historical development

http://www.bized.co.uk

Copyright 2004 – Biz/ed

Historical Development

BTEC National Travel and Tourism



Background

The development of the travel and tourism industry:

• origins in the growth of the middle classes in Britain

• here that the industrial revolution began

• the introduction of holiday time as a working right



Focus

For your studies it’s sufficient to know about how the industry has grown since the end of World War 2. Three Pre-Requisites for T & T:

1. Improvements to communications 2. Transport for the masses 3. Increased leisure time



Communications: Rail

• Growth of the train network that preceded the second world war hit the buffers during the 1950s and 60s

• Government cut large number of train lines and stations. Closure programme recommended by BR chief Dr Beeching

• Loss of about 50% of Britain’s network over a number of years




The cuts have since been portrayed as a mistake:

• Cut off communities from each other

• Lost modern parts of the network • Focused the train network on

London to detriment of regions• Failed to save much money




• British railway network at its peak covered more than 20,000 miles

• It now covers approximately 10,000 miles

• Analysts believe that this will be reduced further

• Many country lines loss-making serve few passengers



Mass Transport

• Transport Minister who gave job to Dr Beeching was former director of road-building firm

• Roads have offered successive governments a number of advantages over railways

• This has affected UK transport policy



UK Roads Policy

• Government builds a road network in collaboration with the large construction firms

• Consumers or business must buy vehicles to use the network

• Government raises tax revenue through vehicle excise duty (road fund tax) and fuel duty (petrol tax)



Air Transport Infrastructure

• 1980 approximately 50 million people used UK airports

• 2000 there were 180 million flyers • Expected to rise to 500 million by

2030• Airports privatised and expanded



Impact of Rail Disasters

• Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield and Potters Bar train crashes in 2000 to 2002

• Chaos affected the rail industry at that time

• Significant numbers of people began to travel by plane within the UK



Increased Leisure Time

• Governments have enacted legislation to ensure that workers are able to take holidays

• Changes in people’s lives both at work and at home

• Consumer products such as washing machines, driers and dishwashers have become more affordable



Increased Leisure Time

• Technological impact • Increased affluence • People have greater leisure time

on their hands • All of the above have underpinned

the growth of the UK travel and tourism industry

historical development

Documents