Tourism history and forces for change
Tourism can be argued to have begun and opened to the average person on July 5, 1841, when the first excursion train from Northern Brittan departed, led by Thomas Cook (Hall 2007). While originally, tourism was only accessible for wealth aristocrats, Cook’s expedition began a world-wide phenomenon that has now become a very popular and extensive industry. Along with significant transport developments, social developments such as the industrial revolution which led to better pay and of course technological developments such as the car and airplane, the world of tourism has evolved to be the multi-million dollar industry that it is today.
An example of this is Surfers Paradise, who owes its popularity to the Victorian and New South Wales railway authorities who were responsible for the transporting of Victorians to the destination (Wells, 1982, as cited in Hall, 2007), which also boomed as a result of the cultural changes of the time which included the increased popularity of having a tan (Lofgren, 1999, as cited in Hall, 2007).
With change in any industry unavoidable, there are a number of factors that are large scale and external to the control of the industry, these are known as macro factors and can include political, economical, social and technological. These macro factors are described in table 4 below.
An example of this is Surfers Paradise, who owes its popularity to the Victorian and New South Wales railway authorities who were responsible for the transporting of Victorians to the destination (Wells, 1982, as cited in Hall, 2007), which also boomed as a result of the cultural changes of the time which included the increased popularity of having a tan (Lofgren, 1999, as cited in Hall, 2007).
With change in any industry unavoidable, there are a number of factors that are large scale and external to the control of the industry, these are known as macro factors and can include political, economical, social and technological. These macro factors are described in table 4 below.
Often, many of these macro factors will interact and have influences upon other macro factors, all of which can have significant effects upon the tourism industry. While these factors cannot be controlled by tourism operators, they must be managed and responded to in order to remain competitive in the tourism industry.
example
An example of how macro factors could potentially affect my tourist activities could arise from the political unrest in a number of countries. While I would be very interested in visiting a number of Middle Eastern countries for their history and culture, I would not be willing to enter a region which is currently politically unstable for fear of my safety. This fear would probably affect many other potential tourists who would opt to holiday elsewhere.