An Investigation on the Current and Future Trends of the Uk Market: Case Study of the Hospitality Industry

AN INVESTIGATION ON THE CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS OF THE UK MARKET: CASE STUDY OF THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

Coursework 1: Individual Essay

By: Student Number

For: Mr Ioannis Evagelou

Unit: 33IMM69001: International Marketing Management

Submission date:

Abstract:

UK has been revealed to be one of the major destinations of the tourists and it has in place good support systems as well as promotional such as the VisitBritain. In addition, due to the UK incorporation of other well-known hotel brands internationally, the country has been able to increase on the number of visitors that come into the country for leisure activities and the purchase of luxury products from the UK department stores. However, the country has been faced with various challenges despite of it being the major destination for tourists. Thus, in this paper, a discussion has been made on the current and future trends of the hotel industry using a case study of the UK industry. In addition, an SWOT and PESTLE analysis has been made for the UK hotel industry. It is revealed that the Chinese are major customers for the UK luxury products. Also, it has been indicated that the UK has a room for expansion of the hotel industry due to the Olympic Games.

Introduction:

        In today’s markets, it is very crucial for both the employability and the business to have a clear understanding of the current and the future trends of the industry that they would be operating (Morrison 2013, pp. 44). Thus, in this report we will be investigating and assessing on the current and future trends of the UK hotel industry. Generally, the hotel and tourism industries are among the world’s major growth industries that are worth trillions of ponds internationally.

Geographical information for the UK:

The UK is a sovereign state that is located on the North-West of the European continent. The country has an area of about 248,532 square kilometers, and it covers the largest part of the Isles archipelago of Britain (Leung, Law, Van Hoof & Buhalis 2013, pp. 38). The mainland areas of the UK lie between the latitudes of 490N and latitude 590N and the longitudes of between and 80W and 20E. In terms of physical geography, there is a great variance in the physical geography of the UK. A good example is England that is mainly covered by lowland terrains and a mountainous terrain only found in the north-west of Tees-Exe line (Leung, Law, Van Hoof & Buhalis 2013, pp. 38).

Map:

In terms of location of the UK in the Europe continent is as depicted in the map shown below.

[pic 1]

Data for the UK:

The UK is an island on the north west of Europe. I        t is made up of Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England. The overall population o0f the UK has been increasing since the first few decades, thus, resulting in an increase in the level of unemployment rate. In 2017, the overall population of the UK was about 65 million individuals within the country. The life expectancy rate in the UK is about 81.60 years as at 2015 (Mok, Sparks & Kadampully 2013, pp.64). The level of unemployment rate was revealed to be about 4.2% as of 2017, this was with a GNI per capita of about 42,100 PPP dollars. The annual growth rate in the population for the UK is about 0.8% per year together with a fertility rate of 1.81 births per woman.

Figures:

In the UK, the hotel industry has been established to be the 5th major industry within the country and the revenue obtained from the various services that are offered by the country has been used to pay over 2.4 million people within the country. Furthermore, it has been indicated that the hotel industry in the UK is used to pay salaries of more than 1.2 million people through indirect employment by the multiplier effect of the sector with other industries such as the building.  

Research the country’s tourism and hospitality:

Tourist Arrivals:

        The UK is rankled as being the 8th largest tourist destination, with over 36.115 million foreigners visiting the country for holidays and purchase of luxury products. In 2015, it was revealed that approximately $22.07 billion revenue that was obtained by the UK economy was as a result of the amount spent by foreigners in the country. The principal tourist destination area within the country is London, with the Tower of London being the major attraction centre for the foreigners (Tribe 2015, pp.144). In 2009, it is estimated by the national statistical agency that there were more than 126 million trips that were made by foreigners into the country for holidays. The summer months and bank holidays have been revealed to be the busiest time for domestic travel within the UK and August being the busiest month.

Market share

In the UK, travel and tourism industry impacts the economy through various ways. For instance, in 2016, the travel and tourism industry was able to make a contribution of about 217 billion British pounds .Direct contribution of the travel and tourism sector within the country to the GDP amounted to over 89.8 billion US dollars. Thus, this indicates that the market share of tourism in the UK is about 18%. However, the market share of tourism within the economy of the UK is dependent on other sectors including the infrastructure and development sectors. This is because an improvement in the development of any country results to an attraction of more visitors to the country.

Main attractions:

The UK remains to be the most attractive region for the various international holidays. This aspect is very crucial for the long term prospect of the hotel industry in the UK. Most tourists that visit the UK spend their time in the holiday camps. There are numerous hotels that have been established in the UK where the tourists that arrive spend their nights and have their dishes after visiting various locations. Most of the foreigners visit the coastal resorts such as the Lancashire, Swansea, Blackpool and Wales to have fun with their families. However, due to the increase in the competition, it has resulted to an increase in the operational costs of the holiday camps (Neupane 2015, pp. 34). As a result of this, it has led to most of the coastal resorts being closed down as evidenced in the early 1980s and 1990s.