Urban Tourism: A Case Study of Cambridge, UK

Urban Tourism
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction:...........................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background:.........................................................................................................................3
1.2. Purpose of the research.......................................................................................................3
1.3 Research Aims:....................................................................................................................4
1.4 Objective..............................................................................................................................4
1.5 Research questions...............................................................................................................4
1.6 Case study............................................................................................................................4
Literature review........................................................................................................................6
2.1 Define urban tourism............................................................................................................6
2.2 The demand and supply of urban tourism............................................................................6
2.3 Current debates.....................................................................................................................7
2.4 City type that Cambridge fits in (tourist-historic city) and related features of tourism in
this type of city...........................................................................................................................8
3 Methodology...........................................................................................................................9
3.1 Research approach (what, why, how)..................................................................................9
3.2 Research method (what, why, how).....................................................................................9
3.3 Sampling technique and selection......................................................................................10
3.4 Data analysis technique......................................................................................................10
4 Results and discussion...........................................................................................................10
4.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................10
4.2 Findings and discussion.....................................................................................................10
5 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................26
6 References.............................................................................................................................27
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1. Introduction:
Tourism affects greatly upon the local residents including both their cultures and life style.
Historical places, which are situated in any urban areas, are the main attraction for tourism.
Because of increased tourism demand, the local residents face changes in their life style and
in the existing culture. Therefore, the main aim of this research objective is to find out the
changes and the development of the local community that is directly connected with the
tourism. Hence, to complete this research, both qualitative and quantitative data collection
method will be followed to conduct the survey. Though it is time-consuming process, a group
of researchers is involved to conduct the survey to observe the changes faced by tourism.
Hence, the residents’ perspective about tourism and the pros and cons faced by the residents
are the main elements of this research study. This research study will be conducted in
Cambridge in United Kingdom.
1.1 Background:
Spirou, (2011) stated earlier that the main aim of this research study is to survey the
consequences of tourism upon local residents, the researchers will select group of historical
places and surrounding people to continue the survey. Therefore, the background of this
research project is related to the nearby places of Cambridge. There are several places of
wonderful site seeing like rolling countryside, majestic cathedrals in Cambridge and these
places are the main attraction of the tourists. Hence, the area of Cambridgeshire, a place
famous as university town and the unique Fenland landscape are the areas to be covered for
this research project. For the last few decades, the condition of urban tourism is developing in
Cambridge and the number of visitors is increasing parallel. Therefore, the present scenario
of the tourism and the local business related to tourism is also affecting by this. Apart from
this, several impacts have been noticed in the local community that is causing due to tourism
and the local culture is facing changes from the different cultures and religion of the
foreigners. Hence, the existing culture is facing both positive and negative impacts, which in
term also reshaping the existing cultures.
1.2. Purpose of the research
As it is mentioned that the purpose of this research study is to understand the perspective of
the local residents regarding the tourism. Hence, Primary qualitative and quantities data
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collection method will be conducted with the local residents to understand their views about
urban tourism. This will help to make a diplomatic conclusion about the effects of tourism in
a global perspective. The main aim of the research project is to indicate the main features of
the urban tourists spot and to critically analyse the specific components offered to the visitors
in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Besides this, researcher will highlight the issues related to
urban tourism and the basic concepts of urban tourism.
1.3 Research Aims:
The main motto of this research study is to recognize the changes that are directly related to
tourism. However, this research is conducted to understand the positive and the negative
impacts of tourism faced the local by the local residents.
1.4 Objective
The objectives of the research project are as follows:
 To understand the impacts of tourism upon local community by collecting data from
survey
 To be familiar with urban tourism and its consequences upon the community
 To investigate the identified perspective of the residents of Cambridge City and to
judge the impacts of Urban tourism
1.5 Research questions
The researcher while conducting this research faces several research questions as follows:
 The understandings of the local residents towards urban tourism
 The impacts of ongoing tourism upon the existing community and culture
 Pros and cons faced by the residents due to urban tourism
 The changes in the existing culture and the present condition of tourism in
Cambridge, UK
1.6 Case study
Case study will be based on the City of Cambridge and the related historical places of this
city. Furthermore, the local people are the prime object in this research project, as the reviews
will be collected from them about tourism. Hence, some of the historical places like Great St
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Mary’s Church, University of Cambridge, and St. John ’s College is selected for conducting
the research. These are the top most priority by the visitors and most of the time of the year
these places are crowded by the visitors. The natural landscapes of the Massachusetts Bay are
the prime attraction of the visitors and the population of this place is more compared to other
places.
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Literature review
2.1 Define urban tourism
According to Ashworth and Page, (2011), urban tourism is described as the impacts by the
multiple activities by the visitors in historical destinations and places of interest. However,
this particular form of tourism is relatively old and the nature is complex to understand.
According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), urban tourism is a type of activity
that takes place mainly in the urban areas and in non-agricultural based economy. Therefore,
the products of the urban tourism and the demands will directly suffer from the response of
the visitors. Steinbrink, (2012) stated that urban tourism in Cambridge city is increasing day
by day and the local residents have faced several impacts from it including both positive and
negative effects. Due to urban tourism, both the financial and the economical condition of the
tourist destination improve and a huge change can be identified in the cultural aspects.
However, in Cambridge city, the development of tourism is increasing day by day and the
local authority is increasing the attractiveness of the local historical places by offering
suitable accommodation and fulfilling the demand of the tourists.
2.2 The demand and supply of urban tourism
Urban tourism demand is a broader term that entitles the factors, which motivates to increase
the tourism. Several special characteristics of demand are there that motivates people to buy
or to avail the service for a set of possible prices for a limited period. The attractiveness of
the tourist spot helps to create more tourists and increases the tourism demand. It has been
observed that the urban tourism demand varies from different time especially depending on
occasions and suitable weather condition. Furthermore, George and Booyens (2014) has
described that the demand among the tourists’ increases if there are any new facilities or any
attractive site seeing is available within the tourist destination. Apart from this, Miller et al.
(2011) mentioned that any new facilities, that increases the attraction of the tourist spot helps
to motivate new visitors for the site. New tourists come out with new demands that are
completely different from the existing ones. As a result, this continuous trial and error
process increases the demand of the urban tourism. In this context, it can be stated that the
demand of the tourist place increases mostly in the period of the occasion and the related
tourism business faces the most consequences in this period.
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