ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 1 CGG3O Travel & Tourism Name: Oxford Canadian School Atlas 9 th edition On the Road Again Activity: Global Tourism How many times have you been watching television, reading a magazine, flipping through your Atlas, or surfing the Net and stumbled across an exotic location? Suddenly you re daydreaming: What would it be like to travel there? Whether it s the savannahs of Nigeria or the fjords of Norway, we all have places we dream of visiting and sites we would like to see. International travel has become more commonplace as advances in transportation and a reduction in cost have opened up the world to many travellers. Whether your future travel occurs for business or pleasure, odds are good that at some point you will visit a number of different places around the world. Part 1: Researching Global Tourism Sites People travel to different parts of the world for a number of reasons. Four main categories of tourism sites are cultural/historical sites, natural heritage sites, resorts, and tourist cities. 1. Look at the large map of Tourism on pages 150 151 in your Atlas. Find the four types of tourism sites on the map, and participate in a class discussion about what the four types of sites offer to the tourist. Then, in your own words, describe the tourism opportunities each type of site offers. Cultural/historical site: Natural heritage site: Resort: Tourist city:
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 2 2. Look at the regional Tourism maps on pages 152 154 in your Atlas. On a piece of blank white paper, make a master legend of specialty tourism sites using the same symbols as the in the atlas. Your master legend should include all the symbols from the various map legends on the above pages only once (i.e. no repeats). Try to use the same or similar colours on the symbols. Staple your master legend to this hand-out package before handing in. 3. Now choose one example of each type of tourism site to research. You may select only ONE main tourism site per continent. For example: Cultural/historical site: Machu Picchu in Peru (South America) Natural heritage site: Great Barrier Reef in Australia (Australia) Resort: the Azores in Spain (Europe) Tourist city: Vancouver in Canada (North America) Your choices: Cultural/historical site: Natural heritage site: Resort: Tourist city: Get approval for your choices from your teacher. Then, using the Internet, research your sites and produce a one-page report on each of your choices. (Half of the page can be visuals.) The report should include the following: a description of the tourism attractions at your selected destination an explanation of why the site was classified as a cultural/historical site, natural heritage site, resort, or tourist city a map showing the site s location in its home country. Your map should include any major cities, landforms, and water bodies found near the destination. If you can locate the information, also include access roads, local airports, or rail lines.
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 3 CGG3O Travel & Tourism Name: Oxford Canadian School Atlas 9 th edition Part 2: Developing a Travel Brochure You have now learned a little more about global tourism destinations and what they have to offer to the adventurous traveller. Let s imagine that you re a young entrepreneur who has turned your passion for travel into a business. Canadians with the travel bug pay you to take them on adventures to countries all over the world. Which country will you market next? Choose ONE of the countries that your tourism destinations were located in (from Part 1), and examine it more closely to find out what it offers world adventurers. After completing your research, you will create a six-panel brochure to market that country to your regular clientele. 4. Using the Internet and other resources, gather information about your chosen country s tourism opportunities. You already have information about one of the tourism site categories for the country from Part 1. Now try to identify possible destinations for the remaining three main tourism site categories within your selected country. Collect information and pictures of each. Your brochure can be produced on computer or by hand. It should have six panels, three on each side of a piece of paper. (Fold a piece of paper into three equal parts like an accordion.) The panels should follow this outline: An attractive front panel with the country s name and a tourism slogan you have developed to catch potential tourists attention. Include an illustration or other visual. Another panel of the brochure will contain background factual information about the country, such as area, population, climate, and any other information you think would be useful for a visiting tourist. This information can be found in the Atlas in the World Datasets section (pages 184 191). Each of the remaining four panels should be dedicated to a specific tourist destination within the country. The four should include a cultural/historical site, a natural heritage site, a resort, and a tourist city. For each, include a description of the tourism destination and activities, its location in the country, and a colour picture.
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 4 CGG3O Travel & Tourism Name: Oxford Canadian School Atlas 9 th edition Part 3: Canada s World Heritage Sites Perhaps you have visited a place that left you awestruck. Perhaps it was the staggering natural phenomenon of Niagara Falls, the incredible walk back in time in historical Québec City, or the regal beauty of the aquamarine glacial lakes in Canada s Rocky Mountains. The United Nations developed a special program to preserve places like these forever. It grants a location special status as a World Heritage Site when it has cultural or natural features that are unique in the world. The United Nations Environmental, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the UN. It is responsible for identifying and protecting significant natural and cultural sites for the citizens of the world. In 2009, it listed 878 sites on the World Heritage list, 15 of which are Canadian. The map below shows the nine Natural Heritage Sites and the six Cultural/Historical Sites found in Canada. To be designated a World Heritage Site, a location must fulfill a number of criteria. The criteria vary depending on the type of World Heritage Site.
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 5 Cultural Heritage Sites A World Cultural Heritage Site can be a monument, group of buildings, or other major work created by humans. For inclusion, a site must do one of the following: be a masterpiece of creative genius exhibit an important human value within a particular culture show unique evidence of a cultural tradition or civilization, either living or disappeared illustrate an important stage in human history Natural Heritage Sites A World Natural Heritage Site can be a physical or biological formation that is outstanding because of its beauty or scientific value. It can also be the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding value from the point of view of science or conservation. For inclusion, a site must do one of the following: be an outstanding example of a major stage of the Earth s natural history be an outstanding example of an ongoing ecological or biological process contain an area of exceptional natural beauty contain a significant natural habitat for preserving biological diversity be linked to an important event, living tradition, central belief, or artistic or literary work of universal importance As you can imagine, obtaining a World Heritage designation is not an easy task. The federal government has put together a list of possible World Heritage sites to submit to UNESCO for consideration. Find more information at <www.parkscanada.ca> or <http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/state=ca>
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 6 Your Task Think of a place in your province or territory that is so outstanding that it should be considered for a World Heritage Site designation. It could be an existing national or provincial park, or an area with important historical significance. Take a look at page 27 of the Atlas. (Oxford Cdn School Atlas 9 th) The Protected lands map may offer some suggestions. How about the Bay of Fundy which was in a competition to be named one of the world s seven modern wonders in 2011? Unfortunately, it did not win the contest, but it s still an incredible natural wonder. 5. Research your chosen site to find evidence that you can use to justify its inclusion on Canada s list of proposed World Heritage Sites. Use the criteria provided on the previous page to help you make a decision. Remember, it only has to meet one criterion, but it has to meet it completely. 6. You have a choice of two types of end products for this task (a) Write a letter to the Minister of Canadian Heritage: or (b) Create a detailed web diagram either by hand or with Microsoft Word: Which identifies your potential World Heritage Site and outlines the compelling reasons why you think it should be included with the other potential sites being submitted to UNESCO. Your letter or web diagram should contain the following information: why global protection of heritage sites is important the site s location within Canada the cultural or natural features of your selected site the criteria, under UNESCO s evaluation process, that the site fulfills to earn the World Heritage Site designation (see previous page for criteria) how it meets that criteria tourism opportunities within or near the site Information regarding geology, natural vegetation, ecozones, and historical significance can be found throughout the Atlas to help with your argument. Your letter should be no longer than two typed pages and should include a bibliography of sources used.
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 7 CGG3O Travel & Tourism Name: Oxford Canadian School Atlas 9 th edition Part 4: The Haves and the Have-nots of World Tourism Every country has something to offer to the globe-trotting tourist. But what natural and cultural wonders have been made into tourism sites? Today, facilities and guides are available to help you hike the Chilkoot Trail to experience North America s Arctic gold rush first hand. In Cambodia, guidebooks and tours take you to the Angkor Wat temple complex where you can catch a glimpse of southeast Asian history, religion, and culture. So why were these sites developed and not others? Why is it that some countries don t benefit at all from the world s desire to travel even when they have beautiful natural and historical sites? In Part 4, we will explore the global tourism haves and have-nots : the countries that gain financially from tourism, and those that do not. 7. Take a closer look at the Tourism maps for North America, Europe, and Africa on Atlas pages 152 154. Briefly describe the tourism patterns on each of the three continents, by referring to the categories of important types of tourism (found in the legend for each map) and observing the patterns on the maps. 8. a) By looking at the three Tourism maps on Atlas pages 152 154, we can see that North America, Europe, and Africa all have plenty of unique sites and opportunities for the incoming tourist. Which of the three continents would you like to visit the most? Have you visited that continent? Why or why not?
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 8 b) Do global tourism patterns reflect your experience? To answer this question, examine the Tourists, 2005 map at the bottom of Atlas page 151. Which continents do most tourists come from? Where do the majority of these tourists travel? Do they travel to distant continents or visit places close to home? 9. Consider the data about the tourism industry on Atlas page 150 in the chart Top tourist destinations, 2006, the bar graph Market share, 2006, and the map at the bottom, Earnings from tourism, 2005. a) What conclusions can you come to about global tourism destinations and those countries that are benefiting from the tourism industry? Which countries, if any, were you surprised to see doing so well? Explain. b) Looking at the map, describe what areas of the world are not benefiting very much from tourism. 10. Let s consider the African countries that are not able to capitalize on the tourism boom. We have already concluded that these countries have plenty of natural sites that could be developed for tourism. Brainstorm reasons that might keep the tourism numbers relatively low in most African countries.
ACTIVITY 26: GLOBAL TOURISM 9 11. Some of the ideas you generated in Question 10 were probably related to the low economic development in many African countries. Without a strong private sector and government financial resources, a country cannot build the infrastructure needed for its own people s well-being, never mind tourists. Infrastructure can be described as the many basic facilities and services that must be present for a community or, in this case, an industry to thrive and be successful. Identify some forms of infrastructure that a country would need to develop a successful tourist industry. 12. Perhaps the most important infrastructure component for a country s tourism industry is a mode of transportation for getting tourists to the destination in the first place. a) What is the preferred mode of transportation for the global tourist? Find out by looking at the lower circle graph on Atlas page 151. Rank the preferred modes of transportation in order of preference. b) What countries in Africa have major airports? What is their level of tourism (see Atlas pages 149 151)? c) Airports are a crucial part of tourism infrastructure. The world s busiest airports are listed on page 149 of the Atlas. Where are the major world airports and major world air routes generally located (in red)? Compare North American and European levels of air infrastructure and their levels of tourism with those of Africa.