Going to the Beach on the Other Side of Globe

The globalization of tourism has raised the issue of national competitiveness. Over the last few years, new destinations have emerged on the global market, and more traditional destinations, while still growing, have seen their share of global tourist flows decline. This is the case of Italy and the rest of Europe, which accounted for more than 55 % of tourist destinations in the 1970s and now accounts for 45% of global tourism.
A similar evolution calls for an understanding of the market structure, which in turn leads to assessing the configuration of the roles of business actors, such as air carriers and the development of web tourism, and in general all those who work with tourism (public agencies, operators, companies, as well as complementary industries such as culture, entertainment, sports etc). The first implication of globalization is that different societies, cultures and economies are increasingly linked and interrelated. Technological change, the liberalization of the world trade in goods and services, and heightened personal mobility have reduced, although not abolished, the barriers of space and time. Demographic change, especially in advanced countries, has led to the progressive aging of the population. This implies higher leisure and income, but also different needs in terms of destinations, products, services. Internet and personal communication technologies (cell phones, GPS) have changed the way of retrieving information and taking decisions. A higher supply of products and services makes it difficult for consumers to gauge their relative qualities. Thus they seek other factors on which they can base their choices and are increasingly attracted by solutions that are tailored to their individual needs and desires. It is thus harder to identify homogeneous targets for marketing campaigns. In other terms, we're evolving toward "niche tourism'. There's also growing demand for sustainable tourism, either ecologically, socially, or economically. The trend has been strengthened by recent legislative initiatives the provide incentives for individuals and societies to act in more sustainable ways. Both the Kyoto Protocol and recent EU directives set guidelines that affect agriculture, transport, and tourism. Also, the demand for health and well-being as leisure activities is growing, in order to compensate our increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Finally, the success of low-cost entrepreneurial models has reshaped the market, by reducing products and services to their basic components. Such business models work next to the more traditional models in the industry. China, India, Brazil are rapidly gaining ground both as "importers" and "exporters" of tourists. Operators must come to terms with the reality of a growing weight for emerging countries in world tourism. Europe is losing market share (see United Nations World Tourism Organization). China, for instance, in 2006 overtook Italy to become the fourth most visited country in the world. If Hong Kong is also factored in, then France sees its traditional position as the world's leading destination threatened. The biggest challenge for many Italian and European firms is IT. Market fragmentation and the dominance of small companies do not help. Still, savvy web marketing and a good online reputation are major competitive assets for anybody operating in the tourism industry.