Tourism Management 6th Edition PDF

 TOURISM MANAGEMENT One of the leading texts in the field, Tourism Management is the ideal introduction to the fundamentals of tourism as you study for a degree, diploma or single module in the subject with a global focus. It is written in an engaging style...

 TOURISM MANAGEMENT One of the leading texts in the field, Tourism Management is the ideal introduction to the fundamentals of tourism as you study for a degree, diploma or single module in the subject with a global focus. It is written in an engaging style that assumes no prior knowledge of tourism and builds up your understanding as you progress through this wide-ranging global review of the principles of managing tourism. It traces the evolution and future development of tourism and the challenges facing tourism managers in this fast-growing sector of the world economy. This book is highly illustrated with diagrams and colour images, and contains short case studies of contemporary themes of interest, as well as new data, statistics, weblinks to key reports and industry studies. This 6th edition has been revised and updated to include: new content on: sports, festivals and event tourism, including the impact of the Olympic Games, social media impacts on tourism and the growth of medical tourism contemporary issues affecting businesses, such as disruptive technology, the rise of Airbnb, the impact of terrorism on destination instability and safety, and the potential effect of BREXIT updated case studies on BRIC markets and an enhanced focus on Asia as well as emerging markets such as the Middle East and South America enhanced sustainable development coverage highlighting the challenge of climate change and future tourism growth, including new debates such as Last Chance Tourism and overtourism a transport section with more international perspectives from China and South America and globalized transport operators, and a case study on using taxation to limit air travel behaviour an updated companion website with: additional case studies, quizzes, PPTs, further reading, web reading and video links. Stephen J. Page is Associate Dean (Research) and Professor of Business and Management at Hertfordshire Business School, University of Hertfordshire, UK. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of West London, is an Honorary Professor at the University of Wales, and has worked as a Tourism Consultant with different organizations, including the United Nations World Tourism Organization, OECD, VisitScotland, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Harrah’s Casinos and Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand, among many other clients. He is the author and editor of 43 books on Tourism, Leisure and Events, as well as the Editor of the leading tourism journal, Tourism Management – a role he has held since 1996 – and the Editor of the Routledge Advances in Tourism book series. Praise for the 5th Edition ‘Anyone interested in tourism management will value this book because of its breadth and scope. If you are concerned with the heated issues of managing visitors and their impact as well as the future range of management problems that the tourism industry need to address, this is the book you cannot afford to miss.’ Barry Mak, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong ‘The newly revised 5th edition of Tourism Management is an excellent textbook, compre- hensive and easy to read, that covers the fundamentals of tourism management issues with appropriate resources; much more than a general academic treatment of the topic of tourism management. It is a multi-purpose book, serving as classroom textbook, ref- erence book and business guidebook for practitioners and professionals in the field of tourism.’ Muzaffer Uysal, Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Virginia Tech, USA ‘Tourism Management is an ideal text for students who are either embarking on tourism studies as a field of study or for students taking a one-off “expedition” into tourism stud- ies. Extensively updated with a more focused emphasis on sustainability, many additional case studies and an expanded global coverage this text certainly meets the needs of the contemporary student.’ Bruce Prideaux, Professor, Marketing & Tourism, College of Business, Law & Governance, James Cook University, Australia  6th Edition TOURISM MANAGEMENT STEPHEN J. PAGE Sixth edition published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Stephen J. Page The right of Stephen J. Page to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Butterworth-Heinemann 2003 Fifth edition published by Routledge 2015 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-39115-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-39116-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-42289-8 (ebk) Typeset in Stone Serif, Avenir and Rockwell by Apex CoVanatge, LLC Visit the companion website: www.routledge.com/cw/page Contents List of case studies  xiii List of innovations in sustainability  xiv Preface xv Companion website information xvii 1 Tourism today: Why is it a global phenomenon embracing all our lives? 1 Introduction 2 Travel and sustainability 3 Case Study 1.1 The Maldives, tourism and sea level change 4 Innovation in Sustainability 1.1 Sustainability as a philosophy to transform the impact of travel and tourism 7 Case Study 1.2 Water equity issues and sustainability in the developing world 8 Why study tourism? Is it just about enjoyment and holidays? 9 The leisure society 11 The internet and social media 14 Concepts: Tourism, the tourist and travel 15 An organizing framework for the analysis of tourism 17 The tour, holidays, leisure time and the destination 18 Measuring tourism 20 The growth of global tourism and volatility in demand 21 Case Study 1.3 Terrorism and its impact on global tourism: Managing for crises and destination resilience 22 New forces affecting tourism: Globalization, inequality and the developed and developing world 29 Case Study 1.4 Tourism and poverty alleviation 31 A framework for the book 32 Tourism and management as a focus for the book 32 Managing tourism demand and supply: The perennial management challenge for tourism organizations 34 v  Contents The tourism supply chain 36 Managing the tourism sector 40 Disruptive innovations and technologies in tourism: A game changer for consumers and businesses? 42 2 Tourism: Its origins, growth and future47 Introduction 48 Tourism in classical times 48 The Middle Ages 49 The Renaissance and Reformation 50 The European Grand Tour 52 Case Study 2.1 Changing patterns of spa development as a form of tourism 54 Tourism and the coast: Transition from spas to the seaside resort 56 Tourism in the Edwardian and inter-war years 60 Post-war tourism: Towards international mass tourism 64 The future of tourism 70 Case Study 2.2 Emerging outbound markets: The BRIC and MINT economies 71 The future for tourism growth: Asia-Pacific as the powerhouse of global tourism? 72 Space tourism 75 Conclusion 76 3 Demand: Why do people engage in tourism? 79 Introduction 80 What is tourism demand? 82 The motivation dichotomy: Why do people go on holiday? 82 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation 84 Case Study 3.1 Volunteer tourism 88 Maslow’s hierarchy model and tourist motivation 89 The tourism tradition of motivation studies: Classifying and understanding tourist motives 91 Consumer behaviour and tourism 95 Gender and ethnicity 96 Case Study 3.2 The emergence of ecotourism markets in Brazil 97 Psychographic segmentation 98 vi  Contents Purchasing a holiday 99 Case Study 3.3 Medical tourism – a new growth area for tourism? 100 The tourist image of products and places 102 Innovation in Sustainability 3.1 Repositioning a resort to address mass tourism demand – Calvià, Mallorca 106 The future of tourism demand 109 Case Study 3.4 Emergent forms of tourism demand – dementia and tourism 111 Conclusion 114 4 Transporting the tourist I: Surface transport117 Introduction 118 Transport, tourism and the tour 120 Policy issues in tourist transport 123 Case Study 4.1 Innovation in coach travel – Stagecoach’s megabus.com 126 Land-based transport 133 The car and tourist travel 133 Cycling 137 The UK’s national cycle network 138 Innovation in Sustainability 4.1 Slow travel 141 Coach and bus travel 143 Rail travel 146 Water-based transport 149 Case Study 4.2 Tourist travel by rail – the Trans-Siberian Railway 150 Cruises 151 Ferries 154 Inland waterways 155 Managing land- and surface-based tourist transport 157 Innovation in Sustainability 4.2 Monitoring and reducing carbon consumption in tourism 158 5 Transporting the tourist II: The aviation sector 163 Introduction 164 The role of the airport as a tourist terminal facility 164 What is an airport and how is it operated? 168 The international airline industry 172 vii  Contents Trends in the airline industry in the new millennium 173 Managing the airline industry 175 Case Study 5.1 The use of taxation to limit travel behaviour: Air passenger duty in the UK 176 Case Study 5.2 The performance and competitiveness of Chinese airlines 178 Regulating international air transport 179 Airline marketing: Its role and recent innovations 183 How airlines use marketing functions 184 The low-cost carriers: Aligning service provision to demand 185 Case Study 5.3 The low-cost carrier: The Southwest phenomenon 186 Low-cost carriers in Europe 189 Airline marketing and developing client relationships: Frequent flyer programmes and alliances 193 In-flight catering: A marketing opportunity? 195 Future trends 197 Conclusion 199 The future of tourist travel and transport 199 6 Accommodation and hospitality services 205 Introduction 206 The hospitality sector 207 The accommodation sector 210 The accommodation sector as a global phenomenon and operational issues 211 The characteristics of the accommodation industry 213 The management and development of the accommodation sector 214 Types of tourist accommodation 216 Serviced accommodation sector: Hotels 216 Case Study 6.1 Spa hotel development in Australia 218 Case Study 6.2 The Chinese hotel sector 222 The boutique hotel 226 Budget accommodation and hotels 227 The non-serviced accommodation sector 229 The caravan and motor home sector 230 Other issues for the accommodation sector 231 Eating out 231 Food festivals 232 Environmental issues 234 Innovation in Sustainability 6.1 Scandic Hotels and environmental issues – a pioneer in sustainable business practices 237 viii  Contents Human resources issues 239 Conclusion 241 7 Tour operating and travel retailing 245 Introduction 246 The tour operator 250 Economics of tour operation: Managing for profit 253 Tour operating business performance 254 Regulating tour operating 256 The European holiday market 257 ATOL trends 257 How do these companies compete for business? 259 Consumer trends affecting the future of tour operating 261 Innovation in Sustainability 7.1 Corporate Social Responsibility and tour operators 262 Demographic factors 265 Consumer issues in tour operating 265 Case Study 7.1 New technology and the holiday rep 269 Marketing and planning the holiday: The holiday brochure 270 Case Study 7.2 Thomas Cook’s Let’s Go! integrated marketing campaign in 2013/2014 274 Travel agents 276 The evolution of travel agents 276 Characteristics of travel agents 277 The organization of travel agents 278 Business travel 280 Travel agents and information communication technology 282 Social networking and tourism 283 The future of travel retailing 286 Case Study 7.3 TripAdvisor, eWoM and the rise of internet ratings of tourism products and services 288 Conclusion 291 8 Visitor attractions and events 293 Introduction 294 Case Study 8.1 Events as attractions 294 ix  Contents Attractions, events and tourism: A symbiotic relationship? 298 Case Study 8.2 When management and planning fail: The tourism impact and legacy of the Rio Olympiad 300 Classifying visitor attractions 302 The events industry classified 309 Visitor attractions in the UK: Recent trends and patterns 309 Visitor attractions: Product considerations 312 Attractions as a leisure product 314 Visitor attractions and the product life cycle 314 Visitor attractions and the visitor experience 316 The visitor experience at attractions: Key influences 317 Managing the visitor experience: Potential and prospects 319 Innovation in Sustainability 8.1 The greening of meetings and events 321 The future for visitor attraction management 323 Product development and innovation 324 Marketing and promotion 324 Revenue generation and funding 325 Education and training 325 Community and public sector intervention 326 Conclusion 326 9 The management of tourism 331 Introduction 332 Managing tourism businesses: Key principles 332 The purpose of management in tourism organizations 333 What do tourism managers manage? 336 Marketing tourism as a management function 337 The marketing mix 338 Managing operational issues in tourism businesses 339 Managing seasonality 339 Managing service provision: Human resource issues and service delivery 342 Service provision in tourism: A perennial management challenge? 346 Case Study 9.1 The evolution of research on services marketing 348 Developing and managing tourism ventures in the small business sector 350 Case Study 9.2 The Disney model of customer care 351 Tourism and innovation 356 Challenges for tourism managers 356 How and why does innovation occur and what is its significance in tourism? 357 x  Contents Tourism management in action: Designing and developing a visitor attraction 362 Case Study 9.3 A feasibility study for a new tourism attraction: The scope and range of issues 364 Conclusion 365 10 The public sector and tourism 371 Introduction 372 Governments and tourism 372 Why governments intervene in the tourism sector 374 Government intervention and tourism performance 377 Tourism policy 383 Case Study 10.1 Destination Management Organizations and tourism 386 How government organizations influence tourism 391 Planning and tourism 391 Does tourism planning exist? 392 Innovation in Sustainability 10.1 Championing sustainability in practice – the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) 393 The planning process for tourism 394 Government tourism strategies 395 The public sector marketing of tourism 396 Innovation in Sustainability 10.2 Developing a country-based approach to sustainable tourism management 400 The future of the public sector in the management of tourism 403 11 M  anaging the visitor and their impacts 409 Introduction 410 The geography of tourism: Its application to impact analysis 410 European tourism: Trends and patterns 411 The geography of European tourism based on air transport: Key trends and impacts 411 Analysing the impact of tourism 414 The economic impact of tourism 417 Constructing the economic impact of tourism 423 xi  Contents Social and cultural impacts of tourism 425 Tourism and the environment 428 The tourism industry response 431 Visitor management 432 Innovation in Sustainability 11.1 Getting tourists out of their cars onto public transport – the experience of New Forest National Park, UK 434 Case Study 11.1 The challenge of managing tourism growth: The case of Vietnam 438 Case Study 11.2 Managing the tourist impact in Venice 440 Future issues for visitor management 447 12 T  he future of tourism: Post tourism? 455 Introduction 456 The spread of tourism 456 The snowball and amoeba concepts in tourism 459 Case Study 12.1 The tourism strategy of Turkey to 2023 461 Understanding the future of tourism 463 Case Study 12.2 BREXIT and tourism 465 The pressures for tourism to change 468 An ageing travelling public 469 New social trends 469 New outbound markets 469 Crises and disasters in tourism 470 Crises in tourism and business response: A management challenge? 470 Technology and tourism 472 Climate change, tourism and the environment: Its impact on future tourism trends 473 New business trends 475 Limiting tourism: The beginning of the end? 476 Towards a new tourism management concept: Managed tourism 483 Index 493 xii  CASE STUDIES 1.1 The Maldives, tourism and sea level change 4 1.2 Water equity issues and sustainability in the developing world 8 1.3 Terrorism and its impact on global tourism: Managing for crises and destination resilience 22 1.4 Tourism and poverty alleviation 31 2.1 Changing patterns of spa development as a form of tourism 54 2.2 Emerging outbound markets: The BRIC and MINT economies 71 3.1 Volunteer tourism 88 3.2 The emergence of ecotourism markets in Brazil 97 3.3 Medical tourism – a new growth area for tourism? 100 3.4 Emergent forms of tourism demand – dementia and tourism 111 4.1 Innovation in coach travel – Stagecoach’s megabus.com 126 4.2 Tourist travel by rail – the Trans-Siberian Railway 150 5.1 The use of taxation to limit travel behaviour: Air passenger duty in the UK 176 5.2 The performance and competitiveness of Chinese airlines 178 5.3 The low-cost carrier: The Southwest phenomenon 186 6.1 Spa hotel development in Australia 218 6.2 The Chinese hotel sector 222 7.1 New technology and the holiday rep 269 7.2 Thomas Cook’s Let’s Go! integrated marketing campaign in 2013/2014 274 7.3 TripAdvisor, eWoM and the rise of internet ratings of tourism products and services 288 8.1 Events as attractions 294 8.2 When management and planning fail: The tourism impact and legacy of the Rio Olympiad 300 9.1 The evolution of research on services marketing 348 9.2 The Disney model of customer care 351 9.3 A feasibility study for a new tourism attraction: The scope and range of issues 364 10.1 Destination Management Organizations and tourism 386 11.1 The challenge of managing tourism growth: The case of Vietnam 438 11.2 Managing the tourist impact in Venice 440 12.1 The tourism strategy of Turkey to 2023 461 12.2 BREXIT and tourism 465 xiii  INNOVATIONS IN SUSTAINABILITY 1.1 Sustainability as a philosophy to transform the impact of travel and tourism 7 3.1 Repositioning a resort to address mass tourism demand – Calvià, Mallorca 106 4.1 Slow travel 141 4.2 Monitoring and reducing carbon consumption in tourism 158 6.1 Scandic Hotels and environmental issues – a pioneer in sustainable business practices 237 7.1 Corporate Social Responsibility and tour operators 262 8.1 The greening of meetings and events 321 10.1 Championing sustainability in practice – the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) 393 10.2 Developing a country-based approach to sustainable tourism management 400 11.1 Getting tourists out of their cars onto public transport – the experience of New Forest National Park, UK 434 xiv Preface This book is written as a simple, plain language introduction to tourism and assumes no prior knowledge of what tourism is and how it affects our everyday lives. To read it you need to ask one question: Why is there so much interest in tourism? If you are inquisitive about tourism and how it has developed as a business then read on. This is a book that looks at what the tourism industry is and does, and why it is such an important global business. In simple terms it shows how tourism is organized, run and managed – and how our desire to take holidays and use our leisure time creates an industry that is expanding and is sometimes seen as out of control. This book does not pull any punches: it is not full of jargon, buzzwords and academic gobbledegook – there are far too many books like that which fail to convey the excitement that tourism engenders. It tells a story chapter by chapter about how tourism has developed, what tourism is and how specialist busi- nesses meet the insatiable demand for holidays and travel. Where technical terminology is used, it is explained in lay terms for the general reader. The book offers many insights into a fascinating business that is changing so fast that even commentators find it hard to keep abreast of it. The book takes a global look at what tourism is with examples from various countries and places, and asks: If tourism is so important to our economies and society, what can we do to manage it? Whose responsibility is it? Is it too late to control it? Such questions can only be answered after explaining how the tourism industry exists as a large unwieldy set of inter- ests that are united by one key principle: making money from the visitor and their pursuit of pleasure or travel. The book is comprehensive in the way it treats the different elements of the tourism sector and questions what the challenges of managing tourism are. Tourism Management will be essential reading for anyone interested in tourism – including tourists – and who wants to understand how the business works, how it makes profits and what are the effects of its activities on destinations. The book examines all the key trends now affecting the tourism industry from the impact of technology to the way low-cost airlines have transformed the market for leisure travel. We are all living in an age of major social and economic transformation, and tourism is part of that transformation. Reading this book will at least help you understand what is driving these changes in tourism and what is likely to stimulate future changes. For the tourism manager, the book will undoubtedly spell out a few home truths. For the general reader, it will show how difficult being a manager in tourism actually is – and the prob- lems that we, the travelling public – the tourists – actually pose for businesses – as well as the opportunities and the challenges. xv  P r e fa c e I hope you enjoy reading this book. It is certainly not the largest book ever written on tourism, but it is a clear, lucid and frank assessment that is easy to follow and above all shows how everything fits together – since tourism is not a simple business, all about holidays – or is it? Why not read on and find out! Happy reading. New to the sixth edition This edition has been completely rewritten, updated and revised to refocus the book’s key messages on the management of tourism with a stronger focus on sustainability. As a result, the following new features have been developed: new case studies throughout, with other case studies updated a greater focus on concepts and ideas being represented in a visual or graphical format a greater global focus throughout the book both at the general level through trends and developments and with a greater geographical spread of case studies derived from developed, developing and emerging countries as tourism destinations new PowerPoint slides that make the book’s visual and graphical material more acces- sible, with a new website with online questions and links an expanded format and extended discussion of key themes of current interest in global tourism, including the growing importance of social media and how both tourists and the tourism sector are harnessing its power. xvi Companion website information A companion website accompanies this book at www.routledge.com/cw/page/ and includes additional resources for both students and lecturers. Student resources Suggested further reading for each chapter. Supplementary readings and indicative questions that extend and develop key themes in each chapter. A case study archive. Further web reading. Links to a selection of multi-media resources. A test bank of multiple choice questions for each chapter for students to test their understanding. Instructor resources PowerPoint slides with line figures, illustrations and photographs from the book. xvii 1 Tourism today Why is it a global phenomenon embracing all our lives? Learning outcomes This chapter provides an overview of tourism as a subject of study and after reading the chapter you should be able to understand: why tourism has emerged as a major leisure activity how tourism can be defined as a human activity how to distinguish between domestic and international tourism why tourism has to be measured and the importance of tourism statistics the scale and importance of tourism at a global scale and some of the reasons for its growth why tourism is a difficult activity to manage. 1 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? Introduction The new millennium has witnessed the continued growth of interest in how people spend their spare time, especially their leisure time and non-work time. Some commentators have gone as far as to suggest that it is leisure time – how we use it and its meaning to individuals and families – that defines our lives, as a focus for non-work activity. This reflects a growing interest in what people consume in these non-work periods, particu- larly those times that are dedicated to travel and holidays which are more concentrated periods of leisure time. This interest is becoming an international phenomenon known as ‘tourism’: the use of this leisure time to visit different places, destinations and localities which often (but not exclusively) feature in the holidays and trips people take part in. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates that travel and tourism as an economic activity generate around US$8.3 trillion. At a global scale, travel and tourism supports around 1:10 jobs globally and generates 10.4 per cent of world GDP. The growing significance of tourism according to WTTC, is in the contribution to new job creation globally, that is estimated to be around 1:5 of all new jobs created. Therefore, the growing international significance of tourism can be explained in many ways. In an introductory text such as this, it is important to stress at the outset the follow- ing types of factors and processes in order to illustrate the reasons why tourism assumes an important role not only in our lives but also globally: tourism is a discretionary activity (people are not required to undertake it as a basic need to survive, unlike consuming food and water) tourism is of growing economic significance at a global scale, with growth rates in excess of the rate of economic growth for many countries many governments see tourism as offering new employment opportunities in a growing sector that is focused on service industries and may assist in developing and modern- izing the economy tourism is increasingly becoming associated with quality of life issues as it offers people the opportunity to take a break away from the complexities and stresses of everyday life and work – it provides the context for rest, relaxation and an opportunity to do something different. This is increasingly being associated with notions of well-being and how holidays assist with relaxation, recuperation and personal goals outside of work tourism is becoming seen as a basic right in the developed, Westernized industrialized coun- tries and it is enshrined in legislation regarding holiday entitlement – the result is that many people associate holiday entitlement with the right to travel on holiday in some less developed countries, tourism is being advocated as a possible solution to pov- erty (described as ‘pro-poor’ tourism) holidays are a defining feature of non-work for many workers global travel is becoming more accessible in the developed world for all classes of people with the rise of low-cost airlines and cut-price travel fuelling a new wave of demand for tourism in the new millennium. This is potentially replicating the demand in the 1960s and 1970s for new popular forms of mass tourism. Much of that earlier growth was fuelled by access to cheap transport (i.e. the car and air travel) and this provided 2  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 new leisure opportunities in the Western world and more recently in the developing world and newly industrializing countries consumer spending on discretionary items such as travel and tourism is being perceived as a less costly item in household budgets. It is also much easier to finance tourism with the rapid rise in credit card spending in developed countries, increasing access to travel opportunities and participation in tourism technology such as the internet and the growing importance of social media has made book- ing travel-related products easy and placed travel within the reach of a new generation of computer-literate consumers who are not necessarily going to a physically located travel agent to book the annual holiday. Such technology now opens many possi- bilities for national and international travel at the click of a computer mouse and to check-in for a flight via a mobile phone. Technology is also enhancing the way travel experiences are promoted, created, consumed and instantaneously shared. It is evident that tourism is also becoming a powerful process affecting all parts of the globe. It is not only embraced by various people as a new trend, a characteristic or defining feature of people’s lives, but is also an activity in which the masses can now partake (subject to their access to discretionary forms of spending). This discretionary activity is part of wider post- war changes in Western society with the rise in disposable income and spending on con- sumer goods and services. These changes have, since the 1990s, also spread to non-Western nations. Yet tourism is not just a post-war phenomenon as it can be traced back through time as shown in Further Web Reading 1. This highlights how important tourism was in past societies as well as the historical processes of continuity and change which help us to understand tourism development throughout the book. The first major wave of growth in consumer spending was in home ownership, then in car ownership and then in access- ing tourism and international travel. In fact international travel (and domestic travel, i.e. within a country) is a defining feature of the consumer society. Whilst the car has given more people access to tourism and leisure opportunities within their own country, reduc- tions in the price of aeroplane tickets has made international travel and tourism products and services more widely available. For example, the number of air travellers in the UK is expected to rise to 475 million by 2030. This is not without its environmental cost. Travel and sustainability There is a growing global concern about the ability of the earth’s environment and resources to sustain the continued expansion of economic activity, including tourism. Whilst scien- tists have pointed to these concerns since the 1960s, these environmental issues have only really begun to permeate government and people’s thinking since the rise of global con- cerns over climate change, the international Kyoto Treaty seeking to address greenhouse gas emissions and the Stockholm Conference in 2013. Tourism is centre stage in these concerns because travel for leisure purposes is not a fundamental necessity, and it contributes to CO2 emissions through the consumption of fossil fuels used to transport people on holiday, at the destination and in the accommodation they use. Transportation causes around 75 per cent of the CO2 emissions generated by tourism, with aviation responsible for around 40 3 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? per cent of these emissions. Improving energy efficiency in transportation may be expected to generate a reduction of 32 per cent in the emissions per passenger kilometre between 2005 and 2035. However, the quantity of emissions varies depending on the mode of trans- port used, with long-haul travel the greatest contributor to highly emission-intense trips. The issue of tourist travel and its global environmental effect through pollution is a thorny one since tourism is internationally significant and has an important role in soci- ety, as we have already seen. There is an almost unanimous reluctance among government policy-makers to directly limit or restrict tourist travel due to its economic effects on desti- nation areas. Consequently, many prefer to adopt the politically acceptable and palatable adaptation strategies – seeking to adapt human behaviour and destinations to the effects of climate change (see Case Study 1.1). Many people openly admit to being supportive of ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ principles but are unwilling to sacrifice their annual or additional holiday to reduce carbon emissions: likewise, few are willing to sacrifice an overseas desti- nation for a less carbon-consumptive and polluting domestic holiday. This assumes a more interesting dimension when one sees some sections of the tourism industry responding to consumer interest in green issues, by offering more ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ holidays, recognizing a business opportunity. Critics have labelled this harnessing of green issues as one way of gaining a competitive edge without a complete commitment to implementing sustainability principles in their business practices as ‘greenwash’ (see Table 1.1). CASE STUDY 1.1 THE MALDIVES, TOURISM AND SEA LEVEL CHANGE Climate change has become a dominant theme in the analysis of the future for small island nations which are little more than a metre above sea level. This has become a major problem for governments when the scale of sea level change is set against natural changes in the land level which is sinking at a rate of around less than a centimetre per year. However, this means that in less than 100 years some island states such as the Maldives may be flooded and therefore uninhabitable. The Maldives is a collection of 1200 small islands (198 of which are inhabited) and it is dependent upon tourism as its main source of external earnings, accounting for over 28 per cent of GDP and almost 60 per cent of foreign earnings receipts. The dependence upon tourism has meant that the country’s 600 000 international visitors each year are a key source of revenue for the country’s economy and, should climate change combine with sea level rises to accelerate the pace of change, the country’s tourism industry could be completely eradicated. Therefore in spite of the country’s natural beauty, and 80 tourist resorts located across 80 different atolls (i.e. small islands that are just above sea level), its competitiveness as a destination may well be threatened by natural environmental changes. To address these threats, the capital Male has built a 3m sea wall for just one island, while other islands in the Maldives suffer periodic flooding. Despite these major challenges the country’s government is seeking to try and mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. However, its resources are very limited and the scale of the problem huge. It is a story that can be repeated across many similar island archipelagos across the South Pacific where climate change may accelerate the pace of sea level rises, putting the livelihoods and entire destination in peril for the future. 4  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 Table 1.1 Key studies on tourism and sustainability Tourism and its ability to be sustainable as an activity have been major growth areas of research since the 1990s. The guiding principles of sustainable tourism are based on the management of resources, the environment, the economy and society/its culture for the long term so that they are not compromised or damaged by tourism development. A number of key studies exist which provide a very wide-ranging overview of the subject’s development: Krippendorf, J. (1987) The Holiday-Makers. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. This landmark study questioned the necessity of long-haul travel and the impact of tourism, including the damage it caused to the environment. Connell, J. and Page, S. J. (eds) (2008) Critical Concepts in Sustainable Tourism, Vols 1–4. London: Routledge. This extensive review of the landmark studies published on sustainable tourism charts the development of research in the area and navigates the reader through the 40 years of research in the area. Mowforth, M. and Munt, I. (2008) Tourism and Sustainability: Development, Globalization and New Tourism in the Third World. London: Routledge. This is a complex but critical review of the sustainability debate which challenges current thinking and many of the conventional ideas that tourism can easily be translated into a sustainable activity, particularly in less developed countries. UNWTO/UNEP (2005) Making Tourism More Sustainable, A Guide for Policy-Makers. Madrid: UNWTO. This report outlines many of the principles which can be harnessed to try and make tourism sustainable. This reflects the fact that tourism in this respect is a phenomenon that is constantly evolving, developing and reformulating itself as a consumer activity. Tourism, as a con- sumer activity, is constantly being developed by the tourism industry and individual busi- nesses, as marketing is used to develop new ideas, products and services, and destinations. The challenge for the tourism industry is in adopting new ideas developed in research, such as service-dominant logic (i.e. where the prevailing focus is on the exchange of service from the provider to the consumer rather than a passive provision of service – see the discussion in Chapter 9), which may also assist, with the use of social market- ing techniques, in adapting human behaviour so that people extend the daily activities that embrace sustainability ideals (e.g. recycling, reuse and minimizing the use of natural resources) to their holidaytaking behaviour. Of course, the cynic may argue that the most sustainable form of tourism is none at all if you are serious about your own footprint on the planet. The tourism sector has embraced new ideas (including in some cases sustainability) and pursued strategies focused on developing niche products reflecting the way that tourism 5 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? Table 1.2 Niche forms of tourism Tourism is a dynamic phenomenon and a highly trend-driven activity in a post-modern society where travellers constantly seek new and diverse experiences. This has led the tourism sector to harness marketing techniques to create different products and experiences for very specific market segments based on consumers’ interests and values. A range of some of the key trends and developments in recent years are listed below with a brief explanation of their underlying philosophy and examples. Trend Explanation Slow travel Travel to a destination and savouring the journey by not flying, such as taking the train or bicycle so that the rush and stress is taken out of the travel experience and it is slowed down Low-cost travel Travel by budget carriers which provide very cheap tickets for those who can book a long way in advance Volunteer Travel to destinations to volunteer one’s services to help with community or tourism environmental projects (e.g. rebuilding a community after a natural disaster) Sport tourism Travel to watch or participate in sport such as to visit the Olympic Games Health and well- Travel to improve one’s quality of life and health with treatments at spas or being tourism health resorts Medical tourism Travel overseas to get low-cost medical treatment in countries such as India Film tourism Travel to a location or fictitious area popularized in a movie or television programme (e.g. New Zealand and the Lord of the Rings trilogy) Dark tourism Travel to a location or locations that have been associated with death, disaster or macabre events, such as prisons or sites of torture (e.g. Auschwitz concentration camp) Further reading: Novelli, M. (ed.) (2004) Niche Tourism. Oxford: Elsevier. has developed a more specialist focus (see Table 1.2). Tourism appeals to the human imag- ination. As an activity it knows no bounds: it is global and it affects the environment it occurs in, the people who host it, the economies it seeks to benefit and the tourists who consume it as an experience, product and an element of their lives. With tourism having this all-embracing role, it is no surprise that many commentators, researchers and gov- ernments have agreed on the need to manage it as a process and activity, especially since it has the potential to snowball and grow out of proportion if it is not managed. Therein lies the basic proposition of this book – tourism needs managing if it is to be successful and beneficial rather than a modern-day scourge. For this reason, sustainability has a key role to play in helping to transform the very damaging and resource-consumptive nature of tourism activity. Yet one of the fundamental problems in seeking to manage tourism is in trying to under- stand what it is: how it occurs, why it occurs where it does, the people and environments 6  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABILITY 1.1 SUSTAINABILITY AS A PHILOSOPHY TO TRANSFORM THE IMPACT OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM Sustainability as a concept is becoming more embedded into mainstream tourism thinking as it moves from a niche concept to a way of thinking or philosophy that should underpin all areas of tourism activity and behaviour. Despite the many barriers that exist in promoting sustainability to make holidays and tourist behaviour less environmentally damaging, at an operational level the tourism sector is increasingly showing signs of embracing and implementing sustainability ideals. In recognition of this, and to demonstrate how organizations and businesses are innovating in the field of sustainability, this new edition will illustrate how innovations have been developed and implemented to showcase examples of best practice, new policies or approaches that have been developed and challenges which sustainability faces. The sustainability concept As Page and Connell (2010) argue, sustainability is now a commonly used term in everyday use which arose from a growing consensus during the 1980s over concern with environmental issues and the impact of different forms of economic development, particularly its link to climate change and global warming. This international growth in environmentalism has meant that there is a greater emphasis on the protection, conservation and management of the environment as a natural and finite resource (although some elements are renewable such as water, with the ability to replenish itself). This concept of sustainability has been refined within the public sector, particularly in the planning profession, to sustainable development which highlights the vulnerability of the environment to human impacts and the need to consider its long-term maintenance. As Page and Connell (2014) illustrate, much of the initial stimulus to a global awareness of sustainable development can be traced to the influential 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) report, Our Common Future (WCED 1987), which asserts that ‘we have not inherited the earth from our parents but borrowed it from our children’. In other words, sustainable development is based on the principle of ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (WCED 1987). Translating these principles into practice has been a major challenge for policy-makers and governments as it requires changing existing ways of doing things and people’s attitudes, and a new way of thinking about how human activity impacts both the resources of the planet that are finite (i.e. cannot be replenished such as oil or coal) and those that are infinite (those that can be replenished such as water), which can be adversely affected by pollution from human activity related to tourism or directly compromised by the pressures from tourism (see Case Study 1.2). For this reason, where sustainability is championed by the public sector it will often require a range of tools that can transform our thinking and behaviour in the form of specific interventions as illustrated in Figure 1.1, where excessive levels of conspicuous consumption associated with tourism may need to be curtailed or modified (i.e. controlled or adapted). This underlines what many commentators argue, that sustainability really needs to be at the heart of all tourism activity to reduce the consumption of carbon and associated pollution arising from tourism. 7 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? Figure 1.1 Levels of public sector intervention to regulate individual/group behaviour in society: Implications for leisure planning and sustainability Source: Page, S. J. and Connell, J. (2010) Leisure: An Introduction. Harlow, UK: Pearson CASE STUDY 1.2 WATER EQUITY ISSUES AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD Water is a fundamental human need for both drinking and sanitation and, as Tourism Concern argues, water equity is concerned with ensuring that development does not infringe on the needs of local people in destination areas to gain rights to water for personal needs so that they can live in dignity. In the developed world, water is taken for granted but, in many developing countries, particularly in fragile environments where tourism has developed (e.g. in coastal communities where resort development has occurred), access to water is far from equitable. Some researchers have highlighted the conflict that exists between tourists and residents over access to water. This was embodied in a campaign by Tourism Concern in 2012: in Goa, a local resident uses 14 litres of water a day; a hotel guest uses 1785 litres of water; in Zanzibar research has highlighted that residents consume on average 93.2 litres of water a day and tourists’ use ranges from 686 to 3195 litres a day depending upon the accommodation type they stay in. In the Dominican Republic, estimates of tourist use of water range from 259 to 1483 litres a day, while only 48 per cent of the population have access to potable water (which is water that is safe enough to drink or with low risk of harm). In the case of the Dominican Republic, the UN has estimated that only 10 per cent of the population has continuous access to uninterrupted water supplies. This pattern is replicated in other developing countries where mass resort-based tourism has led to overconsumption 8  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 of water supplies for tourism purposes in environments that are arid, subject to seasonal droughts and water-intensive in the products and experiences offered to overseas tourists. The unsustainability of these mass resort models has been characterized by indirect water-consumptive activities such as golf and swimming in hotel pools and by heavy consumption for direct use (e.g. toilet flushing, washing and bathing, and washing of hotel towels daily), while residents are often forced to travel long distances to seek water (where piped supplies do not exist or access to fresh supplies of water are limited). Therefore issues of water scarcity in some developing countries with expanding tourism industries (see the discussion later in this chapter), and the prioritization of supplies for tourism and agricultural use, make both the issue of the development of tourism and identifying the unsustainable nature of its growth contentious. Whilst some tour operators have sought to address the issue by raising awareness of water use amongst tourists as consumers, this has been shown to have very little impact on consumer behaviour. This again reinforces the problem of being ‘green at home’ and seemingly responsible towards the environment but wishing to ‘treat themselves’ on holiday, which is compounded by a degree of ignorance about the scale and significance of the water equity issues in specific destinations. Further reading Page, S. J., Essex, S. and Causevic, S. (2014) Tourist attitudes towards water use in the developing world: A comparative analysis. Tourism Management Perspectives, 10: 57–67. that are affected by it and why it is a volatile activity that can cease as quickly as it can start. These types of questions are what this book seeks to address. It will also look at why tourism as a consumer activity is built on dreams, images and what people like to do; this is notoriously difficult to understand as it involves entering the realms of psychology and the mind of the individual tourist. Furthermore, these psychological elements are bound up in notions of enjoyment, feelings, emotions and seemingly intangible and unseen characteristics. The issue is further complicated by the way in which an individual’s tastes and interests change throughout their life. In other words, being a tourist is based on the principle of non-work and enjoyment of one’s free time in a different locality, and results in an experience, a treasured memory and something personal that develops through our life course. Why study tourism? Is it just about enjoyment and holidays? Tourism and its analysis have become a relatively recent field of study among aca- demics, researchers and commentators. Some of the very early student textbooks on tourism (see Table 1.3) can be dated to the early 1970s (although there are examples of other reviews of tourism dating to the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s), with a second wave being produced in the 1980s and then a massive explosion in the late 1980s and 1990s as tourism education and training expanded worldwide. Since the 1990s, a wide range 9 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? Table 1.3 The evolution of the study of tourism: Key studies during the period 1930–1970s Lennard, R. (1931) Englishmen at Rest and Play. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Ogilvie, I. (1933) The Tourist Movement. London: Staples Press. Pimlott, J. (1947) The Englishman’s Holiday. London: Faber & Faber. Lickorish, L. and Kershaw, A. (1958) The Travel Trade. London: Practical Press. Burkart, A. and Medlik, S. (1974) Tourism, Past Present and Future. London: Heinemann. Goeldner, C. (1974) Tourism, Principles and Practice. New York: Wiley. Page, S. J. and Connell, J. (eds) (2008) Tourism, Volumes 1–6: Sage Library of Tourism and Hospitality Management. London: Sage. (This collection of seminal articles shaping the development of tourism research documents the period since the 1920s and is an important starting point to trace the development of the subject.) of more specialist and niche books have been published on particular aspects of tour- ism research. There are a range of commonly recognized problems in studying tourism, a number of which are important to the way in which we understand whether it is just about enjoy- ment and holiday taking: tourism is a multidisciplinary subject which means that a wide range of other sub- jects, such as psychology, geography, economics, to name but a few, examine it and bring to it a range of ideas and methods of studying it. This means that there is no overarching academic agreement on how to approach the study of tourism – it really depends on how you are looking at tourism, and the perspective you adopt which determines the issues you are interested in studying this has led to a lack of clarity and definition in how to study tourism, something that other researchers have defined as reductionism. What this means is that tourism is normally defined by reducing it (hence ‘reductionism’) to a simple range of activities or transactions (i.e. What types of holidays do people choose? or How do people purchase those holidays?) rather than by focusing on the framework needed to give a wider perspective or overview of tourism. These problems often compound the way people view tourism as a subject, emphasizing the holiday or enjoyment aspects of travelling (in one’s spare time or on business) as the defining features or reference point of tourism. To the general public tourism is some- thing everyone knows about – it is something many have engaged in and so have an opinion on what it is, its effects and widespread development. Admittedly, tourism is about pleasure and enjoyment, but its global growth and expan- sion are now creating serious societal problems and issues; a fundamental understanding of tourism is required if we are to manage and control the impacts and problems it can 10  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 cause. Some critics argue that tourism epitomizes the extreme of post-modern consump- tion in a society that spends on travel and tourism because it can and not for an intrin- sic need for holidays as access to travel is, in relative terms, very cheap and affordable for many. One way of beginning to understand that tourism is more than holidays and enjoyment is to think about why tourism is so important in modern society (i.e. its social, cultural and economic significance) by looking at an important process which has led to the demand for it – the rise of the leisure society. The leisure society Tourism is now widely acknowledged as a social phenomenon, as the nature of society in most advanced developed countries has now changed from one that has traditionally had an economy based on manufacturing and production, to one where the dominant form of employment is services and consumer industries (i.e. those based on producing consumer goods and services). At the same time, many countries have seen the amount of leisure time and paid holiday entitlement for their workers increase in the post-war period so that workers now have the opportunity to engage in the new forms of con- sumption such as tourism. These changes have been described as being part of what has been termed the leisure society, a term coined in the 1970s by sociologists. They were examining the future of work and the way in which society was changing, as traditional forms of employment were disappearing and new service-related employment, increased leisure time and new working habits emerged (e.g. flexi-time and part-time work). Some commentators described this as a ‘leisure shock’ in the 1980s since many workers were still not prepared for the rise in leisure time and how to use it. As society has passed from the stage of industrialization to one now described as post-industrial, where new technologies and ways of communicating and working have evolved, sociologists such as Baudrillard (1998) in The Consumer Society: Myths and Struc- tures, have argued that we have moved from a society of work and production to one in which leisure and consumption now dominate. This has been reflected in social changes, such as the rise of new middle classes in many developed and developing countries, and these middle classes have a defining feature, which is the concern with leisure life- styles and consumption. The new-found wealth among the growing middle class has been increasingly spent on leisure items, and tourism is an element of this (e.g. in 1911, 1 per cent of the population had 70 per cent of the wealth; this dropped to 40 per cent in 1960 and 23 per cent in 2002 in the UK). The international growth in holidaytaking is directly related to this new middle class. The increasing mobility of this group has been reflected in a massive growth globally in their propensity to travel and the growth of a society focused on leisure, of which tourism is prioritized as a key element of their house- hold budgets and as a form of conspicuous consumption. This trend has been observed in many other developed and developing countries as reflected in outbound markets and domestic tourism. The growing significance of travel and tourism in household spending reflects what researchers have described as ‘leisure lifestyles’. A study for the United Nations World Tourism Organization in 2013 illustrated how interconnected tourism is within the global 11 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? economy, identifying the impact of the drop in overseas holiday spending by developed countries such as the UK and USA. It found that: low-income countries (less developed countries) depended upon tourism for 45 per cent of their exports in 2009 international tourism accounted for US$306 billion in tourism receipts and 36 per cent of the volume of international tourism, with a wide geographical distribution, as illustrated in Figure 1.2 the economic crisis affected countries with a high level of dependence upon tourism with between a 4 per cent drop (e.g. in the Maldives) to a 9 per cent drop (e.g. in Costa Rica), although these percentage drops were much greater for high spending markets such as the UK and USA the tourism sector in these countries responded by downsizing their operations, with lay-offs and by reducing their outgoings, which hit the lower paid and female employees to a greater degree in the Maldives, 1477 low paid workers, mainly immigrant workers, lost their jobs and a 2030 per cent cut in the Maldivian tourism workforce occurred. Source: UNWTO (2013) Economic Crisis, International Tourism Decline and its Impact on the Poor Interest in tourism in Europe, North America and other parts of the world has been given an added boost by the impact of new technology such as the internet and the world wide web, which has rendered knowledge and awareness of tourism and the opportunities to travel worldwide more accessible. The world wide web has been used as a medium to portray travel options and the product offerings of destinations, so that people can search and explore travel options at a global scale from the ease of a computer terminal. In Europe, the impact of this new technology in the early years of the twenty-first century has generated a new tourism boom akin to the rise in international tourism in the 1970s, with new forms of technology and the supply of cheaper forms of travel (i.e. the low-cost airlines) fostering this demand. Over 90 per cent of some low-cost airline bookings are now made online, which illustrates the power of the internet and its role in reaching a new customer base in the tourism sector. This has given rise to e-tourism, which is the digitization of all elements in the tourism supply chain,1 whereby the supply and demand for tourism can be met through new virtual forms of distribution such as the world wide web, as opposed to conventional methods such as travel agents and paper brochures. This has certainly revolutionized tourism and the access to travel knowledge and information, hitherto largely within the confines of travel agents and travel organizers: now everyone can be their own travel agent if they have access to the technology. Other commentators have also pointed to the changing sophistication of tourists as consumers, especially the middle classes with their pursuit of authentic and unique expe- riences in the developed world and the expanding, fast-growing middle classes in the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China – see Chapter 2). This is part of what Pine and Gilmore (1999) identified as the experience economy, which is the next stage in the evolution of society from a service economy. They argue that businesses need to create experiences which create a sensation and can personalize the experience to build 12  DEVELOPING COUNTRIES LEAST DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 20–55 million* Over 1 million 500 000–1 million 10.1–19.9 million 76 000–499 000 4–10 million 17 500–75 000 1–3.9 million Less than 1 million Mongolia Turkey Lebanon China Tunisia Pakistan Nepal Bhutan Jordan Myanmar Jamaica Egypt Cuba Dominican Rep. Bangladesh Tropic of Cancer Mexico Belize Laos Senegal Sudan India Vietnam Northern Marianas Puerto Rico Guatemala Honduras Philippines Gambia Ghana Thailand Guam El Salvador Nicaragua Venezuela Togo Sierra Leone Sri Lanka Cambodia Costa Rica Guyana Ethiopia Uganda Papua Kenya Maldives New Guinea Ecuador Seychelles Soloman Samoa Tanzania Zanzibar Islands Brazil Peru Malawi Indonesia Tahiti Bolivia Zambia Mozambique Fiji Madagascar Vanuatu Cook Islands Paraguay Botswana Mauritius Tonga Namibia Swaziland New Tropic of Capricorn Caledonia Chile Lesotho Uruguay South Africa Argentina 0 kilometres 5000 Based on WHO data © SJ Page Figure 1.2 The geographical distribution of tourism in the less and least developed world Source: Developed from UNWTO data T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? Note: China = 59.3 million CHAPTER 13 1 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? a relationship with the consumer, and they suggest four areas of experience that we need to focus on: entertainment education aesthetics (i.e. an ability to immerse oneself in something) and; escapism in what is consumed. This has major implications for the types of tourism experience we develop now and in the future and it has gained momentum with the growth of the internet, which now allows consumers to seek out these experiences globally. The internet and social media e-tourism is only the first stage of the internet’s impact upon tourism. The first wave of internet technology created an online travel community where tourism businesses were able to market to and communicate with consumers through electronic media. This has been followed by a new wave of web-based communities known as Web 2.0 (also described as computer-generated media or social media) where the online content is created by online users and made available to other users via the Web 2.0 interactive technol- ogy. The importance of this technology is that it allows consumers to communicate about social themes such as holidays and travel. So the increasing use of the internet to make bookings and reservations for travel online has been combined with consumer ratings and reviews online through travel sites such as TripAdvisor.com (see Chapter 7 for more detail). Therefore, many of the previous principles of travel planning, where the advice and knowledge of travel agents was seen as a key determinant of holiday decision-making have now been replaced by the technological power of the internet, social media and consumer ratings which offer greater insights into the very intangible nature of tourism experiences from those who have already consumed the product or service. Current trends that are looking at the Internet of Things (the network of devices and products embedded with potential to connect together) are creating a business and leisure environment that is highly connected, where activities are logged and tracked creating large amounts of electronic data (‘big data’). Big data needs new forms of data analytics to analyse the vast volume of data from transactions, interactions and activity which provide precise information on people and their activities. This has gathered apace as Web 2.0 and smart phones have generated the data each time it is switched on and used. Previously, researchers pointed to the significance of access to and use of internet tech- nology which was increasing and one important feature they highlighted was how this technology was increasingly used to search out and peruse travel options, as well as for making bookings. Now the Internet of Things and technologies have created a more inter- connected society in which tourism is situated and occurs, the impact of which is further explored in Chapter 7. With these issues in mind, attention now turns to what is meant by the terms ‘tourism’, ‘tourist’ and ‘travel’. 14  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 Concepts: Tourism, the tourist and travel Attempts to define tourism are numerous and very often the terms ‘travel’ and ‘tourism’ are used interchangeably. According to the international organization responsible for tourism, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO): Tourism is defined as the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places out- side their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, busi- ness and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited. The use of this broad concept makes it possible to identify tourism between countries as well as tourism within a country. ‘Tourism’ refers to all activities of visitors, including both ‘tourists (overnight visitors)’ and ‘same-day visitors’. (www.world-tourism.org) This seemingly straightforward definition has created a great deal of debate. In fact, controversy has surrounded the development of acceptable definitions since the League of Nations’ attempt to define a tourist in 1937 and subsequent attempts by the United Nations conference in 1963 which considered definitions proposed by the then IUOTO (now UNWTO). There have also been attempts to clarify what is meant by the term ‘vis- itor’ as opposed to ‘tourist’ and the distinction between tourists who travel within their own country (domestic tourists) and those who travel to other countries (international tourists). What the debates on defining tourism at a technical level show is that it is far from an easy task in agreeing what constitutes a ‘tourist’. For example, should we include someone who is a visitor staying in a second home? They are technically away from their homes, but are staying in another form of property that they own. Similarly, how far away from your home area must you travel before your activity is deemed tour- ism? A further problem is associated with the category of cruise-ship passengers who dock at a port and visit briefly, not staying overnight, or cross-Channel trippers who may cross an international boundary but then return within a day and do not stay overnight. To try and encompass many of these anomalies and problems, the UNWTO produced guidelines and a useful categorization for defining a tourist, which is shown in Figure 1.3. What is increasingly obvious is that new forms of research on tourism are needed to under- stand how the phenomenon loosely defined as tourism is evolving, as it is far from static. For example, research on tourism and migration has identified the short-term migration of the elderly who winter in warmer climates – such as the UK pensioners who overwin- ter in the Mediterranean – as a new type of tourist. These patterns of tourism migration incorporate owners of second homes, tourists and seasonal visitors who spend two to six months overseas in locations such as Tuscany, Malta and Spain. For example, over 300 000 people own a second home in the UK and over 170 000 have purchased overseas proper- ties. In the USA estimates of domestic second-home ownership range between 3.6 million and 9.2 million properties, the majority of which are located in coastal or rural areas. This pattern of seasonal tourism and migration also generates flows of people known as ‘visit- ing friends and relatives’, and these are somewhat different to the conventional images of 15 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? Figure 1.3 The classification of tourists Source: Developed and modified from Chadwick (1994) package holidaymakers destined for these locations in Europe. In the USA, a long-estab- lished trend of a family vacation is the holiday home. Some commentators also suggest that existing definitions of tourism are dated and are being challenged by new forms of tourism such as students engaging in a Year Abroad or volunteering. Therefore, the following definition of tourism might be useful where tourism is the field of research on human and business activities associated with one or more aspects of the temporary movement of persons away from their immediate home com- munities and daily work environments for business, pleasure and personal reasons. (Chadwick 1994: 65) In the USA, there is a tendency still to use the term ‘travel’ when in fact ‘tourism’ is meant. What is clear is that tourism is associated with three specific issues: ‘the movement of people; a sector of the economy or an industry; a broad system of interacting relationships of people, their needs [sic] to travel out- side their communities and services that attempt to respond to these needs by sup- plying products’. Source: After Chadwick (1994: 65) 16  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 From this initial starting point, one can begin to explore some of the complex issues in arriving at a working definition of the terms ‘tourism’ and ‘tourist’. Probably the most useful work to provide an introduction to tourism as a concept and the relationship with travel is Burkart and Medlik’s (1981) seminal study Tourism: Past Present and Future. This identified the following characteristics associated with tourism: tourism arises from the movement of people to and their stay in various destinations there are two elements in all tourism: the journey to the destination and the stay including activities at the destination the journey and the stay take place outside the normal place of residence and work, so that tourism gives rise to activities that are distinct from those of the resident and working populations of the places through which tourists travel and in which they stay the movement to destinations is of a temporary, short-term character, with intention to return within a few days, weeks or months destinations are visited for purposes other than the taking up of permanent residence or of employment remunerated from within the places visited. Source: Burkart and Medlik (1981: 42) All tourism includes some travel but not all travel is tourism, while the temporary and short-term nature of most tourist trips distinguishes it from migration. But how does tourism fit together – in other words how can we understand the disparate elements? One approach is to look at tourism as an integrated system, which means that one has to ask how tourism is organized and what the defining features are. An organizing framework for the analysis of tourism The most widely used framework is that developed by Leiper (1990 – see Hall and Page 2010 for a posthumous review of his work) who identified a tourism system as compris- ing a tourist, a traveller-generating region, tourism destination regions, transit routes for tourists travelling between generating and destination areas, and the travel and tourism industry (e.g. accommodation, transport, the firms and organizations supplying services and products to tourists). This is illustrated in Figure 1.4 and shows that transport forms an integral part of the tourism system, connecting the tourist-generating and destination region together. Thus, a ‘tourism system’ is a framework which enables one to under- stand the overall process of tourist travel from both the supplier and purchaser’s perspec- tive (known respectively as ‘supply’ and ‘demand’) while identifying the organizations which influence and regulate tourism. It also allows one to understand where the links exist between different elements of tourism, from where the tourist interacts with the travel organizer (travel agent or retailer), the travel provider (airline, or mode of trans- port), the destination area and tourism sector within the destination. This approach is also helpful for understanding how many elements are assembled by the tourism sector to create an experience of tourism. One major element in this experience of tourism is the tour, which is a feature of holidays and a use of leisure time. 17 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? Figure 1.4 Leiper’s tourism system Source: Redrawn from Page (1995); based on and modified from Leiper (1990) The tour, holidays, leisure time and the destination What is evident from Leiper’s model of the tourism system is that the tour – which is a trip, travel anywhere for pleasure, leisure or business – is a vital element. The tour is an underpinning feature of tourism, a prerequisite for tourism to occur – the consumer has to be brought to the product or experience, and has to travel, and it is a reciprocal event – the traveller travels out and back. Transport and single or multiple locations are involved. The conventional definition of touring inevitably implies travel to one or more places, called ‘destinations’. A destination typically comprises attractions (e.g. natural and man- made), and needs to be accessible, have available packages to attract visitors and provide ancillary services (such as tour guides) and amenities (such as accommodation and retail- ing). This notion of a destination is increasingly being used as a framework for tourism management by public sector organizations to understand how the visitor experience of a place can be developed and enhanced as well as how the synergies between businesses can be developed and the competitiveness of the destination can be improved. In other words, the destination concept acts as a holistic framework in which tourism activity can be understood as a system, where the interconnections and relationships between tour- ists, the tourism system and containing context (the destination) are understood so that impacts upon the environment and residents or on the local and national economy can be more precisely assessed. For the tourist, there are various forms of touring: the excursion by road or rail which may have a scenic element known as a touring route; or some cruises, where the ship tours a range of destinations or ports of call. Conversely, the excursion element may be something that the tourist undertakes at the destination on a day-trip basis or in the form of a more sustained trip, with a planned or unplanned itinerary. Whilst the holiday is something that encompasses the entire experience or use of leisure time for 18  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 a holiday, the tour is a distinct element of the holiday and has distinct travel patterns. These patterns contribute to the development of places as destinations which develop and grow through time. Some researchers have attempted to explain the growth, stag- nation and decline of tourist resorts such as spas in terms of a resort life cycle. The work of Butler, published in 1980, suggested that resorts follow a specific cycle of growth. The initial exploration by tourists is followed by a period of involvement, often with patronage by a royal figure who started a trend towards visitation (e.g. King George III visiting Weymouth in England) or by its wider popularization as a resort for the elite to visit. This set the stage and created tourism tastes and fashions emulated by the visitors. The next stage of Butler’s model is development, followed by consolidation and then stagnation. At this point, the resort may decline or action may be taken by agents of development (i.e. an entrepreneur, the public sector or a combination of both) to rejuve- nate the resort, and this rejuvenation is the last stage of the model. Figure 1.5 illustrates this pattern through time and shows the creation (i.e. birth) and decline (i.e. death) of resorts. Although such models are highly generalized and simplify the reality of resort development, they are a starting point for the analyses of resorts such as spas through history. The model has also been used in recent years as a basis to try and understand what point specific destinations are at in their life cycle, since the model follows the marketing concept of the product life cycle, where products may have definite or indefi- nite life courses. The same applies to tourist destinations which can decline when tourist tastes and patterns change and so fall out of favour and require a new focus or attraction to bring the visitors back. Figure 1.5 The resort life cycle Source: Developed and modified from Butler (1980) 19 CHAPTER 1 T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? In view of these issues, which help to understand the nature of tourism as an entity, attention now turns to the scale, significance and importance of tourism as an interna- tional activity. Measuring tourism Once we agree a general definition of what tourism is, we can look for methods that add precision to the scale, volume and significance of tourism as a global activity. Measuring tourism also helps to understand some of the problems that planners and decision-makers need to address in planning for tourism and future growth scenarios. There are three basic considerations in trying to define tourism as an activity, which are: 1 What is the purpose of travel (e.g. business travel, holidaymaking, visits to friends and relatives)? 2 What time dimension is involved in the tourism visit, which requires a minimum and a maximum period of time spent away from the home area and the time spent at the destination? In most cases, this would involve a minimum stay of more than 24 hours away from home and less than a year as a maximum. 3 What situations exist where some countries may or may not choose to include travel- lers, such as cruise passengers, travellers in transit at a particular point of embarkation/ departure and excursionists who stay less than 24 hours at a destination, as tourists? There are four main reasons why measuring tourism is important (Figure 1.6). Figure 1.6 Ways of measuring tourism Source: Author 20  T o u r i s m t o d ay: W h y i s i t a g l o b a l p h e n o m e n o n ? CHAPTER 1 The growth of global tourism and volatility in demand At a general level, measuring tourism through the collection, analysis and interpretation of statistics is essential to the measurement of the volume, scale, impact and value of tourism at different geographical scales from the glob