INNOVATION FOR THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY

The procurement of innovation in the travel and tourism industry is about the acquisition of new products and/or services, of significantly improved existing services and products or a new application of organisational innovation for the provision of existing products and services. Innovation in the travel and tourism industry is mostly developed by the individual contractor with the aim of ensuring customers’ satisfaction

THE TRAVEL AND TOURISM INDUSTRY A CASE STUDY OF EASYJET

Innovation is necessary for every business to survive. It will be difficult for a firm in the travel and tourism industry to gain a good chunk of the market share without innovation. It is often said that doing the same thing the same way and expecting different result is a definition of sanity. Thus, innovation gives a firm a different and new way of doing things.

Innovation is about changing the way we do things. It is about pushing the frontier of what we know in the hope of generating new and useful ideas, and then putting them into practice. Empirical evidence as shown that innovation increases standard of living and productivity and living standards. Innovation in the travel and tourism industry allows organisations to expand the range of goods and services available for their clients and in turn it lead to high turnover. It is about putting invention into practice. The travel and tourism industry is a service industry and it requires innovation to survive. Over the last decades, several travel firms have been bringing innovative ideas to the table. Such as online bookings and reservation, resort centers, etc. However, despite all these innovative ideas, their elements of risks cannot be over emphases. Innovation and risk are like bread and butter. They go hand-in-hand. Innovation and risk is part of travel and tourism. The industry thrives on innovation and also affected by risks.

The procurement of innovation in the travel and tourism industry is about the acquisition of new products and/or services, of significantly improved existing services and products or a new application of organisational innovation for the provision of existing products and services. Innovation in the travel and tourism industry is mostly developed by the individual contractor with the aim of ensuring customers’ satisfaction.

Risk on the other hand is about the probability of something bad happening. Risk is known and can be predicted unlike uncertainty that can’t be predicted. In fact, the risk associated with a particular innovation brought about the development of another product. In the travel and tourism industry, risk is perceived as the disadvantage of a particular innovation. For instance, online booking became an innovation because manual booking was too slow. However, online booking is also prone to cyber theft.

Statement of the Problem

Travel and tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries within the UK compared to other industry. The constant spread of globalisation and the continuous integration of international organisation have aid the development of the industry. Management of such organisation in an attempt to gain market share tends to be innovative in their approach. However despite all the beautiful ideas, innovation most of the time can take a long time before benefits are fully adopted.

Also, research has shown that most organisations in the travel and tourism industry still appear to use technology merely to automate routine administrative tasks. This does not help leverage on the huge benefits of innovation. If properly adopted, innovation can transform how business is carried out in organizations and ultimately improve efficiency and profitability of a firm.

Innovation does not automatically translate to the displacement of market leaders or gaining greater competitive advantage. Furthermore, there are other problems relating to the adoption of innovation in the organisation which include personnel turnover, loss of records, expensive means of communication, equipment, record, storage system problem such as collection, processing, storage and distribution of information which play a vital role in the decision making process.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to evaluate innovation and risk approach in the travel and tourism industry. Specifically, the study seeks to achieve the following

1. To evaluate the kind of mitigating strategies that can be used for controlling risks

2. To ascertain innovation and risk approach in travel and tourism industry.

3. To determine how innovation and risk is balanced in Easyjet.

4. To ascertain the future strategies related to innovation.

Research Questions

1. How innovation and risk is balanced in Easyjet?

2. What is the innovation and risk approach in the travel industry?

3. What kind of mitigating strategies can be used for controlling risks?

4. What can be the future strategies related to innovation?

 

Significance of the Study

The relevance of this study is to evaluate innovation and risk approach in the travel and tourism industry, using EasyJet as the case study. This particular organisation was chosen because it is one of the biggest firms in the travel and tourism industry within the UK.

Travellers and tourist would find this research useful as it would keep them abreast of the latest innovation in the travel and tourism industry and the risk attached to it. This research work will also provide valuable insights to management about the strategic approach require balancing risk with latest innovation.

The British government would also find this study useful by looking at ways of creating policies that can help firms in the travel and tourism to minimise risk attach to any latest innovation. Government would also be able to look at some of the recommendations that would be provided at the end of this study on ways of assisting organizations in alleviating any form of risk.

Research Methods

This is the procedure adopted to carry out the research work. The data collected from the respondents will be analysis using with the aid of Statistical

The research design for the study will be the survey designs that will specify the information to be gathered, the sources, administration, collection and the analysis of data. It will also be the plan structure and strategies of investigation that will enable the researcher to obtain answer to the research questions.

The data collected for this study will comprises the information obtained from secondary sources. As a result of using the secondary sources of data, information will be gathered from company records; handbook and files that will be made available to assist the researcher in the study. Information will also be gathered from textbooks and journals that are relevant to the study. This information from these sources will be particularly useful in explaining the concept of risk, innovation with special references to the travel and tourism industry within the United Kingdom.

Plan of the Study

The plan of the study is going to starts with a review of journals that are of relevance to the study. This study will be presented in five chapters.

Chapter 1: Includes the introduction, which outlines the background of the study, statement of problem, research question, objectives of the study, research hypothesis, justification of study, scope of the study, and operationalisation of concept.

Chapter 2: Deals with the review of various existing literatures related to the topic by various authors and theoretical framework are discussed in this chapter. Literature review is based on the issues in the research questions.

Chapter 3: Describes the methodology types used for the project. It involves the research design, study area, population of study, sample frame, sample size determination, sampling procedures, research instruments, and method of data analysis, ethical consideration, field experience and the limitations of the study.

Chapter 4: Contains presentation and data analysis. The aim of this chapter is to arrive at results, from which conclusion and recommendations would be made.

Chapter 5: Is the summary of the study, drawn conclusions and recommendations. References and other details are presented in this chapter.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study deals with analysis of innovation and risk approach in the travel and tourism industry using Easy Jet as the case study. This particular organisation was chosen because it is one of the biggest firms in the travel and tourism industry within the UK. The issues that will be addressed in the study include; identifying how to balance innovation in the travel and tourism industry with any form of risk attached to it.

Operationalisation of Concepts

Innovation

Innovation is about commercialising an invention. It is about changing the way we do things. An innovative idea tends to make things easier and more convenient.

Risk

In this research work, risk is seen as the probability of something bad happening. Risk is known and can be predicted unlike uncertainty that can’t be predicted.

Tourism

This is when people travel for business or pleasure.

Brief History of the Company of Study

EasyJet is the company with the full name of easyJet airline company limited, it’s a British airline that has its headquarter at the London Luton airport. The airline is known to be the one which carries passengers more than all the other UK based airlines. It has its operations both domestically and internationally covering almost 580 routes. The airline parent company named easyJet plc is found to be listed on the London stock exchange. Easyjet got established in the year 1995 and it has seen very drastic expansions since the time of its establishments. This establishment takes into considerations a number of acquisitions and openings of base which were fueled by the demand of consumers for the air travel based on low costs. EasyJet is known to be the second largest of low cost carrier prevailing in Europe and the top position is guarded by Ryanair. The network of EasyJet is not only known to ensure that they are well positioned in order to capture the traffic which. There are almost 200 carriers that are currently found to be competing in the short haul market in Europe. The top five of them includes easyJet, which almost account for 60% of the flown seats and the rest market is what one can call to be highly fragmented. EasyJet is known to be the only main European short haul carrier which enjoys a significant position in all the major airports and it also operated with the leading network as it has a presence in almost 100 main routes of the European short haul aviation.

The airline cover almost more than 580 routes over 30 countries. They have a fleet of more than 200 aircraft. 7,300 people are employed by the company which has almost 1,900 pilots and cabin crew is of 4,300 people. In the year 2010, the company served almost 54 million passengers.

Chapter Two

Literature Review

2. 1. Introduction

This chapter presents a review of the literature on analysis of innovation and risk approach in the travel and tourism industry using Easy Jet as the case study. The essence of doing this is to lay a foundation that will complement this research. The review will be based on the research questions earlier stated in chapter one. It is the ultimate goal of this chapter to bring the reader up to date with current literature on the topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. It should be established that literature on the subject is sparse since this area of research has not been tackled.

2. 2. The Concept of Risk

There is no acceptable definition of risk in the literature. Risk can be defined as the probability of something bad happening. Risk is known and can be predicted unlike uncertainty that can’t be predicted. In fact, the risk associated with a particular innovation brought about the development of another product. In the travel and tourism industry, risk is perceived as the disadvantage of a particular innovation. For instance, online booking became an innovation because manual booking was too slow. However, online booking is also prone to cyber theft. 

Risk could be positive or negative in nature depending on the possible outcome of an activity. However, this research work focuses on the negative consequence of a risk. Risk is different from uncertainty in the sense that risk are known and possible for managers to deal with, while uncertainty is an event or a situation that was not expected to happen . Risk is what we face in everyday of our lives. Eating, sleeping and waking up are all risky events. Every decision man made as an element of risk but the most important thing is to take a reasonable risk.

2. 1. 1. Type of Risk

1. Technological Risks

This is an innovative risk that affects the technical characteristics of a service or product. The type of risk also affects the production process which could lead to false performance of a good and services.

2. Organisational and Societal Risks

Organisational risk and societal risks are interrelated. Most organisations have there own unique selling point that make it difficult for a particular innovation to function in all organisation within the same industry may be due to the organisation culture or process. On the other hand, societal risks deals with the inability of an innovative idea to be accepted in the society due to certain legislative practices or religious belief.

3. Market Risks

These are risks that affect demand and supply of goods and services. The demand for innovative idea may become risky if there is a no enough capacity investment. Supply risks are attached to the volatility of the labor market and market competitors. It is highly risky to start an innovation without adequate personnel and insufficient quality.

4. Financial Risks

Financial risks are risks that are related to securing of funds to meet innovation target. Innovations are good but there could be a handicap if there is a lack of fund necessary to meet the set goal.

5. Turbulence Risks

These risks are concern with unforeseen circumstances. They are related with issues that are difficult to predict or measure.

A travel and tourism firm is not only faced with innovation risk but can also suffer from financial and market risk.

2. 3. Extant Studies on Travel and Tourism

Travel is the movement of individuals from one geographical location to another through various means of transport. On the other hand, tourism is about people visiting different destinations for a number of reasons . According to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), tourism can be defined as the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes. This definition indicates that people tour for various reasons and they at least spent a night at their tourist destination. The WTO further argued that tourism is the fastest growing economic sector, bringing foreign exchange earnings to countries and creating jobs.

2. 1. 1. Types of Tourism

Tourism are usually categorise according to the purpose of their visit. People visit for the purpose of leisure, business or to see friends and family. These will be further discussed below.

1. Leisure Tourism

This is a type of tourism in which people travel for holiday or to take a short time break. Travellers who embark on leisure trip do that during summer or vacation.

2. Business Tourism

This is a specialised form of tourism were people travel to go to a meeting, conference or occassion related with their business. This is an important and growing market in the UK as more resorts and hotels provide conference facilities.

3. Visiting Friends and Family (VFR) Tourism

This an informal form of tourism as tourist that embarks on this journey rarely stays in hotels or guest houses. Most of the time they stay with their friends or families.

4. Inbound Tourism

This is also known as incoming tourism. This form of tourism is about visiting a country that is not the country of residence of the traveller. For instance a tourist from Germany to the UK is an inbound to tourist to the UK.

5. Outbound Tourism

This is the direct opposite of inbound tourism. If a tourist from Italy visits the UK then such tourist is outbound from Italy and incoming to the UK.

6. Domestic Tourism

This is neither an outbound or inbound tourism as it involves tourists who travel within their own country for tourism purposes.

2. 1. 2. Sectors of the Tourism Industry

The travel and tourism industry is made up of six sectors. They are: transport, ancillary services, tour operators, accommodation, travel agents and attractions. The transport sector focuses on facilitating trade in the tourism industry. It is the backbone of the industry. The tour operators specialised in putting together various components that make up a holiday. They usually partner with different airline companies, hoteliers and transport companies to put various holiday packages for customers. The travel agents usually advice and provide information for their clients. They also assist in selling flights tickets, booking of hotels and provide other tour services as required by the tourist. Ancillary services are usually performed by government in other to bring sanity into the industry. The support services are about policies and enactment aimed at regulating the travel and tourism industry. Figure 6 below gives a cross section of the various sectors in the travel and tourism industry.

2. 4. Relationship between Risk and Innovation

Risk is central to innovation . Innovation is necessary for every business to survive. It will be difficult for a firm in the travel and tourism industry to gain a good chunk of the market share without innovation. It is often said that doing the same thing the same way and expecting different result is a definition of sanity. Thus, innovation gives a firm a different and new way of doing things .

Innovation is about changing the way we do things. It is about pushing the frontier of what we know in the hope of generating new and useful ideas, and then putting them into practice. Empirical evidence as shown that innovation increases standard of living and productivity and living standards. Innovation in the travel and tourism industry allows organisations to expand the range of goods and services available for their clients and in turn it lead to high turnover. It is about putting invention into practice. The travel and tourism industry is a service industry and it requires innovation to survive. Over the last decades, several travel firms have been bringing innovative ideas to the table. Such as online bookings and reservation, resort center etc. However, despite all these innovative ideas, their elements of risks cannot be over emphases. Innovation and risk are like bread and butter. They go hand-in-hand. Innovation and risk is part of travel and tourism industry. The industry thrives on innovation and also affected by risks (Boardman and .

The relationship between innovation and risk has been at the vanguard of economics debate for a long time. Innovation is risky because innovation always has an element of uncertainty. All purposeful action carries an element of uncertainty. Risk is highly embedded in management and closely related to innovation. The rate at which risks perceived will determine will determine the level of innovation. If risk is seen to carry high elements of uncertainty then, innovation will be limited and vice versa.

Empirical evidence has shown that there is a positive relationship between risk and innovation. High innovation brings about high risk and vice versa. In a study conducted on independent entrepreneurs to identify risk takers and risk averse. It was discovered that respondents adopt various strategies in their organisation depending on the level of risk they perceived. The independent entrepreneurs usually look for a way to manipulate the risk and some abandone the innovation when the risk attached to it cannot be manipulated. However, establishing a well structure innovation process can assist an organisation to militate against the risk associated with such risk.

The above diagrams show various types of innovations in the travel and tourism industry. Overtime, experts have tried to come up with several ideas that will move the industry forward.

2. 5. Innovations and Risks in the Travel and Tourism Industry

The effect of risk in human action cannot be overemphasis not to mention its effect on innovation. Literatures on the relationship between risk and innovation are very scarce. However, few literatures on the subject matters have pointed out that the relationship between innovation and risk in the travel and tourism industry are influenced by how the two concepts are perceived and the implications attached to it.

Risks in the travel and tourism industry are diverged in nature. Internal processes and relations with customers are other salient factors affecting innovation in the industry. The travel and tourism industry faces financial and legal risks when they try to innovate. Thus, balancing of risk with innovation will go a long way in determining the kind of decisions made in the industry. In the travel and tourism industry, more innovations are being introduced to reduce existing risk.

The importance of innovation was long underestimated in service activities. In contrast to the radical innovations vital to growth in manufacturing sectors, innovations in services and tourism were secondary and capital-scarce, and for this reason they were excluded from the scope of government interest and action. It is interesting to note that the discourse changed with the emergence of new information and communication technologies (NICT), which have been especially influential in the realm of tourism. The dissemination of new modes of production and the resulting organisational shock waves, along with the marketing adjustments this has entailed, have been the subject of much research.

Appendix one and two shows the various innovations in the travel and tourism industry not only within the United Kingdom but in the world. Gone are the days where trains were regarded to be very slow. Technological innovation had been able to introduce a fast moving train in the industry.

2. 1. 1. Innovation Risk to Overcome in the Travel and Tourism Industry within the UK

1. Unacceptability of the Product

Innovation in the industry is like water melon and you don’t know what you will get except you dissect it. There is a probability of the innovative product being rejected in the market due to one reason or the other.

2. Irrecoverable Investment

Another risk factor mitigating against innovation in the industry is the fact that huge investment may not be recovered during the product life cycle.

3. Misplacement of Priority

Introducing innovation in the travel and tourism industry can be very risky because there will be over concentration of the firm’s resources on the innovative product and partial or total negligence of the existing products. The organisation will now become over reliant on the new product.

4. Inadequate Capacity

Organisation may lack the necessary human and financial resources necessary to implement the innovation. This is another form of risk because what is the essence of innovation when the firm lack adequate technical know how to implement it. The innovation can also be very demanding financial.

5. Innovation Theft

It will be very difficult to stop rival firm from adopting the innovative idea. This is another form of risk prevalent in the industry as most firms adopt the same process due to the homogeneous nature of the industry.

2. 1. 2. Overcoming Innovation Risk in the Travel and Tourism Industry within the UK

The level of innovation risk in the travel and tourism industry largely depends on the choice made by the firm. A conscious firm will experience lower risk and develop a flawless model necessary to implement the risk . To minimize risk and unintended consequences, users, companies, and policy makers alike need to understand how to make informed choices when it comes to new products and services. The following strategies can be adopted to reduce the severity of risk associated with innovation in the industry.

1. Develop an Appropriate Model

The first thing an organisation in the travel and tourism industry needs in militating against innovation is to develop appropriate models that will gradually introduce the new product in the organisation. Organisation need to have an accurate assessment of the innovation by compiling relevant data and estimate various factors that will affect the innovation.

2. Expect the Unexpected

Organisations need to understand that innovation is a need idea that is yet to be tested in the deep water of the industry. Thus, such innovation can either swim or sink. It is imperative for organisation to have an open mind about a new product because it is impossible for organisation to foresee all the consequences of an innovation no matter how obvious it might be. Some risks will creep up by the time the innovation starts interacting with other environmental factors.

3. Comprehend the Use and the User

Developing an appropriate model is not enough to mitigate risk in the travel and tourism industry. It is imperative for firms to understand the use of the new products and its acceptability by users. An innovation becomes more risky if the person using it cannot comprehend it. Management must ensure that the user of the new product understand the rudiment of the innovation.

4. Availability of Adequate Infrastructure

Innovation must be implemented in line with existing infrastructure in other to reduce the level of risk. For instance, an innovation to introduce a fast moving train must be look into in terms of the capability of the track. If the tracks of the current system can’t handle high speeds then it will be risky introducing such innovation. Thus, reducing innovation risk must be look ito in terms of the level of infrastructure available.

Chapter Three

Research Methodology

3.1. Introduction

This chapter presents the procedures adopted for data collection in various sections such as the research design, the study area, and the study population, source of data collection, ethical consideration, and limitations of the study.

3.2. Research Design

The research design is the general layout or structural plans to guild the conduct of a research.. The research design is usually influence by the nature of subjects and the way data are collected and analysed. The study was designed to evaluate innovation and risk approach in the travel and tourism industry, using EasyJet as the case study. A cross sectional research design with survey strategy was adopted this study is the survey research method. It specified the information to be gathered, the sources, administration, collection and the analysis of data. It will also be the plan structure and strategies of investigation that will enable the researcher to obtain answer to the research questions.

3.3. The Study Area

The research work focuses on the travel and tourism industry within the UK. The travel and tourism industry within the UK is one of the biggest and fastest growing industries and by the year 2025, the industry is forecast to worth about £257 billion. The industry has a workforce of over 2 million people from different socio-economic background that are providing customers with different variety of products, services and facilities according to their specific needs In 2015, the UK travel and tourism industry was ranked 8^th by the UNWTO and accounted for 2.9% of global arrivals.

The industry’s significance can be understood with its efforts in terms of Visitbritain that is Britain’s national tourism agency, accountable for marketing Britain overseas. This agency works with thousands of UK and overseas organizations, to market Britain effectively to visitors from all over world. It basically works for promoting UK tourism industry. Thus, travel and tourism is one leading industries in the United Kingdom. The industry has contributed significantly to employment and the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).

The United Kingdom has been attracting lot of tourist all over the world. The number as increased drastically. The United Kingdom is ranked six in terms of the most visited countries in the world.The major components of tourism in the UK industry are domestic tourism, incoming or inbound tourism or outbound tourism. Apart from the components, the travel and tourism industry within the UK is also made up of three sectors. These are the public sector, the private sector and the auxiliary sector. The public sector provides services for the public and it is collectively paid through government. Services offered by this sector includes; art galleries, community centre, museums, youth centres, information centres, libraries etc. The private sector is made up commercial operators that are keen on making profit by offering different travel and tourism services and products to customers. The voluntary sector is made up of non-profit making or charitable organisations such as travel or local sport clubs that provide financial advantage to the industry.

3.4. The Study Population

This is one of the major aspects of the research work. It comprises the totality of prospective respondents in a study. For the purpose of this study, the population of study is EasyJet. EasyJet is the company with the full name of easyJet airline company limited, it’s a British airline that has its headquarter at the London Luton airport. The airline is known to be the one which carries passengers more than all the other UK based airlines. It has its operations both domestically and internationally covering almost 580 routes. The airline parent company named easyJet plc is found to be listed on the London stock exchange. Easyjet got established in the year 1995 and it has seen very drastic expansions since the time of its establishments. This establishment takes into considerations a number of acquisitions and openings of base which were fueled by the demand of consumers for the air travel based on low costs. EasyJet is known to be the second largest of low cost carrier prevailing in Europe and the top position is guarded by Ryanair. The network of EasyJet is not only known to ensure that they are well positioned in order to capture the traffic which. There are almost 200 carriers that are currently found to be competing in the short haul market in Europe. The top five of them includes easyJet, which almost account for 60% of the flown seats and the rest market is what one can call to be highly fragmented. EasyJet is known to be the only main European short haul carrier which enjoys a significant position in all the major airports and it also operated with the leading network as it has a presence in almost 100 main routes of the European short haul aviation.

The airline cover almost more than 580 routes over 30 countries. They have a fleet of more than 200 aircraft. 7,300 people are employed by the company which has almost 1,900 pilots and cabin crew is of 4,300 people. In the year 2010, the company served almost 54 million passengers.

3.5. Data Collection Method

The data collected for this study will comprises the information obtained from secondary sources as this study is qualitative in nature. Data collection through the secondary sources will be information gathered from company records; handbook, files and website that will be made available to assist the researcher in the study. Information will also be gathered from textbooks and journals that are relevant to the study. This information from these sources will be particularly useful in explaining the concept of innovations and risk with special references to the travel and tourism industry within the United Kingdom.

3.6. Ethical Consideration

A research is a systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusion about a situation. In order to get the best from the study, the research has to be focused and actual in selecting appropriate method for the study. In this study, all relevant materials cited in the research work are clearly and properly reference. The research work also demonstrate high level of honesty and transparency. The research also tries to maintain objectivity throughout the course of the research work.

3.7. Problems Encountered in the Study

The major problem encountered in the research work was that of limited time and data. The research was meant to be completed within a time frame. There is high probability of uncooperative attitude of respondents as they might see it as leaking out their secrets to competitors. Due to the sensitive nature of the research topic some of the respondents might be reluctant in answering questions on the research topic.

Dearth of data and unwillingness (uncooperative attitude) of those who are in charge to release the available ones constituted limitations to the study. Besides, a great amount of data that could have been made available to the researcher was considered confidential by the management of the organization concerned. The organisation was averse to all forms of labour unionism, industrial actions and publicity especially research studies by external bodies that are likely to expose their inadequacies. It is not unusual for managers to perceive the failure of their organizations as a direct indictment of their capacity and capability to manage any organization, in spite of their towering academic qualifications and exposures. Certainly, it will be difficult to extract absolute realistic information from such mindsets.

3.7.2. Resolution of the Problems Encountered in the Study

The researcher was able to make do with the available data obtained from the research instrument. Information was also gathered from company records; handbook and files that were made available to assist the researcher in the study. Information was also gathered from textbooks and journals that are relevant to the study. This information from these sources was particularly useful in explaining the concept of human capital development, career progression and performance with special references to its effect on employees productivity.

3.7.3. Limitations of the Study

This study deals with analysis of innovation and risk approach in the travel and tourism industry using Easy Jet as the case study. This particular organisation was chosen because it is one of the biggest firms in the travel and tourism industry within the UK. The issues that will be addressed in the study include; identifying how to balance innovation in the travel and tourism industry with any form of risk attached to it.

However, the research study is delimited with time, geographical implications, finance and other phenomenon that affect scope of a research report. The issues that will be addressed in the study include; identifying how to balance innovation in the travel and tourism industry with any form of risk attached to it.

The research work was restricted because of limited availability of time and data. This part hospitality management practices is also evolving in the UK and there is high probability of uncooperative attitude of respondents as they might see it as leaking out their secrets to competitors. Due to the sensitive nature of the research topic some of the respondents might be reluctant in answering questions on the research topic.

3.7.3. Strengths of the Study

The above limitations were not as fundamental and pervasive as to render this research worth less or immaterial; rather it addressed all the things it supposed to address. Despite all the limitations, the study derived joy on the uniqueness of the research focus. Also, another area of strength of the research work was that findings can be generalised because the selection process is well designed and sample is a representative of study population. Furthermore, the research data was consistent, precise and reliable. It was also very easy to analyse.

Chapter Four

Presentation and Analysis of Data

4.1. Introduction

This chapter presents the analysis and interpretation of data obtained from the secondary sources. This study focused on innovation and risk in the travel and tourism industry within the UK. The analysis was based on the objectives of the study.

4.2. Innovations and EasyJet

EasyJet is a low cost airline company and introducing innovation is part of its core value in order to make travel easy and affordable for their clients. For more than 21 years the firm has become a household name in the travel industry across Europe. The market capitalisation of the firm is put at £4 billion as at 2016 and their credit rating is one of the strongest in the airline industry in the world. It operates with an improve fuel efficiency and over 186 seat cabins. It covers about 132 airports in over 31 countries across 802 routes. EasyJet is made up of about 10,000 workforces from different socio-economic background including 2,865 pilots and 6,516 cabin crew members as at 2016.

The mission statement is “To provide customers with safe, good value, point-to-point air services. To effect and to offer a consistent product and fares appealing to leisure and business markets on a range of European routes” Over the years, the firm has been implementing several innovative ideas in the area of digital, web, engineering and operational in order to make travel easy and affordable for our passengers, minimise disruption and improve efficiency. The firm developed an award winning app that has been downloaded by over 17m users across Europe in other to transform the airline experience.

The 3D augmented reality technology design to enable the engineering team to see exactly what a pilot or engineer is seeing using virtual reality glasses. The glasses use the world’s first high definition see through display system, providing augmented reality helping easyJet to remotely diagnose a technical issue.

Other innovations by EasyJet includes introduction of flight tracker that allows passenger to view there whereabouts of the aircraft they are due to fly. There is also a mobile boarding pass that allows customers to check in less than 10 seconds using their phones. Passenger can also make use of their phone cameras to scan their passport details making it quicker and easier to check in. The firm is the first to introduce a paperless aircraft by making use of touchpads in all stages of flight and on the ground.

4.3. Risk Assessment of EasyJet Innovation

Figure 10: Risk Assessment Chat

The risk assessment of EasyJet innovation will be discussed under four categorise. These categories are; the impact of the innovation, the expected demand for new functionality, business importance of the innovation and maturity of technology used.

1. Potential Impact of the Innovation

The introduction of various innovation by EasyJet has led to the reduction in staff growth has technology is taking over what human beings are meant to do. In the figure below, the EasyJet 15 years growth indicates that the labor force experiences the least amount of growth over the said period with just 15.68% growth rate compared to passenger’s growth rate of 18.02%.

2. The Expected Demand

The EasyJet innovations are actually influence by the ambition of the firm to be the number one airline company in Europe. This vision has propelled them to go to any length to introduce various innovations. The company was able to have an accurate assessment of the innovation by compiling relevant data and estimate various factors will affect the innovation.

3. Business Importance

As shown above, innovations had pushed the revenue of the firm by 20% over a 15 year period. This is an indication of how important innovation is to the firm.

4. Maturity of Technology

EasyJet adopts latest technologies that are environmental and user friendly. The paperless aircraft technology has been able to eliminate about 27 Kg of paper per aircraft per flight, equating to a reduction of over 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emission per year.

4.4. Discussion of Findings

Innovation and risk goes hand-in-hand. The results of this study offered strong empirical support for the existence of a positive and negative significant effect of risk on innovation. Copious evidence abounds in the analysis that if an organization in the travel and tourism industry adopts several innovations as a means of enhancing organisation performance, revenue can increase and one hand and there could be staff redundancy on the other hand. To a very large extent, the findings of this present study concur with earlier empirical studies on the impact of risk on innovation.

Review of literature identified diverse innovation risks prevalent in the travel and tourism industry within the UK, unacceptability of the products, irrecoverable investment, misplacement of priority and innovation theft are some of the risks firms in the travel and tourism industry face .. Thus, empirical evidence from the study did confirm that innovation is good but the risk involved might make organisations to be conscious in adopting it.

It was part of the research objectives of this study to identify how innovation and risk is balanced in EasyJet but the result of the research shows that management of the organisation are not doing enough balance these two variables. Innovation is good but the result of the study shows that the more the innovation the lesser the human resource I an organisation as the organisation personnel are seen as the grass that suffers in the advent of innovation. It is a major surprise as I expected innovation practices to increase employment in the travel and tourism industry within the United Kingdom.

Chapter Five

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations

5.1. Introduction

This chapter deals with the summary, conclusion and recommendations of the study. Findings were computed from the secondary data obtain from EasyJet website and other journals. The summary, conclusion and recommendations are being based on the objectives and findings of the study.

5.2. Summary

It was part of the objectives of this research work to analysis the impact of innovation and risk approach in the travel and tourism industry using EasyJet as the case study. Chapter one of the study shed light on the background of risk and innovation. The aim and objectives of the study was also stated, the statement of problem and research questions were also noted.

The chapter two reviewed various related literatures that are relevant to this project. The chapter laid a foundation that complimented the research work. It also broughts the reader up to date with current literature on the topic and forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that may be needed in the area. The chapter three described the research methodology adopted for the study population. It presents the procedures adopted for data collection in various sections such as the research design, the study area, the study population, source of data collection, ethical consideration, and limitations of the study.

The chapter four presents the analysis and interpretation of data obtained from the secondary sources. This study focused on innovation and risk in the travel and tourism industry within the UK. The analysis was based on the objectives of the study. The chapter five contained the conclusions of the study as well as the recommendation profile as a result of the findings made in the study. The process of the research investigation is also summarized in this chapter and a conclusion was also provided at the end of it.

5. 3. Conclusion

Globalisation and trade liberalisation has provided firm an opportunity with a wide reach impact throughout the world. Generally, the interconnection system of the world has given firm a platform to think and come up with innovations capable to pushing the firm to their greatest height. However, as good as innovation is the impact of the element of risk cannot be overemphasis.

Organisations in the travel and tourism industry must continue to innovate in order to gain a greater market share in the industry. Failure to institutionalised innovation in the firm’s model or organisation process will lead to backward movement of such firm. The research work had discussed the concepts risk and innovations with special reference to the travel and tourism industry within the UK. Based on the secondary source of data obtain from relevant journal and the firm’s website, it can be concluded that there is a positive relationship between innovation and risk. This is because the more the innovation, the more the risk. Therefore, organisations in the travel and tourism industry within the UK must be conscious of introducing innovation in order to mitigate the risk associated with it.

5. 3. Recommendations

On the tools of the aforementioned assertions based on the findings, the study suggested the following recommendations;

1. Firm should be conscious in order to experience lower risk and develop a flawless model necessary to implement the risk.

2. Government should try as much as possible to make laws that will protect and promote innovations in the travel and tourism industry within the UK.

3. Government must provide adequate infrastructure in other to reduce the level of risk associated with a particular innovation.

4. Appropriate feed back mechanism must be adopted by the firm in other to identify the shortcomings of a particular innovation and work on it.

5. Finally, Organisation needs to have an accurate assessment of the innovation by compiling relevant data and estimate various factors that can affect the innovation.

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5. 3. Suggestion for Further Study

A qualitative approach was adopted in this research and secondary sources of data were only adopted. There is a need to conduct further research which can focus on other aspect of the travel and tourism industry within the United Kingdom and across Europe. Further research could be done in this field of study using quantitative methods. Quantitative methods could allow the researcher to use questionnaire to collect rich data from the respondents. Other scholars could also investigate their research with other travel and tourism firm within the United Kingdom to make a comparative analysis.