TOURIST DESTINATION

Tourist Destination

Background2

Introduction2

Discussion4

Scope of Tourism in UK4

The Cultural, Social and Physical Features of Tourist Destinations4

Impact of Characteristics of Tourist Destination on its Appeal6

Issues Likely to Affect the Popularity of Tourist Destinations7

Conclusion9

References10

Tourist Destination

Background

I work as a Travel Consultant with Crane Travel. During June and July, the agency is having a promotional campaign. The aim is that each week, they will focus on different types of destinations; coastal areas, tourist towns and cities, business and conference destinations, countryside areas, heritage and cultural destinations and purpose built. The window display will features details of holiday to that type of destination and special offers. There will also be a map highlighting the destinations available. To assist the travel consultants in selling the featured type of destination, they will have a sheet highlighting the key physical features. The agency also wants me to demonstrate how the characteristics of destinations affect the appeal to tourists and issues likely to affect the popularity of Tourist destinations.

Below is the formal report, I have prepared for Crane Travel Agency. The report compares the attraction of current top tourist destinations with that of currently developing tourist destinations, and evaluates how a tourist destination's characteristics affect its appeal. Moreover, this report also provides an analysis of issues that have an effect on the popularity of tourist destinations. The report also seeks to analyse potential for sustainable tourism to improve the host community at tourist destinations worldwide.

Introduction

Being one of the most popular world's destinations, the UK attracts 32 million overseas visitors annually. It has the fifth largest tourism industry in the world. Tourism and travel is an integral element of the UK economy, supporting 2.65m jobs and generating £114bn per annum; the economic benefits related to the industry are spread all over the UK. £19bn pa is generated by these visitors in export earnings for the UK economy. The tourism sector in UK includes hospitality, attractions, visitor transport, and tourism services. Attractions are the main factors that generate flow of tourist to a certain location (Kaushik, Kaushik, Sharma & Rani, 2010, p. 117). The tourist attractions in the UK are comprised of about 7,000 businesses, which include theme parks, historic houses, museums, and heritage sites, gardens, parks and zoos.

According to Macintosh and Goeldner, (1990), any tourist destination consists of complex product mix of natural resources, services provided, infrastructure, cultural attributes, distinctive local features, and historical importance and; in terms of attractiveness, tourism products can be analysed. Some places are perceived to be more attractive than others. Attractiveness of a destination is rooted in the beliefs, feelings and opinions of tourists regarding the perceived destination's capacity to provide satisfaction (Hu and Ritchie, 1993, p. 25- 27). The natural appeal of a destination may be based on one (or more) of its physical features: the landforms, climate, flora or fauna, landscapes; while socio-cultural heritage may attract tourists seeking to visit entertainment or learning centres, to visit locations having historic significance or to view ruins of buildings or ...