One of the biggest industries in the United Kingdom is tourism. The industry by market standards is worth approximately Euro 75.9 billion and provides a substantial amount to the U.K economy. Moreover more than 2.1 million people are employed in tourism alone (Star U.K statistics, 2002). Cultural and heritage tourism are on rise in the U.K. The growth of the tourism industry in the United Kingdom is directly linked with the growth of amusement parks, museums and restaurants. International travelers like to absorb the feel of the place, they are visiting. Traveling aimlessly is not their intention. The strength of the heritage and cultural tourism is to serve the likes of veteran tourists. There are many travelers around Europe and indeed the world who consider traveling for heritage, cultural activities or for ranking art specimens, according to www.nasaaarts.org/artworks/cultour.
More than 76 billion pounds are generated by tourism on a yearly basis in the United Kingdom. The people with the right skills can take advantage of the large number of incoming tourists, by providing them with facilities. The right knowledge, skills and attitude are vital for taking advantage of the situation. In the year 2006 alone, more than 840 million international tourist trips were recorded, and hence the tourism sector has emerged as a very important one. Worth more than 74 billion pounds, the tourism sector is one of the hottest sectors in the U.K economy.
The United Kingdom is an extremely popular destination today and the reason why this is so is because the country is able to provide exactly what the tourists are looking for.
Tourism growth in a country benefits the native people financially, with many restaurants catering to foreign tourists and other allied activities. Moreover the citizens get a glimpse of other cultures which broadens their vision of the world. The changing weather patterns tend to leave an impact on the industry in a particular area. One negative aspect of the growth is that the emphasis and importance given to domestic tourism has reduced. International tourist travel is possible if the season is favorable. To cite an example international vacations are highest from April-July and from December to January. It is possible that the number of visitors may fall, but may stay longer.
One cannot ignore domestic tourism industry as it is vital to the success of the tourism industry. It is beneficial for the people if they see their own land before zooming off abroad. The pressure of the balance of payments may also disappear if domestic travel industry is encouraged. Usually tourists spend quite low on domestic tourism as compared to the large amounts that they spend abroad. People today are recognizing the importance of the domestic tourism industry. After months of facing the chill, the prospects for domestic traveling are once again looking bright. Domestic travel industry is particularly important to boost the economy of the rural areas.
Literature Review Revised
The supply of tourism
“The supply of services and products of the tourism industry is a complicated tangle of industries and business in which certain aspects like consumption pattern, likely places of travel etc. need to be understood”. Sessa (1993:59)
Each country and region must understand that tourists cannot be taken for granted and have to ability to consume at international level. This is in total contradiction with other forms of supply where the locations are usually fixed. The difference here could be the ability of the corporations to relocate capital at a global level in order to meet the shifting demand. Thus it is possible that supply may not be able to keep up geographically, with the demand, above a certain level. This implies that different forms of pricing strategy must be applied at the peak and lows for particular locations.
From the perspective of production, the place where the tourist activities should be developed should be chosen very meticulously. The scale of the activities must be carefully determined. The availability of resources like space, manpower, natural beauty etc. determines the venue of a tourist spot.
U.K tourism is facing some changes
Ranked as the seventh most population destination for international tourists by the World Tourism Organization, an average of Euro 11.7 billion is spent by the tourists. The United States, Spain and France are ranked among the most popular tourist destinations by the World Tourism Organization. The U.K tourism industry has been facing turbulent times in recent years. According to statistics the tourist arrivals in the U.K in 2003 were 2% below their number in 2000. The reason can be partly attributed to the fact that 9/11 and 7/7 took place. Tourism all over the world took a hit due to the attacks on major world cities. The Gulf War can also be a reason why the tourism industry is in bad shape. Previously the U.K ranked the fifth in the world in the popularity index, but today is facing increasing competition from countries in Asia and Western Europe. However domestic industry continues to rise, and is a ray of hope in the midst of gloom.
The day trips contribute to 45% of the total U.K domestic tourism revenue. An average of Euro 75 billion was spent by the residents of the U.K to see their own country. British people are great patrons of their culture and the domestic pattern of tourism indicates that fact.
There has been a change in the pattern, with the U.K now exporting more tourists than importing as Englishmen are not shying from exploring new destination in Africa and Asia. More than 61 million trips were undertaken by Englishman as per the data of 2003, a number thrice as much as in the year 1983.
The role of urban hierarchy, urban regeneration and urban primacy needs to be considered while analyzing urban tourism. London was and remains the most popular tourist destination in the U.K with more than 12 million international tourists in the year 2003. 0.8 Million were received by Edinburgh making it the second largest tourism destination. Tourism and the regeneration of sites in Eastern London will be affected, if London is successful in hosting the Olympics in 2012. There is a lot of information to be found on urban tourism on Travel Trends (Chapter 4) and at www.staruk.org. Moreover you can also refer to Pearson Education, Harlow RGS-IBG, and Tourism for development.
The components of tourism and travel
There are a number of components that make up the tourism and travel industry. These components have to come together in order to supply holidays and to make available other travel products.
Some of the key components for tourism include:
- Transportation
- Accommodations
- Tour operations
- Tourist Attractions
- Travel agents and middlemen
- Trade associations and regulating bodies
- Ancillary services
- Tourism promotion and development
All thee factors are provided by different people in different segments. However all contribute to the development of the tourism industry in their own small ways. Tourism and travel is a very complicated business and it is very hard but necessary to get it right. The needs of the tourists whether inbound, domestic or outbound need to be satisfied and this is the prime objective of the tourism industry or any region or country.
The strategy to develop tourism in the United Kingdom-
The DCMS or the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport has been given the responsibility of preparing the strategy for development of tourism in the country. Supporting the industry, it offers help in the form of funds, carries cultural shows throughout the world and helps promote Britain as a tourist place across the globe. A national tourism magazine named ‘Tomorrow’s tourism’ was launched in the year 1999. The magazine dealt with four areas
-developing quality standards, achieving quality, sustaining the growth of tourism and carefully monitoring it. In the next year, DCMS launched an action plan in the magazine ‘Tomorrow’s tourism today’ which emphasized the duty of the public and private sector organizations with regards to marketing, skills, data collection and quality.
National tourist boards
Four tourist boards adorn the state of the United Kingdom: VisitScotland, VisitBritain, Wales Tourist Board and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. The DCMS is constantly updated by the report of the VisitBritain board. The Scottish is responsible for handling the VisitScotland board while the National Assembly bears responsibility to be reported by the Wales Tourist Board.
VisitBritain
Introduction
The UK’s National Tourism organization (NTO) or the VisitBritain is responsible for promoting a positive image of Britain throughout the globe. The mission of the board is to: create world class value destination brands along with marketing campaigns for the development of tourism and to supporting organizations that are beneficial to enhancing UK tourism. West London is the seat of the VisitBritain headquarters. It employs 50 people, among which more than half are based in markets where the incoming tourists to Britain is large.
Goals of VisitBritain
There are five main stakeholders and each one enjoys specific targets
Overseas customers- to promote Britain as the perfect tourism destination, with the aim to generate revenue for the country throughout Britain;
Domestic consumer- To encourage internal visitors to take longer breaks relaxing within the country is the intention.
Providing advice to the government- advice is provided to the government on issues that may affect tourism and ways in which the government can help develop the tourism industry.
Strategic partners in tourism- The aim is to develop an amiable relationship with the various boards to promote development of tourism in Britain.
Staffing- The intention is to make use of the human resources by being open professional and accountable.
The boards of VisitBritain works in collaboration with Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Visit Scotland and the Wales Tourism board to promote tourism in the country of Britain. Gathering market information, especially one which will impact the UK industry is its forte. Providing information to tourist and potential visitors is also among its primary jobs.
Innovative approaches to tourism- The job of coming up with various innovative ways to market the country is the responsibility and goal of the VisitBritain board.
Product Development- The manufacturing of holiday products in order to meet the expectation and needs of the tourist is given importance. ‘Citybreak’ products are a result of shorter breaks and longer work hours, a trend seen commonly today. The more aware consumers are the most the demand for tourism is likely to be. An all inclusive holiday can be the perfect choice for people who want safety and economic trips. Another area for growth is the ‘spa’ holidays which are tailor made with the intention of relaxing your soul. The price of the holiday often includes yoga sessions and professional massaging. Many hotels are now getting popularly known as ‘spa hotels’. The increase in the number of private cars on the street has led to the increase in people driving physically to their tourist destination rather than availing services like plane or coach. This has also stimulated the sale or rent of cars I the holiday season, as most people prefer the convenience of traveling in personal car to traveling on a coach or plane. Tourism and car hire are very much inter-related, and the former has boosted the latter. Tour operators give flexibility to the customers by giving them the ‘drive-fly’ holidays. Developments in the aviation sector have led to the manufacturing of large planes like A380 which can carry many people around different locations in the world. The train has been a very successful model for tourism especially in France where the TGV network enjoys tremendous popularity and success. The TGV now runs from Paris to German destinations via Brussels and the Channel Tunnel.
By vikram deo
Author can be contacted at : vik_deo@hotmail.com
