Impacts of Tourism Industry on Host Community MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Impacts of Tourism Industry on Host Community. Answer: Introduction: Aviation industry is one of the major components running the global economies today with numerous countries investing so much in it to drive the economic strategies. The industry facilitates transportation of both heavy cargo as well as passenger to various destinations across the globe. It has greatly contributed to the growth of different economic sectors of various countries, including transport, tourism, the employment sector, trade and international relations and cooperation. The global aviation industry has unified the world through quick transportation, international trade and diplomatic relations; which has led to meaningful diplomatic cooperation between global nations. Although most countries have invested heavily in their aviation sectors, it is known that the degree of investments in this industry differs from country to country with economically superior nations such as the UK having much developed aviation industries. The aviation industry plays a big economic role in travel and tourism sectors. It also contributes to employment of various professionals in the field of aviation profession. Aviation industry has enhanced rapid growth in the global tourism sector, by enabling transportation of passengers across the world to the tourist destinations. It is estimated for instance that, in the UK, aviation industry supports tourism activities by enabling transportation of over 2.8 billion passengers in a year (Perovic 2013). This directly impacts on the economic growth of the country as the revenue collected both from the tourism and air transport translates into national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The significance of the tourism to the UK government necessitates creation of favourable environment for tourist activities and this includes providing reliable means of transport. With the increased competition in aviation industry among various countries (Bel Fageda n.d.), the UK aviation industry has a task to keep up the standards, and deliver quality services. The Impact of Aviation Sector to Tourism London being the largest city and the capital of the UK is a major tourist attraction centre. The city has a rich ancient history with a lot of tourist attractions sites which makes it a very important economic city within the country. With the much interest across the world from foreigners to visit the city, the aviation sector comes in as a crucial player facilitating locomotion of people to their different destinations in London. The historical greatness of the London city makes it a dream city to visit for most visitors across the world. According to (Regeneris Consulting 2013), Heathrow airport in London alone transports over seventy million passengers a year. With these aviation activities in passenger transportation, the tourism industry is the greatest beneficiary. Tourism in London contributes greatly to its economy. The city has experienced recent economic growth due to the improved aviation sector leading to increased visitations from the foreigners. With the recent hosting of the Olympics games in 2012, the number of event tourists that flocked the city boosted the economy through tourist expenditure (Blake 2005). The event also led to increased international media coverage, which raised the global attention towards the city. With the a host of international athletes, officials and spectators all braced up for the London experience in the year 2012, the aviation sector played a very huge role of transporting the foreign visitors from various parts of the world in to London. The aviation sector apart from being number one tourism promoter has also been a strong player in advancing the infrastructural development within the city. For tourism to flourish, good roads are required to connect the airports and the various tourist destination centers. The Aviation industry in the UK has successfully fulfilled this expectation. The proposal of the expansion of the Heathrow airport was as a result of forecast of potential increase in the number of visitors who would visit the city of London (Boon et al. 2008). This coupled with the cheap air prices and excellent services also played a big part in promoting London to Olympic Games host city. All this translates to revenues for the London economy and the high numbers predicted to flock the city after the expansion of the Heathrow airport and 2012 Olympic Games was a good economic indicator for the London City. The aviation industry has been the connecting factor between the people of the UK and their relatives abroad and has also enabled adoption of immigrant workforce. With high numbers of different cultural diversities converging in the UK cities such as London, there is introduction of new cultures, hence making London not just a tourism centre but a centre for cultural diversity. The existence of the competitive and modern aviation industry at the heart of the London city and the UK at large has been the greatest game changer in the various economic aspects more just than tourism alone. The aviation industry has transformed London to a more diverse city more economically; improvement of infrastructure has been notable, e.g. the expansion of the Heathrow airport to accommodate more visitors in to the city. The industry for instance, in 2004, directly contributed to the UK GDP over 10 billion and created employment for over 180,000 people which is a massive boost for the economic growth (Oxford Economic Forecasting 2006). The industry also supports other sectors indirectly as it plays a crucial role in their existence and performance. Serving as a link up with other upcoming and robust economies such as china, the aviation industry promotes international trade between the UK and other countries such as China. The international trade and diplomatic cooperation enables tourism between the countries involved. It is common nowadays for the UK citizens to travel abroad to other nations for tourism activities due to enhanced diplomatic relations. It is widely known that for the successful performance of a tourism industry in any country, the excellent aviation industry comes in as an inevitable factor that directly enhances tourism as well as promoting its activities. It is fundamental to invest in aviation industry if at a nation wishes to achieve its tourism goals for their citizens (Alsolami et al. 2015). For sustainable tourism, the aviation industry should play at its top game ensure frequent flow of tourists within and without tourist destinations. The UK aviation industry has facilitated sustainable tourism in their major city of London. According to (Wong Choong 2014), London city was the most visited city in the year 2004, with over 18 million visitors. The increased number of visitors within the UK arrives through the Heathrow airport in London, a point that epitomizes the tourist hub status the city has. With majority of the UK visitors having to enter through London, it gives the city an added advantage to its tourism economy as most of the visitors spend considerable amount of time within the city hotels before travelling elsewhere while others pitch their camp within the city altogether. But with all the factors favouring the UK aviation industry in boosting the tourism industry, it is wise to acknowledge that sustaining the good run of boom tourism industry has not been without challenges. According to (Cheng n.d.), the increased numbers of people flocking the Heathrow airport has caused a lot of human traffic. Long immigration queues means that the airports facilities are overwhelmed. Another notable indicator is the decrease of number of tourists especially in the year 2014; a call up for the needed improvement in performance of key areas that facilitate the growth of tourism. The tourism record deficit of slightly over 16 billion (UK Tourism Statistics 2015) indicated that there has been a fluctuating trend in the number of tourist activities within the major UK cities. The recent political events such as brexit, means that the industry will be affected. The Impact of Sustainable Tourism Tourism is major revenue generator for the UK economy. The sector in conjunction with the hospitality industry and the aviation sector are strong economic drivers. There is a strong relationship between the aviation industry and tourism. The aviation industry plays a key complimentary role in ensuring the sustainable tourism while in return, tourism rewards economy with revenue generation from tourism activity charges, as well as creation of employment. Tourism has been an important source of employment for many citizens in the UK (Oxford Economics 2015), and also it is an important sector that contributes heavily on the GDP. London city, the main capital of the country is the major player in tourism holding larger share and highest employment uptakes. For sustainable tourism over continuous period of time, investing strategically in support industries is fundamental, as they provide a direct injection of energy in to the tourism sector. A better aviation industry, developed hospitality industry and good roads and infrastructure coupled with favourable economic conditions are major catalysts of sustainable tourism. The UK and its major cities such as London have enjoyed stable conditions that facilitate tourism activities. The 2012 Olympic Games in London further boosted the countries event tourism sector. According to (London Partners 2015), event tourism and leisure alone in the city contributes over 2 billion to the citys economy, which is a massive boost. But with all these achievements in the tourism industry in London, there lies a major facilitator in the name of Heathrow airport, the number one airport in the UK that handles majority of the passenger entries as well as handling international cargo for the international trade. There is inseparable relationship between the aviation and the tourism industries. According to (Stop Stansted Expansion 2012), there are two main ways in which the UK aviation industry directly relates with the UK tourism industry. The UK aviation industry both in the country and overseas contributes heavily on the tourism by facilitating visits in to UK from overseas residents. Similarly, the aviation industry also facilitates overseas visits of the UK residents by air, which translate in the revenue for the aviation industry. It is estimated that in the year 2010 alone, the UK aviation industry facilitated over 20 million visits of overseas residents in the country, including business visits and over 40 million UK residents made visits abroad. Therefore, the sustainability of tourism heavily depends on the aviation industry to ensure constant flow of the visitors in and outside the country. The social responsibility of aviation industry has ensured that sustainable tourism is maintained. The UK tourism industry contributes over 4% of the GDP, generated from hospitality and transport sectors (Heathrow n.d.). Having a good road network connecting the cities, and airports developed as well as diverse hospitality industry have contributed hugely to sustainable tourism within the country and its major cities. With all the factors influencing tourism in favour of the industry, there are greater benefits that are achieved as a result. Tourism is major economic player in the development of infrastructure, and creation of employment, both seasonal and permanent. Sustainable tourism and how it impacts on the economy, hence, is not just a one sector function. It goes from having a good aviation industry that fulfills the customers expectations (Kamarudin 2015), to a developed hospitality industry and favourable political environment. The benefits of tourism to many countries economies are invaluable, the benefits gained are greater and this is why the UK recognizes the importance of having a strong aviation industry to sustain tourism activities. The Relationship between Aviation Industry and Tourism There is high possibility that the tourism industry can operate without the aviation industry. During the times before industrial revolution in Europe and Middle East, tourism industry still operated under set standards. But the conspicuous difference is that, with the emergence of the aviation industry, a lot has changed. The tourism industry has improved tremendously as it benefits from the logistical services provided by the aviation sector, with reduced amount of travelling time enabling mass transportation of travelers from one tourist destination to another. The sustainability of tourism entirely means the ability of managing tourism activities and its ability to impact on the economy through job creation, and a sustaining economy for the local people as well as respect for cultural aspects of the society (Kozak Kozak 2011). But for the tourism to attain sustainable status, it has to be supplemented by the aviation sector. The economically superior countries such as the UK still had their tourism and hospitality industries running before the emergence of the aviation sector. Cities like London had already diverse cultures enhanced by the ancient barter trade. The mutual relationship between tourism and aviation sector is a post-industrial revolution milestone that has experienced robust economic growth among the various nations across America, Europe and Asia. The development and commercialization of the aviation has completely changed the face of tourism industry. With the movements of people made easier from one country to another through air transport, it has now become much easier for the modern cities of the London caliber with rich cultural history to sell out itself for the potential visitors coming to have a view at the historically great city and having a general feel of a new diverse environment (Zaei Zaei 2013). The world economy has experienced a boom over the last fifty years opening up economic opportunities and expansion of the economies (Ashley et al. n.d.). The economic growth is facilitated with the increased business competition among nations. Science and technology has evolved the world in to more commercialized global village. As such, the most countries have developed their important sectors of the economy, with aviation industry and tourism being the most prioritized ones as they directly enhances economic growth both directly and indirectly. In recent days, the countries have developed the aviation and tourism industries in such a way that, they have to directly depend and supplement each other for maximum generation of the GDP. Global tourism competition means that only the best packaged tourist destinations such as the London city win the larger market share due to high number of tourist visits. Likewise, the best packaged aviation company wins the most passengers and airline business. The open common logic is that when you take away the aviation industry services from the tourism sector, then tourism performance would emphatically fall. Likewise when you take way the tourism activities from the aviation industry, there would be no more numbers of tourist passengers for the aviation industry to transport hence the industrys business would fall. This explains the mutual relationship between the Tourism and Aviation industries. It is characteristically common for most countries with poor aviation industries to have a subsequent poor tourism industry. Since the UK government realizes the economic importance of tourism and that tourism must be integrated into important unit of the economy (Simoni Mihai 2012); they have resorted to strengthening their aviation sector through the expansion of airports such as Heathrow at the heart of the nations economic hub, that is, the city of London. Challenges of the Aviation Industry on Tourism The contribution of aviation industry to sustainable tourism faces numerous challenges from the ever changing world. The current world political events ranging from the brexit vote in the UK, to fierce competition among the global aviation industries and terrorism as an emerging security issue in the contemporary world, are all genuine problems that have negatively impacted badly on the aviation industry, leading to decline of the tourism sector. Tourism is dependent on various environmental aspects and altering one would be felt across the industry (Spanou 2007). The recent brexit vote conducted in the UK to exit the European Union has also impacted negatively on both aviation and tourism industries. The reaction to the shock results and decision of the British citizens to leave their European counterparts was a less received idea across the world. There was an immediate reaction from across the globe causing the British sterling pound to fall in strength dramatically. This meant that the most businesses in the country were affected by the political events and the aviation industry together with the tourism industry too suffered. Lastly, terrorism, a big security menace has ruined many peoples lives across the world affecting business and tourist activities; leaving many in the trauma and battered (Baker 2014); (Bobbitt 2008). Terrorism is an international problem which affects international tourism. The emergence of the Islamic State in the Middle East has spread immensely to other parts of the world including Europe and the UK. The global security is being tested by the emergence of the sophisticated tourist antics including suicide bombing of innocent people. Nowadays, planes being hijacked mid-air or disappearances are not something new. The aviation industry has been hit hard by terrorist acts across the globe and the number of tourists has considerably reduced as less people are willing to take a gamble in an open sea of uncertainty in the name of enjoyment. Conclusion The aviation industry has immensely contributed to the growth and expansion of tourism industry. This in turn has facilitated economic expansion benefiting the countries national GDP, and creation of employment. The London city, one the most visited cities in the world has a robust tourism and hospitality sector, aided by equally robust aviation industry within the country. Heathrow airport in London contributes by facilitating visits both within and outside the UK and London. With the aviation and tourism industries both being important players in creation of employment and generation of revenue, they have also faced challenges ranging from political to terrorism, but recovery is always never an option, it is mandatory (Coshall 2003). From this comprehensive report about the contribution of the aviation sector to the tourism, there are two main recommendations for the aviation and tourism players that they can properly utilize for future improvement: Diversifying the tourism industry and aviation sector to other cities will enhance a variety of tourist activities and aviation growth. Over concentrating too much on one city such as London as the centre of every aviation and tourism and hospitality activities would deprive other cities a chance to grow and diversification of economic activities. As the rise of the global security problems persists through terrorism, the UK government should prioritize tight security in the aviation and tourism sector in order to realize the goal of having a sustainable tourism industry. References Alsolami, HA, Guan, KT, Leong, YC, Abdullah, AR Md. NurulIslam, G 2015, 'Transformation of Airport Industries: A Fresh Review of Global Changes ', International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management , vol III, no. 8, pp. 492-503. Ashley, C, De Brine, P, Lehr, A Wilde, H, 'The Role of The Tourism In Expanding Economic Opportunity', Economic Opportunity Series, pp. 1-56. Baker, DMA 2014, 'The Effects of Terrorism on the Travel and Tourism Industry ', International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, vol 2, no. 1, pp. 58-67. Bel, G Fageda, X, 'Aiport Management And Airline Competition In OECD Countries', University of Barcelona and Harvard University, Cambridge (MA). Blake, A 2005, The Economic Impact of the London 2012 Olympics , Christel DeHaan Tourism and Travel Research Institute , Nottingham NG8 1BB. Bobbitt, P 2008, Terror and Consent, Allen Lane. Boon, B, Davidson, M, Faber, J, Nelissen, D van de Vreede, G 2008, 'The economics of Heathrow expansion ', Final Report, CE Delft, , Delft. Cheng, LY, 'Does the economic case favour a new airport runway at Heathrow, Gatwick or elsewhere? ', Essay, Westminster School. Coshall, JT 2003, 'The threat of terrorism as an intervention on international travel flows', Journal of Travel Research, vol 1, no. 42, pp. 4-12. Heathrow, 'A Focus on The Economy: Towards a sustainable Heathrow ', Business Report. Kamarudin, RF 2015, 'Managing Customer Expectation for Passenger Service at Airport ', Managing Customer Expectation For Passenger Service at Airport , pp. 1-17. Kozak, M Kozak, N 2011, 'Sustainability of Tourism: Cultural and Environmental Perspectives', The Kelvingrove Review , no. 11, pp. 1-3. London Partners 2015, 'The Impact Of Event Tourism On London's Economy'. Oxford Economic Forecasting 2006, 'The Economic Contribution of the Aviation Industry in the UK ', Business Report, 121, St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1HB , Oxford. Oxford Economics 2015, 'The economic contribution of the UK hospitality industry ', Buisness Report, British Hospitality Association. Perovic, J 2013, 'The Economic Benefits of Aviation and Performance in the Travel Tourism Competitiveness Index', The Travel Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 , pp. 57-68. Regeneris Consulting 2013, 'London Heathrow Economic Impact Study ', Business Report. Simoni, S Mihai, D 2012, 'Tourism Organization and Coordination in Australia and the Managerial Strategy for Tourism Development', Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology, no. 5. Spanou, E 2007, 'The Impact of Tourism on the Sociocultural Structure of Cyprus', Tourismos: an International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, vol 2, no. 1, pp. 145-162. Stop Stansted Expansion 2012, 'Aviation, Jobs and The UK Economy '. UK Tourism Statistics 2015, 'Tourism: Proven Potential to Generate More Exports, Jobs and GVA ', Business Report, Tourism Alliance. Wong, YH Choong, D 2014, Aircraft noise linked to higher rates of heart disease and stroke near Heathrow. Zaei, ME Zaei, ME 2013, 'The Impacts Of Tourism Industry On Host Community ', European Journal of Tourism Hospitality and Research , vol I, no. 2, pp. 12-21.