Tourism as Drivers of the Economy - Essay Example

UNDERSTANDING TOURISM: FRANCE AS A TOURISM GENERATING REGION by s UnderstandingTourism Tourism has emerged as one of the to notch drivers of economy. It is a primary element of world trade accounting for approximately 6% of world exports. As such, it is important to evaluate tourism and its elements including the components that drive demand and supply in the tourism industry. First, however, it is imperative to know who tourists are. Tourists are individuals who venture into travelling and staying in places other than their homes. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate where tourists go and why they chose to go to these places. Evidently, there are several factors that motivate tourists to leave their homes and go to other places. Consequently, this behaviour of tourists towards certain destinations create the understanding about demand in the tourism industry. Hence, the aspects of tourism that influence tourists’ behaviours towards preference for a particular destination defines the success of a given tourism region. A tourist region can either be tourist generating or tourist destination. However, this paper focuses on tourist generating regions. According to Williams (2004), “Tourism generation regions can be defined as the permanent residential bases of tourists, the place where the tourist begin and end, and in particular those features of the region which incidentally cause or stimulate the temporary outflow” (p.32). Tourist generating region provides the basic market and the source for prospective tourism demand in the tourism industry. As such, major tourism activities such a marketing takes place in this region including wholesaling, retailing, promotion and advertising. Since such regions exhibit tourist exodus, it is important to understand the commercial and sociological factors that motivate them to go for holidays in other places. Similarly, it is imperative to evaluate the economic, cultural, and social effects of this exodus on in a community where people depart to other areas. The components of a tourist generating region include both geographical setting and behavioural factors that relate to motivation. This essays explores these components, as well as performance of France as a tourist generating region. Performance of France as a Tourist Generating Region Background on France as Tourist Generating Region French people go for both leisure and business destinations. For the leisure destinations, the holidays starts in the months of July or August depending on a person’s preference. The idea of a vacation in France is a taste of luxury life. However, this is not the luxury of overpriced accommodation and Fifth Avenue shopping, but luxury of a life free from work. This entails the life of enjoying time with family members and relaxing, or pursuing a hobby. As such most French people prefers to travel to areas where they can visit relatives and friends. According to a CNN article, 80% of them do not leave the country for vacation (Belloy, 2011). Thus, French people go for holidays in other regions of the country other than another country. The holiday components involve renting a home or being invited within the country, enjoying leisurely walks on the mountains and beaches, as well as great food and conversations. Likewise, a Eurometer report reveals that 57% of French people spend holiday in France while the rest visit Spain and Italy for vacation (Eurometer Survay, 2014). Nevertheless, no matter those who head for holidays outside France prefer places such Venice, the Riviera, Spanish coast, Corsica, and Balearic Island. Evidently, French people are mostly attracted to the beach than any other place. Additionally, when going for holidays, they consider factors such language barrier, and price since they do not like luxurious spending. Furthermore, there are also French people who go for business destinations, and they tend to prefer Asian and African countries with promising investment opportunities coupled with good leisure such Hong Kong (Starter, 2012). Factors that Influence Tourists’ Behaviour and Choice of Destination The first factor that plays an important role in driving tourism in France is the economic determinants, such as the value of currency, distribution of income, and personal income of the residents. Personal income goes hand in hand with expenditure, thus, when personal income is high, residents will tend to spend more on tourism and vice versa. Similarly, distribution of income in a tourist generating region such as France has a great influence on the behaviour of tourists (Wall & Mathieson, 2006). For instance, France shows a levelled distribution of income where there many people are above regarding possessions and wealthy. Evidently, this leads to a high proportion of people likely to afford and spend money on leisure activities such as tourism. Another economic dimensions of tourism that influence consumer behaviour in France is the exchange rate. Variations in exchange rates leads to changes in the cost holidays, and thus, causing a either a decrease or increase in tourism activities depending on the direction the exchange rate takes. Hence, economic options influence the decision of French residents whether to spend on trips or any other leisure activity or not (Weaver & Lawton, 2006). This is because money is needed in exchange of product, and any person who wants to travel, first and foremost considers money. As a result, the success of a tourism trip depends on money, and hence, the economic factors. For example, a tourist who wants to have optimal experience from a tourism trip will go for luxury products, which comes at a high cost (Inkson & Lynn, 2012). These products normally are supported by high supply and competitive prices, but are supported by the exchange rate. Social element is the second factor that influence tourism behaviour of consumers and drive demand. These include things such as demographic, education level, stage of family life cycle, and holiday entitlements. Demographics, for example, involves age of a person influencing his choice of holiday trip among other tourism products (Boniface, et al., 2012). For instance, a 65 years old tourists will have different taste and preference from one who is 20 years old. Accordingly, a 60 year-old will prefer quiet and peaceful places, as well as non-rigorous activities. On the other hand, a 20 year-old would prefer noisy and fun holiday places and action packed activities. Hence, the type of travel product, nature of the surrounding, and behaviour of a person depends on the age, which eventually influence the demand for tourism products (Holloway & Humphreys, 2012). Education level is another social factor that determines the behaviour of tourists towards tourism products. Moreover, education in France directly relates with the nature of employment, and thus, the level of income for individuals. As a result, a highly educated population will have high potential for earning high income meaning that they will have a surplus for holiday spending. The phase in a family life cycle also has the potential to determine their engagement in tourism activities such as going for trips. This is because family life cycle phases are characterized by disposable income and availability of time for travelling. Similarly, holiday entitlements gives people a chance to holiday and relax, and thus increase tourism demand in France. Since the holidays are being paid for, anyone with such an opportunity will not hesitate to utilize the chance because at the end of the day, everyone loves to holiday and relax. Political components such as policies by the government also influence tourists’ behaviours, and in turn, tourism demand in the country. Political factors include government policies and controls regarding the tourism industry. For instance, the government may decide to boost the tourism industry by creating policies and providing incentives that encourage people to holiday (Page & Connell, 2009). Furthermore, tourism is a lucrative source of revenue for the government, and consequently, it issues controls that increase tourism activities and incomes. These may be in the form of tax policies, currency export, exchange control, and prohibitions among other factors. Moreover, the price offered for tourist products is high for foreigners than for locals. A percentage of this goes to the government as revenue, and thus, the rationality behind the high prices for foreigners. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Tourism Hofstede, a renowned scholar in the field of business and cross-cultural psychology, studied the value of employees on work related issues, and derived four cultural dimensions. The dimensions proposed by Hofstede include uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity versus femininity, and individualism versus collectivism. Hofstede suggests that these dimensions relate to societal and anthropological issues. Power distance for instance relates with social inequality in the society, as well as the power a person has over others in the society (Manrai & Manrai, 2011). Thus there are low power and high power cultures. In low power society such as France, the culture is characterized by power that is more democratic power. A democratic power means there is equality in the society when it comes to opportunities, distribution of wealth among other issues. As such, there are many middle class people in this society with enough income to spend on luxury once in a while. Therefore, this culture makes France a good tourism market or tourism generating region. Likewise uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which a society can tolerate anxiety through minimizing uncertainty (Manrai & Manrai, 2011). There are people in high uncertainty avoidance cultures, who tend to be emotional. Similarly, those in low uncertainty avoidance cultures feel comfortable in unstructured environment. French people have high uncertainty avoidance culture, which means that they are emotional and immune unstructured change (Manrai & Manrai, 2011). Thus, organizing a destination for them requires a step by step planning approach to minimize any unknowns that may cause anxiety. Individualism versus collectivism represents the dependence of an individual either on her self-concept or the group. In collectivism society, members belong to a group that support one another while in individualistic society, one stands on his own (Manrai & Manrai, 2011). Analysis of France reveals that it is a collective society meaning that they do things as cohesive members of a group. Consequently, this means that they tend to go for holidays as a group rather than individuals. Moreover, they value extended family members, which makes part of their motivation to go for a holiday. This is why some of them prefer to spend their vacation visiting family members who live far from them (Hofstede & Bond, 1984). Masculinity versus femininity relates with how people are influenced by social sex roles. There are feminine societies, which place value on quality of life and relationships. On the other hand, masculine societies place value on materialism, assertiveness, competitiveness, and thus, the value of life is measured in terms of quantity (Manrai & Manrai, 2011). France as a feminine culture recognizes the need for quality life and value of relationships. Thus, vacations are driven by the desire to enjoy life and all its pleasantries as part of quality life. Similarly, the fact that they value relationships means that couples will tend to go for holidays to rekindle their love. Tourist Topology and Motivation Consumer is the most essential element of the tourism industry, and thus, any decision making and planning takes into considerations the needs of consumers. This creates a necessity to evaluate what motivates tourists to travel to certain destinations. Tourist motivation I based on psychological and sociological elements of acquired attitudes, norms, perceptions, and culture that makes a person have certain motivations. These factors explain tourists’ roles in decision making, and are referred to as the ‘push and pull’ factors of motivation. A pull factor is what makes a person to leave their home and visit another region. In turn, this region is the pull factor, for instance, unfavourable weather conditions may push someone to visit a destination with good climate, and thus, the pull factor becomes the exciting weather and some other attractions in that particular destinations. The interaction of ‘pull and push’ factors that drives motivation is referred to as topology. There are different categories of topology, namely, psychocentric tourist, allocentric tourist or mid-centric tourist. Similarly, Cohen identifies several topology types including the explorer, the drifter, the individual mass tourist, and the organized mass tourist. The organized mass tourist is an anxious person who maintains environmental bubble during a trip, but is low on adventure. This person goes through his/her destination with minimal contact with the local culture as he/she purchases a ready-made package tour (Cohen, 1972). Similarly, the individual mass tourist is close to the organised mass tourist, but a little relaxed and flexible on the scope of personal choice. However, he/she still does not enjoy the real experience offered by the environment in that destination (Cohen, 1972). The explorer organizes his/her trip independently, but seeks comfortable transport and accommodation. This person may sometimes abandon the environment bubble, but when things get tough, it becomes an option. Finally, the drifter is an easy person who lives with the local people and immerses himself into the local culture (Cohen, 1972). In addition, this kind of an individual has no fixed itinerary as he rejects all connection with the tourism industry, and attempt to get far from the familiar home environment as far as possible. Maslow’s model of needs can also be used to explain the dynamics of motivation in the tourism industry. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs consists of five elements that serves in the motivation of a person with the desire to reach the top level of the pyramid. In descending order the levels are: self-actualization, esteem, belonging and love, safety, and psychological needs. Psychological needs are thirst, hunger, rest, and activity (Maslow, 1943). Safety needs involve freedom from anxiety and fear, as well as security while belonging and love entails affection, receiving and giving love. Esteem, on the other hand, is both esteem for others and self-esteem, and finally, self-actualization is reached at the point of personal self-fulfilment (Maslow, 1943). The deficiency in these needs motivates people to seek them, and this motivation becomes stronger and stronger as the duration of denial extends. Thus, in application to tourism, tourist will be motivated to go for a holiday when such needs have not been met, and the more they remain unfulfilled, the stronger the motivation. Further, Maslow’s model reveals that each person has the desire to move up the levels up to the top most, which is self-actualization (Maslow, 1943). However, in order to progress to an upper level, the lower level must first be satisfied. In addition, life’s failures and experiences often hinder people from reaching the upper level, instead, individuals fluctuate in between the levels. Thus, only few people manage to reach the stage of self-actualization. Conclusion Indeed tourism is a complicated network of destinations, tourists, and the industry itself. However, the most vital component of this system are the tourists, as without them there would be no tourism. As a result, it is important to understand the behaviour of tourists starting with the environment where they come from, which is the tourist generating region. Additionally, it is necessary to evaluate the motivational factors in order to develop effective marketing strategies and proper tourism packages to suit the needs of every tourist. Understanding the motivational factors also referred to as the ‘push and pull’ factors can be done through the use of Cohen’s topology of tourists’, Maslow’s model of needs, and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. References Belloy, A. d., 2011. In France, expect beaucoup de vacation. CNN, 25 May. Boniface, B., Cooper, C. & Cooper, R., 2012. Worldwide Destination: the Geography of travel and Tourism. Sixth ed. USA: Rutledge. Cohen, E., 1972. 1972 Toward a Sociology of International Tourism. Social Research, Volume 39, pp. 164-182. Eurometer Survay, 2014. Flash Eurobarometer reports. [Online] Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/flash_arch_329_315_en.htm#316 [Accessed 6 November 2014]. Hofstede, G. & Bond, M., 1984. Hofstede’s culture dimensions: An independent validation using. Rokeach’s value survey.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15(4), pp. 417-433. Holloway, C. & Humphreys, C., 2012. The Business of Tourism. s.l.:Pearson. Inkson, C. & Lynn, . M., 2012. Tourism Management: An Introduction. s.l.:Sage Publications . Manrai, L. A. & Manrai, A. K., 2011. Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions and Tourist Behaviors: A Review and Conceptual Framework. Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, 16(31). Maslow, A. H., 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), p. 370–96. Page, S. & Connell, J., 2009. Tourism: A Modern Synthesis. s.l.:South-Western Cengage Learning. Starter, 2012. Travel Destinations: Where Tourists Go, s.l.: s.n. Wall, G. & Mathieson, A., 2006. 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