Tourist Destination - Hong Kong - Essay Example

? Contents Introduction 2 Hong Kong Transport, Volume and Seasonality 2 Transport Policy, Accessibility and Infrastructure 5 Benefits and Limitations6 Conclusion 7 Bibliography 9 Appendix 12 Tourist destinations- Hong Kong Introduction Hong Kong is one of the destinations that attract the largest numbers of tourists across the world (WTO., 2001). It is one of the most ideal tourist destinations by a majority of tourists from different parts of the globe. This essay aims at examining the transportation links in Hong Kong and how these links serve the area with regard to tourism. The essay will also try to analyze the tourism industry in Hong Kong by assessing its transport policy and how it influences tourism in the region and the best tourism practices that can be used to develop tourism management. The paper will also include various theories of tourism and models and will analyze the type, options, range, volume, seasonality, availability and accessibility, and the relative costs of transportation in Hong Kong. Another key area will be examining the various key issues around the best factors as well as the limitations of the transport service in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Transport, Volume and Seasonality Hong Kong is one of the two administrative regions of the People’s Republic of China, working under the one government two systems arrangement (WTO., 2001). It is located on the South Coast of China and is in between the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta (Beirman, 2003). Hong Kong is extensively known for its open skyline as well as the deep natural harbors. The city center is regarded for its modern architecture that has led to the city being branded as the most vertical city in the world. Despite being only 1104 km2, Honk Kong manages to attract huge numbers of tourists per annum, making tourism one of the most notable sources of revenue for the region. Tourism in Hong Kong is managed by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). Hong Kong has numerous tourist attraction facilities and each of its districts can almost be considered as viable tourist destination sites. Among the most visited locations in Hong Kong, include the Victoria peak, Victoria Harbor, and Ocean Park Hong Kong in the Island; the Hong Kong Art Museum, Clock Tower, and Avenue of Stars in New Kowloon among others (Ghai, 2000). According to statistics from the Hong Kong Tourism Management Board (HKTMB), Hong Kong receives about 20 million tourists per annum. A majority of the visitors to the city are mainly from The Mainland in China with a good percentage also coming from the neighboring countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Appendix A contains statistical graphs and charts showing an analysis of the visitors to Hong Kong from various parts of the world (Beirman, 2003). The statistics show that Hong Kong is a major tourist destination in the world attracting lots of tourists in the past few years. In as much as Hong Kong is a major tourist destination, it also emerging as a major business hub on the global scene (Ghai, 2000). It is one of the primary global financial centers acknowledged for its capitalist economy renowned for its lower tax regimes and free trade. The Hong Kong dollar, the currency used in Hong Kong is also the eighth most traded currency in international trade. The Hong Kong government has put a lot of measures to manage the transport networks in the city in order to enable visitors to access the city and visit the various tourist attractions sites. The city has a wide range of transportation links ranging from air, water, road and rail transport (Ghai, 2000). Visitors can move around the city via light rail, minibuses, buses, trains, trams, ferries, and taxis. Each of these means of transport have their own systems of paying fares and often require one to buy tickets each time they travel to various destinations (Cooper, 2005). One can also buy the Octopus card, which is an electronic system of paying fare in public transport. The road transport consists of various options such as public transport vehicles, pedestrian walks and elevators. The City also houses the Hog Kong International Airport, a major connection hub in Asia. The airport operates about 90 airlines to 150 destinations around the globe including 40 destinations in Chinese Mainland. According to page (2007) and Cooper (2012), transport and tourism work hand in hand since transportation enables tourist destinations to be accessible to visitors. Leiper’s theory (1995) also suggests that transport is very useful in connecting tourists to various locations thus creating a travel process. With this in mind, it is therefore necessary to ensure that the available modes of transport in any tourist destination meet the requirements and needs of the visitors (Buhalis, 2003). Since most of the visitors in Hong Kong are from the Mainland in China, the most popular means of transport are road and rail. These are preferred because they are relatively cheaper methods of transport and are well managed with great payment system using the Octopus Card (Fu, &Deser, 2002). Transport Policy, Accessibility and Infrastructure Transport policies help local authorities and governments to manage transport systems and networks available in order to ensure the transport networks are safe, accessible, affordable and well controlled. Transport networks have to be accessible to everybody including the disabled people (Bowie, 2005). One of the best practices in managing transportation in any region is making the popular means of transport to be accessible to the disabled and prevent any form of discrimination against the disabled (Kung, 2007). In order to make the transport system in Hong Kong accessible to all visitors, the city’s transport policy advocates for inclusion of all people including the disabled. Road transport, for instance, which is the most popular means of public transport, has taxis and wheel chairs that adequately serve the disabled (Bowie, 2005). The elevators and movable pavements are also effective in making the transport network accessible to everybody in the public. Accessibility also ensures that the major tourist attraction sites are accessible to all persons. The buildings have to be constructed in such as way that they can be accessed by the disabled. In Hong Kong major tourist attractions are accessible since most of the sites are around the city and have largely been connected via transport networks including road and water transport systems (Mills, and Rob 2005). With regard to infrastructure, Hong Kong is regarded as one of the best architectural sites for both buildings and transport networks such as roads, bridges, flyovers and tunnels (Veal, 2006). Transport stations in Hong Kong comply with both local and international policies and requirements. The facilities are modern and meet contemporary safety needs (Bowie, 2005). Benefits and Limitations Having an elaborate transport system such as the one in Hong Kong has a lot of benefits for the state and its citizens. The first benefit is that it opens up the city-state to the world where people from different regions can visit Hong Kong to do business and generate income to the government (Buhalis, 2003). The wide ranges of options for transport are also beneficial to Hong Kong because they enable both locals and visitors to access the different places in the city. It gives the travelers a flexible mode of transport for easily accessing the city. The transport system n Hong Kong is also a major boost to the tourism sector in the city. It enables tourists to access the various attraction sites (Buhalis, 2003). Whereas these the benefits coming from the transport policy of Hong Kong indicate the effectiveness of the city as a tourist destination, there are also a number of limitations that ought to be checked I order to improve the whole system in future. One area that needs to be strengthened is the problem of congestion in the city especially during peak seasons where there is an influx of tourists in the city. This leads to a lot of traffic jams in the city causing unnecessary delays on the road (Cooper, 2005). The other limitation is the cost of transportation. The cost of transport has to be affordable to a majority of the locals and visitors so as to attract and sustain more visitors in future (Mills, and Rob, 2005). Conclusion The importance of transport to Hong Kong cannot be underestimated as it is the most essential element in the tourism sector of the city. The transport infrastructure of Hong Kong has been very instrumental in positioning the city as a major business hub on the global scene. There are a lot of benefits that Hong Kong enjoys as a result of having an elaborate transport system but also a number of challenges of limitations that should be given attention in order to improve the transport sector in future and make it more effective. Bibliography Beirman, D. (2003). Restoring Tourism Destinations in Crisis: A Strategic Marketing Approach.CABI Publishing. Available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Restoring-Tourism-Destinations-Crisis- Publishing/dp/0851997295 Bowie D. (2005). Tourist Satisfaction: A View From a Mixed International Guided Package Tour.Journal of Vacation Marketing. London. Vol. 4, 303. Available at https://notendur.hi.is//~stefanva/Skrar/Tourist%20Satisfaction_%20A%20view%20from%20a%20mixed%20internatinal%20guided%20package%20tour.pdf Buhalis, D. (2003). eTourism: Information Technology for strategic tourism management, Pearson Education. Available at http://www.academia.edu/164762/Buhalis_D._2003_eTourism_information_technology_for_strategic_tourism_management_Pearson_Financial_Times_Prentice_Hall_London_ISBN_0582357403 Cooper, C. (2005). Tourism: Principles and Practice (3rd ed.). Harlow: Pearson Education. Available at http://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Tourism.html?id=OWonlWCgp34C&redir_esc=y Cooper, C. (2012).Essentials of Tourism, Pearson Education Limited, Essex Fu, P. &Deser, D. (2002).The Cinema of Hong Kong: History, Arts, Identity. Cambridge University Press. Available at http://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_Cinema_of_Hong_Kong.html?id=sELZJ5vihJUC Ghai, Y. P. (2000). Autonomy and Ethnicity: Negotiating Competing Claims in Multi-ethnic States.Cambridge University Press. Available at http://www.cambridge.org/ca/academic/subjects/law/human-rights/autonomy-and-ethnicity-negotiating-competing-claims-multi-ethnic-states Kung, S. L. (2007). A review of Hong Kong's public transport policies with reference to impacts on franchised bus services. Pokfulam, Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.5353/th_b3847763 Mills, M. and Rob L. (2005). Handbook of Consumer Behaviour,Tourism and the Internet Haworth Press Inc.,U.S. Available at http://books.google.co.ke/books/about/Handbook_of_Consumer_Behavior_Tourism_an.html?id=yoMYTtp82YkC&redir_esc=y Page, S.J. (2007) Tourism Management: Managing for Change: Second Edition, Butterworth- Heinemann, Oxford. Veal, A. J. (2006).Research Methods for Leisure and Tourism: A Practical Guide, 3rd edition. Prentice Hall. Available at http://ttracanada-torc.ca/torc/downs1/RMLTcontents.pdf WTO. (2001).eBusiness for Tourism: Practical; guidelines for destinations and businesses, Madrid: World Tourism Organisation. Available at http://pub.unwto.org/WebRoot/Store/Shops/Infoshop/Products/1210/1210-1.pdf Appendix Table of statistics of tourists to Hong Kong Statistical Pie Chart of the visitors to Hong Kong Graphical representation of the visitors to Hong Kong Read More