An Introduction to Tourism

Pearson Education Limited 2005, © retained by authors

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Cooper et al: Tourism: Principles and Practice, 3e

An Introduction toAn Introduction to

TourismTourism


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Learning OutcomesLearning Outcomes

• a basic understanding of the nature of the tourism system and a knowledge of the myths that surround tourism today;

• a comprehension of the problems associated with the academic and practical study of tourism;

In this lecture, we focus on the concepts, terminology and definitions that support the study of tourism to provide you with:


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Learning OutcomesLearning Outcomes

• an appreciation of the individual elements which, when combined, comprise the tourism system; and

• a knowledge of basic supply-side and demand-side definitions of tourism and the associated difficulties and issues.


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Tourism: The RealityIn a world of change, one constant in the last thirty years has been the sustained growth and resilience(strength) of tourism both as an activity and an economic sector:

• Tourism directly and indirectly generates and supports 195 million jobs globally.

• This is forecast to rise to over 250 million jobs in 2010. • At the same time around half of these jobs are in small

or medium sized enterprises (SMEs), the lifeblood of tourism.

• Tourism is responsible for over 10 % of global gross domestic product (GDP).

• By 2020 international arrivals are forecast to exceed 1.5 billion.


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Tourism: The Issues

• Tourism has demonstrated sustained growth and resilience(strength) to adverse economic conditions and terrorism

• International tourism is gaining support for its contribution to world peace, poverty alleviation and cultural understanding

• Tourism is ideally placed to benefit from technology


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Tourism: The Myths and the Realities

• Myth: The majority of tourism in the world is international.

• Reality:Tourism in the world is predominantly domestic (people travelling in their own country).

• Myth: Most tourism journeys in the world are by air as tourists jet-set from country to country.

• Reality:The majority of trips are by surface transport (mainly the car).


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TourismTourism: The Myths and the RealitiesThe Myths and the Realities

• Myth: Tourism is only about leisure holidays. • Reality:Tourism includes all types of purpose of

visit including business, conference and education.

• Myth: Employment in tourism means substantial travel and the chance to learn languages.

• Reality: Most employment in tourism is in the hospitality sector and involves little travel.


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Tourism: The Myths and the RealitiesTourism: The Myths and the Realities

• Myth: Large multinational companies such as hotel chains and airlines dominate tourism.

• Reality: The vast majority of tourism enterprises in every destination are SMEs.

• Myth: Tourism is a straightforward sector demanding little research or planning.

• Reality: Tourism is a complex multi-sect oral industry demanding high level planning underpinned by research to succeed


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Tourism as a Subject for Study

• It is relatively new

• It has conceptual weaknesses

• It covers diverse sectors

• The data sets are weak

• It has an image problem

• BUT – courses and student interest is growing!


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A Tourism Education SystemA Tourism Education System

Figure 0.1Figure 0.1 Study of tourism and choice of discipline and approach


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A Tourism System

Leiper’s 1979 ModelLeiper’s 1979 Model

• TouristsTourists

• Geographical elementsGeographical elements– Traveller generating region– Transit region– Tourist destination region

• The tourism sectorThe tourism sector


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Leiper’s Tourism SystemLeiper’s Tourism System

Figure 0.2 A basic tourism system Source: Source: Leiper, 1990


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Definitions of TourismDefinitions of Tourism

Tourism is difficult to define

Approaches are:

• Demand sideDemand side

• Supply sideSupply side


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Conceptual Demand-side DefinitionsConceptual Demand-side Definitions

‘The activities of persons travelling to and The activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposesleisure, business and other purposes’.

While this is not a strict technical definition, it does convey the essential nature of tourism, i.e.:


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Conceptual Demand-side DefinitionsConceptual Demand-side Definitions

• Tourism arises out of a movement of people to, and their stay in, various places, or destinations.

• There are two elements in tourism – the journey to the destination and the stay (including activities) at the destination.


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Conceptual Demand-sideConceptual Demand-side Definitions (cont’d)Definitions (cont’d)

• The journey and stay take place outside the usual environment or normal place of residence and work so that tourism gives rise to activities that are distinct from the resident and working populations of the places through which they travel and stay.

• The movement to destinations is temporary and short term in character – the intention is to return within a few days, weeks or months.

• Destinations are visited for purposes other than taking up permanent residence or employment in the places visited.


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Technical Demand-side DefinitionsTechnical Demand-side Definitions

From a ‘technical’ point of view, attempts to define tourism have been led by the need to isolate tourism trips from other forms of travel for statistical purposes. These ‘technical’ definitions demand that an activity has to pass certain ‘tests’ before it counts as tourism. Such tests include the following:


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Technical Demand-side DefinitionsTechnical Demand-side Definitions

• Minimum length of stay – one night (visitors who do not stay overnight are termed same day visitors or excursionists).

• Maximum length of stay – one year.• Strict purpose of visit categories.• A distance consideration is sometimes included

on the grounds of delineating the term ‘usual environment’ – the WTO recommendation is 160 kilometres.


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Supply-Side DefinitionsSupply-Side Definitions• A major problem concerning ‘technical’ supply-

side definitions is the fact that there is a spectrum of tourism businesses and organisations, from those who are wholly serving tourists to those who also serve local residents and other markets.

• The tourism satellite account (TSA) is the agreed approach to defining the tourism sector as it measures the goods and services purchased by visitors.


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• The TSA:

– Provides information on the economic impact of tourism including contribution to gross domestic product, investment, tax revenues, tourism consumption and the impact on a nation’s balance of payments;

– Provides information on tourism employment and its characteristics; and importantly

– Allows tourism to be compared with other economic sectors.


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Relationships

Figure 0.5 Airline pricing and purpose of visit categories


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Classifying TouristsClassifying Tourists

• Domestic/International

• Purpose of Visit– Leisure/recreation– Business/professional – Other purposes

• Interaction with the destination


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An Ecotourism SystemAn Ecotourism SystemDemand for eco-tourismDemand for eco-tourism::

• Is purposeful;• Is poorly documented;• Desires first-hand experience/contact

with nature/culture;• Has the motive to study, admire and/or

enjoy nature/culture;


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An Ecotourism SystemAn Ecotourism System

• Is tempered(adapted) by the need to consume tourism responsibly;

• Can be segmented in many ways including by level of commitment, level of physical effort, motives;

• Comes from those who are more likely to be well educated, have a higher income and be slightly older than the average tourist.


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An Ecotourism System

Destinations for ecotourism:• Are relatively natural areas which are

undisturbed and/or uncontaminated;• Have attractions of scenery, flora, fauna

and/or indigenous culture;• Allow ecotourism to deliver economic and

conservation benefits to the local people;


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An Ecotourism System

• Develop ecotourism with a view to conserving/enhancing/maintaining the natural/cultural system;

• Apply integrated planning and management techniques;

• Apply environmental impact and auditing procedures to all elements of the tourism destination (such as accommodation, facilities);

• Encourage local ownership of facilities.


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An Ecotourism SystemAn Ecotourism System

Transport for ecotourism• Should be of low impact to the

environment in terms of noise, emissions, congestion, fuel consumption and waste;

• Should monitor emissions and environmental impacts;

• Should promote the conservation ethic;• Should be used as a management tool;


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An Ecotourism SystemAn Ecotourism System• Should encourage use of public

transport;• Should encourage the use of locally

owned transport companies• BUT, reaching a long-haul ecotourism

destination may consume large amounts of aircraft fuel and be more damaging to the environment that the tourist realises, and thus defeat the purpose of the trip itself.


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Pro-Poor TourismPro-Poor Tourism

• A key issue in the twenty first century will be the development of strategies to tackle(remedy) poverty.

• Poverty is an unacceptable human situation.

• The World Bank states that poverty is hunger, lack of shelter, sickness and above all powerlessness – in other words there are many dimensions to poverty.


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Pro-Poor TourismPro-Poor Tourism• The most obvious approach to measuring

poverty is by using income, in other words a person is considered to be poor, or ‘below the poverty line’.

• The World Bank’s definition of poverty is 'anyone living on less than one US dollar per day'.

• The World Bank estimates that in 1999, 1.2 billion people came under this definition

(23% of the population of the developing world).


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Pro-Poor TourismPro-Poor Tourism

• There have been two drivers of the poverty reduction agenda in the twenty first century.

• Firstly, the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development placed poverty reduction as a development imperative.

• Secondly, in 2000, the lead international agencies in the world distilled key development goals and targets from the previous decade into Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).


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Pro-Poor TourismPro-Poor Tourism• The first MDG is to 'eradicate extreme

poverty and hunger', calling for a halving of those living on less than one dollar per day by 2015.

• Three key strategies to reduce poverty emerge from these initiatives:–Accelerate economic growth;–Improve the distribution of income and

wealth; and –Accelerate social development.


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Pro Poor Tourism (PPT)Pro Poor Tourism (PPT)

• PPT can be defined as ‘tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people’.

• ‘how can tourism reduce poverty at the local level, and therefore what policies, strategies and plans can be put into place to enhance poverty alleviation (lessen/mitigate)?’


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Pro Poor Tourism (PPT)Pro Poor Tourism (PPT)• Tourism brings a number of benefits as a sector

for pro-poor development:– Tourism is produced where it is consumed - the

tourist has to visit the destination allowing opportunities for economic gain;

– Tourism is labour intensive and employs a high percentage of women;

– Tourism is naturally attracted to remote, peripheral areas where other economic options are limited; and


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Pro Poor Tourism (PPT) (cont’d)

–Tourism is significant and growing in the developing and least-developed countries (LDCs).

–And of course, there are real benefits to the tourism sector in tackling(remeding) the issue of poverty. For example:

–Reducing poverty at the tourism destination will help to make that destination safer and reduce possible hostile attitudes from the local community;


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Pro Poor Tourism (PPT) (cont’d)

–Poverty reduction will also make the destination more attractive by reducing the numbers of shanty towns and beggars and enhancing the environmental quality of the destination; and

–Tourism needs to find ways to enhance its own acceptability in the wider community and poverty reduction is one medium for doing this.


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Pro Poor Tourism StrategiesPro Poor Tourism Strategies

• There are three types of pro-poor tourism strategies:• Strategies focused on economic benefits including:

– Job creation to deliver a measure of security in household income;

– Small business opportunities in the tourism market directly and indirectly supplying tourists with goods such as handicrafts and food;

– Local co-operative development; and– Increasing the economic benefits for the whole

community - by renting communal land for camping for example.


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Pro Poor Tourism Strategies (cont’d)Pro Poor Tourism Strategies (cont’d)

• Strategies focused on improving living conditions:– Strategies here include training and education,

reducing the environmental impacts of tourism, reducing competition for natural resources, and improved access to services such as schooling, health care, communications and infrastructure improvements.


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Pro Poor Tourism Strategies Pro Poor Tourism Strategies (cont’d)(cont’d)

• Strategies focused on participation and involvement:–Here strategies are designed to change the

policy and planning framework to allow participation by local communities in tourism, decision-making and partnerships with the private sector.


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Some Problems of PPTSome Problems of PPT

• Despite the growing momentum for the development of pro-poor tourism, there are some issues which make the concept controversial (debatable):

• A perception by aid agencies that tourism is for the wealthy and they do not support the concept.

• Significant economic leakages out of the local community reducing the net benefits of tourism.


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• Lack of investment and low interest loans to allow local tourism enterprises to get under way.

• The fact that not all the poor will benefit equally and this can lead to conflict.

• A lack of infrastructure and basic services in very poor areas.


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• But, however difficult the practical adoption of pro-poor tourism may be, there is no doubt that the philosophy of tourism as a tool for poverty reduction must be embraced by the public and private sectors in tourism.

• Tourism has a real contribution to make in this area.


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End of Chapter SlidesEnd of Chapter Slides

An Introduction to Tourism

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