Visitor Attractions in the City of Cambridge - Report Example

Visitor Attraction Management (Visit Cambridge) Table of Contents Introduction 3 Critical Evaluation of the Visitor Attractions in the of Cambridge 4 Cultural Attractions 4 Educational Attractions 6 Natural Attractions 7 Importance of Visitor Attractions to the Local, Regional and National Economy 8 Conclusion 13 References 14 16 Introduction Visitors’ spending has long been observed as one of the major factors to boost the economic position of a particular local community or region (Hall & Lew, 2009). In relation to the rapidly growing number of global visitors, the public institutions are highly motivated to develop local destinations with the aim of attracting global visitors and stabilising local, state and national economy (Rowe & et. al, 2002; Stynes, n.d.). The study intends to critically analyse the efficacy of the visitor attractions within the City of Cambridge and its role towards improving the prevailing condition of local, state and national economy. Therefore, the discussion of this study highly focuses on evaluating the visitor attractions of the City of Cambridge and assessing their importance to the local, regional and national economy. The visitor attractions or the tourist places within Cambridge have long been experienced to fascinate the attention of the global population. The abundance of wide ranging attractive locations and visiting places has been recognised to significantly provide an extensive support to ensure economic stability of the city and the nation as well. According to statistical data, the visitor attractions of Cambridge annually generate £351 million along with employing more than 6,500 staff thereby aiding the local economy (Cambridge City Council, 2014). In this regard, a wide range of cultural venues and attractions, educational attractions along with natural attractions and sports and entertainment attractions within the city has been identified to contribute towards a large and prosperous growth of the local and national economy (Visit Cambridge, 2014). The following discussion of the essay would provide a critical evaluation of the range of attractions within the City of Cambridge that not only increases the economic position of the city, but also facilitates to transform the national economy of the UK. Critical Evaluation of the Visitor Attractions in the City of Cambridge Cambridge has been considered as one of the major historic destinations in the United Kingdom attracting more than 3 million visitors from different geographical locations each calendar year (Cambridge City Council, 2014). The cultural attractions and the available open spaces are often recognised to draw a number of global visitors to the local community which in turn facilitates to improve the economic condition of the city (Cambridge City Council, 2014). The following section illustrates a few of the most attractive resources that act as a tourist or visitor attraction within the premise of Cambridge. Cultural Attractions Cambridge is globally renowned for its cultural venues and attractions that significantly fascinate the global visitors and ensure to obtain an extensive economic growth for the city. The cultural venues and attractions of the city incorporate a number of art galleries, museums along with a number of religious and historic sites that generally grab the attention of the global visitors to frequently visit to the places. The attractions have been widely accepted to provide major support to the economic condition through amassing a large amount of wealth (Maitland, 2002). For instance, impressive choices of arts ranging from modern to the classical attractions, a number of lively theatres along with performance scene on presenting dramas, dance and family shows have also been recognised as amid the effective sets of visitor attractions that enable to gather continuous flow of the global tourists. More significantly, the Fitzwilliam Museum, which is generally renowned for its enduring world-class collection of arts, has been identified to attain the interests of families, couples and students across the different geographical locations. The Bridge of Sighs located in St. John’s, Mathematical Bridge at Queens’ and sophisticated attractiveness of Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill located in the East Cambridge can also be considered as a few major attractions that enable the local and national economy to gain a significant upliftment (Visit Cambridge, 2014). In this regard, it can be evidently stated that the cultural venues and attractions integrated in the City of Cambridge have been playing a critical role for the economic development not only for the locals but they provide adequate support to the UK’s national economy as well. Beside the wide ranging attractions of cultural heritage, the wide range of museums and art galleries along with admired architecture and majestic college buildings have long been determined to grab the interest of the global visitors. The financial performance of the City of Cambridge has also flourished by the availability and popularity of a wide range of renowned theatres and cinemas. The buzzing performance of the drama, dance, family shows and other entertainment events presented in the ADC Theatre, Cambridge Corn Exchange and Cambridge Arts Theatre can also be considered as a few other major attractions that contribute a large amount of financial support to the local and national economy. In the similar regard, Vue Cinema at The Grafton and Cineworld located within the Cambridge Leisure Park are the two major multiplex cinemas that also have major influence on attracting global visitors and empowering the local and national economy (1Visit Cambridge, 2014). Educational Attractions Educational attraction can be determined as one of the major components, which frequently grasps the attention of the global visitors. The historical presence of renowned educational institutions such as The University of Cambridge enables the city to ascertain a substantial proportion of global visitors annually. The university incorporates a wide assortment of subject areas which often aids to generate significant interest of the people. The university acts as a cultural heritage in front of the global visitor due to its long-standing focus towards academic excellence (Cambridge Tourist Information, 2014). The association of 31 colleges along with 150 different departments and its wide ranging events are major determinants behind the increasing flow of global visitors. The events that are annually conducted by the university significantly enable the global visitors to gain more knowledge and information about the City of Cambridge and its educational systems (2Visit Cambridge). Moreover, the Cambridge University Botanic Garden is also a major attraction for the global visitors to gain their educational knowledge and experience. Natural Attractions With regard to the natural attractions, Cambridge incorporates a wider collection of globally illustrious parks and green spaces that attract a large number of visitors across the different regions of the world. In this context, it has been ascertained that the nature reserves, parks and gardens have a number of free and green spaces for family leisure within the city that are the major natural attractions that enable the City of Cambridge to obtain a large number of visitors from diverse regions of the world (Visit Britain, 2014). For instance, extensive spaces in the Jesus Park located near by the Jesus College, River Cam and Parker’s Piece are likely to provide sophisticated environment that can draw the interests of children, friends and families from different global regions. Moreover, the Midsummer Common is also a renowned natural attraction to acquire the interests of the global visitors along with aiding to increase the economic performance of Cambridge and the nation as well (3Visit Cambridge, 2014). With reference to the aforesaid discussion, few major visitor attractions have been briefly discussed that significantly play a major role for Cambridge to develop its economic condition. Moreover, the attractions have also been recognised to play an important role for the city to achieve continuous economic growth. Therefore, the following discussion would demonstrate the importance of visitor attractions within the City of Cambridge that play crucial role for the development of the local, regional and national economy. Importance of Visitor Attractions to the Local, Regional and National Economy The cultural heritage of the visitor attractions has been recognised as the key factor for the City of Cambridge to build its strong economic condition. The recent integrated planning of urban attractions and steering government interests have radically influenced the overseas visitors (Dale, 2005). According to the recent observation, the visitor attractions are the key driving force behind the growing economic performance of Cambridge. The growing number of annual visitors and continuous increase of staying trips and day trips into the city have been recognised to broaden the scope in terms of strengthening the local and national economy (1Dale & Oliver, 2005). During the year 2007-2008, the visitor attractions of the City of Cambridge had depicted a remarkable figure of tourists from both UK and the overseas locations (1Cambridge City Council, 2014). The following figure depicts the total number of tourist visitors from different corners of the world and their spending which in turn enables to empower the economic condition of Cambridge. Figures of Individual Attractions in the City of Cambridge Name of the Sites County/District Category Number of Visitors (2008-2012) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridgeshire, Cambridge Museum and/or Art Gallery 122714 370762 386248 398444 424455 Cambridge University Botanic Garden Cambridgeshire, Cambridge Garden - 162601 171863 205377 199135 Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill East Cambridge Historic Property 191549 219934 231289 278505 251963 Source: (VisitEngland, 2012) Source: (1Cambridge City Council, 2014) The aforementioned table describes that an estimated 3 million global visitors are likely to visit Cambridge for a day trip with spending of more than £130 million. Moreover, it has also been identified that in excess of 1 million of visitors come into the city for more than a day in which 752,000 are from UK and 283,000 from different overseas locations (1Cambridge City Council, 2014). The overseas visitors within the city are likely to spend an average of 8 nights than the UK visitors. The assessed spending value in the different tourist attractions of Cambridge is above £473 million. The estimated figure takes into consideration the visitor spending, supplier and income induced spending along with the aspects associated with non-trip related spending. Therefore, it is evident that the visitor attractions in the City of Cambridge have been experiencing a continuous development in terms of refurbishing the local and national economy of the nation (1Cambridge City Council, 2014). With regard to the continuous economic development, the annual visitors from both the UK and the overseas locations can be considered as the primary influencing factor that enables the City of Cambridge to develop the local economic condition. The following table represents the annual spending of the UK and overseas visitors. Source: (1Cambridge City Council, 2014) The aforementioned table significantly represents the spending value of the visitors in accordance with different tourist attraction places in the City of Cambridge. According to the observation, it has been determined that the day visitors mostly spend their wealth on food and drink along with shopping activities. On the other hand, the UK visitors to the attraction places spend almost 33% of their total spending on accommodation which represents an increasing purview of economic condition of the city. In the similar context, the overseas visitors have also contributed a similar ratio of spending as compared to the UK visitors (1Cambridge City Council, 2014). The overseas staying visitors in the attraction destinations in Cambridge spend 35% of their total spending on accommodation facilities and 20% on food and drink activities. However, the overseas visitors spend higher extent of wealth on accommodation which significantly represents a major economic inflow to the local and national economy of the City of Cambridge. With regard to the overseas visitors, most of the tourists are from the United States, amounting to an estimated figure of 3,551,000 with an annual spending of £2,537 million. The following table depicts the number of major overseas nations and the visitors with their annual spending in the visitor attractions of Cambridge (1Cambridge City Council, 2014). . Source: (1Cambridge City Council, 2014) Conclusion Visitor attractions have been recognised as one of the key factors for Cambridge to achieve its long-term economic development. In relation to the recent development, the visitor attractions of the city generate an average of £351 million and employ more than 6,500 employees each year. This kind of noteworthy figure depicts a major contribution towards the economic development of the city. Although the tourism industry within the East England region faced a significant decline during the global economic crisis, in recent years the strong governance system and continuous development of the visitor attractions especially in City of Cambridge have enabled to radically improve the local and regional economic condition. The budding growth of visitors from both UK and overseas markets such as the US, France, Germany and Spain among others has significantly enabled the local and national economy to ensure sustained success. Therefore, it can be evidently stated that the visitor attractions in Cambridge have been playing an imperative role in the development of local, regional and national economic performance. References Cambridge, 2012. Cambridge Highlights. Heritage. [Online] Available at: http://www.visitcambridge.org/ [Accessed March 10, 2014]. 1Cambridge City Council, 2014. Volume & Value Study 2007. Files. 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[Online] Available at: http://www.visitcambridge.org/whats-on/cambridge-university-events [Access March 10, 2014]. 3Visit Cambridge, 2014. Parks and Green Spaces. Things to Do. [Online] Available at: http://www.visitcambridge.org/things-to-do/parks-and-green-spaces [Access March 10, 2014]. VisitEngland, 2012. All Permission. Data File For Website. [Online] Available at: http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEkQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visitengland.org%2FImages%2FVVA%25202012%2520Data%2520file%2520for%2520website_v5_tcm30-38299.xlsx&ei=YhIoU--YCsbDrAeNzYCIAw&usg=AFQjCNHau7NdgI5Hyu0j_A3iYM3M6OEwHg&sig2=sNRX3Id6H-hFx48iGNErYA&bvm=bv.62922401,d.bmk [Access March 10, 2014]. Read More