Unit 1-Understanding Travel and Tourism Lesson#1

Focus Questions Unit 1-Understanding Travel and Tourism Lesson#1 What is travel and tourism? Why do people travel? What are some issues that arise from the desire of people for travel experiences? What is the best approach to understanding issues in travel and tourism? What skills are necessary to explore issues in travel and tourism fully? Unit Outline Starting with a better understanding of the terms "tourist and travel, you will learn the basics of the travel industry in this first unit. There are a number of key concepts and world factors that impact travel and the choices people make about travelling. What is it that draws people to certain locations and keep them away from others? Unit Outline This course is also about the regions of the world. How do you define a region? What makes regions different from one another? The biggest idea in this unit is that there is interconnectedness between regions. You will examine the trends in world travel between regions. 1

Unit Outline This course looks firstly at Canada and then beyond to the numerous reasons why people travel and the places that fascinate them. Table of Content Unit 1-Lesson #1 Focus Questions Unit Outline Activity #1: Student profile and survey What is Geography? What is Tourism? The Different Types of Travellers / Visitors The Different Types of Travellers / Visitors-Activity #2: Classifiying Travellers Why is Tourism Popular? End of Lesson Assignment-Activity #3: World Tourism Chart Analysis Activity #1: Student Profile and Survey Activity #1: Complete the geography student profile and survey. Hand in the survey once you are complete. 2

These tourists are in Hawaii on Oahu Island. Are you curious as to why they are there? What motivated them? How long are they visiting? What will they see? This is the subject of interest to travellers and tourists alike. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to go trekking in the Himalayas, Have you ever wondered go on a safari in Kenya, 3

Have you ever wondered visit the rain forest in Costa Rica, or Have you ever wondered tour the Eiffel Tower in Paris? If you answered yes to any of the above mentioned tourist destinations, you are like the rest of us. Most people have dreamed of escaping their lives to go on a cultural, religious, natural or historical exchange. People travel for all sorts of reasons and find themselves refreshed and able to refocus when they return home. So what is tourism? And why is so important to us economically, culturally, politically and socially? Before we can go on, we need to find out what geography is all about. 4

What is Geography? Geography is the science that tries to understand how the Earth works and how humans change it. This science examines the Earth s surface and the processes that shape it. Geography especially looks at the relationship between people and the Earth s physical environment. To understand our relationship with the Earth, geographers ask questions and search for answers to problems. By exploring these problems, we can make better, wiser decisions. What is Geography? Geographers try to answer three questions: Where are things located on Earth? What are the connections between people and the Earth? How can we illustrate this information to understand it better? Geography has two main focuses: The Earth s physical geography (natural things); and The Earth s human geography (people and things related to people such as cities). What is Geography? What is Tourism? How does Geography and Tourism connect? A geographic perspective is multidisciplinary in approach, meaning it takes on a: psychology e.g., travel behaviour, motivators sociology e.g., community, culture environment e.g., landscapes, natural resources politics e.g., government policies economy (e.g., industry stakeholders) within a geographic framework (e.g. location, distribution, patterns) Lets take a closer look at tourism and what is a tourist. According to the WTO (World Tourism Organization), Tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, or other purposes. 5

What is Tourism? You may be surprised that not all travel is tourism. Take a look at the following handout Figure 1.1 Which are the tourists? showing images of tourists an nontourists. Which would you say show examples of tourists? Why? Next Slide Which would you say show examples of tourists? Why? What is Tourism? So what is the difference between a traveller and a tourist? Consider some key definitions and examples on the next slide to help clarify the important differences. What is Tourism? Definition 1. Tourist : people who visit a location for more than 24 hours, but less than one year (World Tourism Organisation) 2. Tourism : people that travel away from home and have some fun. This also includes the industry that supports the tourist Example 1. A person that backpacks across Europe for 3 months and then returns home at the end of the summer. 2. A family that takes a trip to Florida during the winter holiday season. This includes the accommodations, transportation, and attractions that support this trip. 3. Travel : refers to movement from one place to another 3. A person leaving their home each day to travel to work or school. 6

The Different Types of Travellers / Visitors So does all tourism have to be for pleasure? Is distance of travel a factor? Is a person who is visiting a place for a few hours or another who stays for several years still considered a tourist? What types of travellers would not be considered tourists? The Different Types of Travellers / Visitors Handout An to Travel & Tourism and Classification of Travellers Tourist: person who stays in a location for more than 24 hours (overnight), but less than one year. Migrant: a person who moves residence permanently or semi-permanently (at least one year); not considered to be a tourist (example: spending a year in Australia to study law). Same-Day Visitor: a person who stays in a location for less than 24 hours; not considered to be a tourist (example: travelling to another city for a Hockey Tournament in the morning and returning that evening). The Different Types of Travellers / Visitors Is the following a tourist? You are travelling to a nearby ski hill on a Saturday morning and returning the same day. Same-day Visitor You decide to spend a year in a foreign country to work and study or visit relatives. Migrant You travel to London on a business trip. Tourist You are going to New York City for a girls/boys weekend. Tourist The Different Types of Travellers / Visitors-Activity #2 Activity #2: Complete the Classifying Travellers chart. 7

The Different Types of Travellers / Visitors-Activity #2 Beatrice Joe Reena Sarah Mary Maurice Journey away from home? (Yes or no) yes yes yes yes yes no Length of stay less than 24 hours weekend 3 months 1 night 6 months Permanently Why is Tourism Popular? Just how popular is the travel and tourism industry? According to the Canada Tourism Commission, in 2011, overall tourism demand in Canada grew 7.5% reaching $78.8 billion. Domestic demand registering an 8.9% increase to $63.7 billion. International demand edged up by 1.8% to $15.1 billion. Canada also employed 626 000 in direct travel and tourism related jobs in 2004. Purpose of trip Business Recreation Medical Stop-over EducationImmigration Same- Classification Day Tourist Tourist Same-Day or Tourist Migrant Migrant Why is Tourism Popular? Why is Tourism Popular? On the world front, tourism is also on the rise (World Tourism Organization). In 1950 the world saw only 25.3 million tourists. In 1960, the number was 69.3 million. In 1970 the number had risen to 165.8 million and in 1980 it was up to 278.2 million. In 1990 there were 441 million tourists worldwide and by 1999, there were 612 million tourist arrivals worldwide. 2004 had 763 million tourists worldwide and in 2011 this number was up to 980 million In the first half of 2012 there was 467 million tourists traveling and is expected to reach 1.8 billion by 2030. Europe was the most popular continent followed by Asia/Pacific, America, Africa and the Middle East. 3 1 5 4 2 8

Why is Tourism Popular? The travel and tourism industry generated $2.1 billion US in 1950 and over $820 billion in 2004. By the year 2010, the travel and tourism industry was generating $919 billion US. The pattern of the most spending remained similar to the continents mentioned above with the exception of the Middle East, where more money was spent than in Africa. Clearly, the number of tourists keeps growing yearly, as does the amount of money they spend. End of Lesson Assignment-Activity #3: World Tourism Chart Analysis The following table highlights the most popular continental tourist destinations visited in 2011. International Tourist Arrivals 2011 (World Total 983 million) Continent 1. Europe 516 2. Asia and the Pacific 217.2 3. Americas 155.6 4. Africa 50.17 5. Middle East 55.9 Total number of tourists (in millions) You will use the information above later to investigate why certain continents appear more popular than others. End of Lesson Assignment-Activity #3: World Tourism Chart Analysis 9