The Evolution & Growth of Tourism

The Evolution & Growth of Tourism Evolution

The Evolution & Growth of Tourism

Introduction

The statement, that once "the traveller's risks are insurable he has become a tourist",(Shaw 1994 pp.25-30) at first gives the impression that only by having insured his risks the traveller becomes a tourist. However this is not the case, the tourist has slowly evolved from the traveller and the fact of being insured is one part of this evolution. In fact the same author makes reference to this: "The traveller was active. Now he became passive. Instead of an athletic exercise, travel became a spectator sport. (Agarwal 1997 pp.62-75)"

In a few words he describes here the move from the traditional travelling being labour intensive, stressful and not always for the sake of seeking leisure to the modern type of tourism where one purchases a ready made package which includes all that is needed to travel and sightsee to desired destinations at the highest comfort standards and with minimum risk. The fact that the tourist nowadays is insured against almost everything can however also have drawbacks, especially for the countries to which he travels (destinations). The growth of mass tourism in the last century has affected many countries by above named damages.

Another argument against Boorstin's statement was the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. People were offered insurances against all kinds of terrorism and accidents but still were not willing to travel to popular destinations, i.e. act as tourists. This effect has left its impact on the mass-tourism growth, however at current, a good year after the happening the situation seems to be stabilising.

Market Evolution

All industries associated with tourism have features close to the ideal of backyard capitalism. In fact, an airline can be set up by leasing a small aircraft and operating on a single route; accommodation services can be offered by very small and low cost establishments; and the initiation of tour operations requires a computer, a telephone/fax, and some knowledge of the region to be promoted. Financial outlays can be insignificant and recoverable while investment in human capital, though sunk, is of limited scope. The industry may be regarded as potentially contestable: hit-and-run strategies are feasible and many tourism markets exhibit a high turnover of firms (Weaver 2006).

This ease of operations, however, spreads uncertainty among consumers, especially since tourism is a risk averse activity par excellence. Consequently, customer inertia and mistrust towards new entrants render branding particularly important and create an irreversible barrier to market entry and exit, which sets the grounds for market polarization. In particular, a small number of companies manage to establish a reputation of carefully designed tourism products. Over time, this business practice is remunerated by significant increases in clientele, consisting of old patrons, customers who quit unreliable firms, and first-time tourists. Part of the resulting increase in profitability is invested in service quality. This leads to a virtuous cycle of constant enlargement that puts the existing organizational structures into ...