Tourism

Global Tourism Increase:

· Tourism is world’s largest Industry worth $500bn in 2007.

· Leisure accounts for 75% of all International Travel.

· Time of fastest growth in tourism occurred between 2003 – 2008 (before global recession set in) – 684 million – 913 million

· World Tourism Organisation predicts there will be about 1.6 bn tourists by 2020.

Why has Tourism Grown?

Socioeconomic factors:

· Since 1950’s, people have become wealthier, having greater disposable income.

· Most families have 2 working parents so get more income

· people have Fewer children

· people have More leisure time as companies give more paid holidays

· Life expectancy has increased so more people are retired

· More variety of holidays for example – ecotourism

Technology Factors:

· Travel has become easier and quicker you can do most boookings online

· Travel has become cheaper (especially air travel) so more people can afford to go on holiday abroad.

· Air travel has evolved becoming more efficient and cheaper, reducing travel times drastically ( no month long trips to australia) (you can fly and reach there is 20 hours)

Some areas have become more popular because:

· Improvement in Transport links i.e Middle east.

· More Investment and advertisment

· Infrastructure investment i.e Better hotels

City attraction:

People are attracted to:

· Culture (art, museums)

· Entertainment

· Shopping

EXAMPLE INCLUDES: Venice:

the boat trips arround the Venetian Lagoon and Gondola Rides along the canals provide tourist a different, relaxing experience to check out the city.

Beach attraction:

· Swimming, Fishing, Scuba Diving and Water skiing

· Examples include the carribean and Thailand

Mountain attraction:

· Activities like walking, climbing and skiing.

· People are attracted by the scenary

· Example: Alps in Europe and Dolomites in Italy

Tourism as an Economic Importance:

· Provides jobs for locals, which help economy grow. In 2006, the tourims industry created an estimated 2 million jobs

· Increases income of other business in region, which supplies the tourims industry e.g farms that suppy hotels. This also helps the economy to grow. Tourism in france generated 35 billion euro’s.

· Poorer countires tend to be more dependent on income from tourism than richer once. Example - UK (Tourism contributes to 3% of GNP) Kenya (contributes 15% of GNP)

UK Tourism

· 8TH Biggest Tourist destination with 29.2 million oversees visitors in 2011.

· Foreign tourists spent US $17.2 billion in the UK.

· Visit Britain data shows that the US remains the most-valuable inbound market, with American visitors spending £2.1bn in 2010.

· Tower of London is the most visited site in UK

· In 2007, UK tourism had 1.4 million people employed and contributed £114 billion to its economy.

· Popular because of country side

· Popular because of historical landmarks (St Paul’s Cathedral) 2nd

· Popular because of castles and palaces (Edinburgh castle)

Factors affecting Tourism:

· Weather – Bad weather discourages tourist visiting in the UK . 2007 was one of the wettest summers which saw a dip in tourism from abroad.

· World Economy: In recession period, peoplpe tend to cut back spending such as holidays so fewer people from aborad come. However another side is that uk residents may choose domestic holdiays over going away.

· Exchange Rate – Value of pound in low means cheaper to visit UK so more people come from abroad.

· Terrorism and Conflict: People will be less willing to come because they feel scared. Example include 9/11 where air travel dropped, decreasing tourism.

· Major events like olympics – 590,000 visited in July and august 2012.

The seven stages of tourist development

A graph of Butler’s resort life cycle model

1. Exploration - a small number of tourists visit the area. The area is unspoilt and few tourist facilities exist.

2. Involvement - local people start to provide some facilities for tourists. There starts to become a recognised tourist season.

3. Development - the host country starts to develop and advertise the area. The area becomes recognised as a tourist destination.

4. Consolidation - the area continues to attract tourists. The growth in tourist numbers may not be a fast as before. Some tensions develop between the host and the tourists.

5. Stagnation - the facilities for the tourists may decline as they become old and run down. The numbers of tourists may decline too.

6. Rejuvenation - investment and modernisation may occur which leads to improvements and visitor numbers may increase again.

7. Decline - if the resort is not rejuvenated (stage 6) then it will go into decline. People lose their jobs related to tourism. The image of the area suffers

Mass Tourism and Bahamas

Mass Tourism involves large number of tourists coming to one country or region. This is usually the development or consolidation stage of the Butler Model

Impact

Positive

Negative

Economic

· Brings money into local economy.

· Creates jobs for locals and income of industries that supply tourism

· 2nd home buys cause house prices to go up.

· This also means low spending by residents as they stay abroad.

· Lot of the profit is kept by travel companies, not distributed into economy

Social

· Tourism provides income which can be used to improve infrastructure, school and hospitals

· More jobs in areas means less depopulation

· Behavior of some tourists may annoy locals

· Traffic congestion caused by tourists can be inconvenience for locals

· Tourism jobs are usually badly paid and seasonal

· More crime

· Bahamas have become more Americanised changing the culture

Environmental

· Income from tourism can be reinvested into protecting the environment i.e put up national parks

· Tourism means more transport, which means more emission which means more global warming.

· Tourism increases litter that causes pollution (increased sewage in river causes water pollution)

· Tourism can lead to destruction of habitats (coral reefs)

· Overfishing to feed tourists

Bahamas:

Consolidation stage of Butler model as it still attracts masses of tourists, yet due to growing negative social and economic impacts, responses have to happen.

Located in:

· Atlantic Ocean

· Near the South East Coast of USA

· Near to Tropic of Cancer

· Gulf of Mexico

· Once of the richest nations in the Americas along with USA and Canada

Popular with British and American Tourists who stay for 2 – 3 weeks on relaxation holidays. All-inclusive packages are popular

People are attracted to do water activities and sunbathing

60 % of total GDP is due to tourism

170,000 people are employed in tourism industry

5 million tourists each year

Main Attractions:

Physical:

· Gold Rock Beach - Rated *1 on tripadvisor. One of the most scenic beaches perfect for sunbathing and water activities.

·

· Thunderball Grotto, Staniel Cay – Are underwater caves which were used for the filming of 2 James Bond films. Popular activities include scuba diving and snorkeling

Human

· Castaway Cay - Rated *2 on tripadvisor. Island owned by Disney and has various Disney activities making it popular with young families.

· Ocean Club Golf Course – One of the most scenic golf courses in the world.

Negative Impact solution:

Problem: Contaminated soil and arsenic treated lumber, storage tanks and electric transformers along with invasive plants.

Solution: Baker’s Bay developers have launched a million dollar remediation program to remove them.

Problem: Cruise Ships and dredging have destroyed corals

Solution: Near shore environment has been cleaned up and corals are being transplanted on artificial patch reefs.

Problem: Litter and congestion

Solution: Pubic Transport and litterbins

Problem: No strict environmental guidelines, no central waste disposal facilities and no multiple docks along the shore have been put up

Solution: Bahamas Environment, Science and Technology department has been set up to put solutions to these impacts.

How they have tried to maintain tourism?

· Cheap visa $55 for Single entry visa or $65 for multi entry visa

· A multimillion-dollar marketing campaign was planned, followed by the launching of a national magazine campaign across North America.

· Upgrade to Nassau International Airport and Nassau Harbour.

· An Environmental Department initiated to manage the impact of pollution and also people don’t divert away because they think that the Bahamas have lost their charm.

.

Blackpool Case Study

· Located in North West England

· Most popular UK Coastal resort.

· Attractions include pleasure beach, Blackpool Tower, 3 Piers like North Pier

· Donkey rides

Reasons for growth:

1) Exploration: Practise of sea bathing in 19th century was becoming fashionable along with the railway being built in 1846 making it cheaper for the working class to travel .

2) Involvement: Workers were given holiday pay and the Tower was built in 1894, a major attraction

3) Development: South Shore Fairground began to be advertised in 1905.

4) Consolidation: During WW2, Blackpool was recognized as one of Europe’s leading coastal resorts.

From the 1800’s to 1990’s tourism had gone from nearly none to 17.5 million a year.

5) Stagnation: After WW2, from 1960’s Blackpool stagnated in tourist numbers due to cheaper packages abroad.

1990- 1999 Decline:

· Visitors fell from 17 million to 11 million

· 1000 hotels closed down

· 300 holiday flats closed

· Average hotel occupancy fell to 25%

· Some B&B were charging as little as £10 a night

Problems and Solution (Rejuvenation):

Problem

Solution

Out of season unemployment

· Off season events such as conferences (Political Parties) and festivals being promoted.

· £10 million investment into Blackpool Illumination – lights show increasing the tourist season into autumn.

Beach and seawater pollution

· Beaches have been cleaned up

· In 2006, 3 beaches were given Blue Flag for clean sea water

Old derelict buildings

Smarten up run down areas which look unpleasant.

Pulling down old building and landscaping – more car parks

Cheaper package holiday abroad

New attractions at Pleasure beach. Nickelodeon land

Unreliable Weather

· More covered areas to protect tourists from weather

Extreme Environment Tourism : Antarctica

Definition:

Tourism, which involves dangerous landscapes often with a difficult climate and places that are sparsely settled where access is limited.

Where is it ?

Located in the South Pole with an area of 14 million km2 of which 98% is covered with ice.

Where do people mainly come from?

· 7413 tourists in 1996/97

· 46000+ tourists in 2007/08 O

· Of which 35.9% came from North America and 16% from the UK. It attracts mostly MEDC citizens with Australia being the only one from the south with 7.2% visitors.

Why has caused this increased?

· Provide idealist settings for adventure holiday activities like kayaking and hiking.

· Some people want to go somewhere different and where not many people have visited.

· Some wildlife can only be seen in certain areas. This includes Emperor Penguins in Antarctica

· More people have access to information via internet and advers online

· People are getting richer and can afford to go on such expensive holidays.

· Remained unchanged since the initial exploration.

· Called the “Last true wilderness”

What are the impacts of this?

· It doesn’t get much sunshine in the winter and so the land ecosystem is very fragile. This also means that it takes them longer to recover from the damage.

· The sea ecosystem is also very delicately balanced so even a little introduction of foreign chemical can be catastrophic.

· In 2007, MV Explorer was a tourist ship, which capsized after hitting an iceberg. It held in excess of 190,000 of diesel, 24000 liters of lubricant and 980 liters of gasoline. Two days later, it was reported that an oil spillage had happened. This has a massive impact on the ecosystem as it killed mussels and fish whoch meant that penguins couldn’t eat,

· Drop litter, disturb wildlife and trample plants

· There are fears that tourists could accidentally introduce non native species and or diseases which could kill native organisms.

What measures have been taken to reduce this?

Name

What?

L2 Detail

Antarctic Treaty

International Agreement signed by 47 countries, which came into force in 1961.

April 2009, parties involved put a cap on tourism in Antarctic,

Signed by 47 countries

Allowing only ships fewer than 500 people + only 100 people on shore at once.

IAATO – International Association of Antarctic tour operators has a separate code of conduct which is voluntary:

· Waste: Sewage must be treated biologically and other waste stored onboard ships.

· Plant: No walking on plants.

· Specially Protected areas where tourists are no allowed.

· Wildlife: Animals should not be disturbed

Extreme Environment Tourism: Tataguara Lodge

Definition: Tourism which doesn’t harm the environment and benefits the local people. This involves two things:

· Conservation: Protecting and managing the environment

· Stewardship: Taking responsibility for conserving the environment.

Where is it ?

Along the Brazilian Amazon in the State of Para on the island of Xingu River.

It is owned and operated by a cooperative of 6 local tribes of indigenous people.

Set up in 1998, and all but 40 of the 1400 members are native.

It has 15 rooms and offers activities like:

· Fishing

· Canoeing

· Forest Walks

· Wildlife viewing

As it is located in the Amazon it is rich in wildlife and so attracts many people. It contains many endangered insects and animals like harpy eagle and giant river otter.

Benefits:

What Type?

Key word to remember

How does it help?

Environmental

Local material like straw and wood found on the ground

These are used to build and maintain the lodge so that means no deforestation occurs and these naturally blend in with the environment, reducing the visual damage.

Environmental

Solar power to run lights

Better than using fossil fuels

Environmental

Food

Locally produced in the lodge and taken from the environment so no fossil fuels burned by transportation

Economical

Owned by cooperative of indigenous tribes

Income goes straight to local economy

Economic

Local food

Food is locally produced which means it goes straight back to the economy.

Social ( Locals)

Jobs created

Social (Locals)

Income and preservation of culture

Villagers from nearby towns come to sell craft and perform shows which preserves century old culture

Social (Local)

Profits

These are used to provide decent healthcare as well as building of schools for thousands of children.

Sustainable Development:

· Improve healthcare and education from the profits received. This increases the quality of life of the people who live there.

· The development is sustainable because the money to do it is generated without damaging the environment – local people don’t have to find other employment that could damage the environment i.e logging or cattle ranching

· Resources are saved for future as fossil fuels aren’t burned.

	Created by varadhuzurbazar about 10 years ago

Note on GCSE Geography: Tourism AQA , created by varadhuzurbazar on 08/05/2014.