Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Terrorism
to stimulate demand, but when demand is high prices
tend to remain high. The cost of travel has actually
been falling relative to other costs in recent years.
Competition among holiday companies, the growth
of low-cost airlines and development of budget hotels
have all helped keep prices down. The world recession
of recent years has resulted in fewer overseas visitors
coming to Britain.
Britain is one of the safest countries in the world for
tourists to visit and explore, but recent terrorist events
around the world, and the London bombings of 7/7
2005 in particular, have made safety and security a key
issue for tourists and those involved in managing the
travel and tourism sector in the UK. Following 9/11,
extra security measures were introduced at airports
across the world, while the London bombings led
to heightened security at railway stations across the
country. Although such measures can cause extra
delays, most travellers are willing to sacrifi ce a little
time in return for a safer journey.
Activity 1.14
Write a speech of 1000 words that explains how
recent developments, trends and factors are currently
shaping the present day travel and tourism sector.
Analyse how one travel and tourism organisation is
responding to changing trends and factors.
Domestic and incoming tourists tend to react differently
to terrorist outbreaks. British people generally take a
pragmatic approach to travel and tend not to cancel
holiday bookings or change their plans to any great
extent. Some overseas visitors, however, react quickly
to security incidents and cancel bookings immediately.
VisitBritain, using research commissioned by its Tourism
Industry Emergency Response Group (TIER), estimated
that the 7/7 2005 London bombings resulted in a
2 per cent fall in overseas visitor numbers for 2005,
representing a loss to the UK economy of at least £300
million. As 50 per cent of all overseas visitors travel to
London, this equates to a fall in revenue of £150 million
to the capital. In 2002, Bali experienced a terrorist
bombing that led to many deaths. Its tourism sector was
devastated overnight and took many years to recover.
Similar atrocities have occurred in Kenya and Madrid.
This activity is designed to provide evidence for P5, M2
and D2
Future developments in the travel
and tourism sector
Having discussed the main trends and factors that are
currently affecting the travel and tourism sector, the
fi nal section of this unit explores a selection of new
products and services that will have an impact on retail
and business travel, consumer demand and distribution
methods in the future.
Environmental issues
Airbus A380
The world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380,
was unveiled in January 2005. The twin-deck 'super
jumbo' aircraft can carry around 555 passengers in its
standard version, but has the fl exibility to accommodate
up to 800 - more than Boeing's 747 'jumbo jet', its main
rival. Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas and Malaysian
Airlines are among the 11 passenger airlines that
have agreed to buy the A380. Emirates is its biggest
customer with 45 planes on order, while Singapore
Airlines was the fi rst company to take delivery of the
aircraft in 2007, after several delays. Airbus is banking
on demand for large planes offering cheaper seats on
long-haul fl ights. However, Boeing is concentrating on
smaller aircraft that are able to fl y to a wider number of
The future of the environment is a key issue today,
not least the environmental impacts of the travel and
tourism sector. Carbon emissions from aircraft, the
effects of excessive use of cars, airport expansion
and environmental damage in resorts are all high on
the agenda. Most people agree that adopting the
principles of sustainable tourism is the way forward.
You will learn more about this in Unit 12.
Cost of travel
Travel costs are always changing in response to
demand - when demand is low companies cut prices
