Chapter 4: Transportation Sector

Photo source: Bizwatchnigeria.org

Objective
At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:

 trace the evolution of transportation and travel;

 discuss the historical development of transport system;
 explain the selection of transport mode;
 discuss the role of international rait transportation;
 identify the reasons for the growth and decline of ship travel;
 explain the importance and scope of the bus/motor coach industry;
 describe the impact of private car ownership on the tourism industry;
 enumerate the dynamics of the worldwide car rental industry; and
 discuss the role of the airline industry in the development of tourism
I. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

Transportation and Travel Evolution

Clipart source: timetoast.com

Transportation and travel have undergone many changes. A review of the history of
transportation and travel shows that their evolution took seven eras. These are the:

a. Pre-Industrial Travel System Era

b. Early-Industrial Travel System Era
c. Mature-Railway System Era
d. Express-Travel System Era
e. Automobile-Based Travel System Era
f. Modern-Tourism Travel System Era
g. Post-Mobility Adjustment Era
h. Historical Development of the Transportation System

Pre-Industrial Travel System Era

 This was the period before the widespread industrialization in Europe and North
America.
 It was before the development of railways in the two continents.
 There were few common carriers.
 There were almost no regularly scheduled transportation services.
 There was little travel.
 Travelers made their own arrangement with several suppliers.
 It was the era of stage coach and the wayside inn.
 Only few people had the money and the reason to travel.

Early-Industrial Travel System Era

 Road improvements such as railways, canals, and steamship services were brought
about due to rapid industrialization and advances in transportaion technology.
  Common carriers came into existence and began to offer regularly scheduled
transportation services.
 Travel Increased because more people who had money traveled.

Mature-Railway System Era

 This era was characterized by railways which expanded their operations by running
hotels and providing other travel-related services.
 The railways began to market their services more aggressively.
 Travel agency and tour companes were formed.
 Thomas Cook, an innovator in this field during this era, began his company’s activities in
the United Kingdom in 1840.
 More people traveled in this era than in the previous one.

Express-Travel System Era

 During this era, express service increased

 Trains and other forms of transportation did not stop at every station or terminal but only
at the major ones.
 This increased the speed of travel and encouraged more travel than before.

Automobile-Based Travel System Era

 This influence of the privately owned automobile was enhanced in North America and
Europe from the 1920s onward.
 Car ownership boomed in North America.
 Motorways, interstate highways, and other trunk highways were developed in the latter
half of this era which was from 1920 to 1974.
 The automobile was predominant over other travel modes from 1920 to 1945.

Modern-Tourism Travel System Era

 The period from 1945 to 1974 is known as the modern-tourism travel system era. Car
ownership continued to grow at a fast rate, mainly at the expense of long-distance rail
travel.
 Mass air travel was another post-World War II occurrence.
 The introduction of wide-bodied jets in 1970 greatly increased air travel.
 Travel ‘’mass tourism’’ philosophy and marketing approaches were prevalent during the
1950s and 1960s.

Historical Development of the Transport System

  The desire to travel is stimulated with the improvement in transportation.
 Before World War I, it took seven days for travelers to go from coast to coast by steam
locomotive.
 By 1950, travelers could complete the journey in two and half days by train.
 In 1938, and airline with the speed of 400 miles an hour made possible nonstop coast-
to-coast flight of less than eight hours.
 In 1950, travel time from coast to coast was lessened to hour hours.
 At present, the Concorde can make a fligh in two and a half hours.
The table provided below shows the historical development of the transport system

Historical Development of the Transport System

Year Mode of Transport Speed (miles per

hour)
6000 BC Caramel caravan 8

1600 BC Chariot 20

AD 1784 First Enlish mail coach 10

1825 First steam locomotive 13

1890 Improved steam locomotive 100

1938 Land speed record 350

(Napier-Railton car:John Cobb)

1952 United States Liner from New York to Le Harve 41

1958 Jet fighter craft 1,300

1956 Boeing 707 and DC-8 aircraft 600

1961 Spaceship (Vostok 1 orbiting) 17, 560

1967 Rocket plane 4, 534

1970 Fighter bomber (Mirage IV) 1,450

1970 Commercial aircraft: Concorde 1, 320

1970 Boeing 747 626

 The development in transportation has made the world a smaller place. It is now
possible to take one to two weeks of vacation in distance places like Europe, the United States,
the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America. Now, travelers can go to any place in the world due
to fast and efficient means of transportation.

Selection of Transportation Mode

There are many reasons why people select one transportation mode over another for
their business and pleasure trips. The most common reason are cost, travelling time, safety,
convenience, comfort, availability, frequency of trips, ground services, terminal facilities and
locations, status and prestige, and departure and arrival times. People belonging to different
travel segments have different value perception. For example, the time spent in traveling as well
as departure and arrival times are very important to the business traveler while the cost of the
trip is the traveler’s primary consideration.

Travel by Train

Several attempts have been made to

determine why travelers select the train as a
transportation mode. Four evident factors are:
cost/price, comfort, safety, and the ability to see the
area where the train is passing. VIA Rail’s onboard
surveys of business travelers have identified user cost,
convenience, travel time, and comfort as of primary
importance.

Photo source: Travellandleisure.com

A surver of Amtrak passengers showed that travelers favored the train for the following
reasons:

1. Safety;
2. Ability to look out of the train and see the interesting en route;
3. Ability to get up and walk around;
4. Arriving at the destination rested and relaxed; and
5. Personal Comfort.
Travel by Ship/ Cruise Ship
Photo source: Pinterest.com

Cruises are more of a vacation

experience than a transportation mode. The
romance of cruising had been strongly
promoted and was aided very much by the
popular television program, Love Boat.
Cruises are divided into three typed
depending on the duration of the trips. Short
cruises are one week or less, intermediate
long cruises last one to four weeks, and long
cruises go around the world and take one to three months.

A cruise ship is both a floating hotel and resort because the guests are housed, fed, and
entertained. Food is offered throughout the day from seven-course meals to themed-event
dinners. Cruise ships also provided almost continuos entertainment which include charm
classes, language lessons, dance classes, bridge, table tennis, aerobics, jogging, and
shuffleboard. Many ships now have fully-equipped gyms, health, spas, and an athletic
counselor.

Cruises are promoted and sold on the basis of health, recreation, and pleasure. Theme
cruises are popular such as culinary cruises, historic voyages to less-known places, stock
market seminars, movie festivals, music festivals, as well as cruises deveoted to art, golf,
astrology, tennis, photography, and beauty counselling.

Younger people prefer the three-to seven-day cruises. Older people take cruises of
seven days or less. The elderly usually join the round-the-world cruise. Cruise passengers tend
to be repeat customers. Once they experience a cruise, they begin planning for the next. Like
destination resorts, cruise lines have successfully developed their own loyal repeat clienteles
with an average of 30 to 40% of the total passenger.

Travel by Automobile

The introduction of the automobile brought about the decline of the train’s popularity in
most developed countries. The advent of the automible spread the benefits of tourism more
widely and enabled people to travel individually or in private smaller groups. The automobile
brought about a more random pattern of travel movements, opened up new destinations, and
hastened the development of elaborate networks of automobile-oriented facilities and services
along highways and roads.

Photo source: MountainViewTire.com

Traveling by automobile is now the

chief travel mode in North America. Many
travel surveys have shown that automobile trips comprise 90% or more of the pleasure/personal
and business trips of Canadians and Americans. Survey show that the automobile is the most
popular mode of vacation travel because it provides travelers greater freedom in the choice of
route, destination, and timing of the journey. Family auto travel is also the most inexpensive and
convenient form of travel in the United States.

Travel by Air

As the airline industry grew, the travel industry depended on it more. Cruise lines, rental
car companies, airport hotels, and ground transportation operators depended on the airline
industry to generate the bulk of the business. Executive business travel and international
tourism are dependent on it. The impetus of air travel to people traveling on business is its time-
saving advantage; for the pleasure travel, it is the affordable price that has the greatest impact.

The factors associated with the recent

boom in air travel include the world economy,
rising standard of living, and the quality of air
service. Growth in the airlines has been at an
annual rate of 5% since 1959.

Photo source: Theconversation.com

Airline Regulations

Photo source: en.wikipedia.org

International tourism requires a system of

international air transportation. This system requires
negotiations among nations and carriers in the form of
bilateral agreements. Overflight privileges must be
obtained from all nations over which an airline will cross
durng international flights. Airlines are or may be
assessed overnight charges for the privilege of flying
over other nations including countries which do not
have formal diplomatic relations with each other like
Cuba and the United States. Lending rights, fuel purchase agreements, maintenance
provisions, and other considerations require bilateral negotiation.
 The Chicago Convention marked the beginning of continuos dialogue about various
freedoms of air but was not succesful in establishing a multilateral system of commercial
aviations rights. The Bermuda Afreement established the first worldwide model for future
bilateral agreements regarding the exercise of the eight freedoms of the air:

1. First Freedom: The right of an airline to overfly one country to get to another;

2. Second Freedom: The right of an airline to land in another country for technical stopover
(fuel, maintenance, etc.) but does not pick up or drop off traffic;

3. Third Freedom: The right of an airline, registered in country X, to drop off traffic from country
X to country Y;

4. Fourth Freedom: The right of an airline, registered in country X, to carry traffic back to country
X from country Y;

5. Fifth Freedom: The right of an airline, registered in country X, to collect traffic in country Y
and fly on to country Z, so long as the flight either originates or terminate in country X;

6. Sixth Freedom: The right of an airline registered in country X, to carry traffic to a gateway – a
point in country X – and then abroad. The traffic has neither its origin nor ultimate destination in
country X;

7. Seventh Freedom: The right of an airline, registered in country X, to operate entirely outside
of country X in carrying traffic between two other countries; and

8. Eight Freedom: The right of an airline, registered in country X, to carry between any two
points in the same foreign country; also known cabotage.
II. SUMMARY

The evolution of transportation and travel took place in seven groups, namely; the pre-
industrial travel system era, the early-industrial travel system era, the mature-railway system
era, the express-travel system era, the automobile-based trave; system era, the modern-tourism
travel system, and the post-mobilty adjustment period.

The improvement in transportation encouraged the desire to travel. The developments

transportation had a very powerful effect on tourism. They have made the world a much smaller
place. At present, fast and efficient means of transportation can bring travelers to any place in
the world.

The mode of transportation chosen depends on several factors, namely: cost time spent
in traveling, safety, convenience, comfort, availability, frequency of trips, ground services,
terminal facilities and location, status and prestige, and departure and arrival times. According
to Sheth’s theory, travelers choose a travel mode based on their psychological weighing of five
factors. These are the functional, aesthetic/emotional, social/organization, situational, and
curiosity.

In terms of transportation, trains encouraged travel with United States, Canada, and
Europe in the 19th and the early 20th centuries. However, travel by ship became prominent in the
middle of the 19th century. Eventually, the introduction of automobile resulted in the decline of
the popularity of the train in several developed countries.

Bus or motor coach travel is the most economical form of transportation in terms of fuel
costs; but for long distances, it still has the disadvantages of being time-consuming compared to
air transportation. The bus provides intercity passenger transportation services as well as
charger and tour services.

The airplane has taken over as the major international and intercontinental
transportation mode in the post-World War II era. It also predominated among the common
carriers in domestic transportation in the United States and Canada. It is a very important mode
for the business traveler because of its time-saving aspects. Charter flights, since their
introduction, have become increasingly significant as vacation travel modes, particularly in
Europe.