Chapter 1 Global Tourism - Is Tourism the Way to Go

GATEWAY 1: How does the nature of tourism vary from place to place? What is tourism? ● Tourism ​ is the temporary movement of people from one place to another primarily for leisure and recreational purposes. ● Tourists ​ are people travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for more than 24 hours but not more than one year for leisure, business or other purposes. ● Tourists can either be ​ international tourists ​ or ​ domestic tourists ​ . How do tourist destinations differ from one another? ● Many of these destinations are ​ honeypot tourist sites ​ , which means that they ​ attract tourists in large numbers. ○ Grand Canyon, USA. Steep cliffs and mountains. ○ Halong Bay, Vietnam. Coasts, limestone caves and cliffs. ○ Victoria Falls, Zambia and Zimbabwe, waterfall scenes, gorges. ● Places of scenic beauty ○ These are usually natural destinations like mountains, forests coasts. ○ Examples of places which employ scenic beauty tourism ■ Mountainous areas ​ are usually attractive because tourists can see different types of vegetation from the lowlands, the weather is cool and dry and they can be involved in different activities like skiing in the winter or even hiking. ■ Tropical coastal resorts ​ like those in Phuket in Thailand are popular with tourists from Europe especially as a quick winter getaway. ■ Zimbabwe ​ contains Victoria Falls, a place of natural scenic beauty because of the rising mist caused by the plunge pool. As a result of this, the place has become a honeypot tourist site which attracts upwards of 300,000 tourists per year and causes more tourist facilities to be built around it. ● Places with good facilities ○ MICE facilities ( ​ Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events) ■ Usually are able to host large-scale events such as meetings and conventions and usually also have good supporting infrastructure such as hotels, retail shops and airports. ■ Presence of international air routes leading to the city allows it to become a better MICE destination. ■ Marina Bay Sands, Singapore ​ is an example of a good MICE destination. ● Singapore has a reputation for being a major aviation hub, making transport to the island convenient. ● Singapore has the required infrastructure to support MICE events. ○ Good telecommunications networks ○ Hotels and accommodations ● Singapore has a variety of shopping and entertainment options nearby ○ Medical facilities ■ Several reasons for the existence of medical tourism ● Long waiting periods in home country ● High costs for medical treatment in home country ● Better quality medical procedures in destination ■ Requires good medical facilities and even leisure facilities like spas and hot springs. ■ South Korea ​ is a well-known destination for people seeking plastic surgery. ● Doctors there are highly skilled and they posses advanced technology required for cosmetic surgery. ○ Themeparks ■ Places with amusement park settings or parks that have a central theme such as movies. ■ They cater to a large group of people, both young and old. ■ Usually part of an international chain and are built near common travel routes. ■ Universal Studios Singapore ​ is an example of this. It offers many themed rides like Shrek rollercoasters et cetera which attract children. ● Places with rich culture ○ Heritage tourism ■ When people travel to locations to experience different cultures and better understand the history of these places. ■ Some places are so unique that they are declared ​ World Heritage Sites ​ by UNESCO. ■ Examples of heritage sites are as follows ● Museums like the ​ Hermitage in Russia ● National and historical monuments like ​ Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany ○ Film-induced tourism. ■ When people travel to see locations featured in films. ■ People visit them because they like the film and want to see how it was filmed. ■ Matamata in New Zealand ​ where some scenes in Lord of the Rings were filmed. ○ Pilgrimage tourism ■ People travel to take part in a religious activity, usually to a sacred location. ■ Examples include shrines, mosques, temples or even a church. Notes by some weirdo called Conrad Soon.. I don’t guarantee the full accuracy of the information here. Special thanks to Mrs Wong, the most wholesome and pure Geography ahma.

● Vatican City ​ for Easter, Christmas. ● Jerusalem, Israel ​ for Ramadan, Yom Kippur. ● Mecca ​ for Hajj. ● Places of conflict (Dark tourism) ○ Involves travelling to sites associated with death and suffering. ○ Usually survivors, relatives and friends of those affected and those interested in the event. ○ Examples include sites of military campaigns, terrorist attacks, human atrocities, genocides and prisons or concentration camps. ■ Cu Chi tunnels in Vietnam ■ Dachau Nazi Concentration Camp in Munich Germany ■ Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland Roles of different groups in promoting tourism ● Government ○ Governments play crucial role in promoting tourism in country because ultimately they are the final authority for the promotion of tourism in a country. ○ They can influence number of visitors and their length of stay. ○ They are the only authority which can allow the planning, funding and development of tourist infrastructure like airports, hotels and roads. ○ Example of a government agency is the ​ Singapore Tourism Board ​ which promotes Singapore as a tourist destination. ■ It develops tourism as an industry by facilitating international tourist businesses to invest in Singapore. ■ It also encourages development of local attractions like River Safari or the Integrated Resorts. ■ It successfully courted Universal Studios to consider partnering with Genting Groups to create Resorts World Sentosa. ■ It also runs advertising campaigns in other countries in order to promote Singapore’s name as a potential tourist destination. ○ The development of tourism infrastructure, tourist sites and promotion of tourism in Singapore attracts many tourists and hence promotes tourism in Singapore. ○ Hence, as a result a government plays a role in promoting tourism. ● Media ○ Media ​ refers to the channels through which news and information are communicated to the public. ■ It includes television, radio, newspapers and the internet. ○ Media reports about a country or an area could influence the decisions of tourists to visit it. ■ Positive ​ reports such as the friendliness of the local population and interesting culture good shopping opportunities and attractive scenery can encourage tourists to visit ■ Negative ​ reports such as those of incidents of violence disease outbreak and natural disasters can deter the visitors for many years to come. ● After the Fukushima nuclear meltdown incident in Japan the number of tourists visiting Japan decreased from 8.6 million in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2011 possibly due to media coverage of the incident of creating widespread panic. ○ Thus, the media plays an important role in affecting how tourists view a certain location and hence whether to what extent they will be willing to go to a country for vacation. ○ Furthermore, previously unknown destinations are becoming more mainstream like visits to Antarctica and trips to the Himalayan mountains. ○ Thus, as media shapes the public outlook on a certain country, influences their decision of a potential site for a vacation as well as helps promote previously unknown tourist destinations, it can be said to be a factor in the promotion of tourism. ● International Organisations ○ An ​ international organization ​ is a group of different countries that work together for a common purpose. ○ Reports produced by international organizations can encourage or discourage tourists from visiting a place. Examples of such organiz