The Tourism Industry - Essay Example

THE TOURISM INDUSTRY CLEARLY NEEDS THE VARIED, FLEXIBLE AND ACCESSIBLE TOURISM PRODUCT THAT CITIES PROVIDE: IT IS BY NO MEANS SO CLEAR THAT CITIES NEED TOURISM.” TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU SUPPORT THIS VIEW? By Author’s Name Name of the Class Name of the Professor Name of the School City, State 5 June 2015 Introduction Tourism refers to the temporal movement of people to external destinations beyond their work and residential places. The movement can be a visit for one day or an excursion and the activities involved in such movements and during the stay at the destinations form part of tourism (Beaver, 2005). Tourism industry is the sector that deals with tourism activities and it benefits the domestic transportation, entertainment as well as accommodation and catering services (Hong, 2008). Because it collects the travel statistics, tourism industry has retailing, cultural and social significance thereby contributes to the economy. Beaver outlines certain factors that characterize tourism hence differentiating the tourism industry from other industries. These include the fact that tourism activities rise from a movement from one place to another and stay in a chosen destination. It has the elements of travelling and staying together and there are certain activities that are also involved. These take place outside the usual residential and work places. The movement to and the stay in those destinations is temporal in nature and are therefore usually for a short period of time. And the destinations are visited for various purposes but not for permanent residence or employment reasons. Over the past recent decade, it is recorded that tourism has taken shape in cities and is in great demand (Ruetsche, 2006). The tourism activity within cities/ towns is called urban tourism. The increasing demand for urban tourism is determined by the attractiveness of the city/ town to the tourists. The travel to the cities can be for a conventional or business purpose, spending leisure time with the aim of learning about other cultures, or entertainment and purposes of developing other interests. This paper is a discussion about urban tourism and therefore answers the question, to what extent do I support the view that “the tourism industry clearly needs the varied, flexible and accessible tourism product that cities provide: it is by no means so clear that cities need tourism.” The discussion will take the following format i.e. urban tourism, elements of urban tourism, challenges of urban tourism, inside the city tourism, city products for tourism and addressing the paradox tourism needs cities but cities do not need tourism. Urban Tourism Urban tourism is a special kind of tourism which is linked to urban lifestyles in relation to the amount of tourist activities existing in the cities. It is therefore defined as a set of established resources and activities found in a city and have been availed for the external visitors (Valentina, 2003). The visitors may come with the aim of getting entertained or for business purposes or are on official duties. Other than urban tourism being a form of tourism, it is considered as a fundamental, traditional and characteristic feature of urban life. This is because most cities have changed from being places of population mobility offering tourists just a short break. They have therefore become cultural centres with relaxation and shopping places where people can meet their friends and effectively spend their free time. Tourism activities in cities differ in relation to differences in sizes, available resources and existing features for tourist attraction. The difference can also be in terms of disparity of lifestyles within the various cities. Hence urban tourism is a representation of the fascinating features of a city and resources aimed at attracting visitors and residents. The tourism activities contribute to the development and improvement of the different sectors of the cities and urban life. Moreover, it is a requirement for cities to have heritage values coupled with the modern state of the art infrastructure that fully meets the needs and desires of tourists. This means there is need for aims to be directed at developing good infrastructural services and preserving the historic centres. This is to affirm that a city is good for a travel destination. It also strikes a balance between the city concerns and domestic needs so as to achieve conducive living environment. Valentina (2003) asserts that the way with which tourism planning, development and management takes place guarantees a positively influencing image. This will determine the fascinating characteristics of a city hence helping to influence the tourists. It is also revealed from statistics that urban tourists have urban life origins. They therefore come with the interest of information and publicity of such a city which allow them to easily be integrated to its surrounding. Because urban tourism visitors are associated with urban life, the cities and towns aiming at developing tourism centre within them must have metropolitan functions and historical values. Good cultural heritage is a plus as well as the size of its population. The success of tourism whether it is in the urban set up or the rural setting is dependent on the planning. This may occur at different distinct levels as national, local and individual attraction (Godfrey and Clarke, 2003). The national level involves coordinating and managing of great tourism regions. The region could be an entire nation hence co-ordination is done by developing policies, national standards and institutions. At the facility or site level, planning, designing and developing individual attraction sites are involved. There is also the tourist destination planning and management which involves organizing and managing services within and around the destination communities. Hence apart from developing better attractions, increasing number of visitors to boost the profits, tourism planning also entails promoting development of the entire industry. Elements/components of urban tourism Statistics show that development of urban tourism took shape during the 1990 periods. This is said to be consistent with the globalization shifting and the rising competition between cities. Hence the city is considered to be a well-positioned product in the competitive tourism market where its uniqueness can be highlighted. This uniqueness is tied to the identity of the city which connects humanity and the urbanized region. Therefore, according to Ruetsche (2006), urban tourism has certain components that augment the visitor-friendliness in the cities/ urban areas. These include the following: Historic districts These usually offer friendly attractions and easily accessible amenities to pedestrians hence are able to catch the attention of visitors. Historic attributes such as exceptional landmarks, streetscapes and buildings emphasize the characteristics of that local area. They have educational importance as well as generating the goodness of a place thereby granting memorable opportunistic experiences to the urban visitors. Hence cities that have legacy as selling points are more advantaged when considering establishing tourism products. Waterfronts These provide varied opportunities for tourism, economic as well as general development. Whether they are for transportation, entertainment or for industrial applications, they attract people as a necessity or pleasure. For example the San Antonio in the United States of America which has a successful riverfront development. The water has been capitalized as a main attraction point for the visitors touring the region. This therefore creates aesthetic and entertainment values while generating revenue for the city. Conventional centres and exhibitions These are considered to be strong growth sectors operating most times of the year (Law, 2002). They are also where visitors may prefer to spend considerable amounts of money hence are considered as basic requirements for the city tourism. The centres are justified by benefits arising from good publicity, image improvement, employment and urban regeneration. Apart from these benefits, it is worth noting that conference business is closely attached to the tourism industry. This is because participants in such conferences prefer using the urban amenities due to the exciting environment and facilities offered. Festivals and events These have increasingly become popular means of boosting city tourism and range differently in terms of sizes and scales (Rogerson and Visser, 2007). For example World Exhibitions, Olympic Games, yearly events like Folk Music Festivals and Gallery Nights. Their importance and impacts on the city tourism are dependent on the level of attendance, type of visitors as well as the number of external visitors. Retail and catering facilities These may be considered as only secondary elements of city tourism; but are important because they are the significant places where visitors spend their time and money (Sharma, 2004). It is possible to find visitors touring shopping centres as a way of spending their leisure time. These facilities may also offer sporting events like skating. Tourists may also visit stores to compare goods therein with the ones in their home country. Hence cities with such kinds of facilities in their airports, casinos and other service points have greater positive economic impacts. This further regenerate benefits which trickle down to development other sectors of the city. Special visitor districts These are places where a mixture of cultural, amusements and sporting facilities/ activities are clustered in one place. They may not be strategic tourist attraction points but they have better amenities for the city visitors as well as the residents. This means they can be renewed in order to have an improved city image to attract visitors. They allow easy movement of visitors and prior knowledge of them is an added advantage because they are likely to attract more tourists planning to visit a city due to their massive critical attractions. It is reported that in most parts of the world, special visitor districts are always the anchor which generate dockland points. For example in Baltimore where the Inner Harbour was designed with aquarium, science museum and a viewing platform situated at the top of the World Trade Centre (Ruetsche, 2006). Reports from the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association show that the number of external visitors was almost 112 million in the year 2006 with an estimated amount of 2.9 billion dollars as revenues. Tourism employees and resident as city advocates The most important factor of socio-cultural aspect of tourism derives from friendliness. This is also the beginning point of professionalism and excellence of services offered. The decision by visitors to come to a place is determined by the friendliness and hospitality in the place. This is what the visitors remember and will also win their hearts to come back. This responsibility should not solely be left for the tourism employees alone. It is therefore in order for every city dweller, working or not, to market themselves when they come into contact with the external visitors. This will result to in flow of dollars into businesses, restaurants, hotels, museums and any other entertainment points. No wonder some scholars have argued that the growth and prosperity of the city tourism requires all city residents to act as tourism agents and offer their guests with wonderful memorable experiences. Challenges of urban tourism The global tourism activities are on the increase with cities becoming the centre of focus giving rise to the urban tourism. However, it faces the challenge of visitors over expectation hence increasing number of visitors due to richness and varied cultural objectives, sports and business activities. This further calls for renewal and improvement of facilities in order that the urban tourism market is maintained (Sharma, 2004). However this is very expensive as it calls for extra cash to be pumped in for the successful city tourism maintenance. City tourism demands the assurance for proper development and management (Selby, 2004). This is to ensure that tourism is beneficial to the cities’ residents and that the urban environment is not deteriorated as a result of tourism. However, it is difficult to meet the desires of the residents as opposed to the visitors. This is because the expensive nature of services in tourism sector may not favour the residents. Furthermore, cities are known for several functions brought together thereby making the subject of urban tourism a very complex issue (Asworth and Page, 2011). These functions include administrative, cultural, commercial, economic and industrial. The analysis of a city therefore as a tourist destination is complicated unlike in other places such as lakes, mountains, parks beautiful landscapes/ sceneries that outside the city environment. Insecurity has been a great challenge not only to the tourism industry or the city tourism but also in the entire world as world. These have resulted to decline of tourism activities because many Western governments do issue travel advisories which do not favour tourism in cities prone to insecurity. Most cities are characterized by criminal activities such as robberies, drug trafficking, terrorism activities, highway killings, inhuman acts such rape cases and sexual harassment. Cities have also currently become the major targets for the terrorist groups and it is never easy to detect when the terrorists will strike. For example the striking of the New York’s World Trade Centre in the year 2001 where very many lives were lost to terrorism caught many unawares. Nairobi, Kenya is a case example which has faced several terror attacks from the Al Qaeda linked group Al Shabaab, based in the neighbouring Somalia. The wanting security in cities is therefore a great challenge to the thriving of urban tourism. Traffic jam is yet another great challenge that many cities grapple with especially in the African nations. This is also contributed to by the poor state of roads and general inadequacy of infrastructural services. This may prove difficult for the city/ urban tourism to flourish because many people, visitors inclusive, get bored when held up in unmoving traffic. Absence of good infrastructure, limited naturally beautiful sceneries and proper communication networks pose great challenges to the thriving of city tourism (Sharma, 2004). Difference in terms of development status of a city is challenge because this implies that city tourism will thrive differently depending on the city and how developed it is. Hence addressing these issues can be a great plus for the blossoming of city tourism. Inside the urban/city tourism Tourism is a recreational activity which involves spending of leisure time, changing environments and engaging in various activities. These generate revenues thereby impacting on the local economies. It is therefore argued that there is a two way connection between tourism and the city. On one hand, tourism is seen as an approach to a city particularly with the advent of new communication and transportation technologies. These have created domineering and feasible systems developed in places with substantial and immaterial networks. On the hand cities have the best facilities which make the tourists prefer spending their time and money in such environments. Sharma asserts that all urban areas act as tourism destinations and so they attract both local and international visitors, whether those on holidays or business or conference excursions (Sharma, 2004). Cities have extensive array of attractions with high spatial concentration. There are different ways in which the urban tourism phenomena are of extreme diversity. They could be the heterogeneous nature of the cities which is differentiated by size, functionality, locality and age. Also the multifunctional nature coupled with the facilities produced for and consumed by varied users defines the diversity of city tourism. Hence commentators argue it is difficult to describe urban tourism because it has always been mistaken as a social, economic and geographical issue with an under-estimated importance. However, the percentage truth is very minimal because urban tourism spurs economic and environmental regeneration. Cities exist within distinctive spatial networks functioning at two different levels one of which is operation regardless of the regional and national settings hence tourism circuits. For example London, Rome and Paris at a Western European level function as international tourism networks. While at a national level, Edinburg, Stratford, London and York are connected by robust historical and cultural factors. However, in the second spatial level, activities of tourism within cities operate in strong regional frameworks. This is from the perspectives of both native and domestic tourists. Hence cities are important point of focus in a region’s tourism industry. These spatial functions therefore expose the complexity of urban tourism and difficulties associated with differentiating the nature in which facilities are perceived and used by different range of visitors. Inside the urban tourism, there exist well exploited routes and historical centres with cultural activities and street performance hence forming city tourist places (Colantonio and Potter, 2006). The tourism therefore solidifies the centrality of the city as it influences its existence. Studies record that city tourists are of urban origin and their decision is vindicated by the spatial concentration of a city. Hence this gives a bidirectional cycle in that tourism influences the city and city influences tourism. The periodic dynamism, functionality and metamorphosis have changed the behavioural trends hence making the city a cultural place, and also where people can shop and relax. York, an English city with a population of 193,000, is an example where city tourism takes place. Heeley asserts that it has an urban heritage destination with historical buildings and monuments hence making it to be a distinctive point of tourists interests (Heeley, 2011). The presence of galleries, museums, castles and cathedrals makes it to be a tourist city par excellence. It adds to the category of Cambridge, Chester, Oxford, Norwich, Canterbury and Windsor as pre-eminent city destinations for tourists. As a city tourist, York has an upside of economic growth evident in numerous employment opportunities facilitated by the in-flow of tourists spending. Statistics show that the tourism in the York city is worth 415 million pound every year with good employment records in the hotel and catering sectors. However, the downside of the tourism in York city arises from non-beneficial experiences in the economic, social and environmental occurrences upon the city because of time and space concentration. This results into relatively low economic benefits due to the reduced number of the external visitors to the city. Heeley further asserts that the time and space concentration in York due to the influx of excursionist tourists has led to the residents having indecisive views in relation to tourism. This has manifested through an ambivalent stand by the local authority questioning the importance of tourism. However, most residents are interested in economic gains because of their inevitable understanding tourism in city of York. This is evidenced in the annual survey taken by the York City Council that reveals 92 % appreciation from residents. This is due to the economic benefits that tourism has brought to the York City. The higher percentage appreciation outpaces the 3 % of residents who disregard the economic gains of tourism in York. This category cites the incidences of crowding and pollution as negative effect of tourism in the York city but this has not deterred the tourists from visiting the city. City Products for Tourism The success of city tourism is heavily dependent upon the identification and prioritization of the core tourism products that are available in that particular city. Maitland and Ritchie assert that city tourism products are the tangible and intangible components with benefits that draw the attention of visitors. This is attached to the specific appealing nature of the products that suit travel motivation and needs (Maitland and Ritchie, 2009). Hence the experience obtained from the city tourism products are the basic foundation that prompts a visitor to choose a city as a tourist destination. Moreover, cities offer great opportunities such as breaks which give the visitors a chance of relaxation as well as other activities available in and around the city. The products that interest tourists to visit a city range from general leisure opportunities, sporting activities, education facilities, arts and entertainment as well as spending time with friends (Franklin, 2003). Others include nature and scenery, good airline networks, availability of hotel rooms and facilities. These products are defined by the market readiness of the city, alignment to objectives and strategic directional plans, market segments and whether the geographical spread of tourism benefits the entire region. Hence it should be noted that the primary products such as activity place, leisure setting as well as secondary and other additional products as shopping form the backbone of city tourism. Tourism Industry and the Varied, Flexible and Accessible City Products Available for Tourists The varied, flexible and accessible city products that are available for the tourism industry can be collectively described as service quality issues (Laws, 2004). These are in a state of influx hence experience rapid development since they aim at fulfilling the satisfaction of visitors. The urban tourism is in an increasingly competitive mood and this is reflected in its expansion of marketing and promotional efforts (Hall and Page, 2014). This is due to the fact that towns and cities are striving for a portion in the international and domestic tourism. The competition has therefore resulted into highly standardized service provision and quality improvement for tourists’ experiences. Consequently there is a higher expectation of service quality hence it calls for addressing certain key issues. These are place-marketing which generate a problematic destination image arising from the places promoted as tourist products. The promoted image via place-marketing may fail to match the real services and goods delivered by the tourism industry. Hence reflecting the gap between how customers perceive a destination and the package of products consumed in the real tourist experience. The implications of these are very important in the assessment of the services quality. Secondly, a higher percentage of the urban tourism products originate from the private sector as a bundle or a sequence of elements controlled and influenced by the place-marketer. In addition, there is the wide variety of factors that affect the image of a tourist destination. These are associated with less tangible elements as environment and the city ambience but shape the end result of the tourist experience. It can therefore be said that the evaluation of the quality of services by customers and the products offered is a differential function between the anticipated and apparent services. This proves the importance of service quality to urban tourism. Ryan asserts that service qualities should be regularly evaluated in order that any existing gap can be marked and be eliminated before it results into a negative effect (Ryan, 2002). The evaluation process can be done by collecting and assessing data relating to the visitors’ expectations before and after they arrive. It is also worthwhile to examine their city-visit by analyzing their satisfaction level basing on their comments on the services offered to them. This is a process that may be expensive to put to operation, but the end result offers a positive outcome. Asworth and Page (2011) outline some paradoxes which they argue characterize the urban tourism. First, they argue that urban tourism is a global form of tourism with great importance. It is an area that has received a considerably little attention from scholars yet is extremely significant. This has therefore led to an indefinite definition and unclear demarcation of urban tourism with little development for the understanding of its systematic structure. Secondly, there are many purposes as to why tourists visit cities hence such cities have large multifunctional entities for absorbing them. But these have extensively become economically and physically invisible. Furthermore, tourists greatly use the urban facilities despite the fact that cities are not specifically designed and created for use by the tourists. Another paradox is that there are substantial economic benefits contributed by tourists to the cities they visit. However, the cities that have their economies wholly dependent upon tourism have less likelihood of benefiting from the urban tourism. This contrasts the argument that cities with large and a wide economic base have the most gains from city tourism yet they least depend on it. There is also an asymmetrical relationship between the tourists and the city. This has critical implications for the city policies and management. Maciocco and Serreli (2009) wrap it up by saying “tourism needs cities: but cities do not need tourism”. Do Cities Necessarily Not Need Tourism by Any Means? This is the main focus of this paper. However, from the above discussions I disagree with the view “it is by no means so clear that cities need tourism.” This is because of the great importance and benefits that cities derive from tourism activities hence they need tourism. This is supported by the following reasons: Tourism is an economic pillar to the blossoming of cities (Souther, 2006). Cities that embrace the aspect of tourism receive massive economic benefits from the tourism activities. This is because of the opportunity of huge in-flow of money to their economy hence economic up surging. Such an economic benefit has been seen evident in the New Orleans which embraces urban tourism. Statistics show that the greatly experienced economic impacts emanating from tourism in New Orleans during the two decades after 1970 soared up to more than a 1,000 percent. This translated the figures as having shifted from 223 million pounds to 2.7 billion pounds. Tourism in the city opens up other hidden sectors of the city and further acting as effective means of generating more money for the growth of the city. Bull and Weed (2004) report that special sporting activities have emerged as a result of tourism activities. Such mega events are economic boosters and therefore substantial to the growth and expansion of cities. Economic statistics reveal a positively reckoning impact due to the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games in which between 77 million dollars to 135 million dollars were generated. Notwithstanding, Los Angeles Olympics are recorded to have generated an estimated amount of 417 million dollars. Yet still, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic made 645 million dollars. These events are enabled by the external visitors who market the hidden facilities of the visited cities to the outside world. This therefore attracts the organizers of such sporting events due to the facilities so that they consider hosting the events in such cities. Additionally, they contribute to the transformation of the city’s image and even the nation as a whole. The general growth, expansion and development of cities are attributed to the availability of investment opportunities. The tourism industry offers a direct connection between cities and investors, both local and external (Otgaar at al, 2010). Tourism industry requires manpower such as tour guides who assist the tourists during their visits to the attraction sites. Need for effective means of transport systems to tourist destinations have seen many people, companies, organizations as well as private institutions take advantage of such opportunities. They reap the benefits accruing from tourism activities by providing buses and vans for transportation as well as videography and photography services. The videos and photos taken during travelling to the tourist sites offer tourists longer memories of places visited. Therefore the importance of tourism as a source of investment is beneficial to the cities due to inflow of revenues to the city economy. These further contribute to the economic growth of the cities and even the entire nation as a whole hence is a proof that cities need tourism industry to thrive. The tourism industry contributes to the development of new infrastructure and improvement of the existing ones as well as improving other social amenities like water and sanitation, hospitals and educational facilities (Law, 2002). The image of cities embracing tourism activities positively change because old structures are fashioned out to give room for new ones. Communication systems are highly enhanced in cities due to constant renewal. Good transport and communication systems are essential facilities which no city can effectively function without. The presence of visitors is beneficial to a city because it facilitates the improvement of the city facilities to address any kind of economic draw back due to visitors’ dissatisfaction. This is also a proof and evidence that cities need tourism thereby cancelling the paradox of “it is by no means so clear that cities need tourism.” The increasing prominence of cultural promotion and heritage preservation are an important aspect of the urban tourism (Rogerson and Visser, 2007). The tourism industry makes cultural preservation of a city to be embraced hence winning an international market/ audience thereby building the image of the city. For example in Singapore, the focus is directed at developing thematic zones and promoting cities’ ambitions through conserving the ethnic values and cultures. York is also an example whose heritage has been preserved for the attraction of tourism activities (Heeley, 2011). The tourism industry is known for positive contribution to the emergence of numerous business activities in the tourist attraction environments. A city without any sign of business activities is an awkward state. Businesses contribute capital to the economies of the cities because they are an indication of economic rejuvenation to the cities (Gammon and Ramshaw, 2007). The tourism industry is an important source of employment opportunities in cities and therefore its importance makes it a necessary component for the existence of cities. Many people get employed as tour guides, drivers, cooks, hoteliers and housekeepers hence are able to get a means of livelihood. Furthermore, tourism industry promotes urban/ city commercialization (Park, 2014). The presence of banks and other financial institutions thrive in cities and the success is partly attributed to the presence of effective tourism activities. Apart from generating revenues for the cities and offering employment opportunities to the city dwellers, tourism markets cities to the outside world. This further attracts external investors who cash in large amounts of money into the city economy as well as the economy of a nation as a whole through investment opportunities. Hence tourism industry as much as it needs the varied, flexible and accessible city products, it is also important for the cities and so this cancels the paradox that “it is by no means so clear cities need tourism.” Conclusion The marketing perspective of city tourism is determined by several factors. These include favourable weather conditions, security, convenient accessibility and proximity to the transport systems, the hospitable and friendliness of the local people as well as past records of tourism activities within the city. These elements are essential in making a city to be considered as a destination for tourists (Law, 2002). Also, the utilization of the city products such as the city heritage, facilities and networks contribute to its regeneration, further restructuring and development thereby changing the face of the city. Scholars on urban tourism have suggested some factors which point to the reasons as to why urban tourism may thrive. These are conducive weather conditions during the tourists’ visits. Availability of standard and quality accommodation facilities are thriving points for urban tourism. This is further coupled with the cleanliness and upkeep of the city. The aesthetic value of the cities and security systems are very core to the up surging of the urban tourism. Other factors include level of crowding within the city, extent of cultural and artistic amenities, ambience city environment and knowledge of foreign languages. These should be addressed and constantly evaluated to ensure effective tourism activities with cities. References Asworth, G. and Page, S. J., 2011. 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