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Chapter 3

The Role of Government Policy and Tourist Transport

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The role of government policy and tourist transport

The term 'policy' is frequently used to denote the direction and objectives an organisation wishes to pursue over a set period of time. The policy process is a function of three interrelated issues:• the intentions of political and other key actors• the way in which decisions and non-decisions

are made• the implications of these decisions.

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The role of government policy and tourist transport

• Policy-making is a continuous process and Figure 3.1 outlines a simplified model of the process that is applicable to the way tourism transport issues are considered by government bodies

• National policy is normally formulated by government organisations with economic and social factors in mind, without an explicit concern for tourism, even though transport networks are used for tourist and non-tourist travel.

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Figure 3.1: Policy Making Process

Policies are determined and implemented by both government bodies, public autorities and private organisations, such as firms , associations, NGO’s etc.

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• The development and shape of transport policy is partly affected by the existing infrastructure, which has resulted from major public and private sector investment to achieve general and specific transport objectives.

• Transport policy is a reactive element of government activity as changes in society and the demand for tourist and non-tourist travel needs.

The role of government policy and tourist transport

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• National transport policies have been characterised by a range of approaches that span a spectrum from a free market orientation to those based on planned resource allocation.

• The market-oriented view has been pursued on the premise that centralised state control of transport produces an unwieldy (useless) and often unresponsive service requiring unnecessarily high subsidies from state taxation.

The role of government policy and tourist transport

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• In contrast, supporters of the regulated planned response towards state involvement in transport have pointed that, in a free market economy, supply imperfections result.

• State intervention in the market economy is justified to rectify (correct) supply imperfections on social efficiency and environmental grounds to avoid inequalities in accessibility.

The role of government policy and tourist transport

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Interpreting transport policy: implications for tourist travel

In Europe and North America, transport policy has affected the tourist transport system in a number of ways, although it is based on 2 underlying economic principles:1. Allocative efficiency (the use of resources and the

price mechanism to achieve efficient access to transport and travel)

2. Political obligations (the need for the state to protect the public interest in transport provision)

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• These principles have had an important effect on the provision of transport for tourist travel in terms of the development, expansion and regulation of different modes of transport

• Technological innovations and their commercial exploitation (e.g. the motor car), and their diffusion to different social groups during the late 19th and 20th centuries, have been shaped by transport policy.

Interpreting transport policy: implications for tourist travel

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Ford Model T

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In historical terms, the principles of allocative efficiency and political obligations have been interpreted in different ways by governments, Four distinct phases in transport policy:• The Railway Age, which, in the UK, led to

heavy investment in the provision of infrastructure that made seaside resorts accessible to the working classes after the 1870s.

Interpreting transport policy: implications for tourist travel

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First Metropolitan Railway in UK - 1870

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• The Age of Protection, which characterised the 1920s and 1930s, saw the emergence of road transport, particularly the rise of the private car and coach travel in an unplanned manner.

• The Age of Administrative Planning, which emerged in the post-war period and superseded the Age of Protection, saw the private car emerge as a potent force for tourist and recreational travel.

Interpreting transport policy: implications for tourist travel

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Cars 1920

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• The Age of Contestability has characterised the period since the early 1970s in the USA & UK, based on the pursuit of the principle of deregulation to achieve ‘allocative efficiency in transport policy'

• More recent developments in transport policy in the late 1990s have contributed to a new era, the public-private partnership (PPP) approach

Interpreting transport policy: implications for tourist travel

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Cars 1970s

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The policy changes since the 1980s are characterised by:• transferring transport from the public sector to

the private sector through privatisation or denationalisation

• the introduction of competition into public transport services and greater regulatory reform

• the pursuit of greater levels of private capital in the large transport infrastructure projects.

Interpreting transport policy: implications for tourist travel

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Towards a common transport policy for theEuropean Union - Aviation

• In the case of aviation, the EU policy has changed dramatically over the last decade after a move from aviation markets being a series of heavily regulated, discrete bilateral cartels, dominated by flag carriers, to a structure which promises by the end of the century to have become a liberalised multinational civil aviation market.

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Changes have occurred in the EU aviation market:• Individual countries (e.g. the UK) did not free the

market entirely; instead the procedure for allocating licences was more liberal.

• Since the mid-1980s bilateral agreements have been liberalised between member states

• External changes, such as the USA's 'open skies' policy, have assisted EU member states in developing bilateral agreements.

Towards a common transport policy for theEuropean Union - Aviation

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• Rail transport and rail networks are state owned in all member states of the EU, and they receive subsidies to assist with the operation of uneconomic services. • Yet there are certain governments (UK and

Sweden) that have sought to introduce greater competition, aspects of privatisation and a more explicit market orientation for rail passenger transport.

Towards a common transport policy for theEuropean Union: the case of rail travel

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The EU has made little progress towards developing a common rail policy due to two principal objectives of EU transport policy :• the desire to liberalise rail transport to achieve

free trade policies in the move towards the Single European Market

• the need to harmonise the conditions of competition in rail services in pursuit of social intervention policies.

Towards a common transport policy for theEuropean Union: the case of rail travel

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The EU and rail travel

In the EU, rail travel has experienced a relative loss of market share to road since the 1970s. With the decline in infrastructure for rail operations, the EU Common Transport Policy set out a number of goals that subsequent directives needed to meet: • to open up EU markets for rail• to develop interoperability of high-speed and

conventional rail systems• to set out the conditions within which state aid

could be provided

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The EU high-speed rail networkIn 2001 the EU outlined its priorities for TENS (Trans European Network System) rail projects to foster trans-European cooperation in passenger services. Some of the wider TENS objectives of:• maximising transport efficiency• improving transport safety• environmental improvement• strategic mobility and environmental, economic

improvement• implementation of the Single Market• contribution to external dimensions, such as network

development, integration and cooperation

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Formulating state-level Tourist Transport policy

• OECD Tourism Committee, formed in 1948, pursued tourism as a vehicle for economic cooperation and development.

• One of its principal objectives is to provide advice and information to member countries.

• The OECD has argued that effective state policies for tourist transport should be integrated so that tourism and transport concerns work in harmony.

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Integration in transport can be achieved by integrating :

• the policy instruments used across different modes of transport

• policy instruments associated with the provision of infrastructure, management, pricing and information

• land use planning with different transport schemes and measures

• linking policies not currently aligned with transport such as health, education and other areas (tourism)

• the activities of different public bodies and authorities in large urban areas.

Formulating state-level Tourist Transport policy

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Where countries do formulate a tourist transport policy, the following issues should be taken into account in its implementation through planning measures:• The management of tourist traffic in large urban

areas • The management of tourist and recreational traffic

in rural areas • The promotion of off-peak travel by tourists to

spread the seasonal and geographical distribution of tourist travel.

Formulating state-level Tourist Transport policy

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• Maximising the use of existing transport infrastructure and the use of more novel forms of tourist transport

• Integration of transport modes as evident from the Department for Transport move towards an integrated transport strategy.

• More integration between the public and private sector rather than the fragmentation that has arisen from privatisation

Formulating state-level Tourist Transport policy

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The pre-privatisation era and tourist use of rail

There is a broad overview of the various factors that affected the organisation and management of pre-privatisation passenger services.Authors identified the main determinants of the demand for rail travel as:• Speed• Cost• Comfort • Convenience• Access to stations• The image of the service.

Privatisation and Tourist Transport policy

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The pre-privatisation era and tourist and leisure use of rail

• In terms of tourist demand, the Long Distance Travel Survey found that rail had a 20 % share of all long-distance trips (those over 40 km).

• According to some authors, the number of domestic tourists using rail to reach their holiday destination in UK dropped from 13 % in 1971 to 10 % in 1985 and 8 % in 1989.

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The tourist rail experience post-privatisation

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Prior to privatisation, InterCity had been able to reach Levels 1-3 in terms of service delivery (Figure 3.5),

But post-privatisation it is apparent that innovations in service delivery assisted with reaching Level 4 in models of rail service delivery with improvement on the principles in Levels l-3.

The tourist rail experience post-privatisation

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Under privatisation,developments at each stage of that model occurred, including the pre-train experience:• e-travel options (i.e. booking via the Internet or via

Trainline.com)

• National Rail Inquiry call centre• more approachable staff to help at stations for

long-distance services• clearer branding of the rail product offered by

each franchise.

The tourist rail experience post-privatisation

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The on-board rail experience offered:• a redesigned team approach on long-distance

services• greater information during service interruptions to

keep passengers informed and to maintain satisfaction

• the introduction of packages to offer more on-board value in restaurant and buffet cars

• investment in new and refurbished trains• more interaction with passengers to generate-repeat

business.

The tourist rail experience post-privatisation

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The post-train experience included:• increased attention to customer ratings,

with a quarterly National Rail Survey• monitoring of customer services• expansion of services to meet service

demands.

The tourist rail experience post-privatisation

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The following points summarise the key findings of the discussion of rail privatisation :• Marketing research has become an important part of

the strategic planning process • Government has adopted a long-term policy

favouring privatisation under the form of improving consumer choice and service quality

• In the 1970s and 1980s tourist use of railways declined, but there is potential for increasing the number of journeys involving air and rail for distances of 500-1000 km.

The tourist rail experience post-privatisation

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• The introduction of the passenger charter is a direct consequence of government policy and has led to a greater emphasis on service quality.

• For international tourists, the changes since privatisation are complex, confusing and not visitor friendly

The tourist rail experience post-privatisation

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Policy measures to improve the trade in tourismand transport: GATS – (Optional)

• One of the principal problems which continue to affect the development of a global transport and tourism sector is the existence of obstacles to free trade.

• Trade liberalisation in tourism services has become part of the multilateral trade agenda as part of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) where tourism and travel-related services represents the first multilateral agreement to have an impact upon the sector

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• The issue of GATS is complex but its ultimate purpose is to liberalise trade in services by the elimination of trade barriers, enhancing trade between countries.

• In tourism, the market access focus is particularly important, covering 4 dimensions of tourism supply: 1) cross-border trade, 2) consumption abroad, 3) commercial presence, 4) natural persons

Policy measures to improve the. trade in tourismand transport: GATS

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End of Chapter Slides