Analyzing Global Tourist Destinations: Trends, Appeal, and Issues

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of key tourist destinations worldwide, focusing on visitor numbers, income generation, and emerging trends. It examines the cultural, social, and physical features that contribute to the appeal of both developing and leading tourist destinations, comparing the attractions of places like London, Paris, Romania, Malaysia, and Bangkok. The report evaluates how destination characteristics affect appeal and addresses issues impacting popularity, including the potential for responsible tourism to enhance host communities. Statistics are analyzed to determine current tourism trends and predict future patterns, considering factors such as leisure, business, and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) tourism. The analysis also delves into the economic, social, and cultural impacts of tourism, highlighting both positive and negative aspects, such as the influence of cultural heritage, cuisine, and religious factors on tourist attraction.

Tourist Destinations

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Analyze main tourist destinations and generators of the world in terms of visitor numbers and
income generation............................................................................................................................4
1.2 Analyze statistics to determine tourism destination trends and predict future trends...............7
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................10
2.1 Analyze cultural, social and physical features of tourist destinations explaining their appeal
to tourists.......................................................................................................................................10
2.2 compare features of developing and leading tourist destinations............................................13
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................15
3.1 compare the appeal of current leading tourist destinations with that of currently developing
tourist destinations.........................................................................................................................15
3.2 evaluate how characteristics of a tourist destination affect its appeal.....................................17
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................19
4.1 Analyze issues that affect the popularity of tourist destinations.............................................19
4.2 Discuss the potential for responsible tourism to enhance the host community at worldwide
tourist destinations.........................................................................................................................20
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................22
Reference.......................................................................................................................................23
Appendix........................................................................................................................................25

Introduction
An assignment has been done, where the junior product analyst, who is working for Virgin
Holidays with the strategy team, has been requested a written management report by the line
manager on the scope of key UK and the tourist destination worldwide. The learner will get the
opportunity to exhibit the understanding of UK and other worldwide destinations. The social,
cultural and other physical features and characteristics of the tourist destinations shall be
analyzed, that affects the popularity of the destination. Analysis of the tourist destinations
according to the number of visitors and the income generation have to be done. The product
analyst is also responsible to analyze the statistics which will determine the tourist destination
trends and is also responsible to determine the future trends.

Task 1
1.1 Analyze main tourist destinations and generators of the world in terms of visitor
numbers and income generation.
One of the biggest and fastest growing industries is the Travels and Tourism industry. The tourist
destinations, whose number of visitors and the income generation has been analyzed, are as
follows:
UK- London -With a whole lot of culture and the history dating back to as old as the Victorian
age, Lond0on indeed occupies the first position the list of the leading tourist destinations of the
world. The country is indeed characterized by a number of palaces, gardens dating back to the
Victorian era and representing the beauty of the country in the most extravagant manner
possible. If reports are to be believed then more than 19 million of people from the different
parts of the world visit London every year and the overall tourism industry of the place
contributes to more than 50 % of the total revenue generated (Anfuso et al. 2014).
France (Paris)- France however occupies the second position in the list. People are attracted by
the beauty of the place along with the overall art and culture extravaganza of the place. There is a
common saying that even the streets and the by-lanes of Paris are worth watching. The beauty
of place and the excessive exhibition of art and culture in the place mesmerize the tourists
visiting the place. The Louver museums stand out to be the chief attraction of the place. Paris is

also considered as the “city of love’”. The city attracted an approx of 17 million of tourists
according to the data that have been collected in 2018 (Anfuso et al.,2014).
Romania- The history of Romania also dates back to the historic era and this is one of the major
reasons people prefer visiting Romania. Among the different cities that are attracted by the
tourist, the most significant is Timisoara. The city is located in the western Romania and dates
back to as the 200 BC. The extensive and interesting histories of the place are some of the major
reasons that magnetize the tourists towards themselves. Some of the major places of interest in
the city may include the victory square, freedom square, the Romanian Cathedral. As discussed
by Apollo (2016), often referred to as the Little Vienna this is indeed a place to visit and for this
reason ,more than 15 million tourists visit the place on a regular basis.

Malaysia- - Malaysia particularly Kuala Lumpur occupies the 4th position in the list. The city is
considered as an example of a developing tourist destination that is gradually moving towards
developed tourist destination. The city has emerged to be a leading tourist destination since the
past decades. However, the tourist attractions of these places are quite of discrete types. People
visit here to enjoy modern life and the amenities of all types. The different tourist destinations
include the Petronius tower, Batu caves and the Kuala lumpur tower. The average numbers of
tourists visiting the place are estimated at a whooping 12 million.

Thailand- Thailand particularly Bangkok however occupies the fifth and hence the last position
in the list. The country lists itself among the developing tourist attractions in the world. The city
attracts more than 11 million tourists every year. Most of the tourists visit the place to enjoy the
Thai culture and traditions. Few of the tourists’ attractions of the place include the Grand Palace,
Wat arum, Wat Phra Kaew. People visit Bangkok for enjoying a break from their daily and
hectic work schedules. The presence of excessive number of spa and message centres is also
some of the basic reasons for which the individuals prefer visiting Bangkok.
1.2 Analyze statistics to determine tourism destination trends and predict future trends.
The different types of tourists are as follows:
Leisure tourists: Leisure tourists are those types of tourists, who are travelling for the purpose of
leisure, i.e., they are likely to be on holiday or taking a short break.

Figure 1: Statistics related to the number of business tourists
(Source: Apollo, 2016)
Business tourists: Business tourists are those who are travelling to attend a meeting, conference
or some events that are associated with their business.
Figure 2: Statistics of International visitors travel in France from 2010-2015
(Source: Ben et al., 2016)

The above statistics points out that the current trends of the visitors visiting Bangkok are on the
decreasing graph since 2013.
Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourists: VFR tourists are those types of tourists who are
visiting family or relatives and therefore they are unlikely to spend as much on tourism as they
are not using accommodation facilities.
Incoming tourists: Incoming tourists are referred to those types of tourists who visit a country
which is not the country of their residence, but they visit for the purpose of tourism. Suppose, if
the tourist comes from France to UK, then the tourist is outbound from France and incoming to
UK and vice versa if the opposite happens.
Domestic tourists: Domestic tourists are those people who are travelling within their own
country may it be for tourism purpose, business or work related purpose or leisure.

Task 2
2.1 Analyze cultural, social and physical features of tourist destinations explaining their
appeal to tourists
In the statistics of developing economy, a tourist place is determined based on certain features.
These features are physical, cultural, social and economic feature. These features affect the
economy any tourist country. The revenue of a certain country either developing or developed
depends on the tourist attractions. Among the developing countries, Malaysia and Bangkok are
the two well-known tourist destinations. Tourist attraction depends on external factors like
climatic changes, food and beverages, famous tourist spots and population rate. A tourist place
must possess features available both for high and low-income tourists. Cultural heritage
influences the revenue of the developing country; hence, it requires to be preserved. Cultural
factors depend on the mixtures of different people belonging to different regions. In Malaysia,
ethnic groups like Indians and Chinese have lived for many years. This resulted in the
development of mixed culture and point of attraction for tourist. Malaysia today makes up 50%
of the country’s population (Beritelli et al., 2015).
Malaysia consists of exciting tourist destinations, natural wonders, choices of entertainment and
even shopping paradise. Having different cultures makes Malaysia count as one of the country
with diverse culture. Cultural elements include music, traditional heritage, festivals and customs.
In Malaysia, cultural heritage includes 'Tepak Sirih', a traditional pattern of metal craft. This is
use to place betel leaves. ‘Wau’, stated as one of the traditional game in Malaysia. Buddhism is
the religion followed in proportion. Religious factors also influence the tourist destination. The
birth, death and enlightenment of Lord Buddha are celebrated in Wesak Day, which is most
popular in Malaysia. Having ethnic groups serves the purpose of different culture and as a tourist
commodity. Dresses are a part of the cultural heritage. Specific dress code attracts the tourists. In
India, different way of wearing dresses makes it a popular tourist attraction. Wearing a scarf over
their hair and wearing lose clothes covering entire body is a unique pattern of dress code
followed in Malaysia.

‘Kuala Lumpur’, in Malaysia is one of the brand tourist spot. The various sites of attraction in
Kuala Lumpur are as follow:
 Petronas Towers
 Kuala Lumpur Tower
 Kuala Lumpur Bird Park
 Lake Gardens
 Sultan Abdul Samad Building
 Aquaria KLCC
 Sentral Railway
 Butterfly Park
 Makam Pahlawan
Tourist destinations earn revenue by the presence of these tourist attractions. Malaysia, being a
Muslim centric country has also created a negative impact in the social field. It has affected the
tourism zone. Local food and cuisine adds another factor to the attraction of any tourist place.
Government and the marketers have taken special initiative to advertise the different foods and
beverages of a particular country. Fusion cuisine due to mixture of culture forms the advantage
of Malaysia. Indian, Chinese and Malaysian items are prepared here, which attracts tourists and
satisfy the appetite. Local cuisine available attracts travelers round the world (Caruana et al.,
2017).
Thailand is another developing tourist destination. Bangkok is considered as one of the leading
tourist attraction. The different tourist spots include
 Grand Palace
 Khaosan Road
 Wat Arun
 MBK centre
 Wat Phra Kaew
 Wat Saket
 Lumphini Park
 Thonburi

 Golden Budha
Bangkok serves as one of the major industry contributing the economy. Report suggests that in
the year 2017, approximately 17. 4 million tourists are attracted. It is ranks as the 13th country in
the world famous for tourist attractions. River Safari and Night Safari are the two famous
attractions to explore the habitat of Bangkok. Sentosa attracts 19 million visitors as suggested by
a report.
Features Malaysia Bangkok
Cultural Feature Culturally speaking, Malaysia
has a high positive and a small
negative fact affecting tourism.
Being a preservative of ethnic
group, Malaysia comprises of
different cultures. Dress pattern,
foods and cuisine are the most
attractive part in tourism.
Bangkok, culturally introduction
of art exhibition has help in
tourism. Urban ethnic heritage is
also practiced in Bangkok
(Castaneda et al.,2015)
Social Features Malaysia has helped to grow the
society with the revenue income.
Bangkok besides having
harmonious blend of culture, it
also has a growth in tourism and
air accommodation. Various
campaigns are launch to attract
tourist worldwide. Country's
strategic location, infrastructure
creation and various events and
entertainments increases in rate
in economic and social factor.
Economic Features Economically, the growth of
tourism in Malaysia has a decline
rate. This downfall is due to it
being a Muslim centric tourist
spot.
Economically, this country is the
highest in the ASEAN in terms
of highest paid. Openings of
integrated Resorts and the
invention of Formula One
SingTel Bangkok Grand Prix
since 2008 has led to the