Means of transport in tourism

Most developed countries have a network of motorways which are fast and efficient and in many of them drivers have to pay a toll to use it. Although many holidaymakers travel in their own cars, there has been an expansion of car hire mainly in airport terminal as fly-drive holiday are becoming more and more popular. As an alternative to the use of cars, there are various type of bus service. Intercity buses carry passengers between cities or towns.

In many countries some long-distance buses have different facilities but in other part of the world bus travel is less luxurious with passengers even sitting on the top of the vehicle. In the U.S the Greyhound bus company operates scheduled services across the country. In Britain the national Express coach company provides a national intercity service and also owns Eurolines which travels to different destination in Europe. However most European countries encourage the use of rail travel and don’t have developed intercity bus operators. Local buses operate only within a specific area. Bus services may be run by the local government or by private companies. Shuttle buses are frequently use to transfer passengers from airports, rail stations and seaport to city centres. Special buses include: charter buses hired by travel companies to take groups of tourists on holiday on package tours and tour buses following special routes to show local sights to visitors. Buses have several advantages: they cost less, they don’t require the building of new transport infrastructure and they can help reduce traffic congestion. Many governments encourage people to travel by bus instead of by car in order both to save fuel consumption and reduce air pollution.
RAIL TRAVEL
There are two main types of passenger rail service: commuters trains and intercity trains. Commuter trains carry passengers between the centre of large cities and surrounding suburbs and nearby towns while intercity trains make much longer journeys and usually have dining and sleeping cars. Although passenger trains over the last 50 years have faced strong competition from other forms of transportations like car and train, in some countries people still use heavily trains for travel between cities. Some countries have particularly fast, efficient intercity passenger trains (the fastest in France and Japan) that, for short and medium-length travel, can compete with airlines because they take passengers into stations in city centre whereas airports are on the suburbs of large cities.
However high-speed train links require considerable investment in trains, track and safety systems so where the railways belong to private companies the rail system are not so well developed or efficient like in the countries where the railways are state controlled and government provide a lot of financial support. Even in large countries like USA where railways cannot compete with airlines rail travel is still a popular alternative for tourists. There are famous historical trains and trains that make long scenic journeys through areas of natural
beauty.
THE NO FRILLS REVOLUTION
The no-frills revolution are changing patterns of tourism in Europe by choosing new destinations and making bargain fares. European area is filling with people going to places they have never heard of until recently. A vacation abroad is starting to cost less than one at home, so European people prefer taking short breaks into unknown territories: the innovation is to fly using uncrowned regional airports that are less expensive and congested. For some regions it has brought a new lease of life and it also increased tourism in those areas. As a matter of fact people is starting to love cheap flights and new destinations and the no-frills airlines are planning massive growth, trying to reduce the cost of air travel and making it accessible to everybody . in this way everyone’s a winner: travellers, regional airports and local communities.
BRITAIN’S MEANS OF TRANSPORT
Britain in a small but densely populated island so you can go everywhere by train or bus. The problem is that the costs are among the highest in Europe and it’s important to plan ahead and searching for passes or special offers: it’s often cheaper to drive yourself around though petrol and rental costs again are really expensive and congestion around the main cities can be bad while shuttle flights are popular with business travellers and fares can be very expensive.
TRAINS (brit)
The trains are now run by a variety of private companies and there’s a lot of confusion about routes and prices . the trains run more or less to schedule and you can reach major towns by rail but the tickets could be very expensive so it’s better to book in advance and avoid travel on Fridays. There are also many reduced-fare tickets like saver, supersaver and apex, and students under 26 can buy a railcard which gives a discount on most tickets. If you want to travel extensively you could buy an inter-rail pass or a BritRail pass which gives unlimited travel on the rail network for a fixed number of days.
BUSES (Brit)
They duplicate many rail routes but often at half the price. Coaches are generally comfortable and there are numerous regional companies but the biggest national operator is National Express. Tourist Trail passes give unlimited travel on the coach network for fixed period of time . it is advisable to book ahead specially on weekends and holidays.
SILVER SERVICE(coaching comfort)
They are coaches with fewer seats but much more leg room. They are really comfortable because there are leather headrest, footrests, a satellite navigation display and the rear lounge where you can enjoy a snack, a choice of music, video or dvd . there’s also a toilet/washroom on board and the advantage to meet new people and make new friends. The charge for an upgrade to silver service starts at only £15 and it’s worth every penny.

USA
Flying is the best way to cover long distances fast. Air travel is very developed in the USA, the services are frequent and prices are fair. For travelling on the ground, hiring a car is the best option. The Public transport in the USA aren’t developed like in Europe, especially outside the big cities, that’s why most Americans have private cars.
TRAINS: travelling by rail is the fastest way to get from a to B. If you have time it can be a pleasant and relaxing experience and also a good way to meet people. Amtrak(national rail network) not cover the whole country. The North-east region has good services but popular destinations like Nashville and Santa Fe and some entire States are left out completely. Travelling by train is more expensive than taking a Greyhound bus or a plane but special offers are available especially in the Off-Peak season. Amtrak carriages are spacious and there are dining cars and lounge cars. Beautiful train rides include the Hudson River Valley, north of New York City and the California coast between Santa Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. The California Zephyr between Chicago and San Francisco follows a route over the Rockies.
BUSES: If you’re making a lot of stops, buses are the cheapest way to get around. The main long distance operator, Greyhound links all major towns. Greyhound buses are more comfortable and it’s possible to travel overnight and sleep on the bus.

AIRPORTS
Selecting a site for an airport is a complex process. The airport site must be neck enough to a city to be a reasonably accessible but far enough away to limit the negative effects to noise and air pollution. The busiest part of an airport is the passenger terminal building, with shops, restaurants, lounges, snack bars, games rooms, bookstores and many other facilities. On the check-in desks baggage is handed in and tickets are checked. The suitcases and other bags are moved on a conveyor belt to the baggage makeup room where baggage handlers load them onto the correct flight. Then the passengers can pick them up into the baggage reclaim area. Boarding cards and passports, or other identity documents, are checked before passengers enter the departure lounge where they wait for the flight. The also pass though a metal detector to make sure that nobody is carrying aweapon. The terminal building also includes each airline's operations area, where the flight crews make their flight plans. Meanwhile airline staff clean the cabin and load any cargo, Fuel is pumped into tanks in the plane's wings while flight technicians check the engines,the tyres and other vital areas of the plane. An airline usually takes about 45 minutes to unload a plane and then load and service it for its next flight. This operation is called turaroundtime. There are differences in the types of passenger that airports tend to handle and therefore the facilities and services provided. For example some airports are designed to facilitate the movement of business travellers, or to accommodate large numbers of charter tourists arriving and departing the airport by bus. An airport where you don't need to provide a car parking or ground transportation to the city but you do require special transit lounges, is called a hub. At a hub, aircraft arrive in waves and passengers transfer between them.

AIR TRAVEL
There are two main categories of air travel: scheduled and charter flights. Scheduled flights operate on a fixed timetable and depart whether the seats are filled or not. Charter flights do not fly to a regular timetable: the aircraft is booked for a specific destination and date. Scheduled flights have always been more expensive than charters but competition between the major airlines has cut prices in recent years. New "no-frills" airlines have appeared offering a basic service at much lower prices and challenging the traditional airlines. Air travel has grown significantly in recent years. At peak times, such as holiday periods, airports find it hard to cope with the volume of planes landing and taking off. At the same time people living near airports complain about noise, air pollution and traffic jams on the surrounding roads. Governments regulate certain aspects of aviation in the interest of safety regulations and to handle various economic matters relating to aviation. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) promotes the growth of civil aviation throughout the world and encourages international flight safety. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), an organization of the world's scheduled international airlines, also promotes safe, regular and economical air transport.