FUNDAMENTALS OF TOURISM, LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY

TLH 112

INDIVIDUAL ESSAY

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 Introduction

The origin of tourism and hospitality was developed back in the 17th Century where young
people visited Western and Northern European countries and stated it as ‘Grand Tour’.
However, the main purpose of ‘Grand Tour’ was to understand different cultures, history
and arts (europeana.eu, 2022). From the modern world’s perspective tourism, leisure and
hospitality is based on two major fundamental perspectives such as travelling for pleasure
and businesses or services for travel. The major concepts of leisure are regarding different
events such as sports, concerts or others and hospitality is mainly associated with hotels,
restaurants and bars. Tourism concept is associated with several international or domestic
travel that includes sightseeing as well as local attractions. Nowadays, market trends are
affecting the tourism industry as well as the hospitality and leisure sectors which are
developed by technology or choices of audience (Lim et al. 2019). Similarly, the industries
have faced major issues in the world as rising environmental concerns and the Covid-19
pandemic have developed major issues in these sectors. As a result economic downfall is
noticed among several companies in the world which affected the tourism industry and its
associated sub-sectors. As stated by Wang et al. (2018), over a few decades an increase in
disposable incomes has been noticed around the tourism industry which led to higher
expectations in tourism and travel.

Main Body

Historical Developments Contributed in Formation of Tourism Industry

As previously mentioned the concept of tourism has been developed from the 17th Century
as young nobles conducted trips around Europe. The main areas for covering were Greece,
Germany, France and Italy to understand its history and cultures. Similarly, British
Aristocracy had travelled in the 18th Century as the Journey of David Livingstone to Africa in
the 19th Century had developed early tourism in the world (Rogerson and Rogerson, 2019).
Thomas Cook had founded different inclusive tours by using chartered trains in 1841 which
was intended to transport tourists to Leicester from Loughborough. However, before the
1950s tourism was mainly considered as intercontinental tours across Europe within
different countries (Bianchi and de Man, 2021). Therefore, trends have been developed over

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the upcoming years as disposable financials, increased leisure time as well as changes in
social attitudes have influenced changes in tourism (Wang et al. 2018). Nowadays, an
emergence concept is developed among the tourism industry which is associated with
transport, accommodations and other related services. Package programs are now
introduced in the tourism sector due to maintenance of price range and selling all services
at a range price to the customers.

Current Trends in the Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure Industry

There are several trends in the hospitality and leisure industry which are influenced by
several factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, technological development and sustainable
practices. Firstly, hygiene and safety are the major trends in the sector which is broadly
described due to the emergence of Covid-19 (Gutkevych and Haba, 2020). The trend is a
major priority for hotels and restaurants in 2022 and achieved by cleaning areas randomly,
using sanitizers and social distancing while sitting. Furthermore, the rise of contactless
payments is also influenced in 2022 which is important for avoiding any contacts
(revfine.com, 2022). Technology has played a major role in contactless payments and
perspectives such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and others have been introduced to the tourism
and leisure industry (da Mota and Pickering, 2020). Similarly, voice search and voice control
have been a major trend in the market which are useful for customers to use their phones
to search over nearby places, hotels or restaurants. Technology has enhanced adoption of
robots in several hotels which are developed by replacing the human workforce (Ryan,
2018). Introduction of robotics has influenced works such as cleaning and other
housekeeping works which is saving time and finances in the hospitality and leisure industry.

Customer services are important in the tourism and leisure industry and providing 24/7
customer support helps in developing a positive impression of the company. Therefore,
several companies are using chatbots nowadays, which is linked to the customer services
section in the industry (Ianioglo and Rissanen, 2020). It is necessary to deliver proper
answers to the queries from the customers whether human services are not available. It is
providing first contact resolutions to the companies which is essential to increase customer
attractions to the industry. Technology is playing crucial roles in the tourism industry and
perspectives such as Virtual Reality tours and Automation are adopted in the tourism

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industry (Pellešová, 2020). The trend is effective for providing virtual experiences of how
their hotels or surroundings would look like on comfort from their home. It is essential for
developing positive experiences for the people to reach a positive purchase decision in the
tourism sector.

Mobile check-in services are also a major trend in the tourism industry as it is intended to
reduce face-to-face contacts. The concept has been important in the post-Covid-19 scenario
and has become a major part of the industry. Another trend in recent days is to enjoy the
local experiences in tourist spots as people want to experience different experiences from
different places (da Mota and Pickering, 2020). The trend is influencing demands and
interests in the tourism industry which is necessary to provide more authentic guest
experiences (Park et al. 2019). Environmental perspectives have influenced healthy as well
as organic food and drinks which is changing the hospitality industry. Previously, it was
associated with fast food chains and sugary alcohol-based drinks which are now changing
due to cultural shifts and leading towards more healthy eating trends (revfine.com, 2022).

Sustainability Agenda and Environmental Concerns

Sustainability agenda is the most important perspective in the modern world’s tourism
development which is intended to reduce the environmental impacts caused in tourism
destinations (Dunets et al. 2019). The trend is developed due to the protection of natural
environment settings, wildlife as well as natural sources during management and
development of tourism activities (Streimikiene et al. 2021). The main intention is to provide
solutions regarding the issues associated with inclusive growth in the tourism industry which
is maintained by increasing access to information. Hernández-Mogollón et al. (2018) opined
that it helped in enlarging interests towards heritage sites and cultural perspectives which is
developed through accessibility towards climate change and other global environmental
concerns.

For instance, a proper example could be given from the Maya Bay, Thailand as the tourist
spot was famous and further destroyed due to improper maintenance of the environmental
perspectives (edition.cnn.com, 2022). Tourism from the beach contributed to 20% of
Thailand’s GDP however, the marine life of the area has been damaged due to pollution and

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the government has to close the tourist spot immediately to recover the natural damages
(edition.cnn.com, 2022). Over 7000 visitors have visited the place on a regular basis which
has damaged its surrounding ecosystem (edition.cnn.com, 2022). Nowadays, the spot is
completely removed from tourist locations in Thailand. Lessons learned from this
perspective could be stated as the importance of sustainability agenda in tourism.

Sustainability agenda could be stated as an important criterion in tourism which is useful for
providing socio-economic benefits to a tourist location. Similarly, communities living in the
location are also dependable upon the environmental aspects such as water and fishery
(Arrobas et al. 2020). Conserving the cultural heritages as well as development of authentic
tourist experiences are associated with sustainable agendas that create more inclusive as
well as accessible tourism opportunities (Demeter et al. 2022). Sustainable practices are
now being used for attracting customers as it helps them to understand the environmental
responsibilities in order to protect the environment.

Arguably, right leadership is required in this stage to provide opportunities to the hospitality
and travel industries for adopting sustainable practices. Sustainability-minded industries
could be useful for increasing efficiency as well as could attract a growing number of
consumers looking for green and socially responsible services (Hall, 2019). Pursuing
environmental perspectives decides the success in the industries and helps in maintaining
success by protecting the environment. Mainly the environmental and cultural aspects
attract tourists towards a location and could be mentioned as the major drivers for further
growth and development (Jaremen et al. 2019). Several environmental perspectives such as
conservation of energy, reduction in waste and organic amenities usage could be stated as
the main approaches associated within the industries. Many customers consider these as
moral imperatives which help in enlightening issues such as climate changes in the tourism
sector. Therefore, tourism and leisure companies are now focused on promoting green
businesses and the concepts of recycling have been placed (Mihalic, 2020). Similarly,
innovative and eco-friendly technologies are now being introduced to the sectors which are
beneficial for promoting sustainable agendas in the tourism sector.

Pre and Post Pandemic Employment in Tourism and Hospitality

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It can be said that previously, the tourism industry was associated with many employment
opportunities and many major companies were thriving businesses at rapid rate. It also
facilitated the tourists to stay and travel into several locations (Winchenbach et al. 2019). It
developed employment opportunities by increased sales in the hotel industry and number
of guides have been increased to provide information to the tourists by generating
employment (Robinson et al. 2019). The main subsectors associated previously with the
tourism sector are travel, hospitality and entertainment which had developed massive
recruitment criteria among a tourist spot varying on level of education, skills and
qualifications.

The tourism industry could be mentioned as a labour intensive industry previously which
generated a greater proportion of disposable incomes and provided economic benefits by
developing job opportunities. However, nowadays the Covid-19 pandemic and rise of
technological perspectives are reducing the job opportunities in the tourism industry
(Williams, 2021). The pre-pandemic and post-pandemic scenarios are different in the
tourism industry as in the post-pandemic world the employment opportunities are reduced.
Previously employment opportunities were developed in restaurants, guides as well as
construction and infrastructure development in a location (Sokhanvar et al. 2018). However,
the global epidemic in 2020 has contributed negatively and several restaurant chains are
closed. Rising habits of healthy eating and green lifestyle have completely changed the
scenario in the tourism industry and it affected the employment rate in the tourism
industry.

The major consequences on employment in tourism are reduction in airline staffing,

reduction in travel and transport agencies’ staffing (Robinson et al. 2019). Similarly, many
employees face wage reduction and have to cut down the wages to support organisations.
Many employees were forced to take paid or unpaid leaves or companies simply let them go
due to poor financial conditions (Trusova et al. 2020). Therefore, the diversified
employment opportunities developed previously were shattered in different sectors which
have also affected industrial operations. It can be said that operations such as supply chain
management, travel and transport, management of workforce, customer departures and
accommodations arrangements are completely disrupted due to lack of presence of the
employees in the workplace in the tourism industry (Williams, 2021). Many companies were

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forced to close or reduce these operations during the post-pandemic world until the
workforce got pace.

Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic is the main reason for complete shutdown of tourism sectors and
impacted negatively on the industry. The health pandemic has affected businesses around
the world as mostly economic impacts have been developed in the tourism industry. A
massive decline is noticed in this stage which affects traditional employment as one of the
major consequences of this perspective is over-dependency (Gretzel et al. 2020). Previously
the tourism industry was considered as the third-largest industry in the world and
contributed 7% in global trades in 2019 (Baum and Hai, 2020). Similarly, the industry
represents overall 20% of the country’s GDP and is stated as the third-largest sector in the
global economy. Impacts on the economy and livelihoods are developed based on the
tourism perspectives however, the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in lockdown situations in
several countries.

Tourism is the main sector affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as several countries have put
restrictions on travel and international flights. All the transportation methods were
completely shut down due to widespread of the Covid-19 pandemic (Gretzel et al. 2020).
The tourism sector has impacted on the economies as well as livelihoods in public services
which decreased opportunities in tourism for all countries. The export revenue has fallen to
$910 Billion in 2020 which led to a decline of the global GDP by 1.5%-2.8% (Duro et al.
2021). The major impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic were noticed among the developing
countries in the world as well as its surrounding economies. Firstly, the employment rate
decreased massively which put more than 100 million jobs in the tourism industry at risk as
well as its associated sub sectors (Škare et al. 2021). The least developed countries in
continents like Africa have the hardest hit as the continent is mostly reliable on tourism.

As poor conditions due to the epidemic forced governments in different countries to enable
movement restrictions both domestically and internationally. However, these movement
restrictions reduced visits to different tourist locations and helped in growing biodiversity in
several locations. Similarly, the post pandemic era has affected several perspectives in the

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tourism industry such as demand and supply, consumer behaviours and industrial
operations (Gretzel et al. 2020). Factors such as psychological, seasonal, international and
climatic have affected the demands and supplies in the tourism industry. Mainly rising
demands from eco-friendly products and services in the tourism industry have influenced
changes in the global market. The prices for determining a proper service or product have
been amended based on the losses faced due to the pandemic (Duro et al. 2021). As a
result, prices of the services or products have been increased in several countries to cover
up financial losses. However, many major economies in the world such as the US are
conversely decreasing the prices to increase demands in the tourism sector (unwto.org,
2022).

Consumer demands have been shifted due to major financial losses and due to increased
health concerns. Customers are focused on spending on basic needs rather than focusing on
luxurious products as people are less likely to spend on tourism and focused on daily needs.
It could be stated as the result of post pandemic influence. As a result, the tourist arrival has
fallen more than 65% in the world in the post pandemic era (Baum and Hai, 2020). The
tourism industry is now leveraging technological aspects to increase tourists’ visit to
different locations. Development of remote workforce is the main concept developed in the
tourism industry. Flexible communication technologies are now being used to communicate
with the workforce (Labanauskaitė et al. 2020). Similarly, a contactless way of working is
developed among the companies which is influenced to reduce the impacts of the pandemic
in the industries. Different companies are switching to robotics to avoid human contacts and
including chatbots to develop uninterrupted customer services (unwto.org, 2022). Industries
are focusing on reducing human workloads and optimising work processes to overcome
financial issues developed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and strengthening the industry
properly.

Conclusion

In conclusion it can be said that factors such as environmental sustainability, employment

and health pandemics have major impacts on the tourism industry. Therefore, proper
environmental standards and processes are required to be adopted in the tourism industry
which would be useful for improving the present scenario and helping the industry to grow

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further by protecting environmental aspects. Similarly, improving opportunities in
employment would be necessary for the tourism industry to improve economic aspects and
surroundings of a tourist place. Enhanced demands and supplies in the post pandemic era
and tracking new consumer behaviours would be suitable for tourism industries to diverse
their product offerings and it can help them to restore the economic consequences faced by
the Covid-19 pandemic.

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