Urban Tourism Field Report: Impact of Seasonality and Overcrowding

This field report examines the multifaceted aspects of urban tourism, with a specific focus on Cambridge Town Centre. The report begins with an introduction defining urban tourism and outlining the aim to identify the impacts of overcrowding and seasonality. A literature review then explores the economic effects of tourism, the influence of seasonality and overcrowding on the city, and the overall growth and development of tourism. The research methodology section details the use of a positivist philosophy and an inductive approach. The results section presents findings derived from data collected from local citizens during a field visit, analyzed through graphs and tables. The discussion and conclusion interpret these findings, offering recommendations for fostering urban tourism in Cambridge. The report emphasizes the importance of managing seasonality and overcrowding to minimize negative impacts and maximize economic benefits. The report also highlights the need for sustainable practices to control pollution and preserve the city's attractions for both residents and tourists. Finally, the report underscores the economic significance of the tourism sector and the need for strategic planning to maintain its growth trajectory.

Urban Tourism Field
Report

Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................2
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................5
4. RESULTS....................................................................................................................................7
5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ......................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

1. INTRODUCTION
Urban tourism is a term which describe multiple tourist activities in which city is the
main destination as well as place of interest. This form of tourism is relatively old and very
complex (Papadimitriou, Apostolopoulou and Kaplanidou, 2015). All the activities related to
tourism is take place in urban area with its inherited attributes characterized by non-agricultural
based economy such as administration, manufacturing trade and services and by being nodal
points of transport. In this present report, the topic chosen for the assessment is overcrowding
and seasonality in Cambridge Town Centre. Cambridge is a university and the country town of
Cambridge, England on the River Cam which is approximately 80 kilometres north of London.
In addition to this, data in this report is collected through the local citizen living in Cambridge
Town Centre and it is collected during the field visit. Further, research methodology will also use
in order to make the research reliable and valid. Moreover, the data which are collected are
interpreted in a systematic manner by preparing graphs and tables. At the end of the report,
recommendation will also given for more development and growth of urban tourism in
Cambridge Town Centre.
Aim and Objectives
Aim- “ To identify the impact of overcrowding and seasonality on urban tourism- A study of
Cambridge Town Centre”.
Objectives
 To identify the impact of urban tourism on the economy as well as on Cambridge Town
Centre.
 To determine the impact of seasonality and overcrowding on tourism in Cambridge Town
Centre.
 To identify the growth and development of economy in respect to tourism.
Research Questions
1. What is the impact of urban tourism on Cambridge Town Centre?
2. What are the factors of seasonality and overcrowding on tourism in Cambridge Town
Centre?
3. State the growth and development of economy in respect to tourism?
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2. LITERATURE REVIEW
The impact of urban tourism on the economy as well as on Cambridge Town Centre
According to the Colantonio, (2017) Urban tourism is a term which describe the multiple
tourist activities in which city is the main destination as well as place of interest. This form of
tourism is relatively old and very complex. All the activities related to tourism is take place in
urban area with its inherited attributes characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as
administration, manufacturing trade and services and by being nodal points of transport.
According to United Nations in 2015, 57% of population of the world is living in the urban areas
and it is anticipated that it will be reach to 65% in 2030. As per the Jansen-Verbeke, (2017)
Tourism is one of the most key pillar of the economy and tourism is the core element of urban
development policies. It is fact that urban tourism is very important for the economy of United
Kingdom as it drives the force in the development of many cities as well as countries. In
Cambridge there are several forms of tourist activities are concentrated sightseeing, leisure,
shopping, business venues, events, clubs, training, transport and many other activities. These all
activities are included in the urban tourism. In addition to this, there are various reason why
urban tourism is mostly preferred by people who wants to travel are historical moments, unique
patterns of streets, ancient statues, museums, art galleries, theatres, cinemas, concert halls, night
clubs, bars, restaurants, cafes, fashion shows, beautiful shopping centre, parks, gardens and many
areas of attractions. Miller, Merrilees and Coghlan, (2015) stated that, urban tourism leads to
very serious impact on the development and growth of economy as well as on Cambridge Town
Centre. It is truth that urban tourism is the main source of employment along with the growing
income in the urban areas. In addition to this, urban tourism also lead to development and growth
of culture and social factors such as living standard of people raises and income redistribution.
Urban tourism is very important for the growth and development of entire economy. According
to Papadimitriou, Kaplanidou and Apostolopoulou, (2018) there are some negative impact on the
economy as well as on Cambridge Town Centre such as it raises the air pollution and noise
pollution. It also decreases the availability of the city centre as well as attraction which are very
essential for the local citizens. Thus, urban tourism is leading both positive and negative impact
on the economy along with on Cambridge Town Centre. In order to minimize the negative
impact government is taking many serious actions in order to control the pollution and
environment.
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The Impact of seasonality and overcrowding on tourism in Cambridge Town Centre.
According to the Yuan and et.al., (2018) seasonality and overcrowding both are the terms
that is mostly used in the tourist areas and destinations. The variations in seasonality is natural
phenomenon like weather, climate as well as seasons of the year whereas variations involve
cycles and differences in temperature, rainfall, snowfall and timing of sunlight. Both seasonality
and overcrowding presents various issues that needs special attention as well as strategies to
manage. Both exert high pressure on tourism companies to staff there business with available
and appropriate staff. It is very essential that both these factors or elements should be manage.
The best time to visit Cambridge is from June to October. In these five months there is high rush
which cause overcrowding and it leads to serious impact on the hospitality organisations as well
as it also disturbs the entire local citizen and there locality. These five months are very expensive
time to visit but still tourist visit is very huge number. Cowan, (2016) said that, seasonality
factors is not new it is traditionally been regarded as one of the major issue which is very
important to overcome. The peak seasons which affect tourism in positive way is from June to
October because in these months there is no heavy rainfall, winter and summer in Cambridge
city but in this season, the city faces the issues of overcrowding and it is very serious factors
because the local population faces many problems with overcrowding such as high traffic, air
and noise pollution. This is not limited to only local people but tourist also faces many issues
from overcrowding because the city of Cambridge is small city with the total area 40.7
Kilometres. Tourist does not find place or hotel for proper accommodation in these peak seasons
because of heavy crowd. Shim and Santos, (2016) stated that, in the off season which is from
November to May it leads to negative impact on the growth and development of Cambridge city
as well as entire economy. The business of hotels, travels and other hospitality businesses
remains closed as it is not the season of tourists. From the season of November to February the
range of temperature is from 20s to 50s in winter. In this season there is high rates of discounts
from hotels and restaurants. In addition to this, the season from March to May the average
temperature ranges to 30s. It is the season of spring. According to the Brouder and Ioannides,
(2014) Thus, overcrowding and seasonality both are the serious issues facing by Cambridge city.
These issues must be addressed by the government or hospitality industries such as hotels should
raises the visitation in low periods, decreases the prices of all facilities, increasing yields.
Overcrowding issues also affects the entire city in the peak seasons of tourist. Thus, in order to
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overcome or solve this issue, government is making strategies like they are giving opportunities
to investors to build more infrastructure such as hotels, restaurant. They are also promoting CNG
vehicles to control the pollution in the city. Hence, this is the entire discussion of impact as well
as solution of seasonality and overcrowding as a serous threat for Cambridge Town Centre.
The growth and development of economy in respect to tourism.
According to the Shi, Zhao and Chen, (2017) tourism is the backbone of the economy.
The United Kingdom is the sixth largest tourist destination in the world with the contribution of
36.115 million in last 4 years. It is fact that in 2025, the tourism industry in Britain will be values
at £257 which is just under the GDP of 10% of UK. It is also supporting 3.8 million jobs which
is around 11% of total number of UK. The impact of tourism is amplified through the economy.
Thus, the influence of tourism is much broad than just the direct levels of spending. On the other
hand, the city of London is the one the biggest as well as leading destination for tourist across the
world. In 2016, about 19.1 million of tourist has visited the city. Author said that------------, the
spending of investment by tourism is very essential aspect of the present as well as future
activities such as government and other investors buy new aircraft, build new hotels and resorts
which is directly contribute to the economy of United Kingdom. With the growth of tourism in
UK, the total number of jobs are 3.1 million jobs in last five years. The tourism in United
Kingdom is growing as well as developing at very fast heights which is one of the best vibes for
the country. As per the Yovcheva, (2014) Tourism in United Kingdom is an entrepreneurial as
well as energetic sector that offers broad range of authentic destinations along with experience of
world class from dramatic scenery of the Lake District to the beaches from the historic houses,
towns and villages all over the nations to iconic cities such as Liverpool, London, Cambridge
and many others. For the growth and development of tourism, the UK government has made
some objectives which need to be fulfil to bring UK in top three ranking. The first objective is to
raise the share of global visitors in UK, secondly, to offers visitors compelling destinations of
distinction, third, to make the industry of tourism a very successful and thriving industry and last
to facilitate the largest engagement or involvement in between the visitors and the experience.
These objectives are leads to crucial impact on the tourism of the economy. In addition to this,
political stability is also one the factors which positively affects the mind as well as attraction of
tourist towards the country. Tourists are humans but it leads to the development of entire
economy.
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3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is very important part of the research as with the help of research
methodologies the researcher can identify the aims and objectives of research in a systematic
manner. It is a specific process and techniques which is used to identify, select as well as analyse
information about the topic.
Research Philosophy- It is a belief abut the way in which data about the phenomenon
should be collected, analysed as well as used. It is very essential part of research methodology.
There are different type of research philosophy which are ontology, epistemology, positivism,
realism and interpretivism (Jayaprakash and Sebastian, 2017). With the help of these
philosophical approaches, researcher easily decide that which one of these approaches is
beneficial for execute the aims and objectives of research. In this present research, positivism
philosophy has been used by the researcher. It is because positivist believes that reality of the
research data has stability and it could be observed as well as describe from an objective
viewpoint. With the help of this philosophy, hypothesis are timely tested as well as outcomes are
confirmed by the investigator.
Research Approach- It is the overall decision that must be used by the researcher in
order to study the research topic. There are three types of research approach which are deductive,
inductive and abductive approach. In this present research, researcher has used inductive
research approach. This is the best approach which does not involve the fabrication of
hypotheses (Eaton, 2017). It begins with the questions of research as well as aims and objectives
which is required to achieve in the process of entire research. The data which is gathered is used
to explore hypotheses and preposition related to the present theory. In addition to this with the
help of inductive approach, the conclusion of the investigation is interesting.
Research Design- It is very important part of research methodology. It is defined as the
set of processes as well as methods that are used to gathered as well as analysed the variables
which are specified in the problems of the research. There are four type of research design which
are descriptive, correlation, experimental and semi-experimental. In this present research,
researcher has used descriptive research design, This research design is very easy to use as it
describes the present status of study in very systematic manner. The information collected by the
research has observable nature. No interventions are applied in this type of research design. In
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addition to this, researcher by using descriptive design in research easily answer the questions of
the research (Lara Varpio and Mylopoulos, 2015).
Sampling- This is another most necessary part of the research methodology. It is the key
to achieve the desirable aim and objectives of research. The process of selecting the tiny part of
the population is called sampling. It is a method of studying from a few selected items rather the
study the whole data. It is fact that it is not possible for the researcher to study the big
population. So in order to solve this issue and to make the research study easy, researcher used
to select a small part of the population. There are tow type of sampling which are probability
sampling and non-probability sampling (Jamshed, 2014). In this present research, researcher has
collected data from 30 local citizens living in Cambridge Town Centre so that scholar can find
the answer of the research questions by using random sampling methods. Scholar in the research
has gathered the information randomly as well as purely.
Data Collection- This the vital part of the research methodology as without this method,
it is not possible to complete the research as well as the answer the questions. This is the process
which is used to collect information from all the possible sources. There are two methods of
collecting data which are primary and secondary. Primary method of collection of data which is
gathered by the researcher own-self whereas secondary method of collection of data is gathered
by the other sources (Gandhi and Sharma, 2014). Primary data is more reliable than secondary
data. Primary data is unused data while secondary is used data. Example of primary sources are
questionnaire, survey, interview etc. and examples of secondary sources are books and journals,
internet articles etc. In this present research, researcher has used both primary and collecting
data.
Data Analysis- Data analysis is also the most essential part of the research methodology.
Data analysis is the systematic procedure of giving the sense less information to meaning as it is
the process of analysing, cleaning, transforming as well as modelling of data. It is very essential
to bring the data into meaning so that it could answer the questions of the research. It is the
process to correct the information as well as remove the discarded as well as useless information
(McNely, Spinuzzi and Teston, 2015). In this present research, researcher has used to analyse or
interpret the data by thematic analysis which is a qualitative approach.
Ethical Consideration – Ethical consideration is very important part of the research
because it makes the research reliable and valid. These are critical. All the norms, standards,
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rules to conduct the research are included in the ethics of the research. It is very important for the
researcher to follow all the norms and standards to make the research study ethical and lawful
(Matthes, Niederdeppe and Shen, 2016). Here are some research ethical consideration that
research has considered during his/her research work which are as follows-
 The participants in the research shouldn't be in any harm or damage.
 All the information should be kept in private.
 Full consent must be obtained from the participants.
 Adequate level of confidentially is being ensure in the research.
 Dignity of the research must be given respect.
4. RESULTS
Name of the Country: Cambridge Town Centre, UK
Respondents: Local Citizens of Cambridge Town Centre
Age:
Gender:
1.How long you have been living in the city?
 5-10 years
 10-15 years
 15-20 years
 20 years and above
2.Do you think Cambridge city attracts huge number of tourist?
 Strongly Agree
 Agree
 Strongly Disagree
 Disagree
 Neural
3.What do you think the impact of tourism on the economy?
 Positive
 Negative
 Neutral
4.Do you think tourism help in the growth and development of the economy?
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 Strongly Agree
 Agree
 Strongly Disagree
 Disagree
 Neural
5.What are the issues you think your city is facing in terms of tourism?
 Overcrowding
 Air Pollution
 Noise pollution
 Waste of environment
6. What are the peak months that attracts tourism the most?
 June-August
 September- November
 Entire year
7.What do you recommend the government for effective tourism?
 Building infrastructure.
 Improving the transportation facility.
 Providing subsides to small scale business.
 All the above.
Theme 1. 10-15 years are the maximum years of respondents living in Cambridge city.
Particulars No. Of Respondents
5-10 years 8
10-15 years 15
15-20 years 5
20 years and above 2
Interpretation- The above analysis conducted from 30 local citizens of Cambridge
Town Centre identified that maximum number of respondents are living in the city for 10-15
years. On the other hand, 8 participants said that they are residing in the city for 5-10 years. 5
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citizens said that they are living in the city since 15-20 years and only 2 participants are found
who are residing for more than 20 years as they are old people.
Theme 2. Cambridge city attracts huge number of tourist.
Particulars No. Of Respondents
Strongly Agree 9
Agree 8
Strongly Disagree 5
Disagree 6
Neural 2
Interpretation- The above analysis conducted from 30 local citizens of Cambridge
Town Centre identified that Cambridge city attracts huge number of tourist as said by 9 people.
They said that this is the city of top destination which attracts many tourists. On the other hand, 8
citizens are also in support with the above respondents with the same reason. 5 people are
disagree as they are in against of the question because they said that government should stop
9
5-10 years
10-15 years
15-20 years
20 years and above
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
No. Of Respondents

tourist due to high pollution in the city. 5 citizens are also not supporting with the same reason.
Only two people are neutral as they are supporting both.
Theme 3. Positive impact of tourism on the economy.
Particulars No. Of Respondents
Positive 15
Negative 10
Neutral 5
Interpretation- The above analysis conducted from 30 local citizens of Cambridge
Town Centre identified that tourism leads to positive impact on the economy as said by 15
people. They said that tourism improves the living standard of people, it also raises the
profitability of hospitality business. On the other hand, 10 citizens said that tourism leads to
negative impact on the economy as it raises the air and noise pollution, in the peak season traffic
remain jam. At last 5 citizen have neutral answer as they are confused.
10
Strongly Agree
Agree
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neural