Transport for Tourism: Role, Demand Factors, and Future Trends in Asia

This report delves into the essential role of transport within the tourism industry. It begins by highlighting transport's intrinsic value, emphasizing its function in connecting origins and destinations and facilitating mobility within attractions. The report then explores various factors that influence the demand for different modes of transport, including convenience, price, time constraints, comfort, and distance, as well as the impact of traveler demographics and economic conditions. Furthermore, the report identifies and analyzes three key trends poised to shape tourism transportation over the next decade: the push for sustainable practices, the expansion of low-cost carriers and high-speed rail networks, and the impact of globalization and open skies agreements, particularly within the context of Asian countries. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for continuous improvement and development of tourism transportation to meet evolving customer expectations and adapt to changes in the business environment, especially in Asia.

TRANSPORT FOR TOURISM ASSIGNMENT
1. With reference to the intrinsic value of transport as a tourism experience, discuss the
role of transport in the tourism system and comment on factors that might affect demand
for different modes of transport.
Thousands of years ago, it was not easy to move to further regions for the purpose of trading,
finding resources or traveling,... People often walk or use animals such as camels or horses as a
transportation mode depending on the culture and conditions of different regions. However, in a
long journey, they might face huge obstacles as well as wasting time and effort in order to get to
the desired destination. Along with technological advancement, great inventions have brought
humanity other diversified options: railway, the automobile, subway or plane, .... with greater
speed and lower-cost services, which lead to the opportunity for travel widened. Together with it,
the demand for tourism is also increasing due to societal development, and it cannot happen
without transportation. Therefore, transport plays an essential role in the tourism industry.
The first, as well as most important of transportation aspects in tourism, is to link the origin to
the destinations (Hall (1999)), which simply means to help the customer moving from the origin
to their place of interest and then return. However, countless researches have shown that the role
of transport in tourism can be discussed from other varied perspectives. Hall (1999) defined that
transportation also provides mobility and access within destinations as well as tourist attractions.
Travelers usually move to various destinations or visit different parts within a tourist attraction.
For instance, in the island tour, visitors might be picked up from the plane and continued by boat
to the island. If the customer is only provided a fixed vehicle to use or is unable to move to other
locations, customer satisfaction will be affected. In a similar way, a tourist attraction such as a
zoo is often offered different means to visit such as bicycles or electric trams. These
transportations have contributed an indispensable part to the overall tourist experience.
Furthermore, in modern tourism, Dileep (2019) expands it into other 10 different roles such as
Facilitator of tourism growth; Acting as primary attraction; Determinant tourist satisfaction;
Major contributors in tourism’s socioeconomic benefits,…For example, the growth of
transportation helps to reduce travel time, costs, while improving accessibility, mobility as well
as a travel experience. In the past, people do not have many opportunities to travel or access
remote tourist services and places. Today, modes such as airplanes take an average of 1-2 hours
to carry passengers hundreds of kilometers at a cost-savings and provide additional services
(meals,..etc). This has pushed some countries to become international destinations with the
advent of resorts, amusement parks, ... Apart from this, in difficult to access regions such as the
Arctic or mountainous regions with steep, complicated terrain; the road routes have been
gradually expanded and improved, creating chances for tourists to access new and interesting
attractions, thus improving the visitor's tourist satisfaction. Ethnic groups in mountainous areas
will have the opportunity to develop a tourism business, advance the quality of life. Therefore,
tourism transportation plays a crucial role in tourism growth as well as tourism’s socioeconomic
benefits.
Together with the evolution of technology and changes in customer behavior, transportation
modes in tourism are affected by various factors. A study by Westlake and Robbins (2005)
recommended 5 factors: convenience, price, time limit, comfort, and distance. The level effect
Transport for Tourism

of these factors depends on the different circumstances, however, they all have a major impact
on customer’s selection on the type of transportation. For instance, when considering “distance"
and “benefit" if the visitor wants to travel to another country, one of the fastest and most
effective ways is an airplane. On the other hand, if the destination is in their neighborhood’s city,
so the car is often recommended because it provides privates, saving cost and more mobility
within the city. In a similar case, the status also affects the demand for transportation modes.
Usually, it is often measured as a combination of education, income, and occupation. Therefore,
a person who has a high-class status and occupation in society, as well as a great salary, tends to
prefer luxury transportation modes such as helicopter or business class ticket in an airplane. In
addition, in case if their trip is of short nature, the time limit is another important factor tourist
look at especially (Marell & Nordlund (2003)). Many tourists have only a few days for vacation
so they do not want to spend a significant amount of time in transportation modes. Therefore, it
is important to take notice of the time limit and whether it is an important factor in choosing a
transportation mode.
Transportation has been a crucial driver of the tourism industry. These two factors have a
resonant relationship. The tremendous development of transportation paves the way for raising
the demand for tourism, and in the same way, developing tourism will make the transportation
system expand and improve. Therefore, in a long term, the government and businesses need to
focus on improving and enhancing the transportation system, as well as developing sustainable
tourism transportation.
6. Identify at least three important trends that are likely to affect tourism transportation in
the next ten years, with specific reference to how this might affect countries in Asia.
Globally, travel and tourism's direct contribution to GDP was approximately 2.9 trillion U.S.
dollars in 2019 (statista.com). However, according to the Mobility Market Outlook on COVID-
19, the global revenue for the travel and tourism industry will be an estimated 396.37 billion U.S.
dollars in 2020 - a decrease of around 42.1 percent from the previous year. This result has a
negative impact on tourism transportation, as a number of countries, especially Asia countries
where the strongest outbreak has halted international moving activities, including airplanes. In
addition, COVID outbreak is not the only threat to the development of tourism. Dileep (2019)
pointed out that political instabilities, economic downturns, ... are also contributing to these
serious challenges. Furthermore, nowadays customers are more prioritized about security, safety,
health.. when using tourism transportation services. In the next 10 years, due to the tremendous
growth of technology and society, the demand and standard of the customer for tourism
transportation also become tighter and it leads to the advent of diversified trends.
First of all, it might require a more sustainable tourism transportation system. In fact, tourism
transportation puts enormous stress on air pollution,... The effect can gradually destroy the
environmental resources on which tourism itself depends. In recent years, there has been a
growing awareness in recent years of the value of sustainable tourism growth. In China,
transportation (including tourism transportation) is one of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide
after the energy sector. As a result, the Chinese government has taken action to improve this
issue. For example, China's high-speed rail (HRS) supports sustainable development. Electric
Multiple Units use less energy than other vehicles and can generate electricity from a wide range
Transport for Tourism

of sources, including renewable energy (Wang & He, J. (2013)). In a similar case, the tuk-tuk is
a very popular means of transportation in Thailand and has become Thailand's national emblem.
In Thailand, there is a campaign named Change Tuk-Tuks to New Normal (opengovasia.com)
aims to release the electric tuk-tuk in order to reduce environmental impact, especially in tourism
businesses.
Besides environmental trends, changes in transportation modes are also forecast to become a
crucial part of the tourism transportation industry in the future. Increasing demand from demand
for more affordable air travel on the rise as well as some easing government barriers in emerging
markets in Asia leads to the expansion of Low-cost carriers’ networks. For instance, five years
ago, there were only a few low-cost carriers (LCCs) operating in Asia, today there are more than
50 (Centre for Aviation. (2019)). In addition, Malaysia became one of Asia's largest and most
successful low-cost carriers, AirAsia, which also has subsidiary airlines in Thailand, Indonesia,
Japan and the Philippines. Moreover, according to a report by AirAsia Group Berhad Report,
AirAsia already has 60% domestic market share and 40% international market share in Malaysia
and is preparing to enter the domestic market in India, Vietnam and other Asian countries.
Another example is the High-speed rail (HSR) in China aimed to improve mobility so as to
facilitate behavioral changes in tourists. It offers a higher speed at 250-400 km/h (Wang & He, J.
(2013)) with features such as: punctual and reliable, provides a unique experience with stunning
landscape outside as well as at a cheaper cost than an airplane, thus paves the way to attract more
tourists.
Last but not least, globalization with new trends in global business has oriented the tourism
transportation activities, and one of the examples is opening skies agreements. In 2016, it was
confirmed that Indonesia and Laos have now joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) open skies agreement (ASEAN Open Skies Policy - ASEAN Briefing). This means
that the Agreement has now achieved full approval by all ten ASEAN Member States. In
addition, it cannot deny that this development for the future liberalization of aviation in South
East Asia plays an essential part in the development of tourism transportation. Besides, in other
Asia countries, for example in 2020, the UAE is preparing to have an open sky agreement with
India. It is considered a potential market because there are about 1,068 flights a week between
India and the UAE operated by the airlines of the two countries under the bilateral Air Service
Agreement (thehindu.com). In overall, this will help to reduce fares, raise flight frequencies and
competition as well as passenger volumes and improve welfare and regional economic growth.
Tourism transportation is considered to be one of the most important areas for intensive
development for all countries, especially in Asia. Along with the growth of society and the
economy, countless trends have emerged. Consequently, tourism transportation should be given
priority attention to improve and develop so as to suit customers' tastes as well as to adapt to the
change in the business environment.
References
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Correspondent, S. (2020, July 8). UAE in support of open skies agreement with India. The
Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/uae-in-support-of-open-skies-
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