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Tourism



Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan.
Disneyland, Tokyo, Japan.

There has been an upmarket trend in the tourism over the last few decades, especially in Europe where international travel for short breaks is common. Tourists have higher levels of disposable income and greater leisure time and they are also better-educated and have more sophisticated tastes. There is now a demand for a better quality products, which has resulted in a fragmenting of the mass market for beach vacations; people want more specialised versions, such as Club 18-30, quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays, or niche market-targeted destination hotels. As well, people are likely to take more than one short break holiday each year.

The developments in technology and transport infrastructure, such as Jumbo jets and low-cost airlines, have made many types of tourism more affordable. There have also been changes in lifestyle, such as retiree-age people who sustain year round tourism. This is facilitated by internet purchasing of tourism products. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging, in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor- made package requested by the customer upon impulse.

There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist destinations such as Bali and European cities. Some of the tourist destinations, including the beach resorts of Cancún have lost popularity due to shifting tastes. In this context, the excessive building and environmental destruction often associated with traditional "sun and beach" tourism may contribute to a destination's saturation and subsequent decline. Spain's Costa Brava, a popular 1960s and 1970s beach location is now facing a crisis in its tourist industry. On December 26, 2004 a tsunami, caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake hit Asian countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and also the Maldives. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, and many tourists died. This, together with the vast clean-up operation in place, has stopped or severely hampered tourism to the area.

The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited by tourists.

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Eco-tourism

Sustainable tourism is becoming more popular as people start to realize the devastating effects poorly planned tourism can have on communities. Receptive tourism is now growing at a very rapid rate in many developing countries, where it is often the most important economic activity in local GDP.

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Grey nomads

Retirees who travel for much of the year, generally in their own continent an by vehicle, are often called "grey nomads". They often drive Recreational vehicles

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Medical tourism

When there is a significant price difference between countries for a given medical procedure, or where there are different regulatory regimes between countries in relation to particular medical procedures (eg abortion) traveling to take advantage of the price or regulatory differences is often referred to as "medical tourism".

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Creative tourism

More recently, creative tourism has gained popularity as a form of cultural tourism, drawing on active participation by travelers in the culture of the host communities they visit. Several countries offer examples of this type of tourism development, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and New Zealand.

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Adventure tourism

Also tourists are looking for an adventure when they travel, see the destination more like a local would experience it. [Private tour guides] are an excellent way to get fast insight into a country and also help locals earn an income.

In recent years, second holidays or vacations have become more popular as people's discretionary income increases. Typical combinations are a package to the typical mass tourist resort, with a winter skiing holiday or weekend break to a city or national park.

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Dark tourism

One emerging area of special interest tourism has been identified by Lennon and Foley (2000) as "dark" tourism. This type of tourism involves visits to "dark" sites such as battlegrounds, scenes of horrific crimes or acts of genocide, for example concentration camps. Dark tourism poses severe ethical and moral dilemmas: should these sites be available for visitation and, if so, what should the nature of the publicity involved be. Dark tourism remains a small niche market driven by varied motivations, such as mourning, remembrance, macabre curiosity or even entertainment. Its early origins are rooted in fairgrounds and medieval fairs.[10]

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Growth

International tourism receipts in 2005
International tourism receipts in 2005

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that international tourism will continue growing at the average annual rate of 4 %.[11] By 2020 Europe will remain the most popular destination, but its share will drop from 60% in 1995 to 46%. Long-haul will grow slightly faster than intraregional travel and by 2020 its share will increase from 18% in 1995 to 24%.

With the advent of e-commerce, tourism products have become one of the most traded items on the internet. Tourism products and services have been made available through intermediaries, although tourism providers (hotels, airlines, etc.) can sell their services directly. This has put pressure on intermediaries from both on-line and traditional shops.

It has been suggested there is a strong correlation between Tourism expenditure per capita and the degree to which countries play in the global context.[12] Not only as a result of the important economic contribution of the tourism industry, but also as an indicator of the degree of confidence with which global citizens leverage the resources of the globe for the benefit of their local economies. This is why any projections of growth in tourism may serve as an indication of the relative influence that each country will exercise in the future.

Space tourism is expected to "take off" in the first quarter of the 21st century, although compared with traditional destinations the number of tourists in orbit will remain low until technologies such as a space elevator make space travel cheap.

Technological improvement is likely to make possible air-ship hotels, based either on solar-powered airplanes or large dirigibles. Underwater hotels, such as Hydropolis, expected to open in Dubai in 2009, will be built. On the ocean tourists will be welcomed by ever larger cruise ships and perhaps floating cities.

Some futurists expect that movable hotel "pods" will be created that could be temporarily erected anywhere on the planet, where building a permanent resort would be unacceptable politically, economically or environmentally.

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Negative impacts

Attracting a high volume of tourists can have negative impacts, such as the impact of 33 million tourists a year on the city of New York,[13] or the potential to impact fragile environments,[14] or the impact of the December 26, 2004 tsunami on the tourists themselves.[15] The environment can be affected negatively by cruise ship pollution in many ways, including ballast water discharge, and by pollution from aircraft.

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See also

Wikiversity
At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Tourism at:

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References

  1. ^ a b c UNWTO Tourism Highlights, Edition 2007. World Tourism Organization (2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  2. ^ World Tourism Barometer (p.8). World Tourism Organization (2007). Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  3. ^ Tourism Directorate (France) (2007). Key facts on tourism 2007 Edition.
  4. ^ Werner Hunziker and Kurt (1941). Grundriss der allgemeinen Fremdenverkehrslehre. OCLC # 69064371. 
  5. ^ International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism. The AIEST, its character and aims. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  6. ^ Forbes Traveller (2007-04-25). Top 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  7. ^ The Hopeful Traveler (2007-07-29). Forbes Traveler 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions. Retrieved on 2008-03-29. See the complete Top 50 list at this website
  8. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary: tour. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
  9. ^ Theobald, William F. (1998). Global Tourism, p. 10. ISBN 0750640227. 
  10. ^ Tourism Principles and Practice, C. Cooper, J. Fletcher, A. Fyall, D. Gilbert, S. Wanhill, Pearson Education, Third edition, Madrid 2005
  11. ^ Long-term Prospects: Tourism 2020 Vision. World Tourism (2004).
  12. ^ airports & tourists. Global Culture (2007).
  13. ^ Kirby, David (September 27, 1998). The Tourist Trap; With All Those Visitors Trampling the Welcome Mat, Can New York Be the Host With the Most for Everyone? (Web). News Article. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  14. ^ Nicholls, Henry (Wednesday April 19, 2006). The tourist trap (The Galapagos islands are the world's prime eco-tourism destination. Now the sheer number of visitors is endangering their future ) (Web). News article. Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.
  15. ^ Kurlantzick, Joshua (Sunday, January 9, 2005). The True Meaning of the Tourist Trap (Web). News article. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-03-21.

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External links

Look up tourism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


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Tourism
Types of tourism
Miscellaneous
Hospitality
See also



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