Visitor Attraction Management Report: Needs, Impacts and Overlap

This report delves into the intricacies of visitor attraction management, examining the overlap between different types of attractions, the diverse needs and motivations of various visitor segments, and the impacts of tourism on visitor attractions within the United Kingdom. It explores purpose-built attractions, those adapted from other uses, and natural attractions, analyzing their appeal and the challenges of overlapping attractions. The report further investigates the importance of different visitor attractions, including their contributions to cultural diversity, trade, foreign exchange, employment, and education. The report categorizes different visitor types, such as vacation tourists, corporate visitors, students, young tourists, health and medical tourists, and education tourists, highlighting their unique needs and motivations. Finally, it assesses the positive and negative impacts of tourism on visitor attractions in the UK, considering economic, social, and environmental factors.

Visitor Attraction Management

INTRODUCTION
When people want change in their daily life they explore option like, travelling to another
place so that they can make some good memories and avoid their mundane life. Visitor’s
management is related to promote various travelling destinations in a country or may be in a
state. This assists in attracting potential travellers to visit a place which will be beneficial for the
government as well as for local population also. VisitBritain is a name used by National Tourism
Agency of Britain. They are responsible for promoting tourism destinations of the country. They
focus on domestic as well as international customers who are looking for a location to visit in
nearby time or may be in future (Page, 2011). Their mission is to build value on British tourism
by providing top class services available in market. They have very impressive vision in which
they want to develop Britain as one the best destination to travel and explore. This will discuss
importance of visitors attraction, it will also include needs and motivations of various type of
visitors.
TASK 1
1.1 Overlap of visitor attractions in relation to types of attraction
In tourism industry, attraction is an important element because people do not want the see things
that they face in routine life, they want to see something exciting which can give then some fresh
and long lasting memories. There was a time when most of the governments were not giving
much attention to this sector but gradually they understand potential of this industry and make
strategies and policies to promote it across the globe.
Purpose built to attract visitors - London Eye –
It is considered as one of the best destination in
United Kingdom because of the combination of
ride and water. The view of light and water at
night attract a large number of tourist. It is very
difficult to the ticket in weekends because there
are many people who want to take a ride on
Saturday and Sunday but only 25 person can
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have on ride in one time. It is situated at the
south bank of river Thames. Tickets for Ferris
wheel/Millennium wheel are booked online and
most of the promotion is also done by using
various tools of social media. Sometime some
events happen at the time of peak season which
reduces visitors of London eye because of the
problem of overlapping.
Built for another original purpose that have
become tourist attractions - Windsor Castle –
It is royal residence which was built in 11th
century. Its designing is very unique and
visitors like to see it because of the material
that is used in its making. It has a very
limited access to the public and promotion of
Windsor castle is done through social media
because technology assist in attracting more
visitors. Various events take place in this
castle which create problem of overlapping
because visitors can not join same event at
other places.
Earning more and more revenue is the target of London and Royal castle. They have very similar
system of booking the tickets and they demand and supply is also very close. Both places believe
in doing promotion by using social media because this a tool which can help them in attracting
more visitors in short time of period. People who has visited both place think that they get same
experience from these places although one is related to history and culture, and other is for
recreation. All the above instances are perfect example of overlapping of visitors’ attraction.
Natural attractions
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Victoria park is popular for its natural attraction but visitors can also find same views in
other part of the countries because it do not have any uniqueness. This create problem of
overlapping because tourist have more than one option available in a particular time so they have
leave one option.
Events and festivals
Hyde park Winter wonderland happens in the peak season i.e. between November to
January. Visitors want to visit other places at the same time. They face trouble of overlapping
because they can not see more than one thing in particular time period.
1.2 Importance of different visitor attractions:
Nowadays, most of the countries are making a lot of efforts in order to promote tourism
in their country. But, there was a time when they did not know the importance of tourism before
which the industry faced hard time. Travelling is not considered as one of the best medicines to
reduce the stress of a person who work in this mechanical life. Significance of various visitor
attractions is stated as follows:
Diversity in culture – When people from different places visit other countries or states,
they take something from that culture and at the same time, add something in that society.
Travellers get to learn about new tastes and cloths that is present between local group. Games
which are organised at international level like London Olympics plays a crucial role in the
transfer and promotion of local culture.
Increase in trade – It is not necessary that a person visits a country just to see historical
places or museums like London eye. Also, when they go to a new location, they purchase goods
that are available only at that place (Waligo, Clarke and Hawkins, 2013). Businessmen also start
buying and selling these products as they can sell them at higher price in their own country. This
also improves the relation between two governments because enhancement in trading is
beneficial for both nations.
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Increase in foreign exchange – Every country wants to enhance their reserve of foreign
exchange because it makes their economy strong. It also assists in improving the global image of
a nation because of which, more people will visit different place of UK.
Employment generation – Tourism is considered as one of the most important industries
in terms of generating employment. This sector has provided job to a large number of people in
the UK. Basically, this industry provides employment in big cities and prime locations, but it
plays a crucial role in providing job to local population and people who are not much educated.
Promotion of local travelling destination - Thorpe Park, Eden Project, etc. are some of
the popular places to visit but when tourists go to these places, they also like to see some local
travelling destination which are not much popular (Swarbrooke and Page, 2012). This is
considered as a favourable change in tour and travel industry.
Learning and knowledge – Preservation of historical places and other travelling locations
is essential as it is considered as a gift from our ancestors. When travellers from various
countries and states visit these places, they learn about different things in terms of the reason for
which the place was built, person who made the same and year since which it has been made.
They also get knowledge about designing and material used in building the same. This helps in
generating revenue which can be used in maintaining these places.
TASK 2
2.1 Needs and motivations of different visitor types:
Purpose of visiting a destination may vary for individuals because they have different
psychologies and experience. Historical places are considered as one of the best tourism
destinations but some people do not like to go there because they live in a place which is full of
old palaces and museums (Cellini, 2011). This thing can happen with anyone because people
want change when they decide to travel in a particular location. Travelers can be bifurcated in
various segment based on these purpose of visit. This will help cited organization in
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understanding the need and expectation of potential visitors. Following are some of the types of
visitors:
Vacation tourists – These kinds of travelers mainly visit a place at the time of holidays
like summer or winter vacation. They mostly travel with their family and their main aim is to
take a break from their hectic schedule. They like to see a location which serves peace and
mental calmness. Large number of public visit religious locations because they consider it as a
holy place. There are various places like Vatican City in Rome, Varanasi in India, etc. which are
considered as a population destination to visit once in a lifetime.
Corporate visitors – These types of people do not travel to location in search of peace or
relaxation. Their purpose is to attend some business meetings with their existing or potential
clients. Their main aim does not relate to visit museums or popular travel destinations. They go
to a country so that they can understand their culture and make a business plan which can benefit
their company.
Students who see their career in travelling – This is considered as a new trend in this
era. There are some people who like to travel for more than one year or may be for lifetime.
They choose travelling as a career in which they go to various countries and visit popular
travelling destinations. Normally, they are sponsored by a company but sometimes, they use own
capital (Evans, Stonehouse and Campbell, 2012). They earn money by posting images of these
locations and sometimes, they do mini research if a company want them to do it. Their main aim
is to get exciting and attracting photos of various travelling destinations. They do not visit these
places to find peace or spend time with family. Their goal is to click some pictures or make
videos which motivate other people to visit these location. Young tourists like to visit various
destinations with their friends so they can spend quality time with each other and make long
lasting memories. They travel to these locations for fun and normally, destination is not
important for them as journal is their priority.
Health and medical tourists – Some people visit UK because they want best medical
services. Public gets agree to pay any price but they want quality services and proper medical
treatment. This culture is also getting popular in some Asian countries because they offer good
services at a cheap rate. These types of people do not visit a location to see historical places or
natural beauty. Their main aim is to get proper health and medical services.
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Education tourists – There are many students who visit European countries, especially
UK to get education. There are many universities that are known for quality study and so,
students from different countries come to the UK to get proper education (Mason, 2015). Their
main target is not to visit popular travelling destination but when they live for months or years in
that country, they may go to see these places.
2.2 Impacts of tourism on visitor attractions in United Kingdom:
United Kingdom is considered as one of the best locations to visit in the Europe because
they have rich heritage along with modern infrastructure. People with high income like to visit
old museums, London eye, Eden park, etc. but there is a lot of population from Asian and
African countries who have not seen gigantic new building and skyscraper. So, they come to UK
for seeing modern infrastructure (Leask, Fyall and Barron, 2014). It is not necessary that tourists
make only a positive impact on a country; there can be negative influences as well. S
Positive influences
Economic - UK government has earned a lot of revenue from promoting various
traveling destinations. They earned foreign currency and major profit by charging different entry
fees and other taxes. Government is not the only one who has earned money from travel and
tourism industry as hotels and hospitals have also generated high revenue which is good for
economy of UK. Mass population get jobs in this sector which removes the problem of
unemployment. Earlier, this sector was not considered as an industry which could provide
employment but now, people understand it’s important and they have started making career in
this sector. Tour and travel industry in the UK has provided jobs to public who live in villages
and other local areas (Leask, 2010). This removes a big concern of government which is related
to job creation in tier2 and tier3 cites. SME, retail and transportation industry is getting great
assistance from tour and traveling sector.
Social Effect - When people from various countries and states visit UK, they get to know
about traditions which exist in different places. This assists in promoting trends and cultures
which are present in England and other nations (Law, Qi and Buhalis, 2010). When travelers
who visit UK go back to home, they do mouth publicity of various places that they saw in their
trip. This helps in convincing more public to travel different locations in England and other
countries. When a person comes from other nation, he/she also adds something to visit nation in
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terms of customs and cultures. When a person visit other country his/her knowledge about
history of that place also get enhanced.
Environmental effect – When public from various places reach UK, they take
photographs and make videos of Pembroke shire Coast, Lake Windermere and other natural
beauties. After that, they post them on social media because of which other people also get
attracted to these locations and decide to visit the same so that they can make memorable
memories of this destination.
Negative influence
Economic - It is not necessary that tourists always make a positive impact on the
economy of UK as it also creates negative impact. When large number of tourists visit a place, it
increases the price of basic commodity because of increase in demand of daily products. Tourists
do not know much about the culture and rules that exist in a nation because of which sometimes,
they break regulations that have to be followed by every person who stay there. Youth who visit
from different countries or states can damage public property while having fun in their journey
(Fang and et.al., 2016).
Social - Tour and traveling industry also have some negative impacts. Quality of life of
host society gets affected by the visitors. For example: problems related to drugs and alcohol,
increase in crime rate, etc. occur due to enhancement in number of people who are visiting these
places (Kusluvan and et.al., 2010). Because of these issues, public who want to visit these
locations cannot go as they feel unsafe in these destinations.
Environmental - Some people who are working in order to save nature do not want
tourists to visit these places for whole year because they feel the animals who live their also need
some rest and privacy for some time. More mean more pollution. Risk of accidents and traffic
problems also increases which indirectly make a negative impact on environment.
2.3 Effect of different theories of tourist motivation on the management of visitor attractions:
It is not easy to promote and attract tourist because nowadays there are many option and
places available to visit because of which potential customers need to be convinced in a
systematic manner (Gössling and et. al., 2011). There are theories which can assist in pulling
expected travelers. Some of them are as follows:
Responsible tourism – For proper management in visitor’s attraction, VisitBritain
should focus on minimizing social, environment and economic impacts. This will assist in
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managing large crowd easily and more public will take interest in visiting these locations. This is
considered as one of the most important parts of responsibility theory. This concept focuses on
improving working conditions so, people who work in this industry can get better economic
benefits. Tourists need proper response from various stakeholders of tourism industry. For
example: physically challenged people want special access in some areas. This theory assists in
maintaining and increasing confidence between a visitor and host nation. It helps travelers in
enjoying their journey without any tension and they can make some memorable memories
(Coghlan, 2012). This theory has some restrictions because changing working condition in
tourism sector is a theoretical thing. It implementation still has a big question mark.
Smart tourism – Technology is changing this world rapidly. This theory helps in
effectively organizing all activities that are to be dome in managing visitors by using the latest
technology. Nowadays, most of the customers of tour and travel industry use technology at the
time of booking hotels and they are doing most of the payments by using digital money and
mobile wallets (George, 2010). This theory motivates service providers like VisitBritain to
update and use the latest tools and techniques of managing visitors. They have to do innovations
in order to attract new travelers and maintain old tourists. This will assist in motivating large
number of people specially youth to visit popular as well as unpopular places in the UK.
According to critics, spending money on technology is not a good option because it is changing
swiftly. The money they will invest in current year will not provide return according to their
expectation.
Sustainable tourism – Stakeholders in tour and travel industry should focus on
providing high level of customers/tourist’s satisfaction by giving them meaningful experience so
that they can visit same place more than one time. This concept works on avoiding conflicts
between visitors and local people so that a large number of tourists can be put in the list of
permanent customers (Garrod and et.al., 2012). This will motivate international as well as
domestic public to travel in various locations of the UK.
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TASK 3
3.1 Processes and the potential issues involved in the development of visitor attractions:
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