Tourism for the International Hospitality Business

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  1. Introduction
  2. Post Modern Tourism
  3. Factors Effecting Viva Macau
  4. Issues of Demand and Supply
  5. Implications of national and international policies
  6. Impacts of Tourism
  7. Conclusion
  8. References

Introduction

The concept of Post Modern Tourism has gained a wider meaning and relation among certain sections of tourists and the intention and idea of a vacation are no longer going to Hawaii or seeing the sights of Greece. In postmodern tourism, the tourist seeks what is called learning and self-enriching experience. The idea is to undertake it as a preoccupation with the own self and in which self-development activities, though they may be very tiresome, becomes a leisure activity. People in this activity become tourists in their own identity and an ecological sensibility. This paper presents a discussion on various aspects related to tourism and examines various factors and issues related to the tourism industry. The paper specifically addresses the impact of various factors on Viva Macau a low-cost carrier (LLC).

Post Modern Tourism

Featherstone M.(1988) has suggested that new-age tourism has its beginning in the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s and the New Age Movement of the 1980s. The most important feature is the preoccupation with the self, in which the own self-development becomes the customary leisure activity and people become tourists in their own identity and that they also develop an ecological sensibility. Though this form is relatively marginal and still under development it forms a significant form of tourism that reflects the influence of post-modern culture. Post-modern tourism is closely connected with the yearning for new, exotic, and transformational experiences. The author speaks of development activities offered by New Age centers that may think of themselves as tourism products. In such places, several courses, activities, and experiences can be availed. These services and experiences include activities such as the traditional hands-on and skills-based workshops such as hedge laying and woodturning) aesthetic pursuits such as art, drama, and music; formal scholarly learning such as courses hosted by visiting New age spiritual and intellectual gurus. Other pursuits are personalized and experiential self-development, such as courses on meditation, personal relationships, and self-knowledge; and also courses on alternative approaches to health and welfare such as homeopathy, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, and Shiatsu massage. Some centers offer a very wide and diverse range of activities such as a complete personal maintenance service here the body is subjected to intense sessions of massage and oil therapy and others can learn a new skill such as bead and newly designed, attempt to redefine their spirituality, undertake activities such as team exercises that involve exercising their brains as well as the body and some even take up an authentic country living complete with camps, ranching, horse riding and taming or horse whispering as such activities are called. The New Age has been described as “a rather broad group of contemporary movements, therapies and quasi-religious groups which have in common a concern with personal self-realization, liberation or fulfillment.’ This rather heterogeneous group of movements, therefore, are linked by their concern with the self, whether this is in an ascetic or hedonistic fashion or indeed a mixture of both. Some of these movements explicitly draw upon the spiritual traditions of the East or other non-European cultures and most renounce Cartesian mind-body dualism that underpins the Enlightenment notion of the person (Sharma, 1992)

Sarup, M. (1996) argues that though the type of tourism as practiced by Post Modern people is rather limited when compared to the standard tourism beats such as the Bahamas, its limitedness does not lessen its definition of tourism. Post-modern tourism involves traveling to specific destinations that are normally not in the gambit of the realms of everyday experience. It requires activities that take place in a leisure setting and during leisure time, necessitating a self-imposed and self-indulgent choice on the part of the practitioner. This form of tourism involves a commercial transaction with the tourist buying a product but it also has the possibility of exotic, life-transforming. novel and even a holy experience. The author argues that new age and post-modern are placed in the regions of alternative tourism in which the tourists feature rejection of the traditional approach of Fordist mass tourism. The new form assumes a greener Post-Fordist, innovative and specialized thought and this, in turn, has been influenced by the values and practices of the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s. This form of tourism offers activities and experiences that relate to this broad ideological spectrum. It utilizes some form of environmentalism, community values, and constructive host and guest interactions and takes the form of social responsibility seriously.

Huyssens (1990) has defined post-modern as “a slowly emerging cultural transformation in Western societies, a change in sensibility”. The author argues that Postmodernism is a form of general orientation to the world. It is also a way of experiencing nature and people in a manner that challenges the accepted beliefs of reason, truth. It takes the form of pastiche, eclecticism, cultural pluralism, fragmentation, and playfulness. The author further argues that while the distinction between reality and representation disappears it is identified by the blurring of boundaries between fact and fiction, truth and false. Arguing further, the author suggests that post-modern tourists do not have coherence and a clear sense of what is the self and other but have a fragmented identity and they like to celebrate cultural pluralism. He says ” Indeed in the post-modern the distinction between the past, the present, and the future implodes, and time and space have been compressed. Finally, the post-modern condition is that of the consumer. Consumption and instant gratification are the main motifs of the post-modern tourist and instant gratification is what they seek”.

Gentry (2007) speaks of rather some exotic activities that post-modern tourists seek and these include Ghost themed walking tours that have gained popular appeal in the United States. The author suggests that though walking tours are considered with a structure of pre-determined direction and content, a ghost walk tour in Georgia has been reported. Although the tours are not usually free-form, interviewed ghost walk tour guides speak openly about how the tour experience is often negotiated and altered by the tour participants. The author argues that “ghost tourism is an important yet grossly under-analyzed aspect of the larger phenomenon known as “dark tourism,” This concept refers to the transformation of death and disaster into saleable tourism-based commodities. In an earlier era, dark tourism referred to enclave dark tourist sites such as cemeteries, prisons, Roman catacombs, castle dungeons, battlefields, sites of assassination, and museums that focus on particular atrocities such as the Holocaust. These places have distinct entrances and exits that separate them from the public space beyond the bounds of the tourist site. This spatial separation helps regulate the tourist experience, instilling visitors with a shared sense of place and heritage without interruption from the outside world. Dark tourism destinations feed a growing public fascination with death and are often used to encourage somber reflection about tragic aspects of history. The author also speaks of the World Trade Centre tours, the site of the horrific bombings of September 11 that then New York promoted to increase tourism. The author has also spoken of areas in India such as Karla that are renowned for the special form of ayurvedic treatment in which people are subjected to the soothing and healing effects of herbal treatment.

Factors Effecting Viva Macau

Viva Macau is a low-cost fare airline that operates from Macau. The company has its base at the Macau International Airport. Among the various offerings, it wants to provide are the long-haul service that would start from Macau to destinations in the Middle East, North America, Australia, and other places. The company already operates flights to places such as Malé, Phuket, Haiphong Jakarta, and others. Among its fleet are two Boeings of the 767 variety and it plans to lease about 12-15 aircraft in the coming months. A screenshot of the company website is provided below (About us. 2007).

Issues of Demand and Supply

Dennis (2004) has raised some serious questions about the viability of low-cost airlines continuing to operate in Europe and Asia. The author argues that fear of flying due to increased risks of terror, intense competition from small airlines as well as big airlines would reduce the loading of the airlines. Combined with the low cost of the airlines is the problem of highly reduced rates and the author suggests that many such operators will be grounded. The author suggests that the low-cost airline sector in Europe is still undergoing a phase of rapid development and positioning. Already the short-haul market share of low-cost airlines in the UK and Ireland and there are signs that the low-cost bubble may be about to burst and that not all the current players can be winners in the longer term. The author argues that is it a question of demand and supply and when the supply is far more than the demand, then the result is that there would be under capacity utilization and for low-cost airlines this would be a disaster since their margins are already reduced. The cost bases of the low-cost and traditional airlines will inevitably move closer together. The airline with an ability to produce costs per seat kilometer one-third those of the majors will be eroded. The long-term differential is more likely to be in the order of 5:3. The important question to be answered is if the airline can attract the volume of passengers required at remote airports, in competition with the major airports and airlines, with this diminished price advantage. The author suggests that secondary airports that do not have a local natural customer base would be liable for failure as the hubs are the airlines go bankrupt or change the strategy they have used. Passengers are very fickle and they tend to change loyalties and preferences for other airlines. The author contends that people are finding flying less glamorous over time. Many airlines have realized that the concept of maintaining profits and yields remain and have to be met even when the costs are slashed.

Implications of national and international policies

The impacts of the national and international policies are best illustrated by the following Porter’s Five Forces analysis that provides details of the implications for Viva Macau airlines. Since the airline industry can be impacted by many factors, the following analysis provides a better understanding

Porters Five Forces Analysis (Access Asia. 2007)
Figure 1. Porters Five Forces Analysis (Access Asia. 2007)

Bargaining power of buyers: (Access Asia. 2007)

  • High bargaining power of buyers.
  • With many low coast airlines and the availability of information through the Internet, awareness among customers has increased. Customers have greater choices in the airlines

Bargaining power of suppliers: (Access Asia. 2007)

  • With increased competition between aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus has brought the prices of aircraft down. With a reduction in flights, the number of airworthy second-hand aircraft has increased. Some aircraft models such as Boeing 737 has given greater power to Boeing
  • Fuel suppliers can dictate the prices they want and their power is high.
  • Airports see increased demand for key slots and the airport costs are rising

Threat of new entrants: (Access Asia. 2007)

  • Entry barriers are high with increased competition facing them
  • New entrants will face a competition between state and privately owned airlines.”
  • LLCs have increased prospects if they operate in certain slots
  • The learning curve for LLCs is high
  • Substantial funds are needed for a new entrant to stay afloat, at least in the initial period.
  • Switching costs are high with a large number of carriers on the same route and price sensitivity is high.
  • Lack of slots at large airports forces LLCs to operate out of satellite airports and cater to budget customers rather than the business class customer who pays more.

Intensity of Competitive rivalry (Access Asia. 2007)

  • Competitive rivalry is high
  • The structure and competitive changes in the industry since the 1980s have dramatically increased competitive rivalry. There are several government-owned companies called the flag carriers and private airliners.
  • The European airline industry is highly concentrated in that a very large market share is captured by the leading flag carriers, in particular, British Airways, Air France, KLM, and Lufthansa. This puts pressure on the margins and the LLCs further eat into the profits. LLCs are expected to increase their market share from 5 to 25 percent.
  • Airlines suffer from under capacity utilization on the short-haul routes. While earlier, the Flag carriers operated the loss-making routes to build their brand, they had to abandon them to increase their profitability.
  • Brand identity is very important and the flag carriers typically compete for the more lucrative business and first-class market with high-quality cabin services and innovations.

Impacts of Tourism

Access Asia. (2007) has suggested that the tourism industry is expected to reach a figure of 156 US$ billion by the year 2010. The report also suggests speaks of the Post Modern tourism these include adventure sports tourism where participants take part in a number adventure activities such as rock climbing.

Resort Life Cycle

Andriotis (2001) has written about the resort life cycle and how it affects the tourism industry. The author has attempted t trace out how a tourist resort took birth how it developed and finally how it stagnates and he calls this the resort life cycle. According to the author, in its infancy when the place is still not very popular, only a few visitors arrive drawn by the particular attractiveness of the location. Facilities gradually improve on a small scale to meet visitor needs. As the facilities grow, the number of visitors keep growing and the facilities try to keep up with the influx and soon there are tall hotels, lavish rooms, cars, and the pollution increases and the place become just like any other place and begins to stagnate and diminish in importance a people try to find other less crowded places until the collapse of the place becomes final. He calls this the life cycle of the resort.

Product Life Cycle of Tourist Industry

Cooper (1990) speaks of the product life cycle of a product such as a resort, hotel, destination, or activity. According to the author, changes in fashion and demand within the main tourist markets in Europe and North America can set up diseconomies. This growth and relative decline of older tourist centers should also be seen within the contact of the product life cycle. The tourist looks for a new kind of experience including some familiar ingredients which the tour operator supplies at an affordable price. Since the mid-1980s, there has been an extension of mass tourism to new long-distance and more exotic destinations such as Florida, Kenya, Thailand, Goa, Australia, and even the Arctic and Antarctic poles. These destinations had until recently been reserved for elite tourism since the price was beyond the reach of the mass tourist. The development of charter flights using long-haul jumbo jets has brought these destinations within the affordable reach of the mass tourist market. Enlargement and development of resorts of large-scale tourist operations and the government and private sector in the host countries have brought scale economies lowering the prices at the resort without sacrificing quality. Hence these long-distance mass tourist destinations are very competitively priced compared to other areas and the older areas are attempting to rejuvenate themselves by bringing in modernizations and cleanup so that people visit the places again.

Factors that effect the tourism industry

Carr (1996) has mentioned several factors that affect the life cycle, demand, and supply of the tourism industry. These include factors such as economic, environmental, social, and cultural. These are explained in the following sections

Economic

Carr (1996) speaks of several Economic factors that affect the demand and supply of tourism in a particular area. The effects are both positive and negative and these are explained below.

Positive Economic Factors and Effects Negative Economic Factors and Effects
  • Increase gross domestic product directly and indirectly through multiplier
  • Taxes on tourism increase government revenue
  • Increased foreign exchange earnings
  • Creates employment including in unskilled occupations
  • Helps fund new infrastructure and facilities which locals can also use
  • Simulated economic activity in other sectors such as local craft revival, manufacturing, services, and agriculture.
  • May act a see bed for entrepreneurship with spin-offs in other sectors
  • May divert government expenditure from other needy areas of the country
  • Requires government expenditure on tourism
  • Over-dependence on outside agencies and some external control on the economy
  • Income reduced by leakages or outflows
  • Overstretches infrastructure
  • Spread effects limited and may therefore increase regional inequalities between tourist growth areas and lagging periphery
  • Diverts labor and resources away from non-tourist regions and may particularly affect peripheral areas leading to our migration to tourist resort opportunities.
  • Labour unskilled and seasonal
  • Foreign personnel dominates managerially and higher-paid posts reducing opportunities for locals.

Social Factors

Carr (1996) speaks of a number of social factors that can impact the tourism in an area and these are listed in the following table.

Positive Factors and Effects Negative Factors and Effects
  • Cultural exchange stimulated with the broadening of horizons and reduction of prejudices amongst tourist visitors and host population
  • May enhance the role of women in society and status as opportunity or goals in tourism created and outlook widened
  • Encourages education
  • Encourages travel and mobility and social integration
  • May cause polarisation between the population in advancing tourist regions and lagging areas creating a dual society
  • Breakdown of traditional family values creates material aspiration
  • Breakdown of families due to stress between younger generation affected by imported culture as opposed to an older member of a household
  • Social pathology including an increase in prostitution, drugs, and petty crime

Cultural

Carr (1996) has suggested a number of cultural factors that can impact the tourism in an area and these are listed in the following table.

Positive Factors and Effects Negative Factors and Effects
  • May save aspects of indigenous culture due to tourist interest in them
  • Contact with other cultures may enrich domestic culture through new ideas and customs introduced
  • Encourage contact and harmonious relations between people of different cultures
  • The impact of commercialization may lead to pseudo-cultural activities to entertain tourists and at extremes may cause the disappearance of indigenous culture
  • Mass tourism may create antagonist reactions from the host population concerned for traditional valuesdisappearance of indigenous culture
  • Mass tourism may create antagonist reactions from the host population concerned for traditional values

Environmental

Carr (1996) has suggested a number of environmental factors that can impact the tourism in an area and these are listed in the following table.

Positive Factors and Effects Negative Factors and Effects
  • Improved landscaping and architectural standards in resort areas including increased local funding for improvement of local housing, etc.
  • Promotion interest in monuments and historic buildings and funding to conserve and maintain them
  • May induce tighter environmental legislation to protect environment
  • Establishment of nature reserves and national parks plus growing tourist interest n it protects areas from economic and building encroachment
  • Poor building and infrastructure development – tourist companies do not integrate with local architecture.
  • Destruction of natural environment and wildlife habitat, marine coastal and inland
  • Excessive pressure leads to air, land and water pollution and breakdown in water supplies.

Conclusion

The paper has discussed various aspects related to Viva Macau, the low-cost carrier, and also examined various features related to the airline industry. The paper discussed the phenomenon of post-modern tourism and in this form, the tourist seeks what is called learning and self-enriching experience. The idea is to under-take a is a preoccupation with the own self and in which self-development activities, though they may be very tiresome, becomes a leisure activity. People in this activity become tourists in their own identity and an ecological sensibility. The paper has examined some issues that would impact the company and have pointed out that fear of flying due to increased risks of terror, intense competition from small airlines as well as big airlines would reduce the loading of the airlines. Combined with the low cost of the airlines is the problem of highly reduced rates and the author suggests that many such operators will be grounded. The impacts of the national and international policies have been illustrated by using the Porters’ Five Forces analysis that provides details of the implications for Viva Macau airlines. Factors such as Bargaining power of buyers, Bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of new entrants, and the Intensity of Competitive rivalry have been analyzed in great detail. The impact of tourism, resort life cycle, and product life cycle has been examined along with factors such as economic, environmental, social, and cultural.

References

  1. About us. 2007. About Us and Our Story.
  2. Access Asia. 2007. Travel & Tourism Market: A Market Analysis. Access Asia Limited. London. UK
  3. Andriotis, K. 2001. Strategies on resort areas and their lifecycle stages. Journalism of Tourism Review. Volume 56. Issue 1/2. pp: 40-43
  4. Carr Michael. June 1996. Patterns, Process and Change in Human Geography. Publisher: Thornes, Nelson. ISBN-13: 9780174386810
  5. Cooper, C. 1990. The life cycle concept and tourism. Conference Paper Presented at Tourism Research into 1990s. Durham: University of Durham.
  6. Dennis Nigel P.S. August 2004. Can the European low-cost airline boom continue?: Implications for regional airports.
  7. Featherstone M. 1988. In Pursuit of the Postmodern: An Introduction, Theory, Culture and Society, Volume 5, Issue 2 and 3
  8. Gentry Glenn W. 2007. Walking with the Dead: The Place of Ghost Walk Tourism in Savannah, Georgia. Southeastern Geographer. Volume. 47. Issue 2. pp. 222-237
  9. Huyssen, A. 1990. Mapping the Postmodern in Alexander, J.C. & Seidman, S. (eds.) Culture and Society Contemporary Debates, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  10. Sarup, M. (1996) Identity, Culture and the Postmodern World, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
  11. Sharma, U. 1992. Complementary Medicine Today. Practitioners and Patients. London: Routledge
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