Enhancing Tourism Destination Competitiveness and Sustainability

This essay delves into the multifaceted impact of tourism on economic development by highlighting its ability to generate significant revenue and provide employment opportunities within local communities. It underscores the necessity for regulatory bodies in different countries to strategically enhance their tourist attractions to capture a larger share of international visitors. The case study of Virgin Holidays exemplifies how companies can contribute to this sector by offering appealing holiday packages that not only attract customers but also promote sustainable economic growth. Through detailed analysis, it becomes evident that tourism plays a crucial role in making economies financially and economically stable.

TOURIST DESTINATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Main tourist destination and their income generation......................................................1
1.2 Analysis of statistics and determination of future trends.................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Cultural, Social and physical features of tourist destinations...........................................4
2.2 Compare features of developing and leading tourist destination.....................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
4.1 Issues that affect popularity of tourist destinations..........................................................7
4.2 Potential responsible for tourism to enhance host community at worldwide tourist’s
destination...............................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Tourist spots are the sites which attract large number of customers from all around the
world. This sector has an extraordinary growth from past few decades. It helps to increase the
economic growth of country and make them financially strong. Tourists visit to these
destinations to spend quality time with their family and friends. They are mainly interested in
knowing history, culture, etc. behind every tourist place. These places provide them with
appropriate knowledge about that country. Virgin Holidays is a company which was founded in
1985 with its headquarters in Crawley, UK (Ahmad, 2013). This company provides holiday
packages to interested tourists with destination including Canada, USA, Africa, Middle East and
other countries. They provide with all convenience which shall be required by a tourist during
holidays. This assignment will mainly focus on different tourist destinations and income
generation areas with cultural, social and physical features of these destinations.
TASK 1
1.1 Main tourist destination and their income generation.
Tourist destinations are critical for growth of a country. Government can develop their
tourist spots so that they can attract more tourists (Bruwer, Gross and Lee, 2016). This leads to
more income generation for the country. Different countries have different income generations
and are illustrated below:
Countries UK CHINA USA FRANCE SPAIN
Income
generation
This country is
seeking
attentions of
tourists due to
its famous
culture and
tourist place
(Buosi, Lima
and Silva,
2017).
Tourism is
Tourism of
China has
greatly
attracted
tourists from,
all round the
world
contributing
approximately
3% of total
GDP. They
USA has
considered as
largest
employer
sector in USA.
It has been
supporting
thousands of
job
opportunities
in USA. It has
This country is
leading in
tourism sector
as they are
earning a huge
amount of
revenue from
tourist’s places
(Bruwer and
Joy, 2017).
Approximatel
Tourism has
greatly
increased the
income level
in Spain.
Approx. 56
billion
increment in
GDP has taken
place. Spain
has also
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contributing
about 3.6% of
GDP. Some
percentage in
tourism sector
is increasing
with every
year.
Domestic
tourists have
contributed
major part in
income
generation of
country. It has
also generated
great job
opportunities
for UK people.
have also
generated
great
employment
opportunity
for people.
3.4%
contribution in
economy of
country.
y 90 million
tourists visit
these places.
Tourism has
contributed
around 3.9%
of total GDP
of country.
Tourism has
led to
generation of
thousands job
opportunities
which has
contributed
approximately
4.5% of total
employment.
increased
around 5.7%
of total
employment.
1.2 Analysis of statistics and determination of future trends.
Travel and tourism has a great scope in future because it is increasing with remarkable
speed every year. Different countries are making strategies to improve tourists’ spots to increase
their revenue and generate thousands of job opportunities for local people (Armenski, 2011).
Tourism industry is gaining importance from tourists all around the world. In future also, it has
great opportunities for countries to gain profits in this industry (Chen, 2017).
Below is the statistical data of United Kingdom, which include current trends of same
country. This statistics is depicting number of tourists increasing and decreasing in different
years.
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Years Number of
Visitors (m)
Spend £ (bn) Average spend
per visit
Average
nights per
visit
International
balance of
payments £
(bn)
2006 31.854 £16.012 £485 8.5 -£18.225
2007 32.874 £15.258 496 7.2 -£19.552
2008 30.254 £16.25 541 7.7 -£20.202
2009 29.256 £16.854 582 7.5 -£15.236
2010 29.684 £17.0125 593 7.2 -£15.203
2011 31.112 £16.450 648 6.8 -£14.320
2012 31.152 £18.201 659 6.3 -£13.225
2013 32.259 £20.140 671 6.8 -£13.502
2014 35.001 £21.223 690 7.7 -£13.658
2015 35.149 £22.36 600 7.2 -£13.102
2016 36.224 £24.001 625 7.6 -£13.331
2017 38.129 £25.20 691 7.5 -£13.051
(Source: Trends in tourism of UK over the last 11 years, 2018)
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
2030
2040
2050
2060
Number of Visitors (m)
Years
Illustration 1: Trends in tourism of UK over the last 11 years
Above facts are providing information about numbers of tourists visiting different places
in UK. In some years, there is decrease in number of visitors and in other years, it has gained the
number of visitors. With increasing year, number of people is also increasing (Beritelli, 2011).
Tourism is gaining popularity among people as they are interested in knowing different places.
These spots are not only attraction points for visitors. They are full of mysteries, historical
information, culture depiction of home country, etc (Brouder, 2016). Government of UK keeps
on organising different events and exhibitions, which represents about their culture and
importance of that particular place, these events impact great influence on tourists visiting that
place. They also help in increasing GDP of country and making it financially strong.
TASK 2
2.1 Cultural, Social and physical features of tourist destinations.
Every tourist’s destination depicts its own culture, social as well as physical features.
These features attract tourists from different countries. It increases the interest of visitors and
they tend to visit these places to know about them in detail. There are many places in United
Kingdom which are famous for their beauty and culture they depict (Crouch, 2011). From those
places, London is the most visited place for tourism because it has eye catching places with
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beautiful sceneries and places. For example: London Eye, British Museum, Hyde Park, Tower of
London, etc. They consist of different historical and cultural value related to these places.
There are some places that are illustrated below which attract number of tourists towards
them.
Tourist destinations Italy UK Russia
Social Social features include
tradition of local
people, their fashion
trends, communication
and mobility. Fashion
trends, art, music
changes with change
in time. Convenience
has improved a lot
from past some decade
which enable more
tourists to visit these
places.
United Kingdom has
rich diversity as
people there are very
open minded and live
their life to the fullest.
They also have rich
historical value which
seeks attention of local
as well foreign people.
It has long history
which is of great
knowledge for tourists.
With increasing
popularity, people are
interested in knowing
their culture and
heritage.
Cultural Italy has very rich
culture as it is the
birthplace of western
civilization. Its arts,
music, style and food
are famous points of
Italian culture. Due to
its cultural, thousands
of tourist visit
different places of
Italy. Some of famous
places in Italy are
In UK, there are many
places where visitors
can visit. It has distinct
cultures with rich
heritage. Culture of
UK mainly include
British literature,
cinema, music, art,
media, architecture,
etc. which seeks
attention of million
tourists. There are
There are numerous
destinations which
make this country
famous for tourism. It
is also rich in culture
and heritage as other
countries are and
tourist likes to visit
different places in this
country. Attractive
points of Russia are its
architecture, paintings,
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Sicily, Milan,
Pompeii, etc. which
attract millions of
visitors.
many popular cities
which are mostly
visited by people
around the world such
as, London,
Manchester, Oxford,
etc.
classical music,
cinema, history,
animation, etc
(Bruwer, Gross and
Lee, 2016).
Physical Italy has ranges of
famous mountains and
some active volcanoes.
It also has beautiful
rivers where tourists
spend their quality
time with their
families and friends.
It has pleasant
atmosphere with better
environment
conditions which
attract attention of
many people. As they
prefer those places
which are neat and
clean and have great
value.
Russia has many rivers
with most popular sea
known as Black Sea,
which is an attractive
point for tourists to
visit.
2.2 Compare features of developing and leading tourist destination
Tourist destinations of leading and developing countries are illustrated below.
Tourist destination Leading destination UK Developing destination Russia
Cultural Feature UK culture is mainly
influenced by history of
country (Datzira, Masip and
Poluzzi, 2014). Important
aspects of culture include
British literature, cinema, art,
theatre, comedy, media, music,
philosophy, architecture, etc.
It has rich historical value with
other elements like –
animation, cinema, classical
theories, literature, etc. It has
popular dance form which is
known as Ballet and many
people are interested in
learning this dance form when
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These represent the rich
culture that United Kingdom
has which generate interest in
tourist to know about them.
visiting Russia.
Physical feature In United Kingdom, it has
beautiful places such as
mountains and hills, rivers and
lakes, which are famous spot
for tourism and attract many
tourists.
Russia has massive coniferous
forests, mountain ranges,
beautiful rivers and
landscapes. These seek
attention of many visitors.
Social feature People living in these
countries are friendly and
helpful. They are very
punctual and strict with
timings.
Russian people are well
educated and show respect to
everybody. They are known
for their hospitality.
TASK 3
Covered in PPT
TASK 4
4.1 Issues that affect popularity of tourist destinations
Sometimes, unexpected issue or problem arises which affects the popularity of tourist
spots. These issues are mentioned below:
Change in climatic conditions: Different countries have different climatic conditions
which greatly impacts the arrival of visitors (Bruwer and Joy, 2017). It is not necessary that
tourists get same climatic conditions as of their home country in other country where they are
visiting. For example, if an Indian group wants to visit Russia, then they should prepare
themselves according to their climate as it very cold as compared to India.
Tourism trends: Trends of market and people sometimes impact popularity of tourist
destination. Different tourists have different destination criteria and they tend to visit those
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places in which they have keen interest (Pietro, Virgilio and Pantano, 2012). It effects economy
of that country where people tend to visit in less number.
Terrorism: Sometime, people visit to those places which are frequently under red alert.
For example: if people want to explore beautiful sceneries and lakes of Kashmir, then they
should take prior precaution as it is the most frequent place for terrorism.
Natural disasters: If any country is sensitive to natural disasters, then people should
avoid going to those places. If any tourist visit that place, then government should take full
responsibility and provide them with appropriate information about any possible disasters.
4.2 Potential responsible for tourism to enhance host community at worldwide tourist’s
destination.
Importance of responsible tourism
Tourism should be safe and secure for people visiting different tourist spots. The
government should try to make it a happy and happening holiday for people so that they can
enjoy their moments to the fullest. If any place is under threat or red alert, then government
should provide them with information and warning and try to give orders to vacate that
particular places for security purpose. Responsible tourism has resulted in minimising
economical, financial, social and environmental impacts over destination.
In United Kingdom, focus is mainly on providing safe tourism to visitors which impact
positive effect on country's reputation (Brouder, 2016). There are several organisations that are
dealing in tourism sector which provide the best services to their client. One of them is Virgin
Holidays, which is leading in this sector providing with the best holiday services to their
customers. Certain principles should be considered for attracting more customers towards their
company. They are given below:
 Each person should receive respect by host country where they are going for tourism.
 They should be humble and polite.
 Provide them with best services so that they can visit again.
In this context, organisations which are related to tourism make great efforts so that they can
promote their tourism industry and can attract more customers with passing year.
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CONCLUSION
From above assignment, it has been comprehended that regulatory bodies of each country
should enhance their tourist spots so that they can attract large numbers of visitors towards their
country (Fourieb and Santana, 2011). Developing country should try to exert more efforts in
tourism sector which can help them to increase their revenue and profits to country which make
them more stable both financially and economically. Virgin Holidays is a company which
provide attractive holiday packages to their clients and offer them with the best customer
services. Tourism helps countries to generate employment opportunities for local people and
make countries economically strong and stable.
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