Comprehensive Report on the Travel and Tourism Sector of London

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the travel and tourism sector in London. It begins with an introduction to the sector, followed by an examination of its historical developments from ancient times to the present, and a detailed overview of its current structure, including transport, travel agents, attractions, accommodation, quality standards, and ancillary services. The report then delves into the roles of government, sponsored bodies like VisitBritain, and international agencies such as the WTO and WTTC. It explores the influence of local and national economic policies on the sector's success, including the impact of policy changes on revenue and infrastructure development. The implications of political changes on the travel and tourism sector in various countries are also discussed. Furthermore, the report analyzes factors affecting tourism demand and supply, evaluating the positive and negative economic, environmental, and social impacts of tourism, and suggesting strategies to maximize positive impacts while minimizing negative ones. The report concludes with key findings and recommendations for the sector's future.

travel and tourism sector
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................4
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................4
P 1.1 Historical developments in the travel and tourism sector of London ....................................4
P 1.2 Structure of the travel and tourism sector in London.............................................................5
TASK 2 ................................................................................................................................................6
P 2.1 Role of government, other sponsored bodies and international agencies in travel and
tourism of London...........................................................................................................................6
P 2.2 Influence of local and national economic policy in the success of travel and tourism sector 7
P 2.3 Implications of political change on the travel and tourism sector in different countries........9
TASK 3 ..............................................................................................................................................10
P 3.1 Factors affecting tourism demand.........................................................................................10
P 3.2 Change in supply for meeting the effects of demand...........................................................11
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................12
P 4.1 Evaluation of positive and negative economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism
.......................................................................................................................................................12
P 4.2 Strategies that can be used to minimize the negative impacts while maximising the positive
impact.............................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................14
Recommendations..............................................................................................................................15
References..........................................................................................................................................16
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Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Visitor analysis by regions.............................................................................................7
Illustration 2: Overseas residents' spending in London by 2003..........................................................8
Illustration 3: Popularity of Chinese destination................................................................................10
Illustration 4: Increased arrival of visitors .........................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
Travel and tourism consists of planning, researching, implementing and controlling the
various activities which are formed to satisfy the demands of customers with the growth of
company. The increase of interest and demand in travel and tourism sector has improved the social
and cultural life of people. These industries are using various marketing techniques and methods to
understand the desires of customers. Companies needs to understand the gap and difference
between the tourism products and tourism services for getting success in their marketing processes
Government and various agencies are also working for improving and developing this sector.
(Moutinho, 2011).
The focus of present study is travel and tourism sector of London and for this file consists
the historical development and structure of travel and tourism sector. Along with these, it has also
includes influence of local and national government, international agencies, effects of demand and
supply, impact of travel and tourism. In the end, study is concluded by the key findings and
recommendations.
TASK 1
P 1.1 Historical developments in the travel and tourism sector of London
Travel and tourism sector is continuously growing with the time at global level. London has
a huge market of this sector as it is most liked destination in the world. There are various reasons
behind the travelling of people which includes trade, education, religion, accommodation, religion
and many more (de Freitas, 2003). The present growth of this industry is linked to the ancient times.
The key historical developments that takes place in the London from the pre historic times to
present in the field of travel and tourism are explained below. Ancient Times: Travel and tourism business was firstly takes place at the times of Egyptian
and Babylion. The development of roads by the Romans for their trade results to increase in
the travel and tourism sector of England. Due to the popularity of Hampton, Enfield and
Chelsea people started visiting it. With the growth of social and cultural environment of
Roman, London was also growing as it leads to development of various buildings such as
temples, forts, amphitheatres, etc (Middleton, Fyall and et.al., 2009). Middle Ages: In this age travelling was considered as dangerous, complex and less
charismatic. Due to this reason, middle age is also termed as Dark ages. Merchants and other
people used to travel for creating new opportunities and for getting name and fame.
Travelling for leisure purpose was totally stopped in this age. People used to travel only for
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their business or due to some specific reasons. Business of London was also slow down in
this time period (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008). Post-Reformation: Tourism of England developed during 17th century. A grand tour was
organised by the Queen Elizabeth 1 for encouraging people to for their studies. The main
reason behind this tour was to educate people and to open their mind in the matter of studies
(Gooroochurn and Sugiyarto, 2005).
 Industrial Revolution: After 18th and 19th centuries, the environment of the London society
and living standard of people started changing with a high speed. People started moving
towards the urban areas of England. This era brings various opportunities in the field of
employment, development, growth, education, etc which developed the tourism sector
(Wilder-Smith, 2006).
P 1.2 Structure of the travel and tourism sector in London
The structure of the travel and tourism sector is described below. Transport: It is the most important factor of travel and tourism sector of London. It brings
individuals together and improves the trade. There are various facilities of transport in
London such as Manchester airport, British airlines, Hertz car hire service, coaches,
Network Rail, etc. All these transport helps in managing the travel and tourism business
(Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001). Travel Agents: Travel agents are for providing advice and information to the people related
to the tour and trips. They are called as distributors of tourism products as they also sell
flight tickets, insurances, arrange car, etc. Due to the increasing use of internet growth of
travel agents is stopped as people book their holidays by the help of websites (Pizam and
Smith, 2000). Attraction: People of various countries are attracted towards the destinations of London and
due to this reason, it is the most popular tourist destination in the world. Through a research,
it has bee found that there are approximate 6400 visitor attractions in UK. Natural attraction
includes lakes, beaches, national parks and man made attractions includes museums, art
galleries. For example: Museum of moving image, The Victoria and Elbert museum,etc
(Jacob, Tintoré and et.al., 2003). Accommodation: Various kinds of accommodation are provided to the customers by the
travel and tourism sector of London. These accommodation includes holiday parks, self-
catering, campus, youth hostels, etc. In a survey done by British Hospitality Association, it
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has bee found that hotels and guest houses has registered for additional 16,000 bed and
breakfasts (Leahy, 2008). Quality: A good quality standard is setted by the VisitBritain for maintaining the quality of
services and products. As per the quality of hotels, VisitBritain rate them from one to five
stars. These stars denotes the quality of hotel as higher quality of hotels with good range of
facilities are rated by five star (Morrison and Teixeira, 2004).
 Ancillary Services: Generally public sector supports the tourism for its development and
growth. Department for Cultural, Media and Sport plays essential role in supporting the
tourism at global level. The policy “Tomorrow's Tourism” was introduced by this
department for developing the travel and tourism sector. VisitBritain supports the travel and
tourism of Britain and market it at global level (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010).
TASK 2
P 2.1 Role of government, other sponsored bodies and international agencies in travel and tourism
of London
Government, sponsored bodies and many international agencies plays important role in
travel and tourism sector of London. The function of these bodies are explained below. Department for Cultural, Media and Sport (DCMS): This public body is responsible for
the development of tourism at national level. It has formed various policies for enhancing
the demand of travel ad tourism “Tomorrow's Tourism” is one of them. The total strategies
for growth and development of tourism was discussed in this policy. Later in 2004, this
policy was updated by adding new strategies, roles and responsibilities (London's Tourism
Industry. 2016). VisitBritain: The actions take by this body in the areas of marketing, e-tourism, quality of
product and services. It promote the tourism of Britain at global level. Its aim is to create
world-class destinations for enhancing the value of tourism. It has partnership with the
British Council, British Hospitality Association, UK Immigration Services, etc (Murphy,
Pritchard and Smith, 2000). It tries to sought out the issues with these government and other
bodies that arises in the tourism sector. VisitBritain also organise various campaigns for
promoting Britain tourism. It has also published a book named 'So British' which has
information of British Luxury brands such as Harrods, Wedgewood, Barbour, etc (Scott,
Amelung and et.al., 2008). Other agencies: The responsibility of regional development agencies (RDAs) is to promote
tourism in their regions in cooperation with regional tourist boards. In the year of 2003 and
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2006, RDAs receive $3.6 million per year for developing and growing tourism. Some of the
RDAs are VisitLondon, Marketing Manchester, Tourism SouthEast and many more.
 Local Authority: Local authorities have various tourism departments and plans for
supporting the tourism industry. These authorities have all the information related to the
services and products of residents and visitors. They provides booking for visitor attractions
and accommodation. Tourist information centres are providing services by operating shops
of gifts, crafts, books and other interesting things regarding the tourism (Perch-Nielsen,
Sesartic and Stucki, 2010).
 International Agencies: World Trade Centre (WTO) and World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC) are working for the development and growth of travel and tourism sector. These
are also paying attention to the tourism of London by conducting surveys and research.
There role is to develop innovative ad creative strategies and solving the problems arising
during the promotion or marketing (Evans, Stonehouse and Campbell, 2012).
P 2.2 Influence of local and national economic policy in the success of travel and tourism sector
The influence of local and national economic policy in the success of travel and tourism
sector is in both positive and negative manner. They are influencing directly and indirectly to the
society and nation's growth. Changes made by the government bodies in the polices are for the
betterment of this sector. The policy of sustainable environment helps in keeping the surrounding
safe, clean and hygienic. This policy also takes care the health of people and prevents them from
dangerous diseases occurs due to pollutant environment. As per the national policies, industries
needs to take permission for enhancing their area of business. Some countries are restricted by the
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Illustration 1: Visitor analysis by regions
Source: (Karantzavelou, V., 2014)

UK government which somewhere affects the business. Tourism and travel of UK helps in
developing the nation economically (Penrose, 2011).
The economic policies introduced by the UK government results to increase in profitability
of London tourism. But any changes in the local economic policy leads to affect the revenue of
London tourism as it directly affects the exchange rate of currency. Along with these factors, by
forming various policies, government is improving the quality of infrastructure, services ad tourism
product. Various polices are defined by regional authorities for creating awareness among the
people of their regions. By applying right policies the tourism of UK has become the six largest
industry in the world. This sector increases the opportunities related to the employment and wealth
in various parts of country including London (Wilder-Smith, 2006).
International agencies are converting the long established tourist boards to smaller ones for
focusing on each and every part of this industry. It is changing the techniques such as developing
applications for android and iPhones for easy ad simple access. The policy helps in making the UK
visas in simpler and faster way (Aronsson, 2000). Government has increased the umber of
biometric ID centres which makes visa process more convenient. Smart Zone schemes and Trusted
traveller schemes of London helps in making first experience of people memorable. The funds are
provided through the commercial partnership marketing and sponsorship deals with various tourism
industries of London (Government Tourism Policy. 2016).
P 2.3 Implications of political change on the travel and tourism sector in different countries
Political changes either increase or decrease the growth of travel and tourism sector.
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Illustration 2: Overseas residents' spending in London
by 2003
Source : (Travel Trends 2013. 2014)

Different countries have different laws, policies and procedures. In some countries accurate and
appropriate strategies are not being used for policy formation which results to decrease in the
growth of tourism. On the other hand, in the countries like UK and US government and other
agencies are wortking for making tourism and travel a better industry. The implications of political
change on the travel and tourism sector in various countries are as follows (Law, Leung and Wong,
2004). Iran: At one time, Iran was famous for its natural, historical and attractive destinations but
aftre the war between the Iran and Iraq, people changed their preferences. Before 1980, the
travel and tourism sector was at peak which lowers down after the war. Government of Iran
made many efforts to develop their travel ad tourism sector again but due to some conflicts
and problems they cannot able to get the same position again. Undeveloped infrastructure,
low quality of services, tourism products, improper management, ineffective marketing
techniques, lack of personnel training and many more results to lowers the position of travel
and tourism sector (Gretzel and Yoo, 2008).
 China: The government of China started various campaigns for the development of travel
and tourism. The strategies used by the China governments are in very effective and
appropriate manner. Due to this strategies, tourism of China has been increased a lot which
has increased the living standard of people and economic condition of nation. It is applying
various marketing techniques and methods for promoting its tourism (Frechtling, 2000).
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Illustration 3: Popularity of Chinese destination
Source: (Chinese visitors are shunting London. 2015)

 United States: The laws and policies of US are favourable for the development of travel and
tourism sector. By using various marketing techniques, US government is improving its
tourism. People are attracted towards the destinations of US and various schemes tries to
make their first experience unforgettable. It is taking care of the environment by applying
sustainable climate policy. It is also providing quality of accommodation to the passengers
which makes them to travel and explore new destinations in US (Leahy, 2008).
TASK 3
P 3.1 Factors affecting tourism demand
There are various factors which are affecting the demand of TUI Group of London. These
factors are explained below. Price: Price plays very crucial role for TUI Group as it need to be affordable for the
customers. Changes in the prices leads to either increase or decrease in the demand of
tourism. High prices affects the price oriented passengers and they stop travelling and
visiting new places in London. This decrease in customers leads to decrease in the sales
which affects the profitability of the company. On the other hand, fuel prices also affects the
demand of TUI Group. Due to the raise in fuel prices, companies increases their ticket
prices which directly affects the sales and customers (Xiang and Gretzel, 2010). Technology: With the increase in use of technology, travel and tourism sector is increasing.
Use of various techniques by TUI Group results to easy and simple access of services for
the customers and employees of the industry. People can get whole information related to
their travelling destination in London by using its website. Applications are also available
for android and iPhones which makes the booking more easier and due to this, demand of
tourism destinations are increasing. Use of appropriate ERP system by TUI Group makes its
working effective and easier to manage (The factors that influence tourism demand. 2009). Quality: It plays very essential role in increasing or decreasing the demand of TUI Group
with its tourism destinations. European government has policy related to the grading which
shows the quality of the hotels. Higher the grading, higher is the quality and facilities of the
hotels. Quality of tourism products and services makes people to prefer the same industry
again. It also helps in managing the loyalty and honesty of customers which later increase
the demand of tourism (Murphy, Pritchard and Smith, 2000).
 Climate Changes: Climate changes affects the demands of tourism industries as due to the
bad climate, people less prefer to travel and at that time demand of TUI Group decreases. In
spring and rainy season people likes to visit natural and beautiful places and at this time
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demand of TUI Group increases (Mckercher and Lew, 2003).
P 3.2 Change in supply for meeting the effects of demand
Tourism supply in UK depends on the demand of its tourism by people. Both natural and
man made resources are important to supply for accomplishing the demand of travellers visiting to
the destinations. Supply of accommodation, transportation and telecommunication by TUI Group
of UK fulfil the requirements of infrastructure. The suppliers of the TUI Group are segregated in
various forms such as hospitality, transport, products, services, etc. The hospitality supplier supplies
the services such as entertainment, gaming, proper accommodation, food services, leisure activities,
etc. Distribution system in tourism analysis also explains the supply regarding the tourism of TUI
Group. This system tries to supply all required tourism products and services to meet the demands
of people and company. Due to the intangible products and services, people can only take their
decisions by collecting information related to that product and service(Aronsson, 2000). Demand of
tourism of TUI Group rises at the time of Olympics in London which is shown in the figure below.
With the rise in the awareness for environment, natural resources are being supplied to the
companies for maintaining the sustainability. They supply elements in the form of water bodies, air
quality, flora, etc to the compay. Infrastructure includes the supply of resources for the underground
and surface development (Penrose, 2011). These resourcesRe: includes power lines, water supply
systems, communication networks, etc. In the field of transportation, aeroplanes, trains, cars,
coaches, buses, etc plays important role for the TUI Group. Supply of all the resources related to
this field helps in making the tourism better one. Supply of proper equipments and tools for the
safety and security of people helps in keeping safe environment and it prevents from any dangerous
harm and injury. It is first priority of the travel and tourism sector to determine the demand of
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Illustration 4: Increased arrival of visitors
Source: (Modiano, 2012)

products and services (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2001).
Supply of tourism products to TUI Group of UK depends upon the products consumed by
its passengers. As demand of London destinations are more so the tourism sector requires more
supply of products. During the time of less demand, suppliers of firm have to slow their supply of
resources which effects their profit and market share. (Tourism demand and supply. 2016).
TASK 4
P 4.1 Evaluation of positive and negative economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism
The impacts of tourism can be categorized into economic, environment and social which
may be positive and negative for different visiting places of London. The evaluation of these
impacts of tourism on London are as follows.
Impacts of tourism Positive Negative
Economic Tourism sector has developed the huge
employment opportunities to the
people and its other supportive
industries. For instance, the increased
spending capacity of the travellers has
created the multiple effects in the
from of developing the new areas of
jobs for the other people. It has also
provided the opportunities to other
supportive industries to grow in the
market. It has also developed a new
source of earning for government of
London in the form taxes and other
import or export duties (Wilder-Smith,
2006).
For achieving sustainable tourism,
the government has taken the
initiatives towards development of
different accommodation facilities,
improve the connectivity between
urban and rural areas etc. It has
increased the extra burden on
government. On the other hand, the
seasonal tourism in London has
increased the prices of the goods and
services which is not good for other
people and visitors.
Environmental With the increase tourism in London, it
has leads to save the environment and
taken steps in the direction of save
wildlife. For this, the visiting charges
in national parks have increased so that
earnings can be used in welfare of
With the development of tourism in
London, the wastage of different
natural resources has increased. For
development of new infrastructures
and other facilities, the various
forests areas have became vanished.
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