The Core Components of Tourism Management - Essay Example

? Tourism Management Executive summary: This report presents a basic introductory framework on tourism management by exploring the terms ‘generating’and ‘receiving’ countries. It then focuses on the most popular receiving/generating destination countries of the world seeking reasons as why these destinations attract the most tourist trips. A. What is travel and tourism? As per the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), which is an affiliated body of UN, tourism is defined as “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” (World Tourism Organisation, 1995, 1). Tourists are people who Are staying in another place away from home (for a maximum period of one year), but will eventually return home; Are part of leisure and tourism related activities; Visit for temporary short periods; Are on day trips (they may not be outside overnight); Are on business trips, which may not be holidays (Rowe, Smith and Borein, 2002, 3-4). The basic components of trade and tourism are: Fig 1: The core components of tourism management (Source: Rowe, Smith and Borein, 2002, 6). B. ‘Generating’ countries: The countries from where people tend to visit other places as tourists, or countries from where there is more outbound tourism, are known as tourist-generating countries. The term refers to places where people travel away from their home countries to other international places, for leisure purposes or for conducting business. This is a form of outbound tourism (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010, 109). As for example, a business group travelling from UK to US, for some important exhibition; or a family travelling from UK to France for a holiday. Here, UK is the generating country. C. Receiving countries: The countries to which people travel for leisure purposes or for conducting business related activities, are known as receiving countries. As for example, teams from various international destinations travelling to UK for taking part in the Olympics; or a group of Chinese tourists going to UK for sightseeing, or for visiting family and friends. D. Main tourism ‘receiving' countries of the world: Travel and Tourism is a popular worldwide activity, associated with leisure and holidays. In 2010, figures revealed that more 940 million tourists from all parts of the world entered various receiving countries, leading to an increase of 6.6% in tourism when compared to the 2009 figures, and the total receiving global tourism numbers rose to  euro 693 billion in 2010, equivalent to a 4.7% rise in actual terms (UNWTO, 2011, 2). Owing to the 2007-08 economic downturns, international tourism suffered a setback, which started around June 2008. Here we find that the rise the global tourism arrivals in various receiving countries falling to 2% (especially during the summer season) (UNWTO, 2008, 1). This trend continued into 2009, when some countries were more affected than others owing to the worldwide outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, and in an average almost a 6% fall in tourism for the receiving countries (fall of 4% in global arrival numbers, resulting in around 880 million international tourist ‘arrivals’ in 2009) (ibid). Travel and tourism is an important segment in the economic sector of many ‘receiving’ countries, while for some ‘receiving’ countries tourism is a vital sector where the nation’s entire economy depends on the revenues earned from travel and tourism for an overall growth and development. Receiving countries where tourism earns large revenue are USA, UK, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Egypt,   Israel, Lebanon, Thailand, Fiji, Seychelles, The Bahamas, Maldives, and Philippines. Tourism brings in revenue from the payments made by the tourists for the services and goods received; it creates various job opportunities within the hospitality and service that function within the travel and tourism. The hospitality and service business sectors that function within travel and tourism in the receiving countries include transportation like trains, airlines, ships, and other modes of transportation;  accommodations, like resorts, inns or hotels; and places for various entertainment related activities like music halls, amphitheatres, casinos, malls, etc. According to UNWTO 2011 interim report, the following countries are the top receiving countries: France: It receives the highest number of incoming tourists, with 76.8 million international tourists coming into the country (fig 2). It however ranks third in terms of gross international tourist receipts earning $ 46.3 billion in 2010 (UNWTO, 2011, 6). The chief attractions for the incoming tourists are “superb skiing in the French Alps, laid-back surfing in Biarritz, crazy partying in Paris, relaxing in Boulogne or sampling best quality wine in Burgundy” (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). France: (source: opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). United States of America: It is the highest receiver of international tourist receipts earning almost $103.5 bn in 2010; while coming second as a receiving country in the number of arrivals with 59.7 million tourists (fig 2; UNWTO, 2011, 6). In 2008, nearly 31 million international tourists visited the Las Vegas Strip; 35 million international tourists visited Times Square, while 24 million international tourists visited the Memorial Parks and National Mall in Washington (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). Since USA earns greater tourist receipts, it is clear that it receives tourists with ‘long-haul’ and higher spending capacities (UNWTO, 2008, 9). USA: (source: opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). Spain: It is the second highest revenue earner in terms of international tourist receipts grossing almost $ 52.5 billion in 2010, while coming fourth in the number of international tourist arrivals (52.7 arrivals in 2010) (fig2). The chief attractions for the inbound tourists into this country are “golden beaches, medieval towns, flamenco dancers, fruity sangria, Barcelona's museums, ski slopes of Pyrenees” (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). Spain: (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). The other top receiving countries are (fig 2): Italy ranks fifth in both receipts and arrivals of international tourists, and tourism is a major revenue for this country. Its chief attractions for the inbound tourists are “rich art, superb cuisine, fashion and culture attract millions of visitors per year from around the world. Italy boasts 44 World Heritage sites, which is more than any other country on our globe, and its ancient cities, Mediterranean beaches and richness of tradition have been travel and money magnets for centuries” (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). United Kingdom, which lists seventh in tourist receipts and sixth in arrivals, is a must-see option for all travellers going to Europe. London, which is the capital of UK “is the second most visited city in the world, with a number of visitors totalling to almost 15 million in 2008” (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). Germany (eighth in arrivals and sixth in receipts- fig 2) attracts its tourists with its fairy-tale castles, Berlin's liberal atmosphere” food (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). Turkey (seventh in arrivals and the tenth in receipts-fig 2) attracts its tourists with a “variety of archaeological, historical and natural sites” and its exotic food (opentravel.com, Top Ten World's Tourism Earners, 2009). Besides these, the remaining countries that come in the list of the top ten list are: Malaysia (9th); Mexico (10th); and in receipts, Australia (8th) (UNWTO, 2011, 5). The most important change that has been observed in the list of the top ten receiving countries, in terms of international arrivals in 2010, is the elevation of China into the third rank, after overtaking UK and Italy in the past few years, and finally removing Spain from its position (UNWTO, 2011, 5) “In terms of receipts, China (+15%) also moved up the ranking to fourth position, overtaking Italy (+1%). Furthermore, among the ranking by receipts, Hong Kong (China) entered the top ten at nine, moving up from the 12th position” (ibid). Amongst the most popular areas in china that earn the highest tourist revenue for China are Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou (ibid). Fig 2: Top tourist receiving countries (Source: UNWTO, 2011, 6). E. The tourist generating countries: Amongst the European countries that generate the maximum number of outbound tourists are Germany, UK and Netherlands (Sporel, 2007, 4). Like Germany and UK, China is another country, which along with being a popular receiving country also generates a large number of outbound tourists, making it both a receiving and generating country (UNWTO, 2011). Another fast growing outbound market is India. Figures show that “international tourism departures from India have grown from 3.7 million in 1997 to 9.8 million in 2007 and international tourism expenditures have increased from US$ 1.3 billion in 1997 to US$ 8.2 billion in 2000. With more than 1.1 billion inhabitants and GDP increasing by more than 8% every year, the country offers enormous potential for future growth in outbound travel” (European Travel Commission, 2009, abstract). The chief objective of this paper has been to distinguish the countries that rank globally as the highest tourist receiving and/or generating nations. There is no doubt that tourism forms to be a major revenue earner for many countries in the world, and thus, in the recent times is being increasingly viewed as an important segment within the economic sector of these countries. References European Travel Commission, 2009. The Indian Outbound Travel Market. Retrieved from, http://www.etc-corporate.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=236 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010. OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2010. OECD Publishing. Sporel, U., 2007. Inbound and outbound tourism in Europe. Retrieved from,  http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-SF-07-052/EN/KS-SF-07-052-EN.PDF. Rowe, A., Smith, J., and Borein, F., 2002. Travel and Tourism. Cambridge: CUP. Opentravel.com, 2009. Top Ten World's Tourism Earners. Retrieved from, http://opentravel.com/blogs/top-ten-worlds-tourism-earners/ UNWTO, 2011. UNWTO tourism highlights. Retrieved from http://mkt.unwto.org/sites/all/files/docpdf/unwtohighlights11enhr.pdf UNWTO, 2008. UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Vol. 6 (2), Retrieved from http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf UNWTO News 2010. Tourism outlook 2010. Retrieved from, http://www.onecaribbean.org/content/files/UNWTOTOURISMOUTLOOK2010.pdf. World Tourism Organisation, 1995. Collection of Tourism Expenditure Statistics (no. 2). Retrieved from, http://pub.unwto.org/WebRoot/Store/Shops/Infoshop/Products/1034/1034-1.pdf Read More