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The irreversible process of globalisation : are there only winners in the field of tourism ?

Norbert VANHOVE - Director General of the Bureau of Research of Western Flanders (WES) Bruges, Belgium

 

 

1 - INTRODUCTION

Globalisation is a generic term comprising three basic elements or can have three different interpretations. First, there is the geographical element. The term covers (intraregional) and interregional travel. In french we speak of the "mondialisation" of tourism or its expansion to global scale. Others see globalisation in terms of convergence in world tastes, product preferences and life styles, which leads to growing standardisation and market homogenisation. In other words, there is a trend towards similar customer preferences world wide (see infra). A third basic element is the existence of internationally similar prac-tices, such as concentration movements, distribution systems, marketing practice, product development etc. We find this interpretation in Go's contribution (1996) at the AIEST Congress in Rotorua : "Briefly stated, globalisation (that is, the social act of reproduction of a global culture), involves the process of organising or establishing structures and commercial activity by institutions on a world-wide scale". The first and second characteristics are more demand ori-ented; the third is supply oriented.

We find the same three elements in the interpretation of globalisation with Jordan (2000). "What does globalisation mean with respect to tourism? In the global perspective :

• Global market ;
• Activating of multinational companies ; 
• Global capital market ; 
• Global communication (the Internet, reservation systems) ; 
• Global standards (e.g. standards of quality) ; 
• Spreading of the West in the cultural sense (life habits, value judgements on e.g. environment)". 

Smeral (1996) puts globalisation in a macro economic context. How-ever the first and third element of globalisation are present ; he adds the international division of labour. "In a purely economic sense, the term globalisation stands for the increasing interdependence of mar-kets and production in different countries through trade in goods and services, cross-border flows of capital, international strategic alli-ances, cooperations, mergers and exchange of technology. Globalisation also means an increase in the international division of la-bour...".

Within the framework of this contribution, globalisation covers all mentioned aspects with an emphasise on long haul demand.

To analyse the globalisation of the market, we must examine four ma-jor aspects. In section 1 we will attempt to demonstrate globalisation in tourism. A number of data are illustrative in this respect. Furthermore, we will have a look at what the future might hold for this phenomenon.

Globalisation cannot be explained only in terms of traditional factors such as aviation and air fares, tour operating, exchange rates etc. Can we find a further explanation of globalisation in a number of macro economic or social trends and specific trends in tourism demand and supply? All three sets of trends have an impact on globalisation. This is the subject of the second section.

Globalisation cannot be dealt with without reference to the role of the rapid evolution of information technology - computer reservation sys-tems, specific reservation systems, the Internet etc. during the last two decades. This is the topic of the third part.

Globalisation and global distribution systems (the Internet included) is confronting most destinations and may be developing more than de-veloped countries - with management and marketing questions. What is the impact of it on marketing strategy ? What is the impact of it on the distribution channels ? These very difficult and complex questions are the topic of the fourth and last section.

This globalisation process leads to winners and losers. We formulate a number of considerations on this topic in the conclusions.

2 - THE GLOBALISATION OF TOURISM DEMAND

2.1 - GENERAL EVOLUTION

In 1998, international tourist arrivals - according to WTO estimates - increased to 625 million, whilst international tourism receipts reached $ US 445 billion. International tourist arrivals have witnessed an unin-terrupted growth since 1950, although the growth rate is declining.

Over several decades, growth rates have proved to be resilient - at least on a global scale - to factors such as economic recession, variable exchange rates, terrorist activities and political unrest in many parts of the world.

It is also important to underline that the international tourism receipts at a global level have increased faster than other important export sectors. According to WTO-GATT-UNCTAD sources, the average annual percentage growth in current terms of tourism was 9.6 percent for tourism, 7.5 percent for commercial services and 5.5 percent for mer-chandise exports.

2.2 - ORIGIN-DESTINATION MATRIX OF INTERNATIONAL TOURIST ARRIVALS

Based on information provided by the WTO, in table 1 we compare the origin-destination matrix of international tourist arrivals 1980 and 1990. A matrix based on more up-to-date data is not available.

Table 1 : Origin-destination matrix of international tourist arrivals, 1980-90 (in %)

One expects a decrease of intraregional flows during the last decade. To a certain extent this is the case. We must take into account that Europe and the Americas generate 77 % of all arrivals.

Taking into account the growing economic importance of East Asia , with strong interregional tourism flows, one can conclude that table 1 indicates a growing globalisation process in tourism demand.

The growth of international tourism during the last decades was domi-nated by the price factor. The tour operators' ability to deliver previously inaccessible warm-climate destinations at prices affordable to a substantial part of the population of especially Western Europe and North America, played an important role in this growth. These low prices depend on the low air fares, the negotiating power of the tour operators towards the hoteliers (made possible by low wage levels) and favourable exchange rates.

The importance of the price factor in the destination pattern of international travel flows can be illustrated by the recent evolution in international travel flows towards Spain, a first generation destination for international tourism. It is obvious that the globalisation of prod-ucts and demand is moving forward, especially in the mass market for beach resorts.

The combination of low air fares (made possible by overcapacity, a low dollar rate up to the beginning of 1997 and the opening of long haul destinations for charter flights) and low hotel rates in most long haul destinations (made possible by low wage rates and/or attractive ex-change rates) created the basis for the increasing popularity of long-haul travel. Offering an exotic flavour as an incentive in the competi-tion with the first generation destinations, a product/price combination was created which could compete with a part of the tradi-tional short and medium haul demand. This gave rise to booming destinations like Thailand, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Turkey and other.

2.3 - PROSPECTS OF INTERREGIONAL TOURISM

Two major sources are available on forecasting the future of interna-tional tourism : the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the World Tourism Organisation (WTO).

The EIU produces forecasts on international tourism at irregular inter-vals. The latest publication (Edwards, 1992) is based on quantitative assumptions and projection techniques. The global EIU forecasts for the period 1995-2005 can be summarised as follows :

	1995-2000	2000-2005
Short or medium haul trips	4.8 %	3.6 %
Long haul trips	6.8 %	6.1 %
All trips	5.1 %	4.0 %
All nights	4.7 %	3.9 %

Global growth rates of the total number of trips are estimated at be-tween 4 and 5 % for the next decade, with a somewhat higher rate for the period 1995-2000 than for the period 2000-2005. EIU expects a further decrease in the length of stay of the trips.

The forecast results for the period 1995-2005 are very similar to those achieved in the 1980s. A relatively new element in the EIU forecasts is that travel from a number of major origin countries, especially in Europe, is expected to be increasingly constrained by ceiling limita-tions to travel. A major feature, especially since about 1985, has been the significant increase of long haul travel. The decline in air fares (in real terms), improved air access and the rising demand for long haul holidays versus traditional short and medium haul destinations (pro-vided the additional holiday cost involved remains reasonable) were major forces in this development. The EIU forecasted a further in-crease of long haul from 13.3 % in 1989 to 15.4 % in 2000 at world level (market share of total international trips).

Table 2 summarises the latest WTO (1998) forecasts (1995-2020) of international tourist arrivals per destination region. A distinction has been made between interregional and intraregional travel. Although we have some problems with forecasts for such a long period, the results sustain our thesis of globalisation.  

Table 2 : Forecasts on inbound tourism by region, 1995-2020 

Receiving regions	International tourist arrivals (millions)				Average annual growth rates (%)
	1995	2000	2010	2020	1995-2000	2000-2010	2010-2020	1995-2020
Europe	334	386	526	717	3	3,2	3,1	3,1
East Asia/Pacific	81	105	231	438	5,2	8,2	6,8	7
Americas	110	131	195	284	3,6	4	3,8	3,8
Africa	20	26	46	75	5,4	5,7	5,1	5,5
Middle East	14	19	37	69	6,4	7,1	6,5	6,7
South Asia	4	6	11	19	5,6	6,8	5,8	6,2
Total	563	673	1.046	1.602	3,6	4,5	4,4	4,3

SOURCE : WTO (1998), Tourism : 2020 vision.

On a world scale, long haul travel is predicted to increase its market share from 18 % in 1995 up to 24 % in 2020, which is globally in line with the EIU forecast share of long haul travel.

The evolution of the intraregional/long haul split of international tourist arrivals is very unequal per receiving region.Figures below give the share (in per cent) of long haul arrivals per receiving region in 1995 and 2020. 

By and large more originating and receiving countries will be involved in this process of globalisation.

3 - GLOBALISATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF TRENDS IN TOURISM DEMAND AND SUPPLY

In the preceding section a number of fundamental factors are given which explain not only the high growth rate of international tourism but also the globalisation of tourism demand. In this section we pay more attention to a number of trends in tourism demand and tourism supply as exponents of or with a possible impact on globalisation.
During the last decade many authors and organisations have dealt with changes in tourism demand (Opaschowski (1985), Krippendorf (1987), WTO (1990), Poon (1993), Vanhove (1993) , Middleton (1994), the International Millennium Conference at the University of Surrey (2000).

Trends in tourism demand can be divided into three main groups. The first can be called : changing macro socio-economic factors. The sec-ond group consists of trends in the tourism demand strictly speaking. In the third group, we emphasise a number of trends on the supply side. Let us have a look at all three groups of trends.

3.1 - MACRO SOCIO-ECONOMIC TRENDS

3.1.1 HIGHER INCOMES AND INCOME ELASTICITY OF TOURISM DEMAND

Income and mainly discretionary income is after all the dominant fac-tor in explaining tourism demand. (Frechtling, 2000) In most parts of the world national income has increased during the last two decades. There are no indications that this trend will change in the medium term, although the growth rate is likely to be very unequal between countries.

The factor that is important for us is the high income elasticity of tour-ism demand (Martin and Wit, 1989). It is impossible to put forward an average income elasticity. But 1.5 to 2 is a very acceptable figure for long haul tourism demand.(Frechtling, 2000) This means that, with an annual GNP growth rate of 3 %, tourism demand is increasing by 4.5 to 6 % a year.

 3.1.2 DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES

It is a well-known fact that population in developed countries is stag-nating and ageing. This is not only changing demographic structures but also the composition of the family. Greater longevity is another as-pect. In Europe, 20.1 % of the population was over 65 in 1980; by the year 2025 that figure will have risen to 29.2 % (Go and Moutinho, 1999).

What will be the consequences for tourism ? There are many. We limit ourselves here to one aspect. Senior citizens and/or empty nest families become more important. They have above-average financial resources and travel frequently. Many of them are confronted with earlier retirement. They seek opportunities for personal development. But how long can we go on with earlier retirement taking into account the situation on the labour market and the greater longevity in the generating countries?(Willmott and Graham, 2000)

Older tourists have a specific motivation. As these elderly people have a lot of travel experience already and their physical condition is good, ageing will not provide a lowering of holiday participation in the me-dium terms. Poon (1993) describes the implications of demographic trends as follows : "The ageing of the population in the developed countries goes hand in hand with the change in values described above. In general, consumers will be more mature in planning their holidays, and they will not be so easily satisfied as were their former counterparts. They will listen more carefully to their inner selves and to their pocketbooks to determine what they really need and can afford. To the most important groups, travel will no longer offer the excitement of the new. Instead they will be looking for the different and for the enjoyable. They will want to be surer and surer that their holidays will be both pleasurable and worthwhile."

3.1.3 MORE ATTENTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE GROWING IMPOR-TANCE OF ECOTOURISM

The environment is becoming one of the main concerns of our society. Everyone is aware of this. The tourist resorts however are sometimes much less worried about it. The holidaymaker, though, wants to be re-leased from the negative aspects of his environment.

The landscape in all its diversity is the basic element, the main ingre-dient, the raw material of tourism. It is the very essence of tourism and constitutes its driving force.

From the tourist's point of view, the attraction of the landscape con-sists in its diversity and the contrast it offers with his daily environment. It is the degree of this contrast that will determine the attraction for tourists. There is therefore a search for the real and au-thentic. European travellers want nature to be more prominent in their vacations (Poon, 1993).

A direct consequence of this movement is a boosting of ecotourism in Europe and the US. We agree, ecotourism (a new buzz-word) can mean a number of things and is often old wine in a new barrel. It is generally used to describe tourism activities which are conducted in harmony with nature, as opposed to more traditional mass tourism activities. According to Hawkins (1994), ecotourism offers opportunities for many developing countries.
Certain resorts or regions are running the risk of or have already fallen victim to overdevelopment and subsequent rejection by tourists. This is a second consequence of this movement.

3.1.4 MASLOW'S NEED THEORY AND NEW TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS

To what extent is there a relationship between the globalisation of tourism demand and Maslow's need theory ? This is a very difficult question to answer. The travel literature indicates that travel motiva-tions can fit into Maslow's hierarchy of needs model. Mill (1992) adds two other words "to know and understand" and "aesthetics" to the original list (see also Baum, 1995). This might explain the success of culture tourism and thematic tourism (e.g. Orlando in Florida). They probably make sense and are related to the preceding section and to our subject in general. Smith's (1989) tourist types shows a greater differentiation and motivational structure has become subtler.

3.1.5 CHANGED VALUES

In some of the preceding sections, there are indications of changed values such as a growing consciousness of nature and a search for the real and authentic.

There is much more however. Individualisation is gaining in importance in our society. For the tourism sector this implies that "a" consumer no longer exists. We speak of "this" consumer. The consequence is evident. The tourist product has to be adapted to "this" consumer. We can refer to a set of building blocks where the parts are assembled dif-ferently according to the personality of the consumer.

Poon (1993) indicates two other changed values. She is convinced there are growing signs today that the fashion for sun is beginning to fade. The sun is no longer sufficient to build a viable and sustainable tourism industry. Destinations have to begin to offer "sun-plus" holi-days such as sun plus spas, plus nature, plus fishing. The second additional changed value is the search for the different. "The new traveller wants to experience the inexperienced, see the unexpected, gain impressions of new cultures and a new horizon".

3.1.6 CHANGING LIFESTYLES

Krippendorf (1987) argues that society has moved through three phases between the industrial era and the present. In the industrial era, tourists were drawn from a population that "lived to work". Since about two decades people "work to live". Travel motivations changed from "to recover, to rest, to have no problems" to "to experience something different, to have fun, to have a change, to be active". But today there is a third phase which has been described as the desire to experience "the new unity of everyday life". In this phase, the polarity of work and leisure has been reduced.

The vacation motivations of this group include :

• to broaden their horizon ;  
• to learn something new ;  
• to encourage introspection and communication with other people ; 
• to discover the simpler things in life and nature ;  
• to foster creativity, open-mindedness ; and  
• to experiment, take personal risks.

Some speak of a global lifestyle. The latter is a consequence of improved educational levels and the revolution in communication technology. The world is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan with all its people influencing each other. This globalisation process has many impacts on and implications for tourism. The most fundamental of these is the fact that increased travel is both a reason for, and the result of, the global lifestyle (WTO, 1990).

Tourism demand modifies quickly and is no longer always coherent. The fast modifications reveal themselves in the Mediterranean region. The market share of the Mediterranean countries in the European market varies from year to year. But demand is not always coherent either. We may expect that a chairman of a large company takes his holiday in a five star hotel, in an exotic destination. But is that really so ? Not any more. That same chairman may also ask for a bicycle holi-day, which will take him from one place to another. And this proves that we no longer deal with "the" consumer but "this" consumer. This is a clear illustration of the so-called hybrid consumer.

"Healthy lifestyle is another trend "..." The practice of healthy living reflects itself in holiday and tourism lifestyles and is responsible for the proliferation of health spas, saunas, fitness centres, "fat farms", gyms, massage... and other such additions to many hotels and resorts" (Poon, 1993).

3.1.7 THE EUROPEAN UNION

Europe represents a very high percentage of international arrivals. Europe has a lot of tourist attractions to offer. However, not all of these arrivals are long haul trips.

Further European integration has two consequences of great impor-tance for European tourism : frontier formality withdrawal and the Euro. The Schengen agreement aims at abolishing frontier controls be-tween European countries allowing people to travel without passports or border checks. It came into force in 1995 and at the moment nine countries are included in the Schengen agreement. Other countries are negotiating for membership. Not only Europeans but also non-Europeans can move much easier between the Member States. One visa gives access to all Schengen countries.

There is a widespread conviction that the Euro will be good for tour-ism. The customer will have three benefits : (a) simplicity, (b) transparency and (c) economy. As such, the Euro will stimulate the intra-European tourism flows.

3.2 - TRENDS IN TOURISM DEMAND IN THE STRICT SENSE

In this section we deal with a number of trends within tourism de-mand. There is no doubt that these trends are partly related to the macro socio-economic factors which we put forward in the preceding section. Here we distinguish six such trends.

3.2.1 FRAGMENTATION OF ANNUAL HOLIDAYS

In many if not all European countries the main holiday has become shorter, but at the same time many holidaymakers take two or more holidays a year. Furthermore, many holidaymakers take short holidays (1-3 nights) in between.

This fragmentation is the main reason for shorter holidays. But we are also confronted with time efficient product development. In a period of more leisure time, an increasing proportion of the population finds less time to travel and is in a "time poor - money rich" situation. The outcome of this trend is an increasing number of products that offer the tourist the maximum excitement in a minimum of time (WTO, 1998).

3.2.2 MORE INDEPENDENT TOURISTS AS OPPOSED TO MASS TOURISM

In the early 1990s Middleton (1991) posed the question "Whither the package tour". In his contribution the author demonstrated that the UK outbound market for traditional forms of air-inclusive package holi-days reached maturity in the mid 1980s and has been in decline since. The evidence also shows that profitable future growth for both tour operators and resorts lies in developing new forms of IT products.

Mature tourists look for the core advantages of packages (price, reli-ability etc.) without the traditional requirement and stigma of travelling and staying together in highly visible groups in chartered flights and hotels. The following statement by Middletown is very im-portant : "So far as possible, customers should not be aware of being labelled and identified as tour groups. They will, of course, continue to be bound by the specific times and product options which are the basis on which bulk purchase prices can be obtained from suppliers".

3.2.3 NEW TYPES OF HOLIDAYS AND SPECIAL INTEREST

It is not surprising to learn that, in the light of changing values and lifestyles, new types of holidays and recreation arise, under the slogan : "to experience something during the holiday". The holidaymaker wants to enjoy his holidays thoroughly, thus resulting in an increasing interest in holidays devoted to sports or other hobbies, urban tourism, natural, health, cultural, adventure and language holidays, etc. We speak of "targeted product market development (especially theme based) oriented to one or a combination of the three Es : entertainment, excitement and education.

There is a net polarisation of tourist tastes : the comfort-based and the adventure-oriented. With respect to the latter there is a trend to travel to high places (mountain), under water (tourist submarines) and to the ends of the earth (e.g. Antarctic Peninsula).

Next to the desire to experience something, an increasing demand for animation also arises. A lot of tourists need to be incited to discover their own capacities and to develop them within the framework of holidays with a real content. That is why tourist 'animation' is very important. This can take different forms : movement, social life, crea-tive activities, education and discovery, self-discovery, quietness and adventure.

3.2.4 MORE QUALITY CONSCIOUS

Another trend can be summarised as the search for "more quality". This is in agreement with the trend towards new forms of holidays. More quality does not mean more luxury, but what the Germans call "Erlebnistiefe", holidays with a meaning.

This is what Martin and Mason (1987) clearly emphasise: "Different types of people will make new and varied demands on the tourism products. For example : older people will look for better quality, and more secure surroundings while single people seek more social contact through tourism. In addition, there will be accompanying shifts in what people want out of their lives, which will affect their choices as tourists. Likely changes in attitude are :

• the development of greater awareness of the range of tourism choices available and demands for a higher standard of service and value for money from tourism operators and
• growing concern about the quality of the tourism experience in all senses, including the nature of the facilities used, the state of the environment visited, and the health-enhancing (or detrimental) fea-tures of the activities undertaken".

The attraction of the country(side), quiet holidays with a content, with attention to the environment, health and art cities are predominant trends. In the United Kingdom, the term "green tourism" is a perfectly integrated concept, which goes beyond "rural tourism" (Green, 1990).

3.2.5 MORE EXPERIENCED AND EDUCATED HOLIDAYMAKERS

The holiday participation rates speak for themselves. A holiday a year has for a long time been a must for most people from developed coun-tries. More experienced does not only mean "more quality conscious" but also :

• more need of variety ;
• desire for communication and personal attention on holiday ;
• need for greater variety and choice ;
• more active, more adventure. 

As well as having more experience, tourists are very often better edu-cated than they were in the past.

3.2.6 MORE FLEXIBLE TOURISTS

New consumers are more flexible. What does this mean for Poon ? She underlines two characteristics :

• (a) new consumers are hybrid in nature and consume along unpredict-able lines ;
• (b) new consumers are more spontaneous (e.g. shorter lead times be-fore booking a holiday).

3.3 - TRENDS ON THE SUPPLY SIDE  

The tourism sector is confronted with four main supply trends : (a) more receiving countries and regions, (b) concentration, (c) revolution in information technology and (d) transport technology.

Every year new regions are developed as destinations. The world is be-coming increasingly explored and adventure tourism is in the picture (mountains, tourist submarines, ends of the earth, etc.).

The process of concentration of power within the subsectors which make up travel and tourism goes on. We refer to the airline alliances (with four dominant groups (WTO, 1998)), the accommodation sector (consolidation of hotel groups; Benhamou, 2000) and tour operating. The three leading European tour operators represent together about 40 million customers in 2000 (Cavlek, 2000) :

• Preusag (TUI / thomson / Hapag Lloyd) : over 20 million holidays ; 
• Airtours : 10.3 million ; 
• C & N : 9.2 million. 

In addition to horizontal and vertical integration (e.g.TUI is the owner or shareholder of 172 hotel chains representing 85000 beds in 19 countries), many travel and tourism companies are utilising a diagonal integration strategy, whereby they establish operations to offer prod-ucts or services which tourists commonly purchase but which are not directly part of the tourism product (Poon, 1993 and WTO, 1998). Here we are confronted with diversification. Airline companies are offering insurance, etc.

Information technology is changing at an incredible pace. We will re-turn to this in the next section.

Transport technology will lead - ceteris paribus - to either further de-crease in transport costs or shorter travel times. Larger and faster aircrafts are being developed; new and faster high speed trains fore-cast (the 500 kmph levitational train between Hamburg and Berlin) and even larger cruise ships are under construction; the American world city is designed to carry 6.200 passengers (WTO, 1998).

Air transport and air fares are and will be influenced by several other trends :

• air deregulation and an influx of low cost airlines ; 
• further privatisation of the world's national airlines. Major carriers take share holdings or acquire privatising airlines. This phenomenon is very well phrased in the WTO report (1998) "Privatisation can be seen to be fuelling the spread of globalisation" ; 
• aircraft yield management by having the right type of aircraft for given routes.

The conclusion of this subsection is clear. The concentration of air-lines, hotel groups, tour operators, travel agencies and car rental firms will lead to economies of scales and to economies of scope. This shall lead to lower prices. However, it also contains a danger. Large groups might gain too powerful a hold on the markets. So far it is not yet the case.

One important consequence of the above mentioned sypply trends is a move towards standardisation in tourism (Baum, 1995). The growth of standardised products - standardisation through multiple uniting, fran-chising and branding - represents one of the main features of contempory tourism development worldwide. The fast food sector is the most visible evidence of this trend. There is little doubt that trends towards standardisation and market-visible brand names will become increasingly important in tourism over the next few years. This will be fuelled by the dominance of CRS's, large promotional budgets and increasing preference for the known product range.

3.4 - IMPACT ON GLOBALISATION OF TOURISM DEMAND

What is the impact of all the above mentioned trends on globalisation of tourism demand ? We believe that in the medium term six of the above-mentioned trends will influence the tourism globalisation process. They can be divided into two subgroups. The first, which will have the greatest impact on globalisation, is composed of :

• higher income levels in developed and newly developed countries ; 
• trends on the supply side (new destinations, concentration, information and transport technology) ; 
• more experienced holidaymakers. 

In the second subgroup we retain three other trends :

• new travel motivations ; 
• new types of holidays and special interests ; 
• demographic changes and improved health among the retired (greater longevity).

4 - GLOBALISATION AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

4.1 - SEVERAL FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR GLOBALISATION OF TOURISM DEMAND

Globalisation of tourism over the last two or three decades cannot be explained in terms of demand factors only. However, they are impor-tant when one considers Baum's (1995) key factors in explaining the growth of international tourism.

Nevertheless it would be unwise to overlook the great influence of technology, as we have noted in the preceding sections. Technology has two different aspects : transportation and communication. Without changes in aviation (air fares included) the globalisation of tourism would have been impossible. Probably the same applies to the changes in information technology (see further).

Nonetheless demand and technology together are still an insufficient explanation. Supply factors, such as international hotel chains and the increasing number of cruise carriers, are important and the role of the destination countries is very often underestimated. Many developing countries consider tourism as a main source of wealth. The benefits are sometimes great (Vanhove, 1997). The incentive is often related to demand as well. The broadening of tourist interest not only leads to a greater diversification of tourism development in established destinations but more destinations are entering the tourism market.

Another factor that we should mention is "mass-media". Its impact on the consumer is tremendous. People can be informed about worldwide events on a daily basis.

4.2 - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

One of the essential factors that has stimulated the globalisation of tourism was the revolution in what is called information technology and more generally in communication.

"Information is the lifeblood of the travel industry" (Sheldon, 1995). It connects tourists (travellers), tour operators, travel agents and tourism industry suppliers. For Poon (1993) information is the cement that holds together the different producers within the tourism sector - namely cruise lines, airlines, hotels, tour operators, travel agents, car rentals and many other suppliers. Information technology is essential for the efficient and timely processing and distribution of all necessary information.

4.3 - COMPUTER RESERVATION SYSTEMS AND GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

Information technology is a generic term. In fact there is a system of information technologies. The largest and most important information systems in the tourism sector are the computer reservation systems. The US Department of Transportation defines a CRS as "a periodically updated central data base that is accessed by subscribers through computer terminals". They have emerged as the dominant technology.

Computer reservation systems (CRSs) were developed by the airlines. They are primarily tools used by airlines to maintain inventory control of their seat offerings. They have played a significant role in facilitating increasing volumes of travel over the last two decades. A significant shift is now occurring towards global travel distribution systems and increased competition amongst airline groups seeking to broaden and strengthen their product distribution through developing regional global CRSs. A GDS takes the inventory from a CRS (or from many of them) and distributes it via travel agents and other distribu-tion outlets. A GDS has no specific airline inventory control functions other than to "report back" (French, 1998). Since the early 1990s their function has expanded to include many other travel products (e.g. accommodation, rent a car, etc.) and to embrace alternative means of distribution to travel agents, such as Internet (see figure 1). The leading GDSs are Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus and Worldspan. 

Figure 1 : Transaction flow of global CRS/GDS industry

SOURCE : Merrill Lynch, and borrowed from French T. (1998).

Sabre leads in North America in terms of travel agency locations. Ama-deus/System one has the lead in Europe. Galileo can claim to have the best balanced world representation (French, 1998). All four are oper-ating worldwide.

Are CRSs the cause or consequence of increased travel ? According to the WTO (1990), the development of global CRS capabilities is due to anticipated changes in the pattern and requirements of the global travel market. Business is moving away from international towards global operations and hence the requirement for travel global booking and reservation systems. But the change in the tourism sector itself, including a growth in long haul travel, a market trend away from pack-age tour products and a more demanding and affluent public has also activated the development of global CRS.

The consequence of these demand trends is an increasing requirement for CRSs to offer more travel information, faster processing time and more comprehensive booking and reservation functions as well as pro-viding enhanced management accounting information (see yield management)(WTO, 1990). Poon expresses the same idea. "The appli-cations of technology to the travel and tourism industry allow producers to supply new and flexible services that are cost-competitive with mass, standardised and rigidly packaged options. Technology gives suppliers the flexibility to move with the market and the capacity to diagonally integrate with other suppliers to provide new combinations of services and improve cost effectiveness".

Since a number of years, most GDSs have a strategy to become more independent. No GDS has more than about 12 per cent of its bookings from one carrier (French, 1998) and not one airline has a majority of its bookings processed by one GDS. The looser link with the airlines also follows from fund raising on the capital market (e.g. Sabre in 1996 and Galileo in 1997).

4.4 - RAPID DIFFUSION OF CRS'S IN EUROPE IN THE RECENT PAST

We are now confronted with a very rapid diffusion of technology and CRSs in particular. Already in 1988, CRSs were used in more than 95 % of US travel agencies. Today they are found in close to 100 % of all US travel agencies. In the beginning of the 1990s, the diffusion of CRSs in travel agencies was lower in Europe. It varied between 25 % in UK to 88 % in Scandinavia. The slow diffusion in the UK was due to the dominant position of package tours that are distributed through tour operator systems based on view-data technology. In the UK market there is also more polarisation of business and leisure travel agencies with the business segment being more automated (more dependent on bookings on scheduled flights).

But in recent years, in Europe, travel agency CRS locations have grown very rapidly and the diffusion is above 80 to 90 per cent in many coun-tries.

Travel agencies rely on GDSs for their information retrieval and book-ings. They are used most extensively for air travel but more and more for accommodation and car rental and to a lesser extent for tours and other tourist products (e.g. events). Some GDSs are also adding imaging technology to their terminals. This makes it possible for tourists and travel agents to view pictures of tourism products (e.g. hotels, maps, etc.)

4.5 - OTHER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES

CRSs are not the only information technology. Furthermore, CRSs are more popular with business oriented travel agencies than those spe-cialised in leisure products (see UK situation). Nevertheless, there is a high penetration rate in all travel agencies in the largest European markets.

Other reservation systems are :

• hotel reservation systems ; 
• reservation systems owned by independent companies (e.g. UTELL + Anasazi or Rezsolutions) ; 
• videotext (e.g. Prestel in the UK and Minitel in France) ; 
• tour operators very often have their own product reservation sys-tem (e.g. Thomson Open-line Programme (TOP)) ; 
• car rental reservation systems ; 
• national distribution systems (several of them are integrated into a GDS).

But not only the suppliers and those in the trade are using information technology. Computer technology is also used by public or private tourism agencies to create databases of their resort facilities. These databases can be consulted in the destination and in the market re-gions.

4.6 - THE INTERNET

A special information technology and computer reservation system which has evolved spectacularly is the Internet.

The Internet is in fact a network of networks. Two of its most used functions are electronic mail and the World Wide Web. At this moment the number of Internet users is rather limited in relative terms. USA, Canada and Finland are exceptions. But the number of Internet users are growing very fast. According to Network Wizards in July 1997 there were more than 19,5 million Internet hosts (313.000 in 1990). It is more difficult to assess the number of Internet users. In 1997 the total adult online population in the USA was estimated at 56 million and an additional 16 million adults intended to connect to the Internet in 1998 (Smith and Jennes, 1998). The same source refers to the Nua survey for the world total of 90,9 million on line in November 1997 of which 54 million in the USA and Canada, 20,2 million in Europe and 8,6 million in Japan.

We are not too far from the point where every home in the developed world will have a personal computer and possibly a modem. Each per-son will be able to access many information systems all over the world.

Of course there is a difference between owning a computer connected to the Internet and making use of the Internet. However every day thousands of new users are logging onto the Internet for the first time.

Tourism is a very popular subject on the WEB. The well-known Yahoo directory offers several thousands travel sites (each of which would have a number of pages). What is now important for our subject ? Many of these sites act as travel agents. The development of on-line booking services either through the Internet or through company intranets specialising in corporate business travel concern not only the traditional travel agent but also the GDSs (French, 1998). Internet is a very real threat).

In the face of this evolution GDSs are adopting a new strategy. They are attempting to supply the products' Internet needs, rather than be side-lined entirely by parallel distribution networks. French gives a good summary of the Internet activities of the four major GDS systems at the end of 1997 (table 3).

Table 3 : Internet activities of four leading GDSs, end 1997

	Galileo	Sabre	Amadeus System one	Worldspan Abacus(a)
Consumers (direct)	Airline branded products : Swissair Skysurfer United Connection US Airways Priority TravelWorks BA Executive TravelWorks CRS for Preview Travel	Travelocity	None	Expedia E-Travel
Corporate (direct)	Unnamed product Travel Solutions	Business	None	None
Travel agents	Agency Connection Travelpoint.com	PlanetSabre Turbo Sabre	Corporate Tripsolution	Odyssey

1.   Abacus is hosted on Worldspan’s data centre. Due to these two systems’ equity, operating and marketing alliance, they are listed as one system.
SOURCE : Merrill Lynch and borrowed from French, op. cit. p. 14

The joint venture of Worldspan/Abacus and the software giant Microsoft with its Expedia Internet travel booking system is quite remarkable. However, it is not all sunshine on the Internet; there are still a number of problems.

First, there is an internal Internet capacity problem which leads to long communication times. There is a second capacity problem. Not all PCs have a sufficient capacity to handle a transaction in due time. Third, the problem of reliability of financial transactions (see credit cards) is not yet guaranteed (Smith and Jenner, 1998). Maybe, this last problem will be solved in the near future. Even with a hundred per cent safety, the consumer - especially the European - must be convinced of the credibility of the system.

Furthermore, access to CRSs requires special capabilities and is time consuming for an inexperienced traveller (even with an Easy Sabre or an Easy Worldspan).

But very soon (not longer than in the medium term) the Internet may well become a threat to the trade (see next section).

5 - GLOBALISATION AND MARKETING STRATEGY

The globalisation of tourism is a reality and irreversible. In acknowl-edging this fact, the issue for all organisations involved in the worldwide market is therefore, how to respond to this globalisation process. How must an organisation adapt its strategy in general and its marketing and communication strategy in particular. Though these questions are obvious, the answers are not, as will be made clear in this section. A second issue of this section is the impact of global dis-tribution systems on the trade.

5.1 A GLOBAL STRATEGY VERSUS A MULTI-DOMESTIC STRATEGY

In the global market, two completely distinct strategies can be imple-mented : a global strategy or a multi-domestic strategy. According to Yip and Coundouriotis (1991) a global strategy "is a process of world-wide integration of strategy formulation and implementation". The emphasis lies on what is common rather than on what is different. This contrasts with a multi-domestic approach which allows an independent development of strategy by country or regional unit. In that case the emphasis is placed on what is different rather than on what is common.

While a global strategy seeks to maximise worldwide performance through sharing and integration, a multi-domestic strategy seeks to maximise worldwide performance by maximising local competitive ad-vantage, revenues or profits by adapting the strategy completely to the needs and the characteristics of the local markets.

According to Yip, in developing a worldwide global strategy three steps are necessary.

• Develop the core strategy. It is the basis of sustainable competitive advantage. It is usually developed for the home country first. 
• Internationalise the core strategy through international expansion of activities and through adaptation. 
• Globalise the international strategy by integrating the strategy across countries.

The difference between a multi-domestic and a global strategy lies logically in the third step.

Let's take a simplified hypothetical example. A sun and beach destina-tion, for instance, has first established a strategy for selling its tourism product to the local market. The second step is developing appropriate strategies to sell its tourist product in other countries. In this step, the approach used in each international market is different and not co-ordinated. Each country manager can adapt his strategy and marketing tools to the needs of the market and do so independent of the other country managers. The third step involves integrating the different strategies into one coherent global strategy.

Many multinational companies know the third step less well since glob-alisation runs counter to the accepted wisdom of tailoring for national markets (Douglas and Wind, 1987). That is why in practice, one can see that global marketing strategies in their extreme form can only be found in limited cases. Most of the time there is some adaptation to the local market.

A striking non-tourism example, for instance, is the fact that an impor-tant producer of canned products, offers more than 16 different varieties of plain tomato soup throughout Europe. British people like this soup to be more orange than red; in other countries salt must be added or extracted, etc.. Indeed cultural differences, with their resul-tant differing demand patterns, constitute the key difficulty for global marketing.

According to Yip (1991), organisations that use global strategy levers can achieve one or more of the following benefits :

• cost reductions ; 
• enhanced customer preference ; 
• improved quality of products and programmes ; 
• increased competitive leverage.

However, globalisation has also its drawbacks:

• increased management costs : through increased co-ordination, re-porting requirements and even added staff ; 
• reduction of an organisation's effectiveness in individual countries if overcentralisation hurts local motivation and morale ; 
• product standardisation can result in a product that does not en-tirely satisfy any customer ; 
• uniform marketing can reduce adaptation to local customer behav-iour ; 
• integrated competitive moves can mean scarifying revenues, prof-its, or competitive position in individual countries.

The question whether a global strategy must be implemented or not, or if so, to what degree, becomes still more complex when analysing some recent trends. Here we examine only two examples.

5.1.1 MORE HOMOGENEOUS CONSUMERS VERSUS REMAINING AND SOME-TIMES REINFORCED CONSUMER DIFFERENCES

In the last few decades the world has become "the" market place. This strong globalisation of business has stimulated a globalisation of cul-ture : International trade, world travel and mass electronic communications have created tremendous pressures for a global ho-mogenisation of products, lifestyles, architecture, food and eating habits, entertainment and many forms of everyday behaviour (Ritchie, 1991).
Though there is a serious pressure for homogenisation, major differ-ences still exist between different geographical markets in terms of culture, living habits, religion, etc. Moreover, one can witness a coun-ter-reaction to this global homogenisation process (Ritchie, 1991). "There has been an increasing effort on the part of many societies and cultural groups to consciously undertake efforts to strengthen and de-velop clear cultures and their supporting values. What seems to be emerging is a rather paradoxical situation in which cultural diversity is thriving in a sea of homogenisation."

5.1.2 GLOBAL MARKETING VERSUS MICRO-SEGMENTATION

The reaction of population groups to this globalisation of the economy is also witnessed at the level of the individual. Naisbitt (1993) stated that the nineties would become the years of triumph of the individual; while Popcorn (1992) speaks about ergonomics. People strive more and more for personal development and self-realisation. Poon (1993) de-nominates this trend as new tourism, hybrid consumers, etc.

The crucial element within these trends is that consumers want more and more individualised products and services which are tailored to their needs, which is exactly the opposite of the ideal standardised product in the context of global marketing.

5.2 - IMPLEMENTING GLOBAL STRATEGIES IN THE TOURISM SECTOR

By its nature, the tourism sector is confronted with a global market place. Moreover, the number of generating and receiving markets has dramatically increased in the last few decades, making the tourism sector more than ever a player in the global market.

Whether a global strategy can be applied in the tourist sector or not and to which degree is again not an easy question and depends on sev-eral factors such as : the nature of the organisation, the nature of the supplied products, the homogeneity of the markets, etc. 

• Nature of the organisation

It is easier for a hotel chain, which can control each element of its marketing-mix, to apply a global strategy, than for "an NTO", which cannot always control elements such as the price level, third party communication actions, etc.

• Nature of the supplied products 

Some tourism products are more compatible with global strategies than others. An island, targeting the international divers' markets can more easily apply a global strategy than a country with different tourist attractions, appealing to different market segments and geographical markets. In the latter case, a global strategy is not impossible, but surely more difficult.

The more homogeneous the perception of the product and the clearer the concept in a global market, the more easy it is to apply a global strategy.

Let's take the example of the Maldives. As it used to focussing on the international divers' market, this archipelago could easily approach international markets with a global strategy, as the international seg-ment is clearly determined, the travel motives and travel patterns quite homogeneous, and the selling concept universally applicable. This means that in the marketing strategy used, the Maldives could use the same positioning, communication messages, product proposals, etc.

At the other extreme, it is clear that for a country such as Belgium, for instance, applying the same global market strategy (including market segmentation, positioning, communication messages, product propos-als, etc.) for the neighbouring, medium and long haul markets would be suicidal. Travel motives and travel patterns of American or Japa-nese tourists, for instance, are completely different from those of French, Dutch or German tourists. Even within these latter neighbour-ing markets some differences can be found, which necessitate a specific approach.

Some interesting examples can be observed in the hotel sector. Take for instance the example of the Jamaican owned SuperClubs chain. This chain offers a global concept that can be easily promoted world-wide. The SuperClub hotel chain caters to different segments of the worldwide market in its five locations in Jamaica, offering all-inclusive holidays for :

• couples only at its couples resort ; 
• families only at Boscobel ; 
• persons who want to be "wicked for a week" or hedonism, at Negril ; 
• persons with a focus on health nature, sport and "a touch of Ja-maica" at Runaway Bay ; 
• and guests who want grand luxury at Grand Lido.

 Due to the clarity of the concept, which can easily be understood worldwide, this chain could target worldwide segments characterised by the same travel motives and travel patterns.

Another aspect which is of an influence is the uniqueness of the product. When the tourism core product is unique (e.g. the Norwegian city of Bergen and its fjords) the application of a global marketing strategy may be easier (distribution, promotion, etc.). 

• Homogeneity of the markets

The homogeneity of the markets is of course to a large extent deter-mined by the product concepts offered. The more homogeneous the market preferences and travel patterns, the easier it is to apply a global market strategy, as we have illustrated with the examples of the Maldives and Belgium.

However, the existence of a clear and internationally valid product concept is not a guarantee of success, as witnessed by the example of Eurodisney. The Disney Company tried to copy their successful Disney-land concept in Europe, with the known results. After only a few months, the original concept had to be adapted to the specific needs and wants of European tourists and even the name was changed to Disneyland Paris.

It is clear that the issue of whether or not and if so to what degree global strategies must be implemented is a very complex one and that there is no such thing as an easy answer. Globalisation offers many benefits, but at the same time serious drawbacks.

That is why this debate has been going on for many years already. In the early eighties the paradigm "Think global, act local" found many supporters within Europe. The idea was to establish a strategy which was as global as possible and as local as necessary, in order to realise the highest possible economies of scale.

In recent years this paradigm has changed somewhat to "Think local within global positioning boundaries" (Naert, 1992), meaning adapt your strategy to the local needs without losing the advantages of a global approach. In this view the local field has gained somewhat in importance, though in fact the difference from the previous paradigm is in our view rather limited.

We can conclude that an organisation should analyse its own situation and strike a balance between the benefits and drawbacks of imple-menting global strategies. As a general rule we can state that the more homogeneous the market preferences and the more universal the product concept, the more likely it is that a global market strategy can be successful.

The above-mentioned ideas can be summarised in a general schema of communication strategy (see figure 2). In the matrix, we distinguish two types of consumers or markets (homogeneous and heterogeneous) and two distinctive messages (general or specific). 

In practice more and more destinations apply either a segment com-munication strategy (e.g. "Spain suitable for families". In this case we refer to all products in which families are interested such as beaches, hotels, theme parks, etc.) or a product communication strategy (e.g. art cities to all markets). This approach is more efficient. The link with homogeneity of markets or homogeneity of tourist products is quite clear. A specific communication strategy can be ideal but is very ex-pensive to apply. Segment, product or specific communication strategies are very often complemented with a global communication (e.g. the famous corporate identity of Spain during the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s) : "Spain : everything under the sun" as the base line and Miro's sun as the isotype.

Communication strategy 2 or 3 or 4 (see figure 2) combined with a global communication is called an "integrated communication". This is very close to the paradigm "Think local within global positioning boundaries".

However, success is still not guaranteed. In most cases, global strate-gies will always have to be adapted in some degree to the specific requirements of the markets. The future answer to the issue of global strategies will probably be given by production and information tech-nologies. The first enables mass customised production, the latter worldwide communication while adapting the message to the individual consumer.

Another basic remark may be relevant. We have seen that most new destinations depend on the same twenty or more generating markets. Due to a lack of financial resources the choice of markets is a part of the marketing strategy. This choice depends on several factors. Market choice implies a de facto reduction of globalisation.

5.3 - GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS AND MARKETING

Information technology in general and the global distribution systems in particular had a great impact on the globalisation of tourism. The Internet can only enhance this impact. But for their part distribution systems are not without consequences for marketing in tourism. This is a very vast and complex subject. Here we will limit ourselves mainly to a number of issues related to the Internet.

Firstly, the consumer becomes an important player in the tourism system. He defines who will be retained on the shortlist, who is allowed to provide information and who will receive the booking in due time. The consumer can compose his products and buy directly all the com-ponents of that product (flight, hotelroom, rent a car, etc.) from his PC at home. Besides the traditional value chains of purchase, production, marketing and sales, a virtual value chain has been created : the col-lecting, organising, selecting and distribution of information.

Second, because of the new media, travel agents are losing their mo-nopoly over access to the reservation systems of all important players in the market (see scheme) (Walle, 1996 ; Centre for Tourism Management, 1996 ; NBT, 1998).

Competition comes from new online travel agents such as Microsoft, Internet Travel Network, CNN Interactive Travel, and big companies such as air carriers (American Airlines) and hotel chains (Mariott Inter-national), which see an opportunity in direct selling. In late 1995, British Midland was the first airline in Europe to introduce a reserva-tion booking system with on-line payment via credit card on the www, called Cyberseat (Marcussen, 1997).

The new players are successful because of their competence in their core business (e.g. Microsoft : knowledge of new media and informa-tion technology and CNN : brand name).

The consumer can get information and makes reservations on line anywhere, anytime. Several hotel chains in the US account for thou-sands of reservations a month (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 1999) Restaurants companies (e.g. Pizza Hut) are also using the Internet as a distribution channel. The capability of transmitting colour photographs to millions of people across the globe makes the Internet an interesting channel. Hotels, restaurants and others can tangibilise their products through the use of colours and videos. At present, it is popular for simple products (e.g. tickets); tomorrow for more complex products. Traditional suppliers are also exploring the new opportunities of in-formation technology as an instrument for cost reduction and cost control (see the policies of KLM, Lufthansa and British Airways). In fact the role of travel agents - especially business travel agents - is not re-garded as essential in the distribution of their products and the added value of these intermediaries tend from time to time to be questioned (Centre of Tourism Management, 1996).

Third, the GDSs - and indeed the airlines themselves - face a serious challenge from electronic on-line developments such as the Internet. Here we refer to a conclusion by French (1998). "These new systems have the potential to cut out the middlemen - principally the travel agents, but also possibly the GDSs themselves - by selling airline inven-tory direct to consumers via an extremely cheap global network linked to home- or office-based PCs. The GDSs, often in partnership with their airline owners, are seeking to meet this challenge by aligning them-selves with the Internet and offering Internet products, rather than ceding these products to non-airline (perhaps even non-travel indus-try) new entrants. The competitive battle within airline distribution, which has focused on GDSs for most of the 1990s, is thus swinging away from GDSs towards on-line direct-to-consumer distribution sys-tems." Here we would like to make a remark. What are the strategic objectives of the CRSs ? Do they want an on-line direct to consumer distribution channels or do they indirectly encourage the travel agents to make use of their GDSs ? Anyhow, one channel is less costly.

Fourth, the position of the trade will change. The travel agent old style is indeed in danger. This is more the case for business travel agents than for consumer travel agents. The majority of shopping transactions on the Web are business to business. Many business travel agencies are afraid of electronic ticketing (not all problems are solved). But this is already widely used in the USA.

According to Smith and Jenner (1998) selling to consumers is slightly more difficult. Surveys of Internet users reveal a significant pattern of discontentment. People cannot find the sites they want. If they find the sites, they cannot find the information on the sites, and when it comes to placing an order they worry about giving information over the Internet (e.g. credit card details). Nevertheless, there are good reasons for supposing that sales over the Internet, including travel sales, are going to become important in the near future. However, it must be stressed that not all bookings via the Internet are reducing the activities of travel agents; many of those bookings are replacing reser-vations by phone or Fax.

The most crucial issue in the survival of travel agents in the distribu-tion chain is the change of their core business as ticket providers to become full service providers. The capacity to take full advantage of information technology and stay at least one step ahead of their clients through expertise and knowledge of the travel business and/or holi-days is the major challenge. The revenues expected most come from the sale of complex products and possibly consumer fees (Centre of Tourism Management, 1996). Some travel agents supply clients with software such as Galileo View which allows corporate clients to make their own itineraries or requests which are subsequently passed on and processed by the travel agent.

A real advantage of a travel agent is the personal contact with the cus-tomer which new players cannot provide (the travel agent as a counsellor, provider of good service, reliable information and a certain insurance when something goes wrong). However, this is not sufficient. They must be able to offer the best travel solution. On the other hand, CRSs give an opportunity to travel agents to compose holidays in a flexible manner answering the aspiration of the tourist "new style" '(see section 2). Poon (1993) has a rather optimistic view with respect to the role of travel agents. "The increased importance of the travel agent is related both to the need for 'high touch' to complement an increasingly technology oriented industry and the need for human in-telligence to sift the incredible volume of information and services that technology, deregulation and competition make now possible".

Fifth, in the on-line economy we can expect a battle of brands. Brands will have an even greater importance than in a traditional economy (Smeral, 1996 ; NBT, 1998). A brand is an identifying mark for consumers who cannot see the wood for the trees. A brand  may also give confidence.

Sixth, small firms have new opportunities. More and more smaller firms have access to the reservation systems. Four years ago, in a town such as Bruges 12 per cent of the hotels (mainly family hotels) were affiliated to the Galileo system. Family hotels can work together via a network and compete with the hotel chains. Travelocity has already installed such a network on her reservation system by which very small family hotels without computer-link but via Faxservice (printers) take part in a worldwide network. Local English bed & breakfast hotels have also become global in this way.

Seventh, tour operators are also under pressure though less than travel agents. Also tour operators go on-line to make their products accessible to the individual consumer. Tour operators have one big ad-vantage. They can provide economies of scale for the two most important items of a TO-holiday : transport (air) and accommodation. In theory it is possible for an individual to collect 200 potential buyers for a destination and to shop for the best price (see tour operator lastminute.com in London as an example). The reality is not that easy. But in the future more sophisticated software will make it possible to combine components and supply the offers worldwide. The only ade-quate answer to this threat is to supply more than a combination of components : experience, services, knowledge of destinations, etc.

Eight, the Internet becomes not only an additional distribution channel but also an additional communication vehicle. This new communication instrument takes two forms. The first and the most important is the information provided by travel : the websites of countries, regions, re-sorts, tourism organisations and enterprises.

The expanding use of the Internet/www will create a trend towards more direct sales between supplier and consumer within tourism (Mar-cussen, 1997). Www homepages have the potential to become powerful advertising and marketing tools. Web users are a market of well educated and affluent groups of users (Cano and Prentice, 1998). If a region or firm chooses to make a www presentation it is very im-portant to get it registered in the relevant places so it can be found easily by those who might be interested. The lay-out and make-up of a beautiful and efficient www presentation is a professional's job (see also Cano and Prentice, 1998).

The second is advertisements, in the form of banners. At the end of 1997, around 15 per cent of commercial web sites carried advertising banners (Smith and Jenner, 1998). As technology progresses, these banners become more and more sophisticated, making use of move-ment and music. As an advertising medium, the web is still in its infancy. But also here we see an enormous growth.

Ninth, the Internet creates a new form of word of mouth publicity, which is much more dangerous than the traditional one. Good or bad holiday experiences can be distributed on the Internet in a minimum of time. This phenomenon together with the growing quality con-sciousness of tourists places greater emphasis on the slogan "perform or disappear".

Tenth, the reservation systems permit the building of an interesting data bank. This can be an excellent source for segmentation and direct marketing. Some new players can obtain the data from different sources. So Microsoft gets its information not only from travel activi-ties but from software sales as well. A buyer of computer golf games can be informed, via an e-mail, of a golf weekend in one or more places.

6 - CONCLUSIONS : ARE THERE ONLY WINNERS ?

1	Tourism demand and leisure holidays in particular are still domi-nated by intraregional destination flows. However, the market share of interregional flows is becoming significant and is growing worldwide. The forecasts for tourism demand for the next decade indicate an in-creased market share of long haul destinations which is after all a good indication of the globalisation of tourism demand. The globalisation is increasing the potential demand of any well developed tourism desti-nation.
2	The globalisation process takes place in the perspective of high growth rates of international tourism in the next two decades. Not many destinations will suffer an absolute decline of international tour-ism demand. However the position in terms of market shares of certain destinations - several traditional European destinations - will deterio-rate.
3	Globalisation of demand is by definition linked to the existence of similar customer preferences worldwide.
4	The underlying factors for the globalisation of tourism demand can be divided into six main groups : Cheap air fares and/or package tours from tour operators. This is the basic determinant in/for the increase in long haul trips.  The impact of a number of socio-economic trends, especially higher income levels, demographic changes and new travel motivations.  But globalisation is also stimulated by changes such as new types of holidays and more experienced holiday makers.  The emergence of new destination countries and regions across all continents.  Trends on the supply side : tour operators, retail trade, hotel chains and other suppliers moved to global business.  The rapid development of information technology. The influence of the diffusion of CRSs was great and the role of the Internet will become important.
5	Information technology has created benefits for suppliers, travel agents and consumers and generated new services. This process is still going on.
6	Global actors in tour operating, accommodation and transport will influence the destination choice. They contribute to a general equali-sation of basic products and service standards (Baum, 1995). As a consequence the consumers are able to select destinations with greater certainty. The development of many destinations depends on the interest in these destinations of leading tour operators in generat-ing markets. The destinations must create the conditions to attract the leading tour operating concerns. We agree with Samuelli (1996) when he points : 'A la veille du prochain siècle, les gagnants seront ceux qui auront développé leurs produits touristiques de calibre international et qui les auront efficacement positionnés sur les marchés'.
7	Competition between destinations is strong and will become stronger : more entrants, more experienced holidaymakers and more transparency with respect to destination attributes. Faster and cheaper transportation brings new destinations in a better position to compete on much more equitable basis with established tourism destinations. The continued growth of demand of long haul destinations is at the expense of domestic and intraregional flows in Europe. Refer-ring to the Porter model (see also WES model) European destinations should pay more attention to the determinants of competitiveness to improve their position (factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting suppliers; strategy, structure and organisation; gov-ernment). This should be the basis for the development of strategies and an efficient destination management in general (Smeral, 1996). Service quality is a vital element of destination management. Several destinations and players have recognised the marketing benefits of in-vestment in service quality. This relates to a general trend for more quality within all sectors of tourism.
8	The emergence of winter sunshine destinations, stimulated by the ageing of the European population, are a threat for traditional win-tersport regions in Europe.
9	SMEs are more and more confronted with the competition of global-acting enterprises. The winners are those who offer lower prices and higher quality. Tour operating and the hotel sector are illustrative. In recent years several SMEs in tour operating have disappeared from the market and other will follow. The adequate answer for SMEs, but also for resorts and destinations in general, is segmentation, specialisation, niche marketing (Go, 1996), co-operation, quality management, prod-uct innovation and where possible branding. A good example are the Dutch Golden Tulip hotels.The Golden Tulip Hotels Company allows in-dependently owned domestic hotels - with the support of KLM - to function more effectively under a brand name and a reservations system (Go and Moutinho, 1999). There is a need among indepentdently owned enterprises to be either unique and excel in what they do, or become affiliated with a global external network. In this respect Smeral (1996) is right where he puts forward the posi-tion: ' The many small and medium - sized enterprises (SME) as they exist in France, Germany, Switzerland or Austria have difficulties forming a unique destination with related experiences for global com-petition and to distribute their products worldwide. Further, the SMEs have high unit average costs with respect to production and marketing and in general difficulties to realising internal economies of scale'
10	In the hospitality sector, there are several forms of concentrated growth : franchising, management contracts, strategic alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions. What does this trend towards concentration mean for SMEs? Go and Moutinho (1999) ask the question "Will stan-dardisation lead to complete uniformity in the international tourism industry?" They believe not for several reasons : The decision on standardisation is not a dichotomous one between complete standardisation and customisation ; there are degrees of standardisation ; The globe is a culturally diverse place; in Europe there remain as many cultures as there are countries ; Economic differences need to be translated into marketing strategies ; The rise of mass-individualisation offers SMEs great opportunities to add value through interfirm alliances . Also the trend to more 'individualism' of the consumer forces tour operators to more diver-sification in their products.
11	Is the consumer winner or loser ? The consumer is the great loser if globalisation leads to standardisation of products worldwide and less choice of destinations. But, are we not too pessimistic ? The main ele-ment of a tourism product is above all the attraction(s) (natural, man-made or events). Fortunately, in that respect there is little risk of a standardisation (we make an exception for sun and beach destina-tions). The consumer is a winner as a participant in long-haul holidays at a reasonable price. However, some market analysts have predicted or still predict that the horizontal and vertical integration process will bring about monopolies with an increase of prices as a consequence. This might happen in one or another subsector but general monopolis-tic positions are not yet for tomorrow.
12	The answer to the question of how an organisation should adapt its strategy in general and marketing and communication strategy in par-ticular to the process of globalisation is not easy. The application of a global strategy depends on the nature of an organisation, the nature of products supplied and the degree of homogeneity of the markets. The paradigm should probably be "think local within global positioning boundaries". Go and Moutinho put it in this way:' It should be observed that there are pitfalls and traps in an approach that overlooks cultural and regional differences but there is danger as well in assuming too much similarity. Specifically, the more homogeneous consumers' life-styles become, the more steadfastly they are likely to cling to deeper values and treasure the traditions that spring from within'.
13	In the near future the Internet as a new distribution system will have an important role as a distribution channel and will be an addi-tional communication instrument. There are several indicators which support this evolution: the consumer becomes an important player in the tourism system ;  the trade is losing its monopoly ;  GDSs face a serious challenge from on-line electronic developments ;  the travel agent old style is in danger; however, the travel agent new style has still a role to play ;  in the on-line economy 'brands' will be of greater importance ;  the Internet provides new chances to small firms ;  the tour operator business is less under pressure due to the econo-mies of scale they can provide ;  the Internet becomes an additional distribution channel ;  the Internet creates a new form of word of mouth publicity ;  reservation systems provide the opportunity to build up interesting databanks which will be useful for an efficient segmentation policy and direct marketing.

The globalisation of tourism demand, the trends in tourism supply, the global reservation systems and the Internet are creating a new environment for the tourism sector in general and the trade in particular. For all players in the tourism sector creative marketing is the right answer.