Natural disasters Essay

BTA’S overseas offices work closely with the British diplomatic and cultural staff, the local travel trade and media to stimulate interest in Britain. In the UK it has partnerships with other organizations such as the British Council. The National Tourist Boards (NTB’s) These were established in 1969 when the Development of Tourism Act was passed. The English Tourism Council (ETC) replaced the English Tourism Board in 1999 These are responsible for promoting domestic tourism in their own countries. There are 4 main tourist boards. They all have similar objectives which include: Advising on matters of tourism   Contribution to the economy by creating wealth and employment   Making a good image for their countries as tourism destinations   To help the sustainable tourism development   And to research the consumer requirements in travel and tourism The Voluntary Sector These are usually non profitable or charity organizations and are done by volunteers. Examples include the Tourism Concern and the National Trust. The national trust was founded in 1895 and their aims are to preserve historic places or natural beauty permanently for the nation. The tourism concerns aim is to campaign for fair and ethically traded tourism. New Technologies Travel and Tourism is dependent on technology in the 21st century in order to keep up with consumer expectations and to be able to operate in an efficient way. Many use the Computer Reservations Systems (CRS) or the Global Distributions Systems (GDS) which are explained earlier in the project. The 4 main GDS are:   Sabre   Amadeus   Galileo   Worldspan External Pressures Travel and Tourism is also vulnerable against the external pressures for which it has no control over such as: Currency Fluctuation. State of the Economy Government Legislation Climate Changes   Natural Disasters   War and Acts of Terrorism Currency Fluctuation The exchange rates are always changing. When the value of the pound increases this encourages the outbound tourism as the strength of the pound against the other currencies means holidaymakers get more for their money Legislation Tax revenue also has a big impact on the travel and tourism industry. When air passenger duty (APD) introduced in 1997 every flight from the UK to Europe has had i 10 added on to them and outside of the EU i 20. EU Legislation has had a big impact as well. The EU directive on packaged holidays means that any company that is an organization must have a bond or other financial protection in place or they could be prosecuted. Climate Change When the UK has a poor summer it leads to a bad effect of tourism in the seaside destinations. With the use of the internet people can see what the weather can be like in advanced and if it is bad then those people are likely to looks elsewhere. Natural Disasters Natural Disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and floods all affect tourism. For example the hurricanes that hit Florida would have affected the tourism there in the summer months. War, Acts of Terrorism Travel and Tourism is vulnerable to war and terrorism acts. The Middle East and the events of September 11th in the USA has affected peoples confidence of flying and travelling to these parts of the world especially. Impact on Host Communities There can be usually a positive and negative impact on host communities. There are Economic, Social and Environmental impacts on tourism. Economic Travel and Tourism has a big impact on the UK economy in the income generated, numbers employed, and balance of payments. A lot of industries benefit from direct and indirect income generated by visitors to the area. Indirect income is brought in from the multiplier effect and this is when money spent by visitors is taken into the local economy. This can also be applied to numbers employed. The opposite to this is leakage Social The local communities can also benefit from public, private and voluntary sectors. Services such as restaurants, shopping complexes and transport services are all examples. Also areas that are neglected are usually done up in order to impress. However, the impact on tourism on host communities are often more negative than positive. Environmental. There are big concerns about what tourism is having on the environmental side of tourism. This has led to big demanding of sustainable tourism. Type of Impact Positive Impacts Negative Impacts Economic Multiplier Effect Jobs Foreign Currency Earnings Money to Develop the area and infrastructure Leakage Jobs can be part time Seasonal Low Paid Visitor Management costs Rise in House Prices Social/Cultural Supports Culture Lead to crime/vandalism Language Dress Music Conflict Environmental Improve and Maintain tourist places Improved infrastructure Preserve Wildlife Pollution Noise Litter Resource Depletion Overcrowding. Lead to crime/vandalism E2 – Scale of the UK Industry and its Economic Significance For E2 I am going to find out statistics on each of the sectors of the travel and tourism industry. I will try to find out the numbers employed in each of these components and the number of participants in these components as well as the consumer spending. I will also show the source from which I obtained these statistics from Component Numbers Employed Number of Participants Consumer Spending Accommodation and Catering Hotels and other Accommodation – 318,7000 Restaurant and Cafi ‘s 356. 0000 Bars, Pubs, Clubs 364. 1000. Source: Office for National Statistics This shows the consumer spending in accommodation in percent Hotels 41% B&B 8% Flat/Chalet 9% Youth Hostel 1% Camping 2% Source: www. staruk. com Travel Agents Below are some branches and how many there are. Lunn Poly 797 Going Places 738 Thomas Cook 390 Another example is the CO-OPERATIVE WHOLESALE SOCIETY LTD with 289 branches this employs around 35,200 people Source: AbtaResearch. com 7. 2 million UK residents book their holidays person to person in travel agents but this is been out done by the internet which is getting 10. 9 million Source: www. staruk. com Tour Operators 83. 5000 people employed in travel agencies and tour operators. Source: Office for National Statistics 257 million visits overall Source: staruk. com Transport There are 87,000 people employed in this type of work Source VisitBritain. co. uk This shows the percentage of trips. Car 73% Train 12% Bus 4% Coach 1% Caravan   Motor Cycle Bicycle   Plane 5% Boat/Ship Other 2% Source: www. staruk. com   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ less than 1% Visitor Attractions Libraries, museums, culture 77. 0000 Source: Office for National Statistics Alton Towers 2,650,00 Tower of London 2,422,181 Lego Land 1,620,000 Flamingo Land 1,197,000 Source: www. staruk. com. Tourism Development There are 450 people employed and 60% of these are employed in overseas markets Source: Visitbritain. co. uk The government participate in tourism development and promotion because without it they would lose out on money from tourists Source: Visit Britain. co. uk Incoming Tourists 24. 2 million trips made spending around i qq. 7 billion Domestic Tourists 167. 3 million trips made and spending around i 26. 6 billion Outgoing Tourists 24. 18 million trips made spending around i 11. 618 million Business Tourism Another significant part of the travel and tourism industry is the business tourism. The table below shows the amount of trips that were made by business tourism and the spending in this for the UK residents in the year of 2001. Trips (Millions) Spent (i Millions) 22. 8 5,670 Source: United Kingdom Tourism Survey / International Passenger Survey E2 – Scale of the UK Travel and Tourism Industry Travel and Tourism is a multi-billion pound industry in the UK. Visit Britain estimates that domestic and overseas tourists spent a total of around i 26 million in 1998. 60% of this spending was covered by the Accommodation and Catering sector. The scale of the industry can be established by looking at: Travel and Tourism revenue and its contribution to the national economy Employment Statistics   Inbound, Outbound and Domestic tourist numbers within the UK Travel and Tourism Revenue Inbound and Domestic tourism contributes to the national economy   A wide range of industries benefit from direct and indirect income, this of which is generated by tourist   The Travel and Tourism industry contributes to the economy by tourists paying VAT and taxes o products   Local Travel and Tourism industries contribute to local government finances through payment of business rates Contribution to the Balance of Payments. The Balance of Payments refers to the difference in the nations economy between the income generated from exports and the cost of imports   It is harder to measure in tourism as tourists are paying for services rather than products and therefore it is described as being invisible   Inbound Tourism is seen as an export because overseas tourists are bringing money into the UK economy. They are buying British products and services   Outbound Tourism is seen as an import because it is taking money out of the UK economy There is a deficit in the balance of payments when the cost of imports is greater than the income of exports. Outbound UK tourists spending more money abroad than the Inbound (overseas) visitors do in the UK   There is a surplus in the balance of payments when the income of exports is greater than the cost of imports. Inbound tourists spending more money in the UK than the money taken out by outbound tourism   More money is being spent by the British abroad than overseas visitors to the UK and therefore there is a deficit in the balance of payments   The British Government is trying to resolve this by encouraging more overseas visitors to the UK. E2 – Scale of the UK Industry and its Economic Significance. This is a multi billion pound industry and has a major influence on the economy in the terms of consumer spending and employment. Examples of organizations that produce statistics are:   Government statistics   British tourist authority National and regional tourist boards   Industry bodies such as ABTA, Mintel and Keynote To assess the scale of the UK industry and its economic significance we have to analyse the UK travel and tourism revenue and its contribution to the national economy and also look into employment statistics and research into inbound, outbound and domestic tourism in the UK. Visit England states that in the year of 1998 the UK industry was worth i 61,201 million making the UK the fourth largest earner of foreign exchange. This is what the money was spent on Trips (Millions) Spending (i m) UK Residents 122. 3 14,030 Overseas Visitors 25. 7 12,671 Total 148. 0 26,701 This information was taken from the Collins text book on Travel and Tourism An example of a visitor attraction for which I have found statistics on is Flamingo Land. This visitor attraction employs about 375 staff a year and work either full time or part time from March to November. Flamingo Land has been able to increase its employment as well because of the opening of a 26 bed roomed staff accommodation block and this has brought in staff from as far away as Wales and Scotland. Most of the staff who are employed at Flamingo Land though are from closer in and in the local areas of Scarborough, Malton, York, Whitby and Pickering E3 A Full Explanation of the Present Structure of the Industry In order to give a clear explanation of the industry I am going to describe the role of the 6 components within it using a case study for each to explain the components role. I am also going to explain the chain of distribution within the industry. The 6 components are: 1. Accommodation and Catering 2. Tour Operators 3. Travel Agents 4. Transport 5. Visitor Attractions 6. Tourism Promotion and Development 1. Accommodation and Catering Accommodation can be either serviced or self-catering Serviced Accommodation Hotels and serviced accommodation are all different in terms of size, quality, turnover and facilities. National tourist boards use classification systems for hotels, bed and breakfast’s and guest houses. They are awarded star ratings for the range of facilities and services provided Examples of serviced accommodation are:   Hotels   Lodge   Bed Only   Bed and Breakfast   Half Board   Full Board All Inclusive Self Serviced Accommodation (Self-Catering) There is a wide range of self serviced accommodation available. Examples are:   Camping Youth Hostels   Apartments   Villas/Chalets Boat   Cottages   Guest House Especially popular are places with self catering accommodation combined with activities and entertainment. Examples of this are Center Parcs and Butlins Catering Examples of catering are:   Fast Food Outlets – McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King. Restaurants – Frankie and Bennies Cafi ‘s   Pubs – Rose and Crown   Takeaways – Dominos Pizza   In-house Restaurants (Supermarkets) – Asda, Tesco’s   Road-side Catering – Burger bars outside football grounds Restaurant and takeaway markets have continued to grow partly down to the popularity in ethnic restaurants and takeaway shops. Pub meals have remained popular. An example of accommodation and catering is the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) and this operates a network of over 227 youth hostels in the UK. It takes in groups and individuals. This is an example of a voluntary organization. 2. Tour Operators Tour operators arrange the following:   Transport Accommodation   Leisure Activities Holiday packages are usually sold through travel operators and the travel agencies receive a commission for been the one who sells the product for them. Tour operation markets provide products and services for three main categories of tourism which are:   Outbound   Inbound   Domestic Outbound Operators The majority of outbound operators are situated in the UK and they organize packaged holidays. Examples of outbound operators are:   Thomson Holidays   First Choice Holidays   Airto.