ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that rapid tourist growth has begun to interfere with the holiday plans of customers, causing them to reject many intensively developed destinations. In the face of deteriorating environmental conditions, how can the world’s largest tour operator, TUI Travel plc, apply packaged tour innovations to create memorable customer experiences in future? We will examine what requirements TUI Travel plc must consider in creating packaged travel experiences that customers experience as special; chronicle the growth of the packaged tour business, its complexity, its emerging forms, and how it may represent the antithesis of mass tourism; refer to the significant role that physical reality plays – particularly the spatial features of the destination – in relation to delivering packaged travel experiences and the potential decline without deliberate steps to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner; and draw conclusions regarding the need for environmental reporting as a pre-condition to ensure pristine environments and create memorable customer experiences.
