The Tourism Sector in the Community
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DOCUMENT THE TOURISM SECTOR IN THE COMMUNITY A study of concentration, competition and competitiveness COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES This document has been prepared for use within the Commission. It does not necessarily represent the Commission's official position. Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1S85 ISBN: 92-825-5276-4 Catalogue number: CB-43-85-474-EN-C Articles and texts appearing in this document may be reproduced freely in whole or in part providing their source is mentioned. Printed in Belgium Commission of the European Communities THE TOURISM SECTOR IN THE COMMUNITY A Study of Concentration Competition and Competitiveness Research Group : TEPRO Prof. S. Casini Prof. R. Varaldo Dr. P. Masetti . Dr. G. DaLl'Ara Dr. A. Bonini Mr. G. Ghirardelli Document This document has been prepared for use within the Commission. It does not necessarily represent the Commission's official, position. PREFACE The present voluæe is part of s series of sectoral studies on the evolution of concentration in the seaber states of the European Community. These reports were compiled by the different national Institutes and experts, engaged by the Cosaission to effect the study programme in question. Regarding the specific and general interest of these reports and the repcsibility taken by the Commission with respect to the European Parliament, they are published wholly in the original version. The Commission refrains fro» consenting, only stating that the çesponsibility for the data and opinions appearing in the reports, rests solely with the Institute or the espert who is the author. Other reports on the sectoral programme will be published by the Commission as soon as they are received. INDEX page Chapter One: ANALYSIS OF THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY 1.1. Economic Significance of Tourism in the EEC in Single Countries, and by Type of Tourism — International and Domestic .... 1.2. The Impact of Tourism on Balance of Payments .... 17 1.3. Characteristics and Effects , of Tourism on Labour Market 24 Chapter Two: CHARACTERISTICS OF STRUCTURES AND SUPPLIERS OF TOURISM 27 2.1. Concentration of Supply and of Hospitality Structures in the EEC and in Individual Countries 31 2.2. Concentration of Principal Suppliers and Types of Hospitality 48 2.3. Geographic Concentration 58 Chapter Three: COMPETITION 79 3.1. The Influence of Suppliers and Hospitality Industry on Competition 79 3.2. The Obstacles and Influences to Competition 93 3.3. Competition and Strategies of Principal Hotel Chains and Tour Operators 101 Chapter Four: COMPETITIVENESS 107 4.1. Principal Trends and Evolution of Hospitality .... 107 4.2. Competitiveness Through the Price of Holidays and Some Goods 144 4.3. Evolution of the Market 146 SUMMARY 153 APPENDICES 159 Chaster One ANALYSIS OF THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TOURIST INDUSTRY 1.1. Economic Significance of Tourism in the EEC, in Single Countries, and by Type of Tourism — International and Domestic At the beginning of the 1980s Europe alone took up 701 of international tourist arrivals: the Americas absorbed 20%, while the remaining 10% was split among Africa, South Asia, East Asia — the Pacific and the Middle East. This indication is enough to show the degree of concen• tration of international tourism in Europe. If we put North America's figures (USA + Canada) alongside those of Europe's, we see that the two areas record 83% of the entire movement of international tourist arrivals. (Source: World Tourism Organization (WTO), 1981) This increases tc over 90% when the arrivals recorded in the remaining countries of the American Continent are added. But if international tourism represents a very significant aspect, in that it provokes an international redistribution of deman, it is nonetheless vital to see that up to now the relationship between na• tional and international tourism is 8 to 1. In 1981 national tourism recorded more than 2 billion arrivals. (WTO estimate: 2.323 million) The shortcomings of the statistics in the various countries are general• ly more marked in recording national tourism: it is necessary there• fore to reassess the relationship between national and international tourism to the advantage of the former. (For national tourism: see Appendix A. ) Table 1 International Tourism - Arrivals (000) Intra- European Inter- Extra- Region Arrivals Extra- Region Region in in World European European in in Extra- Extra- Year Total Total Countries Europe Europe Europe Europe 1967 139,500 103,600 35,900 87,700 15,900 32,722 3,178 1981 290,000 202,000 88,000 170,100 31,900 73,670 14,330 index numbers 1967 = 100 1967 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 1981 207.8 194.9 245.1 193.5 200.6 225.1 450.9 (our elaboration of WTO data) intra-regional tourism: tourist flow between the various countries of the same continent extra-regional tourism: tourist flow of people from other continents In the last fifteen years the volume of travel for tourism has all but tripled, while the international component has doubled: the access to tourism of those social classes with lower incomes and spending power concerns nearer destinations, just as, from 1974 onwards, the notable increase in transport costs has negatively influenced long distance travel. The data show that: It is possible to speak of a 'boom' in national tourism, even if in some European countries (especially Great Britain (GB), the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Switzerland etc.) the tendency to travel abroad in the last ten years has overtaken that of spending holidays in the respective home countries. The preferred areas are the Mediterranean, the American continent, Africa, Eastern Asia and the Pacific. While the European continent -- already mature from a tourist angle — has seen a new increase and doubled international tourist arrivals, the remaining countries in the world also appear on the scene, recording more consistent increases of 2.5. (See Table 1) Again concerning the 1967-81 period in Europe the increase in foreign arrivals registered in all the continental countries indicates a 'parallelism' between the intra-regional compo• nent and that of extra-European origins, both increasing by about 100%. (See Table 1) Europe continues to be the major component of the world tourism market with a total of national and international arrivals in 1981 that has been estimated at about 1,390 million. The strength of EEC tourism is due to the fact that: a) More ihan half of the population takes a period of holidays and leisure every year and Europe alone represents 50 percent of world tourist arrivals and departures. b) European incomes are higher than the incomes of many countries of the world, there is a generalised system of paid leave, flexible frontier controls, protection of tourists and a tendency ίο develop tourism by many governments. c) There is a large quantity of employment in the tourist field and hospitality industry. d) Natural and historical resources. The world total (again national -*- international tourism) has been estimated by the OMT, for 1981, at about 2.323 million arrivals. That European tourism is a phenomenon that can be put down almost entirely to the mobility of the Europeans can be shown by the following data: 1) The incidence of national tourism in this area is very high — about 85% of the entire traffic; 2) International arrivals, coming from within the region (i.e. from other European States) represent in Europe 83% of the total. Europe, with a surface area equal to 7.7 of total emerged land, absorbs 64.6% of world tourism (international + domestic tour ism): the figure should be slightly adjusted to take into account the insufficient data, when it is not completely missing, of some European countries. On the other hand, even within Europe, there is no statis tical standard. Although data may vary we are still able to work out useful or at least sufficient estimates to attempt international compari sons. Within Europe, the EEC countries receive about 50% of the international tourist arrivals from Europe as a whole, and about 35% of total world international tourism. "Arrivals of International Tourism" means the number of people who have visited or spent their holidays in a country other than the one in which they live. In general, the statistics of the various countries, under this heading, do not include people on day trips, that is: those who do not book and whose stay is less than 24 hours. While they do include, together with normal arrivals, those who may be staying for one night only before going on to the country in which they intend to spend their holidays (take for example countries like Ireland and Greece which, in this context, can be considered as 'final destinations' and therefore in the total number of arrivals registered, those 'in transit' represent a smaller percentage). If, to these factors, we add the diversity in the ways of presenting 'information' and the difficulty in gathering together every• thing concerning tourism, it is clearly advisable to treat with caution the available data and use it as an indication rather than a true mea• sure of the actual situation. In the present work, the majority of the comparative statistics have been set against data relating to 1967. A comparison with more recent years would not have indicated the major developments in the international tourist movement of these last five years, the great transformation in the way holidays are taken, and the strategic role of the tour operators which had developed by 1967. The Importance of the Tourist Industry in the Individual Countries, by Type of Tourism The desire for holidays by European citizens is continually on the increase, despite the rise in tourist prices, inflation and transport 10 costs, beginning in 1974 with the petrol crisis.