Visitor Attractions Management: A Study of Best Practices

The provided document is a comprehensive study of visitor attractions management. It covers various aspects such as engaging residents as stakeholders, dark tourism, religious tourism, and managing visitor impacts at visitor attractions. The study also explores the use of big data in market segmentation and the importance of EPOS systems for visitor attractions. The document includes a list of references from peer-reviewed journals and online resources, providing valuable insights for students and professionals in the field of tourism management.

Visitor Attraction
Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Overlapping of visitor attraction in relation to various other types of attraction.............1
1.2 Importance of different visitor attractions........................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Motivation and needs of different visitor types................................................................4
2.2 Impacts of tourism on visitor attractions in UK...............................................................6
2.3 Effect of different theories of tourist motivation on the management of visitor attractions 7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Analysing different visitor management strategies..........................................................8
4.2 Evaluation of management techniques in relation to sustainability.................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
.......................................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Visitor attraction management is an important component in travel and tourism sector as
it aids in providing better quality of services to the travellers. It provides basic facilities to the
tourists and creates better environment in which people enjoy their holidays. It is helpful in
attracting a large number of visitor that helps in developing the economy of country. In this,
government plays an important role as it provides various services in order to improve the
economy (Barros and et.al., 2011). Travel and tourism sector develops various types of activities
on the basis of basic elements that attract visitor such as Sydney is famous for sightseeing,
Edinburgh is known for festivals and Egypt is popular for its heritage and culture. This report
will state about the efforts that are taken by Visit Britain (a national tourism agency) for
developing or creating a positive image of United Kingdom in the entire world. It also provides
various types of facilities to destinations where visitor come in large number. This study will tell
about the importance of various destinations of visitor attraction along with basic needs and
motives which attract an individual towards mentioned place. It will also explain about the
impact of tourism on visitor attractions along with various processes and potential issues
involved in the development of these places.
TASK 1
1.1 Overlapping of visitor attraction in relation to various other types of attraction
Overlap of visitor attraction
By- XYZ
Date- 24th July 2017
Visitor attraction is a place where people visits for spending their leisure time and gain
knowledge about heritage and cultural values. Travel and Tourism industry will got success if
there are coming large number of visitors. It is analysed by National Tourism Agency “Visit
Britain” that there are various types of factors that overlap the flow of travellers to a tourist
place. For government and private enterprise, it is important that it should analyse the scope of
visitor attractions so that it can manage the flow of individuals at tourist place. This agency has
conducted a research for finding out various factors which may help in increasing the number of
travellers at a place. Visitor attraction is that place which drew the attention of people towards
tourism site and satisfy their need of learning, leisure and fun. There are various elements by
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which individuals' attention can be gained by destinations like for cultural, heritage, adventure,
amusement and historical importance. If these factors will not be present then no one will come
to these places. Various types of tourist attractions are as follows:
 Natural attractions- These places are those which are not made by any human being
and attracts tourists from far away. For maintaining these destinations, government plays
an important role. It provides various facilities to make this place more beautiful and
attractive. These sites come under the reserved and protected site. The authority of
country has made many laws and rules which have main motive to protect these
destinations. In United Kingdom, there are many agencies like VisitBritain which keeps
their eyes on different companies and also ensure that everyone is complying with the
set rules and regulations. Some of the examples of natural attractions are Lake District,
Lake Windermere, Pembroke Shire Coast, etc.
 Heritage attraction- These sites are made by ancestors of people which show their
culture and values. These locations are existing since many years in the United Kingdom
and are maintained by Government and agencies. In this country, there are many
destinations with heritage values such as Buckingham palace, railways, canals, etc. By
visiting these locations, people gain more knowledge about the past.
 People built attraction- These places are developed by the government and agencies so
that it can attract a large number of people towards tourism and can develop the
economy of country. These locations provide too much fun or amusement along with
adventure activities to the visitors. For example: London Tower, Alton Tower, British
Museum, etc.
 Events - In the United Kingdom, large number of events are organised which have main
motive to attract travellers from around the world. It may relate to sports, education,
music, etc. Edinburgh is famous for its festivals. There are more than 12 festivals which
take place in the city that alone is able to attract more than 5 million visitors per year.
 Science museum- It is the biggest museum in London which has merged with Museum
of science and Industry in Manchester in 2012. It included a collection of machinery
which attracts the tourist towards it.
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1.2 Importance of different visitor attractions
Importance of visitor attractions
Date- 24th July 2017
From- XYZ
To get enchant of large number of people is very important for a place so that it can become one
of the famous and favourite destinations in world. Being a consultant of National Tourism
Agency Visit Britain, it is analysed that if it will enhance the facilities and provide additional
benefits then number of tourists will surely get increased. In United Kingdom, there are various
attraction sites which are able to cater the needs of travellers. Visitor attraction management
plays an important role in the growth of travel and tourism industry in UK. Some reasons are
stated as below to support this statement-
 It encourages domestic and international tourists so that they would come to visit
Britain.
 It aids in increasing tourism facilities around the attractions.
 Also, it contributes in the development of local as well as national economy.
 It also introduces new changes and diversity in culture and country so that nation can be
developed.
 It takes corrective action for protecting and conserving the heritage sites.
 Also, it provides information for increasing the number of factors by which place can be
made attractive.
Main motive of tourist attraction is to attract the masses so that they would only prefer to visit
Britain in spite of any other places in the world. Travel and tourism industry affects the other
sector in United Kingdom as number of travellers are rising and diversity is increasing which
needs to be catered in a proper manner. Tourist attraction helps the other industry in growing
and developing their own business by which profitability and productivity can be increased.
Many visitors come to visit Britain rather than to go any other destination as various types of
events are conducted there which drew the attention of masses. For example- festivals of
Edinburgh and London Olympics that boost tourism activities in the country.
Visitor attractions are very important for a country as it provides various range of benefits such
as employment to citizens, maintaining heritage building, developing business houses and
increasing the flow of money within economy. From a survey, it came to know that in the year
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of 2015, more than 37 million (approx) visitors came to visit Britain and they spent approx 22
billion pound. These stated figures shows rising of 1% in total value and 5% in total volume.
United Kingdom comes in top 10 list of tourist attractive countries. Its government gets more
tax and revenue from the rising in tourism industries which increases its expenditure in sector.
Basically Visit Britain aims to attract more international tourist to country as to boost economy
and total business activity within country.
 Economic- If these natural sites will be maintained properly then it will be able to
attract large number of visitors which will increase the foreign currency of the country
and then economy of the nation will be developed.
 Social and cultural- For getting attention of large number of tourist, government is
taking corrective action so that cultural and social value can be maintained. So it is
increasing local heritage and culture.
 Environmental- To get attention of people, government is trying to conserve natural
and hereditary resources so that it can drew the attention of individuals and can increase
the foreign currency in the nation. So because of this action, natural beauty of UK is
maintained till now.
TASK 2
2.1 Motivation and needs of different visitor types
There are different types of travellers who come to visit country and they all are attracted
towards destinations due to various factors. Being a consultant of tourism, it is analysed that
travellers can be divided on the basis of their needs or wants (Beritelli, Bieger and Laesser,
2014). Some people are attracted due to cultural events while some other wants to have
adventure and amusement in their trip. These different types of visitors act as a base for
segmentation by which their needs or wants can be catered easily.
Market segmentation is very helpful in catering and fulfilling the needs or wants of
consumers with different requirements. It is a process of dividing heterogeneous market into
homogeneous so that needs of travellers can be satisfied easily and effectively. When this
procedure gets completed, there are various types of groups which will have the same needs or
wants. It is also helpful for the government and for its agencies as with the help of this, plans and
policies which will facilitate tourists in the best way can be formulated so that their demand can
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be fulfilled and they can enjoy their trip. Market segmentation can be done on the following
basis -
 Geographic- In this, groups are made on the basis of regional division which means that
market is divided based on place, state, etc. (Cellini, 2011).
 Demographic- In this, consumers are divided on the basis of their age, income, gender,
etc.
 Psycho graphic- Every person has a different way of thinking, lifestyle and social class.
If person belongs to higher class then he will prefer high amount of packages which will
have better quality of services.
 Behavioural- In this, market is divided on the basis of attitude, status and brand loyalty
of users.
There are various types of travellers which are given below-
 Business tourists- These people visited to different countries for expanding their
business activities.
 Health or medical tourists- These individuals travel from one nation to another for
getting treatment and cured.
 Education tourists- It includes students who want to take education or degree from a
renowned university such as Oxford.
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 Adventures- It includes those persons who want to do adventure in their life. They try to
find out that place where they can enjoy in a different manner and are worthy of taking
risk.
 Cultures- In today’s scenario, people want to learn and know more about different
cultures which can be possible from visiting to different countries.
 Heritage and religious- These are the sites with greater significance. They represent the
evolution of homo-sapiens over a set period of time. These spots also have religious
value such as Jerusalem, Mecca, Vatican, etc.
 Leisure- These types of people want to enjoy their free time or holidays comfortably and
try to find out the resort or hotels which have calm and better environment.
 Sports and recreational- These sort of travellers visit from one country to another
nation for participating in sports event or for recreational activities which are very helpful
in gaining more knowledge and experience (Coghlan, 2012). They want to do something
unique by which they can make their leisure time memorial so that they can remember
this trip for a long period of time.
2.2 Impacts of tourism on visitor attractions in UK
Tourism sector is one of the fastest growing industries across the world. For attracting
high number of customers towards company, employers are using different types of methods and
techniques in their working environment as well as they are focusing on safety and security
services with the help of which customers can feel safe and secured while visiting any
destination. Along with this, London is famous and the largest city in world where there are large
number of different destinations for visiting.(Connell, Page and Meyer, 2015). Tourism is the
largest sector as compared with others. Along with this, it is getting affected by various factors
because of which it is very important to properly analyse and evaluate the external market place
and customer's requirements. After that, employers of the firm can be able to take corrective
decision regarding their services and facilities. At this time, customer's choice and taste are
regularly change. They want something new and innovative services and things to full fill their
basic needs during the visit to any place. It is requiring to focus on visitors and should provides
facilities as per their requirements. There has major factors which can be impacted on tourism
attention which are stated under:
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 Environmental affects: There are many environmental factors and issues which can be
impacted on tourism sector and visitor's attention that may be negative and positive. In
other words, negative impacts are pollution, transportation services of products and
goods, cleanliness etc. (Dewhurst and Thwaites, 2014) Because environment and climate
is first impression on visitors that should be effective and attractive. In the other words,
positive impacts refer to healthy surrounding, safety and security, cleanliness etc., all
these things are helps to set effective image in customer's mind towards city and company
as well.
 Social and cultural: Different culture and society's ethics are representing their city and
area. It includes life style, person's behaviour, way of talking, occasions, festivals and so
more. These are based on norms, culture, ethics, rules and regulations of society which all
are has be followed by society's persons. In the other words there can be consider as an
effect of tourism on economy of UK. For maintaining these sites, it is necessary that
member of this location should have proper knowledge so senior member should provide
training to its employees so that they can guide the tourist in proper manner. If they will
not have knowledge then they will not be able to attract large number of consumers.
 Environmental- If at one tourist place, there will be over crowding then it may increase
the chances of accident.
 Direct industry: Mainly it is considered that the contribution of travellers and visitors
which is related to economy of the country that can be consistent with UK TSA.
 Tourism economy: It includes direct investment in travel and tourism sector by industry
as well as government of the country. Along with this, supply chain of products and
services which all are domestic in nature can be impacted on their working style.
 Total contribution: It refers to amount of fund investing in this sector by persons for
visiting different destinations because which are impacts on economy of country as well
as tourism sector. Along with this all these factors should be effectively considering in
appropriate manner with the help of them easily determine external market place.
2.3 Effect of different theories of tourist motivation on the management of visitor attractions
There are various types of theories that influence the visitor attraction management.
Tourism sector is an important industry because it highly contributes in the success of United
Kingdom (Evans, Stonehouse and Campbell, 2012). It has various monetary and non-financial
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benefits along with some negative points such as risk associated with mass tourism. It also has
positive and negative impact on the environment and local community. So, for dealing with this
situation, various theories are used so that it can motivate the consumers for visiting these sites.
Some of these theories are as follows-
 Responsible Tourism- This concept concentrates on various aspects such as
minimization of disturbing elements from tourist environment, respecting diversity,
maximization of participation of local communities in the whole process, etc. which help
in increasing the quality of services that are going to be delivered to the travelers (Garrod
and et.al., 2012). This model explains about all responsibilities that should be fulfilled in
travel and tourism industry. It is also helpful in identifying the economic and
environmental factors by which society's issues can be resolved easily. It also focuses on
the maximization of social, economic, cultural and natural benefits while allocating
responsibilities to various people who are involved in this process.
 Smart consumers- Travel and tourism activities are basically related to economic, social
and cultural phenomenon that state about the reasons of movement of travelers from one
place to another. This theory explains about the growth of traditional e-tourism on the
basis of innovative approach. This concept is helpful in getting attention of those
individuals who are using smart phones and the latest technology along with getting
registered online for collecting information regarding various destinations. It tries to
develop new technology by which company can know about the people and their specific
needs. Also, it helps in fulfilling their requirements in an innovative manner.
Maslow need hierarchy-
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According to Maslow, people have five types of needs which motivate the people to
manage visitor attraction management. That needs are as follows-
 Physiological needs- It includes basic needs such as food, water, shelter etc.
 Safety needs- In this, individual wants security of himself as well as of his family.
 Love and belongingness- It includes friendship, trust and acceptance, part of group etc.
 Esteem need- Achievement, status in the society etc.
 Self-actualization- In this individuals want to seek personal growth and peak experiences
etc.
It has main issue that this theory makes difficult because of certain issues and some
problems occur in the measurements. It also claim that people will not be motivated by higher
order goal such as self actualization.
Plog. Motivation theory- According to this concept, tourist are divided in to three parts-
 Allocentric- It includes those person who wants to gain new experiences and adventure
in a wide range of activities. This individual is more self confident and outgoing. In other
terms it can be said that this person wants to explore new new places so that it can more
knowledge and skills. Before taking packages, they want to take basis facilities such as
transportation, hotels etc.
 Psycho centric- It includes those people who do not want do any adventure activity.
They only prefer only those place where they can take rest and also wants to take food in
family restaurant.
 Mid-centric- It includes the combination of two above mentioned travellers.
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TASK 3
Covered in PPT
TASK 4
4.1 Analysing different visitor management strategies
Strategies are the action plans by which visitors' needs or wants can be satisfied. It is
helpful in the development of economic growth of nation and also, provides support in
generating profits and jobs for local communities. With the help of this, government is able to
generate higher rate of revenues and income which is invested in the growth and development of
facilities in nation (Jin and Pearce, 2011). There are various types of strategies which are
explained by the National Tourism Agency VisitBritain for drawing attention of travellers that
are given as below-
 Supply- If there will be no proper supply of services then it will create a negative
perception in the minds of travellers. So, it is recommended that various companies
should understand different aspects and ensure that visitors are attracted towards the
products or services. If supply of services will be according to the demand then it will aid
in serving the end users in an effective and easy manner. There is the requirement of
developing a flexible ability that needs to be extended so that organisation can cater to
the needs and wants of individuals. Renovated and developed building will provide
support in increasing capability which will aid in improving the supply of products or
services to consumers. Management of tourist place should provide proper safety to the
people so that they can enjoy their leisure time easily and happily. So in this situation,
peak strategies should be adopted which will include particular time slots as well as extra
space for doing curriculum activities. With the help of these tactics, organisation should
develop various capabilities that will help in improving customer services.
 Demand- Visitor attraction management is very helpful in satisfying various needs or
wants of travellers who want to travel at specified locations. This is done by influencing
the behaviour and mind of visitors by using various strategies such as market penetration,
price incentives and awareness (Leask, Fyall and Barron, 2014). In travel and tourism
industry, product life cycle should be updated on a regular basis so that it will make the
experience of visitors good. If organisation will change the delivery mode from active to
passive then it will increase the expectation and curiosity of consumers. For increasing
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the satisfaction level of consumers, company will have to adopt innovative approach in
their strategy that would help in providing better quality of services to visitors. New
adventure, themes and areas will assist in improving consumers happiness with services.
Use of proper and effective process will also assist in managing the visitor attractions.
 Sustainability- It is a developmental activity by which needs of present people can be
fulfilled easily with out compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.
4.2 Evaluation of management techniques in relation to sustainability
For evaluation of sustainability, there are various types of tools and techniques which will
aid in carrying out the evaluation process easily and effectively. Basically, sustainable tourism
activities are helpful in minimizing cost and maximizing the return on investment (Mason,
2015). It provides various types of advantages to the environment, community, country and
people. Travel and tourism industry is a large sector which needs to be promoted as growth of
this enterprise leads to the economic development of nation.
Sustainable tourism also provides various benefits to the citizens and also, support in
maintaining cultural and heritage tourist place. It also helps in developing better facilities,
increasing opportunities for business growth and raising the living standard of people. It provides
information or knowledge to travellers and locals related to preserving and conserving natural
resources so that beauty of the country can be maintained.
Sustainable tourism creates a better working environment that improves the travel and
tourism sector in that area where there is no impact of pollution and any other factors. Being the
consultant, it is advised that natural sites and resources should be safely conserved and protected
from the external environment. Also, the local communities need to take active participation in
this process which includes:
 Planning regarding protection of communities, environment and profit
 It should also concentrate on the experience and education of people.
 Conserving various resources
There is a triple line of sustainable tourism that can be stated as:
 Economic- Sustainable development is important as it contributes in the development of
economy of nation as well as of the community (Newsome, Moore and Dowling, 2012).
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It also aids in generating revenue and income for people as well as for government along
with providing various benefits to all stakeholders.
 Environment- Sustainable tourism influences the environment of a nation to a high
extent. It takes various action so that it can prevent the company and people to use natural
resources without any reasons.
 Cultural and social- Sustainable tourism influences the culture and social life of people
and tries to maintain proper balance between communities and travellers so that conflicts
can be reduced (Nickson, 2013). It states that both should give respect to each other and
in proper manner and involves all stakeholders who needs to give proper value to each
other.
In United kingdom, there are large number of places which are able to attract the huge
number of visitors such as-
 British Museum- It includes many human history, art and culture. After coming this
place, people learns about the traditions and cultures. Here tourist come for gaining
knowledge and skills in their leisure time.
 Tower of London- It is the symbol of power. It has played a prominent role in English
history
CONCLUSION
It can be articulated from the above report that visitor attraction management is helpful in
the development of travel and tourism sector as it ensures that government and its agencies are
able to attract large number of travellers to visit UK. The National Tourism Agency VisitBritain
takes various efforts or activities by which tourism sector can be promoted effectively and
efficiently. It can also be concluded that visitors are an important aspect for country as it helps in
the development of economy. There are different factors which affect the decision of travellers
such as their needs and motives. It has been assessed that understanding these elements is
important for the marketer which can be analysed with the help of marketing plan. For increasing
or maintaining the number of tourists, National travel agency can use various strategies such as
responsible tourism and smart consumer.
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