Comprehensive Report: Visitor Attraction Management in the UK Tourism

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of visitor attraction management within the UK tourism sector. It begins by examining the scope and importance of visitor attractions, differentiating between man-made and natural attractions and their overlapping influences. The report then delves into understanding visitor types, evaluating their needs, motivations, and the impacts of tourism on attractions, including both positive economic contributions and negative consequences like environmental degradation. Furthermore, it analyzes various theories of tourist motivation and their practical application in managing visitor attractions. The report also discusses the development processes and issues involved in visitor attraction management, including strategies to mitigate negative impacts and enhance sustainability. Finally, it evaluates different visitor management strategies and their impact on the sustainability of attractions, offering insights into effective practices for the tourism industry.

VISITOR ATTRACTION MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Understanding the scope and importance of visitor attractions..........................................3
1.1 Discussing the overlapping of visitor attractions in regard to the particular types of
attraction..................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Analysing the importance of different visitor attractions..................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................6
LO2 Understanding the visitor types, impacts and tourist motivation theories..........................6
2.1 Evaluating the needs and motivations of different visitor types........................................6
2.2 Evaluating impacts of tourism on visitor attractions.........................................................8
2.3 Analysing the effect of different theories of tourist motivation on the management of
visitor attractions.....................................................................................................................9
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................10
LO3 Understanding the issues that affect the development process in visitor attraction
management...............................................................................................................................10
3.1 Discussing the processes and issues involved in the development of visitor attractions 10
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................13
LO4 Understanding the application of management techniques and their impact on
sustainability..............................................................................................................................13
4.1 Analysing the different visitor management strategies...................................................13
4.2 Evaluating the management techniques in relation to sustainability...............................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
Attracting customer is one of the biggest activities that are undertaken by the tourism industry to
ensure that the tourism product and services can be developed. The current assignment aims to
understand the importance and prospect of attracting visitors to England in order to boost the
British tourism sector which can be able to benefit the economy of the country. The discussions
would include the overlapping attraction and their relation to the types of visitors and
accordingly helps in analysing the importance of the variety of visitor attractions present in and
around Britain. The assignment deals in depth analysis of the various theories of motivations that
allow the tourists to get interested in undertaking travel and tourism decisions. This can be done
by effectively evaluating the types of motivations and needs of the different categories of visitors
which will, in turn, be beneficial to evaluate the impact of visitor attraction on London's tourism
sector. The barriers and strategies to overcome the same will also be discussed in the current
assignment.
Task 1
LO1 Understanding the scope and importance of visitor attractions
1.1 Discussing the overlapping of visitor attractions in regard to the particular types of
attraction
The physical attributes and resources of a place are responsible for increasing the attraction of
site and this in influences the tourism sector of the UK or any other country for that matter. In
words of Dewhurst and Thwaites (2014, p.272), the main category of attraction can be classified
into two segments. These are namely the man-made attractions and the natural attractions. The
United Kingdom is blessed with a natural beauty and being a hub of learning for over many
centuries, the UK can boast about the man-made marvels which increase the attractiveness of the
region to the interested and potential tourists which is a positive aspect of the UK tourism
industry.
The natural beauty of United Kingdom is incredible and mysterious as well. They are surrounded
with mythologies and conspiracy theories involving giants and aliens. The serenity of Scotland
and beauty ofIreland have been recognised by many of the well-known modern as well as
historical contemporary poets. This attracts the tourist with the stories which are just too good to
be ignored and thus, the tourists can find their peace, relaxation, experience and knowledge that
they desire in England. These heritage sites have become the hub of activities which can engage
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the travellers and do away with their inhibitions, ignorance and change their perceptions been
able to inspire and awe people are namely the Madam Tussauds wax museum, the Big Ben, the
eye of London and not to mention the numerous palaces, churches and monoliths of modern art
that catch the eye of the tourists. If the tourist is staying in London, there are chances that the
person would avail the public transport or commute the distance by foot (Leask et al. 2014,
p.471). This allows them to enjoy the delights of being in London. These tourists also look to get
away to more laidback and rusty environments and this presents the case of the monoliths and
churches that have myths, legends and conspiracies to them. These attributes have a special
attraction for the people who are interested in visiting these spots. The overall quality of service
that a hospitality sector provides are also effective lures to attract the customers. Amusement
parks, pubs and cafes allow the enjoy the pleasant atmosphere due to the unpredictable weather.
There is more to that than meets the eye. The castles and the Queen themselves are awe inspiring
which and are of historical significance to the British society and United Kingdoms.
Irrespective of the type of tourists that visit the United Kingdom, after achieving the primary
objective, everyone partially becomes a leisure or backpacking tourist and hence, there is an
overlapping of the tourist attractions. These overlaps have a positive as well as negative affect.
According to Connell et al. (2015, p.287), all the places have something in common, the ability
to pull masses of individuals who come with a mind to relax and have a thrilling experience. All
that is required is that the organisation involved with these sites be able to provide a platform to
allow the consumers to interact with the system. This allows the overall development of the
system which in turn is responsible for bringing economic revenues after the Brexit. The
physical landscape, the ecosystem as well as the climatic factors play a very significant role in
attracting customers.
1.2 Analysing the importance of different visitor attractions
The tourism perspectives of the country are responsible for providing jobs to the community
which allows the profits of the business to be used to run it. The visitors have certain demands
when they come to a place and attractions helps to satisfy that need. The prospect domestic
tourism also quite bright as the local community members can be influenced to take part in
travelling activities to know the beauty of mankind and nature (Wang et. al. 2016, p.312). These
aspects of visitor attraction are what makes the sector of travel and tourism so exciting and
thrilling. However, the main focus is always to attract the foreign tourist.
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The average night stay period can be effectively used to analyse the amount of attraction the UK
tourism and deduce a number of key tourism insights which can be helpful to better understand
the needs of the tourists as they average to 500 pounds per visit. The number of visitors has over
the time decrease but has been balanced out by the increased spending. The climatic condition of
UK is just like a lady’s temperament, it changes and the wet summers have been a reason for
thedecrease in footfall (Ram et al. 2016, p.112). The largest number of tourists who visit London
are from USA and Germany. This sizeable number of tourists helps the UK to promote its social
heritage and get revenue in return.
The local residents also contribute a significant amount to travel and tourism and the domestic
tourism has been boosted with cost effective and quality services which have influenced the
people to spend more. In words of Beritelli et al. (2014, p.405), the other great impact of visitor
attraction is that enables the governing establishments to renovate and regenerate attraction in
areas which help in strengthening the UK economy. When visitors visit a site of attraction the
interaction with the local community enables and promotes the exchange of culture which allows
the tourists to understand their hosts better. Hence, visitor attraction plays a crucial role in
conserving the natural and manmade beauty of the country and developing the same enables
them to profit from the same.
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Task 2
LO2 Understanding the visitor types, impacts and tourist motivation theories
2.1 Evaluating the needs and motivations of different visitor types
Incentive tourists These kinds of individuals are the luckiest persons in the world as
they receive tour package from the company in form of incentive
which would enable to be more dedicated to their world or just as
a reward for their good work. The end desirable outcome is
motivating the individual.
Health or medical tourist Britain is one of the leading health experts in this knowledge is
available to everyone nowadays by means of internet. The
tourist's primary objective to attain quality healthcare which may
be unavailable in their own regions.
Business tourists These tourists undertake travel in order to conduct business
activities and functions which would allow them to expand and
grow their own business venture. Since London is one the
business hubs of the global corporate sector, these kinds of
tourists are frequent to visit London.
Educational tourists The sole aim of these tourists is to gain the educational
knowledge pertaining to the particular place they are travelling to
and hence, their main aim is to increase their academic
knowledge. Since the UK is filled with sites of historical
importance, these kinds of tourists are also welcomed in the UK.
Adventure tourists These tourists look forward to the adrenaline rush which is the
main reason for them to undertake tourism activities and sincethe
UK is filled with scope for adventure sports, this kind of tourists
are also welcome.
Cultural tourists The main attraction of these tourists is to gain the cultural
experience and UK has a host of cultural attractions which
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spellbound these types of tourists.
Religious tourists These tourists travel on alimited budget in order to travel sites of
religious significance. England is full of catholic monoliths and
churches which attract visitors from all over the globe.
Sports and recreational
tourists
These tourists travel mainly to participate in some sort of sporting
events. Football and cricket stadiums have been attraction major
sports fans for a long time.
Backpacking tourists These tourists like to travel with minimum luggage, very little
responsibility and are mainly young individuals. They are a
passionate lot who love the excitement and pleasure associated
with travelling.
Eco-tourists These tourists are attracted to the natural beauty of the place and
since the UK has a very scenic landscape, their wishes can be
fulfilled comprehensively.
Leisure tourists These tourists undertake travelling in order to get away from the
mundane existence of their lives and the UK is a great spot to
chill out and take a break.
Tourists with special
interests
These tourists are passionate about a variety of things such as
fishing or bird watching which can be easily provided to by the
UK tourism sector.
Table 2: Types of tourists
(Source: Albrecht, 2014, p.1068)
The market segments are divided by demographic, geographic and psychographic boundaries. In
geographic segmentation, the tourists are classified and categorised on the basis of their
geographic origin. In demographic segmentation, the tourists and travellers are categorised
according to age, ethnicity, gender, education and income level along with size of household and
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the situation existing in the family. In psychographic segmentation, the customers are categorised
on the basis of their lifestyle choices, priorities as well as interests.
2.2 Evaluating impacts of tourism on visitor attractions
The impact of tourism is kind of like a double edge sword which has its own pros and cons. The
tourism industry is responsible for strengthening the economy of the country by providing job
provisions to the local community which helps in increasing the income of the local as well as
national economy. In words of Lawton and Weaver (2015, p.671), this also ensures that the rural
community services such as buses, shops and post offices are preserved. One other significant
impact of tourist attraction is that the number of demand for local cuisines and delicacies have
increased and since most of the tourists come to enjoy the serenity of English counties and
towns, there is more focus on sustainable and conservative approach.
The negative impacts of the visitor attraction are a notorious list. The tourists are responsible for
littering and disrupting community hygiene standards. there have been increased instances of
tourist nuisances such as fires, disorderly conduct and vandalism. The level of traffic has
significantly increased after the UK started attracting tourers. The local shops have begun
serving tourists with the justification that serving tourists is the primary objective thus
disregarding the needs of the local customers. Increased demand of foreign tourists has curbed
domestic tourism as prices skyrocket seasonally (Fang et al. 2016, p.500).
2.3 Analysing the effect of different theories of tourist motivation on the management of
visitor attractions
The UK has every asset that can attract the visitors and this means that the governing bodies
need to account for the consequences of having motivated customers. The understanding of the
process where the needs evolve into motivation which influences the behaviour as well as the
expectation of the people. Thus, expectancy theory can be effectively used in order to understand
the tourist motivations and thus improve the management of the visitor's attractions
(Weidenfeldet al. 2014, p.178). The theoretical level of the framework such as Maslow’s theory
of needs can incorporate these theories in order to investigate the needs and identify what factors
influence them to take cognitive actions and decision-making process.
The Maslow’s hierarchy of need can be very effectively used in order to identify and prioritise
the needs and demands of the tourists. In words of Benur and Bramwell (2015, p.221), the
tourists need to be responsible for their own well-being and the host will provide with any need
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necessary if the individual is wronged. The consumer also needs to be smart in order to manage
their finances so as take care of the little things that make a trip memorable.
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Task 3
LO3 Understanding the issues that affect the development process in visitor attraction
management
3.1 Discussing the processes and issues involved in the development of visitor attractions
The change of the world demographics has severely affected the development of tourist
attraction management. Few of the key issues that can be faced as barriers in the development
process are inability to understand the expectations of the travellers, insufficient effort to
formulate more cohesive planning and marketing campaigns, development of local communities,
attracting and retaining employees in tourism industry, building a tourism-based infrastructure
which can be used to provide efficient integrated services that can benefit by broadening the
scope of sustainable tourism and the best practices of the same (Waligo et al. 2013, p.347).
These issues need to be addressed as modifying the same would either boost the visitor attraction
management or lag it.
It is necessary to understand the traveller’s expectation in order to assess the demographic shift
that has influenced the demand for services. England has been the choice of many travellers as
they recognise the place and are attracted to it. In words of Hartmann (2014, p.167), a varied
range of population is currently visiting the UK and these individuals require their demands to be
fulfilled in order to drop in a good review because nowadays reputation speaks of services. The
changing travel patterns of the globalised world is also one the key factors that are crucial to take
into consideration in order to manage the customer attraction. The current generation of tourists
is very knowledgeable thanks to the imploding technological advancement which has enabled
everyone to access information at their fingertips (Wang and Xu, 2014, p.97).
The geographical, cultural, as well as lingual landscape of the UK, have been identified to be
highly attractive for foreign tourists and this makes it highly appealed destination for the
travellers. The governing bodies need to understand that tourism planning can be prioritised by
capitalising the history as well as the differentiating characteristics if the place and while some
locales are still emerging there are places where tourism has flourished and helped in
establishing a thriving economic venture for the locals (Dickinson et al. 2014, p.87). The public
and private organisations need to collaborate with each other in order to understand the needs of
the consumers and accordingly devise strategies that can be helpful to formulate a cohesive
campaign for marketing.
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England is full of castles and this asset can be used to develop a conservative strategy which
would help in establishing a good management. The castles that can be renovated stand to
provide a chance to increase customer satisfaction as everyone dreams to sleep in a castle in a
majestic bed and this wish can be realised by undertaking refurbishing projects that can increase
the value as well as the attraction of the property. However, as observed by (Vu et al. 2015,
p.226), natural acts. Increasing prices of real estates, high upkeep and environmental impact of
running a castle are too high and this means that an effective planning must be in place in order
to develop the royal style of tourism.
The scope of domestic tourism is very high in the UK. Scotland, Ireland and the Welsh states of
the country have every physical resource which takes away the breath of those who are lucky to
experience it (Alazaizeh et al. 2016, p.151). The same can be effectively promoted to the foreign
tourists in order to maintain a tourism related trade and economic equilibrium all over the
country and by exposing the travellers to the multitude shades and hues of the UK culture, the
crowd attraction can be managed. However, problems like growing racial discrimination, slow
economic growth and losing the trust of the citizens can be critical in maintaining visitor
attraction.
Travel and tourism industry is a labour-intensive sector and hence it is critical to attracting
quality workforce who can be retained for a moderate period of time. As mentioned by Bryce et
al. (2015, p.577), the growing unemployment levels can be tackled by the government if they
plan correctly to create a number of job opportunities which will be able to ease of the growing
discontent among the locals. The tourism market is itself fragmented and seasonal, to be honest,
and this means that there is a potential of high employability for varied streams of jobs. The
options provide entry level jobs as well. All these variables have allowed the labour market to
attain a dual characteristic which is a combination of core and peripheral workforce. This is
acritical issue that always influences the development of customer attraction management as
there are not enough individuals to take care of the needs of the customers simultaneously (Cong
et al. 2014, p.304).
The tourism sector is already recognised as one of the money-making opportunity for the
national government and this means that it is required to perform investment activities in the
tourism infrastructure which allows improving the overall quality of the public infrastructure.
This also helps in standardising regulations which the travel and tourism organisations need to
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adhere to and allows in effectively collecting, processing and disseminating information to those
who require it. The participation of the government can effectively use to redirect policies that
benefit tourism infrastructure because it is a known fact that the enjoyment or for that matter
success of travel and tourism requires very high levels of infrastructure and support system (Wu
et al. 2014, p.97).
Apart from accommodation another critical element of travel and tourism is transportation
system which is effective and economic as well. The normal middle class of tourists do not have
enough money to take a flight as the rich people can. The issue of accessibility of local attraction
sites needs to be taken up with the stakeholders and by undertaking consultation and review,
there can be formulation of new legislations which allow the tourists to have certain leeway and
benefits of using public transport which not only boosts the economy of the transportation
department but also enhances the probability of satisfying the customer and promoting a
sustainable behaviour among the tourists (Zhang et al. 2016, p.421).
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