Defining Tourism According to the World Tourism Organisation a tourist
can be be defined as a person “travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment”
The word tourism stems from the latin word ‘tornare’ which essentially means circle
The WTO identifies three different forms of tourism Domestic tourism where people travel within their own
country Inbound tourism where non-residents travel into the
country Outbound tourism where people travel to another
country
The Importance of TourismTourism plays an increasingly important role in
post-industrial society
Despite the economic downturn, instability in the Middle East and natural disasters in Japan international tourist arrivals grew by 4.4% in 2011 to a total of 980million
The tourist sector is responsible for 5% of the world’s GDP
In advanced and emerging economies one in every 12 people are employed in tourism related industries
Tourism in GlasgowAccording to Glasgow City Marketing Bureau
Glasgow attracts 2.3 million visitors per year
This generates around £600 million for the local economy
The majority of Glasgow’s overseas visitors (12%) come from the USA
In 2009/10 events supported by or managed by GCMB achieved an economic impact of £28.4 million for the city
The Grand Tour Tourism has always existed in some shape or form although
previously it was only accessible to the very wealthy
The Grand Tour refers to the travels of wealthy young men in Europe
This was seen as a rite of passage which was concerned with exposing members of the nobility to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent. ‘Tourists’ were often accompanied by a cicerone – a knowledgeable guide
A grand tour lasted anywhere between a few months to several years
Common places to visit on The Grand Tour included Paris, Switzerland, Barcelona, Turin, Florence, Venice and Rome
We Do Like to be Beside the Seaside…. The seaside had long been a popular tourist
destination with the upper and middle classes who visited spa towns such as Bath for their health benefits
The dirty, noisy and unhealthy environment of the industrial city meant that escaping to rural and seaside areas became increasingly attractive to the working classes
Thus, we saw the development of seaside resorts such as Blackpool
In Scotland, the Firth of Clyde offered an escape to workers in Glasgow who would go ‘Doon the Watter’
Thomas Cook and the Advent of the Package HolidayThe package holiday was first developed by
Thomas Cook who organised his first trip in 1841 where he arranged for a group of 540 campaigners to travel from Leicester to Loughborough
Essentially a package trip consists of travel and accomodation being sold as a package
Development of holiday camps such as Butlins
Foreign TravelWith the rise of the holiday resort in the UK the
middle and upper classes began to look further afield
The French Riviera and Spanish Costas became popular holiday destinations
The popularity of Nice as a holiday destination for the English led to its seafront being named the Promenade des Anglais
Mass TourismWith increases in disposable income, holiday
entitlement, advances in technology and the expansion of air travel travelling abroad became much more accessible to the mass population
As before, the working classes tended to follow in the footsteps of the upper and middle classes with destinations such as Spain becoming increasingly popular
This would mainly consist of the traditional package holiday
Tourism Today The world is getting smaller! Travel to almost
anywhere in the world is now a distinct possibility for many of us
Rise of low cost airlines and short city breaks
Decline of the package holiday
We want to tailor our own experiences
Rise of niche tourism
We seek out increasingly exotic destinations The student gap year
But we need to think about what we are looking for?
The Search for Authenticity? It could be suggested than we travel abroad we
are searching for an authentic experience
We want to experience the ‘real’ culture
But do we really?
It could be suggested that we often want to experience what we perceive to be an authentic experience
MacCannell (1973) refers to the notion of staged authenticity
Full Circle: the importance of tourism Many towns, cities and regions now rely on tourism
as a main driver of their economy
The benefits of tourism can be both direct and indirect Employment in hotels, restaurants, bars, etc Trickle down effect and support industries
But, following a tourism related development strategy can have its down sides Jobs are often seasonal and poorly paid Emergence of new destinations and increasing
competition Homogenisation of destinations?
Events: standing out from the crowdMany destinations play upon their history and
heritage to distinguish themselves
Events can have an important role to play here
Similarly, many cities such as Glasgow follow an events led development strategy as a means of raising their profile on a global level and attracting tourism
More of this from John in Week 10!
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