The rise of the contemporary tourism industry dates back to the beginning of the 21st century. At that time, the turnover of international tourism industry hit a historic record of $US1 trillion for the first time ever. International tourism has taken a lead in international trade in services. Transport services and international tourism combined account for more than half of the world’s exports of services. The boom in transportation means, especially the air traffic, stands out as a major factor in this rapid growth of the tourism industry. Short delivery time, flight convenience and high-quality services formed the basis of international tourism.
During the first two decades of the twenty-first century, international tourism and international transportation developed synchronously, i.e. they thrived and stagnated together and went through a period of uncertainly and chaos. This period in the development of international tourism and transport is characterized of two key points that have determined the forms of both industries at present, namely: global terror threat which escalated and peaked at the turn of the centuries and the global financial crisis of 2008-2010 [1].
International tourism has been hit very hard by the two global challenges [2], but it has recovered fairly quickly each time. New requirements were introduced for transport security [3] and visa control, as well as rules governing the movement of people, hotel accommodation and catering. Strict requirements in transport hubs, train stations and airports first reduced the flows of tourists and increased the load on the psychological atmosphere of travel experience. However, travelers quickly adapted and became more responsible dealing with the problems of life safety. Tensions decreased overtime due to increased discipline and tolerance during the border control. This required the introduction of changes in the daily lives of tourists such as early arrivals at the points of departure and the size and contents of their luggage. International tourism revived again and continued to gain strength until the global financial crisis [4].
The Lehman crisis imposed a different sort of discipline on tourists. It became fiscal and financial in nature [5]. Optimizing budget expense, tax payments and production costs became the main means of adapting for both transport and tourism enterprises.
In 2020, international tourism and transport had to face a new challenge – the global coronavirus epidemic. Quarantines hit both industries much harder than international terrorism and the financial crisis combined. Economists will continue to count the damage in 2021 and beyond [6, 7]. The shutdown of the entire industries in many economies across the globe disrupted supply chains that previously delivered the tourist product. Despite being by definition an intangible, destructible, non-accumulative and non-guaranteed good, the tourist and transport service delivery happens only with direct participation of the consumer. Tourist and transport services lose their value and significance in the conditions of social distancing and cannot be produced in absence of the client. During lockdowns, there is no need to transfer a tourist to a train station, airport, hotel or a taxi. There is no need to move luggage, provide meals or sell souvenirs. Cities, communities and entire countries and regions where tourism is the backbone industry are on the verge of collapse. Virtual tours became practically the only service that tourism operators can provide to customers [8].
Transport also felt the impact of the epidemic in terms of a massive drop in passenger transfer. The international transport system continued to live, though, with certain supply chain disruptions. A number of links in the transportation network suffered severely. However, like the blood circulation of a human being, even a sick one, with a shortage of strength and energy, transportation system laid the basis for the survival of many industries. It has provided communications to millions of enterprises and billions of people on the planet through virtual channels of international, regional, and intercity communication. It has preserved settlement system channels to pay for goods and services, as well as channels to deliver finished products and raw materials on to the doorstep. In some instances the transport industry even preserved the principles of just-in-time. With reduced capacity and transport density, the industry as a whole continues to perform quite satisfactorily while the global economy and international tourism recover from the epidemic [9].
The aim of this work is to develop an approach for tourist enterprises using transport infrastructure to operate under various restrictive regulations, transport security, visa regulations and social distance.
Materials and methods of research
A number of monographic, economic-analytical and comparative methods were used to study the current state of tourism and transport services. The analysis of scientific – theoretical studies made it possible to assess the impact of global problems on the tourism industry and determine the details of transport and infrastructure provision of tourism. Generalization of the information material allowed to formulate the main approaches of tourist enterprises operating within the framework of various restrictive norms.
Results of the research and discussions
The fundamental basis for organizing the tourist and travel support is the transport and infrastructure of a corresponding destination. Figure shows the specifics of transport and infrastructure support in the tourism industry. We do not claim to fully disclose all the elements of this infrastructure, however figure gives a brief description of the entire variety of tourist facilities.
Transport support of the tourism industry
The key issue is that although many people can use this infrastructure (figure), it must be organized according to the principle of maximum satisfaction of specific tourist requirements. The typology presented is very broad, so that each of the categories of general infrastructure can be divided into many elements. For example, in the case of an entertainment center, the following components of the infrastructure are required including the building itself and other facilities; canteens, food court, shops, hygiene items; adjacent territory to the main building and facilities; elements of the general arrangement of the entire center; additional services such as parking lot; registration departments and information services, so that people could be properly informed and catered during the pandemics.
In general, we try to develop a holistic approach to creating the infrastructure of a recreation facility. When developing any project, it is necessary to achieve certain goals. The key objectives of designing and creating a tourist infrastructure include simplicity and ease of use, environmental friendliness, health safety and multi-purpose approach.
We specifically would like to note that the tourist infrastructure should be organized according to the principle of ease of use and easy access. At the same time, you should also determine who is going to use this infrastructure. For example, when building a new entertainment center, one of the most important problems facing the planning department is to identify the groups of people who will eventually use its services. Establishing target markets and potential user groups becomes a priority for each stage of determining the entertainment center design. Here, the functional purpose becomes the primary aspect of the direct form of transport and infrastructure support.
When designing a piece of tourist infrastructure, you should also take into account issues related to environmental and health safety, regardless of the object in mind. Thus, it can be an airport, a hotel, an entertainment center or an exhibition area. In particular, these aspects become essential when it is necessary to take into account national legislation in the field of environmental standards and health safety, as well as the standards of environmental protection established by the International Standardization Organization. In most advanced and developing countries of the world, there are laws that initially require obtaining a permit for construction of transport or infrastructure facilities. For example, in the historical part of cities and cultural centers, a transport and infrastructure facility under construction must adapt to the architectural style of a specific location [10, 11].
Meeting rooms or exhibition venues can only remain cost-effective and safe for health and hygiene issues if they attract events that are optimal in scale and scope and different in type. This means that their project must be flexible enough to suit different user groups, namely, the space must be large enough to be subdivided into many closed studios, accommodating a different number of participants; designed spaces that are intended to provide seating should also allow for using them for other activities where seating is not required.
Often, the need to create multi-purpose areas causes potential problems. For example, if a conference is held in a hotel where there are two conference rooms, or two venues for public events, and space A is supposed to be used as a conference room, and space B, which is adjacent to the previous one and is therefore most often also used as a conference venue, is planned to be released as a buffet for the participants of Hall A, then there will be a problem, which is that part of the group gathered in Hall A will be in the buffet organized in room B to be socially distant enough to not spread the disease.
Conference and exhibition venues can also be used to organize other tourist events, so there should always be the ability to quickly transform these spaces, which presents serious challenges for designers. For example, the Sheffield Arena in the United Kingdom before the corona used to be the venue for events such as exhibitions; large shows and spectacles; meetings; and sports. Today it can be used for widespread vaccination campaigns.
To achieve the goal of creating transport and infrastructure facilities in the tourism industry, it is necessary to approach a compromising solution for the final architectural project within the specified constraints. Examples of restrictions associated with creating and operating transport and infrastructure facilities in the tourism industry include financial discipline. The budget in an architectural project imposes restrictions on the quality and size of the area given for construction, the scope of construction, the volume of materials, and the quality of the final project [12].
The area needed to create a new tourist complex imposes restrictions on the design, based on the shape and size, quality of drainage systems and territorial accessibility of the object.
The customer sometimes sets requirements for construction companies or developers. These requirements affect the final views of architects.
Finally, government watchdogs control the construction and regulate zoning rules and other legislative acts that must be observed when performing works related to the construction. The intervention of the government regulators is a factor of the external environment, which has a direct impact on most aspects when creating a new object of transport and infrastructure support in the tourism industry. The government watchdogs usually take a decisive part in resolving conflicts between the parties to a commercial transaction, especially in cases where the area allocated for construction is of cultural and historical value, or when it is located in the region that is protected as an object of a protected ecosystem, or a national park.
Transport and infrastructure facilities in the tourism industry, as well as the national economy of their home country, are constantly affected by globalization processes, especially in terms of compliance with the standards of their construction and operation. Globalization and standardization impact the transport and infrastructure facilities of the tourism industry in the territory of modern cities and settlements that are poorly built up or completely empty. The specifics of national legislation and construction standards play a crucial role when transport and infrastructure facilities of the tourism industry are going to be built in the historical part of the city.
Daily, tactical or operational tasks are also of high importance when constructing new transport and infrastructure facilities in the tourism industry. Correctly and clearly formulated tasks allow you to solve numerous problems related to construction more quickly and efficiently.
Initially, the management and owners of a tourist facility face problems connected with managing the costs associated with physical and moral wear and tear and the costs of capital. Transport and infrastructure facilities of the tourism industry have a high cost of capital, which increases the importance of methods and structures for managing amortization funds and other operational items of the firm’s budget. For example, the construction of airports requires investments that sometimes amount to several billion dollars. A large shopping and entertainment center is cheaper in terms of construction, maintenance and operation costs, but in some large industrial cities, international financial centers with a high cost of living and expensive real estate, these capital costs can go up to a billion dollars. When implementing such projects, an important part belongs to public-private partnership. The state’s participation in providing funds for such construction projects is significantly limited due to a number of reasons, namely, the debt burden for the country or municipality grows as a result of issuing government and municipal bonds for constructing transport and infrastructure facilities in the tourism industry; debt service can also stretch for a long period of time; transport and infrastructure facilities of the tourism industry compete with other types and forms of infrastructure for limited government funds and private sector investments, i.e. they are opportunity costs associated with making a decision on a specific project; many transport and infrastructure objects in the tourism industry do not bring profit, cause large losses in the case of mistakes when choosing a location, for example, shopping and entertainment centers, because their attractiveness usually depends on the distance from a densely populated area or the presence of rival objects equally distant, so often additional funds and new ideas are required to support such projects to attract interest and people; a significant share of the profit from the operating transport and infrastructure facilities of the tourism industry goes to private businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises, so the government seeks to minimize its participation in subsidies and investments for their construction; finally, the competitiveness of transport and infrastructure facilities in the tourism industry requires a lot of attention and expense, since an alternative object may be located in this area, which may distract some of the customers and tourists’ interest, which implies additional costs for advertising, marketing, etc.
As a rule, small-scale entertainment and exhibition centers are built with the money of private companies, compared to public investments which are the basis of large-scale projects. Also, many transport and infrastructure facilities of the tourism industry located in the zone of interests of private business can be built in the areas of similar alternative attractions, and this circumstance reduces the desire to create new facilities in the vicinity.
Transport hubs and communication facilities (airports, roads and railways, or the Internet) are the most important elements of ensuring the competitiveness of travel industry enterprises. Most often, the cost of providing them is borne by the federal or republican, or regional budget, with rare exceptions for the participation of private businesses from large developing countries, such as China, in other developed and developing countries. Nevertheless, the maintenance of transport and infrastructure facilities of the tourism industry without the participation of the state or municipalities may receive insufficient funding, which usually results in stagnation and gradual destruction.
The accommodation industry is almost entirely in the hands of private individuals, in many cases non-residents. Therefore, most of the expenses for the repair and renovation of hotels are carried by private shareholders, although in certain, usually depressed, regions, the state can issue grants for these purposes to stimulate economic growth and equalize the development of the national economy as a whole, as well as to overcome the consequences of the coronacrisis.
Conclusions
In the tourism industry, where the cost of capital and entry barriers are usually high, there is a tendency for mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic alliances. Mergers, acquisitions and alliances are becoming an important mechanism for the survival of the travel industry in the period of the pandemic due to the combination of efforts, competitive advantages and their synergy. Strategic alliances of travel industry enterprises can be represented as alliances within the same industry (for example, between airlines); alliances within the same geographical area; as well as alliances between different sectors, such as airlines and hotels.
Strategic alliances provide profits both for the integrating enterprises themselves and for consumers. The former benefit from economies of scale and greater opportunities to offer a wide range of products to their customers, who, in turn, can choose from a larger number of offers, as well as buy them at discount prices.
Airlines were among the first to form strategic alliances in the past and the present. So, the Qualiflyer group today includes: 25 airlines (including Sabena, Swissair, TAP Air Portugal, Austrian Airlines, All Nippon Airlines, Chathay Pacific, Qantas, US Airways); 19 hotel groups; 5 car rental companies; duty-free shops at airports; and a telecommunications company.
In general, there are 5 major aviation alliances in the global economy, namely: Air France/Delta, One World, Qualiflyer, Wings and Star Alliance. These alliances are often criticized for the following reasons: they resort to artificial reduction of the number of competitors in order to optimize the level of costs, for example, airline A stops flying on the route where airline B operates. This flight will continue to operate under separate special charters of both airlines, but in fact only airline A and its staff work on this line. If the quality standards of the services provided by Airline A are lower than those of Airline B, there will be dissatisfied customers who will feel abused; these mega-alliances may hinder the development of small independent airlines, which blocks competition in the industry. Ultimately, this situation can lead to less choice for customers, as small firms are pushed out of the market.
We would like to specifically note that neither recreational facilities nor venues for tourist events have yet practically resorted to the use of strategic alliances. They are also little used in the field of intermediary business, where the barriers to entry are lower, and mergers and acquisitions are more effective tools.
Like all branches of business, marketing involves finding and meeting the needs of the target market. To solve these problems, market research is necessary, where a high degree of standardization of statistical databases related to the tourist industry in different countries is required.
There are also problems related to obtaining fresh, updated, reliable data on the number of tourists who visit specific recreational facilities, or on the motivational tourism market in a particular country. This situation partly reflects the difficulties associated with identifying these markets and customer groups. At the same time, there is also a relative reluctance of governments to fund the research.
As the barriers to tourism development such as the visa regime and quarantines are reduced, the problems of market research only become more complex due to the lack of institutions responsible for collecting primary information. It is only in countries with strict visa controls and quarantine rules that you can get reliable data on the number of incoming tourists.
If a particular tourist event involves the availability of transport in the tour package, and even if these services are not included in it, the organizers should keep in mind the following important features of activities: railways and airlines tend to operate on their own system of tariffs, which can also take into account situations in which the organizers of tourist events will probably try to advertise their services in a variety of marketing means. In turn, transport companies may be interested in advertising tourist events, since by advertising their products, they promote the transport services of specific transport enterprises on the market. Therefore, the organizers of events should take into account deviations from the established schedule, determined by many circumstances that do not depend on them, so that time delays do not lead to the disruption of the event, like in a pandemic situation; organizers of tourist events should also take into account the existence of at least five types of transport needs on the part of customers, namely, from the home country of a participant of the event to the airport or railway station; from the airport of the country or region of residence of the participant of the tourist event to the airport or railway station of the country or region of destination; from the airport or railway station of the destination to the hotel; from the hotel of the destination to the venue of the tourist event; from the hotel of the destination and/ or the venue of the tourist event to other leisure activities, including attractions, theme parks, cultural attractions, shops, etc., taking into account the implementation of measures and requirements of social distancing.