Serbia Tourism and Events Management compared to Hainan - Essay Example

Serbia Tourism and Events Management compared to Hainan Travel & Tourism is one of the most vital industries in the world. It contributes significantly to both GDP and employment than the largest manufacturing sectors. Moreover, surveys and research finds out, economic consequences of tourism are very beneficial. The benefits include effects on income and price elasticity and the economic significances on tourism spending thus the foreign exchange (Visser & Ferreira, 2013). This essay will discuss economic issues with relevance to Tourism and Events Management of Serbia as compared China mainly the Hainan state. The essay will compare the contribution of travel and tourism to both GDP and employment. In addition, the relative rankings to the world average and review their impact. It will also research reports to comment on the inbound and domestic tourism expenditure. Hainan is a state in the People’s Republic of china and is a popular tourist destination. It boasts a rich variety of attractions and natural resources including flora, fauna and wildlife. It also has a rich historical and cultural heritage and diverse, colorful ethnic minorities. It aims for quality by offering a diversified product range opening up the Paracel and Spratly islands to tourism. It offers activities such as yachting, golf, surfing, nature-based tourism and shopping options (Van Der Wagen & Carlos, 2005). Serbia, on the other hand, is a landlocked country in the southeast Europe. The country boasts of a long and very colorful history. It has attraction sites such as vibrant cities, medieval monasteries and vestiges of ancient civilizations. It is a conducive area to tour since it offers opportunities for relaxation and active pursuits. Its main tourist attractions are mountain resorts, spa resorts and thermal springs and a variety of competence centers (Van Der Wagen & Carlos, 2005). According to The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Serbia has developed its tourism industry with an appeal for new and broader target markets. It has been a nation at war for the past decade with the successive political crisis. It has reformed its Tourism and Travel economy accounting for 5.3% of the total GDP and supporting 6% of the formal employment sector. To achieve its full potential, it ought to merge the central location, abundant cultural and natural resources with a supportive business and regulatory framework. On the other hand, the focus on tourism and travel development by the Hainan provincial government began in the 1990’s. It has undergone a major transformation over time. This was after a declaration by the Chinese government in December 2009 that the island is to be reserved as an international island resort becoming the largest special economic zone in China. The travel and tourism industry in Serbia produces 5.4% of total GDP economy equivalent to US$2.3 billion. This is a reflection of expenditure paid to tourism providers directly by tourists. It mainly comprises of expenditure on transportation, accommodation, drinks and meals and other tourism related activities. Furthermore, this industry supports the broader economy indirectly through the spending nature of people directly or indirectly employed and by purchases in the supply chain. However, the contribution of 5.4% is below the average world standard of 9.2%. Serbia has been struggling with a bad international image and a weak perception mainly due to the war crisis. Perceptions began to shift in the early 2000, as Serbian citizens seemed to have regained pride and positive confidence in their country. This was followed by opportunities to capitalize on adding to the number of domestic trips around Serbia. The spending domestically by Serbian businesses and citizens accounts for 40.5% of the total spending on tourism. The amount of money spent within this country by international and domestic visitors has steadily risen within the past decade. WTTC forecast the level of expenditure on internal tourism to reach US$ 4.4 billion by 2023. According to WTTC, by 2021, the tourism expenditure of Hainan will be closely equivalent to Singapore and the industry will grow to offer as many jobs as in Italy and Malaysia today. It is expected that the international expenditure on tourism is to grow by 12.6% each year over the period of ten years (2011-2021) to $17.5 billion. If Hainan were a country in its own right, the growth in this industry’s contribution would propel it up in the WTTC league table ranking from 54th in 2011 to 13th in 2021. Hainan so far exceeds the number of jobs sustained by travel and tourism compared to Hong Kong and Macau. An approximate of 550, 000 jobs will be offered directly by travel and tourism over the next decade and may reach up to 800,000 if the external impacts of this industry are taken into consideration. The overall visitor numbers to Hainan was almost 26 million in 2010, and this was a representation of growth by 14% per year since 1995. This makes it one of the states to attract such a huge interest from a variety of sectors within the industry. With such a rapid growth comes some risks. Thus, the Hainan government ought to ensure there is a carefully planned, wide island approach, instilling a spirit of coordination and cooperation from different stakeholders. This will ensure that the travel and tourism industry achieves successful end goals for sustainable development. This will contribute to the cultural heritage and natural preservation and protection reducing the poverty level (Van Der Wagen & Carlos, 2005). The quantitative development of outbound tourism in Serbia reflects a relationship between international travel and domestic tourism (Visser & Ferreira, 2013). From this data, one may argue that, more Serbian citizens travel to foreign destinations. The main reasons for this shift are the lack of sustaining tourism resources in the citizen country due to mass departure to the coastal holiday destination. During the winter holidays, there is a relatively small number of Serbian tourists according to the data obtained from research. This proved to be unattractive for the largest number of Serbian tourists. According to statistical yearbooks of various countries, the number of Serbian citizens to travel to certain destinations is equivalent to the data on the international transport of Serbian passengers. However, it is feasible to conclude that data on tourist trips is virtual, and they should not be recognized as entirely accurate. The destination of Serbian outbound tourism is those with favorable prices mainly found in travel agencies offer. The anticipated tourism demand in Serbia is based on excursions to European cities, sky centers and summer holiday destinations. According to WTTC, the number of tourists visiting foreign countries was 477,712 in 2007 and 615,744 in 2008. In order to realize Hainan’s potential, there should be a well-planned, carefully implemented and coordinated sustainable strategy on tourism development. There should be a significant investment in training and education to ascertain that the human resource are aware to cope with the growth in demand. In addition, they should have an idea of market research in order to achieve market diversification and optimum product. Additional measures recommended in the WTTC report are envisioned to pave way to ensure that the huge rewards travel and tourism are short, medium and long terms. A summary of the main recommendations and conclusions of the report are coming up with a tourism policy, tourism planning, improving transport infrastructure and training the human resource to be competent. The Serbian government already recognizes the impact tourism in their country and the social success story. It is working persistently with the private sector to ensure that advantages are achieved in an inclusive and sustainable way. It has to overcome some challenges in order to continue to thrive in the long term. It needs to create a structured and regular dialog with players in the industry. There should be an update on the tourism strategy in place that can sustain and implement a partnership with accountability and trust on each side. It should fully embrace the protection of cultural, social assets and environment to ensure that the tourism industry grows into a viable and sustainable industry (Van Der Wagen & Carlos, 2005). Finally, it should modernize the labor law that currently limits the potential impact of travel and tourism by restraining job creation and entrepreneurship. In conclusion, tourism is considered one of the most economic sectors in the world since it is also a very profitable sector. In spite of this, the potential of Serbia is still slight in comparison with Hainan. The tourism demand and personal travel in Serbia have shown a constant growth in the transitional period observed (2005-2010). However, with the major social, economic changes in Serbia, there will be an improvement in infrastructure, living standards, and urbanization. This is expected to have a significant increase in the flow of tourists from Serbia and to Serbia. Reference list. Visser, G., & Ferreira, S. (2013). Tourism and crisis. Abingdon, Routledge. Van Der Wagen, L., & Carlos, B. R. (2005). Event management: for tourism, cultural, business, and sporting events. Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson/Prentice Hall. World Travel & Tourism Council. (2011). The WTTC report: travel & tourism. Brussels, Belgium, World Travel & Tourism Council. Read More