International Tourism Development - Essay Example

? International Tourism Development Table of Contents Introduction 3 Aim of the Project 3 Discussion 4 Advancing tourism activities for the Silk RoadCountries 4 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction The United Nations World Tourism Organization is known as UNWTO. It is an agency of United Nations which is accountable for the promotion of sustainable, responsible and unanimously accessible tourism. This organization is known as one of the leading multinational corporation in the arena of tourism. UNWTO endorses tourism as the major driver of global social and economic growth. The organization plans, introduces and promotes several sustainable tourism related products in order to assure the sustainable growth of the industry. It is highly important for an organization within the global tourism industry to maintain environmental sustainability through the implementation of effective leadership style in order to support advanced knowledge and several tourism policies around the globe. This essay will discuss about the UNWTO Silk Road Programme initiated by The United nations World Tourism Organization. Aim of the Project The Silk Road Programme initiated by UNWTO is an effective and valuable collaborative initiative planned to design a sustainable tourism development along with traditional and historic Silk Road route. The major aim of this project or programme is to maximize the benefits and significance of tourism development and growth in the local Silk Road Communities (Silkroad 1). In addition to this, the successful completion of the project will enhance greater collaboration and co-operation between the Silk Road countries and several regions. The objective of this project is to create a memorable and seamless Silk Road travel experience. One of the major aims of the paper is to analyse the type of development as well as how the developmental program affected the grass root level. Discussion It is true that global tourism industry is one of the major growth drivers of the global economy. Several leading organizations within the industry are trying to implement sustainable business operation strategies in the business processes in order to achieve significant social and cultural growth. It has been discussed earlier that the objective of this project is to encourage and stimulate the quality tourism development through healthy competitiveness between different Silk Road cities. Advancing tourism activities for the Silk Road Countries United Nations World Tourism Organization took some initiatives for advancement of the tourism activities for each and every Silk Road Country. There are 24 global countries that participated in this particular tourism project in order to accomplish the task quite successfully (ADB, 2013, p.1). It is highly important for the organization to consider effective and sustainable tourism activities in the Silk Road countries in order to achieve the objective of the project. According to the process and objectives of this project, each and every associated country needs to work towards a Single Visa of Silk Road. The United Nations World Tourism Organization is trying to bring several countries of the ancient Silk Route to ensure development and growth through sustainable tourism activities. According to Maslow’s theory of development there are 5 stages of basic needs which have been described in the diagram below: It is clear from the above diagram the 5 stages of development are physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization. Sustainable tourism can play a major role in upgrading the status of the people along the hierarchy. Tourism will stimulate demand and people will shift upwards along the hierarchy model. The people at the grass root are at the physiological part of the hierarchy diagram. Effective implementation of the tourism policies will shift these people up along the hierarchy model and will enhance their development in terms of wealth creation and social recognition. There are different types of tourism, such as food tourism, cultural tourism, education tourism and youth tourism. Albania is one of the popular ancient of Silk Routes. The country is popular among the global tourists and visitors due to attractive tourist spots and locations. Youth tourism industry is highly growing in Albania (Brown, 1998, p.75). It is important for the organization to conduct an effective marketing research in order to determine the market demand in several countries of Silk Road Ancient. In addition to this, Armenia is also known as one of the popular countries among the global tourists. The United Nations World Tourism Organization is known as one of the leading organizations that tried to engage several stakeholders in the decision making process in order to maintain sustainability. Food tourism is one of leading sector in tourism industry. The United Nations World Tourism Organization implemented several unique strategies in this Silk Road Project. Greece is popular among the global people due to social activities. People in Greece used to share their life style to others (Davidson and Maitland, 1997, p.178). In addition to this, several myths and their legacy about different historical events influence people around the globe to experience these legacies and myths virtually. The organization tries to maintain effective relationship with the stakeholders in Greece to make Greece one of the profitable Silk Road Countries (Deegan and Dineen, 1997, p.54). However, several researchers in Greece stated that the country has limited contribution to the growth of the Silk Road project. Islamic Republic of Iran has an important role in the development of these products. The country effectively contributed to the religious and adventurous tourism. The United Nations World Tourism took several initiatives to ensure the growth of tourism industry of the country. Silk Road project focuses on the overall growth of the tourism industry and sustainability of society and economy. Islamic Republic of Iran highly focuses on the religious tourism as the country has strong religious tradition. They used to present their religious culture to the world as they believe that their religious views are different and unique from other communities. Adventure tourism is considered as one of the most popular and growing tourism sectors (Dredge and Jenkins, 2006, p.99). It was highly important for The United Nations World Tourism Organization to meet the market demand and needs of target customers. The adventure tourism sector in the Islamic Republic of Iran achieved significant growth rate in last two years. It has become one of the new and popular trends among global people. The people at the grass roots have lower probability to land up with a job and the trickle down hypothesis of development is not valid for them. Tourism will open up new employment opportunities for the grass root people and enhance the developmental process at the grass root level. There will be increase in demand conditions and the economy as a whole will reap the benefits. It can be said that the people of Iran has climbed up along the hierarchy model and the contribution of tourism in this process cannot be disregarded. Republic of Korea is another popular and important country that has an important contribution in the successful completion and operation of the Silk Road project. Republic of Korea consists of several old traditional and new cultural routes. Several Tour and Travel organizations are trying to maintain sustainability in the business process in order to avoid several legal issues. This particular industry has huge potentiality for tourism development. The cultural tourism routes and networks in Korea are effectively controlled by the tourism department (Elliot, 1997, p.71). The economic growth of the organization effectively depends upon the Seoul is the capital of Republic of Korea. Government of this country always motivates the organizations within the industry to adopt sustainable business operation strategies to ensure the sustainability of environment and society. Sports tourism is another important sector of the tourism industry. It is the combination of both sports and tourism industry. London is considered as one of the popular cities among the people who love to visit tourist sports. This Silk Road Project initiated by The United nations World Tourism Organization achieved huge success during the London Olympics in the year 2012 (Harris and Leep, 2011, p.56). Sports tourism industry is achieving huge growth rate in recent years as several leaders within the industry are trying to ensure the satisfaction level of the audiences, visitors and engagement of the stakeholders in decision making and strategy development process. Strategy development process is highly important as it determines the efficiency and significance of the project. Ukraine is one of the popular European countries among the visitors. The country effectively reflects its eastern and western culture. This country also has significant contribution to the successful completion of the Silk Road project. Rural tourism is another significant sector within the tourism industry as it will help to attract people through real art and traditional cultural heritages presented in the rural areas in Ukraine. In addition to this, food tourism helps the organizations within the Ukraine travel and tourism industry to maintain the industry growth rate. People around the globe used to visit this country in order to experience the taste of delicious food items. It is true that people of different social and cultural background used to stay in Ukraine (Gunn, 2002, p.99). In addition to this, several people used to focus on the restaurant businesses. Different delicious food items and several scenic beauties attract global people to visit Ukraine. Most importantly The United Nation World Tourism Organization used to focus on the sustainability in this project. Economic, social and environmental sustainability is important for a tourism project. Therefore, the organization tries everything to ensure overall external environmental sustainability to overcome several issues and challenges that can affect the ensure project (Hall, 2008, p.93). The organization developed effective sustainable network throughout the countries that have participated in the project. It is highly important for the organization to offer cultural journey through this project. Conclusion It is clear from above discussion that Silk Road Programme is one of the important and popular sustainable tourism project initiated by The United Nations World Tourism Organization. The organization always tries to develop and implement unique business operation strategies to maintain effective growth rate of the industry. It is true that the tourism industry is known as one of the most important economic growth drivers. In addition to this, several other factors motivating people to visit several popular countries around the globe. People around the globe used to visit this country in order to experience the taste of delicious food items. The organization is trying to build a sustainable network through the Silk Road Countries in order to make the places more attractive and healthy among the global people. References Adb., 2013. Asia Regional Integration Center. [Online]. Available at: . [Accessed on November 30, 2013]. Brown, F., 1998. Tourism Reassessed: Blight or Blessinmg? London: Oxford. Davidson, R., and Maitland, R., 1997. Tourism Destinations. New York: Hodder & Stoughton. Deegan, J., and Dineen, D. A., 1997. Tourism Policy and Performance. London: Thomson Business Press. Dredge, D., and Jenkins, J., 2006. Tourism Planning and Policy. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Elliot, J., 1997. Tourism policies and public sector management. London: Routledge. Gunn, C., 2002. Tourism Planning: Basics, Concepts, Cases. London: Routledge. Hall, C. M., 2008. Tourism Planning. London: Routledge. Harris, J., and Leep, A., 2011. Golf, Tourism and the 2010 Ryder Cup: (De) Constructing Images of Wales. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 16(1), pp. 55-73. Silkroad., 2013. UNWTO Silk Road Programme. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed on November 30, 2013]. Read More