The Impact of Travel and Tourism on Edinburgh: A Comprehensive Analysis

This report examines the historical developments, structure, and economic, environmental, and social impacts of the travel and tourism sector in the UK, with a specific focus on Edinburgh, Scotland. It analyzes the role of government bodies and international agencies in promoting tourism, explores the factors influencing tourism demand and supply in Edinburgh, and evaluates strategies to minimize negative impacts while maximizing positive ones. The report provides a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of the tourism industry and its significance for Edinburgh's economy and society.

TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
TASK 1..............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 EXPLAIN THE KEY HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR IN
GENERAL WITH A FOCUS ON THE UK..........................................................................................3
1.2 EXPLAIN THE STRUCTURE OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR IN GENRAL AND UK IN
PARTICULAR.................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2..............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 ANALYZE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
SPONSORED BODIES AND INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES IN PROMOTING TRAVEL AND TOURISM
WITH RESPECT TO UK AND SCOTLAND.......................................................................................7
2.2 EXPLAIN HOW LOCAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY INFLUENCES THE SUCCESS OF
THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR WITH RESPECT TO THE CASE STUDY OF SCOTLAND.........9
2.3 DISCUSS THE IMPLICATIONS OF POLITICAL CHANGE ON THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM
SECTOR IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES............................................................................................11
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................12
3.1 EXPLAIN THE FACTORS AFFECTING TOURISM DEMAND IN EDINBURGH............................12
3.2 EXPLAIN HOW SUPPLY HAS CHANGED TO MEET THE EFFECTS OF DEMAND FOR TOURISM
RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN EDINBURGH................................................................14
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................16
4.1 EVALUATE THE MAIN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ECONOMIC, ENVIRONMENTAL AND
SOCIAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM ON EDINBURGH.......................................................................16
4.2 EXPLAIN STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE USED TO MINIMIZE THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS WHILE
MAXIMIZING THE POSITIVE IMPACTS ON EDINBURGH.............................................................18
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................19
1

REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................20
2

INTRODUCTION
There have been a lot of changes that took place in the sector of travel and tourism in the last
few years in the world. These changes in the sector were due to several different factors and
had positive as well as negative impacts on the organizations belonging to the travel and
tourism sector. The following assignment discusses about the historical developments and the
changes that have been occurred in the travel and tourism sector of the UK as well as the
Scotland. There are several different tour operators that work within a nation to provide
different tour packages and offers to the local as well as international tourists.
From the given case scenario for this report, it can be analyzed that the rate of travel and
tourism within the nation like Scotland has been enhanced drastically in the last couple of
years. The people from different parts of the world have visited Scotland to visit the tourist
destinations of the country. The tour operator like Visit Scotland offers an assortment of
different tour offers and packages to the local as well as international visitors so that they can
enjoy the beauty of various tourist destinations of the country. There are several different
factors that have positive as well as negative impacts on the travel and tourism sector of the UK
and Scotland; these different factors are also discussed effectively in this following report.
3

TASK 1
1.1 EXPLAIN THE KEY HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TRAVEL AND
TOURISM SECTOR IN GENERAL WITH A FOCUS ON THE UK
The sector of travel and tourism has been changed drastically in the last few years due to the
several historical developments. The changes in the travel and tourism sector of the United
Kingdom have enhanced positively the economic conditions as well as the GDP of the nation.
An assortment of historical developments has taken place within the sector of travel and
tourism since the previous few eras (Amaro, et al. 2015). The key historical developments in the
sector of travel and tourism of the UK have been classified into several different sections.
These sections of the historical developments are as follows:
POST INDUSTRIAL SITUATION
There have been several significant steps and activities that are involved in the post-industrial
situation of the United Kingdom. These diverse activities and steps enhance the
interconnectivity between the different areas as well as the economic transactions of the
nation (Anna, 2016). UK has always been the nation with a lot of traffic for the trade and
purchase purposes and thus the post-industrial situation of the UK was well established.
POST WAR DEVELOPMENTS
UK is considered as the center of significance, finance, and culture. Thus, the prosperity and the
reputation of the city entail the country. UK has experienced the period of several wars and the
government of nation has released almost all the terrorists of the nation so that they can return
to their respective home countries like China, Hongkong, etc. After the completion of wars, the
nation and the travel and tourism sector has to face several economic crises.
CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
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With the changing time periods and eras, there have been a lot of changes in the travel and
tourism and tourism sector. The modes of transportation have been immensely changed and
developed with time. The different modifications in the modes of transportation that took place
include; carts, buses, trains, airplanes, jets, ships, etc. (Barkauskas, et al. 2015).
Thus, these are some of the key historical developments that took place in the travel and
tourism sector with respect to the United Kingdom.
5

1.2 EXPLAIN THE STRUCTURE OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR IN
GENRAL AND UK IN PARTICULAR
The sector of travel and tourism is very vast and the development rate of this sector in the
United Kingdom has been increasing very rapidly and continuously. There is an assortment of
different components of the structure of travel and tourism sector. These different components
include; tour operators, transportation, accommodation, travel agents, catering, information
and guiding, tourist attractions, etc. (Briassoulis, et al. 2013). These different components are
responsible for the development and growth of the public as well as private sectors of the
travel and tourism in the nations like UK and Scotland.
Figure: 1. Components of Tourism Industry
[Source: http://www.technofunc.com/index.php/domain-knowledge/travel-and-tourism-
domain/item/components-of-tourism-industry]
The different aspects that are allied to these components of travel and tourism structure are as
follows:
6

TOUR OPERATORS
There are several tour operators present in the market such as; Visit Scotland, Visit Britain, TUI
Group, Thomas Cook, etc. that provides an assortment of different tour packages to the local as
well as international visitors. The major role of tour operators is to maintain the continuous
development of travel and tourism sector of the nation (Chen, et al. 2016).
TRAVEL AGENCIES
The primary motive of this component is same that of the tour operators, i.e. to maintain and
enhance the development rate of travel and tourism in the country. There are several travel
agencies present in the UK that serves its targeted audience in the market with a variety of
different holidays and tour packages.
ACCOMMODATION
It is one of the most important components of the travel and tourism structure. The tourists
from different parts of the world visit several places and tourist destinations. Thus the tour
operators provide the facilities of accommodation to the tourists which consist of; catering,
housing, lodging, hotels, guesthouses, campsites, etc. (Choi, et al. 2010).
Thus, the above mentioned are some of the key components which depicts the structure of
travel and tourism sector of the United Kingdom.
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TASK 2
2.1 ANALYZE THE FUNCTIONS OF THE LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NATIONAL
GOVERNMENT SPONSORED BODIES AND INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES IN
PROMOTING TRAVEL AND TOURISM WITH RESPECT TO UK AND SCOTLAND
In order to promote the travel and tourism within the nations like UK and Scotland, the role of
local, national, and regional government bodies is very vital as well as significant. These
governmental bodies aid to develop sustainability within the nation. The sector of travel and
tourism contributes positively in the enhancement of nation’s GDP and therefore every
government of the globe is interested in promoting and supporting the travel and tourism of
the country. The functions of these different governments with respect to the promotion of
travel and tourism in the UK and Scotland are as follows:
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
There are several different functions of the local governments that aid to support travel and
tourism sector of the nation effectively. These different functions include; leaning of tourist
sites, fulfillment of sites’ requirement, maintaining of tourists’ safety, etc. (Deery, et al. 2012).
REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS
The local government sends notes to the regional government to seek their approval for the
sanction of funds that can be received from the national government. The major role of the
regional government is to monitor the working of local government towards the development
of travel and tourism sector.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS
The primary function of the national government is to sanction the funds that are required by
the local government of the different areas so as to successfully maintain the sustainability of
the tourist destinations.
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BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY
This type of governmental sponsored body develops an assortment of different policies to
encourage the rise of travel and tourism within the nations like UK and Scotland (Dincer, et al.
2015).
INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES
The role of international agencies is very vital for the promotion of travel and tourism in the
different nations of the world. The different international agencies which promote this sector in
Scotland and UK are as follows; International Civil Aviation Organization, World Travel Tourism
Council (WTTC), International Air Transport Association, etc.
Consequently, these are some of the key functions of the different types of governments and
governmental sponsored bodies for the promotion of travel and tourism in the nations like UK
and Scotland.
9

2.2 EXPLAIN HOW LOCAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY INFLUENCES THE
SUCCESS OF THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM SECTOR WITH RESPECT TO THE CASE
STUDY OF SCOTLAND
From the case scenario of the Scotland it can be analyzed that the rate of travel and tourism
has been enhanced within the nation since the last few years. This enhancement in the
increment of travel and tourism sector has influenced the economic conditions of the Scotland
in both positive as well as in negative ways. The marketing department of the tour operators
likes Visit Scotland utilizes several different tools such as PESTLE analysis to carry out market
research in order to analyze the economic factors that could influence the success of travel and
tourism sector within the Scotland. The local as well as national economic policies influence
success of the nation’s travel and tourism sector in several ways. These influences with respect
to the case scenario of Scotland are as follows:
DIRECT INFLUENCE
The local as well as national economic policies directly influences the sector of travel and
tourism in Scotland by changing the financial rates, conversion of exchanging currency rates,
etc. For example; by decreasing the rate of Pound, the government of Scotland attracts visitors
from different parts of the world (Hagen, et al. 2016).
INDIRECT INFLUENCE
There are several factors that lead to the imposing of indirect influence on the success of travel
and tourism sector of the Scotland. The indirect influences include; reduction in the popularity
of sites, decrement in the reservation of sites, increment in the maintenance cost, etc.
ECONOMIC POLICY
From the case scenario of Scotland it can be noted that the inflow of currency is low within the
travel and tourism sector of the nation and thus the foreign reservations are decreasing
continuously within the Scotland.
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Thus, in these ways the local and national economic policy influences the success of the travel
and tourism sector of Scotland.
11

2.3 DISCUSS THE IMPLICATIONS OF POLITICAL CHANGE ON THE TRAVEL AND
TOURISM SECTOR IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
The marketing department of the different tour operators likes Visit Scotland carries out market
researches to analyze the different political factors that have positive as well as negative
influences on the sector of travel and tourism in the different countries of the world. It is very
important for the tour operators like Visit Scotland and other travel agencies to critically
analyze the political changes and their influence of the travel and tourism sector of a nation.
According to the several researches that have been carried out by the researchers it can be
analyzed that the political changes have led to the growth and development of the diverse
tourist destinations of the world (Hine, et al. 2018).
The different parties of a nation, for example UK; makes several changes in the policies of travel
and tourism sector in order to gain financial interests for their respective parties. After the
announcement of Brexit, there has been drastic reduction in the coming of international visitors
to the UK due to several political factors such as; governmental rules and regulations, taxation
policies, etc.
Once a political party gets into power within a nation, it tries to reduce the negative effects of
political changes on the travel and tourism sector of the country. It develops different policies
which would prove to be beneficial for both the nation as well as the visitors from different
parts of the world who visits the host country (Ivanov, et al. 2015). Consequently, these are the
implications of political change on the travel and tourism sector in different countries.
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TASK 3
3.1 EXPLAIN THE FACTORS AFFECTING TOURISM DEMAND IN EDINBURGH
From the provided case scenario of Edinburgh it can be observed that the demand of travel and
tourism sector within the nation can be affected by an assortment of different factors. These
different factors are as follows:
DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS
The demographic factors are the major reasons for the attraction of tourists from different
parts of the world to the nation like Edinburgh. The different demographic factors include;
regional communities, natural calamities, environmental sustainability, etc.
TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
There have been drastic changes in the technology since the last few years. These technological
changes have affected the travel and tourism sector of the Edinburgh. In order to attract more
and more visitors towards the tourist destinations of Edinburgh, the tour operators like Visit
Scotland must utilize all the latest technologies to promote their tourism packages (Moutinho,
et al. 2018).
POLITICAL STABILITY
One of the leading reasons for the impacts on travel and tourism sector of the Edinburgh is the
political stability of the country. There are two major parameters that are needed to be parallel
for the development of political stability of the nation. These two parameters are as follows;
sanctioning of funds and development of site. If the political stability of a nation like Edinburgh
gets unstable, then it may lead to the reduction of popularity of travel and tourism sector of the
Edinburgh.
TAXATION RATES
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After the Brexit, the taxation policies of the UK have been drastically changed, and these
changes in the taxation policies have affected the travel and tourism sector of the other nations
like Edinburgh too (Pulido-Fernández, 2015). The rate of taxes on the inbound and outbound
tourism has to be managed effectively in order to increase the income generated from the
travel and tourism.
Thus, these are the major factors which affect the tourism demand in Edinburgh.
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3.2 EXPLAIN HOW SUPPLY HAS CHANGED TO MEET THE EFFECTS OF DEMAND
FOR TOURISM RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN EDINBURGH
In order to meet the demand tourism related products and services with a nation like
Edinburgh, the supply has been changed a lot. There are several different macro-economic
factors that play a great role in the fulfilling of these demands. The role of currency exchange
rate and interest of inflation rate is also very vital for the improvement of supply of products
and services to the meet the demands of travel and tourism sector of the Edinburgh.
There is an assortment of several different elements that influences the supply in travel and
tourism sector of Edinburgh. These different elements are as follows;
ACCOMMODATION
It is very important for the tour operators like Visit Scotland to supply appropriate
accommodation to the visitors who visit the Edinburgh to see different attractive tourist
destinations of the country.
TOUR OPERATORS
Another important aspect of demand and supply in the travel and tourism sector of a nation is
the tour operators. An effective tour package with proper amenities and facilities would attract
more and more customers towards the nation and thus it is very important for the tour
operators like Visit Scotland to make appropriate tour packages (Vongsaroj, et al. 2018).
QUALITY
It is very important for a tour operator like Visit Scotland to provide high quality services to the
local as well as international customers so as to ensure the successful achievement of
organization’s goals and objectives as well as to attract higher number of international tourists
towards the nation.
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SUSTAINABILITY
One of the most important elements is the sustainability. The tourists from different nations of
the world prefer to visit Edinburgh due to its high sustainability. The demand and supply of the
travel and tourism products and services also get positively influenced by the providing highly
sustainable tour packages to the customers.
Thus, the above mentioned are some of the important elements that influences the supply in
travel and tourism sector of Edinburgh.
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TASK 4
4.1 EVALUATE THE MAIN POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ECONOMIC,
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM ON EDINBURGH
There are several positive and negative environmental, social, and economic impacts of travel
and tourism on the nation like Edinburgh. The positive impacts are as follows:
DIRECT AND INDIRECT INCOME
The travel and tourism sector allow generating direct as well as indirect income for the nation
by attracting several visitors from different parts of the world.
EMPLOYMENT
During the peak seasons of the holidays and vacations, the rate of employment in the sector of
travel and tourism of Edinburgh gets enhanced as the tour operators hire several people for
different job roles (Vongsaroj, 2018).
CONSERVATION OF HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL SITES
Since a lot of visitors travel to Edinburgh to visit the historical and cultural tourist destinations,
therefore it aids to conserve these sites.
The negative impacts are as follows:
SEASONALITY
It is one of the major drawbacks of the travel and tourism that is experienced by the nations
like Edinburgh. Where there is no season, the business of several tour operators as well as the
rate of employment gets affected adversely.
OVERCROWDING
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The major negative impact of travel and tourism in Edinburgh is the overcrowding. The tourist
destinations of the Edinburgh get overcrowded in the season and thus the management
committee of those sites has to face heavy burden.
Thus, these are the positive and negative environmental, social, and economic impacts of travel
and tourism on the nation like Edinburgh.
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4.2 EXPLAIN STRATEGIES THAT CAN BE USED TO MINIMIZE THE NEGATIVE
IMPACTS WHILE MAXIMIZING THE POSITIVE IMPACTS ON EDINBURGH
As discussed in the previous section of this report, there are several negative impacts of travel
and tourism sector on Edinburgh. In order to minimize these negative impacts as well as to
maximize the positive impacts, an assortment of different strategies can be used. These
strategies are as follows:
MONITORING AND SURVEILLANCE
The management committees of the tourist destinations of Edinburgh must maintain the
proper monitoring and surveillance of the visitors so as to ensure the protection of sites from
exploitation (Wang, 2016).
AMENITIES AND FACILITIES
The visitors from different parts of the world who visits Edinburgh must be provided with the
high quality amenities and facilities so that they can visit the nation again and thus the
revenues can be generated for the country each time.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
Every individual need safety and security at every place wherever they visits, thus it is very
important for the tour operators like Visit Scotland and the government of Edinburgh to
maintain safety and security at the different tourist destinations of the Edinburgh (Zaei, et al.
2013).
Thus, by adopting these strategies the negative impacts of the travel and tourism on Edinburgh
can be minimized.
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CONCLUSION
From this report it can be concluded that the rate of travel and tourism in the nations like UK,
Edinburgh, Scotland, etc. has been drastically increasing since the last few years and thus it has
become highly significant for the tour operators like Visit Scotland to develop appropriate
strategies and plans for the preservation and conservation of different tourist destinations of
the nation. The management committee of the tour operators must utilize appropriate
strategies to attract more and more visitors towards the nation so as to generate higher
revenues for the country.
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