Unit 9 Assignment on Tourist Destinations

Introduction

This Unit 9 Assignment Tourist Destinations is associated with the functional aspect of the team associated with product and business development for TUI Group where the product development team is functioning throughout the globe making sure that there is the offering of appropriate kind of holidays to attract new customers as well as for retaining the customers who are already there. New opportunities are found out via business development in respect of businesses ranging from product definition to the development in sales and on the other hand product development focuses on identifying and developing new travelling experiences.

Task 1

Analyse main tourist destinations and generators of the world in terms of visitor numbers and income generation (AC 1.1)

The tourism destination has different aspects which are used for growing the interests of the tourists towards the place. By increasing the attractions and features of tourism the destinations are trying to increase the tourist numbers in order to increase the contribution of the travel and tourism in the nation’s GDP. There are leading tourism destinations considering the ratings by United Nations World Tourism Organisation and their tourists’ numbers:

Destinations	Tourists number and income generation
France	It is the leading tourism destination having 83.7 million tourists per year. It has gained the place of third position in terms of revenue generating. The number of tourists visit in 2013 was 83.6 million per year. The tourism of France has been supporting the employment of the nation. The direct jobs are 1.1 million and 1 million indirect jobs along with 700,000 seasonal jobs. It has been contributing 7.4% in the GDP and including the indirect income 9.1% in GDP. The current surplus of tourism has been €11.3 billion considering the survey of 2012. Tourism investment has been €12.74 billion. There are 38 heritage sites marked by UNESCO. 45,000 listed and registered historic monuments, 8,000 museums, 4,000 tourist’s sites and events which are helping to attract more than 300 million visits. Considering the daily spend of foreign tourists, average is €6. Most of the foreign tourists are visiting from different countries of EU. (diplomatie.gouv.fr., 2014).
USA	USA has placed itself in the second position within the ranking in the world tourism industry. The tourism industry is the largest industry in USA. There are different natural wonders, cities, historic landmarks; different venues of entertainment are generating attractions for the tourists towards the destination. 74.8 million International tourists has visited USA in 2014, in 2013 the number was 70.0 million. There are 2,462 registered national historic landmarks in USA. It has been third largest employer in 29 countries. Total contribution of USA tourism has been 1.47 trillion US$ in the nation’s GDP in 2014. It has been forecasted that the industry will generate 2.5 trillion US$ by 2025. In 2013 and 2015 the tourism of USA has been directly employing 5.3 million jobs which are directly contributing in the US economy. (statista.com., 2015).
Spain	The tourism of Spain has been directly contributing in the GDP was 5.6% in 2014. The forecast has been made that it will be 5.7% in the GDP by 2025. Total contribution has been EUR 161.0bn which was 15.2% GDP. The direct contribution in the employment has been 5.0% of the total employment considering 870,000 of the total job. The increase has been expecting 1.3% in 2025. The visitor exports generated EUR52.2bn which is 15.3% of the total exports. The travel and tourism of Spain has contributed EUR13.5bn in the total investment in 2014, which is 6.9% of total employment. (wttc.org., 2015).
China	The tourism of china has been growing in few decades. It has been the third most visited country. In 2010 the destination had 55.98 million visits of overseas tourist. In 2014 55.6 million internal tourists arrived at china. The number was 55.5 million in 2013. It is expected to be the fastest outbound tourism destination. In 2010 the tourism of China has generated 777.1 billion Yuan income. (travelchinaguide.com., 2016)
UK	The tourism of UK has generated 32.6 million international arrivals in 2014 which was 31.1 million in 2013. 9.0% of UK GDP has been contributed by travel and tourism. It generated £126.9bn GDP. Total revenue was £125.7bn in 2014. This has made the destination as the eight largest visiting place and seventh largest tourism destination. It has been gaining 3.4% of global international tourism receipts. In 2010 300,000 jobs were supported by this industry in UK. (tourismalliance.com., 2014).

Analyse statistics to determine tourism destination trends and predict future trends (AC 1.2)

For recent decades the tourism industry has been seeing different changes which are impacting on the future tourism demand. With the rise of e-tourism, democratisation of travel etc is the new preferences of the travellers. One the other hand the natural disaster like tsunami, earthquakes or health issues influenza, swine flu, are changing the perception of holidays and leisure tourism. By analysing the changing perspectives of the travel and tourism trends the business in the travel and tourism of specific destination can be determined. (ttgmena.com., 2012).

Emerging inbound tourism destination:

The emerging tourism inbound destinations are playing major role within the changing perspectives of the travel and tourism. The European countries, Asian countries and South American destinations are arousing the interest of the tourists being the leading inbound tourists’ destinations. This is impacting over the North African destinations as not being innovative and creative in the presentation of tourism products. In 2010 the destinations like Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine have hosted 6,047 million, 9,111 million and 21,203 million tourists. The number increased by 17%, 14% and 12% respectively from 2006. In South America the tourist number has been increasing due to the inbound tourism. (ttgmena.com., 2012).

Emerging outbound market:

Among the emerging outbound market the China and India has been considerably gaining the popularity. The Chinese people are travelling more in the outbound tourism. In 2014 the china has contributed US$ 165 billion in the outbound tourism. In recent years with the increase in the Chinese traveller’s number the outbound tourism in china has been growing fast. (itb-berlin.de., 2016).

 

Travel with a purpose:

The current trends within the travel and tourism have been changing in wider aspect of preferences of the travellers. The future trend has been shifting towards the concept of travel with a mission. Considering this trends the destinations have to offer value added tourism product rather than classic leisure tourism concept. Real travel experiences are changing the perspectives of the travel and tourism business. Different aspects are needed to be added within the travel and tourism product such as humanitarian actions, volunteering and support to the population need. Apart from these other mission of the travelling can be added by the travel destination such as learning a new language or cultural attributes of a specific destination mission on travelling, concert or event such as travelling for sports events, exploring different culinary techniques etc. this trend has been impacting over the travelling specialists. (e-unwto.org ., 2016).

Changes within information and technology:

With changes or modification in the technological measures of tourism business the offering or approaching the travellers have changed. Increase in the internet access has been impacting over the customers in purchasing the packages or deciding the travel. The increase in the digital natives, the young generation who are growing up with the technology the travel and tourism and also the destination has been placing the importance of the information through internet or technology in the travel and tourism developments. Through the technology they are empowering the travellers or customers of tourism business. Booking through the online portals or choosing the destination by gathering the information through the technologies is impacting the future trends in travel and tourism. (visitengland.com. , 2013).

Task 2

Analyse the cultural, social and physical features of tourist destinations explaining their appeal to tourists (AC 2.1)

Tourists’ destinations are the places which consist of different features. These features are used by the destinations as the attractions to the tourists. Different destinations preserve these features or develop these features in order to increase the tourist number and generate more revenues or employment opportunities. (Visser, 2013)These features are mainly consisting of social, cultural and physical features. Social and cultural features are developed by the destinations along with the local community and the physical features are the natural features of a tourist destination. Depending on the features the tourist destination places itself in the tourism business. Through professional development process destinations make them more appealing to the tourists and increase the attraction of tourist towards the destination.

Cultural features:

among the cultural features there are different values, beliefs, traditional features or the impacts of the history or ancient features and their impacts on the existing culture of the destination. The cultural features are tied with historical features of a destination. In the recent trends of tourism the cultural tourism has been increasing the preferences of the tourists. The thongs or monuments and buildings which have the features of historical and cultural impacts are considered in this tourism. (Visser, 2013) The cultural and cultural cognitive aspects of the destination have been considered within this tourism. The cultural tourism focuses on the cultural environment, cultural and historical sights of the destination, cultural and heritage social life styles and values, arts, local population, traditions, and customs. Along with these the cultural events and the festivals of the local people are also included within the cultural tourism of the destination. The cultural tourism has been accounted as 37% of world travel and tourism and it has been growing on a fast measure which has been rated as 15% per year. Within the cultural tourism both music and film also play important role. (london.gov.uk., 2013)

UK’s cultural features:

the destination UK has been holding its’ place within the world tourism ranking through the wide range of cultural offering to the tourists. As a cultural destination UK has several offerings such as different museums, galleries of old periods, English cultural and popular literature and the impact of it on different cultural artefacts and aspects etc. these are increasing the values of the destination. (london.gov.uk., 2013) The museums and the galleries are the main attractions for the tourist who are visiting UK. Through these museums the UK destination has been offering different cultural features to the tourists. Victoria and Albert Museum, National History museums, Science museums, British museums, Birmingham museum and art gallery, National Media Museum are different museums and galleries. Apart from these the theatres of UK has been representing the rich literature and historical features of UK. (london.gov.uk., 2013)

Cultural features of Egypt:

Egypt has been offering a rich cultural experience to the travellers. The features of cultural Egypt have been consisting of historic impacts of thousand years and different traditional features of old periods. Egyptian temples, vestibules of ancient ages, tombs, and different ancient monuments are attracting the tourists who prefer the historical cultural tourism. Different museums of Egypt represent several artefacts of ancient time. The main attractions to the Egypt are the pyramids which are the carriers of ancient Egyptian culture and the ancient stories of pharaohs. The markets of Egypt also attract the tourists as they offer different cultural and ancient artefacts and crafts. (en.egypt.travel., 2016).

Physical features:

physical features of a destination are the diversity within the geographical landscape of that destination. Mountains, deserts, beaches, rocks etc are the different components of the nature which are considered within the physical features of a destination. Having diversity within the physical features a destination can attract different types of tourists along with the adventure tourism and green tourist.

UK’s physical features:

UK has different physical or natural features which are increasing the interests of the travellers. Beaches, rocks, mountains, ancient rocks, coats, Isles, natural parks, etc are increasing the diversity within the tourism features of UK as a tourist destination. (Visser, 2013)

Egypt’s natural features:

Egypt is the northern African country which has placed itself within the world tourism measures as being the valley of pyramids. This place has been a wonder to the tourists and explores for ages. There are different physical features which are attracting the travellers like valleys, Nile River, oases, peninsular and desert etc. The Sahara desert has been placing the main attraction in Egypt tourism. Nile river journey and the valley of tombs are the different attractions of Egypt. (naturalwondersofafrica.com., 2016)

Social features:

social features are impacted by the .local community and social lifestyles or values of the destination. Community traditions, the impact of the history on the community or the current state of the social lifestyles also preferred within the social features of tourism. (Visser, 2013)

UK’s social features:

the social lifestyles and the historical impact over the social values are the most important attraction in the social features of UK. The richness in the heritage in the social lifestyles and believes place an impact over the travellers.

Egypt’s social features:

the social lifestyles of Egyptian have been impacted with the ancient history. In recent scenario the political unrest in the African and Middle East countries have been impacted on the tourists’ willingness to visit to Egypt. The ancient Egypt social structure is also major attraction to the tourists. (Visser, 2013)

Task 3

Compare the appeal of current leading tourist with that of currently developing tourist destinations to be presented to marketing department to assist them in marketing activity (AC3.1)

In this respect, the current leading tourist destination is considered to be UK and current developing tourist destination is considered to be Costa Rica.
The strategy for growth in case of UK takes into consideration a significant part of the travel and tourism sector. The UK government have stated that the travel and tourism sector is considered to be one of the major sections that possess the need for conducting marketing campaigns with the major focus on promoting domestic and global tourism. International campaigns are occurring for promoting tourism in UK. The visa process in UK has faced criticisms in respect of restrictions on inbound travelling and in respect to the rise in duty price for air passengers that resulted in creating a negative impact in respect of the travel sector. (Mowforth, 2015)

The major tourism performers for Costa Rica are considered to be the hotels and airlines in association with the sightseeing businesses. Moreover, the foreign tourists who are travelling to Costa Rica are receiving better services from the hotels.

Data & Text Table

Leading Tourist Destination (UK)	Developing Tourist Destination (Costa Rica)
1. In 2012, the number of tourists who were travelling to UK started rising due to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and also because of the Olympic Games that were held in London. (Mowforth, 2015)	1. There is a feeling amongst 90% of the domestic citizens that the outcome regarding development of sightseeing has created a beneficial aspect in respect of Costa Rica because of the increase in the supply of the amount of foreign exchange into the country. Also, there is an improvement in the governmental revenue, employment and infrastructural development. (Moutinho, 2011)
2. There was a rise in the percentage of VAT from 17.5% to 20% in 2011, which created an adverse effect on the tourists who planned towards visiting UK since the UK is already regarded as one of the most expensive places for visiting. (Moutinho, 2011)	2. It was showcased from a current study that a medium to high returns family unit will spend almost around 101, 000 colons for travelling inside the country. Moreover, better services in regard of hotels are provided for the foreign tourists who are travelling to Costa Rica.

Evaluate how characteristics of a tourist destination affect its appeal with reference to Cuba (AC 3.2)

There is the existence of various benefits that can be achieved with the assistance of tourism. These beneficial aspects can be categorized as social or economical particularly in respect of countries like Cuba although there might also be the existence of negative impacts. Quite a good number of debates have ensued regarding the impact of tourism that might create either benefit or harm in respect of the environment. On a positive note it can be said that, tourism provides assistance in the creation of a growing percentage of job opportunity in different sectors like transport, retail and many more that will support in generating a significant amount of income in respect of Cuba, and on the other hand, it can be stated that there is no permanency of these jobs as they are seasonal in nature. (Frechtling, 2012) The lives of the Cuban people also can get adversely affected regarding the aspects of pollution, congestion in traffic, crowds, littering, dust and so on. There is also a positive aspect stating that the safeguarding of the wildlife and also of famous tourists spots are done with the help of tourism but a negative aspect is that a large number of individuals are living under constant threat of facing forceful evacuation from their own land for using those vacated lands to build hotels or other type of tourist attractions. There may also occur the risk of certain deadly diseases entering Cuba because of the tourists being the carrier of them. (Mowforth, 2015)

Sectors that have an association with tourism are functioning in a competitive environment. There has been an increase in the purchase in association with the tourism sector from almost 18% a decade ago to almost 61% in the current years. In this regard, almost 2, 00,000 jobs were created in respect of the sector for tourism. It has been observed that the administrations of the majority of hotels in Cuba are done by around 17 global hotel chains. There has been increasing inclination of the international companies in respect of making investments in Cuba’s tourism sector. The policy that is linked with education and development in respect of human resource is considered to be another major aspect for assistance in respect of developmental strategies for tourism in Cuba. (Cooper, 2016) In Cuba, the tourism sector is currently faced with the challenges for increasing its capacity to compete and for taking of major opportunities and resources. The expansion and development process for the Cuban tourism industry in relation with the country’s economical scenario is faced with some challenging circumstances. One of them is considered to be the growth related with the economical efficiency. Another major challenging scenario is associated with comparing the investments in respect of the hotels and those related with the tourist’s developmental facilities. (Cooper, 2016) One more important challenging scenario in respect of the Cuban tourism industry is to slow down the growing investment in the hotel’s capacity and for increasing the investments in respect of facilities and infrastructure for non-hotel establishments. Around 18% of income has been generated although there was a reduction in investment in the areas in relation to the non - hotel facilities for tourists in the tourism industry.

Moreover, the Cuban tourism development depends on improved air transportation. It can be very well understood that, the country is not concentrating on tourism to be temporary decision to exploit a person’s inquisitiveness in respect of the country and there is a strategic development in Cuban tourism in respect of creating new concepts in regard of sustainable tourism considering the social, financial and ecological components.

Conclusion

This case study delves with the aspect of tourist destination in which the identification of the number of visitors, and their purpose to spend in the foreign destinations are done. After that the statistical analysis is made towards determining the trends associated with tourism destination as well as predicting the trends for the future. Post that, the comparison of the features in respect of the developing and leading tourist destinations are made. After that, the appeals of the current leading tourist destinations with that of currently developing tourist destinations are compared as well as the evaluation of the impact of the characteristics of a tourist destination is done. Finally, issues affecting a tourist destination’s popularity are analysed and the potential for the enhancement of responsible tourism are discussed.

References

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