Oslo Tourism - Literature review Example

Oslo Tourism Oslo Tourism Oslo is undoubtedly the oldest in the Scandinavian region having been founded in 1048. The is a relatively good combination of the old and new in regards to architecture and elegance much of it dating back from the 1800s. Owing to this old design it has some of the best parks and gardens thereby providing clean and cool air to the metropolis. Oslo with the ancient history boasts of numerous museums that showcase a wide variety of artefacts and issues (Mehmet and Kjell, 2007). One of the most famous and visited museum is the Viking Ships Museum. With a modest population of about 600,000 people Oslo receives millions of visitors annually who are interested in the many activities and attractions. This city is both attractive in winter as it is in summer. Winter sports more so the Holmenkollen National Ski Arena forms the main attractions during winter. Vigelandsparken Sculpture Park is the most visited area during summers but also people take strolls over the winter season. Without a doubt Oslo has gone a step further than many rival cities to ensure a better and memorable visit. For example, public transport and parking are free as well as entry into most of the museums through the Oslo Pass. There are also many areas one can get discounts in restaurants, sightseeing, climbing and other leisure activities (World Economic Forum 2008). Holmenkollen National Ski Arena is not only Oslo’s most critical and visited attraction site but also Norway’s. The arena is a combination of the famous jump tower, museum and a skiing simulator among other amenities. The arena has to date hosted numerous world championships in relation to winter sports like the FIS Nordic World Championships in 2011 (Hall, 2009). The location has hosted such events over the years since 1892 when it hosted the Holmenkollen Ski Festival. The location’s design has taken notable upgrades over the years for it to be the magnificent arena it is today. The ski museum houses skiing displays that date more than 4,000 years ago; making it one of the oldest in the world in its category. The starting point of the ski jump is elevated 60 meters all supported by steel weighing 100 tons. Other than the arena offering an opportune time to attend winter sports, a visitor can also take a tour of the 60 meters tower and enjoy the breath-taking view of Oslo down below according to Hinch and Higham (2011). The Ski Arena is host to not only Norwegians but also people from the whole world who come to train, participate or watch the winter games. The facility is accessed best using the westbound underground although one can use a car and follow the clearly market signposts to Holmenkollen (Mehmet and Øystein, 2013). It important to point out that the arena is highly visited because it is operational throughout the year. Vigelandsparken Sculpture Park attracts hundreds of thousands of people annually. It is filled with more than two hundred sculptures made of bronze and granite. All of these sculptures were made by one Gustav Vigeland. The Monolinth is the most famous of all the sculptures in the park because it stirs one’s imagination as to what the artist impression really means. Consisting of 121 sculpted humans stacked and columned in one upright stone structure, one cannot help but exercise their imagination (Chakraborty, 2007). More of the foreigners who make a visit are interested more by the artistic appeal of the park than the ambience. Oslo, as earlier indicated, is the home of a number of world-renowned museums that range from arts to sciences. The first to consider is the Viking Ship Museum which has some of the oldest Viking ships on display; estimated to have been built in the 9th century. The most notable of the ships is the Oseberg which was found totally complete. These Viking age finds were discovered around Oslo Fjord. The other is the Natural History Museum which is a collection of museums that display nature in greenhouses and botanical gardens. The museum also has a wide variety of animals which originated from all over the world including dinosaurs. This makes it a very unique museum not only in Oslo but also in Norway. The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology is the other whose impacts towards Oslo’s tourism cannot be ignored (Sander, Göran, Terje and Bo, 2010). It is home to more than twenty exhibitions ranging from medicine to energy, from oil to engineering of aircrafts, automobiles and all things technical. It also has a children’s section where they are showcase how things and machines work making it not only an adult attraction but also a family attraction noting it has a discounted family pass entrance fee. Another notable and unique tourist attraction in Oslo is the Fram Museum which specialised on polar history. This is coupled with a restaurant experience where events are held as well as dinners. It has a capacity of 400 people and the menu is mostly Arctic (Valls and Sardá, 2009). Another attraction that makes Oslo a good tourist destination is the Akershus Fortress. This is not only an attraction but a treasured cultural heritage site. Many of the fortress’s features were installed within a period spanning 700 years. Its key function over the centuries as the house for kings and the government has made it the rightful national symbol of Norway. It, therefore, holds very rich history that has defined every step of Norway’s emergence as the nation it is today (Stephens and Leanne, 2010). In the Akershus Fortress are four other attractions which showcase various historical elements of the Norwegian culture and heritage. These include the Norwegian Armed Forces Museums, Norway’s Resistance Museum, Akershus Castle and Akershus Castle Church. However, it is important to state that these facilities have restricted access owing to the current role they still play in governance but are open to the public mostly in summer when people flock. The Fortress is easily accessible from the habour and one can use a bus, tram and metro – T-bane or ferry (Buhalis and Darcy, 2012). Tourists flock into a country, after quantifying various factors. First, tourists have to consider the security of the city they are going to visit. When a city has the best security measures and regulations, the tourists are confident that they will have a great time in the city. However, when the security of a city is in shambles, the tourists are likely to neglect such a destination. This explains why many tourists prefer visiting Oslo. The security of the town is enhanced, where the people are protected from any attacks. Secondly, tourists have to consider the attraction sites. As aforementioned, Oslo is a city that is rich in attraction sites (Buhalis and Darcy, 2012). The tourists are attracted to these sites, as they plan to have the best time of their lives. In many of these attraction sites, the managers consider people from vast experiences. For instance, they consider attractions that are meant for families, while other sites are meant for the entire public. In some instance, the attraction sites are only meant for couples and singles. With such a variety of services, visitors are leaky to a-find an appropriate place to spend their vacation. Thirdly, tourists consider the lifestyle of the people in the city. Some lifestyles are worth noting and experiencing, especially when there is notable diversity (Mehmet and Kjell, 2007). Therefore, tourists are likely to go to such places, as they are confident of having what they need. This is at times referred to the pull model of attraction, where a certain destination attracts tourists due to its lifestyle, climate and other social factors. Similarly, there is the push model, where the tourists visit a country to satisfy their curiosity. Other tourist attractions are rare in the whole world. For instance, many tourists flock the city to play skiing sports. This sport is highly attractive to the tourists in the country, as most of them prefer this sport especially in winter (Mehmet and Øystein, 2013). Apparently, two most popular resorts offer the skiing sport. Hemsedal in Buskerud County is an independent municipality that offers the skiing sport to a large number of tourists. Secondly, there is the Trysil, a municipality in Hedmark County, which is a destination for skiing sports. The tourists visiting the city have a variety of transport systems that they can use when moving from one place to another. First, there is the highway system, which covers over 90,000 kilometres. Most tourists use the highways when coming to Oslo from other cities in the country. Secondly, there is the ferry transport, which cuts across the waterways. This includes bridges and tunnels, which make it a tourist attraction to the tourists. Thirdly, there is the railway network, which is considerably long. This is an important transport system as it connects to major cities (Buhalis and Darcy, 2012). As a fact, most of the tourists in Oslo come from Sweden, since the railway network connects well to Sweden. Other tourists hail from Europe, since they have a convenient highway connection. In conclusion, Oslo is a modest city whose tourist attractions and their significance far outweigh its size. The Holmenkollen National Ski Arena attracts the highest number of tourists both local and international owing to the expansion it has undergone over the years to accommodate more players and spectators alike. The Opera House and theatres attract those interested in art and performances. The wide variety of museums also acts as critical attractions since they showcase both art and science in unmatched depth like the Viking Ship Museum. It is no doubt that Oslo, with such a small local population, has been able to attract millions of tourists from all over the world. It is noted that the town attracts tourists due to different attractions, which include railways, ski jumping, amusement park and the heritage. The governance has also worked towards facilitating the movement of people through the city. This is by offering public amenities like public transport and parking in municipal areas both of which are rare in many other cities even in the developed world. References Buhalis, D., & Darcy, S. (2012). Best practice in accessible tourism. Channel View Publications. Chakraborty, A. (2007). Global tourism. APH Publishing. Hall, C. M. (2009). Nordic tourism: Issues and cases. Channel View Publications. Hinch T., & Higham, J. (2011). Sport tourism development. Channel View Publications. Jarkko, S. (2013). Nordic Tourism Geographies, in Julie Wilson, Salvador Anton Clavé (ed.) Geographies of Tourism (Tourism Social Science Series, Volume 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 35-53. Mehmet, M., & Kjell, O. (2007), From Cultural Consumer at Home to Heritage Tourist Away, in Joseph S. Chen (ed.) 3 (Advances in Hospitality and Leisure, Volume 3), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 19-37. Mehmet, M., & Øystein, N. (2013). "The link between travel motives and activities in nature-based tourism", Tourism Review, 68(2). 3-13. Sander, S., Göran, S., Terje, S., & Bo, E. (2010). "A DIP-construct of perceived justice in negative service encounters and complaint handling in the Norwegian tourism industry", Managing Service Quality, 20(1). 26-45. Stephens, S., & Leanne, F. (2010). "Integrating management and marketing strategies at heritage sites", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, 4(2). 108-117. Valls, J., & Sardá, R. (2009). "Tourism expert perceptions for evaluating climate change impacts on the Euro-Mediterranean tourism industry", Tourism Review, 64(2). 41-51. World Economic Forum. (2008). “World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Report Highlights the Importance of Environmental Sustainability". Retrieve from http://www.weforum.org/news/all/all Read More