New Products and Services
There is a wealth of different products and services available catering for all tastes and markets. Some of the latest products include:
Business Operations
Following the severe recession of 2008/2009 tour operators had to streamline operations, cutting capacity on holidays offered to customers. Forty tour operators failed between 2008 and 2009, showing what a difficult market it was. When the recession ended it seems that the travel and tourism market improved and new companies may have formed.
Consumer Demand
In 2009 consumers tended to book holidays later hoping for reduced prices at the last minute. This impacted on business operations as it made it difficult for tour operators and travel agents to forecast. This may have led to significantly reduced booking levels for tour operators outside the peak holiday periods.
The short break market is still healthy with more cities and activities on offer. Many people are now choosing to stay in the UK for holidays due to the poor exchange rate of the pound to the euro.
Types of organisations and competition
Two major groups dominate the tour operating industry: TUI and Thomas Cook. In spite of their dominance, travel and tourism still includes hundreds of small businesses. Some are in tour operation, but most are in travel agency and hospitality businesses. Vertical and horizontal integration benefit businesses and there is no reason to expect this to change in the near future.
Numbers employed in travel and tourism
There are an estimated 1.4 million jobs in tourism in the UK, some 5 per cent of all people in employment. Approximately 130,400 of these jobs are in self-employment. If we add jobs indirectly related to tourism it 2.8 million jobs.
Contribution to GDP
Tourism contributes to the economy and therefore to the GDP as visitors spend money on goods and services and also on transport to enter a country. The impacts on the economy of incoming and outbound tourism is recorded in the balance of payments. Each sector of the economy is measured in terms of its imports and exports. Travel services have their own balance which contributes to the overall balance of payments. Transport is shown separately from travel services.
Tourism has a direct impact on the economy contributing about 3.7 per cent of GDP. There are also indirect impacts of tourism on the economy as tourism interacts with other businesses such as construction and retail. With indirect impact added, the contribution to GDP rises to about 8.2 per cent. However, there is a £20.5 billion deficit between the amount UK holidaymakers spend abroad and how much foreign visitors spend here.
There is a wealth of different products and services available catering for all tastes and markets. Some of the latest products include:
- Concierge travel- these services are targeted at the very wealthy and offer luxurious holidays customised to the tastes of the traveller
- More personalised services for mass tourists- examples of companies at the forefront of concierge travel for the masses are Virgin and Kuoni
- Cultural tourism- for example roots tourism, where tourists take DNA tests and travel to countries like Africa seeking out their ancestral origin.
- Pop up restaurants- this means people inviting guests into their private homes at a price
Business Operations
Following the severe recession of 2008/2009 tour operators had to streamline operations, cutting capacity on holidays offered to customers. Forty tour operators failed between 2008 and 2009, showing what a difficult market it was. When the recession ended it seems that the travel and tourism market improved and new companies may have formed.
Consumer Demand
In 2009 consumers tended to book holidays later hoping for reduced prices at the last minute. This impacted on business operations as it made it difficult for tour operators and travel agents to forecast. This may have led to significantly reduced booking levels for tour operators outside the peak holiday periods.
The short break market is still healthy with more cities and activities on offer. Many people are now choosing to stay in the UK for holidays due to the poor exchange rate of the pound to the euro.
Types of organisations and competition
Two major groups dominate the tour operating industry: TUI and Thomas Cook. In spite of their dominance, travel and tourism still includes hundreds of small businesses. Some are in tour operation, but most are in travel agency and hospitality businesses. Vertical and horizontal integration benefit businesses and there is no reason to expect this to change in the near future.
Numbers employed in travel and tourism
There are an estimated 1.4 million jobs in tourism in the UK, some 5 per cent of all people in employment. Approximately 130,400 of these jobs are in self-employment. If we add jobs indirectly related to tourism it 2.8 million jobs.
Contribution to GDP
Tourism contributes to the economy and therefore to the GDP as visitors spend money on goods and services and also on transport to enter a country. The impacts on the economy of incoming and outbound tourism is recorded in the balance of payments. Each sector of the economy is measured in terms of its imports and exports. Travel services have their own balance which contributes to the overall balance of payments. Transport is shown separately from travel services.
Tourism has a direct impact on the economy contributing about 3.7 per cent of GDP. There are also indirect impacts of tourism on the economy as tourism interacts with other businesses such as construction and retail. With indirect impact added, the contribution to GDP rises to about 8.2 per cent. However, there is a £20.5 billion deficit between the amount UK holidaymakers spend abroad and how much foreign visitors spend here.