Air Transport
First-class travelers enjoy the privacy of their own private cabin area with seats that can be converted into 6’6" flat beds. Plenty of good food, in-flight entertainment and personal video screen are provided. They are also welcome to use arrivals lounge.
B
Air transport
usiness-class travelers have wide comfortable seats with plenty of legroom. They can also enjoy good food, free drinks, and complimentary newspapers.
Economy-class travelers though have narrower seats, still are provided with suitable services and meals.
In general, most of the airlines provide different classes on board; they are first, business and economy class. Some airlines nowadays introduced ‘premium economy class’. This class of service offers better individual service (e.g. more comfortable seat) to passengers at a lower price comparing with business class service.
Types of flight
Scheduled flights
-
refer to those flights operated regularly according to a published timetables and fares.
-
irrespective to the number of passengers to be carried on any one flight, they serve on a routine basis.
Non-scheduled flights
-
also known as charter flights
-
do not operate on any set schedule or have predetermined fare structure
-
charter flights could go anywhere and at anytime when scheduled service do not covered, and very often they supplement the service on regular routes during peak seasons.
Sea / Water Transport
Cruise ships
What is a cruise? A cruise is a vacation trip by ship. This definition excludes travelling by water for primarily transportation purposes.
It offers the passengers a chance to relax in comfortable surroundings, with attentive service, good food, and a liner that changes the scenery from time to time.
Reference: Ward D (2000), “Berlitz complete guide to cruising & cruise ships 2001”, Princeton, N.J. Berlitz Pub., c2000.
It is projected that cruise ships make an important contribution to Hong Kong tourism. In 2008, there were more than 780,000 overseas travellers visiting Hong Kong. However, there has until now been a lack of detailed information about the market, and in particular, the type of experiences cruise visitors have in Hong Kong.
Despite the potential positive impact of cruise tourism to the local economy, there is also danger the local tourism industry faces is that cruise tourism can displace other forms of tourism as hotels and tours fill with cruise passengers, reducing capacity for other tourists.
Cruise ships are basically self-contained destinations where guests live, eat, are entertained, and travel. Cruises are voyages taken for pleasure and not only for the purpose of transport. Most cruises start and end at the same port.
A cruise with all-inclusive fare nowadays may combine:
-
Transportation costs such as airfare between cruise passengers’ point of origin and the destination port. Sometimes the cost of accommodation at the destination port is included in the all-inclusive fare.
-
On-board activities; and
-
Shore excursions
Ferry services
Ferry service is a short distance sea-journey between ports. Both the local commuters as well as tourists use this mode of transport. The demand for ferry services between Hong Kong and Macau is very high with three operators offer year-round scheduled services.
Road Transport
Traveling by road is the most flexible and economical form of mass transportation. Modern motorway networks have made major cities easily accessible.
Coach services
-
Shuttle buses for airport transfers
Car services
Car travelers have greater freedom in choosing their route, destination, and timing of their journey.
-
Private cars for rental;
-
Taxis; and
-
Private cars.
Car rental
Business and vacation travellers book car rentals for different reasons:
-
Business travellers are looking for a convenient and reliable form of ground transportation to get them from point A to point B with minimum amount of fuss and bother.
-
Vacation travellers are looking for a comfortable form of transportation to places where they plan to visit but these places are not easily accessible by public transportation.
Rail Transport
The importance of rail travel has given way to private cars and air travel, but is picking up now since a number of services have been designed specifically for the tourist trade on a local and international level. Examples include “Orient Express” in Europe and “Indian-Pacific” across Australia. Others include the “Trans-Siberian Railway” and the “Bullet Train” of Japan.
Examples of Other Rail Transport:
-
Underground train services in most urban city;
-
Airport express train service; and
-
Scenic rails
Examples of Some Scenic Rails:
One of the world’s eminent travelling experiences is to travel on luxury train. Traversing the world’s varied landscapes along alternative train routes, the train combines all the comfort and luxury of a five-star hotel with a globally unparalleled journey.
The Blue Train
Reference: http://www.bluetrain.co.za
Orient Express Trains
Reference: http://www.orient-express.com
Table summarizes the major characteristics of various transport modes:
|
Mode
|
Carrying unit and capacity
|
Advantages
|
Disadvantages
|
Significance for tourism
|
Air
|
| Speed and range -
Suited to long distance journeys
| -
High fuel consumption
-
Stringent safety regulations make air transport an expensive mode
| -
Speed: shortened the travel distance and reduced the time of travel
-
Range: Increased accessibility to places, opened up most parts of the world for tourism.
-
Stimulate the growth of international mass tourism
|
Water
| -
Medium to High passenger capacity
| -
Suited to either long or short distance ferry operations
| -
Comparatively slow
-
Seasickness
-
High labour costs
-
Feeling of Confined while most of the activities limited in the cruise
| -
Cruising became a popular form of leisure travel since 1980.
|
Road
| -
Car, bus, or coach.
-
Low capacity for passengers
| -
Door-to-door flexibility.
-
Suited to short distance journeys
| | -
Door-to-door flexibility allows tourist to plan routes.
-
Allows carriage of holiday equipment.
-
Acts as a link between terminal and destination.
-
Acts as mass transport network for excursions in holiday areas.
|
Rail
| -
Passenger carriages
-
High passenger capacity
| -
Convenience: it usually arrives at and depart from the central business district of a city, thus saving transit time between city and airport.
-
Suited to medium or long distance journeys, and to densely populated urban areas,
-
Environmental friendly
|
| -
In the mid-nineteenth century, it opened up areas previously inaccessible for tourism.
-
Special carriages can be added for scenic viewing,
-
Trans-continental routes and scenic lines carry significant volume of tourist traffic.
|
Extracted & Modified from the Boniface Brian G., Cooper Chris (2001), “Worldwide Destinations, The geography of travel and tourism” 3rd ed. Butterworth Heinemann, ch 5. pp.57
|
Share with your friends: |