Aspects of Leading Tourist Destinations Assignment

Program	Diploma in Travel and Tourism
Unit Number and Title	Aspects of Leading Tourist Destinations
QFC Level	Level 4

Introduction

Travel and hospitality sector is the most fast growing sector. In recent years there have been a lot of changes in the sector of tourism. in aspects of leading yourist destinations assignment I have learnt about the various aspects of the leading destination like UK , Europe , USA  to that of that developing nation like Cuba , Costa Rica , Thailand etc . I have also discussed about the latest issues which is affecting the tourist destinations in recent years.

Task 1

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

Tourist destination is mainly based on the combination of different attractions which are used for attracting the tourists from around the world to the destination. The attractions can be historical, natural, cultural, etc. tourists attractions can also be of different rides, games, activities which are used for the amusement of the tourists. By establishing or adding different attractions or preserving the attractions which are have historical, cultural importance, the government bodies of different countries to increase the tourist arrivals within the destination and generate more revenues to con tribute within the nation’s economy. (Yang, 2012) Considering the tourists arrivals and the income which has been made by the tourism business and the arrivals of domestic as well as foreign tourism France, USA, Spain, China, Italy UK has made their presence in the top rankings of the Tourism Barometer of United Nations World Tourism Organisation as tourism destinations. These rankings are considered by analysing the revenue generation by the expenditures of the outbound tourism as well as inbound tourism. Though Europe has different and major aspects and several tourism attractions UK has placed itself in the 8^th place in the ranking.

Destinations	Significance
France	The direct contribution of  travel and tourism  of France was EUR77.1bn which is the 3.6% of total GDP in the year of 2014. Total contribution was 8.9% of GDP considering EUR191.4bn in the same year. In 2014 the tourism of France supported 9.9% of the total employment directly which were counted as 2,714,000 jobs. The visitors’ exports have generated EUR45.5bn in 2014 which has been counted as the 7.5% of the total exports. (wttc.org, 2015)
USA	It has been considered as one of the largest industry which has been creating a large contribution in the economy of USA. In 2014 the tourism of USA has contributed 1.47 trillion U.S dollars to the GDP. It has been forecasting the contribution would be 25 trillion U.S. dollars by 2025. The direct contribution was US$ 458 billion in the GDP. It has been considered as the 2.6% of the GDP. The tourism has been the largest employer in 29 states within USA as it has been supporting 5,302,000 jobs in 2014 which has been 3.6% of the total employment. (statista.com., 2016).
China	In 2014 year total arrival was 26.3608 million by foreigners. Among these 20.8127 spend night. These have increased the foreign contribution in the revenues to 9.84%. The total amount as total USD 35.126 billion. Asian countries are the largest share of the tourists’ arrivals. 16.3515 visitors were from Asian countries. Nest largest share in this respect was Europe sending 5.4841 visitors. In 2015 china had 120 million tourists in outbound tourism. The number has increased than 2014 to 12% spending 104.5 billion US$. (travelchinaguide.com., 2014).
UK	This destination has 36.115 million total visits in 2015. The foreign visits contributed US$22.072 billion. Tourism of UK is the largest employer as it has been supporting 9.5% of the total employment in UK. In 2014 it has generated £121.1bn which is 7.1% of the total GDP. There are 265,000tourism businesses in the UK. 70% of the tourism and hospitality services of UK have been employing 10 people. More than 74% of the people who are working in this sector are British. The night was contributing 11.39 million and the longer strays are contributing 14.85 million in the tourism visits. (tourismalliance.com., 2016).
Spain	Tourism of Spain has direct contribution 5.6% of the total GDP which is considered as EUR58.8bn in 2014. Expected forecast on the contribution has been schedules as EUR76.2bn in 2015, considering rise to 3.3%. Total contribution in GDP in the year of 2014 was EUR161.0bn. The tourism has been directly supporting the employment of Spain by supporting 870,000 jobs and the total employment was 2,652,500 jobs. (wttc.org., 2015).

1.2 analyse statistics to determine tourism destination trends and predict future trends

The changes in environment and the emerging changes in the current trends are impacting over the trends in the tourism and its destinations. The tourism businesses are analysing the current changes in order adapt the potential activities and strategies with the purpose to predict the future trends. The statistical adapt, market analysis are done in order to have the future insight of the market changes and changes in the trends. The destinations and the current trends are impacting over the tourism industry. (Yang, 2012)

Considering the destination UK there are different trends as well as the key drivers which are impacting over the current trends and future predictions. The destination is considered as the most cultural destination having several cultural aspects which are attracting different tourists from all over the world. The destination is the main attraction for its leisure tourism products and offerings. (Yang, 2012) Considering the current trends in the market the preferences over the accommodation, food and drink, shopping and other services, entertainment are the main attractions. These trends have been lifting the export from international tourism US$ 1.5 trillion in 2014. In the real terms it has been increased to 3.7%. Europe is receiving 41% of the worldwide international tourism recipients. It has been seeing the increase of the arrivals and the purpose in absolute terms, which raise the US$ 17 billion to US$509 billion. America has seen the increase of US$10 billion to the total of US$274 billion. (e-unwto.org., 2016) The current trends of the tourism by purpose are increasing in the leisure sector rather than in the VFR and business purpose. In the current situation of the market the tourists prefer the destinations for their leisure purposes.

With the increase rate of the lower cost airlines the current mode of transport to the destination has been impacted by the airlines growth of the LCC airlines groups. More people prefer the lower cost charters rather than the transport through train or bus. This has been impacting over the transport modes which are available within the destination. By understanding these aspects the government of UK has been spending more on the growth of the lower cost airlines. (Yang, 2012)

Considering the China it has been the fastest growing source market which is the top spender. In 2014, Chinese travellers have spent a record of US$ 165 billion abroad, which has been counted as the exceptional 27% increase over the year of 2013. Over the last two decades the Chinese outbound tourism has been growing with fast pace with the rise in the disposable incomes, improved travel facilitation, appreciating currency, easing of the restrictions on the foreign travel etc. (e-unwto.org., 2016)

Forecast on the long term tourism:

The future prediction on the tourism growth can be understood through the identification of the emerging current trends and their future impact. The most influencing trend which is changing the operations of the tourism business is the modification of the technologies as well as the distribution processes. (Yang, 2012) With the introduction of the e-commerce and the technological implementation in the business the demands in the tourism have been changing over years. The increasing demands of the inline tour operators or the tour portals are changing the modes of offerings by the tour business. The emerging markets are another concern for the destinations. The increase in the international tourist’s arrivals in the emerging economic destinations like Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa are doubling the contribution in the economic scale. (e-unwto.org., 2016)

Task 2

2.1 analyse the cultural, social and physical features of tourist destinations explaining their appeal to tourists

Every destination has different features which are playing the major part in attracting the tourists or completing the tourism product offerings. Destinations compose of different features like cultural, physical; natural which are adding values in tourism attractions of the destination. These features are impacting over the interests of the tourists as well as in increasing the number of the tourists. Different features within the destination makes the destination appealing to the tourists. These include the destination itself, the customers’ ability to access the destination, different features of the destination etc. (Xiang, Gretzel,2010)

Cultural features of destination: destinations are moist approached by the tourists for the cultural aspects of that destination. The cultural features consist of traditional religion, beliefs, different cuisines, historical impacts and the historical reflections in different buildings, etc are the important factors which are impacting over the traveller’s interests. The community, their behaviours, population of the area or the destination, different artefacts, crafts which can be used for adding cultural values in the tourism products are the components of the tourism. Through these products the motivation of the tourists can be increased. These products or the components of the cultures of tourism are the carriers of the values of the community. (Costa, 2006)

Cultural features of UK: UK has placed itself in the 8^th position of world ranking of top tourism by offering its richest cultural aspects to the world. It has gained its position as the popular cultural destination. Britain has been considered in the tourism world for its world class culture and heritage. There are different features which are increasing its value in cultural tourism. Art galleries, opera houses, museums are preserving the reflections of the cultural artefacts and arts. There are different museums in UK such as natural historical museums, Victoria and Albert museums, British museums, science museums, nation gallery of London, Bristol city museums etc are the representation of the cultural aspects of UK. These galleries and the theatres are the presenting the music and the arts of different ages as well as the literatures of Britain. Most of the visits in the UK have been dependent on the cultural and heritage features of the destination. (visitbritain.org, 2016)

UK has been ranking as the 3^rd in the contemporary cultural destination, gaining 5^th position for the historical buildings and achieving the 6^th position for the  cultural heritage  out of 50 nations. (visitbritain.org, 2016)

In order to have more visitors and increasing the tourism capacity over these cultural tourism and heritage spots the government of UK has been considerably spending over the preservations and the conservation of these sites and buildings. There are different buildings which has been placed within the list of UNESCO cultural and heritage sites. Cultural features of Nepal: Nepal has been considered as the land of thousand temples as there are wide range of temples reflecting the cultural values of Buddhism and Jainism. These temples are carrying the complex cultural mixer and cultural values of Hinduism and Buddhism for thousand years. Different dynasties monarch and the impact of those historical aspects are the main attraction of this destination. These cultural significances are protected by UNESCO and the temples and artefacts are being considered as the world cultural heritage sites. 

Physical features of destinations: the physical features of a destination have been adding the values for in the tourism product. Different landscapes and the natural features are the components in the physical features for the destinations. In recent scenario the diverse features within the geographical landscape are attracting most tourists for the adventures tourism. Having diversity within the natural features the destinations of different countries are attracting different kinds of tourists and foreign expenditure in the tourism.

UK’s physical features:

Nepal’s physical features:

There are different features in the tourism of Britain. The destination has diversity in the physical features which are essential for attracting the tourists from different parts of the world. Beaches, mountains, different natural resources are adding values in UK’s tourism product. There are different Isles in UK which are the main attraction for the foreign tourists. Jurassic Coast, Brimham Rocks, Trotternish Peninsula etc are the different natural attractions of UK.  (VisitBritain, 2016)

As teh destination has been situated in teh border of China and India it mainly consists of different valleys and mountains. With the eight of the ten highest peaks in the world this place is mainly attracting the adventure tourism. The natural sites like Pokhara and Chitwan national park, peaks like Annapurna are attracting foreign tourists in the destination. (manythingstodoin.com., 2012).

Social features of destinations: social features of the destination reflect its social value, community, educational level, values in the social life, etc. The social life styles, community lives, community groups, the welcoming behaviours of the community groups, diversity n the social components are the social values of tourism.

UK social features:	Nepal’s social features:
The social attraction within the UK tourism is dependent on the historical impact over the social lifestyles of UK.	The destination Nepal has impact of traditional features within the social lives and community. There are linguistic groups and ethnic groups in the Nepal community. Their unique costumes and different languages are attractions of the tourism. The soil lives of Nepal have been impacted by the Indian and Tibetan culture. (nepallink.com, 2016).

Task 3

Compare the appeal of current leading tourist destinations with that of currently developing tourist destinations. (3.1)

Destinations play an important role in role marking a well defined mark in today’s world. As they say watching live is worth a million words. The destination which I have chosen as leading is UK which consists of several beautiful places and developing destination is chosen as Costa Rica

• London (UK): A beautiful city and the most famous among entire United Kingdom and the most visited places among the travellers. In 2014, there was an estimation which projected about 9 million visitors from entire globe. London is always in the victory line when it comes in tourist destination. It is charmed with beautiful museums and the most treasured being the London Bridge, the most historic of all. The next being is getting a wonder ride in double Decker bus across the river Thames. The average number of tourist which is being estimated in London is about 9 million but there was a decline in the year 2001 due to hike in the government policies and caused to decline in the number of tourism , but after the winter Olympics in 2012 , the tourism took a head gear again
• Scotland: Embarked with beautiful lush green fields, this place makes one of the most spectacular places where the tourists visit numerously. The average number of visitors estimated is about more than 80 thousand a year. The famous is the rich amount of castles around the green fields making it more appealing to its tourists.
• Cuba (developing): Cuba is the most flourishing destination which is able to set a mark with some years. It is the blend of culture, sophistication which has made it made to properly coordinate with natural history. Havana being the most elegant place has made it possible to depict the cultural aspect in every place. The city cathedrals are well versed with antics, making Havana all the precious. Cuban government has made efforts and has bear the fruit in making the most renowned developing tourist destination with a time span of 6 years attracting millions of tourist around the globe .

Evaluate how characteristics of a tourist destination affect its appeal (3.2)

It is very important that the travellers get a feeling of being happy and getting and true sense of appeal.  The destination which is chosen is mainly Cuba.

Cuba: Cuba, a land of dreams, which is being surrounded by crystal blue water making it more, appealing to all travellers. Cuba being situated at the centre of the Caribbean island has made tremendous effect to build it in a beautiful way. Due to its vast popularity over the years, there has been possible existence of beautiful resorts like existence of eco – tourism , existence of transportation , proper sanitation etc this has made the investors to empower a huge amount of money .

Havana the most beautiful place is famous for the beautiful ancient culture, the ever beautiful architecture which makes a long lasting effect on the tourist making it more appealing. It has lots of museums which have helped in the development of such colony to a great extent.  Cuba is marked with beautiful beaches, making Cuba on the of attractive places in recent years. The tourists tend to visit Cuba much more rather than the leading destinations. Deco being one of the appealing architecture is found to attract many tourists. (Xiang, Gretzel,2010)

Organisation: The Cuban government has always made it sure, that their place is always being made clean and the sanitation and hygiene factor is very important. A lot of capital is being invested by the other companies in order to make it a better over the years. Cuban government has collaborated with various vendors with the prospects of new invest into the place, which has proved to be a boon in the developing destination.

Place to visit:

• The most famous being Havana, which is depicted with immense culture and architecture.
• The 2^nd being Trinidad, a place cultivated with natural scenery, the waterfalls, caves etc.
• Cayo Coco, is the most beautiful and famous coral reef, which has a magnificent r view.
• Jibacoa, a beautiful river which is famous for scuba diving, paragliding, snorkelling etc.
• The forest areas of Guantanamo, which is engrossed with natural produce of the cotton wool and the sugarcane.

Increase in the monetary aspect: Here has been a tremendous increase in the growth rate of economic structure of cub a, resulting in about more than 6.7% increase in the total GDP from 2014 to an increase of 8.3%  in 2015. So this is due to more demand in this destination. This has resulted in the creation of more jobs. And the amount has increased from 4.55 in 2014 to about 6. 75 % in 2015. Moreover the investors are readily trying to invest in Cuba more and more , after looking at the numbers of tourists visiting , making Cuba a profitable area .

Eco – tourism: Cuba, being a developing tourist place, has being establishing in a very strategic manner. This kind of eco – tourism has actually helps a lot of persons, to catch a breath of fresh air. Mostly doctors prescribe for eco – tourism places which tend to attract for people for its go green feature.

Thus Cuba is a developing tourist destination which has helped in the proper functioning of the place, in recent years due to efforts of Cuban government; it has managed to attract millions of tourist within a short span of time.

Task 4

Analyse issues that affect the popularity of tourist destinations (4.1).

In today’s world there are some various negative aspects that highly affect the tourist in visiting certain places. There are a lot of threats that has been imparted in this field of tourism, and have affected the destination and the sector to a high amount.

The main issues can be described as follows:

Lessening of natural resources: There has been over the years a widespread of depletion in our own natural assets which has a tremendous negative effect on the tourists as well as in this sector .They are as follows:

• Pollution
• Solid waste
• Sewage system.

Natural disasters: Disasters can have a huge negative effect on the tourists visiting as well the destinations. The natural disasters are as follows:

• Tornado:There are long lasting effects of the disasters which has happened with the passage of time. These disasters have tremendously affected the tourist, the destinations, the economy etc.  A tornado can readily sweep a place within one second and the after effect can be devastating leaving the destinations in an unwanted manner. This heavily impacts the tourism sector since, it generally lots of time of rebuild a destination to its original form. (Alegre, Garau,,2010)
• Volcanoes: At one point, it looks wonderful to watch a eruption but in reality it has a negative effect on the destination, an volcanic eruption is the most dreaded of all times, because one cannot predict its occurrence.  It has a positive and negative , people loves visiting the places of volcanic existence but at the same time the effects can be very devastating too e.g.: Caribbean island Montserrat is one the most active volcanoes which can erupt at any point of time.
• Earthquakes and tsunami: Earthquakes and tsunami are the most widespread now a day tends to affect the global tourism to a great extent.  Japan, a land of active volcanoes, where most active is mounts Sakurajima. Earthquakes has a long lasting effect on the travellers they tend to avoid the places which are earthquake prone or tsunami prone. e.g.: like the tsunami at Indonesia which swayed away millions of lives, people, location etc .
• forest fires and flood: The forest fires are quite eminent in many places and have caused huge to a destination, this can be a high impact on the popularity of a place.

Outbreak of diseases: Tourists generally avoid those places where there have been any recent occurrences of any kind of diseases. Like in Africa due to outbreak of sudden in 2004, had a enormous effect on the people, taking the lives of millions of people. So the tourism of Africa faced a huge amount of loss.

Terrorism: Many people or tourists due to fear of terrorist attacks tend to tends to avoid these places.  In Europe after the terrorist attacks held in Paris people in many places are fearful, and to an extent avoiding parts. So this is affecting the business to a large extent.

Collapse in economic structure: As per the report in July 2015, it is mentioned that the rate of financial structure has seen a decline of about 12% in recent years. The travellers tend to be more cautious and which is letting a major downfall in the economic structure as well.

Loss in jobs: Due to this loss which occurs in such tourist destinations, have a high building effect on the livelihood of the people. People tend to lose their jobs, and they even have to close their shops for this negative effect. (Richards, 2013)

Discuss the potential for responsible tourism to enhance the host community at worldwide tourist destinations. (4.2)

Turkey:

Known as the cradle for many civilizations, is full of rich monuments and touched with archaeological arts and artefacts. Turkish culture is one the most preserved culture, which tends to attract millions of tourists from all over the world.

• The rich work of ceramics, the charms of pottery, the ever chanting jewels, dazzling coins, makes turkey one of the most happening place in this today’s world.
• The total contribution of turkey in the GDP in 2015 is about 12.5% which is about 2.99% change from 2014.and it is expected to increase to a higher level.
• The Turkish government has already devised a well fledged plan for its development over the past 5 years.( Prayag,2010)
• The most treasured historic structure is the temple of Pergamum and also trioa treasure are of the most few valued monuments which depicts the true Turkish culture.

Thailand:

The land of beautiful creation Thailand, a name in its own, The Thai culture is very much enchanting and is drawing a lot of population to its core. Thailand is famous for its rich Thai culture, which tends to attract millions of travellers the beautiful language having a different type of charm in its own.

• The people in Thailand tend to greet people in the form of “wai “
• There is presence of more than 100 Buddha sculptures which makes is more appealing towards the tourists.
• The government of Thailand has make several initiative and proposed plan about grooming the place into e- tourism
• Creating more jobs sector by planning a well defined plan
• The total GDP that has contributed to the place is about THB 347.1 bn in 2014 but it has a fair amount of increase of about 3.2% increase in 2015 and is expect to increase more by 2025.

Mexico: The cultural aspect of Mexico is being highly recognised by the UNESCO, as the richest site for binding the humanity of the Mexico with others. Thousands of tourists are visiting this Mexico due to its worldwide acclaimed position.

• Mariachi, a renowned song is being highly recognised in this area, people tend to get more attracted with these new kinds of cultural mixture.
• The Mexican government is making more plans to upgrade its plan on developing the place more and more.
• Being the 5tyh largest country in tourism, it is expect to reach about 20 million tourists by 2018 as expected by the Mexican tourist minister Claudia Ruiz Massieu.(Chen, Chen,2010)

Europe: One of the most beautiful and spectacular place in the entire world which attracts about million tourists al through the world. Europe consists of Paris, Italy London, Spain, Greece, and Amsterdam.

• With its breathtaking view, culture heritage attracts large number of tourists may be millions.
• The government over the years are making innovations to make Europe better, beautiful and attractive for the tourist.
• The GDP contributed in 2014 is about 7.2% in 2014 and it is expected to rise by 18% by 2025.

Conclusion:

In this Aspects of Leading Tourist Destinations Assignment I have learnt about how the various travel destinations can have different effect on the people. I have learnt that there has been for year segregation between the developed nation and the developing nation. It is quite evident that UK has been leading the charts for years as leading destination but with the advent of new places like Cuba, Costa Rica, Burma, etc the people are developing a larger affinity towards these newly developed nations.

Reference

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