Brief Summary
The tourism market has been one of the most successful service markets in the world. This is based in terms of foreign exchange and revenue and earnings (Alan and Garrod, 2005). Various countries benefit from this kind of market. The tourism industry creates about forty percent of the total employment slots in most countries. The market is driven by various phenomena with social relations playing quite an important role.
The market has one of the fastest growth rates in the world. Allan and Garrod (2005) insist that it generates about 9.4 percent of the total gross domestic product globally. This keeps increasing by about 0.3 percent every year. One of the largest tourism markets is in Africa with the total number of tourists amounting to 682 million by the year 2004 (Alan and Garrod, 2005). Even though it is affected by the recession; the market has been in a position to show tremendous recovery.
Trends impacting the market
Just like any other market, tourism keeps fluctuating depending on various aspects. The market has shown changes in the recent years. It is said that the most recent peak of the market productivity was in the year 2008 (Ronald and Martin, 2012). The tourism market has seen significant changes meant to have several effects in the future. First, most countries have democratised travelling by minimising the requirements for tourists (Chris, 2005). This fact alone acts as a strong motivator for the choice of tourist destination for most travellers. As such, the market is increasing in size.
The burgeoning share of the market is led by the African continent where the market has been growing at an all time high rate of 0.8 percent. However, there has been a dramatic change of this owing to the political problems in most African countries. Natural disasters and human made influences affect this market quite substantially.”
Availability of Resources
Using the yardstick of tourist attraction resources, Africa is among the leading continents. This can be measured using the cultural factors. Africa prides itself in the rich and vast resources from all perimeters. Furthermore, thousands of tribes make up this lovely continent. This diversity in culture incorporated with the tourist attraction sites has been the fuelling factor that has led to the growth of this industry. In his research, Chris (2005) reveals that most travellers prefer going to a country with a rich culture and thousand of tourist attraction sites. This is another factor that affects this market (Knowles, Diamantis & Joudallah, 2004).
Protection of Tourist Attraction Sites
With the increase in population, most countries experienced pressure on the minimal resources. Consequently, most of the tourist attraction sites became redundant. This impacted the market negatively. In Asia and Australia, the reduction in the number of tourists has been attributed to this fact. For example; in Asia, people started fishing endangered species for food. Some plants and animals became extinct. This is what caused the reduction of revenues from tourism activities in 1998 in Asia (Roland and Martin, 2012).
In order to curb this problem, most of the countries invested in a variety of ways to ensure that the animals are protected, and human beings are educated on their importance. All efforts are aimed towards creating an amicable relationship where both human beings and animals live together. This strategy has proven to be effective and tremendous improvements in the tourism industry has been realised. For instance; it is estimated that this kind of strategy has ensured that most countries saved about 30 percent of the total foreign revenue. In the process of doing this, the countries also invest in advertising their tourism potentialities (Knowles, Diamantis & Joudallah, 2004).
Natural and Man Made Disasters
The trends of the tourism market are affected by problems caused by human beings. These include disasters like war, terrorism and general lack of insecurity. For instance; most countries reported a loss in the tourism market during the recent bombings in South Africa and the United States of America. Insecurity and civil war in Egypt reported the same case scenario. For instance; in the year 2003, Egypt was earning around 50 billion American dollars courtesy of the tourism market (Donald, 2004). However, with the recent appraisals, caused by political strife had a negative effect on the tourism market. The country is said to have lost almost 100 percent of the total revenue earned from tourism.
Natural disasters have acted as an impediment to the growth of this market in most regions. These include; tsunamis, earthquakes, floods and even drought. Furthermore, biological disasters such as diseases and outbreaks compounds to this problem. A good example is the outbreak of the swine flu which is known to have caused a significant reduction of tourists in Asia. It is estimated that most countries in Asia lost about 653 billion in revenue in one year alone (Donald, 2004).
Travel Companies Catering to the Tourism Market
Travel companies invest a lot into the tourism market. They also reap the same amounts from this fast growing market. Some of the renowned travel companies catering for this industry include; Austin- Lehman adventures, Deeper Africa Travel Agency and Southern Explosions. These travel companies are known to employ both conventional and technological savvy for easy reach by clients. They arrange various trips for the client ensuring that a client gets the experience of a lifetime.
Associations Dedicated to the Tourism market
Many associations are involved in this market due to its high potentials. Most of the associations are controlled under the ministries of tourism in the world. The associations are involved in tracking the market trends, identification of any problems and also unearthing ways of alleviating potential and current problems in this market (Roland and Martin, 2012). The associations also play a major role in education of the public on tourist resource. They ensure that the market and consumer are protected from interference by greedy and unscrupulous businessmen.
One of the most recent associations involved in the tourism market is the International Federation of Information Technology and Tourism. Other associations are inclusive of; Open Travel Alliance, Travel and Tourism Research Association, World Tourism Association and World Travel and Tourism Council.
Media Dedicated to the Tourism Market
Currently, all forms of media are involved in the tourism market. The most influential one is the social media. Most countries utilise this avenue for purposes of advertising. Other forms of media used by the tourism market include; audio such as radio, audio visual such as television, written media through newspapers and electronic media or internet (Roland and Martin, 2012). All these forms of media are used as communication channels. They are avenues viewed as a way of increasing the market value.
References
Alan, F., & Garrod, B. (2005). Tourism Marketing: A collaborative approach. New York: Channel View Publications.
Chris, C. (2005). Tourism: Principles and practice. Chicago: Pearson Education.
Donald, L. (2004). Tourism economics. New York: Cengage Learning.
Knowles, T., Diamantis, D & Joudallah, B. (2004). The globalisation of tourism and hospitality: A strategic perspective. New York: Cengage Learning.
Roland, C., & Martin, B. (2012). Trends and issues in global tourism 2012. New York: Springer Publishers.
