AVIATION & TOURISM

Aviation & Tourism

Transport is an essential element of tourism, providing a vital link between the tourist-generating areas and destinations. Good accessibility, which is determined by the transport services provided, is a fundamental condition for the development of any tourist destination. Moreover, the transport industry can be a major beneficiary of tourism because of the additional passenger demand that may be generated.

Despite the obvious closeness between the aviation and tourism industries, there are very few specialist texts on this subject. Most tourism-focused books consider aviation as just one component of the tourism industry that needs to be discussed, whereas aviation specialist texts rarely concentrate on just leisure travel. In addition, there is very little literature that gives a detailed appreciation of the complexities and potential conflicts associated with the development of coherent and effective aviation and tourism policies. Therefore this book aims to fill this important gap which exists with a comprehensive, in-depth study of the relationship between aviation and leisure travel.

What is the significance of the tourism industry in the 21st century?

Tourism is a complex social, cultural, and economic phenomenon and one of the most significant global phenomena, not to say the world’s largest industry as many claim.

We are increasingly mobile in the 21st century, making more and more trips. Our lives are defined by these trips. Tourism in its many different guises is central to our experience as human beings – you can’t get away from it. The Olympics, climate change, poverty alleviation, sustainable development, place promotion, and investment – all hot topics related to tourism in one way or another. You simply can’t understand the world today without understanding tourism.

What are the sorts of business skills that are relevant to the development and management of tourism?

Fundamentally the ability to embrace change is the key skill. September 11th, Foot and Mouth Disease, SARS, bird flu, the Tsunami – over the last few years, the global tourism industry has been plagued by crises and disasters. As we teach our students, change has been the only real ‘constant’, if you like. How you deal with changing circumstances will define whether you are a success or a failure in the tourism industry, but these skills are essential in any business area.

What is the importance of the ‘policy’ element in tourism?

Policy is central to tourism. It’s a word everyone likes to use but no one likes to define. There are two sorts of policies relevant to the industry: Tourism policy and policy about tourism. Important issues surrounding the future of tourism include transport, immigration, education, and employment policies – they are all linked. We teach students to identify the implications of policy and adapt to them, to recognize that tourism is lurking in many other policy arenas. Cover all the policy issues and you’ll be in a better position to predict the implications for the industry.