Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
need to be managed through differential forms of pricing (Seaton and Bennett 1996) and
the use of seasonal labour (Ball 1989).
Law (1993) expands upon these simple notions, arguing that
in many respects tourism is the geography of consumption outside the
home area; it is about how and why people travel to consume [On] the
production side it is concerned to understand where tourism activities
develop and on what scale. It is concerned with the process or processes
whereby some cities are able to create tourism resources and a tourism
industry.
(Law 1993:14)
Law emphasises here the way in which scale is a critical concept in understanding supply
issues together with the ways in which the tourism industry is organised and
geographically distributed through time and space.
One useful illustration of the effect of a new form of production can alter the
landscape of tourism and leisure consumption is the rise of the low cost airline sector. As
Page (2003a) has shown, this new form of production has the following features as
outlined in Table 3.5. In the USA and Europe, new low cost carners using secondary
airports have generated demand for leisure and to a lesser degree, business travel. This
has not only seen entrepreneurial organisations like EasyJet and Ryanair chall the exisd
scheduled carriers, but also generated new markets for low-cost air travel and
domestic/international travel. As a result, some coastal and urban destination in western
and eastern Europe have enjoyed the expansion of new price-sensitive markets, especially
short breaks and VFR travel together with new niche markets such as stag parties and hen
nights in Prague and Dublin.
Table 3.5:
Key characteristics of low cost carriers
which make them more competitive than other
carriers
• Some carriers have introduced single/one-way fares not requiring stopovers or Saturday night
stays to get advanced purchase (APEX) prices
• No complimentary in-flight service (no frills) which often reduce operating costs 6-7 per cent
• One class cabins (in most cases)
• No pre-assigned seating (in most cases)
• Ticketless travel
• High frequency routes to compete with other airlines on popular destinations and up to three
flights a day on low density routes
• Short turnarounds (often less than half an hour), with higher aircraft rotations (i.e. the level of
utilisation is higher than other airlines) and less time charged on the airport apron and runway
• The use of secondary airports where feasible (including the provision of public transport where
none exists)
• Point to point flights
• Lower staffing costs, with fewer cabin crew as no complimentary in-flight service, which also
reduces turnaround times due to the lack of cleaning caused by food service
• Flexibility in staff rostering, a lack of overnight stays for staff at non-base locations and
