Tourist Destinations - Assignment Example

? Tourist Destinations Introduction Tourism is defined as a travelling activity meant for recreational, leisure and business purposes. WTO (World Tourism Organization) has defined tourists as the individuals “travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes” (Marvell, 2005, p. 2; Lubbe, 2003, p.2). Eminent scholars and experts have defined tourism as a collection of industries, services and activities that delivers an overall travel experience including accommodations, transportations, fooding and lodging, and other associated hospitality services (PRM, n.d). Since the commencement of civilization, human beings have travelled from one place to the other. It was the basic necessities of life such as water, food, resources that acted as the early motivators of travelling. Nevertheless, the idea to travel for leisure and pleasure emerged after quite a few hundred years. One of the early travel guides, Guide to Greece was written by Pausanias during 170 A.D for the Roman tourists (PRM, n.d.). The surge in leisure travelling activities occurred due to the development of technology. Earlier travellers used to travel either by walking or rode domesticated animals. Slowly with the passage of time, the invention of different transportation mediums, improved road condition and stabilized government has played a critical role in the robust growth of this industry. With each new development of technology and infrastructure, the scope and opportunities of travelling has increased. In this assignment, a report will be produced on the tourist destinations of the United Kingdom and it will be compared with the tourist destinations from Kenya. In addition, the report will evaluate some of the characteristics of the tourist destination of the UK and it will be evaluated and how these characteristics have an impact on the appeal to tourists. Furthermore, the study also proposes to analyse the issues that impacts the popularity of the tourist destinations. Last, the study seeks to discuss about the potential for responsible tourism to enhance the host community at worldwide destinations. On the basis of the findings of the discussion of the aforementioned points, the report will ultimately draw a conclusion to the study. Overview of the Global Tourism Industry The tourism industry is considered as one of the prime sectors in the global economy. It is often dubbed as the largest single industry. The tourism activity also acts as a major source of employment for a number of developing as well as developed countries and is a source of earning foreign exchanges. Often, tourism is referred to as a ‘double edged’ activity as it has both positive and negative impacts on the society and the environment. The positive contribution of tourism appears in the form of socioeconomic achievements, increased regional popularity and development of the infrastructure. However, along with that due to its fast and sometime uncontrollable growth it becomes the major cause of environment degradation, traditional cultures and loss of local identity. Moreover, although physical and biological resources are the factors that attracts the tourists but along with that the tension created by the tourism activities on the frail ecosystem aggravates and accelerates their depletion. Paradoxically, the success of the tourism industry of a country is directly proportional to the degradation of the environment. As far as the development of the national economy is concerned, tourism certainly constitutes opportunity for the economic development of a nation, overall growth of the country and economic diversification. The tourism industry constitutes around 5-6% of the global GNP (Gross National Product). According to reports of World Tourism Organization (WTO), it is currently the largest industry of the world with annual revenue of staggering $3 trillion dollars (biodiversity, 2012). The industry provides around 6 million jobs in the United States alone and is considered as the biggest employer of the country. The global scenario is also the same. For example, in the developing countries such as India and China, the tourism industry plays a crucial role in the growth of the nation. Nowadays, tourism has become one of the most popular global leisure activities. Although it suffered a setback in the early 2000 due to several reason such as the economic slowdown, outbreak of deadly diseases, but after that the industry has picked up and went on to record an arrival of staggering 1 billion tourists globally for the first time ever. Tourism is considered as an important activity in the developing as well as developed nations. For example, in the year 2012, China became the largest international spender in tourism with spending reaching US$102 billion by surpassing the major powerhouses such as the United States and Germany. Figure 1 - Tourism Forecast by WTO (Source: biodiversity, 2012) Comparison of Appeal of a Developed and Developing Tourist Destination The tourism industry has experienced a rise in the activities since the last few decades. Especially, in places such as Europe, and in places where the visitors visit for a short break. Moreover, tourists have different preferences and different tastes and as a result of that companies are focusing more on the specialised needs of the visitors. This is one of the causes for which people now come across various types of tour packages such as sustainable tourism, ecotourism, medical tourism, educational tourism, rural tourism creative tourism, doom tourism, sports tourism and leisure tourism and dark tourism among others. However, the tourist destinations also play a crucial role in driving and attracting the tourists from different parts of the world. Several studies have revealed that tourist destinations or tourist attractions are the one that drive visitors from different parts of the world. A tourist attraction is also referred to as a place where tourists visit or a place of interest. Typically, the characteristics of a tourist attraction encompass either inherent cultural value, built or natural beauty, historical significance, or any other amusement opportunities (Wttc, 2011). For instance, places such as monuments, zoos, botanical gardens, art galleries, historical places, buildings and structures, and cultural events to name a few. Apart from that people now shows strong interest in the artificially created sites. The customers get greatly influenced by the appeal of the tourist destinations. However, it has been observed that there are clear differences between the appeal of a tourist destination which is established and the tourist destination that is currently developing. The destination appeal is considered to be a factor in tourism that reflects the level of competitiveness. According to Ritchie and Crouch (1993) destination’s appeal is considered to be both deterrents and destination attractors. According to the model proposed by the authors, there are eleven identifying factor climate, natural features, general infrastructure, and basic services infrastructure, cultural and social characteristics, access and transportation facilities, tourism superstructure, and cost/price levels, attitudes towards tourists, uniqueness and economic and social ties. On the other hand the destination deterrent is referred to as the security and safety of the destination (it encompasses the health and medical concerns, political instability, poor sanitation quality, visa requirements and unfitting law and regulations of the country. However, eminent authors such as Dwyer and Kim (2003) stated that the competitiveness of a destination depends upon the destination’s resources encompassing created resources, the endowed resources or then natural resources, as well as the supporting resources. Together these factors make it attractive for visiting. In this context of the study the destination appeal of two countries namely UK and Kenya will be evaluated. The comparison is presented below. Kenya Tourist Appeal Kenya, officially also known as the Republic of Kenya is one of the sovereign states of East Africa. Kenya is situated at the centre of East Africa. The largest and the capital city of Nigeria is Nairobi. Tourism in Kenya has experienced steady growth in most of the year after the independence. However, by the end of 1980, the tourism activity also became the sole source of foreign exchange. However, Kenya is yet to gain the status of a leading tourist destination and is still considered as developing tourist destination. The majority of the customers in Kenya are from Germany and UK. They are mainly attracted to the game reserves and coastal beaches. The tourism activity of Kenya has always remained cantered around a few of the game parks and coastal beaches. Despite of being endowed with a number of tourist attractions accords the country, the coastal beaches and the game parks have always remained a favourite destination among the mass. The country has been gifted with several attraction points such as the abundant wildlife, tropical beaches, a geographically diverse landscape, scenic beauty, and diversified culture. With such rich heritages and endowed resources the country is seen as one of the potential tourism destinations on Earth. Reports suggest, it contributes around 12% of the total GDP of the country and 9% employment (Ndivo, Waudo and Waswa, 2012). The study carried out by Ndivo, Waudo and Waswa (2012) found that the appeal and the level of awareness of the different attraction in Kenya are considerably low. Among the chosen respondents only 46% are aware of the tourist attraction of Kenya. The report also suggested that one of the reasons of less appeal is due to the less marketing activities. Another vital factor is that the majority of the tourist attractions of Kenya does not form domestically and as a result of that the awareness and appeal is less. UK Tourist Appeal UK is a part of Great Britain and is located in the north-west of Europe. With an area of 242,514 square kilometres and 62.4 million populations, the country is considered as one of the greatest tourist attractions of the world. The country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel, North Sea and the Irish Sea. As per studies, United Kingdom (UK) is considered as one of the top ten tourist destinations of the world. The country is endowed with a number of tourist attractions. Some of the evident ones are the London Eye, Madame Tussad’s wax museum, Stonehenge, Buckingham palace and the Big Ben to name a few. Studies have suggested that every year millions of tourists from different parts of the world visit the country for different types of tour and travelling activities. Tourism in the UK is also considered as a crucial source of foreign exchange. Moreover tourism is also UK’s third highest export earner. The report has also suggested that around ?18 billion are spent by foreign visitors in the UK. When the international tourism is combined with the domestic tourism, the UK tourism reaches a value of whooping ?115 billion industry. Employing around 2.6 million people, it contributes to 9% of the overall economy of the country (VisitBritain, 2013). Figure 2 – UK Tourism Value (Source: visitbritain, 2013) Figure 3 – Spending in Tourism by Visitors (Source: visitbritain, 2013) Figure 4 – Number of Visitors (Source: VisitBritain, 2013) Thus from the above figures it is evident that the UK is one of favourite tourist attraction for a number of people around the world. This also reflects that the appeal of the destinations is much more when compared with other places. Hence, the conclusion can be drawn the appeal of UK’s tourist attractions is much more than the tourist attraction of Kenya. However, there are certain characteristics of tourist destinations that affect the appeal of a tourist destination. The description of the same is presented below. Impact of Characteristics of the Tourist Destinations on its Appeal The characteristics of a tourist destination play an imperative role in attracting the tourists and the overall appeal of the destination. Most of the external factors play a vital role in shaping the overall appeal of the tourist attraction. This encompasses the economic characteristics of the tourist place, the physical characteristics of the attraction point, the social characteristics, and the political characteristics. For example, the economic growth and development of a country plays a crucial role in enhancing the attractiveness of a tourist spot. For example, if a country is financially stable, it will have the opportunity to create a tourism infrastructure such as world class accommodation facilities, better transportation and high quality foods. These factors are important as tourists, apart from the importance of the spot, consider these amenities to be equally important. In this context, the UK being one of the economic powerhouses has been able to develop world class tourism infrastructure and is one of the reasons of its strong appeal. In the similar way, the social characteristics of the tourist attraction play a crucial role. The literacy levels, poverty levels, incidence of disease etc. influences the touring decision of a visitor. For example, people will always have a negative standpoint for a place where there is a case of disease outbreak. The political situation is another crucial factor affecting the appeal of a tourist attraction. Governments which have taken a proactive stance in promoting tourism activities such as Burma and Cuba receive a positive response from the international visitors. The stability of the government and the ongoing situation of the country again act as important factors of its overall tourism appeal. For instance, due to the political unrest in the country the tourism activity of Egypt has experienced a collapse. The tourism sector of the country has been hit hard by the wave of violence in Cairo, despite the spots of the country remained trouble free (Hafez and Farouq, 2013). Hence from the above discussion, it becomes evident that the characteristics of a tourist destination greatly impact its appeal. In order to have a strong & positive appeal, all the four factors mentioned above, needs to be favourable. Even, dilapidation of one of the factors may reduce the overall appeal. Issues Affecting the Popularity of a Tourist Destination Multifaceted issues are responsible for creating a frustrating scenario of the tourism sector of a country. One of the most significant ones is the safety and security of the tourist attraction. It greatly influences the decision of a tourist in selecting the tourist destination. Studies have shown that more than any other factors, the success of a tourism industry of a country depends upon the extent to which the government has been able to provide a secure and safe environment for its visitors. This became more visible in the aftermath of 9/11 tragic events. The tourism sector of the US witnessed the biggest fall proving security and safety as a vital factor (Besculides, Lee and McCormick, 2002; Volker and Sore?e, 2002). The criminal activities and crime rate of the country is another cause of concern and is a vital decision criteria for the travellers. Apart from that there are several issues that are likely to affect the popularity of a tourist destination. Some of the most prominent ones are the climatic condition of the tourist spot, the past records of natural disasters, terrorism activities within the country and also the tourism infrastructure of the country. Hence a number of issues impact the popularity of a tourist destination. Despite of the strong and positive appeals, the level of attraction may reduce due to these issues. Furthermore, several studies have shown that people tend to get interested in those places which are unusual, offer the basic amenities of tourism and have no ongoing concerns within the country. In this context of the project, the two places which were chosen for evaluating the appeal of its tourist attractions were Kenya and UK. Although, the study made it evident that the appeal of UK is more than Kenya, but still there are some issues which affects the tourism sector of the countries. In the UK, the factors which are found to be impacting the tourism industry are the temperature and cost of living index. During winter UK experiences freezing cold and as a result of that the number of visitors reduces (WWF, 1999). Moreover, due to high currency value the tourist from the third world countries visits less. For example, people of Bangladesh, Pakistan, etc. need to spend huge sums of money so as to conduct a tour in UK. On the contrary, in Kenya there are several factors that directly affect the arrival of international tourists in Kenya. The most prominent factors that are impacting the popularity of the tourist destinations of Kenya are increased crime rates, civil and political unrest within the country along with terrorism activities. The study has also made it evident that the safety and security of the country are also a cause of concern for the international travellers. The aircraft accidents within the country often hinder travellers from selecting Kenya as a destination (James, 2009). Therefore from the above discussion it became evident that in order to attract more visitors, a country needs to offer the required safety and security to the tourists. In addition, maintaining stability in the political, economical and social scenario is also important to increase the overall appeal of the tourist attraction. Potential of Responsible Tourism to Enhance Host Community Responsible tourism is a type of tourism “that creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit” (Emms and Barnett, 2006, p.vi). Responsible tourism plays an important role in minimizing the negative impacts on the environment and society. Furthermore, it has been also found that it generates greater financial benefits for the local community and thus plays critical roles in the welfare of host communities. Since, responsible tourism is socially and environmentally responsible, it has minimal negative impact on the local culture, environment and society. Moreover, it provides employment and income opportunity to the local community. Thus, responsible tourism has great potential to enhance host community Conclusion The study was about the comparing the appeal of a developing tourist destination and the developed tourist destination. On comparing between UK and Kenya, it has been found that the developed tourist attraction has more than a developing one like Kenya. However, the study also revealed that there are some characteristics such as social characteristics, economic characteristics and physical characteristics greatly affect the overall appeal. In the similar manner, the popularity of a tourist spot gets affected by the certain issues. These issues emerge in the form of unstable political scenario, poor climatic condition, safety and security etc. Thus it can be concluded that in order to have a strong & positive appeal, all the factors need to be favourable for the tourists. Reference List Besculides, A., Lee, M. E., and McCormick, P. J., 2002. Residents’ Perceptions of the Cultural Benefits of Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 29 (2), pp. 303–319. Biodiversity, 2012. Introducing to Coastal Tourism. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 August 2013]. Dwyer, L. and Kim, C., 2003. Destination Competitiveness: Determinants and Indicators. Current Issues in Tourism, 6, 369-414. Emms, C., and Barnett, L., 2006. The Gambia. Chalfont: Bradt Travel Guides. Hafez, K. and Farouq, D., 2013. Egyptian Tourism Sector Ravaged By Political Unrest. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 August 2013]. James, K., 2009. Factors Affecting International Tourist Arrival in Kenya. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 31 August 2013]. Lubbe, B. A., 2003. Tourism Management in Southern Africa. Cape Town: Pearson South Africa. Marvell, A., 2005. GCE AS Travel and Tourism Single Award for Edexcel. Surrey: Heinemann. Ndivo, R. M., Waudo, J. N. and Waswa, F., 2012. Examining Kenya’s Tourist Destinations’ Appeal: the Perspectives of Domestic Tourism Market. J Tourism Hospit. 1 (5), pp. 1-7. PRM. n.d. Introduction - What is Tourism? Online Lesson. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 August 2013]. Ritchie, B. and Crouch, G., 1993. Competitiveness in International Tourism: A Framework for Understanding and Analysis. San Carlos de Bariloche: AIEST. VisitBritain, 2013. Britain's Tourism Industry. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 August 2013]. Volker, S., and Sore?e, J., 2002. Fighting Over Tourists: A Case Study of Competing Entrepreneurs in a Small Town in Belize. New York: Cognizant Communications Corporation. Wttc, 2011. The Authority on World Travel & Tourism. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 31 August 2013]. WWF, 1999. Tourism: Facing the Challenge of Climate Change. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 31 August 2013]. Read More