How a tourist chooses their destination: Research

TABLE OF CONTENT

Content Page

Objectives of Research ……………………………………………………………….. 1

Background ……………………………………………………………………………… 2

Methodology …………………………………………………………………………….. 3

Literature Review ………………………………………………………………………. 4

Findings and Analysis ………………………………………………………………….

Recommendation……………………………………………………………………….

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………….

Reference ……………………………………………………………………………….. 6

OBJECTIVES

• Identify the term world tourist destinations
• Analyze how the characteristics of a destinations affect their appeal to tourist
• Identify the cultural, social and physical features of a tourist destination

BACKGROUND

The word tourist was used in, 1772 and tourism in, 1811.

“William F.Theobald (1994) recommended that “etymologically, the word tour is derived from the Latin, ‘tornare’ and the Greek, ‘tornos’, imply ‘a lathe or circle; the travel around a central point’. The suffix –ism is described as ‘an process; typical behavior or quality’, while the suffix, –ist specify ‘one that performs a given action’.

A destination is a specific location in which travelers decide to go to; therefore, tourist destination is primarily a travel city that attracts a large amount of tourist. Travelers may visit these destinations to see historic sites, natural wonders, or buildings. Some traveler’s attractions also contain activities, such as rides or games, or unique novelty. Souvenirs are often sold at the destinations, and many of these regions rely on the income generated by the tourists that visit.

Historical sites are frequently considered tourist destination. Normally, something of some sort of historical significance happened in these areas. Monuments or battlegrounds can be regard as historical tourist attractions. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, is a good example of historical tourist areas, “Known for battle sites during the American Civil War in 1863, and resident of President Abraham Lincoln’s.”

“Areas with beautiful and unique natural creations can also be considered tourist destinations. Visitors to these areas are generally able to see amazing natural wonders, such as a waterfalls or canyons. Example of such is the Niagara Falls where millions of people each year visit; this destination is located on the border of the United States and Canada. This marvelous site is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.”

METHODOLOGY

Qualitative research will be used throughout this assessment. Qualitative research is all about exploring issues and understanding facts. In the primary data collection method, there will be questionnaire and interview questions

The interview question were strutted benefits are, you would be better prepared to have follow up question when conducting the interview

The secondary research elements that I utilized was of high assistant because the primary sources could not fulfill some of the requirements of the assignment, and these are internet, books, classroom notes and articles that help me to obtain legible information for completing the body of my research

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LITERATURE REVIEW

According Bhanumurth, (n.d) tourism is fast growing businesses in the world; it because the population have enlarged their free time and based on the cost of travel is not higher. Tourism boosts the employment and the revenue generation; tourism also contributes to the international trade among countries and supply beneficial foreign exchange. (Ramgulam, 2012). Therefore tourism is a quicker developing sector in the world, it because these days people have the ability spend the money go to travel see around the world. Ramgulam, (2012) cites as World Travel and Tourism council, (2009) also stated that tourism is fast growing business, so that it smooth the progress of the tourism development the WTO support countries diversify their economy.

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Destination is very vital in the tourism sector. Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) is playing a major role in the running destination network, and it also helps to raise the relationship between the cooperation and the destination actors. (Pechlaner, 2012). Moreover destination believes as a tourism product. A destination not creates by one action then can become a destination it needs other process just can build “a destination product such as the tourism attractions, tourism institutions, transportation, hospitality, food and beverage lastly is host community. Gather all the operation it can build a successful destination package. (Botti, 2009).”

Tourist chooses one destination over another for the reason, such as cultural appeal, destination’s features and attractions, customer’s ability to access the area.

In dealing with tourist destination there are many characteristic that affect the appeal of the area, such as infant mortality, life expectancy, level of poverty and migration from rural to urban.

With dealing with tourism government and the industry has to deal with political instability which is describe as a condition of a country where as been toppled, also as a tourist you have to considered the type of leadership style that in the destination of visit, because one doesn’t want to be within a country that under a absolutist

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

LO1: Understand the scope of key UK and worldwide tourist destinations

1.1 According to UNWTO’s statistics France had attracted 83.0 million tourist in 2012 a 1.8% grow from 2011. France had invested a total sum of 37.2bn which is $64.2bn less than China and profited from a lump sum of $46.2bn. The main attraction in France are beaches, ski resorts, seaside resorts, villages, museums and galleries, amusement and theme parks, castles, palaces and historic sites. Paris being the capital and largest city holds most attractions. Unlike china, France is more of a multi cultural place celebrating and sharing traditions, cultures and religions from around the world. China has attracted 57.7 million visitors in 2012 which is an increase 3.4% from what they achieved in 2010.

Reasons France generates 5th more tourists in the world is because of currency, Euro is very strong. People from France travel to other countries and exchange their currency, they could get much enough money to spend their vacation. Population, France is 21nd rank (65,027,000) in world’s population list. This could be a one of the reason why France generates more tourists also French can get visa’s to travel all over the countries and also passport is acceptable in more countries to travel by on arrival visa unlike China which is the opposite expect for their currency which is also very strong.

1.2 In 2012 there were 1.03bn international tourist arrivals worldwide, with a growth of 4.0% as compared to 995 million in 2011, according to UNWTO’s. France had 83.0 million tourists in 2012 and 81.6 million in 2011 comparing to china that had 57.7 million in 2012 and 57.6 million in 2011, clearly tourist had preferred France as on destination compare to China. The UNWTO is predicting tourism should increase in rate in nature and culture tourism as well as health and black tourism. A tourist doesn’t always want to experience beach lust, some tourist rather a mixture of culture, adventure and other features and attraction of the destination which would make France one of the top tourist arrivals because a variety in its destination. Recent studies from the World Trade Organization (WTO) says in 2020 China will become the largest tourist country and the second largest for overseas travel. Presently, china is ranked the third and is likely to be the fastest in travel spending. Thus china is expected to be the fastest growing in the World from 2006 to 2015. Thereafter china will jump into the number two place for total travel spending by 2015. While France holds of tourist view for taste, it has numerous great appeals to the area. As the years are to come, the travel and tourism industry is expected to stay a major part for job creation and growth in France. France as a tourist destination is facing many competition against many other destinations; such as Turkey, China and India. Tourism is predictable to face major challenges in the next few years, from globalization to environmental issues. To tackle these issues, the French government commenced a new plan, “Stratégie Destination France 2010-2020”, designed at making tourism more competitive and environmentally-sustainable.

LO2: Understand the culture, social and physical features of tourist destinations.

2.1 Tourist chooses one destination over another because of the destination itself, customers’ ability to access the area, cultural and social and physical appeal. For example France has a rich culture and has been shaped by geography profound historical events. France, and in particular Paris has played an important role as a centre of high culture since the 17^th century in cinema, fashion, cuisine and language. Social appeal of France refers to respecting human rights and equal opportunities for all in society. It requires an equitable sharing of benefits, with a focus on alleviating poverty. There is an emphasis on local communities, maintaining and strengthening their life support systems, recognizing and respecting different cultures and avoiding any form of exploitation. France has display that it has many physical features of the country such as River Seine, River Loire, River Garonne and the Alps, Massif Central and Pyrenees which are mountain ranges. France also has the highest mountain Mont Blanc, the Island of Corsica and the Ardennes forest. While China cultural features include Chinese architecture, dragon-boat racing, inventions and technology, shanghai and scared peak. Tourism in China has greatly expanded over the last few decades since the beginning of reform and opening. The emergence of a newly rich middle class and easing of restrictions on movement by Chinese authorities are both fueling this travel boom. China physical appeals of tourist also include forests, deserts, extensive mountain ranges, plateaus, sub-tropical forests and rugged high altitudes.

In comparison of France and China, France has shown that its cultural, social and physical are of rich background and of such tourist gravitate to the destination much more. China has great features to the destination and because of such it lays at the third position worldwide.

2.2 France is about 80% the size of Texas. Near the Italian and Swiss borders is the highest point—Mont Blanc. It is the largest country in the Western Europe and the European Union, and the third-largest in Europe, with the population of 66million. Paris being the capital which is the nation largest city and main cultural centre has over 37 sites inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List and features of high cultural interest such as beaches and seaside resorts and rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquility. Some of the tourist destination site includes: Disneyland Paris theme park, Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Palace of Versailles and Musee d’Orsay. With 475 airports and an effective railway system accessibility is not of an issue to France along with visa requirements.

Even thought France is a top tourist destination, this country faces many issues like others countries, like: the legalizing of gay marriages, prostitution, immigration and poor suburbs. The major issue France faces is human trafficking, which was stated by refworld.org that twenty thousand people in France’s commercial sex trade and about 75% of which are tourist.

In comparison to China that is located in East Asia and has a population of over 1.35 billion and covering approximately 9.6million sq kilometers, China is the world second largest country, which has a single-party state governed by the Communist Party with its seat of government in the capital of Beijing. China has become one of the world most visited country for both inbound and outbound tourist, which had generated 57.7million tourist in 2012 and place the country third on the top tourist destination sites. Some of China famous destination sites include: Yabulin Ski Resort, Hong Kong, Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. Even thought China is third on the destination scale, to be at the top and stay there the destination has to deal with current issue affecting tourism such as travel requirement which is expensive, time consuming to some tourist, language and accessibility.

LO3 Understand how the characteristics of destination affect their appeal to tourists

3.1 It is not easy to compare the appeals of France tourist with that of China because they have different yet similar characteristics. China is located in East Asia and has a population of 1.34billion and of 9,706,961 km². China is one of the oldest socialist country and its ranked a hundred and sixteen place in the world terms of environmental sustainability. The climate varies greatly. The winters are cold and summers are hot, however although the winters are cold, they are dry unlike American and the summers are very rainy.

The most popular tourist attractions are:

Pudong Skyline, Mogao Caves (finest Buddhist art cave), Leshan Giant Buddha, Mount Huang, Li River Cruise, Terracotta Army which is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting armies of Qin Shi Huang the first Emperor of china, Victoria Harbour which is the deepest ports in the world that sunning views of skyscrapers of Hong Kong and Tsim Sha Tsui shoreline, Forbidden City, Potala Palace and the Great wall of China

Comparing the physical features of France and China, we can say that both of tthem have beautiful and unique landscape and a great biodiversity; however China is popular for its great flora and fauna. France has amazing physical features but consideration of weather should always be in tourist plans. Culture is another important factor and although China has an original culture, France represents a special Chapter for humankind: Literature, theatre, music, architecture, museums and cuisine.

It is very hard to produce the French culture in one paragraph hence my conclusion is that both destination have a lot to offer to tourist in terms of infrastructure, transportation, accommodation and attractions and will continue to do so once they have an sustainable tourism development plan.

3.2 Evaluating the characteristics of a tourist destination affect its appeal in various factor that have to be taken in consideration:

– The over commercialized resorts or destinations can lead to overcrowding and a high rise of buildings. In France this experience has been kept under control by the authorities, because the infrastructure has suffered a continuous development and the law enforcement has been trained very effective to cope with the large number of tourists, especially in the summer time.

– Sales promotion and advertising can have a negative impact on tourism, like the terrorist attacks on 9/11 2001 in USA and 7/7 2005 in UK. A positive impact can occur, for example the media coverage for the 2012 Olympics.

– Crime is one of the most important factors that influence the choice of any tourist. France is one of the safest countries in the world, however many tourists are targeted by pick-pockets in crowded areas like Oxford Street in London or resorts like Brighton and Bournemouth. * Product life cycle – the authorities in UK have strong involvement in tourism, providing many facilities and services for visitors, for example there are numerous tourist information centres, maps with current location can be found in most of the bus, train and underground stations, all police officers are trained to help tourists and there are many interactive digital maps located in the most visited places. For 2012 Olympics, London has suffered massive development works: widening North Circular, the development of East London area or improving the transport system. The situation of the economy can have a negative influence on tourism for a country like UK: the inflation, the exchange rate, the infrastructure costs will result in less investment in critical areas like health, social care or education.

APPENDIX

Fig 1.1

REFERENCE

• What Is a Tourist Destination? (with pictures). 2014. What is a Tourist Destination? (with pictures). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-tourist-destination.htm. [Accessed 12 March 12, 2014].
• Tourism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2014. Tourism- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism. [Accessed 12 March 12, 2014].
• Niagara Falls Traditions l Lifestyle and Habits of Niagara Falls Residents – USA for Tourists. 2014. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.orangesmile.com/travelguide-niagara-falls/traditions-20088351.htm. [Accessed 12 March 12, 2014].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France#Tourism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings

http://www.cnto.org/

www.bized.co.uk/sites/bized/files/docs/appeal1.ppt‎

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