The Private Sector Essay Example for Free

The Private Sector Essay Below is a quick summary on the key events from the present day back to 1936 and a brief description of what each one is about 1936 Billy Butlin opens his first holiday camp at Skegness with over 600 chalets included 1938 Holidays with Pay Act introduced People given time off work whilst still getting paid 1946 Fred Pontin opens his first holiday camp near Weston-Super-Mare Competition to the Butlins holiday camp 1950 First packaged air holiday organized by Horizon Advance in technology allowing this to happen 1952. First jet airline passenger service faster and more comfortable way of travel 1959 First jet airline passenger service to Australia transport and technology has allowed for this to happen 1960 Number of domestic holidays exceeds 30 million for the first time and number of holidays rises to 3. 5 million showing an increase of people taking holidays Early 1960s First global distribution systems developed by American airline companies 1968 Worlds first commercial Hovercraft operated from Dover to Boulogne Advance in Technology and meant people could get across quicker than with ferry. 1969 Development of Tourism Act introduced. Formation of the British, English, Scottish and Wales Tourist Boards Government realized that they had to promote the country for tourism and for incoming and domestic tourists 1976 Concorde goes into service A supersonic transport plane built by Britain and France, begins passenger service 1981 60 per cent of households in the UK have regular use of at least one car More money been made and another form of transport meaning that domestic tourism can expand with people been able to travel in the UK easier. 1987 Number of holidays abroad exceeds 20 million for the first time, whilst domestic holidays fall to 28. 5 million, the lowest number since 1955 Showing that the advance in flying and cheaper holidays abroad with sun are tempting people to go that way 1992 EU Directive on package holidays introduced EU has found it important to pass legislation 1992 Department of National Heritage formed For Culture, Media and sports 1995 Le Shuttle and Eurostar carry first passengers through Channel Tunnel New quicker way of getting across the channel 1997 70 per cent of all households in the UK have regular use of at least one car Showing that more money is coming into the households 1998 Number of holidays abroad exceeds 30 million for first time Cheaper flights and cheaper accommodation abroad. More time 1998 An estimated 1. 4 million people purchased travel tickets on the internet New cheaper way of getting tickets for travel and also quicker 1999 The English Tourism Council replaced the English Tourist Board 2000 Air passenger duty reduced on economy flights removes barrier to the growth of inbound tourism. 2001 September 11th and Foot and Mouth disease hits Britain meaning restrictions to people going into certain places People afraid of flying after the 11th attacks. 2002 Terrorist bomb in Bali Effect on people wanting to travel, meaning there could be an increase in domestic tourism 2003 SARS broke out and in March Iraq war started For both, People not wanting to travel abroad meaning there could be an increase in domestic tourism The main reasons for the rapid growth in the industry since the end of the Second World War are: 1. The changing social economic circumstances. Increase in leisure time   Increase in disposable income   Increased car owner ship 2. Technological developments 3. Product development and innovation 4. Changing consumer needs and expectations and fashions I will explain each of these reasons below E1 Changing Social Economic Circumstances 1. Increase in Leisure Time There are a variety of reasons why there has been n increase in the leisure time. Firstly there has been a decrease in working time since 1971. The table below shows the decrease in working time from 1971 to 2001. Full Time Workers 1971 2001. Weekly hours of work 42. 0 39. 7 This has resulted in an increase in free time for people and therefore more time to go away. People have also been encouraged to take time off work and go on holidays because of the introduction of paid holidays. With the introduction of this it has encouraged people to take holidays because they can take time off work whilst still been paid. There has also been an increase in the amount of days that people have off from work and the annual hours or work per worker has also decreased. All of which equal to an increase in free and leisure time. Full Time Workers 1971 2001 Paid Holiday Days 16. 7 25. 1 Public Holiday Days 6. 0 8. 0 Annual Hours of Work per Worker 1,999 1,807 Another factor for the increase in leisure time is that of more people employed as just part time workers, as the table below shows. Key Labour-Force Statistics 1971 2001 % of Labour Force employed as part-time workers 15. 5 30 This table shows a big increase in the amount of part time workers in 2001. This could mean that if someone only works 4 days a week they will have more leisure time and therefore more time to go on holidays. There have also been changes in the age structure of the population   Decrease in birth rate   Population Getting Older Increase in life expectancy The decrease in birth rate means that people have more time on their hands and also more money because they dont have young children to look after. The growth of the population means that there are more people which can mean more holidays been sold And finally the increase in the life expectancy means that there are more old aged pensioners and when they have retired from the working life they will have a lot more time to do leisure activities. There has been an increase in ready meals. Whereas before the 1990s people would have to go to different shops such as the groceries and the butchers and then preparing all the separate ingredients which were very time consuming. Now you can go to the local supermarket and buy meals already prepared which just need heating up and also they are significantly cheaper. Saving money and time can increase the leisure time. Finally the introduction of household consumer goods means that cleaning up around the house is easier and a lot quicker than before which also saves time. 2. Disposable Income. Disposable Income is money that is left over after you have bought something. This money goes into a variety of things such as the following list:   Tax   National Insurance   Pension   Mortgage   Clothing   Council Tax   Power   Food Individual disposable income has risen in the UK which has meant an increase on the consumer spending on travel and tourism In the economy when there is a recession this means there is high unemployment, high interest rates and high inflation. When the economy circumstances are in recession the taking of holidays is usually one of the first items of household expenditure to be cut out. An example is in the early 1990s recession in the UK led to a decrease in the overseas holidays, with consumer confidence low due to the fears of unemployment and a fall in house prices. When there is a boom in the economy though, this leads to high employment, low in interest rates and low in inflation. This means that there is confidence for the consumers because of the high employment and with extra money through disposable income more money is been spent in the travel and tourism industry. The rate of inflation is another key factor in the UK economy. The rate of inflation is the rise in prices of products and can affect whether people buy certain products and when a holiday increases in price then consumers will look elsewhere if they feel the holiday is not value for money. The exchange rate is also a key feature in the UK economy. When the English pound is strong against other currencies such as the euro and the dollar then people are more likely to travel abroad because they are getting more money for their pound and so outbound tourism is greater. However this affects inbound tourism to the UK because the exchange rate for foreign countries is not as good. 3. Car Ownership Since 1945 there has been an increase in the car ownership that people now have. In 1997 70% of all households in the UK had regular use of at least one car and now there is an estimate of 20 million cars in the UK The effect of households having access to cars is that it can encourage travel in the UK. It is a lot easier to go by car to places than other forms of transport around the UK and this will increase the domestic tourism. In 1998 80% of trips were taken by cars with a 3/4 of the population visiting the countryside at least once a year which shows how important the use of a car has been for the UK tourism. Another factor of the increase in car ownership is that the development of the road network has led to the rise in the visit to the countryside E1 Technological Developments Since the 1940s there has been a steady increase in the technological developments with aircraft, ships and trains all been developed and carrying larger numbers In the 1970s there was the development of the jet engine which encouraged people to travel abroad and with prices falling in recent years and the introduction of cheap airlines such as easy jet it has encouraged people to fly abroad. This has also led to the further developments of package tour holidays with the transport and accommodation all been included. In 1999 the most popular tourist destination abroad was Spain with more than a quarter of UK tourists going there. Below is a table showing the percentage of people going to certain European destinations Under 16 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 and over All1 Spain 32 28 24 26 26 30 31 27 France 29 17 18 21 19 17 17 20 USA 7 7 9 9 8 6 5 7 Greece 4 10 7 6 7 6 3 6 Eire 2 5 5 5 5 5 7 6 This table also shows the kinds of age groups that visit those countries. Another popular holiday destination outside of Europe is the USA. This is all related to the growth of technology because it has allowed people to travel around more and get to places which were before impossible. www. statistics. gov. uk Following the opening of the channel tunnel there has been more competition for the transport industry. The channel tunnel has offered a quick and cheap way of travel across to channel and into the rest of Europe. With flight prices also falling with the introduction of cheap airlines such as Easy Jet and Ryan Air, people have chosen to go this way because it is the fastest way of travel and with prices falling the best option for many people. This has led to a problem for the ferries on the sea because people have chosen to use over forms of transport such as the airlines, the euro tunnel has also suffered because of this. Airlines can now be cheaper than the ferries and Euro tunnel with the introduction of low cost airlines and quicker. To compete therefore with other forms of transport, ferry has started making their holidays start from the ship with nightclubs, bars, cinemas and other entertainment. This to compete and keep ferry going. 2. Communication and information systems. The development in the communications and information technology systems has resulted in a significant impact on the travel and tourism industry. The computer reservation systems (CRS) and global distribution systems (GDS) has improved the sales of airline tickets, packaged holidays, hotel accommodation and other tourism products since the development in the late 1960s in the USA. The use of Global Distribution Systems has enabled companies such as Thomson to operate commercially in the world and develop partnerships with airlines; hotel groups; tour operators and so on. The internet has had a huge impact on the travel and tourism industry. Back in the 20th century people would go down to the travel agents and book their holidays through this all together with flights, accommodation and so on. However with the introduction of the internet people have found booking holidays through this is usually cheaper and quicker than going down to the travel agents. You can now book each aspect of the holiday separately and many people have recognized this and now you can easily book flights and accommodation on the internet for cheaper than going to the travel agents which have led to problems for the travel agents. 3. Product Development There has been changing needs and expectations of the consumers such as people now expecting to have ensuite bathrooms which have now become a necessity rather than a luxury to people There has also been a development of the mass market tourism industry with resorts such as Euro Disney becoming more and more popular for tourists because it is a holiday which there is something to do all the time. Things like Innovative travel products, domestic tourism and the seaside resorts and holiday camps have all been developed since the 1950s and these have been developed because they are popular and countries can make money and people have the time to go to them. People started to travel abroad in the 1970s because it was becoming possible to do so with the advance in technology such as the introduction of airplanes, people having more time on their hands with things such as paid holidays and as it has become cheaper and cheaper to get abroad people have left the UK as they are guaranteed sun more in other countries than here in the UK. Even though the domestic tourism have fallen since its peak in 1974 of 40 million people the industry has thought back with the development of short breaks such as weekend breaks to major cities in the UK or to country places such as the Lake District for which has offered a cheap and relaxing way to get away for a short time. Blackpool is an example of a 12th month holiday destination. This is because Blackpool has something to offer all year round such as the pleasure beach and the lights as well as concerts. Tour operators, airlines, hotels and travel agents are consistently under pressure to develop their innovative products in order to meet consumer need and retain their market share in the competitive market. Tour operators have successfully developed innovative new products for specific markets such as families and single people. The industry is continuing developing new products and services to cater for all markets. Examples for tour operators developing their products can be offering late deals for cheaper prices and given special offers. For example when a large group are going on a skiing holiday some tour operators will offer discounts on the party. E1 Features of the Travel and Tourism Industry Travel and Tourism can be split into two groups which are:   Commercial (The Private Sector)   Non-Commercial (Public and Voluntary Sectors) The UK travel industry is dominated by the private sector with the majority been small and medium sized organizations. These private sector companies have the main to simply make a profit. The main activities in the private sector are:   Sales Catering and Accommodation. Travel Services Entertainment Many are public limited companies which are owned by shareholders. There is also the Public Sector in the travel and tourism industry. These are largely funded by central or local governments. These organizations include tourist boards and local authorities which run museums, art galleries and tourist information centres. Visit Britain and the National and Regional tourist boards are the key public sector organizations involved in supporting the UK industry. Previously the Visit Britain was known as the BTA. Visit Britain markets Britain to the UK as well as the rest of the world to build on the value of tourism in Britain and throughout the year by creating world class destination brands and marketing campaigns. Its goal is to promote Britain to the rest of the country and the rest of the world. Visit Britain is funded by the Department for culture, media and sport. Regional Tourist Boards support the work of the national tourist boards to promote the domestic tourism. There are 10 regional tourist boards in England and there are 3 in Wales.