How Tourism WorksShort Version
What do we need to know?
Tourism is a service industry
The business of tourism uses attractions that are already present
Touring Alcatraz Island
Unlike most other economic activities that enjoy virtual exclusive rights over the use
of their resource base, tourism resources are typically part of the public domain or are
intrinsically linked to the social fabric of the host community.
Tourists expectations
Tourism activities can be invasive, especially when the
perception exists that they have been imposed on the
host community
The tourismification of cultural heritage assets presents a number
of issues for the management of these assets, not the least of
which is the challenging task of accommodating both the needs
of the tourism industry and the ideals of cultural heritage
management
Tourism Is Entertainment
To be successful and therefore commercially viable, the tourism
product must be manipulated and packaged in such a way that it can be
consumed easily by the public.
The reason is that only a small number of tourists really seek a deep
learning experience when they travel.
The rest are traveling for pleasure or escapist reasons and wish to
participate in activities that will provide a sense of enjoyment. Some
people explain this phenomenon by arguing that tourists accept
entertainment or commodified experiences as being a manifestation of
the modern consumerist lifestyle; tourism becomes an end in itself and
not a means to some loftier goal.
Tourism is fundamentally a demand-driven activity
Tourism is influenced more by market forces (tourists and the
industry that seeks to satisfy tourists' needs), rather than by
governments that try to control or manage it.
The ability to control tourism must be predicated on the
assumption of being able to control tourists.
Proponents of a chaos theory illustrate that tourism markets are
dynamic, erratic, nonlinear, and are noted for their great volatility.
Tourism is driven by attractions
Marketing calls attractions--demand generators.
Not all tourism attractions have equal demand-generation
potential.
A clear hierarchy of tourist attractions exists that can be defined
according to the degree of compulsion felt by tourists to visit.
The more dominant the attraction is, the greater the sense of
obligation to visit
However, the purchase decision becomes increasingly
discretionary for lower-order attractions, until visits to the lowestorder ones are typified by low involvement decisions involving
little effort required on behalf of the visitor.
Not All Cultural Assets Are Cultural Tourist Attractions
Not all cultural assets have tourism potential.
Cultural heritage places are usually designated as significant by
communities for reasons other than their tourism potential.
The basic rule of thumb is that attractions that are located close to
large population or tourist centers will attract significantly larger
numbers of visitors than more distant attractions.
The same maxim holds true on a micro or destination-specific
scale. Readily accessible attractions will enjoy greater visitation
levels than out-of-the-way assets, unless the compulsion to visit
them is so great that remoteness becomes a nonissue.