Transportation.

The pursuit of tourism through the ages has stimulated a steady growth in the range of destinations visited and has been characterized by a growing impact upon different countries and places. This is directly related to changes in transport technology and its affordability.

Transport is a critical element in the growth of the tourism industry. To be successful as a tourist destination, a country must be able to provide a fast, efficient transport network which enables tourists to move rapidly and economically both within the country and in and out of the country. Transport is used both to move passengers to their destination and to help them get around once at that destination. Its providers are those operating any major form of transport. These would include the airlines providing the seats which an individual traveller, business person or tour operator may purchase; ferry and cruise companies, car-hire businesses, coach operators and train-operating companies. Each of them has a role to play in the travel and tourism industry. Increasingly, the transport sector is entering into strategic alliances (i.e. formal business partnerships) where different operators will seek to offer seamless transport experience to travellers, recognizing the selling opportunity. For example, if the tour operator can sell not only a holiday but also airport transfers, car hire and tours from approved partners with whom they have entered into a strategic alliance, then their profitability is increased.

A tourist’s choice of transport would depend on:

• price

• destination

• time – how much is available

• reason – visiting family or friends, business or leisure

• departure points – how easy it is to get there

• convenience.

The airlines are now very prominent in the tourist industry. They may be scheduled airlines and chartered airlines.

Scheduled flights are so called because they operate regularly according to published timetables which are fixed in advance, under government license.

By contrast, charter flights do not operate to published timetables. They are chartered by middlemen (tour operators) for a fixed charge to carry holidaymakers as part of a package deal. Consequently, charter flights are not advertised or promoted by the airlines themselves, but are sold as part of a package. If demand is poor, then the holidays (including the flight) can be changed or cancelled. The distinction between scheduled and charter is becoming less clearcut with the growth of ‘seat-only’ sales on charter flights and the incorporation of scheduled air services into some package holidays.

Land-based transport has a long history and covers a number of distinct forms: the car, the cycle, bus and coach travel and rail travel.

The increase in private-car ownership has done more to change travel habits than any other single factor. This has had a knock-on effect within the industry with the creation of services to support our preference for the extensive use of the private car. For example, we have seen the creation of roadside cafes, service stations, motels and travel lodges, as well as the development of car ferry services and trains designed to transport our cars to our destination of choice.

Although not popular for business tourism, coaches represent a relatively cheap form of transport to and around tourist destinations. In countries where the terrain makes the construction of railways impossible, coaches are the main method of getting around. Greece and Turkey, for example, rely heavily on coaches for the transfer of international tourists as well as for their own residents. Coach travel reached its peak of popularity in the UK in the 1930s, after which the growth in private car ownership contributed to the decline in usage of this form of transport.

Coach is a useful mode of transport for short- and medium-distance journeys. Traditionally, it has attracted the elderly and lower social groupings.

Rail transport. The advent of the train and railways in the nineteenth century brought travel for pleasure within the reach of the majority of ordinary working people. The railways played a major role in the development of tourism in the first half of the twentieth century. Rail companies, whether national organizations or privately owned rail companies, are also transport principals, and provide a scheduled service within the home country.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29