7th Silk Road International Conference “Challenges and Opportunities of Sustainable Economic Development in Eurasian Countries”

The Importance of Transportation in Tourism Sector

Rufat MAMMADOV
PhD Candidate, Business Administration Department, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences,
Qafqaz University, AZERBAIJAN

Abstract

Tourism sector is one of the main important sectors of the economy. Many countries take advantage of covering the budget deficit
with the help of profits coming from tourism. That is why tourism sometimes is called a factory without chimney. But tourism has its
own unique features that differentiate this sector from the others. Like in the other service industries, in tourism the customers, that is, the
tourists come to the destination where the tourism services are provided.
As the matter of fact it is difficult to think of tourism sector without transportation. Transportation is the main mean to carry pas-
sengers, that is, the tourists to the actual site where tourism services are performed.
In this article, the actual transportation situation of Azerbaijan and other countries in tourism sector have been analyzed, statistical
data of Azerbaijan and other countries have been used, the importance of tourism sector has been stated.

Keywords: Tourism sector, transportation, service industry, Azerbaijan, destination

JEL Classification: L83

Introduction
The people have been using transportation in order to travel
from one place to another since ancient times. At that time simple
transportation forms existed. But in the 19th century the steam
power engines, and lately diesel powered engines were invented,
as the matter of fact the inventions changed the transportation
notion. The speed became one of the most important factors in
transportation. In 1841 Thomas Cook realized the first organized
travel using train with steam power engine. From that time trans-
portation became inseparable part of tourism.
Transportation in its simple meaning is to carry passengers
from one point to another. When transportation is considered
from tourism frame, it simply refers to carrying tourists from their
place of living to the place where the touristic products are intro-
duced to them (Eden, 2005). The travel and tourism experience
of tourists and the ideas about tourism products start and end with
transportation. That is why it is impossible to consider tourism
without transportation.
The development of transportation, transportation vehicles,
infrastructure and using new technologies in this sector speed up
the development of tourism. If we pay attention to the statistics of
World Tourism Organization, we may see that the tourism dynam-
ics has changed and increased rapidly between 2005 and 2008.
In 2010 international tourist arrivals rose to 940 million. This
in turn brought the economies $980 billion. This trend can be ex-
plained with different factors. But the main important factor here
is the rapid development of transportation sector and application
of technological innovations which enable the tourists to reach
many destinations of the world.
1. Transportation Modes
Whether transportation plays important role in enriching the
travel experience of a tourist depends on the mode of transporta-
tion and the frequency of use. Transportation can turn into a sepa-
rate tourist attraction element; cruising, Orient Express trains,
boat trips along the river and etc. are the best examples to tourist
attractions. The effective factors in choosing the transportation
mode in tourism are given below (Westlake and Robbins 2005,
463):
• Time limit
• Distance
• Status
• Comfort
• Security
• Benefit
• Price
• Geographical position
• Competition
The existing transportation modes are given in the following
figure 1. An increase in traffic due to world tourism growth puts
pressure on transportation facilities, and this can have adverse ef-
fects. Those negative effects are as follows (Goeldner and Ritchie
2012, 96);
• Congestion – means delays which leads to waste of time
and energy. Serious congestions may have a negative ef-
fect on transportation modes, especially on airports and
roads during peak times.
• Safety and security – making sure that the transportation
mode is safe and secure is a basic and important require-
ment for tourism.
• Environment – an increase in traffic may have disastrous
effect on the environment if that area does not have the
carrying capacity for additional tourists.
• Seasonality – seasonal patterns of travel demand create
overcrowding at certain times. Adversely low occupan-
cies and load factors will occur at other periods.

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 CHAPTER VII, Tourism and Investment Opportunities

Table. 1 International tourist arrivals.

Figure 1. Passenger transportation modes.

Source: Charles R. Goeldner and J. R. Brent Ritchie, Tourism, Principles, Practices and Principles, Wiley Publication, p 97, 2012

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7th Silk Road International Conference “Challenges and Opportunities of Sustainable Economic Development in Eurasian Countries”
1.1 Air Transportation
One of the most important transportation modes in
tourism is air travel. Air travel has made significant chang-
es in people’s minds concerning time and distance. In order
to meet the demand which increases every day, the airline
companies spend billions of dollars and apply new tech-
nological innovations. Having matchless role in long dis-
tances the air travel industry develops very rapidly.
The world’s airline industry numbers 1,629 airlines,
27,271 aircraft, 3,733 airports, 29.6 million scheduled de-
partures a year, and carries 2.7 billion of passengers a year.
The major aircraft making companies to share the market
will be Airbus and Boeing. The competition between them
will lead to making technologically advanced planes in
the world. (http://www.iata.org/pressroom/facts_figures/
fact_sheets/Pages/economic-social-benefits.aspx, 2012).
When tourism packages are prepared the air travel is also
included into it.
The comfort, security of aircraft, and smiling service
are very important elements of tourist travel experience.
In this sense, many countries build new airports, buy new
aircraft and train the personnel in order to develop tour-
ism sector. The airports are very important in air travel. An
airport is the first door to the country to open by the tourist.
That is why countries always try to build competitive and
gorgeous airports equipped with latest technologies which
will be able to overcome the burdens of peak times and
compete in the industry where tough competition exists.
At this point, if we take a look at statistical data of
Azerbaijan Republic, we may see that each year there is an
increase in the number of passengers carried.
In order to attract tourists, the country built new air-
port named after National Leader Haydar Aliyev. But as
the number of passengers and flights has increased Azer-
baijan Government has made a decision to build a new air-
port close to Haydar Aliyev International Airport. Together
with this, the government reconstructed the infrastructure
of old airports in the regions and bought new aircraft. As
an example, new Airbus A 320 and Boeing 767 will be
enough. Besides, the first airline company in the world
Table 2. Azerbaijan Air Travel Statistics
Source: Azerbaijan State Statistical Committee, www.azstat.gov.az, 29.04.2012
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to order Boeing 787 - Dreamliner is Azerbaijan Airlines
(http://www.azal.az/az/news-view/23, 24.04.2012). Natu-
rally this will evoke positive tourist travel experience and
as the result of this the air travel, in its turn, will be one of
the tourist attraction factors.
Together with this, new technologies like online ticket
booking, online registration, online check – in systems,
and automatic luggage control systems reduce the time lost
at the airport and make sure fast and secure flight.
Although the major advantage of air travel is speed,
there are negative effects for those who wish to travel by
air. These include some people’s fear of flying and lack
of geographic accessibility, since many communities are
still not served by air transportation. An additional problem
is the length of time spent getting to and from the airport
(Goeldner and Ritchie 2012, 99). But not withstanding
these negative effects of air transportation, it is number one
choice of tourists who travel long distances.
1.2 Automobile Transportation
In short distances automobile transportation comes
forward in regard to other modes of transportation. The au-
tomobile transportation makes it easy to see local culture
and nations. It presents great flexibility in contrast to other
modes of transportation (Oter, 2007:68).
The importance of this mode in tourism is also very
important. When compared with the prices in air transpor-
tation, this mode of transportation is frequently used by
tourists because of low prices. But the main factor affect-
ing this choice is time and distance.
If we pay attention to the definition of tourist, we may
see that tourist is the person who has enough spare money,
time and wish to travel (Timur and Olali, 1988:45). In long
distances if a tourist uses automobile transportation he or
she will lose valuable time and energy to travel. If he or
she uses air transportation in this case he or she will have
enough disposable time and energy. This in turn gives the
tourist the opportunity to see as many places as possible
and enjoy the travel.
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But in contrast, in short distances tourists always
choose automobile transportation. The reason for this is
time loss in airports for short distances. It takes a lot of
time to come to the airport, to check in and wait for the
departure. Due to this reason, tourists choose automobile
transportation rather than air mode in short distances.
In order to develop the automobile transportation, it is
vital to develop the infrastructure. Infrastructure means to
rebuild the existing roads and highways, to build new ones,
to establish motel and restaurants on the way for tourists to
take advantage of the opportunity to rest during the travel.
In this meaning, if we pay attention to Azerbaijan Repub-
lic, the government rebuilds the existing highways in “Silk
Way” framework, builds new highways, tunnels, bridges.
All the roads and bridges meet the requirements of world
standards. As the result of this, tourists can move in the
country in secure and comfortably.
When we talk about automobile transportation we
have to look at its own modes like bus, personal automo-
bile, caravan, and car rent modes. In order to provide the
tourists’ security and comfort many bus companies buy
new coaches and increase technical control over them. This
type of transportation has been developed in Turkiye. The
coach companies mainly use coaches produced by Mer-
cedes or Man. And they provide perfect services inside the
coach during the travel. Besides, the tickets are sold online
through the sites of coach companies.
Together with intercity bus transportation systems, city
transportation is also important. Well equipped infrastruc-
ture of city bus system helps to rid the congestion in the
city. Azerbaijan Transportation Ministry established smart
city bus control system. The ministry installed smart moni-
tors in every bus station. Together with monitors, the min-
istry installed special GPS devices in buses, which connect
the buses with the intellectual management system. The
smart system displays how many minutes remained for the
arrival of the bus, the weather temperature, clock, the route
map, city information and etc.
Consequently this leaves positive image of a country
on the tourist and makes him or her revisit the country.
1.3 Railway Transportation
The other mode that affects tourism is railway trans-
portation. This type of transportation is considered the
oldest one. In 19th century the railways were frequently
used. Currently in many countries the railways are used for
transportation of loads. The reason for this is tourist choice
of air or automobile transportation. But there exists such
railroads that have been included to touristic packages. For
the example, we can give Orient Express railways.
But nowadays application of technology and techno-
logical innovation gave birth to fast trains which compete
with air and automobile transportation modes. In order to
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take advantage of fast trains many countries rebuild their
existing railroad systems completely. In Azerbaijan new
railway is being built which will take passengers from
Baku and to Kars passing through Tbilisi. This will play
an important role in development of tourism in future. Cur-
rently, France, China, Japan, Singapore, Turkiye are using
fast trains.
Like in bus companies, in railway transportation the
tickets are also sold online which make it easy for passen-
gers not leaving their home, buy tickets and book places in
train beforehand. This makes the railways work 24 hours
in a day.
We can also include metro and tramway into this
mode. The development of metro and tramway systems in
the city play great role in transportation of tourists from
one place to another. Only metro in Baku carried more than
181 million passengers in 2010. In order to take advantage
of this the government provided financial support to metro
and the existing stations were rebuilt and every year a new
metro station is opened for public use. At the same time,
the government pays attention to the external and internal
designs of these metro stations, the architecture of these
metro stations complete the total architecture of the city.
1.4 Sea Transportation
Here we may include cruise travel, boat travel, yacht-
ing, ferry travel and etc. The cruise travel has a special
place in tourism. In table 3 we can see the world and North
America’s growing trend for cruise travel. From the table,
we can infer that cruise travel has been much more devel-
oped in North America.
The cruise ships named as sailing hotels provide tour-
ists with indispensable travel opportunity. While travelling
with a cruise ship, the tourists get the opportunity to see
several countries at a time. This type of transportation is
one the most expensive one, because the price for a cruise
ship exceeds $100 million. More than thousands of em-
ployees work in a cruise ship at a time. If we look to table
3, we may see that in cruise travel North American compa-
nies gained great successes.
This type of industry is one of the investment heavy
industries in the world. To gain access to profit pie of this
industry the countries must build embarkatian ports, and
keep special fleet of boats for anchoring cruise ships. But
unfortunately, this type of travel is always under danger. If
we look at the history, we can see many tragic examples.
One of them is Titanic. In 1912 April Titanic sank in the
Atlantic Ocean. This cruise ship took away thousands of
lives with it. Such accidents still happen till nowadays. The
other example is Costa Concordia which struck a rocky reef
(http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16200962,
24.04.2012).
Tbilisi - Batumi, GEORGIA
May 24, 2012 – May 26, 2012
7th Silk Road International Conference “Challenges and Opportunities of Sustainable Economic Development in Eurasian Countries”

Table 3. Annual Cruise Passenger Growth

Source: http://cruiseindustryfacts.com/2011/06/20/cruise-industry-overview, 2012

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May 24, 2012 – May 26, 2012 Page | 385
 CHAPTER VII, Tourism and Investment Opportunities
Notwithstanding the dangers, the cruise travel is con-
sidered a separate tourism kind thanks for its features. In
cruising no type of tourism destination is supplied except
the ship. That is why the countries which want to develop
cruise travel and tourism must pay attention to the security
issues and create investment environment for companies.
Conclusion
Each transportation type mentioned above has indis-
pensable role in tourism development. Each transportation
type has advantageous and disadvantageous features. If
we analyze each of them in turn, firstly, we can see that
although new technologies are applied in air transporta-
tion time by time there are air accidents. But every year
the demand for air transportation increases. In comparison
with other transportation types the air transportation is con-
sidered to be secure and it saves time for tourists. In order
to maintain sustainable tourism development the countries
must pay a special attention to the development of this type
of transportation through building new airports with high
modern standards and buying planes with advanced tech-
nologies and high comfort.
Secondly, the automobile transportation, as stated
above, is important in short distances. The development of
it will make the tourists’ travel through highways secure
and efficient. In order to develop the automobile transpor-
tation the countries must build new highways, rebuild older
ones, and build motels and restaurants along the highway.
Consequently it will lead to the development of tourism in
the country.
Third, the other type of transportation - the railway
needs great investment. Fast trains, new train stations, new
railroads will make the tourists’ travel comfortable.
Fourth, building embarkatian ports and their strategic
placement will result in attracting cruise lines to the coun-
try. The countries with access to the sea, ocean or river
must organize secure sailing of cruise lines in their water
territories.
All the stated issues prove the importance of transpor-
tation in tourism. As mentioned above the tourist’s trav-
el experience starts and ends with transportation. In this
sense, if the countries want to gain sustainable develop-
ment of tourism sector, they must pay attention to trans-
portation sector, reduce monopoly in this sector; provide
sound competition opportunities for the companies.
It is not by chance that in order for the tourists who
will come for Eurovision 2012 song contest held in Azer-
baijan, travel in secure and comfortably in the country
Azerbaijan Republic is building new airport, bought new
technologically advanced planes, built new highways,
tunnels, bought new trains, renewed the metro lines and
system. Of course this type of activities will provide the
development of tourism; in future they will be the reason
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why the tourists choose this country again.
To sum up, in order to develop and increase the role of
transportation in tourism the countries should pay attention
to the following points:
• The transportation modes specific to the regions
must be developed
• The transportation costs must always be kept com-
petitive
• The passengers must be attracted to sea and railway
modes of transportation
• New embarkatian ports must be established in or-
der to develop cruise travel
• New fast train lines must be established and new
fast trains must be bought and foreign experience
must be applied
• The distance from stations must be kept less
• New coaches must be brought to the country
• New technologically advanced aircraft must be put
into air lines
• The personnel must be trained
• The governments should allocate financial support
for the development of transportation
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