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Modern European International Tourism: arrivals (2005)

Region Arrivals (millions) Market share (%)

World Africa Americas Asia/Pacific Europe Middle East

806 36.7 133.5 155.4 441.5 39.1

100 4.6 16.6 19.3 54.8 4.8

Worlds Top International Tourism Destinations (2005)

Country 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 FRANCE SPAIN USA CHINA ITALY UK MEXICO GERMANY Turkey International tourist arrivals (millions) 76.0 55.6 49.4 46.8 36.5 30.0 21.9 21.5 20.3 20.0 Market Share (%) 9.43 6.90 6.13 5.81 4.53 3.72 2.71 2.67 2.52 2.48

International tourism receipts (2005)

Region US$ (billion) Market share (%) Receipt per arrival (US$) 840 590 1,080 890 790 710

WORLD Africa Americas Asia/Pacific Europe Middle East

680 21.5 144.6 138.6 348.2 27.6

100 3.2 21.2 20.4 51.2 4.0

10 Austria

Top International Tourism Earners (2005)

Country 1 United States 2 Spain 3 France 4 Italy 5 UK 6 China 7 Germany 8 Austria 9 Turkey 10 Australia International Tourism Receipts (US$ billion) 81.7 47.9 42.3 35.4 30.7 29.3 29.2 18.2 15.5 15.0 Market share (%) 12.01 7.04 6.22 5.21 4.51 4.31 4.29 2.68 2.30 2.21

Domestic Tourism with Europe

Approximately 1 billion tourism trips are taken domestically each year in Europe

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Place of origin of International tourists (2005)

Region Africa Americas Asia/Pacific Europe Middle East Number of International tourists (millions) 20.3 137.1 154.3 449.0 21.9 Market share (%) 2.5 17.0 19.1 55.7 2.7

Top tourism spenders (2005)

Rank Country Spending on International tourism (US$ billion) 72.7 69.2 59.6 37.5 31.2 22.4 21.8 18.4 17.8 16.2 Market Share (%) 10.7 10.2 8.8 5.5 4.6 3.3 3.2 2.7 2.6 2.4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Germany United States United Kingdom Japan France Italy China Canada Russian Federation Netherlands

Why does Western Europe dominate the global tourism phenomenon?

Large and prosperous population Political stability Small size of countries Lack of significant geographical obstacles to international travel between countries in Europe Density of and ease of access to multitude of means of transportation Variety and number of tourist attractions and destinations Freedom of movement enhanced by European Union rules that enable movement between member states without a passport

IMPACT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ON THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

International scale of governance, e.g. UN, WTO

Supranational body Supranational body

International body

Legend: Yellow = Pre-May 1, 2004 EU Members; Blue = May 1, 2004 Acceding Members; Lavender = Post-May 1, 2004 Candidate Countries.

Supranational scale, e.g. EU

National government State B NATION STATE B

NATION STATE A

National government State A

bilateral internationa l relations

The regional state, e.g. provinces or states Regional

government State A The local state, e.g. cities Local/City government State A

Regional government State B

Local/City government State B

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Why does the European Union exist?

Why do countries join the EU?

Access to new markets and consequently increase domestic economic performance

The historical roots of the European Union lie in the Second World War. The idea of European integration was conceived to prevent such killing and destruction from ever happening again
(europa.eu.int/abc/index_en.htm)

Access to economic and social aid for development Political security Military security Economic security (e.g., EU USA trade wars and the rise of competition from China)

Benefits to the tourism industry related to being in the EU

Trans-European Transport Networks TENT)

Transforming a patchwork into a network (Davidson, 1998: 59) 1992 Maastricht Treaty on EU need for a trans-European network to assist economic and social integration Proposal to upgrade and create: 70000km of rails, 15000km of roads, and develop 267 airports at an estimated cost of 400 billion ECU In 1994, 14 priority trans-European projects were identified (heavily biased to rail travel) at a developmental cost of ECU 91 billion

Deregulation of the EU Airspace

Freedom of Movement of People and Money

Under the Treaty of Rome (1958) protectionist nationalist policies relating to all industries, including airlines, was deemed illegal. 1984 = British government estimated European air passengers were paying 40% more than they should due to protectionist policies. A 'Single European Aviation Market' was created in 1993. 1997 = deregulation of EUs airline industry and associated rise of budget carriers such as EasyJet (1.4 million passengers Jan, 2003) and Ryanair (1.2 million passengers Jan, 2003) to compete against airlines such as BA (1.8 million passengers Jan, 2003). Between 1995 and 2004, Europe created 1.4 million new jobs because of the increased liberalization of its airline industry.

The European Single Market (1993) allows easier and faster movement across member nations borders abolition of cross-border controls on intra-EU travel. Single market = Enables the use of relatively cheap labour from southern and now eastern Europe in northwest European tourism facilities.

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Quality Control
European Blue Flag Scheme was introduced in 1987 to increase quality of the EU coastline. In 1987, 244 beaches and 208 marinas from 10 EU countries were awarded the Blue Flag. By 2004, 2312 beaches and 602 marinas were awarded Blue Flags. 2005 = 96% of coastal bathing sites met the mandatory standards of the EU bathing water directive Environmental Impact Assessments directive ( launched in 1985) is mandatory in all EU nations for large scale developments

Consumer Protection

1990 Directive on package travel. Set minimum standards for governing the selling and purchasing of package holidays and tours across the EU 1994 timeshare Directive. Protection of the consumer and EU harmonisation for rules dealing with timeshare developments Standardised fire safety policies across all EU hotels Employee protection through EU directives aimed at increasing professionalism in the industry leading to higher quality service provision

Single Currency

Direct Economic Aid

Launch of the Euro in 2002 across 12 nations resulted in a cut in the cost of travel by removing the expense of currency exchange Also made comparison of costs transparent for consumers as costs are displayed in one common currency Removal of currency exchange decreases costs to the tourism industry and increases corporate cash flow by reducing the need for multiple currency holdings to fund international transactions

Tourism identified as means of aiding the redistribution of wealth across the EU by the EU government (a major aim of the EU) Funds used to aid this process include: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) European Social Fund (ESF) European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) Rechtar (rejuvenation of former mining regions) PHARE (focused on former Communist States).

Costs to the tourism industry related to being in the EU

Abolition of Duty Free

1997 = duty free purchases amounted to US$5 billion in Europe 1999 = duty free purchases on international travel within the European Union abolished The argument for abolition was based on the creation of the European single market and the removal of state subsides on the travel industry and distortion in spending created by Duty Free. Eurotunnel predicted fares would have to rise by up to 25% and the British Airport Authority (BAA) predicted a decline in revenue of 80m as a result of the loss of duty free revenue In the first half of 2000 (after duty free abolition) P&O ferry profits declined by 63%

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Freedom of Movement

Deregulation of the EU Airspace

Decline of traditional state owned airlines (e.g., Air Italia) Air capacity over Europe due to be reached in less than a decade At present, one in 10 million flights ends with an accident caused by air traffic control. At the current rate of growth in air travel by 2020, that rate could mean two disasters in Europe's skies a year

The European Single Market (1993) destroyed a niche tourism market passport stamp collectors

Employment Rights

Single Currency

The EU has implemented a number of policies in this area to increase the rights of workers including: Maternity leave provision Young and part-time employees Introduction of workers councils Maximum working week

As a result of no longer being able to set national exchange rates single currency member states that heavily depend on tourism (e.g. Spain or Portugal) may become less competitive compared to nearby non-EU destinations (e.g., Slovenia or Turkey). Travel agencies who rely on currency purchases by tourists are likely to be adversely affected by the single currency

The tourism industry claims all of the above lead to increased costs which if passed on to the consumer risk products becoming financially uncompetitive.

Suggested readings
Boniface, B. & Cooper, C. 2005. Worldwide destinations Casebook: The geography of travel and tourism. Elsevier: Amsterdam. Case 7 Clark, A. 2000. Loss of duty-free sinks P&O ferry profits. The Guardian (25th August, 2000). http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,358760,00.html Davidson, R. 1998. Travel and Tourism in Europe (2nd ed). Longman: Harlow. Ch. 2.