Travel and Tourism Management: Destination Appeal and Sustainability

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of travel and tourism management, comparing Brecon Beacons National Park in the UK with Grand Teton National Park in the US. It examines visitor profiles, historical data, income generation, and key tourist markets for both destinations. The report ...Read More

Travel and Tourism Management

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1 for LO 1................................................................................................................................4
A) Identify and analyse a world’s leading destination and compare it with a chosen UK
destination in terms of visitor profile and historic visitor numbers, income generated and the
key tourist generator countries (markets) to these destinations [P1.1, M1]................................4
B) Using the data from the above, analyse destination trends for your chosen overseas
destination and the UK destination and predict future trends in visitor numbers and visitor
profile. [P1.2]...............................................................................................................................5
Task 2 for LO 2................................................................................................................................7
A) Identify the cultural, social, and physical features of your UK destination, detailing the
appeal to tourists [P2.1]...............................................................................................................7
B) Compare and contrast the cultural, physical, and social features of the UK destination with
those of the chosen overseas destination [P2.2, M2, and D1].....................................................8
Task 3 for LO 3..............................................................................................................................10
A) Investigate and analyse (comparatively) the economic and political characteristics of both
destinations [P3.1, M3]..............................................................................................................10
B) Critically evaluate how the cultural, economic, physical, political, and social characteristics
of the UK destination affect its appeal to tourists. [P3.2, D2]...................................................11
Task 4 for LO 4..............................................................................................................................13
A. Identify three issues that may affect the popularity of the UK destination as a destination
and compare and contrast them with the overseas destination chosen [P4.1]...........................13
B. Critically discuss how your UK destination could sustain its appeal with an emphasis on
‘Responsible Tourism’ [P4.2, D3].............................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
According to IUCN, a Tourist Destination is such an area, geography or a country that is
marketed and utilised for tourists to base themselves temporarily. National Park is such a
destination, which donned with spectacular natural beauty, cultural heritage, and natural habitat.
The United Kingdom has 15 national parks of spectacular landscapes, and Natural beauty with
cultural heritage. Brecon Beacons is such a national park located in the UK.
The following tasks will analyse and compare Brecon Beacons with one of the global national
parks- The Grand Teton National situated in Wyoming, US. The comparison will be in terms of
visitor profile, number and the revenue generated. The economic, cultural, physical, and social
features will also be compared and contrasted through investigation, analysis, and critical
analysis. The final report will critically discuss three issues specific to Brecon Beacons and
recommend how it can sustain its appeal like the Grand Teton.
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Task 1 for LO 1
A) Identify and analyse a world’s leading destination and compare it with a chosen UK
destination in terms of visitor profile and historic visitor numbers, income generated and
the key tourist generator countries (markets) to these destinations [P1.1, M1].
The Grand Teton is the world best national park (US News, 2018) spanning 1300 square
kilometres and is situated 10 miles south of the world’s largest national park- the Yellow Stone
National Park. The Grand Teton is situated in the in the Teton County in the US State of
Wyoming. This national park comprises of Mountain ranges, lakes, forests, and rich natural
habitat.
Figure1: The Grand Teton National Park
(Source: NPS, 2018)
Due to the cultural heritage and natural habitat the national park has recorded its largest visitor
number in the year 2017 after rising steadily since 2008 (Statista, 2018) as depicted below. These
volumes of visitors are the one that has visited the park for recreational purpose only.
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Figure 2: Number of Visitors at Grand Teton from 2008 to 2017 for Recreational Purpose
(Source: Statista, 2018)
However, the actual number of visitors including a variety of purpose has surpassed 4.96 Million
according to NPS (2018). In the year 2017, the national park has generated $590 Million with a
cumulative benefit of $744 Million to the local economy (Star Tribune, 2018). The park has also
supported employment of 8700 workers. It has been analysed that for every $1 invested upon the
park and net return of $10 is achieved (Germann, 2018).
Figure 3: The Brecon Beacons national park
(Source: Brecon Beacons, 2018)
In contrast to the Grand Teton, the Brecon Beacons holds visitation by 4.15 million visitors an
year who spends about £197 Million or $263 Million (NPA, 2017). The economic impact on the
local economy is £238.9 Million. The national park support 3823 jobs (James, 2016). The prime
motivators for visit are ‘landscapes’, ‘Walking’ and ‘outdoor enjoyment’. About 50% of the
visitors are locals and from Wales and foreigners are relatively small. About 70 percent visitors
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are ‘Day Trippers’ constituting of 3.82 million visitors (James, 2016). The Spending pattern is
majorly over food and accommodation.
B) Using the data from the above, analyse destination trends for your chosen overseas
destination and the UK destination and predict future trends in visitor numbers and visitor
profile. [P1.2].
Butler’s Tourism Life Cycle helps to analyse the lifecycle of a tourist destination. As depicted in
the Figure below, a tourist destination grows through investment and popularity in the
involvement, exploration, and development phase. When the capacity of the available resources
reaches the critical capacity, then a stagnancy creeps in. This leads to decline of the popularity
because at the critical capacity the availability of visitor services reduces and so is visitor
popularity. However, with increased investments the destination rejuvenates and retraces the
cycle from the development phase.
Figure 4: Butler’s tourist destination life cycle
(Source: Williams et al., 2016)
Current Trend:
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In the case of The Grand Teton, the National Parks Service has invested in visitor
accommodation, refreshment, and activity infrastructures in 2011 and 2014, which has resulted
in increased volume of visitors in the subsequent years. It is clear that the destination has been
reaching its critical capacity. It has been rejuvenated through investments. Further, the marketing
promotion during the Eclipse in 2017 has led to surpassing of visitor volume in contrast to
Yellowstone.
In the case of Brecon Beacons, the visitor volume has been steady comprising majorly of Local
visitors. The government has planned to revamp the popularity through renovation of new
cycling trails and activities. It is clear that the park is in the early stage of Development where
the government is still exploring to increase the popularity among the global visitors.
Future Trend:
From the data on Consumer profile and consumer spending for the Grand Teton National Park, it
is clear that the consumers are spending more on local activities, and within the premises of the
National Park. The year-on-year increase in volume of the visitors also suggests that the
authorities will have increase the facilities available in the park. However, crowding can be a
major risk to the national park if effective visitor management strategies are not undertaken.
In the case of Brecon Beacons, the consumers are visiting the park for outdoor activities, walking
and other games. The availability of natural landscapes will tend to attract more visitors who
strive for a destination with these features. The majority of the visitors are from locality of
Wales. Hence, this can stagnate the development of this national park unless global promotion is
made. The tourists primarily stay for 2 days that means packages for the same can boost the
visitor influx.
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Task 2 for LO 2
A) Identify the cultural, social, and physical features of your UK destination, detailing the
appeal to tourists [P2.1].
Cultural Features
The Brecon Beacons is famous for the Welsh culture literature (Literature), food (Abergavenny),
music (Brecon), and art. Famous festivals such as The Green Man Art and Music festival, the
Hay literary festival, and the Brecon Jazz Festival are renowned. The Welsh Academy of Art is
an art school of the Victorian era, which teaches paint, portrait, cast, and landscape art. The
Museum of the Royal Welsh is the local museum, which conserves the history and culture of the
Welsh. In addition, the Harvard Chapel at Brecon Cathedral conserves the colours from the Zulu
Wars. The National Park contains 250 archaeological wonders of the Welsh Culture, Roman
sites, burial chambers, and camps (Brecon Beacons, 2018). There are plethora of mediaeval
castles, churches, and remains of the industrial revolution.
Social Features
The main settlements in the Brecon Beacons national park are Brecon, ‘Crickhowell and
Gilwern’ and Hay. The national park hosts about 32,000 residents as per 2013 statistics by NPA
(2013). Seventy Percent of the national Park is privately owned by the residents and the
remaining 30 percent is opened to the public.
Physical Features
The Brecon Beacons is lines with upland Streams, which has fast running clear waters. These
streams also convert in waterfalls, which provide spectacular view. The Lowland water bodies
are formed from these up-Land streams and are lined with trees and vegetation providing great
spots for hiking and picnic. The Black Mountains is situated in the west of the national park
reaching a height of 802 metres. In the east, the Pen Y Fan is another mountain, which is 886
metres high and is considered as the highest summit in the national park (Brecon Beacons,
2018). However, most of the park constitutes of Moorland, scattered forest and pastures.
Appeal to the Tourists
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The Brecon Beacons National Park has been considered an ideal place for abundant outdoor
activities such as Walking, Cycling, Horse riding, biking, Sailing, windsurfing, fishing, rock
climbing, camping, caving and for military training. The Taff Trail is one of the long route
cycling as well as walking trail in the national park. The 100 Mile bike route called the beacons
way has been developed to increase the popularity of cycling in the national park. Along with
this, the above physical features provide the most appeal to the tourists and attract wide variety
of photographers, wide-life scientists, and students for recreation as well as educational
purposes. The provision for narrow gauge mountainous Brecon Railways provides an economic
way of travelling within the national park.
B) Compare and contrast the cultural, physical, and social features of the UK destination
with those of the chosen overseas destination [P2.2, M2, and D1].
Cultural Features
While the Brecon Beacons National Park (BBNP) conserves the mediaeval, roman and the
industrial revolution, the Grand Teton conserves the 11000 years of history since the Pleistocene
Age of Human evolution. The various visitor centres at the national park conserves the various
reminiscent of the tribal history (NPS, 2018). Like the BBNP, there are museums in the Grand
Teton that display the evolution and development of the local communities. However, unlike
BBNP, the architectures available in this national park are modern and post industrial revolution.
Social Features
The population of Grand Teton is 41072 (Point2Homes, 2018), which is higher than that of
BBNP. The gender diversity is similar in both the national parks with about fifty percent of male
and female population. While 30 Percent of the BBNP is open to public access, the entire breadth
of Grand Teton is open to public access except of private homes.
Physical Features
In terms of physical attributes both the national parks appeal to the Outdoor activity seekers.
Both these parks have mountains, river, and pastures, which is ideal for a host of outdoor sports.
However, the features are extreme in the case of Grand Teton with above 4100 metres in contrast
to 886 meters in BBNP. Hence, the appeal of Grand Teton to mountaineers is more than that of
BBNP. In terms of geographical spread, the Grand Teton is far larger than that of BBNP. The
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lakes and Water bodies are larger and more in numbers in comparison to the BBNP. The
presence of glaciers in the Grand Teton also increases its appeal in comparison to the BBNP.
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Task 3 for LO 3
A) Investigate and analyse (comparatively) the economic and political characteristics of
both destinations [P3.1, M3].
Economic Characteristics
The visitor spending in Brecon Beacons National Park is £197 Million. The economic impact is
£238.9 Million. This means that the economic impact follows a multiplier of 1.22. 6.5 Percent of
the residents of the National park is employed within the national Parks. Further, the visitor
facilities also contribute to the economic health of the national park.
In Contrast to Brecon Beacons, the Grand Teton national Park generates $590 million. The
economic benefit to the local community is $744 Million. This means a multiplier effect of 1.26,
which is significantly higher than that of Brecon Beacons. The Grand Teton has greater impact
of Tourism on the economic health of the community than the Brecon Beacons.
Political Characteristics
The national of Brecon Beacons is governed by the BBNPA, which is subsidiary of the National
Parks Authority. The Local Towns have their own local councils, which actively promote
sustainable tourism as well as sustainable consumption of resources. The authority mandates a
pollution free environment within the national park by restricting motorised vehicles inside the
park. The national park Visitor Centre is run by the NPA, which provides guidance to the tourists
and the visitors. Three are three more information centres at Brecon, Abergavenny, and
Llandovery. The marketing and promotion strategies are developed by the NPA in association
with the Wales Tourist Board and Local councils. However, private businesses with in the
National Parks promote and market their own businesses. It is also important to note that the
interests of the 70 percent of the private land within the BBNP are also preserved by the NPA.
In Contrast to BBNP, the Grand Teton is governed by the National Parks Service and is under
the control of the federal government. However, the local authorities of Wyoming still governs
the local subjects and the conserves the local significance and ensure community development.
Controversies have been taken place until 2010 about the inclusion of the lands of Teton with in
the purview of the federal government (Hein, 2014). However, with the end of this turmoil, the
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association of the government bodies and the local authorities has developed the community,
which has revamped the popularity of the national park.
B) Critically evaluate how the cultural, economic, physical, political, and social
characteristics of the UK destination affect its appeal to tourists. [P3.2, D2].
The Appeal of Brecon Beacons has been limited to local visitors and activity seekers who strive
for a quick getaway. However, the appeal lessens down for wider visitor segment in terms of
behaviour, demographics, and geography.
The Cultural aspect of Brecon Beacons national Park consists of pastures, mountains, forests,
rivers and trails that are ideal for outdoor activities. This provides great appeal to the tourists
who strive for outdoor activities in the nature. However, only 30 percent of the total land is
accessible for the public, which may limit the appeal for visitors. The mediaeval, roman, and
industrial era culture, art and architecture provide great treat for education seekers as well as
tourists. However, these cultural evidences are not so popular to provide appeal to the wider
visitor profile.
The Economic characteristic of the national park is dependent upon the revenue generated from
the tourists. This provides for local cuisines, local accommodations, and a treat of the local
culture. However, the facilities inside the national park are limited due to the Dark Sky
Accreditation, which means that the pastures have to be conserved for sky watching. This limits
the development of tourist accommodations is limited which have an impact on wider visitor
portfolio who does not wish to camp in the woods.
The physical characteristics of Brecon Beacons supply the requirements for those visitors who
aim outdoor activities and education as their prime motivators. While this appeal to a certain
section of the visitor profile, the section striving for indoor activities and wishes to spend more
than two days may stay away. This means that the appeal of the physical characteristics is
limited to various sports enthusiasts.
The political characteristics of this national park constitutes of the government-funded body
with the help to local councils and trusts. The local community has their own separate councils
that allow for separate jurisdictions with in the national park itself. This means that there may be
conflicts of interest that can have an adverse effect on the tourist influx in the national park.
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The social aspect of the national park is rich with Welsh Community that is developed and
culturally rich. This means that apart from outdoor-activity seekers, the leisure travellers can
spend their days in the community scouring through the rich architecture and local festivities.
However, due to the lack of abundance they appeal may lessen down for high profile visitors.
It is Brecon Beacons have the social, political, physical, cultural, and economic characteristics,
which has great appeal to local activity seekers. However, due to lack of variety and abundance,
the appeal is lessened when wider visitors are targeted.
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Task 4 for LO 4
A. Identify three issues that may affect the popularity of the UK destination as a
destination and compare and contrast them with the overseas destination chosen [P4.1].
The first issue faced by BBNP is the reliance on private cars to travel to and within the park.
While cars can enter the community areas, they cannot enter the conserved places and pasture
trails. This creates much inconvenience to the tourists (Brecon Beacons, 2018). This issue is
similar to the Grand Teton, which is far away from public commute and requires private cars to
commute within the park.
The second issue faced by BBNP is the limited provision for visitor attraction. This includes
limited accommodation and quality restaurants. This has decreased the appeal of the destination.
In contrast, the Grand Teton has provisions with in the geographic boundaries of the national
park, which provides accommodation and restaurants (NPS, 2018). The governing authority is
also encouraging accommodation and travel facilities that will encourage future visitors.
The Third issue faced by BBNP is the uneven distribution of tourist business. The businesses are
majorly near the community and are unevenly spread. This has resulted in much inconvenience
for the visitors. Local visitor wishes to camp through the night typically have their own
provisions but foreign travellers find them inconvenient and hence the drop in popularity (James,
2016). The Great Teton on the other hand have strategically placed service centres that provide
hospitality as well as food for visitors.
B. Critically discuss how your UK destination could sustain its appeal with an emphasis on
‘Responsible Tourism’ [P4.2, D3]
Responsible tourism is also called sustainable tourism that means that the local resources are
utilised such that they does not depletes with time (Caruana et al., 2014). Hence, responsible
tourism is concerned with utilising the resources but also providing time to rejuvenate.
The Brecon Beacons national Park demands motorised transport, which pollutes the
environment. However, the government has promoted greener means of travel such as the 10 to
20 miles of inter-twined network of bicycle paths that can prevent pollution (Mooney, 2015).
The degradation of mountain biking trails and walking trails has been degrading the landscapes
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of certain sensitive sections of the national park. However, segregating the trails from the
conservative sites can prevent contamination as well degradation of the landscapes. Further, the
walking trails can also be marked which can increase the sense of security and hence the appeal
to the tourists.
However, it is critical to note that monitoring can control measures has to be taken to ensure that
the tourists adhere to the guidelines. This can be achieved through engaging activists and
security across the national park who will be responsible for controlling and minimising damage
to the environment as well as landscapes.
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Conclusion
The analysis in this report comparing and contrasting the Brecon Beacons National Park (BBNP)
and the Grand Teton clearly establishes that in terms of physical attributes, the Grand Teton is
far superior to BBNP. However, in terms of social and cultural aspects, the BBNP is more
diverse and historic in contrast to Grand Teton. In both the cases, the visitor profile is majorly
‘Outdoor Activity’ seekers. However, the richness of bio-diversity and geological diversity
attracts more affluent visitors than that of the BBNP. It has been established that the opportunity
lies in promoting the cultural as well as physical attributes to the global audience and supported
by sustainable tourism activities. This will help the BBNP to have a sustainable tourism
development in the future.
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References
Brecon Beacons, 2018. HILLS AND MOUNTAINS IN THE BRECON BEACONS NATIONAL
PARK. [Online] Available at: http://www.breconbeacons.org/hills-mountains[Accessed 2 June
2018].
Brecon Beacons, 2018. WHAT MAKES THE BRECON BEACONS NATIONAL PARK A
SPECIAL PLACE TO VISIT?. [Online] Available at: http://www.breconbeacons.org/reasons-to-
visit [Accessed 2 June 2018].
Caruana, R., Glozer, S., Crane, A. and McCabe, S., 2014. Tourists’ accounts of responsible
tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 46, pp.115-129.
Germann, D., 2018. Grand Teton National Park Creates Economic Benefits, DC: National Park
Service.
Hein, A., 2014. The Establishment of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming: Wyo History.
James, C., 2016. BRECON BEACONS NATIONAL PARK, Wales: GTS (UK) Ltd..
Mooney, C., 2015. The Impacts of Leisure and Tourism on the Brecon Beacons National Park,
Wales: BBNPA.
NPA, 2013. National Park facts and figures, Wales: NPA.
NPA, 2017. Breacon beacons national park Visitor Survey, London: NPA.
NPS, 2018. 2017 Visitation Sets Record, Washington DC: National Park Service.
NPS, 2018. Grand Teton History & Culture,
https://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/historyculture/index.htm: NPS.
Point2Homes, 2018. Grand Teton Village. [Online]
Available at: https://www.point2homes.com/US/Neighborhood/NV/Las-Vegas/Grand-Teton-
Village-Demographics.html.
[Accessed 2 June 2018].
Star Tribune, 2018. Teton Park visitors spent $590 million in 2017, Jackson: Star Tribune.
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Statista, 2018. Number of recreational visitors to Grand Teton National Park in the United
States from 2008 to 2017 (in millions), London: Statista.
US News, 2018. Grand Teton National Park Travel Guide. [Online]
Available at: https://travel.usnews.com/Grand_Teton_National_Park_WY/
[Accessed 2 June 2018].
Williams, A., Weidenfeld, A. & Butler, R., 2016. The visitor attraction life cycle: changing
relationships between attractions in tourism destinations. In: Visitor Attractions and Events.
London: Routledge, pp. 67-86.
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