Unit 14 Contemporary Issues in TT Assignment

Introduction

The following assignment deals with the different aspects of the Travel and the Tourism industry. Travel and Tourism industry is known to be one of the significant revenue generators for the economy of the concerned country and employs about 200 million people across the world. It helps to highlight the current trends of the travel and tourism industry and the various issues related to the same. It also helps to identify the techniques and the resources which are appropriate and useful in the current trend of the Travel and tourism industry. The distinguishing features as well as the importance of the travel and tourism industry have also been discussed in detail. The unit 14 contemporary issues in  Travel and Tourism  assignment further deals with the factors the drive change and the ways in which the tourism sector responds to the probable or the unexpected change.

Task 1

1.1 Analyse issues currently driving change in the travel and tourism sector for a selected tourist destination. You have to include at least three issues and give detailed explanation of the issue and its impact on the travel and tourism sector.

The components and the elements which are associated with the environment of the travel and tourism are facing different issues. These issues are driving changes within the business of tourism industry. Considering the UK as a tourism destination the issues can be elaborated. As a tourism destination UK has been considered as one of the popular destination among others. There are wide ranges and variations in the tourism product of UK. The destination has been branded itself as the most popular cultural and heritage tourism destination. This is directly impacting over the nation’s economic resources. Through the increased tourism base the tourism industry of UK has been contributing in the nations’ GDP and providing efficient employment opportunities to the human resources of the country. The tourism industry consists of the intangible and the tangible products which makes it one of the most volatile industries. The current changes and the trends are impacting over this industry and its business operations. By considering the current changes and the issues the development and other initiatives are taken in account by the organisation of tourism sector. As the sector has been dealing with diverse and wide range of components different strategies are needed to adapt these trends and approach the issues. Three factors and issues are discussed to illustrate the changes and the driving issues along with their impacts.

• Economic issues: the current economic factors are impacting over tourism business of UK. The changes in the global economy market have been impacting over the tourism industry and the development of it in UK. Changes in the current tax rates, fluctuation in the exchange rates, interest rates are becoming issues for the tourism industry of UK. The price rises in the global market are diminishing the growth rate of tourism industry. The issues loss of the market confidence and withdrawal of the investment funds are raising within the market. The great financial disorder of 2007 impacted on EU markets resulted in 6% down in the end of 2009. The UK market has been badly hit by this crisis which impacted over the food chain services and hotel services as well as the fares of the transportation. These are negatively impacting over the willingness to travel. The recession also impacted over the employment rate. The UK government has taken the initiatives in attracting more tourists and developing the tourism sector. With aim of attracting extra 4 million tourists to the destination the marketing campaign of 2012 was held with £100m along with the private sector involvement it equates £2bn more spends to the economy of UK along with 50,000 new jobs. (gov.uk., 2011)
• Globalisation: the globalisation is considered as the set of cultural, social, economical and political activities by crossing the national boundaries and affecting the tourism. the faster transfer of information and knowledge are amplified by the effectiveness of globalisation. Through the globalisation the opportunities of the global markets are being opened to the single markets. The globalisation has been impacting on the social interactions and also on the economic flows. The industry of tourism has also been impacted by the globalisation. The changes within the character and structure of the tourism and its demand are impacted by the changes within the value system and the changed features of the life styles. Being a developed country UK has been promoting its cultural and social features in the global market with the help of the globalisation and its technologies in attraction the tourists. The movement of the people form one particular region to a different region has been impacted through the globalisation with modern technologies and operational functions. It has been taken as the mass movement of people. With enhanced communication and interactions the globalisation is providing proper knowledge to the people and increasing their wiliness to travel.
• Political changes: the changes within the political environment also influencing the visits to the destinations. Terror, political distress, wars within local communities, increasing crimes are the political issues which are impacting over the tourism businesses of different countries like Egypt, Romania, Greece etc. considering the destination UK, the government has been considering the tourism as the sector has been regarded as the third highest export earners and investing on the development of the tourism.

1.2 You should analyse at least two different current issues using appropriate methods and resources in depth focusing mainly on the impact of political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, terrorism and counter-terrorism measures, severe weather, local and international laws.

Current issues are greatly affecting the growth and the expansion criteria of the tourism socially within Middle East and North Africa. The Middle East and the North Africa has the potentialities in the tourism destination. Different political unrests, terrorism has been impacting over the tourism and the expansion of the tourism industry causing fear within the travellers’ mind in travelling here. The terrorism and the political unrest are acting as the barriers in the tourism of these countries. The protests are occurring within the Middle East and North Africa caused by the financial crisis, unemployment rates, local riots. Among the countries of Middle East and North Africa Syria, Tunisia, Egypt are facing the current distress and riots the most. (Shah, 2016)

Current terrorism attacks within the Tunisia the increasing riots on Egypt along with Syria the tourism has been facing hurdles in operating the business. Egypt and Syria are two destinations which have potentialities in the tourism, but the current political scenario has been impacted over the tourists’ number causing 80% down in the tourist arrivals. At the end of 2010 a 26 years old Tunisian vendor set himself on fire in protest of the treatment of local authorities, the outraged public ousted a dictatorship. These events are increasing the unwillingness of the tourists in visiting these areas. (Shah, 2016)

Counter terrorism activities by enforcing the anti terrorism activities and laws are increasing as the areas of Middle East as well as North Africa has been the prime threat for Terror activities. As the ongoing terrorism attack and increasing power of different terrorist groups are impacting over the conflict in Syria, the counter terrorism activities are becoming one of the main focuses of the government bodies. (state.gov, 2014).   The presence of ISIL and their operational activities are challenging the security of these areas. The instability of the region is increasing the issues of the security. The Egyptian president has been considering the counter terrorism laws for stabilising the conflicts. The Algerian government concerned about the border security issues after the terrorist attack of 2014. (state.gov, 2014). 

These laws and the activities are increasing the unrest of the destinations which has been the main reason behind the decreasing number of tourists in these regions.

Task 2 (LO2 AC 2.1, 2.2)

Slide no 5, 6, 7

Through the lower cost airlines the tourism of Britain has been attracting the foreign tourists with efficient manner. The statistics of the slide 5 has been representing the dynamics of the growth of the tourist numbers who are using the transportation of cheap airlines from year 1999 to 2011. With the increase in the low cost carriers these airlines has been increasing their market share. The statistics of slide 6 has been showing the rapid growth of the low cost airlines and their market share in Europe from 4.9% to 35.3%, from 2001 to 2010. Comparing to the other regions of the world the low fare airlines of Europe has been gaining more profits. Through this growth the UK as a  tourist destination  has been improving the inter connection within the nation which is efficient in enhancing the domestic tourism. (Olipra, 2012).

Slide 12, 13

Through adapting the current trends and developing the tourism industry with these trends the UK tourism is having more night spends. This has been increasing the tourist numbers as well as generating more revenues per year. The tourism industry of UK has been adapting different changes within their approaches and placing the tourism products with proper measures. Through their official tourism websites the government bodies has been providing the information over the necessary step and measures in adapting the modern technologies, or booking through the online methods. ( Hashim, 2012).

Slide 16, 17, 18

The tourism of UK has been considering the boost in the currency from the foreign sports tourists. It has been reported that over 900,000 visitors have visited last year Britain with the purpose of sport live events. (dailymail.co.uk, 2012). These numbers of tourists had contributed £706 million in the economy. Considering the information provided within Visit Britain, the official website of Britain Tourism, the survey which has been conducted in 2014 as National Statistics’ International Passenger Survey is refereeing that more than 800,000 inbound visitors are visiting Britain for sports event. The ration refers that the number of sport tourist is one in every 43 visitors. The picture in slide 17 has been referring that the markets which has been generating most sports tourist who are visiting for live watching are Irish Republic, Norway, Sweden, USA and Netherlands. (VisitBritain, 2016)

Task 3

3.1 Analyse how International Airlines Group businesses could respond to change.

Travel and tourism industry shows a common phenomenon of change. For that the business structure is needed to be dynamic for accepting the change for better values to the customers. The airlines like Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus and Vueling are the sister concern of the parent company that is International Airlines Group. Consolidation or deeper alliance can help the organisation to respond the change. Legacy end point carriers must enhance the options of the partnerships with the other networks like America, Asia in order to attract more passengers. This kind of alliances can allow the carriers like IAG to give better and enhanced service. Like in August 2010 Etihad had formed a partnership with Virgin Australia which allows them to fly around 45 destinations like Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, South Africa etc. Business model is needed to be changed in order to meet the requirements of the profitable passengers like the corporate and premium. Smaller next generation aircrafts can meet the departure frequency along that the added service like the lounge, loyalty services should be there for appealing the first class travellers. IAG needs to control the cost by applying the cost saving practices like giving a low rate of remuneration to the overseas crews. It is needed to build the brands strongly in the mind of the passengers in the emerging markets like China, where the tourism is developing and attracting a large number of visitors around the world. Partnership with Expedia can strengthen the brand by offering more services to the people. (Veal, 2011), The objective is to create brand equity where the personal attachment of the people to the brand IAG is needed to be considers and this can only be possible by providing superior service to the passengers. Partnership with the end-point carrier can consolidate the traffic which can allow more connections for the passengers. For instance the long haul operation has become productive for Iberia and for that focus has been given to the per unit performance mainly on the routes of the Latin America. The terror attacks have created deeper footprints in the travel and tourism market. Currently the attacks in France and Belgium influence the demand of the airlines in Europe. But with this impact the changes that has been implemented is the few seat aircrafts for meeting the small requirements. It has been observed that the decline in the passenger per unit revenue by 4.7% but the overall profit of the group has increased and that is amount to 1.8 billion pounds and that is the effect of the change they have implemented in the operation of the business. (CAPA, 2016).  

3.2 Develop strategies on how international Airline group Businesses such as British Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus could respond to change. You need to select and develop strategies for at least two businesses.

The international organisation which is being taken by me is namely British airways, and Aer Lingus:

British airways: Being the largest airline carrier in the United Kingdom and presently serving the entire nation. British airways have faced few upheavals in the due course of time, which is affecting the company highly.

The main factors can be discussed as follows:

• Plan relating to contingency: This is a plan which is being undertaken by the passengers of British airways, when in due course of time there are events relating to delay in the flight. So it is major responsibility of British airways to properly see to that there should be adequate measure for such disturbance. British airways normally use awards and certain points known as skywards which mostly depends on the distance factor; this should be looked upon at. (Molz, 2012)
• Priority plans: The major role which should be looked by the management of  British airways  is to carefully review the gaps, the problems which is being faced the passengers. After reviewing the root of the problems it is important to prioritize each plan in a careful manner. (theguardian.com)
• Eradication of distance chart: It is important that the higher management authority should properly adhere to the fare charges and should make possible solution and reduce the amount of fare in relation to distance, so that it can avail more by the people.
• Management of time: In recent news, due to huge delay in flight from London to Munich, this actually incurred a heavy compensation to the passengers. So it is the prime and utmost responsibility of British airways to properly maintain all the events as much as can. Passengers being the centre of focus , they should not be dissatisfied otherwise it might have a negative impact  on the particular carrier.
• Staff or work force management: In British airways, different people from all across the globe are being hiring, who has different cultures, so while recruiting such workforce or hostesses it should properly take into account that people who have diverse and multitasking skills should be on boarded. The hostesses are the people who actually make the journey of the passengers more comfortable. So British airways should critically identity this, and recruit staffs as per convenience. (Grundy, Moxon, 2013)

• Aer Lingus: It is the airline carrier is regarded as the 2^nd largest in Ireland which is being established by the government of Ireland. The different kind of strategies which is being proposed by it is as follows:
• Consumption of cost: The setting up of cost is being carefully designated by Aer Lingus, it properly takes into account that all people do not have the same amount of income, so according to which prices are being set as per the classification. Aer Lingus must adhere to all the factors after making proper investigation, it comes to a conclusion.
• Planning and investigation: Ireland being the 2^nd largest airline carrier should make proper scheduling plans. It can increase more destinations by taking in account the geographical view point. It is necessary to look at the positive and negative sides of both the flights
• Taking the internal issues: Aer  Lingus should always take into account the employees perspective it should look that the staffs are being fully satisfied and there should be any issues internally or externally .,so the management of air Lingus should come up with certain innovative ideas for properly dealing with the issues .
• Reduction of wastages: Aer Lingus should carefully look into the fact that there should be any reduction in the wasting factor in relation to the passengers needs, the type of manpower, the amount of beverage etc.

Airliner industry is a vast industry which due to its high amount of competition is experiencing a major setback so it is important that British airways and Aer Lingus should come up with certain strategies so as to make a proper successful journey for the passengers.

3.3 Justify strategies for how selected International airlines businesses could not respond to change.

The selected international carrier chosen by me are name British airways and Aer Lingus , in this context  I am going to justify the strategies which are being deputed by me :

• Setting up proper plans: Airline industries are the fastest and growing sector where everyday there are fluctuations in the prices. So both British airways and Aer Lingus should consider al the factors and set up a concrete plan for successful operations of both
• Evaluation: British airways and Aer Lingus should however always take proper actions and proper evaluate , the questionnaires  filled by the passengers , so that they can properly adhere to the system of such strategies and work towards the attainment of the goal .
• Charting up the price: Price plays a very important role in today’s world especially in the airline industry. Due to high amount of competition among different air carrier is has been a huge setback for most. British airways and Aer Lingus big top airline brand, they should remember while making proper price structure. The amount of fare from one distance to another should be structured keeping in mind the income level, the geographical location etc.  Due to the use of adding of points, silver and golden awards it is sometimes impossible for passengers to afford it.
• Structure of organisation: British airways and Aer Lingus are both highly specialised and accomplished air carriers, having huge number of sections and operations which should be looked upon carefully. He should assign each staffs properly; train them as per job description and take a close look on their performance level.
• Complexity:  n such long international journey, often they arises situations where the passengers might get uncomfortable for certain issues, so it should be looked by both British airways as well as Aer Lingus carefully.
• Management of staffs: Managing staffs in such industry is one of the challenging tasks , so the higher authorities  of Aer Lingus and British airways should have proper departmental heads who will delegate each of the functions carefully and  look into if the passengers are being attained properly
• Cancellation issues: It is almost impossible to ignore the problems which are being faced by the passengers for these cancellations of the airline. so both the carriers should look closely towards the proper process and systematic way of following a much revised and smooth way of cancellation .

Task 4

4.1 Analyse the impacts of issues and trends that drive change in the travel and tourism sector with reference to Myla Travel, Thomas Cook and The Travel Network Group.

The organisations that are operating in the travel and tourism sector like Myla Travel, Thomas Cook, Travel Network Group need to consider the external and the internal factors which influences the decision making process. Thus it is needed to be identified and analysed in the following way:

Internal Factors	External Factors
Events play a major role in the sector of the tourism. Events such as the Olympic, football, concerts and festivals have a huge potential to attract the people around the globe. With the help of the events the travel organisations can expect a sound business turnover. It is totally depend on the Government for hoisting the international events like the Olympic in London.	Currency plays an important role in the travel and tourism sector. The fluctuation in the currency affects the organisation. From the perspective of the depreciating factor in the currency rates, the organisation can achieve economies of scale. But when pounds are depreciated with the value of dollars then the tourist of UK naturally postponed their trips. In this case the organisations get affected in the terms of the business turnover.
Travel and tourism totally depend on the conditions of the weather. It is the weather of the concerned country which attracts the visitors around the globe. Dull weather or bad weather conditions affect the tourism and also the organisation operating in the travel and tourism badly. Or we can say that in UK in the time of summer the students are having their exams or apprenticeships which also affect the domestic tourism. (Fawcett, 2013)	Security is the major concern attached with the travel and tourism sector. Terrorist attacks in the France, Belgium create a negative impact on the mind if the domestic visitors due to the sense of security. In that situation the travel organisations face the loss due to the less number of customers. It is only in the hand of the Government to ensure the security to the visitors.
Developed communication can also help to gather more tourists for the organisations operating in the travel and tourism sector. Privatisation in the UK travel and tourism sector can attract more tourists which supports the organisation to address more customers.	Foreign policies or the laws related to the overseas visitors totally depend on the political relation. Suppose the simplification of the VISA process for the countries China, India will attract more tourist. Apart from that Government of UK also encourage the domestic tourism by simplifying the process of the permission. The body EU is also playing a important role to strengthen the relation of the EU countries while bringing the modification and integration process among the 28 member states. In this respect the organisations like Myla Travel, Thomas Cook, Travel Network Group can acquire more business turnover due to the participation of the visitors. (Evans and Campbell, 2013)
	Economic condition of the nation is also one of the issues that can influence the visitors while selecting the trips. If the inflation rate is high like it was in the time of recession from the period 2009 to 2010 in UK, the visitors refused to plan their trip due to the affordability factor and thus it affects the organisation deeply in gathering the customers.

4.2 Discuss the likely consequences of businesses failing to respond to market change with reference to Myla Travel, Thomas Cook and The Travel Network Group.

The market of travel and tourism is very dynamic and the organisations operating in this sector need to address the change and incorporate it in their strategy for attracting the customers and also to remain in the competition. The several areas that the organisations like Myla Travel, Thomas Cook, Travel Network Group need to focus are as follows:

• Internet has made the life of the people fast. The decisions of the people relying on the internet have increased. Almost 90% of the people are using internet in UK. It helps the visitors across the world to get the information at very fast. In this respect the organisations need to focus on the internet by addressing the opinions, views, feedbacks of the people for developing their service effectively. Failed to identify the issues or views of the people can affect the organisation in their business turnover.
• Rise of the independent travellers is needed to be monitored by the organisations. Independent travellers are very smart and educated. They have an adequate knowledge about the travel and tourism. Thus their dependency rate towards the tour operators is less. In this regard, the organisations have to segment the market for them and provide the tailor services in order to satisfy them. (Conrady and Buck, 2011).
• Niche market is needed to be focused due to the changing taste and preference of the people. The people are very different with their needs and requirements. The offers by the tour operators sometimes do not affect the people due to the niche tourism. There are many people who like to concentrate on the single attribute like a person from Sweden like the heritage and cultural aspects of the world and thus he like to explore the places with to observe the heritage and culture. Not only it is heritage there are also other aspects like food and drink, adventure, leisure activities etc. In this respect, the organisations like Myla Travel, Thomas Cook, Travel Network Group have to re-design their service portfolio and to consider on the single aspect in order to satisfy the people with this nature.
• Financial factor plays an important role where the people or the visitors used to select a package that can give maximum value. It is the natural expectation of the visitors to pay for the service that can give maximum return (UNWTO, 2013)   So fixing the price of the package is challenging for the organisations. If the people feel that the price is slightly higher then they will reject the offer and like to go for other alternatives. People are very much conscious in the matter of the matter of the pricing. So the organisation has to do a systematic review to check the price of the existing competition. Improving the value of the service is needed to be done for attracting more customers. In marketing we used to term as the marketing myopia where the seller only focuses on the product rather than the experience and the requirements which allows other firm to take the customers by fulfilling the needs and the requirements in better way.

Conclusion

Hence it can be concluded that the travel and tourism industry has a huge potential for growth in the near future and the tour operators must keep a track of the changing demands and the preferences of the tourist or the customers in order to sustain in the market for long. This strategy will also help the tour operators to survive in the market for long.  Proper market research as well as  marketing strategy  such the marketing mix will help to create awareness regarding the tour packages as well as the other services provided by the tour operators among the target customers.

References

CAPA (2016). IAG tells Iberia to prepare for a changing Europe- Latin America competitive setting. [Online]. Available at: http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/iag-tells-iberia-to-prepare-for-a-changing-europe-latin-america-competitive-setting-81071 Accessed on 17/6/16
Conrady., R and Buck., M. (2011). Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2011. Springer Publishing.
dailymail.co.uk .(2012). Sport Provides a boost for UK Tourist industry. [online available at:]. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2221300/Sport-provides-boost-UK-tourist-industry-900-000-football-fans-flock
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Evans., N and Campbell., D. (2013). Strategic management for Travel and Tourism. Routledge
Fawcett, L (2013). International Relations of the Middle East. OUP Oxford.
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Olipra, L. (2012). The impact of low cost carriers on tourism development in less famous destinations. [online available at:] http://lifeasabutterfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/766-1042-1-PB-1.pdf . (assessed on 17/6/16)