Reflections on the Tourism industry in the UK
Tom Du
As we all know, the first travel agency in the world was opened in
UK in 1840. The tourism industry has grown to become the fifth
pillar industry in the UK. In 2008 there were approximately 32
million visitors to come to Britain for sightseeing, economic value
of 114 billion pounds. More than 2 million people engaged in
relevant work.
During last five months when we studied and lived in UK, there
are so many beautiful scenes which deeply impressed us. Such as
Giant’s causeway, lake district, Cotswolds and so on. All of them
are so fantastic, so amazing. We have experienced a lot during
the trips, and there are a lot of reflections for us to develop
tourism industry of China, especially in 2010, shanghai will host
the world EXPO, it is very useful for us.
What I would like to say today are some stories I experienced
during our trips, maybe some of them are not typical, and even
stupid, anyway, I enjoyed it. My presentation is divided into three
parts:
Part one, the advantages of tourism industry in UK
1，the credit system is very strong.
When I booked rooms or rented cars, what I need to do is to
show my credit card and all the things can be done online. When I
check out a room, just put the key on the reception, when I
checked in a car, I remembered it was bank holiday that day, one
guy told me just throw the key in the box. At first, I am afraid if
the internet is safe or not, and also our credit card don’t need
input password in UK, but now, I don’t worry about it any more.
2，Public transportation is very convenient
On most time, the public transportation is very convenient. When
we went to northern Ireland in February, we took trains from
Coventry to London Euston in the morning, and then transfer to
take underground to Victoria, after that we took trains to
Gatwick, and flew to Belfast, take bus to city center, take trains
to a castle by the sea and returned to city center to take another
train to Portrush. All these thing happened in one day, it is
possible to buy tickets online, check in online, so we benefited
from the public transport a lot.
3，Information system is very complete
There are a lot of websites, brochures, wired and wireless
networks to provide us useful information. And once we reached
someplace, the first thing was to visit information centre to ask
route , timetable of bus or train and what attractions there are,
it is really very convenient.
4，Tourism resources are very abundant
According to Public Service Agreement, the following are involved
in tourism industry:
1
A、the hotel and other visitors shelter, B@B, youth hostle, barn,
unkhouse, cottage, farmhouse, tent, caravan and so on.
B、restaurants (Indian、Chinese、Thai、Italy、France besides local
one), and cafes.
C、\bar, public theater and nightclubs (61000 bars in UK)
D、\travel agent, obviously it is.
E、\exhibitions, pleasances, festivals.
F、\museums, preserved historical sites and buildings, galleries
G、\sports activities, such as football, rugby, golf, tennis, cricket,
horse racing, footpath, bicycle way, canal boat, shipping......
In addition: I think, for a visitor, it should be added with beaches,
coasts, lakes, rivers, mountains, hills, forests, cities, towns,
villages, gardens, countryside.
5，People are very friendly and travelling is very safe
Walking in Londonderry, I was asked by passerby if I was lost
every time I looked the map. When I travelled to Canterbury on
Good Friday, I wanted to take photos to re-apply a new young
person card as I lost it on my way there, an old lady guided me to
half city to four shops to find the machine. Also, it is safe in UK,
it makes me free and relax.
Part two: the disadvantage of tourism industry in UK
1，visa restrictions
British visa hasn’t joined into the European Schengen Visa now,
many Chinese tourists consider that English visa is valid only in
one country, but the visa in continental Europe countries can be
processed, so most of them will choose to travel to other
European countries.
2，the expensive fare.
Travelling in English is expensive. The fee of High-grade five-star
hotel is about $700 pounds, even by the standards of American
New York, it is also very expensive. Even with the depreciating of
Pound, the price keeps rising.
3, the poor service
Heathrow airport is famous in the world, but for many years it
has been rated one of the worst Europe airports. Flight being
delayed, luggage being lost, all became common things. Some of
the hotel provides the bath towel remissly, soap have been used,
breakfast is provided in a very short time, all above cause a lot of
tourists complain.
4, the bad hardware facilities
Many Chinese travelers, who have ever been to Britain, said that
British hotel hardware facilities degrade a star, the room is small
and old, the four-star hotel in UK is not better than some
three-star hotel in china.
5，less attention on the tourism industry
Government cut the 2012 Olympics tourism promotion
expenditure, British overseas tourist agencies "VisitBritain" was
cut £9m funding. Maybe it is because of the economic crisis, but
I think to cut such funding is equal to add frost on snow, it means
make things even worse.
2
According to Britain's national bureau of statistics, the latest
data shows that over the past five years, the number of tourists
come to the UK has been reduced by 5%. And this is the result of
growing transportation expenses, the weakness of the dollar and
the economic downturn. Christopher Rodriguez (British tourism
chairman) warned that, if the situation is not changed, 50000
jobs will be lost.
Part Three: some reflections for us
UK, in tourism development, strategy planning and management,
service measures, stand in front of the world. Many good
successful experiences deserve our reflections.
1, the government of UK, after the reform of public service,
framed the public service agreement to promote quantitative
management. The definition of the concept of tourism and clear
statistical categories strengthen building a team, which has
important significance to economic.
What we can do:
a 、 Mining more resources, establish more museum(the local
history and culture), hold more activities.
b、joint management, integrate all the need of customers，eg:
supporting service, train and automobile, hotel，theater, park, and
so on
2, the way to realize tourism strategic target is by means of
marketing and electronic tourism. Especially developed electronic
databases, online tourism promotion activities and free
information service, marks the tourism industry has entered a
higher level.
What we can do:
a、set up pay credit system
b、set up online booking system, database
c、set up information center，provide more consultation service,
booklet to the tourist
3, The implementation of the national unified standard, which
cover all aspects of tourism industry, improved the quality of
management.
What we can do:
a 、 The association of tourism industry may make unified
standards covering the whole country.
b、the conception of b and b ……
c、inspect the quality of service through the feedback of visitors,
hence to draw more attention of the visitors’ feeling..
4, Set up the green tourism scheme to sustain the continuing
development of the tourism industry.
What we can do:
a、protect the attractions better.
b、set some free scenic spots to attract more people to come and
promote the relevant industries
c、stylize
3