The Travel & Tourism Industry

The travel and tourism industry has for years had to pursue profits within a flexible, fast-moving, unrestricted environment. Recently, this activity has been characterized by a lack of formal objectives and monitoring systems and a tendency to seize each opportunity as it comes, without considering its long-term impact. In this book top executives from American Express, Sheraton Management Corporation, British Airways and other major travel and tourism companies seek to explain exactly why strategy is essential in today's fiercely competitive environment. Dealing with both 'pure strategy' (representing specific moves) and 'mixed strategy' (the art of deciding the general course a company should follow), the contributors demonstrate that structured and profitable growth requires well-defined direction, based on an analysis of the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the whole organization. This important book will be indispensable to all those studying or working in the travel and tourism industry as well as those concerned with strategic management more generally.