Appeal of Tourist Destinations

1. Appeal of Tourist Destinations BTEC Travel and Tourism

2. What Makes a Destination Appealing? What makes customers choose one destination over another? • The destination itself • Customers’ ability to access the destination • Cultural appeal of the destination • The destination’s features and attractions

3. Destinations The choice of destination is extremely varied. May be: • Within the UK, European or worldwide • Rural or urban • Coastal or central • Purpose-built or naturally occurring • Historical or modern

4. Access to the Destination The closer the destination to the areas where the tourists come from, the better: • This is known as ‘proximity to tourism generating areas’ • Transport hubs and gateways are important • As is the cost of using these routes and the number of transport options

5. Cultural Attraction A great deal of the appeal of a destination may be its cultural aspects: • Traditions, religion and festivals • Cultural events, cuisine and lifestyle may be important factors But do tourism customers want something different or the comfort of the known?

6. Customers’ Motivations Tourism customers may be almost as varied as the choice of destinations they have: • Many will want to ‘do something different’ • Others may just need time and space to relax

7. Customers’ Motivations • Some want to find out about the historical development of the destination • Others may be influenced by friends, family or popular culture

8. The Appeal of the Man-Made • One highly popular type of destination is the theme park • Globally, the industry generates $15 billion every year • By 2010 the industry expects over 700 million visitors every year

9. What Now? • The activity in this lesson is based on the theme park industry • Why do customers visit theme parks? • And what developments are expected to shape the future of this type of destination?