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LO1

Unit 1

Part 1

Ellie-Rose Longley-Hall

In this timeline, I will explain how the travel industry has been shaped because of major events that have taken place in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and the past 5 years. I will be discussing the positive and negative impacts of each event. The events I will be outlining are the launch of Concorde, the launch of the Internet, the opening of the Channel Tunnel, the Ice Cloud, and COVID-19, I will discuss how each of these has changed the industry since they took place and how the industry can prepare for the future.

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In the 1950s the Brits started investigating the possibility of building a supersonic passenger plane. The Cocarde was designed to reduce flight times, it could take passengers from London to New York in the space of three hours. In the 1960s the UK and French governments agreed to share resources for the aircraft manufacture. The Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 2,179 km accommodating 128 on board. The pilots who did all the test runs were from the French Air Force Andre Turcat and Brian Trubshaw. Its first commercial flight was from London Heathrow to Bahrain on the 21st of January and the Capitan was named Captain Todd, its last flight was 27 years later in 2003 the last journey a Concorde made was from New York to London Heathrow. The British Airways aircraft made under 50,000 flights. Even though the Concord saved passengers time getting them from A to B quicker and it'd be ideal for those who travel for business purposes. They did have a lot of downfalls to them because they flew at top speeds, they had to fly over the ocean because they would send shock waves that could shatter glass if they flew over residential areas, making loads of noise which would lead to complaints being made against the aircraft. The loud sonic booms would break the sound barrier which would limit the routes which lead to them getting discontinued because of high operating costs and safety concerns.  Concorde was well known for its loud noises and sonic booms which made it limited to where it could fly, if the UK wanted to create another aircraft like the Concorde it could look at different materials and a different designed as this can help with minimalizing noise created by the aircraft, furthermore a new supersonic aircraft design could look at cost reduction because the Concorde cost between £1.5 to £2.1 billion which made it economically unstable. Because we have more advanced technology and and manufacturing equipment and materials this could lower costs making the aircrafts more accessible in the future.

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The launch of the Internet has impacted the travel industry in such a positive manner. When flying long journeys in the 80s passengers would talk to their neighbors or play card games, and there was more interaction with flight attendants. There was no internet before the 80s so when customers were booking a trip they would have to either phone the airline or visit an agency in town or at the airport and everything had to be handwritten. Unlike today where we have online systems when booking a holiday, you can go onto a website and get a 3D view of the accommodation you'd be staying in as well as looking at revives which other customers have left. The introduction of the World Wide Web changed the travel experience for the better and it allowed new brands to emerge and take advantage of the online systems. The launch on the internet has allowed travellers to book their flights, hotels, and transfers as well as add-ons to their holidays. However, the internet is now on some aircraft and most aircraft have screens where passengers can watch 100s of movies/TV programs which means passengers are no longer engaging in conversations like they would in the 80s. Travel companies now rely on the Internet to get their information and to store information for customers. But the launch of the internet has impacted the industry in such a positive way.

The Internet has been used worldwide since its launch back in the 1980s. Since 2014 35% of the global population accessed the internet, this figure has increased significantly in the past 10 years because in October 2024 the figure doubled. In 2022, 62.5% of the global population will have access to the internet, this has slightly increased over the next two years. The launch of the internet has more of a positive impact rather than a negative impact.

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1990s: The Opening of the Channel Tunnel 

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1990s: The Opening of the Channel Tunnel 

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The Channel Tunnel opened in May 1994, and it connected Kent in Southern England to Calais which is in Northern France. The Queen herself and France’s President Frasncois Mitterrand opened the tunnel on the 6th of May. The Tunnel took 6 years to build and more than 13,000 workers from England and France worked on the project. The idea behind the Channel Tunnel was to create a cheaper and quicker alternative way of traveling between England and France. There are two types of trains that go through the Channel Tunnel the Eurostar and LeShuttle trains, the Eurostar is the quickest it travels at 100mph taking the train 20 minutes. The benefits of the Channel tunnel have led to cut travel times because before the tunnel it took around 6 or 7 hours by rail and ferry from London to Paris and now the trains take 2.5 hours. The tunnel has created a quicker gateway for tourists from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany to enter Britain. Even though the tunnel does a lot for the tourism industry it isn't considered to be a success because of the amount of money it has taken to be built. Since the opening of the channel tunnel in 1994 only 316 passengers used the tunnel which is a massive difference compared to the number of passengers using international short sea routes which in 1994 was popular and just over 36 passengers used the short sea routes. The channel tunnel had a rapid increase in the 2 years after it opened with over 19 thousand passengers using the tunnel, then the graph seems to fluctuate from 1998 to 2018. For future improvements, the channel tunnel could add more trains per hour which can reduce waiting times and overcrowding.

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UK: Channel Tunnel and short sea passengers 1994-2018 | Statista

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This statistic compares the number of passengers using the Channel Tunnel and those making Short Sea journeys in the United Kingdom (UK) between 1994, when the Channel Tunnel opened, and the year 2018.

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The Icelandic ash cloud is the eruption of the Volcano, this disruption started in April 2010 and the eruption persisted until June 2010, it wasn't till October that it was declared officially over. The Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 caused massive setbacks for Europe's airways because aircraft could fly through the ash cloud as it was deemed unsafe. The spread of the huge ash cloud led to over 100,000 flights being cancelled at a cost of an estimated £3 billion. Tourist numbers between April and May dropped around 17.5%. The ash cloud sent a plume of volcanic ash over 9 kilometers into the sky. Even through the eruption was small its impact was massive especially when it came to sky travel. The disruption also affected other sectors in the travel industry such as air cargo services were suspended and businesses which relied on quick shipment faced delays which led to supply chains and other inventory being impacted. The ash cloud also impacted tourism as popular destinations seen a decline in visitors meaning hotels and local business that relied on tourists for income suffered significant loss leading staff members being sacked or left with shorter hours, however this did mean other destinations which wasn't popular a chance to gain new tourist.  The travel industry recovered slowly over time once the ash cloud had disappeared, however it took weeks for flight schedules to return to normal.  the travel industry have developed comprehensive management strategies which include clear communication protocols and contingency plans which in case of any future disasters.

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(2024). Alg-Global.com. https://www.alg-global.com/blog/land/channel-tunnel-success-or-failure

Aithor. (2024, March 21). Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in Tourism Industry. Aithor.com. https://aithor.com/essay-examples/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-technology-in-tourism-industry

Air, D. (2025). San Diego Air & Space Museum - Historical Balboa Park, San Diego. Sandiegoairandspace.org. https://sandiegoairandspace.org/hall-of-fame/honoree/concorde-test-pilots

BBC Newsround. (2024, May 3). Channel Tunnel celebrates 30th year. BBC Newsround; BBC Newsround. https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/68929924

Britannica. (2019). Concorde | Summary, History, & Facts | Britannica. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/Concorde

British Airways. (2023). Celebrating Concorde | Information | British Airways. Britishairways.com. https://www.britishairways.com/content/information/about-ba/history-and-heritage/celebrating-concorde

Russel Group. (2019, November 6). Reducing the economic damage from volcanic ash clouds. The Russell Group. https://russellgroup.ac.uk/policy/case-studies/reducing-the-economic-damage-from-volcanic-ash-clouds/

Channel Tunnel and short sea passengers in the UK 2017 | Statistic. (2017). Statista; Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/315456/channel-tunnel-and-short-sea-passengers-in-the-united-kingdom/

Jacques. (2023, April 2). Was it better to travel by plane in the 80s? - Travels of a life. Travels of a Life. https://travels-of-a-life.com/en/air-travel-in-the-80s/

Statista. (2014). Global internet user penetration 2021 | Statista. Statista; Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/325706/global-internet-user-penetration/

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Covid which is short for the Coronavirus disease 2019 it is a infectious disease. The first case was in China in Wuhan, it has a range of mild to severe symptoms which can include fever, cough, difficulty with breathing, fatigue and a loss of taste and smell. Covid spread world wide and caused a global pandemic, which meant large gathering such as concerts, sporting events or any large social gatherings were banned or limited in size and there limits on house gatherings often ranging from a few people to a maximum of 6 depending on which area of the world you lived in. The travel industry faced huge challenges during Covid flights were cancelled countries closed its borders and airlines grounded flights, this caused loss of revenue for companies and meant that passengers lost out on money if they didn't have a protected holiday, customers lost out on holidays. Before Covid back in 2002 just over 20 million people visited the UK this gently increased till 2005 where 2006 and 2007 stabilised and from there it started to plunge till 2010 which was when the ash cloud happened which could be why people didn't visit the UK. from 2010 the graph fluctuates till 1020 when the graph sank to its lowest where just over 10 million visitors and it declined more in 2021 and the visitor number went under 10 million then it rapidly increased just over 30 million in 2022. COVID-19 could adopt some strategies so the travel industry can become more resilient and better equipped to handle future crises they could implementing flexible cancellation and rescheduling accommodations, flights, establishing robust health and safety measures such as enhance cleaning keeping social distances in place for safety.