Be better at 'the business of tourism'

AC 1.3

A matter of scale

As mentioned in the previous resource, some large tourism organisations have to make decisions involving vast amounts of money.  A new theme park ride might cost several million pounds, and it will cost between ten and twenty million pounds to build a new hotel.  Modern, large jet aircraft can cost tens of millions of pounds. 

Senior executives in tourism organisations have to make decisions about which methods will be used to help achieve the objectives set by the organisation, in order to make a profit from multi-million-pound investments.

The most expensive items bought by tourism organisations are not aircraft but cruise ships.

Read the extract below from an American magazine.

The cost of building a cruise ship generally depends on the vessel's size, the building shipyard (labour prices, taxes, quality of service) and the on-board features (facilities and amenities).

Here are some interesting answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about  passenger cruise ship costs:

  • How much does the world's most expensive cruise ship cost? The Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas ship cost US $1.4 billion to build, closely followed by its sister ship the Allure – US $1.2 billion.
  • How much does a Royal Caribbean cruise ship cost? The cheapest are the Royal Caribbean Sovereign-class ships Monarch and Majesty (US $150 million each).
  • How much does a Carnival cruise ship cost? The oldest ships in the Carnival fleet are of the Fantasy-class, at around US $250 million each. The newest Carnival ships Dream-class cost $740 million each.
  • How much does a Disney cruise ship cost? The newest Disney ships, Dream and Fantasy, cost $900 and $940 million respectively, the "old" Magic and Wonder cost $350 million each.

Activity 1

The prices shown in blue are in American Dollars.  Use an online currency converter to calculate the costs of the ships in British Pounds.

Use a Google search to find images of some of the ships mentioned above.

Activity 2

Research information relating to large tourism developments in your area, or investigate costs of new rides opened in major theme parks.  You could also research the cost of a new theme park which is planned to be built near Swanscombe in Kent.