Impact of Trends and Issues on Travel and Tourism Businesses

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary issues and trends in the travel and tourism sector, with a specific focus on Costa Rica and the tour operator Thompsons Holidays. It explores various challenges such as fast-changing technology, environmental factors, and increasing disposable income, along with their impacts on the industry. The report delves into current trends like white water rafting, horseback riding, and spiritual tourism, analyzing how these trends influence tourism product and service offerings. Furthermore, it examines how travel and tourism businesses can respond to changes, including strategies related to technology, environmental awareness, and cost management. The report also discusses the impacts of these issues and trends, as well as the potential consequences of businesses failing to adapt to market changes.

Contemporary issues in
travel and tourism

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Issues currently driving change in the travel and tourism sector.....................................3
1.2 Analyse different issues using methods and resources.....................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
2.1 Current trends influencing change in the travel and tourism sector.................................5
2.2 Analyse current trend using appropriate techniques and resources..................................7
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Analyse how travel and tourism businesses could respond to change.............................7
3.2:Strategies on how selected travel and tourism businesses could respond to change.......8
3.3 Justify strategies for how selected travel and tourism businesses could respond to change.9
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................9
4.1 Impacts of issues and trends that drive change in the travel and tourism sector.............9
4.2 Discuss the likely consequences of businesses failing to respond to market
changes................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References .....................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
Travel and tourism refers to when individual or groups travel for pleasure or business.
Travelling includes internationally or within the country person is staying. Contemporary issues
is a social issue which includes changes in environment due to use of modern technology or
environmental factors. It is a problem that influences the behaviour of many individual in the
society. In this report, Thompsons holidays is taken as a tour operator and Costa Rica is the
destination. Thompsons holidays is one of the top tour operator in the world based on Southern
Africa. They have more than 40 years of experience in this field. Costa Rica is a country in
Central America and one of the best tourism places in the world. Issues which are faced by the
tourism sector will be discussed. Current trends which are influencing this sector and how it can
be improve with techniques and resources is explained below. Strategies will be develop and
justify that how tourism sector will respond to issues and trends which are driving changes.
Task 1
1.1 Issues currently driving change in the travel and tourism sector
Costa Rica is one of the attractive tourist destination in the world especially their capital
San Jose. But as the time passes tourism sector and its working has changed dramatically. There
are different issues which are changing this sector which are explained below,
Fast changing technology: In the present era, technology has become the core part for
the customer who are travelling all over the world which includes Maps, virtual booking etc
which has negative as well as positive impacts. Few technology changes are described below,
Virtual booking: With the help of many tour operators like Thompsons it is now easy to
book a tour to any country in the world from a single click. It helps the customer to compare the
price, set their plan according to their comfort and budget from their home. But on the other side
chances of robbery, hacking is also increase due to which customers are now avoid to use
technology for booking as much as they can. There are many cases where tourist has lost all their
money due to hacking while they were booking their hotels.(Wachowiak, 2016).
GPS: Now its easy for the customer to reach their destination with the help of their phone
as whole Costa Rica or any other country map can be seen with the help of GPS. But on the
opposite side, chances of showing wrong or false information is also high. Tourist could get lost
while using technology which break their trust over technology.

High disposable income: Capacity of spending for pleasure and fun is increasing
significantly due to increase in per capita income. As this is the reason tourism sector accounts
for 20% GDP of the Costa Rica. Research shows that tourist who visits to Costa Rica spends
USD 200-400 on a daily basis (Business tourism, a rising sector for costa Rica's economy, 2017)
Tourist are paying hefty amount of money on dangerous sports due to which many people are
dying. More than 100 people in costa Rica have lost their life while trying sports.
Environmental factor: Costa Rica government is aware of their environmental issues
and try to resolve it before becoming worse. Due to increase in tourist frequency, amount of
wastage or garbage is also increasing significantly. Increase in wastage makes the city
unbearable to live which will leads to reduce in tourist numbers. (Smith, 2015).
1.2 Analyse different issues using methods and resources
Issues which faced by the tourism sector in Costa Rica and affecting their business in
greater extent is given below,
Increase in pollution: San Jose is one of the most attracting cities in Costa Rica. But due
to increase in number of tourist, number of vehicle used in the city also increase which leads to
rise in population. City has faced number of problems which was caused due to high pollution in
the city. Local government has tried their best to reduce tourist wastage but did not get
succeeded till now.
Increase in prices of basic products: Due to increase in demands of products, local
retailer has mark up their prices to earn more profit. It directly affects the local citizens in a
negative way as they also have to pay more for the products which they were buying in lesser
price. This decreases the disposable income for people living there which create negative impact
on the economy of country.
Task 2
2.1 Current trends influencing change in the travel and tourism sector
Costa Rica is one of the top visited countries in the world and this is because of the
different types of trends and adventure sports which can only found in this country. Uniqueness
of the country is the only key factor which allures the tourist from around the world. Different
types of trends which changes the tourism sector is discussed below,

White water rafting: This is one of the attractive things which attracts the tourist and ca
not be find in any other country. There are different rivers like Corobici river, pacuare river
which gives the thrilling experience to the tourist. All the rivers maintains their water level, its
cleanliness to its best. These rivers can challenge even the most experienced rafting person with
strong rapid which comes in their way.
Horse back riding: One of the most exciting way of exploring the country, rivers,
mountains etc of Costa Rica. This gives the electrifying experience to the tourist while exploring
the uniqueness of this beautiful country. Apart from that horse riding is also the culture of Costa
Rica which makes it even more exciting and thrilling (Smith, 2014).
No artificial place: Costa Rica is famous for its beautiful beaches, ponds, waterfalls,
mountains etc. Besides this they have thousands of varieties of plants, more than 200 different
types of mammals,reptiles, amphibians, water fish etc which can not be find in any other
country. These are the factors which attracts to visit their country once in their lifetime. Natural
and sociological factors of Costa Rica differentiate them to other countries (Jenkins, Hall and
Mkono, 2014).
Bird watching: If the tourist is interested in seeing the birds which is close enough for
extinction or could only be seeing rarely then Costa Rica is the paradise for them. The country is
connected to America due to which it becomes the homes for tropical birds. Costa Rica is home
for more birds than overall birds in America and Canada together. Few birds species which can
only seen in costa Rica is toucans, scarlet macaws, motmots etc. These attracts the tourist and
their local citizens to visit their places.
Spiritual tourism: Due to pressure in people professional and personal life they prefer to
visit those countries which can provide comfort with spirituality like meditation, Yoga's etc.
Places like PachaMama, montverde cloud forest etc helps the tourist to relax their mind, feel
their soul so that pressure would be realised from their mind.
2.2 Trends affecting in terms of tourism product and service offerings
Current trends should be properly analysed and monitored as it shows the path to
increase the revenue through satisfying the needs of the tourist. Products should be change by
operator according to the unmet needs of customer which are described below, (Tussyadiah and
Pesonen, 2016).

Places near greenery: After the survey conducted by local operators it has been found
out that people prefer to see Costa Rica greenery as that's what they are famous for. So operators
have analysed this unmet needs and offers visit to place like Tortuguero National Park on the
horse. At the same time, tourist can also enjoy the beauty of migrating bird while travelling on
the horses.
Exploring the nature: Tourist comes to visit another country due to achieving isolation
from the fast moving cities where they are living. Their needs can be fulfiled by the Costa Rica
beauty as they have enormous number of places where tourist can enjoy peace and harmony.
Operator can start teaching Yoga or spiritual actions which could help tourist to attain peace.
Spiritual places: Most of the tourist prefers to visit different country's devotional places
like temple or church due to increase in spirituality among people. This is the unmet needs of
customer which any tour operator can fulfil by providing trips to places like PachaMama,
montverde which will assist them to increase their profitability(Hannam, Butler and Paris, 2014).

Task 3
3.1 Analyse how travel and tourism businesses could respond to change
There are different types of changes which can affect the travel and tourism sector which
are described below,
Inflation changes: Economic conditions are stable and good as Costa Rica have good
relations with America which helps them to do their business lucratively. Other than that,
Tourism sector accounts for 40% of GDP of Costa Rica which could be improve if proper
facilities is provided to the tourist. Most of the Costa Rica income is based on travel and tourism
and if it weakness than it create a negative impact on Costa Rica economy. Thompsons could
invest more funds on their promotional activities on online platform so that people will get
attracted by seeing the advertisement.

Environmental awareness: Environment is the key factor in the success of the Costa
Rica tourism. Costa Rica should preserve their environment as it is the only way they can earn
money for their living. Thompsons holidays should motivate their employees and their customer
to save the environment by organizing activities which promotes environment and its
importance.(Sharpley and Telfer, 2014).
Low cost carrier: Company maintains their cost of product according to the competition
and their price. Their main aim is to provide the best quality of product with less price to the
customers. If the price of the product is low than there is a chances of increase in sales thus
positive impact on the balance sheet. If the product offered of Thompsons is better than other
competitor than they can gain the competitive advantage over others. That's why Thompsons
changes their prices according to the external factors which help them to compete with other
operator.
Technological factors: Technology plays an important part in the success of tourism
sector in Costa Rica. It helps the Thompsons holidays to make their plans and products
according to the customer needs and budget. With the help of website provided by the
Thompsons , tourist can modify their plans according to their comfort and budget thus helps in
improving the customer engagement with the tour operator.
3.2:Strategies on how selected travel and tourism businesses could respond to change
Proper strategy should be made by the operator so that negative changes won't affect the
efficiency of the travel and tourism sector. Strategies which could be develop to respond the
changes are given below,
 Technology changes: Technology helps the tourism sector to grow exponentially as it is
easy to for customer to book their plans according to their comfort. Thompsons should
make their application and websites customer friendly so that they can book their plan
accordingly. If the customer engagement is good than chances of increase in sales of the
product is also increase (Vellas, 2016).
 Fluctuation of prices according to environment: Thompsons holidays should fluctuate
their prices according to the changes of the currency and other external factors which
includes competitor pricing, customer ability to pay etc. If prices are changes accordingly
then it will help company to acquire customers of every class which is better for company
to grow in future.

 Promotional activities: They should offer different types of discounts and promotes
sales promotion so to acquire more customer. Loyalty programs, discounts according to
demands, advertising etc could be organize by company to allure more customers. If the
customer base of the company is high than the profit of the company is also increase
gradually(Cohen and et. al., 2014).
3.3 Justify strategies for how selected travel and tourism businesses could respond to change
If the strategies are not properly implemented on the situation for they have made then it
is of no use to make it. How strategies would help the travel and tourism business is explained
below,
 Main aim of marketing activities is to attract customers by increasing brand awareness in
the mind of customers. If discounts are given to the customers then customer will switch
other's brand to Thompsons as price is the only factor which pushes customers to change
their brand.
 If the products offered by the Thompsons has low price as compare to their competitor
with better places than the sales of the company will increase. As customer prefers to
book their visit after comparing all the products offered by different companies. Low cost
will attract more customer thus more profits and customer base.
 If they websites or application made by the Thompsons holidays is attractive and easy to
use than customer will prefer to use their application rather than their competitors. It will
help the company to gain the competitive advantage over others.
Task 4
4.1 Impacts of issues and trends that drive change in the travel and tourism sector
There is important role of travel and tourism businesses in growth and development of
economy. With the help of travel and tourism business, GDP, inflation,. Foreign currency, etc.
are positive because people from other country visit Costa Rica. Travel and tourism business i.e.
Thompsons s they assist people who come and visit other country with some purpose (Mariani
and et. al., 2014). There are many changes which are taking place in environment and this affects
tourism business. As per change in external market, performance of Thompsons s affects in
positive or negative manner. There is discussion about impact of change in trend because of
travel and tourism business-

 Due to technological changes in external market, performance of Thompsons gets
improved. This is because it is ease for managers of Thompsons to market product and
services. Fort instance with the help of online mobile application, it is easy to quota price,
offers, discounts, etc. So it attracts consumers and business of Thompsons s gets
improved.
 Inflation is other factor which affects business in negative manner. Because due to
increment in inflation rate at Costa Rica, then purchasing power of consumers gets
decreased. This is situation which is adverse for business of small scale people. Hence
tourist does not prefer to visit Costa Rica. This affects business growth and development
of Thompsons s. in case of inflation
 In Costa Rica, there is competition in travel and tourism business. Hence managers of
Thompsons have to later their policies. Due to high competition, they become price
takers. In case travel package cost is high then it is tough to operate in industry and long
term existence may gets affected in negative manner. Employees working with
Thompsons s may get affected and switch to other similar organisation. This may impact
in leakage of confidential information.
 As comparison to earlier days, environmental aspect are crucial. This factor affects
business in positive manner because general awareness is created among tourist by
personnel of Thompsons s. When managers give knowledge about natural resources,
vegetation, etc. to tourism, then good image can be achieved by tourism. There is less
governmental interference because managers of Thompsons s consider all hygienic
factors (Sharpley and Telfer, 2015).
From the above discussion it is clear that above discussed factors affects business in
negative as well as positiver managers. Hence to maintain same brand image in industry
Thompsons s has to work according to external market.
4.2 Discuss the likely consequences of businesses failing to respond to market changes
 If the company can not make technological changes according to the requirements of the
customers then tourist will stop using their product and substitute to another products of
different company. It will leads to reduce in sales hence increase in loss of the company.

 If the company set their prices high as compare to their competitor and won't give
different types of facilities in the product they are offering. Then customer wont buy the
product and switch to the company who are providing the products in low cost
(Dickinson and et. al., 2014).
 Environmental awareness should be provided by the company. If the tour operator won't
focus on environment and deteriorate by throwing garbage or producing wastage that
harm the environment than the government of Costa Rica will impose ban or penalties on
the companies. It will damage the image of the company and which leads to reduce in
sales to a certain level (Lew, 2014).
Conclusion
Travels and tourism is an important part in the success of any country. It should be
properly maintained and monitored by the government and try to improve it so that more tourist
can be attracted thus increase in GDP and per capita income. There are different types of changes
which can affect the tour and tourism sector and should be properly handled by the country to
increase their customer base. The trends of any tourist destination changes with time and tour
operator should monitored current and future trends and modify their product offering according
to them so to earn more profit. The trends should be analysed with the different techniques like
survey or industry analysis to gain the profit of the situation. Other than that changes which can
affect the tourist and destination places should be properly tackle and strategies should be made
according to that. Impact of issues and trends which drive the change in the tourism sector
should be scrutinized.

References
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Online
Business tourism, a rising sector for costa Rica's economy. 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<http://radiocommunications/business-tourism-a-rising-sector-for-costa-ricas-
economy/>.