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Urban Tourism

Topic: Urban Tourism

Welcome Notes:
WELCOME TO ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY MODE (ADM) ON MACRO
PERSPECTIVE OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY
Get ready to be challenged…
Learn something new every day by adapting the
‘New Normal’

I. INTRODUCTION:

This module focuses on Urban Tourism. Challenge yourself to understand and explain the
concept of urban tourism. You have also the chance to interpret and distinguish the planning and
management of urban tourism. Further, it is your opportunity to formulate and defend ideas relative to
the issues, problems and trends in urban tourism.

II. OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Discuss the concept of urban tourism.
2. Interpret and distinguish the planning and management of urban tourism.
3. Formulate and defend ideas relative to the concept, issues, problems and trends in urban tourism.

III. PRELIMINARY ACTIVITIES:

Before you proceed to the main lesson, test yourself in this activity.
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Urban Tourism

1. Name a particular landmark in your town or city and describe what makes that place unique?
- CITY BUS
City buses and province buses also have food and are close to where I study.
2. Why is tourism so important to a town city or state?
- I will earn more and get to know the city of our Town better

EXCELLENT!!!
You may now proceed to the main lesson.

IV. LESSON PROPER:

LET’S BEGIN!!!

Based on the preliminary activities, what did you notice?

THAT’S GREAT!
You may now proceed to the lesson.

Urban tourism is a term describing multiple

tourist activities in which city is main destination
and place of interest. This form of tourism is relatively
old and very complex. Cities were always purpose of
many journeys and trips although it becomes more and
more popular phenomenon since 50’s. As a subject of
research, urban tourism didn’t exist before 80’s and
until 90’s was very under estimated. Tourism within cities is strongly connected with their growth and
technology development as well (roads, transportation, railways).
City tourism or also called urban tourism is a type of tourism where is located in the large human
agglomerations, usually in the main cities of each country.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), urban tourism is defined
as “a type of tourism activity which takes place in an urban space with its inherent attributes
characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and
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Urban Tourism

services and be being nodal points of transport. Urban / city destinations offer broad and
heterogeneous range of cultural, architectural, technological, social and natural experiences and
products of leisure and business.
According to the United Nations, in 2015, 54% of the world’s population lived in urban areas, and
by 2030 this share is expected to reach 60%. Along with other key pillars, tourism constitutes a central
component in the economy, social life and the geography of many cities in the world and is thus a key
element in urban development policies.
Urban tourism can represent a driving force in the development of many cities and countries
contributing to the progress of the New Urban Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, in
particular, Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable .
Tourism is intrinsically linked to how a city develops itself and provides more and better living conditions
to its residents and visitors.
Fulfilling tourism’s potential as a tool of sustainable and inclusive growth for cities requires a multi-
stakeholder and multilevel approach based on close cooperation among tourism and non-tourism
administrations at different levels, private sector, local communities and tourists themselves. Likewise,
the sustainable development and management of tourism in cities needs to be integrated into the wider
urban agenda.
Traveling to cities became easier, faster and in many cases cheaper than it was decades ago.
Important fact is that the awareness of possibilities that come with urban tourism rose significantly over
the years.

Classification of Urban Tourism

 Tourism urbanization: Specialized resort which have been created, planned / unplanned (i.e.
Tourism Historic cities, Ancient Cities)
 Converted cities: Cities constructing infrastructure to attract visitors

Variety under the classification

 Capital cities: (London, New York City, Metro Manila) and cultural capitals (Rome)
 Metro centers and walled historic cities (Kowloon, Lahore, Intramuros, Manila)
 Large historic cities (Oxford, Cambridge)
 Inner cities
 Revitalized waterfront areas (Sydney’s Darling Harbour, Mauritius Le Caudian Waterfront,
Bayview Plaza in Roxas Boulevard)
 Industrial cities (Dubai, Abu Dhabi)
 Seaside resorts and winter sports centers (Glenshee in Scotland, Kanin in Slovenia)
 Purpose built integrated resorts (Resorts World Sentosa, Marina Bay Sand in Singapore)
 Tourist entertainment complexes (Disneyland and Las Vegas)
 Specialized tourist service centers (spas and pilgrimage centers)
 Cultural art cities (Florence)
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Urban Tourism

Rome, Italy Walled City of Intramuros

Sydney’s Darling Harbour

Oxford

Disneyland Las Vegas

Elements of Urban Tourism

 A more and more popular tourism product
 A short stay (Max 3 days)
 A destination most probably not further than 3 hours of flight
 A tourism product complimentary to the main holidays
 Represents a sudden buying pattern related to an expo, event, exhibition being held
 Usually higher income groups

Characteristics of Urban Tourism

 City of visit has to be playful, festive and sustainable.
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Urban Tourism

 Encountering and interacting with locals.

 Decentralization of tourist areas in the city itself.
 Helps in attracting investment due to projection of a positive image.
 Tourism in cities provides economic utility to historic buildings.

Challenges in Urban Tourism

 Overuse and deterioration of resources
 Overdevelopment of facilities
 City congestion
 Reduced quality of life for locals
 Reduced quality of visitor experience
 Preservation vs. development
 Geographically spatial scale discontinuities
 Public / private sector partnerships

Suggestions and Recommendations

 Increased public participation.
 Incorporation of local values in planning.
 Integrated policies at vertical and sectoral level.
 Monitoring changes.
 Indications of changes from benchmarks.
 Control to correct problems and achieve goals.

Urban tourism products

City can offer variety of products or services which become objects demanded by people on
the tourist market. Product, which city has to offer for tourists, can be anything material or non-material,
i.e. specific location, particular place (museum, cultural, religious, or entertainment), city services or
even specific city development (transport, building, architecture).
In literature, there are many examples of urban tourism products like sport areas and festivals,
events created to attract international and domestic tourists. Urban tourism includes many other types
of tourism, for example cultural tourism as culture is one of the most important motives for travelling.
In cities, different forms of tourist activities are concentrated:
 Visiting to buildings within a city
 Sightseeing
 Leisure
 Shopping
 Visiting friends and family
 Religion
 Business venues
 Participation in congresses, conferences
 Entertainment (events, clubs)
 Trainings
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Urban Tourism

 Transport

All the activities listed above are included in term in-the-city tourism however they are not
always identified as urban tourism, and could be part of other types of tourism (e.g. religious, cultural).

Growth of tourism in the cities is connected with main attributes of the city such as:
 number of diversity of attractions
 proximity to other attractions
 level of transport
 quality and size of accommodation
 effectiveness of marketing and promotion

City tours
Tour operators have a varied offer of tourism packages that include visits within a specific city,
as well as several cities within a country or continent. In addition, expert tourist guides are available in
cities with a large influx of tourists.

Typical urban tourism attractions

 historical monuments and memorials, ancient statutes, cemeteries, unique street patterns
 museums, art galleries, religious temples, skyscrapers
 cinemas, concert venues, concert halls, theatres
 convention centers, conference centers
 nightclubs, bars, dance clubs, casinos
 café, restaurants,
 shopping centers, fashion shows
 sport facilities, amusement facilities, organized events
 parks, green areas, botanic gardens

Effect of urban tourism

Dynamic development of urban tourism is source of employment and growing incomes in the
urban areas as well as cause of cultural and social growth (increased quality of life, income
redistribution). However, it brings also negative effects such as air pollution, noise and decreased
availability of the city center and attractions important to local inhabitants (parks, cultural and
recreational areas).

Trends in alternative tourism

As mass urban tourism may affect the areas nowadays, it is popular to mention about
sustainable urban tourism (i.e. alternative tourism). Sustainability is popular in many fields. In urban
tourism it considers meeting needs of tourists and needs of local people at the same time.
Popular trend among tourists is to spend rather shorter (2-7 days) periods of time in the urban
areas (weekend breaks, city breaks).
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Urban Tourism

Urban tourism paradoxes

 It is hard to explain why people are attracted to visit some cities, answering questions “Why
visit cities?” involve analyzing broad range of human motivations without any distinctive factor.
 Selectivity – tourists usually use only a very small portion of all, that city has to offer.
 Rapidity – length of stay in city is relatively short.
 Repetition – tourists usually don’t go back to city visited.
 Capriciousness – tourists are susceptible to fashion, they often change taste and attitudes
towards tourist attractions.

Urban tourism top destinations

 Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Bangkok, Paris, Macao
 Shenzhen, New York City, Istanbul, Bali, Rome, Barcelona

We had just finished the discussion on urban tourism. Let’s now

move on to the next higher level of activities or exercises that
demonstrate your potential skills/knowledge of what you have
learned.
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Urban Tourism

V. ANALYSIS, APPLICATION AND EXPLORATION:

Name: GUILING, JENNILYN Year and Section: BSHM-1139

1. What role does tourism play in urban growth?

- Interest in urban tourism is expected to rise in the coming years, which would make it an important
stimulus in building economies and hastening urban development. It is said that economic impact is
superior to social or political impact. Tourism brings more than just financial benefits to the cities it
blesses.

2. What attracts tourists to a city?

- First beautiful surroundings and cleanliness of a city

Finally, let’s WRAP UP the lesson regarding what we had

discussed today!
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Urban Tourism

VI. GENERALIZATION:

Name: GUILING, JENNILYN Year and Section: BSHM-1139

1. What is Urban Destination?

- Urban tourism is a term describing multiple tourist activities in which city is main destination and place
of interest. Tourism within cities is strongly connected with their growth and technology development as
well roads, transportation, railway.
2. From the lesson on Urban Tourism, I realized that…
- Love shouldn’t just be something you say, it should be something you show.

GOOD JOB!
You have come to an end of Module 11.
OOPS! By the way, you still have an assignment to do. Here it is…

VII. ASSIGNMENT:

Name: GUILING, JENNILYN Year and Section: BSHM-1139

ESSAY:
Directions: Before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan what you will say.
Your essay should be as well organized and as carefully written as you can make it. You can use extra
sheet of yellow paper for your answer.

1. What is in store for the travel and tourism industry in the post COVID world?

- first of all, I guess that they planned all kinds of about covid even though they are working they
protected as much as they can, they can prevent the virus, also for them to have a knowledge when it
comes to the virus, they know what they’re going to do in all situation can happened, they will search
ofcourse, if what they’re going to do also to more knowledge, because not all times is we can take care
of ourselves, sometimes we need the opinion of the others.
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Urban Tourism

After your long journey of reading and accomplishing the

module, let us now challenge your mind by answering the evaluation
VIII. EVALUATION: part of this module.

Name: GUILING, JENNILYN Date: _____________________

Year and Section: BSHM-1139 Score: ____________________

TRUE OR FALSE: The following statements require you to answer true if the statement is correct, and
false if it is otherwise. Write the letter only.

1. B As a subject of research, urban tourism already existed before 80’s and until 90’s.
A. True
B. False

2. B City tourism or also called rural tourism is a type of tourism where is located in the large human
agglomerations, usually in the main cities of each country.
A. True
B. False

3. A Tourism in cities provides economic utility to historic buildings.

A. True
B. False

4. A Growth of tourism in the cities is connected with main attributes of the city.
A. True
B. False

5. B Urban tourism also brings negative effects such as air pollution, noise and decreased availability
of the city center and attractions important to local inhabitants (parks, cultural and recreational areas).
A. True
B. False
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Urban Tourism

6. B As mass urban tourism may affect the areas nowadays, it is unpopular to mention about
sustainable urban tourism.
A. True
B. False

7. B Urban tourists are susceptible to fashion as they often change taste and attitudes towards tourist
attractions.
A. True
B. False

8. A Popular trend among tourists is to spend rather shorter (2-7 days) periods of time in the urban
areas (weekend breaks, city breaks).
A. True
B. False

9. B Historical monuments and memorials, ancient statutes, cemeteries, unique street patterns are
typical urban tourism.
A. True
B. False

10. A City of visit has to be playful, festive and sustainable.

A. True
B. False

CONGRATULATIONS on reaching the end of this

module! You may now proceed to the next module. Don’t forget
to submit all the exercises, activities, portfolio, etc. during face to
face.