Report on UK and Worldwide Tourist Destinations: Trends & Analysis

This report, prepared for Virgin Holidays Ltd., analyzes major tourist destinations worldwide, focusing on the UK, France, US, Spain, Australia, and India. It examines the number of tourists and revenue generation, highlighting France as a leading destination. The report also explores cultural, physical, and social aspects influencing tourist destination popularity, comparing the UK and Thailand. It further discusses issues hampering popularity and the prospective of responsible tourism to boost host communities. The analysis includes current trends, future predictions, and the impact of technology and sustainable tourism on the industry's growth. The report concludes with insights into emerging trends like urban and rural destinations, adventure sports, spa services, and medical tourism in the UK.

TOURIST DESTINATIONS
UK AND WORLDWIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................2
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................3
1.1 ANALYSIS OF MAJOR TOURIST DESTINATIONS OF WORLD IN TERMS
OF NUMBER OF TOURISTS AND REVENUE GENERATION...............................3
1.2 ANALYSIS OF STATISTICS TO IDENTIFY SCOPE AND FUTURE TRENDS
IN TOURISM.............................................................................................................6
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................8
2.1 ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL, PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF
TOURIST PLACES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON POPULARITY OF TOURIST
DESTINATIONS........................................................................................................8
2.2 COMPARISON OF FEATURES OF A LEADING AND DEVELOPING
TOURIST DESTINATION.......................................................................................10
TASK 3........................................................................................................................13
PRESENTATION....................................................................................................13
TASK 4........................................................................................................................24
4.1 ISSUES THAT HAMPER POPULARITY OF TOURIST DESTINATIONS.......24
4.2 PROSPECTIVE OF RESPONSIBLE TOURISM TO BOOST THE HOST
COMMUNITY AT GLOBAL TOURIST DESTINATIONS........................................26
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................28
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................29
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INTRODUCTION
Tourism can be defined as a short-term visit or long-term travel for leisure purposes.
The definition of tourism has changed over the times and now people travel and visit
various tourist destinations for educational, health and adventures purposes also. In
the world of emerging tourism industry, introduction and evolution of tour operators
and holiday providers have provided them with a huge advantage in terms of growth
and income. The assignment undertakes the scenario of Virgin Holidays Ltd., a tour
operator company based in UK that provides holiday packages to countries like US,
Asia, Africa and many more countries of the world.
Firstly, a report describes the major tourist destinations in the world along with the
analysis of their current and future trends in terms of a number of tourists and
revenue generation. Further, an information pack describes the social, cultural and
other factors that influence a tourist destination along with a comparison of features
of tourism in developing and developed countries. A presentation will be prepared for
the explanation of the ways in which the characteristics of tourist attractions affect
their popularity. Lastly, a management report summary will be prepared for
discussion on the issues that may hamper the popularity of tourist attractions.
Figure 1: Seven wonders of world
Source: [http://www.momjunction.com/articles/facts-about-seven-wonders-of-
the-world-for-kids_00419805/#gref]
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TASK 1
Executive Summary
The following report presented by Junior Product Analyst covers the major tourist
destinations of the world and their current trends and future predictions for analysis
of the scope of tourism development in those places.
Introduction
The report covers the analysis of popular visitor destinations of the world along with
their scope and examination of the statistics to forecast the future trends of the
tourist places.
1.1 ANALYSIS OF MAJOR TOURIST DESTINATIONS OF WORLD IN
TERMS OF NUMBER OF TOURISTS AND REVENUE GENERATION
The tourism industry in the world has gained immense growth and popularity in the
last few decades along with discovery and development of eco-destinations and
man-made tourist destinations globally. In the developed and developing countries,
the tourism sector has contributed a lot to the growing economy of the respective
countries (Laws, 2011). The junior product analyst with the strategy team at the
holiday and tour operator company, Virgin holidays headquartered in Crawley, UK
has the responsibility to determine the scope of the chief holiday destinations in the
United Kingdom and the rest of the globe. The analysis of the data of top five
destinations in the world is conducted by comparing the statistical data of the
number of visitors at the tourist places and the net income generated by the tourism.
The most famous tourist destinations worldwide dwell in the countries such as UK,
France, United States, Spain, Australia, and India. Also, according to the recent data
of 2016, France was the country that witnessed the maximum number of visitors in
the world. After France, the countries visited in descending order are United States,
Spain, Republic of China, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Thailand and
Malaysia.
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Figure 2: Number of visitors from Tourism
Source: [https://www.statista.com/topics/3780/inbound-tourism-in-european-
countries/]
The above statistics depict the rise of tourists in North America, Middle East, Asia
and Europe (Statista, 2018). In 2016, according to World Tourism Organisation the
tourism sector gained the highest boost in the above-mentioned zones of the world
as the number of people coming for tourism purposes reached to 616.2 million in
2016 in European countries and 53.6 million tourists in the middle east, 308.4 million
in the the Asia Pacific and 130.5 million in North America. Since 2009, the statistics
of the number of visitors have gradually increased till 2016 while in 2007 and 2008
the ratio was greater than 2009 because in 2009 the world faced the rise of inflation.
The tourism sector is also growing rapidly in the economically sound as well as
medium economy countries which is directly providing and contributing to the growth
rate of the country. The analysis of the data of the tourist destinations shows that
France is the leading country in terms of highest number of tourist visiting the
country with the maximum income generation. Following to France, is the United
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States of America which has attracted the most visitors and has gained a lot from the
tourism industry.
Figure 3: Revenue from tourism
Source: [ttps://www.statista.com/topics/962/global-tourism/]
The income generation statistics show that People spent most in Dubai followed by
New York and London and the city in which amount was least spent by the tourists
was Barcelona and contributed to the income generation of the country (Statista,
2018). The statistics given are according to the cities of different countries.
The Tour operator companies are gaining huge profits by providing attractive and
cost-efficient holiday packages to the people with similar or special interest and the
local government in the respective destinations are leveraging benefits to the tour
companies by minimising the taxes and other funds investment (Veal, 2017).
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1.2 ANALYSIS OF STATISTICS TO IDENTIFY SCOPE AND FUTURE
TRENDS IN TOURISM
The current trends of the tourism in various countries show that the advancement in
technology and awareness about ecological and niche tourism has resulted in the
rise in the number of visitors in those countries which earlier gained income from just
consistent tourists with common interests (Peeters and Dubois, 2010).
In the coming years, the Tourism sector will observe a high boost in the European,
America Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Because the number of travellers has
rapidly increased at an exponential rate in the mentioned areas of the world. The rise
of inbound destinations in Europe and Asia attract tourists with special interests.
The awareness about sustainable or green tourism will be maximised so that all the
countries in the tourism sector adopt methods which encourages sustainability in the
tourism industry and the scope of tourist sector is increased.
Figure 4 Statistical analysis of Future Trends in Tourism
Source:[https://globaltourisminternal2015.weebly.com/temporal-pattern-of-
global-tourism.html]
Taking the tourist trends in UK and other countries, the tourism will be enhanced
more in the coming future as emergence of the outbound markets depict that the
countries like India and China will observe hike in the tourism in respect of the
increase in the number of travellers travelling to foreign countries from these Asian
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countries (Global Tourism, 2018). In the United Kingdom, some of the trends which
are emerging in the tourism sector are the rise of urban and rural destination places,
adventure sports has contributed a lot to the travel industry etc. The future
predictions in terms of UK state that the travel industry will introduce new concepts
and ideas of tourism such as the spa services offered to the domestic and
international tourists for leisure and health purposes introduced as a result of
changing perceptions of people towards tourism activities , emergence and
development of new seaside resorts which attract a large number of customers with
premium holiday demands, eco and medical travel and tourism which will attract
many customers from the local and distant places and countries and family holidays
and local gatherings which are budget friendly and encourage the local tourist
attractions to develop more and gain popularity worldwide (Brent Ritchie, et al.
2011). These are the factors which are affecting the current and future trends in the
tourism industry of UK.
CONCLUSION
The report has illustrated the statistics of the tourist destinations famous in the world
along with the future scope and trends for the development of the popular
destinations such as the UK and other countries with beautiful and attractive tourist
destinations.
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TASK 2
2.1 ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL, PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF
TOURIST PLACES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON POPULARITY OF
TOURIST DESTINATIONS
The tourist destinations in the world are present in different geographies and thus
different places have varied cultural and social practices. Also, the location of the
place i.e. its physical geography also plays an important role in attracting the
customers to visit that particular location. The development of tourism in any place
increases the popularity and thus attracts a large number of visitors and this
ultimately leads to the contribution to the financial condition of the country (Goeldner
and Ritchie, 2012). The social and physical factors of a country determine the overall
productivity of the tourism at that place and also the strategies which are
implemented for the successful dwelling of the holiday business in those places.
The Junior Product analyst is assigned the work of analysing the various cultural
and social factors that impact the decision making the power of the tourists and how
these factors either attract the tourists or restrict them from visiting the tourist places.
Here two countries from the analysis done in the previous sections are taken i.e. UK
and Thailand. The countries are analysed one by one of the above-discussed
factors.
UNITED KINGDOM
The country is a developed nation and has emerged as one of the major travel
destinations in the world. The beautiful and interesting history of UK and its
corresponding states has attracted many interested tourists from around the world
(Vanhove, 2011). The development of tourist sector was earlier realised and this
helped in the successful progression of the tourism industry in the UK.
Social and cultural- By the term social, on means the social environment of the
place and the people in the UK are frank and friendly towards the tourist and
welcome them wholeheartedly. A well-developed economy of the country constraints
some people with low income to visit those places but the government with the
collaboration of touring agencies are working towards minimising the expenses for
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travel and thus to attract all categories of people in terms of financial condition. The
diverse culture of UK attracts many visitors to gain knowledge about various religions
and cultures.
Physical- The country has beautiful natural destinations and man-made places but
the natural calamities in the place due to diverse geography may sometimes restrict
the visitors at some places.
THAILAND
It is a South East Asian country earlier known as Siam is popular for its beaches,
grand palaces and Buddhist temples. Though the area covered by the country is not
highly significant the enormous beauty within the country gives it a unique identity
and makes the place exclusive for the tourists to cherish and adore the beauty of the
place (Dabphet, et al. 2012). Famous tourist places in Thailand are Bangkok,
Pattaya, Ko Samui and Chiang Mai. The factors influencing tourism in the country
are discussed below-
Cultural and Social- The majority of the people living in Thailand are Buddhists and
follow the religion of Buddhism. Rest of the people are Christians. Muslims and
Hindus. The national language is Thai spoken by a large number of people. The
people are very much adjusting and greet the tourists with great enthusiasm and
give them a warm welcome. The culture of the place encourages the people to teach
the tourists with concepts of philosophies of Buddha and spread the message of
peace in the world. The serenity of the place is identified by its Buddhist culture and
thus one gets a very calm and soothing feeling in Thailand.
Physical- Thailand is a place which is encircled by water from all the sides and thus
encompasses tremendous beauty with the presence of beautiful beaches, natural
water coasts, Buddhist temples with beautiful architecture and designs and palaces
with great history (Mowforth and Munt, 2015). Since the place doesn’t have a large
population thus the accommodation and food facilities are available for the tourists at
affordable prices as compared to other tourist destinations.
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2.2 COMPARISON OF FEATURES OF A LEADING AND DEVELOPING
TOURIST DESTINATION
The two leading tourist destinations discussed above were UK and Thailand and
both the places are successful in fascinating and driving a large number of tourists to
visit the countries and help in the expansion of the economy of the country. In the
current section, the leading and developing tourist destinations in the world will be
compared to analyse the effects of various factors on the tourism of the country and
how well the countries are performing in the tourism sector. The two countries here
taken are the United Kingdom and India out of which India is a developing tourist
place in the world.
FEATURES LEADING TOURIST
DESTINATION (UK)
DEVELOPING TOURIST
DESTINATION (INDIA)
Motive  The main aim of the
leading tourist place
like the UK is to
attract more visitors
belonging to weak
economy class
 Also to encourage
visitors from
developing nations
and provide them
with the best quality
services (Macleod
and Carrier, 2010)
 The country is
focusing on tourism
sector growth
through attracting
visitors from around
the world (Harish,
2010)
 To increase the
economy of the
country and thus
enhance the growth
rate
CULTURAL
ATTRACTIONS
The UK has numerous
places of cultural
importance such as the
Royal Museum, British
India is a country with
diverse cultures and has
the Taj Mahal, one of the
seven wonders of the
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Museum and Buckingham
Palace which depict the
cultural heritage of the
country.
world that attracts many
foreign visitors.
POPULARITY The United Kingdom
comes under the top
destinations of the world
known for its best quality
services in the world.
India is known for its
colourful and beautiful
culture and religion and
thus this has increased the
popularity of the country
among the other nations
and also the excellent
Yoga and meditation
centres in India make it
very famous (Dasgupta,
2011).
AMENITIES  The UK has best in
class facilities
ranging from low to
high cost for food
and
accommodation
(Augustyn, 2013).
 The government
provides support for
tourism and tourism
agencies help to
fulfil the tourism
needs
 India has one of the
best food and
markets in the
world and known
for a different
variety of foods
across its states.
 People give great
support and the
government has
developed many
tourism plans to
fascinate more
tourists from across
the globe.
NUMBER OF VISITORS
(2016)
35.8 million visitors 8.8 million visitors
WASTE MANAGEMENT
AND ENVIRONMENT
The country has a high-
end technology and
India is moving towards
sustainable tourism and is
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