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. ○ Theme