Low cost airlines boost tourism
Low cost air carriers can have a positive impact on tourism demand and occupancy in hotels, new research suggests.
The report, carried out by property agents Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, suggests low cost airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet can affect destinations in three different ways, defined as the ‘pull', ‘push' and ‘derived' effects.
The pull effect tends to decrease long-term tourism demand as more and more consumers make use of cheap flight to go abroad.
But the push effect acts as a counter to this boosting tourism levels in the holiday and off-season periods.
The final, derived effect impacts on areas adjacent to secondary airports quite distant to the city centre. Here hotels see an increased demand for rooms from travellers waiting for flights.
Mark Wynne-Smith, European chief executive of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, said the impact of low cost carriers on the European tourism market is likely to strengthen and expand in line with growth in the industry.
"Cities experiencing the push, pull [or derived] effect are expected to see the full impact over the next few years.
"Nevertheless, the occurrence and maintenance of many of these effects will be dependent on various external factors, such as potential tax increases implemented by the government," he said.
By Kerstin Kühn
