project: analysis of a destination

Understanding Travel and Tourism

Lecture 4

The Mass Consumption of

Tourism

The emerging environment

The Industrial Revolution created the

conditions for the democratisation of

travel:

• Enhanced mobility

• Structured work/leisure patterns

• Increased wealth

In 2010 which country attracted the most tourist arrivals?

Global Tourist Arrivals 2010

Rank Country

Arrivals

(million)

Change on

2009

(%)

Share of

global

arrivals

(%)

1 France 76.8 0.0 8.2

2 USA 59.7 8.7 6.4

3 China 55.7 9.4 5.9

4 Spain 52.7 1.0 5.6

5 Italy 43.6 0.9 4.6

6 United

Kingdom 28.1 -0.2 3.0

7 Turkey 27.0 5.9 2.9

8 Germany 26.9 10.9 2.9

9 Malaysia 24.6 3.9 2.6

10 Mexico 22.4 4.4 2.4

11 Austria 22.0 3.0 2.3

12 Ukraine 21.2 1.9 2.3

13 Hong Kong 20.1 18.7 2.1

14 Russiaa n.a. n.a. n.a.

15 Canada 16.1 2.3 1.7

Australia was ranked

41st with 5.9 million

arrivals. This was

0.6% of global

arrivals

International Visitor Arrivals to Australia

1990 -2010

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

A rr

iv al

s (m

ill io

n )

-5

0

5

10

15

20

C h

an g

e (%

)

Change (RHS) Arrivals (LHS)

Asian financial crisis

Sydney

Olympics

SARS

GFC Sept 11

Inbound Tourism to Australia 2011 to date

000 Change (%)

New Zealand 531 4.2

UK 299 - 4.6

China 273 20.2

USA 227 - 2.8

Singapore 149 5.2

Japan 146 - 18.8

Malaysia 116 6.2

South Korea 96 - 8.8

Hong Kong 83 7.2

Germany 71 - 1.3

Average Annual Growth in Total Inbound

Economic Value 2001 - 2010

-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Germany

India

Malaysia

Singapore

South Korea

Japan

United States

New Zealand

United Kingdom

China

AAGR (%)

Factors influencing demand

Discretionary Time

Time free from work and other commitments:

• Amount

• Structure – during: – Day

– Week

– Year

– Life-span • Time poor families

• Early retirement

Mass Consumption of Tourism

Leisure Time – opportunity to have the

freedom to choose activities:

• Leisure interests - golf

• Activity involvement – golf equipment, golf

books

• Recreation – member of golf club

• Travel – golf tours

Mass Consumption of Tourism

Disposable Income

• What is left after paying tax, housing and the basics of life

• Tourism participation as a sign of affluence

Economic models of tourism demand are sensitive to currency changes, interest rate increases.

Demand

Tourism demand is –

“the number of persons who travel, or who

wish to travel, to use tourist facilities and

services at places away from their places

of work and residence”

Mathieson and Wall, 1982.

International Demand

Potential demand to visit Australia:

• Australia is consistently ranked first or

second in international surveys of

destination preference

International Demand

In 2010, 5.9 million international visitors came to Australia.

It is difficult for Tourism Australia to convert interest into arrivals.

Reasons:

• Distance

• Time

• Cost

• Intervening opportunities

Domestic demand

Domestic tourism has shown no growth for twenty years.

Reasons:

• Expensive (compared to overseas holidays)

• Difficult to find time (coordinate holiday time for couple)

• Difficult to escape work (mobile phones, laptops etc.)

• Job insecurity

• Too much work to catch up, upon return

Domestic demand

Domestic Tourism

Domestic overnight leisure trips, 2006

Mass Consumption of Tourism

Size and scope of the tourism industry.

• Creators of demand:

– Advertisements

– Visibility

– Choice

Public Sector promotion:

• Tourism as a tool of economic development

Mass Consumption of Tourism

Tourism and Popular Culture:

• Television shows

• Magazine stories

• Newspaper articles

• Celebrity behaviour (aspirational)

Mass Consumption of Tourism

• “501 must visit destinations”

• “The 25 wonders of the world” (Rough Gide) – 1. Salt Flats of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

– 2. Uluru

– 3. Pyramids of Giza

– 4. Drifting down the Amazon

– 5. “Fairy chimneys” and caves of Cappafocia, Turkey

– 6. Grand Canyon, Arizona

– 7. Petra, Jordan

– 8. Mach Picchu, Peru

– 9. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona

– 10. Perito Moreno glacier, Patagonia

Mass Consumption of Tourism

“To be a tourist is one of the characteristics

of the ‘modern’ experience. Not to ‘go

away’ is like not possessing a car or a nice

house. It is a marker of status in modern

societies”

Urry, 1990.

Mass Consumption of Tourism

But what offers status?

• Going “away”

• Going to Paris

• Going to Disney World

• Skiing at St Moritz

• Visiting the pyramids

• Volunteering in Africa

Mass Consumption of Tourism

Status will be determined by social values

and what is regarded as significant by

reference groups (myspace and

facebook).

Mass Consumption of Tourism

Other changes:

• Environmental impacts:

– Carbon footprint

– Global warming

An impact of the Industrial revolution may be

the destruction of travel and tourism