Trends and factors that are currently affecting the travel and tourism sector.
Olympics
Olympics
The London 2012 Olympics has had a major impact on England as it has attracted a lot of tourists to come and visit England. The London 2012 Olympic Games took place from 27 July to 12 August 2012 and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September. This event is of global interest and ONS has addressed the question of how many people visited the UK for the Games. This article refers to estimates for the full year 2012, unlike a previously-published story which referred to provisional estimates for the period July to September.
There were 698,000 Olympics/Paralympics-related visits to the Uk The number of people who vissited for an Olympics/Paralympics-related purpose were 471,000 and the numer of people who visited for another purpose but went to a ticketed london event are 227,000. Approximately three quarters of these visits were completed in August with the vast majority of the remainder split equally between July and September.
Most visits were from Europe
419,000 of the 698,000 visits were made by people living in Europe while 126,000 were from North America and 151,000 from other countries. Among the base of visits made primarily for an Olympics/Paralympics purpose, the country providing most visits was USA, followed by France, Germany and Netherlands. Outside of Europe and North America, residents of Australia made 15,000 Olympics-based visits and residents of Brazil, which will host the
2016 Olympics, made 8,000 such visits.
Olympics visitors were high spenders
Those people who visited the UK primarily for an Olympics/Paralympics-based purpose spent an average of £1,553 on their visit; double that of people who visited at that time of year for other purposes.This higher spend was not driven by length of stay: these people stayed an average of 8 nights in the UK compared with 9 nights among all visitors in July to September.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ott/travel-trends/2012/sty-visits-to-the-uk.html
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ott/travel-trends/2012/sty-visits-to-the-uk.html
The pound-euro exchange rates
There were 698,000 Olympics/Paralympics-related visits to the Uk The number of people who vissited for an Olympics/Paralympics-related purpose were 471,000 and the numer of people who visited for another purpose but went to a ticketed london event are 227,000. Approximately three quarters of these visits were completed in August with the vast majority of the remainder split equally between July and September.
Most visits were from Europe
419,000 of the 698,000 visits were made by people living in Europe while 126,000 were from North America and 151,000 from other countries. Among the base of visits made primarily for an Olympics/Paralympics purpose, the country providing most visits was USA, followed by France, Germany and Netherlands. Outside of Europe and North America, residents of Australia made 15,000 Olympics-based visits and residents of Brazil, which will host the
2016 Olympics, made 8,000 such visits.
Olympics visitors were high spenders
Those people who visited the UK primarily for an Olympics/Paralympics-based purpose spent an average of £1,553 on their visit; double that of people who visited at that time of year for other purposes.This higher spend was not driven by length of stay: these people stayed an average of 8 nights in the UK compared with 9 nights among all visitors in July to September.
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ott/travel-trends/2012/sty-visits-to-the-uk.html
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ott/travel-trends/2012/sty-visits-to-the-uk.html
The pound-euro exchange rates
The euro crisis and the relative strength of the pound against other currencies means that holidaymakers could enjoy a discount of up to 25 per cent
on their holidays compared to last year. The pound-euro exchange rates currently means that for every £500 converted into euros, families will get an extra £47.41 compared to the summer of 2011. The pound is also stronger against the currencies of several other poplar holiday destinations.
People travelling to Rio in Brazil will get 24.5 per cent more this year, which equates to an extra £86 for every £500 that is converted to the local currency, the real. While holidays in the Eurozone will be relatively cheaper in terms of daily spending, the strength of the pound against other European currencies has been even more marked.
For example, the pound is now some 23 per cent stronger against the Polish zloty than the summer of 2011, while it is 20.8 per cent stronger against the Hungarian forint.
Money will also go further this year in Turkey and Croatia.The figures, which have been collated by Post Office Travel Money, will encourage many families to make their summer holiday choices based on where they can best value.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2145176/Euro-pound-exchange-rate-Strong-pound-means-bargain-holidays-Europe-Mexico-Turkey-Croatia.html
on their holidays compared to last year. The pound-euro exchange rates currently means that for every £500 converted into euros, families will get an extra £47.41 compared to the summer of 2011. The pound is also stronger against the currencies of several other poplar holiday destinations.
People travelling to Rio in Brazil will get 24.5 per cent more this year, which equates to an extra £86 for every £500 that is converted to the local currency, the real. While holidays in the Eurozone will be relatively cheaper in terms of daily spending, the strength of the pound against other European currencies has been even more marked.
For example, the pound is now some 23 per cent stronger against the Polish zloty than the summer of 2011, while it is 20.8 per cent stronger against the Hungarian forint.
Money will also go further this year in Turkey and Croatia.The figures, which have been collated by Post Office Travel Money, will encourage many families to make their summer holiday choices based on where they can best value.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2145176/Euro-pound-exchange-rate-Strong-pound-means-bargain-holidays-Europe-Mexico-Turkey-Croatia.html
Mobile concierge
The travel trade is using mobile devices as a sales and customer service channel and has developed mobile concierge services. Travelers now expect real-time answers and greater customization, wherever they are and at any time, before, during and after the trip. Online travel sales recorded another strong performance in 2012 growing by 8.4% globally to reach US$524 billion. World online travel sales growth is expected to continue steady in the next five years at a 9.5% CAGR.
In addition to serving as a reservation channel, mobile is now being used increasingly as a pocket-ready customer service tool. For guests, it ensures real-time solutions to their every beck and call. And while that adds to the operational workload of hoteliers, it also allows them to foster deeper relationships and engagement with the guests they work so hard to target. Hoteliers who fail to embrace this trend risk losing out on business, said Angelo Rossini, travel and tourism analyst at Euro monitor.
“We think this is a strongly rising trend,” he said. “We need to embrace it.”
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Article/12604/6-trends-shaping-global-travel
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/travel-tourism-fast-changing-world-130000850.html
In addition to serving as a reservation channel, mobile is now being used increasingly as a pocket-ready customer service tool. For guests, it ensures real-time solutions to their every beck and call. And while that adds to the operational workload of hoteliers, it also allows them to foster deeper relationships and engagement with the guests they work so hard to target. Hoteliers who fail to embrace this trend risk losing out on business, said Angelo Rossini, travel and tourism analyst at Euro monitor.
“We think this is a strongly rising trend,” he said. “We need to embrace it.”
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Article/12604/6-trends-shaping-global-travel
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/travel-tourism-fast-changing-world-130000850.html
Natural disaster
Natural disasters have a major effect on the travel industry for example Eyjafjallajökulla volcano which erupted on the 14th April 2010 which made all flights in Europe at a huge standstill " Even though it was a relatively small volcanic eruption, it caused enormous disruption to air travel across western and northern Europe over an initial period of six days in April 2010" but although the airspace was closed tourism was still bringing money into the tourism industry as people still needed somewhere to stay, food and drink, entertainment etc. If you booked a package holiday you wouldn’t have to pay any extra money to stay at the hotel whilst the airspace was closed, but if you booked separately you would have had to pay more to book another room but claimed it back on insurance if you had it. This will affect the travel industry as they lose massive amounts of money when a natural disaster happens for example no planes in Europe would leave the ground for 6 days through the ash cloud in which is costing the airlines masses amount of money as they have to pay to on the ground and have to put all their customers that are stranded in accommodations, in which sometimes puts people off traveling.
http://travelandtourismindustry.weebly.com/trends-and-factors-currently-affecting-the-travel-and-tourism-industry.html
http://travelandtourismindustry.weebly.com/trends-and-factors-currently-affecting-the-travel-and-tourism-industry.html
Cost of travel and the recession
The cost of travel recently is increasing as the UK is in a recession in which the UK's economy has not a lot of money and all the prices have risen and people are not getting as much money as they used to, people recently are only having a holiday abroad once a year as family’s are getting less money than they used to for example in 2007 family’s generally took 2 or more holidays whether it was domestic or outbound. This will affect the industry as more and more people are only taking holidays once a year in which the industry will be losing money through the recession in which before the recession people usually took 2 or more trips which would have brought lots of money in, Also it has a positive effect on domestic tourists as there more likely to go on holiday in the UK.
http://travelandtourismindustry.weebly.com/trends-and-factors-currently-affecting-the-travel-and-tourism-industry.html
http://travelandtourismindustry.weebly.com/trends-and-factors-currently-affecting-the-travel-and-tourism-industry.html
Epidemics and pandemics
An epidemic is when the number of people who become infected rises well beyond what is expected within a country or a part of a country. When the infection takes place in several countries at the same time it then starts turning into a pandemic, and rises well beyond what is expected within a country or part of the country. However this would stop people from wanting to travel to places that are affected by swine flu in which the tourism industry would lose a lot of money as people was cancelling trips and holidays in the places that was infected and people wouldn’t book holidays there
in which the industry would be losing money.
A pandemic covers a much wider area often worldwide; a Pandemic also infects many more people than an epidemic. There have been plenty of pandemics over the years for example plague, hiv/aids, black death, cholera etc. For example in 2009 when swine flu hit the UK ' Outbreaks of flu tend to follow certain patterns. Every year, the number of flu cases rise during winter - this is seasonal flu. If a lot of people are affected, it may be said to be an epidemic. About one per cent of those affected are likely to die, usually owing to complications such as a secondary bacterial Infection of the lungs.'
http://travelandtourismindustry.weebly.com/trends-and-factors-currently-affecting-the-travel-and-tourism-industry.html
in which the industry would be losing money.
A pandemic covers a much wider area often worldwide; a Pandemic also infects many more people than an epidemic. There have been plenty of pandemics over the years for example plague, hiv/aids, black death, cholera etc. For example in 2009 when swine flu hit the UK ' Outbreaks of flu tend to follow certain patterns. Every year, the number of flu cases rise during winter - this is seasonal flu. If a lot of people are affected, it may be said to be an epidemic. About one per cent of those affected are likely to die, usually owing to complications such as a secondary bacterial Infection of the lungs.'
http://travelandtourismindustry.weebly.com/trends-and-factors-currently-affecting-the-travel-and-tourism-industry.html