Geography/Y4/Tourism

= Tourism =

Overview

 * Characteristics of Tourism/trends in tourism according to scale: local, regional, global
 * The reasons/factors for growth in tourism(supply, demand factors, and others)
 * The impact/challenges of tourism
 * Possible measures/solutions/policies to overcome the impact of tourism
 * Define ecotourism, community-based tourism
 * Reasons for growth
 * Viability of ecotourism, community-based as sustainable form of tourism

Introduction

 * Tourism refers to the activities of tourists and the industry that cater to their needs.
 * A tourist is someone who travels to and stay in a place outside his/her usual environment for less than a year regardless of travel purpose.
 * A tourist destination area refers to the area where tourists travel to
 * A tourist generating area refers to where tourists come from

Demand Factors
Refer to the factors that affect the demand for goods and services provided by the tourism industry. These factors include
 * Disposable Income
 * Leisure Time
 * Changing Lifestyle

Disposable Income
Refers to the amount of money left for an individual to spend or put aside as savings after taxes.
 * Generally people who earn higher incomes have more disposable incomes, thus there is more money to spend on leisure activities and tourism will increase.
 * On the other hand, tourism may decline in countries as a result of low disposable income which may be due to high taxes or high unemployment rates.

Leisure Time
Refers to the time available outside the demands of work or duty.
 * People with more leisure time may be more inclined to travel.
 * E.g. In Singapore, all government ministries have adopted the 5 day work week since 2004; thus allowing people to go on weekend trips to neighbouring countries during the weekends.
 * Changing Lifestyles: Lifestyle refers to the way a person chooses to live. It includes patterns of social relations, consumption, work, entertainment and dressing.
 * A fast paced lifestyle and stress of modern living encourages people to travel to relax.
 * As people become more educated, there will also be encouraged to travel to see places they learnt before in books/mass media.
 * In addition, different forms of tourism have emerged to suit people’s needs. E.g. Ancestry Tourism (Helps tourist to trace his/her ancestry, visit birth places of ancestors) and volunteer tourism (Tourists spend their vacation doing volunteer work)

Supply Factors
Refer to the factors that affect the willingness and ability of businesses to provide goods and services to satisfy a demand for tourists.

Amenities
Consist of attractions and facilities. The presence of attractions generally encourages international and domestic tourism.
 * E.g. The Great Wall in Beijing and Mount Everest in Tibet. This allows the Chinese to gain varied experiences by travelling within their country and attract visitors from other countries.
 * The facilities in a country like hotels, restaurants and shops also play a part in attracting tourists.
 * Accommodation is 1 key component of facilities. A range of accommodation is made available to suit tourists on different budgets. Large shopping malls (facility) can also provide a shopping experience that is attractive to tourists.

Accessibility
Refers to the ease with which tourists can reach the attractions. A place which is easily accessible is more attractive to tourists:
 * A well-developed transport network comprising of roads, tracks, railways, etc. will have better accessibility as they facilitate movement from place to place.
 * For e.g. in Singapore, the MRT and the large fleets of buses make it easy to travel round the country.
 * In addition, good accessibility via air travel from any part of the world encourages tourism and helps bring in tourists.
 * For example, Changi Airport plays host to 80 airlines serving over 50 countries. In addition, it could accommodate the Airbus A380, which not many airports cam accommodate. This will ensure that Singapore is on the list of available destinations for passengers travelling on the A380.

Affordability
The cost of travel can influence an individual travel plan. In recent years, overseas short – range travel has become more affordable.
 * Cheaper costs encourages tourists to travel to that area.

Ancillary/Subsidiary Services
These services include marketing, reservation and coordination among the different tour agencies in a country:
 * An example of a service directly provided to tourists is the setting up of visitor’s centres at major attractions.
 * In China, the China National Tourism Administration is responsible for developing, promoting and regulating China’s tourism industry. The Singapore Visitors Centre in Orchard Road provides information like travel routes, transport modes and attractions in Singapore.

Quality Service
Service refers to the assistance and support provided to a customer. Quality service would leave a favourable impression on tourists which might prompt them to make repeated visits or recommend the country to their peers.
 * In Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board started the Go-the-Extra-Mile-for-Service (GEMS) movement in 2003, which is a national effort aimed at improving service levels among service providers in the country.
 * Everyone has a part to play to improve Singapore’s service levels.

Definition

 * Sustainable tourism is defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (Geography Insights)
 * Sustainable tourism meets the present needs of tourists and the host country while protecting and enhancing opportunities for future generations (Earth Our Home)

Principles

 * Make optimal use of environmental resources
 * From environmental impact: Conserving the natural heritage and biodiversity of tourist attractions
 * Respect the socio–cultural authenticity of host
 * From social impact: Conserving the cultural heritage and traditional values of the people, contributing to inter–cultural understanding/tolerance
 * Provide economic benefits to all stakeholders
 * Distributing economic gains fairly among all stakeholders, ensuring stable employment and income – earning opportunities for host communities, contributing to poverty alleviation
 * Experiential sustainability
 * Aim to enhance visitors’ experience without significantly affecting the local ecological and socio–cultural environment

Stakeholders
Sustainable Tourism requires various parties/ stakeholders involved in the industry to be responsible for the conversation and protection of tourist areas. These include:
 * Planning authorities
 * Businesses
 * Tourists
 * Non–governmental Organisations

Planning Authorities
The role of planning authorities includes local government and national gov. agencies


 * They are crucial in controlling the rate and scale of development in tourist areas. For e.g., the establishment of the Bunaken National Marine Park (scuba diving spot in North Sulawesi, Indonesia) has helped to conserve marine life and ensure tourist arrivals in the long term. Tourist visiting the park needs to pay an entrance fee.
 * They may also restrict or control tourism development and visitor numbers. For e.g. Bhutan, a country in the Himalayas with a fragile environment and tightly guarded traditional culture only accept 18000 visitors in 2006 and tourists were charged US$240 per day. This can maximize economic benefits and minimize environmental damage.
 * Governments may also choose a certain aspect of tourism as their national development strategy.
 * For e.g. In Singapore, the drive to become a regional medical hub has led the government to encourage tourism in specific areas like health and medical tourism.
 * This can help to attract people to visit a country and seek medical treatment.
 * For e.g. Raffles Hospital in Singapore managed to attract patients from Middle Eastern countries due to advanced healthcare + close proximity.
 * Planning Authorities themselves are often inadequate in making tourism sustainable as some countries may face difficulties in enforcing laws and regulations on proper tourism behavior (lack funds to employ park rangers / train park personnel);
 * A balance between environmental protection and other aspects of tourism may be hard to find.
 * For e.g. the Penan people living in Gunung National Park were displaced when the government declared the area as a protected area. They were forced to resettle into longhouses and became tourist attractions.

Businesses
The tourist industry involves many tourism-related businesses like hotels, tour operators and transport services. They provide employment, generate revenue and acts as points of contact between tourist and destination.


 * For long-term success of tourism, economic gains should not be the only motivation for business.
 * For instance, the International Tourism Partnership (worldwide membership organization for commercial businesses in tourism sector) provides practical guidelines for hotels to adopt such as conserving energy and water, education on environment management, purchasing local products and employing locals.
 * International tour operator organisations like Tour Operators Initiative (TOI) advice tour operators on implementation on principles of sustainable tourism in tour packages.
 * For example, the TOI encourages tour operations to brief tourists on responsible behavior at their destinations. As they act as the intermediaries between tourists and various service providers, they can help local communities make preparations, provide feedback on service standards and improve their sustainability.

Tourists
Tourists also play an important role in making tourism sustainable. Responsibility on the tourists’ part be paying attention to not only rules and regulations put in place, but also the customs of the locals so that they do not cause disturbances to the customs of the locals. In 1999, the UNWTO released the Global Code of Ethnics for Tourism which contain a code of conduct for sustainable development of world tourism.


 * Tourists should gather information about the culture, traditions and backgrounds of the destination country before they depart so that they can better appreciate the locals’ way of life and their problems faced.
 * For e.g. Trekkers aware on deforestation in Annapurna regions in Nepal would use less wood for hot water baths as it would deplete the wood resources.
 * Tourists can also pay attention to the local customs at their travel destinations like the need to remove footwear at certain place of worship or choose not to take part in social undesirable activities or intrude into the privacy/everyday life of the locals.
 * Tourists can also refrain from causing disturbances to the wildlife in natural environments. (e.g. don’t flash camera at turtles in Turtle Island (Sabah, Malaysia)
 * However, the effectiveness of these ethnics are limited as it is up to tourists to practice responsible behavior. The planning authorities and tour operations should also actively promote and convey these codes.

Non–Governmental Organisations
These organisations are independent groups/campaigning organisations non profit – oriented to defend or promote a specific cause.
 * An example is the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) concerned at conserving the natural environment and ensuring the sustainable use of renewable natural resources.
 * They normally conduct research and evaluate whether an area will be subject to any potential harm by tourists, and if so, they might conduct campaigns, sign petitions and organize protests to exert pressure.
 * In Singapore, the Natural Society (NSS) is dedicated to the enjoyment, conservation and study of the natural heritage in Singapore, Malaysia and the surrounding region. It is actively involved in discussions with the government on the development of natural areas.
 * These groups are among the first to realise the threats of and opportunities for tourism in the area. The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) is the largest and oldest ecotourism organisation, and is an international NGO.