Tourism: Tourist activities; can be categorised into domestic tourism or international tourism.
Tourists: people who travel and stay away from their normal place of residence for more than 24 hours but not more than 1 consecutive year.
- Different places and environments provide different opportunities for tourist activities.
- Different types of attractions offer various types of tourism due to its appeal to different groups of tourists.
PLACES OF SCENIC BEAUTY
○ refer to Earth's natural environments offering awe-inspiring scenery, such as mountainous areas, beaches and national parks.
○ offer opportunities for honeypot tourism.
Wildlife safari in Masai Mara, Kenya
The plains of Kenya allow visitors to watch wildlife closely in their natural habitats.
Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, USA
The National Park offers stunning views and receives 5.9 million visitors each year.
Beach/Coastal resorts in Cancún, Mexico
Tropical areas as such are popular among American and European tourists during winter times.
Limestone caves in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
This UNESCO World Heritage site offers majestic limestone landscape views and activities such as kayaking and caving.
Places with good facilities
○ refer to places offering MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) facilities that can host large-scale events, medical facilities that offer opportunities for medical tourism, and theme parks.
Singapore: A leading convention city in Asia Pacific 2002-2016
According to Singapore Tourism Board (STB) figures, Singapore attracted 3.2 million business travellers in 2014.
Tourism Board in Philippines promotes MICE venues
The Philippines beautiful beaches and gracious Filipino hospitality serve as points of attraction for corporate retreats and events, etc.
Tourism Board in Indonesia promotes MICE venues
There are many venues in Indonesia equipped to host large-scale events, particularly in large cities like Jakarta, Bali, Manado.
Incheon, Korea: A medical tourism hub
Incheon city's multi-purpose medical care complexes offer state-of-the-art equipment and professional staff for various medical needs.
Top 10 Theme Parks in Asia
There are various types of theme parks around the world and they attract different groups of visitors. What is their appeal and why do they attract different visitors?
Incheon, Korea: A medical tourism hub
Incheon city's multi-purpose medical care complexes offer state-of-the-art equipment and professional staff for various medical needs.
Top 10 Theme Parks in Asia
There are various types of theme parks around the world and they attract different groups of visitors. What is their appeal and why do they attract different visitors?
Places with rich culture
○ What is culture? --> the distinct ways in which people live (i.e. their language, social customs, values and beliefs).
○ offers opportunities for heritage tourism, film-induced tourism and pilgrimage tourism.
E.g. Machu Picchu, Peru (The 'Lost City of the Incas' in the Andes Mountains of South America) offers opportunity for HERITAGE TOURISM.
Machu Picchu is both a cultural and natural UNESCO world heritage site.
Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
Since its discovery in 1911, tourist arrivals have increased year on year, with numbers exceeding 1.4 million in 2017. It is Peru's most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car, more tourist amenities, and a bridge to the site to encourage tourist activities in the area.
Read more about Machu Picchu as a world heritage site here.
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/
E.g. Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in China was featured in 3D film Avatar, inspiring FILM-INDUCED TOURISM.
Local officials renamed one of the park's rock columns as the Avatar Hallelujah Mountain to ride on the film's success and attract more international tourists.
There are also special Avatar-themed tours that tourists can join.
This area of Hunan province contains 3 major tourist sights:
- Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, China’s first national forest park and home to the Avatar stone pillar;
- the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, where you will find the world’s highest glass-bottomed bridge; and
- Tianmen mountain, which boasts the world’s longest cable car ride and spectacular views. It’s all part of a Unesco-listed World Heritage Site called the Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area.
In 2016, over 61 million tourists visited Zhangjiajie, a 21% increase year on year.
<Other film locations>
Various locations in New Zealand, including Hobbiton (The Lord of the Rings)
Lotte World, Seoul, South Korea (Stairway to Heaven)
PILGRIMAGE TOURISM, where people embark on a journey to a sacred place, such as a church, a mosque or a temple, that is important to a person's beliefs and faith.
E.g. Catholics visit Vatican City during Easter or Christmas to see the Pope.
The Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, and its own city-state ruled by the Pope. Over 5 million tourists visit each year for St Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museums, etc.
E.g. More than 3 million pilgrims go on Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia each year.
For Muslims, the Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. Millions of Muslims also go to Mecca to perform Umrah for the rest of the year. Read more here.
Places of conflicts
○ refer to areas where wars, battles, man-made tragedies and unfavourable political situations have occurred.
○ Tourists who want to participate in dark tourism visit sites such as battlefields, fortifications, museums and memorials at important/significant locations.
E.g. Cu Chi Tunnels and the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
They serve as reminders of the tragedies and victims who suffered during the Vietnam war.
The Cu Chi Tunnels is an intricate tunnel system used by the North Vietnamese during the war against the French. The tunnels stretch all the way to the Cambodian border and was built within 25 years from 1948 during the war. It served as a means of communication between villages and helped the Vietnamese to evade scouting French soldiers. Read more about Cu Chi Tunnels here.
The War Remnants Museum features photographic exhibits and war memorabilia from the Vietnam War and the story is told from the point of view of the Communist North Vietnamese government. It is one of the most popular museums in Vietnam, attracting nearly half a million visitors every year. According to the museum's own estimates, about two-thirds of these are foreigners.
One of the exhibition halls show graphic images of the multiple birth defects caused by Agent Orange used during the war. Read more about Agent Orange here.
<Other dark tourism locations>
Terrorist attack - Ground zero (911 incident), New York City, USA
Genocide - Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Cambodia
Concentration camp - Aushwitz, Poland
GOVERNMENT can
Influence the number of visitors and their length of stay;
Authorise air landings;
Allow the building of facilities such as hotels;
Be directly involved in planning, funding and building infrastructure projects such as airports, roads and ports that are linked to tourism;
Ensure the safety and security of the sites that tourists frequently visit;
Set up agencies that devise strategies such as marketing campaigns and promotional events to help promote tourism in their country.
WHO DO YOU THINK PLAYS THE MOST IMPORTANT ROLE IN PROMOTING TOURISM?
MEDIA (e.g. influencers, travel writers) can
Influence tourists' decisions to visit a place (or not)
positive reports (friendliness of local population, attractive scenery, etc.) will encourage visits;
negative reports (disease outbreaks, natural disasters, unrest, etc.) will deter visits.
enable visits to places previously unknown
e.g. visits to Antarctica, treks in the Himalayas, etc.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS are
A group of different countries that work together for a common purpose
Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Tourism Committee meets regularly to actively promote the sustainable growth of tourism;
United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) promotes tourism as a way of spurring economic growth and environmental sustainability. It introduced a Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, which promotes tourism as a means of achieving the UN Millenium Development Goals.
Tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world—and it's rapidly changing. Chinese travellers have overtaken Americans as the biggest spenders and nearly all regions are welcoming more tourists.
Consider these questions as you watch the video:
why are there more travellers in today's world? (in particular, the increase in China and India mentioned in the video)
why are some countries more popular to tourists?
why is that Mexico popular with US travellers, and Europeans prefer to travel within Europe?
Consider these questions as you watch the video:
What do you notice about the TOP 3 most popular destinations?
Since 1988, what do you notice about the tourist numbers shown at the end of each bar graph? Why do you think such a phenomena is observed? (is it consistent with what is shown in the earlier video?)