UNIT 2: DESTINATIONS

Destination: a place where a journey finally ends. A physical space in which visitors spend at least one
night, and is made up of tourism products such as support services and attractions.

Features of a destination: a character of their own, accessible location, will have a TIC, will have
accommodation and catering, will have a range of attractions, will have shopping facilities for the
tourist, will have enough parking space

Product Life cycle of a destination: a cycle of evolution that each destination will go through:

Stage 1: exploration: very small tourist number and few, if any, tourist facilities

Stage 2: involvement: small number of tourists, mainly independent travellers, with some local facilities
being developed

Stage 3: development: visitor number rising rapidly with an increase in both foreign and locally owned
facilities, expansion and upgrading of the local infrastructure

Stage4: consolidation: further increase in the number of tourists, with mass tourism being the largest
component. The addition of facilities reaches a peak as carrying capacity is approached.

Stage 5: stagnation: tourist numbers reach peak and facilities show signs of age.

Stage 6: rejuvenation: tourist numbers increase again due to new innovation and rebranding of the
destination’s image

Stage 6: decline: mass tourism keeps coming to the destination and the destination will lose marketing
share and become a very cheap often party destination

Reasons why a destination (that used to be popular) declines:

1- carrying capacity was exceeded,

2- environment has been damaged,
3- destination is no longer in fashion,
4- surrounding buildings have closed down

Hub airport: airline hub or hub airports are used by one or more airlines to concentrate passengers
traffic and flight operations at a given airport. They serve as transfer (or stop over) points to get
passengers to their final destinations.

How are time zones divided? The world is divided into 24 time zones, each spaced 15 degrees of
longitude apart.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT): the time zone that runs through Greenwich at 0 longitudes
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC): the time zone at 0 longitude

Daylight saving time (DST): this is when countries change the clock during certain months of the year. In
western Europe there is GMT during the winter months but the clock is set forward one hour during the
summer months (GMT+1)

International Date Line (IDL): an imaginary line on the surface of the earth opposite the Prime Meridian
or Greenwich meridian where the date changes as one travels East or West across it roughly around 180
degrees. It mostly corresponds to the time zone boundary separating -12 and +12 hours GMT.

Equator: an imaginary line drawn around the middle of the earth at equal distance from the North pole
and the South pole.

Tropic of Capricorn: the Southern tropic (23.5 degrees S)

Tropic of Cancer: The Northern tropic (23.5 degrees N)

Latitude: the position North or South of the equator measured from 0 - 90 degrees

Longitude: the distance of a place East or West of an imaginary line from the top to the bottom of the
earth, measured in degrees

Climate: the general weather condition usually found in a particular place

World’s major climatic zones:

1- Equatorial: Brazil/Amazon
2- Tropical: African savannah
3- Tropical monsoon: India
4- Tropical desert: Sahara
5- Warm temperate: Mediterranean
6- Coo temperate: USA, Canada
7- Arctic: Scandinavia
8- Polar: Greenland

Natural hazards that tourists need to be aware of in different climates:

1- Equatorial: very hot and humid

2- Tropical: hurricane, cyclones
3- Tropical monsoon: monsoon rain and winds
4- Tropical desert: very dry with bush fires

How does climate influence tourist?

Tourists like to travel when the destination has the best climatic conditions and this will be the
high/peak season
Affects of global warming and climate change on tourism:

1- Seaside areas: rising sea levels and sea surges, sea storms, beach erosion
2- Mountain regions: shorter winter season, so less snow for skiing

Sources of climate information about a destination:

1- Marketing brochures
2- Lonely planet books
3- Travel guides
4- Climate graphs available online

Perishable destination: the destination can be altered through overuse when the carrying capacity of
the destination is crossed

Destination outlook scale: this is a rating given to a destination based on the number of characteristics
such as aesthetic appeal (how nice it looks), social/cultural integrity (how close is it to how it should be)
and other markers. This scale has 6 levels ranging from catastrophic (outlook very bad) to 10 (enhanced)

Multi use (mixed use ) destination: in most destinations the facilities available to tourists are also
available to the local population.

Destination awareness: a key factor in the holiday destination decision-making process. This can happen
through movies, TV, past holidays, friends, mass media, brochures and other ways of becoming
knowledgeable about a destination.

Factors that influence a person’s choice of final destination:

1- Their disposable income

2- Number of children
3- Number of trips taken last year
4- Amount of free time they have
5- Their age and health
6- The cost of transport to get there
7- Personal preferences
8- What they have done in the past
9- What friend and family recommends
10- What advertising and promotion they see
11- The purpose of their visit example: VFR, sport, medical etc.
12- Their own cultural appraisals

Cultural appraisal: an individual’s choice of destination is strongly influenced by the values and attitudes
that they are exposed to
Tourist destinations are amalgams: at any destination there will be a series of inter relationships
between different sub-sectors that contribute to the overall tourist experience. There will be many
tourism products on offer e.g., transport, accommodation, food, tours, entertainment and local
products.

Products included in a destination that make it an amalgam:

1- Attraction
2- Accessibility
3- Available package
4- Activities
5- Ancillary services

Features which attract tourists to a destination:

1- Weather and climate

2- Scenery and landscape
3- Vegetation and wildlife
4- Historical/cultural attractions
5- Indoor/outdoor activities
6- Accommodation options
7- Events and festivals
8- Food and drink

Factors that strongly influence the popularity of a destination:

1- Cost of accommodation and transport

2- The costs at destination
3- Over-commercialization
4- Crime and social problems
5- Political stability and civil unrest
6- Terrorism
7- Positive or negative media coverage
8- Increased accessibility
9- Natural disasters

Ways destinations segment their markets:

1- Backpackers: a visitor, for the purpose of a holiday or special event, who stays in a backpackers’
lodge/hostel. Usually around 18-24 years of age (no children), consider themselves travellers not
tourists. Generally well educated but very cost conscious.
2- DINKY: Dual Income No Kids Yet (younger couples between 25-35 years of age, having no
children means they are well off)
 3- Empty Nesters: parents, whose children have left the family home, between 45-55 years of age,
usually quite well educated. High disposable income
4- Grey Market/boomers: members of the baby boom generation in the 1950s now retired and
have disposable income from their pension and savings.
5- Youth Market: between 18 and 25 years of age, less well educated, lower disposable income,
are used to travelling and like to ‘party’ in destinations with a varied nightlife.

Sustainable tourism: tourism that is economically, socio-culturally and environmentally sustainable.

With sustainable tourism, socio-cultural and environmental impacts are neither permanent nor
irreversible.

How do destination managers achieve sustainable tourism?

1- Welcome, involve and satisfy visitors

2- Achieve a profitable and prosperous industry
3- Involve and benefit all host communities
4- Protect and enhance the local environment

Adventure tourism: when people travel to a destination for thrilling activities like zip lining or abseiling
e.g. Sun City

Types of physical features that have helped develop sport and adventure tourism:

1- Mountain tourism: abseiling, hiking, skiing

2- Coastal tourism: diving, beach and water sports
3- Waterfall tourism: white water rafting
4- Cave tourism: black water rafting
5- Volcano tourism
6- Island tourism

Extending a tourist season:

1- Mountain tourism can have hiking in summer and skiing in winter

2- Coastal tourism can have diving and water sports in summer and indoor activities in winter