Week 1

Overview of world tourism

geography

Objectives
• After learning this chapter, you should be able to:

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– Identify the term: GEOGRAPHY TOURISM,
LEISURE, RECREATION and TOURISM and its
elements
– Examine the tourism system, its geographical scale
and tourist flows.
– Understand themes of tourism geography
– Identify the patterns of tourism geography
– Know some concerns of world tourism

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Pursuit
sleep
Recreation:
The
Leisure:
time
and
engaged
available
other basic
upon
to needs
an
during
individual
have
leisure
been
where
time
metwork, Work
time
( mean free time
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Business
travel
Leisure, recreation and tourism

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 What is tourism???
• Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling
to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for not more than one consecutive year
for leisure, business and other purposes (WTO)

• Tourism means activities connected with trips taken

by people outside their habitual residences aimed at
satisfying their needs for sightseeing, studying
(discovering), leisure or recreation in a certain period
of time (VN Law on TR)
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 Elements of tourism
• Movement of people between two or more

places (origin and destination)

• Length of time of movement (temporary)

• Purpose

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Except …..
• Work and play (e.g. daily or weekly journey to
work)

• Recreation and leisure pursuits within a

reasonable distance

• In some countries, exclude trips within 50 to

100 miles
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The tourism system

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 Spatial scale of tourism
• Global/continental scale: the distribution of major
climate zones and ecosystems, air and shipping
routes and patterns of immigration.
• National scale: the identification of a country’s
transport networks and tourist regions and
population distribution.
• Regional scale: the assessment of tourism
resources in part of a country.
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• Local scale ( chỉ có thê có ở đó ): the location of
particular attractions and the configuration of
holiday resorts.
Tourist flows
• Identified by:
– Distances between countries

– International connectivity (shared business or

cultural ties between countries)
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 – The general attractiveness of one country for
another.

What is tourism geography ???

• Geography is the study of the earth as the
home of humans
• An understanding of what makes each place
unique

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 • Tourism geography is the study of travel and
tourism as an industry and as a social and
cultural activity

Elements of Geography
• Location: directly affect tourism in measuring
and indicating exact locations on the earth by:

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 – Latitude: indicator of how far north or south of the
equator a given point is situated (0 -90 degrees).

– Longitude: a measure of a point eastward or

westward with respect to the Prime Meridian of
Greenwich (0-360 degrees).

Elements of Geography
• Time: world time is understood in relation to
longitudinal location and is divided in 24 hours
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• International date line: the meridian at 180
degrees
• Time zone: (15 degrees/each)
– Moving eastward: advanced one hour in each time
zone , at longitude 180 degrees, the day changes to
the preceding day.
– Moving westward: opposite occurs, at 180 degrees
longitude, the day change to the next day

Themes of tourism geography

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• Location
– Absolute (site): identifies each location as a precise
point on the earth’s surface, identifies internal
characteristics of a place.
– Relative (situation): examines the location of places
with respect to other places, focus on external
relationships of a place.
– Geographic: combination of absolute and relative
location
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 Themes of tourism geography
• Place and space
– Physical characteristics:
• Climate: affects the sense of place and the actions of
the human residents and visitors to that place
• Vegetation: correlate with the patterns of climate ->
character of the natural landscape of the place
• Landforms: surface features of a specific place 
type of activities and tourism in that place

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 Themes of tourism geography
• Place and space trả lời cho why , how
– Human and cultural characteristics
• Language: means by which ideas and concepts are
transmitted within or between groups  important
aspect for tourism
• Food and clothing: provide further uniqueness of place
and being attractions themselves
• Political systems and religion: institutionalize the way
of life of a group  provide order to a place

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Themes of tourism geography
• Architectural styles: methods of construction and styles
of buildings reflect characteristic of various places
• Movement within places
– Complementary relationship between places
– Intervening opportunity (substitution of one
place for another)
– Transferability (accessibility) : the ease with
which a person can go from one place to
another

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 Themes of tourism geography
– Tourist safety
• Region: organizing the geography of tourism
– Distribution of wealth: 3 divisions
• 1st world: wealthy, technologically industrial nations of
the Western world
• 2nd world: the centrally planned economies of the former
Soviet Union, Cuba, China and others
• 3rd world: poor countries of the world
– Economic development: rich and poor, the rise of
new industrialized economies such as Hong
Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
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 Geography of world tourism
 North America
 South America
 Europe
 Africa
 Asia
 Oceania

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Geography of world tourism
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Where are they going ?

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Figure: Percentage of travel within own
region
Europe 78 21

Asia & Pacific 78 20

Americas 73 25

Middle East 46 48

Afric 46 52
a
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

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Same region From other regions not specified

Purpose of visit

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Popular travel destinations

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 Travel patterns
• Proximity (distance)
• Presence or absence of international connectivity, including
business, political, military, and other ties
• Type and degree of service offered
• General attractiveness of a country to tourists from another
country or culture
• Cost of traveling
• Influence of intervening opportunities
• The national character of the source country
• The mental image of the target area held by potential visitors
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 Some concerns
• Too many tourists
– Carrying capacity / Accommodation
• Environmental concerns
– Sustainable tourism
• World peace through travel
– Human understanding through communication and
positive interaction between people

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• Ethics of travel
– What do travelers owe to the host people other than
money?

Alert countries
• War, insurrection:
- Colombia -
Afghanistan

• Crime:
- Brazil
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- Mexico (Do
not drive
car, or stay
in
highways)
- Colombia

THANK YOU

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