TOURIST DESTINATIONS ANALYSIS

Explore the analysis of major tourist destinations worldwide in terms of visitors and revenue, cultural and social aspects influencing popularity, comparison of leading and developing destinations, issues affecting popularity, and prospects of responsible tourism.

TOURIST DESTINATIONS
UK AND WORLDWIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................2
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................3
1.1 ANALYSIS OF MAJOR TOURIST DESTINATIONS OF WORLD IN TERMS
OF NUMBER OF TOURISTS AND REVENUE GENERATION...............................3
1.2 ANALYSIS OF STATISTICS TO IDENTIFY SCOPE AND FUTURE TRENDS
IN TOURISM.............................................................................................................6
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................8
2.1 ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL, PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF
TOURIST PLACES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON POPULARITY OF TOURIST
DESTINATIONS........................................................................................................8
2.2 COMPARISON OF FEATURES OF A LEADING AND DEVELOPING
TOURIST DESTINATION.......................................................................................10
TASK 3........................................................................................................................13
PRESENTATION....................................................................................................13
TASK 4........................................................................................................................24
4.1 ISSUES THAT HAMPER POPULARITY OF TOURIST DESTINATIONS.......24
4.2 PROSPECTIVE OF RESPONSIBLE TOURISM TO BOOST THE HOST
COMMUNITY AT GLOBAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS........................................26
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................28
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................29
1

INTRODUCTION
Tourism can be defined as a short-term visit or long-term travel for leisure purposes.
The definition of tourism has changed over the times and now people travel and visit
various tourist destinations for educational, health and adventures purposes also. In
the world of emerging tourism industry, introduction and evolution of tour operators
and holiday providers have provided them with a huge advantage in terms of growth
and income. The assignment undertakes the scenario of Virgin Holidays Ltd., a tour
operator company based in UK that provides holiday packages to countries like US,
Asia, Africa and many more countries of the world.
Firstly, a report describes the major tourist destinations in the world along with the
analysis of their current and future trends in terms of a number of tourists and
revenue generation. Further, an information pack describes the social, cultural and
other factors that influence a tourist destination along with a comparison of features
of tourism in developing and developed countries. A presentation will be prepared for
the explanation of the ways in which the characteristics of tourist attractions affect
their popularity. Lastly, a management report summary will be prepared for
discussion on the issues that may hamper the popularity of tourist attractions.
Figure 1: Seven wonders of world
Source: [http://www.momjunction.com/articles/facts-about-seven-wonders-of-
the-world-for-kids_00419805/#gref]
2

TASK 1
Executive Summary
The following report presented by Junior Product Analyst covers the major tourist
destinations of the world and their current trends and future predictions for analysis
of the scope of tourism development in those places.
Introduction
The report covers the analysis of popular visitor destinations of the world along with
their scope and examination of the statistics to forecast the future trends of the
tourist places.
1.1 ANALYSIS OF MAJOR TOURIST DESTINATIONS OF WORLD IN
TERMS OF NUMBER OF TOURISTS AND REVENUE GENERATION
The tourism industry in the world has gained immense growth and popularity in the
last few decades along with discovery and development of eco-destinations and
man-made tourist destinations globally. In the developed and developing countries,
the tourism sector has contributed a lot to the growing economy of the respective
countries (Laws, 2011). The junior product analyst with the strategy team at the
holiday and tour operator company, Virgin holidays headquartered in Crawley, UK
has the responsibility to determine the scope of the chief holiday destinations in the
United Kingdom and the rest of the globe. The analysis of the data of top five
destinations in the world is conducted by comparing the statistical data of the
number of visitors at the tourist places and the net income generated by the tourism.
The most famous tourist destinations worldwide dwell in the countries such as UK,
France, United States, Spain, Australia, and India. Also, according to the recent data
of 2016, France was the country that witnessed the maximum number of visitors in
the world. After France, the countries visited in descending order are United States,
Spain, Republic of China, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Thailand and
Malaysia.
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Figure 2: Number of visitors from Tourism
Source: [https://www.statista.com/topics/3780/inbound-tourism-in-european-
countries/]
The above statistics depict the rise of tourists in North America, Middle East, Asia
and Europe (Statista, 2018). In 2016, according to World Tourism Organisation the
tourism sector gained the highest boost in the above-mentioned zones of the world
as the number of people coming for tourism purposes reached to 616.2 million in
2016 in European countries and 53.6 million tourists in the middle east, 308.4 million
in the the Asia Pacific and 130.5 million in North America. Since 2009, the statistics
of the number of visitors have gradually increased till 2016 while in 2007 and 2008
the ratio was greater than 2009 because in 2009 the world faced the rise of inflation.
The tourism sector is also growing rapidly in the economically sound as well as
medium economy countries which is directly providing and contributing to the growth
rate of the country. The analysis of the data of the tourist destinations shows that
France is the leading country in terms of highest number of tourist visiting the
country with the maximum income generation. Following to France, is the United
4

States of America which has attracted the most visitors and has gained a lot from the
tourism industry.
Figure 3: Revenue from tourism
Source: [ttps://www.statista.com/topics/962/global-tourism/]
The income generation statistics show that People spent most in Dubai followed by
New York and London and the city in which amount was least spent by the tourists
was Barcelona and contributed to the income generation of the country (Statista,
2018). The statistics given are according to the cities of different countries.
The Tour operator companies are gaining huge profits by providing attractive and
cost-efficient holiday packages to the people with similar or special interest and the
local government in the respective destinations are leveraging benefits to the tour
companies by minimising the taxes and other funds investment (Veal, 2017).
5

1.2 ANALYSIS OF STATISTICS TO IDENTIFY SCOPE AND FUTURE
TRENDS IN TOURISM
The current trends of the tourism in various countries show that the advancement in
technology and awareness about ecological and niche tourism has resulted in the
rise in the number of visitors in those countries which earlier gained income from just
consistent tourists with common interests (Peeters and Dubois, 2010).
In the coming years, the Tourism sector will observe a high boost in the European,
America Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Because the number of travellers has
rapidly increased at an exponential rate in the mentioned areas of the world. The rise
of inbound destinations in Europe and Asia attract tourists with special interests.
The awareness about sustainable or green tourism will be maximised so that all the
countries in the tourism sector adopt methods which encourages sustainability in the
tourism industry and the scope of tourist sector is increased.
Figure 4 Statistical analysis of Future Trends in Tourism
Source:[https://globaltourisminternal2015.weebly.com/temporal-pattern-of-
global-tourism.html]
Taking the tourist trends in UK and other countries, the tourism will be enhanced
more in the coming future as emergence of the outbound markets depict that the
countries like India and China will observe hike in the tourism in respect of the
increase in the number of travellers travelling to foreign countries from these Asian
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countries (Global Tourism, 2018). In the United Kingdom, some of the trends which
are emerging in the tourism sector are the rise of urban and rural destination places,
adventure sports has contributed a lot to the travel industry etc. The future
predictions in terms of UK state that the travel industry will introduce new concepts
and ideas of tourism such as the spa services offered to the domestic and
international tourists for leisure and health purposes introduced as a result of
changing perceptions of people towards tourism activities , emergence and
development of new seaside resorts which attract a large number of customers with
premium holiday demands, eco and medical travel and tourism which will attract
many customers from the local and distant places and countries and family holidays
and local gatherings which are budget friendly and encourage the local tourist
attractions to develop more and gain popularity worldwide (Brent Ritchie, et al.
2011). These are the factors which are affecting the current and future trends in the
tourism industry of UK.
CONCLUSION
The report has illustrated the statistics of the tourist destinations famous in the world
along with the future scope and trends for the development of the popular
destinations such as the UK and other countries with beautiful and attractive tourist
destinations.
7

TASK 2
2.1 ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL, PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF
TOURIST PLACES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON POPULARITY OF
TOURIST DESTINATIONS
The tourist destinations in the world are present in different geographies and thus
different places have varied cultural and social practices. Also, the location of the
place i.e. its physical geography also plays an important role in attracting the
customers to visit that particular location. The development of tourism in any place
increases the popularity and thus attracts a large number of visitors and this
ultimately leads to the contribution to the financial condition of the country (Goeldner
and Ritchie, 2012). The social and physical factors of a country determine the overall
productivity of the tourism at that place and also the strategies which are
implemented for the successful dwelling of the holiday business in those places.
The Junior Product analyst is assigned the work of analysing the various cultural
and social factors that impact the decision making the power of the tourists and how
these factors either attract the tourists or restrict them from visiting the tourist places.
Here two countries from the analysis done in the previous sections are taken i.e. UK
and Thailand. The countries are analysed one by one of the above-discussed
factors.
UNITED KINGDOM
The country is a developed nation and has emerged as one of the major travel
destinations in the world. The beautiful and interesting history of UK and its
corresponding states has attracted many interested tourists from around the world
(Vanhove, 2011). The development of tourist sector was earlier realised and this
helped in the successful progression of the tourism industry in the UK.
Social and cultural- By the term social, on means the social environment of the
place and the people in the UK are frank and friendly towards the tourist and
welcome them wholeheartedly. A well-developed economy of the country constraints
some people with low income to visit those places but the government with the
collaboration of touring agencies are working towards minimising the expenses for
8

travel and thus to attract all categories of people in terms of financial condition. The
diverse culture of UK attracts many visitors to gain knowledge about various religions
and cultures.
Physical- The country has beautiful natural destinations and man-made places but
the natural calamities in the place due to diverse geography may sometimes restrict
the visitors at some places.
THAILAND
It is a South East Asian country earlier known as Siam is popular for its beaches,
grand palaces and Buddhist temples. Though the area covered by the country is not
highly significant the enormous beauty within the country gives it a unique identity
and makes the place exclusive for the tourists to cherish and adore the beauty of the
place (Dabphet, et al. 2012). Famous tourist places in Thailand are Bangkok,
Pattaya, Ko Samui and Chiang Mai. The factors influencing tourism in the country
are discussed below-
Cultural and Social- The majority of the people living in Thailand are Buddhists and
follow the religion of Buddhism. Rest of the people are Christians. Muslims and
Hindus. The national language is Thai spoken by a large number of people. The
people are very much adjusting and greet the tourists with great enthusiasm and
give them a warm welcome. The culture of the place encourages the people to teach
the tourists with concepts of philosophies of Buddha and spread the message of
peace in the world. The serenity of the place is identified by its Buddhist culture and
thus one gets a very calm and soothing feeling in Thailand.
Physical- Thailand is a place which is encircled by water from all the sides and thus
encompasses tremendous beauty with the presence of beautiful beaches, natural
water coasts, Buddhist temples with beautiful architecture and designs and palaces
with great history (Mowforth and Munt, 2015). Since the place doesn’t have a large
population thus the accommodation and food facilities are available for the tourists at
affordable prices as compared to other tourist destinations.
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2.2 COMPARISON OF FEATURES OF A LEADING AND DEVELOPING
TOURIST DESTINATION
The two leading tourist destinations discussed above were UK and Thailand and
both the places are successful in fascinating and driving a large number of tourists to
visit the countries and help in the expansion of the economy of the country. In the
current section, the leading and developing tourist destinations in the world will be
compared to analyse the effects of various factors on the tourism of the country and
how well the countries are performing in the tourism sector. The two countries here
taken are the United Kingdom and India out of which India is a developing tourist
place in the world.
FEATURES LEADING TOURIST
DESTINATION (UK)
DEVELOPING TOURIST
DESTINATION (INDIA)
Motive  The main aim of the
leading tourist place
like the UK is to
attract more visitors
belonging to weak
economy class
 Also to encourage
visitors from
developing nations
and provide them
with the best quality
services (Macleod
and Carrier, 2010)
 The country is
focusing on tourism
sector growth
through attracting
visitors from around
the world (Harish,
2010)
 To increase the
economy of the
country and thus
enhance the growth
rate
CULTURAL
ATTRACTIONS
The UK has numerous
places of cultural
importance such as the
Royal Museum, British
India is a country with
diverse cultures and has
the Taj Mahal, one of the
seven wonders of the
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Museum and Buckingham
Palace which depict the
cultural heritage of the
country.
world that attracts many
foreign visitors.
POPULARITY The United Kingdom
comes under the top
destinations of the world
known for its best quality
services in the world.
India is known for its
colourful and beautiful
culture and religion and
thus this has increased the
popularity of the country
among the other nations
and also the excellent
Yoga and meditation
centres in India make it
very famous (Dasgupta,
2011).
AMENITIES  The UK has best in
class facilities
ranging from low to
high cost for food
and
accommodation
(Augustyn, 2013).
 The government
provides support for
tourism and tourism
agencies help to
fulfil the tourism
needs
 India has one of the
best food and
markets in the
world and known
for a different
variety of foods
across its states.
 People give great
support and the
government has
developed many
tourism plans to
fascinate more
tourists from across
the globe.
NUMBER OF VISITORS
(2016)
35.8 million visitors 8.8 million visitors
WASTE MANAGEMENT
AND ENVIRONMENT
The country has a high-
end technology and
India is moving towards
sustainable tourism and is
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PROTECTION efficient equipment to
handle the waste and
protect the environment by
minimizing the carbon
footprints and emissions
(Greaves and Skinner,
2010).
adopting methods to
protect the environment
and effective waste
management technologies
(Hannam and Diekmann,
2010).
The country beautiful
mountains, seas and
deserts which need proper
maintenance and are
required to be protected
from the harmful effects of
the pollution of land,
water, soil and air.
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TASK 3
PRESENTATION
Slide 1
Slide 2
13

Slide 3
14

Slide 4
The Junior product analyst has the responsibility to evaluate the appeal of the tourist
destinations, in this case, a leading and emerging tourist destination by comparing its
features. This comparison will help the company to improve its policies and
packages offered and thus boost the productivity of their business.
15

Slide 5
UK , which attract a large number of crowd is one of the leading tourist places
worldwide. The main attraction of UK are famous all over the world and the local
people grret evryone with courtesy and have helping nature. Also, numerous facilities
like discounts are provides for the less privileged class of people.
16

Slide 6
India a place of rich cultural diversity and heritage is a developing tourist destination
and has launched incredible India programme and various other campaigns in its
states to attract a large number of visitors to cherish the beauty and culture of the
place
17

Slide 7
One of the emerging and developed tourist destination in the world have been
compared for its popularity and the technological advancement. Also the basis for
comparison is its awareness towards responsible tourism and the development in
the responsible tourism concept. UK economy is enhanced with its tourism and
tourism in India is growing rapidly
18

Slide 8
The characteristics of a tourist place play a major role in either enhancing the fame
of a place or defaming the popularity. Therefore it is necessary to maintain the good
image of the tourist place and attract more visitors.
19

Slide 9
The government bodies provide aid in the development of tourism sector in the form
of financial support and cooperating in the taxation and other policies which favour
the tourist agencies and help in enhancement of the tourist sector
20

Slide 10
The culture of a place largely affects the number of tourists at a tourist place and for
maintaining the appeal of a place various measures must be taken which includes
the safety measures and providing best health care facilities to the visitors.
21

Slide 11
There are some other characteristics that affect the appeal of a place such as the
terrorism activities, the availability of resources and the marketing strategies adopted
for the development of the tourism policies that must favour the tourists needs
22

Slide 12
Slide 13
23

TASK 4
Executive Summary
The following report presents management report summary to the business manager
on the issues that are encountered in the tourism industry which affect tourism in the
countries and the factors that can enhance the tourism in the host countries which
helps the host countries to become a leading tourist destination in the world.
Introduction
The report discusses the prevailing issues in the tourism industry that may restrict
visitors and impact the reputation of a tourist place and the potential for responsible
tourism in the world.
Discussion
4.1 ISSUES THAT HAMPER POPULARITY OF TOURIST
DESTINATIONS
The developed and developing tourist destinations both face the problems which are
either natural, optical or economical in the sustainable tourism development. Some
of the issues are discussed as follows-
Environmental issues- In the countries like UK, India and Thailand, the presence of
seas makes it difficult for tourism to develop more in cases of high tides and natural
calamities like Tsunami which result in a lot of destruction and huge losses
(Moutinho, 2011). Increase in the concentration of carbon emissions in the
environment due to pollution gives rise to the global warming which causes variation
in temperature and high humidity at places which makes the tourist feel uneasy and
difficult to adapt from one environment to the other.
Political conditions in the country often result in worse conditions such as the
Brexit which has adverse effects and the change in the governments often results
into the policies and regulations for the visitors they have to go through visa
processes and the approval of the applications of people take longer time than
expected due to the disturbances in the political conditions of the country. Some of
the rules and regulations imposed and prevailing in the country. For instance, the
Middle Eastern countries have very strict rules which the visitors sometimes not like
24

to follow so in those countries the number of people visiting the tourist destinations
will decrease at an abrupt rate (Nunkoo and Smith, 2013).
The organisation of various sports and cultural events in the countries involve a lot of
expenses and attract a lot of visitors but the organisation of these events disrupt the
normal operations of the country and also hamper the tourism activities.
The cost of travel and tourism is the most prevalent issue in attracting the people
towards tourism in the various countries. The expenses for various tours in the
countries like UK and France are very huge and the various tour operator companies
offer special packages and discounts to the people. The tour operator companies
face tough competition from their holiday package providers and the e-commerce
companies as the different operators tie up with different hotels and travel agencies
(Tiwari and Herstatt, 2012). The affordable rates provided for tourism in the
economically sound countries attract a large number of visitors.
The negative impact of terrorism ruins the image and reputation of the country and
also degrades the tourism rate in the tourist destination. For example in India which
is an emerging and developing tourist place in the world has encountered major
terrorist attack like the incident of 26/11 ruined the image of place and decreased the
tourist visit from foreign countries which hampered the growth of the Incredible India
campaign whose main aim was to attract large number of tourists to India and make
them feel comfortable in the country during their visit.
25

4.2 PROSPECTIVE OF RESPONSIBLE TOURISM TO BOOST THE
HOST COMMUNITY AT GLOBAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS
The responsible tourism concept was introduced during the world summit on
sustainable development and focuses on the concept of making the world a better
place to live in and for the people who visit various places (Buckley, 2012). The
responsible tourism is concerned towards minimalizing the adverse impact of the
political, environmental, and social and other factors that causes damage a tourist
destination and is working towards generation of enhanced financial benefits for the
people residing in or near the tourist places and also gives a boost to the tourism
industry by improving the life of the host communities and encouraging better
working conditions for them.
The potential for sustainable or responsible tourism are:
 Involvement of the local people in the tourist business like in Thailand a large
part of the Thai people is earning their living through the tourism industry.
 Contributing to the preservation of the environment by protecting the natural
and national heritage of the country and thereby uphold the diversity in the
world
 Providing pleasurable and amusing experience for the visitors by
establishment of meaningful relations with the local communities which
inculcates a sense of belongingness towards the place and makes people
understand the prevailing issues in the country
 Providing the people who are disabled and less fortunate the facilities and
financial support in the form of special discounts in the tour packages and
sightseeing so that they can enjoy the scenic beauty of the destinations
similar to others (Bramwell, 2011)
 The tourists, as well as hosts, must have cultural sensitivity and create a
feeling of respect within the localities and tourists which helps to build a sense
of pride and boost confidence among the people
 The behaviour of people must be watched so that they behave properly and
respect the differences of people and not develop a feeling of isolation or
disrespect for them
26

 The people involved in the development of responsible tourism are the tour
operators, hotel and travel authority, the government of a destination and the
local people and the people who visit the destinations i.e. the tourists. These
all have the responsibility and duty to preserve the heritage and contribute
towards sustainable tourism or often called as the responsible tourism.
 The assurance of the long-term economic operations through employment
opportunities for the local people which provide social and economic benefits
for the people and improve the life of people and their living style and thereby
contribute towards elimination of poverty in a country (Weaver, 2011)
The above discussed prospective help a tourist destination to evolve as a better
place by following the concepts of responsible tourism.
Conclusion
The management report summary has described the issues encountered in the
tourism sector which may obstruct the tourism in a place and the potential ways
through which responsible tourism can be achieved.
27

CONCLUSION
In the aforementioned assignment, it has been summarised that the tourist
destinations in the world face various challenges which can affect the popularity of
the places and the role of the concept of sustainable tourism that enhances the
tourism in a country. The Tour Operator Company of UK, Virgin Holidays Ltd
situated in Crawley, West Sussex is taken into consideration which is working
towards the identification of major tourist destinations in the world and analysing
them. Firstly, management report has been created which analyses the five main
tourist destinations in the world and examine their statistics to forecast the upcoming
trends in the tourism sector. Secondly, another report illustrates the factors such as
social, physical and other factors that influence the popularity of a place and
comparison of a top tourist place: UK and an emerging tourist place: India in the
world. Next, a presentation has been made analysing the characteristics that affect
the appeal of a tourist destination. Also, a management report summary has been
prepared to discuss the problems that may be encountered in the development of a
tourist destination by the tourists and local people and also the concept of
responsible tourism and its potential in the betterment and popularity of a tourist
place.
28

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