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VII. ATTRACTIONS
THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF ATTRACTIONS (1)
Attractions provide the single most important reason for
leisure tourism to a destination
Tourist attraction is a focus for recreational and, in part,
educational activity undertaken by both day and
stay visitors that is frequently shared with the domestic
resident population
Coliseum
–
Rome
Table mountain
–
South Africa
London Eye
–
London and UK
Attraction “icons”
THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF ATTRACTIONS (2)
GUGGENHEIM
• Bilbao
• Spain
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NEW ZEALAND
• Wellington
• New Zealand
Attractions have played a catalytic
role in the regeneration of an area or
destination
Iconic or “flagship”
attractions can be
used to:
Pull in visitors
Meet needs of local resident
Develop stronger tourism
activities
CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTRACTIONS (1)
Classification is possible along a number of different
dimensions:
OWNERSHIP
CAPACITY
MARKET OR CATCHMENT
PERMANENCY
TYPE
CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTRACTIONS (2)
NATURAL RESOURCES
•National parks
•Wildlife
•Viewpoints
•Outstanding natural phenomena
ARTIFICIAL “MAN-MADE”
FEATURES AND
PRODUCTS
•Cultural – religion, modern culture, museums...
•Traditions – folklore, animated culture, festivals
•Events – sport activities and cultural events
Early attempts at classification
CLAWSON’S CLASSIFICATION OF RECREATION RESOURCES
USER-ORIENTATED INTERMEDIATE RESOURCE-BASED
• based on whatever resources are available • often artificial developments (city parks, pools, zoos, etc.) • highly intensive developments close to users in large population centres • focus of user pressure • activities include golf, tennis, picnicking, walking, riding, etc. • often highly seasonal activities, closing in off-peak
• best resources available within accessigle distance to users • access very important • more natural resources than user-orientated facilities, but experience a hig degree of pressure and wear • activities include camping, hiking, picnicking, swimming, hunting and fishing
• outstanding resources • primary focus is resource quality with low-intensity development and artificial facilities at a minimum • often distant from users, the resource determines the activity (sightseeing, scientific and historic interest, hiking, mountain climbing, fishing and hunting)
Activity paramount Resource paramount
Artificiality Naturalness
Intensity of development
Distance from user
CLASSIFICATION OF ATTRACTIONS
CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTRACTIONS (3)
Events are used to give animation to object-oriented attractions
Hallmark events are frequently used to raise
the image of a destination
NATURAL ATTRACTIONS
•Country parks in Britain
•Lakes in Canada
•Mountains in Swizerland
•Coast in Spain
MAN-MADE ATTRACTIONS
•Commonly the results of the history and culture of a country which leaves a legacy of historic monuments and buildings
•Can be subdivided: a) attractions that were created specially for tourism and b) attractions created originally for purposes other than tourism
CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTRACTIONS (4)
GRAND CANYON
Management objectives that
focus on conservation
issues and the management of
visitors
THEME PARKS
Core objectives of entertainment
and income generation
Man-made attractions that are the legacy of history and culture also
share with natural resources the fact that they cannot be reproduced
without considerable expense and alterations to their authenticity,
unlike attractions designed principally for entertainment
Measures to resolve this have
included the construction of a
new visitor centre
NATURAL ATTRACTIONS
In the instance of natural features it is often the quality of the resource that provides the attraction, whereby location
becomes secondary
Water-based resources, either
coastlines or lakes, have
always been the most important
tourism resource
Most common
aspect of natural
resources
They are generally fixed in
supply
Able to provide only a limited
amount of services in any
given time period
1. Himalayas
(Nepal)
2. Blue Ridge
(Virginia)
3. Ring of Kerry
(Southern
Ireland)
MODEL OPTIMALNE ALOKACIJE RESURSA
• vertical axis= social
net benefits (social
benefits less social
costs) of using a given
area of land for tourism
or industrial purposes
• TT = illustrates how
these net benefits
decline as more land is
made available for
tourism
• II = applies to
industiral use
• Q1 the social net
benefit from the last
prortion of land
devoted to industry
MARKET FAILURE AND PUBLIC PROVISION (1)
Provision of outdoor areas for leisure purposes on a large scale is that they are rarely commercially viable in terms of the investment costs and operating expenditure
necessary to establish and maintain them
Reasons
•Periodic use(weekends and holidays)
•Political and administrative difficulties of establishing private markets
MARKETING FAILURE
Situations of the kind outlined above and in such circumstances it is common
for the state to make the neccessary provision
MARKET FAILURE AND PUBLIC PROVISION (2)
The principal feature of such goods or services is that it is not realistically possible to exclude individuals from consumption
once they have been made available
The point at issue is that public goods form no part of the private costs facing the tourism developer and are therefore open to abuse
through overuse
Where legislation is considered impractial, or overly restrictive, then the approach is to try to change behaviour
through educational awareness campaigns
In response the state, in addition to enforcing
collective provision out taxation, regulates
individual behaviour through legislation to
preserve environmental amenity
MANAGING THE ATTRACTION RESOURCE
Given a fixed amount of natural resources for leisure purposes, it is only possible to alter the supply by
adopting different use patterns
CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM which argues that economic growth is only acceptable if it can
maintain, at a minimum, the stock of tourist assets intact from one generation
to another
Application of capital, labour and management to the natural
environment is often necessary to render them sustainable for
tourist use
With natural attractions that draw visitors both at
the national and international level, it is
common for the authorities to implement “park and ride” schemes so as to
control the flow of cars in the area
VISITOR ACCESS FUNCTION
MAN-MADE ATTRACTIONS (1)
Museums and art
galleries
Rijksmuseum in
Amsterdam
Chicago’s Museum of Science and
Industry
Where old industrial buildings, disused market halls, railway
stations and docks are located close to urban centres, it has been quite
common to convert them into tourist zones which serve both
visitors and residents like
User-orientated attractions are capable of handling thousands of
visitors per day
MAN-MADE ATTRACTIONS (2)
COLONIAL WILIAMSBURG (Virginia, SAD)
Originated by establishing an old city within a
new one and by the staff creating a time
capsule of the colonial period of America
through role play and using the technology of
the day
Animals in captivity in the form of zoos or safari parks are no longer acceptable to many people and
there is marked decline of interest in static attractions and object-
orientated museums
Historic properties, museums and gardens change their displays and feature special exhibitions /events
to maintain interest
DEVELOPING ATTRACTIONS
All attractions measure
their performance by:
Number of visitors
Quality of the experience
they give them
Memories that hey take home
Ensure repeat
visits
Spread of word-
of-mouth
recommendation
To enhance the experience, the modern approach is to place tangible objects
Thrill ride or a collection of musemu artefacts
within the context of a specific theme or image in a particular setting or environment
Variety od “imagescapes” are possible -
“art and media”, “childhood”, “fame and notoriety”, the “human body”, “myths and
fantasy”, the “natural world” and “war and conflict”
THE ATTRACTION PRODUCT
THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
WHICH WAY?
IMAGESCAPES
LOCATION MARKET
THE ATTRACTION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
MARKET
IMAGESCAPE
LOCATION
This demand-led sequential process is
seldom implemented, only applying to
“footloose” attractions that have flexibility
across all three aspects in order to generate
economic success
The most attraction developments are constrained more often than not by their
location, types and ownership
LOCATION IMAGESCAPE MARKET
THE MARKETING-IMAGESCAPE MIX
Market and imagescape are inextricably linked to each other vis-à-vis the development of attractions
Problem in some countries with the
overdevelopment of heritage attractions – often perceived as a
“quick win” for politicians, but
frequently short of visitors after the initial
spurt of interest
Pre-market evaluation of the concept is
difficult in that the marketing is frequently
unaware of what the concept will look like
For established attractions, meeting the needs of new and future markets may require a
much greater leap
THE ATTRACTION MARKET-IMAGESCAPE MIX
IMAGE
MARKET
CURRENT Q I
“Me too” attraction
Q II “Grand inspiration”
attraction
CURRENT NEW
NEW Q III
“New version” attraction
Q IV “Wonder” attraction
MANAGING ATTRACTIONS (1)
Upravljanje posjetiteljima
atrakcija može biti složen i
zahtjevan problem zbog:
Velike raznolikosti
atrakcija
Geografske podijeljenosti
Raznovrsnih oblika vlasništva i
financiranja
Opsega i marketinškog
mixa
Osnovni uvjeti za definiranje korisne
nacionalne strategije razvoja atrakcija za
posjetitelje trebaju uzeti u obzir
Situaciju u kojoj su mogudi učinci destabilizacije od
iznenadne masivne injekcije kapitala
Gdje su veliki, novootvoreni projekti u prednosti u odnosu na postojede
atrakcije
Primjeri vedih izdataka na drugim vedim projektima
urbanističke obnove
Situacije gdje je stalan pad godišnjih efekata od
ulaganja lokalnih vlasti u tradicionalne atrakcije
Gdje je struktura gospodarstva takva da veliku vedinu čine male
firme, s vrlo malim postotokom interesa za
atrakcije
Gdje je manjak informacija u managementu i gdje je sektor atrakcija napučen
više nekomercijalnim “javnim” institucijama
MANAGING ATTRACTIONS (2)
Seven key components that ought to be considered for action
recommendations in any national strategy for visitor atractions
The collection and dissemination of
effective research ona a comparable basis
Application of expertise to the analysis and
communication of trends
Advice, and perhaps support, on assessing
quality of visits
Collection and dissemination of good
practice examles in fisitor attraction management
and operations
Coordination and possibly funding
for/provision of traning and management
development
Influence over funding bodies
Influence and advice to public-sector bodies
ECONOMIC ASPECTS
Ownership status is in fact one of the key determinants of atraction management
Particularly the case for “managing revenue and overall yield, visitor management strategies and the
management of environmental impacts at attractions”
Attractions are owned by central government, in the case of national
collections, quasi-public bodies which are at an
“arm’s length” from the government, local government and voluntary bodies
ISSUES OF OWNERSHIP (1)
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP
Public owned attractions may receive all or a substantial part
of their funds from general taxation, either directly or via grant-in-aid for quasi-public
bodies
Provided in the manner of a merit good and as a result
impose a degree of coercion on everyone, as individuals are not free to adjust the amounts that are made
available
In market-orientated economies the trend has been towards charging for national
museums in order to cut public expenditure, though there is still resistance among certain
sections of the community, including museum managers, who feel that museums
have a public obligation requirement
Most feasible method of
assessing is government
support
ISSUES OF OWNERSHIP (2)
Public provision
ISSUES OF OWNERSHIP (3)
VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS
Many museums and events have arisen out of the
collections of interests of a group of enthusiasts who
come together to provide for themselves and others
collective goods and services which are unlikely to have
any widespread commercial appeal
Not able to raise funds from taxation and so in the long run must cover their costs out of
income
CHARITABLE TRUSTS
By law, this can usually only be
for the purposes of education,
religion, relief of the poor, or the
public good
ISSUES OF OWNERSHIP (4)
COMMERCIAL SECTOR
For the commercial attractions the rules of
market economics apply
They are required to make profits so as to contribute a
return on the capital invested
Return on
capital
invested
Current cost
of raising
money for
investment
purposes
Principal economic
concerns
Cost structure
Seasonal nature of demand
Theme park owners have to add new
rides and replace old ones long before
they are physically worn out simply to
maintain attendances
COSTS
FIXED COSTS
OPERATIONAL OR VARIABLE
COSTS
Main component of the fixed costs
- CAPITAL INVESTMENT
(establish the attraction in the first place and capital additions
from new development)
The economic consequence of having a high level of fixed costs is to raise the
break-even point in terms of sales or visitor numbers
FIXED COST EFFECTS
MARKET ORIENTATION
PRICING POLICY
HIGH FIXED COSTS PRICE POLICY
Price charged for
admission to an
attraction
Variable or marginal
cost of providing the
visitor experience for
the customer
Contribution margin
per customer towards
paying the fixed costs
and meeting targets
on profitability
The difference between the admissions price and marginal costs
is the range of discretion that the organisation has
YIELD MANAGEMENT Range of different market segments
with a variety of different prices, including discounts for volume sales
and long-term contracts
MANAGING PEOPLE
The perception of attractions has changed
- Many jobs in the sector are no longer viewed as low paid and seasonal but
represent opportunities that offer real benefits and long-term development
GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT IN
GOOD MANAGEMENT
RECRUITMENT
TRAINING DEVELOPMENT OF
CAREER STRUCTURES
Attractions have to:
Contend with flatter organisational structure
Contend the empowerment of staff
Increase emphasis on quality
Increase a growth in performance-related play
for valued employees
MANAGING SEASONALITY
Seasonality becomes an issue in tourist attractions because the
product, the visitors experience, cannot be stored
Most times of the year the attraction has too much capacity
Seasonality can affect pricing policy
It is peak demand that determines capacity and user-orientated
attractions are frequently designed to a standard based on a fixed
number of days per annum when capacity is likely to be reached or
exceeded
SEASONAL DEMAND
SS = supply schedule representing the incremental cost of expanding visitor numbers
D2D2 = demand for the visitor experience in the main season D1D1 = off-season demand
MANAGING VISITORS
Price as a method of
regulating demand
Luxury resorts
(Malibu and the Maldives)
Luxury hotels (Mandarin
and Shangri La hotels in
Asia)
To be able to use price to limit the number of visitors requires that consumption
should be excludable
A number of possible actions exist to manage visitors at busy times and therby avoid congestion and improve the visitor
experience
These start with marketing and information provision and go through to techniques
that can influence the visitor’s behaviour on the site
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
Concern for the tourism
environment
Notion of sustainable
development
Going “green” can build a platform for long-term growth by offering a better tourist product, saving resources and raising the public’s perception of the
tourism industry
Key principles that should govern
environmental policy for the
implementational of any tourism
development plan are:
Recognition of a two-way relationship between tourism and the environment
Visitor management to reduce pressure
Environmental improvement for the benefit of residents and visitors
Sensitive development that respects and enhances the environment
Responsible operation through ecologically sound practice
THE CONCEPT OF SUSTAINALBE DEVELOPMENT
TOURISM IN RELATION TO THE ENVIRONMENT
TOURISM TO ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENT TO TOURISM
OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES
Commercial returns for preservation of built environment and natural heritage
Fine scenery and heritage as visitor attractions
New use for redundant buildings and land
Increased awareness and support for conservation
Eco-tourism based on environmental appreciation
THREATS THREATS
Intrusive development Congestion
Disturbance and physical damage Pollution and resource consumption
Off-putting, drab environments Pollution hazards on beaches, in water,
and in rural and urban areas Intrusive developments by other
industries
REGULATION OR MARKET SOLUTIONS?
In market-orientated economies the policy preference is for solutions based on the principle that the polluter should pay
Prices should reflect not only the economic cost of
provision but also the social costs
The significant aspect of many environmental matters is that the assets involved do not pass
through the marketplace
Impossible to achieve concentrated action other that through a regulating agency that has the
force of lay, which leaves little scope for market economies
CONTROL VERSUS MARKET SOLUTIONS
ATTRACTION AUTHENTICITY
Tourists should be
given a genuine
appreciation of the
destination they are visiting
In too many cases tourist are given the impression
that the destination in some idyllic fantasy world
Some tourists do not see that real landscape and way of life of the culture of the country
The ideal situation is considered to be where both the host community and the visitor see the experience as
authentic
Historic and cultural staging presents the
visitor with the salient features of a
community’s heritage and resources that need for encroaching on the
private space of the host population
Jorvik Viking Centre