Tourism is one of the world largest industries.It is also one of the fragmented industries.Tourism industry consists of all the organisations,facilities and firms which are intented to serve the specific needs and wants of tourist.It is based on the different components like transport, accommodation, attraction,marketing and government regulations.
Tourism is important to the world because of the amount of the income it brings in to countries and it promot interconnectedness throughout the world.It provide people visiting the country of their choice with the variety of services.Thus it provide jobs to the residents of the country that are being visited not only in the tourism and service industry but also in the ,manufacturing industry.Tourism tends to have disposible income that they spent in the country they are visiting.Most tourists are well educated with sophisticated taste which have resulted in the better service and products.
“Leiper” defines Tourism Industry as “the range of business and organisations involved in delivering the tourism products.To him the key elements in tourism industry are travel agencies,tour operators ,hotels ,airlines ,distributionregularities bodies etc.
Significance
Tourism industry is the backbone of any countries economic status. It provides foriegn exchange earnings to the destination country.It generate more employement avenues to the natives of the country.It raises the living conditions of the citizens and will be helpfull in raising the GDP of the country.Infrastructure development is another advantage of tourism industry(Road,Railway,aiport etc).Conseravtion of floara and fauna is another important feature of tourism industry.It also opens the coutry to the outside world.It promotes craftsmanship and creates domestic employement.
What is leisure?
Leisure is the time free from the demands of work or duty when you can rest or enjoy hobbies.Leisure time is the ti e you have left after work,school,college,sleep and household jobs etc.As we know that tourism is travel for recreational ,business and leisure purposes.Here leisure is the time spend in non compulsory activities.So leisure is the time available to an individual after sleep and other basic needs have been met.The philosophy of leisure and leisure time are believed to have emerged in the late 19thcentury with the rise of machinised industry.Machine made work was more efficient and production began to increase.Now the workers also began to increasingly engaged in non compulsory activities such as sporting events or theatres etc.
Leisure can be divided in to two;active leisure and passive leisure.
Active leisure:It implies a prefered exertion of energy.This involves active recreation activities such as swimming,mountain climbing,hunting,engaging various sports etc.People can participate in sports for fun rather than competition.
Passive Leisure:It implies a desire to refrain from exerting energy such as lounging or doing nothing.It is viewed by many people as wasting of time.Passive leisure that is not enjoyable can lead to boredom.
Leisure industry is devided in to five key components:-
1- Sport and physical recreation:-Some sports can be a physical recreation when the competition is not present, such as cycling, horse riding and sailing. Both sport and physical recreation may be aimed at improving health and fitnes.
2-Arts and entertainment:-It refers to things that take place outside your home which ‘entertain you’. this can include things that you watch, e.g. a musical at a theatre,orchastra,karaoke,cinema etc
3- Countryside recreation:-It can take place in National Parks ,areas of outstanding natural beauty on the coastline etc
4- Home-based leisure:-It is not always necessary to leave your home to take part in leisure activities.Home-based leisure includes:Music – including playing and listening,Television related entertainment,Crafts,Home improvements and gardening,Internet based leisure,Reading and Games etc.
5-Play- and activity-based leisure:-Play based leisure is activities that are mainly associated with children.It is a fast-growing component of the leisure industry. It include whitewater rafting and aerial adventures.play- and activity-based leisure activities are available in towns, cities and seaside resorts, as well as in the countryside.Many types of leisure in this component are free, such as mother and toddler playgroups, local park playgrounds for younger children, beach activities etc.
Does tourism represent an effective or realistic means of achieving development?
Tourism is one of the major social and economic phenomenon of modern times.Since the early 1990’s when,as a social activity ,Tourism was largely limited to a previlaged minority.But it now became the single largest peacefull movement of people across cultural boundaries in the history of the world.However tourism is not only a social phenomenon but it is also a big business industry.The ability of ever increasing number of poeple to enjoy travel related experiences has depended upon the myriad of organisations and business that comprise the torurism industry.
Today tourism has developed in to a powerfull world wide economic force contributing much to the world GDP and global employement.Owing to its rapid and continuing growth and associated potential economic contribution it is now regarded as a effective means of achieving development.that is in both industrialised and less developed countries of the world ,tourism has become an important and integral element of their development strategies.
Similarly within the tourism literature the development and promotion of tourism is largely justified on the basis of its catalystic role in broader social and economic development.The role of tourism is officially sanctioned by WTO in the Mannila declaration on world tourism that “world tourism can contribute to the establishment of a new international economic order that will help to eliminate the widening gap between developed and developng countries and ensure the steady acceleration of economic and social developemnt and progress in particular in developing countries.
The focuss of WTO is primarly on the contribution of tourism to development in the less developed countries of the world.Today international tourism is viewed as a means of achieving both economic and social developemnt and progress;and the re-distribution of wealth and power that is necessary to achieve such development.
Tourism has become a favoured means of addressing the soci-economic problems facing peripheral rural areas while many urban areas have also turned to tourism as a means of mitigating the problems of industrial decline.Govenment also extend their support for tourism related development which is evident in financial support for tourism related development or regenaration projects.
Throughout the world,the most compeelling reason for pursuing tourism as a development strategy is its alleged positive contribution to the local or national economy.International Tourism represents an important source of national exchange earnings.Tourism is also considered to be an effective source of income and employement.Tourism is frequently turned to a new or replacement activity in areas where traditional industry have fallen in to decline.
Both internationally and domestically,tourism is seen as an effective means of transfering wealth and investment from richer to the poor areas.This distribution of wealth occures as a result of both tourist expenditure in destination areas and investment by the richer,tourist generating coutries for tourismfacilities.Unlike many other forms of international trade,tourism does not normally suffer from the position of trade barriors.Though many countries place some regulations on imports to protect their internal markets,major tourist generating countries generally do not noramally impose limitations on the rights of their citizens to travel overseas.
The development of tourism is also based upon the natural resources that are free or of the country;like sea,beaches,climate,mountains etc.Similarly historic sites and attractions that have been handled down by previous generations may also considered to be free whether natural or man made.Tourism also requires a variety of goods and services in the destination areas including accommodation,food and beverages,entertainmentlocal transport services,souvenirs and so on.So it offers more opportunities for bachward linkages throughout the local economy than other industries.Such opportunities include both direct link such as the expansion of the local farming industry to provide food for hotels,restuarents and indirect links with the constuction industry.
A variety of other reasons may also be suggested for the popularity of tourism as a development strategy.These include the facts that the development of the tourism may lead to infrastructural improvements and the provision of facilities that are of benefits to local communities as well as tourists;that tourism often provides the jusisdiction for environmental protectiont through the designation of natural parks and zoo’s;and the tourism may encourage the realisation of traditional cultural crafts and practices.together,along with the other reasons outlined above explain why every country in the world has to great extent developed a tourism industry.
Travel for learning and education is not a new concept.Travelling in search of either academic qualifications or broad general learning and observation was started several years ago.Smith and Jenner(1997) suggets that tourism broadens the mind ,and thus all tourism may be considered education.
The ‘Grand Tour’ was seen as the beginning of cultural and educational tourism undertaken initially by scholars and aristocratic British youth as part of their education during the 17th,18thand 19th century.The purpose behind the Grand tour was to teach and civilize participants through a series of study tour lasting up to several years in various european destinations.The discovery of Alps Mountains in europe during the later phase of the grand era resulting in an increased scientific interests in mountains.An increase in travel to the Alps for educational purpose related in many minerological,geological,and geo morphological discoveries which were made public through guests lectures and publications in scientific journelas and periodicals.
The traditional of the educational value of travel facilitated the development of study abroad as a legitimate component of tertialry education in the west.Education and learning has more recently become an increased imporatant and recognised component of travel activity and travel experiences with an increasing amount of tourist activity involving some form of either formal or informal education or learning.Despite this,little research has examined educational tourism or the links between tourism and learning.
There are more potential segments of education tourism which may become more prominent due to the growth of education.Sometimes in educational tourism,travel is a primary motivating factor and purpose learning is secondary.At the same time,school excursions,language schools and university students tours are primarily motivated by education and learning,but may be classified as tourists even if they are not percieved to be tourists;even though,they have tourists impact and regional development implications.
A vareity of organisations combine to form the primary education tourism experience including:-
1-Attractions and events which provide the venue for learning experience (park,historic sites,zoos,wild life sanctuary and archaeological digs etc).
2-Resource specialists who are responsible for delivering the learning components of these vacations(employees,curation,interpreters,lectures,story tellers,research academicians etc).
3-Affinity travel planners from organisations who help plan and develop learning programmes for travellers(special interest groups,language schools etc).
4-Tour and receptive operators who package experience for customers and organisations and provide destination expertise ,local knowledge,escort services and marketing services.So like transportation,hospitality services,travel agencies and destination marketing organisations are also required for educational travel.The continued development of innovative partnership and product development is critical to the future of the educational tourism industry.
5-In short,educational tourism developed because of the growing popularity of teaching and learning of knowledge and exchanging of technincal competency outside of the class room environment.In educational tourism,the main focuss of the tour includes visiting another country to learn about the culture or to work and apply skills learned inside the class room in a different environment.
Tourism is often credited for its role in enhancing the process of acculturation.Acculturation is defined as the process by which members of one society divest themselves of some of their own cultural elements and take on elements from a forign culture.However,the acculturation between the tourist from the developed countries and localities in the developing countries is not on the give and take basis.It is only the inhabitants of the developing countries who have shown a great receptiveness to the acculturation;accepting the values of the western world while discarding their own-a one way acculturation.
Today international tourism is thought to influence socio-culturalal life through the process of acculturation.The theory of acculturation rests on the notion that contact between cultures results in sharing and adoption of one another value and attitude.In this process,a majore concewrn is that when a culturally week society comes in to contact with a culturally strong one ,the process will be more one way;that is,the values and attitudes of the strong nation are transfered to the weak nation.Thus acculturation is more pronounced in less developed countries particularly those which have had less contact with western society in the past.Culture may be trivialised by tourism in an attempt to make it a product for tourists to consume.At the same time,tourism results in the preservation and realisation of traditional cultural practices by providing financial support and engending community pride.
Tourism industry is the kind of industry associated with providing leisure activities concerned with travel,natural beauty,food accommodation,environment and other facilities for the people who are visiting a place for any reason.
1-Health Tourism:-This type of tourism consisting of programmes andactivities developed to improve or balance physical or spiritual condition of an individual or group of persons.Examples:-yoga workshops,detoxication clinics,spas etc.
2-Education Tourism:-This segement of tourism consists of programmes and activities for learning,training or increasing knowledge on sites involving students and teachers with local professionals (anthropology,biology,zoology,cookery,language,photography etc).
3-Conference Tourism:-Multinational companies hold their conferences and meeting venues in the central point of the country in favour of the participants from various countries to visit with ease and to save costs.
4-Recreational Tourism:-This type of tourism is concerned with leisure and rest recover physical and spychic stamina.Recreational tourism is often sea,sand and sex promoted by beautiful color picture;that make the visitors to be there on.
5-Historical Tourism;-It deals with the magnificence of the past.In this type of tourism,people generally visit museum,cathedrals and site of historical importance.Tourists need a guide in this type of tourism.
6-Sports Tourism:-This segment of tourism consisting of programmes and activities for the specific purpose of promoting the practice of sports by amatures and professionals.Examples:-Mounteneering,diving,fishing,wind surving etc.
7-Cultural Tourism:-this type of tourism provides knowledge about culturally rich city or region.Cultural tourism upgrade the religion of the different ethnic groups.It promotes the development of cultures one country to another country.
8-Eco Tourism:-It is entirely a new approach in tourism.Eco tourism is a preserving travel to natural areas to appreciate the cultural and natural history of the environment ,taking care not to disturbe the integrity of the eco system,while creating economic opportunities that make conservation and protection of natural resources advantageous to the local people.So it can be categorised as a tourism programme that is nature based and ecological sustainable.In india,the lan of varied geography offeres several tourist destinations that not just de stress but also rejuvenate one.Thenmala in kerala is the first planned eco system destination in india which creates to cater to the eco tourists and natural lovers.
Shabeermon.M
KAHM UWC manjeri.
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
0 comments:
Post a Comment