P4 -
London, England
Popularity
and appeal:
Types
of visitors
London
attracts over 50% of overseas visits worldwide, from different countries, in
2013 16.8 million inbound visitors came to the capital. Many people visit
London because of the tourist attractions, the history and cultural of the city
and that is one of the top ten cities to visit.
In 2013
there were 12.3 million domestic visitors in London, they may have to go to a
tourist attraction or visit friends and families, but the only comparison to
inbound tourists is that they already live in the UK.
Other visitors
to London consist of business visitors (going to an important meeting, or
visiting another branch of the company), people attending for medical purposes
(many top children hospitals are situated within the capital) and just for
leisure purposes (shopping, going out for a meal or going to see a theatre
show)
Sport tourists also visit the capital for many events, such as the Olympics in 2012, London marathons, football matches and other sporting events.
Sport tourists also visit the capital for many events, such as the Olympics in 2012, London marathons, football matches and other sporting events.
Some
people may visit London for the open green spaces and the events they have on
offer such as the British Summer Time
festival and winter wonderland in Hyde park or LoveBox festival in Victoria
Park
Duration
of stays
Some
visitors may only spend a night in London if they have a business meeting or
hospital appointment and have to travel a long distance via public transport,
but some stays can last up to a few months (depending on the reason). There was
lots of people staying over in London in 2014 due to the long periods of warm
weather, attracting people to stay for longer in the capital. People whom visit
London from other destinations in the world, mainly from Europe only stay for a
few days and come many times during the year, and they mainly stay in cheaper
hotels such as Premier Inn and Travelodge. In 2014, there was 274 million day
visits to the capital and the the total amount of overnight visits has
increased an extra 16% from 2009, bringing an extra 3.9 million visits.
Spending
In 2014,
inbound tourists spent over 3 billion pounds and combined with domestic
tourists spent, £11.8 billion was gained through the tourism industry alone.
In 2011,
the royal wedding brought in £26 million just through purchases of merchandise
such as mugs, oyster cards,
plates, phone cases, toilet roll holders, clothes, stationary, key rings etc.
Inbound and domestic tourists spend money when visiting London as you have to
buy a ticket to enter a tourist attraction, buy food and drinks and a gift as a
reminder for yourself or family members back home.
People also spend money on transport options to
get around London, domestic tourists are likely to use their oyster cards to
travel by bus and train and inbound tourists can buy travel tickets and use
taxi’s.
Activity
participation
Tourists
both inbound and domestic spend many days or just a single day in watching or
participating in the London marathon, visiting tourist attractions, attending a
medical trial, visiting friends and family, watch a show in the theatre or
other things to do in London.
In 2014, many inbound tourists visited the Tate modern and the imperial war museum. Also in 2014, a report was produced by VisitBritain stating that farms and heritage centers had a 6% increase on visitor numbers compared to 2012 and 2013. The only tourist attraction/ location which had a decrease is places of worship and was down by 5%, examples of worship places are Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral. Some people may visit London for the visit.
In 2014, many inbound tourists visited the Tate modern and the imperial war museum. Also in 2014, a report was produced by VisitBritain stating that farms and heritage centers had a 6% increase on visitor numbers compared to 2012 and 2013. The only tourist attraction/ location which had a decrease is places of worship and was down by 5%, examples of worship places are Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral. Some people may visit London for the visit.
Provision:
Modes
of transport available
There
are many different ways of getting to London for both domestic and inbound
visitors.
Inbound
and domestic visitors can fly into City airport as it 49 minutes away from
Central London via taxi. British Airways is the biggest air transporter that
goes into City airport, bringing passengers from places like: France, Germany,
Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Isle of Man,
Greek Islands, USA and Holland.
Domestic visitors can get to the capital by train, bus, ferry and river bus.
Domestic visitors can get to the capital by train, bus, ferry and river bus.
The most
popular way for the domestic visitors to get to London is by train because
there is a wide variety of being able to get into London, there are fourteen
different types of Tube: Overground, TFL Rail & DLR which includes:
Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith and
City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria, Waterloo and City,
London Overground, TFL Rail and the DLR. In total there are 440 stations which
allows domestic visitors from many areas (in London itself or the surrounding areas) to easily be able to access London.
Levels
of service
The
flights that go to City Airport are very frequent with British Airways inbound
and domestic flights coming in every single hour, bringing in more inbound
tourists to enjoy the capital.
British
Airways have two classes for the inbound and domestic which are economy and
business class. For people travelling from the USA, there is also first class
for people to travel in style and comfort for arrival into London.
Trains
into London occur around every ten minutes from zones 1-6 depending on the day
and the time of day (on and off peak)
The
trains operate in and around London do not have different class types but the
trains from other locations in the UK (like Virgin Trains) will have a first
class for the passengers to pay extra for.
Geographical coverage
The
transport network within London is large.
The trains run from zone 1 (which is from the central London areas and
major tourist attractions) to zone 6 (outer areas of London, mainly areas in
Essex).
British
airways fly into city airport which is 50 minutes from central London meaning
it is can bring many inbound tourists in from many countries.
Channels of distribution and costs
For
inbound and domestic tourists to book a British airways flight into London they
can do it through their own website. You can also book a flight via last
minute.com and travel republic.
For
people travelling around on the trains, there are many ways of paying as you
can not book a ticket only purchasing them.
Tourists can buy tickets and oysters cards online, at the train
stations, newsagents. A new way of payment is via apple pay and contactless
payment (using your credit/debit card as an oyster card)
To
travel on the trains in and getting to London will either cost £3.10 or £5.10
depending on the time of the day (peak or non-peak times).
British
Airways flight prices depending on time, day, flying from and how long in
advance it is book but on average it costs around £80 for a flight from Spain.
Infrastructure
Domestic
visitors who live in London and the surrounding areas find the trains
infrastructure and stations easy to navigate and understand the ways in and
out. The infrastructure also involves the escalators and barriers, which local
tourists understand what escalators to use and which side of the station of the
barriers people need to use to get in and out of the station.
Integrated public transport provision
This is when the train companies put on extra
services when there is important event on such as the 2012 Olympics, the train
companies put on more trains allowing the domestic and inbound tourists to
easily get from London tourist attractions/ events to hotels or back to home.
London also has an integration provision with many types of companies to promote
their brands and businesses by advertising on the trains, on the buses, at bus
stations and also at tube stations on the other side of the platform.
Another
way the trains have a public transport provision by having the barriers open at
rush times when an event has just finished to reduce
crowd size and improve customer safety. The barrier will be open after a music
concert, sporting event or other events. If the weather is bad, the barriers
will also be open due to the slippery floors it will cause accidents if they fall over will disturb the system of
the barriers.
Cardiff, Wales
Popularity and appeal:
Types
of visitors
People
visit Cardiff for many reasons: for an event like a hen or stag do, sporting event – football or
cricket.
In 2010 More than
10 million tourists visited Cardiff in the first six months of this year – up
three million on last year. More than 14 million tourists came to the capital
in 2009 of the
The
number of tourists staying overnight has risen by 48% since 1998. Many tourists visit Wales from other countries within Europe,
last July the most popular places people came from were: France, Ireland and
German. Also in the same month there was data collected saying there were 26
thousand American tourists visiting the capital of
Wales.
Duration of stays
People
may stay over for many reasons: a night for a late night concert or football
match, two nights for a hen or stag do, visiting a friend in university, three
or more nights for a holiday (inbound or domestic) or business
related. Many
people visit Cardiff for a weekend but in 2009 only 1.5 million people stayed
in the city for more than one night however there were over 3 million overnight
stays recorded. In the same year there were 13 million day trippers.
Spending In
2009, visitors spent £703m in Cardiff. But five years later, tourists spent
over £1 billion and 127 million pounds of that money was generated by inbound
tourists. These figures increased by 4.5% since the previous year (2013)
Activity participation
Many
tourists visit Cardiff for the shopping centers and the green areas. The
most popular places for both inbound and domestic tourists to visit is the
Cardiff Bay ad Cardiff Castle as it is full of history and are the landmarks of Capital.
Many of
the tourists will spend money in the St David’s shopping center as it has over
200 shops making it appealing for the tourists to go when the weather is not
good for visiting outdoor attractions.
For the
visitors who love sport the Millennium Stadium and
Swalec Stadium are popular places for them to have a tour around or even
watch/attend a sporting event.
Provision:
Modes of transport available
Cardiff have many types transport for inbound
and domestic tourists to easily navigate and get around the city. There are
many trains people can get on in Cardiff. One train goes from Queen Street
Station to Cardiff Bay which takes around four minutes whilst stopping off at
three other stations. Cardiff also have a train line which goes from the
central station to the Valleys and Vale of Glamorgan which is ideal for people
who want a day away from the city and into a rural area.
For domestic tourists visiting from London,
they can get on a high speed link train which takes around two hours and
departs from London Paddington. Another way for
inbound and domestic visitors people to get to Cardiff can be by Megabus, by
getting a coach from other European destinations to get to Cardiff.
Levels of service
The high speed link train from London to Cardiff leaves every 30
minutes, the different classes available on board are economy, business and
first class allowing the domestic tourists to visit depending on the style and
comfort they want.
Mega bus does not have and classes only basis travel but it still
includes free Wi-Fi and plug sockets.
The coaches do not go fast as they have to set to a speed limit set by
the company (80 mph)
Geographical coverage
Megabus is the transport option that has a wide geographical
coverage; having people visit from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and
Netherlands.
The high speed
rail train from London to Cardiff only stops off at stations on the way. In
peak times, the train will either hardly stop at stations or not at all.
Channels of
distribution and cost
Domestic tourists
can get tickets for the train from Paddington station online or at the ticket
booths at the station. Tourists travelling
on Megabus have to book their tickets in advance through the Megabus website.
Inbound tourists
can also book transport options as an extra ancillary service with their travel
agent when booking their holiday to Cardiff.
Megabus fares vary from a £1 to
£3 depending on the time and departure location, for example London in the
afternoon will be more expensive than Bradford in the early morning. The trains will also vary in price depending
on the date of booking (when booking for and how long in advance), the time of
travel and the departure location.
The station
were the high speed link trains arrive in and also were the Megabus arrive
to to are designed with the tourists in
mind, it is designed to be easily accessible and navigated with easy ways of
walking around the station by having wide areas and signs to show people how to
get to certain areas (way out, shop and other platforms)
Integrated
public transport provision
Sometimes, the transport companies have to put on extra services
or just run a bit later than to the normal schedule if there is an event which
is finishing later than the last train.
For example, the events could be: a sporting event or a music concert.
M3
In
this part of the assignment I will be comparing the effectiveness
of passenger transport provision and how they create and sustaining popularity and appeal to
tourists
Both London and Cardiff have many differences of the
passenger transport operations and have many ways of keeping tourists visiting
the capital, so I will be comparing each capital and their transport methods.
However, they both provide suitable transportation links required for their
City, in order to meet customer’s satisfaction.
Firstly, both of the capital city’s charge a
reasonable for transportation methods for the inbound and domestic visitors
(planes and trains), although London charges £1.50 per bus ride whereas Cardiff
only charge a £1. By having low cost bus rides in both of the cities no matter
of the difference in cost it carries on appealing to tourists as they can go
round the cities for a low cost and spend the rest of the money on tourist
attractions or on food and drink.
London transport have more frequent trains and buses
which arrive every ten minutes in central whereas in Cardiff the buses and
trains arrive every fifteen minutes making London more appealing for tourists
wanting to travel around to different attractions on the same day without have
long transport waits. By having
frequent trains and buses in London its create the city as an efficient place
for tourists to visit as they can create an itinerary and keep to it as they
know how long it will take to get from one location to another and how long
they have to wait for a bus or train meaning they can plan a full packaged day
and use public transport rather than walking or getting a Uber taxi
City airport is a lot closer to central London (49
minutes) whereas Cardiff airport is only 30 minutes away from the city center.
However, there are less transport links to choose from for the inbound and
domestic tourists to get to the main city area whereas London has a wide
variety of links.
This might be suitable for tourist to visit London
instead of Cardiff, as there are different choices the fares vary in money
meaning it will attract all people with different budgets. By having airports near the cities it
means it will bring in more tourists who only want to go to London for a few
days and don’t want to spent it transporting from the airport to the city and
then back again. By having an airport nearby it is also beneficial as the
tourists will be able to then work out where to stay and visit on a map.
London also have many designated bike lanes on the
roads within the capital making it easy for tourists to get around without
getting stuck in the traffic, it is also appealing for tourists who are
environmental aware and want to stay active during their holiday. The
government have also provided many stands around the capital where tourists can
hire bikes for a fee (£2 for 24 hours) which makes London more appealing as tourists
are helping improve air quality and seeing the sights from a different view. By
having bike lanes and bike stands it means that people can travel around London
easily and do not have to spend a lot of money hiring a bike. By having people
hire bikes it means that it keeps London a popular destination as people are
wanting to participate in more sustainable tourism and the bike transport is
environmentally as the money gained is then spent on making more bike lanes
D2
In
the final part of the assignment I will evaluate the contribution of passenger
transport to the popularity and appeal in London and make recommendations for
improvements.
My first recommendation for London is to make travel
fares cheaper because the prices go up every year instead of going down.
Students at University should get a discounted rate as only students up to 18 years old can have an oyster card which charges less, although college is free till 19 years old.
Students at University should get a discounted rate as only students up to 18 years old can have an oyster card which charges less, although college is free till 19 years old.
In addition, tourists travelling to London from
another country for holidays, with children under 16 years olds should have
travel fares for their children for half price. This will be appealing for
tourists, as it is more cost effective.
My second recommendation for London is to change all
of the buses to more economically friendly and reduce carbon emissions. Because
London already is polluted very badly by many cars driving everyday, and trains
operating, I believe this will be a suitable step towards improving air quality
around London. This change will highly be appreciated by travelers, as it may
resolve in people travelling by bus to work instead of their car or any other
transport because its more suitable for the environment.
Also, London should consider on making as many bike
lanes as possible, due to high amount of people deciding to cycle when
traveling to and from work. By making more bike lanes it might encourage more
people to use their bikes, as some of the routes still do not have bike lanes,
which may be stopping people to travel by bike due to roads being too busy and
not safe around bikes. This may also reduce traffic by 2%.
In addition, during peak times trains should be
travelling more frequently as it will reduce people being squeezed inside the
train and at the same time it will improve safety around the station, due to
people not pushing each other.
In order to increase the amount of train frequency in London, the only way that could be feasible is a fully computerized system that operates the trains instead of having drivers. The DLR train line is already operating this way. In Paris, their metro system is all computer and mechanical operated and it is a proven way of improving train times, safety of travelers and drivers.
In order to increase the amount of train frequency in London, the only way that could be feasible is a fully computerized system that operates the trains instead of having drivers. The DLR train line is already operating this way. In Paris, their metro system is all computer and mechanical operated and it is a proven way of improving train times, safety of travelers and drivers.
Another recommendation is that people should be able
to top up their oyster card via online, which will be a flexible option as
people could do this from their home. As many business travelers do not have
time in the morning to queue and then top up the oyster cards before the
journey to work. However, at the moment the only way you can top up your oyster
card is by auto top u, meaning it will automatically top up when the allowance
goes down to £10.
Good aspects of London Transport
There are a lot of
good aspects of London transport and the main one is the different types of
transport: domestic flights, rail, bus & coach, Taxis, domestic ferries and
river bus meaning there a lot of options for tourists and workers to have if:
they have to get to a different location, one is busy or not working or going
to another location.
Another good aspect
of the transport in London is how often the transport types run and how
frequent they arrive. The transport types are normally on time unless a problem
has occurred (someone jumped onto the tracks, weather, workers striking or
signal failure)
My final good aspect
of London transport is how disabled friendly the transport types are. Some of
the train stations are disabled friendly as they have lifts as well as stairs
for the wheelchairs and people who can not walk far. Once on the train there
are seats that are for disabled people and people should give up their seats if
there is a disabled person on board.
British airways are
an example of a domestic airline who offer special assistance on and off the
aircraft and special seats near exits and toilets for the people.
Also another
transport provider that are suitable for disabled people are the buses as they
can bring out a ramp so they can get on and then on the bus there is a certain
area where wheelchairs can go so they are not going to get knocked when people
get off the bus and seats for people who can not go up the stairs or need some
space to sit down.
Bad aspects of London Transport
A bad aspect of
London transport is the over crowding on platforms waiting for the trains and
at bus stops waiting for the bus, because so many tourists want to cover all of
London and workers mainly leave all at the same time (5pm) meaning everyone
gets to the stations and bus stops at the same time and the platforms are not
wide enough.
There are different
fare prices depending on the time if it is peak or off peak, meaning during the
peak times not only do the fares go up but there will be a lot of people on the
platforms and bus stops both morning and evening.
Which leads to my
last bad aspect which there is more chance of another terrorist attack
happening when its peak time and the platforms/ trains are full capacity as the
terrorists can kill as many people in one go rather than doing multiple attacks
over a period of time. Even though this aspect is not directly relating to the
transport types it still affects them.
