Urban Tourism in Edinburgh - Term Paper Example

Urban Tourism Report: Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Contents Introduction 2 Urban tourism 2 The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 3 History of Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 4 Present 5 Performers at the event 7 Conclusion 8 Bibliography 9 Introduction Times have tremendously evolved and people no longer want to be static, as they prefer to travel abroad in a quest to explore places they have never been to before. Human nature drives individuals towards finding more places that will be entertaining and the key motivation for this is the fact that life is continually becoming materialistic (Shimko, 2013, p. 125). Such trends have assisted numerous nations to grow economically and these countries strive to sustain these activities through improving their tourist destinations to make them more attractive for tourists (Batta, 2000, p. 48). Tourists chose to visit different places based on their preferences and all the cities and countries have different aspects that attract different kinds of visitors (Xiang & Tussyadiah, 2013, p. 4). For instance, people prefer to go to Egypt to see the mummies and the pyramids while they prefer to go to London as it has numerous museums and art galleries among other attractions. With this in mind, it can be concluded that tourism is a growing industry considering that most of the countries are striving to promote tourism while others depend on it completely. In this report, urban tourism in Edinburgh will be analysed with specific reference to the Royal Military Edinburgh Tattoo. This report will elaborate on the history of the Royal Military Edinburgh Tattoo and how it has developed to become what it is today together with the aspects that affect it. Urban tourism Urban tourism is a wide concept that entails of the forms of entertainment activities that are heal in different cities along with other activities that involve food, shopping and families among others (Hayllar, Griffin & Edwards, 2008, p. 142). Different people prefer to visit different cities and other urban areas for different reasons with their main attractions being special events, art galleries and cultural events among others (Coles & Timothy, 2004, p. 282). In order to attract external visitors, a city’s image is very important as the tourists have particular expectation in regard to the behaviour and attitudes of the people in these cities as well as the infrastructure and other aspects. Making the urban environment better and enhancing all the services and facilities in various cities are important as far as the attraction of tourists is concerned. These improvements include developing good infrastructure that will transportation smoother, creating better trade policies that will provide a good atmosphere for shopping, providing access to the latest information technology and communication methods as well as the creation of modern and rich urban cultures. Consequently, people make the decisions to tour different urban cities for different experiences based on what these cities have to offer and their preferences (Khurana & Aggarwal, 2013, p. 27). Urban tourism has continued to create images of heritage as well as an identity that can be consumed by the residents and the visitors in the same manner especially in the cities that are characterized by a developed tourism infrastructure. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo This is a yearly sequence of Martial tattoos, which is used performed by the British Armed Forces together with the Commonwealth and internal military bands while displaying teams on the boulevard of the Edinburgh Castle (Page and Connell, 2012, p. 497). This festival is an annual event that continues all through August and is part of the broader Edinburgh festival, which is a collective term for numerous independent festivals that take place during the month of June (Lynch, 2001, p. 226). Performers originating from more than forty-six countries participate in the Tattoo and almost a third of the more than two hundred thousand people who form the audience every year come from different destinations abroad. On a yearly basis, the Tattoo can be considered as a global gathering that showcases aptitudes of various musical group and entertainers who come from different areas of the world (Wilson and Murphy, 2008, p. 442). Additionally, the event, which is part of a greater festival, is televised in more than thirty nations with a yearly television audience of more than one hundred million people watching from all over the world (Porter and Prince, 2006, p. 114). The global aspect of the Tattoo event is created in a deliberate manner as the main attribute in the ability to provide entertainment to a big multicultural audience. The exceptional capability of the Tattoo to bring together very many people for the yearly celebrations of musical performances and fun is a growing phenomenon and the appetite that the public has developed for pomp and ceremony has not demonstrated any signs of fading (McGinn, 2013, p. 176). History of Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Tattoo is a word that is derived from “tap toe” which is Dutch for “last orders”, with the literal translations meaning, “To shut the beer tap” (Ruck, 2007, p. 76). The British Army originally stumbled upon this phrase when they were positioned in Flanders as the War of the Austrian succession progressed. Consequently, the British embraced the practice and it developed into a signal that was played by the Corps of Drums or Pipes and Drums of a particular regiment every night. The main aim of this activity was so that the owners of taverns could shut the taps to their ale kegs to make sure that the soldiers went back to their quartered lodgings before it was too late in the night (Ferguson-Kosinski and Price, 2009, p. 158). When the contemporary barracks were established as well as the development of full military bands in the eighteenth century, the word Tattoo was utilized in the description of not only the last call for the night, but also as a ceremonial type of entertainment in the evenings through performances by military musicians (Beckett, 2007, p. 86). Even though the original Tattoo in Edinburgh that was christened “Something About a Soldier” occurred at the Ross Bandstand in 1949, the first ever official Edinburgh Military Tattoo started in 1950 with a programme that contained only eight items (Quinn and Emeny, 2013, p. 844). This event attracted almost six thousand spectators who were seated on simple pews and support structures in the northern, southern and eastern sections of the Edinburgh Castle. By 1952, the sitting capacity of the stands had been increased so that it was able to accommodate an evening audience of more than seven thousand people while allowing more than one hundred and sixty thousand people to watch the performances every year. Present Presently, an average of more than two hundred thousand spectators watch the events performances live on the boulevard of the Edinburgh Castle and it has always been selling out even before the dates of the performances for the last ten years (Ver Berkmoes, 2001, p. 56). Almost a third of the audience that forms the audience of this event come from Scotland while thirty-five percent comes from other areas of the UK. The remainder of the population that constitutes the audience consists of more than seventy thousand visitors who come from different places all over the world. The provisional grandstands that were erected on the castle boulevard used between the seventies and 2010 had the ability to hold almost eight thousand six hundred people before the newer spectator stands along with corporate hospitality boxes that cost sixteen million pounds started being used in 2011 (BBC News, 2011). The current temporary stands considerably minimized the time that was needed to erect and dismantle the stands from the initial eight weeks to only four weeks and this has allowed other events to take place in the boulevard during other months in a year. These performances associated with the Tattoo festival take place every evening on weekdays and two times on Saturdays in the month of August and has never experience any cancellation attributed to poor or harsh weather conditions (Shelby, 2011, p. 21). On the second Saturday night of the performances, there are fireworks displays, but each of the performances employs pyrotechnics and from 2005 has incorporated a son et lumiere aspect that is projected on to the castle’s frontage. From 2004, the event has also conducted free condensed presentations at the Ross Bandstand that are christened “Taste of the Tattoo”, and from 2008 others have been conducted in George Square which is located in Glasgow. The Tattoo has also toured destinations outside the United Kingdom such as in 2000 when it went to New Zealand, which was included in its commemoration of its fiftieth anniversary. The Tattoo also made a tour of Australia five years later and made a return to the football stadium located in Sydney at the beginning of 2010, which marked the commemoration for its sixtieth anniversary. Audiences in thirty different countries are able to watch the Tattoo on television and a further one hundred million people have a chance to watch the events of the Tattoo that are televised all over the globe. The BBC provides transmissions of the events every year and it gave commentaries between 2009 and 2010, which were given by BBC radio broadcaster, Iain Anderson. Initially, Tom Fleming, who has since died had been tasked with the duty giving the commentary and he did not miss any event from 1966 to 2008 (Drum, 2011, p. 12). The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has always telecasted the event in Australia on New Year’s Eve evenings but it broke tradition in 2006 when the broadcast of the Tattoo took place two days earlier while in 2007, the Tattoo was broadcasted even earlier on the eve of Christmas. The Tattoo is usually staged for benevolent causes and during the course of its existence, has been able to donate more than five million pounds to both military and non-military charities and firms like the Army Benevolent Fund (Robinson, Wale and Dickson, 2010, p.51). Nonetheless, the most benefit has been the fact that it has been able to generate more than eighty-eight million pounds in revenues to the economy of Edinburgh every year. The Salute, which is the official magazine associated with the Edinburgh Military Tattoo is given to the sponsors of the event free of charge as well as Friends of the Tattoo and performers from other parts of the globe. The Princess Royal has remained the event’s patron up to the present while the Royal Bank of Scotland has maintained its position as the key corporate sponsor even after Tattoo was changed to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo after the Queen gave it a royal title in 2010 during its sixty years commemoration. Performers at the event Military regiments from different parts of the globe together with various African tribes have had the chance of performing at the Tattoo in the years that it has been in existence. The first ever regiment that came from outside the United Kingdom to perform at the event was Band of the Royal Dutch Grenadiers in 1952 and presently, more than thirty nations from almost all the continents on the planet have had representation at the Tattoo (Porter and Prince, 2006, p. 131). The most popular performers that visit the event include the Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland who have given performances at various events including the 2003, 2006 and 2012 events and were the pioneer civilian drum corps to be allowed participation in the event. Recently, the performances given at the event have incorporated cultural dances and various items from different nations in the globe. Every year, the British Armed Forces gives a lead service that alternates between the Navy, the Marines, the Army as well as the Royal Air Force, even though there is a commemoration or a celebration of a specific organization, anniversary or event. The main attraction of every Tattoo is usually the massed pipes and drums that are provided by the various companies of the British Army as well as the visiting non-military and military pipes and drums from all over the globe especially the commonwealth countries that have associations with Scotland. Based on tradition, all the evenings are concluded with massed pipes and drums that march to link with the massed military bands and this is consequently followed by performances of the national anthems as well as the Auld Lang Syne. What follows is a ceremony to lower the flag with the trumpets sounding the final post of the sunset trumpet call of the Royal Marines and culminates with lone piper who is floodlit playing a Lament from the fortifications of the of the Half Moon Battery. After this, the performers make their way off the boulevard followed by the massed pipes and drums who march of last. Conclusion Edinburgh is a wonderful location for festivals since the ancient buildings and streets give a unique ambience that gives its people as well as tourists the opportunity to enjoy art along with various cultural performances. As a result, the Royal Mile is typically filled with performers as well as tourists in the festival season and numerous performances take place on the streets and outdoor stages with the performers distributing fliers of the performances that are yet to take place. The atmosphere at the festivals including the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is always active and characterized by dynamism with numerous performers who are young and full of passion being performing (Pearson & Simpson, 2001, p. 388). Since more performers currently participate freely, the event has become more popular with the audiences who can be guaranteed to be amused and even surprised by the broad array of performances that are offered (Beckett, 2007, p. 86). When the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo is taking place, other events also take place in different parts of the city so that visitors can immerse themselves on art and culture when they are visiting. 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