Economic and Political Factors Affecting Tourist Destinations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of various tourist destinations, focusing on the UK, France, Italy, North Korea, and Cuba. It examines these destinations' tourism statistics, including visitor numbers and revenue generation, to identify trends and growth patterns. The report delves into the economic and political characteristics of the UK and North Korea, highlighting how these factors influence the tourism sector. Furthermore, it evaluates how specific characteristics of Cuba, such as its geography and cultural offerings, impact its appeal to tourists. The analysis also addresses issues affecting the popularity of tourist destinations and explores the potential of responsible tourism to enhance host communities. The report concludes with an overview of the key findings and insights into the dynamics of the global tourism industry.

Tourist Destination
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................4
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Analysis of main destinations in terms of income generations and number of visitors .......4
1.2 Analysis those statistics provided to determine tourism destinations trends for the three
destinations..................................................................................................................................8
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
a) The economic and political characteristic of UK and North Korea .....................................10
b) Evaluation of characteristics of a tourist destination affect its appeal with reference to Cuba
....................................................................................................................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Analysing issues affecting popularity of tourist destinations..............................................12
4.2 Potential for responsible tourism to enhance the host community at worldwide tourist
destination..................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16
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Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Ranking of countries in terms of tourism revenue ...................................................7
Illustration 2: Ranking of countries in terms of tourism arrivals ....................................................9
Illustration 3: International tourist arrivals ...................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
In the present scenario, tourism sector is one of the leading and most potential sector in
the world. Further, it contributes more than 15% of the total economic growth in the world.
Nowadays many countries has developed different locations and places into popular tourist
destinations (Di Pietro, Di Virgilio and Pantano, 2012). The present study focuses on
understanding the scope of key UK and worldwide tourist destination. In addition to this, it also
highlights cultural, social and physical features of those locations. Other than this, the report also
depict issues which affects the success and popularity of tourist destination.
TASK 1
1.1 Analysis of main destinations in terms of income generations and number of visitors
The analysis of top five tourism destinations is mentioned below as:
Tourism statistics of UK
UK is considered as one of the leading destinations in terms of travel and tourism.
Furthermore, tourist from different countries visit the country in order to see its vibrant culture
and beautiful monuments.
 UK is ranked 8th in terms of popular tourist destination in terms of number of visitors
 The country is also ranked 8th all across the world in terms of visitors expenditure
 In the year 2014, the total number of tourist in UK were 34.8 million (Visitors Economy
facts, 2010) The total revenue generated from tourism was £125.2bn in the year 2014
Tourism statistics of France
France is the top destination in terms of tourism and therefore, it is also termed as global
leader in the industry.
 From the year 2012 to 2013, the number of visitor in France increased by 2%
 The tourism sector contributes 7% of the total French GDP
 France has positioned itself as a cultural tourism destination all across the world In the year 2014, the number of visitors was 83.7 million
Tourism statistics of Italy
 The total number of visitors in Italy was to 48.6 million
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 Income generated by its travel and tourism sector in 2014 was EUR 348bn. It rich cultural history and beaches are some features which attracts travellers from
different locations.
Tourism statistics of Spain
 In terms of number of tourist, Spain was on the third position all across the world
 It was ranked as second destination in terms of revenue received by tourism industry
 In the year 2013, Spain recorded revenue of €59.08 billion Total number of visitors in Spain accounted to 64.9 million in the year 2014.
Tourism statistics of China
 The tourism industry of china was grown by 14% in the year 2012 as compared to the
year 2011.
 In the year 2015, the revenue received from tourism industry was amounted to 3419
billion yuan
 China is one of the most popular destination for tourism as compared to other Asian
countries
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Conclusion: It can be concluded that UK is leading travel and tourism destination. However,
France has experienced am increase in number of visitors in the past years. Travellers are
attracted towards the rich cultural heritage of Italy. In terms of revenue, Spain stands at the
second position.
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Illustration 2: Ranking of countries in terms of tourism arrivals
(Source:The economic impact of the tourism industry in Spain, 2014 )

1.2 Analysis those statistics provided to determine tourism destinations trends for the three
destinations
In the present scenario, the travel and tourism sector of the world is growing with a very
good pace. Government in many countries has started providing much focus on the tourism
sector in order to generate higher profits and sales. Many locations are not developed as a travel
destination in order to attract more and more tourists. It can be stated that the growth of travel
sector is also very important for the development of society (Fernández-Cavia and et.al., 2014).
Increase in number of tourists means that more resources will be invested in the developing
infrastructures facilities and improving the living standard of people living in nearby society. In
destination such as UK, France and Italy, the trend of tourism is increasing day by day along
with the passage of time. On the other side, countries such as Greece are witnessing declining
trend due to the financial problem or crises which the destination is facing (Sartori, Mottironi and
Corigliano, 2012). This has created several kinds of restrictions in growth and development of its
travel and tourism sector. However, it can be argued that the destination will overcome from its
major financial issues and will emerge as one of the leading travel destination all across the
world. According to present trend, it has been found that many countries in Europe has created
restrictions on foreign investment. This mean that destinations are not allowing foreign player to
invest their resources in development of travel and tourism sector.
As per the recent trends, travellers now seek for visiting the places which can provide
them with unique and a different experience which other destinations are not providing. Tourist
are investing their money in destinations which can enhance their overall travel experience.
Along with this, they also want that adequate facilities in terms of food, accommodation and
transportation is provided to them (Chen, Shang and Li, 2014). Therefore, government and other
private bodies needs to seek for continuous improvement in the above stated areas. Destinations
such as France, UK, Italy consists of rich cultural heritage and amazing monuments which
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attracts people from different nations of the world. Nowadays more emphasis is laid on
sustainable or development of eco tourism. In addition to this, European unions has also
providing importance to formulation of plans and policies which can provide free flow of
tourism and related activities within the nations (Cole, 2012). Focus is also provided to develop
tourism sector so that more employment opportunities can be created for people living in nearby
society of the destination. Some important trends in three destinations which are UK, France,
Spain are mentioned below as:
 Lowering down the obstacles in terms of travelling between nations
 Enhancement of Destination which are offers long haul
 Development of effective marketing strategies to promote the destinations and attract
more tourist
 development of destination in more sustainable manner
Illustration 3: International tourist arrivals
(Source: Coban, 2012)
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From the above stated graph, it has been analysed that the number of tourist arrivals is
incensing year after year. Along with this, it is observed that the sector is going to witness 1.56
billion visitors or travellers in the year 2020. In order to achieve the above mentioned figure, the
countries will be required to make promote their destinations and take care of sustainability.
after carrying out the analysis of statistics it has been analysed that the trend in tourism
destination is growing with a very good pace. Furthermore, the trend also highlights the fact that
the destination has potential to become leading and most attractive place in terms of tourism.
Government and other regulatory bodies needs to make sure that effective development of these
destination is carried out so that more and more tourist can be attracted.
TASK 2
Covered in PPT
TASK 3
a) The economic and political characteristic of UK and North Korea
The economic and political characteristics of North Korea completely differs from that of
UK. Further, these differences has resulted in affecting the tourism sector of these destinations to
a great extent (Stalidis and Karapistolis, 2014). The characteristics of both destination are
mentioned below as:
Basis of
comparison
United Kingdom North Korea
Average tourists
per year
The destination witness almost 33
million tourist from different countries
of the world. Further, its vibrant
culture and historical monuments are
the features which attracts tourists.
In terms of average number of
tourist per year, North Korea
witnesses 11 million tourists. Now
the government has kept
development of tourism sector on
priorities in order to generate
higher revenues (Santos and Cabral
Vieira, 2012).
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Economic growth The tourism sector of UK is growing
with a very good pace and it has
provided potential opportunities to
businesses in the sector. After the
recession of 2009, tourism sector has
contributed a large part in overall
economic growth of UK (Anuar and
et.al., 2012). In the year 2025, it is
predicted that the sector will generate
a revenue of £27. Other than this, the
demand of UK in international and
domestic travellers is also expected to
increase between 3 to 6%.
In-spite of attractive locations,
and monuments, North Korea is
not able to attract adequate number
of customers which has results in
higher economic growth. The
reason behind this is that a
negative image of the destination is
developed among the travellers.
This has resulted in lowering down
the overall number of tourists in
the country.
Product
developmental
The government and other regulatory
bodies are giving adequate support in
terms of new product and service
development in the tourism sector.
However, it can be argued that
nowadays, more emphasis is laid on
development of products which are
sustainable.
Earlier the government in North
Korea was not interested in
providing support to tourism sector
and more support was given to
other sectors (Reza Jalilvand and
Samiei, 2012). The spending on
development of products was also
very less. Now the things has
changed and importance is
provided to sector.
Political condition The stable government in country is
one of the major factor which has
resulted in higher growth of tourism
sector in UK (Bajs, 2015).
Government always seeks for taking
corrective measures to promote its
In terms of political conditions, it
can be stated that North Korea has
grown through various kinds of
political ups and downs. The
government is controlled and taken
care by a single party which enjoys
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tourism in the world and attract
tourists.
monopoly. This means adequate
support is not provided to tourism
sector.
b) Evaluation of characteristics of a tourist destination affect its appeal with reference to Cuba
Cuba is a nation which falls under the category of Caribbean island. Furthermore, the
nation is taken care by communist party and it is popular because of its beaches which consists
of white sand. Havana is the capital of Cuba and attract many tourist every year. People from
different countries visit the place in order to see its great Spanish colonial architecture. Other
than this, Cuba has also given birth to many classical style of dance such as Cha Cha, Mambo
and Bolero (Oliveira and Panyik, 2015). This catches attention of people from different countries
of the world. Some important characteristics of Cuba which assists in attracting more and more
tourism are mentioned below as:
Geography and location of the nation- It can be termed as one of the most important
characteristic which has resulted in increasing the overall number of tourist year after year. Cuba
is located on the east of Gulf of Mexico and west of North Atlantic ocean (Chen and Phou,
2013). The average temperature is about 25 degree which is very cool and calm temperature. The
nation is not too hot and not too cold. Further, due to its geographical characteristic, majority of
tourist visits Cuba with the purpose of leisure and relaxation.
Demographic makeover- Total population of the nation is around 11.17 billion and more than
half of its total populations fall under the category of mulatto. It can be stated that mulatto is the
term used to define individuals which has one white and one black parent (Salman and Hasim,
2012). On the other side, 11% of Cuba's total populations consists of Negro which are black
people and 37% of total population consists of white people.
Language and gestures- Spanish is the common language which is spoken by residents of Cuba.
The interesting fact about people living in the country is that the use of hands at the time of
communicating with others is very common (Kassean and Gassita, 2013).
Architecture and urbanization- According to the culture of Cuba private space to people is not
encouraged in the nation. The country is very diverse in terms of culture as it is made with the
integration of Asian, French, African and Spanish culture. Majority of architectures are made up
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