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Summary Chapter 17 Transportation
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Summary of 'Tourism principles and practice', John Fletcher, sixth edition, Chapter 17 Transportation
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Chapter 17Transportation
Introduction
Tourism is about being elsewhere and, in consequence, the main function of transport in the tourism
system is one of transit, carrying tourists between generating regions and the tourist destination
regions. The relationship is two sided. Tourism demand is important for the financial viability of
transport operators whilst adequate transportation infrastructure offering access from generating
markets is one of the most important prerequisites for the development of a tourist destination.
Mass tourism has traditionally been developed in areas with extensive transportation networks that
have the capacity to handle additional irregular tourism-related demand in peak periods. Transport
infrastructure attracts tourism infrastructure, so at most destinations worldwide the traveller can
find hospitality and leisure facilities close to transportation terminals.
On the other hand, tourism demand has stimulated the development of transportation. As the
number of tourists requiring safe, quick and comfortable transport to destinations at a reasonable
cost increased, the transportation industry had to adjust in order to accommodate this demand.
Transport as a component of the tourist product
Transportation is an essential element of the tourist product in three ways:
the means to reach the destination;
a necessary means of movement at the destination;
in a minority of instances it is the actual tourism attraction or activity.
Transport as transit
By far the most important contribution of transport is as a means of transit between the main
tourism originating regions and the destination. This accounts for about 90% of tourist use of
transport. It is a derived demand, which is not undertaken for its own sake but merely as a means of
getting from the tourism-generating region to the tourism destination. This can produce significant
operational difficulties because the transport operator has little control over the demand for such
services. The busiest tourism routes are those which link originating regions, which display high levels
of income and leisure time, with popular tourist destinations. The future prospects and performance
of such routes are more a function of the relative affluence of the former and attractiveness of the
latter than they are of any actions taken by the transport operator.
The busiest tourism routes also tend to be shorter distances. Domestic trips exceed the number of
international trips and short-haul trips are more frequent than longer-haul trips because they require
less disposable time and income enabling more frequent consumption.
Tourism is a fragile industry and traffic flows can undergo significant change instantaneously as a
result of a natural catastrophe, conflict or political instability. Current global political instability and
terrorism are increasingly impacting on transport operators.
Not only is the size of demand outside the control of the transport operator, so too are the patterns
of demand. The derived nature of transport demand means that factors such as climate, restrictions
to vacation entitlement from work, religious festivals and the dates of school holidays all influence
when the demand for tourism transport occurs, creating peaks and troughs.
These peak periods of demand create operational problems because, like many service industries,
transport production cannot be stored, it is consumed at the point of production. Therefore to meet
demand at peak periods the transport operator has to provide extra capacity which may then be
, underutilised during the off-peak periods. If one is not careful, serving peak demand can become
unprofitable. Transport operators must take care to ensure the revenue earned exceeds the full costs
of providing the capacity, including all fixed costs, which are incurred over the whole year.
Transport operators have only limited powers to increase levels of demand or to influence patterns
of demand. Their most powerful tool is price.
Despite being a derived demand, transport for transit can be viewed as part of the leisure
experience, with the journey being an important leisure component for some categories of visitor.
The degree to which travel is part of the leisure experience has been analysed as a continuum. It is
influenced by:
the mode of transport. Some modes are intrinsically more enjoyable than others;
the personality of the tourist;
the frequency with which the tourist uses that mode;
the group with which one travels. Supervising young children will for instance add stress to
the journey.
Transport at the destination
Once at the destination, visitors make use of taxis, rental cars, scheduled bus and coach services, rail
and, dependent on the destination, even ferries. For longer-haul holidays where the country is seen
as the destination area, scheduled domestic air may be used and rail should increase in significance.
Travel in the destination area accounts for around 10% of tourist use of transport. This of course
involves tourists sharing scheduled local transport services not specifically designed for tourist use
with the local population. Sometimes this provides an ideal fit, with the two markets complementing
each other.
At other times there can be conflicts between tourist and local requirements. This can be the case for
tourist journeys from the gateway point of entrance such as an airport, port or main railway terminal
to the final destination and location of accommodation. Tourists using tube services from airports
like Heathrow can find themselves travelling towards city centres with large amounts of luggage
during the busiest commuting periods. Visitor expenditure figures illustrate the importance of
transport as an element of the tourism product. Transport at the destination can represent as much
as 15% of international visitor expenditure within a large country such as Indonesia.
Some transport operators in destination areas tailor products specifically for tourism.
Transport as a tourist attraction
Increasingly, there are instances of transport, both within and between countries, becoming an
attractive tourist product in its own right. The largest mass market is the ocean cruise industry (see
Major Case Study 17.1). Other examples include:
railway products – The Eastern & Oriental Express (South-East Asia);
sea products – day trips by ferry;
canal cruises in a narrow boat;
river cruises.
Components of the transportation system
We can identify four basic elements in any transportation system, namely:
the way;
the terminal;
the vehicle; and
motive power.
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