Tourism, Transport and Travel Management

M.R. Dileep

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351365659
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

The terms travel and tourism are often used interchangeably in tourism literature. This comprehensive textbook provides students with essential knowledge of the intricate relationship existing between travel, transport and tourism.

The book analyses the structure, functions, activities, strategies and practices of each of the sectors in the travel industry, such as airlines, airports, tour operators, travel agencies and cruises. It is structured into six parts, covering all modes of transport (air, land and water), travel intermediation, the tour operation business and impacts and prospects for the future. International case studies are integrated throughout to showcase practical realities and challenges in the travel industry and to aid students' learning and understanding.

Written in an accessible and engaging style, this is an invaluable resource for students of tourism, hospitality, transport and travel management courses.

Part I

Tourism and transport

Chapter 1

Travel and tourism: an introduction

Learning outcomes

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Understand the concept of tourism from various perspectives.
• Distinguish tourists from other travellers.
• Classify tourism.
• Narrate the evolution of tourism to the modern form.
• Understand why people travel for tourism purposes.
• Understand the nuances of the tourism industry.

1.1 Introduction

Tourism has inevitably grown from a rather limited aristocratic activity to a common phenomenon in modern society. During this evolution, the phenomenon has passed a number of milestones, transforming itself into a modern form which permeates deep into the social life of almost all societies in the world. This multifaceted phenomenon has already demonstrated its persuasive economic significance, irresistibly luring both private developers and governments to hastily promote it. Certainly, there are many reasons to suggest why the tourism industry is being so hastily developed by many countries. While domestic tourism contributes greatly to wider redistribution of income, international tourism is more important to the industry as it generates foreign currency through transaction of “invisibles” with consumers from abroad. Many millions of jobs are created by tourism every year and the revenue being generated from the expenditure made by tourists in different stages of their journey is immense. As per the latest figures released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), receipts from international tourists’ spending on accommodation, food and drink, entertainment, shopping, other services and goods reached an estimated US $1,220 billion in 2016 (UNWTO, 2017).

Table 1.1 International tourist arrivals

On the one hand, tourist destinations and governments are engaged in developing and promoting tourism rigorously, while people, on the other hand, are being persuaded to visit and experience tourism. The “travel propensity” has already permeated almost all societies in the world. The surging travel propensity and the consequential growth in the demand for services have invigorated the worldwide expansion of the tourism sector. Of late, tourist destination countries are facing intense competition in attracting tourists, thus increasing the dynamism and innovation in the tourism sector. Tourists therefore get more options, not only in what they see, but also in their experience. As commonly predicted, tourism is poised to grow further, and will remain a very competitive sector, particularly in terms of economic and social contributions.

Though the economic contribution of tourism is getting increasingly crucial, the ramifications of the development do invite some criticism. Environmental, social and cultural consequences of tourism have become a matter of concern, particularly since the end of the 1960s. The increasing rate of anti-tourism propaganda, as well as the growing concerns on the negative impact of tourism, has prompted the search for alternatives and an evolution of a number of development options in the sector. Of these, ecotourism has emerged as a major measure of tourism development, especially in the pristine natural areas; the sustainable development concept has also become a general philosophy of tourism development across the entire sector. Yet tourism, to a large extent, remains a matter of concern socially, culturally and environmentally.

1.2 Travel: the fundamental element of tourism

Movement is one prime reason for the transformation of human beings from the early days of secluded, animal-like beings to the modern social lifestyle humans enjoy today. Movement turns into travel when it is across a certain distance (though there is no accepted specific distance for movement to be considered travel). The nature, style, mode, speed, comfort and safety when travelling has transformed over time, surpassing many milestones. In usual contexts, travel is also referred to as a journey from one place to another. A journey can also be made to visit a place. It means that travel can be for various purposes, which include visiting too. Visiting entails travel, and some of those who take part in visiting are called tourists based on certain parameters accepted internationally. This denotes that tourism involves visiting a place of interest, and is essentially a result of travel from one place to another. The following extract from the UNWTO clarifies the relationship:

Travel refers to the activity of travellers. A traveller is someone who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration. The visitor is a particular type of traveller and consequently tourism is a subset of travel.

(UNWTO, n.d.)

The above extract makes it clear that there are many types of travel, and with different purposes, but travel for visiting can be considered tourism. All visitors are not considered tourists. The reasons are discussed in the following paragraphs. All tourists are visitors and all visitors are travellers. However, all travellers are not visitors and all travellers are not tourists. Tourism is an activity emanating from visiting of people, and visiting takes place as a result of travel from one place to another. Two geographical locations are involved, primarily in tourism. One is the tourist generating location and the other is the tourist visiting location. There has to be a certain amount of distance between these two locations. The tourist commences travel from the generating location, covers the distance and reaches the destination location. Once the visiting is over in the destination, the tourist returns to the generating location. Travel for visiting, therefore, involves primarily two sets of journeys: onward journey to destination and return. The following elaboration about tourism and its various dimensions will help to explain the concept thoroughly.

1.3 Tourism: the concept and definitions

Tourism is obviously a multidisciplinary subject and should be perceived and learned from a wide range of perspectives. This makes it difficult to conceive of the concept of tourism, not only for a beginner, but also for serious researchers of its nuances and inherent characteristics. Smith (1995) is of the opinion that lack of a consistent and accepted definition is a continuing source of frustration for tourism planners and analysts. Even a limited literature review can identify a wide range of tourism definitions. Some approach tourism from a sociological perspective, while others circle around environment and physical development. The cultural view is common, as is the psychological approach towards tourism movement. A number of definitions can be found from an industry perspective, whereas definitions from an economic perspective are more considered across the world. In order to learn the concept of tourism, it would be of value to look at some definitions propounded by some experts.

Davidson (1989) defines tourism, in the simplest way, as being “about people being away from their own homes, on short term, temporary visits, for particular purposes”. Though short, this includes some major fundamental aspects of tourism, such as travel to distant places, limited duration of the travel and the need for a purpose to travel. The World Tourism Organization (WTO), the global agency representing the official/national tourism organizations (currently UNWTO), defines it as “the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes” (WTO, 1991). This specifies the maximum period of stay as far as a tourist is concerned.

The definition given by Bull (1991) is as follows: “It’s a human activity that encompasses human behavior, use of resources, and interaction with other people, economies and environments”. This highlights the vital clues about resource consumption as part of tourism, and the social aspects related to interaction that take place between the tourist and the host community, the interface between tourists and economies as well as the environments. A more commonly accepted definition is that it is the “temporary movement of people to destinations outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in those destinations and the facilities created to cater to their needs” (Hunt and Layne, 1991). McIntosh and Goeldner (1990) interpreted tourism from various perspectives by considering different groups that participate in, and are affected by, the tourism industry. According to them, “tourism is the sum of the phenomena and relationship arising from the interaction of tourists, business suppliers, host governments and host community in the process of attracting and hosting those tourists and other visitors”. The major groups identified were the tourist, the business providing goods and services to tourists, the host community and the government.

Cooper et al. (2000) define tourism from both the demand side and the supply side perspectives. The demand side definition has evolved by firstly attempting to encapsulate the idea of tourism into conceptual definitions and secondly through the development of technical definitions for measurement of tourism as well as for legal purposes. The conceptual interpretation of their definition involves a number of aspects, including the major factors such as short-term and temporary movement of people. Movement is from the usual environment or normal places of residences and work to a distant place, and staying and engaging in touristic activities in the place visited (Cooper et al., 2000; Burkart and Medlik, 1981). They highlight the technical aspects as well, which include a minimum visiting period of 24 hours, a maximum visiting period of one year, and with the purpose of the visit being one of the internationally recognized categories of purposes. The supply side perspectives focus on the supply of services and products offered by a wide range of businesses involved in the tourism and associated sectors to satisfy the needs of the tourists, and the requisite facilities and amenities.

Here, only a few definitions have been considered, although a number of definitions are available. The above analysis reveals that tourism can be viewed from different perspectives, and certain factors are vital in considering some kind of travel as tourism. Indeed, travel is part and parcel of many people’s day-to-day life but is not considered tourism. The necessary aspects for the conceptualization of a tourism framework are listed below:

• Tourism involves movement of people from one place to another.
• The travel takes place due to physical or psychological reasons, or both.
• The movement has to be from the place of residence and/or work to a distant place.
• The visit has to take place in a different environment from the usual, day-to-day life environment.
• A minimum stay of one day (24 hours) in the place visited is required.
• The stay should not extend beyond one year, consecutively.
• The tourist visiting a place may have to take part in certain activities, such as sightseeing.
• The tourist, during the entire process of travel, should not directly take part in any activity that would enable him or her to earn money as remuneration.
• Throughout the travel process (from departure from usual residence until return to the same), the traveller will have a variety of needs, all of which will constitute the elements that contribute to the tourist experiences.
• Different businesses offer services and products that satisfy those various needs.
• The traveller spends money to buy those services and products offered, and this constitutes an economic activity.
• During the travel process, the tourist will interact with different groups of people ranging from service providers to local community members.
• The tourism-related businesses and facilities use a variety of resources, both natural and artificial, in order to cater for the requirements of tourists. Consequently, tourists become the consumers of those resources directly or indirectly.
• During the process of provision of services and products to tourists as well as the consumption by them, a range of benefits as well as consequences will be generated on the environment, society, culture and the economy.
• Tourism takes place in an open environment and the external environment influences it in different ways.

Thus, tourism is a social process that involves short-term movement of people from a place of usual environment to a distant one, staying there for at least 24 hours, and engaging in certain activities that are non-remunerative in nature. During the course of the stay, the traveller interacts with a variety of host communities and consumes a range of services and products offered by different businesses and facilities, which generates an economic activity with positive as well as negative social, cultural and environmental ramifications.

1.4 Traveller, visitor, excursionist and tourist

The tourist and the rest of the travellers are conceptually well distinguished in tourism literature, though the terms traveller and tourist are used interchangeably. A tourist is basically a traveller and is the most crucial element in the process of tourism. The phenomenon called tourism won’t be generated in the absence of a tourist. It has already been pointed out that all travellers are not tourists. Some of them travel for the purpose of visiting, whereas others travel for many other purposes. Of those travelling for the purpose of visiting, some will spend less than 24 hours in the place visited, whereas others may stay for more time. This makes the traveller a broad group consisting of a large population with varied purposes of travel, and a visitor is just one segment among them. Visitors include tourists, who are distinguished by staying for a minimum period of 24 hours in the place visited, and others who stay for less than 24 hours can be called same-day tourists, day visitors or excursionists. Here the terms are traveller, visitor, tourist and excursionist and they are fundamentally distinguished based on the duration of their stay in the place visited along with the nature of the purpose of travelling.

Figure 1.1 Travellers, visitors and tourists

The grouping of travellers into visitor, tourist and excursionist by the WTO makes the concept clearer. According to WTO, a visitor is a person who travels with a non-remunerative objective to a foreign country, outside his/her “usual environment”, for a period not exceeding one year. The same factors apply in the case of domestic visitor as well, except the maximum duration may be up to six months and the place being visited has to be inside the country of origin. At the same time, an international tourist is defined as a visitor who travels to a country other than that in which he/she has his usual residence or work, and stays in the destination visited for at least one night but no more than one year; and whose main purpose of visit is for certain activities that may not be aimed at earning money. On the other hand, a domestic tourist’s travel takes place within the country. A same-day visitor or excursionist is described as a visitor who travels to a destination other than that in which he/she has his/her usual residence, returns within 24 hours without spending the night in the country visited, and whose main purpose of visit is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited (WTO, 1991).

Based on the above discussion, we can identify a range of factors that can be used to distinguish tourists from other types of travellers:

• A tourist is a traveller as we...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of case studies
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I Tourism and transport
• Part II Air transport
• Part III Land and water transportation
• Part IV Travel intermediation
• Part V Tour operation business
• Part VI Impacts and prospects
• Index