Destination Oxford - Case Study Example

DESTINATION OXFORD Introduction Tourism represents part of the broad economic sectors and is largely considered to be important driver of development (Seba, 2012). Tourism majorly as a result of the multiplier effect, adds to the solidity of a region and the entire national economy, and as a result that acts on creating employment and business opportunities in a broad range of actions and largely impacts the development of income and wealth in a region. Oxford is a popular tourist destination and attracts millions of visitors annually who explore different tour sites in the city. Indeed, the city provides up to 100 tour sites all over and much more in the Oxfordshire region. Tourism faces competitive demands which are increasing significantly in the present globalized society (Tisdell, 2012). There are regions within the United Kingdom and the larger continental Europe that are offering the Oxford city a run for its money in the attempt to be the leading tourist destination in the region. A tour destination must be more saleable from internal characteristics more than competitive advantage. The uniqueness of an area has been the major factor in tourists’ attraction much more than competitive factors such as advertisements and marketing of a particular region (Kozak & Kozak 2013). Nonetheless, competitive advantage of a destination is made up of the regions resources. These consist of inherited, human created and supporting sources. Inherited resources are natural, cultural as well as historical factors, whereas supporting sources may include availability, quality of service, security and basic infrastructure (Buhalis & Laws 2001). To attract more tourists and achieve a competitive advantage, then it is imperative that resources are effectively and essentially used with respect to the transformation in environmental conditions. This paper evaluates Oxford city as a tourist destination. Key Determinants of Domestic/ International Demand for Accommodation in Oxford Arrivals to Oxford, both from domestic and International tourist visit the historic, yet presently buzzing for a number of reasons: persons traveling for a holiday, visiting friends or relatives, or for health reasons. In addition, people visit Oxford to attend meetings and conferences-which may occur for scientific religious conventions and sports, students amongst others. According to Buckley (2006) adventure tourism is on the rise both in the city and the whole country as a whole, and (Benson, 2011) volunteer tourism. Measuring the responsiveness of tourist demand for accommodation in the city to the major actors that are play such as relative pricing, exchange rate, and promotional expenditure it is important to develop a tourist-service index. However, it can be difficult to develop such an index and to compile such an index that can be reliable s unavailable more than those available. The use of the consumer price index to determine the price of tourism services in the city and compared to other locations. Accommodation is a large and fast growing sub-sector in the tourism industry, employing thousands of people across the city (Candela & Figini 2012). The number of people in employment in hotels and other lodging operations in oxford is high. Between 2009 and 2011, accommodation services underwent experienced a single digit growth rate. The increase in accommodation service in the city could be as a result of; demand that is extending beyond usual seasons such as conferences that are common during the summer at ski resorts, increase in large chains and a rise in interest in vacation and time share concepts, and finally the domestic and international increased interest in Oxford as a destination. The growth in the subsector in the city occurs as a result and leads to more job opportunities for those in such of careers within the sector (Brown, Arendt & Bosselman 2014). Therefore, new jobs are created, and growth in personal career development is accelerated, chances for positions and careers in the region as well as types of hotels and lodgings are rising. The variables of relative pricing, exchange rate and promotional expenditure, otherwise referred to as independent variables. The demand, the dependent variable, represented by the figure of tourist arrivals to the city of Oxford both from domestic and international travellers and the relationship indicate that the majority of the price –variable coefficients were positive and significant. These results have been consistent with investigations conducted in other locations internationally, and price elasticity’s of 0.72 suggests that the degree of responsiveness of accommodation demands to changes in prices vary from hotel to hotel and from one region to the other within the city. The demand for accommodation in high potential areas within the city is highly price elastic and this emphasizes the high level of competition that has faced the Oxford tourist environment. Price coefficients from researches carried out have shown that relative prices increases in oxford for accommodation compared to other region within the city and close neighbourly city indicate substitution. Hotels Hotel properties commonly cater for not only pleasure travelers in the city, but also business travelers and offer a broad range of dissimilar accommodation varieties. Next to the airport are deluxe, convention hotels and airport hotels are strategically placed close to the airports. These hotels are large offering a facility that are up to 150 rooms and a host of services such as convention rooms, shops, restaurants and fitness centers (English Tourism Council, 2002). Increasingly, tourist on vacations are taking up all suite hotels that have the same facilities as an apartment ensuring each visitor privacy for meetings such as dining room table and a kitchen. Small private owned hotels which offer lodging and may have a café as well as a restaurant and even a beverage room. Resort hotels and lodges are commonly placed in places that are close to recreational sites, offering a broad range of recreational activities such as golf, skiing, tennis and other unique sporting events such as water sports and riding. In addition, entertainment and convention facilities in the mould of nightclubs, piano bars, operas, casino, theaters amongst others. The last category of hotels in the city consists of motels, motor hotels and inns, and these often offer are comparatively smaller, yet less expensive facilities appealing to tourists that have a short stint in the city. These are franchise or chain operations, yet even others are independently owned and run, found amongst smaller communities, suburbs of the city and in easily accessible places such as along the major highways. The three key determinants for both local and international demand for accommodation in the city are; relative pricing, alternative accommodation pricing in close cities such as London, New Hampton and promotional expenditure. Investment by both city authorities and private players in the industry in marketing the destination and the hotels respectively are important factors. Demand for accommodation in the city by tourists is determined by the number of people who seek accommodation. Tied to the demand for housing is the reason why people visit the city and these are the culture art and historic sites. Tourists both for pleasure and business travel have always been redirected to medieval and present sites that bustle with a lot of culture and art. Obviously, the most recognizable site in the city is the university and its buildings that boast some of the country’s most beautiful architecture. The city has been referred to as the city of dream spires, a reference to the huge number of spires that dot the buildings in the university. In the university, the Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Camera and the Sheldonian Theatre are a cultural highlight within the city. In addition, the Oxford Literary Festival, the Oxford Jazz Festival and the Oxford Chamber Music Festival are functions that must attract the breadth and length of the domestic and international tourists. Oxford is truly a historic city that has many gems. The historic city has provided scenery platforms for major block buster films in the mold of Lord of the rings and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The Ashmolean Museum, the first public museum in Britain founded in 1683, has continual emerged as the top attraction site in the city and attracts visitors in swathes. the high number of visitors in the city stay in hotels and lodgings close to this attraction sight the Oxford castle is a major attraction sight for domestic visitors majorly students and historical scholars who visit the place to have a firsthand account of the 900 year old underground crypt which detained prisoners from 1071-1996. Relative Pricing The effect of relative pricing is a significant determinant of both local and international demand for accommodation (Sinclair & Stabler 2002). Tourists react when there is a ratio between prices of rooms and complimentary hotels relative to the prices in other competing cities in the UK (Laarman & Gregersen 1996). A fall in the relative prices, such that a rise in the quantity of tourist services imported by the Oxford city should be expected, ceteris paribus, particularly among international arrivals. Exchange rate is a price and it may have a huge impact of the level of international arrival in the city. The price in foreign currency has an influence tourists such that amongst the international arrivals are easily exchangeable currencies such as the dollar and the euro find easy comfort within the city hotels and lodges. If the relative price for accommodation in the city remained constant, but the price of the sterling pound reduces relative to the euro, then a European tourist would gladly take up accommodation services in the city. Transportation costs Public transport within and in the city is quite efficient and as a matter of fact, on alight from London, it takes roughly an hour by train from Paddington to the city’s imposing railway station which can be accessed from the old centre. In addition, two coach companies, the Oxford Tube and X90 serve the city and they are comparatively cheaper. These two companies operate frequently throughout both day and night and fares are similar irrespective of the company. The route commences from Victoria, via the city’s tube passes through Notting Hill to Shepherd’s Bush to Oxford, occasionally halting near Baker Street. Oxford as a city has performed well over the years, not just due to its world renowned centre of learning, Oxford University, but much more because of connections. Oxford is centrally located at the heart of England with an easy access from airports in London and Gatwick, unlike Cambridge, the great rival city with an equally famous University. The city is much smaller compared to other cities in England such as London, Stoke, Manchester, and Birmingham. Driving is expensive and if a domestic tourist visits the city it can affect the demand to the hotels. This is because of the difficult one-way system, expensive parking ticket, some charged by the city centre hotels.Using bicycles by students and local tourists is a common sight in the city, as it is the fastest, yet the most flexible means around the city and there are numerous bicycles parking places all over the city. Renting bicycles is encouraged for international tourists and the cost can be as little as £9 daily. Oxford city has an airport at Kidlington that is majorly for private and charter flights, but it is limited in operations compared to other airports in London, Birmingham and Gatwick. Transportation costs have impacts on the demand for tourism in the city and affect both the international and local tourists. In fact, it can be expected that a rise in relative transportation prices would lead to a fall in international tourism ceteris paribus. The city is easily accessed through air using the Heathrow Airport in London. A network of roads in the city provides tourist with easy access to locations in which they revel in such historical and art sites plus for the business conference. Researchers have pointed out that building a model tie demand for accommodation in the city and transportation costs have always suffered the problem of multicolinearity, such as income and air fares are highly correlated. Access to the city is fairly distributed for international arrivals from Europe among air and land modes. As a result, a single representative travel pricing can be extremely hard. Studies that have incorporated transportation prices have always shown insignificant statistical results (Burns & Novelli 2008). Promotional Expenditure Econometric models estimating promotional expenditure and the demand for accommodation in the city have been reported tourism literature. According to studies, promotional expenditure a variable may have an effect on international tourist arrivals in the city, one of the major destination places in the country (Morrison, 2013). The relative impact of promotional expenditure can affect city authorities and private players as they formulate plans for improving the tourism industry. In a city wide advertisement, tourists can benefit from the advertisement costs regardless of the nations from which the tourists come from. Second, expenditure pulls tourists in the same period in which such amounts are spent. Promotional expenditure yearly targeting tourists from international countries might have showed some significance. Tourist figures in the city can show accurate relationship between promotional expenditure and the demand for accommodation. However, if there is an increase in the expenditure which is commensurate to the increase in tourists trooping t hotels and lodging in the city (Riddick, Russell & Riddick 2008). Total promotional expenditure has been used as the foundation upon which allocating per tourist promotional expenditure s as to derive a rough estimate of per-tourist-per-annum promotional expenditure for the places the tourist are arriving from. Tourism Organisations in the Sub-sector Response to Domestic and International Tourism Demand. According to Prideaux, Moscardo & Laws (2006), there is a general consensus in the research community that tourism is a complex. Oxford has numerous guesthouses, B&B, and hotels located within the heart of the city and on the outskirts in the suburbs. At the website of the organisation, the Oxford Association Hotels and Guesthouses provide further information on the available options. Unlike the suburban hotels, those located at the heart of the city are expensive even more than those located in London, some of the world’s most expensive city. The prices according to the website increase during tourist high season; in addition, such information can be easily accessed in the city centre, though it costs a small fee. Sigala, Christou & Gretzel (2012) claim that the emerging use of social media can be exploited within the industry, yet Smith, (2010) has acknowledged the use of the internet by tourists. The tourism sector and the accommodation sub sector in particular face stiff competition from within the players, and from different regions and different countries (Laws, 2004). Underlying industry competition is the notion that provides cut throat advantages competition among the industry players. There are several organisations within the industry wide field representing regional, national and city wide interests with regard to placing the interest of the players at the apex. Oxford is an international city that is of intimate scale, representing crowded shopping streets, serene cobbled alleys to medieval stone walls mixed with great importance. The supra city wide body that represent the interest of the institutions in the quest to lure more tourists to the players. The body is referred to as Oxford Association of Hotels and Guest Houses and it aids it members in conducting advertisements that lure tourists not only to those places, but also to those sites. In a twist of fate, the body assures potential visitors to travel to Oxford, bent on the fact, that in the city, every season has its charms. The trees of the North Oxford droop with blossom, attracting domestic tourists in early spring, all through to May and during such a period, the City looks wonderful. Foreign students troop to the city during this period, and they visit the shopping streets. All throughout, the organisations and the individual organisations engaged in advertisement for the city visit and hotel or guest house stay. Oxford city being located at the center of England-a major English speaking nation has an immense tourist potential. The availability of unique services, such as the potential of south Asian culture and cuisine provides a unique opportunity for domestic tourist to explore the galore of the Far East without travelling east (Jogaratnam et al, 2005). The balti restaurants located on the east side of the city have a number of such restaurants much more than London and Birmingham. Hover, the drawbacks of these places is that they contain a higher level of unemployment, poor physical environment and a high level of empty properties. Selby (2004) asserts that there is a weak correlation between composition of urban tourism and heritage consumers. Most institutions focus on the socio economic conditions of consumers to the detriment of significant factors, n important thing plaguing Oxford hotels as they are expensive. Conclusion Oxford city benefits from urban tourism from visitors in the country, the UK, a host of countries in Europe, North America and from the Far East countries such as Japan, China and Korea. This means that the country attracts the length and breadth of visitors mostly from the industrialized countries. Tourism represents a wide component of the economic sectors that is hugely thought of to be a significant driver of development in the economy. Tourism has a multiplier effect in the economy such that its impacts rippled throughout a region’s economy. Oxford is a popular tourist destination and attracts million annually who visit the city. Unlike London, accommodations in the city centre are more expensive that may affect tourism market in the city. Since it takes roughly n hour by train from London to Oxford, tourist may opt to stay in London rather than in Oxford. Relative pricing, exchange rates and promotional expenditure are the three key determinants of domestic and international tourists. A tour destination is thought of as more saleable from internal characteristics more than competitive advantage. The queerness of an area has been the main factor in visitor’s attraction, much more than factors such as promotional expenditures. Attraction of more tourists and to attain a competitive advantage, it is important that resources are effectively and efficiently used with regard to changes in environmental conditions. Reference List Benson, A. M. (2011). Volunteer tourism: theoretical frameworks and practical applications. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge. Brown, E. A., Arendt, S. W., & Bosselman, R. H. (2014). 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