attracted
FIFA Football World Cup held in France in
1998
900,000 international football fans
Olympics in Sydney in the year 2000 111,000 additional international arrivals to
Australia
The European Football Championships in the
year 2004
500,000 sports tourists to Portugal (Developing
a Niche Tourism Market Database for the
Caribbean, n.d)
The Monaco Grand Prix 200,000 visitors were attracted
Cricket World Cup in the year 2007 in
Caribbean
100,000 visitors additional
The above statistics and tourist keeps in changing on the basis of events taking place in
a particular area. On an average, it can be well-attributed that around 12 million international
trips are made in order to watch and enjoy a sporting event (Novelli, 2005).
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TASK – 3
The current task is being related with the Whitbread business, a UK's largest hotel,
restaurant and coffee shop operator having more than 50,000 employees. As a member of
strategy development team, the main task is to analyze the travel and tourism business
environment as well as development of new business strategies for the group business.
3.1 Investigating how Whitbread businesses could respond to change
Businesses have varied ways of responding in regards with the changes. However, it is
important for all to assess their current situation and external business environment so as to
prepare well for the changes taking place in near future (Kangis and O`Reilly, 2003).
SWOT analysis
Strength
 Wide coverage area
 High customer base
 Brand image and reputation
 Large group of employees
Weakness
 Rate of return is lower
 High cost
Opportunities
 Expansions through mergers and
acquisitions
 Expansion in the region of Asia and
Pacific (Veal, 2006)
Threats
 Competition
 Cost of raw-materials is too high
PEST analysis
Political
 Strict law, rules and regulations of the
UK government
 Due to terrorism many new laws have
been imposed by the government
Economical
 Fluctuations in economy
 Changes in inflation rate
 Purchasing power of the people
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 Safety standards and employment laws
such as food safety act, workplace
equality act 2010 etc. need to be
considered
Social
 Preferences and taste of people
 Change in lifestyle
 Social and cultural belief (Stonehouse,
2003)
Technological
 Development of technology demands
improvements in the process of
Whitbread Plc
 Online booking and mobile apps
3.2 Developing strategies to respond to changes
For the current study, Premier Inn & Restaurants a subsidiary of Whitbread Plc will be
taken under consideration. Seeking help from the marketing strategy, the firms will be able to
respond to the changes effectively and these are as follows:
 Product – The main product of Premier Inn is rooms and thus, there is a need to make
improvements by offering clean and hygienic rooms to the visitors. The interiors of the
room should be attractive and fascinating and should be based on themes such as kid
theme, heritage, modern architecture etc.
 Price – It is the most important element and considering the present competition in the
market, it is important to keep the prices reasonable and competitive (Hooley, Saunders
and Piercy, 2008).
 Place – The location of the hotel could be accessible but arrangement should be made to
offer mapping facility to visitors or tourists so that they feel observant.
 Promotion – With the changing time and respond to the current changes taking place in
the business environment, it is quite essential for Premier Inn & Restaurants to be known
in the crowd through using social media. Further, focus should be made on designing of
website on a priority basis.
3.3 Justification of strategies
All the above described strategies could be enormously helpful in improving the level of
marketing and its other elements. Premier Inn & Restaurants should adopt market development
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and product development strategies for retorting the changes in the market (Kotler and Keller,
2007). The chosen product mix of the firm will support in having lasting impression at the
visitors and can attract them as well. With the reasonable pricing, the firm can manage their
profits and ROI from the point view of the customers will be adequate. Furthermore, the chosen
promotional mix is quite necessary for the hotel as they come within the budget and justifies the
cost perspective. Finally, the place strategy is based upon the principle of easy accessibility and
good location. Therefore, it can be said that the above mentioned strategies are quite beneficial
and at the same time it is result oriented (Olsen, 2004).
TASK – 4
As a member of strategy development team at Trailfinders Ltd, which is a privately
owned tour operator having more than 30 travel centers being located all across the UK and
Ireland with more than 1000 staff. The main task is to write management report on impacts of
issues and trends driving alteration in the travel and tourism sector.
4.1 Impacts of issues and trends driving change in the travel and tourism sector
 Influence on business – The business operation of Trailfinders Ltd. will be impacted by
the issues being prevailing in the market. The demand of tourism is increasing with the
increase in the technological advancement. The sales ratio of the company is increasing
and therefore, it can be well attributed that due to advancement in technology, the firm
was able to earn good revenue (Mason, 2008).
 Impact on employment levels – Employment level has been positively impacted by the
changing trends and issues in the travel and tourism sector. Each and every firm needs
large group of people to maintain and handle their daily operations and those who can
contribute immensely in the success of the firm. It is well stated that the demand level is
increasing and thus, there is generation of employment in every facets of tourism. For
handling varied kinds of tourism activities, Trailfinders Ltd requires experts with vast
knowledge in regards with the areas of tourism.
 Improvement in the product and service quality – Again, it is quite clear that the product
as well as service quality has been increased due to changing trends and issues in this
sector. Further, there has been increase in the range of products offering but due to
security measures and uncertain economic characteristics, people does not show their
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interest with these products. Further, it becomes very easy for the company to pay
attention on customer convenience with the facilities like virtual tour, online reservation,
enquiry and many more (Blum, 2008).
4.2 Consequences of businesses weakening to respond to market changes
The business of Trailfinders Ltd can be impacted by several means like profitability and
revenue, if it fails to respond to the market changes meticulously and fittingly. Other than this,
the perception of the customers for the firm will also change if they do not go line in line with
the changing market place (Weed and Bull, 2004). Negative image of brand of the firm will
prevail in the market. Furthermore, because of the lower level of technological advancement,
firm will not be able to offer enhanced services to their customers and are more likely to lose
their customer base. Moreover, another consequence of the firm not responding to the changes is
that there will be no development of niche market due to inferior services. In addition to this,
there are numerous other factors which are being caused due to these issues, market changes and
trends like liquidations, mergers, acquisitions and many more. Consequently, it can be well-
attributed that for sustaining in the market, Trailfinders Ltd needs adapt these changes on a
regular basis. There is a need of flexible approach and constant adaptation of market changes;
otherwise the firm will lag behind in relation with improvement in technology. Pertaining to this,
the organization will not grow further and stay out of marketing. This type of condition is more
susceptible at the time of economic distress and crisis. On a whole, the firm’s involvement
towards the economy of the country will be influenced extremely (Taylor and Toohey, 2007).
CONCLUSION
Consequently, it can be said through above confab and evaluation that irrespective of the
size of the firm, there is a need to makes changes in the processes and procedures according to
the dynamic business environment and demands of the market to be targeted. Further, it was
analyzed in the report that there are many trends like eco-tourism, food tourism and sport tourism
that are significantly influencing the travel and tourism sector. Companies related to this sector,
must respond to these changes in the market and should gain competitive advantage by
enhancing their functions and operations.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Blum, S., 2008. Hotel Operations: Theories & Applications. Kendall/Hunt Pub Co.
Burns, R., 2000. Introduction to Research Methods. London: Sage Publications
Cohen, E., 2004. Contemporary Tourism Diversity and Change. London: Elsevier.
Coles, T. and Hall, M., 2008. International Business and Tourism: global issues. contemporary
interactions.
Collins, A., Jones, C. and Munday, M., 2008. Assessing the environmental impacts of mega
sporting events: two options?. Tourism Management, in press – DOI:
Cooper, C. and Hall, M., 2008. Contemporary Tourism, an international approach. Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Creswell, J.W, 2003. Research Design; Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
Approaches. 3rded. London: Sage Publications Ltd
Girard, F.L. and Nijkamp, P., 2009. Cultural Tourism and Sustainable Local Development.
Farnham: Ashgate.
Hall, C.M., 2008. Tourism planning. Policies, processes and relationships. Harlow: Pearson
Holden, A., 2008. Environment and Tourism. London: Routledge.
Hooley, G.J., Saunders, J.A. and Piercy, N.F., 2008. Marketing Strategy and Competitive
Positioning. 3rded. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Kangis, P. and O`Reilly, M.D., 2003. Strategies in a dynamic marketplace: A case study in the
airline industry. Journal of Business Research, 56, pp.105-111.
Kotler, K. and Keller, K., 2007. Marketing Management. India: 3rded. Dorling Kindersley.
Maitland, R. and Ritchie, B., 2009. City tourism, national capital perspectives. Wallingford:
CABI Publishing.
Mason, P., 2008. Tourism Impacts, Planning and Management. London: Routledge.
Novelli, M., 2005. Niche Tourism: Contemporary issues, trends and cases. Oxford: Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Olsen, M.D., 2004. Literature in Strategic Management in the Hospitality Industry. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 23, pp.411-424.
Stonehouse, G., 2003. Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism. Oxford: Butterworth-
Heinemann.
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Taylor, T. and Toohey, K., 2007. Perceptions of terrorism threats at the 2004 Olympic Games:
implications for sport events. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 12(2), pp.99–114.
Veal, A.J., 2006. Research Methods for Leisure and Tourism. London: Prentice Hall.
Wachowiak, H., 2006. Tourism and borders: contemporary issues, policies, and international
research. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Weed, M. and Bull, C., 2004. Sports tourism: participants, policy and providers. Oxford:
Elsevier.
Online references
Developing a Niche Tourism Market Database for the Caribbean. n.d. [Online]. Available
through: < https://www.onecaribbean.org/wp-content/uploads/NicheMarketsDatabase.pdf >.
[Accessed on 30thJuly 2018].
Food tourism in 2015. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.foodieandtours.com/blog/food-tourism-2015-infographic/>. [Accessed on
30thJuly 2018].
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