Contemporary Tourism Issues Exam Paper (BM6016-20)

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Undergraduate Modular Scheme Examination
Module Name: Tourism: Contemporary Issues
Module Code: BM6016-20 (UKCBC) Level: 6
Day and Date: Friday 04th June 2018 Start time:
10:00AM
Duration:
2 hours
Student Name: Student Number:
Questions answered:
You are not allowed to leave the examination room during the first
30 minutes, nor the last 15 minutes.
Non-Permitted Items
Invigilators should ensure that no candidate has in their possession, or
makes use of, any of the following items, unless specifically listed on the
examination paper as permitted aids:
 Book or manuscript
 Calculator
 Personal computer, laptop or notebook
 Electronic organiser or pager
 Radio or music player
 Mobile phone
 Smart watches
 iPod, tablet computer
 Any other aid not specially listed on the examination paper or the
assessment regulations for the module.
Please note that ‘non-smart’ wrist watches are permitted but invigilators
have the right to examine a watch if they suspect it may be used for
misconduct.
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Instructions to candidates:
1. This paper has four essay-type questions.
2. Two of four questions should be attempted.
3. This paper is also your answer booklet. Ensure your name and student
number is clearly written.
4. The number of marks allocated to each question is written in
parentheses [ ].
Candidates must attempt TWO (2) questions. Each
question is worth 50 marks.
Questions:
Question 1 - Choose one particular niche tourism segment and describe its
development over the last two decades. Discuss the ways in which tourism
organisations respond to this development critically by using relevant
theoretical framework(s) and industry examples. [50]
Question 2 - Critically evaluate the traditional, generic marketing approach
for tourism. Choose two contemporary geographical theoretical approaches to
tourism and critically discuss their applicability by using relevant examples.
[50]
Question 3 - Describe the proliferation of social media globally and critically
discuss the role of social media in contemporary tourism marketing. Your
discussion needs to be supported with relevant studies and industry examples.
[50]
Question 4 - Describe the key marketing roles of a destination management
organisation (DMO). Identify the challenges that UK-based DMOs are facing.
Critically discuss the future that DMOs may hold. Your answer needs to be
supported with relevant theories and examples. [50]
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Question 3 - Describe the proliferation of social media globally and critically discuss the
role of social media in contemporary tourism marketing. Your discussion needs to be
supported by relevant studies and industry examples.
The proliferation of social media globally: Social media is one of the growing incidents in
the present time. It has been seen that in the present time the use of social media is being
popular among the youths and the various business organization. The Proliferation of social
media has been seen globally. The social media application has started at the time of internet
technology (Dolani et al. 2016). The social media has become an interesting place in
technological innovation. With the help of the social media people of the world able to bridge
the gap between the people and the communication between people has been increased. Due
to the better connectivity and the use of the various internet build devices, the people are
connecting with each other more often. The Rise of social media is due to the increased
number of people to use the internet. it has been seen that the popularity of the social media
has been raised due to the massive global compendium of the stats which provide great
insight into the world of social media. According to the Global digital report the number of
internet users worldwide has been reached up to 4.388 billion. The availability of the internet
makes the rise of social media globally. Moreover, the innovation related to social media
networks like Facebook, Twitter, and or YouTube helps to increase the number of people on
these platforms.
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Figure 1: Internet User
(Source: Dutta, Geiger and Lanvin, 2015)
Figure 2: Social media penetration 2019
(Source: Andreassen, Pallesen, and Griffiths, 2017)
The Role of Social Media in Tourism Marketing: Social media can have a huge impact on
tourism marketing. It has been seen that people often rely on social media networks to learn
about the various new travel destinations and after that, they plan their trips. Many of the
people share their experiences and special moments and opinion about the hotels and various
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places that can influence the other travelers as well (Sajid, 2016). It has been seen that there
are many new ways by which the consumers use social media to make the various purchasing
decision, which can influence the tourism marketing. There are a few points by which it can
be seen what are the roles of social media in tourism marketing.
 Transformation in the Travel Research: It has been seen that social media has a
positive impact on tourism marketing. Most of the people in the present time get some
of the reviews about the various places. Most of the travelers plan their travel
activities based on the content posted by the various hotels, restaurants, and
management of the area. From social sharing sites like Instagram to people sourced
sites like TripAdvisor helps the people to make decision-related to the travel (Warren,
2015).
 Enhanced Customer Services: It is noted that many of the travel agencies and hotel
industries transform their business based on the online feedbacks provided by the
customers. The companies will able to respond to the various feedbacks provided by
the consumers. Moreover, it has been seen that companies like American Airlines
and JetBlue are particularly addressing the issues and providing a human touch to the
various frustrating experiences.
Question 4 - Describe the key marketing roles of a destination management
organization (DMO). Identify the challenges that UK-based DMOs are facing. Critically
discuss the future that DMOs may hold. Your answer needs to be supported with
relevant theories and examples.
Key Marketing Roles of DMO: DMO, which is the Destination Management Organization,
plays a key role in the long-term development of the tourist destination. DMO helps to
formulate effective travel and tourism strategy. Every visitor, DMO helps to serve the
gateway for the destination. DMO helps the tourist by providing current and accurate
information related to the attractions of the destination (Klimek, 2017). The various
information would be related to the one stop shop, maintain the place where the staff of the
destination and the visitor can meet and exchange the information, providing Maps and
promotional books. It has been seen that the presence of the DMO is very important.
Statistics show that leisure travelers search the number of online resources during the trip
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planning and activities. The key role for the DMO would be the Planning of the regional
tourism policies and they will plan the strategic planning for the destination. Moreover, it has
been seen that the DMO should able to promote the destination online and offline, which will
help the country to generate more revenue from the destination from the various visitors. It is
also required for the DMO to develop the various products and services which the visitors
will use. DMO members such as the hotel's attractions and historic districts have a key
interest in promoting travel and tourism. It does not only provide the jobs and bring the tax
for the development of the various infrastructure but also helps to profile the destinations.
Figure 3: Destination Management Organization
(Source: Sheehan et al. 2016)
Challenges faced by the UK based DMO and Its Future: There are various threats related to
the environment and changes in the tourism industry and their structures challenged the
DMOs. Many of the Destination management organization have real risk related to
management. it has been seen that many of the DMO members think that are isolated and
find themselves unable to make some of the necessary changes which important to address
the critical issues which have been faced by the present DMO's.
 Adapting To Technological Change: One of the major issues is related to the
technologies, which are continuously changing, and it is required to learn these
technologies. However, it helps the companies to make their process much easier. It
has been seen that most of the part in the UK faced some of the issues related to the
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IOT. Moreover, it has been seen that due to this customer wants specific answers to
their inquiry, which is based on internet reviews. If the DMO will able to adopt the
technological changes then the DMO will able to improve the experiences of the
customer in the near future and they will able to increase the profit in the destination
area (Reinhold, Laesser and Beritelli, 2015).
 Managing Expectation: Most of the DMO faced the issues related to customer
expectation. Due to the various feedbacks provided by the visitors online, the DMO
has to manage the higher and increasingly diverse consumer expectations but the
DMO have limited knowledge related to the diverse demands of the consumers which
can reduce the expectation of the consumers. In the near future if the DMO will able
to manage the expectation of the Visitors who will visit their hotels and various
historical sites then there would be an increase in the number of tourist in a daily
basis.
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References
Andreassen, C.S., Pallesen, S. and Griffiths, M.D., 2017. The relationship between addictive
use of social media, narcissism, and self-esteem: Findings from a large national
survey. Addictive behaviors, 64, pp.287-293.
Dolan, R., Conduit, J., Fahy, J. and Goodman, S., 2016. Social media engagement behavior: a
uses and gratifications perspective. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 24(3-4), pp.261-277.
Dutta, S., Geiger, T. and Lanvin, B., 2015. The global information technology report 2015. In
the World Economic Forum(Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. P80-85).
Klimek, K., 2017. Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and their role in summer
product development in selected Alpine countries. European Journal of Service
Management, 24(4), pp.31-38.
Reinhold, S., Laesser, C. and Beritelli, P., 2015. 2014 St. Gallen Consensus on destination
management. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 4(2), pp.137-142.
Sajid, S.I., 2016. Social media and its role in marketing.
Sheehan, L., Vargas‐Sánchez, A., Presenza, A. and Abbate, T., 2016. The use of intelligence
in tourism destination management: An emerging role for DMOs. International Journal of
Tourism Research, 18(6), pp.549-557.
Warren, T.C., 2015. Explosive connections? Mass media, social media, and the geography of
collective violence in African states. Journal of Peace Research, 52(3), pp.297-311.
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