Contemporary Issues in Travel and Tourism

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary issues and trends affecting the travel and tourism industry. It explores various factors such as terrorism, globalization, changing customer needs, and environmental concerns. The report also delves into the rise of dark tourism and its impact. Furthermore, it includes a detailed PEST and SWOT analysis to formulate effective strategies for responding to market changes. The report also examines the impact of these issues and trends on the industry's growth and revenue, using data and graphical representations. The consequences of businesses failing to adapt to market changes are also discussed, emphasizing the need for continuous innovation and customer-centric approaches. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of addressing these issues to ensure the sustainability and profitability of the travel and tourism sector.

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Current issues that drive change in the travel and tourism sector.........................................4
1.2 Analysis of the current issues through appropriate methods and resources..........................5
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Current trends influencing the change in the travel and tourism sector................................6
2.2 Analysis of the current trend.................................................................................................7
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Ways in which travel and tourism can respond to changes...................................................8
3.2 Strategy for responding to change........................................................................................9
3.3 Justification of strategies.....................................................................................................11
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................11
4.1 Impact of issues and trends that affect travel and tourism industry....................................11
4.2 Consequences of business failing to respond to market changes........................................15
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................17
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ILLUSTRATION INDEX
Illustration 1: Rome..............................................................................................................................6
Illustration 2: PEST Analysis..............................................................................................................11
Illustration 3: Growth Rate of Industries in Comparison to Tourism Industry in UK........................13
Illustration 4: Graphical Representation of Growth Rate of Industries in Comparison to Tourism
Industry in UK....................................................................................................................................13
Illustration 5: Components of Revenue of Tourism Industry.............................................................15
Illustration 6: Graphical Representation of Components of Revenue of Tourism Industry...............15
Illustration 7: Total Number of Visitors and Their Spending in UK..................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
The challenges faced by the tourism and travel industry can affect their contribution and
structure in the economy. This industry is highly volatile in nature and is dependent on different
factors. Further, this report enlightens different aspects of the mentioned industry. In this report, we
have used various techniques for understanding the current trends and issues in this particular sector
(Buda and McIntosh, 2013). Besides this, the impacts of changes have also been explained, together
with the description of the preventive steps for reducing the negative impacts of the changes. The
prime focus in this report has been paid upon the strategy formulation task.
TASK 1
1.1 Current issues that drive change in the travel and tourism sector
The fastest growing industry in the world is the tourism and travel industry. The past few
years had revealed drastic change in this sector in terms of its advancement and development. These
have also given birth to several other issues which are affecting the industry slowly. So, it is
essential to eliminate these issues. Rome lies in the list of most prominent places in Europe and so it
is always crowded with travellers (Conrady and Buck, 2011). This place has developed immensely
according to the present era and it has its own history. There are several problems that make an
impact on the local environment, society, etc. of this place as huge number of visitors visits this
place every day. Some of the issues and advancements are as follows:
 Terrorism: It is among the most emerging problems in the tourism sector. Terrorists visit
the places as tourists in order to fulfil their bad intentions. Rome is also facing such issues.
Recently, some terrorists have blasted the embassy of Rome in which several people lost
their lives in this incident. Though this incident has made the government of Rome to
tighten the security but still people are afraid of such activities (Geraghty and Torres, 2009).
 Rise in globalisation: Globalisation has a positive as well as negative impact on the tourism
and travel industry. It has raised awareness among the people and as a result the city has
become capable of attracting more tourists. As a result, income level of the citizens has been
increased which has helped them in developing themselves. However, it has also affected
culture of the society adversely and had inspired the people from all over the world to visit
the city (Platzer, 2014).
 Changing customer needs: The demands and needs of the customers keeps on changing
with the time. So, the organizations in the city are compelled to adopt the same in their
businesses. Thus, in order to increase the customers, the companies are rendering different
packages as per the needs and demands of the customers.
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 Environment: The increasing number of tourists has resulted in degradation in the
environment of the city. Tourists visit the places and leave their wastes at the places. It
destroys the beauty of the place and the wastes also give birth to various insects. Besides
this, some people harm the ancient paintings and walls of the ancient buildings. It has
created tension for the local government (Dieke, 2013).
 Liberalization: The strict policy of Italy regarding the visa has diverted many tourists from
the city. So, they move to other countries. This has brought a downfall in the tourism
industry.
1.2 Analysis of the current issues through appropriate methods and resources
Tourism and travel industry is one of the most dynamic industries of the world and is
influenced by different factors. Many new issues are rising due to the development of these
industries. All the tourist destinations have some similar and some dissimilar issues depending upon
the country and the number of visitors. Italy is among the best tourist destinations with a huge
cultural history. On the basis of different journal articles and news papers, Italy has been ranked 7th
among the world in terms of the tourist destinations (Winiarski, 2005). In 2013, tourist spent almost
£824 million in Italy and more than 1,793,000 people visited the country. Despite of this, the travel
industry of this country faces several issues. The unstable political conditions of Italy have created
many issues in Rome as well. The government of the country is not much supportive and also the
5
Illustration 1: Rome
Source: (Sandhusen, 2000)

strict laws of the country do not attract many tourists. Global warming is one of the problems which
have been given importance these days. This is harming the ecological balance of the world and is
also affecting the country's local wildlife because many of the species have become extinct.
Various modes of taxes are levied on the travellers of the city which hampers the growth of
tourism. The cost of travelling has increased because of the taxes. As a result, people avoid visiting
this place. The travel organisations of the country are also not developed appropriately as people
usually complain them about the poor customer services. Besides this, competition among various
tourism organisations has increased immensely (Bittner, 2011). Due to this reason, they have started
posting wrong information on the websites about the places which has resulted in the destruction of
the image of the city. The tourism business is also affected by the increasing Barbary pirates and
terrorist activities in the country. People hesitate visiting the country due to such issues. The large
number of tourists has disturbed the balance of the environment and it leads to several health
problems as well. Rise in toxic waste, pollution, etc. are impacting the people’s health adversely and
illnesses such as asthma have also become common in the country. Further, an alteration in the
culture of the nation can also be seen due to these issues as the practices like smoking, drinking and
gambling are increasing in the country because of the tourists. These practices leads to negative
impact on the localities and are affecting the uneducated local people as well. Organizations are
altering the businesses as per the wants and needs of the people for serving the customer in a better
way (Mohr, Sengupta and Slater, 2009). For providing the innovative services and products, it is
important to adopt the changes; else the firm may have to shut down.
TASK 2
2.1 Current trends influencing the change in the travel and tourism sector
Iman (2002) has defined dark tourism as the tourism which involves travelling to such
destinations which are historically associated to tragedy and death. Several sites are turning to great
tourism attraction because of the sensitive nature of the dark tourism. Some of the destinations that
come under the category of dark tourism are Toledo and Edinburgh, Prison like Beaumaris, Wales,
Culloden in Scotland, etc.
Dark tourism sites are becoming famous with the passage of time and differ extremely in
their presentation of death. People are generally less influenced to such type of places, but recently
this sort of tourism is in great demand. In terms of supply, there has been a growth in the provisions
of these experiences or attractions and all this has attracted many organisations. Companies are
making different travel and tour packages as per the demand of the customers and is providing them
with lots of other facilities as well. All this have resulted in an increase in profits (Liu and et. al.,
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2014). People associate these places as an adventurous trip and comments that it is an amazing
place for spending the holidays.
People visit these sites for fun as well as for the purpose of learning the history of these
places. Many educationalists and researchers visit these places for writing reports on them as they
are quite interesting. Many documentary and film makers also visit these places for shooting their
movies in order to give them a real feel. Regulatory bodies have also started to support these places
by offering special facilities and benefits to the tourists who are visiting these places. Few of the
places have been declared as the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO so that, they can be protected
from exploitation.
These places have become vacation home for many tourists, they visit and relish at these
places for long duration. These places are also helpful in the development of the local community
because local people get jobs as a guide to tourist and this is resulting in an increase in their
personal income. Many private and government organisations are spending a considerable amount
on advertising of these places through TV, social network, internet, etc. and also organise some
global occasions near these places for attracting more tourists (Hwang, 2007).
However, with these benefits there are some issues as well, like when the tourists are told
about the history of the places, they sometimes take it as fun and ignore the feelings and emotions
of the local people. Also, some guides exploit the history of the people and the places by telling a
fake story to the tourists. Many companies fool the tourists by giving them pay extra and false taxes
and by charging high fees from them. Thus, it is essential to protect these places as they are not just
the adventurous places but are the part of the world's history as well.
2.2 Analysis of the current trend
Dark tourism is gaining popularity now a days around the world by influencing lots of
tourists to these sites. The ghost town of Edinburgh and Toledo in Scotland are among the most
popular dark tourism sites (Chen, 2009). These places can be analysed with the help of a case study.
Case Study:
Toledo and Edinburgh have connection from the past of human calamity. Many aficionados
crave to visit Scotland because according to the Paranormal Witness report, Toledo and Edinburgh
are regarded as UK's most haunted places that have recorded more than 700 paranormal sightings in
the past 25 years. Edinburgh is also known as the city of deaths. This place has a live history of
more than a thousand years and there is always an untold violent history for the place.
Because of all these reasons, this place develops as one among the best tourist spots in UK.
The city delivers wide variety of ghost walks and tours. In terms of dark tourism, Toledo is also an
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important city due to the sites like Holy Grail Trail, Table of Solomon, etc. both these cities have
developed due to the dark tourism. Thousands of people visit these places every year and it has
supported the local people in developing themselves. Many people work as tourist guides, some
people offer the tourists a place to live, eat, etc. (Ashworth and Page, 2011). Government is also
providing support to the cities by developing infrastructure for attracting more tourists. Several
horror documentaries and movies are shot at these places and had become popular among the
academic students and the researchers.
Methodology:
Majority of research imparted within the context of dark tourism is of qualitative nature only
and hence it pay less efforts on the tourists, managers, etc. that attribute to the attraction of the dark
tourist. In this context, Semi structured interviews are focused from the tour managers of Edinburgh
and interviews were conducted in the innate language of the cities. Several notes and photographs
are also taken along with the video of Toledo's ghost trip. The tourists were divided among three
parts by the cities- first part included the curious people, second part included the people who visit
the place just for time-pass and the third part included the people that has taken keen interest in the
history of the places. Edinburgh has undergone many changes during the past time as all the
companies have put their advertisements on the Royale Mile.
Along with these visits, several other data was collated with the help of primary and
secondary resources as well such as books, magazines, government publication, journals, etc. It was
analysed from this tour that, these places are famous at the present time and are becoming more
popular because they are now being advertised as well (Cant, Strydom and Jooste, 2009). Also,
several companies are also providing special tour packages for such type of places. Despite of all
these advancements, places are still losing the charm or beauty because of their exploitation by the
locals as well as the tourists.
TASK 3
3.1 Ways in which travel and tourism can respond to changes
Tourism and travel sector is considered as one among the active sector in the world which
can be affected by the alterations in the external factors of the country. It is very essential for the
industry to adopt the changes according to the situations in order to remain profitable and for
serving large number of tourists. London is viewed as top most destination of UK that caters the
attention of large set of tourists every year. London is the first city to respond to any deviations in
the political conditions and laws of UK. London responds accordingly to make other industries, like
tourism and travel industry, operate effectively in the economy. Further, the tourism industry is also
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affected by the changes in the social factors in London as the tourism sector has to be developed
according to the change in behaviour and demand of the people. It also needs to maintain itself
keeping in view the possible natural disasters (Fyall and Garrod, 2005). In addition to these issues,
the tourism industries has to face several other factors like terrorism, taxes, recession, health issues,
etc. and it is very important to manage them effectively.
3.2 Strategy for responding to change
Due to high amount deviation within the context of external environment of London, It has
become very significant to manage these changes and to change the sector accordingly. For this
purpose, progressive tactic is required that can support the sector in attaining sustainability
effectively. For planning the approaches, it is important to comprehend the external and internal
factors which are affecting the city (Heung, 2003). Here, SWOT and PEST Analysis have been done
for developing effective strategies.
PEST Analysis:
 Political factors: The local government is being affected by the travel and tourism industry
for reducing different illogical taxes imposed on the tourists. Several securities and policies
have been tightened by the government due to the terrorist attacks; this has also affected the
9
Illustration 2: PEST Analysis
(Source: Khodarahmi, 2009)

tourism as the tourist does not like to be inspected at each and every place. Recently,
London Olympic 2012 have enhanced the total number of tourists in the city which helped
mentioned industry in showing its potential. Besides this, several airline companies also
bring lucrative packages. But, these packages contain few hidden costs that influence the
decisions of the tourists.
 Economic factors: The whole economy of London was disturbed due to the tourist’s attacks
and this resulted in cautious business spending. Also, some investments that were being
postponed earlier have not been sanctioned till date. All these factors affected the tourism
industry by creating huge losses (Hassanien, 2006). But, the industry has struggled to rise
again and is gaining popularity because it includes many people and they are earning good
income.
 Social factors: It is evident from this that the city can attract more customers and has great
potential in this industry. But, it may have positive as well as negative impact on the city.
The positive side is that, it will support the local society in developing the infrastructure,
enhancing the culture, etc. and the negative side is that it may rise in crime rate such as
blasts, murders, etc.
 Technological factors: Advancements in technology has transformed the function of this
industry. People can go on tour of the whole city through internet for gaining the
information and asking the reviews regarding the places. Further, huge support is attained
from government in spending more on advertising through TV, social networks,
collaboration with airlines, third part websites, etc.
SWOT Analysis:
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
 Focuses on
Green
Initiatives
 Illogical and extra
Taxes are levied on
the Tourists
 Sustainable Tourism  Economic crisis
 Infrastructure
is well-
developed
 Quite expensive City  Decrease in the
amount of taxes
 Attacks by terrorists
 Uses English
Language
 High pollution and
heavy traffic
 Offering economic
packages to the
tourists
 Environment
deterioration or
degradation
 It has several
cultures
 Low profit margin  Developing the
market swiftly
 Its hotels are
among best in
the world
 Unstable nature of
the currency
 Alliances with
tourism agencies
 The beauty of
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the place is
very attractive
3.3 Justification of strategies
The tactics which are used above clearly depicts that, London possess great potential and
opportunity for becoming the world's most admiring tourist destination due to its infrastructure,
culture, beauty, etc. Application of PEST analysis is very essential as it aids the industry in knowing
the aspects which can affect the business functions. Influence of the tourism sector to the city's
economy can be easily ascertained in terms of the employment development opportunities. It also
assists in analysing the social factors and in encouraging the tourism sector for developing
themselves as per the wants and needs of the people (Šerić, 2013). Besides this, SWOT analysis is
also equally important for the city and the industry as it helps them in using the opportunities and
strengths for the competitive advantage and also assists them in eliminating the threats and
weaknesses.
TASK 4
4.1 Impact of issues and trends that affect travel and tourism industry
In UK, Travel & tourism industry is growing at a fast pace and it have a largest share as
individual industry in UK GDP. According to UK, Tourism statistics 2015 report tourism that the
industry is growing at the rate of 13.6%. This industry contributes 126.9 billion euros in the GDP
of UK which is 9% of the total GDP of the country.
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Illustration 3: Growth Rate of Industries
in Comparison to Tourism Industry in
UK
(Source: Lundberg, 2011)

This chart clearly states that, tourism industry was growing at 13.6% followed by retail
sector 11.80%, construction sector -2.60% and manufacturing sector -2.30%. This chart also makes
it clear that, in period of recession when every industry gives poor performance at that time, there
was only tourism industry that grew at rapid rate. In 2014, total revenue of tourism industry was
125.5 billion euro. The main components of the revenue are domestic, inbound, outbound, UK air
fares and day visitors.
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Construction
Retail
Tourism
Manufacturinfg
Illustration 4: Graphical Representation of Growth Rate of Industries in Comparison to
Tourism Industry in UK
(Source: Morosan, 2013)

According to this graph, most of revenues come from the domestic tourists and they
mostly visits tourist place at the day time. Major part of revenue is covered by day tourists
53.80% followed by domestic 22.60%, inbound 21.70%, outbound 24.20% and airlines only
2.90%.
13
Illustration 5: Components of
Revenue of Tourism Industry
Source: (Nield, K., 2009)
Domestic Inbound Outbound UK air fares Day visitors
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
Column C
Illustration 6: Graphical Representation of Components of Revenue of Tourism Industry
(Source: Šerić, 2013)

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Illustration 7: Total Number of Visitors and Their Spending in UK
(Source: Dieke, 2013)

In UK, 12.7 mostly tourist’s visit places for leisure followed by businesses tourism 7.9,
study tourism 0.5 and other 2.3. Therefore, companies in this industry must pay special attention
on local people and businessman.
Issues in tourism industry
Thomas Cook provides wide range of products to its customers which helps it in
surviving in the tourism industry. It prepares packages that cater the needs of all kind of people.
Some of its packages that provide competitive advantage over its competitors are India long
weekend holidays, Student travel packages and senior citizen holidays. The main competitors of
Thomas Cook are Britain, American express and Carlson travels. Thomas Cook is UK third
largest travel group operating in UK travel and tourism industry. It has its own distribution
channels, airline and tour operation. This act as a core competency of The Thomas crook and it is
in position to capitalise the opportunity that are available in travel & tourism industry. In Travel
and tourism industry, there are number of suppliers like airlines, car rentals, cruise ships, hotels
and railways. Thomas Cook have tie ups with the hotels all over the world. It has its own
aeroplane as well. Maintaining a sound relationship will suppliers is very difficult task.
Therefore, Thomas Cook is paying special attention in making a good relationship with its
suppliers. In case of conveyance facility, there is no supplier issue because it has its own
aeroplane. This provides economies of scale and act as its core competency over its competitors.
In case of customers, by preparing several travel packages it fulfils the needs of every age and
category of people whether they are students, businessman and old age people etc.
4.2 Consequences of business failing to respond to market changes
In today era, it is imperative for every business organization to bring changes in it
according to the fluctuations in business environment. Business environment is changing at a fast
pace especially economic environment of countries all over the world. Therefore, Thomas Cook
is required to bring changes in its services and it also needs to adopt strategies that help to
maintain its leadership in travel and tourism industry of UK. Changes in these factors to large
extent affect business of an organization.
 Customer base- In today era, preference of people is changing rapidly and it is difficult
to create loyalty among customers about the company product. There are many
competitors of Thomas Cook therefore, it is essential for it to retain existing customers
and create new customers (Muhamad, R., Melewar, C. T. and Alwi, S. F. S., 2012).
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 For this purpose, it needs to identify untapped segment of people and is required to
prepare its holiday packages in such a way that attract customer’s attention. Thomas
Cook can target people that fall in lower class. Thomas Cook can take benefit of
economies of scale and can provide its services to low income people at cheaper rates.
 Business- With the change in business environment, Thomas Cook should bring change
in its business and should focus on expansion of the business. It can increase its
operations in developing economies like India, China and Malaysia etc. .
 Mismanagement- Management of Thomas Cook must make sure that all activities are
performed in a proper manner and on time. Many times it is very difficult to perform the
function of time management (Morosan, C., 2013).
 Little time is available and management have to perform a lot of activities in that time.
Therefore, management should prepare schedule in a proper manner and must ensure
completion of activities on time.
 Suppliers- It is very difficult task to maintain good relations with suppliers and bitterness
in relationship directly affects firm business. Therefore, Thomas Cook must take steps
which help it in maintaining good relations with suppliers. Thomas Cook can also
perform some of suppliers functions like it can provide its own cars to tourists and it can
also establish its own hotels in the most famous cities of world. This will reduce number
of suppliers and bring economies of scale (Perrott, B. E., 2011).
CONCLUSION
Based on present report, it has been evident that there are different issues related to the
tourism and travel industry and it makes an impact on the organisations. This sector is rising
continuously at a fast pace. Varied mode of tourism has emerged in the industry such as dark
tourism, etc. It has emerged as one of the popular tourism activity among travellers and it is also
generating high profits. It is essential for all the organization of this industry to address these
issues effectively by explaining the value of tourism places to all the people. They also need to
alter themselves as per the deviation in the market conditions. If company fails in doing such
things, they may have to suffer huge losses. Organization should also invest in their researches as
this will help them in addressing the people effectively by meeting their demands and needs.
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