Comparative Analysis of UK and Cuba as Tourist Destinations - Unit 9

This report provides a comparative analysis of the UK and Cuba as tourist destinations, examining their economic growth, cultural influences, physical characteristics, social aspects, and political factors affecting their appeal. The report contrasts the developed economy and rich cultural heritag...Read More

Travel Destination

Table of Content
 Introduction
 Comparison of appeal of current leading tourist
destinations with that of current developing spot
 Analysis of characteristic of a tourism destination
affects its appeal
 References

Introduction
 It is defined as an activity which includes movement
of people from one place to another.
 Economic Activity.
 Comparison between UK and Cuba will be done.

Comparison of appeal of current leading tourist
destinations with that of current developing spot
Comparison base Cuba UK
Economic growth and
development
It is developing economy
and having a less GDP
87.13 Billion USD and it
has averaged growth 2.07%
It is a developed country
and having a 2.619 trillion
dollar in the year of 2016
which is too high from the
CUBA.
Culture Cuba is having a mix
culture of African and
European tribes.
It has a great British culture
which attracts to people
towards to visit once in
their life.

Continued...
Tourism is the primary source of foreign exchange in the economy. The public sector
employment was 76% and private sector employment is just 23%. Investment in Cuba
restricted and any investment needs the approval of government. This has impacted the
tourism as no foreign tourism companies has be allowed to do business here.
Foreign investment in Cuban tourism has increased after tourism drive. In 1990's 25
foreign and domestic companies with collaboration was working in the tourism sector.

Continued...
Cuba's economy was downfall when GDP declined by 33% between the year 1990 and
1993. In past United States made it a familiar holiday spot for Wealthy Americans.
They use to come there and use to spend their holidays and use to indulge themselves
in activities like racing and golfing. This way tourism become an important for the
economic sector.

Continued...
Hotel Havana Riviera in the city of Havana was built before the revolutionary
government came into the power. Cuba has one crop economy that is sugar cane and
earlier its most of the businesses was owned by US dominated companies.

Continued...
90% of its country's raw sugar and tobacco exports was exported to US in 1956. In
2011, the new economic reforms were introduced thus born of new economic system
was taken place. At after that Cuban government lists 181 official jobs which are no
longer under their control (Bosnjak, 2010).
Cuba imports machinery, food and fuel products and they export sugar tobacco, nickel
and pharmaceuticals. Cuba's tourism industry generates over 2 million arrivals per day
and it is one of the main source of income for them.

Continued...
UK has a GDP of $2.629 trillion and ranked 5th in the country. It exports
manufacturing goods, fuels and etc. It ranked among 8th major tourist destination in
the world. Economy of UK is highly developed and is market oriented. It is the tenth
largest goods exporter and fifth largest good importer.

Continued...
Tourist is a important to the British economy as over 32.6 million travellers came to
UK in 2014 and is the 8th major tourist destination in the world. The services sector
dominates the UK economy as it contribute around 80% of GDP. There economy is
boosted by North Sea Oil and gas production. In 19th century the second industrial
revolution taken place.

Continued...
Physical characteristics: Two thirds of the Cuban population currently lives in
poverty. The state salary is just $20 per month. They score well in education level and
has low fertility rates. It lacks shortage of everything from transportation, to food, to
internet access. Cuba today, like many other poor nations is going backward. The
luxurious tourist resorts are being built at an precedented rate. The growth in the
biggest city of Cuba Havana takes place against the backdrop of ageing infrastructure,
lagging economy and a decaying urban landscape. 95% of Cubans had access to water
source There is rail network of total 8,285 km and roads of 60,858 km.

Continued...
Transportation in UK is comprises of road, air, rail and water networks. It has road
network of 47000 km of road network and rail network of 16116 km. There are many
regional and international airports with Heathrow Airport in London being the busiest
of the world. Public water and sanitation in UK is considered as good service quality
and almost 100 percent has access to water. 97% of the population has the sanitation
facility.

Social characteristics: The infant mortality rate was 3.6 deaths per 1000 live births in
UK. Life expectancy of UK population is 81 years. Quality of life is better in UK
as people have good income level. 995 of the population of UK is literate. UK
comes 16th in a quality of life index of the world nations.
Cuba has life expectancy rate of 79 years and its infant mortality rate is 4.76 deaths
reported in 2013. 99% of the population is literate. Housing is a problem in Cuba
although government provide free housing but still families live crammed in small
dwellings. Cubans are cheerful and is of friendly nature.

Continued...

Continued...
Political:- In UK there is parliamentary form of government and in Cuba
democratic centralist political system is there which is based on “one state,
one party”. Both the countries have a stable government condition.
Cuba is using tourism as a political tool to better their relation with the other
countries and asking them to invest in their country. This can given them a
new path and light to bring back their development on path (Pike and et.
al., 2010). According to the Transparency International Corruption
Perceptions Index Cuba has been ranked on 63rd position out of 177.

Analysis of characteristic of a tourism destination
affects its appeal
• There are various types of tourist destinations that are present in the world. There
are various spots which is visited by the people and all of them has some
significance, whether historical or cultural. Graz Bazaar Istanbul, Zocalo, Mexio
City, Times Square, New York City, Meiji Jingu Shrine, Tokyo. Niagra Fall,
Disney World, Forbidden City, China. These are the some of the destination which
are most visited.
• Each of them have certain set of features which appeals to the tourist.
• These may appeal to popularly, change in visitor number, types of visitor business,
pleasure, visiting friends and relatives and product lifestyle.

Continued...
• Natural Attractions: UK has many natural resource which can attract visitors
– There are beaches which attract leisure tourist
– Scotland has lots of mountains for the tourists coming for adventure.
– Those who comes with the family and education purpose can go for Museums,
parks and etc. thus experiencing the culture of the country.
In Cuba people can visit Vinales Valley, Morro Castle, Che Guevara Mausoleum and
etc.

Continued...
• People:- They are the individuals who are responsible for maintaining a stability in
the tourism sector and can create positive as well as negative environment.
The communities needs to be supportive for the tourism activity (Assaker, Vinzi and
O’Connor, 2011)
– Government should put platforms where they can guide tourists about the
location they are visiting.

Continued...
• Artificial Features:- These are the spots which are made by man.
These kind of sites may be palaces, landmarks and attract a lot tourists.
– Museums can be used to gain knowledge about history

References
Bosnjak, M., 2010. Negative symbolic aspects in destination branding: Exploring the role of the
‘undesired self’on web-based vacation information search intentions among potential first-
time visitors. Journal of Vacation Marketing. 16(4). pp.323-330.
Pike, S., Bianchi, C., Kerr, G and Patti, C., 2010. Consumer-based brand equity for Australia as a
long-haul tourism destination in an emerging market. International marketing review.
27(4). pp.434-449.
Assaker, G., Vinzi, V. E and O’Connor, P., 2011. Examining the effect of novelty seeking,
satisfaction, and destination image on tourists’ return pattern: A two factor, non-linear latent
growth model. Tourism management. 32(4). pp.890-901.

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