Tourism Gateway ! Flashcards
What are the three different groups that promote tourism?
Governments, Media, and International Organisations
Explain the role of governments in tourism.
Governments promote tourism locally. They can influencethe number of visitors and their length of stay, authorise air landings and allow the building of facilities such as hotels. Governments are often directly involved in planning, funding and building infrastructure projects linked to tourism, such as airports, roads and ports. They also maintain the safety and security of places which tourists visit. Governments may also set up agencies that promote tourism through marketing campaigns and promotional events.
For example, the Singapore Tourism Board is a government agency that promotes SG as a tourist destination, also as an industry for foreign tourism companies to invest in SG. Such businesses include hotels, resorts, cruises and airlines. It also promotes the building of new tourist attractions, such as the River Safari and the IRs, creating job opportunities for locals. It also aims to develop Singapore as a leading tourist destination for leisure and business in the region.
Governments play an important role in promoting tourism. They create more attractions to cater to the types of tourism that people want. As a result, more tourists visit such attractions, leading to more revenue for the country. People also manage to find more jobs for their families.
However, the government is limited to operations in its oown country. Therefore, advertising is harder to be done internationally. This leads to a lower chance of foreigners knowing about the country’s attractions unless they are very famous.
Explain the role of the media in tourism.
Media reports about a country or area could influence the decisions of tourists to visit it. The term ‘media’ refers to the channels through which ews and information are communicated to the public. It includes television, radio, newspapers and the Internet. Positive reports, such as the friendliness of the local population, an interestiong culture, good shopping opportunites and attractive scenery (just give one example), can encourage tourists to visit.. On the other hand, negative reports, such as those of incidents of violence, disease outbreaks and natural disasters, can deter visitors immediately and in the time to come.
As a result of the media, visits to destinations that were not previously widely known, such as Antartica, treks in the Himalayas Mountains, homestays with indigenious groups and long-distance cruises are growing in popularity because of favourable media reports.
Explain the role of international organisations in tourism.
international organisations are a group of different countries that work together for a common purpose. Reports provided by such organisations can either encourage or discourage tourists from visiting a place.
One such example is the World Tourism Organization(UNWTO). It works mainly with private organisations. including tourism organisation,s academic commuity and governments. It consists of 157 member countries, of which each provide tourism statistics. It promotes sustainable tourism development and tourism as a tool for poverty reduction, as well as job and business creation.
International organisations have created many roles for people to join the tourism industry, leading to better quality of services, inviting more people to visit foreign countries.
International organisations consist of many countries. This means that all the governments of the countries must be cooperative at all times. They rely heavily on the support of the governments that make them up, and need the permission of the governments. Without all these, international organisation cannot function well across all the countries and provide accurate tourist statistics.
Name the different types of tourism and briefly explain what each type is.
Honeypot = places of scenic beauty, must have a lot of people visiting it. [grand canyon in USA]
MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, events) facilities = host area of largse scale events such as meetings and conventions [e.g. suntec city]
Medical facilities = seeking better, cheaper or unavailable treatment than home country
Theme park = amusement park setting, has central theme (often large-scale enterprise that has a chain) [Disneyland in Tokyo & Florida]
Heritage = experience different cultures to understand the history of the place [Machu Picchu, Peru, Incan lost city]
Film Induced = locations featured in films [Lord of the Rings set in Matamata, New Zealand]
Pilgrimage = travel to take part in a religious activity [Jerusalem, Easter/Christmas for Christians]
Dark = sites associated with death and tragedy [Ground Zero, former World Trade Centre site for 9-11]
What is domestic tourism?
It is the exploration of one’s own country’s types of tourism offered.
What is outbound tourism?
It is the travelling to other countries to experience the types of tourism the host country has to offer.
