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Traffic congestion is a problem which faces many large cities around the world. Many cities face the problem of traffic gridlocks especially during rush hour periods when employees are rushing to or from work. In Toronto, this is a major problem which threatens the long term economic growth of Canada mainly due to economic losses attributed to the congestion. In North America, Toronto is the fourth most congested city after San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles. Toronto was actually ranked last among cities in North America based on the average time employees spent commuting per day, which was eighty minutes. This rating is worse considering that it involved assessment of all transport forms and not only automobiles. In addition, only 30% of car owners in Toronto leave vehicles at home, which add to the congestion (Steve 2010).

This congestion has an adverse cost to the economy especially due to idle time by employees, fuel wastage during traffic jams or lateness in deliveries. These costs add up to over $2 billion annually which is a great concern to any economy. In addition to these economic losses, there are other repercussions of traffic congestion including environmental pollution, which translates to millions of dollars in health care costs to affected people. It is important to understand reasons behind traffic congestion in Toronto in order to develop effective solutions to this problem. This paper will evaluate the traffic congestion in Toronto, assess the possible reasons for the problem and advance viable solutions which will help end the traffic problem in the city. The discussed issues will be summarized at the end.

Traffic congestion in Toronto

As has been discussed, Toronto is the most congested city in North America judging by the transport delays experienced by residents. Traffic congestion is experienced when traffic volume is generally higher than the available road capacities. This is also known as saturation and it is simply a situation where demand for roads is greater than the supply. Generally, causes of traffic congestion are categorized into two; recurring and non-recurring causes. Recurring causes of traffic congestion are caused by traffic issues which recur such as ineffective management of capacity, unrestrained demand and insufficient capacity. Non-recurring causes are those which occur due to unique circumstances which are not normally experienced. These include work zones, car accidents, bad weather, disabled vehicles and emergencies. For purposes of this paper, the recurring causes of traffic congestion will be addressed since this forms the major part of congestion of traffic in Toronto.

Key reasons for increase in congestion

There are several reasons which have played a role in increasing traffic congestion in Toronto. Some of the causes of recurring traffic congestion in Toronto will be briefly discussed below;

Increased automobile use

The increase in use of automobiles is one of the major causes of traffic congestion around the world. As has been discussed, Toronto is the most congested city in North America with over 70% of automobile owners driving to work. In addition, pedestrians and bicycles also compete for the limited road resource. This causes a strain on roads and contributes heavily to the congestion experienced in Toronto (Halberstam 14-17). Many automobiles carry one or two passengers as opposed to public transport where several people are transported by buses. This also increases congestion since more private vehicles are used to ferry very few passengers between various locations. The increase in automobile use also has adverse effects on the environment since there is more pollution from automobiles. Idle time experienced by automobiles as a result of traffic jams also increases pollution by automobiles. This pollution not only harms the environment but also causes respiratory infections and illnesses to humans which translate to a huge cost to the economy.

Poor planning

Every government planning department or ministry is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the population growth matches available resources to reduce strain. It is therefore the responsibility of the government to ensure that resources such as roads are well planned and developed to cater for the population growth. However, the Canadian government has performed poorly in developing roads which cater for the large population in the country (Conrad & Finkel 55-58). For instance, some experts have pointed out that on some roads, bike lanes have been placed in poor locations. These lanes have not been connected to other routes, which is wastage of space and money. In addition, some bike lanes have been placed in thoroughfares which are major and in addition to contributing to the congestion, parking and stopping spaces are drastically reduced. Some pedestrian crossings have been placed in dangerous locations where they cause a reduction in traffic flow as opposed to easing traffic.

Lapse in implementation of laws

There is a notable inconsistency in implementation of the law which regulates traffic. It is unclear whether this is done intentionally but experts have blamed it on ignorance and corruption. Parking and traffic laws are generally not evenly applied for all types of vehicles. In addition, many motorists who commit traffic offenses are not dealt with in a harsh manner in order to act as a deterrent to other motorists. This creates a situation where motorists are ignorant of traffic laws, which further complicates the problem of congestion.

Effects of traffic congestion in Toronto

There are various effects of traffic congestion in Toronto and these will be discussed below;

Pollution

Due to the increase in the number of automobiles in use in Toronto, the city has experiences high pollution levels than many cities in North America. Toronto is one of the most congested cities in North America and pollution levels are high due to high automobile usage. Many automobiles used emit high levels of carbon monoxide and other gases which harm the environment and the health of the public (Lerner & Wilmoth 74-81). Over 1500 people die annually in Toronto due to diseases which are related to environmental pollution. In addition, over 6000 people are admitted to hospitals in Toronto annually due to complications related to pollution and motor vehicle usage is a large contributor to this problem (Ruddiman 81-87). Pollution due to increase in automobile use is therefore a major problem which causes economic costs to Toronto through damage to the environment and adverse effects on the health of residents. Traffic congestion also results in idling of automobiles which leads to more pollution on the environment.

Idle time and opportunity costs

A lot of time is spent by workers in Toronto commuting to and from their place of work. Toronto was ranked last in terms of commuting time spent by employees when using different forms of transport and this was seen to be an average of eighty minutes. This is a lot of time since workers spend over an hour commuting daily to and from their place of employment. The costs of this idle time to the economy have been estimated to be over $2 billion annually (Roess et. al. 34-37). These are opportunity costs which would have brought even greater value to the economy. In addition to idle time by employees, there are the costs of fuel used during traffic by the many automobiles which use the roads. Such costs also run into the billions as vehicles burn fuel in traffic each day. These costs experienced due to idle time are opportunity costs which would have been used for development purposes and development of infrastructure by the Canadian government.

Delays

Traffic jams usually lead to delay for either employees to reach their work stations or for products to be delivered on time. It also makes employees be late for meetings, flights or other opportunities which further their career. Delays may have a negative impact on individuals, the government or businesses at large. When individuals get delayed, they may miss certain opportunities which may result in earning lower disposable incomes which adversely affects their families. When there are delays, businesses suffer from lower sales due to delays in supplies or other factors. When delays occur, the government may also earn lower revenue due to lower tax received from decline in opportunities associated with the delay. Delays should therefore be avoided since they have negative effects to the society at large. This can only be achieved if viable solutions to the problem of transport congestion are implemented.

Barriers to emergency services

When there are traffic delays, it becomes difficult for emergency services to reach people in need. Emergency vehicles usually find it difficult to navigate through Toronto due to the problem of traffic congestion. Ambulances and fire trucks usually take longer than necessary to reach their destinations due to traffic congestion. This is very dangerous for Canadians since many people may continue losing lives due to delays in emergency service provision. It is imperative that urgent solutions to the problem of traffic congestion in Toronto are developed in order to ensure residents have access to fast emergency services.

Viable solutions to the problem

There are several solutions which will help reduce traffic congestion in Toronto and these will be discussed below;

Encouraging commuters to use public transport

It has been discussed that one of the reasons why there is traffic congestion in Toronto is that over 70% of automobile owners use their cars as opposed to public transport. Since private cars mostly carry one or two people, there are very many private cars which are needed to transport employees to and from work. These private cars cause congestion in roads due to their large numbers. In order to ease congestion, public transport should be encouraged since it involves transporting many people simultaneously hence easing traffic congestion. Trains and public buses carry hundreds of people simultaneously which reduces the number of private cars on roads. The government should discourage the use of private cars especially within the city through making it expensive to drive and park private cars within the city. Parking fees for private cars should be increased to discourage use of these vehicles within the city. This will encourage more people to travel by train or buses which will ease traffic on roads.

Decongesting public transport

Although public transport is very effective in reducing traffic congestion, it has to be effective to achieve this goal. The public transport system in Toronto faces certain weaknesses which contribute to the traffic congestion experienced in the city. Many subways including the Yonge subway is very crowded yet this is one of the most important subways in Canada. Although there is a plan to computerize control and signals system in order to enable a greater number of trains to run closer together, this plan will take some years to implement, which means that Canadians will continue facing transport congestion in the short run (Preville 2010). There are also problems with train capacity and speeds with commuters complaining some trains are too slow and have low capacities. This is a problem which should be addressed by the government through increase in number, speeds and capacities of transport trains.

Decentralizing businesses from the Greater Toronto Area

There are very many businesses which are present in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). As a result, many employees commute from suburbs into the GTA each day. The large number of people who commute to the GTA is one of the major reasons why there is traffic congestion. In order to reduce congestion, it is important for the government to encourage investors to invest in suburbs or the outskirts of the city (Wallace 65-69). This is one of the most effective solutions to this problem since fewer people will travel to the GTA. When many businesses are decentralized and established in suburbs and outskirts of Toronto, the traffic systems will face lower congestion due to the reduced number of users. In addition to benefits of decentralization to the transport system, decentralizing businesses will also ensure that there is balanced development in Toronto and Canada as a whole. This will raise the standards of living of people and reduce the gap between the poor and the rich.

Investing in transport infrastructure

In order to cater for the growing population, the road infrastructure should match population growth. Since the transport system in Toronto is congested, it is important to invest in new and more effective transport infrastructure to ease the congestion. One of these types of infrastructure is investment in subways. Subways which run under major roads are very effective means of easing traffic congestion in most major cities. The government should construct such subways and offer commuters a variety of choices to make when making transport decisions. Other infrastructures include billing systems which discourage the movement of private cars into the city. These billing systems may resemble that used in London where cameras monitor vehicles entering congested zones and require motorists to pay a certain sum of money. Motorists who do not pay receive very heavy fines. Such a billing system may be required to adjust the rates according to traffic movements. This will ensure that traffic congestion is eased in Toronto.

Passing relevant transport legislation

In order to ensure motorists comply with changes which have been suggested in the paper, stronger legislation is required to ensure that private cars are discouraged from entering the city and that any traffic offenders receive harsh punishments. This will serve as deterrent to other offenders who are not keen to be part of the traffic decongestion efforts. For instance, in London, private cars entering congestion zones pay 8 pounds in fees. However, people who do not observe this rule pay a harsh fine of 120 pounds. There are cameras which records all registration plates of motor vehicles hence it is difficult not to comply with the rule. Toronto requires legislation and policies which support traffic decongestion to be passed in order to develop long term solutions to the problem of traffic congestion.

Dialog with stakeholders in transport industry

In order for the government to ensure that changes required to the transport industry are effectively implemented, all stakeholders should be involved in the changes. The government should convene a meeting with stakeholders in public and private transport with the aim of developing long term solutions to the problem of traffic congestion (Quentin 16-22). These people may offer very effective solutions to this problem since they are the major road users. The general public will also be keen to follow changes and recommendations made to improve the transport sector once it is involved in developing solutions to the problem. Dialog with stakeholders will provide the government with an opportunity to listen to a variety of suggestions on how the transport problem can be resolved.

Summary and conclusion

Various aspects of traffic congestion in Toronto have been analyzed in detail. It is clear that Toronto is facing a serious problem of traffic congestion since it is the most congested city in North America. Traffic congestion in Toronto costs over $ 2 billion annually and it is caused by a variety of factors. These factors are categorized into non-recurring and recurring factors. However, the paper focused on recurring factors which contribute to the largest proportion of traffic congestion in Canada. These include increased automobile use, poor planning and lapse in implementation of laws which govern traffic systems. This leads to the use of many private cars by employees who commute to work as opposed to use of public transport systems resulting in congestion. Traffic congestion in Toronto has various adverse effects including barriers to emergency services, delays, idle time and opportunity costs as well as pollution. These effects have adverse effects on the health, welfare and economic development of the society as whole. All stakeholders in society suffer either indirectly or directly from traffic congestion.

There are several solutions which should be implemented to reduce traffic congestion in Toronto. These include encouraging commuters to use public transport, decongesting public transport, decentralizing businesses from the Greater Toronto Area, investing in transport infrastructure, passing relevant transport legislation and dialog with stakeholders in transport industry. These solutions aim at discouraging the use of private vehicles and increasing the effectiveness of public transport to increase the capacity and speeds needed to reduce congestion in Toronto. However, it is important to involve all relevant stakeholders when developing solutions to the transport congestion since as earlier discussed, these people may offer very effective solutions to this problem since they are the major road users. The general public will also be keen to follow changes made to improve the transport sector if it is involved in the change process. This will ensure that Toronto has one of the best transport systems not only in North America but across the world.

This report will be divided into 5 sections. In the first section I will be describing the function of the company and the product it provides for its customers. The second section will provide an overview of the economics of the business and competition. The third section will describe the management structure at the company. The fourth section will provide both the PEST and SWOT analysis. Finally I will reflect on my time as a tourist guide, describe the job role and give my impressions of the company. Describing the company and what it offers Tower Bridge is a municipal enterprise owned, funded and managed by the City of London Corporation who are the local Government body responsible for the “financial square mile”. The City of London is therefore responsible for all commercial and operational matters relating to Tower Bridge. Funding of the enterprise comes from a long standing trust.

London Tower Bridge is located in the heart of London and is very close to London’s transport infrastructure and world famous historical sites such as; the Tower of London and HMS Belfast. It is a well known bridge that has become an iconic figure of London, spanning the River Thames, and is within walking distance of London’s other famous attractions such as the Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. Originally built in 1894 to ease traffic congestion on London Bridge and designed to allow access to large ships to the pool of London, it was subjected to a major conversion to become a tourist centre in the 1980s. Tower Bride is therefore both a monument to London’s past and a successful tourist attraction. The main offering is the Tower Bridge Exhibition which allows visitors to enter inside the Bridge allowing access to the High Level walkways with uninterrupted views across the city. This provides a unique selling point with which to market itself and provides a memorable and emotional experience for visitors. The tour also allows visitors to see the Victorian engine rooms from which the bridge used to be powered by. The company also offers corporate entertainment packages and a popular gift shop for visitors. Entry prices are at an affordable rate and for viewing pleasure, the Exhibition comes equipped with interactive screens, sliding window panels for better picture quality and excellent graphics on their giant screens. One of the most important features of Tower Bridge is its “bascule” mechanism system, which rises around 1000 times a year and is still in function to this present day. Bridge openings are very popular with the public and are part of its attraction and allure to tourists. This particular bridge is the only bridge in the world of its type that opens and closes.

Market and competitors

Another historical attraction within the same vicinity as Tower Bridge is the ‘Tower of London,’ which often competes with Tower Bridge as people tend to mix up the two because the structures are quite similar and this may sometimes lead to confusion. Moreover, the Tower of London was famous in Britain and around the world during World War 2 as an iconic landmark. Inevitably overshadowing Tower Bridge. Nonetheless the Tower Bridge is central to London’s historical heritage as a major commercial port. London has many other attractions including: the London eye, which can have up to 10,000 visitors every day and even the London Bridge Experience which opened in 2008. The Tower Bridge Exhibition has grown steadily since opening in 1984, with last year being its most successful in terms of financial surplus and numbers of visitors. With a small marketing team and budgets, Tower Bridge Exhibition relies heavily on organisations such as Visit Britain/London to document trends in visitors. Tower Bridge Exhibition targets throughout the year a very broad area including both the European and domestic markets. Within the domestic markets educational groups are also targeted but equal importance is placed on family groups. Advertising normally occurs through specialised magazines, in particular publications like the Times Educational Supplement or via websites such as www.vistislondon.co.uk where costs are generally lower then other mass media options. Trade shows are attended such as “World Travel Market” where the exhibition is promoted to a range of tour and group organisers and databases are created for direct mail campaigns. Tower Bridge Exhibition has a unique relationship with its competitors, although in direct competition with one another, attractions within London work together along with Visit London to bring people to the area. Tower Bridge Exhibition has a list of distributors which in return for a discounted ticket rate sell tickets globally, however they also promote competitors. Other key stakeholders of Tower Bridge Exhibition are Local and National Government and the EU who and impose rules and regulations. The local community and response services, the Tower Bridge charitable trust, all visitors, the media, internal trade unions and employees are also key stakeholders.

The cost of visiting the exhibition is ?7.00 per adult and ?3.00 per child (5-15) under fives go free, with a concession ticket costing ?5.00 and disabled guests getting in for free. Group discounts are available for 10 people or more and a promotion with Network rail allows 2 for 1 entry. Ad hoc promotions are run throughout the year targeting specific groups, for example the exhibition’s 25th anniversary was celebrated by letting local residents in for 25p.

Job role

As a Customer Care Guide at the Tower Bridge Exhibition I had a fair amount of duties, roles and responsibilities which was based on the nucleus of customers and their safety along with their well being which meant constantly putting there needs and requirements first at all times. Furthermore, that meant me providing exceptional customer service and care at all times and making sure that the customers visit was as enjoyable and pleasant as humanly possible. With that in mind I would have to posses a certain degree of knowledge regarding the bridge and the local vicinity. I would also be required to have a competent level of expertise relating to the bridges history, construction and design most notably for when I am positioned inside the bridge and doing a position that entails doing speeches regularly. For positions like these I must convey clear and precise information to the customers so that they are made aware of the process inside the bridge. In addition, I would also need to be fully aware of all the processes of the bridge if say there was a fire or an evacuation I would have to be mindful of the correct drills and steps that needed to be taken in order for a safe and secure evacuation to be achieved for all customers especially the disabled, elderly and those in a wheelchair. My duties included maintaining a high level of security for both the visitors and the exhibition items as well as always being on hand and available to interact and engage with visitors should they need or require any assistance or help from me at any stage during there visit. Moreover, if they had a query or wanted further information about the or the area.

Management Structure

A business structure is very important and every organization has its own structure. A company such Tower Bridge organizational structure is a hierarchical with a concept of subordination of entities that collaborate and contribute to serve one common aim. Most of the staff in Tower Bridge are all in the front office dealing the member of public and tourist, some have more interaction such as the Ticket Office and Customer Care Guides.

The mangers

Tower Bridge uses a functional structure which has the advantage of being easy to understand. The chain of command requires that an employee can report to one or more managers, but one manger such as Andy Nicholson, typically has more authority over the employee than their other manager(s). In Tower Bridge there are three mangers: one exhibition manager and two assistant managers. Having this structure means having layers of management that control the company by maintaining a high level of authority, with the power to make decisions concerning business activities. Employees such as customer care guide have limited authority to carry something out without prior approval. This organizational structure tends to focus on top-down management, whereby executives at the top communicate by telling middle managers, who then tell first level mangers, who then tell the staff what to do and how to do it. A limited number of employees report to a manager, who then reports to the next management level, and so on up to the Bridge Master or Tower Bridge Director.

The managers needs to be responsible for motivating the staffs and ensuring that any formal systems and practices that are in place are not undermined in anyway. In theory the managers at Tower Bridge are responsible for the business performance, as well as maintaining high standards of service and health and safety.

A functional structure of Tower Bridge can be illustrated by the following diagram:

The Managers are responsible for arranging shifts for their staff, creating promotional events and discount offers, deal with customer complaints, motivating staff, ensuring that staffs have the right uniforms, greeting customers and organising table reservations.

PEST Analysis

Political

Political factors that may affect the ability of Tower Bridge to operate include government and City of London polices. In fact it seems unlikely that these will impact adversely on the attraction in the immediate future given its high profile and historic status. Cuts in public expenditure may lead to higher admission prices and less staff running the exhibition. As the government recent decision to cut funding to Visit Britain by 18% has big consequences for all London Attractions most specifically the smaller attractions such as Tower Bridge Exhibition who relay heavily on its services. Flight and bed taxes could deter visitors away from the city. Terrorism threats threaten the entire London tourism industry.

Technology

With more people using the internet, Tower Bridge Exhibitions will have to review its current website, as currently ticket purchases are too complicated. Advancements in ICT have meant that statistical data on tourist trends is now simpler to collect and more easily accessible through websites such as Visit Britain. Tower Bridge still has old and new technology some of the original hydraulic machinery is still remain as exhibition in the engine room nowadays they use electro-hydraulic drive that open the bridge up.

Economic

The main external forces (macro environment factors) that affect Tower Bridge Exhibition are economic and social factors. London is perceived to be an expensive place to visit, so the exhibition will need to provide better value for money. This is possible as at currently utilises only one third of available space. It will need to consider joint promotions with other attractions. Changes in interest rates at home cause fluctuations in disposable income meaning leisure activities are often put on hold, exchange rates and the strong pound against the dollar has seen a smaller spend per person from the important American market.

Social

Tower Bridge Exhibition relies heavily on family groups, so a decline in traditional family set ups will require Tower Bridge to re-think its family tickets prices. Over the recent years are has been a changes in holiday patterns with people now preferring city breaks and long weekends. Terrorist attacks also cause fluctuations in the market with people looking for safer destinations.

SWOT Analysis

Strength

The business philosophy is not just about making money but emphasizes on educating and informing the public (particularly young people). On the tower’s walkways, there is a great view of London similar to the Millennium Wheel but not as detailed or exciting. Furthermore, on a positive note, this particular zone is free of congestion charge, which allows people to freely enjoy their journey over the bridge. Although the bridge is funded by the City of London council, it also makes a reasonable income by hiring the venue in the evenings for special occasions.

Weakness

Although it is an indoor attraction with a large view of London, a visit to Tower Bridge depends on the weather because the best sights are not always available due to the fact of the unpredictable British climate, for instance, on a rainy or overcast day, the views from the bridge can be very poor and distorted which could result in unhappy customers. What is more, London is an all-year-round destination so major attractions are not seasonal. Due to the fact Britain has such unpredictable weather, people usually carry sunglasses and umbrella because they never know what the weather can be like. This could have a bad effect and lead to a bad experience when coming to visit Tower Bridge on an unpleasant day. Firstly, the entrance to Tower Bridge Walkways is confusing for tourists who are unfamiliar with the area as there are no clear signs pointing in the right direction. Also, the journey to Tower Bridge is quite complicated if you have no knowledge of its whereabouts and may get lost. In addition, it is not pedestrian friendly as there tends to be lots of traffic and congestion upon entering the bridge. Secondly, in my opinion their main website is unappealing which doesn’t help to attract or interest people into visiting Tower Bridge. This apparent weakness and flaw could have a bad impact on tourists who have never been to London, as the websites layout and structure does not represent or give Tower Bridge an acceptable status (more life and colour in the graphics required to attract online interest). On the other hand, their website has easy access to different links that also caters to children’s needs such as fun packs for children’s discovery which is fun as well as being educational at the same time. Furthermore, to add to criticism the historical building needs substantial refurbishment to help increase the volume of visitors. Although people are aware that it is a bridge, some people are afraid of heights and may feel unsafe or in danger. Moreover, although the lengths of the walkways are reasonably lengthy, it is quite narrow and may have an affect on those who are claustrophobic. Security measures are paramount for one of the worlds most famous tourist attraction. When entering the Tower there is a single stage of security that visitors must pass through. Once their body has been examined and their belongings are check they are allowed to enter the walkway but it doesn’t mean the security level is up to standards. Reportedly, there have been cases where people have entered the building then proceeding through the security check in order to commit suicide. Fortunately, this has not changed people’s views to visit the attraction because any potential suicide incidents have been prevented. In reality, when the bridge does have a scheduled lift this results in a hold up of traffic. It is found that “An estimated 38,000 vehicles use the bridge each day, pushing it to capacity during peak hours”. This results in many delays for many people, who may decide to take an alternative route to avoid the traffic queues. Likewise, “Extra traffic is expected to increase impact damage to the extremities which flex under traffic loads.” This could mean that traffic queues are causing damage to the structure of the bridge, which may have a long term affect on the bridge. What is more, it is said that “these measures are expected to increase congestion either side if the bridge, adding to delays caused when it opens for shipping. Last year Tower Bridge lifted 925 times”. In my opinion, was this necessary?

Opportunities

Global advertisement could possibly result in an increase in the volume of visitors as many foreigners are unaware of a bridge that opens and this may be an attractive feature to witness in person. Perhaps due to the recession peoples lifestyles are changing, rather than individuals coming to the Tower Bridge they could engage in some promotion and coupons like the “two for the price of one”, “children of the age of under 12 go in for free” etc. Other attractions could work together with Tower Bridge rather than competing with them. They could cater for more languages by enhanced displays for overseas visitors such as Europeans and Asians. Provision of tour guides could be encouraged. Even though it is a self-guided exhibition they could offer a guided tour within the ticket price would encourage more visitors and may enhance the quality of the experience. Additionally, they should provide reasonable adjustment to facilitate for people who have disabilities. Due to the fact of the economic crisis the value of the pound has decreased. This is good news for the overseas visitors because of the currency exchange rates. In years to come the growth of tourism will increase despite the recession; London will generate tourist revenue from the 2012 Olympic games to be held in this city. This will boost and soar the volume of visitors in the capital.

Threat

The biggest threat to Tower Bridge is any potential terrorist attack perhaps of more concern is that there is no security check when going through the bridge and anyone is allowed to walk along the bridge. On the other hand, Tower Bridge is surrounded by a high level of competition with other tourist attractions equally famous like the Tower of London. In spite of the fact that other attractions complement each other it is possible that Tower Bridge will lose out due to the fact that it is less appealing. The economic downturn could have an impact on people’s lifestyles and their finances. Another way of viewing this is that the recession has changed our way of life. Culturally and socially people may prefer doing simple things like taking a walk in the park, instead of expensive vacations. After all a large proportion of overseas visitors come to visit the Tower Bridge. As a result this recession could have an significant effect resulting in a decrease of the number of visitors. In conclusion, it could be said that the current service could continue unchanged. The inherent advantages of location, history and unique appearance will service the attraction well in the future. However, improvements could also be considered namely a more attractive website, cater for different languages, refurbishment of the walkways. The main threats for the future are: economic downturn and limited attractiveness to a young audience.

Reflection

Working in Tower Bridge has taught me a number of things about how tourist attractions operate in the market and what factors lead to an attractions success. Even though my time at the Tower Bridge consisted of 400 hours work experience I still had to go through the same procedures as I would if I were applying for a permanent job. I was interviewed by Andy Nicholson who gave me a fair amount of information regarding the history of bridge and what they offer to the public. Even through the interview lasted over 3 hours it was very insightful and useful to me. I gained a lot of knowledge about Tower Bridge and its surroundings. When I started work it was the beginning of the Easter holidays. I didn’t get any training at first except on how to use a radio. I was thrown in at the deep end for the first three days as I didn’t know much but I guess that is the best way to learn. After a few days I was formally introduced to other members of staff and my official training started. The assistant manager gave me the correct uniform as there are different ones to wear for different positions. I was given a full guided tour and met all the security staff, the maintenance department and human resources. I was shown all the emergency exits as well as all the other exits and where to meet if we had to be evacuated.

I was given a radio with my own personal identification which was “uniform 13” which enabled me to communicate with other members of staff via the radio. After that I undertook three days of shadowing a full time tour guide and I was also given a big pack of information about Tower Bridge. I learnt 4 different speeches plus aborts and general information of the history of London. A big plus point for me was that I was given the chance to get to know the surroundings and I spent a couple of days visiting other tourist attractions such as the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern gallery. I thought this was very helpful to me. After 1 week of shadowing and intensive reading I was finally ready to work on my own. My first position was to operate the north lift which takes the customers to the high level walkways and to give them instructions on what to do when they got up there. I did this a few times before trying out the other roles and positions. In total there are 8 positions, 1-3 are working in the lifts and the towers and the customer service areas. The only negative point about this aspect of the job is that it can become very repetitious.

Position 4 and 5 involve working in the gift shop next to the Victorian Engine Room. I was lucky to have this experience and to be till trained. Working in the shop has a lot of responsibilities, not only dealing with money and providing customer service, throughout the day you’re on your own and this can be quite stressful. There are many duties working at the shop in the morning before opening up, you are required to do a number of duties: making sure that there are enough products on the shelf and that these are neatly presented, knowing what’s not available and what’s low on stock so it can be ordered in, cash up the money for the till etc. Working in the gift shop can be pleasant but the only difficult issue that I faced was dealing with several customers at the same time. The gift shop is quite a small and confined area and it is where customers exit from the Exhibition. In some cases an unsatisfied customer will use his time in the gift shop to vent his frustrations and whoever is currently occupying the shop position is usually the one that is on the other end of the brunt of the customer’s fury. In addition to this, in most if not all the cases of a customer who was not completely happy with there visit and experience and demand a refund or if a technical malfunction occurs to any of the penny press machines then it is at the gift shop where all of the would be resolved.

Positions 6, 7 and 8 are what the company refers to as “footfall enticement”. These duties are intensive and consist of you dealing with customers at the front of the ticket office who are visiting the Tower Bridge Exhibition or are just walking pass as well as giving out general information about the bridge. I think the footfall position is a crucial role as it represents the Tower Bridge image and they are the first staff and port of contact to interact with the customers before they enter the exhibition. Throughout my work placement I have undertaken a fair amount of footfall and my view upon it is that it can be quite enjoyable. The only downside is that the footfall is an all year position which I think is unfortunate because Tower Bridge is on the river it can very windy and during autumn and winter it can be very cold. I did a few footfalls in April and even so it was extremely cold for me to endure and for someone to do this position you have to be mentally and physically strong. I don’t think people should have to work 8 hours outside in such cold conditions most notably during winter times and I think they should use the footfall personnel to go onto the walkways to give talks about the bridge and have one at the gift shop for assistance as the shop can get very busy and hectic at times.

After 200 hours I was given the opportunity to work at the Monument. My job role was to give out leaflets to those who completed the 311 steps and give brief talks about this famous landmark. I had a lot fun working there because it was a more intimate setting than the bridge so you got to talk and engage more with your work colleagues. It also meant that you could immerse yourself more in depth with the visitors and ask them more about their visit to the capital and how long they were intending on staying and where they were originally from. There is so much history written into the Monument which is intertwined with the Great Fire of London so for me to work there and to be a part of it was a good experience which contributed to my enjoyment there.

In terms of organization and structure there is much to change and develop. What surprised me is that staffs do not really work together and in some ways work in isolation from each other which seems inefficient and ineffective. There tends to be a gap and divide between the permanent staff who have been employed there for many years and the temporary staff such as myself.

Conclusion

Overall working at Tower Bridge has been a good learning experience for me. Like any other job there will always be positives and negatives but in some ways the work has provided some unique insights. I think Tower Bridge and the Monument are very successful tourist attractions for the reasons stated previously and there is no reason why it should not continue to prosper in the future with the right investment and a culture of continuous improvement. Many people who work at Tower Bridge have provided years of dedicated service for a prolonged period of time. Tour guides, ticket office, managers, security and maintenance people have worked their for a long time. A large proportion of them are 40 plus in age which is a change for me because it is the first time I have come across a situation like that. I think I have picked up some of their characteristics and learnt a lot from their experiences of being at Tower Bridge. On the whole I had a great experience and I would highly recommend it to other students who are interested in the tourist industry or those people who like history. Out of all the places I have worked in previously I can honestly say that this was the most interesting job and role that I have ever experienced. The majority of the staff I built and formed a relationship with not only as work colleagues but as friends outside working hours.

Impairments are the reality of life that sooner or later each person will be experiencing this in some point of a persons life particularly during the elderly stage of an individual. Serving the disabled individuals is not something that comes naturally to most people. This chapter has been divided into three parts which are the accessible tourism, museum and disabled visitors and disabled person. To give an overview of what and who are the visually impaired individuals, a section of this report will discuss about a visual impairment.

Furthermore, in this chapter, a brief overview of two museums and two galleries will be tackled in this chapter. The two museums are British Museum and National Maritime Museums while the two galleries are the National Gallery and the Tate Modern Gallery.

According to Macfarlane (1996 cited in Barnes, 1991), for over a hundred years, disability has represented a culturally embedded and socially accepted form of oppression against disabled people. Furthermore, a disability may be physical, cognitive, sensory, emotional and or developmental.

Also, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2010), the term disability is ‘an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or actions; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations.” In addition, Disability Discrimination Act (DDA, 1995) defines disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. Moreover, according to Shaw and Coles (2003), disability is ‘the loss or limitations of opportunities to take part in the normal life of the community on an equal level with others, due to physical and social barriers. On the other hand, Shaw and Coles (2003) define impairment as the functional limitation within the individual caused by mental or sensory impairment.

As mentioned above, disabled individuals faces different barriers which holds them back in participating in such activities like travelling. Nevertheless, a number of disabled persons do not consider themselves as a person with disability to a certain extent. Some of disabled people prefer to be independent in nature and associate disability with passivity and dependence qualities (Barnes, 1996).

In most cases, a person with disability likes better to travel with their friends and or family members. According to Yau, et al (2004: 958), the process of being a traveller with a disability can be complex, requiring personal initiative, the need to accurately evaluate one’s own capabilities as well as the ability to collect reliable information, manage the trip, manage oneself and take stock to reflect experiences. Nevertheless, the experience of the traveller with disability is completely different from the experience of the other travellers without disability. Disabled travellers may have an uneven experience as the facilities being offered are not enough most especially for the other impairment such as for visually impaired individual. Even so, it is logical to note that the majority of the travellers, whether they are disabled or not, are expected to experience some form of barriers during their time of travel.

A qualitative work was undertaken in Hong Kong, proposed ‘The Model of Tourism and Disability’ to facilitate an understanding of the multifaceted interaction amid disability, tourism and the environmental context (Packer et al, 2007). A model of tourism and disability included three key components:

The process of becoming and remaining travel active

The personal and or disability context; and

The environmental and or travel context

(Packer et al, 2007)

The model of tourism and disability tells that the relationship involving the process of becoming travel active and the environmental context are autonomous with each influencing the other (Packer et al. 2007). In travelling there is always a positive and negative outcome of travel experience. A negative travel experience could be the poor quality of service or the destination being inaccessible. Furthermore, these could result on the decrease in numbers of tourist in tourism market. Nevertheless, a positive outcome of travel experience is likely to result on a repeated visits and increasing the tourism market.

2.2.1 Visual Impairment

Visual impairment is one of the types of disability. Generally, not all the individuals with visual impairment are completely blind. In 2002, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had estimated that there were more than 161 million people globally who were visually impaired. In which 37 million are blind and 124 million of whom had low in vision (WHO, 2004). At the same time, World Health Organisation (WHO) noted that the ageing of the global population and the age-related nature of visual impairment was driving global changes in the epidemiology of vision loss (WHO, 2004). In which at the present time, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are about 314 Million people who are visually impaired worldwide and 45 million are blind. In addition, most of the visually impaired individuals are living in a developed city. Furthermore, according to Open University (2010), there are between one and half and two million people who are visually impaired in UK. Subsequently, most cases of visually impaired are also considered hidden disability (Open University, 2010).

In tourism, disability is a neglected subject within tourism enquiry and cognate fields (Aitchison, 2009 cited in Richards et al, 2010). According to Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB, 2010), visual impairment may be extremely different from person to person and that there are relatively some aspects that could support and help the blind or the partially sighted individuals to enjoy and have fun on a holiday. In addition, a lot of older visually impaired individuals may as well suffer on other disabilities, for instance, mobility and or hearing difficulties.

According to The Council for Museums Archives and Libraries (2001), ‘every person with a visual impairment is different in terms of the nature of their visual limitation and their expectations and requirements’. Most of the visually impaired individuals use their other sense of smell, hearing, taste and the sense of touch in order for them to feel the surroundings that they are into. On the other hand, some of the visually impaired have a difficulty in imagining an actual object.

Furthermore, visually impaired people are considered as a potential market in tourism industry. In UK there are about 1.97 million adults who are visually impaired (The Council for Museums Archives and Libraries, 2001). Additionally, according to The Council for Museums Archives and Libraries (2001), 82 percent of visually impaired in UK have low visions, 90 percent are aged over sixty and approximately 75 percent of visually impaired can read large prints. In most cases, partially sighted and the blind people travel with their friends and families and there is a bigger chances that will return on the places where offers a good facilities and provides good services (RNIB, 2010).

2.3 Accessible tourism

More individuals enjoy the opportunity to travel. Visiting the attractions is one of the foremost activities in tourism. On the other hand, travellers face many barriers during travelling such as getting information, accommodation and or problems in getting around at their chosen destinations. On the contrary, not most of the tourists are capable of participating in such doings that this industry could offer. Subsequently, most destinations offer a friendly environment although not to every visitors. Disabled people may be a significant market segment for the tourism industry. However, many tourism sites are not well suited to serve disabled tourist. Like, for the disabled visitors, convenience of a particular destination is essential. In almost all cases of a destination, the facilities being offered for the disabled person are limited.

Accessible tourism benefits everyone. According to Darcy (2006, p: 4 cited in Darcy and Dickson, 2009), accessible tourism is defined as “a process of enabling people with disabilities and seniors to function independently and with equity and dignity through the delivery of universal tourism products, services and environments.” Furthermore, Tourism New South Wales (Darcy and Dickson, 2009), noted that ‘accessible tourism is about making it easy for all people to enjoy tourism experiences.’

Accessibility is a necessary element for every day’s existence. Neither, the privilege to travel and take pleasure in all the good destinations is for every individual. Tourism desires an access to almost the whole thing that a destination has to offer. At present, the consumer’s demands are gradually changing. Consequently, tourism is considered as one of the fastest growing industry. Nevertheless, this industry could serve as an instrument in promoting a barrier free circumstance for the individuals with disabilities. It will be an efficient means of furthering the equality for the disabled individuals that could lead to barrier free.

Each individual has the opportunity to travel and benefit from the surrounding of their chosen destinations. According to Darcy (2007, p:74), a justly accessible tourism product will lessen or eliminate physical, attitudinal, information, financial and other barriers that make the tourism experience less accessible to people with disabilities. Furthermore, an accessible tourism should be made easier for all people, irrespectively of their age, gender and or physical status, in order to enjoy their tourism experiences. According to Tourism New South Wales (2005, cited in Darcy and Dickson, 2009), Easy Access Market is define as:

“Any segment within the tourism market that prefers accessing tourism experiences with ease. This people with disability, including those with physical and sensory disabilities, will find it easier to access tourism facilities where there is a continuous pathway and tactile surfaces and clear signage.”

As accessibility plays an imperative role in tourism, not everyone could have the access to their designated destinations. Even though, still this industry attracts a numbers of tourist at all times. On the other hand, accessibility generates barriers in some particular persons such as the disabled individuals. Subsequently, people with disabilities have also the rights to partake and benefit from the community as the same quality of life of the people without disabilities. Nonetheless, people with disabilities travel less due to the lack of facilities of the tourism industry. In general, the provisions that tourism industry offers to the disabled persons are commonly for the mobility impaired individuals. Furthermore, due to the increasing facilities for the disabled most especially for the individuals who have mobility impairment, tourism has widened the amenities for these types of tourist. Due to these facilities, other disabled persons travel and participate less. In contrary to that, there are some increasing numbers of disabled individuals who set off for travel mostly for physically impaired individuals only. In addition, this industry should require having an amenities and facilities that could do well to every tourist. Given the fact that most of the facilities for the disabled are for wheel chaired person, it is more convenient for them to participate in leisure activities compared to visually impaired people.

Among all the types of disabled individuals, visually impaired might not be able to be pleased about the picturesque view, on the other hand, they could still have a pleasant journey on some other way. All the same, these types of tourist could still feel, hear, smell and touch. Likewise, there are an increasing numbers of disabled people and most of them are engaging in travel. In addition, the increase in the demands of the mobility access for the disabled is in high demands at the present. In some point, the amenities that are being offered are for the mobility impaired visitors. Visually impaired travellers have a lesser numbers compared to the wheel chaired persons. Currently, the common facilities that tourism has to offer for the visually impaired tourist are the guide dogs, audio descriptions for some exhibits and Braille.

Increasingly the tourism industry is able to offer improved products and services. While physical accessibility is an essential component of inclusion, it has a long been recognised that successful inclusion also requires social acceptance by others (Schwartz, 1988). According to Page and Connell (2006, p: 76), contemporary literature recognises that ‘access is not only about buildings; a truly accessible environment is one in which a person with disability can freely express their independence, and one in which any impediment to integration is removed’. Moreover, according to Page and Connell (2006), in United Kingdom, Visit Britain operates the National Accessible Scheme, which assists accommodation operators in making their products more accessible with standards for visual and physical impairments. Moreover, the Disability Discrimination Act (1995), in the UK places a responsibility on all public and private organisations to make services full accessible to disabled persons (Page and Connell, 2006).

According to Timothy and Crispin (2006, p: 4), each year, in countries throughout the world, millions up on millions of people visits museums. Additionally, there is an increase of all kinds of museums all over the countries. In addition, the numbers of potential visitors are increasing due to the growing interest in their collections and their works. In some cases, a number of destinations such as museums have already established a friendly surrounding for their visually impaired visitors by providing an audio sound service. Moreover, in some museums, they had already provided the ‘touching’ for the display objects for these types of visitors. According to Urry, (2002, p: 256), ‘touching the objects on the display is an alternative sense, makes the objects “tacky” and corroded so they no longer remain visually and physically the same’. Also, disabled individuals have the right to obtain the same benefits from museums as others are obtaining.

Travel by people with disabilities happens regardless of the presence of numerous discouraging barriers (Darcy, 1998; Lipp 2003, cited in Packer, et.al, 2008). On the other hand, while they look for the same or similar travel experiences to other travellers, travellers with disabilities are likely to experience extremely different and uneven tourism experiences. In spite of all this, people with disabilities still retain their eagerness for travel and want to travel. A person travelling with a disability can be complex, according to Yau et al (2004) it requires a personal initiative, the need to accurately evaluate one’s own capabilities, as well as the ability to collect reliable information, manage oneself and take the stock to reflect. The mentioned are considered the process of travelling with disability.

It is reasonable to note that all travellers, whether they have a disability or not, are likely to experience some form of barriers to participation while travelling. Moreover, a person without disabilities thinks the barriers as just an occurrence. On the other hand, a person with disabilities dealing with the barriers during their travel is a challenging task. It is regrettable that travellers with disability may encounter or experiencing a tourism market place that does not cater and or give their needs as it does to travellers without disabilities. Imagine that this is the reason why people with disabilities participate less in travel and tourism.

2.4 Museum and disabled visitors

Individuals with a sight problem can face a lot of barriers when visiting a museums and or galleries. Museum displays, whether picturesque arrangements of beautiful things or chronological narratives of a developmental process are involved in scopic forms of understanding (Hetherington, K. 2002). On the other hand, there are some displays that at times seen as discriminatory for some visitors. Furthermore, building an access in a museums or galleries for every individual is a part of the obligation to the community. In addition, a museum or gallery which are accessible to every person attracts more visitors.

Most of visitors are pleased about museums and galleries as a place where they can extend their experience and also to have an enjoyment on societal circumstance. Museums have expanded in multiplicity and burst in popularity over the last few decades. Millions of people every year visit a museum. Moreover, every museum attracts a variety of visitors. According to Dr. Johnson’s 1755 dictionary (cited in Yale, 1998:33) a museum was simply ‘a repository of learned curiosities.’ “The Museums and Galleries Commission currently defines a museum as ‘an institution which collect, documents, preserves, exhibits and interprets material evidence and associated information for the public benefit” (cited in Yale, 1998:33). Furthermore, according to the International Council of Museums (2005 cited in Sandell, 2007:2), ‘a museum have unique potential for addressing and fostering cultural understanding in interdisciplinary ways.’ It is known that a museum is a collection of antiques or historical materials that has been used during a significant event during earliest times. Furthermore, a museum broadens the knowledge of its visitors. In most cases, the public is the one benefitted on what the museums could provide and do. According to Ambrose and Paine (2006), it is only when the museum’s public is thoroughly understood that the museum can effectively responding to the public’s needs and requirements through services.

It is stated in Museums Association’s definition (1998 cited in Disability Directory for Museums and Galleries, 2001) that “Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens which they hold in trust for society”. Museums are for everyone this includes the disabled people.

A museum visitor comes in all ages of any gender, social status and with or without disability. A museum’s market can be thought of as the overall social and economic context within which the museum operates. All museums operate within a market and all provide a supply of services that meet a market demand. According to Ambrose and Paine (2006), ‘internationally, there is for example a growing critical awareness of the ‘political’ nature of museums and their historic role in maintaining the cultural values of elite or privileged groups ins society’. A museums visitor expects more on what the museums could offer.

Disabled visitors must be accommodated in the museums. On the other hand, accessibility in the museums is less for most cases of disabled groups. Furthermore, the needs of each disabled individual may vary on their types of disability and there may be an inconsistency with one another. In addition, in some cases the needs of the disabled community may alter rapidly upon their visits. According to Majewski and Bunch (1998, cited in Sandell, 2007), there are three distinct tiers of disability access that museums should address in order to meet the needs of their audiences and these are:

a) Access to the exhibition’s physical elements,

b) Access to exhibition’s content; and

c) The access that describes the representation of disabled people and the inclusion of disability-related narratives and interpretation within exhibitions.

(Majewski and Bunch, 1998 cited in Sandell, 2007: 146-147).

Moreover, access to the museums and galleries should also take into consideration the architectural structure of the building, the parking spaces for the disabled and on how to get to the museums and galleries. Likewise, if the museum or gallery is a massive place, a map and signage’s will be helpful for these types of visitors.

Museum’s facilities and services for people with mobility impairment are highly developed compared to with people with sensory difficulties such as the visually impaired visitors. Now a day, sensory approaches are common in some museums. A museum plays a major role in communal change. According to the Walters (2001), ‘disability is viewed as being part of diversity, something that is not always the case’. Furthermore, disabled people are considered a potential visitor in museums. According to Walter (2009), in order to include disabled visitors, museums should adopt and understand the social model of disability. Social model of disability does not deny impairments or any medical needs that arises from impairments (Walter, 2009). Through this social model of disability, museums will not take the disabled visitors as a problem, to a certain extent they will create a way to welcome and accommodate them in their museums.

Access in the museums for disabled visitors should be considered in the broadest sense. Access is not just about providing lifts, toilets, spacious corridor and or parking spaces for the disabled. Access should also include the information and better access to the exhibits inside the museums. Furthermore, improvement of access should include sensory, physical, intellectual, cultural as well as the financial access in the museums. In addition, a disabled person prefers to be independent but most of the time needs help in some certain things most especially for visually impaired as they have low in visions and in some cases they are partially blind.

According to the Disability Directory for Museums and Galleries (2001), ‘nearly two million people have some form of visual impairment, but most blind people or 82 percent have some residual vision that they use to have good effect and many people who could register as blind do not do so’. Also, visually impaired people make and appreciate art, according to Walter (2001). In addition, if a visually impaired visitor visits museums, in most cases they need a multi-sensory exploration of an object, signage printed in large image or fonts and audio format description for objects in order to enhance their visit experience. In some museums and galleries, it is allowed to have guide dog for the visitors who have vision impairment.

Walter (2001) emphasise the needs of the people with visual impairments. According to Walter (2001), visually impaired individual needs accessible information in a range of alternatives formats, a tactile signs or diagrams and an audio-information. Moreover, the museum’s staffs needs to have training in handling a visitor with visual impairment. A museum with a well trained staff could understand more the needs of the visually impaired visitors. A visually impaired visitor is not completely blind. In most cases they could see but only blurred vision and some could only recognise large font of prints.

2.4.1 Museums and Galleries

In order to establish a basic abstract structure to be use in this research project, the review will now be set out to be aware of the background of two museums and two galleries which are the British Museum, National Maritime Museum, The National Gallery and the Tate Modern as the research area for this study.

a) The British Museum

British Museum is one of the oldest and largest leading museums all over the world. It has a collection of more than seven million objects which originated from all continents. In addition, British Museum is a representation of almost all the culture of the world. Moreover, British Museum is known as the history of the world in a hundred objects (British Museum, 2010).

The British Museum is a free entrance that attracts more or less a five thousands visitors that visits the museum during its open hours. Its visitors are ranging from children to adults, all types of gender and disabilities. Moreover, visiting this museum needs a day in order to view all the exhibits in it.

b) National Maritime Museum

Greenwich area is known for its unique forms of architectural design. In addition, Greenwich area has been recognized as an attraction for shopping and education which is the University of Greenwich. Furthermore, tourism in this Greenwich is developing more as the upcoming Olympics will be held in this location.

Likewise, National Maritime Museum is one of the prides of this area. As a tourist destination, National Maritime Museum is composed of three main sites which are the Maritime Galleries, the Royal Observatory and the Queen’s House. Basically, the museum focuses on its four themes which are the sea, ships, time and the stars and the relationship with the people (National Maritime Museum, 2010).

National Maritime Museum welcomes visitors in all ranges of ages and regardless of the gender with or without disability. Furthermore, it provides educational learning for the children. In addition, the visitors of this museum are usually students from different schools and or universities. Furthermore, disabled people are visiting the museum but most are mobility impaired visitors.

c) National Gallery

National Gallery is situated in the heart of London. Thousands of people visits National Gallery daily. It is well known for its art from the famous and renowned artist.

The gallery welcomes each and every individual regardless of gender, age and disabilities.

d) Tate Modern Gallery

Tate Modern is a gallery of international modern art. Its collection is a British art collection from the last 1500 years till the present time (Tate Modern, 2010).

2.5 Summary

This chapter bring about by discussing about the disability and the forms of disability. Moreover, it was clearly discussed in this chapter the importance of accessible tourism and which had established as the basic foundation for this study. At the latter part of this chapter, it has been discussed about the facilities being offered by the museums for the visually impaired visitors.

To sum it up, the literature review’s the conditions of the accessibility of the museums for the visually impaired visitors. Consequently, it is important to recognise the particular needs of different people (age group, genders, impairment group and or disabled individuals).

The following chapter will reveal the methodology of the research study along with the other relevant methodological issues.

INTRODUCTION:ABOUT GOA

Goa is popularly known as the Pearl of the orient and tourist paradise. It is located in India’s coastal belt on the western called the Konkan coast. It has an alarming scenic beauty. The architectural work done Goan Temples, Churches and old houses has brought great laurels to Goa. Some of these characteristics make Goa to be occupied by tourists. It is the most preferred option by the people who are planning their holidays.

Goa as compared to other states is not greatly populated but compared in terms of tourists it is the most populated place in India. Apart from attracting tourists from all over India, it also attracts tourists of foreign background. During the months of November, December and January Goa is heavily crowded. The real essence of Goa lies in its rich history, unique culture and the original natural beauty. Peaceful Goan lifestyle and adventure sports also draw the attention of the travelers within and outside India. All kinds of tourists are expected to visit Goa.

REASONS WHY TOURISTS VISIT GOA
Beaches

There are more than 36 beaches in Goa, each one is known for its own distinctiveness. North Goa beaches are most popular amongst the tourists while South Goa beaches are now gaining popularity because of its peacefulness.

Sun

Tourist visit Goa for loads of vitamin D which they have while having sun bath and also have drinks for complete relaxation from stress. They also visit Goa for relaxation for body.

Massage

Tourist visit Goan beaches for massage centers. Not just that, but to get some immunity and treat body with pure minerals.

Natural views

Goan view can be best viewed while travelling on the bike. The Sandy beaches, coconut trees waterfalls truly add flavor to the goan natural view. Lush green fields, majestic forests train track, long roads and cool breeze make up for the perfect natural view.

Architecture & Culture

Goa is also famous for its heritage and its architecture. In goa you will find traditional mixture of Portuguese and goa. This offers a unique feature to witness a pure blend of Portuguese and goan culture in architecture of villas, forts houses and churches.

Water Sports

Tourist are offered water sports like surfing, para sailing waterscooter etc. these water sports add up towards attracting tourists to Goa

Sea food

Sea foods like Mackrels, Tiger prawns, King Fish, have separate delicacies in the hearts of tourists..

Party Destination

The young are attracted towards Goa as it is a party destination. Many parties are organized during Christmas new years and it’s a tourist hotspot to celebrate these eves in goa. These parties usually go up for couple of days.

Liberal

Female tourist visit Goa as they find it to be most liberal compared to other places in India. In Goa you can feel free to dress up.

Economical

Goa is affordable for everyone. That’s the reason why tourist find it most attractive as compared to other places in India.

Fairs and festivals

Goa is famous for its carnival attracting tourist to goa during this time.

Casinos

People visit Goa for Casinos. People who enjoy gambling with chilled drinks and music find Goa to be a perfect place.

The Main Attractions
Beaches

Goan coastline spread over 125 kms and is the home of over 50 picturisque and beautiful beaches. These beaches attracts tourist from all round the globe. Candolim Beach, Baga Beach, Sinquerim Beach, Bambolim Beach, Arambol Beach, Vagator Beach, Benaulim Beach, Palolem Beach, Agonda Beach, Mobor and Cavelossim beaches are famous and an increasing number of tourists visit these beaches every year. Calangute Beach – Queen of Goa beaches, Colva Beach- Pride of Salcete

Dona Paula, Miramar(Gaspar Dias)- A lovely golden beach and Anjuna beach are some of the famous beaches in Goa.

Scenic beauty

Goa has number of other scenic options. One such attraction is Waterfall. Goa lies between Sahyadri hills and Arabian Sea. Goa is full of beautiful springs, lakes, and waterfalls. While traveling to these places one gets to see the natural beauty of Goa. Dudhsagar Water Falls, Kesarval Springs, Mayem Lake, Arvalem Waterfall, Kuskem Waterfall are some of the famous water falls in Goa.

Churches

Goa is well known for its Churches. Churches in goa well known for its architecture. During the Portuguese regime there were many churches built and now have become world heritage site. Royal Chapel of St Anthony, Church of The Carmelites, Church of St.Francis of Assisi, Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, Basilica of Bom Jesus, Chapel of St.Catherine, Reis Magos Church, Church of Our Lady of Rosary in Goa

Se Cathedral, to name few of them.

Temple

In olden times when Portuguese invaded Goa. In every village of Goa there was a temple and a lord to worship for each village. These temples still exist giving each village a distinct feature to differentiate. For example, Mangeshi Temple of Mangeshi village. Goan temple architecture is a mixture of Portuguese and Maratha style like Mandapa of Goa temples. Mangeshi Temple, Sri Kamakshi Temple, Sri Vithal Temple, Sri Shantadurga Temple in Kavlem are some of the famous temples in Goa.

Mosque

Jama Masjid and Safa Masjid at Ponda are the famous mosques in Goa.

Wild life centuries

Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife, Sanctuary,Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Mollem National Park, Bondla wild life Forest, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, are some of the famous wild life centuries.

Monuments & Forts

Chapora Fort, Fort Aguada, Teracol Fort, Reis Magos Fort, Mormugao Fort, Rachol Fort, Naroa Fort, Corjuem Fort,Cabo De Rama Fort in Goa

Other attractions

There are plantations like Savoi Plantation, Sahakari Spice Farm, Tropical Spice Plantation, Pascol Spice Village which attracts tourist.

There are caves and other natural beauties of Goa that attracts whole lot of domestic and foreign tourist. Tourist also visit the heritage homes like Sarah Fernandes. In Goa adventure sports attracts a number of tourists. It’s one of the few places in India known to have adventure sports facilities.People also visit Goa for medical purpose also

Impact of tourism in Goa

It helps in the preservation of National Heritage and Environment.

Helps in developing Infrastructure.

It helps in creating job opportunities and in the development of economy.

Most of the rich and famous metropolises are investing in Goa which has pushed up land prices and has created overcrowding.

Garbage is one of the problem in Goa and there is no proper infrastructure to deal with it. Tourist places are piled up with garbage because of the increased number of tourist in Goa. As a result Goa is facing a major problem of solid waste management.

Most of the tourist prefers to visit places in the North which has resulted in the exceeding carrying capacity. Goa’s tourism belt is getting overcrowded.

Overexploitation of beaches due to the tourism related activities.

Suggestions:

Provide Information Centre to the inbound tourists

Promote Real Goa and not the commercialized version of Goa

The protection of the environment can be achieved by proper planning and management of various spatial entities viz. Water resources, land, settlements, forests etc. in the most effective manner.

Strengthen the basic infrastructure at beaches, temples, churches, monuments and other tourist spots, including parking and changing rooms/toilets and proper illumination from safety and security point of view, besides regular and timely disposal of garbage generated by hotels, shacks and others

Scope to develop ecotourism along the Ghats, hills and wildlife sanctuaries, and adventure tourism

Encourage agro-eco-tourism

Souvenirs and mementos prepared by village artisans and craftsmen, offer tremendous scope for branding the local products, help the rural economy to grow

There are overcrowded beaches in north Goa like Calangute beach, Baga beach, Candolim beach, Anjuna beach but there are more beautiful beaches down south so can focus to arrange tours and travels for the less crowded beaches for example Keri Beach, Velsao Beach, Palolem beach, Majorda beach, Senabatim beach, Uttrda Beach and so on.

Tour guides should properly be trained to accompany tourist to the places of special significance. Should be trained to explain significance of religious places also inform them about religious services which are being offered there.

Nowadays tourism has become the major focus, mainly for small developing countries which have an effect on local people in terms of socio-cultural, environmental and economical impacts. Resident’s perceptions are very important and there is a need to understand how these perceptions can contribute towards tourism development. The reason of this study is to provide a theoretical background for assessing local people attitudes on the impacts of tourism development in Bel Ombre, Mauritius. Tourism and sustainable development are interrelated; and has been usually identified with the fast rising demand of tourists acting together with the natural environment. Tourism has the capability to protect as well as to destroy a destination. Studying the impacts of tourism is a critical element of accepting how tourism affects the economy, socio-cultural and environment aspects in Mauritius. A well elaborated literature shows the character of the main interaction of tourist and host, uniqueness of host-tourist relationship and their connection with the impacts generated by tourism development. Researchers were more interested towards the interaction between the tourists and the local people. Though, there are preceding studies that have considered the issue from tourist perspective. To achieve the purpose of this study a questionnaire was designed and a survey was undertaken among the local residents. Concerning the analysis part, quantitative approach was useful and the aim and objectives were related to the majority of relevant literature.

1.2 Problem statement

The main reason for doing this study is because tourism is one of the major sectors in many countries, including Mauritius, with the highest growth potential. It is the world’s largest employer and one among the major sources of substantial foreign exchange earnings (Blank, 1991; Richards, 2003; Mwandosya, 2007). It is through this observation that many people believe that the industry is well placed as one of the major means through which development of local communities can be achieved (Scheyvens, 2002; Beeton, 2006). One approach to enhance this development through tourism is to involve local communities and ensure that their potential role is tapped and maintained through active participation in the industry (Beeton, 2006). It is imperative to note that involvement and participation of these communities is central to the sustainable development of the industry not only because tourism has had a close connection with the local communities, particularly as hosts and guides (Scheyvens, 2002), but also because “the destinations of tourists are communities and it is in the community that tourism happens” (Blank, 1989 p.115).

Participation is a process through which stakeholders, among them the local communities who are often the intended beneficiaries of community tourism, influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them (Havel, 1996). Participation, therefore, seeks collaboration or partnerships and the commitment necessary to ensure sustainability of tourism development initiatives (Wolfensohn, 1996). Paradoxically, the outcomes of participation are usually a reflection of a certain level of involvement of relevant stakeholders in the decision-making process which in turn enables people to make informed commitments to a particular tourism project (Havel, 1996). According to Akama (1999) as cited in Manyara and Jones (2007, p.629), “local communities are hardly involved in tourism development” and they are usually without a voice in the development process (Havel, 1996). This situation according to Mbaiwa (2005) is contrary to the principles of sustainable tourism

development which, among other things, emphasize the involvement and participation of local communities.

1.3 Aims and Objectives of the study

The aim of this study is to assess the resident’s attitudes and perceptions about the impacts caused by tourism development in Bel Ombre.

The objectives of the study are:

To assess the extent of local people’s perceptions and attitudes in the tourism development

To assess the positive and negative impacts of tourism development

To assess the extent of local people’s involvement and participation in tourism development in their local areas

To investigate if local people are aware of the impacts of tourism development.

1.4 Tourism trends in Mauritius

Since the 1990s, Mauritius adopted economic reforms aimed at establishing a market-based and private-sector-driven economy that marked significant growth in many sectors of the country’s economy. Such reforms for example, helped to improve the performance of the country’s tourism industry and enhanced growth of the sector through improved marketing and promotional campaigns, improved tourism services, improved air access to Mauritius, accommodation facilities, and other tourism supporting infrastructures. More specifically, growth in the Mauritian tourism industry can be measured by looking at the trends in tourism receipts, tourist arrivals, tourism annual growth, number of hotels and hotel rooms, contribution of the sector to country’s GDP, and direct jobs created by the industry. To give a clear picture of the performance of the tourism industry in Mauritius and to be able to gauge the achievements already realized by the industry.

While the tourism industry continues to be one of the key foreign exchange earners in Mauritius, the industry depends primarily on the flow of international tourists to the country. The country’s main source markets are Britain, Germany, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, and some new markets emerging around China and Asian countries. The majority of international tourists come to Mauritius for cultural, adventure and beach resort all together making Mauritius a quality destination.

It is, however, interesting to note from the statistics below that, in Mauritius, earnings from international tourism have grown more rapidly than tourist arrivals in nominal terms due to the to promote Mauritius as a high quality destination. Arguably, the increasing tourist numbers to Mauritius may be a convincing indication of increasing opportunities for local communities to earn revenue from tourism and these revenue opportunities could eventually contribute significantly to greater local interest in the development of the industry (Victurine, 2000).

Table 1:- Tourist arrivals, nights and receipts, 2009 – 2012
Year
Tourist arrivals (Number)
Tourist nights (000)
Tourism receipts 1 (Rs million)

2009

871,356

8,639

35,693

2010

934,827

9,495

39,456

2011

964,642

9,730

42,717 3

2009

1st Qr.

232,908

2,250

10,265

2nd Qr.

180,596

1,791

7,984

1st Semester
413,504
4,041
18,249

3rd Qr.

195,381

2,280

7,436

4th Qr.

262,471

2,318

10,008

2nd Semester
457,852
4,598
17,444
2010

1st Qr.

249,971

2,943

11,021

2nd Qr.

189,179

1,855

8,788

1st Semester
439,150
4,798
19,809

3rd Qr.

207,506

2,275

8,358

4th Qr.

288,171

2,422

11,289

2nd Semester
495,677
4,697
19,647
2011

1st Qr.

262,626

2,960

11,949

2nd Qr.

201,978

1,975

9,355

1st Semester
464,604
4,935
21,304

3rd Qr.

209,779

2,325

8,845

4th Qr.

290,259

2,470

12,568 3

2nd Semester
500,038
4,795
21,413 3
2012 2

1st Qr.

261,995

2,950

13,768 3

2nd Qr.

205,158

2,010

9,780

1st Semester
467,153
4,960
23,548

Source: www.gov.mu

1.5 Outline of Study
Chapter 1- Introduction

This chapter gives an overview of the study and the outline of the dissertation. It includes the introduction, problem statement, aims and objectives of the research.

Chapter 2- Literature Review

The literature review entails the theoretical background; the main aim in writing this is to assess existing literature related to the study, what other researchers have done, including empirical evidence to provide a foundation to the study. It consists of all the theoretical aspects like the perceptions and attitudes of local people towards tourism development. The impacts of tourism development are also discussed along with how the community participation can reduce or increase these tourism impacts.

Chapter 3- Methodology

This comprises of the methodology of how the research was conducted, the questionnaire design, method used to collect the data, sampling techniques used, the data analysis and limitations of the study.

Chapter 4- Results and Discussions

In this chapter the data collected through the use of questionnaires, will be analysed by making use of graphical, mean and standard deviation. Package for the Social Science (SPSS) Software was used to make these analyses.

Chapter 5- Recommendations and Conclusions

The last chapter identifies the possible solution to come across for the problems of the poor involvement of locals. The perceptions of residents on the impacts generated from tourism development, thus leading to the conclusion of the project.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction

This chapter seeks to address a number of issues related to community involvement and participation in the tourism industry by examining some key points emerging from various studies, reports and other sources of information. It starts with a discussion about the perceptions and attitudes of host community towards the impacts of tourism development. Some critics about Doxey Irridex Model and Butler Tourism Area life cycle will also be discussed. The chapter also identifies factors which influence local communities and attract their participation in the tourism industry. It continues with a discussion about the tourism impacts that arise due tourism development in a small community. The chapter concludes by highlighting key issues raised by the literature that form the basis of this research.

2.2 Sustainable Tourism Development

Sustainable tourism development (STD) is a long-term approach that cultivates economically viable tourism without harming residents’ environment or society while simultaneously ensuring fair distribution of costs and benefits (DBEDT, 2006a). Decisions are based on economic, environmental, and cultural impacts; how wealth is generated and distributed; and the relative power and interactions among the stakeholders (Bramwell, 2006; Twining-Ward & Butler, 2002). STD balances industry’s goal of profit with the needs of the environment and stakeholders (Bramwell, 2006). Stakeholder cooperation is necessary for sustainable tourism; otherwise only the most powerful will benefit (Dyer, Gursoy, Sharma, & Carter, 2007). To keep stakeholders satisfied with tourism development and their community, the environment and culture must be protected (Ahn et al., 2002; Hjalager, 1996). When tourism development enhances, rather than erodes the natural environment, a more sustainable tourism product can be offered to support the destination’s economy (Batra & Kaur, 1996).

A government that effectively manages tourism creates benefits for all stakeholders (Jamal & Getz, 1995). Effective management is avoiding negative impacts through a combination of general protective measures; regulations to control development; and financial restraints (Cohen, 1978; Hjalager, 1996). Improvement of the environment can be achieved by ensuring that development is harmonious with the overall plan for the destination (Batra & Kaur, 1996). Necessary tourism infrastructure such as roads, airports, parks, and visitor centers are also the responsibility of government (Jamal & Getz, 1995). Maintenance of infrastructure and facilities is expensive and residents, through property taxes, should not be the only group to bear this burden (Wong, 1996). Residents benefit when tourists spend money in the local economy and create jobs, as well as from the development of infrastructure that residents also utilize (Wong, 1996).

Residents in mass tourism destinations such as Hawai’i depend on tourism for their standard of living (Liu, Sheldon, & Var, 1987). Because tourism development usually involves a tradeoff between economic benefits and environmental or cultural costs, residents cope by downplaying the negative impacts based and emphasizing the economic gains to maintain satisfaction with their community (Dyer et al., 2007; Cavus & Tanrisevdi, 2003; Faulkner & Tideswell, 1997). Residents with the most economic gain are the most supportive of the tourism industry (Harrill, 2004).

Cavus & Tanrisevdi (2003) found that the development process controlled by planners was the primary factor in residents’ negative attitudes towards tourism. When residents perceive that the costs of tourism outweigh the benefits, feelings of resentment and irritation towards tourists can develop and lower community satisfaction (Doxey, 1975; Faulkner & Tideswell, 1997; Ko & Stewart, 2002). Residents who feel that they have a voice in tourism planning are more positive towards tourism (Cavus & Tanrisevdi, 2003). According to Choi & Sirakaya (2005), sustainable tourism is the development pathway to minimize the negative impacts of tourism. There are many ways to make tourism more sustainable but few tools for evaluating and testing a sustainable tourism framework (Choi & Sirakaya, 2005). Audits and resource valuation evaluate tourism’s costs and benefits so that they can be fairly distributed to stakeholders (Warnken et al., 2004; Wen, 1998). Limiting tourism growth (such as carrying capacity or limits of acceptable change) can also make development more sustainable (Cohen, 1978; Butler, 1980; Gossling, Peeters, Ceron, Dubois, Patterson, & Richardson, 2005; Christensen & Beckmann, 1998; Ahn et al., 2002). In these approaches, government management and stakeholder cooperation are necessary to reach a consensus for how to manage future tourism development. This is why Understanding residents’ perceptions are critical to fairly distributing the environmental, social, and economic costs and benefits of tourism; thus, ultimately increasing sustainable tourism development (Twining-Ward & Butler, 2002).

2.3 Host Community Attitudes and Perceptions about Tourism Development

This study aims at identifying the relationships between residents’ socio- cultural, economic and environmental aspect and their attitudes towards tourism by focusing on a small community where tourism is in the development stage. By conducting this research, the author hopes to come across the residents’ attitudes and capture their current perceptions about tourism development in their area. Moreover, this research is being done because most authors agree that initial community attitudes toward tourism are critical to community involvement in the industry (Murphy 1981), the formation of destination image (Echtner & Ritchie 1991).

Attitudes are defined as “a state of mind of the individual toward a value” (Allport 1966, p. 24) and as “an enduring predisposition towards a particular aspect of one’s environment” (McDougall & Munro 1987, p. 87). Attitude of host community to tourism based development can improve if there is a boost in the tangible and indescribable settlements the host community can receive by being in based development (Choi & Sirakaya, 2006). As Attitudes are based under this understanding, this is why some researchers came to a conclusion that residents’ attitudes toward tourism are not simply the reflections of residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts, but the results of interaction between residents’ perceptions and the factors affecting their attitudes (Lankford et al.1994). Some preceding researches have proved that some most important impacts of tourism are identified along with its variables, however the theory is underdeveloped: “Currently there is limited understanding of why residents respond to the impacts of tourism as they do, and under what conditions residents react to those impacts” (Ap 1992, p. 666). Husband (1989) also addressed this issue by saying “There is, so far, no theoretical justification of why some people are, or are not, favorably disposed to tourism”.

Various issues can persuade perceptions of the host community about positive outcomes of tourism development. Support will depend on the degree of benefits perceived. The participation of community will be discussed later on in the literature review. The acceptance of local values can also be an important factor that leads to the achievement of a tourism based development (Alexander, 2000). However over a certain period of time many findings detected that host community perceptions’ in the direction from tourism may have more positive attitudes. People who depend on tourism industry or having a better economic benefit may possibly have a higher degree of positivity than other inhabitants who do not benefit from a tourism development (lankford and howard, 1994; Jurowski, Uysal, and willimas, 1997; Sirakaya , Teye and Sonmez,2002 ).

Lindberg and Johnson (1997) mentioned that people having higher economic impacts from tourism may have more positive attitudes. However Travis (1984) has stated that it’s not only an economic characteristic such as the opportunity for jobs creation or capital generation that needs to be considered by the host community. The socio-cultural and environmental aspects are also very important. For Choi and Sirakaya (2005), the most community should also have a better environment in term of infrastructures and improved amenities such as leisure and recreational activities. They describe tourism as consisting of various supports and any development in the tourism field should ensure the protection of the culture of host community, alongside the protection of the environment.

In order to clarify the relationship between the impacts of tourism and residents’ attitudes toward tourism, several models have been developed. One of the most influential models is Doxey’s Irridex model (1975) which suggests that residents’ attitudes toward tourism may pass through a series of stages from “euphoria,” through “apathy” and “irritation.” to “antagonism,” as perceived costs exceed the expected benefits. This model is supported by Long et al.’s (1990) research results, which indicate residents’ attitudes, are initially favorable but become negative after reaching a threshold.

To have a better comprehension about the relationship between the impacts of tourism and residents’ attitudes toward tourism, several models like Butler Tourism Life cycle Area and Doxey Irridex model have been developed. One of the most dominant models is Doxey’s Irridex model (1975) which suggests that residents’ attitudes toward tourism may pass through a series of stages from “euphoria,” through “apathy” and “irritation.” to “antagonism,” as perceived costs exceed the expected benefits. This model was supported by Long et al.’s (1990) research results, which indicated that residents’ attitudes are initially favorable but become negative after reaching a threshold. The Irridex model indicates that residents’ attitudes toward tourism will change overtime. It suggests that residents’ attitudes and reactions toward tourism contain a sense of homogeneity (Mason et al. 2000). Conversely, this concept was challenged by some research findings that reported heterogeneous community responses and diverse residents’ attitudes simultaneously existing in a community (Brougham et al. 1981,Rothman 1978).

2.4 Critics about Doxey Irridex Model and Butler Tourism Area Life cycle

Butler (1980) took a more complicated approach. He argued that tourist areas go through a recognizable cycle of evolution; he used an S-shaped curve to illustrate their different stages of popularity. Butler stated that there are six stages through which tourist areas pass. These include the exploration stage, involvement stage, development stage, consolidation stage, stagnation stage, and decline stage. His study also reveals that evolution is brought about by a variety of factors, including changes in preferences and needs of visitors, the gradual deterioration and possible replacement of physical plant and facilities, and the change of the original natural and cultural attractions, which is responsible for the initial popularity of the area. Furthermore this model is supported by Murphy’s (1983) research results, which reveal the distinct attitude differences among residents, public officials, and business owners in three English tourist centers. Although Butler’s model addresses the difficulty of residents’ attitudes toward tourism, researchers still lacked theories explaining relationships between residents’ attitudes and tourism impacts until Ap (1992) applied social exchange theory to tourism.

2.5 Social Exchange Theory

According to the theory, exchange will start, only when there are irregular inaction forms. Ap (1992) suggests that “residents evaluate tourism in terms of social exchange, that is, evaluate it in terms of expected benefits or costs obtained in return for the services they supply” He also argued that when exchange of resources is high for the host actor in either the balanced or unbalanced exchange relation, tourism impacts are viewed positively, while tourism impacts are viewed negatively if exchange of resources is low. Social exchange theory has been examined as a theoretical framework by researchers to describe residents’ attitudes toward tourism impacts (Perdue et al. 1990, McGehee & Andereck 2004).

However mason and Cheyen (2000) stated that that the representation of Butler ‘assumes a degree of homogeneity of community reaction’. Butler (2006) supported his model by suggesting that ‘a consistent evolution of tourist area can be conceptualized’. Different phases at a particular destination may not be understood without mistakes. The demonstration hence should be concerned only to some extent as the phase itself differs from one tourist area to anotherb(Tosun,2002).

The Doxey irridex model gives a clear view of how host community attitude changes over a period of time. It mentions host community perceptions, reactions and attitudes in the direction of tourism (Manson et al.2000). This can be a conflicting principle because some research came to a conclusion that various host community attitudes and perceptions may exist in the community, (Brougham et al.1981, Rothman 1978). Akis, Peristanis & Warner (1996) disapprove the Irridex Model and The Tourism Life Cycle and view it as too simple, because both models give a few hint of changing host community perceptions and attitudes over time. Other researchers like Lankford and Howard (1994, P.135) opposed against the model of Doxey(1975) because positive and negative factors that affect the perceptions and attitudes of host community are not given much consideration.

As the tourism industry keeps on changing, this may be a reason why we must give this industry continuous support for its related development. Andereck & vogt( 2000) stated that it is considered that optimistic attitudes towards tourism may entail the encouragement for further tourism development. If there is any delay in tourism project development this can be due to frustration towards tourists. Mill and Morisson (1984) even mention that, ‘an acceptance of tourism cannot be built unless the benefits of tourism are made relevant to the community’. Attitudes and perceptions of host community at a destination is of utmost importance in the accomplishment of tourism development alongside the development of the industry at large also, (Hayword,1975), (Heenan, 1978), and Hiller (1976).

There is a broad belief perception and attitudes of host community in the direction of tourism outcomes are apt to become essential planning and policy concern for flourishing development and expansion of existing and potential tourism programs, (Ap,1992). Host community attitudes and perception is very important as it will influence their behavior towards tourism, (Andriotis and Vaughan, 2003).

2.6 Host community involvement and participation

Community participation has become a common element in many development initiatives, such as community-based programmes, which assume participatory methods and has been promoted by development organizations, notably the World Bank, to address the inefficiency of highly centralized development approaches particularly in the developing world (Baral and Heinen, 2007).

Today, many development initiatives solicit the participation of all concerned stakeholders, at the relevant level, not only for the sake of efficiency and equity of the programmes, leverage of donors and demands of local communities, but also for sustainability of these initiatives (Ribot, 2004). Consequently, the real outcome for soliciting such community participation is to create and produce an enabling environment needed by these stakeholders, especially local communities who have been vulnerable to negative impacts of tourism attributed partly to the fact that many tourism resources occur in their areas, to have a real stake in development activities (Havel, 1996; Songorwa, 1999). This requires involving local communities in decision-making and strengthening their ability to act for themselves. One approach to achieve this is “through investments in human capital, such as education and health, investments in social capital such as local-level institutions and participatory processes, and support for community based development efforts planned and implemented from bottom up” (Havel, 1996, p.145). However, given the fact that the central point underlying people’s participation may be the degree of power distribution, these efforts are less likely to succeed unless responsive institutions and the legal and policy framework that facilitate and support local participation are in place (Havel, 1996; Tosun, 2004; Wang and Wall, 2005).

It is probably important to insist from here that a key consideration in tourism development is sustainability, which cannot be achieved without community support (Vincent and Thompson, 2002). While sustainability is the core objective of community participation (Vincent and Thompson, 2002; Johannesen and Skonhoft, 2005), proponents of community tourism further argue that community participation seeks to improve the welfare of the local community and, perhaps most importantly, win their support in conservation of tourism resources (Songorwa, 1999). This means community participation is inevitable and imperative for tourism development because most tourist attractions lie within local communities or in their vicinities and in most cases co-exist side by side with the communities, for instance, in wildlife areas.

Community participation via decision-making is an essential determinant to ensure that the benefits that local communities get from tourism are guaranteed, and their lifestyles and values are respected. It is, however, important to note that community participation in decision making is not only desirable but also necessary so as to maximize the socio-economic benefits of tourism for the community. It is perhaps one of the most important elements of tourism management to enable communities who often serve as tourist destinations and for that matter suffer from the negative impacts of tourism, to get involved and eventually participate in planning decisions regarding tourism development. This is important in order to create better handling of the negative impacts of tourism development (Li, 2004; Tosun, 2000). It is equally important to note, therefore, that integration of local communities into the decision-making process is “not a final goal itself” but only one of the many ways through which community participation can be achieved (Li, 2005, p.133).

Another way to involve and attract community participation and ultimately their support in tourism development is through local job creation (Zhao and Ritchie, 2007). Since tourism offers better labour-intensive and small scale opportunities (Chok and Macbeth, 2007; Scheyvens, 2007) and since it happens in the community, arguably, it is thought to be one of the best placed potential sources of employment opportunities for local communities, inclusive of women and the informal sector (Blank, 1989; Li, 2005; Johannesen and Skonhoft, 2005; Scheyvens, 2007). Community participation via employment opportunities, as workers or as small business operators, can be a catalyst to the development of tourism products and services, arts, crafts and cultural values, especially through taking advantage of abundant natural and cultural assets available in communities in developing countries (Scheyvens, 2007). Tosun (2000) stated that community participation through working in the tourism industry has been recognized to help local communities not only to support development of the industry but also to receive more than economic benefits.

However, it is important to understand that in some cases community participation is seen as a way of getting people to carry out activities or share their costs while the benefits are not clear to those expected to participate (Havel, 1996). This implies that a key factor to the success of any community-based tourism project is the incentive to benefit sharing which is usually attractive enough to make people highly motivated to participate. As Havel (1996) asserted “people will not participate unless they believe it is their interest to do so”

Involvement and participation of the community in decision-making is advocated so that communities can have some control over tourism resources, initiatives and decisions that affect their livelihood (Wang, and Wall, 2005). On the other hand, the idea of involvement and participation of local communities in the tourism benefits is easily reflected in increasing incomes, employment, and education of local communities about tourism and entrepreneurship (Timothy, 1999). One way to accomplish this is to increase public awareness of tourism through education campaigns and train local communities for employment in the industry. While increased public awareness creates a more hospitable environment for tourists and improves the image of the destination, providing entrepreneurial training empowers local communities and ultimately increases their capacity to receive significant benefits from tourism (Timothy, 1999). This enables tourism-oriented businesses and locals such as taxi drivers, guesthouse managers, restaurant owners, and street vendors, th

Mauritius is an island located in the Indian Ocean it is a dream destination with tropical climate and a dream nature. For the past few years Mauritius has brought drastic changes in the economy and advancement of the country. Mauritius offers a number of attractions to tourist in terms of a wide variety of hotels, restaurants, approachability, striking beaches and richness in culture. The economic growth of Mauritius has been the result of the enlargement of the superfluity luxury tourism industry. The tourism sector in Mauritius is playing a vital role in giving its contribution in the expansion of domestic industries. There is a great hand of this sector in the progress of the infrastructure and in attracting foreign investment and simplifying the transfer of technology. Many travelers come to Mauritius to spend their time for relaxation, medical purpose, for its beautiful locations and for business conference. The future of Mauritius is that the tourism industry will contribute increasingly to the national economy. New tourist-related jobs, specialists and tourist services will emerge. Hotel facilities will expand and the number of visitors will rise up. Moreover, the will to keep quality at its highest level will be unshakeable. This is also what will make the Mauritian destination stand out from others.

1.1Background to the problem
1.2 Significance of the study

This dissertation can be of great help to the people involving in the process of promoting Mauritius as a tourist destination. Through this they will be able to know whether a country like Mauritius need to be innovate to a great extent in order to increase the level of tourist. The MTPA and other related organization can get an idea of what marketing strategies can be used and what can be done to make Mauritius a unique destination compare to other tourist destinations

1.3 Aims of the study

Aims: This study explores new concepts of marketing management practices to recreate the image of the tourism sector by promoting Mauritius as a tourist destination.

1.4 Objectives of the study

Objectives:

?? To explore key marketing concepts such as SWOT analysis, branding, new promotional activities.

?? To understand the role of marketing and the forces used to promote tourism destination and the factors pulling tourists to Mauritius.

?? To help in diversifying the types of tourism.

?? To helps n diversifying the tourism resources

?? To help in re-engineering the tourism sector in Mauritius.

?? To analyze the actual tourist arrival trend of tourists to Mauritius.

?? To identify the role of the MTPA in promoting Mauritius as a tourist destination.

?? To know the contribution of AHRIM (Association des Hoteliers ET Restaurant de L’ile Maurice).

?? To know about the function of tour operators in promoting Mauritius as a tourist destination.

1.5 Problem statement

The tourism sector is considered to be the pillar of Mauritius and hence great efforts should be carried out to maintain the stability of this sector in the tourism market. One has to continuously review and evaluate from all fronts, both internal and external, factors that are threatening its very survival. There is an intense competition in the international tourism industry. It is a great matter of concern for the government and organization in Mauritius to maintain the image of the tourism sector of Mauritius. This is so because internationally everyone is getting involved in implementing different marketing strategies to attract the most number of tourists. However, in an ever changing world, nourishment is a continuous battle. Mauritius has to carry on diversifying its economic strategy, especially in this tough competitive world marketplace.

Whenever there is a conversation on tourism one have a tendency to think of mostly huge classy hotels and places of beautiful sceneries, like of Casella, Crocodile Park and bagatelle . But tourism is a very immense all pervasive commerce touching almost every tread of our day-to-day private and public life; to just name a few, such as air travels, travel agency/tour operators, transports, restaurants, places of attractions and fast food. The list is practically endless. The influence this can have upon the livelihood of those directly or indirectly involved is indescribable in the wake of possible tourist decline, least to say upon the entire nation. That is why the need to market tourism as a tourist destination is very important as this will help to increase the level of tourist in Mauritius.

To maintain in the long run of being a successful destination, a new image should be proposed and more hard work should be done by the, government, MTPA, NTPA, AHRIM to measure the achievement of their marketing strategies used in promoting Mauritius as a tourist destination.

1.6 Research questions
1.7 Assumptions
1.8 Format of the study

Chapter 1 It consist of the introduction of tourism sector in Mauritius, the reason and use of conducting this study.it also state the problem statement, aims and objectives of the study, a review about Mauritius, and rational behind the study.

Chapter 2 consists of the literature review.it lay emphasis on the various promotional tools that push visitors to come to a destination.it tells us about the marketing strategies, destination marketing, destination branding.

Chapter 3 it presents the research methodology which describes what sampling methods have been used, how data have been collected from the tour operator and form the MTPA, how the questionnaires design was and what are the problems that have occurred to collect these data?.

Chapter 4 presents all the analysis and discussion.

Chapter 5 is a conclusion about the study and it deals with all the recommendations.

1.9 Conclusion – a short paragraph that rounds off this chapter and prepares the reader for the next chapter.
Note: Use a minimum of 8 sources to write this chapter. Ensure that the focus is on MANAGEMENT.
Title: Re-creating the image of the tourism sector in promoting Mauritius as a tourist destination
Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The objective of this chapter is to study the actual tourist’s trend in Mauritius and to explore the importance of marketing concept to market Mauritius as a tourist destination. It is also to investigate whether appropriate promotion exertions are being carried out by the MTPA and the tour operators to recreate the image of the tourism sector of Mauritius.

The literature review will examine the following points:

What is tourism?

Definitions and roles of the MTPA

The concept of marketing

Importance of marketing

Marketing strategies

Marketing mix

Tourism marketing

Destination marketing

Branding and the importance of branding

Destination branding

Destination image

The roles of destination management organizations (tour operators)

What is tourism?

In 1941, Hunziker and Krapf defined tourism as people who travel “the sum of the phenomena and relationships arises from the travel and stay of non-residents in so far as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity.”

That is a tourist is someone who do not come to a country to work. He or she is not here to live permanently.

In 1976, the Tourism Society of England’s definition was: “Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to a destination outside their home country”.

What I have understood through this is that a tourist is someone who live their places where they usually live and work and their doings throughout the stay at each destination. It comprises engagements for all purposes.

In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined “tourism in terms of particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home.”

By this the Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism means that tourism is plenty of activities done outside the home place.

In 1994, the United Nations classified three forms of tourism in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics:

Domestic tourism is people of the known country traveling only inside the country.

Inbound tourism means non-residents traveling in the given country.

Outbound tourism is those residents who travel in a new country.

The roles of destination management establishments
Definition of the MTPA
The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority.

The name itself speaks a lot. They are here to market the tourism sector of Mauritius. They are involve in evolving marketing strategies, they do publicity campaign of numerous destination in Mauritius.it consist in the creation of brochures, pamphlets, and various promotional events.

Tourism Marketing Promotion and the Role of National Tourism
Promotion Agencies/Organizations (NTPAs).

Notionally tourism campaign efforts (in terms of attendance in road shows, marketing, publicity and brand name among others) target mainly at publicizing as much facts as possible about a destination and its charms in a go to make it better known in the ever increasing competitive international tourism market.

Besides, tourists now know more about various sceneries and tourism products, so there is a pressure on the promotional agencies to provide greater level of information pertaining to services offered (including hotel), activities, uniqueness of the destination and culture among others.

The tour operators

Mauritius Tour Operators offer striking travel packages inclusive of traveling, accommodation and sightseeing. Being a fundamental part of the Mauritius tours, the tour operators deliver a detailed insight into the attractiveness of the island. Tour Operators of Mauritius also offer tailor-made packages especially appropriate to the distinct and specific needs of the travelers.

?? some of the well-known tour operators in Mauritius are as follows:

?? Mauri Travel

?? World Travel and Tours

?? Mauri Tours

?? White Sand

?? Macambo Tours

Apart from the Mauritius tour operators there are further travel operators besides who offer fascinating travel packages from other countries to the island.

Marketing

Marketing is considered so basic that it cannot be a separate function. It is the whole business from a separate function, it is the whole business seen from the point of viewaˆ¦the success of a business is not determined solely by the product but by the customer. (Peter Drucker)

According to Kotler (1997), marketing is classically perceived as the charge of making, endorsing and transporting belongings and services to customers and companies; it is demarcated as a common procedure by which individuals and crowds gain what they need and want through constructing, proposing and easily exchanging products and services of importance with others.

Marketing can also be define as a social and managerial process y which individuals and groups obtain what they need and what though creating and exchanging products and value with others.(Kotler,1994)

Peter Stimpson, 2005 defines marketing as the process of exploring into and detecting consumer needs and retaining suitable price, product, and place and promotion strategies in order to please these needs profitably.

Albania is a parliamentary republic, where the legislative power belongs to the Albania’s Assembly and the head of the state is the President who is elected by the Assembly for a five year mandate with the right to be re-elected. The Council of Ministers is the highest executive and commanding organ which is directed by Prime Minister.

According to Census 2011 preliminary results Albania has a population of 2,831,741 inhabitants in a surface of 28,748 sq km. Albania is located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. The country has a 750 km borderline with Montenegro to the North, Kosovo to the Northeast, Macedonia to the East, Greece to the South and Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea (Italy) to the West.

Albania has Mediterranean climate, which is characterized by hot summers and mild winters with abundant rainfalls. The period from June to September is hot, while from October to May is cool and wet. The average annual temperature varies from + 15oC in the north to + 16.5oC in the south. The hottest month is July with an average temperature of + 25oC and the coldest month is January with an average of +6oC, although the record temperature has been -34oC. “

For almost 45 years the communist regime, which was installed in Albania after the Second World War, left the country aside the rest of the world being part of the communist bloc of the Eastern Europe. The communist regime of Tirana even went further by isolating Albanian people totally and brought the country to collapse. With the fall of communist regimes of the Eastern Europe, Albania was the last one to join the free world. A democratic system was setup in power in 1992. Due to government’s commitment to a free market economy, the country undertook a programme of reforms and made great efforts to recover from the fall of communist regime. However, the collapse of the fraudulent pyramid schemes in 1997 and the instability that followed were a tremendous setback for Albania. But the country did pursuit its way toward its dream, to be part of the European community. Till there country has made a great progress. Two big achievements are accomplished, in June 2006, the Albanian Government signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union (EU), the first step in the EU accession process and three years later, in April 2009, Albania became a NATO member country. Now country is looking to accessing negotiations to be an EU member country. A range of reforms are progressing markedly over the last decade to Albania’s economy and administration such as reforms in infrastructure development, tax collection, property law, business administration, judiciary system.

The country was largely spared from the severe fallout of the 2008-2009 financial crisis since its economy is not heavily integrated into the Euro-Atlantic system.

Economic progress of the country has slowed but remained positive, in each year from 2009 to 2011. The government’s main task is to maintain positive economic growth while preserving macroeconomic stability. Major challenges are the difficult fiscal and budgetary environment and the crises in the Eurozone, especially in neighboring Greece and Italy (major trading partners of Albania with a large presence in the banking sector and also host to roughly one million Albanian emigrants).

In 2011, GDP was estimated to have reached close to $13 billion. Major contributors to GDP according to 2010 preliminary data were: service sector with 57.6% including trade, hotels, and restaurants (20.9%), transport (6.3%), communication (3.4%), and other services 27%; agriculture 20.3%; industry 11.3%; and construction 10.7%.

In 2011 unemployment officially stood at 13.3%. Half of the workforce is considered self-employed in the agriculture sector.

GDP per capita in 2011 is estimated to have reached $4,560. Although GDP per capita has steadily increased over the years, the country still ranks as one of the poorest countries in Europe according to major income indicators.

Albania has put in place a liberal foreign investment regime, and the government is working to improve the business climate through fiscal and legislative reforms and infrastructure improvements. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased significantly over the last few years and in 2010 reached $1.1 billion, up from $262 million in 2005. Since 2005, the Government of Albania has invested more than $2 billion in the country’s main road corridors, and it has pledged to continue investing heavily in improving transportation infrastructure. Electricity supply has also improved due to investments in new transmission lines and new generation sources as well as the privatization of the distribution system, which is gradually increasing efficiency.

The EU remains Albania’s main trading partner, providing 64.1% of Albania’s imports and receiving 72.5% of exports as of December 2011. Trade with Italy and Greece continues to represent the largest share of EU trade, with a combined 41.1% of imports and 58.3% of exports in 2011. Other major trading partners include Turkey, China, and Germany. The impact of CEFTA in Albania’s trade with member countries has been small.

2.1.2 Tourism in Albania
The Potentials for Tourism Development in Albania

Albania is a small country but a beautiful and fascinating country with substantial tourism development potential. Albania has an attractive coastline and a rich cultural and natural heritage. As Tourism Strategy on Culture and Environment [1] has highlighted, country “has a wide range of historic, cultural and natural attractions that are of great interest to international tourists”. The same assessment is made to the country’s very rich culture and heritage by Culture Marketing Strategy [2] document, too, stressing that “Albania has a very rich, distractive, and authentic culture and heritage – from the Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other historic periods up to the modern day”. This assessment is mentioned also to verbatim comments from interviews with western tour operators and travel writers [3] , where one of them have citied that “Albania is an archaeological site from tip to toe, going back to Illyrian settlements, Greek colonies, Roman occupation, not to mention the invasions from Goths, Bulgars, Byzantines, Crusaders of the Holy Roman Empire and Ottomans who all but stopped time in tracks. Evidence of these civilizations are everywhere in Albania, and it’s time to let the world see the great and wondrous sitesaˆ¦..”. Albania has 3 World Heritage Sites – Butrint, Gjirokaster and Berat. Beaches are long and sandy with hot sunny summers with about 250 sunny days. The mountain areas offer opportunities for niche tourism activities like hiking, biking, canoeing etc. Plenty of National Parks and other natural reserves offer ecological experiences. Country offers beautiful and diverse landscapes and abundant and varied flora and fauna.

Current tourism markets

Since the late 1990s, after the 97? instability in the country and 99? war in Kosovo, tourism activities are increasing. As figures [4] show there is a considerable increasing number of international visitors after the year 2000, due to the improvement of regional and inner country political climate and enhance of the security in the country. A big impact to the increase of the flux of tourists from Kosovo has show the new highway linking Albania with Kosovo. Even this increasing numbers are impressive, the tourism sector in Albania cannot be regarded as being well developed. Infrastructure has been till late a major limitation. The government in power has evaluated the development of infrastructure as very important and is investing heavily in improvements [5] .

Data from the table below shows that:

Total foreign visitor traffic increased by 18.4% in 2010 compared to 2009 to 3,612,000 visits. Taking into consideration the crisis time this is an excellent performance for Albanian tourism. 33% were non-resident Albanians and 66.1% were foreign staying visitors in 2010. Much of the increase came from Kosovo. This is evident to see the impact that the new highway with brought to Albanian tourism, a clear indicator of strong growth created by improvements in infrastructure.

According to MoTCYS data, for the year 2011 a total of some four million visitors entered in Albania. They included 2,734,000 foreign tourists and 1,267,000 non-resident Albanian nationality visitors.

The figures demonstrate that the biggest increase of foreign tourists in 2010 was coming from Kosovo with 48.79% followed by Macedonia with 11.43% compared to 2009. The foreign tourists from western countries haven’t made such a big progress. Also, as can be seen, the number of non-resident Albanians has been increasing in 2008 and 2009, while in 2010 the figure has faced a decrease.

From the table below can be seen the increasing number of visitors in July and August. Such a phenomenon is shaping drastically the seasonality of tourism in Albania. In 2010 the number of tourist that visited Albania in these two months was 55.44% compared to the number of all visitors. Also, another problem related to these figures is the high dependency in Balkan region tourist flow. This demonstrates that the tourists in July-August are coming only for sea and sand and populating only the coastal areas.

Strategic directions for tourism at national level

According to National Strategy for Tourism Development in Albania 2002 – 2012, developed with the assistance of GTZ, the main tourism products for Albanian tourism are defined sun and sea, business and special interest tourism [6] .

While the Strategy and Action Plan for the Development of the Albanian Tourism Sector Based on Cultural and Environmental Tourism was developed within the directions and structure established by the 2002 “Tourism Development Strategy 2002-2012 for Albania”.

This document provides a new orientation for the government to position Albania as an attractive destination for tourists seeking a unique experience which encourage them to discover Albania’s culture and nature. “Discovery of Albania” is a presentation of a broad cross-section of Albania’s history, nature, archaeology, living culture, cuisine and hospitality. The graphic below presents a simple schematic.

Core and Specialised Tourism Products

Source: Strategy for the Development of the Albanian Tourism Sector Based on Cultural and Environmental Tourism. Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, UNDP December 2005

According to strategy document, “Albania’s core (primary) tourism product must be a general one that encourages visitors to discover the many facets of Albania’s culture and nature. Albania’s central product will be the “discovery” of Albania. The product is a presentation of a broad cross-section of Albania’s history, nature, archaeology living culture, cuisine and hospitality. Visitors participating in this discovery will leave with a lasting impression of the diversity, complexity and beauty of culture and the land. This segment does not make a strong distinction between cultural, natural and other tourism products. Visitors in this segment tend to combine many different activities during their visits, and usually see the various natural and cultural activities as part of the process of discovering the destination.”

Referring to the major market segments mentioned above, the tourism resources in Albania are in favor and support the types of community-based tourism, i.e. nature-based tourism, adventure tourism and cultural tourism. Considering these tourism resources, the following types of activities can be developed:

Nature:

Visiting national parks and protected areas

Viewing wildlife

Seeing rare species

Trekking, hiking

Bicycle trips

Education and learning

Participation in local events; and

River and lake exploring.

Culture:

Visiting cultural and heritage-related attractions

Visiting museums and art centres

Meeting with artists

Meeting people from various ethnic nationalities

Seeing local handicrafts and the process of making them

Visiting scenic landmarks and religious sites

Trying local food

Participating in local traditional ceremonies and festivals

Buying traditional crafts and local specialties.

Potential to development

Albania offers infinite potential to investors to take advantage of unexplored opportunities in tourism, and helping to develop this industry into a key strategic sector in the country’s economy.

Albania has a young population, with a high level of instruction and able to communicate with foregners in defferent languagies.

Albanian is located at short distances from the main European capital cities and albanians are friendly and very hospitable people. The improved Rinas international airport, and different ports from the north to the south easy the access to the country. The continuing improvement and development of the infrastructure in the country, is facilitating moving inside the country.

Continuing improvements are being made to encourage investors to develop the infrastructure for tourism in Albania.

Just like other countries in the Western Balkans, Albania has put into place legislation and investment initiatives designed to support the economic growth of the country compatible with European policies and working principles. The Albanian Government has made support of the current and future expansion of tourism a priority, with the goal of transforming the country into a Mediterranean tourist destination and placing it on the world map of tourism.

In an effort to support the continuing development of the tourism industry in Albania and to make this country a tourist destination, the importance of the active engagement of the local and international Business Community and strong Partnerships between community based organizations, government and regional development agencies is a must.

Internal transport is likely to remain a major limitation for tourism in the foreseeable future except perhaps for road transport along key highways where upgrading / reconstruction is already planned or committed. In the WEF Travel and Tourism

Competitiveness Report, Albania’s tourism infrastructure is rated in the bottom two in the region

(See Table 2.2).

In recent years there has been an increasing interest from incoming foreign tourists, especially with significant increasing numbers of international tourist groups generated from Croatia and Montenegro, organised in one or two days tours to Albania.

Also Business and Trade tourism accounts a considerable number of foreign visitors. Neighbour countries, such as Italy, Greece especially are related to trade and business purpose of visit of their nationals.

From the western tourists visiting Albania in 2006, are identified those arriving from Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Greece, USA, Canada, France, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Switzerland, the neighbouring countries and regions (Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonian, Bulgaria), East Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia).

Diaspora is another source for the inbound tourism, where the ethnic Albanians from Kosovo do count considerable numbers. The new road under construction from Milot (the crossroad to the highway Tirane-Shkoder) to Morini (the boarder-crossing point with Kosovo) will influence to increase the numbers of Kosovo’s citizens to access the Albanian coastal area.

The market profile of visitors who enter to Albania by road from Muriqani and Hani i Hotit (the boarder-crossing points with Montenegro) with interest for Shkodra region for the year 2006 is as below:

Foreigners who are living and working in Albania have also recently started to create an internal tourism demand. While there is no official record on domestic tourism in Albania, domestic tourism is the dominating form of tourism. This is mainly focussed on beach centred holidays.

1.3.2 National context for Tourism Development

Albania has a great potential for tourism development based on its natural, cultural and human resources. The country has an attractive coastline, rich biodiversity with lagoons, lakes and the mountain areas each with unique flora and fauna, unspoiled nature and attractive scenery, cultural and historical sites and interesting traditional life-styles. The country therefore has the potential to develop the types of tourism products that are in demand from the international market in the Mediterranean region.

Beside to the long and sandy beaches along the Adriatic coast and these rocky ones with crystal and clean sea waters of the Ionian coast, its natural and protected areas are basic for developing niche tourism activities such as eco-tourism and nature based activities. Such an activities can be hiking, trekking, walking, horseback-riding, river rafting, paragliding, mountain biking, climbing, canoeing, sightseeing, bird watching, fishing. Rural ‘green’ and agri-tourism offers new opportunities for communities to benefit from tourism by offering visitor experiences based on traditional lifestyles. Albania also can offer cultural tourism through its archaeological sites and historic cities and villages.

Albania is a short distance destination for Europe; it is within 3 hours of flying time of most major European cities and therefore is a short haul destination for the potentially huge European market, the World tourism Organisation predict that by 2020 the Mediterranean Region which includes Albania will be a ‘hotspot’ for tourism, thus there is a great potential for Albania to develop and expand its tourism industry.

On the other side, uncontrolled development in tourism areas has harmed the potential of these areas for tourism development. Even the measures taken by the government to legalise the illegal buildings are not considering for the moment those constructed in tourism areas, it is not clear what will be the measures taken in these areas to improve the environment by the harm of illegal buildings.

Some significant measures are taken recently by the government. These measures, at the national level, encompass strategy and policy documents such as, the development of the Strategy for Cultural and Environmental Tourism in 2005 and the development of a new tourism website in 2006. A new Tourism Law (Nr.9734, dated 14.5.2007) was adopted by the parliament and a number of regulations approved by the government is thought to regulate the tourism sector development.

Tourism development is the responsibility of the MoTCYS (Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports). NTA (National Tourism Agency) is an autonomous body outside the MoTCYS, being responsible for promotion activities through the production of promotional materials and participation in the international tourism fairs. The most attended fairs, regularly from years in Berlin (ITB) and London (WTM), and to RDA (Keln) from 2007. At the regional level, six tourist information offices are approved to be established in Tirana, Shkodra, Vlora, Saranda, Korca and Durres.

At the national level there are operating two business Associations for Tourism Travel Agencies and one Association of Hotels. A GTZ’s project on “Institutional building of tourism private sector in Albania” is in the process for the time being with the aim to establish a strong representation for all the sectors involved in tourism, with the common interest providing services to the members as well as building relationship and cooperation with the public sector.

Albanian Rourism

Even the figures on tourist arrivals are growing considerably year after year in Albania, the country has remained highly dependant on summer holidays. Looking on the statistical data published recently in the websites of Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports (http://www.mtkrs.gov.al/) and of National Tourism Agency (http://www.akt.gov.al/akt/text.php?id=1&lang=1), is easily evident that the number of visitors visiting Albania succeeded 2.5 million in 2008 and only for the period January – August 2009 this figure was over passing 2.1 million. As reported by MTCYS, the number of visitors in 2008 (2.578.627 visitors) is compound as international visitors 1.330.138, from which 1.247.125 were overnight visitors and 83.013 same day visitors, and 1.248.489 visitors were Albanian nationals residing abroad. While the number of visitors for the period January – August 2009 (2.111.981 visitors) is compound as 1.402.558 international visitors and 709.423 Albanian nationals residing abroad.

But does this picture speak for real success in the development of Albania’s tourism as a tourist destination visited by the western tourists? We have to bear in mind that the main reason for the development of tourism is attracting foreign visitors from countries with strong currencies. Tourism is considered a hidden export that brings money (hard currency) to the country.

Referring to the “Strategy and Action Plan for the Development of the Albanian Tourism Sector Based on Cultural and Environmental Tourism” produced by Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports with the support of UNDP in 2005, “Albania will specialize in attracting educated, independent travelers and specialized group travelers. The principal target markets will be upper-middle income individuals from Europe (primarily northern Europe and the United Kingdom) and North America. This segment represents the demographic segment with the highest willingness to pay for Albania’s unique products, and whose spending patterns will most contribute to advancing development goals.” Also, in this strategic document is specified that “Albania’s central product will be the “discovery” of Albania. The product is a presentation of a broad cross-section of Albania’s history, nature, archaeology, living culture, cuisine and hospitality. Visitors participating in this discovery will leave with a lasting impression of the diversity, complexity and beauty of the culture and the land”. The question is this: Are these kind of tourists visiting Albania contributing to this strategic direction? The answer is, NO.

Discuss the importance of delivering quality services in the hospitality industry and identify differences if any between service delivery in the hospitality and service delivery in other business.

Tourism is our main source of income in Jamaica so we depend highly on the tourism industry, in order to have a successful industry we must provide quality service. Some of the services that we offer are: transportation by air, land and sea, adventure and we also provide a relaxing atmosphere just to name a few.

We also provide good customer service, customer delight which is exceeding our customer’s (tourist) expectations and creating raving fans for your business. Two main reasons for customer delight are to retain business and to persuade them to be ambassadors for our services. Good customer service provides goodwill, increased repeat business, excellent word of mouth marketing, respect and recognition of being professional. (company, 2006)

In every business customer service is key, they rely on repeat customers for the growth of their business if the customer is not satisfied with the level of service they get from a business they will not go back to said place. The difference between service deliveries in the hospitality industry to service delivery in other businesses is that in a business like Grace Kennedy they use indirect services, which include financing, transport and communication; they are supportive of the creation of goods and services. They make it possible for the goods that have been produced to be distributed and made available to the customers for whom they are intended however in the Hospitality industry they use indirect service this includes such areas as Education, Health care, Administrative services and tourism. Tourism is one indirect service that demands our special attention. In most of the Caribbean territories like Jamaica tourism rank as the highest major industries. It provides a high level of employment, is a great earner of foreign exchange, and supports many other businesses, including Hotels, Entertainment, Cottage industry and Farming. (Elise Webber, 1990)

COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM

Community based tourism has, for over three decades, been promoted as a means of development whereby the social, environmental and economic needs of local communities are meet through the offering of a tourism product. However, whilst many projects have been funded in developing countries, their success (or otherwise) has not been widely monitored and, therefore, the actual benefits to local communities remain largely unqualified.

Identify the pros and cons of community based tourism and discuss the implications on the country on a whole.

Community based tourism is usually owned and operated by people in the community. Most Jamaicans feel alienated from the tourism industry and do not believe that they benefit from tourism. It therefore, becomes important for individuals to become stakeholders as they will now have a reason to protect and sustain the industry. The Tourism Master Plan has identified community tourism as the avenue to achieve sustained growth, environmental sustainability, enhanced visitor experience, increased employment and community development. (company, 2006)

Community Tourism was developed and pioneered in Mandeville Jamaica by Diana McIntyre-Pike, hotelier/tourism consultant and Desmond Henry an ex-Director of Tourism in 1978. The Astra Country Inn became the centre for Community Tourism and has been recognized as the pioneer hotel in Community Tourism. Several presentations have been done locally and internationally by Mrs. McIntyre-Pike and Mr. Henry on Community Tourism which has now allowed it to become a world recognized tourism. For example, the International Institute for Peace through Tourism invited Mrs. McIntyre-Pike as one of the world’s 200 success stories speakers at their second Global Conference in 1994 to present the history of Community Tourism and its future. Since then the Institute has selected the Astra Country Inn as one of its case studies internationally in community-based tourism. (Pike)

Community Tourism embraces sustainable development through tourism and focuses on the ecology, heritage, culture and way of life of a community and its people. Eco-tourism, Heritage Tourism, Cultural Tourism, Adventure Tourism are a few examples of the types of special interest markets under community tourism. There tends to be much confusion of Community Tourism as it is being seen as one of the special interest type of tourism rather than what it really is – a tourism that is community-based in all aspects of the way of life. Sustainable tourism cannot be successful without the participation of communities in the development and management. In 1988, Country style was created as the marketing and development organization for Community Tourism. Country style worked in association with the Central and South Tourism Organization (CESTO) to develop the Community Tourism programme. The central and south area of the island was targeted as the model region for the development. The main focus is on:

Private Home stays – where visitors can stay in a private home with families and experience their way of life during their vacation. This has proved very successful as it has enabled visitors to get the best of Jamaica’s hospitality, learn the culture, heritage, entertainment, cuisine and more. Country style now receives daily requests for this type of accommodation through e-mail and fax from all over the world.

Bed & Breakfast accommodation is also encouraged in the communities

participating. Anyone interested in becoming an official bed & breakfast facility are advised the requirements needed for TPDCo. Country style is very selective where their visitors stay and has had a successful level of satisfaction.

Country style specializes in serving special interest markets. These

markets are researched and tour packages are developed to suit the interests of visitors. An educational institution uses Jamaica through Country style’s Community Tourism programme as a lab of cross-cultural study and research. For example Penn State University was the pioneer educational institution which requested Country style to develop an all-island tourism and environmental package which included community interaction and meeting resource persons working directly in tourism. Seminars were held in each location where the good, bad and ugly of the community was openly discussed, analyzed and recommendations for action determined. This information assisted Country style to assist communities in developing projects for improving the product.

The Country style Institute for Sustainable Tourism (CIST) was created to facilitate community training through existing training institutions for sustainable development through tourism. Major partners include CESTO, HEART- Trust/NTA-Kenilworth, NCTVET, West Indies College, Knox Community College, New Beulah Moravian Church, Hibiscus Cultural Tours International, Western Catering School, Penn State University, Caribbean Action for Sustainable Tourism (CAST). CAST has endorsed the work of CIST and has indicated interest in collaborating with CIST to develop the Caribbean community training programme for Sustainable Tourism. The Executive Director of CIST is Mr. Barry Bonito (Pike)

Country style Community Tours has successfully attracted many visitors

through the “Community Experience” packages which give visitors the flexibility to tour Jamaica with community persons and allowing them to stay in Villages Island wide which has been sensitized by the Country style group. Visitors are protected from harassment and crime because of the approach of educating communities before they are exposed to visitors. The visitor responses to these packages in Jamaica have now encouraged Country style to develop Caribbean packages (Pike)

The Governments role in the development of community based tourism is to ensure that adequate infrastructure is in place, for example, roads, light, water and telecommunication services. To ensure that training programmes are implemented based on individual skills and the requirement of the project. To ensure that effective marketing programmes are implemented and to ensure that adequate safety and security measures are put in place. (company, 2006)

The Tourism Product Development Company’s role in the development of community tourism to assist in project development ensuring that necessary amenities and physical structures are in place through the project Development Department. To ensure that tourism entities are on par with the required standard of the industry through the standards development. To ensure that individuals are trained in various skill areas such as management and technical support of the development of community tourism, tour guiding, CPR & First Aid, customer service and tourism awareness. These programmes would be implemented by the human resource development. (company, 2006)

Some benefits of Community based tourism is that it provides employment for persons in the community, increase opportunity for social and cultural interchange, it increase income which will allow improvement of infrastructure and enhancement of the community and provide the quality of life. (company, 2006)

Cultural preservation (economic incentives to preserve food, fashion, festivals and physical history, but these tend to be superficial elements of a culture.)

environmental protection (econ incentives to preserve nature, wildlife and urban cleanliness)

Foreign exchange (generates resources to import food, pharmaceuticals, technology, consumer goods.)

Development of health care services (those these aren’t always available to local people.) (unknown, about ct/benefits.htm)

According to the Gleaner published Monday October 2 2001, Former Tourism director Desmond Henry criticized the Jamaica tourist board (JTB) for not recognizing the development of community based tourism on the south coast ‘the future of Jamaica’s tourism is on the south coast and it lies in community tourism. There is a whole lot to be done, there is a need for additional rooms but the most important thing is the need for trainees and the community has to understand its role in this important development.’ He went on to say that the Jamaica Tourist Board has not taken community tourism seriously enough to assist those involved. By employing trainees in the community this will decrease unemployment and poverty in said community. (www.jamaicaobserver.com, 2011)

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, says community-based tourism has the potential to significantly boost employment for persons in rural Jamaica, while further driving the development of the product.

Speaking at the National Consultation on Community-based tourism, held at the Devonshire Restaurant at Devon House, in Kingston on September 8, Mr. Bartlett said the policy framework for the community-based tourism strategy will facilitate the provision of a wide range of job opportunities in the sector.

The consultation aims to facilitate further dialogue among stakeholders on the draft Community-based Tourism Policy and Strategy, which has been submitted to Cabinet for consideration.

In January 2010, the Ministry of Tourism and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) signed an agreement for the development of a community-based tourism policy under the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) project. The project is being funded by the Government of Jamaica and the World Bank, through a US$15 million loan.

“This will benefit and empower many vulnerable groups, such as women, young people, as well as under-skilled and unemployed individuals,” the Minister noted.

Mr. Bartlett said the policy will also help to address numerous weaknesses at the community level that have hampered the growth of community-based tourism enterprises for years, such as the lack of entrepreneurial capacity, and a limited understanding of tourism markets and the sector in general.

“The policy will target these shortcomings by providing appropriate approaches to planning and management for such entities as well as institutional arrangements, technical assistance and support,” he explained.

Mr. Bartlett informed that the policy and strategy, being developed under the guidance of the JSIF, is intended to facilitate the development of a framework aimed at enhancing the policy and institutional capacity needed to develop community-based tourism as a sustainable growth sector locally.

“I must underscore that this is a vital initiative, as despite the fact that the tourism sector remains the island’s primary foreign exchange earner and the driving force of the Jamaican economy, there is still considerable potential for further growth and development,” he said.

“Despite our successes to date, broadening our range of tourism offerings remains an important pillar in our thrust to diversify our product, and developing community based tourism is key to this initiative,” he remarked. (unknown, www.jamaicans.com, 2011)

Some disadvantage of community based tourism is

Cultural destruction, (modernization (world mono-culture), freezes culture as performers, loss: language, religion, rituals, material culture.)

primary products (sun, sand, surf, safari, suds, ski, sex) (little value added, neo-colonialism)

Environmental destruction (game drives, resorts: golf, ski, beach, desert, world as play ground, SUV.)

Marginal employment (low skill, low wage, menial services, prostitution, drug trade, gambling, hustlers.)

Low benefits (no job security, no health care, no organizing, no work safety rules or enviro standards.)

Development of illegal and/or destructive economic activities (markets for drugs, endangered species, etc.)

Outside hiring (skilled middle and senior management recruited out of the area and transferred in.)

Concentration employment (walled resort enclaves.)

seasonal employment. (mozer)

Solutions (for visitor)

act to support cultural diversity

engage in activities that add value to the community

don’t do activities that deteriorate the environment

don’t engage in illegal activities

act to disperse the benefits

Patronize locally (community) owned enterprises.

Solutions (for the host)

support the traditional cultural legacy

Training and education in local culture, history, natural science, etc.

select development and activities that draw from local traditions and add value to the community

don’t promote activities that deteriorate the environment

don’t engage in illegal activities

adopt a program to disperse the benefits

Patronize locally produced products and locally (community) owned enterprises.

Make business and foreign exchange transactions transparent and efficient. (unknown, about ct/benefits.htm)

2) Community based tourism is an alternative type of tourism that can be used to diversify Jamaica Tourism Product and provide Jamaica with a competitive advantage.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment Damion Crawford says the sector has to diversify its products if tourism is to play a major role in the country’s development.

Crawford says tourism can play a pivotal role in Jamaica’s development, but adds that offering the same products to every visitor cannot be the answer.

Speaking at a recent symposium at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, Mr. Crawford echoed calls for the west Kingston community of Trench Town to be promoted as an area for cultural tourism.

He says although the community was made popular by Jamaican music icon Bob Marley, it is still not promoted for the cultural experience. (www.jamaicaobserver.com, 2011)

Community based tourism is good for the country’s economic growth and it help to decrease poverty. According to the UWI “Community based tourism, however, offers a unique opportunity for Jamaica. The process of community based tourism development if managed effectively has the potential to alleviate poverty and illiteracy. Community based tourism also has the potential to develop the natural creative energy of Jamaicans by transforming average citizens into entrepreneurs. It can be used to develop strong partnerships by twinning existing traditional tourism entrepreneurs. It can be combined with the existing tourism product offerings to create a uniquely Jamaica experience. Community based tourism can be a standalone venture of a partnership of the traditional products blended with Jamaican charm, culture and heritage to create a community tourism spirit that culminates in a truly Jamaican experience. Community based tourism can bring out the best in Jamaican people.” (UNKNOWN)

Technology
Technology has significant impact on the development of the travel and tourism industry. Discuss

Technology has played a significant role in the development of the tourism and travel industry. This has been seen through the internet, telecommunication services and point of sale (POS).

By using the internet it is easier for you to go on vacation without the hassle, you no longer have to guess if the destination u want to go have the facilities you want you can now go on the internet and research your destination. Also if you’re a adventurous person and your coming to Jamaica the internet would also help you to find a hotel near the places you want to see, For example if u wanted to visit Dolphin cove, Dunn’s river and mystic mountains by doing your research you would not book a hotel in Kingston which is too far from where u wanted to be. By using the internet u could also check to see when it is cheaper for you to travel and get deals with the hotels and airline. You also want to know that when u are going on vacation u can access your bank account.

If all this is not possible then u would not want to go on vacation. You want to know that u can still stay in contact with your business while relaxing on the beach.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion delivering quality service is very important not only in the tourist industry but in other businesses. If customers are not satisfied with the level of service they get they will not come back to your business and we rely mostly on our repeat customers.

Community based tourism is also important because it allows the local residents to be involved in tourism and it provides employment and decrease poverty.

Technology is important in the tourism industry because without it persons would not leave their business or family to go on vacation knowing that they are not going to be in contact with them.

Tourism is becoming the worlds largest industry and it is being recognized that tourism must preserve and protect the environment and natural attractions so that people will continue to travel, and must set use limits so that sites will be truly sustainable [1] . However tourism, as well as bringing improvements in areas such as the economy, also has the power to destroy the environment. Impressive examples of this are hotels and other accommodation establishments, which contribute to almost a quarter of tourism emissions in general (21%) [2] . Recently, tourists have started to become more interested in the environmental impacts of their travels, and thus the tourism and hotel industry has started to pay more attention to the protection of the environment.

2. LITERATURE REVIEWS

Considering the complexity and wideness of the topic, in order to implement a plan to save costs and reduce consumption a good research and documentation about the subject is required. This issue has become an actual problem which is being discussed in many journal and magazine articles. Firstly, it is necessary to find adequate information to quantify in statistics and explain in detail the history of this issue and describe it. For this section 2 university texts were used: Goeldner, C. R. Ritchie, J. R. B. (2009). Tourism Principles, Practices, Philosophies (11th Ed.) New York: Wiley and Sons., Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Tourism Sector Frameworks, tools and practices. An International Seminar focusing on Developing Countries and Small Island States. (April 2008) Oxford, United Kingdom. Moreover, a small research was carried out on the internet using some websites which talk about tips and suggestions adopted in this sector.

3. ECO-FRIENDLY MEASURES

A strategic planning and implementation of policies, that pay attention to the costs, bring benefits not only the environment but also to the hotel itself. By observing methods and techniques of sustainability, immediate economic objectives can be achieved, but the most important thing is that the measures implemented are for the long-term. Consequently, every manager should be familiar of what are the environmental and energy aspects of its business/organization in order to improve upon them and reduce waste and costs. To achieve this goal, a seaside superior hotel needs to change its habits and introduce innovations that use natural resources or transform their systems in low-power systems as seen in some example reported below.

3.1 Natural resources

The use of natural resources is the cheapest measure. Correspondingly, there are a number of systems to minimize emissions which use simple methods that simultaneously may also reduce costs. Firstly, an accommodation should install large sun-facing windows or skylights on facades and celling. In this way, during the day, electricity consumption is minimized because the natural daylight filters throughout the windows, thus reducing the need for artificial lights. Conversely, it is important that this type of glass maintains a cool temperature inside because this could be a problem during the summer period.

Secondly, solar panels can be installed to harness solar energy. Indeed they use the sun’s energy and transform it into useful energy and heat for human activities.

Considering that we need to analyze a hotel on the seaside, the accommodation could also benefit from exploiting the sea with simple structures that support the main goal of becoming an eco-friendly hotel. Some example of how this is possible can be taken from the Hilton hotel in Malta; the only eco-friendly hotel that achieved the European eco-label certification. In the same way a hotel on the seaside could take advantage of this and with a process of desalination in an osmosis system, this type of water can be used as drinking water. In addition, sea water desalinated can be used for cooling (in summer) or heating (in winter) for the hotel. Thus it decreases the need of fossil fuels. Furthermore, this used water could be cleaned in a biological purification plant and together with harvested rainwater be used for toilet flushing and irrigation of the gardens. Although initially these systems can have high costs, in the future they will significantly reduce consumptions and costs of the accommodation.

3.2 Waste disposal

Another fundamental measure in an eco-hotel is waste management and recycling. This is a strategy that reuses waste instead of disposes of it. Recycling avoids the waste of potentially useful materials, reduces the consumption of raw materials, and reduces the use of energy, and therefore the emission of greenhouse gases. This method is very simple to implement. It is important that in each and every place of the hotel (kitchen, restaurants, rooms, offices, public areas etc…) recycling bins are provided. In the office, they can minimize the paper size and replace the normal print ink with soy-based ink which pollutes less. Also plastic laundry bags can be replaced with cloth bags. After this step managers must familiarize staff and guests with this measure by offering products that contain recycled material such as newspaper, magazine and organic bags.

3.4 Maintenance

As stated in the introduction, all this behaviors and systems must be long-lasting and the only way to achieve this objective is maintenance. First of all, all the guestsaa‚¬a„? rooms must be controlled for infiltration of hot and cold air throughout windows and doors. Then air conditioners and heaters need an annual maintenance which checks if there are problems and if the room temperature is acceptable for each season. All the bulbs need to be replaced with energy saving light bulbs that further reduce costs. Subsequently, also office and restaurants must be regularly monitored with zero-cost measures. Some examples could be allowing hot food to cool before storing in refrigerators and freezers, not overloading refrigerators, regularly clean fans, verify if doors fit and close correctly and defrosting freezers frequently since frost build ups reduce efficiency. Those are all zero-cost actions that should reduce environmental problems, costs and consumptions.

3.3 Staff and guest education

At the end, the staff and guests should be educated about these eco-friendly measures. With simple gestures, tourists can limit energy consumption and be more aware of protecting the environment and reducing pollution. For example, tourists can pay attention to reduce the use of water when it is not necessary, can use and heating and A.C. with consideration, pay attention to the waste disposal and always remember to turn off the lights. The last action mentioned can also be supported with sensors, installed by the hotel, that automatically turn off lights and air conditioning once the guest has left his room. On the other hand staff can collaborate for other type of eco-friendly measures. For instance, in restaurants, waitress can reduce emissions levels promoting national wine and food (e.g. seafood) because usually international food is imported by air. In addition , members of the hotel can distribute brochures and allow fieldtrip visits to their back of house to promote this system not only to customers but expand it to all those who are interested in protecting the environment.

4. REASONS

If we examine the causes of the growing interest in eco-tourism, there is a wide range of possible answers. The main reasons are the protection of the environment and saving more money from the hotels. In addition, those who use these systems and achieve these goals are rewarded with international and European certifications such as Ecolabel certification. It is granted only to hotels with systems of environmental excellence that respect ecological and performance criteria established. These criteria are then reviewed and where necessary, improved by providing better environmental quality of services. Moreover, tourists are starting to worry about the consequences that their journey can bring to the environment and in this way as Thomas Tanzilli, director of Federalberghi Rome said “Besides the environmental issue, it has also become a commercial problem.” After that tourists are interesting in this type of tourism for a big numbers of reasons such as:

The presence of local biological food with 0 kilometers

People are tired of conventional tourism and they want to seek new challenges.

international aid and incentives arise to support tourism projects for the purpose of environmental protection

eco-tourism accommodations became more affordable and accessible

There is an increase in travel for educational purposes.

Finally, in thinking people is maturing an increasing awareness that environmental conservation is not the only reason, but it can also bring economic benefits.

5. CONCLUSION

In recent years this great way to reduce environmental pollution through hotels has been promoted in many ways from important tourism organizations such as The World Tourism Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In addition, the habits of tourists who stay in hotels are changing. In fact, with Advertising put aa‚¬aˆ?aa‚¬aˆ?specially in the rooms of the hotel, the guest feels responsible towards helping the environment and working with the whole staff. To conclude, eco-tourism is not simply constructed by systems and environmental measures implemented by the hotel, but it is a set of attitudes that all components of that particular hotel should assume both inside and outside the building.

Tourism is one of many human activities in a community or region, and has the idea as a private and public sector activity and especially as an area of government intervention that requires planning and coordination. On the one hand, tourism is also one many activities in an area that must be considered as part of economic, physical, environmental, and social planning. Thereby, it is very important in ensuring that the tourism industry can thrive and develop by trying to maximize all these valuable aspects and to develop comprehensive tourism planning at a community or region. This discussion paper will be mainly discussing about the different approaches to tourism planning and the tourism planning framework for the development of tourism in the destination region of the Central Highlands of the Island. The overall framework in this paper consists of the appropriate steps to be taken in the planning process and in a way to achieve successful planning and development in the destination region, the guiding principles in the planning, and several issues to be considered in the planning.

2.0 Critical review of approaches to tourism planning

Based on Getz (1987) there are four different approaches of tourism planning at the destination level can be recognized according to the values that support the planning or policy activity include boosterism, economic, physical/spatial, and community-oriented that emphasizes the role the destination community plays in the tourism development and experience. Then to these four approaches, Hall (1998) added an additional approach of sustainable planning. Each of tourism planning approach differs in its underlying assumptions about planning, and their strengths and weakness that play in the tourism development. The following describes the strengths and weaknesses for each approach.

2.1 Boosterism

Boosterism is one of the tourism planning approaches that have attitude towards tourism development which is inherently ‘good’ and will provide benefit to the hosts destination. This approach also characterized as being part of an attitude to the development of ‘growth’ is good and any negative impact of tourism development will be dominated by positive benefits. From this approach perspective the primary planning problem is one of how to attract as many people as possible to a given location or destination. Boosterism approach however, doesn’t take into account or involves their host community in the decision making process, planning and policy process surrounding the tourism developments. Yet it is still being adopted by governments and politicians to promote tourism growth, regional economic diversification and employment creation.

This attitude approach towards tourism development is seen as to give benefits to the host destination and community which can bring higher living standards to a destination and improves quality of life of the people especially in the developing countries. Tourism development could improves quality of life ,as it supports the creation of community facilities and services, through the provision of better or upgraded infrastructure, facilities, services, transport, health, better quality of commodities and food. The indirect benefit of tourism development will also increase job opportunities towards the whole community and at the same time boost up the country’s economy. However on the other hand, since this approach does not involved residents of the tourist destinations in the tourism development plan and policy, and decision making process, thus there will be lack of public or community participation in the local tourism development. The tourism development tend to benefit more on the government instead of the local community because the community has no power to make their own decisions in the tourism planning and therefore it will not encourage them to participate and does not allow them to share tourism benefits with the wider community.

2.2 Economic

The second approach of tourism planning is the economic (industry-oriented approach). It is an approach that aims to promote economic growth and development in a destination, as well apply the use of marketing and promotion to attract visitors. The economic approach emphasizes more on the economic impacts of tourism and the most efficient and effective use of tourism to create income and employment benefits for the regions, communities, and countries as a whole. The main strengths of this planning approach are as it is mainly focuses on the economic impacts of tourism, it believes that tourism development is becomes a key driver of economic growth or will boost the country’s economy through the creation of employment, generation of foreign exchange earnings, contribution of government revenues, stimulation or improvement of infrastructure investment, and the create contribution to the local economy. Yet there are some weaknesses from this approach which it doesn’t take into account environmental concerns and social issues which means there is limited attention is given towards the environmental and social impacts brought about by tourism. Another weakness would be the high satisfaction of tourists result from tourism development and the positive attitudes towards tourists in host communities are unknown.

2.3 Physical/Spatial

The physical/ spatial approach to tourism planning considers tourism as a form of land use to be managed using spatial strategies and regarded as having an ecological base with a resultant need for development to be based upon certain spatial patterns, capacities or thresholds that would minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the physical environment. The key planning approaches from this perspective include carrying capacity, hazard and risk assessment, resource and landscape evaluation, resource appraisal and allocation, decision making and evaluation and the development of appropriate institutional arrangements. While the main point of this approach is to control and maintain the capacities, land use and the number of physical infrastructure being built for tourism, so it won’t exceeds the environmental and social carrying capacities of the destination. As a result, it will help to minimize the negative environmental impacts resulting from tourism development.

Besides, a well planned physical destination with structured design and layout would also attract visitors to visit a destination as it can provide a good and open space for tourists. Other strengths would be the increase protection towards the environment due to the less land being use and it keep the sustainability of tourism. The weakness of this approach is if the number of infrastructure, buildings, and capacities are being controlled, thus economically the destination unable to maximize their profit from the result the inability to fulfill the high demand of tourism to build more attractions. Limited attention is also given to social and cultural attributes of the destination.

2.4 Community

Community tourism planning approach is focuses on the social and political context within which tourism occurs and it advocates greater local community control over the development process. Under this approach, community is considered as the focal point or actor that encourages the development process of the tourism and seeks for public participation in a destination in order to enhance their economic livelihoods while protecting their cultural values, and preserving the natural environment.

Community planning approach which implies a high degree of public participation in tourism planning process, highly involved the community in the decision making and planning process, as well as in the sharing of tourism benefits and in the sharing of tourism profits with the wider community. Therefore, the main strengths of this community based approach in terms of its benefits, will likely to create and increased employment opportunities available to the locals as more community being involved in the process while it also contributes positively in the improvement on household income and general quality of life through the extent of contribution vary from one aspect to another. Moreover, public participation is also to design tourism development in such a way that it is intended to benefit the local community and to encourage them to participate in their own development through mobilizing their own resources, defining their needs and making own decisions about how to meet them. Then if the government is being supportive and let the community to take a large part of the decision making for tourism, there will less conflict arises between the government and community, and if problem arises the community would be able to make decisions and solve it on their own. Bringing educational elements towards the whole community is also one of the strength of community approach. The locals likely to be educated and trained in order to improve their knowledge about tourism and as a results it will help them to recognize and conserve their local culture, natural resource values, and creating a good image about the destination. Tourists who come from different parts of the world will also encourage the locals to interact and provide cultural exchange between hosts and tourists, at the same time it also gives the opportunities for the locals to learn foreign language and lead to a better understanding of cultural differences and build tolerant attitude towards foreigners.

On the other hand, there are weaknesses of this approach in terms of the barriers or the difficulties in implementing a community approach to tourism planning in tourist destination. The major difficulties or barriers to incorporating public participation in tourism planning can include the lack of financial and human resources in the tourism sector especially in the developing country. Resources at the local level may not enough to finance the present scale of tourism development and therefore it will lead to discourage community participation in the tourism planning. Then generally the public may have difficulty in understanding complex and technical planning issues, not always aware the decision making process, and the difficulty in maintaining representativeness in the decision making process due to the lack of knowledge, experiences and possible conflicts that may arise between cultures. In addition, there is also need for the government to be able to manage the involvement of the community that aims to achieve the desired result however it does not give the impression to the community of being control by the government. Power should also be distributed evenly within a community so that some groups or individuals will not have the ability exert greater influence over the planning process than others.

2.5 Sustainable

The sustainable approach towards tourism is an integrative form of tourism planning which brings together economic, environmental (physical/spatial), and socio-cultural (community) planning methods. This approach seeks to provide lasting and secure livelihoods which minimize depletion of resources, environmental degradation, cultural disturbance and social instability. It also concern about both inter and intra-generational equity which in sustainable development it means that we should not only concerned with the maintenance of ‘environmental capital’ (Jacobs, 1991) but also the maintenance and enhancement of social capital (Healey, 1997). The main strengths of sustainable approach are include long term protection of environment resources since it focuses on tourism development which try to avoids damage on the environment, economy, and cultures of a tourist destination as well as provides positive experience for host community tourism industry and the tourist itself. As a result of these, it will also lead to the preservation of essential ecological processes, give beneficial and opportunities for future generation ability to use the resources and enjoy the same situation as now, protection of human heritage and biodiversity, improve economic benefits to support sustainable tourism, and it also benefit the communities by providing more employment opportunities and the improvement of standard of living.

The weaknesses of this sustainable approach are include the overprotecting the resources will result that the tourists unable to enjoy or being satisfied with the overall tourism experiences, for instance tourists might have high expectation when they travel to the tourism site, yet they are not allowed to connect to the environment thus their perception will be lower because it doesn’t meet their high expectation, and become very unsatisfied. Besides, by adopting sustainable tourism approach could also create conflict between public and private sectors in terms of having different views and perspective on sustainable planning. Public sector might want to save and maintain the environment while private sector wants to gain more economic benefit in having less concern on sustainable tourism benefits. Sustainable tourism approach could also be difficult to achieve and has been often criticized for its contradictory goals that never achieved, as it requires cooperation and coordination between industry and the manager of destinations, and the needs to build consumer and producer awareness.

3.0 A review of the main issues or challenges that tourism planners face

As millions more people travel and to seek for personal rewards from their experiences, the massive development of tourism resources is the consequences (Gunn, 2002). The various activities that tourists engage in a tourism destination are important and expanding aspect of the tourist industry in which it creates huge development for tourism in a destination and provides tourism benefits in many ways. Thus, it is now recognized that planning is necessary for tourism to develop, to be managed in a controlled, integrated, and sustainable manner in such a ways that would lead to enhancing the benefits derived from tourism. By using this planned approach to design of all tourism development, it allows tourism to generate economic, social, and environmental benefits to the host community and any negative impacts results from tourism can be minimized.

Moreover, planning for tourism can be a challenge regarding to the several main issues, complication or challenge that tourism planner may face in trying to plan tourism. Besides, due to the rapid growth and complication nature of tourism have made it difficult for planners to apply even the most fundamental of research findings and recommendations for improved tourism. Based on Claire A. Gunn (2004) described the prospects for tourism planning in term of the key issues and concerns in the field of tourism planning in which the issues include the poor understanding of the need for planning, the lack of systems planning, poor organizational integration, and lack of tourism literacy.

The first issue of poor understanding of the need for planning refers to the unclear understanding or different assumptions on tourism planning that seen as the unncecessary interference in market driven development. Investors and developers might seen a opportunity to build various kinds of attractions or tourism related places in the destination to increase tourism development. Then tourism promoters usually belief that all development is positive by bringing better employment and economic benefits and continually to attract tourists. However, this merely a half truth even though tourism development can provide economic benefit but the undestanding on plannning doesn’t take into account that tourism growth also create negative impacts in which it creates more demand for new investment to build more attractions as a result may lead to increased in pollution, and destroyed natural landscape. The high volume of visitor in the destination could also have reduce the local quality of life, and forcing long time residents to move. Hence, these issues requires new plannig techniques and planners must cope with the constantly changing environment results from tourism growth.

The second issue is the lack of system planning. Most tourism planners have modeled the fuctioning tourism system which have two main drivers of tourism consist of a demand and a supply side. The five supply side major components include transportation, attractions, services, information, and promotion. They are all interdependent which subject to travel demand and require planning that relates to market trends as well as to physical characteristics of land and resources. The supply side is influenced greatly by many external factors such as the governmental policies, competition, community involvement, entrepreneurship, labor, finance, cultural and natural resources. This way of viewing tourism is oppose to the mindset of tourism as an industry and mostly on the business sector. Understanding of tourism as a system is relatively important and knowing how each part of tourism depends upon each other.

Poor organizational intgration is another issue in the tourism planning in which there are lack of communication and integration between different and separate organizations (suh as in in the business tourism sector there are the hotel organizations, restaurant, attraction, and airline organizations) developed in tourism in tourism planning,. The lack of organizational mechanism is affect the tourism as entirerly. There is a need for better communication aamong many existing tourist organizations in order to gain mutual benefit and assist better understanding of change. Lastly, is the lack of tourism literacy means within parts of tourism all parties are very well knowledgable about their functions and operations. However, there is still remains a lack of understanding among developers and managers considering the full meaning and importance of tourism to them. Due to the tourism illiteracy, community is not well prepared to plan their localities in the best interest of tourism and to protect local lifestyle. Other issue or complication of tourism planning developed by Gunn (2002) is regarding with the worldwide proliferation ofecotourism, acculturation, and the dramatic evoluationary changes in many aboriginal societies. Native populations (non-industrial foundation) could face the dilemma of introducing tourists to their cultural uniqueness and lead them to move into new industrial societies. Thus, it will be difficult for them to plan for tourism development that might generate economic advantages without facing the great internal stress for protection of their cultural heritage and acculturation.

4.0 The Central Highlands of the Island

The Central Highlands of the Island is the chosen destination region to develop tourism planning to encourage tourism development in the destination. The Central Highlands of the Island is a developing country and known for its tourist destination. Despite having a number of potential tourist attractions, the area still have little development on tourism and facing quite number of problems, based on the facts that the country has experienced a number of environmental problems include water pollution and having limited of human and natural resources of fresh water resources and electricity. It also experienced a depressed economy with limited infrastructure and supply accommodation in the central region area.

Besides, the destination has a unique ethnic groups living in the central highlands region and having the majority population of ‘Islandese’, yet several of these ethnic groups are being isolated who have typically been ignored in most government policy exercises. These people also have limited of education background and low levels of languages which can be one reason that discouraged the community participation in the tourism development or make them difficult to participate. However, by experiencing these various conditions the local government should have promote tourism planning to encourage tourism development in the destination by taking account all the tourism resources, organizations, then economic, environmental, and social aspects of tourism development. The government should also need to get involved the local community in the tourism planning process to help support and encourage the tourism development of the destination at the same time intended to benefit the community as a whole and giving them opportunities to participate in their own development. The next part of this paper will be discussing about overall framework on the Central Highlands of the Island which are emphasizes on the steps in the planning process, the set of guiding principles for planning participants and list of issues to be considered in the planning process..

4.1 Steps in the Planning Process

In the tourism planning process, it takes a proactive role in assisting and promoting the implementation of a good quality of development. A large number of groups or individuals including stakeholders, community, and operator are involves in the tourism planning. They conduct various kinds of planning which are include feasibility, marketing, product development, promotion, forecasting, and strategic planning. The following are main series of steps to be taken in the planning process in terms of the tourism development of the Central Highlands of the Region as a tourist destination.

According to Stynes and O’Halloran (1987), there are six steps in the planning process include define goals and objectives, indentify the tourism system (resources, organizations, markets), generate and evaluate alternatives, select and implement, lastly monitor and evaluate. The first step that the destination need to accomplish is to obtain clear statements of tourism development goals and objectives which should acquire more from general community on how they want to achieve specific tourism development, whether the community wants to serves the broader community goals in seeking for better quality of life and to improve living standard. These objectives could be achieved by working together with various groups and organizations in the community. The appropriate types of goals to be achieve and the degree in which tourism is addressed in planning depends on how long the community has been involved in tourism or the importance of tourism to them. Since the Central Highlands region is still in the early stages of tourism development, goals that may want to achieve involve setting up organizational structures and collecting information to have better understanding on the tourism system in the community. Then later throughout the process, more precise objectives can be created.

The second step involve in identifying tourism as a system by breaking it down into three subsystems; tourism resources, organizations, and market. This will refers to how the community in the destination region coordinates their activities toward common goals and striving to achieve certain objectives by matching available resources and programs with the needs and wants of tourists, and identify the availability to be able to serve the tourists and provide opportunities for tourism development. For instance, for tourism resources in the Central Highlands; natural resources which can be used and available for the tourists are climate, scenery, favorable geographic location for shipping trade and high supply of local food and wine, while for cultural resources could be the unique ethnics’ cultures, cultural heritage, archaeological sites, and the local cuisine. Human resources of having a productive labor force and capital resources include the availability of infrastructure (roads, accommodation, utilities of water and electricity) are quite limited. Moreover, the community also needs to recognize and list all the diverse range of public and private sectors in the destination that manage or coordinate tourism activities, and to make all these groups to work together achieving the same goals. Lastly, is to identify the tourism market segments or types of tourists the destination wish to attract and serve.

Furthermore, after the second step moving on to the generating and evaluating alternatives step in tourism planning process. The generating alternatives development and marketing option to meet the goals requires brainstorming. And there are two parts to evaluation of tourism development and marketing alternatives; feasibility analysis, and impact assessment whether it is possible to be done and understand the impacts both positive and negative associated with tourism development. The last critical steps in a tourism plan are the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. As objectives have been set up for the plan, it needs to be implemented through a set of specific actions that should be adopted and developed by the community with clearly defined responsibilities and timetables. Then implementation is should be monitored and evaluated to find out the success of the plan in meeting its goals and objectives. Plans generally still need to be adjusted over time because of changing goals, changing market conditions, unexpected impacts. Thus the most important of all, successful tourism planning and development should able to serve both tourists and host communities. However, tourism should serve the community first since tourism development is closely coordinated and supported by the local population of the destination.

4.2 Guiding Principles for planning participants

Tourism is very important and as the main key driver of economic growth or development tool for the Central Highlands Region, which its future development should therefore be maintained by tourism developers or planners engaging in the tourism planning process. There are set of guiding principles that can be used to support tourism planning which by providing specific policies that need to be developed to suit the particular area of the Central Highlands of the region. The tourism policies which are include in a plan can aim to maximize the benefits of tourism by ensuring that the development able to reach its potential contribution to tourism in the destination at the same time providing benefits for local community. Then it is also to integrate development with its surroundings in terms of design and layout in the way that the facility or service is able to function properly and in order to avoid unexpected impacts such as disturbance to activities. In preparing such policies it require planners to understand a number of important factors which are include market demand, environmental impact, transport and accessibility, functional link, regeneration benefits, and labor supply which all these can be vary for different tourism developments such as for labor supply, the quality and amount of labor will be different from one area to another. Tourism planning generally seeks to place new development where the need for employment exists and to benefit the local population from the various ranges of job opportunities.

4.3 Issues to be considered

In terms of planning tourism development of the Central Highlands destination region, comprehensive planning is required for successful planning and development which involves systematic approach and series of steps that has been mentioned above. In addition, there are still several issues to be considered regarding to tourism planning for tourism development in the destination especially in terms of the complications and issues that tourism planner may encounters. Refer to the previous Claire A. Gunn descriptions of issues or challenges in the field of tourism planning; the major issues that probably face by the tourism planner in the destination are the lack of system of planning and the dramatic evolutionary changes for aboriginal societies and acculturation.

The lack of system of planning can occur in which there is no enough balance between two main drivers of tourism elements both demand and supply. The limited supply in the destination which are include limited infrastructure, accommodation, natural and human resources, as well as tourist attractions would not enough to fulfill the high tourism demand as both elements are dependent on each other. Besides, due to the majority of the island population are ethnic groups and they seems to be distrustful of strangers it will be difficult for the community to develop tourism plan because it requires them adaptation with the industrial societies and they need to decide which areas of the community that will be shared with the tourists and how the community will capture the benefits. Since they need to have a contact with the tourists, it will also lead to modification of the culture as a result of contact of different culture.

5.0 Conclusion

The Central Highlands of the Island which is the main discussion in this paper, as a tourist destination region, still have a very little development on tourism due to the lack or limited of supply and natural resources (fresh water) that are important to support for tourism activities and development. One way is that the local government needs to encourage tourism planning and get involve the community in the process and decision making, and use different approaches of tourism planning that play important role in the tourism development in the region. Thus, planning is necessary for tourism in the area to develop at the same time it will provide benefits for the communities in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspects of tourism. Besides, comprehensive planning should be also applied by involving series of steps to achieve specific objectives of tourism development and highly coordinated with the local community and regional planning efforts. However, there are also some issues or challenges in the tourism planning that planners might face include the lack system of planning and acculturation in the area since the community has to still maintain and protect their strong and unique cultures.