Unit 2: Tourism

Check List

·         Can you explain the reasons for the growth in the tourist industry?

·         Can you explain the economic importance of the tourist industry in contrasting parts of the world?

·         Can you explain the Butler tourist life cycle model?

·         Can you use a UK case study of either a coastal resort or National Park explaining reasons for the growth and how it is managed?

·         Use a case study of a tropical holiday destination to explain  mass tourism, the positive and negative effects of tourism on people and the environment and the strategies to cope with it.

·         Use a case study of an extreme holiday destination to explain what attracts people and the impacts.

·         To understand the idea of stewardship and how ecotourism can be used to develop tourism sustainably

   

   Can you describe and explain how different types of landscapes attract people and why?

Cities, Mountains and Coasts are all Popular tourist destinations. People are attracted to them because: -

Cities: -

• Culture (galleries, museums)
• Entertainment (theater, bars, restaurants)
• Shopping

Examples; Rome, Paris, London and New York

Mountains: -

• walking
• climbing
• sight seeing
• skiing and snowboarding

Examples: The Alps

 

Beaches: -

• swimming
• water sports
• scuba diving
• fishing

Examples: Caribbean and Thailand

 

Can you explain the reasons for the growth in the tourist industry?

There has been a global increase in tourism. It is the world's largest industry, worth $500 billion in 2007.

The reasons for the growth in tourism: -

• People have more spare money
• People now have more paid holidays
• People have smaller families (so cheaper)
• People are living for longer (grey pound)
• Package holidays made it easier for people to book holidays
• The internet has made it easier to find cheap holidays
• Improvements in transport has made it easier to get to places quicker
• The tourist industry has become more important to the economies of countries therefore there is better infrastructure and are better at marketing making more people want to visit

  

Can you explain the economic importance of the tourist industry in contrasting parts of the world.

 

•      Tourism is an important part of the economies of many richer countries, especially those in Western Europe and North America.

 

•      Today, it is increasingly seen by developing countries (poorer countries) as one of the best ways to earn foreign income, provide jobs and improve standards of living.

 

•      Essential jobs are created in all countries from tourism, but the contribution this industry makes to GDP varies greatly between wealthier and poorer countries.

 

•      Rich countries have a broadly balanced economy, of which tourism is one part. In developing countries tourism can be essential  and tourism is relied heavily on to provide national income and employment.

The USA earns more than any other country from tourism, and has the second largest visitors. Europeans see a trip to the US as more of a luxury and tend to spend more money. The USA do not relay heavily on tourism as they have a varied economy.

 The Caribbean sees tourism as a major industry for example 80% of the national income of Barbados comes from tourism.   The amount of foreign money spent in the Caribbean varies  significantly between countries e.g. in Believe expenditure is around $324 per person., where as, the Virgin Islands is $2117 per person as this attracts the wealthiest tourists.

Case studies: Dubai

     Dubai is part of the UAE. Dubai is famous for it's shopping malls, sky scrappers, fast cars, luxury hotels, and palm shape beaches. Excursions to the desert are also becoming popular.   

      Due to it's location it his easily accessible from Europe, Africa and the Asia. This has meant that tourism has grown rapidly in recent years. Around 2.8 million people visited in 2000 this has grown to 10 million by 2012. Dubai hope that this will double by 2020.

     Although Dubai's economy was initially built on revenues from the oil industry, revenue from petroleum and natural gas currently account for less than 3% of the emirate's gross domestic product.

     Today, Dubai has focused its economy on tourism by building hotels and developing real estate. Port (Jebel Ali, constructed in the 1970s, has the largest man-made harbor in the world), but is also increasingly developing as a hub for service industries such as IT and finance, with the new Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Emirates Airline was founded by the government in 1985 and is still state-owned; based at Dubai International Airport, it carried over 28 million passengers in fiscal year 2006 and 24 million the year before.
(Source: Wikipedia)

  

Can you explain the Butler tourist life cycle model?

The Butler tourist life cycle model is used to describe the changes which take place as a tourist resort develops.

There are six stages:

1. Exploration - Small number of visitors are attracted by something particular, e.g. attractive landscapes
2. Involvement - The local population see the opportunities and starts to provide facilities such as accommodation, transport.
3. Development - The host country starts to advertise the area. Large companies start to build hotels and leisure complexes and produce package holidays. The numbers of visitors rise dramatically. This creates jobs for the local people.
4. Consolidation - The tourist industry is well established part of the economy. The area continues to attract tourists to the area but perhaps not as rapidly increasing as in development stage. With more tourists the jobs in the tourist industry become more secure. Sometimes conflicts start to arise with locals due to for example drunkenness of holiday makers. Older hotels start to decline  and some of the type of tourists change.
5. Stagnation - The resort becomes unfashionable and the numbers of visitors start to decline.
6. Decline or Rejuvenation - The resort may go into decline the image of the area often suffers and less tourists visit the area. People more often come to the area for day trips rather than a holiday. People will lose their jobs. Some resorts will invest money into the area to help modernise it and make it more attractive to for visitors. This is known as rejuvenation.

(work adapted from AQA A textbook)

Can you use a UK case study of either a coastal resort or National Park explaining reasons for the growth and how it is managed?

Case Study: Blackpool

      Blackpool is located in the NW of England.  surrounded by large industrial towns and cities such as Manchester. It is famous for the pleasure beach, sandy beaches, Blackpool Tower and the illuminations.  

1.  Exploration - Spa tourism in the 1800's at attracted rich people to cure diseases with a dip in the cold sea and to see the7 mile beach.
2. Involvement - As industrial workers started to get more paid holidays in the 19th Century tourism started to take off and services such as the Central Pier opened.
3. Development- Blackpool started producing advertisements to attract people to the Pleasure Beach and Blackpool Tower was opened. The number of tourists increased dramatically with the introduction of the railway.
4. Consolidation - Between 1900 and 1950 Blackpool boomed as one of the most popular coastal destinations in Europe.
5. Stagnation - By the 1960s people started to have more spare cash and tour operators began developing package holidays which encouraged tourists to try places with better climate abroad such as Benidorm. The number of tourists started to decline.
6. Decline - Blackpool became popular with day trippers and stag parties. Jobs were lost in the tourist industry.
7. Rejuvenation - In 2000 a £300 million pound rejuvenation scheme began. One approach  taken was to apply to the government for the first ever supercasino, a huge leisure and entertainment complex. This would have created many jobs and investment in the area. However, the supercasiono was lost to Manchester as not everyone agreed with the plan. Millions has been spent improving hotels, refurbishing the winter gardens, pedestrianised St Paul's and the shopping area has been updated with a new Debenhams.

BBC Class Clips: Development of the UK seaside resort

Source: Coolgeography

Click here for larger version

National Parks 

National Parks are large areas of mainly rural land. The UK's first was the Peak District, there are now 15 (see map). National Parks aims to protect the natural and cultural landscapes while allowing access for people to enjoy the environment. The area is regarded as unusual and valuable therefore worth looking after. Therefore strict planning controlled are put in place.

Source:nationalparks.gov

Case Study: Lake District  

 

 

The English Lake District is located in Cumbria, NW of England. It became a national park in 1951. It is famous for it's beautiful scenery, wildlife, and glacial features.  The Lake District has inspired many writers including Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. There are just 42,000 permanent residence but  14.8 million tourists visit every year. 

Impact of tourism

With so many tourists it can create a variety of impacts including: 

Traffic 

89% of tourists come to the Lake District by car, this can cause huge traffic problems in towns and villages which were not developed to host that many people and cars, with narrow country roads. This causes traffic jams and trouble with parking. Cars can also contribute pollution  from the exhausts, cars park on verges destroying the special verge habitats. 

Pressure on property 

Development in National Parks are limited and with 20% of the homes in the Lake District being second homes or let for holidays it has pushed up the property prices. This has a knock on effect on local people (particularly young) who can't afford to buy in their local area. Holiday properties and lets are only occupied for certain parts of the year therefore don't contribute as much to the local economy.  

Environmental

There are many honey pot sites (a popular tourist attraction with large numbers of visitors) in the Lake District for example Keswick, Lake Windermere and Catbells. Large number of tourists can cause numerous environmental problems. 

Catbells is a small mountain which many visitors choose to climb. Tourists do not always walk on the path and migrate with the contours causing footpath erosion. 

Lake Windermere attracts 1 million tourists. It is very popular with windsurfers, powerboats and people wanting to ride the ferries. These boats can cause erosion of the shore due to the waves created, petrol leaks are not uncommon which can damage wildlife 

Many tourists also leave litter and damage property.  

Farming
Tourists often trample on crops and scare animals.

Lake Windermere: Source: BBC

  Management of the tourism in the Lake District 

• 10mph speed limit on Lake Windermere in 2005  to reduce the impact on reed beds, to reduce the noise to help others enjoy the lake and to reduce shore erosion.
• Car parks have been expanded and restricts put on parking areas, and verges fenced off.
• Educating the population with tourist leaflets and on the National Parks website on how to protect the fragile habitats
• The 'Upland Path Landscape Restoration Project (2002-2011)' resulted in the repair of 145 paths which involved in the repair of 145 paths which involved the creating steps, surfaces (stone pitching) and replanting native plants in areas of erosion.
• Litter bins are provided at popular sites
• Areas such as Ambleside has developed integrated transport hubs.
• Dual carriage ways have been built around the Lake District to get people in and out of the park as quickly as possible
• Farmers have diversified (gone into different businesses such as quad biking and paintballing.

  Use a case study of a tropical holiday destination to explain  mass tourism, the positive and negative effects of tourism on people and the environment and the strategies to cope with it.

Mass Tourism: tourism on a large scale to one country or region. This is linked to the development and consolidation stage of the Butlers Model.

Advantages and Disadvantages of mass tourism:

 

Case studies: Kenya

     Kenya is a popular tourist destination, it is famous if Safari, beautiful beaches, coral reefs, mountain sports and the Maasai Marra. Kenya enjoys a tropical climate. It is hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland and very dry in the north and northeast parts of the country.

     Kenya was one of the first LEDC countries to achieve mass tourism and in the 1970s and 1980s there was a rapid increase in the numbers of tourists, particularly following the release of the films Born Free and Out of Africa.

      

 

      Kenya is a less developed country and tourism is essential for foreign exchange. It can be used to buy goods abroad. Extra jobs such as waiters, receptionists are produced in the service industry. It can also increase jobs indirectly for example farming.

 

  

         Positives Impacts

• Tourism contributes 15% to the GNP of Kenya and provides 80% of foreign income.
• It is a major employer with around 220,000 people working in the industry. Tourism can offer people a way out of poverty.
• Money from tourism can be used to help build schools and infrastructure
• Money from tourism can be reinvested into the the protection of the environment
• Tourism resulted in the creation of 23 National Parks which protect the environment.
• The culture and customs of the native Maasai Marra Tribe are preserved through people paying money to view these

 

 

               Negative Impacts

 

·         Foreign companies take the profits from their investments.

·         Local religious and cultural centres can become shopping centres for souvenirs

·         Large hotels can be unsightly

 

·         Habitats are destroyed by building tourists resorts for example the coral reefs by scuba divers and boats anchors

·         Borrowed money for infrastructure increases the countries debts

·         most people book their holidays at home reducing the amount of money coming to locals

·         Local cultures are westernized

·         Minibus drivers often take short cuts across land causing soil erosion

·         The Maasai tribes people were forced off their land to create National Parks

·         Muslim people in Kenya were offended by the way tourists dressed

·         Balloon rides scared animals from the shadows and sounds of the burners.

      Management of tourism

 

        National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Areas
 

        National Parks such as Amboseli National Park were set up in the 1970s to protect the animals within the park for tourism. The parks had problems such as soil erosion. Fewer tourists then visited the park. The problem was recognized and in 1996 a Wildlife Conservation Area was set up with the aim to protect the environment and bring greater benefits to local people. The idea was that small areas outside of the park would be leased to eco-tourism companies, each would be allowed to build just one hotel. They had to buy local produce, employ local people and use local resources in a sustainable way.

http://www.naturalhighsafaris.com/explore/kenya/kimana-wildlife-sanctuary 

 

 

     Baobab Farm - restoring the damaged environment and creating a wildlife habitat

     Hotels and the Bamburi Portland Cement Company (which quarries coral limestone)   cleared huge areas of vegetation. This created a lunar landscape. The cement company employed Dr. Haller to try to restore the environment. to do this he:

• planted Casuarina trees (able to grow in the harsh conditions)
• added thousands of red millipedes to break down the large number of fallen leaves.
• planted indigenous grasses
• added worms
• added insects birds and herbivores

In doing this 20 years later the area had become a tropical rainforest. This area not only was beneficial for the environment it also became a sustainable commercial venture. The Baobab Farm allows schools to visit the area fro education in the morning, tourists visit in the afternoons, it sells rice and fruit and the farm now includes a fish farm and crocodile hatchery.

 

Watch Case Study Kenya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAeMDdIQFRo

 

Use a case study of an extreme holiday destination to explain what attracts people and the impacts.
 

Some people aren't content with just having a sunny holiday on the beach. They like to do some thing more EXTREME! This could be hiking in the Himalayas, rafting etc. Extreme environments are the ideal location for this type of holidays.

 

People visit extreme destinations because: - 

• They like the element of risk
• Some wildlife can only be seen in certain extreme climates e.g. Polar bears in the Artic
• To see scenery that not many other people have seen before like ice bergs
• To see locations which may not exist soon due to global warming
• It has become easier to get to these locations due to improvements in transport.  

 

 

Case Study: Antarctica

The Antarctic is the area which covers the south pole. It is a frozen wilderness with no permanent habitants.

Antarctica's first tourist arrived in 1958, however, very few tourists visited the area in those days. Today, thanks to increasing numbers of cruise ships, about 28,000 tourists visit the continent every year. This has tripled in the last 15 years.

there are 100 tourist operators now working taking people to Antarctica. Most tourists are from the USA (38.9%)  the second larges is the UK (15%). Tourists from these countries will often fly to New Zealand or Argentina and then take a cruise ship for 1/2 weeks often starting at the Antarctica Peninsula.

 

Impacts of tourism

 

• Animals such as penguins are disturbed
• Accidents where ships have crashed into uncharted rocks has damaged the wildlife and ecosystems e.g. MS Explorer, 2007 which had a fuel spill.
• Tourists can trample planets
• Tourists drop litter
• There are fears of invasion species (those that are introduced by accident from the ships) will lead to the extinction of local species.

 

Watch: http://www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk/downloads/cc8_planeland.html

 

Protecting Antarctica

 

The Artic Treaty

 

Early Southern Ocean explorers, sealers and whalers claimed for their countries the islands closest to Antarctica as they discovered them in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Once expeditions began to discover the Antarctic continent, they too claimed the parts they saw. Seven Antarctic territorial claims still exist today.

 

 

International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators

 

The IAATO has a separate code of conduct which most of the 100 tour operators follow. The rules state that: -

 

there are strict limits - no ship can land on Antarctica that carries over 500 passengers 

nothing can be left behind

tourists must be kept in their groups

animals should not be disturbed

waste must be disposed on biologically or it must be kept on board the ships

 

 

There are however worries that one day the limits will be loosened and unsustainable numbers of tourists will land on the continent.

 

 

 To understand the idea of stewardship and how eco-tourism can be used to develop tourism sustainably

Tourism today is increasingly seen as being damaged to the environment, society and culture. (see positives and negatives of mass tourism)

Conservation- protecting and managing the environment for future generations.

Stewardship: - taking personal responsibility for conserving the environment on a large scale.

Ecotourism - is tourism which is environmentally friendly, benefits the economy and local people. It is usually on a small scale with only a few visitors staying in the area to keep the impact low. Local people will often work in the hotel and use local produce.  

 

Benefits: -

• Local people are encouraged to look after the environment to attract tourists for example it is better to look after the animals for tourism than to poach them.
• the projects often try to use renewable energy  and the projects use local food which reduces transportation costs and the amount of fossil fuels being burnt. Burning fossil fuels can lead to global warming.
• creates jobs for local people who can then spend the money in the local economy
• the money from the ecotourism can be used to build schools, hospitals and other infrastructure which is beneficial to the community.
• People have a more stable income than from farming 

 

Sustainable development -improving the quality of life of people whilst protecting resources and the environment for future generations.  Eco-tourism can help the sustainable development of an area.

 

Ecotourism Case Study: Galapagos Islands

There are 50 volcanic islands. These are incredibly fragile environments which are very important in terms of biodiversity worldwide. They became the first Unesco World Heritage site in 1979.

Tourists arrive in small numbers on small ships which are strictly monitored. The boats must restrict numbers and are only allowed onshore at specific locations. The tour boats are owned by locals and take just 10 - 16 tourists each day. The tourists are given expert information to ensure they don't cause damage. These trips cost around £800 for a week holiday the Galapagos Conservation Trust receives £25 from each visitor to pay for conservation.

Exam Questions

1. What is stewardship? (1 mark) 
2. Outline the reasons why a city attracts tourists. (2 marks) 
3. Give two features of the Development stage of the Butler's model. (2 marks) 
4. For a tourist area in the UK identify which stage of the Butler's model. Give reasons for your answer. (4 marks )
5. Describe the negative effects of mass tourism. (4 marks) 
6. Describe the positive effects of mass tourism on a tropical area. (4 marks)
7. Describe how eco-tourism can benefit future generations. (4 marks)
8. Use a case study to explain the tropics attracts a large number of tourists. (8 marks) 
9. Explain how either a National Park or UK tourist resort has maintained the tourist industry. (8 marks)
10. Describe the impacts of tourism on an extreme environment. (8 marks)
11. Describe how a named extreme environment copes with an increasing number of tourists. (8 marks)