A tourist is someone traveling outside their usual environment for leisure or personal reasons.
Types of Tourists:
Domestic Tourists: Travel within their own country.
International Tourists: Travel abroad to another country.
Backpackers: Travel light, often on a tight budget.
Business Tourists: Attend conferences or meetings.
Pilgrims: Travel to sacred sites for spiritual growth.
A tourist system consists of interconnected components:
Tourists, businesses, and organizations depend on each other in tourist-generating and destination regions.
Example:
Tour operators in generating regions are needed by tourists.
Hotels in destination regions rely on tour operators for tourists.
Tour operators depend on hotels for tourist accommodations.
Components of a Tourism System:
Tourist Generating Region:
Origin of tourists.
Location of businesses offering tourism products (e.g., tour operators).
Tourist Destination Region:
Attracts tourists.
Features attractions, amenities, and facilities for tourists.
Transit Routes:
Routes tourists use to reach destinations, including stopover points.
Availability influences travel volume and direction.
More routes increase travel volume.
Convenient routes can change travel direction.
Push and Pull Factors:
Push Factors: Reasons tourists want to leave their home region.
Stressful work environments.
Unpleasant living conditions (overcrowding, pollution).
Lack of recreational options.
Pull Factors: Reasons tourists are attracted to a destination region.
Scenic beauty.
Special events (concerts, festivals).
Positive experiences offered by attractions and amenities.
Interactions within the Tourism System:
Tourism activities interact with nature, communities, and economies.
Changes in these elements affect the tourism system, and vice versa.
Example:
Negative: Tourists leave waste in nature parks, causing environmental degradation.
Positive: Tourists pay locals for traditional crafts, boosting the local economy and preserving traditions.
Economic and Environmental Impact:
In 2020, tourism contributed over US$4 trillion to the global economy.
Tourism accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.
Reasons for Growth of Tourism
Motivation to Travel: Needs that can be satisfied by traveling.
Need for Relaxation:
Relieving stress from work and lifestyle pressures.
Seeking nature to escape urban environments.
Example: British tourists visiting Phuket, Thailand, for beaches.
Recreational activities like theme parks.
Example: Universal Studios Singapore, attracting 18 million visitors in 2019.
Need to Achieve Personal Growth & Self-Fulfilment:
Learning new skills or improving existing ones.
Example: Pilgrimage tourism to sacred sites like Mecca, Saudi Arabia (over two million Muslims annually).
Seeking adventure activities like mountain climbing or skydiving.
Example: Climbing Mount Everest for personal challenge.
Need to Discover Unique Travel Experiences:
Satisfying curiosity about the world.
Exploring different environments and cultures.
Seeking less-traveled places and uncommon activities.
Social media increasing interest in unique destinations.
Globalization improving transport to remote areas.
Example: Antarctica seeing increased visitors interested in exploring an uninhabited region.
Ability to Travel: Conditions allowing individuals to make trips.
Increase in Disposable Income:
Income available after taxes.
Post-WWII economic development in North America, Western Europe, and Japan increased disposable incomes.
Growing middle class in countries like China and India is increasing demand for tourism.
Example: In China, international tourism increased from 9 million to 154 million departures between 1999 and 2019, as GDP quadrupled.
Increase in Leisure Time:
More paid leave, public holidays, and shorter working weeks since the 1950s.
Workers can finance travel due to paid leaves.
Example: China encouraged employers to give half-day Fridays off in summer 2015 to boost domestic tourism.
Business Innovations in the Tourism-Related Industry:
Value-for-money experiences and affordable travel options.
Example: Thomas Cook pioneered tour packages in the UK during the Industrial Revolution, buying in bulk to offer competitive prices.
Websites and applications offering personalized and cost-effective travel.
Example: Trivago allowing travelers to compare prices and book trips directly.
Lower Transport Costs:
Air fares have dropped due to budget airlines, which use fuel-efficient planes.
Affordable air tickets, especially for international travel.
Example: AirAsia providing lower prices for travel within Southeast Asia.
Lower Accommodation Costs:
Expanded accommodation options:
Rentals, hotels, and bed and breakfasts.
Example: Airbnb allowing property owners to rent to tourists at various prices, with over two million people staying in Airbnb properties daily in 2019.
Mobility in Travel: Ease and convenience of moving around to tourist destinations.
Expansion of Public Transport Services & Infrastructure:
Construction of roads, railways, and airports increasing connectivity.
Example: Opening of Changi Airport’s Terminal 4 increased flights to Singapore.
Expanded public transport networks with increased bus and train routes.
Example: Singapore's Downtown MRT line increasing accessibility to attractions like Gardens by the Bay.
Introduction of New Modes of Travel:
Faster and longer-distance travel options by land, sea, and air.
Example: Bullet train reducing Tokyo to Osaka travel time from 6 hours to 3 hours.
Commercial air travel advancements since the 1950s.
Example: Flights from Singapore to London reduced from several days with stopovers to 14 hours non-stop.
Fuel-efficient planes lowering air ticket prices.
Increased Private Car Ownership:
Comfortable travel to nearby attractions.
Example: Rise in car ownership in the US during the 1950s increased domestic tourism, leading to hotel/motel expansion.
Development of Tourist Destination Regions Over Time
Tourism destinations evolve through different stages:
Exploration:
Few and irregular tourist visits.
Minimal economic contribution.
Natural and cultural attractions.
Lack of facilities.
Example: Jaco Island in Timor Leste (inaccessible location, lack of facilities).
Involvement:
Increased tourist arrivals due to publicity.
Growing economic contribution.
Rise in goods, services, and facilities provided by locals.
Local authorities build and maintain amenities.
Example: Kuang Si Waterfalls in Laos (authorities improved facilities).
Development:
Rapid increase in tourist arrivals.
Tourism employs locals and foreigners, boosting the local economy.
Rapid increase in attractions and facilities.
Heavy advertising of the destination.
Increased presence of large and medium businesses.
Recognized as a tourist destination.
Example: Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam (international airport & seaport built; tourism employed a large proportion of locals).
Consolidation:
Annual tourist arrivals outnumber the local population.
Growth in tourist arrivals starts to slow.
Tourism industry dominates the local economy.
Most tourist facilities are owned by multinational companies.
Example: Goa in India (over seven million tourists visited in 2019, outnumbering the local population).
Stagnation:
Tourist numbers peak and decline due to the destination reaching or exceeding its carrying capacity.
Economic contribution stagnates.
Destination becomes less attractive; attractions become old and run down.
Tourists feel that the destination has nothing to offer.
Example: Hawaii in USA (1990s to 2000s) - tourism arrivals decline; Waikiki becomes crowded and facilities degrade.
Decline:
Tourist arrivals decline significantly if no steps are taken to revive the destination.
Economic contribution declines significantly.
Local businesses close, negatively affecting the local economy.
Less money available to maintain facilities, leading to further deterioration.
Example: Blackpool, UK (1990s) - lost attractiveness due to competition from other European locations.
Rejuvenation:
Increase in tourist arrivals again.
Economic contribution increases again.
Funding is provided to:
Redevelop the area (e.g., building new attractions).
Advertise the revamped tourist destination.
Example: Blackpool, UK (present) - local authorities invested 300 million to build Blackpool Central; re-marketed as Muslim-friendly & disabled-friendly destination.
Different Personality Characteristics of Tourists
Spectrum of tourists’ personality characteristics:
Dependables
Venturers
Most tourists fall between these extremes.
Dependables: Individuals who value predictability in their daily lives.
Venturers: Individuals who explore the world in all its diversity.
Spending Pattern:
Dependables: More cautious about spending money.
Venturers: Spend money more readily.
Source of Influence:
Dependables: Guided by authority figures in making travel decisions.
Venturers: Guided by their personal judgment rather than authority figures; follow travel trends set by other Venturers & public personalities.
Preference for Travel Activities:
Dependables:
Prefer structure and routine.
Travel in groups as they like to feel comfortable and secure.
Visit popular and familiar destinations.
More likely to return to the same place again.
Prefer mass tourism because of the predictability and routine nature of the activities.
Venturers:
Prefer to be spontaneous and have a diversity of activities.
Travel alone.
Explore less-developed, unique places.
More likely to visit new places each time they travel.
Often opt for niche tourism (tourism that caters to a specific interest) as they prefer to make their own plans.
Destinations and Activities:
Destinations appeal to specific traits, and activities cater to certain personalities in specific places.
"Venturer-type" tourists explore undeveloped areas like plains or grasslands with fewer facilities.
Evolution of Tourist Destinations:
Planners can shape destinations to appeal to specific personality characteristics by adding features or activities that match their preferences.
To attract Dependable-type tourists, more convenient facilities can be developed.
Destinations may shift from appealing to Venturer-type to Dependable-type tourists, as trends set by Venturer-type tourists influence Dependable-type tourists' decisions.
Example: Costa Rica used to attract adventurous Venturer-type tourists but shifted towards appealing to more Dependable-type visitors.
This change led to a decline in its appeal to Venturer-type tourists.
To stay profitable, authorities were advised to preserve natural environments and promote adventurous activities to draw Venturer-type tourists again.