1.2.1 The roles of transportation on tourism
Together with tourism demand and supply (destination) sides, transportation is one of fundamental elements of tourism (Lamb and Davidson, 1996). Transportation not only brings tourists from demand sides (origins) to the supply sides (destinations) but also contributes to destinations as facilitators. Furthermore, the specialty of transportation is that it is not only a tourism facility but also a link to connect all other tourism relevant facilities, such as hotels/accommodations, restaurants, recreational places, museums…regarding to the mobility function, transportation’s role is usually seen under the term of accessibility.
Figure 1-3. Three fundamental elements of tourism
Litman (2008) elaborated on twelve factors that effect a destination’s accessibility, specifically: (i) Transportation modes – quality of transportation options, such as with respect to comfort, and safety; (ii) Transportation network connectivity – density of link and path connections, or directness of travel between destinations; (iii) Travel cost or affordability; (iv) Mobility – travel speed and distance, capacity, or travel time; (v) Integration of the links and modes within the transportation system; (vi) Transportation demand; (vii) User information – availability of reliable information on mobility and accessibility options; (viii) Mobility substitutes – telecommunications and delivery service substitutes for physical travel; (ix) Transportation management; (x) Land use factors; (xi) Prioritization of travel activities; and (xii) The value of inaccessibility or isolation. Improving these accessibility factors can contribute to the economic success of a tourist destination (Currie and Falconer 2014, Celata 2007).
Source: Nguyen Van Truong adapted and adjusted based on:
Stephen L. J. Smith, 1988, DEFINING TOURISM A Supply-Side View;
Lamb Barbara, Davidson Sally, 1996, Tourism and Transportation in Ontario, Canada: A vital link;
▪ number of visitor arrivals or participants;
▪ tourism expenditures or receipts;
▪ length of stay at the destination site;
▪ travel propensity indices
all retail businesses that produce commodities for the travelers:
▪ Hotels, accommodation;
▪ Recreational resources: Park, Zoological gardens; sport ground…
▪ Restaurants, gastronomic services, shops, museums,…
▪ …
Three fundamental components of tourism:
Supply side (Tourism product)
Transport (Accessibility
factors)
Demand side (Market)
New modes of transportation have revolutionized the tourism industry by improving distance-travel capabilities, travel speed, travel time, and comfort level. The introduction of railway laid the foundation for modern tourism, followed by the revolution of the automobile, which changed the style of regional and inter-regional tourism. International tourism was made possible soon thereafter by innovations in long-haul air transportation, which allowed for tourism in previously unreachable destinations (Chew, 1987). While energy-intensive forms of motorized transportation are preferred for long-haul travel because they save so much time, riding bicycles or walking at the destination can provide tourists with the on-site experiences they desire, such as relaxation or adventure (Millonig and Schechtner 2006, Lumsdon 2000). Cruise ships and ferries, categorized as modes of water transportation, have not only recovered the travel demand at the end of 20th century and into the 2000s (Davenport and Davenport 2006, Zapata-Aguirre and Brida 2008), but have also become tourist destinations in their own right and formed tourism destinations in some cases (Tang and Jang 2010, Hanh 2006).
Figure 1-4. Accessibility factors and its effects on tourism
In general, a tourist destination’s accessibility can also be improved by developing the transportation infrastructure network or by improving connectivity between the network and tourist facilities. For example, the distance from a tourist’s place of origin to the desired destination can be reduced by adding a direct link between the two locations within the transportation network. Activities that widen links, or providing
well-No. Acc. Factors to a Des.
1 Transport modes 2 Transport network
connectivity
3 Travel cost or affordability 4 Mobility
5 Integration 6 User information 7 Mobility substitutes 8 Transport management 9 Prioritization
10 Land use factors 11 Isolation
Source: Litman, 2008, Evaluating Accessibility for Transportation Planning
Transportfactors Others
Effects to tourism industry directly:
- Travel cost savings - Travel time
savings
Effects to other related industries, i.e.: Expense for restaurant, food, drinks,… may be reduced
Tourism Demand and Product
organized taxi connections for tourists near central bus or train stations can also improve connectivity between the transportation network and accommodations (Rietveld and Bruinsma 1998, Litman 2008). In some exceptions, improving transportation infrastructure may reduce accessibility. For example, in congested conditions, adding a new link or improving an existing link may increase average transportation costs, due to the potential differences between users’ equilibrium and the transportation system’s optimum state (termed "Paradox"; Sheffi 1985). This phenomenon can be addressed by integrating management measures into well-designed networks to reduce total travel time.
The impact of transportation improvements on tourism may be different for different types of travelers, depending on the role of the link to the destination. For instance, the introduction of an inter-regional high-speed rail line may increase inter-regional accessibility. This development will affect tourism flows from the place of origin to the destination, rather than enhance tourism flows generated at the destination itself (Pagliara et al. 2015, Gutiérrez, González, and Gómez 1996).
Cost is a major consideration determining the demand for a destination. It generally includes two elements: the cost of travel; and the cost of living and other services at the destination (Martin and Witt 1987, Martin and Witt 1988, Bimonte, Ferrini, and Grilli 2015). For tourists, the time they spend traveling represents one portion of the total cost.
The time cost varies according to their value of time (Pagliara et al., 2015); i.e., travel costs include the actual amount of money they pay for the transportation service and the cost in terms of their travel time. Travel cost savings result from accessibility improvements (see Figure 1-5).
Figure 1-5. Relationship between transportation policy and travel cost
The enhanced quality of related tourism services – specifically, communication and information, booking procedures, restaurants, accommodation, and related transportation services etc. – can not only improve the accessibility of the destination, but can also affect tourists’ preferences. Many studies have shown the importance of travel-related services in tourism. For example, Rheims, Bazin, Beckerich, and Delaplace (2011) stated that the lack of luxury hotels at a destination poses a problem, as business travelers require this type of accommodation. They also noted that limited restaurant services on the weekends can be problematic for the tourism industry. One service practice utilized in the Bahamas, called the “One-stop online booking and Immigration Card”, allows tourists to book and change their reservations online, and interact with their travel companions via email in real time. The Immigration Card, which holds travelers’ information, was designed and produced by the government of the Bahamas to improve security and simplify procedures for tourists. This service improved accessibility and attracted more tourists to the Bahamas (Wignaraja et al., 2004).
1.2.2 Transportation for tourism or tourism for transportation
Gauthier (1970) reviewed in literature and characterized the relationships between transportation and economy into three types: positive, permissive, and negative effects.
This argument was developed later into transportation and tourism field by Duval (2007).
Initial equilibrium Initial
conditions
Transport policies will change in:
- Infrastructure - Services
Tourism :
- Tourism attractiveness - Tourism competitiveness
New equilibrium Policy
shocks
Compare the scenario (%
change in Total production, employment, value added)
Origin
Travel cost Travel time
Even make change in tourism commodities and services
Increase Decrease
No. of travelers Tourism receipt
Increase Decrease
Tourism destination The total cost
for tourism trip
Transport cost (money/time)
Expenditure for commodities
-services
= +
Positive effects: This role of transportation on the economic development appears as it direct and positive impacts on the development of economy. In the context of tourism, the roles of transportation appear as its facilitating domestic and international traveling, connect origins to some destinations to benefit the destinations not only in economic but also other aspects, such as culture exchange.
Permissive effects: The permissive role take places when transportation does not directly contribute to the economic development. For example, the introduction of transportation alone is not enough to influence to the economic development. Its role becomes supportive to the economic development. To the tourism context, transportation itself may not be a significant contributing factor to tourism development, but it impacts on the market trends, consumers’ preferences…then it induces to the tourism demand, tourism flows as well as tourism receipt.
Negative effects: The negative impacts of transportation on economy occurs when its investment is harmful for the economy, for example, in term of opportunity cost, the investment activities in transportation sector is less productive than some alternatives, in which the resources are used more efficiently. This is usually happened in the cases of misdirected investment. In the case of tourism, for instance, the weak in operation may make the threshold transportation flows and networks between nodes worse. The results in the short term are maybe negative impacts on the tourism travelers.
From the side of tourism, the studies on the roles of tourism on the transportation seem less attractive. However, it is suggested that the tourism development, or more properly, the tourism travel demand can play a substantial role in the demand for introducing new transportation modes or enhancing the existing ones (Duval, 2007). An example is given for the opening of the new direct flight between Auckland and Shanghai is because the increase of Chinese tourists visiting New Zealand and the migration between two countries. Another example is the case of Venice, the dramatically increase in demand of tourism makes the cruise system in Venice overloaded. The need of enhancing the existing cruise public transportation system is critical (WPI, 2012).
1.2.3 Transportation plan for tourism promotion
The impacts of transportation on tourism can be seen in two aspects, freight transportation
effects to the cost of tourism commodities and services and passenger transportation effects directly to the arrival demand. The changes in the tourism arrivals may effect on the consumption demand of tourism commodities and services. Conversely, the changes in the cost of tourism commodities and services also effect to the arrival demand. Gunn and Var (2002) once again emphasizes the vital role of passenger transportation on the tourism in term of providing critical link between market source and tourism destinations.
The first consideration of transportation plan is minimization the cost of both freight and passenger transportation in both monetary and time value term.
The intermodal in transportation service and network requires multilateral cooperation in transportation plan. Tourism trips are quite different to other daily trips, such as work trips and school trips. Daily trips usually take place with the specific transportation modes on the un-change routes. In contrast to daily trips, one tourism trip may use several transportation modes combined. Generally, the long-haul travel may utilize the inter-regional/international transportation modes, such as bullet train, air transport, ocean shipping… to reach to the destinations. At destinations, some other transportation modes may get involved. If one of the chains fail to provide the desired quality of service, the satisfaction of entire travel may be spoiled. The planning requires the cooperation of every stakeholders, from local and international government and/or relevant bodies.
Pedestrian orientation: Beside automobile, air, train, ship… the great favorable travelling is enjoyed on foot. There are some exceptions of helicopter/plane tours and cruise tours.
The designing and planning are critically considered to handling the increasing volume of travelers as pedestrians after they leave the mass transportation mode. The new routing, new surface preparations are challenges for newer, safer and more satisfying pedestrianism (Gunn and Var, 2002).
The transportation planning also differs spatially as the differences in tourism characteristics. The planning should be considered at three levels (Duval, 2007):
• At global perspective: The routes for traveling are frequently prescribed.
Transportation is mostly functional in the context of facilitating flows. Besides, there are some cases, where transportation can be used as branding and marketing.
• At the destination level: The planning should include planning measures, policy measures, implementation action plan, monitoring, resource management, landscape changes, impacts (economic, social) assessment, place promotion and marketing. At this level, transportation is considered not only a facilitator, but also a tourism attraction of destination.
• At the attraction level: At this lowest level, transportation is invested with more focus on the attraction function. The seasonal characteristics, taste of tourism are more paid attention to address the attractiveness of the destination.
1.3 Quantitative methods to analyze the economic impacts of transportation