Detailed Report on the Contemporary Travel and Tourism Industry

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary travel and tourism industry. It begins with an introduction to the industry, highlighting its significance and evolution. The report then delves into key milestones in the development of the travel and tourism industry, examining how technological advancements, environmental awareness, and security concerns have shaped the industry. It identifies and explores the interrelationship of various elements, including direct and indirect components, in creating the tourist experience. The report also examines the factors influencing tourism behavior, including geographical and social factors, and explores models of motivation that impact the consumer decision-making process. Furthermore, it identifies recent and emerging trends in the international travel and tourism industry, such as millennials, active and adventure trips, solo travel, eco-tourism, food tourism, and the rise of 'bleisure' travel and staycations. Finally, the report discusses the factors affecting the popularity of global destinations, considering economic, infrastructural, environmental, and societal aspects.

The Contemporary Travel and
Tourism Industry

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 The key milestones in development of the travel and tourism industry and how they have
shaped the travel and tourism industry........................................................................................1
P2 Identifying the different elements of travel and tourism industry and explore how they are
interrelated to create the tourist experience................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P3 The different factors that affect tourism behaviour...............................................................3
P4 The models of motivation and how these influence the consumer decision-making process
.....................................................................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
P5 Identifying the recent and emerging pattens and trends in the international travel and
tourism industry..........................................................................................................................4
TASK 4 ...........................................................................................................................................5
P6 The factors affecting the popularity of a range of global destinations..................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Contemporary tourism is the most significant phenomenon in the world currently and
engages many people not only in the developed countries but also in the developing countries.
The range of travel and tourism activities in the world is so vast and so many people travelling
clearly shows that it is one of the largest industries of the world (.Moutinho, 2011). The travel
and tourism industry is one of those industries which has undergone various changes at very
large scale over the years, which has clearly impacted the business operations.
The report talks about the current scenario and the trends in the travel and tourism sector.
The report gives a brief about introduction to the industry, the impacts of current changes,
elements involved in the industry, factors affecting the behaviour of the tourists along with the
emerging patterns and trends in the travel and tourism sector globally.
TASK 1
P1 The key milestones in development of the travel and tourism industry and how they have
shaped the travel and tourism industry
In the ancient times travel was limited to royalty and upper class people only. Earlier,
people used to travel majorly for the purposes of war, religious pilgrimage and trading. The idea
of travel for leisure has evolved ever since and tourism has taken shape of business. The various
advancements led to the development of travel and tourism, for instance, the rail travel in ancient
times made travelling easy and better. The various developments in the travel and tourism
industry can be categorised into three key factors – technological advancement, increased
environmental awareness and increased security (Theobald, 2012).
 Technological advancements: The technological advancement is one of the key issues
which has changed the dynamics of the travel and tourism industry to a great extent. The
new innovation and inventions have all worked towards making the industrial growth and
development, for instance, from the steamed railway engines to present day airways have
worked in providing the customers better services.
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(Sources: Importance of mobile application in travel & tourism, 2018)
 Increased environmental awareness: This is another crucial factor which has driven the
travel and tourism industry towards change. The environment awareness has made the
tourists and the companies to become active and conduct in the way which does not
hamper or affect the environment. Also, efforts have been made by the travel and to
purism industries to preserve and protect the unique and natural habitats.
(Source: Environmental awareness, 2018)
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Illustration 1: Importance of mobile application in travel & tourism
Illustration 2: Environmental awareness

 Increased security: The security and safety arrangements are also important and key
factors having various impacts on the sector. The safety of the people travelling is insured
by the various agencies and organisations in a country. Also, the legislations provide
protection to the travellers. This helps in the growth and development of the sector as
more people opt to travel to the places which are safe and secure.
(Source: UK travel & tourism industry, 2018)
P2 Identifying the different elements of travel and tourism industry and explore how they are
interrelated to create the tourist experience
Travel and tourism is an industry which is dynamic and competitive and need to
incorporate the changes in accordance to the demands and requirements of the customers. There
are various elements which are of importance in the travel and tourism industry, which are –
direct elements and indirect elements. The direct elements are the elements which impact the
tourists directly as they come into direct contact with these elements, which includes the sales,
accommodation, transport, attractions and other ancillary services (Gladstone, 2013). On the
other hand the indirect elements are termed as the support services which might not directly
come in contact of the tourists, such as infrastructure, roads, communications etc.
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Illustration 3: UK travel & tourism industry

The most important components of the travel and tourism industry are as follows:
 Travel Agent – for providing information and advising the people travelling to the
various destinations. They provide various information relating to travel packages
according to a persons' preferences and budget.
 Tour operators – provide the people travelling with the holiday packages including travel
by any means, accommodation in hotel, motel, etc., travel services such as pick & drop,
etc. Tour operators can be wholesale operators operating through others or direct sell
operators operating directly.
 Accommodation – includes lodging and catering which works in the direction of
providing people accommodation at hotels, resorts, etc. and taking care of the catering
needs of the people travelling, through cafeterias, etc.
 Transportation – is provided by the various transport providers which are operating in
any of the major transport services, such as airlines, railways, car rentals, etc.
 Tourist attractions – ensures that certain establishment is set up in a particular location in
order to attract more people, for instance, theme parks, museums, etc. can be established
to attract more people travelling.
(Source: Structure of travel and tourism industry, 2018)
These components and organisations are interrelated in order to provide and promote
travel and tourism products and services. For instance, hotel, airlines, etc. are often distributed by
the producers to the customers through the wholesalers and retailers. These organisations
integrate to provide wholesome services to the customers. There are two types of integrations –
horizontal and vertical (Falk and et. al., 2012). Horizontal integration is understood as if the
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Illustration 4: Structure of travel and tourism industry

organisation owns two or more companies which are at the same level in a distribution chain,
whereas vertical integration can be understood as when the companies combine at different
levels of the distribution chain.
TASK 2
P3 The different factors that affect tourism behaviour
There are various factors which affect the behaviour of tourists, which are as follows:
 Geographical Factors: The tourist behaviour might be impacted by the factors such as,
geography and climate conditions of a place. The other factors such as facilities and
amenities, infrastructure, etc. also have an impact on the tourist behaviour.
 Social Factors: There are some social factors which helps the tourists in acquiring
information about the place which results in altering the behaviours of a tourist.
 Place of Origin: The place of origin plays a major role in shaping the tourist behaviours
as their psychological decisions are made according to the place from which they belong.
 Tourism Destination: The destination also impacts the tourist decisions and behaviours
as the places with better amenities, communication, environmental surroundings attract
more tourists (Hall, 2013).
 Education of the tourist: This is a decisive factor when the tourist has to choose a place to
visit, as his knowledge, range of choices etc. will impact his decision-making in terms of
travel and tourism.
P4 The models of motivation and how these influence the consumer decision-making process
While examining the major reasons as to why people travel different views can be taken
into consideration. Motivation can be understood as the driving force which is within the
individuals compelling them to do certain acts. There are various motivating factors which
includes – relaxation & rest, escaping from a job or family or home, socialising with friends,
prestige, etc.
The motivation process model focuses on various factors in explaining the consumer
behaviour, which are – unfulfilled needs, wants and desires, tension, personality perception
learning attitudes, behaviour, goal or need fulfilment, and tension reduction (Smith, 2014).
 Unfulfilled needs, wants and desires of the people is the stage which they faced
simultaneously in different situations and search for the motivation.
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 Drive: This will tends to rise in tension and derive them to utilise their
knowledge to get the best decision.
 Decision-making: This is the stage where they make decisions according to their
perception and knowledge to attain best which persuade their behaviour in
positive direction.
 Motivation: This is the final stage which results in utmost motivation among
consumers as they able to bring changes in their decision making process to
choose the best what they deserve.
TASK 3
P5 Identifying the recent and emerging pattens and trends in the international travel and tourism
industry
Globally, the travel and tourism is seeing rapid changes and developments as it is
considered one of the fast – paced industry. The recent trends in the international travel and
tourism sector can be analysed as under:
 Millennials: This comprises of the youngest generation having the disposable income and
is considered the largest generation in travel and tourism. The millennials are considered
to be helping in deciding the latest trends and tastes and being the largest generation also
serves as the largest market in the industry.
 Active and Adventure Trips: This is another important emerging trend in travel and
tourism and there is a rise in the number of people opting for adventurous tourism as this
provides a customised experience.
 Solo Travel: According to the latest trends solo travel is becoming popular. The solo
travel provides the people with wellness experience and also give a chance to the tourist
to closely experience the local culture. These are also cost effective and hassle free and
now the travel agencies are also providing interesting offers for single travellers.
 Eco-tourism: This is gaining popularity as the more and more people are getting
awareness about the environment and how the carbon footprints is posing a threat to the
environment. This is totally different from the conventional commercial travelling. Eco-
tourism involves going to the places which are considered as untouched environment
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mostly because of the reason to give something back to the society the traveller is visiting
(Molz, 2012).
 Food Tourism: Food emerges out to be an important point whenever travel is concerned
as more people in today's time are identified as foodies and eating has taken a shape of
full scale pleasure giving activity. This is the reason that the food tourism is rising and is
another important emerging trend in travel and tourism. Food tourism is related more to
the culture or tradition of a place and many travellers consider this to be a way to know
about the history of the place.
 Business and leisure Travel: The trend of business and leisure, commonly known as
'bleisure' is also gaining popularity globally for quiet some time now. Though, this has
been considered as static because there has been no rise in this trend. This trend suggests
that the people travelling for business tend to extent their trip for leisure.
 Staycations: This has proved to be an emerging trend in past few years as many people
travelling are prefer staying locally to enhance their experience while going for their
vacation. This is proving to be an important source of development for the local
economies and communities.
TASK 4
P6 The factors affecting the popularity of a range of global destinations
In traditional sense a destination can be understood in terms its geographical area, but
currently it can be understood as a product or brand which has various attributes attached to it,
such as, climate, infrastructure, etc. Destination comprises of various elements that play a role in
attracting the visitors or tourists, which can be categorised as – primary factors and secondary
factors. The primary factors consists of physical, social and cultural attributes whereas the
secondary consists of factors such as shopping, catering, etc.
The various factors which affect the attractiveness of a tourist destination are economy,
infrastructure, natural environment and the society, which are explained below:
 The economic factors such as consumer price index, purchasing power parity, etc. plays a
decisive role in decision-making of tourist as the low prices offered by the locals or better
exchange rates makes a destination attractive for the people travelling (Swarbrooke and
Page, 2012).
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 The environmental factors are key as population, carbon emissions and the various
treaties on environment has an impact on tourism. Also, the environment is important as
people prefer to go the places with unspoilt natural habitats.
 The infrastructure of a destination could be analysed by looking into the factors such as
road network, electricity supply, sanitation and cleanliness standards, mobile phone
coverage, etc. These factors are crucial as these improve the travel experience if the
tourists are provided with easy travel solutions and better communication.
 And, lastly, the society of the tourist destination affect travel and tourism, as the social
issues are always considered by the people visiting. Also, the local people can have
varied reactions in terms of tourism as they might embrace it or reject it.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from above that the travel and tourism industry is one of the
flourishing industries in the world and has undergone several changes over the time. The report
gives a brief about the changes and advancements in the travel and tourism sector, different
components of the industry and factors that affect the tourism behaviour. In the end the report
highlights the current trends in international travel and tourism.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Falk, J. H., Ballantyne, R., Packer, J. and Benckendorff, P., 2012. Travel and learning: A
neglected tourism research area. Annals of Tourism Research. 39(2). pp.908-927.
Gladstone, D. L., 2013. From pilgrimage to package tour: Travel and tourism in the third world.
Routledge.
Hall, C. M., 2013. Wine, food, and tourism marketing. Routledge.
Molz, J. G., 2012. Travel connections: Tourism, technology and togetherness in a mobile world.
Routledge.
Moutinho, L. ed., 2011. Strategic management in tourism. Cabi.
Pomering, A., Noble, G. and Johnson, L. W., 2011. Conceptualising a contemporary marketing
mix for sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 19(8). pp.953-969.
Smith, S. L., 2014. Tourism analysis: A handbook. Routledge.
Swarbrooke, J. and Page, S. J., 2012. Development and management of visitor attractions.
Routledge.
Theobald, W. F. ed., 2012. Global tourism. Routledge.
Online
2018 Travel Predictions by Tourism Experts. 2018. [Online] Available through
<https://destinationsinternational.org/2018-travel-predictions-tourism-experts>
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