Organisation of Tourism at Destinations

Question 1

Spatial Interaction: Tourist Flows

Answer 1

• Push factors
  
  • Economic development in the generating area
  • Pressures to ‘get away’ (e.g. weather, city life etc.)
• Pull factors
  
  • Accessibility
  • Attractions
  • Amenities
  • Cost
  • Marketing and Promotion

Question 2

Global Factors that Influence Tourist Flows

Answer 2

• Exchange rate
  
  • Mining and the high Australian dollar
• Rising oil prices
  
  • Impacts cost of transportation
• Global Financial Crisis (GFC)
  
  • Less discretionary spending
• Health: H1N1 influenza (2008); SARS (2003)
  
  • Spread of disease
• Terrorism
  
  • Increases perceived risk of travel

Question 3

Other Factors that Influence Tourist Flows

Answer 3

• Distances between countries • Constraints such as time and cost
• International connectivity • Shared business interests • Cultural ties
• General attractiveness of one country to another • Landscape, culture etc.
• Shared religious beliefs • Multi-cultural values
• Political Stability

Question 4

Why is it Important to Measure Tourist Flows?

Answer 4

• Magnitude of tourist flows and to monitor changes
• Plan for the future
• Public and private sectors use for their marketing

Question 5

How can we Measure Tourist Flows?

Answer 5

Three main categories of tourism statistics:

1) Volume: Number of tourists visiting a destination in a given period of time
2) Demographic characteristics: measures the quality of the tourist flow: gender, age, socioeconomic, structure of the trip
3) Expenditure: flow of money