Evolution and Impacts of Tourism: A Report on the Late 20th Century

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Introduction
Tourism has become a global industry which involves millions of people around the
globe. The socio-cultural economic phenomenon resulting in the movement of individuals or
group of individuals to different places outside their usual environment, personal or
professional purposes is termed as tourism. All the economic and social activities related to
recreation and traveling comes under tourism and leisure. When the travel is for fun and
excitement, rest and relaxation, it is named as leisure travel (Veal, 2017). When tourism
focuses on the management of the travel industry and marketing tourism developments, the
hospitality operations were taken care of by the hospitality management. This paper will
critically evaluate the different trends of tourism in the latter half of the 20th century. Apart
from that, it will also analyze the different aspects of tourism leisure and hospitality.
Evolution of the tourism industry
The travel for leisure purpose started before the 16th century. At that time, it was reserved for
the royalty and the upper class. By the mid-18th century, the practice of religious pilgrimage
was encouraged by many societies (Perdue, 2004). Later on, tourism evolved as a business
and by serving the tourists, a group of individuals started earning money. They named it as
hospitality – the business of helping travelers. The emergence of the automobile and the
convenience of rail travel became additional milestones in tourism development (Richards,
2003). In 1952 the first commercial air travel from London started to different parts of the
world and this became the beginning of the modern tourism industry. When Thomas Cook
opened his first leisure travel agency in 1841, it was the only agency of that type. Later in the
mid-20th century, the world witnessed the emerging of several holiday destinations and
several holiday packages offered by different agencies. These holiday destinations are the

predecessors of today’s resorts. The latter half of the 20th century is considered as a
substantial period of tourism development. Even though the first world war and second world
war interrupted the growth of tourism, the industry has arisen out of all the destructions and
flourished with new wings. By the end of the 20th century, the world witnessed a massive
technological shift due to internet usage among people.
Tourism trends in the latter half of the 20th century
All the categories of tourists need different services in different areas. It can be
accommodation, food, transportation, recreation, etc. Hospitality helps people to feel relaxed
and enjoy themselves. Hospitality always comes with extra cost (Gursoy, 2016). Hospitality
includes all the above-mentioned needs of any traveler which makes it the most pertinent
segment in the tourism industry. Visiting new places and meeting new people are some of
the highlights of traveling. At the same time, the cost of traveling and hospitality is too high
which can be taken as a disadvantage.
The tourism products are the products which help the tourists to satisfy their needs at
a destination other than their residence. The product can be a place of stay, a person like a
guide, or some cultural events, or an organization. The product offered to the customer
should satisfy their needs and can be exchanged for value. The tourism products can be
tangible like rental cars but most of the products are intangible. The characteristics of tourism
products include intangibility, customer participation, variability, perishability, and absence
of ownership. Evaluating intangibility services is difficult as the customer can see only the
effect of that service (Mok, 2013). Inseparability makes it difficult to separate the service
from the person providing the service. The services are perishable but they can be
experienced. Without having ownership, the customer gets the chance to enjoy the services.
The same service provided by two different people at the same time or different times will

have two different qualities. Hence the services are variable and cannot be standardized.
Customer participation is mandatory for each and every service or product. For example,
when booking a rental car, accommodation or the travel ticket the primary person involved
will be the customer. The products can be natural like beaches, mountains, forests, etc or
manmade like amusement parks, monuments, paintings, etc. Hospitality services are a
combination of product and service. It is two-way communication between the customer and
the service provider thereby building a healthy relationship between the two parties.
Hospitality sector enables the staffs to mingle with people with diverse culture. Since the
backbone of the hospitality industry is the labors this industry spends a lot of money in
recruiting and training the staffs (Baum, 2006).
In the last 60 years, the tourism industry witnessed radical changes. The changes
influenced not only the destinations but also the economy of the countries. Increase in
earning of the customers resulted in more trips to distant places. Tourism thus became one of
the major sources of employment in most of the countries. Customizable holiday packages
became available varying on different budgets. The studies show that the employed people
who are eligible for paid holidays are taking at least two international trips every year
(Moutinho, 2018.). One of the major changes which happened in the latter 20th century is the
intensive usage of technologies such as the internet in the tourism industry. The internet
booking helped the customer in planning their trips beforehand and booking their
accommodations and travel tickets online (Brida, 2009). Online booking reduced the amount
of staff and thus reduced the expense of the service providers. Since it simplifies the booking
procedure it became the main strategy in marketing tourism services. In spite of all these
advantages, there are certain disadvantages too. Every online booking will charge the
customer with a booking cost. There will be hidden charges which a customer will come to
know only at the end of the booking. The customer after seeing the photos and reviews of the

place or hotel will book the ticket or room which can result in unsuitable bookings. Since
there are many booking sites available today and each site will provide different process it
becomes difficult for the customer to choose one.
The next vital development which was seen in the second half of the 20th century is
the improvement of transportation facilities. Rail transport became more economical and
extended to more destinations. The introduction of flight travel has shortened the distances
between different parts of the world. It was towards the mid of 20th-century tourism linked
air, water, and land travel and started services such as fuel stations, motels, auto repair and so
on (Urry, 2016). This has increased the flow of tourists into remote areas which lead to
degradation and damage to resources. Many vegetations are cleared to find areas for the
expansion of travel facilities. As the number of vehicles increased the amount of pollution
also became uncontrollable.
Another important change emerged in the 20th century is the development of
telecommunication technologies. Telecommunication along with information technology
changed the tourism industry. In the past, the tourists were traveling with lack of information
about their destinations and the tourists have very less opportunity to communicate with each
other and with their relatives and friends. The erecting of more towers in the forest areas can
harm the environment. The radiations emitted by these towers can harm wildlife (Holden,
2007). As there are a lot of sites which gives information to the tourists there is a high chance
of wrong information. It is the duty of the customer to investigate which are the relevant sites
providing correct information before planning the trip.
Some of the socio-cultural impacts of tourism are the acculturation of another culture,
the demonstration effect and the commodification of culture (Schlenker., 2005). The existing
culture will be influenced and changed by the dominant cultures. The demonstration effect

says that there is a tendency for the local people to imitate the tourists and try to increase their
social status which can impact the traditional value system. The cultural traditions and
artifacts are sold in the market for the money. This gives employment for local craftsmen but
the researches show that the tourists are not interested in the culture but they are just buying a
part of the culture. This can lead to degrading the cultural heritage of that area. As a result of
the development of tourism, the economic status of the local people has increased which
increased drug addictions, crimes, and weakening of social stability (Ashworth, 2013). As a
result of the development of the tourism industry, English became the international language
for communication. The heterogenous culture which was existing in the world has vanished
Conclusion:
From the above facts, it can be concluded that the latter part of the 20th century has witnessed
the increase in tourist population. The developments in technology and socio-cultural changes
affected the areas both positively and negatively. Now tourism has reached even the remote
areas which help in acquiring information about the culture and people of that area. As the
distance between any parts of the world has reduced by the introduction of air travel more
tourists are attracted towards distant countries which helps in the economic growth of the
developing countries (Ivanov, 2007.). This also resulted in losing the pure culture as the local
people are more interested in the behavior and mannerisms of the travelers (Swarbrooke,
2007). In the future also the tourism will develop to wider extends. The above-mentioned
disadvantages have to be controlled without affecting the development of tourism.
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