An Analysis of the Fundamentals of Tourism and Travel in the UK

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of tourism and travel, focusing on the UK tourism industry. It begins by examining the historical and current developments in the tourism sector since 1945, highlighting the shift from basic transportation to comprehensive tour packages including accommodation, transportation, and other ancillary services. The essay then discusses the reasons why London is a leading tourist destination, analyzing the demand for tourism and the push-pull factors that attract visitors, such as the desire for escape, adventure, and prestige. It also explores tourist motivations and typologies, influenced by factors like advertising, popular attractions, and events. Furthermore, the essay outlines the key elements that should be considered when developing a tourist destination, using the 6 ‘A’s framework: Attractions, Accessibility, Amenities, Available Packages, Activities, and Ancillary Services. Finally, it identifies and outlines the key organizations involved in the tourism supply chain in the UK, emphasizing their roles in facilitating and supporting the tourism industry.

FUNDAMENTALS OF TOURISM AND TRAVEL
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
The historical and Current Developments in the Tourism Industry.............................................................3
Reasons why tourists visit London as a tourism destination........................................................................6
Demand for tourism.................................................................................................................................6
Push-Pull Factors.....................................................................................................................................7
Tourism motivations and typologies........................................................................................................7
Factors Influencing Tourist Motivation...................................................................................................8
Elements that should be considered when developing a tourist destination.................................................9
Key organizations involved in the Tourism Supply Chain in the UK........................................................10
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12
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Fundamentals of Tourism and Travel
Introduction
Over the years, tourism has become an important part of every modern economy.
Currently, tourism is one of the major industries of the UK economy. The country enjoys various
tourist attractions that attract people from all over the world. Noteworthy, London stands as the
world’s best tourist destination. Thus, the tourism industry plays an significant role in the
economy of the UK. For this reason, this paper seeks to determine the key and historical
developments in the tourism industry. It will also focus on some or the reasons why tourists visit
London as a tourist destination. Afterwards, the paper will discuss the six main elements that
should be regarded when developing a tourist destination. Finally, this paper will identify and
outline some of the key organizations involved in the tourism supply chain in the UK.
The historical and Current Developments in the Tourism Industry
` The tourism industry has grown significantly since 1945. Today, people enjoy spending
their time in different places from those that they have already been to already. Thus, it is the
change in human behavior and their expectations from the industry that has brought about
landmark development in the tourism industry. In the beginning, the tourism industry comprised
of traveling and transportation. However, today, the industry has grown significantly to comprise
of not only the travelling but also visiting areas that offer ancillary comfort to clients. After 1960,
various factors changed, thereby creating a significant interest among people to become tourists.
Specifically, people had more free time to tour places and developed interest for long trips. What
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is more, the growth in the per capita income of individuals in the U.K brought about an
improvement in the tour packages offered by different tour and travel companies in the country.
Over the years, the tourism industry has undergone significant changes. Today,
companies into the tourism industry offer new and improved tour packages that are customer
oriented. In turn, this results in an increase in their clientele. Currently, tourism firms offer their
clients packages that not only comprise of travelling services but also the management of
everything else that is tour related including accommodation, transportation, hotel and food
services, among others. As a result, the structure of travel is classified with the diversification of
tourism business and emergence of various sectors within the industry. These sectors include
tour operations, travel services, hotel industries, confreres and events conducting firms, and
arrangement of passport and visa service companies.
Over the years, the United Kingdom has offered a fantastic range of tourist attractions
and destinations. Consequently, this has earned the country a significant amount of revenue and
contributed to the GDP of the country. In the past, nearly all tourism in the UK was domestic,
with the wealthy families of the country holidaying around the UK. In the 1970s, the booming
economic conditions in the country allowed companies to offer their employees more time off.
As a result, the employees had more time and disposable income to spend on tourism activities.
Also, there are various tourism types that occur within the country, among them beach tourism,
city breaks, cultural tourism, activity tourism, ecological tourism, and mountain and hill tourism.
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City Breaks
It is worth noting that the country hosts huge cities such as London, Edinburgh and
Newcastle that offer a huge variety of activities. Primarily, these tourist towns and cities are built
up areas that offer accommodation, entertainment and food and drink facilities. Additionally,
these cities are popular destinations for weekend breaks for both domestic and foreign tourists.
Certainly, the cities have a lot of history and most museums are free. For instance, London has
the Imperial war museum, the London eye and the National Portrait Gallery.
Activity tourism
The United Kingdom offers a wide range of adventurous activities such as rock climbing,
white water rafting, pot holing and GoApe.
Beach Tourism
There country also boasts a rich diversity in beach resorts during the rare occasions that
the country experiences hot weather. Today, there are multiple seaside resorts where tourists
enjoy the beach, tourist shops, amusement arcades and other leisure activities.
Cultural and historical tourism
The nation also offers a lot of architectural delights, history and world renowned sites and
museums. Today, these historical destinations include Warwick, London and York. Cultural
destinations comprise of Beamish near Durham and Ironbridge in Shropshire.
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Business travel destinations
It is noteworthy that the country has excellent facilities for international and domestic
conferences and meetings. Mainly, this is made possible due to the fact that different parts of the
country have good transport links and are accessible from different parts of the world. Today,
accommodation in business travel destinations is mainly 4 and 5 star hotels (Types of UK
Destinations, n.d.).
Reasons why tourists visit London as a tourism destination
It is important to point out that London is the world’s leading tourism destination. As a
whole, the tourism demand in the city is significantly high due to different tourist behaviors and
motivations.
Demand for tourism
Roughly, the destination attracts about 30 million visitors from different countries of the
world every year. As such, people travel to the city from every corner of the globe to admire and
experience the city’s monuments and explore its rich and vibrant culture (London’s Tourism
Industry, n.d.). In addition, the region receives approximately 26 million overnight visits each
year by people living in the other parts of the United Kingdom. In 2014 alone, about 17.4 million
overseas tourists visited London, thereby earning the city £11.8 billion as revenue (Record-
breaking Number, 2015). Previously in 2013, the city collected approximately £11.5 billion from
tourism and tourist activities (Baldwin, 2015). Furthermore, a record of 58 million people, both
domestic and foreign tourists visited London’s most popular tourist attraction sites in 2014
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(Baldwin, 2015). Notably, this was a 4 percent increase compared to the tourism demand in 2013
(Baldwin, 2015).
Push-Pull Factors
Over the years, the city has proven to be one of the greatest tourist magnets of the world.
As a whole, there exist various push and pull factors in London that results in the consistent and
continued high demand for tourism in the city. The push and pull factors include:
The desire to escape. People visit London with the aim of escaping from their dull, daily
routine. They seek to escape from their familiar and ordinary lives, their jobs in order to have a
more exciting experience in the vibrant and rich culture of the city while at the same time enjoy
themselves (Nikjoo & Ketabi, 2015).
Adventure and social interactions. Other people visit London with the view of having a
lifetime experience through adventure and social interactions with the culture and people in the
city.
Prestige. In most parts of the world, taking a tour to London is mainly done by the
wealthy. Mainly, this is because of the costly nature of the entire travel expenses. Therefore,
individuals may take a tour to the city as a sign of prestige.
Tourism motivations and typologies
According to Cohen’s and Plog’s theory tourists seek some form of freshness and
strangeness but at the same time need to retain some form of familiarity. Individuals who visit
London are often motivated by the desire to explore new and historical events, visit park, visit
the theater, enjoy the Thames River, and view the spectacular skyline (Barzey, 2014). Therefore,
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basically, these people are motivated by the desire to explore and be adventurous. On the other
hand, others visit London in order to feel as sense of belonging and they achieve this by
immersing themselves with the local communities.
Factors Influencing Tourist Motivation
Today, there are various things that inform tourist motivation to visit London. These
factors comprise of:
Advertising and marketing. First and foremost, it is crucial to note that the city’s tourism
industry has been putting a lot of effort to raise London’s profile as an exquisite and exciting
tourism destination through advertisement and promotions both locally and in foreign countries.
As a result, people all over the world are aware of what the city has to offer and, therefore, are
attracted to visit the city. In turn, this leads to a boost the tourism activities in the city.
Popular Attraction sites and Events. Secondly, the city has one of the most popular
tourist attractions, thereby acting as a major pull factor for tourism in the region. For instance,
the Buckingham Palace is a very popular and desired tourist destination and many travel to
London to experience the world famous event called ‘Changing of the guard’. Many visitors
enjoy this ceremony that occurs every day at 11:30 at the royal residence (London’s Tourism
Industry, n.d.).
Furthermore, the city is home to the Victoria and Albert Museum which attracts a
significantly large number of tourists throughout the year. Located in the Kensington region of
London, the museum is the largest of its kind globally. It contains a collection of more than 4.5
million artifacts and objects (London’s Tourism Industry, n.d.). Additionally, the city hosts the
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British Museum, another famous landmark. Notably, this destination attracts approximately 6
million visitors annually who visit to view its collection of exhibits (Polland, 2014).
Elements that should be considered when developing a tourist destination
Once a tourist destination has been identified, it is important for the developer to
conduct a destination analysis to assess the area’s tourism resources and infrastructure.
According to the 6‘A’s framework, the developer must consider the following elements before
commencing on the development activities.
Attractions. The developer must consider the attractions that exist within the proposed
tourism destination. These may include both natural and artificial attractions. Natural attractions
could comprise of mountains and oceans among others. On the other hand, the artificial
attractions may include amusement parks, and cultural events such as music festivals.
Accessibility. This element refers to the availability of a transportation system within
the destination that will allow guests to reach the proposed destination. Basically, this includes
the available routes, adequate public transportation, and existing terminals. Notably, the region
must be easily accessible by guests in order for it to be a viable destination.
Amenities. This refers to the services available to tourists who will be visiting the
destination. Primarily, it characterizes all the services that will facilitate a convenient stay for
potential visitors. Amenities may include accommodation, leisure activities and hotel services
Available Packages. By and large, this factor pertains to the accessibility of service
bundles by other firms to direct tourists’ interests to certain unique features of that particular
destination. Simply put, it refers to the availability of pre-arranged package tours for visitors.
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Activities. Here, it refers to all the available activities at the destination which may
attract visitors to come and tour the destination. These activities may include skiing, mountain
climbing, rock climbing, white water rafting, pot holing and hiking, among others.
Ancillary Services. Lastly, before developing an area as a tourist destination, the
developer must consider the availability and proximity of those daily use services that may not
necessarily aim at attracting tourists but are important for their wellbeing. These services may
include banks, hospitals and postal services. Indeed, the availability of these services would
make it easy for the visitors to live comfortably while visiting the destination.
Therefore, it is important for any developer that intends to establish a given area as a
tourist destination to consider the 6 factors. In turn, this would allow the destination to be highly
competitive in the industry, thereby attracting more and more clients to the area. Consequently,
this would boost the firm’s image and profits over the long term period.
Key organizations involved in the Tourism Supply Chain in the UK
Primarily, the tourism supply chain in the UK comprises of all the suppliers of services
and goods that go into the delivery of tourism products to clients. Thus, it includes all the
suppliers of services and goods, whether or not they are contacted directly by tour operators,
agents or suppliers. Today, the main four points of the supply chain comprise of accommodation,
transport, ground handlers, excursions and activities, and food and crafts (Tapper, 2004). There
are various key organizations in the UK today that are involved in the supply chain, both from
the private, public and voluntary sector of the UK tourism and travel industry.
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Accommodation
Accommodation is one the most important services in the tourism supply chain. As such,
it is one of the basic needs of any tourism activity. For this reason, accommodation companies
offer lodging and hotel services to provide the tourist a home away from home. Key
organizations that offer accommodation services to tourists in the UK include the Apex Temple
Court Hotel, the Marlin Waterloo, the Crown Plaza London, the Lalit London, and the Ned
among other hotels (London Luxury Hotels, n.d.).
Transport
Just like accommodation, transport is another major requirement for tourists. Today, there
exists various travel and tours companies that cater for the transport needs of tourists who visit
the country. These travel agencies are tasked with the responsibility of providing tour guide
services to the various destinations that the tourists intend to visit. Some of the main tour travel
agencies in the country include Reliance Tours, Trafalgar Travel, and Euro Creative Tours
(ECT) UK limited, among other organizations.
Ground handlers, excursions and activities
Additionally, these companies are critical in the provision of a wide range of travel
options for individuals and companies. Often, they serve as agents with a broad range of
products to respond to the various needs of their customers who look forward to traveling. Some
of the major organization that offer this services in the UK include the Congress Solution
International, Travel Bag UK, Imagine Cruising, among others.
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Food and Crafts
Just like all other elements of the food chain, food and crafts is an essential element in the
tourism supply chain in the UK. Currently, there are various companies that offer food and crafts
services to tourists in the form of inflight catering, inflight retail, airport F&B. A perfect example
of such an organization is the dnata catering company (dnata, 2018).
Conclusion
All in all, all factors taken into consideration, the UK tourism is one of the most vibrant tourism
industries of the world. Today, London is the first and world’s best tourist attraction city and
destination. While in the beginning tourism was mainly domestic, nowadays foreign tourism
contributes significantly to the revenue of the country.
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