Unit 8: Visitor Attraction Management

Unit 8: Visitor Attraction
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY 1....................................................................................................................................1
P1. Different classifications of visitor attractions in relation to specific categories of visitor
attractions.....................................................................................................................................1
P2. Importance of a range of different visitor attractions in relation to overall purpose and
impact upon economic growth.....................................................................................................2
ACTIVITY 2....................................................................................................................................4
P3. Needs and motivations of different visitor types for a range of different visitor attractions.4
P4. Negative and positive social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts of visitor
attraction tourism.........................................................................................................................5
ACTIVITY 3....................................................................................................................................7
P5. Feasibility study that assesses market demand, competition, product and service
development, and financial viability for an existing or new visitor attraction............................7
ACTIVITY 4....................................................................................................................................8
P6. Different visitor management strategies and the implications they have for sustainable
development.................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Visitor attraction are the natural locations or man made constructions which have special
attractions of visitors along with local residents (Albayrak and Caber, 2013). All countries frame
various provisions to promote and develop tourism sector as it contributes towards economic
development in numerous aspects. Visitor attraction management is associated with formulation
of strategies in order to develop tourism places in such manner that attracts large number of
visitors and at the same time provide beneficiary outcomes to society as well as government. To
understand the concept of visitor attraction management, London & Partners is selected. The
chosen business is an official promotional agency which frames aspects to promote London
internationally. It aims to attract international audiences and retain them by offering numerous
packages that results in growth of London's businesses. The report includes classification of
visitor attractions, importance of visitors attraction along with needs and motivations of range of
different visitor attractions. It also discusses about positive and negative impacts of social,
cultural, economic and environmental factors. It further includes a feasibility study into the
development of an existing or new visitor attraction along with application of visitor
management techniques and their impact on sustainability.
ACTIVITY 1
P1. Different classifications of visitor attractions in relation to specific categories of visitor
attractions
Visitor attraction are the places of tourist interests where they visits regularly or
occasionally due to their heritage, exhibited natural value, natural or built beauty , historical
significance that offers leisure along with amusements. Some of the visitor attraction places
includes tropical island resorts, historical places, aquaria, national parks, living history museums
and many more. Some of the attractions are natural while some are man made which are created
to provide tourists memorable experiences against reasonable fees (Alexandris, 2013).
Classifications of visitor attractions in relation to specific categories of visitor attractions.
Built attractions: These are the human made buildings, sites and structures that are
designed by individuals or government bodies with the purpose to attract maximum visitors.
These are considered as strength of the tourism sector as they attract maximum strength of
tourists to deliver leisure experiences. Some of the examples of built visitor attractions in
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London and other locations are Stonehenge, Eden Project, Warwick Castle, Buckingham Palace,
Sea Life London Aquarium, British Museum, Westminster Abbey and many more. London &
Partners provide services to visitors with attractive packages to visit all the built attraction
places. Some of the categories of built attractions are as discussed:
Westminster Abbey: It is a large Gothic abbey Church which is located at London,
England. Such attraction is among the most religious building which was build approx 700 years
old and serves the purpose to attract more than million tourists every year.
British Museum: The public institution which was dedicated to human art, culture as well
as history. It was built in the year 1753 with vast collection of artefacts, extra ordinary objects
and world art that elaborates stories of human culture from their beginning days to present or
death days. It was built for another purpose such as to sustain life stories of great people but with
the passage of time it was declares as tourist attractions.
Natural attractions: Such type of attractions are termed as structures that are not built by
humans (Natural attractions. 2018). It is a visitor attraction that is based on natural attraction of
particular area. Some of the natural sites within London or other locations are The Lake district,
Pembrokeshire Coast, Cairngorms, Lake Windermere along with events and festivals such as
Glastonbury, Eurovision Song Contest and many more are some of the examples of natural
attractions. The further elaboration of categories of natural attractions are:
The Lake District: It is famous for mountains, forests, Lake Poets and many more. It was
naturally built attraction that was designated by a UNESCO World heritage Site. Numerous
visitors visits such beautiful place with the purpose to enjoy its areas including Scafell Pike,
natural lakes, highest mountains and national parks.
Pembrokeshire Coast: Such attraction consists of national park and is famous for its
spectacular coastlines. It is also a natural attraction that attracts millions visitors towards its
beauty, rugged cliffs, wooded estuaries, Gwaun Valley and sandy beaches.
P2. Importance of a range of different visitor attractions in relation to overall purpose and impact
upon economic growth
Tourism is vast sector as it signify every nation along with their economic developments
by focusing on various areas which can be developed as tourism attraction sites (Barron and
Leask, 2017). The management of London & Partners have applied various approaches to
identify importance of such attractions and evolved that these attractions are important in the
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growth of economy. Some of the importance are that they revitalise areas, generates
employment, enhances local heritages, contributes towards development of destination products
and hence forth. In order to understand the importance of different visitor attractions in relation
to overall purpose and impact upon economic growth, selected attractions are Westminster
Abbey, British Museum and Pembrokeshire Coast.
Westminster Abbey
Purpose: Such attraction was established with the purpose to increase religious
prosperity and now known as visitor attraction place.
Economic importance: Some of the importance to the attrition to develop the economy
at different levels are as follows:
Local economy: The church managers fulfils needs of local government by making tax
payments as well as making connections with political parties and implementing provisions to
develop various areas of tourism that helps in development of local economy.
Regional economy: When there are new innovative policies framed to connect the
tourists which results in more integration and connectivity that attracts more tourists and
increasing spendings in different regional areas increases regional economic development.
National economy: The associations of the museum have made connections with
different museums at national level through which they sponsor different activities of tourists
and improves image that helps in making more profits and contribution towards gross domestic
product and national economic development (Boniface, Cooper and Cooper, 2016).
Pembrokeshire Coast
Purpose: It was built with the sole purpose of tourism in order to attract maximum
visitors towards its natural beauty which includes Gwaun Valley, rugged cliffs and many more.
Economic importance: Following are the importance of such attractions for economic
development.
Local economy: The managers of the Pembrokeshire Coast enhances local culture as
well as heritage in such manner that helps in developing the local areas and improving local;
economic profile to develop the economy.
Regional economy: Such attraction is tied to provide funds as well as expansion job
opportunities that leads the economy in development phases.
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National economy: By attracting multiple investors towards main coastal areas that
results in increasing foreign exchange between countries along with development of national
economy.
British Museum
Purpose: The purpose behind building the prestigious museum was to sustain life stories
of great people and is now known as visitors attraction (Brunt, Horner and Semley, 2017).
Economic importance: It is one of the largest museum in United Kingdom which is also
available for public usage along with venues for concerts as well as lectures.
Local economy: Such attraction is making contribution for the development of local
economy by providing employment opportunities and public subsidy to local residents which
improves living standards of people along with contributing towards development of future
economy prosperity.
Regional economy: They are important for the development of regional economy as they
provides financial support as well as development of infrastructural facilities such as schools,
bridges and many more. They also makes huge tax payments to government and government
further makes investments that results in economic development.
National economy: British Museum attracts numerous visitors from multinational
countries that enhances image of such attraction in international market. They are important as
they helps in capital formation for the country which improves transportations and
communication that helps in further development of economy at national level.
ACTIVITY 2
P3. Needs and motivations of different visitor types for a range of different visitor attractions.
Tourism industry is based on different types of visitors that visits the tourist destinations
with different needs and motives. The management of London & Partners have selected two
visitor attractions such as Westminster Abbey and British Museum to explore the needs as well
as motivations of visitor targetted market which is divided into different parts such as
demographical, behavioural, psycho graphic and geographical (Butler and Suntikul, 2013). The
targetted visitors along with needs and motivations are as follows:
Religious visitors: Such visitors plays important role in tourism industry as they visits
the destinations with special interests. The needs of religious tourists are to fulfil their faiths and
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to perform religious activities. For instance, visitors visits Westminster Abbey to perform
numerous religious activities and to admire the beauty of church. The motivation of tourists
visitors is their faith towards God and to take blessings from the priests.
Adventure visitors: Such tourists are those visitors who involves in the activities to
explore remote areas in order to expect the unexpected leisure. The needs of adventure tourists
are related adventurous activities such as sky diving, caving, river rafting and many more. On the
other hand, motivators of such visitors are to feel the environment of different tourism areas that
reduces their stress along with improve mental state through fun as well as joyful moments.
These are pampered by friends and family trips. These are motivated with the opportunities they
are getting to visit various attractions of the city of London and enjoying every ride.
P4. Negative and positive social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts of visitor
attraction tourism
Travel and tourism is the part of hospitality industry which basically offer services to the
traveller. The local authorities of UK make the effective policies to enhance the tourism industry
by maintaining the infrastructure of country. In relation to London & Partners, the main motive
of them is to retain the interest of visitors attraction by analysing the internal as well as external
factors that can affect the functioning of business. The impacts of visitor attraction tourism are as
follows:
Social factors: Such factors are related with facts and experiences that plays significant
role in influencing attitudes, lifestyle and personality of visitors (Edelheim, 2015).
Positive impacts: When there are improvements in tourist destinations along with new
leisure amenities that benefits tourists in getting expected experiences which results in positive
impacts on tourists as well as visitor attraction tourisms as they perceive facts as per their
expectations.
Negative impacts: Tourism attraction visitors plans visiting activities to gain leisure and
stress free environment. If firms are not able to provide quality of visiting life then it will hamper
the image of the tourism destination and will impact in negative manner on such tourisms.
Cultural Factors: These are related with set of moral values, laws, language and many
more.
Positive impacts: In the modern scenario, visitors wants experience historic places in
which they can gain more knowledge about past working and at the same time in their preferred
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languages and if managers of Pembrokeshire Coast are able to attain the moral values as pert
their expectations it results in positive impacts to visitor attraction tourism sectors.
Negative impacts: If organisations or such visitor attractions such as Pembrokeshire
Coast are not able to deliver preferred moral values in preferred languages which will lower the
expectations of tourists which will impact in negative manner on the such tourisms.
Environmental factors: These includes environmental protection laws, ethics as well as
eco friendly environment.
Positive impacts: Tourism such as eco tourisms as well as nature tourism assists
organisations to promote wildlife conservation and natural resources in order to reduce
situations of deforestation (Hatton, 2012). For example, if Pembrokeshire Coast performs
activities to promote the wildlife and natural resources then they are able to attract numerous
visitors which will results in positive impacts in visitor attraction tourism.
Negative impacts: If such organisation will not be able to protect the resources and is
overusing the water supply, coral reefs and heritage cultural sites then it will suffer negative
impacts in context to visitor attraction tourisms.
Economic factors: Such factors encompasses interest rates, business cycles and hence
worth.
Positive impacts: Visitor attraction tourism such as British Museum is providing more
jobs that results in direct employment in the tourism as well as other sectors for example
transportation and retail which contributes towards GDP rate and positively impacts on visitor
attraction tourism.
Negative impacts: If there are more fluctuations in business cycle then visitors will spend
less in tourism activities and will result in decreased profitability for the visitor attraction such as
British Museum that will negatively impacts on the image of visitor attraction tourisms.
ACTIVITY 3
P5. Feasibility study that assesses market demand, competition, product and service
development, and financial viability for an existing or new visitor attraction
Feasibility study refers to the analysis of the proposed project. Using such study,
managers of any company considers all relevant factors in order to successfully complete the
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project by practically making assessments for the proposed plan. The feasibility study for
London & Partners is as follows:
Executive Summary: London & Partners is promoting agency that functions to attract
numerous audiences as well as makes provisions to convince targetted audiences to choose
London to visit attraction places (Leslie, 2014). The company has decided to expand its visitor
attraction by adding a new visitor attraction which is Pembrokeshire Coast in order to expand its
visitors number and to attain profits to serve society.
Assess market demand: When there are seasonal changes, visitors demands to visits
certain places that provides them adventurous activities. In the current package of London &
Partners, no such activities were there. So in order to add such visitor attraction, the marketers of
the company has to assess market demand and included such visitor attraction in their package in
order to provide visitors adventurous and recreational activities that satisfies market demand.
Competitive landscape: There are various competitors in tourism sector that provides
demanded packages to visitors. The managers of London & Partners have researched the market
and identified that there are companies who does not provide visiting towards Pembrokeshire
Coast and thus added such visitor attraction.
Service development: By adding such visitor attraction in the plans or schedulers of the
company, the managers have planned to provide free jeep riding to starting 100 visitors which
will help in attracting more visitors. With the development of such service, managers will be able
to retain existing customers also as it will be applicable on them also.
Financial viability: In order to successfully implement this visitor attraction, manager
shave framed budgeted estimation which will cost the company (Inkson and Minnaert, 2018).
The budgeted estimations are as follows:
Particulars Amount (In £)
Communication and transportation 4000
Advertisement 2000
Market research 1500
Total 7500
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Recommendation: it is recommended that London & partners should opt Pembrokeshire
Coast visitor attraction which will benefit the company to increase its number of visitors.
ACTIVITY 4
P6. Different visitor management strategies and the implications they have for sustainable
development.
It is very important for any organisation to develop as well as design strategies in order to
manage visitor attraction locations in order to generate more profits from the strategies. The top
level management of London & Partners aims to expand the number of tourists by providing vast
facilities as to promote tourism destinations. Some of the different management visitors
strategies are as follows:
Group size limit strategy: Using such strategy, managers of London & Partners aims to
provide excellent facilities as well as services to targetted visitors. They tries to set a fix number
of visitors towards particular visitor attraction (Packer, and Ballantyne, 2016). For example,
London & Partners can set limit for visitors along with time limit to visit the areas of
Pembrokeshire Coast which will help in minimising conflicts as well as managing crowd in
appropriate ways which will help the company to attain sustainable objectives in effective
manner.
Technology strategy: Innovation as well as strategy plays crucial role in order to manage
large crowd of visitors. Some of the tools are used by the mangers of London & partners such as
social media and entrance checking which will help in promoting sustainability of tourism.
Social media will help in promoting different destinations by uploading images of the particular
areas along with happy visitors. By implementing such strategy, organisation will be able to
increase awareness of visitors that will lead the organisation to meet sustainable objectives.
Staying length strategy: Such strategy results in setting maximum time period for an
individual visitor to visit the particular destination. It is very important visitor management
strategy which will help the visitors to visits all areas of particular destination in limited time
period. For example, London & Partners sets maximum time period of 5 hours to visit all nearby
areas of Pembrokeshire Coast by providing effective administration. If such strategy is effective
applied then it will helps the company to achieve sustainable goals in limited time period
(Quétel-Brunner and Griffin, 2014).
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that visitor attraction management is very
important to manage the interests of tourists as well as growth of tourism sector along with
development of economy. Visitor attractions are classified into two categories that are natural
attractions and built attractions. Importance of different visitor attractions are providing
employment opportunities, increasing integration among different countries and many more
which results in development of local, regional as well as national economy. Different visitor
management strategies are Group size limit strategy, Technology strategy and Staying length
strategy which will result in attainment of sustainable objectives of the company.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals:
Albayrak, T. and Caber, M., 2013. The symmetric and asymmetric influences of destination
attributes on overall visitor satisfaction. Current Issues in Tourism. 16(2). pp.149-166.
Alexandris, K., 2013. Performance measurement and leisure management. Routledge.
Barron, P. and Leask, A., 2017. Visitor engagement at museums: Generation Y and ‘Lates’
events at the National Museum of Scotland. Museum Management and Curatorship.
32(5). pp.473-490.
Boniface, B., Cooper, R. and Cooper, C., 2016. Worldwide destinations: The geography of travel
and tourism. Routledge.
Brunt, P., Horner, S. and Semley, N., 2017. Research Methods in Tourism, Hospitality and
Events Management. Sage.
Butler, R. and Suntikul, W. eds., 2013. Tourism and war. Routledge.
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Publications.
Hatton, A., 2012. The conceptual roots of modern museum management dilemmas. Museum
Management and Curatorship. 27(2). pp.129-147.
Inkson, C. and Minnaert, L., 2018. Tourism management: an introduction. Sage.
Leslie, D., 2014. Tourism enterprise: Developments, management and sustainability. CABI.
Packer, J. and Ballantyne, R., 2016. Conceptualizing the visitor experience: A review of
literature and development of a multifaceted model. Visitor Studies. 19(2). pp.128-143.
Quétel-Brunner, B. and Griffin, K. A., 2014. Heritage interpretation and foreign language
provision at Irish visitor attractions. Journal of Heritage Tourism. 9(2). pp.95-113.
Ryan, C. and Page, S., 2012. Tourism Management. Routledge.
Sharpley, R. and Stone, P. eds., 2014. Contemporary tourist experience: Concepts and
consequences. Routledge.
Taplin, R. H., 2012. Competitive importance-performance analysis of an Australian wildlife
park. Tourism Management. 33(1). pp.29-37.
Timothy, D. J. and Boyd, S. W., 2014. Tourism and trails: Cultural, ecological and management
issues (Vol. 64). Channel View Publications.
Walter, P. G., 2013. Theorising visitor learning in ecotourism. Journal of ecotourism. 12(1).
pp.15-32.
Weidenfeld, A., Butler, R. and Williams, A. M., 2016. Visitor attractions and events: Locations
and linkages. Routledge.
Zhang, X., Ryan, C. and Cave, J., 2016. Residents, their use of a tourist facility and contribution
to tourist ambience: Narratives from a film tourism site in Beijing. Tourism
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Online:
Natural attractions. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://handluggageonly.co.uk/2014/09/12/14-stunning-natural-sights-see-uk-get/>
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