PGDM TT 2ND Semester 2014-15

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Topic 1

Tourism Attraction: Definition and characteristics

Typology

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness

Development and design of tourist attractions

Topic 2

Destination Life Cycle

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Introduction

• One can make the argument that attractions are the reason people travel.

• It might be the most important component in the tourism system.

• There is no doubt that attractions are the main motivators for travel.

• Without attractions drawing tourists to destinations, there would be little need for

all other tourism services such as transportation, lodging, food, distribution and so

on.

• However, as important as attractions are in motivating the tourist to travel, the

attraction frequently receives the smallest portion of the tourist’s expenditure.

• An example is the ski resort that sells only the lift ticket providing uphill

transportation.

• This expenditure is the smallest of the travel experience, with the most

expenditures going for air transportation, lodging and food.

• The list of attractions is extensive, and in many cases it is a combination of

attractions that brings the tourist to a destination area.

• The opportunities for sightseeing, shopping, entertainment, gaming, culture and

recreation play an important role in determining the competitiveness of a

destination.

• Figure 8.1 extracts the operating sectors from Figure 1.2 and shows that

attractions, events, adventure and outdoor recreation and entertainment are

important supply components.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Definitions

• Swarbrooke, who has considered a number of attempts at definition, splits

attractions into four categories:

features within the natural environment

purpose-built structures and sites designed for purposes other than attracting

visitors

purpose-built structures and sites designed to attract visitors

special events.

• Fyall, similarly, distinguish between built and natural attractions and whether or not

they are purpose-built. They also categorize on the basis of whether the attraction is

paid for or free, privately or publicly owned, and a simple or complex product.

For simplicity’s sake, we can conclude that attractions may be defined as natural

or constructed (whether or not purpose-built for tourism) and, if not

constructed, they may still be to a greater or lesser extent ‘managed’ to suit the

purpose of tourism or, more rarely, left entirely in their natural state.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Typology

• Attractions can be classified in a number of ways (see Figure 8.2).

• Broadly it has been classified into Man-made or Natural Attractions.

• One of the categories that first comes to mind is theme or amusement parks.

• The roots of these attractions go back to medieval Europe, when pleasure gardens

were created.

• These gardens were the forerunner of today’s parks, featuring rides, fireworks,

dancing and games.

• Today, theme parks are high-profile attractions made famous by Disney, Universal

Studios, Busch Gardens, and others.

• They represent multimillion-dollar investments.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Typology

• Natural attractions are the ‘‘mainsprings’’ that drive many people to travel. The

great national parks of the United States and other countries, such as those in

Canada, India, Australia, and Japan, are examples. National forests in the United

States attract millions of recreationists.

• Heritage attractions (such as historic sites) and prehistoric and archaeological sites

(such as the ancient monuments of Egypt, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Indonesia, India,

Mexico, and Peru) also have appeal for those inspired to learn more about

contemporary and long-vanished civilizations.

• Recreation attractions maintain and provide access to indoor and outdoor facilities

where people can participate in sports and other recreational activities. Examples

include swimming pools, bowling alleys, ice skating rinks, golf courses, ski resorts,

hiking trails, bicycle paths, and marinas. Times Square in New York, Fisherman’s

Wharf in San Francisco, and Navy Pier in Chicago combine the appeal of a large city

with shopping, dining, culture, and entertainment to attract millions of visitors each

year.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Typology

• Commercial attractions are retail operations dealing in gifts, handcrafted goods,

art, and souvenirs that attract tourists. Recent surveys show that shopping is the

number-one activity participated in by both domestic and international visitors.

• Industrial attractions cannot be overlooked. Wineries and breweries have long been

tourist attractions. Factory tours are growing in number, and manufacturers have

developed elaborate facilities to handle tourists. An example is the Waterford

Crystal Factory in Ireland, which houses a world-class crystal museum. The vast oil

sands mining operations in Northern Alberta, Canada, now attracts many visitors for

both professional and personal reasons.

• Great modern cities with their cultural treasures of many sorts provide powerful

attractions to millions of visitors each year. Sightseeing tours are provided in most

cities, giving easy access to the city’s attractions. Theaters, museums, special

buildings, zoos, aquariums, cultural events, festivals, shopping, and dining are some

of the appealing destinations.

• Entertainment has become a powerful magnet. Musical entertainment has put

Nashville, Tennessee and Branson, Missouri, on the map.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness, development and design of tourist attractions

I. The Attractions Industry

Theme Parks / International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions

Gaming / Gaming Organizations

II. Recreation

National Parks / Wildlife Sanctuary

Other Public Recreational Lands

Adventure Travel

Winter Sports

Historic Sites

Zoos, Rainforest and Aquariums

III. Live Entertainment

IV. Festivals and Events

V. Sporting Events

VI. Shopping

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness, development and design of tourist attractions

I. The Attractions Industry

Theme Parks / International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions

Gaming / Gaming Organizations

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness, development and design of tourist attractions

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness, development and design of tourist attractions

I. The Attractions Industry

Theme Parks / International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions

Gaming / Gaming Organizations

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness, development and design of tourist attractions

II. Recreation

National Parks / Wildlife Sanctuary

Other Public Recreational Lands

Adventure Travel

Winter Sports

Historic Sites

Zoos, Rainforest and Aquariums

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness, development and design of tourist attractions

II. Recreation

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Criteria for Tourist attractiveness, development and design of tourist attractions

III. Live Entertainment

IV. Festivals and Events

V. Sporting Events

VI. Shopping

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Some points to remember:

The businesses and organizations that provide attractions, recreation,

entertainment, shopping and others are major parts of tourism.

For example, trips just for entertainment constitute about one-fourth of all travel in

the United States.

Theme parks and Gaming also attract millions each year.

National Parks come in all sizes and types. They serve both local and visitor

recreational needs.

National forests are also very popular. Zoos, rain forests, and aquariums, usually

located in parks, attract locals as well as millions of tourists.

A new development is the re-creation of tropical rain forests within zoological parks.

An outstanding example is the Lied Jungle in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

Shopping continues to be a major attraction. Spectacular malls, such as the Mall of

America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, have become

tourist destinations. They contain an amazing variety of recreational facilities as

well as hundreds of shops.

Festivals and events are attractions of great and growing importance. Mega-events

such as the Olympics are sought-after awards to a city.

Local festivals typically attract a wider audience once they become better

publicized.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Introduction

• A concept that has particular relevance to regional tourism strategic

marketing and planning is the so-called life-cycle concept.

• It implies that tourism regions, tourism product lines (such as historical or

cultural tourism products) and product items (such as an amusement park or

accommodation establishment), pass through life stages that progress from

birth to death.

• The life cycle of a regional tourism product may be short (for example, festival

celebrations and most world fairs) or long (for example National Park).

• The tourism product is launched or launches itself, grows to maturity, levels

off and then gradually declines.

• If identified in time, the decline may be averted by reintroducing the product

under another form or with a fresh injection of publicity.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Butler’s DLC

• Butler (1980) suggested that the life-cycle concept, when applied to tourism, is

comprised of

an exploratory stage;

an involvement stage;

a development stage;

a consolidation stage;

a stagnation stage; and

either a decline stage or a rejuvenation stage.

• The life-cycle concept can be used as a tool for strategic marketing planning of

tourism regions.

• In this regard, Butler (1980, p. 5) emphasized that "Tourist attractions are not

infinite and timeless but should be viewed and treated as finite and possibly

non-renewable resources. They could then be more carefully protected and

preserved. The development of the tourist region could be kept within pre-

determined capacity limits, and its potential competitiveness maintained over

a longer period.”

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Haywood DLC

• Haywood (1986) argued that the life-cycle concept, to be effective, must be

made operational in such a way that it is possible to determine or predict

unambiguously the exact position or stage of a tourism offering.

• In order to make the regional tourism life cycle operational, various conceptual

and measurement decisions have to be considered, as followings:

Unit of Analysis

Relevant Markets

Stages of the life-Cycle

The Carrying Capacity

The Unit of Measurement

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Haywood DLC

Unit of Analysis Defining and delineating the unit of analysis in a region is the first and most crucial step in

attempting to make the lifecycle concept operational. The question should be addressed as to

whether the life-cycle analysis at a given point in time should be undertaken for the region at

large, a subregion, community, specific tourism business units, or specific product lines. In

practice, the ideal situation is that life cycle analysis should be undertaken at all levels in a

region on a regular basis.

Relevant Markets The possibility exists for sequential entry into

distinctly different market segments, each of

which can be further segmented according to

various relevant tourist characteristics. This

sequential entry to various market segments

may result in the type of tourist life cycle

presented in the figure.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Haywood DLC

Stages of the life-Cycle

For the life-cycle concept to be made operational, two key questions have to be addressed:

a. How to determine the stage in the life cycle of the tourist region, product line, and

product item;

b. How to determine when a tourist region, product line, and product item moves from one

stage to another.

An operational approach to the identification of a tourism region's or product's position in the

life cycle can be based on the change or the possible change in the number of tourists from one

period to the next.

Identifying the length of time for each stage and the exact point at which a tourism region or

product shifts from one stage to another is closely related to the use of the life-cycle concept

for forecasting market accessibility and visitation rates, as well as market acceptance and

actions of the major tourism competitors.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Haywood DLC

The Carrying Capacity When reflecting on the carrying capacity, the view of Hovinen (1981) has relevance: "A single

carrying capacity clearly does not exist; instead the region's capacity consists of different

cultural and natural elements which vary both spatially within the region and temporally

throughout the year." In reality, carrying capacity may be a perceptual issue. So, for example,

local residents of a particular destination may believe that the desirable or actual number of

tourists may be exceeded before the end of a development stage, whereas some tourists and

tourism business units may believe that the carrying capacity may far exceed the number of

tourists reached during either a consolidation or a stagnation stage. This suggests that if tourist

numbers are to be used as an indicator, consideration should be given to such factors as:

a. Dispersion of tourists within and throughout the region;

b. The length of stay;

c. Characteristics of the tourists; and

d. The time of year when the visit is made.

The Unit of Measurement Although most tourism area life cycles are based on annual data, in some instances, it may be

appropriate to develop a tourism regional life cycle based on quarterly or monthly data, or

even by using some form of moving average.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Conclusion

The Product Life Cycle as a Guideline for Strategy

• There is considerable information on the marketing actions that can be applied

to each stage of the life cycle.

• Recommendations are frequently being made concerning the type and level of

promotion, distribution, pricing and other product-market activities required

for each stage.

• It is apparent, however, that the attempts to prescribe a marketing strategy

are largely unsupported by empirical evidence.

• In the words of Haywood (1986): "For a tourist area it would be erroneous to

assume that the dominant determinant of marketing strategy is the stage of

the life cycle, while the differences among tourist areas and markets are

ignored. Furthermore, it is implicit in such an assumption that, at anyone

stage of the cycle, a tourist area has only a single 'reasonable' marketing

strategy to follow. This implicit assumption is not only misleading but also

dangerous, since it can constrain creativity in generating new marketing

strategies." © Dr. Jeet Dogra

Conclusion

Extension of the Product Life Cycle

Some of the major strategies that can be considered to extend the life cycle of a

region or destination area are as follows:

Promote more frequent use of the tourism offerings in the region among

current tourists.

Attempts can be made to get tourists to increase their length of stay; to

encourage repeat visitation; and to provide more and better signage to ensure

visitors actually move throughout the tourism region in order that they may see

and experience more of what the region has to offer.

Develop more varied use among current tourists.

Most regions enjoy a diversity and richness of resources that allow a visitor to

enjoy a variety of experiences - physical, cultural, and social.

In many cases, a tourism region has developed a singular or popular image that

initially attracts the tourist; however, once attracted, the tourist should be

made aware of other satisfying opportunities and pursuits. © Dr. Jeet Dogra

Conclusion

Extension of the Product Life Cycle

Create new uses.

The life cycle can also be extended by creating new uses.

An example of this is the development of tourist attractions in Blanau

Ffestiniog, North Wales, and Cripple Creek, Colorado, on sites that were

originally mines.

Find new tourists by expanding the market.

A region could diversify into developing new tourism products, such as

conference facilities or casinos, to attract tourists who may not otherwise visit

the region.

The challenge facing regions is to avoid the occurrence of such situations by

using the life-cycle concept effectively to guide and direct regional tourism

products in line with the dynamism of the changing environment.

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

© Dr. Jeet Dogra

Compiled and Edited by:

Dr. Jeet Dogra Assistant Professor

Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management, Gwalior, India

(An Organization of Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India)

E-mail: jeetdogra@live.com

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