Tourism and its Impacts

This research paper examines the complex effects of tourism on various aspects of society. It delves into its contributions to economic development, analyzes the environmental consequences of tourism activities, and investigates the social and cultural impacts on host communities. The assignment requires students to critically evaluate existing literature, analyze case studies, and formulate informed conclusions about the role of tourism in shaping our world.

Travel and Tourism

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Key historical developments in travel and tourism sector ..................................................1
1.2 Structure of travel and tourism .............................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Analyzing function of government, government-sponsored bodies and international
agencies in travel and tourism ....................................................................................................3
2.2 Influence of local and national economic policy on the success of travel and tourism sector
.....................................................................................................................................................5
2.3 Implications of political change on the travel and tourism sector in different countries .....5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Factors affecting the tourism demand...................................................................................6
3.2 Supply has changed to meet the effects of demand .............................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
4.1 Positive and negative economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism ..................9
4.2 Strategies that can be used to minimize the negative impacts while maximizing the
positive impacts.........................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Tourism is an act of travel for business, leisure and recreational purpose and it is also
practice and theory of touring. This is the fastest and growing industry sector. In this tourists
travel and stay different places outside their usual place for not more than one year for business,
leisure and other purposes. The travel and tourism is major source of income for countries and it
also affects the economy of many countries. Present report is prepared to understand the history
and structure of travel and tourism sector. Further this report will helps to understand the
influence of local and national governments and international agencies on the travel and tourism
sector. This report also includes effects of supply and demand on the this sector and also
describes the impact of tourism.
TASK 1
1.1 Key historical developments in travel and tourism sector
The travel and tourism has been presented in almost all countries of world, even it was
existed during prehistoric times. Since the beginning of civilization, it was important very
important feature because in prehistoric times people travel from one place to another for
gathering the food and hunting the animals. The intention of travelling varies from the various
purposes such as trading, religion, accommodation and education etc. The people of Rome used
to spend their summer days to get away from the burning heat by taking tour of coasts and
countryside. It was the time when business of tourism came in to the existence. From this time
period, people started to take interests in tours because organizer of tours arranged basic of
journey by providing places for sleep and eat (Cvelbar, Dwyer, Koman and Mihalič, 2015).
Many people used to travel for religious purpose such as Muslims travel to Mecca for Hajj
purpose and religious festival of Greece which include 200 days for celebration.
Before the time of 16th century, people used to travelled in three ways such as by foot,
carried in carrier wagon or riding a horse. Later in 18th century time period many people started
to travel for visiting historical purpose and also for educational purpose like learning painting
from Italy or studying architecture and sculpture (Sørensen and Jensen, 2015). In this century,
the turnpike road developed which improved the surfaces of roads. This type of roads enables the
sprung coaches to travel comfortably for long journeys. At the time of 19th century, travel and
tourism industry becomes more popular and due to popularity it becomes more expensive, so, it
1

was limited for few people who were able to afford the prices of tours. Later in this century,
through air-crafts, people used to travel from airport of one country to another. In the 20th
century, its first half was peak time for rail travel because trains were more reliable and quick as
compare to travel from cars. In this century, air travel also improved more rapidly because of low
traffic. Through the continuous development in travel and tourism sector, mass number of people
used to travel for various purposes. Increment in growth of this sector also encourages many
countries to focus on their country's tourism sector (Zhou, Maumbe, Deng and Selin, 2015). In
London the travel and tourism is flourishing from long time history and at present it holds the
prime position in the market share of country. The attractive places of London are Ferris Wheel,
London aquarium and Big Ben etc. the attractive destinations of London attracts mass numbers
of visitors.
1.2 Structure of travel and tourism
The structure of travel and tourism industry involve six major components of this sector.
The components are discussed below: Tourist attractions
It includes various locations of country which attracts tourists to visit there. Locations
includes attraction which can be natural like lakes and beaches or man made constructed for
attracting the visitors. The very attractive locations such as London Eye, Tower of London,
Windsor and Eden Project Lego land.
 Transportation services
To reach or arrive at locations, transport is very required. For this purpose transport
services could be car, air travel, rail travel and ship etc. The transport at-least forms 25% of
tourist payments for a tour trip. Through the various ways of getting around the transport forms a
important role in travel and tourism industry (Sharpley and Telfer, 2014). In UK, public expects
very high standard of services which includes all types of travel information. Accommodation services
It has to be available for any visit because it is naturally very important for this industry.
When visitors extends there visit more than a day, they require accommodation services which
consist guest house, hotels and caravans etc. The standard of accommodation services
significantly developed and improved according to the comfort level of visitors.
 Tour operators
2

The operators of tours produces the holidays in the form of various packages. They
combine attraction, transport and accommodation components into a package which fulfils
requirements of customers and then they refers to the travel agents. They negotiate the contract
with transport and accommodation provider because purchasing in bulk always reduces the
overhead costs. Operators presents the holidays in the form of brochure to the travel agents
(Navickas and Malakauskaite, 2015).
 Travel agents
Travel agents sells the brochures which is given them by tour operators. They generally
works as a mediator between tour operators and public and they usually cater for the holidays
specialist. In London there are various travel agents presented such as Hurlingham travel and
AWL travel etc. The most popular travel agents are call centres, through this travellers can book
their holidays by phone.
 Tourism and development
They are situated all over the country to provide the information of region. Travellers can
comes to tourist information system to gain the literature of area and the tourist information
board is mainly concern with promotion (Ivanov and Webster, 2013).
TASK 2
2.1 Analyzing function of government, government-sponsored bodies and international agencies
in travel and tourism
UK Government plays an important role in the development and regulation of travel and
tourism sector. It is a vital body that formulates policies, laws and regulations to regulate the
functioning of tour and travel industry in the nation (Estol and Font, 2016). Government creates
economic and trade policies to streamline the operations of tour and travel organizations. In
addition to this, it also formulates security policies to overcome the threats of unpredictable
perils associated with tour and travel industry. The engagement of government in UK can be
broadly categorized into two ways: one is direct and another is indirect engagement (Government
Tourism Policy, 2011). Major functions of government in travel and tourism industry are as
follows:
 To facilitate revenue generation by increasing foreign revenue.
 To promote tour and travel industry in domestic as well as international markets.
3

 To create sustainable business opportunities for tour and travel companies.
 To provide a stable and sustainable business environment to tourism sector.
 To build safe and secured environment for tourists and local citizens in order to enhance
their travel experience (Sørensen and Jensen, 2015).
 To monitor the operations of tour and travel organizations and make sure that they are in
line with government policies and regulations.
 To develop infrastructure for developing tourism sector in UK.
 To create new employment opportunities for public by promoting tourism industry in
UK.
Government sponsored bodies also plays a vital role in the development and promotion
of tour and travel industry in UK. It includes National and local tourism bodies known as
Destination Management Organizations (DMO) which are funded to promote tourism and travel
sector in UK. In addition to this, Visit Britain is a new partnership marketing approach to market
the tourism sector of UK in order to attract international tourists (Penrose, 2011). These
government sponsored bodies play vital function of conducting research for developing tourism
industry by providing essential information about destinations from the nation to foreign
travellers.
International agencies are significantly engaged in the development of global travel and
tourism industry. The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is an important
international agency that is responsible for the promotion of sustainable international tourism
(World Tourism Organization UNWTO, 2016). It is the leading global agency which promotes
tourism sector as a catalyst of economic growth by fostering effective tourism policies
worldwide. In addition to this, UNWTO also enables the employment of global code of ethics for
the regulation of international tourism. Besides this, it also focuses on increasing socio-economic
contribution of tourism as well as reducing negative effects on the global environment. Apart
from this, UNWTO is also committed to promote tourism as an effective tool in attaining
Sustainable Development Goals with an aim to reduce global poverty (Zhou, Maumbe, Deng and
Selin, 2015).
2.2 Influence of local and national economic policy on the success of travel and tourism sector
There are numerous ways in which local and national economic policy impact the success
of travel and tourism industry. Economic policy can be elaborated as the actions that are
4

undertaken by government in order to develop and control economic scenario of UK. It covers a
range of systems for setting budgets, labor market, level of taxation, interest rates, fiscal and
monetary policies as well as related areas of government interventions (Zhou, Maumbe, Deng
and Selin, 2015). National economic policies of UK can directly influence its tourism industry.
National exchange rate of pound significantly affects the value of other foreign currency. For
example, if pound stands stronger against the foreign currency then international tourists will
spend more money which implies greater revenue generation through tourism. This earned
revenue helps government in allocating larger budget for the development of infrastructure
pertaining to the promotion of local and national destinations and attractions in foreign markets.
In addition to this, government subsidies also play important role in the success of travel and
tourism sector. For example: if government provides subsidies the infrastructure of a resort in a
destination area of economic importance, then it will positively influence the tourism sector of
that area. Thus national and local economic policies directly impact the success of travel and
tourism sector of a particular destination.
On the other hand, these policies can have indirect impact on the industry. For example:
if government makes changes in the fiscal and monetary policies to control the money flow in
the economy, then it affects other industries as well as travel and tourism industry of UK
(Pulido-Fernández, Andrades-Caldito and Sánchez-Rivero, 2015). For example : if economic
policy tends to lower the exchange rate for pounds, then large number of foreign travellers will
choose UK as their vacation destination due to cheaper tours and travel packages. This will help
travel and tourism sector to grow substantially in UK.
2.3 Implications of political change on the travel and tourism sector in different countries
There are number of implications of political changes on travel and tourism sector in
different nations. Growth of the sector largely depends on the political stability of countries as no
tourist will like to visit a country with political unrest. This is due to the fact that there is lack of
proper safety and security measures for the protection of international tourists. There are number
of countries in the world that have attractive destinations for the growth of tourism sector (Hall,
Gossling and Scott, 2015). However, due to political instability, travel and tourism sector is at
halt in certain nations. For example: Burma is one of the developing nations in Asia which has
ample of advantages such as temperate climate and beautiful geographical locations. These
features are capable of flourishing opportunities for the growth of travel and tourism sector in
5

Burma. However, monopoly of military government negatively impacts the success of tourism
industry in the country. Besides this, tension between Burma's military government and other
nation leads to improper development of national economic policies. This adversely affects the
growth of travel and tourism sector in the country (Cvelbar, Dwyer, Koman and Mihalič, 2015).
Another example of politically unstable nations are Taliban and Pakistan which are famous for
housing terrorist groups and activities. Therefore Terrorism is overshadowing the growth of
travel and tourism sector in these nations. Another example in the politically unstable nation is
Israel where social and political unrest make the nation unsuitable for the growth of tourism
sector.
On the contrary, there are certain countries where political changes have path for the
positive growth of travel and tourism industry (Mahafzah, 2015). For instance: UK experienced
economic breakdown during political elections which resulted into reduced exchange rate of
pounds. Lowered value of pounds became beneficial for foreign travellers as travel and tour
packages were cheaper and affordable. Thus, it became a potential determinant of success for
travel and tourism sector in UK during election period. It is observed that attractiveness of a
country can be ameliorated by making positive political changes which in turn increases
opportunities for the success of travel and tourism sector.
TASK 3
3.1 Factors affecting the tourism demand
In London, there are various factors such as technological, exchange rates, economies etc.
affects the demand of tourists. These aspects create impact on the management of TUI group in
the London. To analyse the affects of these factors, PESTLE model is applied which is described
below:
 Political
This is a key factor which affects the tourism in London. Undeveloped infrastructure, low
investment rates and poor transport system affects the tourism of country and the favourable
conditions of country attracts more customers towards country's attractive places. In addition to
this,these political factors create positive impact on the business of TUI group in the London.
The marketing and promotional activities by the political representatives also increases the
demand of tourists (Sørensen and Jensen, 2015).
6

 Economic
The economic conditions and its policies affects the tourism in London. The economic
conditions involves interest rates, level of disposable income, stock exchange fluctuations and
bank rates also affects and decides the demand of tourism. Along with this, these economic
factors also affect income of TUI group in the City. For example high level of disposable income
also increase the intention to move towards other place to explore them.
 Social
The social factors like taste and preference of public affects the tourism demand because
according to these factors people select the destination places. The culture and food of London
also attracts more customers towards the country. In addition to this, this aspect contribute
effective role for management of TUI group to develop effective business strategies (Hall and
Page, 2014).
 Technological
In London, the technological advancement like transport facilities which makes the
travelling and journey easier for customers, so, it is clear that the technological factors also
affects the tourism demand of London. The tour operators as well as TUI group utilize the
advance technology by providing online and digital services to travellers which makes the
journey more enjoy and comfortable. With the help of technology, travellers can book their
tickets and accommodations online.
 Legal
The legal factors also plays a important role which affects the tourism demand of
London. To run operation in the country, TUI group has to follow its rules and regulations of
government UK which affects the business of its tourism in the London. The various formalities
which are related to licensing of travel agencies and ease of giving visas also attracts and brings
more tourists (Molz, 2012).
 Environmental
The environmental factors includes weather and climatic conditions of London which
also affects the tourism demand. The favourable climatic conditions also brings more tourists in
country. The country which is rich in natural attractions and resources becomes the favourite
destination places and it also increases the demand of tourism in country. This aspect also
7

provides effective opportunities to increase its market share by providing better tourism services
to visitors.
3.2 Supply has changed to meet the effects of demand
To meet the effects of demand the pattern of supply has to transformed significantly and
in present time the view of tourism is widened which created patterns of demand and supply. The
supplier component which includes accommodations, travel agents, tour operators and transport
services etc. All these components provides services and facilities which influence and attracts
more tourists to visit the country in more comfortable manner. They try to make the tour or trip
more memorable for tourists by providing them services and enjoyable experiences. In addition
to this, TUI group also provide these services to visitors which gives facilities to them in major
cities of UK.
Travel operators
Through the various packages and options, the travel operators of London like TUI group
provides deals with affordable, economic and expensive to fulfil the needs of tourists. Travel
operators arrange the travel tickets of tourists and also take care of tourist's flight services.
Operators also offers seasonal discounts and festival deals on their regular packages (Webster
and Ivanov, 2014).
Accommodation facility
In London, there are various types of accommodation facilities such as villa, hotels,
apartments, caravans, thematic and natural resorts etc. All these accommodation facilities of TUI
group intend to fulfil and covers the needs of tourists. In these services, various types of foods
like regional specialities to multi cuisines are offered to them according to their choice and taste
(Buckley, 2012).
Adventures activities
In the fast paced of life, people carry out the time from their hectic schedule to spend
some time in peace with friends and families. To make there holidays more enjoyable and
memorable, TUI group of London involves various types of recreational and adventures
activities in trip. Organization also arranges adventures activities such as forest safari,
paragliding, under water sports and mountaineering for visitors. with the help of all these
adventures more tourists will attract towards the country to spend their holidays.
Financial
8

Management of TUI group are committed to protect their customers with the additional
financial services. Organization and tours operators make their holidays packages with the
insurance and for this purpose operators covers the personal health insurance, adventures tours
insurance packages and credit car accidents etc. (Pulido-Fernández, Andrades-Caldito and
Sánchez-Rivero, 2015).
TASK 4
4.1 Positive and negative economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism
In London, the economic, environmental and social factors gives positive impact but it
also experience the negative impact of tourism. The impact of tourism factors are described
below:
Economic impact
The tourism gives the substantial impact on the economy of London. It carries out the
profitable outcome to both foreign exchange earning and overall revenue earning. With the both
backward and forward linkage, it penetrates to economic development of other sectors as well.
The increment in tourist also increases the foreign revenues and with this profitability and
sustainability also increases. In case of negative impact , the inflow of tourists may led to
increasing the prices of tourism product and services. This happened during the time of London
Olympics 2012 when price of commodities sky rocketed (Scott, Hall and Gössling, 2012).
Environmental impact
The environmental factors gives both type of impact like positive and negative of tourism
on London. The positive impact like it increases the awareness among people to make the
environment safe and clean the planning bodies makes the plan to save the natural resources and
natural areas. In respect to positive impact, it also encounters the negative impact like it leads to
increases the carbon and greenhouse gases in the country. The tourist activities also increases the
pollution of the country. If planning is not made carefully then, it may lead to the destruction of
ecosystem and diminution of water quality or quantity.
Social impact
It improves and enhance the presentation of festivals, traditional customs and social
assets of London. It also increases the understanding and awareness among public to preserve the
old tradition of culture. Through the increment of tourists in the country, it also gives negative
9

impact on the social factors such as it leads to the loss of authenticity of London. Through the
culture's commercialization, the traditional values may be negatively affected which mar arise
social resentment and tension among people. The social disparities occurs between the public
and tourists of London. Sometimes local public observes tourists and adopt their traditions and
customs (Navickas and Malakauskaite, 2015).
4.2 Strategies that can be used to minimize the negative impacts while maximizing the positive
impacts
The travel and tourism very important and beneficial for the London but it also have
negative impact. For this purpose, few strategies can be developed and used to minimize the
negative impact while on the other hand maximizing the positive impacts. The strategies are
described below:
Eco-tourism strategy- Through this strategy, wildlife and environment of London can be
preserve and it also reduces the social conflicts between authorities and local tribal farmers and
people (Goh, 2012).
Strict policies of government- The planning bodies like government can creates the policies to
save the environment by reducing the pollution.
Education and awareness programs- These types of programs will increase the awareness
among people to preserve the culture, natural resources and heritages of London. Through these
type of educational events, people will be more aware about importance of culture, so, they will
try to preserves it (Ivanov and Webster, 2013).
Support by government during price hikes- The government can support the public by not
increasing the prices of products for local people of London. Foe example in case of London
Olympics 2012, prices of all product suddenly increases.
With the help of all theses strategies the negative impact of tourism can be reduce in the
country.
CONCLUSION
With the help of this it is articulated that travel and tourism plays a important role in
increment the economic growth of the country. This report involves historical development
which is related to travel and tourism. It also involves functions of government bodies and
international agencies in travel and tourism sector. Further this report also provides a
10

comprehensive concept about supply and demand effects on the this sector. The current report
indicates both positive and negative effects of tourism. The report also includes the various
strategies to maximize the positive impact and also to minimize the negative impact of tourism
on country.
11

REFERENCE
Books and Journals
Cvelbar, L.K., Dwyer, L., Koman, M. and Mihalič, T., 2015. Drivers of Destination
Competitiveness in Tourism A Global Investigation. Journal of Travel Research.
Estol, J. and Font, X., 2016. European tourism policy: Its evolution and structure. Tourism
Management. 52. pp.230-241.
Hall, C.M., Gossling, S. and Scott, D., 2015. The Routledge handbook of tourism and
sustainability. Routledge.
Jordan, E.J., 2015. Planning as a coping response to proposed tourism development. Journal of
Travel Research. 54(3). pp.316-328.
Mahafzah, A., 2015. The Impact of the National Strategy for Tourism on Economic
Development in Jordan. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development. 6(2). pp.104-107.
Pulido-Fernández, J.I., Andrades-Caldito, L. and Sánchez-Rivero, M., 2015. Is sustainable
tourism an obstacle to the economic performance of the tourism industry? Evidence from an
international empirical study.Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 23(1). pp.47-64.
Sørensen, F. and Jensen, J.F., 2015. Value creation and knowledge development in tourism
experience encounters. Tourism Management. 46. pp.336-346.
Zhou, Y., Maumbe, K., Deng, J. and Selin, S.W., 2015. Tourism Management Perspectives.
Tourism Management.15. pp.72-80.
Sharpley, R. and Telfer, D.J., 2014. Tourism and development: concepts and issues. 63. Channel
View Publications.
Navickas, V. and Malakauskaite, A., 2015. The possibilities for the identification and evaluation
of tourism sector competitiveness factors. Engineering Economics. 61(1).
Gössling, S. and et.al., 2012. Tourism and water use: Supply, demand, and security. An
international review. Tourism Management. 33(1). pp.1-15.
Witt, S.F., Brooke, M.Z. and Buckley, P.J., 2013. The management of international tourism.
Routledge.
Ivanov, S. and Webster, C., 2013. Tourism’s impact on growth: The Role of Globalisation.
Annals of Tourism Research. 41. pp.231-236.
12

Webster, C. and Ivanov, S., 2014. Transforming competitiveness into economic benefits: Does
tourism stimulate economic growth in more competitive destinations?. Tourism Management.
40. pp.137-140.
Goh, C., 2012. Exploring impact of climate on tourism demand. Annals of Tourism Research.
39(4). pp.1859-1883.
Scott, D., Hall, C.M. and Gössling, S., 2012. Tourism and climate change: Impacts, adaptation
and mitigation. 10. Routledge.
Buckley, R., 2012. Sustainable tourism: Research and reality. Annals of Tourism Research.
39(2). pp.528-546.
Hall, M.C. and Page, S.J., 2014. The geography of tourism and recreation: Environment, place
and space. Routledge.
Molz, J.G., 2012. Travel connections: Tourism, technology, and togetherness in a mobile world.
Routledge.
Online
Penrose J., 2011. Government Tourism Policy. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/78416/
Government2_Tourism_Policy_2011.pdf>.[Accessed on 13th January 2016].
World Tourism Organization UNWTO, 2016. [Online] Available through:
<http://www2.unwto.org/content/who-we-are-0>. [Accessed on 13th January 2016].
13